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March 14, 2010 - Fourth Sunday in Lentz
A Gimme God
Gimme : Informal; Contraction of give me; adj. Slang; Demanding material things or especially money; acquisitive: today's gimme society; tired of gimme letters.
Can there possible be anything more to be said about the parable of The Prodigal Son? It's a question I ask myself every time I prepare to preach from the story. Sometimes I feel like telling people, "Read Henri Nouwen's book The Return of the Prodigal and take the Sunday off." After all, what could I possibly say that Nouwen hasn't said with much more eloquence and spiritual depth? For better or for worse, that's not a realistic option. But then again, maybe I'm asking the wrong question. Maybe instead of asking the question, "Can anything more be said?" I ought to ask, "Can anything more be heard?" I can speak to that question with a measure of personal experience: I always hear something new when I listen to the story with the "ear of the heart" (a phrase coined by St. Benedict). Join us this Sunday, and be prepared to listen with the ear of your heart!
March 21, 2010 - Fifth Sunday in Lent
Rev. Sarg Magyar Preaching
Wasting Time with Jesus
In one of the film versions of the Dickens classic, "A Christmas Carol," the young Scrooge's fiance, Belle, confronts him as he sits at his desk tallying columns of figures and counting coins. She tells Scrooge that she can no longer compete with his new mistress--money! The scene concludes with Belle placing the engagement ring she received from Scrooge some years earlier on one side of a balance; on the other side of the balance she places one of the coins on Scrooge's desk. The coin far outweighs the engagement ring. Belle's point is clear; Scrooge weighed love and riches in a balance, and love made a poor showing. How do we compare the relative value of something as tangible as money with something as intangible as love? We'll grapple with the themes of frugality and extravagance in this morning's Gospel lesson, then we'll hear what Jesus has to say!
March 28, 2010 - Palm/Passion Sunday From a Distance
When I pause to recall the Palm Sunday's (NOT Passion Sundays!!!) of my childhood, my impression is that they were more like dress rehearsals for Easter than the beginning of Holy Week. As good Presbyterians, we wouldn't be caught dead with palm branches like the Catholics, Episcopalians, and Lutherans, but Mom made sure our attire was only slightly less dressy than Easter. I have no recollection of a "Passion" emphasis on Palm Sunday, just the long-awaited arrival of Spring. Things have changed a bit, but not a lot. We'd still just as soon pole vault over the week between Palm Sunday and Easter. There are reasons why we'd rather forget about Holy Thursday and Good Friday, but they are more cultural than Christian. Let's get together on March 28 and talk about the inconvenience of Holy Week.
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