Today’s sermon, at least in draft. I’m looking at excerpts from Psalm 37 (in verses 1-10):
I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to preach on today. I looked at the second half of the gospel and it made me think. Most of Jesus’ parables seem, to me, to have Jesus saying outrageous things – like abandoning 99 sheep to find one lost sheep – as though they were normal, rational actions. And certainly my response to who would serve someone working for you all day first is that, of course, I would. Yet I suspect (without actually knowing) that, in this case, Jesus’ story actually reflects the norms of his (very stratified) society. I looked at the first half of today’s gospel and thought: wasn’t it C. S. Lewis who quoted this passage? Didn’t he say that, of course, non of us take this literally? And then he wondered (in it’s aftermath) if World War II might have been averted if only we Christians had been more faithful in our prayers.
Prayer.
Prayers.
I’ve always meant to preach on the Psalter. We know, on one level, that it’s poetry (or, since it was likely meant to be sung in some fashion, song). And, as poetry, it’s my impression at least, most people don’t seem to take the psalter very seriously. But the Psalter is known, in tradition, as the prayer book of the Bible. And in monastic tradition, it is the backbone of the daily offices. The psalms are recited together in community, slowly, again and again, day after day. Monastics talk about being slowly ground down and formed by this recitation of the psalms. (more…)
The Sunset Juggler (formerly The Dragon's Mouth) 