Sermon Archive

Text : Genesis 22:1-14 Three years ago, I preached on this most difficult of stories. Three years ago, I tried to put my best foot forward, to provide some sort of insight on one of the most challenging stories that the Bible has to offer. But three years ago, I had yet to become a Dad. Now, as I am watching Megan grow, seeing her smile, watching her play… listening to her say “no!” as two-and-a-half year olds often do, I find myself struggling that much more with this Hardest of Stories. The idea of even going through the motions of sacrificing my own child is so personally repulsive that I find myself both more empathetic and angry with Abraham… and maybe even with God. I remember when going to seminary, we moved through our Old Testament course in a systematic way. When we came to the story of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac, my professor told us that if we don’t have a problem with this story, we should. It is in every way a disconcerting, troubling, challenging story that portra...

Note: the original version of this sermon was preached on Sunday, June 19, 2005. This is a substantial re-write and update of some of those original ideas. Text: Genesis 21:8-21 There is a darker side to human nature that we would all care to forget about, and pretend that is not there. We would like to think that we personally are good people, and that we are not capable of those monstrously evil things that others have done. We don’t have to look that far in the news. A mother in Nova Scotia charged with having murdered her own daughter… a Father in this city who is accused of doing the same late last year has his charges upgraded this week to first degree murder. We view them and brand them as monsters… and do all that we can to distance ourselves from genuinely despicable acts. Shut it out, label them as inhuman and put them away and conveniently lose the key. That way we don’t have to deal with it. Yet it is important that we do pay attention to it: it’s in the news… we acknowledg...

Text: Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7 Does anybody else notice the irony in this? One of the quickest ways to get a laugh out of Presbyterians is to crack some sort of joke as to how humourless Presbyterians are. Any talk about being stony faced, dour, unsmiling we seem to be always seems to spawn some sort of giggle. Why? Because at least according to the stereotypes, it’s true! Yet, we laugh… therefore disproving the stereotype. Yet laughter is good for the heart… and not just metaphorically either… there have apparently been some studies done that being able to laugh can improve our quality of life, and even extend our lifespan. There is a real genuine benefit in life for having a good sense of humour. Somewhere along the way we’ve gotten the wrong message… that somehow laughter isn’t holy… that if anything, it’s disrespectful. Those of us in the church over time gained a reputation that irreverence and humour was sinful, because it’s disrespectful to God… and therefore we shouldn’t laugh… ...

Text: Matthew 9:9-13 I’ve said before that I am an avid political watcher. I’ve also learned to keep my political opinions to myself out of respect for the wide varieties of political views that will exist in any congregation. That having been said, after watching a few of the political events both with our neighbours to the south, as well as our own Parliamentary goings-on, I’ve come to the conclusion that Jesus could never have been an elected official. Such a revelation might send the religious right in the United States off into conniptions… but let’s be honest. It’s true. In the talk around the resignation of Maxime Bernier last week, one commentator said that in politics, one is indeed judged by the company that they keep. Many political and business careers have come to a crashing halt this way. Not a year goes by without at least one happening somewhere in the world. US Presidential Candidate Barack Obama has been forced to distance himself from the congregation he came to fai...

Text: 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 If any of you have been out to see the latest Indiana Jones film, there’s an off chance that you might have seen a rather odd commercial that plays just ahead of the film. It’s very new, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve not see it yet… but bear with me. It was an ad for a particular type of soft drink. It was odd, because the set-up for the commercial is a pair of disembodied tongues with legs and Australian accents enjoying (they think) a bottle of Coke. Their fun is spoiled when a disembodied eye walks up to them and informs them with a Spanish Accent that they are drinking “Coke Zero.” The tongues then call the eye a “liar” and then insult him about the eye’s inability to taste. It’s popular enough that four different commercials have found their way onto YouTube. [1] I have to say they’re awfully strange… funny, but strange… and most of you are probably wondering why on earth I would be talking about this. For me the first thing that actually came to...

Text: Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19 One of my daughter Megan’s favorite toys is Noah’s Ark. Part of the Little People line from Fisher Price, it’s one of the rare examples of a Biblical Story being a toy made by a mainstream company. Turns out they also make a Christmas Nativity set as well… For Megan, this plastic Noah’s Ark a hands-on experience, learning the animals, and the characters of Noah and Noah’s wife. Of course, at this point, she doesn’t know all the nuances of the story, not the least of which is the flood itself… but for her, at two years of age, this introduction to the story is a great hands-on type of learning. It’s the very beginning of journey for her… and in some ways, it’s reminding me of my own journey too. The story of Noah’s Ark is probably one of the best known and best loved stories from the Bible. It has provided great material for artists, songwriters and comedians, and certainly for me is one of the earliest stories from the Bible that I can personally rem...

Text: Genesis 1:1-2:4a The first chapter of Genesis may well be the most-read part of the Bible… if for no other reason that it literally is the beginning of the book. Even if our well-intentioned quest to read the Bible from cover-to-cover fails miserably, at least we will have read Genesis Chapter One… but even so, there is so much to this first chapter… this Epic poem that proclaims the glories of the universe, and at the same time is a defiant declaration of God’s power in the face of an oppressive invading power. We get so hung up on it being literal or not literal that we’ve entirely missed the point of the story, and we don’t hear much less learn the real power of what this passage is really saying… what God is really saying to each of us… to you… to me. That we are part of something wondrous and marvelous, that is truly awesome beyond words. Contrary to what we might conventionally think, the first Chapter of Genesis is not the oldest part of the Bible. Employing a bit of lite...