Sermon Notes (Page 8)

This upcoming Sunday is Palm Sunday, the day where we usher in Jesus as the King of the Jews and recognize his true authority. The people back then had no idea that Jesus’ kingdom would look vastly different from the political kingdoms of old and new. Jesus’ kingdom was about love, sacrifice, compassion, and service.

Maybe it’s hard to imagine abundance as we stroll aisles of stores with bare shelves, but now we have time to do those things we postponed by saying, “If I only had time, I’d do (fill in the blank).”

In the midst of everything happening, our “social distancing” and even some of the blame taking place (some racial, some class-based, etc.) I have been continually reminded by a quote from Fred Rogers: “Look for the helpers.” In this time of isolation, we are reminded not to give in to the darkness, but to remember the light of Christ that shine’s within us all.

As we wrestle in the current COVID-19 pandemic with how to relate with one another, we might consider this alongside our ongoing series on gratitude and the illustration of the table.

Last week’s message began with a question about where we find God, and this Sunday’s message draws the illustration of gathering around God’s table. This is a time of sharing in the abundance of God’s gifts!

As we enter this Lenten season of spiritual introspection, we begin in earnest our exploration of gratitude. Culturally, we struggle even with the simplicity of thank-you cards. Perhaps we can push back from this and realize that everything we have is a gift from God, which begs this question: where is God?

This Sunday is “Transfiguration” Sunday, where we read about Jesus’ journey to a mountaintop where some of the disciples witness an event that leaves them in awe.

In this Sunday’s text, Paul suggests to the church in Corinth that attachments to a particular human leader, to a particular position, or a particular building may be a misdirection of our focus when we should instead grow our attachment to God.

Over these last several weeks, we have explored Paul’s reminder that—even in our differences—God continues to call and empower us all. Paul’s words in this text challenge us to show that we are changed by God’s Spirit. Are we doing it? Are we living the gospel with our whole selves at all times?

This week’s text takes a number of twists and turns and seems to conflate wisdom and foolishness. Could it be possible that Paul is suggesting that we are called to foolishness?