The Joshua Victor Theory

Sermon outline and talking points: ·          Many passages show Christ as “servant.” Mark 10:42-45—last and servant of all, ransom for many. John 13, washing feet. 2 Cor. 8:9, rich, became poor. Or the humility, lowliness and simplicity vs. His hidden glory and worthiness—birth in manger,   no place to lay His head, donkey entering Jerusalem. But at the cross, humble obedience is clearest. ·          In our everyday world—rank, wealth, power, or birth convey certain advantages or privileges. Owners and CEOs of big businesses don’t do low or menial tasks. Kings and presidents are honored, paraded, and red carpet is rolled out. Don’t usually see people do things that are “beneath them.” ·          Moments of lavish honor paid to Jesus: gifts of Magi, anointing by perfume/oil/tears, Palm Sunday processional, expensive myrrh and spices for burial. Never r...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the Gospel reading, Luke 14, especially verses 7-14, Jesus teaches about some ordinary situations from life: things like social etiquette, seeking honor, or who we associate with. The same theme is in the Old Testament reading. It’s better to be invited up to a place of honor, than to seek it for yourself, and then be ashamed when it’s taken away from you. In the reading from Proverbs, this situation was in the king’s court. In Jesus’ parable, it’s a banquet. Where do we attempt to “establish a pecking order”? Where do we get wrapped up in “social positioning”, letting other people know who we are and who we associate with? At our meals? Our parties? Our workplaces? Even in our churches? In school? Or in the entirely new environment of online social networks? What if we did an experiment, and asked all of you, to line up in order of importance, from the front of the church to the back? That’s right, the most...

Sermon Outline:  1.       James’ and John’s bold-faced request—sit at the right and left hand. Go-getters, ambitious, passionate; seeking power, glory. Didn’t sit well with the other 10 disciples. Know or learn from experience that a sure-fire way to alienate co-workers, friends, or others from you is to be arrogant and self-promoting—seek to grab power, put yourself over them, etc. Jesus calms the disciples and uses this as a teachable moment for them all. 2.       Way of the world vs. way of the kingdom of God. It’s dysfunctional. Putting our interests and quests for power first, makes for conflict, hurt feelings, etc. And passive-aggressive manipulation is no better, because it just puts our interests first in a “sneakier way.” Jesus compares this self-seeking to the ways of the politicians of His day, who were domineering in their power, or “threw their weight around” to show who’s in charge. Same today. Endless cycle of i...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. In the last several weeks, we’ve talked about how God shows us that a self-seeking and self-centered life isn’t God’s desire for us. We’ve been called to “Life Together”—a caring community of believers who are willing to hand our lives over to God’s leading and His purposes as we extend that care and concern to others. Tonight, we’re going to consider how Jesus’ last supper with His disciples helps us to learn about what it means to be followers of Jesus, and the impact of our witness and message. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Take a moment to recall when the last time was that you shared your Christian faith with another person. Perhaps a stranger, perhaps a friend or even a family member. What did you say, and what was their response? Perhaps it was someone living a worldly life, and you’re faced with the uncomfortable fact that it’s not a Go...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today’s sermon from the Gospel reading will look at a few paradoxes in the kingdom of God. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. First we need to define what a paradox is: it’s when a truth or an event is contrary to what we would believe or expect. A famous paradoxical statement is “at the beginning of Dickens Tale of Two Cities: ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.’” Truth is remarkably often found in paradox. A paradox is not the same as a contradiction. It’s when things appear to contradict, but in fact do not. The Christian faith has many paradoxes: Jesus being true God and true man at the same time. That God is Three Persons, yet only One God. That we’re at the same time saints a...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today in our Gospel reading Jesus contrasts true greatness with the self-promotion of the world. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. James and John were fairly shameless in their request to be granted whatever they wanted…as if Jesus were a genie in a bottle to do their bidding. And what a request! To be the right-hand and left-hand men to Jesus, when He came in His glory. Of course, who was better qualified? They were the go-getters, bold and over-confident in their abilities. They were confident that whatever honor or greatness Jesus would rise to, that they were equal to that ascent. They were fit to share in that honor and glory. Apparently the other ten disciples had less confidence in James and John, than they had in themselves. The ten disciples became indignant or sorely angry when they found out about this request. Was it because they thoug...