Sermons
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February 23, 2025: "Forgiveness be With You"
In today’s passage from Luke’s Gospel, Jesus gives us some rules to live by. Unlike what we might hear in the Book of Proverbs, these rules are counterintuitive, radical, and downright hard to put into practice. Like Joseph, Jesus tells us to love those who have hurt us. If we are struck on the cheek, we should offer the other one also. If someone steals from us, we should offer the remainder of what we have.​
February 9, 2025: "Chosen"
Being chosen on the playground was fraught. Whenever a captain picked a team a different kind of panic set in. The best athletes would be called on first that was a given. All of us who were in the middle would dread one thing, being selected last. It was humiliating. Being chosen could be a troubling experience.
All of today’s scripture readings have something to do with being chosen. The psalmist is one of the chosen people of God.
February 2, 2025: "A Soul Set Free"
Most parents think their baby is special. I do not doubt that they are right in their assessment. Every child is special. When we meet a little child, we are engaged by their cuteness, our innate desire to protect, and wonder. We wonder about a new life that has come into the world. We are amazed at what they can do as an infant. We wonder about what the child may grow up to be. Then there are Jesus’ parents.
January 26, 2025: "You Can't Go Home Again"
Preaching The Good News is a tricky thing. First, there are many people who think The Good News is there to confirm what they already believe. They want to have their life affirmed. I saw a quote this week that read in part, “[Many] people go to church to be assured that they are good people who are part of a mostly good enough system…They don’t want to follow Jesus. They want Jesus to follow them and whisper, ‘You’re doing fine. You don’t need to change. I have the same enemies as you do.’”​
January 19, 2025: "See Something, Say Something, Do Something"
This wonderful invitation is given by God to each of us. We can open our heart and prepare it to receive the newborn Christ child into our life. When we do, we will be changed. The change will not be recorded in photos or nostalgic movies. The change will be realized in the way we live. The effect, like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings, will ripple out into a world that is in need of hope.​
January 12, 2025: "Whose Baptism is it Anyway?"
You may have thought that the rite of baptism was all about the ones being baptized. It is also about us who are affirming our baptism. For little ones baptism may seem simple, but for the rest of us baptism is multilayered. First, we must get our own spiritual house in order. We must remind ourselves of our baptismal promises and start doing a better job of living them. We must set an example for children and for each other. Second, we need to realize that perfection is not what is required, rather it is the striving to live into the covenant that is important. It is hard, but anything that is worth doing is hard.​
January 5, 2025: "The Work of Christmas"
Today is the last day of Christmas. Despite what the secular world thinks, Christmas does not end on Christmas Day. Christmas Day is only the beginning. I know a young girl who told me she corrected her mother who thought that the twelve days of Christmas were the days leading up to Christmas Day. The girl was proud of herself for knowing that the twelve days start on Christmas Day. I think she is a liturgy nerd in the making.​
December 25, 2024: "Another Christmas Story"
This wonderful invitation is given by God to each of us. We can open our heart and prepare it to receive the newborn Christ child into our life. When we do, we will be changed. The change will not be recorded in photos or nostalgic movies. The change will be realized in the way we live. The effect, like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings, will ripple out into a world that is in need of hope.​
December 24, 2024: "So Beautiful It Has to be True"
Whether you are a staunch believer, a twice-a-year Christian, or a nonbeliever the words of the story are beautiful and engrossing. We hear about a couple not yet married but engaged to be married. She was pregnant and would soon give birth, but that did not matter to the Roman rulers. She was forced to travel with Joseph, her fiancé, to Bethlehem, the town of his ancestry. Not his hometown but the place of the people from whom he was descended. Heaven knows how many generations ago that was.​
December 8, 2024: "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord"
Take the challenge that the words “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” offer. What in your heart resists preparing for the Lord? You do not have to sit down and ponder for hours on end or read commentaries on this. Just let it sit in your mind or your heart. Let it stew, and like a good stew let it sit off the heat for a while before warming it back up. Taste it again and see if letting it sit has enriched the flavor or your perceptions. What is God asking you to prepare for or who is God asking you to help prepare?​
December 1, 2024: "My Lord What A Morning"
Happy New Year! Despite it being the first day of the Church year, I doubt anyone raised a glass last night to celebrate. Even if you were aware of today’s significance, toasting the new year of the church is not what we do. We begin the new year of the church with a season of expectation for the coming of Christ. While the secular world is focused on Christmas, on the first Sunday of Advent we are looking toward the second coming of Christ. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus points toward a new time in the coming of the Kingdom of God. As disturbing as his predictions are we might not think it would lead us to celebrate…or does it?​
November 28, 2024 (Thanksgiving): "Giving is All We Have to Give"
In a world where all too often we hear the complaint “you are taking something away from me,” the poet points out that when we share our gifts we are not the poorer for it, rather there is more to go around. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Quality of life is not limited to the stuff we have gathered and hoard in homes which become warehouses. The good life is a life where what we have is shared, and not just our stuff, but most especially our love.
