| The Commons
There is a difference between “telling the truth” and “telling the whole truth.” I think of that old Peter Sellers routine where he walks up to the register at a hotel and sees a dog lying beside the desk. He looks at the clerk and asks, “Does your dog bite?”…...
| Story Sermon
His Name is John / Praise God! Selah! Story Lectionary 29 November 2015 First Week of the Advent of Our Lord’s Birth Exodus 4: The Lord Gives Moses the Words to Speak 1 Chronicles 24: King David divides the Priests into Sects, including the eighth –Abijah, descendants...
| Master Sermons
A Surround-Sound Advent Lectionary 29 November 2015 First Sunday in Advent Jeremiah 33:14-16 Psalm 25:1-10 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 Luke 21:25-36 Text to Life Finally, it’s over. I thought it would never end. The “it,” of course, is those twenty-seven Sundays designated...
| The Commons
A famous rabbi asked the Lubliner Hasidim: “Why do so many thousands come to you and not to me? I have learned more Talmud than you, and I can discourse on the Halakhah more profoundly?” The Lubliner replied: “I am likewise surprised at the multitudes who come. Who am...
| The Commons
An ancient Jewish parable: A king sent forth several armies against his enemies, one of them under his son’s command. The son loved his father deeply, and concerned himself only with pleasing him, rather than with his own glory. Hence the victory of his army gave him...
