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2012 Lent 19: Good Friday Sermon, in Which I Performed a Hymn Verse I Wrote

No, I don't have video, or audio. Sorry, Mom. I preached something like this at Lutheran Church of the Savior on Good Friday 2012. I sang each of the three verses a capella: the first two in the joyous, dancing, incongruous way I know from recent years, and the third slow and sad, my voice breaking on the final few lines as I choked up and nearly wept on my manuscript. Not that I stuck to the manuscript, but still.

1.    As I have prepared for Good Friday, prayed about it, reflected on the death of our Lord, read theological treatises and counter-arguments (seriously, you should see my Facebook feed today), one song has constantly come back to me. No, it’s not our next hymn tonight [O Sacred Head, Now Wounded], though that's where the smart money would be, on my all-time-favorite Good Friday song, though we’ll sing it, and it’ll be absolutely amazing, like it always is, and I’ll probably cry, like I usually do. 

2012 Lent 18: Good Friday Links, ctd

James MacMillan's Seven Last Words are gorgeous like ice is cold.

 This is just the third part. Of seven. It melts every part of me.

I first heard this live in Battell Chapel at Yale, performed by my colleagues and friends, and wow. What a privilege it is to experience such beauty in such a world.

2012 Lent 17: Good Friday Links

Yes, I know Good Friday is technically not a part of Lent. Or I think that's the case, anyway. Still, I'm behind in my Lenten blogging goals, so it counts and I don't want to hear anymore grumbling (from me, because seriously, no one else cares. I know this) about it.

"Jesus Will Not Be Pimped" is a great post by my school colleague Julia - who sadly doesn't get to watch the Killamazoo Derby Darlins skate tonight, even though they're in her town - about the Good Friday resonances of a political campaign in Alaska.

"Is God Angry at You?" comes from David Lose, who influences more Lutheran (and other) preachers each Sunday than anybody else I can think of kicking around right now.

2012 Lent 16: On Poetry and Faith, ctd

April is National Poetry Month, and some of my old friends (including this blog's Official Poet) have started a website for all the poems they write this month. It's pretty great, and the poem posted for today, aptly titled "Triduum," is not to be missed.

As I said in the comments on that blog, the following excerpt - words, sounds, images - is as Good Friday as it gets -

Now? The two are carrying
his corpse, ruddy flesh
spotted maroon, brown
primordial clay mottled
with drying blood still wet.
The grinding mash
of leathered feet against gravel
mimics memories of the crunch
of kernels between his teeth.

2012 Lent 15: April Newsletter Article

April 2012 Newsletter article

O Christ, create new hearts in us

that beat in time with yours,

that, joined by faith with your great heart,

become love’s open doors.

We are your body, risen Christ;

our hearts, our hands we yield

that through our life and ministry

your love may be revealed.

- Herman G. Stuempfle Jr., “O Christ, Your Heart, Compassionate,” ELW 722

Last week I found myself reading an online review of a book about how religion can be useful to atheists. Rather than digging into the core argument of either the review or the book, I want to talk about one particularly valuable insight.

“If you ask people in modern western societies whether they are religious, they tend to answer by telling you what they believe (or don't believe). When you examine religion as a universal human phenomenon, however, its connections with belief are far more tenuous.” (John Gray, http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2012/02/religion-atheism-atheists)

2012 Lent 14: Holy Week

Holy Week is Coming Soon!

This year Holy Week is the first week of April, and Lutheran Church of the Savior will be celebrating Palm Sunday / Sunday of the Passion and the Three Days, or the Triduum, of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Vigil of Easter on Saturday evening. Each of these worship experiences is unique and features ancient ritual in current expression. 

·         Palm Sunday / Sunday of the Passion (4/1/12) will begin with a procession of the congregation featuring new Eco-Palms, fair-trade plants that benefit Lutheran World Relief, handed out by our Sunday School kids. We'll stay with the Palm longer than usual, allowing that celebration to shape our entire gathering until after Holy Communion, when we will turn to an interactive reading of the Passion of Our Lord. As if all that is not enough, this is also the Sunday we will welcome BenJammin and Analisa Gauthier to help lead music. Our plan is that they will join us one Sunday morning per month, enhancing our worship experience with instruments and interactivity.

·         Maundy Thursday (4/5/12) will again include the ancient ritual of foot-washing, emphasizing our humility before we partake in Holy Communion as Jesus and his disciples did on the night in which he was betrayed. This year we will partner with Sunnyside UMC on this day. Sunnyside will host a noon Maundy Thursday gathering, while LCS hosts one at 7:00pm