RoboPreacher

(it takes a long, long time) A sermon on Isaiah's prophecy that came to pass in its speaking Try to remember when you were young . I know! That’s a long time ago for some of you . Isn’t it?!? But try anyway. Ok? Now, do you recall how long it took for Christmas to come? Growing up, we would make those paper chains to count down the days until Christmas. But when you’re little , a day can be an awfully long time! Can’t it? Honestly, I remember going to the same link of the chain multiple times a day ! When you’re a child , the days to Christmas seem to go on and on . It doesn’t stay that way for long, though. Does it? When you’re young, you can’t grow up fast enough. However, you don’t even have to grow up all that much to realize how quickly it passes ! It doesn’t take long to realize it’s really a gift when time lingers . Well, I don’t make paper chains to count down the days until Christmas anymore. But we do light candles. Don’t we? And today , Gaudete Sunday, we m...

for dancing in the street A sermon on Paul's sermon on the great, ancient Christ Hymn : Summer is just around the corner. Memorial Day is tomorrow , and with it, vacation -season.   Ah, the summer . That lovely little season of long , lazy days. Warm summer days that break with the cool of the night into free and easy evenings. Yes, the summer , that reprieve from the regular grind . The summer with its excursions for no other purpose than fun and relaxation .   I don’t know about you , but I can’t wait. Now I know that talking about vacation after the violent and senseless past couple of weeks we’ve had can seem obnoxiously trivial . But trust me, nothing could be further from the case. In fact, nothing could be more pertinent . More imperative to our survival .   Our own survival from ourselves . Ourselves and that old compulsion of ours for self- destruction .   And just to be clear, I don’t mean that we all need a break . Although we desperatel...

the babe, the son of mary A sermon on Christmas according to St. John : As this familiar passage gets underway, it sounds as if we’re about to hear some abstract theological concepts . “In the Beginning was the Word . And the Word was with God. And the Word was God.”   In fact, as you might know, the Greek word used here is “ logos .” In the Beginning was the logos . And logos is where we get words like logic . But not logic as a process of reasoning , more like logic as the principles by which the world operates.   However , right when you start to settle in for a flight of theological fancy, the evangelist takes a left turn! Suddenly , seemingly out of nowhere , the Gospel zeros in on this specific , historical person, John . John, not called the Baptist here. But yes, that John; John, the Jewish man who lived in occupied Palestine nearly two-thousand years ago. …A quick lesson in philosophy here: this is entirely backward ! When it comes to reasoning, you don’t st...

he will chase you because he is the lord First sermon in the series on Revelation Last summer or the one before, I’m not sure anymore; during one of those hot, dog days of summer, I was making a visit at the Burlington Care Center. The member and I chatted for a bit, but it was stuffy in her room, and I could tell she was getting sleepy. So after a few minutes, we had communion.  As I was saying the words of institution, I noticed she was nodding off…  …Truthfully, it was a little discouraging. I couldn’t help but think that it certainly wasn’t what I imagined when I took the vows… But then I noticed two things; an employee, a woman in the hallway vacuuming; and the sound of the birds chirping, coming in through the window.  And then I was suddenly filled with this knowledge that there was more happening that I had known. Then, it was as if the light falling in through the doorway came alive . And everything around me had it’s own energy. The air s...