Extemporaneous
As I mentioned in a previous post, I threw out my Ash Wednesday sermon and decided to preach extemporaneously. I've continued that practice on the first and second Sundays in Lent - praying, pondering, thinking about what the readings are saying to me and what I want to lift up in my reflection. It actually takes a lot of work and takes a lot out of me to do this. However, almost everyone is telling me how much they appreciate what I'm saying.
What am I saying? I don't actually remember a lot of what I say. I remember the broad themes but not the word for word.
Lent 1: I reflected on what it means to "observe a Holy Lent' through the lens of "fasting." I don't remember how I started the sermons, which were slightly different between 8am and 10am. I only remember that I considered the various ways one might fast: from food or drink, from being busy, from social media...and then also, from being angry, hostile, reactive....how fasting is intended to empty one's self and make room for God. At 10am I spoke about the worship space: the incense lifting our prayers up to God (we NEVER use incense), the icon of the Pontecrator and what it means to pray with an icon, the rocks I have available in bowls outside the church which people can hold and put their worries and concerns in and then use to build a prayer cairn around the icon which is at the foot of the altar, the silence we've built into the service - how these are all tools to help open us up and make room for God, like a fast opens us up....
Lent 2: I reflected again on observing a holy Lent, this time through the Book of Common Prayer instruction to practice self-examination (through prayer, fasting, self-denial, and meditating on God's holy word).
I spoke about the ways one might practice "self-examination" - in preparation for the confession which comes first in the service during Lent, or as an "examen" in the way of St. Ignatius by taking some time each night to consider what has gone well in one's day and what has not and how one might strive for a better day tomorrow, or how one might practice self-examination by being attentive to what one is feeling and thinking throughout the day and instead of being reactive.
I spoke about the liturgical cycle offering Christians different ways into the life of Jesus and opportunities for us to live the life God call us to live - that Advent is a season of waiting for birth, Christmas is a season of celebrating the incarnation - that God chose to act in and through the life of Jesus and now, by virtue of the incarnation, chooses to act in and through us - that God is embodied in us, how Epiphany is the season that looks at Jesus' ordinary every day life and the Lent is the season that asks us to consider the broken places in our lives and how we can mend them, to consider what needs to "die" before there can be new life, to remember that Good Friday leads to Easter - and that Easter is where we are headed too, new life, spring, hope.
What am I saying? I don't actually remember a lot of what I say. I remember the broad themes but not the word for word.
Lent 1: I reflected on what it means to "observe a Holy Lent' through the lens of "fasting." I don't remember how I started the sermons, which were slightly different between 8am and 10am. I only remember that I considered the various ways one might fast: from food or drink, from being busy, from social media...and then also, from being angry, hostile, reactive....how fasting is intended to empty one's self and make room for God. At 10am I spoke about the worship space: the incense lifting our prayers up to God (we NEVER use incense), the icon of the Pontecrator and what it means to pray with an icon, the rocks I have available in bowls outside the church which people can hold and put their worries and concerns in and then use to build a prayer cairn around the icon which is at the foot of the altar, the silence we've built into the service - how these are all tools to help open us up and make room for God, like a fast opens us up....
Lent 2: I reflected again on observing a holy Lent, this time through the Book of Common Prayer instruction to practice self-examination (through prayer, fasting, self-denial, and meditating on God's holy word).
I spoke about the ways one might practice "self-examination" - in preparation for the confession which comes first in the service during Lent, or as an "examen" in the way of St. Ignatius by taking some time each night to consider what has gone well in one's day and what has not and how one might strive for a better day tomorrow, or how one might practice self-examination by being attentive to what one is feeling and thinking throughout the day and instead of being reactive.
I spoke about the liturgical cycle offering Christians different ways into the life of Jesus and opportunities for us to live the life God call us to live - that Advent is a season of waiting for birth, Christmas is a season of celebrating the incarnation - that God chose to act in and through the life of Jesus and now, by virtue of the incarnation, chooses to act in and through us - that God is embodied in us, how Epiphany is the season that looks at Jesus' ordinary every day life and the Lent is the season that asks us to consider the broken places in our lives and how we can mend them, to consider what needs to "die" before there can be new life, to remember that Good Friday leads to Easter - and that Easter is where we are headed too, new life, spring, hope.
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