Luke 14:1, 7-14 It was the last week of my senior year in high school. My two best friends and I were seated in a hot, overcrowded auditorium for the Annual Awards Assembly. My two friends were never in their seats for long as they took turns being called up on stage to accept one academic award after another. Envious of their repeated success, I began to check out of the festivities and started to daydream. Then, much to my amazement, my name was called. My friends nearly ha

Jeremiah 1:4-10 The most frequently asked question of any pastor I know, including this one, is: “How were you called into ministry?” It is a fine question, a legitimate one, an important one. But believing that God has laid claim on each one of us, not simply those of us who are “paid Christians,” I like to turn that question around. So, when asked, “How were you called into ministry?” I usually respond, “I’ll be happy to tell you, but first, tell me about God’s call on your

Revelation 7:9-17 Toward the end of Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting for Godot, Vladimir asks Pozzo: “What do you do when you fall far from help?” In Act III of Shakespeare’s, King Lear, the mad king has fallen “far from help.” He rages about his life that is out of control: “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks. Rage, blow! You cataracts and huricanoes, spout Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks. You sulph’rous and thought-executing fires, Vaunt-couriers of oak

I Corinthians 1:1-9 The ancient city of Corinth had quite a reputation. “From the time of Aristophanes on,” writes Frederick Buechner, “the city could even claim the distinction of having its name made into a verb. To ‘corinthianize’ meant to go to the dogs. “Situated on the narrow isthmus that connects Greece proper with the Peloponnesus, Corinth was a major center for trade and shipping. Its population was largely immigrant, and sailors from everywhere under the sun prowled