Walking through the Valley
March 22, 2020
Church of the Servant, Wilmington, NC
4th Sunday in Lent – Year A
Psalm 23
“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” – Marie Curie
As a physicist, Marie Curie studied radioactivity and actively promoted the use of radium to alleviate suffering. This was unheard of in her time, yet she applied her intellect and imagination toward something unknown so it could be harnessed for therapeutic use.
Today we find ourselves at a time of discovery. Not you and me personally, although the amount of information we consume from our media sources – whether electronic or paper – can make us feel that we know more than we actually do. But I rest in the knowledge that there are countless Curies out there right now using their intellect and imagination. They are doggedly working to gain an understanding of the COVID-19 virus.
As understandable as it is to focus on the frightening progress of this new virus, it’s also inspiring to think that there is already a prototype vaccine being tested for something we didn’t even know existed a few months ago. Even so, we would be foolish not to acknowledge that we have a long valley to walk through first. Perhaps that’s why Psalm 23 resonated with me as I confronted this week’s lectionary texts. Read the rest of this entry »
Social Distancing: A Means but Not the Dream
March 15, 2020
Church of the Servant, Wilmington, NC
3rd Sunday in Lent – Year A
John 4:5-42
(gospel text provided below)
Not part of my vocabulary just five days ago, I’ve now used the phrase social distancing at least a dozen times in the past twenty-four hours. In response to concerns about the spread of the new COVID-19 virus, we’re embracing the call to limit in-person social interaction in the hope of “flattening the curve” (another newly adopted term) of the virus’s reach. 
And while social distancing may be new to our vernacular, its existence is as old as time. Perhaps not so much the mitigating risk kind we’re enacting today, but the kind that results when we exclude others because of who they are, what they’ve done, or how they live.
The story told in John’s gospel about Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman demonstrates social distancing on multiple levels. Read the rest of this entry »
Jesus our Life Preserver
March 8, 2020
Church of the Servant, Wilmington, NC
2nd Sunday in Lent
John 3:1-17; Psalm 121
Listen here:
Sermon Transcript
“Indeed, God did not send the son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Powered by Kindness
February 26, 2020
Church of the Servant, Wilmington, NC
Ash Wednesday
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Listen here (transcript below):
Sermon Transcript:
We heard words from the Prophet Joel this evening. He was speaking to a people in the midst of the ruin of their country. “Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sound the alarm on my holy mountain!” I heard an echo of this proclamation in a video that was shared by our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry this week, sounding an alarm. Read the rest of this entry »
jodygreenwood 