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Questions... (December 20) 2009-12-17 by Peggy Dillner Submit a Question | Submit an Article Are there those in the congregations as skeptical as I? Did this really happen? Many of those of us women who have born children know well of "quickenings" when our unborns have kicked and kicked. However, I don't know of any friends who suddenly thought God was addressing them directly when their baby kicked. What are we to believe? Who was the writer trying to convince? What difference does it make to those of us who question this birth story but still find Jesus the most remarkable man against whom we can measure our lives? What Sort of Greeting? (Dec 20) 2009-12-14 by Tim Norton Submit a Question | Submit an Article This story is just so full of material on which to ponder and meditate (an appropriate way to prepare during Advent), especially when you read Luke’s gospel just before and after this account. Here we have Mary, who has just received the most shattering and socially-ostrasizing announcement from an angel no less! Everyone should believe that, right? So she goes off to talk with the only one she really could, given the news she carried and the social stigma attached to her “condition”, to find that Elizabeth has a similar story. Mary’s pregnancy will be the source of shame for her as an unmarried virgin, but Elizabeth’s pregnancy is her relief of the shame that plagued her status as a “barren married woman of advanced age”. Mary, the handmaiden of the Lord, welcomes the burden God has placed on her, and together with her kinswoman Elizabeth, praises God for the blessings they have received, knowing that their lives are now forever changed. Mary’s child, Jesus, will be the Son of God, and Elizabeth’s child, John, Jesus’ kinsman, will be his herald, announcing his coming, and preparing the way of the Lord – and does so now, as yet unborn, when Mary approaches Elizabeth here. Wow! How’d you like to be invited to that family’s Christmas dinner!? Pastor, talk to me about this story, and good luck putting it in one sermon! Oh, and don’t forget about the men. How about Zechariah, not accepting his “news”, so he has gets muted until he confirms John’s name? And then there’s Joseph who, in Luke, barely gets mentioned, but in Matthew we see the questions and worries he has to deal with! Again, good luck! Something Wonderful (Dec 13) 2009-12-10 by Tim Norton Submit a Question | Submit an Article For me it’s hard to understand how the people who came out to hear John would react they way they did in this passage. But I’m forgetting that my life and all that of my ancestors have already been filled with the knowledge, hope and promise that Jesus’ life and ministry has provided. These folks are hearing this for the first time. Regardless of the reason they’ve come to hear him, John warns them not to get complacent in their “chosen people” status. And don’t we still have the same tendency today? We often presume that our education and training, the accomplishments of ancestors, or some perception of entitlement will get us into favored status with God. John reminds us, even now, that heritage isn’t enough. And in a time such as back then, when kingdoms were sustained through family ancestry, how strange, even revolutionary, that must have sounded to the common people to hear that the “kingdom” of God might actually be accessible to them. And what does he tell them to do to prepare? Just simple things that anyone can do - show kindness and charity to one another. I can do that! This guy in the camelhair coat, who eats bugs and wild honey, wants to baptize me! Is it any wonder some around him would think that maybe John was the Messiah. But John quickly sets us straight saying, basically, “No, I’m only the messenger – but wait ‘til you see Who’s coming after me!” It reminds me of the movie “2010”, where the United States and the (when written) Soviet Union are perched on the brink of global nuclear war, in which a joint Soviet-American mission to Jupiter is launched to retrieve the spaceship and “HAL” computer lost in an earlier mission in “2001 A Space Odyssey”, for which this movie is the sequel. When all seems lost, when the world seems poised to descend to the final conflict, the astronauts receive a cryptic, unexplainable message from an “unknown” power, that something is about to happen. When they worriedly ask, “What will happen?”, the response is “Something wonderful!” What results comes with a promise and a warning, just like John’s message here.
Law vs. Gospel (December 13) 2009-12-09 by Mark Miller Submit a Question | Submit an Article Regardless of whether John was talking to the ‘crowd’, or specifically to the Pharisees and Sadducees, his initial pronouncement isn’t exactly overflowing with good news. The notion of God’s wrath brings with it all kinds of uncomfortable visions of what will happen if I don’t clean up my act. And when that question, ‘what should we do?’ comes from the crowd (three times), I’m still thinking about the ‘ax lying at the root of the tree’. I’m thinking I better do the right thing, or else. Unfortunately, that mindset makes me completely overlook John’s response. A response that’s speaks not of God’s law, but of compassion and community. So what then should we do? If you look at the other readings assigned for this week, the answer seems pretty clear: “Rejoice and exult with all your heart” – Zephaniah 3:14 "Rejoice in the Lord always” – Philippians 4:4 “Shout aloud and sing for joy” – Isaiah 12:6 Why does my fear of the law prevent me from hearing the good news? I need to hear the law. I need to understand God’s expectations that I live my life under that law. I also need to hear the good news. God provides both. Help me live and rejoice in both. Justice & Not a Whole Lot of Mercy (December 13) 2009-12-09 by Peggy Dillner Submit a Question | Submit an Article I hear John exhorting people to be just in their dealings with others. Share your second coat, collect only what is due. However, he's not particularly "politically correct" nor tactful when he (in my imagination) shouts, "You brood of vipers!" I'm not sure I would have stayed around to be baptized, but apparently some did since he continues to tell them what they must do to avoid being cast aside with the chaff. Were this today, I would have labeled John a street-corner nut-case evangelist and been on my way. Am I missing something the "nut-case evangelists" are saying - or should I be focusing on the directives John gives people - share, do justice? I prefer the latter because I'm more comfortable with that. Am I ignoring parts I just don't like? Here's some sermon fodder! [First Page] [Prev] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 [Next] [Last Page] Login - (This login is for administrators and bloggers. Usernames and passwords for GoodPreacher subscribers will not work here.) |
