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Not 7 Essential Facts Everyone Should Know About Angels – A Sermon on Genesis...
Something is happening between heaven and earth, between God and us. And it’s happening all the time. The angels of God are ascending and descending. There is traffic, movement, and activity between...
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How’s Your Garden Growing? A Sermon on Matthew 21:33-46
Image source: Wikimedia Commons Jesus said to them “Listen to another parable” (Matthew 21:33-46, Parable of the Wicked Tenants, Proper 22A). He could have just said, “Get ready for another...
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An Open Invitation – A Sermon on Matthew 22:1-14
My first year in seminary we had a church history professor who would say the most outrageous things. He was funny. He was sarcastic. He was sometimes offensive and he was always challenging. You just...
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Is it God’s or the Emperor’s? A Sermon on Matthew 22:15-22
I want you to think about a few things and then I want to ask you some questions about those things. First, think about the checks you have written, the bills you have paid, and the purchases you have...
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Silence, the Way Home
The 14th century Sufi poet and mystic, Rumi, wrote, “Return to the root of the root of yourself.”¹ His words remind me that I often live on the periphery or circumference of life, disconnected from the...
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Called to Become God: The Human Vocation
“I should be doing more,” she said. “I want to do more but I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what God wants me to do. What is God’s will for my life?” That’s how our conversation began. Her...
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Advent, the Season of Necessary Endings – A Sermon on Mark 13:24-37
By now most of you probably know that the primary focus of my priesthood and ministry is the growth and development of our inner life. It’s the core of my preaching, teaching, and our life together at...
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Advent, A Season in the Wilderness – A Sermon on Mark 1:1-8
“In the Wilderness” by Sr. Miriam Elizabeth, Beauty Bears Witness. Used with permission. The wilderness, John the Baptist, preparing the way of the Lord. They are three major images in today’s gospel,...
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Advent, A Season of Uncategorized Life – A Sermon on John 1:6-8, 19-28
Most of you have heard enough of my preaching and teaching to know that when it comes to either/or questions my default response is “yes.” Is it this or is it that? Yes. This isn’t about playing a...
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He and Us – Thoughts on the Nativity from St. Ambrose
Icon of our Lord’s Nativity “He was a baby, a child, so that you may become a complete, mature person. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, so that you might be freed from the bonds of death. He was...
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The Manger of Christ Never Disappoints – A Christmas Eve Sermon on Luke 2:1-14
The Angel Announcing Good News of Great Joy (Original image has been cropped) “To you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:1-14) That says it all....
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From Fact to Meaning – A Christmas Day Sermon on Luke 2:8-20
The Adoration of the Shepherds by James Tissot So what’s next? The crowds have dispersed, the hymns have been sung, and Christmas Eve has given way to the dawn of a new day. This morning’s light has...
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Epiphany House Blessing with Chalk
The Adoration of the Magi by John Flaxman (source) The Church has a custom of blessing homes on the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6) and the week following. Family and friends gather to ask God’s...
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Epiphany Proclamation of Easter 2015
The Church has a couple of important and meaningful traditions related to The Feast of the Epiphany: the blessing of homes and the Epiphany Proclamation of Easter. I have previously written about...
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No Longer a Manger Baby: Letting Jesus Grow Up – A Sermon on Luke 2:41-52
Giotto diBondone’s Christ Among the Doctors (source) “Child, why have you treated us like this?” Sound familiar? Do you know those words? Do they take you back to another time, another place? Think...
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A Star Powered Epiphany
St. Romanos the Melodist was a sixth century Byzantine hymnographer. Regarding the star that the magi followed (Matthew 2:1-12, the Feast of the Epiphany in the Western Church) he writes that Christ...
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When a Star Isn’t a Star – An Epiphany Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12
Star of Bethlehem by Waldemar Flaig (source) “For we observed his star at its rising.” Wise men from the East have followed this star to Jerusalem. They will follow it to Bethlehem. They will be...
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Into What Then Were You Baptized? – A Sermon on Mark 4:1-11
I remember someone saying to me many years ago, “I’ve had a bad decade. There are things I wish I could re-do. I’d make different choices. So many words I wish I hadn’t said. Relationships that I’d do...
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A Blessing Specific to the Feast of the Presentation
The Book of Occasional Services, one of the liturgical books in the Episcopal Church, offers several blessings specific to seasons and feast days. It does not, however, offer a blessing specific to the...
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Blessing Candles on the Feast of the Presentation (Candlemas)
Forty days after Christmas the infant Jesus was presented in the temple of Jerusalem and placed in the arms of the old man Simeon (Luke 2:22-40) who declared: Lord, you now have set your servant free...
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