Category Archives: John

John 9:1-41 Worship and Preaching Resources

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For an exhaustive list of resources on this text, I recommend you visit this page at The Text this Week, created and curated by Jenee Woodard.

The Text:
NRSV at Oremus Bible Browser.
New American Bible at new.usccb.org

Bulletin CoverMan Born Blind

Some Resources to Check Out

Sermon – Blind Spot by John Vella
Excerpt:  Most of us have blind spots, presumptions, ideas and perceptions that we don’t even think about changing. These blind spots are major roadblocks in our spiritual journey. They can cause untold harm to others and to ourselves. Even a quick reading of today’s Gospel shows us in a graphic way how blind the Pharisee’s were to Jesus and to his work. These religious leaders were leading people into the darkness, not into the light. Their interior lives had become hardened, like a rock. They had become so smug and sure of themselves that they were not able to recognize Goodness itself as it was shown to them in the person of Jesus. They were as blind as a person could be. Continue reading →

True Freedom – A Sermon

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This sermon is based on the following scripture passages, which can be read by clicking on the links:  Genesis 8:13-22 and Genesis 9: 12-17, Galatians 5:1-26, and John 4:5-42.

I am in the process of developing a four year lectionary that features John’s gospel in Year D. I have plotted out much of this lectionary, but am filling in the details, so to speak, as I work my way through the years. Currently we are reading consecutively through Genesis, Galatians and John. If you want to know more about this lectionary, feel free to contact me by clicking the appropriate tab above.

True Freedom

Two police officers had stopped a car in downtown Milwaukee and ordered the driver to get out from behind the wheel.
The man was obviously very drunk and had a hard time standing up,
much less completing the field sobriety test.
The police were trying to get the man to turn,
lean over and put his hands on the hood of his car.
The man was screaming,
“Hey… I’m an American and I live in America and that means nobody can tell me what to do!”

One of the frustrated, but somewhat amused officers replied,
“Yea, sure buddy… If you can spell American, I’ll let you go.”
The drunk, offended by the reflection on his sobriety yelled back,
“Don’t make fun of me sir… I can spell it borwards and fackwards!”

If there is one thing we Americans love it is the idea of freedom.
But as the story about the drunk illustrates,
for many of us Freedom is just another way of saying that nobody can tell us what to do.
I’d want to suggest that freedom is so much more than that.

We start with Noah.
The flood has ended; the waters have receeded,
and for the first time in 190 days – over six months,
Noah, his family, and all the animals set foot on dry land.
To get how thrilling, how freeing that must have been,
you first have to imagine how horrible, in many ways,
those 190 days stuck on a boat with all those animals must have been.
Can you imagine the smell?
Can you imagine the noise?
One preacher has said that the only thing that helped Noah and his family
put up with all that noise and stench was the storm raging outside the ark.

But now Noah is free . . .free from the ark . . . free from the noise and smells,
and free from the responsibility to save the world.
It is a sweet, sweet feeling this freedom.
It is the freedom an inmate feels when getting out of prison,
the freedom immigrants felt when they arrived in the US and spotted the Statue of Liberty for the first time.
It’s a palpable, physical freedom.
That’s one type of freedom.

Continue reading →

Following Christ

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In this week’s gospel reading from John 21, we have a conversation between Jesus and Peter.  It goes like this:

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

As you can see, the last words spoken are from Jesus.  “Follow me.” He says.  Two simple words to sum up entire gospel . . . maybe an entire life.  But what do they mean.  If we look at the conversation, three simple tasks stand out to me for anyone who would seek to follow Jesus:

  1. Love Jesus – and this means not only professing to love him, but showing your love by
  2. Feed/tend the sheep/lambs – get off any high horse you may be on and care for those around you, especially those you may not like.
  3. Give up control – or maybe I should say, “Give up the illusion that you are in control.”  None of us control our destinies.  We aren’t even guaranteed to wake up in the morning.  The best that we can do is to turn over control of our lives to One who created us and has loved us with an undying love.

So . . . there you have it: a simple three point sermon outline for those of you who like such things.  As for me, I will try to weave these ideas together with some reference to the story of Saul’s conversion as well (Acts 9).  I have some thoughts on how I will do this, but if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Called to Suffering

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There is nothing that makes me angrier as a pastor than “prosperity preachers” who tell their followers that by becoming a Christian nothing but blue skies and rose gardens are in their futures.  These purveyors of a false theology are both deceitful in their presentation of the gospel and a danger to those who follow them.  Imagine my delight then, when reading this week’s lectionary readings I ran across two passages which refute such nonsense head-on.

The first has to do with Saul’s conversion (Acts 9).  Saul is on his way to Damascus when he struck blind and thrown off his horse by a lightning bolt (so to speak) from heaven.  He has a conversation with the risen Jesus and instructed to go on to Damascus and await further instruction.

Meanwhile in Damascus, Ananias, a follower of the Way (the name used for the earliest Christians) has another conversation with Jesus.  It goes like this:

Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

Did you notice that last line?  “I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”   Need I say more?

The second passage (John 21) is not as blatant as the one from Acts, but it nevertheless is a slap upside the head of those who promise their followers (not Jesus’ followers necessarily) a prosperous and happy life with no worries and lots of money to buy whatever it is they need.  The resurrected Jesus is having a conversation with Peter on the shore of Lake Galilee.  It goes like this:

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Again, notice these sentences:  “Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”   The writer of the gospel tells us that Jesus is telling Peter how he is going to die.  Further I read it to also tell us that Peter is going to be taken/led places that he does not want to go.

Can it be any clearer that a life lived in Christ does not necessarily lead to a person becoming prosperous, at least as the world defines prosperity?  As far as I know and legend tells it, everyone of the eleven remaining disciples (save John) died a martyr’s death.  And speaking of legends, let me end this post with one I shared in a sermon several years ago.

There is an ancient book called the Acts of Peter which tells of Peter’s last days.
It seems Peter was in Rome when the Emperor Nero started a savage persecution of Christians.
Some of Peter’s friends,
fearing for his life,
convinced Peter to leave the city.
Walking away from Rome,
more than a little fearful,
Peter set out along the Appian way.
He was an old man now,
weary of all his journeying for Christ,
not sure of what he should do now,
or where he should go.

All his life he had expected to see Jesus return,
and now at the end this seemed more like wishful thinking than anything else.
little more than a pipedream.
But as Peter trudged away from Rome,
it is written that he met Jesus on the road.
Jesus was going towards the city.
In Latin Peter asked Jesus, “Quo Vadis, Domine?”
meaning “Where are you going, Lord?”
Jesus replied, “I go to Rome to die for you.”

Peter, we are told, stopped, and slowly turned around.
He could not bear to see Jesus die again.
And this time he did not fail.
Peter went back to Rome,
he continued his preaching and teaching,
and in the end he too was arrested and killed,
crucified as his Lord had been crucified,
Peter went back to Rome,
back to his own death.

The Word

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A 6th century mosaic of :en:Jesus at Church Sa...

Image via Wikipedia

 

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

The Word was in the beginning with God,
and all things were made through him.
Without him was not any thing made that was made.
And in the Word was life,
and the life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
The true light,
which enlightens everyone,
was coming into the world.

The Word was in the world,
and the world was made through him,
yet the world did not know him.
He came to his own,
and his own people did not receive him.
But to all who did receive him,
who believed in his name,
the Word gave the right to become children of God,
who were born,
not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of human will,
but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
- Selections from John 1

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Throwing Stones

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Early in the morning Jesus came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” – John 8:2-11