Category Archives: sermon

Mustard seed

Split it with thumbnail or teeth, feel its tiny fire upon the tongue, a supernova soon consumed; or let it swell from within, fed by filtered light and living water, until it bursts open and eager, expanding like a universe … Continue reading

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Together

Together we grow side by side rise and fall together who can tell us apart but God? Together in awful glory we will shine together with all the fire of the sun _______________________ Year A Proper 11: the parable of … Continue reading

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Confessions of a crow

Dear One, do I perceive that you have told this parable against me? Have I stolen the seeds of contentment from those with whom I am on the way, the path that you have laid out in crazy paving, gravel, and grass, where joy should be … Continue reading

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Rest

Did you recall, as you were falling into the earth, into the abyss of memory, before the ground dented the palms of your hands before their time; did you recall, as the once-living wood pierced your side with bitter splinters, … Continue reading

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Welcome

Welcome is costly. God is a gracious and abundant giver – but God also asks of us our love, our devotion, our service to one another and the creation which God made us to tend. Sometimes, sure, it seems as though God is asking a lot. Ask Abraham. … Continue reading

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Abraham also laughed

A poem-sermon for Friday in the first week of the 2023 Chautauqua season at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd. The readings include Genesis 17:1,9-10,15-22 Abraham also laughed, in the face of God, no less, and lived – more than … Continue reading

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A new creation

You know the saying, that the leopard cannot change his spots. A thistle cannot become a fig tree. But there is one, there is one who can make all things new. Continue reading

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Let go to let love grow

A sermon for Tuesday in the first week of the 2023 Chautauqua season. The first reading is Lot’s separation from Abram in Genesis 13. __________________ After all those years in the bosom of his grandfather and uncle, I cannot imagine … Continue reading

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Judge not?

There is but one judge whose acumen is trustworthy and true. Fortunately, God is infamous for steadfast forbearance, slow to anger, and abiding in great mercy. Continue reading

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… But do not be afraid

A sermon for the first week of the Chautauqua Institution season, 2023, Year A Proper 7 _____________ There’s nothing like starting in the middle. With no context, no backstory to soften the blow, we arrive for a week at Chautauqua … Continue reading

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