Sermon Texts

Every couple of weeks, I receive a newsletter from Duke Divinity School entitled, Faith and Leadership. This publication always shares stories of new, inspiring, and effective practices of ministry that are bearing fruit.

In the most recent edition of this publication, a certain title grabbed my attention: “What If We Are All Burned Out?” This is how the piece opens: “Is everyone burned out? When I read about pastors who are considering resigning, I am not surprised. The stress of 2020 and 2021 has been relentless and exhausting. When I look at the people in the pews, I see the stress — in particular the stress experienced by parents, people of color, teachers, students and health care workers. I don’t know how to weight the comparative stress of anyone’s particular responsibility. And I wonder how congregations can respond when nearly everyone is overwhelmed.” (Faith and Leadership, Duke Divinity School, faithandleadership.com - January 21, 2022)

David Odom, the Executive Director of Leadership Education at Duke goes on to share a study from Harvard Business School that defines burnout in this way: “It is a complex condition that can manifest any of three distinct symptoms: “exhaustion (a depletion of mental or physical resources), cynical detachment (a depletion of social connectedness) and a reduced sense of efficacy (a depletion of value for oneself).” (see reference above)

Read More

Today we get to go to a party. Even with the snow falling and all the other crazy things going on. How long has it been since you have been to a party - a real party, with happy people eating and drinking and celebrating life? Do you remember what a party used to feel like? It has been so long for most of us. People talking - without masks, and sharing life and laughter?

Today, we get to go, not just to a party, but to a wedding. So many weddings, so many parties, have been postponed because of the pandemic.

We are not really going to a party; we are not actually going to a wedding; but our Scripture passage from the second chapter of John is about Jesus and what happens at a joyful wedding. Listen to the story:

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” 5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. 9When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Read More

Friends, there are so many things, in these days, that fill us with fear.

We keep dealing with the haunting, ever-stalking, COVID virus and its variants. I cannot even count the number of people - family members, friends, church members, others who have recently been diagnosed with this virus. And this happens lately after we have worked so hard, been so careful and cautious - the virus keeps creeping in, making us sick, causing mayhem in our society, and even death around us. This certainly generates fear among us.

There is also, just a few days after the anniversary of the attack on the Capitol, genuine fear about our democracy in peril. On Wednesday of this past week, Jimmy Carter, our nation’s 39th President, wrote a piece for the NY Times, entitled, “I Fear for Our Democracy.”

This is what Carter writes: I now fear that what we have fought so hard to achieve globally — the right to free, fair elections, unhindered by strongman politicians who seek nothing more than to grow their own power — has become dangerously fragile at home. And he concludes, following appeals to common principles and reforming policies, with this: Our great nation now teeters on the brink of a widening abyss. Without immediate action, we are at genuine risk of civil conflict and losing our precious democracy. Americans must set aside differences and work together before it is too late. (NY Times, January 5, 2022)

There are other things that generate fear, too.

Read More

Listen now to the story - just after the birth of Jesus - from Matthew’s gospel, chapter 2:

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” 7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Read More

God real?

Can God be trusted?

These are sincere questions that emerge sometimes from our hearts. As often as we gather in this sacred and beautiful place, and link our lives with all those who have lived the faith, . . . when we are honest, we all have doubts and questions.

Is God real? Can God be trusted? Those questions emerge for me in recent days. We are fatigued by the pandemic, and especially new variants that threaten to keep us covered up with caution and fear for the foreseeable future. We keep having school shootings where our kids are dying. Those questions emerge when we have loved ones, and church members, struggling with sad circumstances, or lingering problems, or new diagnoses. Those questions worry us as we think about climate change and a world where democracy . . . and equal rights, . . . and equal justice for all seem to be in peril.

Is God real? Can God be trusted?

Those questions emerge even as we light another candle on the Advent Wreath, and sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” and gather again today around the Lord’s table.

And those questions, truly, have also always been part of the journey for people of faith. Doubt and faith, questions and confidence in God go together. The most devoted and righteous people wonder these things.

At the beginning of Luke’s gospel, we meet Elizabeth and Zechariah. Zechariah is a priest and Elizabeth is his wife. This is what it says: “both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren and both were getting on in years” (Luke 1:6-7).

Wow. Both of them were “righteous, living blamelessly.”

Read More

Today is known as “Reign of Christ Sunday,” as the bulletin says.

Some of us know a little bit about the Christian year - the changing colors in the sanctuary, the rhythm of life as Christians. The Christian liturgical year does not start of January 1 with the calendar. It does not start on July 1 like many financial years. It does not start in the fall like the school year.

