Sermons

Advent 2C We hear today from the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, the gospel that gives us the most beloved stories of Jesus’ birth – the angel’s visit to Mary announcing she will have a son, Mary’s beautiful song of praise in response to that startling news, the...

Advent 1C Today is the first day of Advent, the beginning of a new year in the church calendar. We have spent the last six months in what the church calls “ordinary time,” that long period between Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, and the First Sunday of Advent....

Thanksgiving 2018 The calendar gives us an unusual gift this year. More often than not, Thanksgiving weekend is also the First Sunday of Advent. Most of us are still eating leftover turkey when the church shifts liturgical gears into the season of preparation for the...

Proper 28Ba This fall in adult Sunday School we have looked at what it means to be a Christian in the age in which we live. We’ve talked about what we believe, and how those beliefs compel us to act in the world. We’ve talked about some hot button issues – misogyny,...

All Saints’ Sunday It has been a week of mourning and remembering. When we gathered together in worship last Sunday, the horrific massacre of 11 Jews in Pittsburgh, gunned down while they worshipped, was so new and so raw we didn’t yet know the names of those who died...

Proper 25B Jesus and his disciples are leaving the town of Jericho when suddenly there is a loud commotion on the side of the road. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus is yelling at Jesus, pleading with him for help. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” he shouts...

Proper 24B When I was in college in the mid-1970s, my friends and I had a sacred Saturday night routine. No matter what we might do earlier in the evening, at 11:30 we gathered together in front of the television, ready to watch our favorite show, the then new...

Proper 23B Jesus said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” St. Anthony of Thebes, brought up in a wealthy Christian family, but orphaned at age 18, heard these words...

Proper 21B I’ve been reflecting this week on a story of drunken men, an inept and foolish leader, and the women who stand up to them. I’m talking about today’s Old Testament reading, the story of Esther. (What did you think I was talking about?) Several years ago our...

Proper 20B Sometimes I think the most amazing thing about Jesus is the patience he has with his disciples. Today’s Gospel reading is a good example. Jesus is trying to teach his friends, trying to tell them something important. He knows that his time on earth is...

Proper 19B Last Sunday our Jewish friends heard the sound of the Shofar, the blowing of a ram’s horn, to signal the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. When we think of a New Year’s celebration we probably think of parties, football games, brunches,...

Proper 18B Today’s gospel reading is one of my favorite scripture stories. In it Jesus is taught a lesson about what it means to be the Messiah. And his teacher is a lowly woman. You may remember from last week’s gospel reading that Jesus has just had yet another run...

Proper 17B Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness, and bring forth in us the fruit of good works, through Jesus Christ our Lord....

Proper 16B For the last five weeks our Gospel readings have come from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, a very long and repetitive discourse from Jesus on the topic of bread. For week after week now we have heard Jesus saying essentially the same thing – that...

Proper 15B In a country that potentially changes its leaders every four years, or at most every eight years, it is hard to imagine a single person ruling a nation for four decades. But that is what Israel has had with King David, a 40-year reign. But now the great...