In the reading from the Hebrew Scriptures this morning we heard about King David’s desire to build a Temple of cedar for the Ark of the Covenant, and then Yahweh’s instructions to David to leave that task to King David’s son Solomon. In Paul’s letter to the Christians at Ephesus he reminds them that “you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” And then, in Mark’s gospel, we are told that the people followed Jesus and his disciples even as he crosses the Sea of Galilee … and he looked upon them with compassion. These are the lessons from Holy Scripture for this week. This sermon is about “no longer strangers and aliens,” and about compassion.
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The beheading of John the Baptist. This is exactly why I prefer using “Amen. Amen.” As the response after a reading rather than “Thanks be to God,” or “Praise to you Lord Christ.” Sometimes the story in the text isn’t something worthy of either “Thanks” or “Praise.”
I’ve mentioned to a number of people this week that I knew exactly how I would begin this sermon … here it is:
A couple of weeks ago Caren and I took a few days off to go to the mountains of North Carolina. While we were gone the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed the Affordable Care Act … ObamaCare … then a few days later the Supreme Court said Marriage was legally available to same sex couples. No more “gay marriages” or “lesbian marriage” … just “marriage.” Then the Episcopal Church elected its first African American Presiding Bishop, Michael Bruce Curry of the Diocese of North Carolina. Gee, with events like this happening while I was away … I think I should go away more often! |
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November 2024
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