Monday's thoughts on next Sunday's sermon

"Jokingly, Jesus Was Serious"

Last Sunday we thought about the humor of Jesus and the ironic twist to his words when he called Simon "Peter" -- it means rock. Simon was anything but "rock" and many scholars believe this was said in jest.

This next Sunday I want to look at some of the things Jesus was serious about; deadly serious about.

Rudolf Bultmann is a biblical scholar and theologian who believed Jesus was completely serious about what he said and why he said it. Bultmann believed what is offered in the gospels is the call for "absolute obedience" and to understand Jesus the way he is meant to be understood is to have a grasp on the call from him that we present our lives as dedicated to a higher standard than we have ever considered.

In the sermon I am going to try to explore what we might consider as the basic direction of Jesus message of radical obedience and what that might be saying to us today.

What do you think he would call us to do today? What kind of obedience do you think is required of us?

I think it would have more to do with working for justice than perfecting our approach to worship and ritual. I think it would have to do with giving our lives in service than spending more time in prayer.

What do you think we are being called by our Christian faith to do or become?

I would like to hear from you. If you have thought on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.


Charles Schuster