Ernest F. Campbell Selected Sermons

Proper 6 (C) Did You Enjoy it? July 2, 1995 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell I have a Jewish friend in Walla Walla who believes that in the last analysis God will judge us according to our deeds. If our constructive good deeds outweigh our destructive evil deeds, we can expect that God will have us.  I have known many people who think of themselves as Christians who believe the same thing. Their aim is to make themselves right with God by their own actions. We have to jump through all the hoops we think that God has put in front of us. (We do it out of pride). There are two major problems with this approach; 1) It doesn’t work. 2) It hammers the joy out of living.  There are only three options open to those who believe the must achieve perfection by keeping God’s laws;      1) Option one, they are honest enough to admit their human frailties and stay away.       Example) My Dad used to say that the reason he didn’t go to church was because the ro...

Pentecost (ABC) The Joy of Being with People You Love May 27, 2012 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell On the Garrison Keeler , Prairie Home Companion Radio show , Garrison talks about the annual 4 th of July exercise of forming a human American flag. All the citizens of Lake Woebegone , wearing red, white, or blue T-Shirts, arrange themselves into our Red, White and Blue flag. Then in order to let everyone get a “bird’s-eye-view” of the flag, they excuse themselves one-at-a-time, so they can say they saw the human American flag on the 4 th of July. I was reminded of that story when I realized that none of you can see the full effect of the color red in the nave of this church. (Instead of coming up one-at-a-time, I’d like to take your picture and then post it for your enjoyment). Does the color red insight any special meaning to you? On our liturgical church calendar, the color red is used to remind us of the blood shed by martyrs. Today, the feast of Pentecost , the color red reminds us of ...

Ash Wednesday (any year) Sanctification 2012 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell Lord, make us Ambassadors of blessings and joy! Our purpose as Ambassadors for Jesus Christ is the slow sanctification of the whole world beginning with ourselves. What is an ambassador? One dictionary definition that I like is this: “Any member of a particular group thought of as representing the qualities, traits, or habits of his group. (For example: A tourist abroad can be an ambassador of good will for his country.)” OR, a Christian, over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine can be an ambassador for Christ and His Church by his or her spirit of understanding, kindness, and love. The gift of sanctification begins with the belief that the suffering and death of Jesus is responsible for the forgiveness and freedom of all humankind . We are sinners ; we have all fallen short of God’s expectation to love one another as he has loved us. And what is worse, we are all stuck with a deadly dose of self-centeredness and...

  Proper 29 C Christ Holds All Things Together November 23, 1989 (Last Sunday after Pentecost) By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell One of the questions that I have learned to expect in my 9 th -grade confirmation class is this; “Why doesn’t Jesus come again and put the world back together!” Their question suggests to me that they have come to have faith in Jesus to accomplish great and wonderful things -- And, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all learn to better get along with one another! It may be that they have come to think of Jesus like some kind of magician , able to wave his hand over the broken places in the world to bring peace. (Just as he spoke to the raging storm at sea and said, “Be Still!”). One of the reasons I love to teach children is to witness their unhesitant minds plunge into the world of theology without even realizing it, and then watch them enjoy the adventure of di...

Proper 28 C Stepping Out in Faith November 15, 1998   By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell My wife and I have enjoyed our season tickets to the Whitman College Harper Joy Theater for the past 30 years. The most recent play we saw was titled, “ Stepping Out ” by Richard Harris . It was about an odd collection of characters who aspired to learn how to tap dance . The tap-dancing classes took place in the basement of a church. (I thought to myself: here we have a hodgepodge of people attempting to do something very challenging and not especially popular in our society. Interesting!) You could, with a little imagination, see them as members of any typical church congregation . There was a wide range of personalities, basic talent, personal histories, and levels of commitment. Their beginning efforts were anything but beautiful. In fact, they were pathetic. As the story unfolds the audience learns that each individual member of the class has a story to tell… or to hide. There is the tall a...

Proper 27 C A Different Perspective November 12, 2013 By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell In today’s Gospel the Sadducees ask Jesus a rather far-fetched question.  "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally, the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her." Perhaps they asked the question to learn something, but it is more likely that it was meant to score points for the “Sadducees” theological point of view. It would help us to know that the Sadducees were an elite, well educated, materially well-off element in the Jewish society. Their religious beliefs were limited to doctrine which could only be found in the written laws of Moses....