A Prayer And A Pledge For The 2020 Presidential Election
The following liturgy and pledge were prepared after a conversation the vestry (the parish’s governing body) had about how we want to be toward one another in the time leading up to the 2020...
View ArticleBetween What Is And What Could Be – A Sermon On Isaiah 5:1-7
Isaiah describes how God dug a vineyard, cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines. Then God built a watchtower in the midst of the vineyard and hewed out a wine vat in it. And now God...
View ArticleThere’s Got To Be More Than This – A Sermon On Matthew 22:1-14
If what we hear in today’s gospel (Matthew 22:1-14) is really what the kingdom of heaven is like, then I’m not interested. Who needs God’s kingdom - at least as Jesus describes it today - when we...
View ArticleLove’s Only Hope In This World – A Sermon On Matthew 22:34-46
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” These, Jesus says, are the two commandments on...
View ArticleReading The Book Of Nature
There is “a great book,” Saint Augustine says, “the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Note it. Read it.” St. Anthony also knew about this book. Once when a visiting...
View ArticleHere We Are – A Baptismal Sermon On the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:1-12
Emmitt, though you are only four and a half months old you are never too young to hear the Beatitudes for the first time, and neither are the rest of us too old to hear them again for the first time....
View ArticlePushing Back The Darkness – A Sermon On Matthew 25:1-13
Where is there light in your life and the world today? And where is there darkness in your life and the world today? I wouldn't be surprised if for many or even most of us our first answer is based on...
View ArticleSheep Or Goat? Yes We Are – A Sermon On Matthew 25:31-46
So what do you make of today’s gospel (Matthew 25: 31-46)? Is Jesus separating the good from the bad? Is Jesus saying some are welcome and included in the kingdom but others are rejected and excluded?...
View ArticleThankfulness In 2020
“What could we possibly be thankful for in 2020?” That’s the question Steve Hartman of the CBS Evening News recently asked his kids in this video. I suspect many of us might be asking ourselves the...
View ArticleNew Life Emerges From The Dark – A Sermon On Mark 13:24-37
Today’s gospel, like all apocalyptic literature, takes us to those threshold moments that leave us wondering whether things are falling apart or falling into place. By now most of you know me well...
View ArticleCan I Get A Witness? – A Sermon On John 1:6-8, 19-28
When was the last time you could not help but tell about something you saw, heard, or experienced? It was simply more than you could hold or contain and you just couldn’t keep it to yourself. You had...
View Article“Creator Of The Stars Of Night”– An Advent Chant
“Creator of the Stars of Night” is an Advent chant with words from the 9th century. The music, Conditor lame siderum, is plainsong chant, mode 4. This rendition is by two choir members of St. Philip’s...
View ArticleHold The Tension – An Ordination Sermon On Isaiah 6:1-8
As important as this evening is, it is only the evening of your ordination. And while what we do this evening matters and makes a difference, what will matter most and make the biggest difference is...
View ArticleThe Christmas Proclamation
Throughout the season of Advent, the Church has reflected on God’s promises, so often spoken by the prophets, to send a savior to the people of Israel who would be Emmanuel, that is, God with us. In...
View ArticleBy Way Of The Interruptions – A Christmas Sermon On Luke 2:1-20
It began about nine months ago. Life was interrupted when the unexpected and unimaginable happened. And I wondered, “How can this be?” Life was changing and things were getting too real too quick. The...
View ArticleNow What? So What? – A Christmas Day Sermon On Luke 2:8-20
It’s so quiet this morning, so calm, so empty. Christmas Day is one of my favorite services every year. It’s just us and the baby. Most years I come to Christmas morning with two questions: Now what?...
View Article“The Work Of Christmas”– A Sermon On John 1:1-18
I think most of us hear about the Word becoming flesh and living among us and we immediately assume it’s about Jesus. I don’t disagree with that. We see him enfleshing the Word of God throughout his...
View ArticleThe Flight To Egypt In Poetry And Music
This coming Sunday one option for the gospel is the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23). Every time read this story I remember the words of poet George Szirtes and the music of...
View ArticleWill We Be Dreamers Or Searchers In 2021? – A Sermon On Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
We’re three days into the new year, a time of change and transition often marked by the calendar more than the circumstances of our lives or world. Regardless, the 2020 year end reviews are well...
View ArticleEpiphany Proclamation Of Easter 2021
The ancient Church had a practice of announcing the dates of Easter as well as other feasts and fasts that do not have a fixed date. Since the Epiphany is a fixed date feast (January 6) and also the...
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