Sermons

    Today is All Saints’ Day, one of the major feast days of the Church, and one of my favorite Sundays of the year. This first day in November is the time that we remember the saints of the church – all of them, those who are important and have their own day on the...

    Today's gospel reading is one of a string of stories in Matthew where the religious authorities are questioning Jesus, trying to trap him into saying something wrong or heretical.     Today it's the turn of a religious leader who is also a lawyer....

    Wow. I could stand here and look at your beautiful masked faces all day.      Even though all I can see are eyes and foreheads, I can see your joy in being back together again. And I hope those of you who are watching online also feel a sense...

What a difference a week makes! Last Sunday we heard one of the most important stories of the people of Israel, God giving them the Ten Commandments. The commandments are not just a list of rules; they are a covenant between God and God’s chosen people. As God says to...

This year as we have made our way through the strange time of a global pandemic many of our Old Testament readings have come from the Book of Exodus.      Both have been interesting, and often parallel, journeys.     We've heard God call...

This may be an apocryphal story, but it still rings true. The great philosopher Alfred North Whitehead had just finished his opening lecture in a course on cosmology, the study of the universe, when an agitated student came up to him. “I’m sorry, professor, but...

Two hundred thousand. Two hundred thousand people. Two hundred thousand deaths. Two. Hundred. Thousand.     That is the number of deaths from the coronavirus we reached in this country this weekend, or we should say that is the official death count....

“Forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray.”“Peter came and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often shall I forgive? As many as seven times?”“Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven...

       Ever since reading the Gospel early this week I have been thinking about a young man I once knew named Todd.     Todd grew up in the Midwest as a Jehovah’s Witness. His father was a leader in that denomination’s hierarchy. His...

    Last February top executives from around the country and around the globe gathered for a conference in Boston.      For two days, as The Washington Post reports, "they shook hands, kissed cheeks, passed each other the salad tongs at the buffet."...

    We have entered full bore into the political season, as the presidential campaigns grow ever more intense as we get closer and closer to election day.      Last week we had the Democrats' political convention; this week it will be the Republicans'...

    This summer our Old Testament readings have been from the Book of Genesis, following the stories of the great patriarchs and matriarchs of Israel, beginning with Abraham and Sarah, and passing on through their descendants.     With today's reading...

    "From the darkness came a brilliant burst of fierce light many times brighter than the noonday sun. Instantly the desert and distant mountains were bathed in white brilliance. Even those with their eyes closed were able to sense the explosion of light and feel the...

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we...

The original source of the quote is uncertain,  but the words have stayed with me since I first heard them in seminary many years ago. “A preacher,” the theologian said, “should have the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” Since I spent many years...