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Showing posts from 2010

A Blessed Christmas to All - Christmas Eve 2010 - Luke 2:1-3

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In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.   This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their towns to be registered.   (Lk. 2:1-3) In a particular time, at a particular place, under the rule of a particular monarch, the following event took place: a census, a registration.   It was decreed, says Luke, and, in one very curt and short sentence we are told that all went to their towns to be registered.   All went, all did what they were told to do, no questions asked.   The dictator speaks and the people respond.   They had better, for things sometimes go badly for those who don’t follow orders.   It seems to me that we 21 st century Christians too often tend to read these opening verses as a kind of introduction to the “real” story that comes later – the part about the shepherds and the angels and Mary and Joseph.   But this evening I would like to focus on these first three v

Advent IV – Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine – Sermon Thoughts on Matthew 1:18-25

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Read the text - here: Matthew 1:18-25 Advent IV – Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine – Sermon Thoughts on Matthew 1:18-25 Joseph lieber, Joseph mein, Hilf mir wiegen mein Kindelein Joseph dearest, Joseph mine, help me cradle this child of mine…. To Listen to a beautiful setting and performance of this carol by Quire Cleveland click.... HERE!!!               Some of us might recognize this old German carol.  It is one of the few carols that actually name Mary’s husband Joseph, but don’t let that fool you.  The carol is ultimately not about Joseph.  After the first two verses Joseph disappears like he always does (the first two verses are a dialog between Mary and Joseph).  Joseph is perhaps the most neglected character in the traditional crèche.  Every Christmas we celebrate Mary and the shepherds and the angels and the wise men and through it all Joseph is the silent character who sits quietly, out of the way, besides the crèche.              This is because the story of Christmas

Advent II - Excuses, Excuses - St. Matthew 3:1-12

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Take the opportunity to read the text -  St. Matthew 3:1-12 John the Baptist is certainly a colorful kind of guy.   For some he was an embarrassment.   For others he was offensive and a threat.   But for everyone who heard him his message rang true: “Repent for the Kingdom of God is near at hand.” Repent! What does this word mean?   The Greek word that stands behind this English word is the word: metanoia – and it literally means to turn around and go in a different direction.   The English word itself comes from a French word – repense – which means to re-think.   John’s call to those who heard (and hear) his message is for them to look at their lives; to take stock of their relationships with God and with others and to re-think the priorities they have set, the choices they have made and they way they are in relationship with God; and then, aided by the Holy Spirit, to confess, receive absolution and to turn around and go in another direction. The essence of John’s teaching

Advent I - Family Connections - St. Matthew 1:1-17

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Advent is a time of waiting and a time of hope. During Advent we anticipate the birth of the Messiah, Jesus who is to be born at Christmas and bring the Kingdom of God into our midst. Advent is also a time when we look forward to that day when Christ will come again and bring the Kingdom of God into our midst in its fullness. But who is this Jesus? Where does he come from? These are questions were very important to early Christian communities and for this reason Matthew begins his Gospel with the answers to these question by providing a genealogy. Now, the bible has lots of genealogies – especially the Old Testament (Luke includes one too, but in Luke it is like a footnote to the Baptism of Jesus – see Luke chapter 3). The book of 1st Chronicles, for example, begins with 9 long chapters of genealogy. These genealogies can be tedious, which anyone who has tried to read through even 1 of these 9 chapters in I Chronicles will affirm. But Matthew’s genealogy is different. For o

The Sacraments - Penance

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Reflections from the Pastor – Pastor S. Blake Duncan …and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ (St. Matthew 1:23b) For the last few months I have used this space to discuss what it means that we are a Sacramental church.  Last month I discussed the central and formal Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion.  Through Holy Baptism we are brought into community and become a part of God’s family and through regular (weekly) participation in the Sacrament of Holy Communion we are fed, strengthened and nourished with God’s presence and empowered for our ministry in the world.  These two Sacraments are the foundation of our Christian life and ministry.  But the Roman Catholic Church holds traditionally to seven Sacraments, and this was the case during Luther’s time as well.  What about the other 5? The seven traditional Sacraments of the church are: Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation, Ordination, Marriage, Penance (or Confession and Absolution) and Extr

The Feast of All Saints – Luke 6:20-31 – Called to be a Saint

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The Feast of All Saints – Luke 6 – Called to be a Saint …and so with the church on earth, all creation and the host of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn….. Those words, which are spoken each time we celebrate Holy Communion, prepare us for the celebration of the gift of the Sacrament by reminding us that we are joining with the Saints of the past and the Saints of the present at the heavenly Banquet table.  As we kneel at the rail we are there at table with the entire host of the Saints of every age.  What an amazing gift to us this is.  And like many of God’s gifts, this is one that is easy for us to loose sight of. Think about it for a minute – who are your favorite saints?  One of the apostles, St. Paul, St. Francis, Martin Luther?  Or perhaps it is someone more recent – someone famous, or even someone who was important to you in your life as you grew and learned the faith – a parent or grandparent, a Sunday School teacher or pastor, a teacher

Reformation Sunday – “No Password Needed”

