Sermon for Pentecost – John 15:26-27, 16:4b-19

FYI – You’ll hear me reading the gospel lesson in Greek!

So did you get all that? Now in case you didn’t know, the OT is written in Hebrew and the NT is written in Greek. But it’s not the same as modern Greek. If you visit Greece and speak this way. You’re going to get looks. Go around and quote Shakespeare and see what happens. Which makes me wonder why people still want to read the King James version of the Bible, but anyway… This Greek is older, it’s Koine, which means common. What does that mean? It’s the everyday Greek that regular folks like you and me spoke at the time. Not the old, proper, attic Greek of philosophers and historians. This is the Greek you used for conversation, and simpler for all the non-Greek speakers to understand. That’s why the NT is in Koine. So everyone could understand.

Sermon for Jesus’ Prayer for the Disciples – John 17:6-19

Happy Mother’s Day! Ever notice how Mother’s Day has become a sacred holiday? It’s almost on the scale of Christmas and Easter. In a lot of congregations today there are going to be special services where all the mothers get a rose. Choirs will sing sentimental songs. We love to have the kids take first communion on mother’s day. There’ll be a special lunch afterward. And if we DON’T make a big deal we’re going to hear about it. Now, I don’t begrudge any of this. I appreciate the reminder to call my mom and let her know I’m thinking about her. “You never call!” She’s not perfect but she has given a lot for me, and I need the reminder. But life is also complicated, and we know that every holiday has baggage. We lose our mothers. We become estranged from our mothers. We want to be mothers but can’t, for a whole host of reasons. We feel like bad mothers. When some of us hear “mother’s day”, it digs up these feelings of loss or regret that we manage to avoid thinking about most of the time. So, maybe we should make it a question. Happy mother’s day?