Sermons from September 2023

17 Pentecost, Proper 20 – September 24, 2023 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,…

16 Pentecost, Proper 19 – September 17, 2023 Matthew 18:21-35           “How many times do I need to forgive my brother or sister?” That’s the question which prompts the parable of the unmerciful servant that we hear today. This passage follows on last week’s reading, which Jesus concluded by assuring us that wherever two or three are gathered in his name, there he is, in our midst. And Peter,…..well he doesn’t allow us to linger in that moment. He knows…

15 Pentecost, Proper 18 – September 10, 2023 Matthew 18:15-20          “We need to talk.”  How do you feel when someone says these four words to you?  “We need to talk”.  What happens in your body when you hear them? Most of the time, if another person approaches us with those words, they’re not saying they want to chat about the weather, or relive highlights from yesterday’s football game, or share the latest celebrity gossip.  They’re saying, “Something is broken…

14 Pentecost, Proper 17 – September 3, 2023 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 Peter “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…