A Good Start

Biblical Text: Mattew 4:12-25

The gospels in my reading have a log of prologs. Stuff like the Christmas stories and John the Baptist and even the temptation of Jesus. These are all things that have important doctrinal meaning. They are interesting. But they aren’t the main story. That main story starts with this part of the gospel. It starts when all the preliminary stuff is off stage and Jesus is left alone. And what are his first words? “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” This sermon is a meditation on how those first words contain the entire story that follows right down to us.

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Table Definitions

Biblical Text: Psalm 113, Luke 22:1-38

031225 LMW1 Sermon Download

The Psalms for our midweeks this year are those traditionally associated with the Passover. The readings are going to be the passion story from Luke which is unique in many way. In this case around that Passover table, the disciples start to talk about “who is the greatest.” That conversation happens elsewhere in the other gospels. But in Luke it gives Jesus the opportunity at the table to define what his Kingdom looks like. The communions of the world are status-based hierarchies. The communion of Christ is based on service. And we are all assigned “kingdoms”, tables that are in communion with this one, if we wish to have our seat at that one.

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