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Lazarus, come out!
This sermon is special for me. It's my one-hundredth sermon. Most have been preached at St. John the Evangelist, Larcom Street. Some were preached at St. Matthew's, my own parish church. I believe that the first few were preached at St. Luke-in-the-Fields at Integrity/New York Eucharists, back in the bad old days of the late 1980's and early 1990's. So I've been preaching for a quarter of a century, on and off.
No matter how long I have been preaching, it astounds me that a sermon that I think is ordinary, or even less than ordinary, is appreciated and remembered by the congregation. This week's sermon was like that.
I often get some ideas for starters from a weekly mailing I get from sermons.com, a commercial outfit that sends out teasers of sermons to preachers, hoping that they will pay exhorbitant sums to get the entire sermon toplagiarise er, use as inspiration. The beginning of this sermon was one of those teasers. There was no theology in this teaser, just the story. And I thought, "You know, I haven't used a joke to begin a sermon for years. Maybe it's time." So that's what I did. But, I wasn't overly thrilled with it.
But, you know, sometimes it's in the delivery. I wasn't planning to do this, but when I got to the punchphrase at the end of the joke, I shot out my hand and pointed at the churchwarden in the back and shouted it. People took notice. Some even laughed. And afterwards, at coffee, around 5 people said to me, "Great sermon." I'm not ordained, but sometimes they call me "Father". Oddly enough, even though I am of the largest order in the Church, the laity, I take a bit of satisfaction out of that.
Now that I have 100 sermons on my hard drive, I'm thinking that I might put them together for my own reference. I haven't published them all here. But do I have the courage to self-publish?
In the name of God, the one, the Undivided Trinity. AMEN.
Three friends were discussing death and one of them asked: "What would you like people to say about you at your funeral?"
The first of the friends said: I would like them to say, He was a great humanitarian, who cared about his community.
The second said: I want them to say: He was a great husband and father, who was an example for many to follow.
The third friend said, I would like them to say, "Look, he's moving!!"
( The rest of the sermon is behind the cut )
No matter how long I have been preaching, it astounds me that a sermon that I think is ordinary, or even less than ordinary, is appreciated and remembered by the congregation. This week's sermon was like that.
I often get some ideas for starters from a weekly mailing I get from sermons.com, a commercial outfit that sends out teasers of sermons to preachers, hoping that they will pay exhorbitant sums to get the entire sermon to
But, you know, sometimes it's in the delivery. I wasn't planning to do this, but when I got to the punchphrase at the end of the joke, I shot out my hand and pointed at the churchwarden in the back and shouted it. People took notice. Some even laughed. And afterwards, at coffee, around 5 people said to me, "Great sermon." I'm not ordained, but sometimes they call me "Father". Oddly enough, even though I am of the largest order in the Church, the laity, I take a bit of satisfaction out of that.
Now that I have 100 sermons on my hard drive, I'm thinking that I might put them together for my own reference. I haven't published them all here. But do I have the courage to self-publish?
April 6, 2014 Fifth Sunday of Lent
Sermon delivered at St. John the Evangelist, 10AM.
First Reading: Ezekiel 37:12-14
Epistle: Romans 8:8-11
Gospel: John 11:3-7,17,20-27,33-45
Sermon delivered at St. John the Evangelist, 10AM.
First Reading: Ezekiel 37:12-14
Epistle: Romans 8:8-11
Gospel: John 11:3-7,17,20-27,33-45
In the name of God, the one, the Undivided Trinity. AMEN.
Three friends were discussing death and one of them asked: "What would you like people to say about you at your funeral?"
The first of the friends said: I would like them to say, He was a great humanitarian, who cared about his community.
The second said: I want them to say: He was a great husband and father, who was an example for many to follow.
The third friend said, I would like them to say, "Look, he's moving!!"
( The rest of the sermon is behind the cut )