A Fresh Perspective

Who are we listening to? (A sermon for Transfiguration Sunday - Matthew 17:1-9) I know I’m not the preacher originally planned for this pulpit exchange. But you know, sisters and brothers, sometimes you just have to take what you can get. [Note: This Sunday I exchanged pulpits with Rev. Sandy Lacey the pastor of First Presbyterian church, Frankfort, Ky. The minister that was scheduled to to be at First Pres. couldn't make it, so when Sandy was lamenting that at our clergy gathering I volunteered to take his place. Our churches benefited greatly from the exchange]  The story is told that Franklin Roosevelt often complained about the long receiving lines at the White House. He said that no one really listened. One day he decided to try an experiment. To each person that shook his hand, he said in a low voice, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” Guests responded with phrases like, “Marvelous, keep up the good work.” “We are proud of you, sir.” The ambassador of Bolivia,...

In this paragraph in Paul’s correspondence with the church in Corinth Paul returns to an earlier theme where he contrasts the foolishness of the world with the wisdom of God. Here the point he makes is that the church expresses the foolishness of the world in their boasting about human leaders. Paul’s response, I think, is wonderfully creative and constructive. He basically questions why the Corinthians would want to sell themselves short. In their greedy attempt to claim the biggest slice of the pie, what they don’t realize is that the whole pie is already theirs. Paul says, “Everything is yours. We all belong. We are one people. And no one has more than anyone else” (see 1 Cor. 3:21-23). Unless you are familiar with Paul’s view of God’s new creation Paul’s words here may seem strange. Paul heralded Christ as the mediator and representative of God’s new creation. God’s new creation breaks down all kinds of barriers and brings us all together as one. Paul speaks of this new cr...

A minister was walking out of the church one Sunday after the morning worship service and noticed a bulletin with some writing on it that had been tossed aside in one of the pews. His curiosity got the best of him, so he picked it up and read it. One of his parishioners had apparently been inspired to poetry during his sermon. This member had scribbled out on the worship bulletin: To dwell above/ with the saints we love/ Oh, that will be glory!/ But to dwell below/ with the saints we know/ Well, that’s a different story. Paul chastises the congregation at Corinth for their divisiveness. They were creating factions around certain leaders. It was all about their own egos and their need to shine brighter than the rest. So the congregation was pervaded by in-group/out-group divisiveness rooted in their own egos and petty jealousies. Paul calls them babies (infants). Though he does say they are babies in Christ. In other words, he wants them to know that even though they are acti...

What does it mean to be spiritual? There is, of course, no one answer to that question. Such a question doesn’t solicit an answer like, “What is 2 plus 2?”   Our text raises the question today because Paul writes about being spiritual and being unspiritual. Based on Paul’s words here and the text in Matthew I can say three things about a healthy spirituality. Now, what I have to say is not any more exhaustive than what Paul says to the Corinthians is exhaustive. So, what can we say about being spiritual by looking at these two texts. The first thing I would like to say about being spiritual, is that authentic, healthy spirituality is rooted in gratitude. Paul writes, “Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God” (2:12). I think anyone who is spiritual, anyone who is being led by the Spirit understands that all of life is a gift, that we are alive because of the generosity and goo...