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We Can’t Buy Happiness
By The Rev. Sherry Deets 11 Pentecost, Proper 13 – August 4, 2013 Luke 12:13-21 So, in the gospel I just read, why is the rich farmer called a fool? One could easily argue that the rich man is a wise and responsible person. He has a thriving farming business. His land has produced so abundantly that he does not have enough storage space in his barns. So he plans to pull down his barns and build bigger ones to…
“Lord, Teach Us To Pray”
By The Rev. Sherry Deets 10 Pentecost, Proper 12 – July 28, 2013 Luke 11:1-13 Our passage from Luke today begins with Jesus “praying in a certain place.” When he has finished praying, one of his disciples asks, “Lord, teach us to pray…” . In response, Jesus offers a three-part teaching, including a model prayer, a parable about prayer, and some sayings about prayer. Jesus’ prayer and the teaching that follows are mutually illuminating. Jesus invites his disciples into a…
Martha Was Distracted
By The Rev. Sherry Deets 9 Pentecost, Proper 11 – July 21, 2013 Luke 10:38-42 Jesus was visiting his friends, Martha and Mary. Like the Martha Stewart we know today, this Martha is determined to be the perfect host. But she is distracted by her many tasks: the hors d’oeuvres aren’t quite ready, the flowers still need to be arranged, and that special sauce needs her attention. But, look, her sister Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet, doing nothing, just…
Which Was the Greater Gift Jesus Gave?
By The Rev. Sherry Deets 7 Pentecost, Proper 9 – July 7, 2013 2 Kings 5:1-14 and Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 Here is a question my friend, David Lose, poses after reading this gospel story: Which was the greater gift Jesus bestowed on the disciples: the power to heal and cast out demons? Or the power to work together and rely on the hospitality of others? Which was the greater gift? David suggests that when we read these passages, our attention…
“Aslan Is On the Move”
By The Rev. Sherry Deets 6 Pentecost, Proper 8 – June 30, 2013 Luke 9:51-62 At the turning point of C.S. Lewis’s beloved The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, several significant characters encourage each other with reports that Aslan, the great lion and true ruler of oppressed Narnia, has reappeared to fight the evil witch. Their words of encouragement to each other are as potent as they are succinct: “Aslan is on the move.” In today’s reading from the…
Jesus Is Crossing Boundaries
By The Rev. Sherry Deets 5 Pentecost, Proper 7 – June 23, 2013 Luke 8:26-39 Jesus is crossing over the Sea of Galilee to the land of the Gerasenes, which means that he’s not just crossing the sea, he’s also crossing boundaries. Because the land of the Gerasene’s is the land of Gentiles, and no self-respecting Jewish rabbi would be taking his band of followers there. When he gets there, he’s confronted immediately by a man who is possessed. Actually,…
Crying in Public
By The Rev. Sherry Deets 4 Pentecost, Proper 6 – June 16, 2013 Luke 7:36-8:1-3 So our gospel story today is about forgiveness. And it’s about the gratitude that forgiveness creates. And it’s about the extravagant acts of love and devotion that gratitude prompts. But it’s also about something else: it’s about hardness of heart as opposed to love, about judgment instead of forgiveness, and about a sense of entitlement instead of gratitude. Notice that telling this short parable would…
God Knows What It Means To Lose a Son
By The Rev. Sherry Deets 3 Pentecost, Proper 5 – June 9, 2013 1 Kings 17:8-24 and Luke 7:11-17 There are some similarities between our lesson from 1 Kings and our gospel reading. In both cases there is a widow with a son who is dead. In both cases, the son is brought back to life. One by Elijah and the other by Jesus. Widows held a tenuous position in Jesus’ day. They were often linked with orphans as those…
The Centurion Had Blind Faith
By The Rev. Sherry Deets 2 Pentecost, Proper 4 – June 1, 2013 Luke 7:1-10 As Jesus entered the city limits of Capernaum, a group of elders from the synagogue were waiting for him. They told him that the local centurion had sent word for him that his servant was near death and wanted him to come at once. Now, in a city like Capernaum, Roman centurions were the law. They commanded a company of a hundred soldiers, hence the…
The Self Help Section Has Grown
By The Rev. Sherry Deets 7 Easter – May 12, 2013 John 17:20-26 It is often said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Life in all of its intricacies is a journey. From our beginning, our birth, we are pilgrim travelers seeking our place of self-worth. A story is often told of life’s travels when it is said, “One cannot control when you are born, where you are born, or to what family you…
By Focusing on God We Become Unstuck
By The Rev. Sherry Deets 6 Easter – May 5, 2013 John 5:1-9 John says when Jesus got to Jerusalem he entered the city by the Sheep Gate and went to the pool of Bethesda nearby. The Sheep Gate still stands today. It was called the Sheep Gate because shepherds would drive their sheep into Jerusalem through this gate and on over to the Pool of Bethesda to the right, where they would be washed before taken to the temple…
Recall a Time When You Chose Love
By The Rev. Sherry Deets 5 Easter – April 28, 2013 John 13:31-35 This section of John, begins with the account of the Last Supper and the moving words that summarize the whole: “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” As this particular passage commences, the one we just heard, Jesus has already washed the feet of his disciples, Judas has just departed to betray him, and the rest of the disciples…