An Episcopal Priest's Sermons, Prayers, and Reflections on Life, Becoming Human, and Discovering Our Divinity
The child has been born. Take a deep breath. Breathe in the truth of his birth. The child has been born. I love the Christmas Day liturgy. It’s one of my favorite liturgies of the whole year. It’s so different…
Read More My New Christmas Word – A Christmas Day Sermon On Luke 2:8-20
“They made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.” (Luke 2:1-20) What do you imagine the shepherds told them? Did they tell about standing in…
Read More What Is Your Amazing Story? – A Christmas Eve Sermon On Luke 2:1-20
By unknown artist, according to the template of Angelos Akotantos - Photographer: Petar Milošević, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons Today’s sermon is going to be pretty low key. I think that’s what this day calls for. This day always feels to…
Read More It’s Just Us And The Baby – A Christmas Day Sermon On Luke 2:8-20
When I was kid I loved the “then and there” Christmas story. You know it. It’s the one we just heard from the gospel according to St. Luke (Luke 2:1-20). It begins, “In those days …” and it happened “in…
Read More Tonight It Is Filled – A Christmas Eve Sermon On Luke 2:1-20
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 life; enfleshing forgiveness, love, mercy, peace, gentleness, nonviolence, wisdom, compassion, generosity. That was his way of being and living. But what about you and me? What about the Word becoming flesh in us?
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? So what? I never seem to have a final and lasting answer. So, once again, I come to Christmas morning with the same two questions.
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 government made travel decrees. Some family, friends, and businesses closed to us and said, “No, you can’t come in.” Things just aren’t like they used to be. They probably never will be. So much has changed. It feels like it’s been one interruption after another. You know what I’m talking about, right? I’m sure you do. It’s not too hard to figure it out. It’s in the air. It’s all around us. You know, don’t you, that I’m talking about Mary and what she might have thought about the past nine months of her life? I’m talking about the first Christmas. That is what you thought I was talking about, right?
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 the fullness of time those promises were fulfilled. With hearts full of joy let us hear the proclamation of our Savior’s birth.
Christmas Eve - Luke 2:1-20 Look around. Look how many of us showed up tonight - family, friends, people you know, and people you’ve never seen before. It’s like this every year. Christmas is one of the two best attended…
Read More Your Christmas Life – A Sermon On Luke 2:1-20
This Christmas night bestowed peace on the whole world; So let no one threaten; This is the night of the Most Gentle One – Let no one be cruel; This is the night of the Humble One – Let no…
Read More The Ethics of Christmas
Interrupting the Silence 