Preaching Commentaries
for “Promise Us,”
a Lenten series for Year B
Promise Us: a series for Lent 2021
Based on the texts of the Revised Common Lectionary, Lent Year B Have you ever been changed by a promise? Sure you have. We all have. Maybe it was a girl whose pinky-sworn friendship strengthened you to slay the dragons of childhood. Maybe it was a partner whose promise of faithfulness gave you the courage…
Ash Wednesday: to dust you shall return
Preaching text: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 OK, you know how I labelled this as a lectionary-based series? Well, for Ash Wednesday, I’m going to suggest that you preach about the liturgy rather than the texts, thus breaking that premise. As the start of a series about promises, the irony of this is not lost on me.…
Lent 1: A Bow in the Clouds
Preaching text: Genesis 9:8-17 When I was a little girl, I would read the story of Noah’s Ark in my children’s Bible without any sense of perturbation. I liked the pictures of the animals going into the ark two by two. We had a wooden model of the ark that could be taken apart and…
Lent 2: Ancestors of nations
Preaching text: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 Last summer when Pastor Emily led our review of this year’s Lent texts, she brought along an illustration from children’s bible. In it, a gray-haired Sarah and Isaac are smiling down at a swaddled Abraham. The text on this page read, “God told Sarah she would have a baby anyway!…
Lent 3: The 10 Best Ways
Preaching text: Exodus 20:1-17 My mother informs me that one of the very first words I learned as a tot was “NO.” Having mastered it, I delighted in using it to comment on everything from the food on my dinner plate to the idea of going to bed at a reasonable hour. There’s a special…
Lent 4: Fiery Serpents
Preaching text: Numbers 21:4-9 Hi, my name is Victoria, and I listen to podcasts about disease for fun. Today, I want you to come with me on an epidemiological journey. Our way shall be fraught with both joy and disgust as we nerd out about how this story about poisonous snakes might actually be about…
Lent 5: Written on Our Hearts
Preaching text: Jeremiah 31:31-34 I have this problem. It might be unique to clergy who have been steeped in a low anthropology (a fancy way of saying that humanity’s basic moral orientation is toward the crappy). Whenever anyone says something like, “You deserve it” or “But she’s such a good person” or “There are good…
Palm/Passion Sunday: THE BIG ONE
Preaching text: Mark 14:1-15:47 Welcome to one of the most confused day of the church year! Are we happy? Are we cheering Hosanna? Are we nailing Jesus to the cross? Are we doing both? How? Why? A quick explanation for the uninitiated: throughout much of church history, this day is Palm Sunday, and the focus…