Sermons

Below is a sermon I preached at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church on October 9, 2022, and this is the eNewsletter article I wrote to set up the sermon:

The Jewish law is known as the Torah. When you think about the Jewish law, what comes to mind? What all do you understand as being the Jewish law or Torah?

Growing up, I would say that I equated the Torah as “bad.” Why? Because of that false dichotomy created by Protestant Christianity from an incomplete understanding of Paul, the apostle, comparing the “works of the law” to “grace” and “faith.” So, “Law bad. Grace and faith good,” was my ill-conceived mantra.

But beyond that, I also thought the Torah was simply a list of, “Do this. . . . Don’t do that. . . .” and, “Here’s what happens when you do what is commanded. . . . Here’s what happens when you break a rule. . . . ” At first, I thought the list of dos and don’ts was only ten. Later, I learned it was a list of 613, including the Ten Commandments and some of Jesus’ greatest hits like, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and “Love God with all your heart, soul, and strength.”

But as I studied more, I’ve learned that “law” isn’t really the best translation of Torah. Rather, “instruction” is the better translation. Take a moment to consider the different impressions you get from “instruction” as opposed to “law.”

For me, “instruction” connotes a process of learning. It also gives me some inclination of not simply “what” to do but also “how” to do it. Whereas “law” seems intimidating, “instruction” seems helpful. How do you react to these different words?

On top of all of that, though, it finally hit me one day that the Torah is the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Genesis is basically all narrative. A great deal of Exodus and Numbers is narrative with some commandments thrown in. Leviticus and Deuteronomy are mostly commands.

So, I began to ask myself. How is narrative “law” or “instruction?” With that, the stories of especially Genesis and Exodus began to take on a whole new meaning. Maybe the stories were giving me examples of how to live (and not to live). Maybe they were less about just being a story to remember and more about instruction or guidance on how to approach (and not approach) different situations.

With that backdrop, in this sermon we’ll focus on the stories found in Exodus 1:8-2:10 and consider what instruction and guidance it may give us about responding to the world around us.

This was a sermon preached at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church as a part of a larger sermon series called “God’s GPS,” a stewardship series. This was the first sermon of the series.

Imagine that you’re going on a journey – destination irrelevant. What’s the first thing you need to know before you know how to get to your destination?

You need to know where your journey begins or else the directions to your destination will make no sense.

With this sermon, we begin a journey through a new sermon series called God’s GPS where we will learn about how God guides us in life through gratitude, prayer, and faith. But here in this sermon, we actually begin with our starting point, where we begin our journeys of faith – Creation.

In the first creation story of Genesis 1, we learn that all of us – regardless of gender – are created in God’s image, and that is our starting point. It is in that creative, loving beginning that each of us start our journeys together, so we will explore what that even means – being created in God’s image – and let that ground us for our journey through the rest of the series.

As you prepare to listen to this sermon, I hope you’ll take time to read the passage from Genesis 1 as well as the gospel lesson from Mark.

Listen to it here:

Right-mouse-click here to download audio.

Scriptures inspiring this sermon include:

Genesis 1:26-28
²⁶Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” ²⁷So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. ²⁸God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (NRSV)

Mark 12:13-17
¹³Then they sent to him some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in what he said. ¹⁴And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? ¹⁵Should we pay them, or should we not?” But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.” ¹⁶And they brought one. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” ¹⁷Jesus said to them, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him. (NRSV)

A sermon preached at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church on Sunday, August 18, 2019.

Last week, while on vacation, we spent some time at Wallis Sands State Beach in New Hampshire. According to the life guards, the water was a whopping 57 degrees when we first arrived, getting as warm as about 63 degrees. Sandra and I didn’t spend much time in the water. We could hardly get Micah out!

For the most part, he just spent time dodging the waves – jumping up just as it arrived in order to be carried back by it or sometimes diving under the wave just before it arrived. He had a ball!

Waves can be fun or waves can be damaging depending on the size of the ripple and how one can respond to it.

What waves do our lives of faith make, though? That is part of my focus for this sermon. So, in preparation, I hope you’ll take some time to read the Scriptures for it: Psalm 82 and Matthew 7:24-27.

Listen to it here:

Right-mouse-click here to download audio.

Here are Scriptures that inspired this sermon:

Psalm 82
¹God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
²“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
³Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
⁴Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
⁵They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk around in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
⁶I say, “You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you;
⁷nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, and fall like any prince.”
⁸Rise up, O God, judge the earth; for all the nations belong to you! (NRSV)

Matthew 7:24-27
²⁴“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. ²⁵The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. ²⁶And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” (NRSV)