June 14, 2026
READINGS and MESSAGE
GENESIS 18:1-15
What we have before us in the Genesis passage is God appearing as an ordinary traveler and Abrahem serving the guests food and drink and not having his slaves do this task. And Sarah, a true Oriental woman, concealing herself and when she hears that in her old age she’s going to have a child…she laughs…and God hears…and verse 14 states it all…”Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?...
ROMANS 5:1-8
In the Romans passage, Paul is sharing one more time that the death and resurrection of Jesus offer each of us the gift of redemption and the opportunity of knowing that we live in a world of forgiveness…As recipients of peace, believers gain access into a place of grace through Jesus Christ…
MATTHEW 9:35 – 10:8-23
Sometimes Jesus makes it look easy going into the cities and preaching in synagogues and healing ailments and distance is no challenge…Jesus gets it done…now it’s the disciples turn….and things get much more difficult…reminds me of graduates from high school and now comes the big step into the world…can be scary…
LOOKING CAREFULLY, AT OUR CHOICES
So this morning, I begin my message or ‘sermon’ with what I believe, are some very wise words from a certain William Coffin…he states that there is in this world, an element of tragedy, in choice…we are invited or asked to choose not only between good and evil…but between ‘goods’…and to follow a greater good means the sacrifice of a lesser one…
Well, there are people who say that Jesus was never really tempted…never really…because he never surrendered to temptation…but, who knows better the strength of an enemy? They who surrender, or they who struggle to the end? I believe that Jesus had these choices, the same as we do, and that he struggled with these choices to the end…and that he weighed every option through prayer and involved God in all of his actions…
If we look at God as love, as compassion, as equality, as life-giver – our choices become a little easier to make, although in making them, we sometimes go against the status quo and we become marginalized…that’s what happened to Jesus and they stuck him on a cross…he dared to fight against the powers and principalities of the Jewish faith and of the Roman control of his world…he stood up against them and showed them a new way to live in solidarity with each other…
They didn’t like it, so they killed him…
But do you think that Jesus looked carefully at his choices?...
I believe that he did because if we don’t se the choices that are in front of us, we will never know what the world is thinking and doing around us…if the choices which we make are ones which enrich our lives of others, we begin to envision this Kingdom of God coming to us in the most wonderful ways.
Next Sunday is a baptism Sunday and the parents of the child to be baptized have choices…they can request that this invisible grace of God coming through water can be shared in their lives and the child…or not…
They can decide for themselves whether they want to belong to a faith community…or not…
They can raise this child in faith and hope…and love…or not…
And the choices which these parents have are not just for themselves, and the child, they are for all of us…God summons each and every one of us to ‘live in the light’…to share that light with others in this world and to hold tight to the truths which Jesus stood for…
We always must remember that children…of all ages…young and old…listen to our lives far more carefully than they do to our words…the choices which we make in our lives become a reflection of who we are…and through this, our choices can either strengthen or weaken another…
And next Sunday, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity in officiating in the baptismal sacrament as these parents have made their decisions to grow and to expand their faith…along with their children…they’ve looked closely and carefully at their choices and want the blessings of God upon their child…our choices are whether to walk with them…or not…
And I hope that our choices are grounded and centered in the love and compassion of our God…our future depends on this, and I don’t mean only the future of the church universal, but more importantly, the future of the world…
As Jesus made his choices to walk in the light of God, may we also choose this path and not be doomed by the consequences of our bad choices…
The good news is that God’s mercy is real and as we travel through this lengthy period of Pentecost, choose your heart to be closer to the heart of God…
Amen.