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Blood and Light: seeing, revealing, saying
a Sermon for The Presentation Text: Luke 2:22-40 Embarrassment and Injustice I was in the fifth grade. I’m not sure why I was out of my classroom and standing in the hall. Maybe I was feeling sick and waiting to be picked up. The front door to Ella White Elementary was near the office. A…
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An Assize Sermon Reflection: What Needs to be Re-Imagined?
As one who so often sees the how our institutional priorities limit our effectiveness, and more over, the very substance of our ministry, I am encouraged and hopeful by new movement in The Episcopal Church. The Re-Imagining we are undertaking must hold the spirit of our sacramental relationships and expressions as most important. As Robert…
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Acting like we love Jesus
a Sermon for Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle Text: Matthew 10:16-22 Sacrifice In the years after Jesus died, his closest followers passed on stories about Him. They gathered, started new faith communities, worshiped, sang. They prayed for the Kingdom. They called out to GOD. They taught their children to do the same. They told…
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The Foundation of Faith
a Sermon for Epiphany 2A Text: John 1:29-42 The Foundation How strange this sight must have been for John the Baptizer. So many baptisms and among them is Jesus, the Messiah, the one whose way John is preparing. What John the Baptizer experiences is so significant that he testifies to its power: the Spirit made…
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Jesus has gone swimming
a Sermon for Epiphany 1A Text: Matthew 3:13-17 I insist This morning’s gospel story begins with the most unlikely of conversations. It is a titanic theological battle of You go. No, you go. No, I insist. John the Baptizer and Jesus dance over who baptizes who like two men arguing over which one gets to…
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Manifesting in Story
Monday’s celebration of The Epiphany was unique in that it took place in the midst of a once-in-a-generation snow storm. That arctic vortex gave us sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall as we haven’t seen in the Midwest in a long time. Feeling the cold on my face in the minutes I was out shoveling…
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Fake Christmas
You too can celebrate the authenticity of Christmas with this fake tree, on clearance amid a bunch of other junk, replicating the only real tree amid a lot of fake trees. To fakely celebrate the way a cartoon character celebrated in a beloved Christmas special. Unlike, say, real life.
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The Manifestation
Yesterday, we celebrated the Epiphany, often seen simply as the day the Wise men arrive to see Jesus. But the Epiphany has a deeper, more profound purpose for us. And the root is found in the word chosen more than 1,700 years ago for the day. Epiphany, from the ancient Greek, means “manifestation”. For us,…
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