There are but two religions in the world - the religion of the Law and the religion of the Gospel. In the religion of the Law, you work your way up to God. In the religion of the Gospel, God comes down to you. In the religion of the Law, you earn God’s favor; in…
Persistence. That’s the key idea in today’s Gospel. Persistent prayer. Think of how easily we get discouraged. We quit when things don’t go our way. We leave when things get uncomfortable. When the going gets rough, we check out. We pray, and when God doesn’t deliver on our…
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table.”
Of these two men, which would you…
For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15)
There are Sundays when the lectionary readings make me wish I could just pick my own text or maybe do a nice sermon series on some benign self-improvement theme. Today is one of them. The…
Watch out for the company that you keep. That’s pretty much the conventional wisdom. Beware of the company you keep. Those with whom you assemble you will soon begin to resemble. That was the thinking of the Pharisees and the scribes who were grumbling about Jesus and his choice of…
Count the cost. It’s good advice, whether engaging in construction or destruction, whether building or going to war. The picture on our bulletin cover has a man at his abacus, doing the math. Today he’d be at a computer running the numbers on a spreadsheet. Think of how many abandoned projects, how many ill-conceived wars,…
Today’s Gospel deals with what goes on at the table. Table fellowship. Jesus was seen at a lot of tables. He broke bread with the highly religious - the Pharisees and the teachers of the Torah, and also with the religious rejects - tax collectors and sinners. In contrast to his…
Luke 13:22-30 / 13 Pentecost (Proper XX) / 22 August 2010 / Holy Trinity, Hacienda Heights, CA
In Nomine Iesu
So why do you come to worship? What do you expect from worship? Worship today means different things to different people. For some it’s inspiration. For some, instruction.…
Last week, we heard that life is more than the abundance of possessions. Today we hear that life is more than the essentials - food and clothing. Jesus zeros in on our basic, core anxiety - our everyday needs. And He says, “Don’t be anxious about your life, what you will eat,…
It’s all about money this morning. And stuff. And how you can’t take it with you, and how foolish it is to try. And how you’ll never enjoy whatever riches you have if you make a religion out of wealth and an idol out of riches.
When it comes to wealth,…