Sermons
Sermons preached in a context, but written for people of all sorts and conditions.
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Not a King
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8 min read
There’s a fundamental flaw in calling Jesus the king. But it isn’t just our perception of kings. It’s how it changes our relationship to Jesus. Proper 29B | 2 Samuel 23:1-7, Psalm 132:1-13 (14-19), John 18:33-37 I’ve heard the argument for an American king. It goes something like this. Our president has two jobs: being…
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tearing down temples
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9 min read
In Mark’s Little Apocalypse, Jesus invites us to see what we’d rather avoid: not only the finitude of existence but the challenge of a life of trusting God. How our temples deny our trust Proper 28B | Mark 13:1-8 I don’t envy the disciples. Here they are, marveling the enormity of the Temple, looking at the…
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Devouring Their Houses
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8 min read
Jesus doesn’t simply criticize the priests for their hubris, he exposes the whole system for its corruption, exploitation, and rejection of the poor. of poverty and hubris in the Temple Proper 27B | Mark 12:38-44 Less than a week after starting at my first congregation out of seminary, I went to my first clericus—a meeting of…
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Jesus Keeps Walking
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9 min read
After Jesus makes his third passion prediction, his followers still don’t understand what it means to follow Jesus. And most of us don’t either. For Jesus, it isn’t just confronting power — it’s rejecting glory. Proper 24B | Mark 10:35-45 A few weeks ago, when we hosted our neighbors for our annual big blow-out communion…
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Becoming Beloved
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7 min read
Jesus wants us to talk about money. I know you don’t want me to talk about money. And you know I don’t want to talk about money. But here we are. Just like I didn’t want to talk about divorce last week, but there it was. Jesus wants us dealing with important stuff. Jesus is saying…