George Hermanson

Welcome

Welcome to the Rev. Dr. George Hermanson's web home.

Check here for sermons and news of events at the Madawaska Institute.

You can also subscribe to this site by entering your email address. You will then receive an email only whenever something new is posted. This service is safe and secure. You will not receive any spam, nada, zip, zero. Or you can also subscribe using the RSS feed service.

Sermons are indexed by the liturgical year: Year A, Year B, or Year C;  and the season: Advent-Christmas, Epiphany, Lent-Holy Week, Easter, or Pentecost. And for Pentecost, also by the month: April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November. They are also indexed by the Biblical text used. So if you are searching for a specific Sunday's text, trying using one of the "Index" links in the righthand side bar to narrow your search: Scripture Index of Posts, or Lectionary Index of Posts.

The content is all George. The hosting and posting is by David Ewart, which is why there are links to David's other sites.

Welcome

June 29, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Seventh Sunday After Pentecost

Matthew 10:40-42
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Click here for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF version of this post.

The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

I am a people watcher. When I sit in Tim's I watch the interactions. Waiting at airports is also revealing about human interaction. And this year's Jazz festival, which by the way has been great, watching tells much about how we interact with others.

At airports, as we wait for the luggage, some crowd up to the luggage belt. Some stand back. Those who stand back can see the luggage come down and then you move in. Others push to the front and often miss because they are too close. Standing back gives one a larger view.

Receptivity

June 15, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

Matthew 9:35 - 10:8
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Click here for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF version of this post.

The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Sometimes when we read our texts we wonder what did this mean?  For at times there appears to be a contradiction within the readings.  In Matthew we have one such confusion.  First, we read that there is a need for those to harvest a bumper crop, and then the disciples are called, and then instructions for the harvest are given.  Here is the puzzle - instructions to move on if there is resistance.

Hospitality

June 8, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

Genesis 12:1-9
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Matthew 9:9-13 and 9:18-26 (Note: the links below will open the entire passage Matthew 9:9-26)
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Click here for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF version of this post.

The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Our texts are about the nature of call; what it means to respond to the aim of God.  The calling says something about the nature of God and when we respond, it has an impact on how we relate to one another and how that relating transforms.

The Genesis story is another identity formation story that is told in the creation of an identity as a people. Abram is called and given land. A responsibility comes with that calling. Abram is to bless those around him. He is called to live in peace with his neighbors. In a world of migration, this changes the nature of encounter - it is not one of conquest but of living in harmony. Now that call was not always lived. However, it is there in the memory of the people. That memory was and is used to call them back to a value of blessing when they forget. It has the possibility of, when lived, creating an attitude of hospitality and inclusion. This will change how we live with those different from us.

By Word and Action

June 1, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Third Sunday After Pentecost

Genesis 6:9-22 and 7:24 and 8:14-19 (The links below will open the entire passage from 6:9 to 8:19)
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Psalm 46
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Romans 1:16-17 and 3:22b-28 or also 3:29-31 (The links below will open the entire passage from 1:16 to 3:31)
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Matthew 7:21-29
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Click here for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF version of this post.

The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Our texts look at the relationship of God and creation.  They deal with two issues: God’s activity of giving paradise, that all things ultimately depend on God and that God’s aim, intentions, for creation is good and protective.  And then there is our response and how our actions reflect what we believe.

Yet, as we listened, we may have had a sense of discomfort.  We have, in the Psalm, advice to take a deep breath and not to react to the troubles of life out of fear and panic. It calls us to trust the divine presence.  And that appears to be in tension with the Noah story and the phrase in Matthew - "I never knew you."

Worry?

May 25, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Second Sunday After Pentecost

Matthew 6:24-34
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Click here for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF version of this post.

The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Everyday we hear on the news, or read in the paper new things to be worried about. It is the economy.  It is crime.  It is terror.  It is the environment.  It is about the health of the church. It is about families. There is so much confronting us that some have given up watching the news or reading the papers.  Yet, the worries slide in.  The anxieties are there.

Anxiety can freeze us- make us fearful about the world around us.  This fear creates a climate of threat, of seeking vengeance.  Our anxiety is made more real when we realize we cannot control the future. Yet there are all sorts of gurus who offer us quick solutions to our fear, bromides that feel good in the moment but never solve the existential anxiety we carry around in our bodies.