[A special note to the reader or preacher: this sermon is built around a poem or kind of “rap” lyric that is designed for antiphonal call and response. The reader reads a line and the congregation repeats that line. Of course, the lyric can simply be read as a poem. But if it is done…

On this, the next-to-the-last Sunday of the church year, we hear one resounding theme in all our readings: “Stay awake. Be alert. Be found working with what you have been given.” For Christians in the early church, this was a message of absolute urgency, especially because much of the ancient church, as we hear implied…

The story in today’s Gospel that Jesus told his earliest followers about wise and foolish virgins — is a story about vigilance and values, a story of surprise and response and the judgment of consequences. The story comes from another place, another culture, and another time. How could this story of wise virgins and foolish…

Can you imagine a scene in which there are ten contestants, pitted against each other at an international piano competition? Image further that five of them have constantly practiced their entries to perfection, and remained ever ready to be called to play. Meanwhile, imagine the other five contestants spending their time watching television and eating…

One of the best-selling verses in the Bible these days is the following: And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.” So…