RoboPreacher

as long as somebody takes me home A sermon on the widow at Zarephath and Elijah : Here we are. And on the one hand, it doesn’t appear as though very much is happening at all. Does it? You’re sitting there . I’m standing here . And yes, I’m talking , but that’s about it .   But you know what? Something is happening! And not just something, either. No, a lot is happening! God, in all the fullness thereof, is happening ! Yes, I’m speaking, but the words are not mine. No, God , God is coopting them! The Holy Spirit is filling them with Christ himself ! Whatever else you’re hearing, it’s not just mere words. No, it’s Christ the Word made flesh , made word again , and presently taking flesh in these words once more! This means it’s not just the speaking God has a hand in! No, God is also coopting your hearing! Christ is riding the breath of the Holy Spirit on these words to travel down your ear canal and into your heart! And the Holy Trinity is doing all this to bring about t...

what'd come for you A sermon on St. Paul's rousing conclusion to 1 Corinthians : One of the first lessons they teach you in journalism school is how to write an obituary . You heard that right, an obituary . And while that may be surprising , it actually makes a lot of sense. After all, a traditional obituary is, if nothing else, just straight -ahead reporting. In those old print obituaries, only the facts that were published. The conventional obituary is limited to information such as the person’s name, age, and this is important , their cause of death . Why, I can still remember blessed Rose Kodet shouting, “The person did NOT pass away! They did not go on their reward ! No, they died .” To be a good reporter, insisted Rose, you had to know how to tell the plain truth.   I doubt that was my first lesson in truth -telling, but it was the one that stuck. And as I’ve served as a pastor, I’ve always thought we , as the church , ought to be able to be at least as hones...