How do we preach about the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed and the so-called American Dream that is celebrated on Independence Day and the Fourth of July? Do they go together?
This sermon was written in October, 2013. It was originally delivered as part of the Narrative Lectionary that we were following in the church I served. I’m reposting it today because the Revised Common Lectionary calls for this story in the first reading.
RCL text: Exodus 16:2-15
Narrative Lectionary Text: Exodus 16:1-18
Why do we read scripture during a worship service? This sermon offers four things about the Bible that make it essential to our identity as disciples of jesus and a centering point in worship.
A lost sheep, a lost coin, a lost son. These are three parables that Jesus tells in Luke 15. He told them in response to the criticism he received from the religious leaders. They scorned him for hanging around with tax collectors and sinners. This sermon looks at these stories from the perspective of the older brother. He resented the “lost son” and didn’t thing he deserved to be found. How often do we feel that way about “those people?”
Where do we meet Jesus? What happens when we meet Jesus? This sermon uses the story of Jesus calling Simon and the fishermen in Luke 5:1-11 as a way to explore these questions. Jesus often meets us in our ordinary places, and wants to turn them into something extraordinary.