Tag: Sermon
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What Then Should We Do? – An Advent Sermon on Luke 3:7-18
“What then should we do?” That question is at the center of today’s gospel. It has its origin, however, in last week’s gospel and John the Baptist’s call for repentance. Today’s gospel (Luke 3:7-18) is the continuation of last week’s (Luke 3:1-6). You may remember the refrain from last week: Repent. Prepare the way of… Read more
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Repentance, Responsibility, and San Bernardino – An Advent Sermon on Luke 3:1-6
Repent. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight. Valleys shall be filled. Mountains and hills shall be made low. The crooked shall be made straight. The rough ways shall be made smooth. By themselves those words have no meaning. They need context. That’s true for any word. We might be able to… Read more
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There Will Be Signs – An Advent Sermon on Luke 21:25-36
“There will be signs,” Jesus said (from the gospel for the First Sunday of Advent, Luke 21:25-36). When I was a child one of the signs I always looked forward to was my Advent calendar. Every year about this time my sister and I were given a new Advent calendar. It was usually a beautiful… Read more
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The Truth Does Not Belong to Us – A Sermon on John 18:33-37
“Are you the King of the Jews?” (From John 18:33-37, the gospel for Christ the King Sunday) It’s a simple question and Pilate wants a simple answer, a simple truth. Yes or no. You either are or you aren’t. Which is it? That’s the kind of question I always tried to ask when I was… Read more
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Here is the Man – A Good Friday Sermon on John 18:1-19:42
“Here is the man.” (From the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John 18:1-19:42) Pilate has spoken a truth beyond the words we hear and beyond the man we see. Who is this man? Who do you see? To whom is Pilate referring? Yes, it is Jesus of Nazareth. He’s wearing a… Read more
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Welcome to the Human Race – An Ash Wednesday Sermon, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
A couple of years ago I was talking with a women who is and has been for many years my therapist, counselor, mentor, and teacher all rolled into one. I told her that I worked really hard to always get it right, to have the answer, to always know what to do, to speak the… Read more
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Healing the Fever of Disconnection – A Sermon on Mark 1:29-39
“Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever” (from Mark 1:29-39, Epiphany 5B). You know what that’s like, right? Picture that in your mind. She’s in bed, flat on her back. No energy. No enthusiasm. She is separated from family, friends, and her usual activities. She’s alive but not really living, certainly not to the… Read more
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Into What Then Were You Baptized? – A Sermon on Mark 1:4-11
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 differently.” It probably doesn’t take a lot of imagination to know what he means. It may not… Read more
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When a Star Isn’t a Star – An Epiphany Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12
“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 overwhelmed with joy when it stops over the house where the child is. For they have come to pay homage to this child who has been born… Read more
Interrupting the Silence 