Claimed, gathered and sent

This is where my meanderings took me in the sermon I preached yesterday: Lent calls us to reflect—to reflect upon our lives, on Christ, on our relationships with God and neighbor. We may be satisfied with our lives as they are…or we may find that something is missing, that we are thirsty, hungry, and needy. This was the case for the people of Israel. They had been in exile in Babylon, far from home, feeling far from God—thirsty, hungry, and needy. That is the setting of this morning’s passage from Isaiah. God calls out, “ … everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isa 55:1 NRS). This theme introduces our first lesson. Is God talking about physical or spiritual food here? The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” That is for everyone— for God’s ancient people and for us. As I was finishing this sermon yesterday, a

Tomorrow I'm supplying for a friend. I'll be preaching on the first lesson, Isaiah 55:1-9 , which has been deeply meaningful for me. The sermon is still just in my mind, but this morning, working on other assignments, I was listening to internet radio and the following song came on: Whether the hunger and thirst are physical or spiritual, it can be a scary place to be in. And yet God keeps on calling us to come to the feast, to not be afraid. Those are just some of the thoughts that are swirling through my head as I prepare to proclaim God's Word of plenteous food and drink for God's people. When it has come together and been preached, I'll post it.

I posted this article on Facebook yesterday and got some great feedback from fellow seminarians and recent grads. What do those of you think who are pastors and lay people in the churches? Features February 23, 2010 Enough about me There is no 'I' in preach by William Brosend The combination is toxic, a perfect homiletical storm. A recent seminary graduate comes to her first parish, moving halfway across the country with her fiancé soon to follow. Sermon after sermon includes a story about a seminary classmate, about how much she loves the place where she used to live and how different "home" is from her new community and, inevitably, about how her wedding plans remind her of something in the epistle. In another pulpit, a preacher approaching retirement has disc