A sermon preached on January 19th, 2020 – the Sunday before Martin Luther King’s birthday — based upon John 1:29-42 entitled “The Light that Transforms Us.” Last week I began my sermon talking about the messiness of the Bible. Some Christians try to deny this messiness by insisting that each word of the Bible was […]
A sermon preached on January 11th, 2020 – The Baptism of Our Lord Sunday – based upon Matthew 3:13-17 entitled, “Embracing the Messiness of Both the Bible and of Life Itself.” When folks read our scripture lesson in worship, I ask them to begin this way: “Listen for the word of the Lord.” And then […]
A sermon preached on January 5th, 2020 – Epiphany Sunday – based upon Matthew 2:1-12 entitled, “Attending to the Spiritual Journey.” In this life we are all obliged to engage in what you could call a “struggle”, or a “battle” or a “quest.” It is the quest to carve out a place for ourselves in […]
Each year I write a Christmas play with an elaborate plot line that arises somehow out of my imagination. There is always something mysterious about the story that arises, with a clear sense for me that the Holy Spirit has a hand in what comes forth. When the three performances are over the story continues […]
A sermon preached on December 15th, 2019 based upon Matthew 12:2-12 entitled “John the Baptist’s Despair and the Joy that is Present in Sorrow” This is a striking little story. Last week we heard how John the Baptist commanded the stage immediately before Jesus’ first appearance in the Gospel in his adult ministry. John appears […]
A sermon preached on December 8th – the Second Sunday in Advent – based upon Mathew 3:1-12 entitled, “Making Room for John the Baptist in Our Christmas Preparations” For most of us, it would be hard to find somebody less likely to put us in “the Christmas spirit” than this grim figure appearing in this […]
A sermon preached on December 1, 2019 – the first Sunday of Advent – based upon Isaiah 2:1-5 entitled, “Watching with the Prophets for a Word from the Lord During the Season of Advent.” The great revelation of the Judaism was that there is but one God, the creator of the universe, and that the […]
A sermon preached on November 24th, 2019 – Christ the King Sunday — based upon Luke 23:33-43, entitled, “The Broken Open Heart” The liturgical calendar ends today with Christ the King Sunday. Jesus, the Church declares, is the true “king.” But there is a problem that immediately arises with calling Jesus “king” and that is […]
A sermon preached on November 17th, 2019 based upon Isaiah 43:1-3a on the occasion of the baptism of LilyAnn Hope Bryant, entitled “It Takes Courage to Be a Parent.” Our lives are full of wonder and mystery, but in the unavoidable tedium of the daily grind of life we become deaf and blind to life’s […]
A sermon preached on November 10th, 2019 based upon Luke 20:27-38 entitled, “God is Bigger than Our Arrogance and Our Despair” I’m not good at memorizing lyrics. I have, however held onto a verse from a country song I learned when I was a young man by the great John Prine entitled “Angel from Montgomery” […]
