RoboPreacher

& here's the moment it turned into The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew ! It is good to be here. Thank you for your gracious invitation. It is also good to see all your familiar faces, & the new faces, too.  Of course, it’s a bit of a trip. The familiar faces have changed . Your image, although the same, has also changed a bit. The kiddos I got to do Sunday School with, aren’t so young anymore. And I suppose I am not so young, either … Of course the changes of time are not the only reason it is such a trip to be here. Today’s Gospel presents us with a couple happy coincidences.  For one thing, Matthew was the Gospel we read each Sunday for most of the year I spent with you. For another, today’s Gospel touches upon some of the themes the shaped my internship with you all… Jesus said, “Give, therefore, to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s; and to God, the things that are God’s ,” after his interrogators said the image on the coin ...

but they threw me out of sunday school when i was nine The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew the 22nd Chapter ! “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” At hearing this, Jesus’ interrogators left him, amazed … The truth is, we’re tempted to join these pharisees and herodians. We hear these words of Jesus and know something amazing has been said. The problem, though, is we’re not exactly sure what he meant, or how we can give the emperor what belongs to the emperor and give God the things that belong to God. We, too, are tempted to walk away from these words, albeit amazed… This pithy saying of Jesus sums up the whole tension of living a life of faith. We go about our days while the many and various demands are placed upon us; and we do what we can .  Honestly, though, we can’t do it all. We try to evaluate. We try to spend our resources on our priorities. In fact, if we’re being honest, m...

When I read about Martin Luther I am always impressed by the way he approaches various problems. For him the solution always lies within the realm of religion; specifically faith, even more specifically ‘law & gospel.’ The New Pornographers are such a brill iant band.  Plenty has already been said about what makes them so great, by folks better equipped to make such pronouncements than I.  I will say, though, what makes this band so wonderful is on full display in their most recent album, “Brill Bruisers.” The album name is an homage to the Brill Building in Manhattan, where some of the finest pop music was written.  Make no mistake, though, this album is no mere love-letter to the Brill Building. No, this album is a manifesto. Brill Bruisers is a statement. Brill Bruisers is a piece of art from a band who believes the promises their craft makes. It turns out, Brill Bruisers is a confession . The New Pornographers preform in an era flanked ...

wants to be like no other The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew! What do you think, which of the two did the will of the father? It’s a big question, isn’t it? It certainly is not innocuous. Truly, these kind of questions, keep us awake at night. “Am I doing the will of the father?” “What is God trying to tell me?” “Is this what God wants me to do?” “Why is God doing this?” Yes, the question, “who did the will of the father,” is a big question. In fact, it is a question that Luther wrestled with. It is a question that was the cause for so much of Luther’s unrest, and paradoxically, it is the question that ended up becoming the cornerstone to Luther’s ‘Reformation breakthrough.’ In today’s Gospel the chief priests and elders, basically pastor and council, have a tussle with Jesus.  See Jesus and John have shown up, and they’ve been making a mess of all churchly niceness. So these custodians of the religious orderliness, confront Jesus. “Hey, wh...