Difference between revisions of "Sermon for August 16th, 2015"

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John 6:1-21

1After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.

5When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” 15When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

Celtic Christianity: The Blessing of the Journey

We've come to the final sermon in our series on Celtic Christianity, and today we'll be talking about the concept of pilgrimage, the blessing of the journey. I'm reminded of the story of the woman who was planning for just such a pilgrimage, a long journey to a sacred place--in this case, to the holy city of Rome.

One day before leaving, she was at her local beauty parlor, getting her hair done. She shared her plans with her hairdresser, who said, "Rome?? Why that is one of the dirtiest cities you could ever go. How are you going to get there?"

The woman responded that she would be flying on Delta Airlines. "Delta?? They are absolutely the worst airline! And they have the ugliest flight attendants. Where are you staying?"

The woman told her hairdresser that she would be staying in the Villa. "The Villa?? Why that place is so overrated, and way too expensive. I wouldn’t stay there if I were you. What are you going to see?"

The woman shared her lifelong desire to meet the Pope. To which her hairdresser responded, "Why girl, you'd be lucky to even see him from a distance. Don’t you know everyone wants to be around him? You won’t be able to get within a mile of him."

Well, a month went by and the woman went back to the hairdresser, hoping to break her of her bad habits. When she informed her hairdresser that she had just returned from Rome, the hairdresser said, "I bet your flight was bad."

No, the flight was great. They had actually overbooked the flights and so I was moved to first class seating. And the flight attendant was the most handsome man I have ever seen!

The hairdresser frowned, and said, "Well, what about the Villa?"

Funny you should ask. The Villa had just completed a $5 million restoration. They were overbooked, too, so I was invited to stay in the owner’s personal guest accomodations--they were spectacular, and the service was amazing!

Once again, the hairdresser frowned, and said, "Well…what about the Pope?"

When I took the tour of the Vatican, one of the guards tapped me on the shoulder and said, “The Pope often entertains a few people now and then. Would you like to have a personal visit with the Pope?”

The hairdresser, now in shock, said, "I can’t believe it! What did the Pope say?"

He took one look at me and said, “My child...that’s the worst hair-do I've ever seen! Who fixes your hair?”