November 17, 2024: "She's Only Just Begun"
Following further statements about the end of time in this chapter of Mark, Jesus makes a critical statement that should undo anyone who ventures to predict the Parousia. He says, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” If Jesus does not know when the Eschaton will be who are we to say that we do? The Day of Judgment will be when it will be. It is not ours to worry about.​
November 10, 2024: "Consider the Lilies"
A mite is something small, like the insects that can flutter around our heads and pester us. The widow in this example truly has little to live on. She comes to the Temple to worship and all around her are people of great wealth giving large sums to the Temple. The implication is that they are showing off how much they are giving. They want everyone to know of their wealth and generosity. The Widow on the other hand is extremely poor.​
November 3, 2024: "Where You Go I Will Go"
Ruth’s extraordinary devotion to Naomi makes her the human epitome of hesed. What makes this even more remarkable is that she is a foreigner and immigrant from an enemy of Israel. Like the Good Samaritan she exemplifies a virtue that a Jewish audience might want to see in one of their own. This sterling example of hesed is shown in an immigrant not one of their own.​
October 27, 2024: "Clear-Eyed & Open-Hearted"
While perfection in this life is unobtainable, still we seek it. We use our mind’s eye to imagine what the eternal truth is. We look through that eye to discern the difference between truth and illusion, between facts and what some have called “alternate facts.” Jesus wants us to use all our senses including the mind’s eye when looking for the truth.​
October 20, 2024: "Servant Song"
We are disciples and we are called to a life of service as surely as the first disciples were. We do not get a pass for being too young, too old, or too busy. Our financial contributions to the church and its ministries are important and part of our stewardship of all that God has given us, but they do not buy us out of service to others. Serving God means serving God’s people. That may mean getting our hands dirty.​
October 13, 2024: "Soul Searching"
Jesus knew the allure of money and possessions. He talked more about money than just about any other thing. He knew that money and possessions distract us from God. Money and possessions are tangible forms of security, and we are people who like the tangible.​
October 6, 2024: "The Lord Blesses You"
Jesus blesses us when we are happy. Jesus blesses us if we are trying to make a go of it against all odds. Jesus blesses us if our dreams are dying. Jesus blesses us if we are divorced or divorcing and hurt in ways that no one was ever meant to hurt. Jesus blesses us if we are single by circumstance or choice. Jesus blesses us.​
September 29, 2024: "Inies and Outies"
We Episcopalians do not do ourselves any good by some of our attitudes and practices. I remember “church shopping” in Richmond Virginia and the variety of experiences I had. In one parish when it came time to pass the Peace the people in the pews around me ignored me. Not even a nod much less a handshake. Another parish was the opposite so much so that I felt singled out for attention. People came from every pew to offer the peace.​
September 22, 2024: "A Child of God"
Who is the greatest is an earthly thing. It is what adults strive for in work, play, church, volunteer work, and politics. In the work world we cannot seem to help being fascinated by the Forbes list of the wealthiest as if that is a sign of great achievement. We hear about greatness in sports all of the time. Who is the GOAT, the greatest of all time. We have arguments about it as though it matters. In church who has the preeminent positions in the leadership. Volunteers want pins and certificates and other accolades. In world affairs the need to dominate leads to wars, massacres, assassinations, espionage, and mayhem. There is no good in it. Those who strive for greatness and priority, who need to be the GOAT have focused on earthly things and not divine things.
