The Truth of Christmas

I preached this sermon at the Christmas Chapel Services (three in a row) of Tamagawa Academy High School on December 22nd. Then on December 24th I preached it again at Tokyo Life Church, and then in the afternoon I preached it one more time at the Isesaki Covenant Church. Tamagawa Academy chose the text and I always find it challenging to preach these highly familiar texts without falling into the ever so tempting cliches of the season.

Luke 2:6-14

Today we have read from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2. This passage is the biblical account of the greatest event in the history of humankind; the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. And yet what we read is not by any means the full story and it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. “While they were there” Who was there? In this case that is easy to answer just by reading from a little earlier in the chapter. It was Mary and Joseph. They were in Bethlehem, even though that was not where they lived. Nazareth was their home. They were in Bethlehem for political reasons… required by the government to go to be counted. How many of you live in your father’s original home? So, when the government decided to take a census they required everyone to return to the home town of the householder. Lots of people on the move! Can you imagine what it would be like if they tried that in Japan today? But as you know from history classes,

Here is your God

I preached this sermon on December 10th, 2017 at the Kurume Christ Church. It was the second Sunday of Advent.

Isaiah 40:1-11

On this second Sunday of Advent we turn our attention to the 40^th chapter of Isaiah. We read of a people who were desperately in need of comfort. While biblical scholars don’t all agree on how to read and understand Isaiah, it is generally thought that the first 39 chapters were written in the 8^th century B.C., and warn of Israel’s impending destruction at the hands of Assyria. Subsequently,

People at Prayer, God Revealed

I preached this sermon at the Shimonita Christ Church on December 3rd, 2017. It was the first Sunday of Advent.

Isaiah 64:1-9

Today we begin the season of advent. It’s a season of waiting; and yet if we are honest, we may have to admit that waiting is something at which we rarely excel. Waiting takes time; we like to do things quickly. Waiting often results in nothing happening; we like to get visible results. Waiting means going for long periods of time without the thing we desire; we like to get what we desire. Waiting requires one to admit that they are not in control; we really don’t like not being in control. Waiting is required because we don’t know when the thing we await will come; we like having a clear time frame for things. And yet, particularly at this time of the Christian calendar, we who follow Jesus are called upon to wait. And so it is that today we’ve read from Isaiah. It’s a book that