The Joshua Victor Theory

  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Looking around I see that you are all land-dwellers…no fish here…but in the Gospel Jesus invites us to imagine catching fish out of the water. Jesus called His disciples “fishers of men.” Enter Jesus’ metaphor for a minute; imagine ourselves as fish happily swimming in our familiar home, an ocean or lake, like the Sea of Galilee. If we put the Sea of Galilee here on Maui, I estimate it would stretch roughly from the base of West Maui mountains up to Makawao, and from Kahului Harbor to Maalaea Harbor—13 miles by 8 miles. Small, but big enough to get caught in a storm. Imagine happily swimming in your watery home when a net encircles you and pulls you out of the water. Panic fills your gills as you gasp and gawk at the frightening fisherman looming over you! I’m dead meat! This guy’s gonna make poke outta me! Peter tasted this fear once or twice in his fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee, looking up at Jesus....

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. On this 3 rd Sunday in Advent, the theme of the day is “Joy”—marked by the lighting of the pink candle on the wreath, and heard in our Old Testament and Epistle lessons. Joy certainly fits the seasons of Advent and Christmas, as we wait and expect the coming of Jesus. However, many people wonder or fear whether joy can be real, or whether Christians can still have reason to rejoice, when there is so much evil on the loose in this world. The Roman Catholic Pope even made world headlines recently, for preaching after the Paris terror attacks, that this year’s celebration of Christmas would just be a “charade” because of the worldwide war, violence, and hatred that is consuming humanity. Can joy really be authentic and genuine this season, or in the midst of so many troubles, from our world news, down to our national, local, congregational, family, and even personal circumstances? Must the troubles and “bad new...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Christmas is nearly here, and we’re in the last week of preparation—the last week of Advent, awaiting Jesus’ coming. As you hear the Christmas story read this Sunday from the Gospel of Matthew, how does it strike you? Is it the first time you’ve heard it? The 21st or 51st? Have you lost track of how many times you’ve heard the story, or is it still fresh and new to you at each hearing? Does the world of the first Christmas seem so tranquil, perfect, and far away that it doesn’t relate to your celebration of this years’ Christmas? Or is the story alive and real to you today? Perhaps for some, the world of the first Christmas seems almost like a sleepy village in one of those snow-globes. The quiet, little town of Bethlehem, shrouded in mystery and holy glow, thousands of years distant in a faraway land. The story evokes memories of childhood and stirs warm emotions, but it’s closed off b...