September 15, 2024: "Who is He to Me"
As he goes through his ministry, we see that he has little fumbles along the way. For example, it takes him two tries to cure a man’s blindness. He argues with a Gentile woman that God’s mercy is reserved for the Jews. He refuses to heal her daughter, but he relents seeing the wisdom of her argument. In the Gospel of Mark, it appears that Jesus is learning how to be the Messiah. In these circumstances, asking the disciples what people are saying about him does not seem so strange.​
September 8, 2024: "God's Favorite Thing"
We seem to want to have it locked down knowing that we are absolutely right about God. We also want to be right about who is with us in in our rightness. Those who are not with us are anathema. They are not only anathema to us, but also to God. After all God is on our side. Needless to say, we are often wrong about that too.​
September 1, 2024: "Clean Hands, Clean Heart"
If we are so focused on the rule we are missing how our actions, desires, and thoughts are what truly make us unclean. Let me put it this way. Would you rather encounter someone who washed his hands religiously but harmed people or someone who did not wash his hands but loved and cared for people. Jesus is saying that we lose sight of the importance of cleanliness when we focus on the outward actions instead of the inward intentions.​
July 28, 2024: "Food Glorious Food"
It is our faith in God that heals, restores, and makes the way clear for miracles. It is that same faith that leads a child to give five loaves and two fish to feed more than five thousand people. It is the humility, guilelessness, hopefulness, idealism, and magnanimity of children and youth which leads to miracles. Instead of deciding in our very mature, world-weary, and all-knowing way that “it’s gonna’ take a miracle” to solve a problem. We can take our cue from the boy in this lesson, and from our own children and grandchildren.​
July 21, 2024: "The Promise of Promises"
We may think that money, earthly power, possessions, IRAs, stocks, or other earthly things are our ultimate help, but they are not. Money can be lost, power is fleeting, possessions can be stolen or destroyed, and stocks and bonds go belly up. Only the Lord who is my shepherd is eternal and faithful. We can flee from the flock, and we can look for greener pastures, but they do not exist. What is without God is a mirage. It is ephemeral. It is nothing.​
July 7, 2024: "Becoming Irrelevant"
Home is a tricky concept. It can be a place of comfort or a place of confinement. Even in the best of households there is a mixture of good memories and not so good. Home can be a place we flee to when things get rough. It can also be a place we flee from.​
June 30, 2024: "A Day at the Beach"
The narratives presented in this Gospel lesson are about two women in vastly different circumstances, and both situations are dire. One is a twelve-year-old girl who is ill to the point of death. Her father is at his wits end. The other is a woman who has suffered for twelve years with a bleeding condition. She has spent all her money on cures, none of which have worked. She is also at her wits end.​
June 23, 2024: "Does Anyone Care?"
Just because God is with us does not mean we will not have struggles. All humans have problems, and God does not abandon us. Because the Book of Job is a fable the story ends with him getting back two-fold all that he lost. In contrast, for the disciples the storm is a learning moment. The terrors of the sea are nothing compared to the trials they will experience spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.
June 16, 2024: "High Hopes"
But as I have said many times reading parables literally guarantees that we will miss the point. Imagine being a farmer who scatters seed and then goes to bed letting nature take its course until it is ready for harvest. At which time he brings in a plentiful harvest. It doesn’t seem like much of a story. What’s more is that anyone with even a little agricultural experience would know that is not the way to get a plentiful harvest. Scattering seeds instead of planting them guarantees the birds will eat well. It does not guarantee that the seeds will germinate, grow, and bring forth a harvest. Planting the seeds would be a better way.
June 9, 2024: "In the Cool of the Evening"
The problem is that the humans have broken the relationship with God. There was one rule in the Garden of Eden and they broke it. Now they feel they can no longer go for those evening strolls with God anymore. I imagine that God, who was looking forward to the walk, is as disappointed in the loss of the relationship as much as in the disobedience of the people. The question could be as simple as “Didn’t you value our time together enough to not do that one thing?
June 2, 2024: "The Gift of Sabbath"
When I was growing up I often heard stories about how my ancestors observed the Sabbath. It involved taking their Saturday night bath and polishing shoes. Sunday morning it was breakfast and then off to Sunday School and church. When church was over the family would return home for Sunday dinner. It was the large meal of the day after which, once the dishes were done, everyone would spend the balance of the day doing nothing. That last part terrified me. I have the image in my head of people sitting on a front porch in rocking chairs and swings whiling away the afternoon. The first part of the day seemed normal, but an afternoon of doing nothing seemed so boring. When I asked “Why” the answer was, “The Lord commanded us to rest on the Sabbath.” I thought resting is one thing - being bored to death is another.
Now I wonder if they did not have it closer to right then I used to think.
May 26, 2024: "The Best News of All"
Ultimately, the Trinity is a mystery which cannot be understood through human reason. Instead, we believers must take it as an article of faith. We worship God in Trinity and in Unity without breaking apart the Trinity or confusing the persons of the Trinity. If you look at the back of your worship bulletin you will see an image of the Trinity. It is probably the best illustration conceived. It shows that each person of the Trinity is distinct from the other two, and they are each God.
