Sermons from 2023 (Page 4)

3 Lent – March 12, 2023 John 4:5-42          This morning we hear the story of the woman at the well. It is one of my favorite stories, and that is partly because it is a complex story, it is so much more than a simple conversion story. I’ll start off by sharing some important things to be aware of: This is the longest conversation Jesus has with anyone in the New Testament and it is with a woman from…

2 Lent – March 5, 2023 John 3:1-17          Our gospel story from John this morning invites us to eavesdrop on the visit that Nicodemus pays to Jesus shortly after Jesus clears out the temple. The fact that Jesus and Nicodemus have their conversation at night seems fitting not just because the darkness offers a measure of protection and secrecy for Nicodemus, away from the eyes of his fellow Pharisees, but because Jesus speaks here of a mystery. In response…

1 Lent – February 26, 2023 Matthew 4:1-11 So, we began the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday…remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return….we hear these words as we are marked with ashes on our foreheads. It is done to remind us of our Creator God. It is done to remind us whose we are. And today we hear the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Just before this happens is Jesus’ baptism, where we heard…

Last Sunday of Epiphany – February 19, 2023 Matthew 17:1-9          Today we hear about Jesus’ transfiguration. The Transfiguration story is always the Last Sunday in the church season of Epiphany, transitioning us into the season of Lent and Easter. And it is a fitting story to transition us because it insists that we keep what was and what can be in tension. Think about it. Up until now, until the Transfiguration happens, Peter and his fellow disciples experience Jesus…

Absalom Jones – February 12, 2023 John 15:12-15 Today we are celebrating the Feast of Absalom Jones in this Black History month, or as I am noticing and liking, for many people it is Black History Every Day. Blessed Absalom was born into slavery, taught himself to read by using the Bible as one of his resources, was permitted to attend a quaker school and he became America’s first black Priest. Ordained by Bishop White in our very own Diocese.…

5 Epiphany – February 5, 2023 Matthew 5:13-20          “You are the salt of the earth…” “You are the light of the world.” We are in the church season of Epiphany and Epiphany is a word which itself means “appearing” or “showing forth”. Epiphany is a season that invites us to consider what it is that God longs to manifest in us and through us, and also to wrestle with what gets in the way of this. Jesus is using…

4 Epiphany – January 29, 2023 Matthew 5:1-12          See if you can finish this sentence: “I’ll be happy when….” There must be a thousand possible endings for that sentence. “I’ll be happy when….” o I’ll be happy when I grow up and move away from home. o I’ll be happy when summer comes and I don’t have to go to school. o I’ll be happy when I fall in love and get married. o I’ll be happy when I…

3 Epiphany – January 22, 2023 Matthew 4:12-23          This is a rather eventful passage from Matthew this morning. It starts out a bit ominously, with John in prison and Jesus withdrawing to what was considered the backwaters of Capernaum in Galilee – it was Gentile territory.  This means that Jesus, beginning his ministry, does not go to some holy place, to some religious center. Instead, he withdraws to Galilee, heathen Galilee, a place where, according to Jewish belief, pure…

2 Epiphany – January 15, 2023 John 1:29-42          Our gospel lesson today makes some striking claims about who Jesus is and how his disciples, and therefore us, can relate to him. The first question Jesus asks in John’s gospel is “What are you looking for?”.  And then he invites his new disciples into relationship with him. He invites them to follow him further to find what they are looking for.  “Come and see” he says. Looking.  Seeing.  Finding.  Our…

Epiphany – January 8, 2023 Matthew 2:1-12          Jan Richardson is an artist, writer and United Methodist Minister. She published a retreat for Christmas and Epiphany and I was struck, as often happens with Jan Richardson, by some of her writings. I’ll share some of those with you today. She speaks of artist friends who have a special practice at the beginning of a new painting. “They take a few quiet moments with the canvas. Before reaching for a paintbrush,…