Tag: Seeing
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The Eye Of The Heart – A Sermon On Mark 10:46-52
One of the things that strikes me about today’s gospel (Mark 10:46-52) is Jesus’ question to Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” My first reaction is, “He’s blind. What do you think he wants you to do? He wants to see again.” But then I think about times in my life Read more
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Seeing And Living Transfigured Lives – A Sermon On Mark 9:2-9
Today’s gospel (Mark 9:2-9), the story of the transfiguration, is one of those big stories from scripture. It’s a mountaintop experience of dazzling white clothes, Elijah and Moses talking with Jesus, and a cloud from which God speaks. It’s such a big story that it can easily feel a bit too fantastical, too unreal, and Read more
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Here’s Mud In Your Eye – A Sermon On John 9:1-41
I’m going to begin this sermon a little differently from how I usually do. I’m going to start with a visual aid and a little experiment that I hope will help open our eyes. About ten or twelve years ago we commissioned this icon of Jesus and Philip. Take a good look at the icon. Read more
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Changing The Picture of Life – A Sermon On Luke 13:10-17
I suspect we’ve all seen before and after pictures; before and after the diet or workout plan, before and after a re-model, before and after a particular event or experience. If you looked at my before St. Philip’s pictures you’d see brown hair. And after, gray. That’s what today’s gospel (Luke 13:10-17) reminds me of. Read more
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“Let Me See Again” – A Sermon On Mark 10:46-52
Most of you have heard enough of my preaching that you won’t be surprised when I tell you that I don’t want us to literalize today’s gospel (Mark 10:46-52) and make it about only physical blindness and sight. We often hear this story and think of blindness and seeing in their outward forms. But what Read more
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Unless … – A Sermon On John 12:20-33
I don’t know if “unlesses” is a real word but I am using it as a noun and the plural of unless. We all have our “unlesses.” They’re about how and what we see. They are the restrictions, limitations, and conditions that shape and inform our relationships and understanding of each other, Jesus, and ourselves.… Read more
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Can 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 to tell about it. Before you answer, let me clarify what I am talking about and what… Read more
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Seeing With The Eye Of The Heart – A Funeral Sermon on 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:9
Richard knew a “secret, a very simple secret.” He knew and trusted that “it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince, chapter xxi) That is the secret that sustains us through our losses and gives hope on this… Read more
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Seeing All There is to See – A Sermon on John 9:1-41
Everything about Jesus, his life, his words, his actions, are a judgment on our lives and world. That judgment offers us the chance to see as he sees, to live as he lives, and to be as he is. His judgment, however, is not an adjudication for the purpose of punishment. Rather, it is a… Read more
Interrupting the Silence 