faith — Page 20

Nov 1, 2015 – The Future Kirk: Hopeful Serving from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.

A sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on November 1, 2015.

Sometimes, we just have to do the best we can do
with the things we’ve got: and leave the rest to God.

///
Once upon a time,
there was this pastor who lived near Seattle, Washington.[i]

This one bright, spring day,
the pastor stepped out his back door,
only to notice a tiny stray kitten,
howling pathetically, stuck up in a tree in his back yard.

Now this wasn’t an old, majestic tree:
it was young and small, but not so young and not so small
that the kitten could be easily reached.

Even with a ladder, the kitten was beyond his grasp.

He spent a half an hour trying to get that kitten to come down that tree.

The tree itself was too fragile to be climbed, at least by a person
and he was getting nowhere.
The poor kitten was too frightened to move,
no matter what stinky, savory thing he tried as a lure.

It clung to its tiny branch, helplessly meowing…

///
So everything seemed stuck.
Until the pastor got what can only be called an INSPIRED idea.
See: if he tied one end of a rope to the tree,
and the other end of the rope…to the front of his car,
well, he could back his car up, you see.

And as he backed up, he would pull the tree over and down
until the kitten was low enough for it to be reached.
It just might work!

So….the guy ran to his garage and got the rope.
And he tied one end as high in the tree as he could reach.
He tied the other to his front bumper,
and he began, slowly, to back his car.

Sure enough, IT WORKED!
With every foot the pastor backed up, the tree was pulled lower and lower.

All the minister had to do was back up ONE MORE FOOT,
and the kitten would be his.

The pastor backed it up.
The rope: it broke.
The tree sprung upright with a snap and the kitten,
it flew through the air….

The kitten DISAPPEARED!

The pastor, scared and guilty and concerned,
looked all over the place for that poor kitten.
But he couldn’t find it.
He asked all the neighbors.
He put signs up everywhere.
No one had seen a thing.

All the pastor could do was pray to God for the kitten’s safety…
[Read more…]

October 18, 2015 – On The Way from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.

A sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on October 18, 2015.

Psalm 34:1-8
and Mark 10:46-52

We are in DANGER of becoming a society of SPECTATORS.

Morning, noon, and night—TV Talk-shows invite us to tune in
to WATCH and HEAR as OTHER people talk about their lives
or, ONLINE, getting updates on what OTHERS are doing…

If you asked the Herring-Bailey household
what was the most watched television show of the summer,
we would answer, Big Brother,
which just concluded its 17^th season
when Steve got more votes than Liz
It was epic.

Real-life docudramas let you “be there” in the comfort of your
own home—and live vicariously through
the adventures of OTHERS…
…while NEVER leaving your armchair
or your computer screen.

CHURCHS, now, lure church shoppers with a
“no load, no burden, no commitment necessary”
type of worship.

COME, and sit in a movie theater like chair
BE ENTERTAINED by musical groups,
BE SANITIZED from meddlesome words
like “redemption” “sacrifice”
“grace” “cross.”

We are in DANGER of becoming a CHURCH of SPECTATORS!

///
As Tom Long recounted it[1]
it was a rollicking night at the theatre.
A young actor named Tom Key was playing the part of Jesus
in the play “Cotton Patch Gospel”
and he was bringing the house down.

The play, a bluegrass musical which depicts the ministry of Jesus
as if it had occurred in the cotton fields
and Baptist churches of rural south Georgia—
the play was in its final performance
and Key was feeling….confident
and even inventive with his lines.

His enthusiasm was contagious,
as he forged a bond
of mutual exchange and appreciation with his audience.

///
During the scene depicting the Sermon on the Mount
Key, as Jesus, suddenly turned from the group on the stage
toward the audience,
pointed to the blank auditorium side wall, and said,
“Look at the lilies in that field…”

He stopped,
almost as if he had forgotten the next line,
peered around at the disciples,
focused again on the audience and repeated:
“Look at the lilies in that field…”

Once more he stopped, and seemed to be searching for the next words.
The audience began to, well, shift, uncomfortably.

His hand extended yet again to the blank wall,
and this time he spoke the words slowly and deliberately,
“Look …at… the… lilies… in… that… field…”

NOW, he turned to the disciples,
shrugged his shoulders, and said, “I can’t get them to look.”

And the room filled with laughter
as it dawned on the audience
that he really wanted them to look.

And sure enough, when he gave it one more try,
“Look at the lilies in that field…”

every head in the audience turned toward the side wall… [Read more…]

Sermon: The Future Kirk–Hopeful Serving

Sermon: On the Way