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Palm Sunday

3/25/2024

The entire service is available at the link below

Join us for Holy Week Services and Easter Sunday! see home page for the schedule

Thank you Fr. Wilson Roane for officiating today!
Happy Birthday to Mark Metko on 3/22

Join us next week for Palm Sunday Service and Easter Egg Hunt afterwards!
~bring your kids/grandkids, friends and neighbors!

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4th Sunday in Lent

3/11/2024

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We apologize for the wobbly video.

This Sunday marks the beginning of the second half of Lent:
We’re half way through this journey to Easter.
But so far: the road, and the stories have been kind of rough.
And as we journey to the cross:
They’re just going to get rougher.

The first week of Lent, Jesus was driven into the wilderness immediately following
his baptism.
And there, he was tempted by Satan.
That’s pretty scary.

The second week, Jesus’ ministry was so completely misunderstood
by the disciples that Jesus snarled at Peter:
“get behind me Satan!”
Pretty scary:
that Jesus likens one of his most earnest followers to the Satan that tempted him
in the desert.

Last week, we went once again to the temple with Jesus,
and stood aghast as we watched Jesus in a whip-slinging, table turning, coin
spilling rage.

A scarier image than the sweet, comforting shepherd Jesus:
As he spoke and screamed about destruction and death.

And then today: We hear all about snakes.
Deadly Snakes: Satan-y serpent snakes.
Like the Snake that first tempted Adam and Eve,
We heard today an awfully weird story about snakes in the wilderness with the
Israelites:
Poisonous snakes that are biting people:
Killing them.

And then in the Gospel reading:
Jesus takes us back to that wilderness moment:
In a conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus says that he will be lifted up on the cross:
Like the serpent that God told Moses to put on a stick:
In order to keep the Israelites from dying.

Snakes, serpents, satan…
Death, destruction, and crosses of execution.

It might seem that half way through this Easter Journey:
We’re far away from the celebration of the Resurrection.
It might seem like we’re stuck in the wilderness:
Stuck in the dark caves with the snakes.

But we know:
That in God’s story:
Satan, serpents, death and destruction never have the last word.
And this week:
Despite all of the scary and weird stories about snakes and crosses,
We also get some welcome relief:
A glimmer of what’s to come:
A light at the end of this forty day journey tunnel.

In one of the most famous, and most widely memorized verses in the Bible:

Jesus says to Nicodemus:
“For God so LOVED the world that he gave his only Son,
So that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

We know this beloved verse well:
Maybe even too well:
Where it kind of becomes rote.

And this verse,
As beloved as it is:
Has been used in the past to induce fear:
It’s been turned around:
And used to warn people of eternal damnation:
That if you don’t truly “believe” In the right ways: doing the right things:
You’ll perish:
Like the poisonous bite of a snake.

This verse has been used to falsely liken God to that poisonous serpent who
causes death.

And that’s NOT who God is.

This verse has been used to focus on “perishing,”
To focus on Eternal life in the Future:
Something, later:
But only if you’re super good.

And that’s NOT how God works.

So many throughout the ages:
Have memorized this verse:
Yet ignored the most important part:

“God so loved the world.”

LOVED.
God LOVED.
SO LOVED.

God SO LOVED the WORLD.
Not God so loved only the good people.
Not God so loved only the Christians.
Not God so loved only the one’s who are afraid of the serpents wrath.
Not God so loved the things in heaven.
Not God so loved those who get to heaven.

GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD.

Already.
It already happened.
God so loved the world.

God SO loved the world:
That eternity begins now.
And that’s why we gather here:
That’s why we come to church:
That’s why we strive to BE the Church:
To be the TEMPLE of Christ’s body.

Because God SO LOVED the world.

We don’t come here out of fear:
To be saved from some sort of perishing.
Or to be saved by some poisonous snake bite.
Because already:
God so loved the world.

We don’t strive to be the body because doing good will save us:
We do it because God so loved the world.

It’s like in the letter to the Ephesians:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing;
It is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
For we are what he has made us.”

We are not saved by what we do:
We are saved because GOD SO LOVED the world.

We don’t share that love so that we can feel good about ourselves:
Or be better than others:
But because God SO loved.

And WE love: Because God first loved us.
Not out of fear:
Not out of self-preservation:
But out of love:
The very same love that God SO loved.

So today, halfway through our Easter journey:
I hope you’ll take some time this week,
To reflect on that love.

Maybe,
You’ll find comfort in just repeating this mantra:
“God SO loved.”

Maybe, you’ll reflect on those that YOU SO love.

Knowing that you are able to Love,
Because God SO loved the world.

Maybe you’ll consider the love that you have experienced:
In the world, and from others:
The love that was not the result of works:
But the gift of God:
Who SO loved.

And maybe, as we continue our Easter journey:
Knowing that we are marked as Christ’s own forever:
You will remember that you are what God has made you:
So LOVED.

Amen.

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3rd Sunday in Lent

3/4/2024

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My grandfather is a pretty fancy guy.
And he’s kind of picky about which restaurants he’ll eat at.
Especially if it’s an evening meal.

