18 Pentecost C—10/13/19 2 Kings 5:1-3,7-15c, Luke 17:11-19 Pr. Scott Kramer What would you do if you were Naaman? Today’s reading from 2 Kings is the story of a powerful general who has everything going for him. Everything!--except for one important thing: He has leprosy. Leprosy—Hansen’s disease, as it’s called today—is not on our radar. It seems like an exotic disease from … [Read more...]
Broken Laws, Broken Bread
12 Pentecost C—9/1/19 Proverbs 25:6-7, Sirach 10:12-18; Hebrews 13:1-3, Luke 14:1, 7-14 Pr. Scott Kramer This past Friday I was invited to the home of one of my hiking buddies for dinner. Those who gathered had hiked together some weeks ago over a hundred miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. Tonight, my wife and I are invited to another dinner, this time for an end-of-summer gathering with pastor and deacon colleagues. I meet with these folks every week to study and discuss the Bible … [Read more...]
Healed by Love
5 Pentecost B—7/14/19 Deuteronomy 30:11-14; Colossians 1:11-14; Luke 10:25-37 Pr. Scott Kramer Did you see the Pearls Before Swine comic in yesterday’s paper? Rat: I think the world’s religions are right. The key to life is to love other people. Goat: Do you think you can do that? Rat: Yes…Except the annoying ones. Those I’ll hit with a stick. Goat: I don’t remember that in scripture. Rat: Yes, you only have to love the … [Read more...]
Healing for Ourselves
4 Pentecost C—7/7/19 2 Kings 5:1-14; Luke 4:22-30; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 Pr. Scott Kramer So—what was the miracle in the story of Naaman? Naaman, the powerful foreign general, was healed of the one thing he had no power over: a skin disease. But when Jesus told the story of Naaman, his own people almost killed him. Something else must be going on here; you don’t get killed for telling a healing story! Today’s readings, as usual, involve insiders and outsiders. Although Naaman was … [Read more...]
Eyes Wide Open
Mark 10: 46-52 by Melody Kroeger October 25, 2015 Now what do you imagine Bartimaeus did after his eyes were opened? Did he have a family – a father or mother whose faces he longed to see for the first time? Was he stunned by the beauty of clouds shifting softly against a clear blue sky? Perhaps his breath was caught up by the colorful chaos and hustling of the marketplace. Or, was Bartimaeus disappointed in what he saw – his rags, misery and filth? Once the sharp edges of … [Read more...]
Fruits of the Harvest
17 Pentecost A--10/5/14 Matthew 21:33-46 Violence; bloodshed; a stone that breaks to pieces anyone who falls upon it and crushes anyone on whom it falls. The author of Matthew’s gospel gives us a difficult text today. So difficult in fact, that had I known the content of the gospel text for this Sunday when I chose this date for my first sermon at Lakeridge two months ago with Pastor Scott, I might have picked another one. But this text is the one I have had to struggle with. And in my … [Read more...]