A Famine Not of Bread

"The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus" by Eugene Burnand Click here to listen to this sermon. [Jesus said:] “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and

"The Parable of the Dishonest Steward" by Eugene Burnand Click here to listen to this sermon. [Jesus] also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Ta

"The Dishonest Steward" by Eugene Burnand Click here to listen to this sermon. [Jesus] also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, a

Lazarus and the Rich Man   Jacopo Bassano   · 1550 Click here to listen to this sermon. “Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And [the rich man] said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (Luke 16:29–31). Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Are you listening? That’s a question many are asking voters as Election Day approaches. Are you listening? Are you paying attention? Do you know what the candidates really stand for? Do you know which candidates are closest in line with your values? Are you informed enough to vote? To help us listen, the airwaves are flooded with political ads and sound bites in the news. Ironically, it seems the more we hear about the candidates the more we don’t listen because they annoy us. Still, I suppose most

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! The parables of our Lord are wonderful teaching devices, not least of all because they make us think. And our text for today is certainly one of the most difficult to understand and interpret. But one of the characteristics of parables is that they contain a “crack” or something unusual that makes the reader realize that this is not a story that comes from human experience. For human experience cannot teach us the “knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.” In this text, the obvious jarring note is the reaction of the master who, instead of raging against his steward, “commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.” It is difficult to see how we might reconcile this with a righteous, holy God. But that is our task as we explore this parable from Luke 16:   “  There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man

Click here to listen to this sermon. An mp3 file is available upon request. The text for today is our Gospel, Luke 16:1-13. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! I’m on Facebook.   My wife says it’s a waste of time.   I think she’s worried that I might reveal too many details about our life to the whole world.   I justify my use of this media with the fact that I am able to keep up with friends and family members, many of whom I haven’t seen for years.   And now I can share what is happening here at St. John’s: things like pictures, newsletters, and sermons.   Since a great deal of my “friends” are fellow pastors, I also get a chance to sharpen my skills by engaging in theological discussions.   A while back I read an article in Christianity Today , entitled “What Makes a Good Bible Study?”   The author states: “Remember that the point of all Bible study should not be to simply impart knowledge.   It should produce change... We can study the