An Episcopal Priest's Sermons, Prayers, and Reflections on Life, Becoming Human, and Discovering Our Divinity
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…
Read More Sermons For Easter Sunday And Holy Week 2022
Jesus descends into hell, breaking down the gates, and releasing Adam and Eve. "Resurrection" by bobosh_t is marked with CC BY-SA 2.0. Nobody wants to come to Holy Saturday. Look around. Very few show up on this day, and most probably do not even…
Read More Nobody Wants To Come To Holy Saturday – A Sermon On Matthew 27:57-66
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…
Read More On Days Like This – A Sermon On John 18:1-19:42 For Good Friday
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 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…
Read More Re-membering – A Sermon On John 13:1-17, 31-35 For Maundy Thursday
Last Supper by James Tissot - Online Collection of Brooklyn Museum; Photo: Brooklyn Museum, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 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…
Read More The Messiness Of Betrayal – A Sermon On John 13:21-32 For Wednesday 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…
Read More The Power Of Holy Week – A Sermon On John 12:20-36 For Tuesday In Holy Week
Jadas Iscariot by Eilif Peterssen - Own work Themightyquill, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 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…
Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem (detail) by Enrique Simonet - Museo del Prado, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 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…
Read More The Things That Make For Peace – A Sermon Luke 19:28-40 For Palm Sunday
Here’s my question. What are you waiting for? And what is your hope on this day? The thing that makes Holy Saturday so difficult, that makes this gospel text so unsatisfying, that leaves my sermon lacking is that there is no resolution. There is only waiting. You’ve had days like that, so have I. And sometimes it’s not just a single day of waiting. It’s weeks, months, years. Our life has been changed and it’s no longer like it used to be. We wait and wonder what’s next or if there will be a next. We wait and wonder when it will get better or if it will get better. We wait and wonder how we will ever live again or if we will.
Here’s my question. What is the cross of Jesus asking for in your life today? And what is it showing you? Most of us come to Good Friday believing that the cross gave us something. Most of us come to this day saying that “Jesus died for our sins.” I’m not so sure anymore. I struggle with the torture and execution of Jesus. I suspect most of us do. I can’t make sense of it and I’m not sure Jesus could either. I want to rethink the meaning of Good Friday and the usual ways we interpret it.
Interrupting the Silence 