Psalm 32: 1-11 (links validated 1/31/23)
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Sermon Starters (Lent 1A)(2023)
Most of his friends had been hanged. But despite his central role in helping to construct Adolf Hitler’s Nazi nightmare, Albert Speer somehow managed to receive from the Nuremberg trials only a 20-year sentence at the Spandau Prison in Berlin. Not long after arriving in Spandau, Speer met with the prison chaplain. To the chaplain’s shock, Speer said, “I want to use my time in prison well. So what I want to ask you is: Would you help me become a different man?” The chaplain was savvy enough to know that for Speer to have even a chance of becoming different, he would have to provide full disclosure of his past evils. Whether or not Speer succeeded in doing that is a matter of considerable debate among those who have studied Speer’s writings. Speer’s memoir Inside the Third Reich was praised for its candor when it was first published. But over time people began to see that in actuality Speer may have held back, failing to confess the full scope of his Nazi activities. In fact, Speer probably made use of that age-old trick whereby you acknowledge some truths as a way to distract people from noticing other things you’d rather not talk about...Confession, Repentance and Forgiveness
I remember the first time I went to a minister to talk about something personal; it was tough as toenails. It was hard to go and talk to a minister. I had been baptized about two years. Some fellows that I worked with in a box factory went uptown to get a hot dog or a hamburger for lunch. We had an hour for lunch. I still had on my nail apron, and they had on their nail aprons; we drove nails to make these boxes. We passed a blind man on the sidewalk with his guitar, a sign that said “I’m blind. Please help me,” and a tin cup taped to the neck of his guitar. It suddenly occurred to the three of us to play a trick. Each of us took some nails from our nail aprons and dropped them in his tin cup, noisily, and he said, “Thank you, thank you very much. May God bless you. Thank you very much.” That began to eat at me; of all the ugly, terrible things to do. Well, I couldn’t get rid of it, so finally I did what some people do only in desperation; I talked to the minister. I went to the minister and told him what I had done, and he sat up at his desk and said, “Are you aware that this country is in the biggest war of our history?” It was World War II, the last year of it. “People are dying by the hundreds every day; soldiers have been away from their families for years. We don’t know how this whole thing is going, people dying, starving. And you are worried about nails in a blind man’s cup?” He let me go. My little problem was swallowed up in the problems of the world, but it wouldn’t go. Finally, I went to the youth minister, Mignonne. We didn’t pay her, but she was a minister. I told her what I had done, and she told me that was a terrible, terrible thing to do. She felt bad, like I felt bad, and she said, “God forgives you for that, but why don’t you next week when you have your lunch hour, why don’t you go to that same blind man and tell him what you did and ask him to forgive you, and then if you have a nickel or a dime or a quarter, give it to him.” I did, and that poor man forgave me, and he smiled and said, “I know how it is. Lot of boys are full of mischief, aren’t they?” He forgave me. I had been baptized already, and I was carrying that around...
Resources from 2022
Sermon Starters (Proper 26C)(2022)
Most of his friends had been hanged. But despite his central role in helping to construct Adolf Hitler’s Nazi nightmare, Albert Speer somehow managed to receive from the Nuremberg trials only a 20-year sentence at the Spandau Prison in Berlin. Not long after arriving in Spandau, Speer met with the prison chaplain. To the chaplain’s shock, Speer said, “I want to use my time in prison well. So what I want to ask you is: Would you help me become a different man?” The chaplain was savvy enough to know that for Speer to have even a chance of becoming different, he would have to provide full disclosure of his past evils. Whether or not Speer succeeded in doing that is a matter of considerable debate among those who have studied Speer’s writings. Speer’s memoir Inside the Third Reich was praised for its candor when it was first published. But over time people began to see that in actuality Speer may have held back, failing to confess the full scope of his Nazi activities. In fact, Speer probably made use of that age-old trick whereby you acknowledge some truths as a way to distract people from noticing other things you’d rather not talk about. He talked to avoid speaking. He laid just enough on the table to keep people from noticing what he was hiding under the table. Alas, it is possible Speer himself was not aware he was doing this. At very least, however, Speer and his spiritual counselors knew that the key ingredient in becoming a different person is forthright confession...Sermon Starters (Lent 4C)(2022)
Most of his friends had been hanged. But despite his central role in helping to construct Adolf Hitler’s Nazi nightmare, Albert Speer somehow managed to receive from the Nuremberg trials only a twenty-year sentence at the Spandau Prison in Berlin. Not long after arriving in Spandau, Speer met with the prison chaplain. To the chaplain’s shock, Speer said, “I want to use my time in prison well. So what I want to ask you is: Would you help me become a different man?” The chaplain was savvy enough to know that for Speer to have even a chance of becoming different, he would have to provide full disclosure of his past evils. Whether or not Speer succeeded in doing that is a matter of considerable debate among those who have studied Speer’s writings. Speer’s memoir Inside the Third Reich was praised for its candor when it was first published. But over time people began to see that in actuality Speer may have held back, failing to confess the full scope of his Nazi activities. In fact, Speer probably made use of that age-old trick whereby you acknowledge some truths as a way to distract people from noticing other things you’d rather not talk about. He talked to avoid speaking. He laid just enough on the table to keep people from noticing what he was hiding under the table. Alas, it is possible Speer himself was not aware he was doing this. At very least, however, Speer and his spiritual counselors knew that the key ingredient in becoming a different person is forthright confession. Psalm 32 agrees...
