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NOTE TO READER: IF THIS SERMON IS USED IN WORSHIP, YOU MIGHT CONSIDER PLAYING THE MUSICAL NOTES DESCRIBED IN THE TEXT ON A PIANO. Imagine that you are sitting at a piano, and with your left hand you press down on the key in the middle of the keyboard middle C. What do you hear?…
Mary and Martha of Bethany are deep in shock and lost in grief for their brother Lazarus. The sisters had sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was ill. On receiving the message, Jesus had waited two long days. By the time he got to Bethany, Lazarus had been dead four days. “If you have ever…
In today’s gospel, we hear that Jesus went about the countryside hoping to escape notice. And here and there he stops in a village or at a house. And as it appears, he stops not so much by deliberate intent, but by happenstance. At those seemingly random locations, he is reported as casting out demons,…
We are in many ways a weary people. Literally and figuratively, we are tired. A survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that 47 million American adults suffer from sleep deprivation. That’s almost a quarter of the adult population in America. That’s a lot of weary people. And it is a serious problem. Fatigue…
“If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” Today’s gospel reading describes Jesus going to the temple to pray on the Sabbath. He stands up and begins to read the words of Isaiah,…
The readings for this sad day and night should stand alone, without the need of a sermon. So it is with trepidation that one approaches this sacred time, aware that the sermon writer cannot add to the tragic story, only make a feeble effort at an interpretation that may sound more personal than universal. Written…
It is often questioned why Palm Sunday is also the Sunday of the Passion. What starts off as what is sometimes called the “Triumphal Entry” to Jerusalem at the beginning of the Liturgy seems to race all the way forward to Good Friday by the end of the liturgy of the Word. The stock answer,…
“If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” Tomorrow, February second, is a cross-quarter day, more or less. Never heard of it? Well, you are probably not alone. A cross-quarter day is the midpoint between a solstice and an equinox, the…
“Discernment” is a word we throw around a lot in the church, most often in regard to ordained ministry. As in “She is in the discernment process” or “I have agreed to be on his discernment committee.” But it is also an essential part of each of our spiritual journeys and our lives as human…
“And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in…
Dios nos ama y bendice. En el día de Pentecostés celebramos el descenso del Espíritu Santo sobre los Apóstoles. Jesús, antes de su regreso al Padre, hace una promesa a sus discípulos: “No los voy a dejar solos”. Jesús hizo esta promesa a sus seguidores y la cumple en el día 50 o quincuagésimo desde…
As a child, were you ever warned not to speak to strangers? This warning can be very helpful, and keeping our children safe is so important. Today, though, we hear that Pentecost is about when it is really good to speak with strangers. That first Pentecost happened in the city of Jerusalem, but today’s story…
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