Words of Welcome

Psalm 32 Are you happy? Then you must be forgiven! While none of us is  completely sinless, apparently it’s possible to be free of that nagging joy-killing sense of guilt that comes with sin. It appears that we can “be glad in the Lord and rejoice,” if we’re found to be among the righteous. We can “shout for joy,” if “we’re upright in heart.” The good news is we can start with the promise of forgiveness. So says the Psalmist. We’re at the halfway point in our Lenten journey, and during this season we’ve been spending time with the Psalms. We’ve mostly heard words of assurance. We’ve heard that God is our refuge and our fortress, and that we live under the protective cover of God’s wings. We’ve heard the promise of God’s steadfast love surrounding us.  These are words of divine grace that offer us comfort and encouragement, especially when life’s circumstances are challenging. Of course, Lent is a season of reflection and even penitence. So, could another shoe be wa

Psalm 63:1-8 Isaiah called out to the exiles living in Babylon: Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  ( Is. 55:1 ) Are you thirsty? Are you hungry? Then come and drink and eat, freely, for the gift of God is one of grace, and it alone will satisfy. As we continue our Lenten journey, the word we hear from the Psalmist echoes the words of Isaiah. This Psalm is said to come from David as he was in the wilderness of Judah. Both Isaiah and David speak of hunger and thirst. The question then becomes, for what do you hunger and thirst? Is it physical or is it spiritual? The fact is we will experience both forms in the course of lives. Both are real and both seek satisfaction. And in way or another, God is the source of that satisfaction. This morning as we ponder the words of the Psalm, we are invited to consider what it means to be truly thirsty. As we consi

Psalm 27 Whenever an angel or even God appears in the biblical story, the first words we hear are usually “Be not afraid.”  There’s a reason for this. Heavenly visitations don’t occur very often, so we need to hear words of  assurance that everything is going to be okay. The word we hear this morning is that the Lord is our light and salvation, so “whom shall I fear?” The word of the Lord this morning might be “do not be afraid,” but if we’re honest with ourselves, we all experience fear once in awhile. It might be spiders or snakes, or heights, or something else. Whatever it is, what does fear to do us?  Does it paralyze us? Does it cause us to flee? Does it cause us to fight? I expect our answer depends on the person and the situation, but whatever the situation, fear usually brings a reaction of some kind.  In The Charlie Brown Christmas, Charlie Brown is feeling depressed. He’s not sure why, but he knows something is wrong. So, he pays a visit to Lucy’s psychi

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 You who live in the shelter of the Most High,   who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust. During this Lenten Season, I will be drawing my sermons from the Psalms, and it is with these words from Psalm 91 that we begin our Lenten journey.  The prayers and songs that make up the Book of Psalms speak to our deepest concerns. They allow us to sing from the heart to God, offering words of praise, thanksgiving, lament, and even anger with God. They allow us to speak and to hear God’s response.    Singing stands at the heart of the Christian faith, but why do we sing? Walter Brueggemann responds to this question by writing: “We sing because life is God-given, God-sustained, and God-claimed. Our singing is our glad assent to that God-givenness and refusal to have our lives be less than, more than, or other than that” [ A Glad Obedience, p. 2].  So, we sang this mor

Exodus 34:29-35 Today we bring to a close the season of Epiphany.  We began Epiphany by traveling with the Magi to the home of the Holy Family so homage could be paid to Emmanuel, “God with us.” From there we encountered other manifestations of God’s presence in the world. Now we come to the moment when we get to climb the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, so we can witness  Jesus’ encounter with Moses and Elijah. We watch with them as the  divine radiance within Jesus shines through, revealing the glory of God which Jesus embodies. Then, even though we are already overwhelmed with wonder, a cloud envelopes us, and  we hear the voice of God declare: “This is my Son, the Chosen; listen to him.” ( Lk 9:28-36 ). The reading from Exodus 34 reveals another divine encounter on a mountain top. While Jesus took three disciples on his journey to the mountain top, Moses goes alone on this journey lasting forty-days and forty-nights. And like Jesus in his wi