Tag: Christian Life and Practice
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Life Is Not A Two Column Ledger – A Sermon On Matthew 22:15-22
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s,” Jesus says in today’s gospel (Matthew 22:15-22). It sounds simple enough. It sounds like we should be able to just take a piece of paper, divide it into two columns, one for God and one for… Read more
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Today Is The Day – A Sermon On Luke 4:14-21
I went home from work one evening last week and told Cyndy, “I had the best afternoon. I was doing what I love and, I don’t mean to brag, but I did it really well.” I suspect you’ve had days like that. Things just flow. You’re in the zone. It feels like there’s an alignment… Read more
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Too Big For Your Britches? Good – A Sermon On Mark 10:35-45
James and John want to be on top. They want to sit on either side of Jesus in his glory. The other ten disciples are angry about this. I picture them looking at James and John and saying, “You arrogant, selfish, and presumptuous sons of Zebedee. Who do you think you are?” It sounds like… Read more
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Becoming Our Better Selves – A Sermon On Mark 9:30-37
“On the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest” (Mark 9:34). How do you imagine that argument went? Today’s gospel (Mark 9:30-37) doesn’t tell us what the disciples said but it’s not difficult to imagine. We need only recall the times we’ve argued about and striven to be the greatest. Maybe… Read more
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Here 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. Today you are being immersed in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) as a way of… Read more
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Love’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 which everything else hangs. They are two sides of the same thing. You can’t truly have one without… Read more
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There’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 already have more than enough leaders throughout the world who are abusing their power, when violence is perpetrated… Read more
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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 presidential election and afterwards. The liturgy incorporates a theme expressed in my sermon, We Are Nineveh. The vestry and clergy of… Read more
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“Show Me Your Work” – A Sermon On Matthew 16:13-20
I thought I knew or had some idea of what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah. The events of the last six months, however, have caused me to rethink what it means. It used to be mostly a Sunday morning kind of question, but now it’s an every day kind of question. It… Read more
Interrupting the Silence 