Nov 1 2026 Sermon- Wisdom and a Heavenly Hearing Heart; 1 Kings 3:4-9

 

Rev. George Miller

Nov 1, 2026

1 Kings 3:4-9

 

Next week is our Annual Meeting, a time to gather in God’s sacred sanctuary to learn, discern, discuss, even disagree.  May it be a time in which we welcome Heaven’s Wisdom and hearing heart.

 

In addition to salvation, inclusivity and peace, wisdom is a word we can use to describe the Jesus experience.

 

Christ’s first followers saw him as wisdom embodied.  When Jesus speaks in the synagogue or engages in lively banter, it is a form of holy engagement for the scribes and religious leaders.

 

They believed God is experienced through conversations, coming together to study and talk about scripture, even if no answer, or agreement emerges. 

 

Wisdom is a way in which God is made known, long been seen as essential and important in the Jewish community.

 

The Book of Proverbs says the Lord’s wisdom founded the earth (3:19); the first of God’s acts, present at Creation (8:22).  Wisdom speaks as a woman calling out in the streets, providing welcome to all (1:20), her words treasured (2:2), stored up like wealth (2:7), feeding people with bread and wine (9:5), making them happy, giving them favored life (8:35).

 

It’s no surprise that Solomon asks for an understanding mind to care for those he is to serve.

 

He doesn’t ask for diamonds and gold or the newest chariot, but for wisdom, to discern bad and good, how to navigate tough times.

 

For the seeds of Miriam and Sarah, there has always been an emphasis on wisdom and it’s essentialness.  To think and understand with your brain and a “hearing heart.”

 

What this can mean for us is that when reading Mark, Mathew, Luke, and John, it is good to know that wisdom (made known through words, study, reflection, disagreements, and questions) was seen as a holy way to faithfully live and breathe. 

 

To engage in theological discourse was a huge expression of lived faith and a way to experience God.

 

Wisdom was so valued as part of God’s essence, that it was a way people saw Jesus as more than an ordinary man.  When Jesus walked past folk, they’d say- “He speaks the wisdom of God.”  Over time “Behold the Wisdom of God!”

 

Jesus, rooted in the Old Testament understanding of Mama Wisdom,

embodied Wisdom for all to see- standing before them in the synagogue, preaching Isaiah.

 

Meeting the woman at the well and engaging in a rich dialogue that touched upon gifts of God, eternal life, and Living Water.

 

On that Emmaus Road where Christ Resurrected went step by step with two townsfolk, talking about this and that, recounting stories of Moses, the words of the prophets, illuminating scripture.

 

Wisdom- an understanding heart and clear mind present at Creation, that feeds people with bread and wine.  Wisdom that strolled past the people in the body of Jesus.

 

Oh, how he embodied wisdom and ways to make wisdom known!  How Jesus taught- through stories and parables, telling tales with everyday folk.  A woman who lost a coin; a son who discovers living on your own ain’t so easy; a  hungry man outside of the gates.

 

Jesus, so wise that with just a few words he shaped our understanding of God’s kingdom with tales we still tell today.

 

Another aspect of Jesus’ wisdom was how he navigated outside the walls of the synagogue, going where the people were, sharing God’s wisdom with those working on boats, gleaning in the fields, enjoying wine at a wedding, even one who thought he had to climb a tree to be seen.

 

The wisdom Jesus embodied was amazing, beautiful, inclusive; to think and ponder, even if uncomfortable.

 

Along with Covenant, wisdom is a part of the UCC’s  history. German Evangelicals who established Eden Seminary.  New England Congregationalists who made Harvard happen.  The Reformed branch who believed it important for preachers to be educated.

 

Today we honor the saints who have gone on before, giving thanks for all they have done.  Next week we hold our Annual Meeting.

 

May it be a time in which we welcome in the Spirt of Wisdom that was there at Creation and the Wisdom that flowed through the hands and feet of Jesus.