He likes good food and good wine.
But more than anything he likes a restaurant that’s quiet.
A restaurant where he can enjoy a meal without TV’s blaring,
Or people shouting.
Or kitchen dishes clanging.
Buffalo Wild Wings is not a place for grandpa.

But it’s not just about fancy food.
Because that guy will eat anything.
He’d be happy with some Buffalo Wild Wings fried pickles.
He’d be happy with a frozen pizza at home.
(As long as he could have a glass of cabernet with it!)

What’s really important to him:
Is being free to truly enjoy a meal with the people that he loves.
A place quiet enough to hear one another:
To listen to one another:
And to enjoy some quiet conversation while eating:

Without the blaring distractions that are all around us through the rest of the day.

Grandpa considers such a meal to be a special:
Holy time.
A time set apart from the rest.
A time to focus, enjoy, and savor.

This kind of holy restaurant space:
This kind of quiet enjoyment of each other is why Jesus is so mad in today’s
Gospel story.
Because, a bit like my grandpa:
Jesus is looking for the temple:
To provide a special, holy, time and place.
A time and place that’s set apart from the rest.

And the temple doesn’t come anywhere close to what Jesus is looking for.
Instead, Jesus finds a wild, clamorous scene:
Loud exchanges between buyers and sellers:
Shouting and screaming.
Animals brawling in chaos.

The temple that was supposed to be a steady place of prayer,
Worship, and holiness,
Has become something quite different.
(And, let me be clear:

It’s not just that the temple was noisy.
Because there are times that prayer can be noisy!)

The problem is that with all that’s going on in the temple,
Prayer seems to be the farthest thing from anyone’s mind.
Actually,
GOD seems to be the farthest thing from anyone’s mind.
The temple seemed to have lost its holiness,
And become something else entirely.

And Jesus: The Son of God:
Gets pretty angry.
This is not the sweet, cute, shepherd Jesus that we sometimes picture.

Instead, Jesus pours out the coins, he tosses over tables,
He causes a huge disturbance:
Even amid the chaos that’s already going on.

He shouts: telling everybody that this chaotic temple must be destroyed
And replaced by something that nobody would imagine:
Replaced by Jesus himself.

He tells everybody something really shocking:
That after his death and resurrection:

Jesus himself will become the temple.

And it’s important to note what the temple meant for Jews at that time.
The temple, was meant to be the place where God dwells:
Like, where God actually LIVES.

That’s why we hear that funny line about the disciples remembering that it was
written,
“Zeal for your house will consume me.”

It’s a reference to Psalm 69:
And it turns it on its head:
Suggesting that the Zeal or Extreme Passion that Jesus has for God’s temple,
Will consume him:
Actually ultimately KILL him,
Before he becomes the new temple.

So Jesus,
Saying that the temple building will be destroyed,
That he himself will become the temple,
Is also saying that he will be the place where God dwells.

And that’s not even all.
It’s crazier than that,
Because at the same time:

Everybody in the world will have the opportunity to become Jesus’ body:
Become the temple:
Become the place where God dwells.
The set a part place.
The place of holiness.

On this third Sunday of Lent,
We hear this story about Jesus foretelling his own death and resurrection.
And along with it,
The story points to the real reason that Jesus has come:

To bring the heavenly kingdom near.
To be for us the temple.
And to transform us into temples ourselves.

And that’s exactly what we are.
We are temples:
We are the place where God dwells.
And Lent is a great time for us to remember that.

It’s a great time to remember that in being the Temple:
We hold within ourselves the heavenly reality.

And Lent is traditionally a time of fasting and prayer in preparation for Easter.

A time of quieting.
A time of pulling away from the noisy clamor of the world.
A time to pause:
To pray.

Knowing that Jesus is the Temple,
Coming to Church: to this temple space:
Is coming to Jesus.

And maybe:
As we eat our Sunday meals together:
As we ingest the body and blood of Christ into our own physical temple bodies:
We can create that special, holy, relationship building, restaurant space: right
here.

We might also be able to do it as we share hospitality together after worship.
We might even do it in our own homes,
Or at dinner with friends,

Because in the new holy temple,
It doesn’t really matter what we eat.
Whether it’s bread and wine,
Or crackers and cheese,
Cookies and brownies.

Whether it’s the finest steak,
Or a frozen pizza,
The space and the food is holy because God dwells there.

For the next three weeks of Lent,
We can build a bit more of temple space:
Away from the distracting noise and chaos in the world.
Where we can eat the holy meal together:
In quiet conversation:
Enjoying every moment with those that we love.

And continuing our exploration of Cultivating something new:
We can consider how we might cultivate this temple space in this church,
And in our own lives:
Cultivating our own holy temples where God is dwelling.

Because God indeed dwells here.
In this Holy restaurant of a church,
And also within you,
As the Holy Body of Christ in the world.

Amen.

Announcements: Happy Birthday Cheryl! Vestry Meeting 3/10 immediately after service. See home page for Holy Week Service information

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Weekly Lessons and Sermon

Palm Sunday

5th Sunday of Lent

4th Sunday in Lent

3rd Sunday in Lent

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