Sermons
[You also may read from the archived sermons linked at the bottom of this page]
Grove Presbyterian Church
February 5, 2012
New Testament Lesson and Reflection
Mark 1: 29-39
Location, location, location – the secret of business success. So the experts say.
Well it may.
True too for success in the preaching and healing business.
Look at this:
Homes and synagogues.
Synagogues and homes.
My home but our synagogue. You bet. Our place.
Good idea these synagogues. Created after Jerusalem destroyed, the temple leveled, the people carted off into slavery. People what they do: they bond. The gather together to remember their story.
Good idea these synagogues. After all the temple in Jerusalem was 70 miles away. A caravan away. Running the gauntlet of the occasional bandits too. And then when you’re there it’s the crush, the rush, its Christmas time in New York – expensive! Thrilling, but costly to the wallet. The temple makes out like a bandit. At least you can say you’ve been there. .
But the synagogue is home town. The synagogue is open seven days a week. The synagogue is the people’s place, not the priests. It is local. It is democratic. It is the greatest social institution ever invented. It sustains faith and culture and civilization.
Great religion has always been not a search for comfort
but a search for righteousness and truth!
-- Harry Emerson Fosdick
Though a little comfort would be nice once in a while.
The synagogue is rabbi and elders and learning. Gathering on the Sabbath for invocation, psalms, prayers, scripture, exhortation, blessing.
Gee, sounds familiar. I wonder where we got the idea of church?
Same name.
Synagogue in Hebrew: the gathering place. More the people than the building.
Church in Greek: the gathering place. Where believers con-gregate. Congregation? More the people than the building.
Oh, pastor Bob, you have such lovely church.
Yes. They are.
Church buildings or church building?
Big difference. And the difference is the synagogue.
Six days a week the education place. Not for some. Where all are welcome. Talk, discussion, argument, meditation, exploration of soul and mind and heart and will -- together.
The glory and the power of Sunday school.
“Knowledge isn’t a commodity
– it is possessed only in its use and application”
Knowledge is soul power.
So unusual from anything else we do. Where else this theological reflection? Where else the chance to critically reflect with other strugglers on what matters, who matters, what makes sense and what doesn’t?
Our business here is simply the meaning of life. Creating answers for tough questions. It is a good location because it is good people. Honest people. Oddly enough, people who really care.
Where else the chance for knowledge of who and what and how and why and this essential process of ongoing growth?
Not us making sense of the Bible but the Bible making sense of us.
Where else can we learn to bet our lives that Jesus was right [Elton Trueblood]? Which for me is a pretty good bet considering the alternative.
No wonder the synagogue was Jesus’ first port of call. How else to really connect? He loved the synagogue because he loved the people.
At least it was a good idea until he was no longer welcome at the synagogue.
But little matter. What Jesus shows is that it’s really not the location.
Get him right and we’ve got a chance on the rest. Rather like marriage: you really focus on her or him, 100%, and the rest of the stuff works itself out, you got a chance.
It’s the person that matters.
I like the line that reminds us how Jesus doesn’t offer us an ideology, he offers us himself.
He’s the place to be at.
ARCHIVED SERMONS:
Synagogues, 5 February, 2012
Unclean, 29 January, 2012
Immediately, 22 January, 2012
Nathaniel, 15 January, 2012
Confession: Laws for the Human Mind, 8 January, 2012
Despised, 18 December, 2011
Suffering Servant, 11 December, 2011
Men With Chests, 27 November, 2011
Enough, 13 November, 2011
Good Stress, 6 November, 2011
Feeling Broken, 30 October, 2011
Harvest, 16 October, 2011
Dreams, 9 October, 2011
The Children Ask, 2 October, 2011
Tyranny of Children, 25 September, 2011
The Blues, 16 September, 2011
Navigating Moral Dilemmas, 11 September, 2011
Protestant Work Ethic, 4 September 2011
Indebtedness, 21 August, 2011
Friendship, 14 August, 2011
Empty Nests, 7 August, 2011
I'm Cool, 31 July, 2011
Chores, 24 July, 2011
Moral Imagination, 10 July, 2011
Rejection, 3 July, 2011
Fruit of the Spirit: Self-control, 26 June, 2011
Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness, 19 June, 2011
Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, June 12, 2011
Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness, 5 June, 2011
Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness, 29 May, 2011
Patience, 22 May, 2011
Fruit of the Spirit: Peace, 15 May, 2011
Fruit of the Spirit, Easter Day, 24 April, 2011
Boredom, 17 April, 2011
Good Grief, 10 April, 2011
Parents in Pain, March 27, 2011
"Fasting," 20 March 2011
Did Jesus really just rise up to heaven? March 13, 2011
Why did God make mean people like the 9/11 peoople? 6 March, 2011
How can God know all the names of the stars? 27 February, 2011
It is all so overwhelming to think about, 20 February,2011
What will it like after you die? 13 February, 2011
What Does Heaven Feel Like? 6 February, 2011
Why did God decide to live in heaven? 30 January, 2011
How is it all possible? 23 January, 2011
What Made God?, January 16, 2011
How Did God Create the World, January 9, 2011
Christmas Eve Homily, December 24, 2010
Christmas Cards, 19 December, 2010
The Greatest Gift, December 12, 2010
Preparing the Way -- A Contemplative Advent Service, December 5, 2010
Christ and Culture, 28 November, 2010
Streams in the Desert, 21 November, 2010
Orphans of the Storm, November 14, 2010
Open Minds, 7 November, 2010
Devils, Demons, and Halloween, 31 October, 2010
The Golden Rule, 17 October, 2010
Job Satisfaction, October 10, 2010
Just Peace, October 3, 2010
Spiritual Gifts, September 26, 2010
Church Music, September 19, 2010
Circles of Faith, 12 September, 2010
My Christian Success, 5 September, 2010
Winning Over Failure, 29 August, 2010
My Healed Soul: Words from Cancer Patients, 22 August, 2010
Creative Play, 15 August, 2010
Preaching Isn't Dr. Phil, August 1, 2010
Cherishing Childhood, 18 July, 2010
Mockingbirds, 11 July 2010
One Nation Under God, 4 July, 2010
Victors on the Margin, 27 June, 2010
Graduation Realities, 6 June, 2010
No Excuses, 30 May, 2010
Single in a Couple's World, 23 May, 2010
Driving Tips, May 16, 2010
Is it all based on faith? 28 March, 2010
An Angry Jesus, March 21, 2010
Generations and Tall Trees, 14 March, 2010
Worship and You Find What You Feel, 7 March, 2010
Hot House Love or Christly Love? 21 February, 2010
A Personal Difference, 14 February, 2010
Interpreting the Bible, 7 February, 2010
One Faith, 24 January, 2010
Why Does Religion Have to be so Political, 17 January, 2010
Spirituality Versus Religion, 10 January 2010
Baby-making Preparation, 20 December, 2009
Flux and Change, 13 December, 2009
Where is the Proof of Jesus? -- 29 November, 2009
Suffering Map
When Bad Things Happen To Good People, 15 November, 2009
Success, 8 November, 2009
If It's Easy, It Isn't the Church, 1 November, 2009
Don't Tell Me, 18 October, 2009
KidS and Trust, 11 October, 2009
Organized Worship, October 4, 2009
Suicide, 20 September, 2009
Addictions, 13 September, 2009
Marriage: Mirage or Oasis, 6 September, 2009
False Assumptions About Marriage, 30 August, 2009
High Priest, July 19, 2009
Police, July 12, 2009
Pilate, July 26, 2009
Mary, August 22, 2009