Sermons from 2010

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton December 5, 2010 Read: Matthew 3:1-12 You are ready for Christmas. Your lights are on outside, the best in the neighborhood. Maybe best in town. The presents are bought and wrapped, the goodies are baked, the Family Christmas Letter is written, run off, stuffed, sealed and mailed. Best of all, your tree is up. It’s straight this year. It’s even. It is decorated to absolute perfection. You sit down in the most comfortable chair with…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton[Date]Read: 1 Advent – November 28, 2010Matthew 24:36-44, Romans 13:11-14 and Isaiah 2:1-5 Wake up! Keep awake! Be ready! We hear over and over again in our scripture readings for today about being aware, waking up, being ready. And Jesus, in Matthew’s gospel, takes us back to Noah and the days of the great flood, when people were going about their usual activities – eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage – and then their…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton November 21, 2010 Read: Luke 23:33-43 Well, it’s the last Sunday in the season of Pentecost and next week we begin the season of Advent. Advent is the beginning of the church calendar year. Today is a Sunday of endings and new beginnings. Today is also traditionally known as Christ the King Sunday. Christ the King – another contrast. A contrast between what we tend to view as an exalted position – that of king;…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton November 14, 2010 Read: Luke 21:5-19 There is a story told about the monk who once approached Buddhaand asked: Do the souls of the righteous survive death? Characteristically the Buddha gave him no reply. But the monk persisted. Each day he would repeat the question and each day he would get silence for an answer, till he could take it no longer. He threatened to abandon the path to enlightenment unless this crucial question was…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton November 6, 2010 (All Saints Sunday) Read: Luke 6:20-31 Today’s scripture reading from Luke is referred to as the Sermon on the Plain – there is a similar version in Matthew but that takes place on the mountain- the sermon on the mount – and Matthew doesn’t include the woes. This reading, today, has a way of making us uncomfortable. While it offers comfort to the poor, the hungry and those who weep, the woes…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton October 31, 2010 Read: Luke 19:1-10 Spiritual writer Edward Hays shares a story from the desert fathers and mothers, in which a young man goes to visit a wise hermit. He finds the monk sitting outside his cave, enjoying the sun, his dog lying lazily at his side. The seeker asks, “Why is it, Abba, that some who seek God come to the desert and are zealous in prayers, but leave after a year or…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton October 24, 2010 Read: Luke 18:9-14 At first glance, this parable from Luke’s gospel is a simple story about prayer. One man prays an arrogant prayer and is blamed for his attitudes. The other prays humbly and is praised for so doing. Too often the unconscious response becomes ‘Thank God, we’re not like that Pharisee!’ But such a reaction demonstrates that we are indeed like him! The twist of the parable is that, in condemning…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton October 17, 2010 Read: Luke 18:1-8 Jesus tells us, in Luke’s gospel for today, about a woman who stands knocking at someone’s door: knocking and waiting, knocking and waiting, wondering whether anyone will ever answer. The door in question belongs to a judge. Luke doesn’t tell us the woman is literally knocking on his door – but he does tell us she “kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’” This…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton October 10, 2010 Read: Luke 17:11-19 Jesus and company are walking to Jerusalem in “the region between Samaria and Galilee”. The word Samaria is itself a red flag. Observant Jews, in that time in history, did not go anywhere near Samaria or Samaritans. Samaritans were a despised group, culturally inferior. So, on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus encounters ten men with leprosy. It would be difficult to exaggerate the social alienation and isolation of these…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton October 3, 2010 Read: Luke 17:5-10 Who among us does not want more faith? Most of us are not surprised at the disciples’ plea that Jesus give them more. But then, Jesus replies with what is called hyperbole, it’s an intentional exaggeration for emphasis. Some hear this as a kind of scolding, but I don’t think that is Jesus’ tone here. Perhaps Jesus is encouraging us. He goes on to tell a story about slaves,…

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…