12/01/2025
What Jacob Marley Would Do,
If He Could Do It…
I thought about using the following for a benediction—since Jacob Marley was warning Scrooge about the danger of loving money and what it could buy. Ends up with the Cantata and everything else going on, I didn’t have the time. So here is what you might have heard if the sermon itself was 5 minutes shorter!
· In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. federal government
spent about $99.8 billion on SNAP
· In 2004 SNAP served an average of 41.7 million
people (about 12.3% of the U.S. population)
· Americans are expected to spend between $1.01 trillion and $1.02 trillion on holiday retail in just the two months of
November and December 2025.
· They also estimate that the average consumer will spend about $890.49 per person over the season on gifts, food, decorations,
and other seasonal items.
If we knew now, what we will know 5, 10, or 20 years from now, will we think it’s a good idea to spend more than 129 million in two months on ourselves? That is, aside from making sure the most vulnerable around us have enough food to eat? It’s shameful that feeding the children and families who depend upon our body politic for food has become a partisan issue. And though Mary, Joseph, and Jesus didn’t get food benefits as asylum seekers in Egypt, wouldn’t it have made their lives so much easier if they did?
May we all find a way to let go of scoring political points and allow the God of Jesus Christ to work through us to do what is good and right for the last, the lost, and the least among us—remembering that once upon a time that included someone like Lazarus and knowing that once upon a time it included Jesus himself. Amen.
Archived Posts
What just missed the cut for Sunday’s Sermon
Naaman’s servants may actually become one of the hidden gems of the sermon. They say, essentially: “If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it.”
One of the Longest Benedictions I Ran Out of Time to Share
Maybe you know the story of how Joseph and Mary accidentally left Jesus at the gas station on their way home from Jerusalem. Well, not the gas station bathroom in Jesus’ case. Joe and Mary are far down the road before they realize Jesus isn’t with them...
So many quips and quotes...
So little time to preach
I wonder what Mary and Martha’s phones might look like:
* Martha = the open browser with 27 tabs
* Mary = the single window that matters
* Psalm 46 = God saying, “Close the tabs.”
Quotable Outtakes That Didn’t Make the Sermon This Week
“When you try to control everything, you don’t just exhaust yourself—you quietly replace trust in God with trust in you.” & more
There is a challenge when it comes to preaching the Word of God.
Preachers are called to open up and interpret the word—inspired and written down thousands of years ago—and make it relevant to a very different world. On top of that there’s a degree of persuasion that goes along with the process.
What Jessica Really Meant to Say in Her Sermon…
When Jessica or Rick or a guest preacher takes the pulpit it’s hard for me to write a One More Thing Blog. I can’t share with you what didn’t make it into the sermon because I have no idea, not having written or delivered it.
Jesus Keeps On Ruining Funerals!
I didn’t have anything this last week that didn’t end up in the sermon. No catchy illustrations that didn’t make the cut. No theological insights that slowed down the main point. No one can ruin a funeral like Jesus. Told as I saw it and that was it. So I did some quick research and I thought I’d share just a reminder of what Easter is all about.