Posts

Proper 16 (A) The Question

Image
Proper 16 (A) The Question August 26, 1981 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell Today’s Gospel contains the essential question asked by Jesus to all those who would be his disciples. The fact that Jesus asked the question implies our freedom to respond to it from the truth of our own experience. Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Never mind what somebody else says, never mind what it says in some book. Who do you say…not think…but who do you say I am? What do you confess with your lips…out loud, so others can hear it…about who I am? The answer that came from Peter’s lips must have shocked his own ears. Peter was a Jew. The Jews believed that the name of God was so holy that it must never be spoken aloud. So, in response to Jesus’ question, Peter says…“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God .” He says what a pious Jew would hardly dare to say: “You are God.” Why didn’t the other disciples appreciate that Jesus, the carpenter’s son, was at the same time God Almighty? Why only Peter...
Post a Comment
Read more

Proper 15 (A) A Faithful “Dog”

Image
  Proper 15 (A) A Faithful “Dog” August 15, 1999 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell I believe that there are two things in today’s Gospel that would be helpful to bring into focus. However, because my wife tells me that she enjoys her sermons one at a time, we will be focusing on just one of the two. Hopefully the one most pertinent to this congregation. I title the sermon, “A Faithful ‘Dog,’” subtitled: “An Irresistible Prayer Mode.” Let’s set the scene: Jesus and His disciples in an attempt to get away from the crowds and from the ever-conniving, ever-dangerous Pharisees , have crossed the border into gentile country. Their hope is that not many law-abiding Jews would likely follow. Remember, if you even brushed up against a “garbage” gentile, you were required by law to go through a ritualistic cleansing. Most Jews would not want to risk being contaminated. Jesus and His Apostles were no sooner out of reach from the Jews, when one of the local “foreign” women recognizes Jesus, and from...
Post a Comment
Read more

Proper 14 (A) When We Have That Sinking Feeling

Image
Proper 14 (A) When We Have That Sinking Feeling August 12, 1984 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell How do we grow in faith? We know and understand the process of growing in knowledge.  You begin as a beginner in some subject or field of study—weather prediction, writing, arithmetic—and, as we master the basic fundamentals, we advance to more challenging exercises and complicated problems. Normally, we can track our advance by comparing grades or grade levels with other students working in the same field. When a dedicated student produces superior work over a prescribed period of time, they may earn the right to be called Doctor, as a recognition of their ability to apply their understanding in creative ways and so advance their field of knowledge toward new frontiers. Our growth in faith is not nearly so orderly or systematic. When Nicodemus , whom we might call Dr. Nicodemus, came to Jesus to discover more about Our Lord’s powerful faith, Jesus told Nicodemus that he would have to rely o...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
Proper 13 (A) Time to Care August 5, 1990 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell As I write this sermon I am comfortably seated in our daughter and son-in-law’s back yard in Seattle . That is Martha, a school teacher, and Brian, a Boeing engineer. I can see, at about a mile distance, the traffic on I-5 , and overhead the regular flight pattern of airplanes of every description either approaching or taking off from Boeing Field or SeaTac airports. I was even treated to the Navy’s Blue Angels practicing tight formation runs over Lake Washington in preparation for Seafair . They do indeed make an exciting “mighty roar.” I hope I have given you a picture you can envision of Martha and Brian’s backyard—a tiny slice of the world’s passing parade, all moving about as fast as the law allows. To me one of life’s “amazements” is that just now, as I look at the traffic on I-5, there seems to be as many cars and trucks speeding North as there are cars and truck speeding South. All, no doubt, headed for some...
Post a Comment
Read more

Proper 12 (A) Kingdom Building

Image
Proper 12 (A) Kingdom Building July 27, 2008 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell I grew up in Winnetka, Illinois . “Winnetka” was the Indian word for “beautiful land.” Winnetka is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and it truly is a wonderful place to live. If you were a kid growing up in Winnetka, you could consider yourself fortunate indeed! I was a member of the Christ Church Winnetka Men and Boys’ Choir . Over the fourteen years of membership in that choir, I heard a lot of sermons. The one text that really troubled me was our Lord saying, “If your enemy strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek.” That, I thought to myself, would be a very hard, dumb thing to do. That is not how things work in the real world. However, as it turns out, turning the other cheek would be easy compared to additional expectations for citizenship in God’s Kingdom . Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” What kind of love was that? As our Lord lived it, it would be a forgiving, understanding,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Proper 11 (A) God Gets the Last Word!

Image
Proper 11 (A) God Gets the Last Word! July 21, 1996 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell People have told me that when they attend a funeral they have sometimes wondered if they were at the right church. They hear the minister recount a list of the deceased’s praiseworthy attributes, none of which seem to match their experience of the departed. Having been the minister at many funerals for people I have never met, I hope you would agree that the minister is on-the-spot. It would be inexcusable to make the eulogy sound like headlines from the National Enquirer with no chance for rebuttal. The truth is, we see life only in parts. We can never know the entire person. You don’t know all there is to know about me (thank God), and I don’t know all there is to know about you (thank God). It is possible that someone we think of as a saint is…. through the eyes of another…. A despicable scumball! Carl Jung wrote: “The brighter the halo the smellier the feet.” As one bishop explained to me, “You can only...
Post a Comment
Read more

Proper 10 (A) We Never Know

Image
Proper 10 (A) We Never Know July 14, 2002 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell What I am holding in my hand, I learned as a young boy to call a “ lucky stone .” It was one of the many special rewards of some serious beachcombing on the shores of Lake Michigan in Winnetka, Illinois. I still think they’re pretty neat. Not long ago Margaret and I found this one on the Oregon coast. I see it as one of Mother Nature’s works of art. The result of many years, decades, centuries (who knows how long) of the eroding effects of the friction of sand and water. I offer it today as a symbol; not of luck, but of perseverance . Action: Put the red ribbon through the hole of the stone—then hang it around my neck. If there is any luck in this “lucky stone” it would be the luck of finding it in time to use it as a sermon illustration. The way I see it, my chances of good fortune were about the same as anyone else walking the beach. Admittedly, I may have a more practiced eye. I’ve never had much faith in luck. ...
Post a Comment
Read more