SERMON FODDER
 LENT 4B
March 22, 2009

SCRIPTURES

Numbers 21:4-9. The people's complaining brought death in the form of serpents. God offered healing from the serpents' bite for all who would look upon a bronze serpent Moses fashioned and lifted on a pole.
Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22  A psalm of thanksgiving for deliverance from deadly disease caused by or otherwise connected with human sin. Tone 1 in E-flat major would be most appropriate for the upbeat theme of this psalm.
Ephesians 2:1-10. Paul proclaims the power of God's salvation, delivering us from "the ruler of the power in the air" and "the passions of our flesh," which were killing us. God extends this salvation to humans through grace — not through our earning it in any way — and this salvation not only breaks the chains of the powers that bind us, but empowers us to live lives full of good works, a reflection of the "immeasurable riches of God's grace" that God desires to lavish upon all who will receive them, now and in the age to come.
 

John 3:14-21. Jesus offers two meta-narratives to help Nicodemus understand the meaning of God's salvation through him — Moses lifting up the serpent, and God's free gift of eternal life to all who will "believe into" (i.e., live as disciples of) Jesus.

-This rebirth or new birth or being born from above is something that turns everything inside out and upside down. That makes our previous perceptions about ourselves and about God seem dead wrong or at best incomplete.

- Eyes wide shut. Title of movie but might make a good sermon title.

- The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Isaiah

-Jesus knew that the "How to" questions were not the questions Nicodemus really wanted answered. The questions which had driven Nicodemus to come to Jesus by night were probably more along the lines of "Who am I? Why was I born? Where do I belong? How can I be at peace with who I am?"

-The birth story is: God so loved you that God gives you life.

-From the Textweek website, I was reminded that the healing emblem for the medical profession is the symbol of the snake intwined on the staff... same image for this weeks' Hebrew Bible reading and the gospel.

-Often, rather than admitting, "I am the problem," we are more likely to confess that a few bad deeds are the problem: "I've lied, so I'd better stop lying." "I stole a comic book and I'd better stop doing that." The problem is not the things we do; but that we are us -- sinful human beings. Stoffregen

-‘WHY can I be more honest at my AA group than I can at church?" Mother asked. At 74, she was new to Alcoholics Anony- mous. "I don’t really know, Mom," I said, "maybe it’s because they know it’s a matter of life and death at AA and they don’t at church." I think church structures typically invite individual feelings of guilt but do not provide a relational field with room for repentance and time for restoration. Marjory Zoet Bankson

-Keep in mind, the days are getting longer now. Spring is here. New birth is all around us and more light comes each day.

SERMON:       "OUT DAMNED SPOT!"    Lady McBeth says those words which are so well-remembered: "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!" We remember this line so well
because it tells the truth about our sin. It causes a stain that is impossible to remove except for the grace of God.

-They prefer darkness rather than light, death rather than life.
-It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man. Einstein
-The light shining in the darkness.
-All evil grounded in disbelief. Dostoevsky
-For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Romans 7:19-21
-You don't carry light you carry the source.
-Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less. Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more
-Darkness is strangely vulnerable to darkness
-You see but your shadow when you turn your back to the sun. Gibran
-We all contribute to the darkness in the world
-Jesus is the light in our darkness. M.Borg
-"I am the light of the world." John 8:12...
-You love him the way he loves everyone...never seeing just crowds but always people...and reaching out to touch them, heal them, make them whole. Bbtaylor
-healing," "health," "wholeness," "wellness," and "holiness" all share the same etymological root, meaning "full" or "complete."
- Where my roots reach water
-Faith is being ceased by a power that is greater than we are...one that transforms us and heals us...Surrender to that power is called faith. Tillich
-Holy: healing comes from the word Holy. Holy means wholeness Chopra
-Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue. Eugene O'Neill
-Change is not something you do. It's something you allow. Will Garcia
-Go beyond transaction to transformational.
God is not through with us yet
-I think of Lent as an Outward Bound for the soul. No one has to sign up for it, but if you do then you give up the illusion that you are in control of your life. B.B. T
-We are responsible for our own healing. (Join a support group, talk to someone, etc.)
-Evil is not our essence...God intended us for better things. Walter Wink,
-Lenten penance may be more effective if we fail than if we succeed for its purpose is not to confirm us but to show us our need for salvation. Mark Searle
-If something is worth giving up, it should be for more than just the few weeks between Ash Wednesday and Easter.
-Giving up sin, not chocolates. Craig R.Higgins,
-God is not only over creation, God is in it. God is not merely transcendent but is also immanent. John Macquarrienot
-We are not tempted because we are evil but because we are human
-I am not perfect but I am enough. Carl Rogers
-Jesus did not take something out of us to make us good. He helped us recognize something with in…..
-Forgiveness is grace.
-For God to forgive me is to change me. W.J.Burghardt, S.J.
-Satan, the Old Deluder, he persuades very smart people that he doesn’t exist. Gomes

