Sermon Texts

We are thinking today about marches. Yesterday, inspired by the amazing students from Parkland, FL, a million people showed up in Washington to say “#enough is enough” – on gun violence. There was a major march in RVA, and many cities across the world. Perhaps we are moving to a new place to talk about guns and safety and life in the USA.

We are also thinking about Jesus today – as he marches into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

And, we are marching into Holy week – when Jesus confronts the established leaders, says goodbye to his friends, predicts that they will desert him; he is arrested and mocked and hung on a cross.

So, it seems like a good week to think about this word - SAVIOR. We keep trying to sort out these questions – who is Jesus . . . and how does he really save us?

Do you sometimes feel like your life is a total BLUR?

            What were you doing Friday morning? How about Tuesday afternoon? How about Wednesday evening? Oh, okay . . . if you are in the bell choir, or the choir, that one was easy – practice,  . .  at the church.

            But what was a major highlight of the past week? For me and Ginger, that’s pretty easy – we had a new grandson – beautiful and amazing. But most weeks are not like that.

And what about last month?  What would be the highlight there? Maybe you had something significant – like a special trip, or a birthday, . . . or maybe a new diagnosis, or a new emerging challenge that sets a difficult course ahead. 

Way back almost 100 years ago (1925), a magazine called New York World celebrated the birthday of Abraham Lincoln with a cartoon. Obviously, Abraham Lincoln remains one of the greatest heroes of American culture; this was true in 1925 and it is true today. Our nation reveres Abe Lincoln. So this cartoon, celebrating his birthday, has become something of a classic.

I want to begin today with an important Biblical question.

            How is it that the people God - created and called, the descendants of Abraham and Sarah, watched over for generations, led out of slavery from Egypt, through years of squabbles and challenges in the desert – how could these people actually become a unified people among other people in the region?

            How is it that a “rag-tag” bunch could become . . . a holy nation?

It is so very wonderful to read and to hear this story again on this night. In the darkness of this hour, in the stillness of this evening, in the sacredness of this space, THIS STORY wants to convey to our hearts and minds and lives some very important truths about God.

“TOGETHER”

            I suspect that many of us might be able to quote the opening line of the 23rd Psalm. Psalm 23 remains perhaps some of the most familiar and most beloved words in the whole Bible: “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            Psalm 24 – which we heard a moment ago – may not be so well known. But, Psalm 24 may be equally profound and so important: “the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it.”

            The earth is the Lord’s and ALL THAT IS IN IT. The world and all people BELONG TO GOD.

  Every now and then, a dramatic series on television gets our attention in our home. I wonder if you have seen the drama entitled “This Is Us,” which just started its second season and appears on Tuesday nights on NBC.

            “This Is Us” gets our focused attention because all the characters are complex – like real people; none of the storylines are straight-forward, like real life; and this drama seems so willing to delve into the colorful dysfunction that often touches so many of our lives.

  The famous comedian George Burns once said that the real secret to a great sermon is to have a good beginning,  . . . and a good ending, . .  . and to have the two as close together as possible.

            I will try to do that today.

But we have a big subject – REFORMATION.

            Today is Reformation Sunday; it is always the last Sunday in October. This year, the Reformation deserves special attention because we are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

  If we play the “word association” game – you know – that game where one word almost automatically leads to another –

            I say “smoke;” you say “fire” – and we’ve had, unfortunately, our share of that this week at the church. And we certainly keep in our prayers the man who was injured in the explosion in our boiler room.

 I say “lock;” you say “key.”

I say “peanut butter;” you say “jelly.”

This is how we think . . . certain words go together.

If I say “SIBILING,” you might say, . . .  “RIVALRY.”

The first 11 Chapters of the Bible – in the book of Genesis - talk about cosmic things. God creates the world and calls it good. God creates all things in the world – day & night, sky & earth, and every living thing. God creates humankind – Adam and Eve – and gives them instructions in how to live. Two weeks ago, we looked carefully at one of those early stories in Genesis – the story of the first children born into the world, Cain and Abel - and the first murder: Cain killed his brother Abel.

Late last Saturday afternoon, Ginger and I took our regular walk in our neighborhood.  . . .             You might remember last Saturday.

            Many of us gathered here in the Sanctuary for the memorial service for Linda Harrah. That was my primary focus for that day. But Saturday, you recall, was also the day that our city, and especially the neighborhood around Monument Ave, flowed with excessive anxiety and uncertainty and racial tensions.

God is so powerfully at work here!

This is what people of faith celebrate. God is always doing new things. God is present and active in the midst of life. Our lives are always lived in the context of God’s love, toward God’s purposes, and trusting in God’s steadfast faithfulness and care. We belong to God. Our lives strive to serve God always.

Perhaps many of you are familiar with the cartoon character “Ziggy.” “Ziggy” has been around for several decades. In one cartoon, Ziggy has taken his pet parrot to the doctor because his parrot is frazzled, frenzied, and stressed out to the maximum. The parrot’s feathers are awry, eyes are askew. No telling what has caused this awful state. And then Ziggy presents his parrot to the doctor, saying, “I left him at home all day with the TV turned to CNN.”