Hearing the word (or not), Isaiah 6.1-13 Eastminster United Presbyterian Church, 5th Sunday after Epiphany C (February 10, 2019) Tom James Maybe you’ve heard the story about a conversation between a lawyer and her client. She told him, “I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” Her […]
What the word does (Jeremiah 1.4-10) Eastminster United Presbyterian Church, 4th Sunday after Epiphany (February 3, 2019) Tom James Jeremiah has been called “the weeping prophet.” The description is apt—not only is the book of Jeremiah filled with lamentations for a broken and scattered people: its follow-up in the Bible is actually called “Lamentations.” But […]
Jeremiah has been called “the weeping prophet.” What was he so upset about? We have tended to imagine that he wept over things that were happening to his country (Judah), or maybe even that he wept because he thought that what was happening to them was in some way their fault. But what if it was […]
The first miracle (John 2.1-11) Eastminster United Presbyterian Church, Ordinary 2C (January 20, 2019) Tom James It might seem to us a little strange that a story of such importance, a story that ends with the salvation of the world, should begin with a wedding reception where the wine runs out. I guess you could […]
I was really hoping to preach on “The first miracle” last Sunday. So, you know what? I’m going to go ahead and preach it this Sunday. Here’s what I wrote last week: Do you know what Jesus’ first miracle was? I suppose it depends on whom you ask. In John’s gospel, there are only seven […]
Do you know what Jesus’ first miracle was? I suppose it depends on whom you ask. In John’s gospel, there are only seven (John calls them “signs”), and the first happens when Jesus and his mother are at a wedding feast in a village called “Cana.” Everybody has heard of this miracle: turning water into […]
Passing through the waters (Isaiah 43.1-7; Luke 3.15-17, 21-22) Eastminster United Presbyterian Church, Baptism of the Lord C (January 13, 2019) Tom James I cross two bridges to get here—one of them pretty small—low and level—and the other quite large and very high. The small one takes me from the island where I live over […]
Did you hear about the lighthouse in Wisconsin that was washed away by a huge wave from Lake Michigan this past week? It was another reminder of the awesome power of nature. The Hebrew people were generally not lovers of the sea: many of their images of chaos and even evil were images of ocean […]
The new light and the old (Matthew 2.1-12) Eastminster/United Presbyterian Church, Epiphany (January 6, 2019) Tom James “They shall come from east and west, and north and south, to sit together at the table in the kingdom of God!” What a terrifying thought! Have you ever stopped to think of all the problems that would […]
This Sunday happens to fall on January 6th, the feast of Epiphany. On Epiphany, we remember the people tradition calls “the wise men,” who were likely astrologers from a place we now call Iran. During the sermon, we will talk about these “wise men” and their interaction with the mad king Herod. Herod was the […]
