Sermons

A Sermon Delivered by The Rev. John D. Painter at Centenary United Methodist Church Metuchen, New Jersey March 7, 2010 (The Second Sunday in Lent)

Texts: James 3:8-10; Matthew 7:7-11; Proverbs 16:24
…no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.
—James 3:8-10, NRSV
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Isaiah 62:1-5
I hate going grocery shopping. It is always such a hassle. I never have the time to actually make a list and I certainly never manage to clip any coupons. The store is always so crowded and the temperature changes from cold to hot, depending on what section I am in. Some people are too slow. Some people are too fast. It is just such a horrible experience. Memories make grocery shopping even worse. Each time I enter a grocery store one particular day 19 years ago hovers around in the back of my mind. My mother had dragged me to the store for what to me was unbearable torture. She cut my time with the lobster tank short and she spent too much time with the vegetables. I didn’t even want to think about eating rabbit food so I left my mother’s side to check out the bakery. I have always enjoyed frosted donuts with sprinkles. This store had so many different colors of frosting, white, brown, pink, green, blue, orange, red. It made this kid in a grocery store feel like a kid in a candy store. I visualized each donut that I wanted in a bag and turned to go annoy my mom until she would allow me to get them all. (more…)