Sermons by Rev. Jason S. Glombicki (Page 21)

“Hear Jesus’s words again: “The truth of the matter is, everyone who lives in sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34). Perhaps it’s not the best way to welcome our guests and past members on Homecoming Sunday, but those aren’t my words, they’re Jesus’s words! And, I think this translation of Jesus’s words are most accurate. You see, in this sentence, every time Jesus says the word translated as “sin” there is a definite article directly before the word “sin.” The definite article translated here would be “the”–so, from the Greek, it literally says “the sin.” And this makes a world of difference in how we translate Jesus’s words…”

At first glance, today’s gospel reading seems insensitive to the realities of 2020. After all, we’re living in the midst of a pandemic that has led to record unemployment, surging deaths, economic uncertainty, and an anticipated doubling of worldwide food insecurity. In the midst of all of that going on, we heard Jesus say, “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Actually, Jesus, at this point, “no.” We are in survival mode. With the travel industry and many others facing mass layoffs and furloughs, we know that food and drink matter. With countless leaders of the United States and even our president testing positive for COVID, we know the importance of the breath of life. And, with that virus potentially looming with every breath, we know that the clothing on our faces known as masks do matter…