 

Step by step, wildly improbable goal by wildly improbable goal, grace by grace, we are in a Covenant with God in which we get to engage in acts of wisdom, with thinking hearts and compassionate minds.

 

We are servants of the Lord most high, following the ways of Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, continuing the legacy of our ancestors who came before and the generations who will come after.                    

Amen and amen.

October 18, 2026 Sermon; Joshua 24:1-18

 

Rev. George Miller

Oct 18, 2026

Joshua 24:1-18

 

Step by step, God has shown the families of Israel the way.

 

Wildly improbable goal by wildly improbable goal, God has shown  them what is possible when they work together and focus on the Lord.

 

The heart of God, full of Creation’s love and parental protection, has been with them step by step, obstacle by obstacle.

 

God has said to the people “You’ve seen what I’ve done for you, what it’s like for me to carry you upon my wings.  I want nothing more than to show you the way and to love-on you, forever.”

 

God says all this with no threats, no coercion.

 

We witnessed this last week when the people were at Sinai.  Now it is about 40-60 years later; most of the people who left Egypt and received the 10 Commandments are long gone.  The group Joshua is talking to now is the next generation.

 

They may not have been there to see the Red Sea Part.  They may have only heard about God feeding them with Bread From Heaven. 

 

But they’ve heard the stories.  They’ve seen their parents live the legacy; they’ve heard the conversations of their aunts and uncles, and they sat around the same campfire as their cousins.

 

The people who make up today’s reading are the legacy of the many steps and wildly improbable goals that their parents participated in, from slavery to freedom, wilderness to green pastures.

 

This is why Joshua, the successor of Moses, stands before the congregation: to remind them of who they are and all God has done.

 

Joshua reminds the families of Isreal how God was with them before their immigration from the Euphrates.

 

God was there with their families at the Red Sea.  God was with them when other nations threatened their welfare. 

 

Joshua reminds the group that God is right here, right now; with them in their land of opportunities, their vineyards, their farms, and their commerce.

 

Now, just like Moses decades before, Joshua gives the people yet another chance to walk with God, to choose if they will follow the ways of life or the ways of chaos.

 

Joshua makes it clear what he and his family will decide.  He says “No matter what others choose, my household will always strive to serve God.”

 

The people gathered, no longer in a dessert, but in a lush land filled with plenty, take it upon themselves, and collectively say: “We know who God is; we know what God has done.  We will serve the Lord.”

 

Together, the families and Joshua make a covenant with God.

 

But what is a covenant?  We know what a promise is.  We know what a deal is.  We know what it means to sign a contract.  But covenant?

 

What is that?  Carolyn Pressler in her commentary on “Joshua, Judges, and Ruth” (2002; pages 116-117) shares her understanding.

 

She grew up in a small Midwestern church that marked each new year with a Covenant service grounded in “deep and ancient roots.”

 

She said, “In language both grand and familiar, we recited the sweeping story of God’s mighty acts of deliverance and pledged unconditional loyalty in grateful response.”

 

Carolyn remembers the seriousness and seeming impossibility of the covenantal oath that “ promised complete, unreserved obedience.”

 

Complete, unreserved obedience.  Sounds intense; totally improbable.

 

As Carolyn explains, “Covenant” was at the center of the way Isreal understood their relationship with God.  Their identity was rooted in this Covenant. 

 

Ther understanding of who they are, what they believe, how they are to live each day, from first waking breath to the first sound of snoring, is connected to and built upon this simple sounding idea-

 

that they will worship God and God only, exclusively.

 

So what makes this a Covenant and not a contract or a promise?

 

It’s that the families of Israel make this decision “free and deliberate” (p. 120).  Joshua gives the people a choice with no threats, no demands, no shotguns. 

 

The choice is simple- you can worship the gods of the world that others give their energy to, or you can worship the Lord.

 

The choice is simple- with no forcing of hand, you can choose to worship the popular gods that the cool kids are following, or you can choose to worship the God of your grandparents and their grandparents.

