Sermon Excerpt:
Seeing the Needs of Others
sermon based on Mark 1:29-39
by Rev. Randy L Quinn
A few weeks ago, I spoke about party invitations. Today, we are like the
person who arrives at the party and recognizes the need to help in the
kitchen or to open the door for new guests who are arriving. In today’s
text we hear what it means to see the other guests the way Jesus sees
them. We turn our attention from ourselves to Jesus, from what we value
to what he values.
I remember talking to a man who loved to go to large cities and stand on
a street corner looking up at the buildings around him. If he kept his
focus on one particular spot, it wouldn’t take long before a crowd was
gathering around, trying to see whatever it was that he was trying to
see.
That’s when he would stop looking at the building and begin to watch the
crowds. They had no idea why they were looking at the building, but
often they would find something worth pointing out for others to see!
I want to look at the things Jesus is looking at.
I want to see the things he is seeing.
I want to look so intently at the things he is looking at that others
will stand around and wonder what I’m looking at.
I want to allow Jesus to use my eyes and my energies to address needs in
our world today.
With that in mind, I invite you to imagine what it is that Jesus was
seeing as we read our text for today:
Read Text.
. . . . .
Sermon Excerpt:
The Superbowl And God's
Blessings
a sermon based on Mat 5:1-12
by HW in HI
Good morning! Today is Super Bowl
Sunday.... Well, the Super Bowl doesn’t start in Hawaii until 1:18 in the
afternoon, or about 5 hours from now.
I’m not a big football fan, but I’m
married to one, so I know just a little bit about it. I know that the game is in
Miami. I know that Denver and Atlanta are playing. And I know there’s going to
be a loser. In this world there are always losers.
Winners and losers. In our country,
we’re pretty big on winners. Winners are the people that get elected, the people
who get promotions, the students that get into college, the people who drive the
expensive cars, live in the fancy houses --- and the guys who win the Superbowl.
It’s hard to imagine a world without
winners and losers. Some members of my generation tried that for awhile. There
were communes where people lived together, and all their money went into one big
pot. But they learned what the European settlers learned in this country 300
years ago: somebody always gets greedy.
There’s a difference between winning
and being greedy, isn’t there? I want to suggest today that there is a huge
difference.
A young man wants to get married. He’s
worked extremely hard in life and done amazingly well financially. He chooses an
exotic location. No problem, not really. It’s not exactly feeding the hungry, it
may be a bit of conspicuous consumption, but it’s not quite greedy, yet. He and
his bride make many arrangements for the big day. And in fact they reserve an
entire island. (This may sound familiar.) They buy up all the airplane tickets
to that island. When a reporter manages to get on that island, they try to get
the local police to arrest him. Well, is the groom a winner or is he greedy?
. . . . .
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