SSJE Sermons

The love to which Jesus points us is more than polite behavior or kind acts or nice words. It does not rely on positive feelings or warm thoughts. Nor does it depend on personal attraction. The love to which Jesus points us requires an openness, a receptivity, a posture of self-giving towards the other. On Maundy Thursday, Br. David Vryhof marvels at the new command Jesus gives us, and the example of radical and self-sacrificing love he sets us.

“Look at Love on the cross. What is heavy on your heart? What pain or trouble do you bear? What secret is eating away at you or what story needs telling? Nothing is too awful, or messy, or trivial, or weighty. Nothing.” Br. Luke Ditweig offers ideas for how to pray our pain, and Jesus' pain, in Holy Week.

“You’ve been given a palm frond. Carry it home. Let it be to you a rallying sign for you to confront some power structure gone afoul, and which must be redressed. What is stirring in your soul – or what should be stirring in your soul – where some power structure must be redressed?” On Palm Sunday, Br. Curtis Almquist urges us to be an answer to Jesus' prayer.

“We think of remembering as simply recalling something that happened in the past. But in the Bible, remembering has the full semitic sense of recalling in such a way that the event of the past is actually made present once again.” Br. Geoffrey Tristram unfolds the biblical meaning of remembering, in which the Lord is truly and really present to us in all his strength and power.

“As we prepare to follow Jesus into the days of the paschal mystery, our readings this morning invite us to experience all the ways our concept of God is challenged by Jesus, and to meditate on the bewildering yet glorious acts whereby God overcomes the short-sightedness of our plans and pride.” On the eve of Holy Week, Br. Sean Glenn invites us to trust in the slow work of God, who is doing a new thing, with signature peculiarity.

“The way that Mary invites us to walk, is not an easy one. It involves towel, basin, and water. It requires us to bend, and to stoop, and to kneel. It involves cross and nails, thorns and spear. It requires us to die. It involves tomb, and grave clothes. It requires us to lay everything aside, even our own lives. But for those who follow, it is life, and peace, and joy.” Here on the threshold of Holy Week, Br. James Koester invites us to follow, to bend and stoop, and kneel, like Mary.

“Many of us have troubles with calling God our “Father.” What may be helpful or hopeful for you in this portrait from Jesus? How does this story help you see God? ” By digging into the resonances of its Middle Eastern cultural context, Br. Luke Ditewig uncovers the deep meaning of the story of the Prodigal Son.

“We live in a particularly noisy world. We seem today to confront a kind of cacophony that is unique and acute. Even in the silences of our homes, the noise of the world calls to us from printed page and digital screen, hungry for our attention. All the more difficult it can be to hear the voice of God in our lives.” Br. Sean Glenn considers how hearing is the obedience that empowers us to respond in love.

“I suspect we would all like to think that if God were to call us to some special task we would respond as Mary did, saying, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord…” But we know that we are also capable of turning away, of delaying our answer, of looking for a way out. Sometimes, if the truth be told, the call is, well, daunting, and we just don’t see how we can do it.” Br. David Vryhof encourages us to embrace the call of God as Mary did, with a yes, and with an awareness that God not only calls us, but empowers us.

“Sheep may know they are lost, but they are certainly not repentant. Lost coins are completely clueless. And yet, when either is found, there is rejoicing.” Br. Curtis Almquist finds lessons in reconciliation in Jesus' parables.