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As our society has become more and more technologically based I have found that I am constantly being asked to create and remember new passwords. Almost everything we do online requires a password. We have passwords for our email accounts, bank accounts, credit card accounts, online stores and merchants, social networking sites and on and on. Now, if we could use one password for everything then it would be no problem, but we can’t. Each site has its own requirements and these requirements are placed there for good reason: in order to limit access, to us alone. So that no one else has access to our accounts, we then have to remember so many different and sometimes complex passwords and this is also why we may have to change them from time to time. Of course the idea of a password as a digital key is relatively recent. But having special knowledge or even special status or completing a special action in order to limit access to something is not new at all. This has be a part of

"On God's Side" - Sermon for Proper 25C - Luke 18:9-14

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If you wish to read the parable you can find it:  HERE! St. Luke 18:9-14 On God’s Side Charles arrived early for church on that rainy October Sunday morning.  He was always a little early for church.  He liked to be early.  He was committed to coming to worship and he was there every week, without fail.  He had been a member for a long time.  He and his wife had been married in this church, they raised their children in this church.  He had also been an active member, serving on council and participating in lots of other activities over the years.  Charles was a good man.  He strove to do what was right and to live a Christian life.  And so, on this rainy Sunday morning he and his wife slipped into their favorite pew to wait for the service to begin. Zeke had also been a member for a number of years, but had not always been very regular in his worship attendance.  In fact, this particular Sunday was the first Sunday he had been in church for some time.  But

Persistence Pays - St. Luke 18:1-8 - Proper 24C

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If you wish to read the parable you can find it -  HERE - St. Luke 18:1-8 This past week I watched some of the “God in America” series on PBS’ “American Experience.” If you have not seen any of this go to their website and watch it – FIND IT HERE! ! This series is a series of vignettes from the history of the lives and events that have shaped the development of religious thought and experience in the USA. One of the stories that I found particularly captivating was the story of Anne Hutchinson. Anne was a puritan living in Massachusetts. The puritans had come from England to escape persecution and to be able to worship freely, but they had fallen into the same kind of trap so that life in the puritan villages was just as oppressive and strict as life in England, if not more so. In this context Anne started women’s bible studies and she began quietly and later not so quietly challenging both the theology and the male leadership of the colony. In particular Anne was lifting up i

I Deserve It!

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I Deserve It!  - Some Reflections on II Kings 5:1-3, 7-15 / St. Luke 17:11-19 There is a current TV ad for a car rental company which has a well dressed young executive walking through an airport talking and going out to the parking lot.  When he gets there he picks a nice car, looks at the camera and says: "I deserve it?"  I always want to yell at the screen - "Why?"  Why do you deserve this car, why do you think you "deserve" anything? This seems to be a theme in our society - entitlement.  We think we "deserve" this and that, and lots of money and a nicer house than we can afford and a fancy car and a pretty generic family and no debt or illness or anything else.  And when hard times hit, then we get angry - "it isn't fair; I don't deserve this!"  We get angry with our job, or politicians or with God because things aren't for us the way they are supposed to be.  Or we find others to scapegoat -

Singin' The Blues - Some Thoughts on Habakkuk for Proper 22C

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The Blues are a distinctive musical expression that emerged from the African-American experience of slavery and reconstruction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries here in our country. The form is simple – we can all write a blues verse: 1. Identify a basic situation you want to express from your life’s experience (usually based on a hardship of some sort). 2. State the situation in a line of 13 beats – example: I was with you, baby, when you didn’t have a dime. 3. Repeat. 4. State the complaint (lament - how it directly affects you) in 14 beats – example: Now since you got plenty money, you’re gone now all the time. This example is by the great blues singer Besse Smith. And you can go on and on and on. This particular blues has a number of verses and by the end of it all she has gone from lament to resolution; from the complaining that he is a no good bum to resolving to dump him! We talk about “singing the blues” when things are not going well. And usually it is a way

Sacraments -The Foundation: Baptism and Holy Communion

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And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.  (St. Matthew 28:20b)             With these words the Gospel of St. Matthew’s comes to an end.  We began this Gospel with the proclamation of the birth of “Emmanuel” – God with us; and we end with these words from the risen Jesus which conclude the great commission.  Jesus says – remember (make present in your life) that I am with you always!  What an amazing promise.  In the Judaism of Jesus’ time access to God was limited to the temple and to gain access to God’s presence one had to come to the temple and offer a sacrifice and offering.  But in Jesus - because of the crucifixion and resurrection, this access is opened up.  The risen Jesus is with us now and always and because of this God’s presence is always available.  What an amazing gift.  But one that we need to remind ourselves of on a regular basis, for I think it is too easy for us to take this gift for granted.  Out of this concern come the Sacraments o

Rich and Poor – Some Thoughts on Luke 16:19-31

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You can read the Gospel text for Ordinary 26C - St. Luke 16:19-31 - HERE! Our Gospel text for today is a hard text, especially for those of us who live in the 1 st world.  The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus clearly sets out for us God’s “preferential option for the poor.”  This is a theme which is particularly prevalent in the Gospel of Luke.  Take note of these examples:  Mary’s Song from Luke 1:53 - … He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty…”  From Jesus’ first sermon in Luke 4:18 – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor…”  The “Blessings and Woes” from the Sermon on the Mount, in Luke 6:20-26 – “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled… But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry…”  And this Sunday we come to the parable