01/24/2024
I Think I’m Better Because I’m Afraid I’m Not
The "roots of self-righteousness" is not a sense of superiority and achievement. Quite the opposite. Judgmental people look down on others in order to try and bolster their own self-esteem. We create pecking orders and hierarchies of moral or religious achievement so that we can have concrete proof that we are okay—that we are at least better than obvious ‘sinners.’ The whole nature of judgmentalism flows from our fear that we are not good enough, attractive enough, accomplished enough, popular enough, or loveable enough.
That’s where the gospel of Jesus Christ comes in.
Of course we are not enough. We never have been and never will be. But the good news is that we don’t have to be. God is more than good and graceful enough for all of us. The goodness and unblemished character of Christ is imparted to us in that mysterious exchange which takes place on the cross of Calvary. He became poor so that we could become rich; he became one of us so that we could become One with God. We are loved and appreciated and cherish because we are sons and daughters of the Most High King and when we accept our place as heirs to the Kingdom and live out our royalty in our love for others then we become so much more than we ever could have become on our own.
There is no need to look down on other human beings. People are people—each and every one of us a mixed bag of one degree or another. We are called to look eye to eye, heart to heart with those God has put in our lives. And to appreciate the many and varied differences between us as part and parcel of the gift of life.
Archived Posts
Not Just for Parents
Our current sermon series is about How To Talk Parent, but it doesn’t require any of us to be parents to appreciate the bits of wisdom OUR parents shared with us growing up.
If Not Higher
Here’s a story I wanted to use when talking about ‘what you do when no one is looking’ yesterday. It’s a wonderful illustration of what Jesus was saying in Matthew 6:1-6—do what you do because of who you want to be, not so that others will take notice and praise you.
The Perfect Church
There is an old joke about the perfect church. We talked just a little about the perfect pastor, but turnabout is fair play. It goes like this:
The Clothes You Wear
Sunday I talked about Joshua the High Priest having his filthy clothing replaced by a cleaned and beautiful garments. I also used the illustration of a boy becomes a dragon—who ‘wears’ dragon scales—and is stripped of those scales in order to be restored to a boy. In fact, I could have done the whole sermon around all the clothing imagery in scripture.
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.”