Date: 06 Apr 2000
Time: 20:11:22
I am preaching following the Gospel at the Blessing of the Palm Branches and leaving space following the Dramatic Reading of the Passion for quiet reflection.
Tom in GA
Date: 10 Apr 2000
Time: 20:22:01
I am always overwhelmed when I begin to consider the sermon for Palm Sunday. There's too much to consider. I am always tempted to forego preaching and allow the scripture to speak without any other voice. I like Tom's decision, but I don't think this is the year for me to try it. I'll be checking in as the week goes on. This is the 1st time I've joined the conversation. Sorry I have nothing of value to contribute at the moment! Blessings...Sherry in Va.
Date: 10 Apr 2000
Time: 20:41:49
The last few years, I've done a sort of 'lessons and carols' type thing. Allows the scripture story to speak for itself, yet breaks it up with hymns. We start out with a Palm parade, then move to the reading of the scriptures. Usually two of us read. This year I am adding the stripping of the altar at the end of the passion liturgy. Too many people like to skip from Palm Sunday to Easter . . . Will let you know how it works out.
RevJan
Date: 11 Apr 2000
Time: 02:30:31
I'll be preaching on the "palms & hosannas" this Sunday. I think as we move from Lent to Easter we are confronted by stark contrasts: the solemness & reflectiveness of Lent changes to the excitement and expectation as the (anticipatedly) victorious king enters the capital, then we move to the passion narrative with its disillusionment, despair, hopelessness and the utteremost of human sin (which contrasts with God's hope and victory and Christ's obedience) of Good Friday, and then the triumph and joy of the resurrection on Easter. I want to try and 'capture" this as it really is a microcosm of life. Perhaps we all experience this for ourselves as preachers as the busyness of Easter catches up with us, and then reaches its climax on Easter Sunday. I feel this pressure more this year as late rain has left me 1 ˝ months behind with bush work and as well as preparing Easter services I need to be out of town for ˝ of each of this week and next. Yet there is also the excitement of Easter and the extra opportunities this give us to preach not only to the converted but to the "nominals" who come along at this time of year.
Outback Aussie
Date: 11 Apr 2000
Time: 04:59:35
I have been doing a series on Blessing during lent and have chosen this scripture to focus on because of the story of the annointing. Touch is such a valuable way to bless someone whether it's a pat on the back or an extraordinary event like this. Can you imagine how gutsy this woman was? The sadest thing is the criticism of the disciples. What did they think such comments would do after the fact? God pours out such a surplus on us, why should we not respond in kind. Of course, the poor are always with us and Jesus clearing states that we are to care for them. Does God sometimes break us open to pour us on a dying world? Was the woman as annointing prophet something new? Give me some help with this text, please. I've done the same heavy readings too many times and need a fresh approach. Thanks and God bless you, too. Fisherfolk in OH
Date: 11 Apr 2000
Time: 13:44:21
I usually focus on one or two lines from the Passion account as a way to give people time to reflect on certain points of the narrative. I agree there is so much material that it would be very hard to preach and give justice to it all. Often we pay lip service to the poor "why has there been this waste of perfumed oil? It could have been sold ...and the money given to the poor." Do we do more than pay lip service to the needs of the poor around us? Peter remembered the "word that Jesus spoke to him ...he broke down and wept." What are the ways that we deny Jesus in our own lives? By several questions I invite the congregation to reflect on the Passion account. Blessings! Howard
Date: 11 Apr 2000
Time: 16:22:18
I have chosen "Being in Jerusalem" as a sermon title. Will looking at what it must be like to have been there as a follower of Jesus that fateful week. And then what is it like for us today. How do we relate to this Jesus, who goes from the King to the Cross, to the Christ? We too have our ups and downs in our faithfulness. Where are we this year? How do we deal with our denials of the Christ? Questions that we need to ask as we prepare for Easter Morning. We need to come to Easter having been in "Jerusalem all week lone", not just coming from Mall. Still working on the details and stories. REVJCB in Nebraska
Date: 11 Apr 2000
Time: 17:47:46
I have allowed the Scripture to speak for itself in past years, and it has been really effective. Since our Maundy Thursday service is well-attended, and I plan to do the Passion narrative there, I plan this week to focus on the Marcan Sandwich that includes the chief priests and Judas, and the story of the woman with the alabaster jar. The expensive nature of the perfume and the jar, the distant location that it came from, and the fact that the jar had to be broken to spend something incredibly valuable carry a strong symbolism for me, and stand in great contrast with the disregard for Jesus' life, on the part of his enemies. It's a powerful way to transition from Lent into the Passion! MTSOfan
Date: 11 Apr 2000
Time: 17:48:40
I have allowed the Scripture to speak for itself in past years, and it has been really effective. Since our Maundy Thursday service is well-attended, and I plan to do the Passion narrative there, I plan this week to focus on the Marcan Sandwich that includes the chief priests and Judas, and the story of the woman with the alabaster jar. The expensive nature of the perfume and the jar, the distant location that it came from, and the fact that the jar had to be broken to spend something incredibly valuable carry a strong symbolism for me, and stand in great contrast with the disregard for Jesus' life, on the part of his enemies. It's a powerful way to transition from Lent into the Passion! That's what speaks to me this year. MTSOfan
Date: 11 Apr 2000
Time: 21:27:05
Dear MTSOfan. I do am looking at Mary at Bethany and the breaking of the alabaster jar. There is a really neat quote that I found a while back that I feel might be useful to anyone else preaching on the text. It is a C.S. Lewis quote. "...the allegorical sense of Mary's great action dawned on me the other day. The precious alabaster box which one must break over the Holy Feet is one's heart. Easier said than done. And the contents become perfume only when it is broken. While they are safe inside, they are more like sewage."
