Readings for this week
Have your eyes adjusted yet?
How are your other senses feeling?
We describe this worship service as In the Gloaming. Gloaming is most often used to refer to twilight, that time between sunset and darkness. It can, however, be used to refer to the time around dawn when the sky is lightening before the sunrise. Gloaming describes the way objects appear to glow like coals in the changing and indirect light.
Have you heard the saying, “Good fences build good neighbors”?
It comes from the Robert Frost poem, “Mending Wall.”
The poem is about the conversation and mutual effort of neighbors meeting in the spring to walk the line of a stone fence between their properties. Each walks on their own side, patching holes, re-stacking stones that have fallen, adding new ones from the field, doing the work of maintaining an old New England stone fence.
The Rev. Lisa Graumlich, preacher
Today’s gospel is short, sweet and has a distinct “good news” punch line– repent and believe in good news that the Reign of God is at hand.
Repent and believe in the Reign of God.
Those words sit uneasily in our modern world. Repent is a word that has been weaponized to judge and shame others. As a gay person, I have been told to repent. Numerous times.
Repent is a word that has been used to evoke shame. We need to reclaim this word.
Repentance is the act of turning away from sin and turning towards God. It’s telling the truth. It’s acknowledging individual and collective wrong doing – what has been done and what has been left undone. It’s about sincere commitment to change our behavior – and to change the systems that our behavior has put in place and that we tacitly engage in our day-to-day life.
And then there’s the promise that the Reign of God is at hand – or was at hand 2000 years ago. This feels like cold comfort when we continue to be bombarded with news of war and witness the suffering of our neighbors.
If true love never did exist, how could we know its name? [1]
Today is the 2nd time in the 2000s that Ash Wednesday coincides with Valentine's Day. It will happen once more in the next 20 years. It’s an interesting weaving together of heavenly and earthly desires to observe the two simultaneously.
Both Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day talk about love. Both have cultural traditions associated with them. One is a fleeting, commercialized holiday perpetuated by the candy and greeting card industry. The other ushers in a season of self-examination, prayer, and intentionality.
Dazzling white. Brighter than any one on earth could create or conceive. So bright it hurts the eyes. The bright star of Bethlehem magnified and intensified into one being. Peter and James and John couldn’t look away.
Something was happening. Something mysterious. And terrifying. And wondrous. Something holy. Like a bush that burns but is not consumed. Or fiery chariots descending from heaven. Amazing. Confusing. Not limited by the human imagination. Unbelievable - except that they see it with their own eyes.
Dear People of Trinity Parish of Seattle at 8th and James, my siblings in Christ,
Greetings in the name of the one, holy, and indivisible God. I give thanks for you every day, and for the gift and privilege of proclaiming the Good News of God’s forgiveness and healing love with you.
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Think for a moment about your most favorite road trip you’ve ever taken.
How long was it? Was it an afternoon, or days, or weeks?
Was it a round-trip or one-way?
Did you have a destination in mind?
Or was it purely to explore and learn about a different place?
Who was along for the ride?
Were you with family or friends or was it a solo adventure?
In the Gospel reading today, Jesus teaches in the Synagogue in Capernaum. He teaches with a surprising authority, a conviction in his message that surpasses the usual recitation of the scribes. His authority is so clear that an unclean spirit recognizes him and calls him “the Holy One of God.” Jesus responds by casting out the spirit, healing and liberating the man.
Recalling that epiphany means “showing forth,” this is the 3rd time in Mark that Jesus’ divine connection and authority are revealed. First was the thundering voice of God at his baptism. Second was his compelling invitation to Simon and Andrew to “come and fish for people.” Casting out this unclean spirit reveals Jesus’ healing power, and launches his public ministry.
