RoboPreacher

i'm handing you mine A sermon on Daniel in the Lion's Den; Daniel 6:6-27 : The typical way to hear today’s passage is as some finger-wagging exhortation to say your prayers. No matter what.   And make no mistake, this passage is about prayer. But it’s about true prayer. And how such prayer actually comes about. Which no amount of tut-tutting can make happen. Just ask Daniel … According to the well -meant but completely off base interpretation of this passage, Daniel is the model of commitment . He prays three times a day. And he’s so punctilious , he even makes sure to pray in the right direction !   But Daniel’s not the safe harbor for obligation you may think him to be.   Don’t forget, Daniel prays in direct violation of the king’s decree ! And he does so fully aware of his infraction !   If Daniel’s prayers were motivated by nothing more than rule-following, he’d at least have the discretion to close his windows. Instead , he just knelt down and offered...

dependent, undisciplined, sleeping late A sermon on Daniel in the lions' den for the first Sunday of Advent : Today we begin Advent. And know this: we won’t be finished with this season until its last day , like it or not. Sorry, but you’re stuck . Christmas won’t be coming early this year… In fact, when the hymn committee met; I straightened my tie, put on my most serious face, and laid it out: Absolutely NO Christmas hymns until after this season. You can’t ’get out of it. This Advent, you’re stuck . You won’t be freed of this season’s expectations until the Eve of Christmas. At the earliest .  Well, okay . It wasn’t exactly like that.  In fact, one of the things I most love about you all, is you don’t clamor for the Christmas songs until due time. You seem to be a people who feel at home in this season. A people who find comfort in this season. Which is just as well, today . Today it’ll help you relate to Daniel. To hear this scripture as mor...