May 19, 2024: "A Penchant for Pentecost"
If we walk out into the world today no different than when we arrived, then Pentecost has lost its meaning. If we can accept that we are being set on first by God through the gift of the Paraclete, we can be a light for all the world to see. We can be like the disciples speaking God’s truth because the Spirit of truth is with us and guides us. We are all descendants of those first disciples. We all have God’s truth to share.
May 12, 2024: "To Know as We Are Known"
Our struggle is as real as the first disciples’, even moreso because we live in the lap of luxury and think it is normal. If we are to know and be known, our prayer needs to mimic Jesus’ prayer to know his joy. The joy that no matter our circumstances makes our life complete, rich, and full. The joy that cannot be taken away regardless of the condition of our life. The joy of Jesus in the Father and the Father in him.
April 28, 2024: "At Home on Vine Street"
If I identify as one of the branches on the True Vine, I want to know that I have every chance in the world to prove that I can become productive branch bearing good and plentiful fruit. Jesus’ stories and parables usually give me hope that I am beloved, and that God will do all that is possible to help me fulfill my God-given potential. The vinegrower metaphor gives me a little chill.
April 21, 2024: "The Lord Is My Good Shepherd"
While we do not understand the art of shepherding sheep, we want what the shepherd has to offer. We want comfort from our pain and anxiety. We want to know that we will have healthy food to eat and fresh water to drink. We want to know that even when our enemies are present and surrounding us that God will provide for our needs. We want protection. We want the shepherd to have his rod for fighting off predators. We want the shepherd to carry his staff to keep us together and in line. We want to have comfort in the shadow of death. We want to know goodness and mercy. We want to be God’s own.
April 14, 2024: "Christ is Alive"
I grew up in a tradition where doubters were not welcome. Doubts were a sign of weakness of faith. Doubts were a sign that we did not believe sufficiently. Doubts were an indication that we were headed off the straight and narrow and on the road to hell. Yet Doubting Thomas shows us a different way. He shows us that we can have faith not just despite doubts but with the help of doubts.
April 7, 2024: "Steadfast Thomas?"
I grew up in a tradition where doubters were not welcome. Doubts were a sign of weakness of faith. Doubts were a sign that we did not believe sufficiently. Doubts were an indication that we were headed off the straight and narrow and on the road to hell. Yet Doubting Thomas shows us a different way. He shows us that we can have faith not just despite doubts but with the help of doubts.
March 31, 2024 | Easter: "What's So Good About Good Friday?"
more deeply into the story. Jesus has told the disciples to meet him in Galilee. We wonder if they did and how the message got to them. The ending also suggests that we go back to the opening of the Gospel. If we do, we notice afresh the first words, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” This reminds us that what we are reading is only the beginning. There is not the sense as in other gospels that the work is over.
March 29, 2024 | Good Friday: "What's So Good About Good Friday?"
The question often arises what is so good about Good Friday? After all, this is the day of our Savior’s crucifixion and death. What could be good about murder, even if it was the work of the political system against a perceived threat? Why would we celebrate the execution of a man, especially a man that we know did nothing to harm anyone?
March 28, 2024 | Maundy Thursday: "Towel Day is Every Day"
Two thousand years before The Hitchhikers Guide, someone else took an ordinary towel tied it to his waist and turned it into something special. According to John’s Gospel, on the night of the Last Supper Jesus did something remarkably humbling. He took a basin of water and proceeded to wash the feet of the men he called his disciples, his students. He was their teacher and master and he knelt down and washed their dirty feet.
March 24, 2024: "The Men Who Would Be King"
While it is not obvious at first glance, today’s Gospel readings give us two, albeit unrelated, opposing sons. In the action of the entry into Jerusalem and in the crucifixion, we have two kings. The kings are Jesus whom Pilate labels the King of the Jews and the Emperor of Rome who is the king of Rome. These two are also referred to as sons of God. Jesus is the true Son of God while the Emperor Cult insisted that he was a son of God. They are not going head-to-head as so often happens in the Bible, but the conflict is there, nonetheless. Indeed, the first believers in Jesus knew exactly what they were doing when they called Jesus the Son of God. They were challenging the cult of the emperor, imperialism, and Roman Authority.
