Sermons from 2016

3 Advent – December 11, 2016 Matthew 11:2-11 So, today we hear that John the Baptist is in prison.  Imagine John’s cell was dark and dank. Prison cells usually are. He paced back and forth, fettered less by his chains than by his misgivings. Allowed at last to see one of his followers, he sends the man to carry a message — a single question, really — that will settle his doubts once and for all. All that was left…

1 Advent – November 27, 2016 Matthew 24:36-44 So, it’s the beginning of the new year, the new church calendar year – it is the first Sunday of Advent.  Just when we think we should start hearing about shepherds and stables and stars, we get floods and kidnappers and thieves.  So what’s up with Advent?  Why do we begin here, with stories about the end times? Perhaps because “getting ready” is not about lights and poinsettias and wreaths and trees.…

26 Pentecost, Proper 28 – November 13, 2016 Luke 21:5-19 Wow!  What a week. I think we are all exhausted by the months leading up to the election and now the aftermath of the election itself. I am saddened, deeply saddened, by some of the mean-spirited things posted on social media and what I’ve seen on the news in these last few days. Where do we go from here? Well, Luke’s gospel this morning – interestingly enough- helps us speak…

Note: Rev. Deets was asked to provide an update on Trinity Church at the 2016 Diocese of Pennsylvania annual convention. Below is the text of that address. Convention Report – November 5, 2016 Trinity Church and Community Engagement Good morning! My name is Sherry Deets and I come to you this morning as the Rector of Trinity Church in Coatesville. Not that long ago, you would have seen Trinity, Coatesville in the budget as an aided parish, so it seems…

24 Pentecost, Proper 26 – October 30, 2016 Luke 19:1-10 Crowds follow Jesus these days nearly everywhere he goes. They parade behind him and in front of him, crushing in close or watching from a safe distance. They are curious and want to hear, touch, or maybe just see what happens when others interact with this man people say has come from God. What essence does he emanate? What do they sense in him, want from him? Might he not…

23 Pentecost, Proper 25 – October 23, 2016 Luke 18:9-14 Jesus tells another parable about prayer, this one intended for those “who trust in themselves”. With this in mind, the Pharisee’s actions and words make him the obvious fall guy. We picture him as loud, arrogant and too sure of himself. We hear his self–satisfied prayer: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a…

21 Pentecost, Proper 23 – October 9, 2016 Luke 17:11-19 Our gospel lesson begins with Jesus walking through an unidentified region between Samaria and Galilee. This is actually an important detail, because that region would have been potentially hostile territory, an unsafe area that is neither inside, nor outside Jewish territory. It is in between space. In that in between space, ten lepers approached Jesus. Now remember that at that time, a diagnosis of leprosy was pretty much treated like…

20 Pentecost, Proper 22 – October 2, 2016 Luke 17:5-10 Last week’s gospel lesson showed us the bondage of being separated from one another, of not seeing, not reaching out or caring for one another. It creates a chasm between us.  Each time we walk past the needs of our neighbor or ignore the cries of our own diminished humanity, we move away from communion and go deeper into that chasm. The apostles, in our gospel lesson today, it seems,…

19 Pentecost, Proper 21 – September 25, 2016 Luke 16:19-31 Our gospel story for today, one of Jesus’ parables, with its vivid journey to the afterlife, and its exaggerated imagery of contrast, fits the form of an apocalypse. An apocalypse serves as a wake-up call, pulling back a curtain to open our eyes to something we urgently need to see before it is too late. “There were these two guys,” Jesus said. One of them was very wealthy. He dressed…