 

It could have been an easy choice- “Let’s be like all the others.”  But instead the people think of God’s grace, God’s presence in their lives, and they choose God.

 

They establish a commitment with God not because they must, but because they may, not because it’s what everyone else is doing, but because for them it makes them the most real, the most complete.

 

Covenant is entering into an agreement not because you must, but because it is what you feel called to do.  In many ways it makes it so much more special than a promise or a contract.

 

A Covenant is more a binding of the hearts and a reimagining of the future.

 

During Communion, as we break the Bread and drink the wine, I find myself lost in Jesus’ words in First Corinthians 11:25- “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”

 

I think of what “new covenant” means.  Does it mean the old ways no longer matter; does it mean that God got it wrong the first time?

 

No…this idea of a new covenant in Christ’s blood can be a way of expressing embodiment, that the new covenant we receive through Christ is one in which we don’t just believe, but we “be.”

 

Just as St. Lucas has been the “hands and feet of Christ” since 1880, this idea of new covenant is made know by who we are both in public and private, who we are in the pews and the grocery aisles, who we are in the Fellowship Hall and in the restaurants.

 

Jesus came to us to remind us of the Covenant and to show us how to embody the Covenant.

 

Not just in how we worship or how we pray, but how we respond to someone in pain, and to someone in need.  How do we respond when there is no peace?  What do we do when we see no justice?

 

Jesus showed us how to put God first and exist in such a way that God is always present and acting.

 

Thousands of years ago, the people of Isreal found themselves free of Egypt’s bondage and wilderness sands.  They found themselves in a place of milk and honey, green pastures and calm waters.

 

When given the chance to choose the ways of the world or a true relationship with God, they chose God.

 

Every day we also get to make that choice, becoming part of the Covenant not because we must but because we may; not because we were coerced but because we are free.

 

Step by step, wildly improbable goal by wildly improbable goal, God is ready every day to love upon us, Jesus is ready to show us the way, and the Holly Spirit is there to lift us up on eagles’ wings.

 

With no threats, no coercion.

 

Simply accepting the heart of God, full of Creation’s love and parental protection.

 

God, through Christ, is ready to be in relationship and love upon us forever.                 Amen and amen.

Red Door Reflection; Reformation Sunday; Psalm 51:1-19

 

Rev. George Miller

Oct 25, 2026

Psalm 51:1-19

 

One red door, two red door, three doors, four…when the weather is nice and the morning is walkable, the kids from St. Lucas Preschool walk around the church building, counting the red doors.

 

Five, six, seven doors…it’s a great activity for the kids to keep their minds sharp, their bodies active.

 

Eight door, nine.  Nine red doors, from the front of the church to the back of the kitchen. 

 

But these are not just doors; the red is not just a color.  These doors are physical forms of generosity.  The red ties into Reformation.

 

The Reformation is an important part of our faith’s history- a movement begun on Oct 31, 1517, when a monk named Martin Luther publicly challenged the church, protesting misuse of people’s money and faith.

 

Luther brought to the forefront of people’s minds the New Testament teaching of grace when Paul wrote “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing-it is the gift of God-not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 

 

In Romans 3:23-24-“Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.”

 

Martin Luther, in his many dark nights of reflection and study, read these words and had a revelation-

 

Though he sinned, though he was imperfect, though he made many mistakes by intention and by sheer foolishness, there was nothing he had to do, or say, or an amount he had to pay to receive God’s favor.

 

By revisiting the words of Paul, Luther realized that God’s grace is not something he had to sweat for or make a to-list of tasks.

 

God’s grace is right there, has been right there, grounded in Christ.  Grace is God’s favor freely, generously given to all. 

 

All we do is receive it and believe. 

 

When we do, we create space to be transformed, sustained, made real.  When sharing that grace with others? Heart-based revolution take place and generosity overflows.

 

Why use Red for Reformation?

