Sermon 10.01.2023: The Holy Weedwhacker

After the resurrection of Jesus, he walks with two men to a village called Emmaus. But his companions do not recognize who he is until they sit down and break bread with him. When have we walked with Jesus without even realizing it? How might we recognize Jesus in others and in the world?

At the start of Lent, the children 'buried' an alleluia in worship. We put the word away during a season. On Easter, we bring it back. On the first Easter morning, the women went to the tomb, assuming their alleluias were going to stay buried forever. Their rabbi was dead. Their hopes and dreams, buried with him. An encounter with the angels in the empty tomb makes them reconsider what they thought they knew of death, of endings. Maybe you've buried a lot of your hopes and dreams recently too. What might the Easter story have to say to us anew this year?

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As Jesus enters Jerusalem, he is greeted by raucous crowds. It is a celebration of him. It is also a counter protest to Rome. The crowds have gathered and are crying out "hosanna", which means "save us". Save us from injustice. Save us from cruelty. Save us from crushing poverty. Jesus does not silence the crowds. And he responds to their cries by weeping over Jerusalem and by turning over tables in the Temple.

It is easy these days to say who we are against. Maybe it has always been easy to do so. What is harder is to create space for people to change their minds, change their views, change their behavior. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem, he stops in Jericho and accepts an invitation to eat at the home of someone who society wanted to cancel. How can the story of Zacchaeus help us give space for each other?

The Good Shepherd calls home all of the sheep, even "those" sheep. No matter how far you've wandered, no matter who has tried to separate you from God's fold, Jesus is waiting. It's time for a homecoming. 

Jesus continues his journey to Jerusalem and his disciples ask him a question as they walk. They want him to answer the questions we always want God to answer for us too—why do bad things happen to good people? Join us as we consider Jesus' answer to the question.

The story of Mary and Martha is often painted as a story where one does right and one does wrong. We know, however, that life is often more complicated than that. We know that faith is embodied through being present and taking action—and everything in between. Join us on this second Sunday in Lent as we consider, how can we live along the spectrum of faith and works.

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