Lenten Sermons: The 4th Sunday in Lent, Year A

Two seriously ill men occupied the same hospital room. The man in the bed by the window was allowed to sit up for about an hour each day to help drain fluid from his lungs. The other was required to lay flat on his back after surgery.

During their days together, the two men became friends. They talked extensively about their families, their careers, and their past experiences. And during the hour or so that the one man was allowed to sit up, he would describe for his friend all the things that could be seen outside – through the window. One day, he described the unfolding beauty of Spring as the flowers outside the window blossomed into radiant colors. Another day, he talked about the parade that was passing by on the street below. He described the parade in such exquisite detail that his friend could almost hear the trumpets playing and the drums keeping the beat.

Though the man confined to bed could not see these things, he could at least imagine them. And they gave him a sense of comfort and hope.

Late one night, the patient by the window passed away. The other man was brokenhearted. How he would miss his friend. And how he would miss the description of the world beyond the window.

The next day, the man asked if his bed could be moved to the place by the window. The nurses agreed, and a short time later, the other hospital bed was rolled away and his was rolled into place. Then the nurses left, and he was alone.

Slowly, painfully, the patient raised himself up on one elbow to gaze outside. At last, he would get to see the world’s beauty for himself – with his own eyes. Higher and higher he lifted himself until his head raised over the window sill, and his eyes caught sight…of nothing. There was nothing there! The window faced the brick wall of another building!

The man called the nurse and asked how this could be. He told her about the parade, and about the flowers bursting into colorful life. Why would his friend make up such things?

The nurse shrugged her shoulders and said she didn’t know. Maybe just to cheer him up and make him feel better. But what, she said, was stranger still – was the fact that the other man… was blind!

Blessed are those who see things the rest of us don’t see. (Full Sermon)

GodVision – 1 Samuel 16:1 – 13

A Sunday School class was studying Jesus’ disciples.  The teacher told the class that Jesus reached out and chose ordinary, everyday people—fishermen, tax collectors, sinners all. Then he asked the class, “What does this tell you about Jesus?” hoping they would recognize the amazing grace of Jesus calling ordinary, very human people to do extraordinary things.

One of the boys answered, “It tells me Jesus was a lousy judge of character.” 

And maybe he was!

In fact, throughout the Bible, God consistently chooses the wrong kind of people. (Full Sermon)

From “Why?” to “Wow!” – John 9:1-25

“Rabbi, who sinned – this man or his parents – that he was born blind?”

That’s the question the disciples put to Jesus one day when they encountered this man begging by the side of the road. Unable to work and provide a living of his own, the man was dependent upon the generosity of others.

And I think the disciples felt badly that it was so. In their journey with Jesus they had been discovering all sorts of wonderful things about the love of God for people. And more and more, it just didn’t seem to make sense that a loving God would allow such tragedies to take place.

So they had questions. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents – that he was born blind?”

 At its heart, it is the same question you and I ask when we are confronted by the harshness of life. It is the great existential question, “Why?”

Why was this man born blind?

Why was my child born with Down’s Syndrome?

Why did my husband die leaving me all alone?

Why did I get cancer?

Why did that tornado destroy my house?

Why do bad things happen to good people?

“Why was this man born blind?” (Full Sermon)