RoboPreacher

We’re  all  a bunch of sinners free-riding on Jesus Revelation has to be one of the most misunderstood books in the Bible. One we’re certainly not very familiar with.  And that’s too bad. Because the truth is, we’re the one’s missing out.  Revelation has a message we would all benefit from hearing. Between the years 65 and 250 A.D., being a Christian was like being a part of a criminal conspiracy. The official charge brought against Christians was “atheism.” But the real threat they posed, was their worship.  These Christians refused to give their devotion to anyone or anything except the God who raised Jesus. For that kind of exclusive fidelity, Christians were a threat to the way things were. The status quo. ( Side note, Revelation is a form of protest writing !) These early Christians were accused of atheism because the way they insisted on being faithful to God alone, made them just too different. For this kind of refusal to fit in, o...

be my love A sermon from Paul's Letter to the Galatians: Have you ever tried to change some big part of your life? (Now be honest) And how’d that go? (Anyone have any stories they want to share?) No? Lately , every morning, I find myself praying to be more joyful and less judgmental.  And I have to pray, because nothing else seems to be working … And I bet you know what I mean … I began college studying journalism. It was a fluke. I was an okay writer and a better reader, so I had potential. And it turns out, I had ambition , too… So it made a good enough of match. At Kirkwood, I became an editor and wrote a bunch. We even managed to win some Iowa College Media Association awards. Beating out four-year colleges. The kind I would end up transferring to; like Grand View … I transferred there with a big enough of a head. I had managed a paper that won more awards, written some good stories too, and even interned at a daily newspaper. So when I cam...

i'm gonna heal you anyway A sermon from the First Jerusalem Council : Well, thank heavens that’s settled.  That we’re free to breeze past embarrassing issues like this; like circumcision … No, we modern people know better. We’re too enlightened for all that.  We know something like circumcision can’t save. That really it doesn’t even make much of a difference.  Do it, don’t do it. Who cares… We hear today’s lesson and nod approvingly, “they sure got that one right.”  With a lesson like this, all that’s left is for the pastor not to prattle on too long so we can head home, confident in all our assumptions , and enjoy our Sunday brunch… And you can tell how cut and dried the issue is too, by how easily it’s put to rest: Peter gives a brief speech. Paul and Barnabas recount their experience of the uncircumcised gentile’s conversion. James quotes some scripture, and then that’s that.  The circumcision matter is put to rest on...

in a manner of speaking i'm dead A sermon on Stephen's Martyrdom In the Gospel today Stephen, a server in an early Christian soup-kitchen, meets he fate… And we have to admit, he does so faithfully … One of the earliest depictions of Jesus comes from an ancient boarding school. It seems that one of the page boys there, Alexamenos, was a Christian. And for his faith, he suffered not a little teasing.  In one of the walls, someone scratched a man on a cross, except his head is that of  a donkey. Next to that they've drawn someone in a posture of prayer. Next to their depiction they wrote, “Alexamenos worship his God,” making it clear just what they thought of Alexamenos and his faith.  In the next room, though, scrawled in the hand of a boy, perhaps Alexamenos’ himself, it says “Alexamenos is faithful.” … …You know, we spend so much time thinking what we would do if faced with some moment like the one Stephen faces today. And while we imagine wh...

We’re all a bunch of sinners free-riding on Jesus Last fall Amanda and I stumbled on to the show “Stranger Things.” The plot is basically Good versus Evil (John 1:5). This winter, well after we had binged on the show, Amanda asked if I had seen the acceptance speech.  The cast won the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Outstanding Performance in an Ensemble in a Drama Series. To accept the award, most of the cast took the stage. One of the main actors, David Harbour, gave the speech. What gained all the attention, though, was another actor. Throughout the entire speech, Winona Ryder is making these totally bizarre reactions!  Who knows why… What caught my attention, and what I want to talk about, is the speech itself. The award was given last January; & I bet you can remember how we were feeling at that time.  Upon receiving the award, Mr. Harbour acknowledged how it felt odd to celebrate at that moment. But he continued . He said it was humbling it was to...

will you carry me home A Sermon from Luke's Gospel for the Sunday after Easter Me: In the Gospel today, it’s still the same day the women came to the tomb at the break of dawn, only to be told that Jesus wasn't there. That he had been raised . Only now, it’s evening. In fact, in Luke’s Gospel, this is the first report of the resurrected Jesus. And the folks he shows up to, are two characters we haven’t met before. Cleopas, and his unnamed companion .  The two of them are heading to a village called Emmaus. We don’t know a lot about this village. It seem the two of them are heading there, though, because they’ve calling quits on the whole discipleship thing. They’re going back home to their old lives.  Strangely, when Jesus first appears to the two of them, they don’t recognize him at all! And that got me interested, how could Cleopas and his friend not recognize Jesus?  So I did a little research on the disciples named Cleopas. And...