Sermon Synopses - February 2008

Sermons at Trinity are usually ex tempore, that is done without notes...Please enjoy our "Sermon Synopses" or short summaries of sermons preached at Trinity

Link to Sermons Synopses for additional summaries available from this year.

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Sermon for Ash Wednesday
February 6, 2008

Todd said that Lent is a time to make a fresh beginning.  “Fresh beginning?”  What about being reminded of our end?  What about ashes (the opposite of fresh)?

Lent is a journey that is a microcosm of the Christian journey, said Todd; for 40 days we make in miniature the movements that outline our whole life of faith.  The Gospel lessons for the upcoming Sundays of Lent outline our journey.  First, we head out to the desert with Jesus for a time apart (Matt 4).  Then with Nicodemus we engage Jesus in a face to face teaching session (John 3).  Next with the woman at the well we come to know Jesus as living water (John 4).  With the man born blind our eyes are opened to see and worship Jesus (John 9).  Finally, we come to the tomb with Lazarus, and Jesus says to us, “Come out!” and we know resurrection.  Our journey begins with ashes on Ash Wednesday.

All spiritual journeys and deepening of faith begin with a remembrance of our mortality.  Look in the scriptures how many of the blind, sick and lame came to Jesus to be healed; their mortality led them to the Christ.  Conversely, look how often in the Hebrew scriptures we see the people of Israel setting up gods for themselves; they are forgetting their mortality and putting themselves in the place of God.  Spiritual progress begins when we remember that we are mortal, and that only God is God.

The disciplines of Lent remind us that only God is God:  Fasting – we are empty and can only truly be filled by God; Prayer – the proper relationship of people to God is on our knees before our creator; almsgiving – reminds us that all that we have is a gift from God.

If we are faithful to this Lenten journey, come Easter we will truly know resurrection.

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Sermon for February 3, 2008
Last Sunday After the Epiphany
Matt 17:1-9

Todd began by telling of a dormant volcano in the northwest corner of Iceland – Snaefellsnesjokul (?) – that is a mountain shrouded in mystery.  It is seen among Icelanders to be the kingdom of elves and fairies, and people used to not go near it.  Adherents of the New Age movement regard this mountain as one of the seven energy centers of the earth, and Jules Verne used it as the entry point into the earth in his novel Journey Into the Center of the Earth.  This mountain is a mystery and a path into the center of things.

Todd is reminded of his trip to this volcano by this morning’s Gospel lesson, not merely because it takes place on a mountain, but because it is a mountain shrouded in mystery and is a direct link to the heart of reality for us as Christians.  Todd drew connections between this passage and Old Testament symbols – mountains, tents, shining lights, the Law, the Prophets – and he gave a few examples of how the Fathers of the Church variously interpreted the different signs.

Todd said that he would not be able to give a definitive interpretation of the text – and he didn’t feel bad for not doing so, for nobody else for the last 2,000 years has been able to do so, either!  “Nobody is quite sure what this text means.  But everybody is in agreement that it is important” for understanding Christ, said Todd.  Todd said that the passage might be helpful for us in examining our own experience as disciples.  Just as the disciples, when they were drawing close to the heart of the mystery, felt a sense of “home” (Peter wanted to build dwellings and stay there) juxtaposed with fear, so, too, can we know that we are drawing close to the mystery when we feel a mixture of “home” and “fear.”  The mixture of “home” and fear is a sign that we are drawing closer to God.

Todd mentioned examples from scripture about people feeling “home” in connection to God, as well as to “fear” in connection to God.  He said that if we were to feel only one or the other, chances are, we would not be drawing as close to the mystery as we think.  God is neither all “home” nor all “fear.”

Todd noted that Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration is the only account in which Jesus touches the disciples and tells them to “Get up and do not be afraid.”  Todd encouraged us in our journey, saying that, if we do fear as we draw near, Jesus will touch us, too,  tell us to not be afraid, and walk down the mountain with us.

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