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Expectations: of Leaders in Church
I marvel at how low the expectations are for leaders in The Episcopal Church in their commitment to a life of faith. I also marvel at how many hoops we ask of those moved by their faith. To stand for vestry (our congregational boards), you have to show up for church a few times a…
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A Powerful Faith
a homily for Proper 4C Text: Luke 7:1-10 [Listen to “A Powerful Faith” here while you read along.] Making it personal Man, that Centurion looks good, doesn’t he? Generous? Check. Compassionate? Check. Faithful? Double-check. That guy sure looks good in the end, doesn’t he? The basics of the story are these: Jesus strolls into Capernaum.…
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Jesus Verbs
a homily for Ascension Day Text: Luke 24:44-53 The Ascension is pretty much the hardest part of the Jesus Event for the post-Enlightenment world to get. It seems as if we can suspend our disbelief only so far. And the Ascension is just too much. And yet, we might be asking the wrong question. Listen…
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Scapegoats, Villains, and American Fear
Terror In the wake of the bombings in Boston and the pursuit of the suspects, I’ve been trying to find a way to respond. Something that wasn’t part of the noise. Something that was honest to my experience of needing to watch, but knowing that the coverage would be far too speculative. Studies of the…
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Naked Love
a Sermon for Easter 3C Text: John 21:1-19 Why is Peter naked? The astute observer will notice that each of the gospels handles the resurrection of Jesus differently. Mark, the earliest gospel has no Jesus appearance; Matthew and Luke each have one appearance; while John has three. This morning we get the last one and…
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Dude, Stop Being Satan! (Eating Scripture)
In this week’s piece, we explore the nature of Mark 8:27-38, the story with that great line: “get behind me, Satan!” Ouch! Peter got burned! The big thing about this story is that it is that turning point. The point where everything really does change because its game day. Yesterday was practice, today we play. If we dwell…
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Faith Before Understanding
a Homily for Proper 16B Text: John 6:56-69 What is this? Jesus has brought the people here through a swirling storm of teachings about faith, understanding, and love. As they arrive to the safety of the synagogue, he takes all of that teaching and he mixes in their likely confusion about literal and metaphorical…
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About the Bread
a Homily for Proper 12B Text: John 6:1-21 Focus on the Feeding With the Feeding of the Five Thousand, we get one of the most recognizable stories of Jesus in the Bible. To many of us, this is quintessential Jesus. He feeds people. He performs a miracle. He instructs the disciples. He transforms how people…