RoboPreacher

looked 'round, asked, 'you made this hell yourself  / well it's real nice' A sermon on Jesus' perfect parable of the 10 bridesmaids : On any given Sunday, more than a few of us walk through those doors, just barely hanging by a thread . And trust me, I’m not being dramatic here, either.   Now I know we don’t come here every Sunday fresh off a crisis . However, I do know that plenty of us ARE here with some drama breathing down our necks as I speak. Aren’t we? And what’s more , I know just as many of us staggered through those doors only recently touched by some calamity . And I know plenty of US here are trying to make heads from tails after life pulled the rug out from under our feet. And I even know there are not a few of us worried life will never be put a’right .   And as for the rest of us , well, we’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Aren’t we? It’s like Thoreau said, isn’t it? The majority of us lead lives of quiet desperation. Qui...

catch me up, i've got warmth in my bones The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the 25th chapter! I love it when we have an upbeat, even chaotic prelude (like last week). It’s great coming into worship -led by a flame- with the sense that anything could happen. It’s a good way to begin worship, anticipating that anything could happen, because, well , maybe it could …  Remember how I used to make you share with each other what you thought God might do during our worship (an exercise I learned from former ELCA Bishop, Mark Hansen)? Well, I only gave that up reluctantly. The truth is, it’s a good question. More precisely, it’s a good way to begin worship: anticipating that God is going to do something, that anything could happen. That’s what today’s parable is about … I remember once when I was younger, and my uncle was going to drive in from Washington State, to visit us all in Iowa. His siblings decided to keep this a secret from my grandmother. Their ide...