Tag: God

Brooding on Vipers: An Out of Season Advent Sermon

Wednesday, April 6, 2016
“Encountering the Living Word” preaching course
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC)

Matthew 3:1-12
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.” ’
Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.Haiti-elsaiah-johnthebaptist

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
‘I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

The violent language of wrath and destruction in this text is kind of surprising and off-putting. Unquenchable fire and axes are not themes we usually associate with our God of love. Less so during Advent. During Advent, the secular world is usually already in full-blown Christmas mode, and we – in our quiet Christian way – are preparing ourselves for the birth of sweet little baby Jesus.

What is John even so mad about in this text anyway? He’s hanging out in the wilderness, baptizing the huge crowds of people that are coming to him from every which way. I mean, he’s baptizing everybody. Why is it so shocking and upsetting then that the Pharisees and Sadducees are among the crowd as well? Why are they singled out and separated as being somehow worse or more sinful than the rest? Continue reading “Brooding on Vipers: An Out of Season Advent Sermon” →

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My ninth sermon / mi novena sermón: Breaking up with Stuff / Para Dios, Todo es Posible

(Both English and Spanish sermons can be found here)

Marcos 10:17-31
Iglesia Luterana San Andrés en West ChicagoSábado, 10 de octubre; domingo, 11 de octubre

PART_1444519311655_IMG_20151010_123014“Gloria a ti, Señor Jesús.” Creo que esta semana, más bien quiero decir, “¡Pero caramba, Señor Jesús!” ¿Qué hacemos con esto? Hoy nos toca leer otra enseñanza de Jesús que es un poco difícil, igual que su enseñanza sobre el divorcio en la semana pasada. “Anda, vende todo lo que tienes,” dice Jesús al hombre rico. Nosotros ni somos tan ricos, pero también nos cuesta imaginar deshacernos de todas nuestras posesiónes.

¿Por qué diría Jesús a este hombre que venda todas sus cosas? No vemos en el cuento que es una persona mala, y podemos presumir que ganó sus riquezas honestamente. Además, conoce bien los mandamientos de Dios y dice que ha cumplido con ellos desde que era joven. Le pregunta muy sinceramente a Jesús que debe de hacer para heredar la vida eterna. Pero la respuesta de Jesús es que será muy difícil para él entrar en el reino de Dios. ¿Qué tan difícil? Dice Jesús que le resulta más fácil a un camello pasar por el ojo de una aguja, que a los ricos – incluso este rico – entrar en el reino de Dios. ¡Caramba, Señor Jesús! Continue reading “My ninth sermon / mi novena sermón: Breaking up with Stuff / Para Dios, Todo es Posible” →

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My seventh sermon: You Are What You Eat

11880528_1059250310766591_6314628572254871134_nGrace Lutheran Church
Saturday 8/15/15, Sunday 8/16/15

John 6:51-58
Ephesians 5:15-20
Psalm 34:9-14
Proverbs 9:1-6

I had to kind of chuckle a little bit when I read through the texts for today. You all lovingly sent me away to seminary so that I could gain some of the wisdom talked about in the lectionary for today. Now I feel like God has called me home to give you a report on how all that wisdom-acquiring is going!

Well, I have been learning a lot. This past summer in particular has been very formative for me. I just finished eleven weeks of CPE – Clinical Pastoral Education. Basically, I interned as a hospital chaplain on the north side of Chicago. I spent a lot of time sitting at the bedsides of cancer patients and palliative care patients and patients entering hospice care. I listened to their stories and their struggles and their fears about dying. I also had several opportunities to provide them with the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Remembering these experiences, it’s very poignant for me to read Jesus’ words about living bread in today’s gospel reading – “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” In the context of the hospital, the “living bread” of the Eucharist was very often juxtaposed with death and dying. In fact, many of the patients to whom I fed the Eucharist have since died. Jesus himself spoke these words about living bread on the eve of his own death. It makes me wonder a lot about this life that Jesus has promised and about this living bread that he tells us to eat. Continue reading “My seventh sermon: You Are What You Eat” →

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If Captain Planet wrote praise songs…

They might sound kind of like the one I just wrote.  Haha.  All through the Easter season, there’s been one piece of the communion liturgy at church that really stirs me up whenever I hear it:

“O God, you are Breath: send your Spirit on this meal. O God, you are Bread: feed us with yourself. O God, you are Wine: warm our hearts and make us one. O God, you are Fire: transform us with hope. O God most majestic, O God most motherly, O God our strength and our song, you show us a vision of a tree of life with fruits for all and leaves that heal the nations. Grant us such life, the life of the Father to the Son, the life of the Spirit of our risen Savior, life in you, now and forever. Amen.”

I think it’s such beautiful and moving imagery.  It’s a great reminder to always be on the lookout for God in all things, to catch glimpses of God’s spirit as it moves through the world with an infectious and mischievous delight, stirring our hearts up to love.  Anyhoo, once again, I found myself on a test day in class with a pen and a scrap of paper and words that began to flow through my brain.  This is what came out.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a great songwriter, but hope you enjoy it anyway.  The lyrics are also posted below.


Continue reading “If Captain Planet wrote praise songs…” →

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