Category: Just a Thought

Sermon excerpts

Really!?!

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Just a ThoughtLeave a comment

reallyFrom C’mon Jesus, Really?!?

Luke 16:1-13 NRSV

. . .he reduced the debts of all of the boss’s customers without the boss’s knowledge. And when the boss man found out what his former manager had done, the boss man commends and applauds the little weasel for being so weasel-y!

And all God’s children said: “REALLY!?! Commends the dishonest manager? For being dishonest? C’mon Jesus, really?! He does not take the weasel by the throat and strangle him to death? He doesn’t even call the law? He praises him? Really!?! I mean, c’mon now, really?” “Really!?!”

And it is here, in this action, where we learn something about the nature of God.

Do You Really Know What You Are Getting Yourselves Into?

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Just a ThoughtLeave a comment

forest-gump1

From A Bunch of Losers

Luke 14:25-33 NRSV

One day, noticing the growing number of people following behind him, like a scene in Forrest Gump, Jesus suddenly stops, turns to the masses and says something like: “Do you people really know what this is all about? Do you really know what you are getting yourselves into here? Because I am not so sure the crowd would be this large if you really knew! Do you really understand what you are signing up for here? Do you really get this journey called, ‘discipleship’? Because, I have a sinking suspicion that most you do not have a clue.”

The truth is, this road we call discipleship is a difficult and sometimes painful road. There’s even a cross involved. And we are going to have to carry it.

Changing the Invitation to Church

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Just a ThoughtLeave a comment

Be the church

From The Least of These or the Exalted of Us

These days, people just don’t seem to want to go to church anymore. But maybe that is a good thing. Because maybe church is not some place to go. Maybe church is something we are supposed to be. So instead of inviting others to go to church for us, perhaps we should be inviting them to come and be the church for others. The invitation should be: “Join us to be the embodiment of Jesus Christ in this fragmented world with a burning passion for the poor and the outcast. Come and join us to be the Body of Christ as we humbly and selflessly seek to care more about ‘the least of these,’ and less about ‘the exalted of us’.”