SSJE Sermons

“Today we must pray our lives and offer up to Jesus our isolation, grief, anxiety, and helplessness. We must hear Jesus admonition: 'Come to me all who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest.' We must acknowledge that our death to self is a process and we will have many opportunities to follow Jesus' example, an example that passes through the gate of Good Friday.” During a Holy Week when there is so much to mourn, Br. Jim Woodrum explores what is "good" about Good Friday.

Good Friday John 18:1-19:37 Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police…

“For many people all over the world, it is night, and we are all overwhelmed by a sense of uncertainty; of loneliness; of isolation; of fear, as the world is plunged into darkness. Yet for Jesus, the answer to the darkness of Maundy Thursday is not fear, but love.” This fear-filled Holy Week, Br. James Koester encourages us to see that, as the world is plunged into darkness, Jesus stands among us, inviting us not to fear, but to love.

“As humans, we lament. In this Holy and particular week, lament is our prayer. Be stark and boldly real naming your pain, fear, protest, and questions. Write them out, speak, draw, or act them out. Let yourself weep and groan. At the same time, remember and trust that you are being heard.” Br. Luke Ditewig reminds us that God hears every cry and grieves with us.

“Psalm 71, appointed for today, speaks to a calamity. Psalm 71 is both a diagnosis and a prescription for those who suffer.” Br. Curtis Almquist walks us through Psalm 71, powerful words for all of us today, as we live in the fear of death and the hope of resurrection.

“In the midst of this pandemic, isolation, anxiety, sickness, bereavement, have already weighed heavily on all of us. So how might we, on this Palm Sunday, prepare ourselves for this Holy Week, a Holy Week perhaps like no other we have ever experienced?” On this Palm Sunday in the midst of pandemic, Br. Geoffrey Tristram invites us to be guided by our thirst and trust that God will meet us there.

“Who among us has not buried a Lazarus? Who among us is not burying a Lazarus, or weeping outside his tomb right now? Your Lazarus may be literal. You know someone who has died, or who is dying, or who is in grave danger of death if something does not happen soon.” Br. Keith Nelson returns to the passage on Lazarus in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, looking for hope.

“We use the Bible as a weapon whenever we insist on our own interpretation or meaning-making, even if another person’s experience of the text or teaching, different than ours, bears the fruit of Christ’s Love in their heart.” Br. Nicholas Bartoli invites us to adopt a hermeneutics of trust not just for the bible, but for the Word of God present in all creation

“Suffering is not always the last word. So much strength and beauty can come out of so much pain. How amazing it is when we realize a painful life experience full of loss nevertheless yields something of such gain. I’m not denying the pain nor the loss; but I am saying that amazing good can paradoxically come out of appalling bad. That’s what is called “redemption.” At a time of great suffering, Br. Curtis Almquist offers hopeful words on the good that can come out of suffering – for us, and from us, for others.

“There is a creative synergy between God and God’s people: though God is entirely sovereign, the maker of heaven and earth, we are called to be collaborators with God in the working out of our salvation. God desires our sensitive response in a two-sided conversation.” Br. Keith Nelson delves into the image of the potter and the clay for a message on how we can surrender to and collaborate with the work of God, the master artist.