RoboPreacher

is gonna be blinded by the light / that follows me A sermon on the Passover meal instructions at the wrong time : It may not have sounded like it, but today’s passage is a startling record scratch . Our Scripture has plopped us into a moment of eerie quiet . The great cosmic battle between Pharaoh , the divine leader of the most powerful nation in the world at the time, Egypt , and YHWH, the LORD of that no account tribe, Israel, is about to reach its fever pitch. The LORD has unleashed plague after plague on the bull -headed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh, although roughed up, isn’t about to back down.   Until, finally , the LORD God Almighty raises the hammer to let fly that last, greatest, and most terrible of all assaults; the death of all firstborns. But then, before God delivers that devastating haymaker , absolutely everything screeches to a halt ! And God stops all the action for an odd reason! The goings on aren’t paused because God is winding up. And they’re not paused ...

& it ain't too long... A sermon on Paul's masterclass on promises & transactions Whenever the grace of God in Jesus Christ is spoken of with any real vim or vigor, the same objections are always invariably raised. “If it’s all just grace,” goes the first protest, “then why did God give the law in the first place.” And the second objection is like it. “Well then,” goes this line of reasoning, “if keeping the law doesn’t set us right with God, then it must be opposed to the promises of God.” However, so says Saint Paul, both ways of thinking know nothing about how the law , OR the gospel , really works in real life. And , as someone all too familiar with such quibbling , Paul knows these complaints will come up. As such, he preemptively addresses them before anyone can even make the case. First, explains Saint Paul, the law was never how God planned to deal with us. The law's not original. It was added . And what’s more, it wasn’t added for righteou...

this love isn't crazy A sermon on stewardship from the Gospel of Mark : As far as I know, this is the only account of someone turning down Jesus’ invitation to follow him. For as surprising as this is, and it is surprising, it’s an even bigger surprise who it is that can’t answer Jesus’ call. Because this is a fellow who never met a challenge he can’t meet. He’s motivated , scrupulous , and he’s got plenty of resources behind him, too. Picture the scene, Jesus is going along, minding his own business, when all of a sudden this man runs up to him and lays himself out before Jesus. Now, this kind of thing is not entirely uncommon where Jesus is concerned. However , this chap isn’t seeking healing or anything like that. Most people who throw themselves before Jesus are at the end of their rope. This man, however, is at the top of his game! He’s got it all together . He’s managed to keep the finer points of the law. And as we learn later , he’s also managed to attain a degree of ...

when i lose my way The holy Gospel according to St. Luke the 6th (:1-16) chapter ! Well, I’m out of clever ideas for how to present today’s scripture. So why don’t we just engage in some serious Bible study? This is always a good idea. Especially since this passage is so often put through the wringer of shoddy interpretation. This passage is often described as a battle of interpretation . The Pharisees are depicted as sticklers , while Jesus is portrayed as a compassionate interpreter of the higher ideals behind the Law, such as hunger and health. Now there’s a kernel of truth in all this, but not much more. Who among us doesn’t like to imagine Jesus as the sympathetic advocate for the down and out? And don’t we all hope there’s some shred of humanity behind the rules that govern our fate?   But , while this explanation may sound good, in the end, it only makes everything worse . In this scheme , Jesus is nothing more than a taskmaster ,   and there’s no room for consi...

i'm gonna set you free A sermon on Jesus' baptism : They say a little time on social media can cheer you up. Getting updates on old acquaintances. Checking in with friends. And if you’re Amanda, getting your daily-dose of dog pics; those are all things that can brighten you day… Like many things, though, too much of a good thing tends to have the opposite effect. At a certain point, instead of cheering you up, spending time on social media will start to bum you out. Until the whole thing goes upside-down; and you log off UNhappier than when you started! Now surely there’s plenty of reasons for this, but one must be our perennial tendency to measure ourselves against others.   After looking at yet another picture of some friends vacationing, your life starts to look a little shabbier . Scrolling through curated pic after curated pic of others living their best life, tends to cast a shadow over your own… It used to be that after high ...