RoboPreacher

The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark! Lent; that time of the year when we contend with all the evil within us and the evil out there in the world.  It can be a pretty harrowing thing, all in all… Because I don’t know about you, but when I face up to this daunting task, I get the strong suspicion I’m no match for these forces of evil.  After only a few moments of examining my motives, I’m ready to throw in the towel; ready to join St. Paul in crying out ‘oh, who will save me from this body of death.’ And it takes even less time of scanning the newspaper to give up this lenten discipline. It was just this week that another young man was shot, for seemingly little motive.  Honestly, it appears that those forces of evil all around us are just too great for humans like us to contend with… We’ve got a problem, though.  Or, more accurately, as your preacher, I’ve got a problem. For as formidable as those forces we are to contend against duri...

Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. It is an odd thing, isn’t it? To come here on a cold night and hear something as somber as that, that you are dust and to dust you shall return…” For as odd as our gathering to hear this reminder is, though, this is just the thing we need to hear, the thing we long to hear even… Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return. All of us spend so much of our life, too much of our life, really, denying the fact that we’re creatures , that we’re dust , that we will die .  …And its exhausting, isn’t it? Because while we might be able to keep up the charade that we’re the exception , that death will never touch us, that we’re not dust for a while; there are times when the facts are just too blatant, though, aren’t there?  Those nights of tossing and turning when the sleep won’t come, those times when we get that phone call we all dread, those mornings when we wake up with creaky knees and s...

"...but it'd make you better" The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark the 1st Chapter ! “For that is what I came out to do.” Yes, Jesus is on a mission! This campaign that began in the temple now goes to the household; as Jesus heals Simon-Peter’s mother-in-law. Then, if that weren’t enough, once the sun has set and the sabbath ended, everyone from the city comes to the door for healing; and Jesus just get to work from the doorframe! Jesus is on a mission, and there isn’t a thing that can stop him; for that is what he came out to do.  Jesus is on a mission, there isn’t a thing that can deter him. Those demons couldn’t, why Jesus won’t even let them speak!  The incredible need of the entire city wasn’t able to, Jesus just heals the whole kit-and-kaboodle from the door of Simon-Peter’s house!  Why, not even the gap between the church (where we expect God to work) and home (where we’re not so sure) is enough to deter him, Jesus is perfectly ha...

i got my own nation oh yeah; stuffy people warning. I won’t quote any obscenities; but if you look up their lyrics there will be naughty words. (Do I need to put a warning up for that?) On of the proudest moments of ministry was late, up in the rocky mountains. I had done the wedding of two great friends. As their reception was drawing to a close, I asked the DJ to play one last song, my favorite Doomtree song: Fresh New Trash . And I rapped every line. My favorite line: “ even after death & dirt / let them know who said it first / put it on your favorite shirt / rap won’t save you / sell em absolution with a verse .” The next day folks seemed to be surprised I was so familiar with that genre, ersumthing.  Perceptions aside, I’ve always felt that those of us who are called to the ministry of the Word should have a deep love (or at least appreciation) of rap/hip-hop. Somewhere in his voluminous output Will Willimon quipped that words are all ...

i've been thinking about my saving grace The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark the 1st chapter ! I don’t know about you, but often it takes everything I have just to get here Saturday night/Sunday morning. And a lot of the times I am here, man, I’m just barely hanging on. This life is no easy thing. It’s hard to keep up the faith… Week after week, we do what we can to get through the days, to run from our unclean spirits. It’s no easy thing to get here, and many weeks, by the time we finally stagger through the doors, those rotten spirits have had their way with us. All too often, we gather battered, beaten and bruised. Then, when we finally make it here, wouldn’t you know it, those foul spirits dare to show their faces even in this place; in God’s temple.  There’s no escape! That’s what happens in today’s Gospel, you know. Jesus is in the temple teaching, and an unclean spirit dares to interrupt the sermon! Of course, we don’t need the Gospel to t...