Words of Welcome

Psalm 32 Are you happy? Do you feel blessed by God? Then you must be forgiven. While none of us is sinless, the good news is we can be free from that nagging joy-killing sense of guilt that comes with sin. Therefore, let the recipients of God’s grace and mercy “be glad in the Lord.”  During our Lenten journey, we’ve heard the Psalmist declare that God is our refuge and strength. Indeed, God’s steadfast love surrounds us when life proves challenging. Today’s reading from Psalm 32 begins with a pair of beatitudes that assure us that God forgives our transgressions so we can experience God’s peace.  The Psalmist speaks of his transgressions weighing down on him. When it comes to our transgressions, our sins, they come in different forms, but each form is corrosive. Sin eats at our being. It disrupts our relationship with God, with each other, and with the world itself. There is good news, however. The Psalmist tells us that if we acknowledge and confess our sins and transgressions t

  Psalm 27 Angelic and divine visitations in the biblical story often begin with the words: “Be not afraid.” That’s because heavenly visitations don’t happen every day, so they take us by surprise. The word we hear in Psalm 27 offers us a word of assurance in difficult times. The psalmist proclaims that God is our light and salvation. Therefore, “whom shall I fear?” Now, if we’re honest, aren’t we afraid of at least a few things? It might be spiders or snakes or heights, but fear is part of life. The question is, what do we do with our fears?   In my Christmas Eve meditation, I mentioned the story of Charlie Brown who pays a visit to Lucy’s psychiatrist booth because he’s feeling a bit depressed and doesn’t know why.  Lucy tries to diagnose Charlie Brown’s problem by naming a series of phobias that range from a fear of cats to climbing stairs. Finally, Lucy leans across the counter and asks Charlie Brown: “Do you have pantophobia ?” After she defines, “ pantophobia ” as the “fea

  Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Last Sunday we accompanied Jesus up the mountain so he could pray. This Sunday we join Jesus as he goes into the wilderness to fast and pray. During his time in the wilderness, Jesus faces three temptations. Each time he says no to the tempter.  Jesus’ forty-day sojourn in the wilderness serves as the foundation for our Lenten journey. During this season we have the opportunity to look inward and reflect on our relationship with God and one another. I’m drawing my Lenten sermons from the Psalms, which provide us with prayers and songs that speak to our deepest concerns and greatest joys. So whether it’s a song of praise or lament, the Psalms invite us to sing to God from the heart. With this in mind Walter Brueggemann speaks of why we sing as the people of God:   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

  Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 We come here today to have our faces marked with ash. We do this even though Jesus tells us not to practice our piety in front of people. After all, God can see our hearts and actions. So there’s no need to impress God with big displays of our piety. Nevertheless, here we are, about to have our faces marked with ash. We find ourselves sitting in the crowd listening to Jesus give his Sermon on the Mount. We hear him tell us that when we give our offerings, pray, or fast, we should make sure no one is looking. If you’re going to fast, don’t make it look like you’re miserable. Instead of disfiguring your face, wash it and put oil on your head. Look good. So, no ash on the forehead! When you pray, don’t stand on a corner so everyone can hear your eloquence. Instead, go into a closet and talk with God. When you give your offerings, don’t stand up and make a big deal about it. Don’t expect a plaque on the wall, just take comfort in knowing that God sees you and t