 

Red signifies zeal and passion.  It reminds us of those who lost their lives for their faith.  Red is the color of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell upon the people.

 

Red reminds us of Reformation.  Reformation reminds us of grace.  Grace reminds us of God’s favor.

 

So when it is a sunny and nice day, and our children are walking around the church, counting the doors, it is not just about one red door, two red door, three and four.

 

It’s about our kids seeing multiple representations of God’s grace, God’s delight to give us favor, God’s desire for us to live life to the fullest- in Christ, in wisdom, in the Holy Spirit.

 

9 red doors all along the walls and foundation of God’s church, quietly telling everyone around-

 

“Hey- God loves you; Christ redeems you, and your sins do not prevent you from entering in.”

 

Psalm 51 says to the Lord “I am a sinner; weak; tired, worn.  I am empty; broken, and I seek you out.  Reach out, restore me, and show me the way.”

 

The Reformation is a reminder to us that God says- “I choose to reach out to you, I choose to be your fountain and forever be your shelter.”

 

Like the people in Siani, and the people with Joshua, we get each  day to say yes to God and enjoy a life lived in the Lord.          

 

When we believe, when we welcome, we find Christ coming through the doors of our heart and we find the walls being rebuilt and calm in our soul. 

 

Amen. 

Show Me The Way; Exodus 19:1-8

 

Rev. George Miller

Oct 11, 2026

Exodus:19:1-8

 

Step by step, God is showing the Israelites the way.

 

Wildly impossible goal by wildly impossible goal, God is showing them the way.

 

From their bondage in Egypt to their freedom in the wilderness, from parting the Red Sea to giving them water from the Rock, God is showing them the way.

 

From giving them victory against the Amalek’s to supplying them with manna from heaven, God is showing them the way.

 

The heart of God is so full of Creation’s love and parental protection, that step by step, obstacle by obstacle, wildly improbable goal by wildly improbable goal, God is showing them the way.

 

And after 3 months, the way leads to Mount Sinai.  After three full moons, the way leads the people to a place they can rest and reboot.

 

The people may be free, but they are tired.  They may no longer fear Pharaoh’s whip but they’re not yet sure what a life freed from slavery means.

 

So besides Mount Sania, God gives them rest.  God prepares them for instruction-

 

how to be holy as God is holy, how to fulfill their potential in the Promised Land.

 

“Show me the way, O Lord, show me the way.  Show us the way, O Lord, show us the way.”

 

Here is a substantial moment. 

 

God says to the people “You’ve seen what I’ve done for you; you know what it’s like for me to carry you upon my wings.  I want nothing more than to show you the way and to love on you.”

 

With no threats, no coercion, God says- “If you simply keep my life-sustaining commandments, if you listen to my wisdom, you will see the impossible manifest before your eyes and you will be a holy nation of precious jewels.”

 

Step by step, God loves, God shows them the way, and they get to decide if they will trust and obey or if they will miss the mark and make unfortunate mistakes.

 

This is a big deal, because before this moment, the people were shown and told over and over again that they were nothing, they were animals, they were a threat.

 

God saying “My diamonds, let me show you the way” is far different than the last 400 years of their existence.

 

4 moons ago the Israelites were the most despised people on the earth. 

 

The Pharaoh feared them, setting  taskmasters over them, oppressing them with forced construction and work in the fields.

 

Under this ruthless regime, the people saw their babies ripped away, their boys tossed into the river.  When Moses dared to advocate on behalf of the people, they were made to gather their own supplies to make the bricks.  If daily quotas were not met, they were ruthlessly whipped.

 

This is the life they lived for 400 years; about 16 generations.  4 centuries of a people being treated as garbage and having every choice made for them, almost always against their best interest.

 

So now, we come to this Mountain in the desert in which the people have been freed, they’ve been fed, they’ve been fought for, they’ve had their thirst quenched.

 

Now, they are given the chance to be shown the way to freedom, shown the way to God’s glorious love, shown the way of living holy in which all things matter and God says “You are my most precious.”

