March 28, 2023

“The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.” (Psalm 119:160)

Flannery O’Connor once said, “Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I’m always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it’s very shocking to the system.” Most sermon writers I know would agree with Flannery.

The thing the preacher never wants to hear in the receiving line after church? “Great sermon – but now back to the real world.” There is nothing more real than the need for forgiveness and nothing less solid than the parasitic mockeries of sin. To wit, love is in the indestructible DNA of the universe, while lust is a phantasm doomed to defeated extinction.

“Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Fifth Sunday of Easter – BCP)