RoboPreacher

when they got you in that condition A sermon on Moses' sermon on the edge of the Promise land Seeing as today’s Scripture is the Ten Commandments, I think it’s only fitting to begin with a confession . And so, without further ado, here you go: I have a conflicted relationship with rules…   You know, you could act a little more surprised!   Alright. I know that’s not the most revealing confession. But it is a bewildering one, at least for me it is! For instance, as an eldest and a midwesterner to boot, I’m a natural -born rule- follower . HOWEVER, there also exists within me this deep -seated aversion to rules. And given how knee- jerk and visceral my reaction can be, there might be something pathological to my complicated relationship. If I had to play armchair psychologist, I’d speculate that my messy history with rules stems from growing up in an alcoholic home. In an alcoholic home, everything depends on the alcoholic’s mood. If they’re having a good day, it’ll b...

but she could not keep from trembling  A sermon on the Mary & her hymn : In the Church we have an odd way of doing things. Of speaking. And of keeping time, too… For instance, it is now the fourth week, in-a-row we’ve begun worship with the hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel .” …Are you sick of it yet? …Has Emmanuel come ? …Has anything changed, for that matter??? …Social scientists call it “ cognitive dissonance .”  “Cognitive dissonance,” that terrible gap between what we say and reality . The gap between what we say and reality…  Nowhere is that gap more dramatically on display today than in our Gospel, the so-called, “Magnificat.” The hymn Mary sings as she visits her auntie, Elizabeth. Mary’s song, celebrating God’s mighty act of deliverance . Mary’s song celebrating God’s mighty act as if it has already happened!  While all the while, Mary is still pregnant and unwed. Still a refugee. Still a peasant , in an occupied cou...