Sermon Archive (Page 35)

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton September 26, 2010 Read: Luke 16:19-31 The story of the rich man and Lazarus. The contrasts in this story told by Jesus are as stark as its message. We are seemingly left here with good or bad, right or wrong, stark black or white with no gray areas in between. We have a rich man, clothed in purple. Purple, as you know, is traditionally the color of royalty. Virtually any commentary will tell you that…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton September 19, 2010 Read: Luke 16:1-13 Picture yourself as the owner of a small-town hardware store. One day it strikes you that you have been working too hard. So you hire a store manager and you go off on a well-deserved and long-overdue fishing trip. And then, a number of filled creels later, you come home. It has been a great trip. You’ve had your fill of fishing. You have not been so rested in…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton September 12, 2010 Read: Luke 15:1-10 So, today we hear from Luke that Jesus was welcoming sinners and eating with them. The Pharisees and scribes were grumbling about this. Jesus was keeping company with sinners. We must admit, that they kind of had a point. -Bad company leads to bad conduct. Wise parents encourage their children to seek out wholesome friends. – Table fellowship implies acceptance, and Jesus could leave the wrong impression by eating…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton September 5, 2010Read: Luke 14:25-33 Luciano Pavarotti, the immensely talented operatic tenor who crossed the boundary into popular music, once commented on a lesson he learned from his father. “When I was a boy, my father, who was a baker, introduced me to the wonders of song. He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. A professional tenor in my home town took me on as a student. I also enrolled in…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton August 29, 2010 Read: Luke 14:1, 7-14 Jesus’ parable from Luke today is really not one that is easy to grasp the meaning of. It would be easy to look at this and say it is a lesson in social skills. But it’s not. Jesus is challenging those present to look at their life in a different way. He was subverting social norms. What do I mean? I mean, at that time, there were clear…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton August 22, 2010 Read: Luke 13:10-17 Today we hear about a woman who is bent over. She has been ‘quite unable to stand up straight’ for 18 long years. Imagine what it must be like to be bent-over. To have as your field of vision — your feet, the ground, the rocks – not being able see what is in front of you, not being able to see your surroundings. Only what is beneath you.…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton August 15, 2010 Read: Luke 12:49-56 “You think I have come to bring peace to the world” Jesus begins. “I have not come to bring peace, but division. Because of me, households will be divided. Son’s will argue with their fathers. Daughters will disagree with their mothers. Good friends will be at odds with one another. And all because of me.” That message bothers many of us. It bothers us because our perception of Jesus…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton August 8, 2010 Read: Luke 12:32-40 Imagine being in a restaurant with me right now. You come into a restaurant of your imagination. A host or hostess immediately welcomes you and greets you. Before you know it, you are escorted to your table. Immediately, a server comes to your table to take your order for beverages. Immediately, they are back with your drinks and within moments are ready to take your orders. They are smiling,…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton August 1, 2010 Read: Luke 12:13-21 So our scripture passage from Luke begins with someone in the crowd saying to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” This ‘someone’ is asking Jesus to essentially be the judge or arbitrator over a family dispute. And Jesus warns them to be “on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions”. Jesus could…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton July 25, 2010 Luke 11:1-13 Did you listen to the scripture readings this morning? Wasn’t our first reading from Hosea a little uncomfortable? God is telling a prophet, Hosea, to take a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom. What is that? Well God is comparing the people of Israel to whores….that God’s people have turned away and are worshipping idols instead of God. If we keep reading the verses following, some that are…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton July 18, 2010 Read: Luke 10:38-42 When Jesus decided to drop in on Martha and her sister Mary, Martha’s first impulse was to get something going in the kitchen. In doing this she was faithful to her tradition of hospitality begun long ago when Abraham welcomed three guests to his tent. I don’t see anything wrong with this? Do you? This piece of scripture is a difficult one to talk about because over the years…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton July 11, 2010 Read: Luke 10:25-37 In Steinbeck’s classic, East of Eden, Liza Hamilton serves as the matriarch of faith for her family. She is a pugnacious advocate of biblical morality and reads the scriptures daily as the guide for her life. Yet there are cracks in her pious veneer. Steinbeck describes her use of the Bible in this way: Her total intellectual association was the Bible … In that one book she had her…