March 18, 2026
The Feast of the Annunciation – Mark S. Winward
The Scandal of the Ordinary
If you were planning a global revolution—the kind that would alter the fabric of time, reset the calendar to “Year Zero,” and bridge the gap between the Infinite and the finite—you probably wouldn’t start in Nazareth.
In the first century, Nazareth was the definition of “nowhere.” It was a tiny, farming, backwater village in Galilee. It didn’t have the prestige of Jerusalem or the intellectual weight of Athens. It was the kind of place people came from, not a place anyone of importance went to. And yet, as we see in Luke 1, when God decides to step into His own creation, He bypasses the marble halls of the Temple and the golden thrones of the capital. Instead, He sends the Archangel Gabriel to a girl in a village that most “serious” people couldn’t find on a map.
There is a profound, holy wisdom in God’s geography. He loves to work in the margins.
The Disruption of Grace
The text tells us that Mary was “greatly troubled” by Gabriel’s greeting. Now, let’s be honest: if a celestial being appeared in your living room and shouted, “Greetings, highly favored one!” you’d be troubled, too. You’d probably be looking for the exit or checking to see if you’d accidentally eaten a questionable mushroom.
But Mary’s trouble wasn’t just about the supernatural pyrotechnics. It was about the word “favored.”
March 15, 2026
The Fourth Sunday of Lent – Byron Tindall
Welcome to the Fourth Sunday in Lent. Notice the preposition “in.” In is used rather than “of.” If you look carefully at a calendar and do a little counting, Sundays are not included in the 40 days. At any rate, this fourth Sunday in Lent has also gone by another name for centuries.
How many of you have heard and know the meaning of “Mothering Sunday”? Those of you who know about Mothering Sunday have my permission to take a short power nap if you desire to do so.
The Church of England website is full of information about the Fourth Sunday in Lent.
“Here are some of the traditions that have shaped Mothering Sunday into the celebration recognized today:
“The Journey to the Mother Church
“In the 16th century, Mothering Sunday was less about mothers and more about church. Back then, people were given time off and would make a journey to their ‘mother’ church once a year. This might have been their home church, their nearest cathedral or a major parish church in a bigger town. The service which took place at the ‘mother’ church symbolized the coming together of families. This would have represented a significant journey for many.
“A day off to visit Mother
“Another tradition was to allow those working in the fields on wealthy farms and estates in England to have the day off on the fourth Sunday of Lent to visit their mothers and possibly go to church too.
March 8, 2026
The Third Sunday of Lent – Mark S. Winward
This coming Saturday will mark the twenty-eighth anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood – but the beginning of that journey goes back to a call to ministry when I was but 15 years old. Looking back over these fifty years, I find myself asking what I’ve learned. Today’s Gospel, the story of the woman at the well, gives me one answer. And it says something important about who Jesus is and about how we are meant to live as his followers.
Usually, when we hear this passage, we focus on the woman from a distance. But it may help to picture the moment as she experienced it. Imagine it is noon near Sychar. She has come to draw water in the middle of the day, alone. It is hard work, and she is by herself for a reason. Her life has left her isolated, even within her own community the Jews viewed as outcasts. Then Jesus speaks to her and asks for a drink. That may not sound unusual to us, but it would have been unusual to her. Jews and Samaritans did not relate to each other easily, and men did not normally start public conversations with women this way – let alone a Samaritan woman. Jesus ignores those boundaries. He speaks to her directly and treats her as someone worthy of attention and respect.
That matters because it reflects something basic in our life of faith.
March 1, 2026
The Second Sunday of Lent – Mark S. Winward
“Jesus answered [Nicodemus], Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” – John 3:3, NRSV
Reclaiming a Term
The theme of John chapter 3 is the “new birth.” In recent years, a great deal has been made of this passage. It was fifty years ago that a massive stir was caused when a presidential candidate named Jimmy Carter stated publicly that he was “born again.” (Yes, half a century!) Since then—and especially after Chuck Colson, one of the most notorious figures of the Watergate scandal, wrote of his dramatic prison conversion in his bestseller Born Again—the term has firmly entered our popular consciousness.
However, following the rise of the Moral Majority, the term became heavily associated with Southern fundamentalism and specific political positions. I know many people—even clergy, no less—who refuse to identify themselves as “born again” simply because of those political connotations. And I recognize that may resonate with some in our congregation.
But whether or not you are “born again” has nothing to do with politics or religious factionalism. In this passage, Jesus tells us that being born again is a description of a spiritual state of being—one that determines your relationship with God. Quite simply, understanding what it means to be born again is the most important question you could ever ask in your life.