I often follow a thread or theme through Holy Week to Easter. This year I focused on self-betrayal, the ways in which we turn away from ourselves and our lives, and live less than who we truly are. It will be easier to see and follow that theme through these sermons if you begin with the Palm Sunday sermon.
Thank you for reading and supporting Interrupting the Silence. Alleluia. Christ is risen.
Stop Believing In Easter And Start Eastering – An Easter Sermon On Luke 24:1-12
Alleluia. Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia. Do you really believe that? Who believes today’s gospel (Luke 24:1-12) is true? So let me ask you this, what makes this story true? I don’t think it’s true because the women “found the stone rolled away from the tomb.” And I don’t think it’s true because “they did not find the body.” And I don’t think it’s true because “two men in dazzling clothes”…
Nobody Wants To Come To Holy Saturday – A Sermon On Matthew 27:57-66
Nobody wants to come to Holy Saturday. Look around. Very few show up on this day, and most probably do not even know there is a liturgy for this day. I don’t blame them, I understand. Not much happens today. The liturgy is short, maybe twenty minutes. The church is empty and bare. There are no decorations, colors, or candles. We don’t sing today. And there’s no food, no bread and wine. The body and…
On Days Like This – A Sermon On John 18:1-19:42 For Good Friday
I used to try to understand, explain, or make sense of this day, Good Friday. I don’t anymore. I’ve given that up. What do you say on days like this? What can be said? Besides, most of the explanations that I’ve heard or come up with myself don’t really satisfy. They are mostly ways of avoiding death, and a betrayal of Jesus’ humanity. And to whatever degree we turn away from death and humanity, we…
Re-membering – A Sermon On John 13:1-17, 31-35 For Maundy Thursday
What comes to mind when you think about Maundy Thursday? Most of us probably think about the foot washing and the last supper. That’s certainly part of what happens on this night, and that’s the focus of tonight’s gospel (John 13:1-17, 31-35). But this night is also the night of the betrayal. After washing the disciples’ feet (including the feet of Judas) Jesus “returned to the table” and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one…
The Messiness Of Betrayal – A Sermon On John 13:21-32 For Wednesday In Holy Week
I don’t know what to make of or do with today’s gospel (John 13:21-32). It raises more questions for me than it offers answers. There are some things that don’t fit or make sense to me. It’s a messy story, betrayals always are. The simplest and easiest thing to do with this story would be to take it as history. That’s usually what we do with it. We read it as a report from a…
The Power Of Holy Week – A Sermon On John 12:20-36 For Tuesday In Holy Week
Yesterday I said that it must have been hard to be Judas. Well, I think the same thing can be said about Jesus in today’s gospel (John 12:20-36). “The hour has come” he says. “Now my soul is troubled.” It must have been hard to be Jesus. I think that is some of the best and most hopeful news we could hear today. I know that sounds strange but when I hear Jesus say that…
Sometimes It’s Hard Being True To Ourselves – A Sermon On John 12:1-11 For Monday In Holy Week
Today’s gospel (John 12:1-11) is the one we hear every year on Monday in Holy Week, and every year it starts me thinking about Judas. What’s the first word that comes to mind when you hear the name Judas? My guess is that for many of us the first word we think of is some form of “betray.” It was for the four gospel writers. Of the twenty times they mention the name Judas…
The Things That Make For Peace – A Sermon Luke 19:28-40 For Palm Sunday
Did anything strike you as strange about today’s first gospel reading (Luke 19:28-40)? Did it sound like something was missing? It’s the familiar Palm Sunday story about Jesus sending his disciples into the village to retrieve a colt for him to ride to Jerusalem. As he rides along people are “spreading their cloaks on the road” and “the whole multitude of the disciples” are praising God “for all the deeds of power they had seen.” …
Interrupting the Silence 
Dear Rev Marsh,
I have contacted you before about the high quality of your preaching but I want to say again, first as a pastor ( Now, Disciples of Christ in Smithville and for 20 years, pastor of First Baptist, Austin and for ten years as Professor of Preaching at Seminary of the Southwest) that your sermons are obviously labors of love and as a fellow believer in need of an honest and compelling word, deeply appreciated.
Thank you for the entire Holy Week preaching gifts.
Rev. Roger Paynter
Sent from my iPhone
>
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rev. Roger,
I remember and am grateful for our conversation. Thank you very much for your encouraging words. They mean a lot me as I’ve respected your preaching and teaching of homiletics.
I hope your ministry in Smithville is going well and that Easter joy and abundance are with you.
Peace be with you,
Mike+
LikeLike