Sermon – Theologybird Writes

I love the image of a person figuring out how high their tower can be or the king sorting out the costs of war. They are so real, as I discuss. And they aren’t the point. Jesus is talking about Discipleship. I worked most closely with Luke 14.25-33 (link).

Between some vacation, a guest preacher, and some other schedule oddities, writing and preaching meant finding some old habits. So we have a classic sci-fi reference and a story from Genesis. Which makes perfect sense when the text is the Epistle to the Hebrews. I am preaching from Hebrews 13. 1-8 15-16, but reference Genesis 18.1-15 heavily. (Both available here.)

The story of Naaman’s healing is so many things. It’s a moment where Elisha proves he’s equal to his mentor, where the geopolitics in the region ramp up to a near crisis, there’s a bit of humour around who is worthy of honour. But most of all it’s about the faith of an unnamed slave girl from Israel. I worked most closely with 2 Kings 5.1-14

I have loved this story of Elijah in the mountain cave since I first heard it. Not only do I think the prophets of 1 &2 Kings have wisdom for the modern Church, but it’s so human to want to be intimidated in the face of building or rebuilding. Also, God does a lot of carework with little oatcakes. Here’s what I said. I worked with 1 Kings 19.1-15a.

Pentecost is hard to preach because what I don’t want to do is take the overwhelmingness of the Holy Spirit and shrink her into my sermon. Instead, I hope that what I preach orients us all (including me!) to the ongoing work of God the Holy Spirit around and through us. I worked most closely with Acts 2.1-21.