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Sermon: Always Thankful

November 20, 2016 by Chad Herring Leave a Comment

Always Thankful.

A sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on November 20, 2016.

John 6:24-35
and Philippians 4:4-9

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It came as a bit of surprise to me when I read the gospel lesson
commended for this year’s Thanksgiving reflection.
Here it is, Thanksgiving week.
I expected to see something about giving thanks, about GRATITUDE.

Instead, we get this story of ANXIETY
from the gospel of John.

Jesus followers were, well, following Jesus.
He had been teaching them, as he does
and this disciples were helping him, as they do.

Jesus had just fed the crowds. Five Thousand plus, they say.
It was a miracle. Baskets of fish and bread left over.
The people had settled in for the night, to rest, to recover.
All was balanced. Settled.

Then there is a disruption.

Jesus crossed the lake, on his own.
The disciples crossed a rough sea to be with him.
And that crowd….they woke up and found their teacher and his entourage gone.

This was before the days of texting
When you could let people know you’ve slipped away to buy some bread at the store.

So we have this story:
A worried people, searching for Jesus.
They find him.
They ask him where he’d gone.
And we have this teaching about God providing for us
About our need not to work for things that perish
But about lasting things, important things,
Things like justice and love and righteousness
That mark this realm of God that Jesus has come to proclaim.

Not just when we’re feeling safe.
Not just when all things are tied up and neatly secure.
Jesus was teaching about God providing for us and our needs, all the time.
In good times. And in challenging times.

I am the bread of Life…Jesus says.
You learned I could address your actual hunger,
back on the other side of the stormy sea
But here, know that I will always be there for you
So you will never hunger for love, for acceptance, for a caring heart again…

Fair enough.
It’s a great story.
Just one question, you might ask:
What does that have to do with turkey and pumpkin pie?

///
Well, not so much, you might argue.

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: faith, God, Jesus, love, sermon

Sermon: Loving Our Enemies

November 13, 2016 by Chad Herring Leave a Comment

Loving Our Enemies.

A sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on November 13, 2016.

1 Corinthians 3:16-22
and Matthew 5:38-48

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Leonard Cohen died this week.
He was 82.

Cohen had a rather storied career in music and art,
And his most famous work, perhaps,
Is the deeply moving song Hallelujah,
Which he wrote in the 1980s.

Like many monumental works of art,
Hallelujah didn’t have much initial success.
Not until John Cale did a cover of it
And then Jeff Buckley,
Rufus Wainright
K.D. Lang
Bon Jovi
Regina Spector
Brandi Carlile

Today it is one of the most recognizable cover songs of all time
With more than 300 renditions recorded. And many more besides…

I’m not sure if you saw Saturday Night Live last night.
In its coda to this week,
The passing of Cohen on Monday
and the Elections they’ve been satirizing coming to fruition on Tuesday,
They chose to bypass snark and shade, which they excel at
And instead they asked Kate McKinnon to sing Hallelujah.

I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah.

Were going to miss Cohen.
This title, Hallelujah,
Which means “praise be to the Lord”
Evokes for us followers of Jesus holy week, and Easter.

Talk about an emotional week.

A recollection all the way back to Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem
Cloaks on the ground
Shouting Hosanna to Jesus as he rode by
Riding, maybe no one but he quite knew, to die…
Riding, maybe not even he knew, to rise again in this Easter world
Of undying hope and unyielding love.

With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah…

///
Conventional wisdom, such as it is,
will tell you: if you know what’s good for you,
don’t talk about religion, or politics, with your neighbor.

Don’t do it.

Its far too risky.
You’re likely just to make them mad,
say something insensitive
assume something awful
and, before you know it, you turn that neighbor into an enemy. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: america, church life, faith, Jesus, love, sermon

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Chad Andrew Herring

Chad Herring

kairos :: creature of dust :: child of God :: husband of 20 years :: father of 2 :: teaching elder/minister of word and sacrament in the presbyterian church (u.s.a.) :: exploring a progressive-reformed – emergent-christianity :: more

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Responsibility for content is my own, and not attributable to The Kirk I am fortunate enough to serve or the Presbytery that maintains my ordination, though each keeps me accountable.

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