Exodus 12: 1-14 (links validated 3/4/24)
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Proper 18A (2017)
Someone once asked the famous black preacher James Cone, “Why is it that sermons in black churches are so long!?” Cone replied that all week long, six days a week, society tells black people they are of less value than white folks. “Come Sunday,” Cone said, “we have to preach a little longer because it takes a while to talk people back into remembering who they really are as children of God!” Maybe we all need regular reminders of that. It’s too easy most days to forget. That’s why the central call at the heart of the gospel is our Lord saying to each one of us, “Remember.”...Preaching Helps (A)(2011)
("Our vocation every day is to remember the sacred story and take our place within it. We are to remember that life is not what you read in the newspaper and life is not even what you tell your spouse in the evening about how things went at work that day. Life's true meaning is to be found in liturgy, in the reminder that as important as the events of your life may be, the meaning of those events...")Sermon Starters (Proper 17A)(2023)
Invite people to reflect on their favorite holidays: thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and all the special foods on the table. You might ask for everyone’s fond memories. But you might also ask the cooks, hosts and hostesses of these meals what goes into the effort behind the scenes. Even simple dinner parties are complicated for me — all the fiddly details, fussing over a menu, ironing napkins — I’d rather write sermons for a month full of Sundays. And the meal we learn about in this chapter is anything but simple. You have to get your lamb on a special day, it has to be perfect — 1 year old male without defect — slaughter it *at twilight* on another specific day. Meanwhile you have to clean the pantry and cupboards of every crumb of leaven. You have to figure out how much you can eat because leftovers are not allowed. The food is meant to be prepared in a specific fashion. The side-dishes are not arbitrary. Each is specified for a purpose. Even the way you are dressed as you eat is prescribed: shoes on, cloak ready, walking stick at hand.The Chore of Church
("There is an episode of the Simpsons which begins with the family going to church. When they arrive home, as soon as the front door opened, Homer, and the two older children, Lisa and Bart, raced inside stripping their clothes off as they went...")Making Things Right
("In her book, Worshiping Women: Re-Forming God's People For Praise, Heather Murray Elkins tells of a time when she was a new pastor. She hadn't even begun to unpack the boxes in the manse living room when a phone call came from the hospital. Someone's mother was in intensive care in critical condition...")Proper 18A (2011)
"The other week I listened to a broadcast of Brahms' violin concerto. Only it wasn't – it wasn't the violin concerto any more. It was a piano concerto. Everything – or practically everything – was the same, note wise. The orchestral parts were identical. In the new piano part only a few notes had been transferred here and there to a different octave..."Being Ready
Harriet felt a soft touch on her arm and opened one eye. Jennifer was leaning in toward her looking anxious. Harriet lifted her head and smiled broadly. “Yes?” Her granddaughter peered into her eyes. “Are you okay, Nana?” “Certainly. Why would you think that I wasn’t okay?” “Your eyes were closed and your lips were moving.” “Were they? Well sometimes I guess that happens when I pray.” Harriet closed her Bible and put it on the table next to her chair...