SERMONS
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Attune our ears
Whose voice do you recognize easily? There are a few voices of public figures that I try to tune out and not listen to at all, because their voice grates on me and I don’t want to listen to what they have to say. But there are also voices I love hearing, like my kids’ when they call me from college. And there are some voices I miss hearing too. I wish I had a recording of my son, Oliver's sweet, high-pitched, prepubescent voice or the voices of my parents which are now only a distant memory.
A Visceral Reaction
Have you ever had a visceral reaction?
In Jesus’ time, people didn’t say “I’m heartbroken.” They said, “My liver is on fire.” Back then, Greeks and others didn’t say that emotions came from the heart, or the head. They said emotions came from their intestines. They had “gut feelings.” They said that they felt anger and sor-row in their viscera — they had “visceral reactions.”
Shock and awe
To the gospel writer Matthew, the resurrection of Jesus is earthshaking. The Greek word is seismos, and means shaking, shock, earthquake. In seismic events, nothing is certain. Nothing is the same. Nothing is stable.
A brilliant, terrifying angel rolls back the stone and sits on it. As if to mock the empire that rolled the stone there in the first place. As if to mock the power of death itself.
To tell the truth
Today truth is elusive. What to believe? Was it generated by AI? Is it a downright lie? Is it fake news? If it’s on the internet, if it’s shared on social media, can you trust it? If you keep telling people an untruth, are they cajoled into finally accepting it?
Holy work in human hands
In tonight’s Gospel, Jesus lays aside his garments, wraps a towel around his waist, pours water into a basin, and begins to wash the disciples’ feet. I wonder what the disciples thought when they saw their teacher kneeling down like a servant, preparing to wash their dusty, worn, calloused feet. Foot washing with Jesus wasn’t like a luxurious pedicure at the spa. It was dirty work. A messy act of love.
What takes your breath away
A baby’s first cry isn’t sadness, but life. After nine months in the womb’s warm fluid, air rushes into the baby’s lungs as it is born. Crying helps oxygen circulate through the body. Breath. Birth. A holy moment.
Redefining life
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
It’s both a statement of faith and an expression of grief. Mary and Martha are open with Jesus, sharing their frustration and disappointment.
No water. No life.
No water. No life. Scientists remind us that if there is life beyond Earth, it will be on planets and moons that harbor liquid water.
Living water flows
This is the longest recorded conversation Jesus has with anyone in the Gospels.
Not with Peter. Not with Pilate. But with a Samaritan woman. Already, we should sense that something world-altering is happening.
Things we don’t talk about
There are things we don’t talk about. For some it is money, sex, politics, religion. For others it may be their mental health, abuse or grief.
Salt of the earth
Have you ever described someone as “salt of the earth”? Maybe you’ve even been described this way.
