Pastor Scott's Musings

Sermon for Milledgeville & Whitestown UMC... Joseph ( Matthew 1:18-25 )   In the Cherry Tree Carol, the legend says that Mary and Joseph, while traveling to Bethlehem, came to a cherry tree grove ripe with fruit. Thinking about her child and her own body’s need, Mary asked Joseph to pick her some cherries. Joseph, however, angrily snapped at Mary, “Let the father of the child get you cherries!” It’s clear Joseph still was struggling with his role in God’s plan. Did he doubt the angel who warned him in a dream? Did he doubt himself? Was his dream simply wishful thinking, trying to let Mary off the hook for infidelity? As much as we want to make him a Bible hero, Joseph was human after all.   Joseph and Mary in the Cherry Tree Carol Like with Mary, there’s very little the scripture tells us about the man who raised Jesus. He isn’t mentioned at all in Mark’s gospel account. In John, Jesus is called the son of Joseph twice. In the same manner, Luke mentions Joseph o...

 Sermon for Milledgeville & Whitestown UMC... Mary of Nazareth ( Luke 1:26-45 )   Exhausted after a five-day journey to Bethlehem, and the labor and delivery of her son, Mary put the baby Jesus down to sleep. Just as she was beginning to relax and get some rest, a bunch of smelly shepherds arrive. One of them is a boy who thinks what the baby needs right now is a drum solo! Poor Mary!   We’ve loaded so much legend around Jesus’ birth we don’t know what is biblical and what is embellishment. Our traditions have more to say about Mary than the scriptures.   Mary as portrayed by Olivia Hussey  in the 1977 TV miniseries Jesus of Nazareth It was at Mary’s insistence that Jesus performed the first of his miracles, when he changed water to wine. (Jn 2:3, 5) Mary was a supporter of Jesus’ ministry, but like any mother she worried for him. She showed up outside a house in a community where Jesus had performed an exorcism. Mark says Mary and her other son...