Ascension Written Sermons

Urgent: Forgiveness Rob Gieselmann, Pentecost 8C, June 26, 2016 I don’t always understand what it means to follow Jesus. And I’m pretty sure I don’t do it very well. I’m all three of these - I’d bury my parents first, I’d say good-bye to my family, before following Jesus - into the Peace Corps, or to Bolivia, or wherever. Truth be told, I probably wouldn’t leave them in the first place, and if I did, I would definitely buy a return ticket. At least for the holidays, I’d come home for the holidays. *Home – they say home is “ where the heart is,” You’re loved at home just because – not because you’ve done something important. You are special at home, just because you are special at home. Or, as the old saying goes, Home is where the great are small, and the small are great. But there is no home for Jesus – foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. No bed to, lay me down to sleep, no pillow for, the soul...

The Eyes of God Weeping Rob Gieselmann, June 19, 2016 Jesus said, Those who live by the sword, will die by the sword.   Elijah lived by the sword. He had just finished killing the prophets of Baal – all of them ; himself, by the sword.   In response, King Ahab and his wife Jezebel put out a contract on Elijah’s head – This scared Elijah; he became afraid. Kill me now, he cried out to God, before Jezebel catches me. Only God didn’t answer Elijah, at least not directly. It’s almost impossible for God to speak – or at least for you to hear – when your primary emotional response is fear. Fear cripples the soul and binds God’s hands. And I have to wonder,whether fear is why Elijah could not perceive God in the fierce storm? In the crippling earthquake or raging fire? Whether Elijah found God only when his fear abated, when all became quiet, both on earth and in his soul. The silence of the soul. I, too, have experienced God in silence of the soul. Be stil...