Off the Boat – B Epiphany 3 – January 22 2012

Mark 1:14-20

Greg, imagine you are in the middle of harvest, its been a stressful harvest, tractors breaking down, weather has been poor to say the least, and you are pushing that combine to the max to use as much of this brief window of time as possible.  A man pulls into your field with his beat up truck and says, “Follow me and I will make you farm for people.”

What do you say?

Well, you’ll say one of three things,

“Sure, let me just finish this row” or field, or harvest or whatever success is contingent on.

Or you might say, “Are you stupid?  Not on your life.”

Or maybe, “Sure.”

Blindness – A Lent 4 – Apr 3 2011

If your brain was to make a decision, what would it need in order to make a decision?  For example, you are walking across a street  and a car is heading straight towards you, what do you do?  And how do you make that decision?  So to make any decision, what does your brain need to make that decision or to carry it out?  Information.

Where does our brain get information from?

Throwing a Brick – A Lent 2 – March 20, 2011

“When God Throws a Brick” by Rev. Sam Lloyd with adjustments by me…

I recently heard a talk given by a Minneapolis businessman named Ward Brehm, who with no warning at all began to see his life being turned upside down. It all started when his minister stopped him after church one day and asked him if he’d like to go to Africa. “He might as well have asked me if I’d like to go to the moon,” Brehm said.

Seeing his resistance, the pastor asked, “Will you pray about it?” Brehm looked him square in the eye and said, “Arthur, you’re the minister, you pray about it. I’ll think about it.”

Transfigured – Transfiguration Sunday – March 6 2011

Matthew 17:1-9

I’d like to connect today’s Gospel with last week’s Gospel, but to set the stage for our discussion, why were or why are the events in today’s Gospel (the Transfiguration) so important?

- Ghost appears – do we really die?

- Very significant Jewish leaders – two of the big guys for sure – Peter’s reaction is important – nervous or reverent, God seems to rebuke him.

- Reminds me of confirmation or affirmation of Baptism

- Reminds disciples of who Jesus is, and the company He keeps

- Moses represents the law, Elijah represents the prophets, and Jesus???

- Who is left to come down the mountain?

Sacred Calling – Epiphany 3 – Jan 23 2011

Isaiah 9:1-4

Matthew 4:12-23

For Merriam-Webster, there are three meanings of epiphany but the one I would like to focus on today is an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure.  Pastor Bill gives an example of epiphany as “a-ha” moments; like trying to figure out a word puzzle and all of a sudden, a-ha.

What are your examples of epiphany?  Can you think of an a-ha moment that was significant?  To get the fires burning I’ll go first.  How many of you have ever put together a piece of IKEA furniture? Then you’ve probably had an epiphany like me.  I remember putting together our coffee table.  I read the directions, looked at the pictures, and then got to work.  It was about the third step that I began to sweat.  Why wasn’t this working?  The holes didn’t line up with the pegs; the pegs wouldn’t fit into the holes.  How could something so simple be so difficult?  So, picking up the instructions, I tried to figure out what I had done right, and what should have been done next.  And then I saw it.  A-ha.  And then it all snapped into place.  Epiphany.

Shovelling snow – Christmas 2010

Deuteronomy 31:6

I was watching a man shovel his driveway last week.  Well, I should say he was trying to shovel his driveway last week.  He had a little, shall we say “help” with him out there: a toddler, able to walk, able to hold his own, and able to hold a shovel.  But the boy was not really able to help.  The work needing to be done required some skill that the boy did not yet have, yet the boy was out there for a while playing in the big pile of snow his dad made, then trying to shovel a little bit, and then the boy resorted to just following the dad, back and forth along the driveway, laughing every time the dad stopped walking or shovelling to turn and go the other direction.  Every time the dad turned directions, it seemed as though the boy was surprised, even though the dad had just done exactly the same thing five times earlier.  Meanwhile the dad laughed along with the boy, although I am sure the dad was thinking something like, “What did you expect me to do?”  The boy fell several times while they were out there.  He probably tripped over his snow pants, or was not used to the boots, or didn’t account for uneven terrain.  Every time the boy fell, the dad stopped what he was doing, turned and reached down to pick the boy up, dust him off, and encourage him to keep going.

Expecting Joy – A Advent 3 – Dec 12 2010

They say that there are only thirteen days until Christmas.  To tell you the truth, I find it hard to believe.  All those things that are supposed to be done seem to be thrown together.  Activities at school have been planned at the last minute, shopping has been done, but only because it has to be, deadlines are fast approaching.

 

It seems as if another Advent and Christmas will fly by without so much as a wave – so long fair well, thanks for the presents, we’ll see you again next year.

Hoping to wait – Advent 1 – Nov. 28 2010

Matthew 24:36-44

Mom and I had really good family friends that lived in Rocky Mountain House.  A couple times a year, they would come to Edmonton to visit family, and they would stay at our place.  Dennis was the father of two girls and was married to Marilyn and every time they visited, I couldn’t wait for them to arrive.  Dennis was so much fun and was the quintessential duck – he let things roll of his back like I’ve never seen.  I’ve also seen him mad – but things had to be pretty bad to get him upset, and then look out.  Dennis and I would play catch for hours – he would call me Jose Canseco.  I would just smile because I had no idea who he was talking about, but we would pretend I was the pitcher and he was the catcher.  He would signal with his fingers for the pitch – fastball, split finger, slider, knuckle ball, curve.  I never mastered any of those pitches, but it didn’t matter.  Dennis was a hero – playing hockey with him in the hallway or catch in the yard, I felt free, and open and had so much fun.

United – All Saints Sunday – Oct 31 2010

Luke 6:20-31

Looking at these Beatitudes, I call them Luke’s Beatitudes, although they are definitely Jesus’ words, not Luke’s, how are they different than Matthew’s Beatitudes, the ones that we are more familiar with?

 

Although the NRSV translation that we read uses the word “woe”, what other words do you think could go in place of “woe”?  Beware? Be careful?

 

It seems that Jesus is creating two separate boxes and is separating man into two boxes, the blessed and the woed?  Sure seems that way, doesn’t it?  After reading today’s Gospel, who do you think are the blessed and who are the woed?

 

We like to look at the dichotomy – the black and white – the blessed and the woed.  Are we found guilty today for thinking like the Pharisee praying in the temple we heard about last week?  Do we think, “Thank goodness I am not rich, because now I am blessed!”?  After hearing the Beatitudes, we are probably also guilty of thinking, “Thank goodness I am not like so-so, because he is rich and I am not.”  It is easy for us to use the Beatitudes to condemn – to shake our finger at the world and say, “Jesus will bless those who are poor, hungry, mourning and those who are persecuted, that’s us the Christians, but good luck to those of you who are rich, full and laughing because God is gonna get ya.”  And in the back of our mind, we love the Beatitudes because we feel we get blessed. But the Beatitudes are not a litmus test, they aren’t to condemn or to allow us to judge.

Moving the Mustard Seed – C Pentecost 19 – Oct 3 2010

Luke 17:5-10

Ahh, the mustard seed: Jesus uses this small and ordinary seed to teach about faith and the glory of God.

The mustard seed parable is one of our favourite lessons on faith from Jesus because we love the dramatic.  In Matthew, Jesus says to his disciples, “…if you have faith of the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”  Today in Luke, Jesus uses a mulberry tree, rather than a mountain, and sounds a little more critical of the disciples than He did in Matthew.