An Episcopal Priest's Sermons, Prayers, and Reflections on Life, Becoming Human, and Discovering Our Divinity
Second Sunday after Pentecost, Year B - Genesis 3:8-15 Photo by Ian Keefe on Unsplash About a week and a half ago I was sitting at the kitchen counter with my wife, Cyndy, supper was cooking, and we were talking. Somewhere in our…
Read More Where Are You? – A Sermon On Genesis 3:8-15
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B - John 15:1-8 Photo by Maja Petric on Unsplash Think about what you do in your daily life that just leaves you exhausted. I am talking about the things that leave you emotionally drained and physically worn…
Read More Wholehearted Life – A Sermon On John 15:1-8
Alleluia. Christ is risen. I wonder what that means for you today and why it matters. I don’t think we can understand what today really means apart from this past week. Without Holy Week we risk coming to this day and asking, “Risen from what?” We risk coming to this day believing it is only about Jesus’ resurrection and not our own. And what good is it to us if Jesus has been raised but we have not?
I think business as usual is the issue. The animals and money changers are not the problem. They are the symptom that something else is going on. I think Jesus went to the temple that day for one purpose and with one intention; to throw out and overturn business as usual. There are times when we need the tables of our life overturned and the animals thrown out. It’s just so easy to fall into the trap of business as usual.
What would you say if I told you that every day is the third day? What would you think if I told you that resurrection is happening every day everywhere? What if I told you that resurrection is happening even in the current political, economic, and racial struggles of today; even in the midst of the pandemic; and even in our divisions and disagreements about who we are and the values we hold? Can you see it? Are you experiencing it? Is it real for you? If so, what does it look like? Where are you seeing life and more life? What difference is resurrection making in your life today? And if you can’t see it and aren’t experiencing it, if it’s not real for you, why not? Are you standing with Peter in the “God forbid it” place?
Spoken or unspoken, I think there’s a question every troubled heart is asking. Will the center hold or is everything collapsing around us? That’s my question and maybe it’s your question too. I think it’s one many are asking. And today Jesus answers, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”
Jesus says that he is the gate. Gates open and close. Gates keep sheep in, and thieves and bandits out. Gates close to death and open to life. I’m attracted to the gate metaphor because it fits what is happening in our country, our state, our town, your life and my life. I’m talking about reopening.
The Second Sunday of Easter - John 20:19-31 By 22Kartika - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons Every year I come to this day - the Second Sunday of Easter - and I wonder what difference last Sunday -…
Read More Easter Unlocked And Opened – A Sermon On John 20:19-31
Alleluia! Christ is risen! It echoes in here when I say that, sort of like it might in an empty tomb. Most everyone is at home, keeping to themselves. Anxiety is in the air. There are no overflowing crowds celebrating Jesus’ resurrection. People are not showing up dressed in their Easter finest. There are no fancy dresses or hats. There are no “eggstravaganzas" or kids gathered with Easter baskets. Friends and family are not sitting down together for a big Easter feast. It’s been a time of turmoil, chaos, and loss. People are shaken, as if by an earthquake. The future is unknown and uncertain.
Jesus’ resurrection is a call insisting you and I give existence to more life, whether for ourselves or another. We are the ones to continue the story of resurrection. We are the ones to give concrete existence to resurrection.
