Sermons
Now is a good time to be reminded that in scripture we encounter God whose power and majesty differs radically from the reign of a human monarch or any political leader in a democracy. We need to use the image of Christ the king as a corrective to our human understanding of kingship because our king, Christ, has a completely different way of reining.
In the dark days of the coming Advent remember…if you deepen your resolve to work for justice…You just might be a sheeple. If you join in the call for accountability by public officials and public servants…you just might be a sheeple…If you support small businesses during this economic struggle…you just might be a sheeple…If you learn about and support the concept of reparations…you just might be a sheeple…If you put the pantry on a monthly giving plan…you might be a sheeple…If you learn to include/utilize preferred pronouns…you just might be a sheeple…and good lord, if you wear a mask wherever you go…even when you aren’t required..because you care about others who might get sick even if you might not get sick, well…You ARE a sheeple…and Jesus is proud of it.
Let us sing praises, and let us come into God’s presence, and let us fall down in worship, and let us listen. Listen to the readings from the voices of our friends. Listen to the same prayers recited this day across the country. Listen to the ways God is comforting us during this time, listen to the ways God is teaching us to love each other in this time, listen to the ways God is saying, “it will be okay one day, and I will never, ever let you go. No matter what.”
Our stories matter to God. Even when we feel like we are on the cross, we are remembered. Because there is no story that God does not remember. Every mistake, every heartache, every sorrow, every joy, every promise, every epiphany. Remembered. Let this be our story and our song: we are loved and remembered by God.
Life keeps moving on. Life in this church, and life outside this church. Even when we feel like we are at the end and there is nowhere to go, when we feel like we cannot possibly begin again. When we feel like we are so deep in the grief of a loved one’s death, or the end of career, or the end of a relationship, or even in the midst of this climate crisis. We feel like we are at the hopeless end. Yet, we remember, by the grace of God and in the reign of Christ, life keeps moving on. There are new beginnings. There is life and resurrection in Christ for all people.