Hope someone can use this. Peace to you all. Jude in Wash
Date: 12 Apr 2000
Time: 04:24:57
Like Howard, I have been, for the past few years, lifting up a portion of the Passion narrative for preaching and reflection. This year, I'm using Mark 14:26-31, Peter's rash vow of steadfastness and Jesus' prophecy of his denial. The them is the futility of standing in one's own strength & resolve and the need to depend upon God's strength. However, if your church doesn't do a Tenebrae Service (Tenebrae = "darkness"), either after Communion on Maundy Thursday or on Good Friday, presenting the Passion narrative, letting it stand on its own, would be a powerful testimony to your congregation, especially juxtaposed with the Palms gospel. Too, often in the past, our members (particularly if they are customary "Sundays-only" members) jump from the "Hosannas" of Palm Sunday to the "Alleluias" of Easter without a sense of the depth of the darkness of suffering and loss that intervenes. This is an essential part of Jesus', and our story. Go for it! Ken in WV.
Date: 12 Apr 2000
Time: 16:34:57
I think what I'm going to do with the Passion story this year is read the whole thing with three voices, adding some dramatic interest; and interspersed with selected verses of Passion hymns; then offer a VERY brief homily/meditation after offering a reflection on the events of that week from several perspectives: the unnamed woman with the flask of oil, Peter, Pilate, centurion, women disciples standing at a distance (maybe four sentences for each). I'm going to use the Children's Sermon to reflect on the Palm Sunday reading. JGC in MA
Date: 12 Apr 2000
Time: 16:49:13
I have always combined the two themes - triumphant entry and the passion - done all the different things you have shared. Sometimes I preach a bit, sometimes not. This time we are starting outside with an anthem with children and choir, the triumphant entry scripture and then congo. processional. The readers for the passion narrative will stand around the sanctuary - for a surround sound effect.
preaching - James W. Moore's The Cross Walk - chapter on Pontius Pilate would work - adapted. But I am also moved this time - even before I logged on with the alabaster theme - thanks for the breaking heart image.
I'll watch for more ideas.
Caroline from CT/USA
Date: 12 Apr 2000
Time: 17:16:42
What verse draws me in this text is the first the statement that Jesus makes about how someone in the upper room will betray Jesus... and then the disciples response. They do not point the finger at Judas and say, "Ah, yes, I knew it would be you!"
But rather the question comes up, "Is it I, Lord?"
All the disciples know that deep down, in their hearts of hearts they possibly are capable of this horrible act of betrayal. They all have the burning question, wondering if they are the ones to fall.
I think it is telling, as we in the church, sometimes point the finger at the "other" and forget that we are standing in the midst of a community that needs God's grace just as much as the "church next door." Like the disciples, during lent we examine our own questions, and like the disciples sometimes feel alone at the end.
But like the disciples, (not to jump to the end to quuickly), we see the son rise and split our darkness wide open.
RevStevens in Oregon
Date: 13 Apr 2000
Time: 15:26:23
I wrote this hymn for Good Friday...please feel free to use it.
Recall my name on kingdom day, Dear Lord, to you I pray. I long to stand beside you then, To follow in your way.
Beside the cross of Jesus find Two broken souls to bind. I find myself in either place; The choice is only mine.
On one side only anger knows, And only hatred grows. The other in his heart confessed, To him God's mercy flows.
Recall my name on kingdom day, Dear Lord, to you I pray. I long to stand beside you then, To follow in your way.
Suggested Tune: St. Anne 8686 Words©1995 Michael Jacob Kooiman (michael@simcoeisland.com)
Date: 14 Apr 2000
Time: 12:22:43
For those preaching the woman annointing Jesus, Jennifer Knapp has a wonderful song telling this story. It's on her Kansas album and called, "Hold Me Now."
John near Pitts.
Date: 14 Apr 2000
Time: 12:27:34
Here's a devotional I wrote for our church newsletter concerning the woman annointing Jesus.
“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?”
He can tell by their expressions that they are both shocked and disgusted at the same time. They’ve got that “How dare you!” look about them but he doesn’t turn to see who just walked into the room. He can tell by their reaction that it’s someone who needs him. He’s pretty much accustomed to these kinds of interruptions but he knows that she must make the first move. So he simply continues to recline at the table, leaning on his right elbow, feet tucked behind him. He picks up a piece of bread and then he hears her.
