Waxing Theological

4-27-14 (Easter 2A) 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31                                                                            No Doubt      So here we are - it’s just after Easter Sunday.  We’ve celebrated the big day of the church, we’ve shouted out “He is Risen” with joy and excitement.  And many of us have now spent the last week recovering somewhat after the busy-ness and excitement of Holy Week.  So as we come together today, it’s an interesting and kind of strange time to find ourselves in inside the church year.  For many churches, this is a Sunday much like the Sunday after Christmas.  It’s a kind of a “low” Sunday - many pastors take this Sunday off, and it’s sometimes jokingly called “Associate Pastor Sunday” or “Seminary Student Sunday.”  It’s a Sunday where many churches also see a lot less people coming to worship - we had the pews packed to capacity last Sunday, but now that Easter has come and gone, now that families have gone home from Easter breaks and visiting, we find

4/20/14 (Easter Sunday, Year A) Sermon Text John 20:1-18; Colossians 3:1-4 Raised with Christ      Today, we celebrate together.  We celebrate for a multitude of reasons - we celebrate because it is Easter.  We celebrate because we will be baptizing people into the family of God.  We celebrate because we are welcoming so many people into our specific church family through their baptism, confirmation, transfer, and profession of faith.  And we celebrate because as one, holy, universal church we affirm together that wonderful news proclaimed throughout the centuries - “He is Risen!”           It’s a wonderful time in the church year - many of us have spent the last six weeks in Lent, having given up one thing or another.  Today, that time of fasting comes to a close as we celebrate the Resurrection: for those of you who have given up chocolate, I hope you’ve already taken the time this morning to devour a bunny or two from your Easter basket.  Our confirmation class has spent t

4-18-14 Good Friday A Message given at Vandalia Ministerial Alliance Lenten Lunch Good Friday Message Text John 18:1-19:42 And so here we are, coming into these last few days of Lent, our final gathering together to share in food, fellowship, and worship.  We've been  in the midst of Holy Week since Palm Sunday, living out the last week of Christ's life and ministry on the earth as we have celebrated his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as we've gathered around the table and sat with the disciples as they shared one final meal with their master... And now we gather here today on this Good Friday afternoon and we hear the familiar story, the passion narrative... we listen to the recounting of those who had seen it: Jesus, beaten and bloody, stripped of all his clothing and his dignity, hanging bruised and broken on the cross while the world heaped its sin, its scorn, and its shame upon his thorny brow. And somehow, we find something to celebrate in it.  We find in th

4-6-14 (Lent 5A) John 11:1-45                                               Close Encounters of the Christ Kind: Lazarus     The tears came fresh and unbidden as Martha folded up her brother’s tunic.  It still had her brother’s smell, and with it, such strong memories of him came sharp and unexpectedly.  She remembered the last time he’d worn that tunic - it had been just before he’d gotten so sick, just before their entire world had been turned upside down.  She remembered how they’d smiled and laughed, how Jesus had stayed with them in Bethany and how their entire house had been filled with such joy.  But then he’d left, gone to minister to others, to heal and preach, and when they’d needed him the most, where was he?     As soon as Lazarus had taken ill, she and Mary had sent word to Jesus as quickly as they could.  They’d seen him heal others.  They knew what he’d done for others; they knew about the blind who had gained their sight, the feeding of thousands, the miraculous signs

3/30/14 (Lent 4A) John 9:1-45                              Close Encounters of the Christ Kind: The Man Born Blind     As he sat along the outskirts of the temple, it had started out as just another day.  Another day listening to the people on the streets passing him by, feeling the brush of the cloth of their cloaks against him as they moved to avoid him, smelling the heavy scent of the offerings being burnt nearby.  Every once in a while, he’d hear the people talking about him in hushed whispers, the children asking their parents why the man’s eyes were so cloudy or the murmurs of distaste that he’d pick this particular place to sit.  He’d grown used to it, to be honest - he didn’t have to be able to see to know that people looked down on him, to know that he would never really fit in with the rest of his world because of his blindness.  But all the same, there was a part of him that liked to sit there, to hear the people passing by, that even found entertainment at the fact that som

Remember the kinds of games we used to play when we were kids?  There used to be "playground rules" we all knew well and tended to work inside of.  The kid who owned the ball enforced the rules for the game.  The kid who brought the toy got to decide how it was used.  My sandbox, my rules. When I brought my Star Wars figures over to my friend's house, there was an unwritten, unspoken understanding - I gave my conditional consent to my friends to play with those figures.  But I got priority standing to choose whatever figure I wanted to play with.  No matter what my friend wanted to be, I got to be Boba Fett.  I got to play with the real blaster or the real lightsaber - because they were mine and I brought them.  And if my friend wanted a turn, or didn't want to play the game that I wanted to play, then I gathered up my toys and took them home.  When I was at home, I could play with my toys however I pleased and I didn't have to share.  I didn't have to le