Sermons from 2017
God comes in the Darkness
1 Advent – December 3, 2017 Mark 13:24-37 It’s Advent! A new church season. The season before Christmas. “And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.” Keep awake is what we hear in our gospel passage this morning, and this passage is not an easy start to the season. These words are not really welcoming us into the season with a graceful sense of hospitality. This lection doesn’t so much beckon us across the threshold as…
God Surprises Us
Last Sunday after Pentecost, Christ the King – November 26, 2017 Matthew 25:31-46 This is Christ the King Sunday on our church calendar. The last Sunday in Year A. And we’re given a challenging gospel — it is one that stretches us. Jesus is separating people as sheep from the goats. He speaks of those who recognize him and minister to him, and those who don’t. When was it that we saw you? Notice that both groups of people ask…
Be the Light
23 Pentecost, Proper 27 – November 12, 2017 Matthew 25:1-13 The phrase….hurry up and wait. Tom Petty’s song…The Waiting is the Hardest Part are things that come to the mind with the parable of the bridesmaids. In her commentary on Working Preacher, Dr. Susan Hylen offers a really helpful insight: “the point of the parable is not constant readiness. “Keep awake” does not imply that the disciples should never sleep, standing vigil through the ages for Christ’s imminent return. In…
Whispers
All Saints’ Sunday – November 5, 2017 Matthew 5:1-12 Today we are celebrating All Saints’ Sunday….the Feast of All Saints’ actually occurs on November 1 and is part of three holy days which begin with Halloween. Hallow means holy and Halloween is a contraction of All Hallow’s Eve. On Halloween, we are said to face our fears and laugh at them, knowing that nothing, not even death can separate us from the love of God. November 1, is All Saints…
All of us
17 Pentecost, Proper 21 – October 1, 2017 Matthew 21: 23-32 Authority is the question of the day – the question raised in our gospel story. We live in a time when authority is rightly questioned. And this is not new, according to this passage from Matthew. To some extent those in power had every right to question Jesus’ authority. After all, what had Jesus done, what had he said, that would justify his rather obtuse claims? Before we vilify…
What motivates you?
16 Pentecost, Proper 20 – September 24, 2017 Matthew 20:1-16 Be honest. When you heard our gospel reading just now, did your heart leap for joy? Were you excited when you heard that the workers who’d toiled and slaved all day long in the hot sun were going to get the same day’s wages as those who’d worked only one hour? Probably not, huh? This is not a favorite parable. It goes against one of our most cherished values, that…
“In the Light of Eternity”
13 Pentecost, Proper 17 – September 3, 2017 Matthew 16:21-28 Last Sunday we heard Jesus saying to Peter, you’re “the rock on which I will build my church” and this Sunday he’s calling him “a stumbling block.” That’s not just great word play – from cornerstone to stumbling block – but such a reversal of relational fortune that it had to be incredibly painful for Peter. Can you imagine? And perhaps that’s the difficulty. Peter couldn’t imagine. He couldn’t imagine…
Racism
11 Pentecost, Proper 15 – August 20, 2017 Matthew 15:10-28 Evil. We don’t often speak about evil, but this has been a sad and painful week. The horrifying events in Charlottesville have played out in the news, and on social media, and the only reason I can understand how we are so caught up in division and the seeming need to divide ourselves is to call out and name the evil for what it is. Racism, bigotry, the ideology that…
Perception
5 Pentecost, Proper 9 – July 9, 2017 Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 Today I”d like to talk a little bit about perception. Perception is the state of being or process of becoming aware of something through the senses. It is a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression or picture. It is intuitive understanding and insight. In our gospel reading for today, Jesus talks about how we have perceived John the Baptist and Jesus, himself. The crowds appear…
Even a Cup of Cold Water
4 Pentecost, Proper 8 – July 2, 2017 Matthew 10:40-42 “Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” The rawness of Jesus’ words here should not be lost on us–simply a cup of water in the name of a disciple–and one’s reward is granted – forever. The reward is not simply for the preachers and prophets, but…
What would you dare to do?
Trinity Sunday June 11, 2017 Matthew 28:16-20 Today is Trinity Sunday when those of us who are preaching may try to find some grand way to explain the concept of the three-in-one, the one-in-three: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You may recall I have used the example of 3 forms of water – water, ice and steam – three forms, but one substance.But that still doesn’t do justice to the concept of the Trinity. So, perhaps we could approach…
Breath of Fresh Air
Pentecost – June 4, 2017 Acts 2:1-21 Consider creation. Genesis tells us that God made humanity from two ingredients. One is dust, mud, dirt, the stuff we now find under our feet. God shapes us from this earthy clay like a kid making a mud pie. But, the Creator does not stop there. God breathes into this shape made from mud, God’s own breath, and the human becomes alive, a creature of matter and spirit. It’s God’s own breath that makes us…