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100905 - Larry Unplugged
Well, it’s Labour Day weekend, and we’re kind of in between summer and not summer – we’re back, but we’re still in holiday mode, we’re here, but we’re not really fully into our fall start up yet. So I thought I’d do something a bit different today, not really knowing who might be here, or whether you’d all be gone for one last kick at the cottage.
When I first got the idea for today’s sermon time I jokingly called it “What I Did On My Summer Vacation” – because really, that’s what this is. I’m going to play a few songs for you. You may remember back in June when I first came back from my retreat week that I shared a song with you and told you how that song broke a 4-year dry spell for writing. I’d like to start today by playing you that song again – and this time I promise I’ll make it all the way through!
Tweet100822 - Yabbut
Yr C ~ P13 ~ Jeremiah 1:4-10
So, Jeremiah realizes that it all begins in blessing and that God knew him from his first moment, and not only that but God had laid a calling on his heart from the beginning too. He responds like we would – by complaining! He has a pet name for God – it’s Yabbut! He uses it all the time. “Yabbut I don’t know how to speak. Yabbut, I don’t know what to say. Yabbut, I’m only a boy.” (he was probably in his late teens) But apparently lack of confidence in your ability and your age and stage in life are not barriers to God calling you to share your faith. “Yabbut, I’m just a kid!” – And God replies, “I’ll be having none of that – you’ll go where I send you and say what I tell you.”
But God doesn’t just leave it up to Jeremiah’s own skills and abilities. In v.9 God touches Jeremiah’s mouth (metaphorically, of course) – “I have put my words in your mouth” – “I have inspired you!” And God sends Jeremiah out to begin his life as a prophet – God’s messenger.
What does this passage say to us today? Was it just for one man at one time in history? Or is there something more universal here? I think we “Yabbut” God all the time – and this story is a perfect example of why. I mean, think about it. Jeremiah’s right. What could a youth possibly have to say to us about faith? “Young bucks, still wet behind the ears, what do they know?” Well, I’ll tell you.
100815 - iWeather
Yr C ~ P12 ~ Luke 12:49-56
“You hypocrites!” Not exactly a breezy way to start a summer sermon, but it’s certainly an effective way to get someone’s attention! “You hypocrites,” Jesus says, “You know how to interpret the weather, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” [Luke 12:56] We’ll get to the hypocrites part in a minute, but for now I want to talk about the weather.
When we lived in Nova Scotia we learned very quickly that a local phrase that sounded like one of those sayings that wasn’t really true really was true. They say, “If you don’t like the weather wait 15 minutes.” They weren’t kidding – that was fact! Weather systems would blow in and blow out very quickly. When you went out for a day you learned to put in contingency clothing to handle whatever might come up that day.
I don’t know why our society is obsessed with the weather, but we are. We check the forecast several times a day sometimes, or catch it on the radio every few minutes. Some people leave the Weather Network on their TV all day just so they can keep up to date (the programming may not be very exciting but at least there are no reruns!). We know all sorts of fancy weather terms like humidity, precipitation, barometer, uv index, meteorologist. Obviously, this is serious business.
Whatever did we do before the Weather Network? Or the TV or radio news? I guess we had “I Witness Weather” with Les Nessman. Les was a quirky character on the show WKRP in Cincinnati and he liked to do a fancy weather forecast called I Witness Weather – not E-Y-E-Witness, “I” witness. He’d go to the window and witness the weather. That’s how it used to be done – we just stuck our head out the window and looked up. If your face was wet, it was raining, if it was cold, you put on a jacket. How did this get so complicated? All we really need is a bit of information so we can know how to go forward with our day.
So how does the weather relate to Jesus calling his followers (that’s us by the way) hypocrites? Let’s try to unlock this. “You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the weather, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” The time that Jesus is talking about is important. He doesn’t mean 4:00 pm, and he doesn’t mean “in the year 33” (or whatever year it was), and he doesn’t mean “these days”.
100808 - 21-C Serenity
Yr C ~ P11 ~ Luke 12:22-34
He doesn’t stop there, but for the first 9 verses of today’s gospel reading it seems like Jesus is saying “Don’t worry – be happy. Don’t worry about your life, about food or clothing. Think about the birds – they don’t worry about those things but they get what they need. Aren’t you more valuable than mere birds? Can your worrying make you live longer, or add an inch to your height? And what about the flowers? They don’t really do anything useful but they’re gorgeous. God makes everything beautiful – even you! Have a little trust! So relax. Chill. Life is good. Enjoy it. You’re blessed. Let other people worry about stuff.”
Don’t worry – be happy. Sh’yeah right. That’s easier said than done. Two weeks ago when I was on holidays sitting on my deck in the morning enjoying a coffee and writing in my journal (ahhhh!!!) I suddenly found myself writing notes about this message. I’m supposed to be on holidays! What am I thinking about this for? I’m my own object lesson here. I was plenty worried about the weight of this message and the potential that it has for the future of Faith United and Harmony United. What if no one from Harmony comes today? What if they’ve already decided? What if they don’t like me? What if…
100711 - Radi-Call
Yr C ~ Pentecost 5 ~ Luke 9:51-62
One night I had a wondrous dream. One set of foot prints there were seen.
The foot prints of my precious Lord but mine were not along the shore.
But then some stranger prints appeared. I asked the Lord, “What have we here?
These prints are large and round and neat but Lord, they are too big for feet."
"My child," he said in somber tones. "For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith but you refused and made me wait.
You disobeyed, you would not grow; the walk of faith you would not know.
So I got tired, I got fed up and there I dropped you on your butt.
Because in life there comes a time when one must fight and one must climb.
When one must rise and take a stand…or leave your butt prints in the sand."
Today’s Gospel reading falls into the category of “the hard sayings of Jesus”. He bluntly challenges his would-be followers with memorable one-liners like: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head.” “Let the dead bury their own dead.” And, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
I can’t imagine these kinds of sayings made Jesus very popular. But then, he didn’t really seem to care about being popular, did he? Jesus cared about being holy. And he wants that for his followers too. But it begs the question, “What do we want our religious leaders to say to us?” Do we want to hear hard sayings? Do we want to hear the truth?
Or do we want sweet and frothy little “Chicken Soup for the Soul” stories to warm our hearts and make us feel nice? Do we want a prosperity gospel like gets preached on TV that says if you follow Jesus you’ll get everything you want in life? (A better job, a new house…a sailboat!) What do we come to church to hear? What do you want from me? Or better yet, what do you need from me? Maybe what we want is the problem! What does God want for us? Before I launch into my sermon each week what are the words I pray? “May we be challenged and convicted…” – Because I don’t want any of us to be making butt prints in the sand.