Waxing Theological

Lent 3A (3/23/14) Sermon Texts: Exodus 17:1-7; John 4:5-42                                Close Encounters of the Christ Kind: Woman at the Well     The sun beat down hot upon her as she carried the heavy jug to the well.  She wiped her hand across her brow, sweeping away the sheen of sweat that had gathered there under the noonday heat.  She knew the jug she carried was nowhere near as heavy as it would be on the journey back, but her arms already ached from the weight of the jar.  Her biggest consolation was in knowing that once she reached Jacob’s well, she’d be able to take a deep, long drink from the water as she worked to fill her jug.  It would be a small relief to her, but it would be enough to refresh her until she was nearly back to her home, where the promise of another drink of water from the jug she just filled would push her the last few steps back.     She lowered the bucket down into the well, beginning the tedious process of lowering, raising, emptying, and lowering a

Lent 2A 3-16-14 Genesis 12:1-4; John 3:1-21                                               Close Encounters of the Christ Kind: Nicodemus     He comes to the savior like a thief in the night, like a fugitive running, looking over his shoulder for fear that someone will see him and know.  He comes because he is compelled to come, because he recognizes something about this wandering Aramean that is different, that is from God.  And yet, despite the magnetic pull that he feels toward Christ, Nicodemus comes cautiously.  He comes to Jesus with the same hesitant, mincing approach that he uses with everything in his life.  After all, it’s a major risk he’s taking here - he’s a leader in the Jewish community.  Everything he does is a direct reflection on the rest of the Pharisees, so much so that even as he comes to Jesus, he doesn’t even know how to speak for himself.     He calls Jesus Rabbi - he shows this moonlit Lord a great respect and recognizes the man’s authority as a teacher.  “Rabb

Lent 1A (3/9/14) Matthew 4:1-11                                             Close Encounters of the Christ Kind: Satan     The sun beat down on him, its heat hard and heavy.  One tiny trickle of sweat dripped down into his eyes, stinging for a second as he tried to blink it away.  He smirked a bit, thinking it a wonder that he could still sweat at all at this point - how many days had it been now since his last meal, his last drink? 38? 40? It was hard to keep count anymore. His stomach gave a loud growl and he nearly doubled over with the hunger pang that followed; he’d thought they’d go away after a time, but as they grew fewer in number they only became greater in intensity.  Why couldn’t the Spirit have driven him to somewhere a little less... rugged?  Why not some of those shaded caves and streams where David found shelter hiding from Saul?  Why not send him some of that manna and quail that the Israelites got during their own time in the wilderness?  But that was just the hu

Just a brief intro before I post the next sermon - during this season of Lent, I'm trying something different.  For the first time ever, I'm taking advantage of a pattern in the lectionary readings and launching into a sermon series I've titled "Close Encounters of the Christ Kind."  As we journey together through Lent, the Scriptures present us with a number of "close encounters" between Jesus and various individuals - Satan in the wilderness, Nicodemus in the moonlight, the woman at the well, the blind man at Siloam, and Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, at Lazarus' grave.  In each of these "close encounters," Jesus not only does some truly amazing things, but also shows the depth of God's love for each and every one of us. In addition to the idea of doing a sermon series in the first place, I'll be attempting a different approach to the sermon itself throughout this series.  This idea actually started as a seed planted

Transfiguration Sunday, Year A (3-2-14) Sermon Texts are: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21; Matthew 17:1-9 Mountaintop Experiences The whole thing was extraordinary beyond words - so much so that it is described using a word that we pretty much never use unless we’re talking about this one, specific, extraordinary event.  Jesus takes Peter, James, and John, his three closest disciples - the ones who are almost always right there at his side whenever anything happens, and they go up the mountain together.  And as they’re at the top of the mountain, Jesus is suddenly transfigured - he literally transforms before their eyes.  His face begins to glow with brilliant light, his very clothes become a radiant, dazzling white, and two of the greatest men of the Hebrew tradition, Moses and Elijah, appear beside him and just carry on a conversation for a moment. It’s like a scene from a Cecil B. DeMille movie.  It’s grandiose and powerful.  It leaves no doubts to a person hearing it, let