Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon for 11 February 2018 has the story of Elijah being taken up to Heaven as its scriptural basis (2 Kings 2:1-12). His servant and successor, Elisha, showed great persistence in sticking with his master to the end. There are clear parallels with Jesus’ earthly journey (and, of course, Jesus met with Elijah – and Moses – during the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-13)).

We must be persistent in following Jesus and take inspiration from his example, knowing that he is someone who felt the same daily vulnerability we experience, haunted by the past and uncertain about the future.

Click here to download a PDF version of the sermon.

2 Kings 2:1-12 (New International Version)

Elijah Taken Up to Heaven
2 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”

But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”

“Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.”

4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”

And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”

“Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.”

6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.”

And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.

7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”

11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.

The U.S. standard railroad gauge, the distance between the rails, is four feet, eight-and-one-half inches.

Why such an odd number?

– Because that’s the way they built them in Britain, and American railroads were built by British expatriates.

Why did the English adopt that particular gauge?

– Because the people who built the pre-railroad tramways used that gauge.

They, in turn, were locked into that gauge because the people who built tramways used the same standards and tools they had used for building wagons, which were set on a gauge of four feet, eight-and-one-half inches.

Why were wagons built to that scale?

– Because with any other size, the wheels did not match the old wheel ruts on the roads.

So who built these old rutted roads?

“The first long-distance highways in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have been in use ever since. The ruts were first made by Roman war chariots. Four feet, eight-and-one-half inches was the width a chariot needed to be to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses.”

And hence the expression in life: “That’s the way it’s always been”.

Elisha might have hoped that Elijah was going to be there forever.

But that just wasn’t going to happen.

Jesus, as he climbed the mountain with a few of disciples, knew that he wasn’t going to be there forever. [Read more…]

In his sermon for 04 February 2018, Rev. Geoff McKee deals with themes of forgetting and remembering, prompted by the words in Isaiah 40:21-31, which begin: “Do you not know? Have you not heard?” God knows we will not always keep him in mind but he wants us to remember him. This passage reminds us that God provides power to the weak and strength to the weary – to the downtrodden exile and to those who feel that life has nothing more to give.

You can download a PDF copy of the sermon, if you wish. Click here.

Isaiah 40:21-31 (New International Version)
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

25 “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

It’s very human to begin looking for something and then forget what you’re looking for.

I know it’s worrying: I have found myself at the top of the stairs coming to a halt and wondering why I climbed the stairs in the first place!

That’s a short-term memory problem.

But we can also be beset by long-term memory problems too.

Tennessee Williams tells a story of someone who forgot.

It’s the story of Jacob Brodzky, a shy Russian Jew whose father owned a bookstore. [Read more…]

This is Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon for 28 January 2018.

If you wish, you can download a PDF version of the sermon, including footnotes, by clicking here.

Deuteronomy 18:15-20 (New International Version)
15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”

17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”

When Moses’ time on earth had come to an end the compiler of the book of Deuteronomy wrote: “Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.”

That’s some epitaph, isn’t it?

On two occasions I have stood in a pulpit and announced to a congregation that I would be leaving for another charge.

I remember a wiser, older colleague once telling me that when you announce that you are leaving some folks will be upset and some folks will be relieved; some folks will be surprised and other folks will have seen it coming.

But, whenever you announce it, get on with it because there’s nothing worse than bumping into someone in the street one day who greets you with the words: “Are you still here?”  Or, to put it another way, “Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?!”

In the Old Testament reading today, Moses intimated that the day was coming when he would be on his way.

He wasn’t for hanging around either.

It was going to happen quickly and the people would have to learn to adjust to their new circumstances.

But they were very fragile; they were doubtful that the goal of their journey would be reached even though they were right on the brink of their journey’s end. [Read more…]

14th January 2018 is the second Sunday after Epiphany and Rev. Geoff McKee preaches on the Old Testament story of the Lord Calling Samuel. He explains the  in-jokes and word play in the passage and the parallels with the situation of Jesus as a boy. He also recommends us to find encouragement in this example of God’s counter-intuitive approach through the ages: of getting the weak and marginalised in society to speak the truth to power.

Click here if you would like to download a PDF version of the sermon.

1 Samuel 3:1-20 (New International Version)

The Lord Calls Samuel
3 The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”

7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

11 And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. 12 At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. 13 For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them. 14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”

15 Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”

Samuel answered, “Here I am.”

17 “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”

19 The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.

‘The Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears it tingle.”’

When was the last time your ears tingled? [Read more…]

In his first sermon of 2018, Rev. Geoff McKee’s scripture is the story of the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, taken from Mark 1:4-11. Baptism is one of the sacraments – and sacramental moments are times when heaven and earth are opened to each other. With the help of an unanswerable question and a golfing analogy, among other things, Geoff explains how the sacraments help us know the real presence of the living Lord.

Click here, if you would like to download a copy of the sermon in PDF format.

Mark 1:4-11 (New International Version)
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism and Testing of Jesus
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

The Boston Globe, which carries a daily column designed to answer readers’ queries, listed the top ten unanswerable questions.

Here’s one:

“I am nine years of age and have a cat that eats regularly and needs to go on a diet. He also eats mice when he is out. How many calories in a mouse?”

Our Gospel text today raises at least three big questions which seem to be as unanswerable as that one.

• Why did Jesus need to undergo a baptism of repentance when we understand him to be without sin?
• Did God adopt Jesus as his Son at the point of baptism?
• How can the Holy Spirit ‘proceed from the Father and the Son’ as is stated in the Nicene Creed when clearly the Spirit descended upon him at his baptism?

There’s enough there to keep us going for the rest of the year.

In fact, there’s enough there to keep us occupied for a lifetime!

And you may be relieved to hear that I’m not going to dwell specifically on any of these questions today but instead I’m going to attempt an all-encompassing answer that takes us away from the nitty gritty theological arguments and presents us with a way to practise and live which embraces the questions and makes sense of them in who we are and what we are becoming. [Read more…]