Any building that is important to us will provide shelter. Safety, warmth. A place to sit and rest. Eat. Talk. Share. A place to work. To play. To make things and to make memories. This building is no exception. But this building has an additional purpose: to be the light of God in this place.…
God doesn’t need to fish for a compliment. God doesn’t need our “toadying,” as the British put it, nor our flattery. God exists and has existed and will exist without our constant praise. Or even our occasional praise. Yet God looks for our response. God waits for it.
In today’s gospel, John baptizes Jesus in the river Jordan. It was probably a baptism of immersion. With Jesus going all the way under the water.
The gospel writer John uses the word “testimony” to describe the baptizer John. He was a man sent from God as a witness, a witness to the light: Jesus, the Word of God made flesh. The baptizer John witnessed to the truth that he knew
The gospel writer Mark identifies John as the messenger going before Jesus, one who cries out in the wilderness and prepares the way of the Lord, as Isaiah described it in chapter 40. When the people who came to see John confessed their sins, and repented of them, it was part of making “straight in…
Today is the beginning of Advent. “Advent” means “the coming” in Latin. In the church season of Advent, we look forward to the coming of our God, in human form.
In today’s gospel, at the end of Jesus’ teaching, he gives a pop quiz. Well, he doesn’t actually give the pop quiz. He announces the scores of the pop quiz that has already been given – when the test-ees didn’t even know they were being tested.
The Day of the Lord – to be feared? To be desired? In today’s gospel, Jesus addresses his disciples privately; this is not a public teaching of Jesus. He tells the disciples a story about great treasure. It is one of three stories he tells them to prepare them for the day he wouldn’t be…
We are all saints. It is not just the dead who qualify as saints. It is every Christian, those dead and those still living. We are all the saints, just as those who are clothed in white, standing before the throne of God, singing God’s praises, worshipping God together.
Martin Luther [hold up photo of MLKing, Jr] – no. Martin Luther [hold up picture of Martin Luther] – yes. Martin Luther was a good monk. He prayed. He worshipped numerous times each day. He studied his Bible. He confessed his sins. A lot.