The Christian year - the liturgical year - starts with . . . . Advent - with 4 Sundays approaching Christmas - waiting and watching for God’s coming. Advent begins next Sunday. Advent, you may recall, kicks off the liturgical year, then we move into Christmas, Epiphany, and Lent, Easter, and Pentecost, all the way around through today - Reign of Christ Sunday. This is the last Sunday of the church’s year - before the new year begins next Sunday - with Advent. After today, Christians can say . . “happy new year.”

The church’s year always strives to end with a strong affirmation. Christ reigns. That is R-E-I-G-N-S! Not rain - but REIGN - as in prevail, or rule. That is a very important message. Chaos does not reign; confusion and despair do not prevail. Pain and suffering do not reign. The church wants to say loudly and strongly, Christ reigns!

We used to call this Sunday Christ the King - but that is too regal, and masculine; plus, in this country, we remain dubious of kings or anyone who seeks to rule over; . .and we want to be inclusive. So we call it “Reign of Christ Sunday.”

Reign of Christ Sunday was established fairly recently - by Pope Pius XI - in 1925 - as a way “to combat the destructive forces of this age.” Obviously, we are still dealing with destructive forces. So, we still need the assertion - Christ reigns - because of the chaos around us. Just read the headlines: children getting shot in our city; poverty and hunger on our streets; people struggling and dying as refugees trying to get to a better life. We also have very serious statistics about the destruction of the planet; we have greed and cynicism dominating our common and political life; we have COVID, and other ailments, debilitating us; . . . and we all have heartaches and hurts that paralyze us.

Read More

Here is a true story : Mrs. Smartt was fumbling in her purse in church as the offering plate was coming around. Suddenly, a large television remote fell out of her purse and clattered into the aisle. An usher went over to help her, bent over to retrieve it, and whispered, “Do you always carry your TV remote to church?” “No,” she replied, “but my husband refused to come with me this morning; he knew it was a Stewardship Sunday, and I figured this was the most evil . . . and legal . . thing I could do to him.”

We are all invited in these days to be in prayerful consideration of our lives, our blessings, our resources. And we are, as a church family, working on our commitments and Stewardship plans for serving God for the coming year.

Listen to this passage for this day, from Mark 12:

38As Jesus taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

41He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.43Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Read More

In all of Jesus’ teachings, he is trying to guide us in “The Way” - the way of loving God and loving God’s people. This is the journey of discipleship. We have to keep working on it, seeking to be changed, be transformed, in the ways of Jesus. Jesus seeks to help us not just to get through our days but to find life in abundance, and to live in a way that reflects the love and justice, the light and peace that God intends for all people.

The title of this sermon - some of you might recognize - comes from a few words in Romans 12, a favorite chapter of mine. We seek to have our lives so filled with God and God’s love that we live, not conformed, but transformed, worshipping and serving God, with love and zeal, with hospitality and generosity. We are - according to Romans 12 - to rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. We are to live in harmony and get along with everyone. We belong to God. Our lives are to be about loving and serving God.

Do not be conformed to the world. Be transformed. This is God’s continuing plan and purpose for our lives.

But . . . this calling to be transformed proves to be quite difficult. We are invited to trust God with our lives and our plans - and we all live with doubts and worries. We are expected to walk each day with God - and we find ourselves covered up with pressures and concerns - maybe from family life, or work life, or the political scene these days, and our love and zeal, our hospitality and generosity fall away from us. We also get so focused on certain things - raising our kids, making money, establishing ourselves - we easily conform to the world instead of being . . . transformed.

Read More

When the world gets too much for Jesus - like in Luke 12:50, Jesus says “what stress I am under!” - when things simply get too hectic and stressful, Jesus takes off. How does Jesus deal with stress - with the stress of fatigue, rejection, misunderstanding, uncertainty, despair? He changes focus. Rather than take out his frustrations on others, he takes off. Jesus allows time apart, time in prayer, time in nature, time nurturing another faithful framework to re-shape and re-center his life. (see L. Sweet, The Jesus Prescription for a Healthy Life, p. 152)

For several of the recent Sundays in worship, we have been listening to words from James - James the short letter near the end of the New Testament, James the pastor who wrote to his congregation in the first century mostly about how to be God’s people in the world. James says “be doers of the word.” James also says, be careful what you say - words are powerful, and words matter. And then we have this passage. Listen to these final words - James 5:13-20:

Read More

Who is Jesus? And what does Jesus really mean for our lives?

That seems like a crazy question to begin a sermon. We all know enough about Jesus - or remain curious about Jesus - to get ourselves dressed so we can gather in our sacred sanctuary in downtown Richmond. Or, we maintain enough interest in Jesus to orient our day in such a way that we tune into the streaming video of worship today.

