RoboPreacher

i will be good though my body be broken The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew the 5th chapter! Today’s Gospel is probably as popular as it is unbelievable … And that’s the problem isn’t it? We imagine we’re so familiar with these sayings that we skip right along. “Oh, I love this part,” we say, while putting on a smile and tuning out. Before we do that, though, let me ask us to do something:  Try and imagine we hadn’t heard these words before . Better yet, though, imagine that as we’re hearing these words for the first time, we’re one of those who Jesus called to follow him, or maybe someone from the crowd with a disease eavesdropping on this message Jesus gives… Let’s try hearing today’s Gospel this way, because when we do that, these familiar sayings become appropriately shocking. To help us really hear today’s gospel I am going to read it again, although I am going to read it from another translation; for those of you who go to the Bible S...

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew! Mary always made an impression on folks.  Now, to say Mary was special would be to state the obvious, though.  Of course Mary was special, but that wasn’t it.  No, Mary had this way about her. She always seemed to, in her own gentle and quiet way, make a big impact, a lasting impression… Why is that? Why was she able, as diminutive as she was, to make such a large impact.  Why was she, as quiet as she was, to say so much with few words? Certainly there are a few reasons;  the one that stands out the most, though, was Mary’s ability to draw folks together, how Mary always saw the best in everyone  and invited everyone to see the best in others, as well as in themselves. See, Mary seemed to embody what we hope to be. To say it another way, Mary managed to embody the Gospel in a profound and meaningful way. Mary lived out a witness that another way was possible, a way we a...

like a bright chandelier Matthew 5:13-20 Prayer: May the words of my lips and the mediations of all our hearts be called great in your kingdom. Intro: It has been a little over a year since I found out I was going to do my internship in Seattle at St. John United with all you. Given this occasion, I want to tell you a little about the experience of getting assigned an internship location. We have all spoken about St. John United losing ELCA funding to help pay for the internship. St. John United receives ELCA funding because you are a “horizon internship site.” Horizon internship sites are specific locations that have a dynamic ministry, and therefore the ELCA helps fund these sites so future pastors can learn at these locations. Now, this might sound silly, but there is a lot of competition for these horizon internship sites. You would think future pastors wouldn’t get so caught up in all that, but honestly reading about these sites and their wonderful ministries, many of...