Tag: Ash Wednesday
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No Dust, No Life – An Ash Wednesday Sermon On Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
One of the things I know about myself is that I am not a singer. You know it too. Some of you have told me I’m not. But did you know that I can play the trumpet and I’m pretty good at it? Here’s what I mean by that. I remember a session in which… Read more
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The Lenten Treasure Hunt
For many in the Church Lent begins today with Ash Wednesday. It’s forty days long, reflecting the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness. It’s a time to prepare for the new life that will be revealed on Easter Sunday. Lent is usually characterized by fasting, self-denial, and repentance. Even if Lent is not a… Read more
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I Don’t Want To Do Lent This Year – An Ash Wednesday Sermon On Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
I’m not sure if this is a confession or just a description of where I am these days but I don’t want to do Lent this year. Do you? Let me explain what I mean by that. We began tonight by praying that we would worthily lament our sins and acknowledge our wretchedness so that… Read more
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Pulling Back The Husks On My Life – An Ash Wednesday Sermon On Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Most weeks as I am preparing my sermon at some point I call a retired priest who, for almost thirty years, has been my spiritual director, mentor, and one of my two best friends. We talk about our lives, the scriptures, my sermon ideas, and how what I am reading and studying are connecting with… Read more
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The Most Important Day Of Your Life – A Sermon On Mark 1:9-15
In some ways the past year has felt like a long never ending season of Lent. It has been a time of fasting, self-denial, and giving up; a time when people and things have been lost or taken from us; a time that is continually pointing to our mortality and the fragility of life. What… Read more
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The Perfect Question For Ash Wednesday – An Ash Wednesday Sermon
Ash Wednesday – Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” That’s the last line of Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Summer Day.” I had never thought of my life as wild and precious until I read her question. I love the invitation, freedom, and… Read more
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Life Before Death – An Ash Wednesday Sermon
Maybe Lent and the gospel of Jesus are not primarily about being good, a program for changing from a bad person to a good person, so we can get a future reward. I’ve got nothing against being a good person (whatever that might mean) but I’ve never read where Jesus said, “I came that you… Read more
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Mortality And The Fragility Of Life – An Ash Wednesday Sermon On Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
We live in a tension between the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death. And we work pretty hard at denying, ignoring, forgetting, outrunning, and overcoming those twin realities. But they are always there. They are always present to us in the same way the ashes with which we will be marked were already… Read more
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Giving Away Our Hearts – An Ash Wednesday Sermon on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Where we begin our Lenten journey is not as important as where it takes us. In the same way, what we give up, take on, or do for Lent are not as important as what those things do for us. Read more
Interrupting the Silence 