Sermons by Rev. Jason S. Glombicki (Page 37)

One place that I enjoy visiting is the Art Institute. For those of us who bathe in words day after day, it helps open my mind to imagination and plurality. How one person views a work of art can be markedly different from another. Shading, color, perspective, medium, and the viewer’s state of mind all impact the experience…

My boyfriend grew up as a Unitarian Universalist. So, there are many things he does not understand about Christianity. One day he said, “I don’t understand Christians. You’re always talking about sin, what you did wrong, and you all seem so…sad.” Now, I’d like to think that’s not the case, and I like to emphasize the life-giving aspects of Christianity. But, when many of our members tell me how much they like the season of Lent, it’s hard to argue with my boyfriend. And, today’s gospel reading doesn’t help my argument either. After all, Luke writes, “…unless you repent, you will all perish…” and, in the parable, if the fig tree isn’t producing fruit then “buh bye.” But, we won’t tell Alex about today’s reading…

Every year on the first Sunday in Lent, we read a story about Jesus’s temptation. This year, we get it from Luke’s perspective which is a bit different than Matthew and Mark. In today’s reading, like in Matthew, we witnessed a conversation of sorts between the devil and Jesus. Now to be clear, the devil is a personified version of all that draws us from the ideals of God. We’re not talking about a physical being with a pitchfork and horns, right…