“While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

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Romans 5:1-8

A sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

As we move into the season of Pentecost, we ask ourselves: What is the problem? That is what Paul describes in Romans 1-3. The problem has two levels. On one level is idolatry. The other level is sin and death. We have the problem that we think we can judge sin. This is not about judging sin in others; we think we can judge sin in ourselves. That is the original sin and that is the problem. We can’t imagine that we’re the problem. We judge ourselves, and we imagine that we are O.K. Paul expressly says “No” in 1 Cor 4:3-5: “I do not even judge myself. . . It is the Lord who judges me.”

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Christ is the Answer. What is the Problem?

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A sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost

In this season of Pentecost we ask: What is the problem? The problem is that we are worse off than we think. There is nothing in us, in ourselves, that can save us. We are caught in sin and death and even though we can’t quite take it that there’s nothing in us, there isn’t.

Two huge objections come up: Today we’ll deal with the first one and that is, of course: Good works. After all, good works are good. That’s common sense. What do we mean by “good works?”

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“To God alone the glory.”

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A sermon for the Seventh Sunday of Easter

There is a phrase, “To God alone the Glory.” It is sometimes used as a motto. We see it on buildings. We ask ourselves: “Where’s the glory?” We are not talking about pictures where there is a halo or a nimbus. There’s a girl’s name: Gloria. But where is the glory? We have hymns with glory in them: “Mine eyes have seen the glory!” That raises the question: Where is the glory? Where is it operative?

It is easier in the Old Testament. In the Book of Numbers the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night went with them. And when the temple was built, 1 Kings 8:10-11 says that “the glory of the Lord” filled the temple.

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