The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe

Good Friday; Yr. C, March 29, 2013

Isaiah 52:13-53:12;  Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42

Sermon preached at St. Luke & St. Simon Cyrene Church

   

         My daughter is eleven.  She’s in fifth grade.  Her reading group at school just finished reading the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a novel by C. S. Lewis.  For the most part we read the book together, and I kept thinking about how interesting it was that they were reading that story during Lent, actually finishing it during Holy Week. 

Leave Something in the Marketplace

Palm Sunday; Yr. C, March 24, 2013

Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 22:14-23:56

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

Sometimes it can happen to these cheeks

When a poem visits my mind for the first time

And begins to look around.

They can wonder why rain is falling on them,

And causing my nose to run too.

O boy, what a mess love makes of me.  But

There is nothing else right now I would rather

be doing … than reaping something from a

field in another dimension

and leaving it in the marketplace for any who

might happen by.

Leave something in the marketplace for us

Before you leave this world.[1]

            As I read through the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his passion in preparation for this morning, I thought about those on the side of the road who watched as their hope walked the road to death, as tears fell like rain on their cheeks.  What a mess love makes of things.  God sent Jesus to be human out of love.  Jesus walked to his death out of love.  We retell his passion today out of love … and tears fall like rain if we spend too much time with it. 

            If love hadn't been at the heart of these events, I think it might have been a lot less messy. 

Free

4 Lent; Yr. C, March 10, 2013

Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:11b-32

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

            Almost two weeks ago, Charlie, Bonnie, David and I presented at a meeting of the Congregational Development Partnership Committee, CDPC for short.  Charlie did a fabulous job of putting together the presentation.  First, he told everyone a little about our history.  He talked about our financial situation and building, how we have worked to maintain it and the asset it is to us.  Then David talked about the many ministries going on here, in and through our building, as a result of this congregation’s presence in the city.  It was a wonderful story to watch unfold, a story that they had never heard.  Bonnie had the job of explaining how we’ve been able to do all we’ve done with our often tenuous financial status.  Here’s how Charlie articulated it for us. 

More Than We Know

3 Lent; Yr. C, February 17, 2013

Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-90

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

             On Friday at Sutherland High School, where my wife Nancy teaches, there was an assembly for the students.  The boys and girls were separated.  Nancy went to the girls’ presentation.  It was about body image and eating disorders.  The presenter had suffered with anorexia as a high school student herself.  She showed the girls a video of young girls, eight, nine and ten years old saying things like: Am I too fat? Am I pretty?  The presenter asked the girls how they would answer these questions if the girl in the video had been their younger sister.  One girl raised her hand and said, “I’d tell her she was perfect.”  The presenter said, “That’s what you should say to everyone you love.  That’s what you should say to yourself.”  She’s absolutely right.