Resources
Chapter 4 – The Mentoring Room
Back To Normal
Matthew 2 Christmas is coming to an end. Back to normal. Time to drag the tree out to the curb, put away the decorations, finish up all those holiday goodies, and settle in for a long, winter’s nap. One thing I love to do after the stress of holiday celebrations is to come home. Settle back down in my house and routine. Get back to normal.
Rachael Weeping
Matthew 2: 12-21 I usually breathe a sigh of relief after Christmas Day. The rush is over, and the new year has not yet begun. These days are meant to be quiet. Restful. Perhaps the most restful part of these days after the holidays is the experience of returning home. Persons who are visiting me return to their homes, which makes my world a quieter place…or I return to my home from visiting family and have that sense of relief when I walk in the front door. Maybe more than anything else in the world, I love to come home.
Chapter 5 – Early Lessons 1: In Times of Trouble
Kept In Unity
John 17 Peter Gomes, the distinguished preacher from Harvard, told a story about his mother to a congregation one Sunday. It seems his mother was nearing her death, and she was concerned about heaven. She wasn’t worried that she wouldn’t get there. She was very sure of that. And she wasn’t worried that there might not be a heaven. She was sure of that, too. There was only one little thing that worried her about heaven. She was concerned that there would be people there she couldn’t get along with; people she didn’t like or love.
Chapter 6 – Early Lessons 2: Love is Patient
In The Season Of Our Hatred
Jonah 3-4 The late Fred Rogers, known to his TV audiences as “Mister Rogers” was an ordained Presbyterian minister. He was very close to his New Testament Greek professor, Dr. William Orr, and would visit him in the nursing home each Sunday. Before one of his Sunday visits, Fred had been to a church service where Martin Luther’s famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress,” was sung. The hymn ended with a verse which says, “The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him, his rage we can endure. For lo, his doom is sure, one little word shall fell him.” Fred was wondering about that verse, so he asked Dr. Orr, an expert on New Testament Greek, what that word might be. Dr. Orr said, “There is only one thing that evil cannot stand, and that is forgiveness.” That one little word is, “forgive.”
A Still More Excellent Way
1 Corinthians 13 Love, love, love. Love is all you need. Recently I received an email from several friends showing people from all over the world singing those words. Those musicians were all filmed at the same time from many countries all over the world. Over 150 countries in all. It was part of a project put on by Starbucks to help fight AIDS in Africa. As I watched those film clips, seeing so many different looking faces, styles of music, and costumes, I got a very warm feeling in my heart. After all; love is all you need!
Chapter 7 – Later Lessons
Welcome To Luke
Luke 4: 14-30 I remember the first sermon I preached here in Elgin. Pastors call that sermon a “candidating” sermon because the minister has not yet been chosen by the congregation. She is still a “candidate.” First sermons, like first impressions, are important. When I was a Seminary student preparing to receive my first call, I was instructed to steer clear of controversial issues in the candidating sermon.
Chapter 8 – The Live Performance
Like Those Who Dream
Years ago, I took my father to Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. He called me when I was working in Detroit, telling me that he was suffering from jaundice. One of the doctors in his small-town hospital had told him he had cancer and he was going to die. I was appalled. Dad hadn’t had any tests that would confirm a cancer diagnosis. So, I arranged an ambulance to take him to St. Louis, and I met him there after his first test.
Chapter 10 – Becoming The Sermon
Hold On !
Matthew 28: 1-15 A three year old, new to his Sunday school class, had just finished singing, “Jesus Loves Me.” As the class was being dismissed, he came up to his Sunday school teacher and asked, is Jesus HERE? The teacher paused for a moment. She wasn’t sure if she should say, yes Jesus is here and leave it at that, or explain to him that yes, we can feel that Jesus is here. Before she had time to reply, he asked again, “Is Jesus HERE, because I can’t see his feet!”
Chapter 11 – Does Anyone Knows What Happens to a Sermon?
An Unhindered kingdom
Luke 9: 46-56 A man who many in our world would call “great” is nearing the end of his life. His name is Nelson Mandela. Years ago, an uncle of mine was able to visit South Africa in the years after Mandela was freed from prison. My uncle said of that encounter, “It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.” When I was still in grade school, Mandela was sent to prison. By the time he was freed, in 1990, I was almost 40 years old. Such a long, long time in a place that was barely 8 feet by seven feet.
Chapter 12 – “Till We Come Round Right”
Be a Caretaker
Psalm 139 On Friday, a shooter walked into a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand and opened fire. Then he moved on to another mosque. Further bloodshed was averted when a caretaker jumped on the gunman from behind and squeezed him so tight, he dropped his weapon. The caretaker must not have been familiar with guns, for he was unable to find the trigger. Perhaps he had never picked up a gun before. But that didn’t stop him. He still chased the shooter away.
A Great Cloud of Witnesses
Hebrews 11:1, 32-12:2 It was the day I was ordained. They were the last words spoken before I gave the benediction that ended the service…my first act as an ordained minister. The last speaker delivers a “charge” to the newly ordained minister. The charge is intended to be a bracing word of encouragement that will stand during the sometimes-dark days that lie ahead.
The Blessing of Diversity
Genesis 11: 1-9 The service began with a drum call. I was in the chapel of Louisville Seminary, at the inauguration of our new President in April. The African drums echoed each other, a contrapuntal conversation. In ancient times, villages did not have ways to call a meeting. The villages were far away from each other. When it was time to worship God, the call to worship was sent with the sound of drums.
Chapter 13 – Our End Is Our Beginning
Work to Do
1 Kings 19: 1-19 On my last day of work as Director of Quality Management at Lutheran General Hospital, I dressed up like a clown. I wore an orange wig, large blue shoes, a red nose, and a clown suit. When I stopped for gas on the way to work, a child leaned out the window of a car passing by, pointed at me, and exclaimed to his mother, “Mom, it’s a clown!” I dressed like a clown that day because it was the only way I could manage going to work on my last day. I went from floor to floor greeting my nursing friends, saying goodbye for the last time.
Always Remembered
Psalm 139 The pastor from a church in Pittsburg told me a story of a graduate student from Scotland who joined his Presbyterian church while he was in college. After he joined, his mother in Scotland sent the minister a booklet that had been published when their church celebrated one of its anniversaries. At the back of the booklet, there was the customary list of pastors who had served that church since it had been established. The pastors who served the past two centuries were listed with full titles like Rev. Dr. But as the list went on the titles became simpler, just Rev. John Stewart. They had the names of only 5 pastors who served before the Reformation. At the bottom of the list was the earliest record, the name of a pastor who served in the year 1226.