Tag: suffering

You are Job

You are Job (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Job 38:1-41
October 21, 2018

You are Job.

You are Job, living in a world filled with suffering and mystery, with bewildering grief and distressing uncertainty, a world you can never fully understand and a world that often breaks your heart.

You are Job, living in a world that doesn’t follow the rules, where the righteous are not always rewarded, a world where doing the right thing is no guarantee of success or praise or love.… Continue reading ...

The marks of a great nation

The marks of a great nation (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Jeremiah 31:7-14
January 4, 2015

Sing with joy for Israel, the greatest of the nations …

Do you have a problem with that?  Do you have a problem with calling Israel the greatest of the nations?  Does it seem to you … presumptuous?  Chauvinistic?  Prideful?  Does this claim by a Hebrew prophet about his own nation make you uncomfortable?… Continue reading ...

Long enough

Long enough (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 40:1-2
January 11, 2015

A mentor once told me that it is a minister’s job to comfort those who are disturbed and to disturb those who are comfortable.  So which are you?  Comfortable or disturbed? 

The people of Jerusalem were disturbed.  They had been disturbed for a long time: disturbed and beaten down and hollowed out and sucked dry of hope and desire beyond anything we are capable of imagining. … Continue reading ...

Not one of them is ever missing

Not one of them is ever missing (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 40:25-27
February 8, 2015

Nobody knows the trouble I see …

Is that you?

When you are troubled, when you are distressed, what brings comfort?  Probably one of two things — either a change in your situation or a change in you, either a change in the distressing circumstances themselves or a change in perspective. … Continue reading ...

My servant

My servant (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 52:13
February 22, 2015

I am angry, and I am frightened.

I am frightened by ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.  You know about the horrible scene on the beach in Libya, where members of ISIS beheaded twenty-one Egyptian Christians.  It is appalling, revolting, unbearable, unwatchable.  I refuse to watch the video and I quickly swipe past every time a story or photo of the event comes up on the news apps on my phone. … Continue reading ...

They will see and understand something they had never known

They will see and understand something they had never known (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 52:14-15
March 1, 2015

There are people in our world right now, rightly or wrongly, drawing inspiration from their holy texts to do unspeakable violence to fellow human beings and to the fabric of human civilization itself.  Rightly or wrongly, they are drawing inspiration from their holy texts. … Continue reading ...

Who could have seen the Lord’s hand in this?

Who could have seen the Lord’s hand in this? (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 53:1-3
March 8, 2015

We limit not the truth of God to our poor reach of mind,
to notions of our day and place, crude, partial, and confined;
No, let a new and better hope within our hearts be stirred:
O God, grant yet more light and truth to break forth from your Word.… Continue reading ...

More’s the pity

More’s the pity (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 53:4-5
March 15, 2015

Selma march

The image on the cover of your bulletin shows a white policeman holding a club standing over the slumped body of an African-American.  It is hard to judge from the photo if the limp, presumably beaten, body is that of a man or a woman, but I think it is a woman.… Continue reading ...

It’s not fair

It’s not fair (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 53:6
March 22, 2015

Life isn’t fair.

The University of Northern Iowa Panther men’s basketball team had a better won/loss record than Iowa State, a higher national ranking, and fared equally well against two common opponents, and yet the NCAA selection committee awarded Iowa State a “No. 3” seed and UNI a “No.… Continue reading ...

What is left unsaid

What is left unsaid Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 53:7-9
March 29, 2015

Words.  Lots of words.

Praise God!
God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord!
God bless the king of Israel!

Look!  The whole world is following him!
There’s no stopping him.
What are you going to do?

Crucify him!  Crucify him!… Continue reading ...