HOLLYWOOD LUTHERAN CHURCH
SERMONS & STUDIES from Pastor Dan Hooper
 | Recent Sermons Not every sermon is "ready for prime time." Those that some people consider among the best are posted here (with great humility). Some recent ones are both on You Tube and in PDF format. |
16th Sunday after Pentecost, October 2, 2011, "Two Rules for Lutheran Sermons"
So, in each parable, Isaiah and Matthew, the Law side of proclamation is unmistakable. And the trick here is to entrap the guilty by asking their opinions of injustice. It is like a judge looking at a defendant and asking the defendant to judge what is right. . . . The only problem, my friends, is that it's pointless to blame some other Chosen People, thousands of years ago, for being fruitless, faithless, or heartless. We are the people who have this message in our laps today. If we are people of faith, we must wrestle with the reality that stories like this point the finger at us. Not chief priests, not Pharisees, but Christians.
Second Sunday of Easter, May 1, 2011: "Feel the Mark of the Nails"
I personally would love to slap him upside the head for this! "Thomas," I would say with my perfect 20-20 hindsight, "Thomas, you weren't even around when they put the nails in his hands. You weren't there for him when he was dying! You weren't around when the soldiers thrust a spear into Jesus' side to make sure he was dead! What gives you the nerve to ask for evidence, or an eyewitness experience, that he is alive?
| Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011, "Death, Pop Culture, and Life"
Two popular cliches have been bothering me a lot lately:
1. “When your number is up, it’s up.”
2. “Death is a part of life.”
How many times have we heard one or both of these cliches? I hear them all the time, in casual conversation, almost as if they were self-evident truths. Not!!
Good Friday, April 22, 2011 based on John 15:13
The death of Jesus was not the first time, nor the last, when someone totally innocent was executed anyway. The death of the two unnamed thieves—one remorseful and penitent for his crime, and the other defiant—was not the last time either that criminals have gone to their death one way or another. But if we genuinely believe that Jesus was innocent, that he was executed wrongly, and if we genuinely believe that anyone can repent and turn to God in contrition and turn his life around, how can we believe that the death penalty can fix our social problems today, when it never has fixed any problems in any time or any culture or society? . . .
What is asked of you is to look at the love of God we see upon the Cross, and be so shocked and jarred that we stop in our tracks, and learn what it means to take risks for Christ, to face challenges, to pay any price to help redeem the world. No one—absolutely no one is outside the wide embrace of God. No one is beyond redemption.
Palm Sunday, April 17, 2011
 | Now, about you, my friends. Your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to follow Jesus wherever there is oppression or affliction, or suffering, hunger, or captivity. . . Some will follow him closely, and some only at a safer distance. You decide, as we enter into these astonishing events of the Week we call Holy. We know our way leads to the foot of the Cross, because we know that following Jesus is costly, and we will need to make sacrifices, and pay costs. We too may make enemies along the way, if we challenge those in high places, in order to raise those of low degree. But we need not fear we will lose our soul, for in that cross of Christ, he has redeemed and blessed all that we dare to undertake. |
Ash Wednsday, March 9, 2011, "The Exercise of Reconciliation"
I think of self-discipline as something which an athlete or body-builder might compare to training. Training is a self-discipline to become stronger, not to worry or obsess or brag about pain. Self-discipline and training are signs of progress, not failure.
And so if we accept, or take on a self-discipline in Lent, it should be to make ourselves stronger, to make spiritual progress, to grow in wisdom and resilience, beginning with the heart, until our lives reflect an inner strength and power.
Reconciling in Christ Sunday, January 30, 2011, "Discernment is Required!"
The struggle for understanding is not over. It is still important for this congregation to openly proclaim its welcome in Christ’s name. We do it not only to celebrate progress, but to let younger generations know that It Gets Better. Last fall, you remember, America was rocked by a rash of teen suicides, teens taking their own lives because of relentless bullying in their schools. Boys as young as 13 were killing themselves rather than to go on facing what they thought would be a lifetime of being hated and harassed, reviled and persecuted for being gay.
Fourth Sunday of Easter, April 25, 2010, "Real Life"
If—and this is where the Christian rubber hits the road of this world—if we are following a living Christ, then we are going in the opposite direction of our society. Our society leads to death: it exploits and uses up and discards millions of people, but the people of God are here with a living faith for one purpose: to give the life back to those people, the power of life God gives to all in Jesus Christ, Amen?
