Tag: Crucifixion

Sermon: “Joseph of Arimathea”

Joseph of Arimathea inspires me because his deed is a lesson for us all on what it means to have a living faith. He was the first. Like him, we are called to see what others can’t see, or don’t want to see, and do what we can to help.

Please join me in prayer… 

Lord God, may your peace and Holy Spirit fill this place. Open your scriptures to us, and may I clearly communicate that which you intend us to receive. May your Word take root and flourish within each and every one of us. Through it may we be strengthened and transformed by your unconditional, living, and limitless love for all of your Creation. 

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Our journey through the Christian year often seems like a rush from one major event to the next, skipping over the smaller stories in-between.  But then again, that’s the point of this summer’s series of sermons; such as this morning’s meditation on the story of Joseph of Arimathea. 

Like Joseph and the others we’ve studied, there’s a whole chorus of us here at MCC – seen and unseen – whether officially members of this congregation or not – who make this service, this congregation, this community of Faith, and its many ministries and outreaches, part of our own stories. We are all part of that community. All of us make the Body of Christ a living reality.  It works because of all of us.

There are no heroes here, nor in the stories we’ve studied. There is no one waving a magic wand to make it all happen. They and we are just one of a bunch of people working together to help all of us move along on our journeys of faith. And in that light, our subject this morning fascinates and inspires me for three reasons.  

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Reflections on the Passion (Palm Sunday, 2012)

Presented at West Boylston First Congregational Church, UCC, April 1, 2012 (Palm Sunday).

(NB: This message was preceded by a dramatic reading of the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus from Mark 14 & 15, which included the Congregation participating as the mob that shouted out [to Pilate] “Crucify Him!.”  The reading is available as a Pamphlet from St. Gregory’s Church of Muskegon, MI.)

How does it feel?

How does it feel to be here this morning, to be one of those shouting “Crucify Him” during our dramatic reading from Mark?

How does it feel to be one of them, one of the mob, one of those calling for His death?  To turn on him in his hour of need?  How does it feel?

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