Intersections

               Let me start out this morning with what seems to be an obvious question - we are about two weeks from Christmas - how many of you are FILLED to the BRIM with JOY? Now, we are an authentic community, so let’s be real with one another - is there anyone here who can say they are overflowing with joy that we can come to you to be filled?   It’s hard not to have your heart be moved by our scripture today - this whole 35th chapter of Isaiah. Even the title makes our ears perk up a little bit - the Joy of the Redeemed. Well, I’d like to be redeemed, and I’ll have some of that joy too, please? I’m pretty sure that’s what we are all doing here. Starting with this scene in the desert, that this land will be GLAD, and rejoice and blossom. Why? Because the Lord is coming. The barren, the weak, the scared, the sick, all will be redeemed. They will be able to wear this joy as a crown. Verse 10, especially the end, is one that I’d lik...

I've been to New York several times. The first time I went to New York, I was with a bunch of youth group kids from our district and we were there for a seminar regarding Peace and Justice. We got to tour the UN building, which I thought was really cool. But a couple of the best things that I saw were actually outside of the building.   In the gardens, there is a statue (which was once bronze I've been told, now made green) of a human raising a hammer to a bent sword they're pushing into the ground. It looks a little strange, but the plaque said "Beating Swords into Plowshares" and it's was a gift from the Soviet Union to the UN back in 1959. The reference comes from our text this morning. The other is across the street from the UN Building. There's a small park, and in the park is a huge wall with Isaiah 2:4 carved into it:  "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against na...

  I was a little lost while I was writing this sermon this week... couldn't seem to put together the right words. Maybe that's why it seemed so easy to put off... out of sight, out of mind. Anyway - so here we are in the second week in our series of "Having Words with Jesus", taking difficult parables and maybe looking at them with fresh eyes to see how they can help us understand what Jesus is talking about. The second we have here in Luke 15 is actually a series of three parables, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. The lectionary breaks it up to put the last story at a different time in the rotation, and I suppose it deserves its own commentary. We are left with finding the lost.  It's interesting how Luke begins the chapter, pitting two groups kind of against each other. He starts with the tax collectors and sinners were gathering to hear Jesus speak. The pharisees and the other teachers of the law were somewhere close as well, but they are...

One of my favorite months of the year is here! May is my birth month and after the turbulent weather throughout April, hopefully it will stabilize and just keep getting warmer! Since the weather is getting nice outside, I know I’ll be rising up out of my chair and trying to get outside more often.   Rising up could just be the act of changing from a sitting position to a standing one. It could also mean asserting one’s rights against injustice. A third definition is that it could be coming together to support one another in a time of crisis.  The verse that I chose this from is Acts 9:40, where Peter is bringing Tabitha back from the dead and he says to her, in the King James’ version, “Tabitha, arise!” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.  God wants us to be partners, not puppets. As much as our lives belong to God, we are working together for the glory of the Kingdom. We need to have a relationship to be partners though. Could you imagine h...

     Last week, we were with Peter while he and some other disciples are in court for preaching and teaching the Gospel. The Sanhedrin wanted to quash this new movement that has started with Jesus, so they are trying to root them out and silence them.       We come this week to a familiar passage, the conversion of Saul. The whole story continues from our passage today until verse 20, and I encourage for you to read the rest of it some time this week. It’s only another… fifteen verses or so, pretty easy.       Now, our main character this week is Saul. He’s what some may call a pretty bad hombre. He was a Pharisee, and was introduced in chapter 8 as the one who approved of the apostle Stephen’s killing, which he also witnessed. That’s kind of his background right now at the beginning when it says “STILL threatening and plotting against the disciples”, like a bull in a china shop, or a rabid animal after its prey. His story continues...

  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I'm glad you didn't get too lost last week, because it seems as most of you have found your way back here. I appreciate that! Welcome to the last Sunday of Christmas this year, and this is day seven for those who are counting. Watch out for any swans you come across, hopefully they’re all swimming.  Speaking of swimming, I know these days it’s too cold to go swimming, but just know that out of the darkness, the light is increasing and spring and summer days will be here soon! Did you know that Indiana has lighthouses? Two of them, in fact. You really don’t think Indiana as much of a state that would have any lighthouses, but yeah - two of them, both on Lake Michigan. I’ve seen one of them - the one in Michigan City. The other one is closer to Chicago near Gary. But aren’t lighthouses kind of incredible? Someone had the idea that to keep the ships safe, even in the waters of Lake Michigan, that there needed to be big lights to help direct...

How should we live? You don't ask yourself that question, right? Oh, you don't? I guess I'm the weirdo here then. There are so many shoulds in our lives, especially now during Advent. Should we send Christmas cards, should we visit our estranged extended families? We should be living with joy. The candle that was lit this morning is a representation of that joy. Although it doesn’t come across as such, this scripture is about joy. Last week, we began this set of scripture with John the Baptist, and he was brought to focus on the Messiah - whose time has not come yet. He was sent to prepare the world for the arrival. Screaming at the crowds who come to you, doesn’t seem like the right vibe? Let’s go through the text slowly to set the scene…  Luke sets up John like this… the crowds came to him to be baptized. Again - still in the wilderness, so these are wanderers, sojourners, disconnected people who wanted to belong. They were looking for something, even something that co...