Third Sunday of Easter, April 18, 2010, "We Hear Voices!"
So I would suggest, if you’re going to go this route— if you hear voices that you think are from God, the first thing you need to do is to pay attention. It may be a very personal message, as it was for Saul. I don’t say this facetiously, because one sign I believe by which we can really know if a sign, supernatural or otherwise, is really from Almighty God, is whether it arrests us—stops us in our tracks and questions our motivations. Even if we are very obediently religious, people are constantly missing the mark with the heavy hand of religion and it may not cross their minds that the Lord is not happy with how they express their piety.
Second Sunday of Easter, April 11, 2010, "The Linchpin and the Real Gospel"
I must admit, I too can be sidetracked by the promise of success or glamor in the modern world. And if my head ever turns for a swanky car, it’s a Jaguar. Yes, I can be emotionally hooked and drawn to something that is not bread and will not satisfy. But I have learned the lesson in life that I can summarize this way: “Never fall in love with a car or other material possession.” Why? Because that’s sinful? No, because a car or a possession cannot love you back. We are suckered if we think that anything that is for sale, for lease, for rent or even free for the taking will really satisfy us because they are all things. No matter what they cost, they are cheap substitutes for what we truly and genuinely crave, and that is life itself.
So the Scripture offers us a truth, a trustworthy witness of the truth “so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”
Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010, "Does It Matter?"
The world is changing at a pace so fast it’s like the throttle had been designed by Toyota and it is stuck on full acceleration. You can dig your heels into the “floor mats of change,” or you can 9-1-1 to the highway patrol that the world’s out of control, but that’s not going to stop it. So the question is, in this accelerating world, does the Christian message matter any more? . . .
My take is this: “God’s word for us is always an invitation, not an ultimatum.” If we are able and ready and trusting enough to test out what the spiritual life would be like, our lives change. And our lives change so quickly that we sense it is really God whose accelerator is stuck all the way open. The Christian faith matters because it is not the same as most other religions or philosophies in the world. From the get-go, the Christian faith and life are meant to change the world, to defeat the forces of violence, hatred and death, and to turn the world into a place of peace, love, compassion and hopefulness. Do those things matter in this 21st century? You betcha!
Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010, "Wrap Your Arms Around Jesus"
As we have heard, his is a remarkable story of love and compassion. Yes, it proceeds with difficulty. Not all people were enamored with Jesus. Many were indifferent, and in the end some conspired against him. His story left a lot of questions that no newscaster or biographer can settle—questions that can only be answered from within the life of faith.
Was he really from God? Why did he have to die? How does his blood and death on the cross erase the sins of anybody else? Who was to blame for his death?
What are the real answers to these? For it is not just what we think of Jesus, objectively, and whether we can wrap our minds around his meaning and significance, but whether we can trust and follow the way of life that he gave us.
Pentecost 19, October 11, 2009, “Wealth and Baggage, Wisdom and Possibilities"
The man is trying to justify himself by his behavior. But it says, “ Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” Jesus could look past the surface, look past the self-justifying, pride-filled, duty-prone behavior, and see that this individual really has a desire for something deeper than superficial religion.
The Gospel changes who we are into people whom God can use to change the world—through compassion and mercy, generosity and understanding, kindness and forgiveness. Does that sound too hard for you? It is. But for God, all things are possible, and you are one of God’s greatest possibilities, ready to be changed by the love you have received in Jesus Christ.
Pentecost 13, August 30, 2009, "True Religion"
People today are not stupid. We still have questions of spirituality and faith. If people can’t ask their questions, or they are given rigid, photocopy answers for all situations, they will walk or run away. If all that we had to offer people was a slavish, canned answer to the questions of life in the 21st century, that have to be crammed into their brains to regurgitate the answers on demand, is that true religion?
But founding a new, true religion would seem to be a waste of time. All of the splinter groups, denominations, and independent unaffiliated churches out there don’t want to hear this, but who needs them? Because it is not the unique or distinctive practices or requirements of a spiritual path which are important but the changes in character which they produce. Your true religion is only as pure, true and useful as what you internalize and allow to change you!
