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Category Archives: homily
Easter (without a happy ending)
Easter is not a happy ending. It is hopeful, it is healing, it is a powerful rebuke of death and a defiant proclamation of the life, the mercy, and the love of God that persists throughout human history, throughout human … Continue reading
The prodigal
It would be such a simple tale of family forgiveness, were it not for that wrinkle at the end, but that’s what makes it real. If there were no sin, there would be no need of salvation. If there were no rift, there would be no need for reconciliation. That’s why this story calls us to remember our charge as ambassadors for Christ, ministers and messengers of reconciliation, members of the beloved community of Christ that somehow brings together the sinner and the sinned against. Continue reading
Posted in homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged forgiveness, parable, prodigal son, reconciliation, repentance, Year C Lent 4
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Though the fig tree does not blossom
Jesus tells his parable to those who were reeling from the news of national disaster: of Pilate’s political murder and manslaughter in Jerusalem; worshippers taken at the altar for their rebellious resistance, and workers slain by deadly working conditions. Jesus tells his parable to those who are afraid that they will be next, that the powers that be will determine that they, too, are a waste of the soil in which they are planted and rooted. Continue reading
Posted in homily, sermon
Tagged 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Exodus 3:1-15, God, Habakkuk, Jesus, Lent, Luke 13:1-9, parable of the fig tree, Psalm 63:1-8, year c lent 3
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A Christmas Message
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was the cry of a newborn infant, swaddled in cloth and laid in a feeding trough. … Christmas. It’s a … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, homily, sermon
Tagged Christmas, Incarnation, Jesus, John 1:1-14
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Emmanuel
I misremembered the title of the children’s story that I cited in the middle of this reflection: I think it still works. In the Advent to Christmas stories we find a lot of fear, and a balancing dose of faith. … Continue reading
Posted in advent meditations, homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Advent, Christmas, Emmanuel, God, grief, Incarnation, Jesus, love, picture books
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Bearing Jesus
Mary, full of grace, sang not only for herself, the Almighty has done great things for me, but also for the proud spirits in need of disruption, and the poor spirits in need of nurture and nutrition; her song is not hers alone, but it belongs to us all.
Her call is not hers alone, to bear Christ into the world, to bring to light the joy of God’s mercy and love, which is our salvation. … Continue reading
Posted in advent meditations, homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Advent 4, Elizabeth, Incarnation, Jesus, Luke 1:39-56, Luke 1:46-55, Magnificat, Mary
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Rejoice!
John the baptizer would not have poured water on all of those people if he didn’t think that some difference could be made, that it wasn’t worth making a commitment, a covenant to do good, to give thanks, to rejoice in God and act as though God were in charge of our lives and our world, rather than waiting passively and helplessly, hopelessly for the Second Coming. Sometimes, rejoicing is resistance; repentance is rejoicing; believing, with John, that we can change, and that Christ can and will change us. Do you think that we have changed at all, in the past twelve years together?
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Christ the King (or, the king is not the thing)
One of my favourite biblical reflections on kingship and humanity is Jotham’s parable from the book of Judges:
The trees decided to anoint themselves a king. First, they asked the olive tree: Come be our king! But the olive tree did not want to give up its vocation to produce oil for anointing, to honour and to heal, in order to govern other trees. So they asked the fig tree. But it would not give up its vocation to feed people and animals, birds, and all with its sweet goodness, so it declined. So, too, the vine, when asked, said why would I give up wine-making in order to govern other trees? Finally, they asked the bramble. The bramble, said, if you can find shelter under me, fine, go ahead; but if you are pricked by my thorns and shut out or caught up in my briars, it will be the worse for you. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Christ the King, Jesus, John 18:33-37, Judges 9:7-15, neo-nazis, parable of the trees, Pilate
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Witness
A sermon for All Saints Sunday We all know about Lazarus, don’t we? Lazarus has become a byword for those who return from the dead. In paleontology, Lazarus names those species that disappear from the fossil record as though extinct, … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, homily, sermon
Tagged All Saints, grief, Isaiah 25:6-9, Jesus, John 11:32-44, Lazarus, love, Year B All Saints
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Ransom
Left to our own devices, to our own imaginations, to ourselves – well, the devil makes play for idle hands and inflated egos. James and John, the anger of the disciples, left to spiral like a cyclonic wind, their bloviating would only cause them to wrap their errors more closely around themselves. If Jesus had agreed that they could sit at his left and right hands, the next argument would be who got right and who got left! Continue reading
Posted in homily, lectionary reflection, sermon, story
Tagged Aesop’s fable, james and john, Mark 10:35-45, north wind, serve, service, Son of God, Son of Man, sun, Year B Proper 24
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over the water 