Finding no words to dismiss the embarrassing silence she just begins to sob. The guests roll their eyes while she just stands there, staring through her watery vision at Jesus’ feet. Tears drop on the dirt and darken the floor like raindrops on a dry path. And little does she know that it is her own path of salvation that she is preparing. When she notices that her tears have also been falling on his feet, shamefully she kneels down and begins to wipe them dry with her hair. Her heart is in control of this moment and not her head, and her heart is confessing: “I thought I was strong. I thought I didn’t need anyone. I tried to convince myself that they weren’t using me, that I was using them. I know that what I have been doing is wrong. I’m so tired. I’m so weary. Jesus, I’m so broken, but I’m yours.” When his feet are dry she pours expensive perfume on them, wipes her cheeks with the sleeve of her dress and sits there quietly crying.
Jesus breaks the silence and speaks to his host, “Simon, I know who this woman is and I know what she does, but is she too dirty to touch God? Can’t you hear her heart? Don’t her tears tell you anything? I tell you, her many sins are forgiven – for she loves much. But whoever has been forgiven little, loves little.”
Finally, turning around he cradles her face in his hands and looks her in the eyes. Smiling at her he speaks the absolution: “Woman, your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” She touches his hands touching her face and begins to smile as she gets up to leave. Releasing his hands she turns toward the door and notices that it’s still open. She walks into the street and turns back to close the door behind her but something deep within her speaks: “Leave it open.”
Joyfully in Christ, John near Pitts.
((For a musical version of this New Testament story you may want to listen to the song: “Hold Me Now” on Jennifer Knapp’s, Kansas compact disk.)
Date: 14 Apr 2000
Time: 20:51:13
For those preaching the woman anointing Jesus here's a quote from Joanne Carlson Brown, "The Unnamed Voice", a sermon preached in Cannon Chapel, Emory University, November 1990 Quoted in Sacred Journeys by Jan L. Richardson: "This God whodoes not leave us alone, who strengthens us, knows us, loves, and claimsus as God's own, this God guidesus to places where our alabaster jar must be broken, where we do what we can do. She (the woman who anoints Jesus) has done what she could. Ont he surface this seems like very tepid tribute. Why praise a personfor doing what she could? Becuase often that is the very thing that is denied. Doing what we can these daysdemands courage and a sense of freedom. It demands taht we go with a God who has searched us and know us into a world that knows us not." PL in RI
Date: 14 Apr 2000
Time: 20:51:32
For those preaching the woman anointing Jesus here's a quote from Joanne Carlson Brown, "The Unnamed Voice", a sermon preached in Cannon Chapel, Emory University, November 1990 Quoted in Sacred Journeys by Jan L. Richardson: "This God whodoes not leave us alone, who strengthens us, knows us, loves, and claimsus as God's own, this God guidesus to places where our alabaster jar must be broken, where we do what we can do. She (the woman who anoints Jesus) has done what she could. Ont he surface this seems like very tepid tribute. Why praise a personfor doing what she could? Becuase often that is the very thing that is denied. Doing what we can these daysdemands courage and a sense of freedom. It demands taht we go with a God who has searched us and know us into a world that knows us not." PL in RI
Date: 15 Apr 2000
Time: 09:12:47
I'm going to focus on the cup. Jesus asked that it be taken away, but, in the most profound act of surrender to the sovereignty of God, he drank it anyway -- drank it to the dregs. What was in the cup that was so repugnant to Jesus? His own death, of course, but much more than that. It held all our sin -- all of the little things, all of the vilest things, everything we humans do to each other, to the church, to our relationships with God. He drank it to the dregs. That can easily be over played, so I'm going to do a lot of scripture readings to convey the passion story, and use the cup as the unifying thread.
RevBill
Date: 15 Apr 2000
Time: 13:30:36
I like Revstevens of Oregons comments. I, too, have kept my reflections short and challenging on Palm Sunday using the liturgy of the palms, and the longer dramatic reading to bring the message to a large congregation. (Easter is usually smaller)
Here is what I have so far.... a series of questions... which may be shortened further. .......
That is the story - Our Christian story - Cruel and horrible isn’t it?
Judas, one of the twelve disciples........... betrayed Jesus to the leaders of the temple........
Judas.............. the keeper of the treasury........... a trusted disciple......... betrayed Jesus to the keepers of the tradition...... The elders ........... the Pharisees.
Jesus.......... was denied........ betrayed........ forsaken............. Even by those who said they loved him ........ his closest disciples............
I leave you with something to think about during Holy Week......
Who are the Pharisees in your life...... in your church............... in your faith
Who or what do you betray Jesus for.......
susp in Qu
Date: 16 Apr 2000
Time: 01:40:51
Dear All,
With others, for several years now I have been letting the drama of the reading of the Passion speak for itself. I follow that with silence, and then the Litany of Penitence. The only thing which I do differently is that I ask the people to read the petitions of the Litany, and I read the responses. Folk tell me that the Litany of Penitence has more meaning for them that way, and that it makes a very effective follow on to the Passion narrative.
For non-Episcopalians, the Litany of Penitence is available in the Book of Common Prayer.
Peace to all,
Jim