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Leaving the Cave: seeing, believing, and true power
a Sermon for Lent 4A Text: John 9:1-41 Plato’s Cave In Plato’s Republic, the philosopher introduces a strange scenario in which a prisoner is trapped in a cave. The prisoner knows nothing of the world as we know it. He’s stuck in one place, staring straight ahead for a long, long time. Behind him is…
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From Night to Day: reconciling, faith, and the Kingdom walk
a Homily for Lent 3A Text: John 4:5-42 The Story Our scene turns from Nicodemus, who seeks Jesus at night to an unnamed woman who stumbles upon him in the middle of the day. I think we are supposed to juxtapose these contrasting characters from chapters 3 and 4. Night/Day. Man/Woman. Named/Nameless. Leader/Commoner. Insider/Outsider. Hebrew/Samaritan.…
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Revealed: honesty and the Christian
a Homily for Lent 2A Text: John 3:1-17 Under Cover of Darkness We meet Nicodemus in Lent each year. Like Jesus, we receive him in darkness and confusion, wondering why he is here. Why does he come if he does not believe or even understand Jesus? Does he seek knowledge only? Is he gathering information…
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Preparing for after the test: Lent and self-discovery
a Homily for Lent 1A Text: Matthew 4:1-11 Getting our bearings The gospel we call Matthew has a birth story, a flight into Egypt and all that. Then John the Baptizer prepares the way for Jesus, who comes to him to be baptized, and then is immediately compelled by the Spirit to go out into…
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ReMembering is Messy: Ash Wednesday and black thumbs
a Homily for Ash Wednesday Text: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Beyond Black Thumb Day Today is Black Thumb Day. What? Never heard of it? It is the day that priests all over the world put on nice white albs, dip their thumbs in black, flaky ashes, and smudge those ashes on everything. It begins with people’s…
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Getting Some Ash: finding our place in creation
Ash Wednesday is symbol-rich day. It is marked with one of the most evocative Christian symbols in all of our liturgies. We smudge a cross of ash on each other and we say to them: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. For most Christians, we deal first and primarily with…
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Hate the sin? Chances are you hate the sinner.
a Sermon for Lent 4C Text: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 Two Sons Most depictions of this story focus on the first half: the sinful son, the return to the farm, the generosity and mercy of the father, and the embrace. It is a wonderful and evocative image. I have a book full of these images, art…
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Holy City (Eating Scripture)
Last week, we had the temptation in the desert, the quintessential Lenten text. This time, we get Angry Jesus. I have a soft spot for Angry Jesus. What Jesus is angry about is the stuff we already know, but rarely give attention to. It falls into two parts: the hypocrisy of leaders and their support…