Month: June 2022

Digging in Deeper: Matthew 5:8

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“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever seen a movie that didn’t know what it was trying to be? That can be a frustrating experience. You want to enjoy the film, but you only want to enjoy one film, not three or four at the same time. Writing a story (or much of anything for that matter) can be tough. I can speak to this rather personally as I write a few thousand words every week. Not many of those words are for the purpose of telling a story, but writing a sermon requires the same kind of discipline. Too many potentially good sermons have fallen victim to the curse of not knowing what they are trying to be. The preacher starts out making one point, but then just can’t quite restrain himself from making two or three others. The jumbled mess that results from this may feel very inspiring in a moment, but doesn’t often stick beyond that. I recently finished watching a movie that suffers from this very thing. It’s too bad too, because I really wanted it to be good. Let’s talk this morning about the latest offering from the wizarding world of Harry Potter: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

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Morning Musing: Hebrews 5:5-6

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“In the same way, Christ did not exalt himself to become a high priest, but God who said to him, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father,’ also says in another place, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had someone make an obscure reference? I’m a big nerd with a head full of fairly useless trivia. I’m sure I make them all the time. The thing is, though, if you’re the one making the obscure reference, it’s probably not obscure to you. But obscure references are a pain in the neck. They’re a pain to the one making them because you have to stop while you’re making a point to explain them. Why can’t everyone simply have a broader grasp of…everything? They’re a pain to the one hearing them because they don’t understand them. Why not find some clearer way to communicate that everyone understands instead of being a smarty-pants know-it-all? Well, the author of Hebrews makes an obscure reference here at the beginning of chapter 5 and doesn’t explain it until chapter 7. Rather than making you wait in confused suspense, let’s unpack it right quick this morning.

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Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 5:1-4

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“For every high priest taken from among men is appointed in matters pertaining to God for the people, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he is also clothed with weakness. Because of this, he must make an offering for his own sins as well as for the people. No one takes this honor on himself; instead, a person is called by God, just as Aaron was.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Being a pastor can be confusing. It’s not necessarily confusing for me. I know who I am and what I’m doing (well, at least the first one most of the time). It’s confusing for everyone else. For instance, what should I be called? In my particular faith tradition, there are several options. Which one gets used depends on the circumstances and who’s talking to me. I have at various times been called “pastor,” “preacher,” “reverend,” and even “father” or “priest” by someone who was raised Catholic and really didn’t have a frame of reference beyond that (although, admittedly, my favorite has been a man who unfailingly calls me “Rabbi”). Which is right and what do they mean? What got me thinking about all of this is a description of the high priest here at the opening of Hebrews 5. Let’s talk about it.

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Morning Musing: Hebrews 4:14-16

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“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens – Jesus the Son of God – let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There is a fantastic new ad campaign running in various markets across the country right now called, “He Gets Us.” Its goal is to get people interested in Jesus. Actually, it goes beyond that. People are generally interested in Jesus. People aren’t interested in the church, but they don’t connect the two like they should. That’s often the church’s fault. This campaign aims to address that. And this is a good thing too, because Jesus is someone worth being interested in. The writer of Hebrews offers us some really powerful reasons why. Let’s take a look at this together.

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Growth Is Mandatory

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This week we are continuing our series, Generations. Last week we focused our attention on Generation Z and talked about the importance of following. This week the Millennials are in the docket. What is it that Millennials most need to hear in order to get their faith right in the season of life they are in? Read on to find out.

Growth Is Mandatory

I’ve talked before about our gardening exploits. The little garden spot we use does weird things. Last year, for instance, while we had three tomato plants from Jim, only one of them actually produced a tomato. It made its grand appearance in June, grew to about the size of a grape, and stayed that way until about October when it finally turned red. With all of that in mind, this year we tried to get smarter. We have put all of our plants in the same area of the yard, but we put them all in pots. Six plants. Six pots. Easy to maintain and water and weed and the like. What could go wrong? We even have tomatoes on both of our plants. I took a picture of two of them just to document the evidence. And we have blossoms on the squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. Lots of them. But would you believe we still don’t have any produce? We got one little zucchini about the size of my pinky finger (which disappeared before it ever got any bigger), and that’s it. Oh, at the boys’ request, we planted a whole bunch of two different types of sunflowers including one variety that’s supposed to get up to 12-feet tall. About a quarter of those have popped up including just three of the twenty or so seeds we planted in the actual planter box. I’m starting to think there’s something weird about that whole side of our house. Or maybe it’s just us. 

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