Pentecost 12, August 23, 2009, "Changing Times, Changing Responses" (during the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis, MN).
The events of this week have been both historic and controversial. Part of what makes them historic is that decisions have been made in the church’s sincere attempt to be the disciples who follow Jesus today, to be the body of Christ living in the world, and serving as the bearers of Christ’s compassion.
This morning I want to lift up two things for us: the unchanging message of Jesus Christ, the bread of the world—the presence of God in the world that feeds the world and gives life to the world —and— the changing nature of our world and of humanity, its awareness if itself and the challenges people face.
We hold these things in tension, don’t we? As people of faith we hold on to the unchanging message of hope and grace which Christ offers, and we must live with, and be prepared to change or shift or modify our understanding of, and our response to, the world. A big part of the problem is that we can easily confuse “unchanging truth” with “changing times.”
Holy Trinity, June 7, 2009, "One God, Not Two"
What we find in the Hebrew and the Christian Scriptures is not a cafeteria where you can pick and choose what you like ~ a little of this, a little of that, go back for seconds on your favorite flavor, so that if you like a cranky and judgmental God you can just pick those parts, and ignore the mercy and forgiveness (and condemn people you don’t like).
Or, if you like only a sweet and indulgent God like your favorite uncle who always patted you on the head and let you get away with bloody murder, you can pick just those parts and ignore everything the Bible says which calls us to knowledge of our sins and failures, or to self-discipline and repentance.
Easter 4, May 3, 2009, "Dear Zoe"
This sermon wasn't even addressed to the congregation, but to a little girl on the occasion of her baptism and her first birthday. "Dear Zoe" tells us why our little ones (or loved ones) should care that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who will never abandon us!
Maundy Thursday, April 9, 2009, "We Must Be the Unity We Pray For"
Christ did not remain in that room, his disciples did not remain in that room, and the movement of all Christians to follow their Lord did not remain “stuck” in that era or that spot of geography. From the moment when the path was made clear to him, in prayer; from the moment they led him away in the Garden of Gethsemane; from the moment that he set his foot on the sorrowful way carrying his own cross; from the moment he met Mary in the stillness of the garden even before it was light on the first day of the week: Jesus has not stopped in place, but has led his people. His disciples of every year and every century have struggled or run to keep up with him, to follow his lead, and to be at his side.
Lent 5, March 29, 2009
But a marriage contract is like no other, because love is involved. There are not merely some nice benefits and guarantees for performance of the contract. Two hearts are involved, woven together, in a way that two business partners would never feel. And this is the contract, says Jeremiah the prophet, which the children of Israel had broken. They had said, throughout their history, "we love the Lord," and the Lord God said to them, "I loved you." But the people of Israel were not faithful, and their love wandered. Their national life soured; it crashed and burned.
Advent 4, December 21, 2008
Is the point of all this to get you and me to believe in miraculous and supernatural events, like angels sneaking into bedrooms or temples, and shocking ordinary people into piety and faith? Or is the point of all this to say that sorting out the things that happen to us in life takes great discernment, great patience and vision in order to feel that just maybe God is working in our lives and through our decisions?
Advent 3, December 14, 2008
Today’s Gospel reading is not really about what Mary was expecting: what she could anticipate, look forward to in marriage and in family life, or predict for herself and her children. She was not expecting to be an unwed mother, we can be sure! Today’s Gospel artfully tells a story of the unexpected, and reveals to us a woman apart for her peers, a woman who can imagine abandoning all expectations in order to be obedient to her awareness of God!
Advent 2, December 7, 2008, "How to Have, and Spread, Happiness"
If you want to have light in your life, help the poor and the down-and-out. Bring light to others who don’t see the light. And even, “lighten up!” Live gratefully and generously. Let your own light heart be that source of happiness for others. Let your good spirit, blessed by the Lord who answers prayer, lead you to be the neighbor or the friend, or even the “friend of a friend” who brings light to dissipate somebody else’s darkness.
Advent 1, November 30, 2008, "Is It Christmas Yet?"
"I pray to God that we are not on the verge of a second Great Depression, because I am afraid that this country is nowhere near as spiritually prepared to face one as our parents and grandparents were. We have become soft and lazy, complacent and comfortable. We have lived too long believing that riches are our birthright, instead of a gift we have not always deserved and a trust for which we are only stewards."
