κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

Dear Susie, Erin, and Jacob ... dear brothers and sisters in Christ ... friends, family ... Hallelujah! Christ is Risen!  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The text for our meditation comes from Kelly’s confirmation verses in Hebrews chapter 10. We gather here today in the wake of great loss. Kelly Eugene Niemann died suddenly Monday, April 6, 2026. When death hits us like this, especially when it’s someone who is dearly loved in the community, it creates great instability. Our dear Susie, who shared 50 years of marriage with him, didn’t sleep the first night after Kelly’s death because she didn’t want to wake up to his loss. But our text from Hebrews was written for moments just like this.  The Hebrew congregation that heard our reading for the first time also were experiencing distress, loss, temptation to despair ... much like we feel today. They too were wondering, who will we turn to for comfort? Many undoubtedly were unsure ...

[Introduction] Hallelujah! He is risen! If you attended our midweek Lenten services, you heard many Sounds of Our Lord’s Passion. The season began with cloth being ripped, a sound of repentance. We heard the chime of silver coins, a sound of betrayal. We heard weeping as tears fell from our Lord’s face, the sound of True Man and True God confronting sin. We heard water sloshing as it was poured into a basin, and Jesus reminded us to love one another. We heard the sound of trampling feet as soldiers seized Jesus in the garden and led him to the cross. We heard the rooster’s crow that reminded us not only of Peter’s denials, but ours too. We heard a mob that had been singing for joy on Palm Sunday cry out for blood on Good Friday. And we heard the pounding of the nails as Jesus was pierced for your transgressions. This morning the Sounds of Our Lord’s Passion have reached a crescendo with the Good News of an Angel wearing a white robe ... You seek Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. H...

We’ve heard many sounds during this season of Lent ... ripping cloth, chiming coins, crying tears, tramping feet, a rooster’s crow, shouting mobs, and sloshing water. Now tonight ... THE SOUNDS OF THE PASSION HIT HARD WITH THE POUNDING OF THE HAMMER 2. After flogging him, the soldiers led Jesus out of the city. They marched him past the shouting mob out for blood ... down the Via Delorossa ... through the city gates ... to a lonely hill just east of the temple. The people called that place Golgotha, which means “the place of the skull” ... the place of death and destruction. They didn’t think there was any way to come back from that. Coming to the hill, the soldiers stripped Jesus naked for the last time, yet one more way to humiliate him. They laid his bloody body down on the cross and stretched out his arms like a lamb being sacrificed. Then a soldier approached with a leather bag filled with heavy spikes and a hammer. Three would do the job ... one for each wrist and one for the fee...

[Out of sight, behind the pulpit, pour water into a bowl.]  [Introduction] Did you hear that? It’s the sound of water being poured from a pitcher into a bowl.  [Show the bowl, set it down, and pour more.] That was a common sound in the days before running water. It was common in every bedroom to have a pitcher and basin to wash in before beginning the new day. And the sound of sloshing water had a special significance in the Passion of our Lord. The sound signified a special cleaning ... By washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus made the disciples clean.  Jesus also gave us a washing. He washed us in Baptism. Through the washing of water and the Word of God, he made us clean. So tonight, therefore, listen ... WE HEAR THE SOUND OF SLOSHING WATER TO REMIND US OF OUR CLEANSING 1. To understand the importance of sloshing water, we need to remember the customs in Jesus’ day.  First, anything dealing with the feet was considered dirty and disgusting. Cleaning feet was fit ON...