On Sunday, we got into our post-summer groove with higher attendance, the return of the choir, and the final installment of this year's "Summer Blockbuster Sermon Series." In fact, worship seemed particularly joyous to me -- and I don't think it was excitement from the start of the Chiefs season.
The sermon was drawn from "The Lone Ranger." Specifically, we compared Tonto, who is an archetypal 'clever man,' to a similar clever man of the Bible, the patriarch Jacob. After reading an episode from Jacob's life that seems to have more in common with native rituals than with faith -- his use of striped sticks of wood to affect physical appearances of goats and sheep -- I suggested that in our faith, we often try to be more clever than faithful. We skim through the Bible looking for the perfect verses, we try to find the magic words in our prayers to make God do the things we want, we look for the quick and easy way to make God happy. But Jacob changed after his wrestling with the presence of God, and I believe that we can change too.
If you missed Sunday's sermon, if you'd like to listen to it again, or if you'd like to share it with others, you can find an audio recording here.
You can also listen to my communion meditation at the Lord's Table here and the closing benediction here.
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