“Below or Above” (World Communion Sunday) Rick Olson, October 5, 2008 The parable of the tenants, which Frank read a few minutes ago, is pretty harsh. In its normal interpretation, it’s taken as a warning to the religious authorities of the day. The tenants represent religious authorities of the state of Israel, who are pictured [...]
“Below or Above” (World Communion Sunday) Rick Olson, October 5, 2008 The parable of the tenants, which Frank read a few minutes ago, is pretty harsh. In its normal interpretation, it’s taken as a warning to the religious authorities of the day. The tenants represent religious authorities of the state of Israel, who are pictured [...]
“Fear and Trembling” (Philippians 2:1-13)Rick Olson, September 28, 2008 I like the central core of this morning’s passage so much that we often use it as an affirmation of faith: “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited . . .” It’s [...]
“An Offensive Arrangement” (Matthew 20:1-15)Rick Olson, September 21, 2008 Parables are often best served cold, with not a lot of prior heating up by interpretation or explanation’s warm embrace, and so I invite you to listen to this parable again, with the knowledge that Jesus is speaking to his disciples here, the folks who’ve been [...]
“Here Comes the Judge” (Romans 14:1-12)Rick Olson, September 14, 2008 I’m going to back up just a teensy little bit to set the stage for this week’s passage . . . last week we talked about a passage right before this one, though we stopped short of the verses just before. Let’s go back and [...]
“Wouldn’t It Be Lover-ly” (Romans 13:8-14)Rick Olson, September 7, 2008 I’ve been thinking a lot about love lately . . . so naturally I went to the World Wide Web to consult the “Love Doctor,” and he has a Love Calculator, and so I entered Pam’s maiden name and mine, and wouldn’t you know it? [...]
“Every Bush is Burning” (Exodus 3:1-15)Rick Olson, August 31, 2008 When I was just a preacher-ling, before I went to seminary, I preached at my old church in Starkville, Mississippi, where the buffalo play and the bulldogs roam, and nary a cross word is said to anyone. And in the sermon, which probably wasn’t much [...]
“Saying and Being” (Matthew 16:13-20)Rick Olson, August 24, 2008 Today’s passage is one of those “Watershed Passages” that everybody knows about, and everybody thinks they know what it means. What that is, of course, is the naming of Simon Peter . . . Peter, or in Greek petros, which in turn means rock. “I tell [...]
“Dog Tales” (Matthew 15:10-28)Rick Olson, August 17, 2008 There’s an old saying—probably by some scurvy prophet or something—that says “I’ve come to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted,” and that surely applies to scripture as well. There’s nothing more afflicting to our comfortable notions about life and our place in it than scripture. If [...]
“That Sinking Feeling” (Matthew 14:22-33)Rick Olson, August 10, 2008 Walking on water is a common pop culture motif, and of course it’s all thanks to this story here in Matthew, and its counterparts in Mark and John . . . of all the miracles, all the signs and wonders Jesus does in Scripture, perhaps this [...]
