A sermon based on Luke 12:32-40

More than 4,000 years ago, a high-ranking bureaucrat in the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom in Egypt named Nefer-seshem-Ptah, perhaps his friends called him Nef, was dying.  He was worried about what people would think about him after he died, so he had the following inscription written on the wall of his tomb…

A sermon based on Luke 10:25-37 and Psalm 25:1-10

In the beginning…we denied responsibility.  Adam blames Eve.  Eve blames the serpent.  Cain denies that he is his brother’s keeper.  Only God accepts responsibility, and quite an admission of responsibility it is.  God seems to have had second thoughts about the wisdom of killing all flesh on earth except for the inhabitants of the ark.  God declares in Genesis chapter 9, “Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (9:11).  Perhaps recognizing a penchant for rash decisions, God creates a reminder to make sure such a harsh action is never chosen again…

Jesus, at about age 14, and his father Joseph are walking in the countryside of Galilee, and a conversation starts up…

Last year, I was asked to contribute to a collection of responses to Thomas J. Oord’s newest book, The Death of Omnipotence and the Birth of Amipotence. Contributors were asked to do one of three things: support the main ideas of the book in new ways, critique the main ideas of the book, or expand on the ideas of the book. The short essay that I wrote for this effort is a strange combination of all three. I think that Tom is correct that…