 

Pharoah feared them.

     God adored them.

 

The Taskmasters burdened them with forced labor.

     The Lord says “Rest.  Sabbath.  Breathe.”

 

The Egyptian army chased them with war machines.

     God calls them to Godself.

 

In Egypt the people had no choice. 

In the God’s Kingdom, they’re given the choice to follow the way or not.

 

And thankfully, beautifully, the people say to God-

 

“Yes, you will be our God, we will be your people.  Show us the way and we will seek your wisdom and keep your commandments.”

 

It’s a beautiful scene, reminding us of the exquisite relational nature of our faith, how being part of God’s Kingdom is about dialogue and choices and opportunities.

 

It’s a beautiful scene because it is also a reminder- that we too can always make that choice to choose God, to keep the covenant, to seek out heaven’s wisdom.

 

To know that God will always want to show us the way, and we can always choose to say “Yes.”

 

Even if we get sidetracked now and then.  Even if we stray from the path.  Even if wolves distract us from grandmother’s house.

 

No matter how much that happens, we always have another chance, another day to say “Show me the way.”

 

This Mount Sinai moment is something we experience throughout the ministry of Jesus.

 

Think of how Jesus showed us a world in which sons who squander everything  can be welcomed back.  How a lost coin will be searched for and found no matter how much midnight oil it takes.

 

Remember that lost sheep from Lent and Easter? Jesus tells us of the Shepherd who searches from valley to hilltop until that lost sheep is found and all of heaven rejoices.

 

The beauty of grace.  The power of forgiveness.  The glory of a redo.

 

Today’s narrative is a reminder to us that no matter what we have been through, no matter what obstacles we have faced, God is there; the Lord is ready to say “Let me care for you.  Let me fight for you.  Let me show you the way.”

 

And the wisdom of God is so simple; the covenant is so easy-

 

believe, don’t place your faith in the false ways of the world, rest, honor your elders, speak truth,

 

respect boundaries, do right by your neighbors, be content with what you have.

 

Again and again, you may be someone who finds yourself in the wilderness.  Again and again you may find yourself facing a tough time. 

 

Know that in the Holy Spirit there is a place to rest.  In God there is a gracious heart. 

 

In a life lived with Christ there can  be miracles and wildly improbable goals, do-overs and tri-overs, and chances for us to be further recreated in the image of the Lord.

 

Love upon love, step upon step, in which the Lord will always allow us another day to say- “Show me the way.”                Amen and amen.

WIG- Wildly Improbable Goal; Exodus 14:1-14

 

Rev. George Miller

Oct 4, 2026

Exodus 14:10-14

 

During Creation, a wind from God sweeps over the waters.  In Resurrection, Jesus breathes upon the Disciples.  On Pentecost, a rush of wind pours upon the people.  In Exodus, an east breeze makes a path through the Red Sea.

 

Each moment the birth of something new in a situation that seemed wildly improbable…

 

Recently the world lost a great light.  It felt like the time Lady Di and Mother Theresa died, and the day we heard about Betty White.

 

The great light known as Dolly Parton, beloved for her generosity and philanthropy, her sense of humor and style who bedazzled us.

 

What a light Dolly was: making sure children had access to books; using her royalties from “I Will Always Love You” to support a Black neighborhood in Nashville.

 

God bless Dolly who overcame the obstacles of poverty, misogyny, limited educational experiences, and no running water.

 

God Bless Dolly, for she knew exactly who she was, and made no apologies for wearing high heels, rhinestones and wigs- big wigs, blonde wigs with teased towering waves.

 

Wig.  There is a special meaning with this word.  WIG is an acronym for Wildly Improbable  Goal.

 

This concept is found in the 2002 book “Finding Your North Star” by Martha Beck, who experienced her first Wildly Improbable Goal when at age 13 she decided she wanted to go to Harvard, and somehow, someway she did.

