For Sunday, March 29

Scriptures:
Jeremiah 31:31-34 They shall all know me...
Psalm 51:1-12 Create in me a clean heart...
Hebrews 5:5-10 Christ the high priest
John 12:20-33 Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies....

Sunday Bulletin Service Theme: Deep in Our Hearts

In the bulb, there is a flower, in the seed, an apple tree,
In cocoons, a hidden promise-- butterflies will soon be free.
(Natalie Sleeth, Hymn of Promise)

"Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (Jesus, according to John)

Now that most of the snow has melted into the earth-- though, as I write, fresh snow is expected-- I have been out to inspect the garden beds, where even now little spears of green are poking up through the masses of dead leaves. The hosta, the chives, the iris are the early risers. Evergreen thyme and pinks persevered through the winter. The rose canes sport tiny, promising buds. The earth reminds us that the cycle of death and rebirth is the natural order of things. Why should it be any other way with us?

In our end is our beginning, in our time, infinity;
in our doubt, there is believing, in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
(Natalie Sleeth, Hymn of Promise)

For March 22, 2009

Scriptures
Numbers 21:4-9 (Snakes! And a sign to heal by.)
Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 (Some were sick... and God saved them.)
Ephesians 2:1-10 (Created for good.)
John 3:14-21 (For God so Loved the world....)

Sunday Bulletin Series Theme "No Matter What"

Sermon Title: The Way of Healing

We have been looking at the covenant stories of scripture through the lens of the 25th psalm, "teach me your paths, O Lord, make me to know your ways." I invite you to imagine the covenant stories as examples of ways that are paved, and paths cleared, for us to be united with God.
The readings from the Hebrew scriptures, during this season of Lent, have been following God's covenants with Noah and all creation, with Abraham and Sarah and their descendants, with Moses and the people God brought out of Egypt. Next Sunday we will read of a new covenant promised through the prophet Jeremiah. But this Sunday, we have snakes.
I don't like snakes.
It's nothing personal, I know they are a vital part of the ecosystem, the web of life, and all that. They are just so sneaky. They appear unexpectedly, taking a person by surprise, causing her to shriek and leap away and twist her ankle upon landing.
Anyway, the story goes that God sent the snakes to bite the people because they were whining.
I don't believe that part.
No parent, however frustrated with the whining in the back seat while the family drives down the highway, would ever respond by throwing a snake over the divider between the seats. Well, no good parent anyway.
So that is one view of God that I don't think we should pass on to future generations.
But the truth of the story is in the crying out, and in the healing.
They cried out to God, and just as God heard their cries in Egypt, God heard their cries again, and in the assurance of God's presence, they experienced healing.

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;
he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.
-- Psalm 107

To whom do you cry out, in fever or pain?
How have you experienced healing?
How can the ministry of healing be a pathway to union with God?

For Sunday, March 15, 2009

Exodus 20:1-17 (The 10 Commandments.)
Psalm 19 (The heavens are telling the glory of God.)
1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom.)
John 2:13-22 (Jesus clears the temple.)

Sunday Bulletin Service Theme: Beautiful Law.

Sermon: The Way of Obedience.

Inspired by Psalm 25, the sermons for this season of lent will focus on the "ways" of God, with an emphasis on the plural. In the long history of God's relationship with us, God is always making a way for us toward union with God. The covenant stories of our scriptures can be viewed as examples of these pathways to God.
The way of obedience is one way. The law was given to the people so that it would go well for them, it was given as a gift, not as a burden.

For Sunday, March 8, 2009

Scripture:
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 (Abram and Sarai get new names.)
Psalm 22:23-31 (A plea for deliverance turns into a song of praise.)
Romans 4:13-25 (Abe's faith is reckoned as righteousness.)
Mark 8:31-38 (If any want to become my followers....)

Sunday Bulletin Service Theme: "Always Close"

Hymns: #24 The God of Abraham Praise; #438 When Peace Like a River; #75 Lord, Make Me More Holy.

Sermon Title: The Way of Trust

The Psalm for the first Sunday of Lent was 25, the fourth verse reads:

Make me to know your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths.

Note the plural, "ways" not way; "paths" not path. Our scriptures teach us that God has been making paths in the wilderness for us ever since we were made. Our experience teaches us too: how often I have spoken with someone who was able to look back and remember a time when God made a way out of no way. After losing the job that he thought would evolve into a lifetime career; after losing the husband with whom she thought she would grow old; after being forced out of a home they thought they would never leave... years, or sometimes just months later, he and she and they have said, "I see now that God was gently leading us, all along."

