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Promises, Promises: Exodus 3:1-14

  Sermon for a service of consecrating new licensed local pastors Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God.  2  There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.  3  Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.”  4  When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”  5  Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”  6  He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.   7  Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt;
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All Saints, All Souls, All Peoples: Isaiah 25:4-9

  All Saints Day You have been a refuge for the poor,     a refuge for the needy in distress,     a hiding place from the storm,     a shade from the heat. When the breath of tyrants is like a winter storm 5      or like heat in the desert,     you subdue the roar of foreigners. Like heat shaded by a cloud,     the tyrants’ song falls silent. 6 On this mountain,     the Lord of heavenly forces will prepare for all peoples         a rich feast , a feast of choice wines,         of select foods rich in flavor,         of choice wines well refined. 7 He will swallow up on this mountain the veil that is veiling all peoples,     the shroud enshrouding all nations. 8 He will swallow up death forever. The Lord God will wipe tears from every face;     he will remove his people’s disgrace from off the whole earth,         for the Lord has spoken. 9 They will say on that day, “Look! This is our God,     for whom we have waited—     and he has saved u
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Dead Faith and Resurrection Values: James 2:14-18

  Ordinary Time What good is it, my sacred family members, if a man says ‘I have faith,’ but has no deeds to show for it?   Can that kind of ‘faith’ set him free and make him whole?   15 If a family member or any human being has no clothes to wear or no food to eat, 16 and you say, ‘Go in peace, stay warm, and eat well,’ but fail to give what is needed, what good have you done? 17 In the same way, without deeds, faith by itself is dead.   18 But someone will say, ‘Faith is what is needed,’ while another says, ‘Good deeds are what is needed.’   I say that both are needed.   You show me your faith without good deeds, and I will show you my faith by the good deeds I have done.   (First Nations Version)             In case you didn’t know, church folk are a tad dramatic.   We, like most people, want to be right, and to have everyone know we’re right, and for everyone else to agree with us because then they would also be right—which is, of course, not specific to the Church at all.  
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Rearranging Deck Chairs: 1 Peter 4:7-11

  Communion Sunday, Ordinary Time The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers.  8  Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.  9  Be hospitable to one another without complaining.  10  Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received .  11  Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.  (NRSVue)             “The most notable fact in religion today is that ministers of all denominations are trying, somewhat desperately but with immense energy and imagination, to find new ways to carry God back into the everyday life of society and to make him, in the prevailing cliche of the day, ‘relevant.’ This is not primari
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