Sermon Notes (Page 3)

Despite anything and everything that has come before, despite hardship and struggle, despite pain and suffering, despite plagues and pandemics, despite any and all circumstances that have felt as if they were too much to bear, morning comes…day breaks…Easter arrives.  And we are reminded, once again, that God’s goodness, God’s love, God’s life-giving, life-restoring, life-saving force has been at work, is at work and will continue to be at work until God’s kingdom comes in its fullness.  Christ is risen!  Christ is risen indeed!  Alleluia! 

On Sunday we enter into Holy Week with what’s often called Palm/Passion Sunday.  Holy Week, in its entirety, begins on Palm Sunday as we remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper and the giving of a new commandment.  The word “maundy” comes from the Latin word for “mandate” and Jesus gives a new mandate to “love one another as I have loved you.”  On Good Friday we traverse the desolation and despair of the crucifixion and on Easter morning we celebrate the risen Christ! 

I don’t know about you, but I find interruptions to be bothersome. If I have finally found myself “on task” it can be a real nuisance for someone (or something) to pull my attention away. Maybe I finally catch that groove where I can be productive and efficient. Maybe I’m so deep in thought or action that I find it difficult to form words along any other train of thought. Interruptions can be frustratingly intrusive, and the same is true across experiences of life. 

Our lectionary readings this week bring us two fairly complex and curious passages with which to wrestle.  The first testament reading from Numbers may be totally unfamiliar. Our Gospel reading, on the other hand, is likely to be familiar to all.  It contains perhaps the best known and often repeated line of Christian scripture that’s out there…“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…”  But just because it’s familiar, doesn’t mean it’s straightforward.  Not only are these two passages interrelated but they both hold, in tension, the dual reality of sin/judgment and God’s amazing grace.

The account of Jesus “cleansing the temple” is told in all four Gospels but with several significant differences.  Matthew, Mark and Luke place this account toward the end of Jesus’ life, while John places it much closer to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.  Jesus enters the temple during Passover – a very active, busy time – and turns everything, literally and figuratively, upside down.  The temple was THE established place to meet and encounter God.  And, through this encounter, Jesus suggests that the old order is passing and something new is being established. 

Ready or not, we are upon the threshold of Lent.  This is a season that is typically marked by themes of light and shadow, confession and repentance, frailty and humility. It is a season that reminds us of our finiteness as human beings.

Ready or not, we are upon the threshold of Lent.  This is a season that is typically marked by themes of light and shadow, confession and repentance, frailty and humility. It is a season that reminds us of our finiteness as human beings.

This Sunday we’ll spend some time exploring what’s come to be known as the Messianic Secret.  We’ll see that Jesus consistently tells not only unclean spirits, but also people, including his disciples, not to tell anyone what they’ve seen or heard in their encounters with Jesus.  Why on earth would Jesus do this? 

This Sunday we’ll spend some time exploring what’s come to be known as the Messianic Secret.  We’ll see that Jesus consistently tells not only unclean spirits, but also people, including his disciples, not to tell anyone what they’ve seen or heard in their encounters with Jesus.  Why on earth would Jesus do this? 

In our passage for Sunday, Jesus is at the beginning of his public ministry and people (in addition to other powers) are discovering him as “one with authority.”  That authority was conferred after people not only heard Jesus’ teaching but witnessed Jesus exorcise an “unclean spirit” or a “demon” from a man who was present in the synagogue. Our focus on Jesus as “trusted authority” will guide us into a time of reflection about trusting Jesus as the one who stills the waters at certain times, bringing peace and calm, and who troubles the waters at other times.