RoboPreacher

be afraid, be very afraid. But do it anyway  A sermon on Moses' call On my office door, I have a print of the Caravaggio painting, “The Calling of Saint Matthew.” It’s there as a bit of a wink . I encourage you to take a look at it sometime. Caravaggio was a true master . His paintings are famous for their realism . As well as their ability to capture a moment filled with action. The Calling of Saint Matthew depicts such a scene, too. In the painting, Matthew is in a dusky room, bent over a table full of coins with a coterie of Italian dandies . Into this scene steps Jesus . And it’s impossible to tell if the light that’s bursting in around him comes from the open doorway, or Jesus himself . This divine intrusion startles a few of Matthew’s associates out of their business, but not Matthew. No, Matthew’s too busy counting his money. At that very moment, while Matthew is still unaware, Jesus thrusts his hand forward. Motioning that he’s come for the very one who’s to...

toss it in the river & be free A sermon from Mt. Sinai : Most of the time it strikes us as decidedly good news to hear that in Jesus Christ we’ve been adopted into the holy family of Israel… Well, today is no such day. We hear about the behavior of these Hebrews, and are tempted to protest, they’re not my kin! The trouble, though, is the behavior we hear about hits closer to home than we care to admit. This stiff-necked people’s conduct betrays a family resemblance, whether we admit it or not… And that isn’t all that’s unsettling, either. There’s also God’s behavior. God’s behavior that isn’t familiar whatsoever… In the scripture we watch as these two forces collide .  The behavior of a people that’s more familiar than we care to admit, crashing into the behavior of God that’s completely unusual .  To really catch the force of this impact, we have to walk back: God chooses Abraham to be the father of a chosen people. God will give tha...