Psalm 1: 1-6 (links validated on 8/7/24a)
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Sermon Starters (Epiphany 6C)(2025)
“Dust in the Wind” is a lyrically lovely acoustic ballad by the musical group Kansas. The lyrics however are a bit troubling when you get right down to it. The refrain claims that “All we are is dust in the wind.” The song just generally is a meditation on the fleeting nature of life, that kind of “now you see it, now you don’t” sense about life that we get as we age and as the years seem to do the cruel thing of speeding up the older one becomes. At one point the song says something else that is partly right and partly wrong. “Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky.” Well, from a Christian standpoint that is not right. But then the song also correctly notes, “All your money won’t another minute buy.” Psalm 1 reminds us that some people really are just dust in the wind. But there is something that lasts much longer than even the earth and sky. Those who root themselves in God’s Word and who grow in that Word the way a tree planted by a stream of water grows into an ever-more substantial tree, those people will be anything but dust in the wind. They will flourish. They will endure.They Will Prosper in All They Do
Michelle Hicks is the managing editor of a devotional magazine called Journey. In an online issue a few years ago, she wrote about a accident she was involved in. Hicks and some friends were driving to a birthday celebration when a woman in another car pulled out directly in front of them. The car Hicks was in couldn’t stop in time. Here’s how she described the resulting accident: “One minute we were talking and laughing, and then it was silent. Actually, there may have been a lot of noise and screams, but I don’t remember any of that. All I remember was a loud boom, airbags exploding, and smoke from the chemical in the airbags. And silence. “I felt my shoulders surrounded as if the seat were wrapping around me and enveloping me in its protection. In the silence, I knew I had to trust God with whatever was happening. I knew that if my time on this earth was finished, I was ready for eternity with Jesus. Instead of panic, there was silence, and there was peace. “‘And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus’ (Phil. 4:7). I’d memorized Philippians 4:7 early in my journey with Christ. However, I never could capture what it meant until that day. This moment with my car totally out of my control was beyond my understanding, but the peace that invaded my soul guarded my heart and my mind. I knew Jesus was with me and for me, regardless of the circumstances or the outcome of this life-changing moment.” Fortunately, they were all able to walk away from crash, in spite of being in shock and covered with bruises. Hicks went to the emergency room to be checked out as a precaution. There she was tested for internal bleeding, fractures, or anything unusual. The scans discovered a kidney stone and a hidden breast cancer tumor. That tumor was lodged against her chest wall and, because of that, the doctors speculated that it probably would never have been discovered on a mammogram. She sums up her experience by saying, “A totaled car, unplanned scans, a miracle. Yes, it was breast cancer, but the fact it was discovered under such odd circumstances due to a car wreck [was] miraculous.”...
Resources from 2024
Sermon Starters (Easter 7B)(2024)
Author and theologian Neal Plantinga has often recounted a story from the time he visited the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and one particular inmate Neal talked with on death row. He said this man looked more like a professor than a prisoner awaiting his execution, replete with a pair of eyeglasses and a rather studious demeanor. At one point Neal asked him what sustained him, what gave him hope in that bleak place. The man then picked up a copy of The Holy Bible and noted that this was the most special book in all the world. The message of God himself is contained between its covers and he was simply amazed but finally also deeply, deeply grateful over the wonder of the fact that he got to have a copy of this most special book in his very own cell. What a shining example of the beatitude of Psalm 1: Blessed is the man who meditates on God’s Word day and night. Even on death row, the blessing of the Book we love shines brightly.
Resources from 2021 to 2023
Sermon Starters (Epiphany 6C)(2022)
Something about Psalm 1’s imagery of the wicked being finally nothing but chaff that blows away in the wind reminded me of the film version conclusion of the Harry Potter cycle of stories. Throughout the novels the figure of “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” (but who did have the name of Voldemort) loomed large. He was evil, he was strong, he was a master wizard and seemed absolutely indomitable and fierce. Yet in Voldemort’s final battle with Harry and after Harry and friends had managed to dispose of all those piece of Voldemort’s soul that he had squirreled away in various objects (the last piece residing in his pet snake), once Voldemort’s fatal death curse rebounds back onto himself, it turns out there is nothing to him after all. He literally dissolves into what looks like flimsy ash and paper that very simply blows away on the breeze. He had been nothing after all. Sort of like Psalm 1’s description of the wicked: they are like chaff. But in truth, that is what the wicked, like Voldemort, had been all along even when they seemed to be at their most substantial and formidable.Like a Tree by the Waters
Jim Taylor is a Canadian journalist and writer. He reflected on the Psalms and said that the problem we face is that the world has changed in 3000 years. It is not so much that the language of the Psalms is a problem; it is the images and metaphors in the Psalms that can be a challenge. We don’t live in a time of warrior kings and invading armies and sheep and shepherds. So he wrote a little book called Everyday Psalms in which he paraphrases the Psalms using language and images of today. This is his take on Psalm 1: Happiness can’t be captured. Like a wild bird or a bouncing ball, It is always just beyond your grasp. It is not found in fads or fashions, nor in climbing to the top of the heap. Happiness comes from immersing yourself in God. Instead of struggling to stay on top, Yield yourself to the deep flow of God’s universe. You will not drown, You will be swept along by forces beyond your imagining. Foam on the surface blows about; Driftwood piles up on sandbars; People obsessed with themselves end up as rotting debris on rocks. But the current rolls on. To find happiness, let yourself be carried away by something stronger than a social eddy.
