Rev Chris Roth

  Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44 In Advent we begin the church year once again. We enter into a season of longing. Advent is about expectation. It is about anticipation. We have no control over this. We are waiting for a door to open, and we have no key to unlock it. … With ancient Israel, we will yearn for the messiah to come. We yearn for the kingdom that will come with him. … The prophet Isaiah expresses this longing. He reminds us of the cries of humanity throughout history. A history that is filled with war, violence, disease, and all kinds of suffering. We are reminded to not be naïve about the world we live in. Isaiah expresses a yearning for a time when the ways of God would be respected by a united humanity. The profound peace that would be found on the earth would render weapons useless and they would be refashioned into farm tools. This yearning stands against the reality that humanity lives in- that of violence, conflict, disunity, and the ...

Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43 We have reached the end of the Christian Year. We might even consider it the height of the Christian year. The Christian calendar follows the story of Christ. It begins in Advent with the expectation of the Messiah, and then birth of Christ at Christmas. Epiphany tells the story of the revealing of Christ’s identity. In Lent, we follow Christ into the wilderness in preparation for the cross on Good Friday. And from that deep sadness we enter into the joy of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. But the story doesn’t end there. Christ ascends (ascension) into heaven, and is still present to the Church through his Holy Spirit which is what we celebrate at Pentecost. The same Spirit that came to Mary to constitute the Body of Christ in her womb, now would constitute his body through his disciples. We learn to live as his disciples, following his teachings, throughout the season after Pentecost, until we arrive at today- The Reign of Christ, or Christ the Kin...

Sacraments After I had finished university I took a job that involved a lot of time driving around in a van with another guy. He wasn't a believer, but his wife was. After spending half a year driving around together we started having a lot of discussions about Christianity. One morning we were going out to a call when my friend turned to me and asked, “what is communion?” Well, If you want to get me going just ask me a question like that. I had also done a presentation in university on the religious aspects of the Eucharist the previous year, so I had all kinds of ideas in my head. I started talking about how Christians are the Body of Christ and how in the Communion we receive the Body of Christ, so St. Augustine said that in the communion we receive our own mystery. I spoke about how as we eat from one bread, and drink from the cup of our one Lord we are unified as one people. I went on like that for a while. My friend looked interested, but a little conf...

Obstacles to a life of Grace So, God has offered us His grace- the gift of Himself- his life to live within us. The work of Christ on the cross was given to us to save us. The example and teaching of Christ was given to us as an image of what human life was meant to be. The Holy Spirit was given to us, to dwell within us, and empower us to live the life that he is calling us to. During the Grace talk, I read to you from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, where he describes what Jesus is doing within us.  “‘Make no mistake,’ [Jesus] says, ‘if you let me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, ...

Grace In the church we use the word “Grace” a lot. We can use it so much that it can be a word that just floats through the air in the background and doesn’t mean anything. … It’s important to take time to think about what we mean by this word. A lot of our lives are based on the principle of reciprocity. You exchange money for gas at the gas station. You put in a certain number of hours in and you receive a paycheck at the end of the month. Karma is a very natural way to think. You get what you deserve. I’m sure we are all aware of the parable of the Prodigal Son. This is how Jesus explained grace. We’ll ignore the older brother for now, because that is about how others respond to God showing grace to people they don’t think deserves it. As you will remember, the parable of the Prodigal Son begins with a simple request, "Father, give me my share of the estate.” To us, it seems like the sort of request a spoiled child might make. But, there is a lot more in that reque...

Luke 21:5-19 There is a line in our Gospel that really caught my attention. Verse 13 says,  “This will give you an opportunity to testify” (Luke 21:13). The Greek word for “testify” is marturion . This is where we get the word “martyr”. When someone is martyred, they are killed because they are a follower of Jesus. We sometimes expand that word to mean someone killed for a cause, but originally it was someone who was killed for their testimony about Jesus. Jesus says that his followers should expect to be treated poorly. Jesus says,  “they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.”   “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name” (Lk 21:12,16-17). Some people have a tendency to assume that when something bad happens to them that they have ...

  Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31 “Does Christianity work?” Is sort of an odd question. When people ask this question it can mean a number of different things depending on the person asking. For some it is about will Christianity get me to heaven when I die. For others it is about will Christianity make a bad person into a good person. For some it is will it make a better society. For others it is about if Christianity can lead people to experience the transcendent. … I think the best way to answer that is to look to the saints. When we use the word “saint” in the biblical sense, it refers to followers of Jesus Christ- to Christians. When St. Paul speaks about the saints he is referring to members of the church. But, in another sense it refers to those who have truly turned their entire lives over to the way of Christ, and placed all their hope in God. And God has worked through them in amazing ways. A “saint” in this sense might be more ...