An Episcopal Priest's Sermons, Prayers, and Reflections on Life, Becoming Human, and Discovering Our Divinity
Photo by Ray Fragapane on Unsplash Today’s gospel (Luke 3:7-18) is the continuation of last week’s gospel (Luke 3:1-6). They are two parts of the same story and I don't think we can fully understand today's without the context of last week's Last…
Read More What Then Should We Do? – A Sermon On Luke 3:7-18
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash Do you ever feel like you are one person here and another person over there? Do you sometimes change who you are and how you present yourself depending on where you and who you are with? I suspect…
Read More Am I Really Who I Say I Am? – A Sermon On John 18:33-37
What are your stories of being alienated from yourself? What's your first memory of that? What is your most recent memory of that? When have you felt like a stranger in your own skin?
I think we all live as women and men with unclean spirits. They are those times when we betray our own integrity, when we are confused and lost about who we are or who we want to be, when we look at our life and don't recognize ourselves or like what we see. Or maybe we want our life to be different. We want to stop causing trouble and difficulty for ourselves. We want to be more or different than what we have become. I think that's what it's like to live with an unclean spirit.
What if "Follow me" is Jesus' invitation to every one of us to step into the fullness of our life? What if it is the call to become fully alive? What if it's about becoming more authentically ourselves, living with integrity, and discovering our truest self? Maybe every time we act in such a way that our life seems to fit and our words and decisions reflect who we really are we are answering Jesus' call to follow him. Have you ever had the feeling that you just had to do something even though you didn't exactly know where it would take you or what would happen? It didn't just feel right. It felt necessary. And to do otherwise would be a betrayal of life and yourself? Maybe that's what how Simon and Andrew, and James and John felt. Maybe that's what it feels like to answer Jesus' call, "Follow me."
One of the traditional Lenten practices is self-denial. Often this leaves us asking the question, “What should I give up for Lent?” The answers vary – candy, bread, wine, shopping, blogging…. We endure, for God’s sake, forty days of self-denial.…
Read More Self-denial is More than Just Saying, “No”
The collect and readings for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany may be found here. The following sermon is based on Mark 1:21-28. Who is this man with an unclean spirit that shows up in the synagogue today? He’s loud. He…
Read More I have everything to do with you – A Sermon on Mark 1:21-28; Epiphany 4B
Interrupting the Silence 