Summerdale Community Church

Matthew 19:23-30

A young man, who was very devout, and had probably given a lot of thank-offerings to the temple, helped support his local synagogue. A young man, not prodigal or greedy, but who was sincerely interested in living the kind of life which would bring him into the kingdom of heaven. That young man, has just walked away from Jesus and his disciples. Jesus told him he really wanted to go all the way, he should sell everything he owned, and give the proceeds to the poor. "And then", Jesus said, "you will make riches in heaven, come and follow me."

When I was a kid, 7 or 8 years old, I loved this hymn, "Faith of Our Fathers". It was the tune that hooked me. I liked the way it sort of dances in ¾ time, like a waltz, and yet, there's something kind of plaintive-medieval in the tone. Even as a kid, I had a streak of melancholy.

Matthew 11: 27-30

"My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

"My yoke is easy?"

That's not what we've been hearing Jesus say the past few Sundays. As he has given instruction to the 12 disciples chosen to do his work, he keeps telling them how hard its going to be.

Matthew 9: 35-10:8a

"These are the names of the twelve apostles, first Simon, also called Peter, and his brother, Andrew. James of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip & Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew. The tax-gatherer, James, son of Alphaeus, Lebbeus." Lebbeus? I never heard that name for a disciple before.

Matthew 7: 21-27

The story of the two builders comes at the end of the sermon on the mount. Jesus has been talking to his disciples, not all 12, as we will come to know them, for some of those 12 haven't been chosen yet: we'll hear the story of Matthew's call next week, but at least four of the disciples, Peter, Andrew, James, and John.

This is the story of Noah, a righteous man, the only blameless person on earth. The Lord had seen how much evil people had done, since Adam and Eve were created; The Lord saw that always, always, their inclination was to do evil.

Two Saturdays ago, I attended a memorial service honoring a man in his 40's. I did not "know" him tho' I might have met him once or twice a long time ago. I joined his family during this brief time because I've known them a very long time. His sister lived with me and my children for several years which enabled her to graduate from high school. Next year she will be 50.

John 10: 1-5 (RSV)

When I was 18, I went away to college. Oh how I wanted to be *away*. I had lived all 18 years of my life in the same house. I had gone to school, grade school and high school where my parents taught. And, though I wasn't baptized in the church I grew up in (I was baptized in my grand living room, by an uncle on leave from missionary work in Chile) my church memories begin with me falling asleep in the front pew (my parents were in the choir so my brothers and I sat right in front), during the Christmas Eve service when I was 5. I was so anxious to live somewhere new, learn new things, see new things, so ready to truly start my life, independent and on my own.

So these two guys are walking home from a funeral, except there never was a real funeral. Their friend and teacher, who they'd thought was gonna be a second Moses, is dead. Well, maybe he wasn't all that great a teacher, either. He'd said all these things about the kingdom to come, and the triumph of righteousness, and well, it wasn't true. Evil got him in the end.

John 9: 13-17

Jesus had given the man his sight which meant now he could see how much people saw him as a freak show. Growing up, he'd had a sense of it: he knew the pity-saved whispers people exchanged as they came up to drop coins in his begging bowl. But now, he could see the way they looked, as they whispered to one another as he returned. "Isn't that the man who used to sit and beg?"… "Yes, that Jesus from Nazareth gave him his sight", "No, it couldn't be. That man was born blind, no one could restore sight that wasn't there in the first place. It must just be someone who looks like him".