For March 1, 2009

Scripture:
Genesis 9:8-17 (Rainbow Covenant)
Psalm 25:1-10 (Teach me your paths, O God)
1 Peter 3:18-22 (saved through water)
Mark 1: 9-15 (into the wilderness)

Sunday Bulletin Service Theme: God's Loving Paths

I'm going with the rainbow covenant this Sunday. Rainbows, I would guess, have always had that mysterious ability to make us feel good. That sense of well being was interpreted by the tribes of the Hebrew people as an assurance of God's "truce." God's bow is hung on a hook in the sky, no longer are the arrows aimed at us. The rainbow is a reminder, to God, not to take anger to lethal levels ever again. And the rainbow is a reminder to us that God, though capable of lethal force, has chosen not to use it. The rainbow signifies God's unilateral disarmament.

Hymns for Sunday: #31 All Things Bright and Beautiful; #402 De Colores ("in the rainbow's bright colors, God's promise of hope we recall..."); #348 (for communion) Jesus is Here Right Now; and #476 My Life Goes on in Endless Song.

Prayers for Sunday:
Prayer of Confession (It is the season of Lent, after all.)
Leader: Holy One, you have given us the gift of life, and your covenant promises assure that your intentions for us are good. In every age, you send your Holy Spirit to guide us in the pathways of peace; but often we stray from the path, to our own destruction. And so we pray, lifting our voices together in the words written long ago.
People: Be mindful of your mercy, O God, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O God.
Leader: Hear our prayers, we pray, and have mercy on us, and lead us back to the pathways of peace, where we might walk in steadfast love and faithfulness all the days of our lives.
People: Amen.

Prayer of Dedication
When we consider the depth and breadth and height of your mercy, O Lord God, when we consider the infinite nature of your steadfast love, what can we do, but rejoice, in awe? We stand in awe and humility, offering such gifts as we are able to give, asking for your blessing upon us, trusting that in our giving, as in our living, we belong to you. Thank you. Amen.

Lent as Spring Training

Major League Baseball’s spring training season has begun. In Fort Meyers, Florida players for the Minnesota Twins are running drills and playing catch and batting balls. Ash Wednesday coincides with the first spring training game day, and the regular season begins on Palm Sunday. Coincidence? Of course it is!
But it is a coincidence that offers us a useful metaphor for Lent. Lent is the spring training for the life of faith. As early as the third century of the Common Era, Lent was observed as a time to prepare new Christians for their baptism on Easter Sunday. The whole church community was involved in the training of new Christians, which Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker describe in their book Saving Paradise:

“It was akin to applying for, attending, and graduating from college while also training for an Olympic team sport and undergoing group therapy.”

Church membership was not taken lightly. During the years of Roman persecution, Christians were burned at the stake for “atheism” (because they refused to worship the emperor), so the church out of necessity had to protect the identity of its members, and prepare aspiring members for the rigors of life within a persecuted church. People had to apply for membership, appear before the bishop with their sponsors, who could attest to their sincerity and character. If they were accepted as candidates for baptism, weeks of training followed. There was a physical as well as a spiritual and intellectual component to the training, the disciplines of prayer and study were entwined with the discipline of self-restraint. Thus began the Lenten fast.
Life in the church today is comparatively easy, so I would imagine that those saints of old would consider us pretty soft, our spiritual muscles flabby and underused. Though we don’t have to stand up to torturous inquisition, or run from lions, or the law, or torch-wielding mobs, we could do with some training up for the challenges that our life, in our age, brings us.
Lent is a good time to resume faith practices that have fallen by the wayside, or take up faith practices which we have not tried. Keep in mind that balance of body, mind and soul—body work might mean physical involvement in the mission of the church, serving up meals as the soup kitchen, wielding a hammer for Habitat for Humanity, knitting a prayer shawl. Mind work might mean reading along with one of our book groups, or coming to Adult Forum. Soul work could mean regular worship attendance. Try to come every Sunday in Lent. If you already come every Sunday, then add Wednesday evenings too.
Lent. It’s spring training for the life of faith.

Prayers for Sunday, February 22

Gathering Prayer

Holy one, like the birds that sing in the darkness before dawn, we sing your praise in anticipation of the light breaking forth from your Holy Word. As sure as the sun rises, your wisdom enlightens our eyes, to see the paradise which Jesus proclaimed as “at hand.” Let your light shine, O Lord! Amen.

Prayer of Dedication

When we contemplate the wideness of your mercy, O Lord, what else can we do but open our hands to others? As we present these gifts, we pray that the light of your glory may be reflected in our good works, that others may see and know that you are the source of light and life, and that together we might praise you with one voice. Amen.