February 26, 2023 - The First Sunday in Lent

Lectionary Readings

O Lord, help us to trust what you have said in Jesus Christ. Amen.

            Plausible deniability – even if we don’t know exactly what it means, it’s a strategy we all use. When we are guilty of something, if there is a reasonable way for us to claim that we didn’t know what we were doing was wrong or that a rule was being broken, we clutch onto that excuse, hoping it will exonerate us from all accountability. We see it happen in business – when a manager claims not to know what their employees were doing. We see it in politics – when an elected official claims they did not know that their campaign donations came from a shady character. We see it in relationships – “Oh, I didn’t know that you didn’t want me to tell anyone about that.” We see it in parenting – when one sibling hears a rule spoken by a parent but then says they didn’t realize that it also applied to them. Plausible deniability is a favorite strategy for doing whatever we want and then trying to get explain it away.

February 22, 2023 - Ash Wednesday

Help us, O God of grace, to remember that we are dust. Amen.

            On Ash Wednesday, the preacher generally has two topics to consider – Sin and Death. And, in general, half of the preacher’s work is to make the case for the reality of either. In a world in which religion is on the decline, a category like “Sin” just doesn’t fit into most people’s worldview. Furthermore, we’ve been taught not to shame people or talk about their imperfections, so naming the fact that we are all flawed and broken is not generally accepted in polite company. In such sermons, the task becomes defining Sin and getting us to the point of recognizing that we are bound by Sin and need help from beyond ourselves to be freed from it.

February 19, 2023 - Quinquagesima

Lectionary Readings

Grant us to go deeper in your love, O Lord, that we might share it all the more with your world. Amen.

            Have you ever had an experience in which you saw or learned something that forever changed your experience of that thing? For me, an example is the hymn “It is well with my soul.” To be honest, I used to think it was sappy and naïve. But then I learned about the history of the hymn’s text. The author, Horatio Spafford, wrote it after his four daughters died when their ship sank crossing the ocean in 1873. He took the next ship over to Europe and when they were a few days into the journey, the captain told him that they were at the spot where the other ship had sunk. According to one of his daughters who was born after this tragedy, it was at this moment that he came up with those famous words – “When sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say, it is well with my soul.” I used to hear that hymn and roll my eyes, now it’s a mixture of teary eyes and goosebumps. Because I saw the truth behind that hymn, it was transfigured.

February 12, 2023 - Sexagesima

Lectionary Readings

Though we do not always choose your love, O Lord, we thank you for choosing us in Jesus Christ. Amen.

The story of humanity in Scripture begins with a choice. Should we eat from the forbidden tree or not? Consistently, the story of humanity is the story of us making choices for death instead of life. That’s what happened in the garden, it is what happens throughout the pages of Scripture, and it is what is happening in the pages of the newspaper. Today, we hear Moses tell the people, “I have set before you life and death, choose life.” We have choices to make –choices between being blessed by loving or being cursed by selfishness, and we often chose death.

February 5, 2023 - Septuagesima

Lectionary Readings

Help us, O God of grace, to receive the gift of your love. Amen.

Why is it that some people have such struggles when it comes to faith while others seemingly cannot not believe? I’m sure we can all think of people that fall into both categories – some seem allergic to the idea of faith and utterly reject it and others, even if they don’t particularly want to believe in anything, do it as naturally as taking a breath. And, of course, these are not the only two options out there – it’s a continuum. Each of us is somewhere along that spectrum of belief.