Sermons (Page 150)

“Ponder this question: who is more likely to lie, cheat, and steal – the poor person or the rich one?” Dare I ask us to vote with our hands? I won’t, but answer for yourself honestly. “It’s temping to think that the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to act fairly,” says one author. However, a few researches found that luxury car drivers were more likely to cut off other motorists instead of waiting their turn, and that luxury car drivers were also more likely to speed past pedestrians trying to use a crosswalk, even after making eye contact. Other studies looked at different factors and generally found that “upper class individual are worse at recognizing the emotions of others and less likely to pay attention to people they are interacting with (for example, by checking their cell phones or doodling). Overall, these researchers found that “as people climb the social ladder, their compassionate feelings towards other people decline.” Today’s gospel reading has something to say about this phenomenon…

As a major news event unfolds there is one type of story that almost always seems to pop up. It happened with Brussels’ terror attack and the Paris’ terror attack. It happened with the recent EgyptAir flight’s crash. It has happened with the Zika virus and the idea of a contested convention. It’s the infamous story entitled “what we know and don’t know about (fill in the blank).” It’s an article that attempts to articulate where things are in an investigation. We get a list of things discovered, and a list of questions investigators pursue. Generally, we feel most comfortable waiting to draw a firm conclusion until most of the facts are complied. However, what happens when we are presented with a story with outstanding questions and no potential for answers? How do we draw our conclusions?…

What is today known as in the life of the church? Today is Holy Trinity Sunday. It’s one of the more difficult Sundays to comprehend, and one of the few Sundays where a doctrine takes center stage – an odd doctrine at that. After all, Jesus didn’t directly talk about the Trinity, and one of the most famous early Christians named Paul didn’t really either…