Resources from 2019 to 2021
Sermon Starters (Lent 4C)(2019)
Most of his friends had been hanged. But despite his central role in helping to construct Adolf Hitler’s Nazi nightmare, Albert Speer somehow managed to receive from the Nuremberg trials only a twenty-year sentence at the Spandau Prison in Berlin. Not long after arriving in Spandau, Speer met with the prison chaplain. To the chaplain’s shock, Speer said, “I want to use my time in prison well. So what I want to ask you is: Would you help me become a different man?” The chaplain was savvy enough to know that for Speer to have even a chance of becoming different, he would have to provide full disclosure of his past evils. Whether or not Speer succeeded in doing that is a matter of considerable debate among those who have studied Speer’s writings. Speer’s memoir Inside the Third Reich was praised for its candor when it was first published. But over time people began to see that in actuality Speer may have held back, failing to confess the full scope of his Nazi activities...Sermon Starters (Proper 26C)(2019)
Most of his friends had been hanged. But despite his central role in helping to construct Adolf Hitler’s Nazi nightmare, Albert Speer somehow managed to receive from the Nuremberg trials only a 20-year sentence at the Spandau Prison in Berlin. Not long after arriving in Spandau, Speer met with the prison chaplain. To the chaplain’s shock, Speer said, “I want to use my time in prison well. So what I want to ask you is: Would you help me become a different man?” The chaplain was savvy enough to know that for Speer to have even a chance of becoming different, he would have to provide full disclosure of his past evils. Whether or not Speer succeeded in doing that is a matter of considerable debate among those who have studied Speer’s writings. Speer’s memoir Inside the Third Reich was praised for its candor when it was first published. But over time people began to see that in actuality Speer may have held back, failing to confess the full scope of his Nazi activities. In fact, Speer probably made use of that age-old trick whereby you acknowledge some truths as a way to distract people from noticing other things you’d rather not talk about. He laid just enough on the table to keep people from noticing what he was hiding under the table. Alas, it is possible Speer himself was not aware he was doing this. At very least, however, Speer and his spiritual counselors knew that the key ingredient in becoming a different person is forthright confession. Psalm 32 agrees...
Resources from 2016 to 2018
Lent 1A (2017)
When my brother and I were fishing in Colorado, we wanted to visit a famous lake, but we didn’t know how to find it. Providentially, a forest ranger stopped to chat with us. So we asked him how to get that lake. “Well,” he said, “you can’t get there from here. Oh, wait, there is a way, but it is very difficult. It’s narrow and steep and rocky. It’s the only way to get there from here. I don’t advise it. But that lake is a fisherman’s paradise.” What do you think we did? We didn’t take that way. We didn’t believe the ranger enough to take that road less travelled, even with the promise of paradise...God's Bridled Love
During a summer in college, I worked on my friend Joshâs family ranch. We didnât have much down time, but I recall bugging Josh about riding one of the ranchâs horses. Old Susie was the safest. Josh gave me quick instructionsâwhich included controlling the mare with the bridle heâd easily looped over her headâand then he stepped back. I swung my legs up and onto the saddle.Quotations on Forgiveness
("The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget. Forgetting is something that time takes care of, but forgiveness is an act of volition, and only the sufferer is qualified to make the decision...")