God — Page 3

September 25, 2016 – “Fearless Faith – God Makes All Things New” from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.

Fearless Faith: God Makes All Things New.

A sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on September 25, 2016.
The seventh in a sermon series on Facing our Fears through a Life of Faith.

Romans 8:26-28, 35-39
and Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

Before Stephen Colbert took over the Late Show from David Letterman,
he had a wildly popular parody show
over on Comedy Central called The Colbert Report.

He based it on the talking heads, personality driven programs on CNN and FOX News
bombastic ideologues who talked a big game
who stood tall on behalf of their ideals
against a wave of “misguided opposition.”

The show’s opening splashed all sorts of superlative words on the screen
words meant to be about him, Stephen Colbert
astonishing
brilliant
self-evident
all-beef (that confused me,
it must have been a play for cattle country)
strong
honorable
all these words splashing on the screen
while Colbert stood there with a big American Flag
as a red-white-and-blue bald eagle flew by
screeching on cue.

Colbert Report HD Show Opener from Canal Creatures on Vimeo.

It was a satirical take on both the state of our news and our pundits
and on us, those of us who read and watch such things.

Colbert was meant to be brazenly bold and always right, always sure
there was no weakness, no Achilles heal
no blemish in his armor
no matter the facts or evidence to contradict him.

He was kind of the archetype of the fearless, self-made, powerful man
all the way down to his pressed power suits
someone who believed it and who knew it and who strutted around to show it.

Now, there’s a lot to analyze there, and maybe more on another Sunday
but the surprising thing about Stephen Colbert’s character
was this: for all his posturing, for all this gravitas
for someone who was, seemingly, so self assured
so right,
so perfect in his point of view
there was ONE THING
that he could be human about
there was ONE thing that he admitted scared him, and it was this:

BEARS.

Bears scared him.
He had this recurring thing, maybe once a week,
where he talked about seeing bears,
how they were a nemesis that had to be taken out
or something to hide from.

And why not, Bears are scary.
This summer, when our family travelled to Jackson, Wyoming
we were introduced to the dangers of Bears
and all the things designed to keep them away
Bear Bells, attached to your backpack
Bear Spray, don’t hike without some
but also don’t let it go off accidently. [Read more…]

September 4, 2016 – “Fearless Faith – Can’t Do It All” from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.

Fearless Faith: Can’t Do It All

A sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on September 4, 2016.
The fourth in a sermon series on Facing our Fears through a Life of Faith.

Exodus 18:13-24
and Mark 2:1-12

In 1992, that great American legal comedy My Cousin Vinny was released.

You might remember it:
It starred Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei
and Ralph Macchio from those Karate Kid movies.

The tagline of the movie was great:
“There have been many courtroom dramas that have glorified
the Great American Legal System”
it declared
“This is not one of them.”

It was a silly movie,
Ralph and his friend were from New York,
and they were driving through backwater Alabama
where they stop at a convenience store
and accidently forget to pay for a can of tuna.

They’re arrested a short time later,
where they confess to the crime and attempt to make amends
only to find out that, after they left
the storekeep had been murdered
and their car was Identified by eyewitnesses
and their confession was misconstrued as
admitting to the shooting, not the tuna.

And, well, they’re in hot water.
So they call their cousin Vinny, or Vincent LaGuardia Gambini, played by Joe Pesci,
a personal injury lawyer, newly admitted to the NY bar
on his sixth attempt, and with no trial experience
to come bail him out.

The movie pits New York and New Jersey stereotypes
against Alabama stereotypes
and succeeds at leading the viewer through enough twists and turns
to have you cheering at the end.

It was surprisingly better than one might have expected.

Tomei, who played Vinny’s girlfriend, Mona Lisa
won an academy award for best supporting actress.

Lawyers have praised the film for its realistic depiction of courtroom procedure,
and many law schools and pre-law programs have used it in their curriculum.
What has stuck with me throughout the whole process
is how confident the prosecution is that they have the right culprits
and how they’re mistaken.

Part of that confidence, it turns out
rests on two key bits of evidence that turn up at the trial:
the famous picture of the tire-marks from the getaway vehicle
that match up to the same tires that the accused were driving,
and eyewitness testimony that put the boys at the scene of the crime.

Only…turns out that the tires that matched were widely available,
and the car the boys were driving couldn’t have made the particular tracks
(something about the independent rear suspension
that Marisa Tomei can describe, even if I can’t)
and that eye witness…well, she was wrong.

She saw the whole thing, sure
from the window of her house.
But she didn’t have her glasses on
and what she said was clear, wasn’t
as Vincent LaGuardia Gambini was able to demonstrate in court.

///
And voila, the two boys are freed.
They catch the real bad guys sometime thereafter and everyone is happy.

But some of those scenes stuck with me as I went off to college
and started working through coursework
thinking about how we know what we know,
what we base our understanding on.

I’ll believe it when I see it.
You might have heard someone say that before. [Read more…]

Sermon: Fearless Faith–God Makes All Things New

Sermon: Fearless Faith–Can’t Do It All