Jesus is an amazing person, a great teacher. Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus is the Savior of the world. Jesus is the way we seek to live life - by following Jesus - the way and the truth - as the gospel of John puts it. Jesus is the best example and spirit-person that the world has ever known. Jesus is the one who knows us, understands our troubles, meets us on the dusty roads of life. Jesus is the One who loves us, cries with us, helps us get through every challenge, and promises that nothing can separate us from God. This is something of what we affirm.

But who is Jesus, really? And what does Jesus mean for our lives, especially when we feel like life can be so overwhelming. We got big challenges facing us -

Read More

Have you seen the TV commercials that feature “Dr. Rick?” Every time I see these commercials, I feel a smile come across my face. Dr. Rick is a fictitious character who says his job is to help people to “un-become” their parents. And there is a whole series of these humorous ads.

Dr. Rick says things like this: “no need to read every billboard out loud. If you can read it, they can read it.”

He tries to educate about opening a PDF, . . . or explains hashtags (#). He urges not sighing so loud - “ahhhh” - when sitting down in a chair.

This is good fun - how to “un-become” your parents: Dr Rick says that you do not have to make friends with the waiter at the restaurant. When he tells you his name, he is really not asking or expecting you to give him your name.

Dr Rick says, “do you really need a sign in your house that says, ‘LIVE. LAUGH. LOVE?’ . . . .You can throw that away.”

All of this good humor somehow promotes Progressive Insurance. I am not sure how that works, but we are all reminded with a fun twist how life is filled with changes and perils. It is so easy to get off track; it is easy to morph into our parents. We need help to stay focused, to be our best selves - instead of morphing into something we do not want to be.

Read More

Have you heard the story about the great feud between the pastor and the organist? The two just couldn’t get along. The story goes like this:

The pastor preached a sermon on “dedicating yourselves to service.” On that day, the organist wanted to annoy the pastor. The choir sang the old classic gospel tune, “I Shall Not be Moved.”

The pastor wanted to think it was just a coincidence. But the next Sunday, this turmoil between the pastor and the organist only seemed to grow. The sermon that day was about “Giving.” Afterward, the choir squirmed a bit as the organist led the choir in the hymn, “Jesus Paid It All.”

By this time, the pastor was realizing he had a problem. Sunday morning worship attendance began to grow as people waited and anticipated what would happen next between the pastor and organist. The pastor preached a sermon against “Gossiping.” Would you believe it? The organist selected the favorite and familiar piece, “I Love to Tell the Story.”

Things were going from bad to worse between these two. The following Sunday, the Pastor told the congregation that, unless something changed, he was considering resignation. The entire church gasped when the choir sang the old revivalist number entitled, “Why Not Tonight?”

Read More

“Where is Jesus?” That is the question for this day.

Where . . . . is . . . Jesus?

A certain Sunday School teacher asked this question to the boys and girls in her class: where is Jesus? Several of the children immediately raised hands.

When the teacher called on the first one, “yes, where is Jesus?” the little boy said, “Jesus is in heaven, with God.” And the teacher said, “that’s a good answer.”

Then another child with her hand up responded: “Jesus is in my heart.” The teacher commended this answer too.

One other girl had her hand up, so the teacher called on her, “okay, where is Jesus?” The girl responded, “Jesus is in the bathroom.”

A puzzled look came across everyone in the room, including the teacher. The teacher asked: “what do you mean, ‘Jesus is in the bathroom?’” And the little girl said, “well, every morning, my dad yells: “Jesus - when are you coming out of the bathroom?”

Where . . . . is . . . Jesus?

Listen now to this story from the first chapter of Acts:

Read More

Okay, . . so I ask you to indulge me for a few minutes and let me talk about Bruce Springsteen. I have long been a fan - since my college days - but as his music has evolved - so has my affection and interest in Bruce Springsteen. Not long ago - but it feels like eons because it was pre-COVID - Ginger and I went to see Bruce Springsteen on Broadway - where he played his music and told stories about his life. It was a great experience.

Bruce Springsteen tells a memorable story about how the great saxophone player - Clarence Clemmons - became part of the E Street Band. Bruce says, “1 plus 1 equals 2 - that happens every day!” We all know that formula - basic math: 1 plus 1 equals 2. It is not magic. “That is the formula for the grind of life - 1 plus 1 equals 2: You get up - 1, got to work - 1, go to bed . . . . 2!”

“But, when 1 plus 1 equals 3 - that is when your life changes.” You see everything differently, see everything new. Springsteen continues: “These are days when you are visited by visions, when the world around you brings down the Spirit and you feel blessed to be alive. It is the essential equation of love - there is no real love without 1 plus 1 equals 3!). It is the essential equation of art; it is the essential equation of rock and roll; it is the reason the universe will never be fully comprehensible.” One plus one equals three is the very reason life is so magnanimous and beautiful.

Read More