 

For Beck, a WIG is not something you plan.  The idea comes out of nowhere; a jolt.  It boggles the mind; it seems impossible.

 

Beck describes how she processes these WIGs- writing down what is needed; using her non-dominate hand to write whatever answers bubble up; to imagining where you would be 5, 10, 40 years from now, and how you think you would feel and life could be like if you achieve this WIG.

 

She discusses thinking of the steps, making the choices, and to notice how opportunities come along, things happen.  How people step into your life who somehow have a way to make that WIG, that Wildly Improbable Goal possible.

 

Not only did Dolly Parton live a life of bold blonde wigs, but a life in which she made and achieved so many Wildly Improbable Goals.

 

What we have in today’s reading is a holy WIG moment- the parting of the Red Sea that not only led the people of God from here to there, but took them from the trappings of the past into the freedom of the future, tranforming them from assured death into life victorious.

 

WIG- Wildly Improbable Goal.  Here we have God, Moses, and Miriam, dealing with a major WIG- freeing the people from 400 years of bondage. 

 

They’re tried everything- face to face consultations, frogs from the sky.  Finally, finally the Pharaoh says “OK, Ok- just go.  Let’s see you try to survive the desert sand.”

 

But as the children of God leave in their wagons and worker’s clothes making their way to the Red Sea, the Pharaoh has a change of heart.

 

He sends out his entire army in their sleekest, meanest fighting machines.  They descend upon the people in carts meant to carry vegetables to market.

 

The people are scared.  Death is assured.  They refuse to believe there is a future; they deny all probabilities. 

 

In their fear they get mad at Moses.  They want nothing more than to return to being enslaved.

 

Moses stands 2 feet strong in God’s Wildy Improbable Goal and says to the assembly-

 

“Be brave.  Watch what God is about to do.  Don’t waver to the left; don’t waver to the right. Experience how God fights for you.”

 

This is not God telling them to be passive or lazy but to be faithfully still and proactively patient, to see what is going to come next…and it is amazing. 

 

As Pharaoh’s war machines rage upon them, they have absolutely nowhere to go. Moses is instructed to raise his hands upon the sea and the wind, the breath, the ruah of God drives the waters apart.

 

Just as God’s breath swept across the waters of creation, just as Christ breathed upon the disciples, just as the mighty wind of the Holy Spirit came down on Pentecost Day, God’s heavenly luftzug; God’s brisa fresca moves across the waters.

 

And perhaps the most magical thing happened- the people who were so afraid, who stood still, found the courage to step forward.

 

It is one thing to know that Moses raised his hands and God parted the waters, but perhaps the biggest miracle is that someone, somehow, was brave and believing enough to take that first step upon the ground and then take another step and another, until everyone made it to the other side.

 

Talk about a true WIG- the Widly Improbable Goal of a group of people going from the chains of their past into the possibilities of a promised land.

 

A group of every day folk finding a way to trust and believe in God.

 

No matter how much they worried, no matter how much they cried out, no matter how much they got angry, that with God, through God, they made it.

 

They had a new beginning, and their God had taken care of them just as with the sparrow and the lost sheep.

 

Today’s story, featuring wind and allusions to death is a Creation Story and a Resurrection Story; an adventure and a testimony.

 

We are the descendants of these brave individuals who dared to step upon the uncertain ground and make their way through waters that had seemed to be their certain end.

 

Imagine what that means if we also are willing to finds those ways to stay faithfully still, the courage to faithfully step, and the ability to faithfully believe that the promise of the future is worth leaving behind that which causes harm.

 

How awesome to have a God who is able to deliver us.  How wonderful to have a Savior in Christ who death could not defeat.

 

How great to have a Holy Spirit that inspires storytellers to write this down so we never forget-

 

Nothing is impossible with the Lord. 

 

For the sake of God’s Kingdom, there is no Wildly Improbable Goal that cannot be met.

 

And like Dolly, God will always love us. 

Amen and amen.