Posts by Bob Rhodes (Page 8)

Through our recent series on parables, there were several times when Jesus would teach the phrase we now hold familiar: the first shall be last and the last shall be first. The text this Sunday may offer a parallel illustration, and as a clergy person I find it kind of unsettling! The phrase that is translated here as “legal experts” could easily be applied to clergy, and I wonder if our legal professionals in the congregation share the same unease…

This Sunday we conclude our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. To watch or listen to any/all of the services or sermons from this series, visit this page. This parable is likely another familiar story, and in this case the original audience may have guessed the same about each character as we do today. Very often those who are exceedingly wealthy in Jesus’ parables are…

This Sunday we near the end of our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. I’m not sure about you, but the idea of praying continuously wears me out. Honestly, I feel like I have been! I feel especially like I’ve been praying for the end of this pandemic since it started, and it doesn’t look like it’s ended to me. I’ve been praying for our…

This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. What a moving parable this is! What an opportunity for us to feel good about ourselves and to comfort ourselves… well at least if we identify more with the tax collector (think IRS) rather than the Pharisee (think of the uber-religious person). Does that cause some discomfort? It does for me. I’m a religious…

This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. We seem to value things that are tall. Go with me on this. We like towers. We like mountains. We often place importance on a person’s height. We like the spires on churches. We use phrases about being “built up” in positive ways. We tell people to “stand tall” in…

This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, guided by the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. Once again, we enter into a familiar story. The Good Samaritan is surely one we’ve heard ourselves, we’ve heard a number of pop culture references, and perhaps we’ve even seen children or grandchildren or nieces/nephews perform skits. We know this story! Perhaps we even see ourselves in this story. We…

This Sunday we begin a new sermon series on the parables of Jesus, and the first will be the familiar story of the prodigal son. We’ve surely heard this story before, and sometimes when we hear the same story again and again—even one that has importance to us—we can drift away and lose interest. But when we hear another storyteller or hear another perspective, we can find new interest and new joy in the same story once again. As you…

This Sunday’s lectionary text is one that has been preached a number of times, and those with church backgrounds have likely heard this scripture directly or at least allusions to its imagery. Images of breastplates and helmets likely have limited impact for us because we aren’t used to living in a place occupied by Roman soldiers as was prevalent in Paul’s time. But perhaps we are familiar with wearing barriers to protect ourselves. Perhaps even in our moderate climate we…

As we conclude our Questions That Matter series, it is my hope that this has been a time of exploration and growth. This final question in the series may be the most asked, and is certainly the most common question I am asked when people want to push or challenge me on my religiosity. I vividly remember the aggressive phrasing of a non-theist friend as he asked about the existence of evil in the face of an all-loving God. I…

We are nearing the end of this season of questions with just a few weeks to go. This week’s question comes from an LJUMC member who asks about our responsibility in standing up to bullies and bigots. I was reminded of our Baptismal vows to “renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world” and to “resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.” As a spiritual community of faithful Christians, we might…

This week’s topic in our “Questions That Matter” series is inspired by the Epistle reading from our Revised Common Lectionary. Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus tells his readers that they “are fellow citizens with God’s people…” who “belong to God’s household.” If your household is like mine, sometimes there is disagreement or even argument. This seems to be the case for Paul’s readers as he invites them into reconciliation with one another as one body in God’s household.…