Pentecost 26, November 8, 2008 (after Election Day), "Justice, Worship and Gay Marriage, Oh My"
"The bottom line here is not that the Bible can be applied neatly, or that an answer can be found for every question if you just search carefully and study long enough. The bottom line is that God wants justice to be done, and that Christians should give justice a priority."
Read
Second Sunday of Easter, March 30, 2008
"So perhaps the reason that people are such faithless, unbelieving, doubters today, is that they need to see the mark of the nails in our hands, and the gash from the spear in our side. Perhaps they need to see Jesus’ followers as those willing to take huge risks to follow Jesus, and to bleed for his Gospel."
Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008
"In fact, every great social upheaval down through history has driven us back to the Good News which St. Peter gave voice to here: God’s love is available to everybody. God’s forgiveness is there for anyone, anyone, who puts their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Amen?"
Maundy Thursday, March 20, 2008
This evening’s liturgy is about two cups. We commemorate one of them really well, and we almost ignore the other. The one cup sits upon this Altar every week. But the other “hangs in the air,” as it were, more like the proverbial elephant in the living room.
Third Sunday in Lent, February 24, 2008
"Today you get a whole story, the whole enchilada, it’s all in there. You get an interesting woman, with a back story that would make Hollywood movie starlets blush. You get dumb disciples, who just don’t get it. You get Jesus, you get the whole village. You get more than a little story with a big “point”, you get a big story with one simple point. But, come to think of it, what is this “point”?
Second Sunday in Lent, February 17, 2008
"To be a Christian is to be always ready to do something new when the opportunity of the Gospel opens a door, even just a crack. To be a follower of Christ is to actually follow him wherever he wants us to go. My friends, you cannot follow Jesus by parking on your sofa with your remote control!"
First Sunday in Lent, February 10, 2008
"Sin is the primary 'inconvenient truth.' All of our optimism, all the things which energy an dindustry, know-how and can-do, achieve for human beings, are blown away by the 'inconvenient truth' that gumanity has a dark side, an evil streak."
Ash Wednesday, February 6, 2008
"For many spiritual people, trying to navigate our lives in the world, we rely too much on our rear-view mirrors. We look back, with a little glance here and there, and realize the course of our life has not gone as well as it might, or that the 'tail pipe' of our life decisions is smokin,’ and we know we need a tune-up. Or, in our rear-view mirrors, we realize that many of our past mistakes are catching up with us, and we try to go faster to outrun the frightening things we see when we look back."
Christmas Eve, December 24, 2007
"Aside from all the pretty and sentimental things about the Christmas Story, it is astonishing for a lot of reasons. But, come to think of it, you and I are part of the story!"
Advent 4 A, December 23, 2007
"Life does many things to us other than what we had planned or expected. But we learn from the stresses we must cope with. One of the things we learn is that if we let God work through us---even in our stress, predicaments, and worry that God can use us to accomplish great things."
Advent 3 A, December 16, 2007
"The prophetic tradition amazes me not because the prophets are described as “men of God” — and some women of God — who were absolutely certain that God told them to do something or to go somewhere or say something, but because they learned to listen, to watch, to wait on the Lord, to discern truth and sort it out from the false and the phoney. They were the people who knew God’s will because they developed the patience to understand what is spiritual and sort it from what is ephemeral."
Advent 2 A, December 9, 2007
"You can live in a constant state of Advent all year long, if you align your heart with the heart of God. Wait for God, wait upon justice, be patient with others and forgive those who trespass against you. Show mercy. Pray that the Kingdom comes to you, no matter how long it takes. Put yourself in the picture."
Pentecost 14 C, September 2, 2007
"'If we feed them, they will come,' is the motto of the congregation! Well, Jesus liked to eat, too. He started his career at the wedding feast in Cana, and ended it with the Last Supper. What did our Lord's eating habits tell us about our own dinner parties? In Luke 14, Jesus invites his listeners to re-think their guest list."
Listen to this sermon (12:40 minutes) with Windows Media Player (WMA format)
Lent 4 C, March 18, 2007 
"The most important parable Jesus told, the "Prodigal Son" turns our usual ideas about God upside down."
Listen to this sermon (15:57 minutes) with Windows Media Player (WMA format)
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