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Sermons

Demon or God?–Genesis 32: 22-31

Demon or God?

Genesis 32: 22-31

Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch, Preacher

 

Our Old Testament story is one of the most familiar of the Bible. Jacob, the most conniving fellow in the scriptures, finds himself between a rock and a hard place. He has managed to outsmart his father-in-law Laban and free himself and his family from Laban’s service. But now he has to figure out how to overcome the demons of his past. Years before, he had disguised himself as his twin brother Esau to trick his blind father into giving him Esau’s blessing. Now Jacob has to pass through the land where Esau now lives, and he has heard that Esau is coming to meet him with two hundred men.  Jacob is terrified. He divides his own company into two groups, so that if Esau attacks him, one group has a chance of escaping. He sends them off and he waits, alone, by the river Jabbok, waits—for what?Read More »Demon or God?–Genesis 32: 22-31

Found


Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52

July 24, 2011

St. Stephen Presbyterian Church

Fort Worth, TX

Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch, Preacher

 

When my wife Margaret had graduated college, and her younger sister Cynthia was still in college, they joined a couple of friends and travelled in Italy together for the summer.  Margaret and her friend Michelle split off from Cynthia and Allison and they travelled separately, agreeing to meet in Venice in Piazza San Marcos at a set time. Meanwhile, Allison had to return home, leaving Cynthia on her own, and Cynthia got lost. Margaret didn’t know this. She arrived at Piazza San Marcos at the appointed time, and Cynthia wasn’t there. Now this was in the days before cell phones and internet. There was no way they could find each other.Read More »Found

Wheat and Weeds

Weeds and Wheat

Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43

July 17, 2011

St. Stephen Presbyterian Church

Fort Worth, TX

Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch, Preacher

 

Some of you may remember a sermon I did a few years ago about the problem of Trumpet Vines growing in our yard and garden, and our quest to get rid of them permanently. I tried many things, a large number of which you all suggested. And guess what:

 

They’re ba-ack.Read More »Wheat and Weeds

Seeds–Matthew 13


Matthew 13: 1-9, 13-16

July 10, 2011

St. Stephen Presbyterian Church

Fort Worth, TX

Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch, Preacher

 

When we lived in rural Virginia, when Margaret was pregnant with our first child Sara Caitlin, we decided to plant a vegetable garden across the street from the manse, right next to a cow pasture. We planted watermelon, cantelope, tomatoes, squash, beans, lettuce, and corn. We’d climb over the barbed wire fence and get cow pies to fertilize it. We were especially proud of our corn, because all the corn farmers around us told us we’d never grow any. The problem, they said, was that we’d planted one row of corn, and you need two rows to cross-pollinate. So when we grew a row of healthy, juicy corn, they were a bit put off. But in reality, we grew that corn because of them. A quarter mile away in any direction there were acres and acres of corn. The wind blew, the bees buzzed between rows of corn.  And ultimately our little row of corn was the beneficiary. So really, our row of corn was growing thanks to all those farmers who told us the corn would never grow. They were pollinating our corn but they didn’t know it.Read More »Seeds–Matthew 13

Holy Chutzpa

Genesis 22: 1-14
St. Stephen Presbyterian Church
Fort Worth, TX
Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch, Preacher

The Tuesday Bible Study has focused on Genesis and just recently we did the story of Abraham taking Isaac to be sacrificed. One of the participants said, “Why all of a sudden is Abraham so docile, so unquestioning? What happened to the guy who negotiated with God over whether to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? If Abraham was willing to negotiate with God to save such wicked cities, why wouldn’t he negotiate with God for his own son?”

It’s a good question.Read More »Holy Chutzpa

Pentecost: Positive Apocalypse

Acts 2: 1-21

A few weeks ago, many of the faithful were disappointed that the Day of Judgment did not arrive as someone had predicted. There was no Rapture of the faithful to heaven, no judgment of the faithless. The terrifying end of the world scenario this person had predicted didn’t come to be.

The thing is, terrifying, end of the world scenarios are happening all the time. We’ve seen our share of them. The Stock Market crash. 9-11. Katrina and other natural disasters. The list goes on. All sorts of end of the world scenarios, things that someone predicrted would be THE WORST THING EVER have ended up happening—yet somehow we’ve survived.Read More »Pentecost: Positive Apocalypse

Little Lamb, Who Made Thee?

John 10: 1-10

 

“Little lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee? Thou art called by His name.”

That’s the opening line of the opening poem of William Blake’s book, Songs of Innocence and Experience. The lamb represents childlike innocence; perhaps it’s a child talking to a lamb, as children do so often talk to animals. And the child is telling the lamb what she’s learned in Sunday school: that we Christians also call Jesus “the lamb.” She thinks that’s pretty neat, and that the lamb ought to think it’s neat, too, so she tells him: “thou art called by His name”—the name of the one who made you.Read More »Little Lamb, Who Made Thee?

Easter Sunday: Hide and Seek

The other day our daughter Sara Caitlin the jazz singer was in a panic before a performance. She’d lost her music. This was because her car is filled up to the brim with clothes, food containers, and books and papers from the last six months of school. She was convinced the music was lost forever and that she was in a world of trouble. She went and looked in her car a dozen times to find it, no luck.

Fortunately, her hero father saved the day. Read More »Easter Sunday: Hide and Seek

Maundy Thursday: By His Wounds We Are Healed

About eight years ago, my father-in-law, Cecil, had to have a liver transplant. He was in his sixties, and not in the greatest of health, and was lower than many on the donor list. It wasn’t entirely clear that he would get a liver. At the last minute, a healthy liver became available—that of a young woman someplace in Virginia who’d died in a car accident. She’d had the generosity of spirit to check “yes” on the “organ donor” portion of her Virginia driver’s license. This unknown soul did not know who Cecil Camlin was, but she saved his life. By her wounds he was healed.Read More »Maundy Thursday: By His Wounds We Are Healed

Vision Glorious

2 Peter 1: 16-21

This past weekend I attended the “Next Church” conference in Indianapolis. I always feel l have to explain that this isn’t the “Next Church” as in, “What’s the next church I’m going to be pastor of?” I’m not going anywhere. No, it’s “Next Church” as in, “What is the next church we, as a denomination, are becoming?”  The conference brought pastors, elders, and seminarians together to discuss the future of the PCUSA. It was exciting but also sobering.  I’ll start with why we are asking the question in the first place.Read More »Vision Glorious