Jeremiah 31:7-14 | Ephesians 1:3-14

Jeremy Richards

Our reading from Jeremiah this morning proclaims a future home to a down and out, exiled people. There’s scholarly debate about the circumstances surrounding this passage, but most agree that the context is the Babylonian exile.

Whatever the particulars, in the midst of what is a strong candidate for the most doom-and-gloom, no-fun, depressing of the prophetic books (which is saying something!) our passage today comes from a hopeful section of 3 chapters, often called the “Book of Consolation.” While Jeremiah spends most of his time predicting the impending defeat to Babylon and the subsequent exile, he promises – or should we say that God promises – hope.

Romans 16:25-27 | Luke 1:26-38

Jeremy Richards

There are some biblical stories that we know by heart. We’ve heard them so many times we could recite them in our sleep. And of those biblical stories that we know so well, none are better known than the Christmas stories. In the Western world at least, many people who don’t even identify as Christian and who have very little first-hand experience with the Church still know the story of the full inn, the baby Jesus born in a manger, the shepherds, the angels, and the wise men from the East.

Isaiah 40:1-11 | 2 Peter 3:8-15a

Jeremy Richards

Earlier this week, I was sitting in my office, reading over our scriptures for today, and I wasn’t really getting anywhere. I kept running into dead ends. I would get a bit of an idea, but it wouldn’t really take off. So I did what I often do, if the weather allows, when I’m going round and round in my head: I went for a walk in Grant Park.

1 Corinthians 1:3-9 | Mark 13:24-37

Jeremy Richards

In the Richards’ house, this past week was full of some of the normal Thanksgiving week stuff. There was time off, good food, a trip to the Christmas tree farm, decorating the house for Christmas, all that. There was even a little bit of time with family, though it was all over Zoom and Facetime. But there was something else happening at the Richards’ home this week as well. When we moved in, there was one element of the house that we said we needed to fix as soon as possible. In fact, it was almost a deal-breaker for me when we first toured the house: the largest wall, on the east side of our family room, was covered in cedar shingles. Even the door was covered in them. It looked like it was supposed to be outside...but it was inside, and I hated it. (Some of you have seen this wall, and some of you even liked it!).

Ephesians 1:15-23 | Matthew 25:31-46

Jeremy Richards

Have you ever run into a famous person in a normal, everyday setting? There are places we expect to see famous people: a popular author at a book signing, a movie star at a premier, a musician at one of their concerts. But every now and then, you hear about someone running into a famous person in the most mundane places.

Amos 5:18-24 | 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 | Matthew 25:1-13

Jeremy Richards

This past Tuesday (and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday), we, as a nation, learned something about waiting in vain. We tasted the disappointment of waiting for election results that didn’t arrive. Of course this isn’t the first time we’ve had to wait for something. Waiting is part of life. We’ve all waited for something that never materialized before. We’ve waited for friends who forgot about our lunch date and never showed up. We’ve waited for buses that never came around the corner. We’ve waited for visitors to arrive at our homes only to get the message that they had car trouble or the roads were bad and they had to get a hotel for the night, but they’ll be there in the morning.

Micah 3:5-12 | 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 | Matthew 23:1-12

Jeremy Richards

Awhile back, someone I’ve gotten to know a little bit but don’t know well, and who is a Christian but has never been to Grant Park, asked me something like, “Do you think your congregation focuses on the gospel enough, or do you think they care too much about justice and the gospel just kinda gets pushed aside.”

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Jeremy Richards

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Psalm 23

Jeremy Richards

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Matthew 17:1-9 | 2 Peter 1:16-21

Jeremy Richards

The modern church historian Robert Louis Wilken says, “Christian thinking is inescapably bound to the witness of others.” He says in another place, “What we know of past events depends on the testimony of those who have witnessed them. Historical events are unique and singular, and one cannot run an experiment to verify whether what is reported is true.”

In other words, every historical event, everything that happens within a specific time and place that we don’t personally witness requires that we trust those who did witness it.