Resources from 2018 to 2020
God's Way or the World's Way
“Look!” exclaimed Tyson as he ran into the house. “I found a bird that can’t fly. Can I keep it, Mom? I found this old cage in the garage.” Tyson’s mother looked closely at the bird. “It’s a sparrow, Tyson,” she said. “I suppose you can keep it a few days to see if its wing will heal.” “Okay.” Tyson nodded. “I’ll let it go soon. Do sparrows sing?” Mom smiled. “Oh, they cheep and twitter,” she replied. “Well, I’ll put it right next to Biddy’s cage,” Tyson decided. “Biddy has a beautiful song. She can teach the sparrow to sing.” A few days later, the sparrow’s wing seemed fine. “Good thing,” Tyson told his mother as he took it out to release it. “Instead of this bird learning to sing like a canary, Biddy’s been starting to sound like the sparrow!”...Sermon Starters (Proper 25A)(2020)
It is one of those “How can that be true?” true stories. On the day when President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s mother, Sara, died, the weather was clear and calm with nary a breeze in Hyde Park, New York, and on the large Springwood estate where FDR had grown up along the Hudson River. Yet a few moments after Sara died at Springwood on September 7, 1941, one of the largest oak trees on the estate inexplicably crashed to the ground. Small wonder: in life, Sara Delano Roosevelt was like a well-planted oak. She was firm resolved, fierce, and utterly confident in her only son, Franklin. Sara was a force to reckon with...Sermon Starters (Epiphany 6C)(2019)
Something about Psalm 1’s imagery of the wicked being finally nothing but chaff that blows away in the wind reminded me of the film version conclusion of the Harry Potter cycle of stories. Throughout the novels the figure of “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” (but who did have the name of Voldemort) loomed large. He was evil, he was strong, he was a master wizard and seemed absolutely indomitable and fierce. Yet in Voldemort’s final battle with Harry and after Harry and friends had managed to dispose of all those piece of Voldemort’s soul that he had squirreled away in various objects (the last piece residing in his pet snake), once Voldemort’s fatal death curse rebounds back onto himself, it turns out there is nothing to him after all. He literally dissolves into what looks like flimsy ash and paper that very simply blows away on the breeze. He had been nothing after all...Preaching Helps (Proper 20B)(2018)
I recently decided to take a look at John McCain’s funeral at Washington Cathedral, not really intending to watch the whole thing. But I was captivated and watched the whole service. In a culture increasingly marked by tribalism, division, and enmity, the McCain funeral was a strong counter-liturgy. It urged a return to bi-partisanship, cooperation, and unity of purpose. It told a different story about America than the story of fear, division, and and animosity so prevalent today. Amazingly, the funeral was shown on almost all the networks simultaneously. There was a shared feeling that this was something we needed to reshape ourselves and our nation. And surprisingly to me, this was not merely a cultural liturgy, it was set in the context of the Christian liturgy, the hymns, prayers, and Scriptures of which told a different story, called us to live in a different drama.
Resources from 2015 to 2017
Be the Blessing
A man by the name of Bryan Anderson was driving home late one night along a lonely stretch of highway when he noticed a woman standing by a car at the side of the road. She was an older woman and looked like she needed help. Bryan pulled his old truck over and got out to see if he could lend a hand. The woman looked frightened as Bryan walked toward her, but he smiled, introduced himself and asked if he could be of any assistance. She told him that she was on her way home and had a flat tire. She said that she couldn't get any reception on her cell phone, so she couldn't call for help. Bryan looked at the tire on the lady's fancy new car and he told her he would do what he could to change it for her...
Resources from 2010 to 2014
Easter 7B (2012)
Few farm chores were traditionally more onerous than putting oats into storage. After all, oat chaff has a tendency to fly everywhere. Even the tiniest puff of breeze can send chaff swirling to land on a person’s clothing, as well as in her hair, eyes, nose and even open mouth. Sweat serves as a kind of adhesive that glues the chaff to skin. Such chaff feels very prickly once it’s latched onto human skin. The psalmist compares wicked people to such bothersome chaff. She suggests that they’re so insubstantial that even the slightest hint of a breeze blows them “away.” Might it be too much of a stretch to suggest that their relative weightlessness also renders wicked people a nuisance to the people around them?
Resources from the Archives
Illustrations, Quotes and Lectionary Reflections (Ordinary 25B)
It was on an evening in December 1940 that a knock was heard on the church door in Chambon-sur-Lignon, France. Magda Trocme, the pastor's wife, answered it and a German-Jewish woman told Magda that her life was in danger and begged her for help. Magda invited her in and learned that the German Army was systematically deporting Jews. Pastor Andre Trocme and his wife decided to help the woman in her escape. Soon other Jews made their way to the small village of 1,000 inhabitants. Andre had routinely visited his congregation in the surrounding countryside and this became the network for sheltering the refugees. From 1940 to 1944, Chambon sheltered 3,000 refugees, an accomplishment historians have called the "conspiracy of goodness."...
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The Shadow and Projections
I am not only my lights, my strengths, my gifts, my virtues, my ability, I am also my shadow. I am my failures, I am my fears, I am those potholes that I keep falling into. I am all of the above. So, the issue is not how do we get rid of these shadows, these unconscious elements of ourselves, these parts of of ourselves that have power over us but we don’t recognize the parts, we don’t know how to name the which gives them even more power. The issue is not getting ride of them, the issue is becoming so self-aware about them that they no longer have the kind of power that they have when they operate unconsciously...