Rev Chris Roth

  Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18 There is an author named Philip Yancey who wrote a book called “The Bible Jesus Read”. It’s all about the Old Testament, which, of course, was the Bible Jesus read. Those were the Scriptures he studied and prayed with. They shaped his religious imagination. So, we will often miss what Jesus is saying if we don’t look into the Old Testament to see the images and thoughts that shaped Jesus’ teaching. I think this is true with the images of the shepherd and the sheep. … So, I want to just read a few of these passages for us. … Keep in mind as I read these that we are the flock of God being described here, as well. These are our spiritual ancestors. I invite you to hear yourself as a part of God’s flock in these passages. When Joshua succeeds Moses and becomes the one to bring the people into the Promised Land, the book of Numbers says,  “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation who sh

  Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36-48 We have great readings again today. In our reading from Acts, through the ministry of Peter, God has healed a man who was born unable to walk with the famous words,  “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”  The man was known to many people because he sat at the same gate of the temple, begging. This healing gave Peter the opportunity to explain how this healing came to happen- it authenticates his message about Jesus and his resurrection. Our Psalm includes a call for relief from distress (v1), which is exactly what the man received when he was healed. It also says that the godly will be set apart (v3), which God has done in the disciples of Jesus, who have shown good to the people, and has turned the light of His face on them (v6) through this healing. For this man, and for all those who look on this miracle with wonder, they say to God-  “You have p

  Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 133; 1 John 1:1-2:2; John 20:19-31 Our readings today speak about the consequences of the resurrection of Christ for the community. First, in Acts , we read that the believers were of “one heart and soul”, and that they held their property in common, to such a degree that there “was not a needy person among them”. We need to hold this passage in tension with other parts of Acts, so we don’t idealize the Early Church too much (they would have their own struggles as well, and there still existed private property), but we certainly don’t want to dismiss this passage either. It is expressing a time of beauty in the church. And it certainly remains as an ideal for us to strive for. Monks and nuns and numerous Christian communities throughout the ages have sought to make this the goal for their community. The things that drive us apart, the fear that keeps us from sharing our resources and living our lives together were overcome by Christ. … The resurrection provides t

Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; John 20:1-18 Jesus is all about “salvation”- the origin of that word has to do with health. Jesus has come to heal us. The Orthodox Bishop Kallistos Ware says,  “... There are two basic principles concerning our Salvation. First, only God can save us. A prophet or teacher of righteousness cannot be the redeemer of the world. If, then, Christ is to be our savior, he must be fully and completely God. Secondly, Salvation must reach the point of human need. Only if Christ is fully and completely a man as we are, can we men share in what he has done for us. … Christ shares to the full in what we are, and so he makes it possible for us to share in what he is, in his divine life and glory. He became what we are, so as to make us what he is.” ( The Orthodox Way , p.73, 74). St. Gregory the Theologian said,  “The unassumed is unhealed” ( Letter 101, to Cledonius ).  This means that if there is an aspect of humanity that Jesus doesn’t

Whenever I preach on Good Friday I always feel like I’m intruding. The liturgy preaches and it is sometimes better to let it stand on its own. But, I’m going to say a few words anyway. More specifically, I want to say something about the word “atonement”. That word often gets used when we speak about the cross and it is worth contemplating what the word means. The word “atonement” means to bring two things that had been separated back into unity. What happened on the cross brought God and humanity, who had been separated, back into unity. What separated them, has been corrected, fixed, healed. Some of the saints speak about what life was like in the Garden of Eden before the fall. Have you ever seen a sunrise that took your breath away? Maybe you were hiking in the mountains and the orange and pink rays of the sun catch the mountains and bathe them in a beautiful light and you are just stunned by the beauty of the scene. Or maybe you were hiking and you came upon a waterfall. Or maybe

Exodus 12:1-14;  Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19;  1 Corinthians 11:23-26;  John 13:1-17, 31-35 Today is Maundy Thursday. It is the beginning of the Triduum, which lasts from now until the evening of Holy Saturday. It is a time to meditate deeply on Jesus’ final moments before the resurrection on Easter Sunday. During these days especially we allow ourselves to see ourselves as participants in the story. To feel the emotions. We see ourselves as the disciples. We see ourselves as the fickle crowd that shifts from shouting "Hosanna" to calling for his crucifixion. We see ourselves as Peter, and Judas. We see ourselves as the powerful leaders seeking to remove Jesus as and annoying inconvenience- as disruptive to the status quo. … Jesus’ words from John 15 stand over these days-  “no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (15:13).  So, everything that happens in these coming days is seen as an expression of that sacrificial love. Maundy Thursday gets its