Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

Rev. Geoff McKee’s discussion in his sermon for 23 July 2017 focuses on the parable of the wheat and the tares from Matthew’s Gospel. Within the Church, we have always struggled with the problem of what to do with those who are part of the community of faith but turn out to be false. In the wider context, Geoff explains how this shows why the Church is perfectly able to go astray (and often has done so throughout its history).

As usual, the scripture follows immediately below and then the sermon. Click here if you would like to download a PDF version of the sermon.

Matthew 13:24-30 (New International Version)

The Parable of the Weeds
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Matthew 13:36-43

The Parable of the Weeds Explained
36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

The finger was never pointed at Judas.

So, how shocked everyone was when it turned out that the treasurer – and Jesus’ right hand man – was a traitor!

And then things really started to fall apart.

Their leader was arrested and very quickly afterwards executed as a state criminal.

In the course of this, Simon Peter – apparently the most fiercely loyal of the leader’s followers – denied that he ever knew him. The finger was never pointed at Peter but how shocked the others were, the way it turned out.

And the blows continued. [Read more…]

In this sermon from 16 July 2017, Rev. Geoff McKee considers the Parable of the Sower from Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23). Parables can be difficult. Interpretation depends on your perspective. An alternative title for this parable could be the Parable of the Soils. Geoff is strongly in favour of one title over the other, but which one – and why?

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

Matthew 13:1-9 (New International Version)

The Parable of the Sower
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Matthew 13:18-23

18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Harry Truman enjoyed telling a story about the man who was hit on the head at work.

The blow was so severe he was knocked unconscious for an extended period of time.

His family, convinced he was dead, called the funeral home and asked the local undertaker to pick him up at the hospital, which he did. [Read more…]

Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon on 09 July 2017 (Fifth Sunday after Pentecost) is based on two passages from Chapter 11 of Matthew’s Gospel. He discusses how Jesus and John the Baptist were, in some ways, opposite extremes and yet both received considerable criticism for their behaviour at the time. He explains how, despite all the apparent demands Jesus places on his disciples, Jesus’ yoke for us can indeed be easy – and the burden he imposes, light.

There’s a contradiction at the heart of this: why God’s way is too little and too much for us at the same time …

Click here if you would like to download a PDF version of the sermon. Otherwise, as usual, the scripture follows immediately below, with the sermon after that.

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 (New International Version)

16 “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

17 “‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

…

The Father Revealed in the Son
25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

In 1978, Boney M released their famous cover version of The Melodians song, “The Rivers of Babylon”, which went to number one for five weeks.

It remains in the top ten highest-selling single records in the UK of all time.

I’m sure, if you can’t remember the lyrics, you’ll at least remember the tune which is very memorably upbeat and jaunty. It’s a happy sounding record and no doubt sold in the millions because of that.

But there’s a very real problem with it and the problem is so big that only those who are willing to suspend their thinking for a while can enjoy it. [Read more…]

How can a simple welcome become the most difficult of graces to offer?

Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon for 02 June 2017 analyses why we can find it so hard to be welcoming to strangers – because it cuts right to the heart of our faith, as Christians.

His discussion includes a – light-hearted, but accurate – “template” example of the level of welcome we should aspire to offer in our Churches.

Who is welcome in church? The answer, as you would expect, is “everyone“. The difficult bit for us is putting that into practice consistently.

As usual, the scripture is immediately below, with the sermon immediately afterwards. You can download the text of the sermon in pdf format, if you wish, by clicking here.

Matthew 10:40-42 (New International Version)

40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

What were they to do with Jim?

Jim was an awkward and shy child who belonged to the church kids’ club. It was time to hand out roles for the Christmas play, but what role should the teacher give Jim? [Read more…]

The scripture for Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon on 25 June 2017 was Matthew 10:24-39. This is in many ways a difficult and disturbing passage – among other things, challenging our perception of what it means “to be like Jesus”. Because it challenges our sensibilities, it is a Gospel reading that is hard to like – but it’s one that is all the more important to read and reflect upon, as a result.

The scripture is immediately below and the sermon follows after that. You can download a pdf version of the sermon, if you wish, by clicking here.

Matthew 10:24-39 (New International Version)

24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

There are some Scriptures that are easy to read and appealing to us.

We like to dwell on these Scriptures because they have brought comfort to us; they have remained with us through the ups and downs of life and we might even have committed some of them to memory.

There are other Scriptures that are so disturbing to us that we would really like never to read them again.

They jar against our sensibilities. They disturb us because they do not fit with our understanding of Christ and his kingdom and we find it much easier to try and forget about them than to wrestle with them.

The Gospel text this morning is, for me, an example of one of these awkward Scriptures: [Read more…]