QUOTES
- Of course, we are only honorary sinners." Krister Stendahl
-We are all pregnant with the potential of spiritual purpose

HUMOR
-I’m drinking from my saucer…my cup runneth over.
"I am, Jr." (says Jesus)
-Never join a perfect church, otherwise it won't be perfect anymore.

ILLUSTRATIONS
-The nearest expression of God-like love this current generation has produced might be in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Love Changes Everything”. In it we sing, “Love, love changes everything, hands and faces, earth and sky. Love, love changes everything, how you live and how you die. . . Yes, love, love changes everything . . . live or perish in its name. Love will never ever let you be the same . . .” We can hope that is so. Another possible expression of God’s love comes from hymnody. “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” calls God’s love, “Joy of heaven to earth come down . . .”
- Snakes: can travel six miles an hour without feet. Can climb trees with no hands. Can shed skins and start all over again. In the 1999 Harris Poll, 40% of Americans listed snakes as that thing in life that they feared most. Snakes beat out speaking in public and spiders.
--The cave heard a voice calling to it: "Come up into the light... come and see the sunshine. The cave replied: "I don't know what you mean; there isn't anything here but darkness." Finally the cave ventured forth and was surprised to see light all around. Looking up to the sun, the cave said: "Come with me and see my darkness." The sun agreed and entered the cave...."Now show me your darkness." But there was no darkness

CHILDREN
-I played the game with the children, “Do I love you this much?” How much do your parent(s) love you? This much? (Fingers are spread about an inch apart?) NO. This much? (Fingers spread to six inches apart.) NO. This much? You repeat the process until your arms are outstretched as much as possible and I ask: Do your parents love you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much? And the children all shout, YES. So does God. Edward F. Markquart,
-Talk about all the ways you can use the word, "so". God SO loved the world; I am SO angry, SO, I guess that's the way it is; He's an old "SO AND SO"; SO it was you, etc. etc. Talk about why the word so is so important in John 3:16.(This idea is from a sermon by Edward F. Markquart,)
-Humpty dumpty..." all the kings horses and all the King's men could never put humpty together again". (Only God can heal in lasting ways) Lindy

PRAYER PHRASES
-Gracious God, who sent Jesus to be the light of the world, give us grace to recognize the light of his presence in the midst of our darkness and to knock on the door that he might be born more fully in us, and make us, like him, the light to our world, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Debra Metzgar Shew
-O Lord, open our eyes that we may see the needs of others; open our ears that we may hear their cries; open our hearts so that they need not be without succor; let us not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong, nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich. Show us where love and hope and faith are needed, and use us to bring them to those places. And so open our eyes and our ears that we may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for thee. Amen.


 
TRY http://www.textweek.com/ YOU'LL LOVE IT!!!
 home
mailto:ablack3@twcny.rr.com





 
-