I finished my sermon already for Sunday. But I can't get this week's gospel lesson out of my head. I feel like sometimes my sermons alternate - one week emphasizing the "we have to get to work NOW!" part of the Good News, and the next week epmahsizing "God loves you, God's grace is boundless." This week is a "we have to get to work" week. I guess, really, that is the double message of the gospel - we've got some much we could so easily be doing to show God's kingdom all around us. We fail to do even some most basic things to love our neighbors. We MUST get to work. And yet, and yet...Christ welcomes the disciples who never understand what he's getting at no matter how many times he shows them. God loves us no matter how many times we screw up. Christ redeems us no matter how unworthy. Grace and Responsibility (incidentally, the title of a John Cobb book that I love,) I guess that's about right.
Anyway, I don't normally edit my sermons once they're done, but I keep wondering - is there enough grace in it? Still - sometimes I think we need to hear the equal truth - we say we want to follow Jesus, but we only mean it half-heartedly, and Jesus wants nothing less than our whole hearts.
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Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B, "Picnic and a Boat Ride," John 6:1-21 (Proper 12B, Ordinary 17B)
Sermon 7/28/24 John 6:1-21 Picnic and a Boat Ride Our gospel lesson today is a text that’s probably familiar to most of you, at least some...
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I struggled too with where is the Good News? At this point it seems Christ has called us all in baptism, and all we need do is say "yes". Christ reminded Paul that he "was kicking against the goad". We can pray "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done". Mary said, "Be it unto me according to your word."
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