custom categories: sunday: sermon

Believing in life after this life, we find meaning in this life for it's own sake and in order to become who we are going to be. The greater our love of God and others, the greater our hope in heaven.

In the Story of the Prodigal Son, the father loved both his sons. They both seemed to want to be rewarded from their father, rather than primarily loving him. Our relationships with each other and with God are based, not on economies of exchange, but on economies of grace and love.

Jesus' temptations by the devil began with the temptation not to follow the Holy Spirit into the wilderness...the nagging doubts that must have been in his mind. For us, temptations are rarely as obvious as the devil telling us directly to worship him. We're tempted by attractive things which don't fill us as much as the seeminly less attractive ways God would have us walk. Faith in God to follow his ways fixes us.

In Jesus' baptism, his old life died, and a new life began...the same happens for us in baptism, whether immediately or after years. Our lives can begin again many times, saying goodbye to the ghosts of the past.

In the Gentile Magi coming to visit Jesus, we understand Jesus to be savior for all, Jew and Gentile, and realize God is over all the tribes of the earth.

How long must we wait for God to restore creation? When acts of violence like the shootings at Sandy Hook happen, I have difficulty waiting patiently. What are we to do in response? How can we hold on to hope?

Doomsday predictions have become very popular, but they miss the hope that is primary in Jesus' second coming. As Episcopalians, we need to reclaim the stories of the second coming, of the end times, and tell these as stories of hope.

The perfection of Jesus' kingdom can be daunting, something to which we cannot live up. So what? We needn't be perfect. Living in and striving for Jesus kingdom is not about perfection but about living beautifully with God's help, seeking correction and forgiveness, and living again with mistakes along the way...like making music.

Seeking greatness and glory, Jesus' disciples forgot who they wereas God's people, called not to greatness, but to service, love, and devotion to God and neighbor. They were called to be a light to the nations, not to let the way of the nations become their way. They were called to be Advocates (following the Holy Spirit) rather than Adversaries (following Satan).

As God's children, we are as important to God as children were to Jesus. The best way to know and love God and to know and love each other is to receive life, God’s kingdom, like a little child. Receive God’s kingdom, receive life with childlike innocence, with wonder, with trust and love, with dependence on God and others, with short memories of wrongs, with forgiveness, and playfulness.

"If you want to be who you want to be, you have to give up who you are." (www.guyforsyth.com) We have habits that are not helpful and can be harmful. If we truly want to live into the Kingdom of God, we need to change those bad habits.

The church is the bride of Christ, seeking to do good not out of a desire to try harder, be better, or one up another group, but rather out of love for Jesus.

Jesus calls Peter, "Satan", the Adversary, when he needed Peter to be guided by the Holy Spirit, the Advocate. James tells us we have springs of fresh and brackish water within us, leading us to speak blessings and curses. Cleaning the well, we can speak more blessing, acting through the Holy Spirit, rather than through the Adversary.

There is enough anxiety in the world without chastising ourselves and enough of a rat race without adding more to our plates. Take some time this Lent to rest in God.

Be whole by having a heart of love, peace, and faith. Pray for those whom you love and for your enemies, and God will partner with you to make you whole.

The second coming of Christ is often described in frightening ways. Remember, the same Jesus who was here will be the Jesus who returns. Wait his coming with joy.

God's kingdom has, in it's very nature, aspects of God's own character woven into it. All of creation is made of love, forgiveness, and invitation. Such is life in God's kingdom.

We love God, and in many ways, we end up living out a love of other things more than a love of God. Loving God with everything we have, we live out the love of God in everything we do.