Sermons by Sherry Deets (Page 38)

By The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton September 6, 2009 Read: Mark 7:24-37 and James 2:1-17 The story of the Syrophoenician woman is one of my favorites. I appreciate her “hutzpah,” her courage, in speaking boldly to Jesus. And this story is one that has no easy answers when it comes to interpreting the meaning. It involves assumptions about different cultural experiences, socio-economic experiences, etc. We aren’t sure if this was an instance of Jesus caught without compassion when he rudely…

By The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton August 30, 2009 Read: Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23 and James 1:17-27 So, this morning we hear Jesus calling the Pharisees and the scribes hypocrites. The word hypocrite originally comes from ancient Greek theatre. It meant to act a part in a play, to pretend, to display a mask. A good definition of a hypocrite is a person who is not, on the inside, what he or she is showing on the outside. In other words the…

By The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton August 23, 2009 Read: Ephesians 6:10-20 and John 6:56-69 Once again we hear Jesus speaking about eating his flesh and blood, which we understand in a spiritual sense. In today’s gospel, Jesus says that the words he has spoken are spirit and life. Spirit and life. Key words to living a life that is truly alive in Christ. We also hear today in Ephesians, Paul giving us an example of what it might look…

By The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton August 16, 2009 Read: John 6:51-48 and Ephesians 5:15-20 Our gospel reading from John for today is a little disturbing. And it’s meant to be. The idea of eating Jesus’ flesh and blood conjures up thoughts of cannibalism. His words would have been equally offensive to the Jewish people that he was addressing at the time. So, we can be relatively sure that Jesus’ intent was to disturb us, to cause us to think…

By The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton August 9, 2009 Read: John 6:34, 41-51 Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”. Bread and water. The basics for sustaining life – physical life. But we know that Jesus is referring to something deeper than a physical life, he is referring to our spiritual lives. That to taste of Jesus is to know life –…

By The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton July 26, 2009 Read: Ephesians 3:14-21 and John 6:1-21 Miracles. Today we hear of two of Jesus’ miracles stories. The feeding of the 5000 and walking on water. The feeding of the 5000 is the only one of Jesus’ miracle stories that makes it into all four gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. That is significant. So what is the message or messages in this story. What do you think of? Oh, this…

By The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton July 12, 2009 Read: Mark 6:14-29 So. John the Baptist’s head on a platter. This is an uncomfortable story. One that has been referred to as a ‘text of terror’. We are faced with the dark side of human life, in this case we are recounting Herod’s adultery with his brother’s wife and the imprisonment and execution of John the Baptist. Consider the personal and social dilemmas in which Herod finds himself in this…

By The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton July 5, 2009 Read: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 and Mark 6:1-13 One of my favorite pieces of scriptures today is from 2 Corinthians – “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” Comforting words when I know that I have failed. Somehow God’s grace will be sufficient in the midst and God’s power made perfect in the weakness. And in Mark’s gospel today we hear about Jesus’ poor reception in…

By The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton June 14, 2009Read: 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 and Mark 4:26-34 Today we are hearing in our scripture stories about how appearances can be deceiving—that what we see on the outside may not necessarily be what lies within. We heard “for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” And, “We walk by faith and not by sight”. And then…

By The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton June 7, 2009 (Trinity Sunday) Read: John 3:1-17 Several years ago in San Diego, a ship strayed off course and became stuck in a reef at low tide. Twelve tugboats were brought in. They attached cables from the tugs to the ship and tried to pull it, but that did not work. Then the tugs moved to one side and tried to push the ship off the reef. Black smoke was belching everywhere. The…

By The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton May 31, 2009 Read: Ezekiel 37:1-14, Acts 2:1-21 & John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 Last Sunday we heard about the Ascension, when Jesus rose into the air and seemingly disappeared. We talked about God not saying goodbye, but saying Hello in a new and different way. We talked about it being an exchange. Jesus’ Ascension was necessary in order for the coming of the Holy Spirit. And today, is that great feast of Pentecost. Also called…

By The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton May 24, 2009 (Ascension Sunday) Read: Acts 1:1-11 and Luke 24:44-53 Today we mark one of the great and often neglected festivals of the church: the festival of the Ascension. It winds up getting neglected, because it’s fixed on a Thursday, 40 days after Easter. That’s because of the note in Acts that Jesus appeared to his disciples for that period of time after his resurrection. So it’s often neglected, we moved it to…