March 17, 2024: "To Meet The Messiah"
In today’s Gospel reading when the outsiders ask Phillip if they can meet Jesus, I wonder who they were looking forward to meeting. Did they want to meet the teacher who spoke in parables or the preacher who told about the coming of the Kingdom of God? Or did they want to meet the troublemaker who upset the tables in the Temple? Did they want to meet the miracle worker who healed the sick and lame, and raised people from the dead? Did they want to meet the erudite Rabbi whose education was a mystery? Or did they want to meet the Rabbi who violated the Sabbath?
March 10, 2024: "God So Loved"
Helping others to know Jesus is not some blunt force practice of beating it into them. Helping others know Jesus is living the life he lived. A life of self-denial, asceticism, poverty, and most importantly love and care for others. Those others were often the people that the fundamentalists of his time considered the outsiders. They were the people that the religious elites considered sinners. They were the people that the good and faithful would have nothing to do with. Yet Jesus ate with them, consorted with them, talked with them, and loved them.
March 3, 2024: "Ten Commandments or Suggestions"
Indeed, the Bible is not so much a rule book, but collection of books that calls us to ponder, think, and pray. God gave us brains and hearts to be discerning. To take what is in scripture and learn to apply it to new situations. It is hard because we want simple answers. Simple answers to complex questions makes our lives easier. But life is neither easy nor simple.
February 25, 2024: "The Joy of Lent 3"
When we put our faith in God we realize we do not need to build fortresses around ourselves. We find freedom when greed and fear no longer motivate us. We will continue to save for a child’s education, retirement or a rainy day, but we know that our savings are not the bedrock of our security. Rather we are secure in the promises of God. Even promises that seem as unlikely as those made to Abraham and Sarah.
February 18, 2024: "The Joy of Lent 2"
The season of Lent like the season of Spring is a season of joy. We rejoice in the natural world coming back to life as trees and flowers bud and bloom. We rejoice in Lent because as it is said in the Ash Wednesday liturgy “that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life.” We use Lent to strengthen our connection with the divine in gratitude for all that has been given to us by God through the life, ministry, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
February 14, 2024 | Ash Wednesday: "The Joy of Lent"
God wants us to come closer. God wants us to repent, in the sense of the Greek word metanoia, to turn around or to change our minds; or as Baptist preachers of my youth would say “to get back on the straight and narrow.” God wants us to find joy in this life. God’s gifts are to be relished, savored, and embraced. God wants us to be a people of love for ourselves and one another.
February 11, 2024: "Fast Car"
In a country that so desperately needs symbols of togetherness and accord across races, beliefs and generations, we can find it in the most unlikely places if we are open to what God is doing in the world over against human manufactured war, discord, violence and disillusionment.
February 4, 2024: "That's Enough"
For us to live a more Christ–like life involves two things. One is to be like Christ and live among those in need. Serve those who have less in terms of money, education, resources, and other advantages. When we serve the everyday people we are doing Jesus work. To paraphrase Teresa of Avila we are being Christ’s hands and feet in the world. The other aspect of a Christ-like life is to acknowledge that despite our many advantages we are also needy.
January 28, 2024: "Maybe I'm Amazed"
We know in our hearts that Jesus is here in worship with us every time we meet regardless if it is Sunday morning worship, midweek Evening Prayer, or Thursday Holy Eucharist. If we come expecting to be astounded and amazed I can assure you, we will be. My teaching may not be amazing, and as far as I know I have not exorcised an unclean spirit or physically healed a disabled person. Yet, we can be amazed...
January 21, 2024: "The Sound of Silence"
When we are able to calm our hearts, souls and minds we are able to connect with God more clearly and deeply. When we are busy with tasks, concerns and thoughts God has a hard time breaking through. When we are busy asking for something from God as we often do in our prayers we do not give God the room to get a word in edgewise. There has to be silence and quiet to hear God, just as we need to be quiet to hear another human being.
January 14, 2024: "God Knows"
For God’s sake and your own allow yourself to be awestruck, amazed, filled with wonder, love and praise. It is there for each of us as it was for Samuel, Eli and the psalmist. Maybe even moreso because we have their examples and writing to help point the way. Allow yourself to be enchanted. Only God knows what wonders you might see.
January 7, 2024: "Revelation for All"
Today is the Baptism of Our Lord. The day we commemorate Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan. The liturgical timeline may be confusing. Jesus is born on Christmas Day, thirteen days later he is a toddler being visited by the Magi, and the next day he is thirty years old being baptized by John. When people say that kids grow up quickly these days they should check out Jesus.