Brian's Sermons

Hunger and Thirst We are four weeks deep into Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, where Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven – how to get in and what the kingdom looks like. He begins by pronouncing blessings, which the church has traditionally called “the beatitudes” – blessings based on a new order of things. He blesses those who are poor of spirit and empty, because when we are empty, then he can fill us. He blesses the mourners with the comfort of the Holy Spirit. He blesses the meek, those who hold great power under control by giving them an inheritance of everything that can’t be bought. And today he tells us to come hungry. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled . I don’t know if you have ever had these restaurants around here, but one of my old favorite restaurants was called Bonanza. It was pretty much the same as a Ponderosa, a lower-scale steak joint with an all-you-can-stuff-down-your-throat salad bar. My brother and some friend...

Matthew 21:1-11 Today is Palm Sunday, and with Palm Sunday, we begin Holy Week, when we recognize the immense sacrifice that Jesus made for us. But Holy Week doesn’t start with resurrection; neither does it start with crucifixion. Holy Week starts with coronation. I will get more into this on Friday at our Lenten service at noon. But as we look at this text, the first thing that stands out to me is that this is a story of obedience . Jesus told the disciples to do something, and instead of asking questions like, “Did you already clear this with the owner of the donkey?” they simply obeyed. I love the verse that says, “The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.” When I’m talking with church people, one thing I hear a lot is “I don’t really know the Bible all that well.” While I agree that our culture is almost entirely biblically illiterate, this is usually a cop-out. Here’s an example: Jesus commanded (not asked) his followers to “ go and make disciples of a...

As many of you know, I am an avid long-distance runner. I have been a runner for most of my life – I joined the track and cross-country teams in 6 th grade and ran through high school. When I was in seminary, I picked up running again and have put many miles on many pairs of shoes. About five days a week in seminary, my friend Nate and I would run a 3 mile loop with my dog. I started running 5K races, but I never got any faster and I never ran any farther. Fast-forward a few years – my friend Rob, who is a United Methodist pastor up near Columbus, went and ran a marathon. I figured, if Rob can run one, I sure can. One thing I learned quickly about running a marathon was that you have to have a plan. This is true for most people training to run any distance, but it is vital for anyone wanting to run a marathon. I can pretty much go out and run any shorter race without much additional training, up to a half marathon, but not so with a marathon. To run a marathon, you’ve got to h...