Sermons by Rev. Tom Harris (Page 5)
Speaking Hope on Behalf of the Next Generation
God invited Ezekiel to participate in raising the dead in the valley of dry bones. The bones did not have to do anything to be worthy of resurrection. But Ezekiel was called, as we are, to speak love, truth, and hope on their behalf. This is also what we do when we baptize a baby.
For All the Ways We Live in Exile: A Hard and Hopeful Message
Jeremiah’s message to the Israelites in exile in Babylon is complicated, hopeful, and hard. He calls for acceptance and resistance. He calls us to the hard work of externalizing home in unhappy places. In response to the forces that keep pulling us apart, he calls on us to keep reaching back to each other and remaking home.
What To Do When God Hates Your Worship
Amos has a strong and specific testimony about God’s feelings about our worship. In short, worship on Sunday with justice Monday-Friday is deeply troubling to God. How can we approach worship in a way that is less disturbing to God and transformative to us?
Being a Good Ancestor and not a Better Ancestor
Elijah wanted to be better than his ancestors and failed. He wanted to be more righteous, more zealous, more faithful. Then, over the course of his 40 days journey he discovered all he could do was do the best he could and focus not on generations past but on generations in the future. He could only try to be a good ancestor, not a better ancestor.
Nurturing a Shepherd’s Heart and an Open Heart
What did God see in David? We are told God does not look at outward appearance but looks at the heart. What qualities did God see in David’s heart? How can we nurture those qualities with us?
How to Workout When You Don’t Have a Spiritual Elliptical Machine?
God used manna to train the Israelites to trust in God one day at a time. We don’t have manna today and we aren’t in the desert. How can we learn to trust God more? Through the disciplined practice of generosity and giving.
Does God Look Away? Does God Forget Us?
Throughout the Bible, we hear of people experiencing God as absent. This is hard because we prefer to believe God is ever-present. How can we honor this scriptural testimony about God’s absence while seeking and finding God’s presence with us always?
Dealing with People Who Don’t Play by Your Rules
How do we deal with people who don’t play by the rules we thought everyone had agreed upon? Rebekah is a woman with a message from God in a patriarchal society. She has to resort to deception to realize God’s message. Can we ever meet Rebekah’s example and learn how to nurture God’s blessings?
How Can We Widen our Circles of Compassion?
How can we widen our circles of compassion? How can we avoid compassion fatigue? Genesis 1 suggests we are not so different from the animals except that we have a particular responsibility to compassionately care for them.
What Should We Be Grateful For?
We all know we should be grateful and probably more grateful than we are. But, are some things in our ethically complicated world less fruitful as objects of our gratitude? And are something things very fruitful?