Sermons from November 2012

By The Rev. Sherry Deets Christ the King, Proper 29 – November 25, 2012 John 18:33-37 Our scripture today from John’s gospel is called “the trial before Pilate”. It might better be called “Pilate on trial”, because Pilate knows that Jesus should not be on trial. Pilate likely considers himself the most powerful, most in-control person in Jerusalem. He is “the local representative of the greatest world power of that time.” In his encounter with Jesus he brags about the…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets 25 Pentecost; Proper 28 – November 18, 2012 Mark 13:1-8 If our passage from Mark today feels different, looks different, and sounds different, that’s because it is. Both Daniel and Mark are presenting us with what is called apocalyptic writing. In a nutshell, apocalyptic literature stems from a worldview that believes that everything happening on earth represents and correlates with a larger, heavenly struggle between good and evil. It therefore reads into earthly events cosmic…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets 24 Pentecost: Proper 27 – November 11, 2012 Mark 12:38-44 Today, in our gospel story from Mark, Jesus offers us the widow as a model of faith. He warns us against the corrupt scribes for their selfishness and crime. In doing so, he presents us with characters of two types. The corrupt scribes are concerned with gaining power over other people in order to enrich themselves. The widow, on the other hand, surrenders power over…

By The Rev. Sherry Deets All Saints’ Sunday – November 4, 2012 John 11:32-44 On this All Saints’ Sunday we hear the gospel story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. It is a challenging story. It challenges our faith. Are we able to accept the raising of Lazarus as an historical event or was it just fiction? No scientific data can support the metaphysical possibility that Jesus brought the dead man, Lazarus, back to life. Neither does the gospel…