A sermon preached at John Knox Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on December 15, 2013.
Luke 1:46-55
and Matthew 1:18-25
*Please see the footnote. As I made clear from the pulpit, this sermon in particular draws directly from material and is adapted from the sermon “God is With Us” by Fred Craddock in The Cherry Log Sermons.
The most powerful message I ever heard about Joseph
was told to me by Fred Craddick.[i]
Its important enough, to me, at least,
that I’ll try to tell it to you anew, though it is his story.
///
We’re getting towards the end of Advent.
Next Sunday is the Pageant! And we have almost arrived…
We are almost to Bethlehem.
The baby is due anytime.
And all we have to do now is WAIT – Which is the hardest part.
The ANTICIPATION, for me, is always the hardest right about now.
Often the most miserable room in the hospital…is the WAITING ROOM.
You try to get information—nobody will give you information.
You feel helpless.
Time goes by in a creepingly SLOW way.
NOBODY…WAITS very well!
So I suggest this morning—
–in order to occupy ourselves UNTIL the birth—
–that we do what Matthew did.
Matthew went outside and took a stroll through Jesus’ family graveyard. [Read more…]
I certainly did not intend for this blog to lay dormant for six months, but that happens sometimes. Life just…happens: kids continue to grow older at a fixed rate (though it has seemed so much faster than normal lately); the rhythms of pastoring and partnering may ebb and flow but they do so continuously, and each have needed time and attention.