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Category Archives: sermon
Mercy
filled with the power of the Spirit, the prophet found the place where it was written: good news to the poor, release to the captives,and recovery of sight to the blind, The Spirit of the Lord haslet the oppressed go free – as … Continue reading
Schrödinger’s wedding
Until its surface tension breaks upon the steward’s tongue – dissipating sweetness, sweat of vineyard labourers, honey of the sun-ripened harvest – it is neither water nor wine; until the jars are filled to overflowing, until a drop is spilled, … Continue reading
What heals history?
We enter this new year, and this new season after Christmas, with some trepidation, don’t we? We are haunted by the shadows of the past, concerned for the present, warned by the violence that greeted the new year in New Orleans and Nevada and far beyond; our hopes and fears for the future year clash and mingle in the air like smoke.
And yet this is the Feast-day, the celebration of the Epiphany, the manifestation of God’s incarnation to the nations, to us. The bright promise that God is with us, even us. Continue reading
Posted in current events, holy days, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Epiphany, Herod, Incarnation, insurrection, Jesus, love, Matthew 2:1-12, The Revelation of the Magi
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A departing
The legends and myths of the kings and the Magi, drawn from faithful, imaginative engagement with the biblical text, resonate with us as a church as we draw together to seek the same saving grace: God with us, Emmanuel; a holy Communion in Christ. The legends reflect our life together as a church, as people, whose paths converge and cross and diverge on the journey toward Christ. We will mark one such departure this morning. After twelve years together, we will remain always united in our experience of God in Christ and in this gathering at the manger and the table and the cross; and yet we will leave by different roads. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Communion, Epiphany, grief, Jesus, leaving, light, love, magi, Matthew 2:1-12, parish, Revelation of the Magi
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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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Solstice
Through darkest day and longest nightshines the terrifying angel’s light,illuminating more than we can bear: the reversal of gravity proclaimed by a magnificat, revolution of earth and heaven on earth borne by the bodies intertwined of mother and child, full … Continue reading
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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(Un)Documented
But, Luke shows us, what we document, what we record, whom we remember is a choice. It is a choice that reflects what we consider to be important. Luke recognizes the culture of a world that requires context, but he also sees where God is at work in the wilderness, in the oddball person of faith standing in a river of prayer. He pivots quickly from the traditional seats of power because he sees, too, the one making a way out of rocks and rifts and building bridges where none seemed possible. Because Luke has seen Christ coming, and he knows that all manner of heaven is about to break loose. Continue reading
Posted in advent meditations, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Advent, faith, Jesus, John the Baptist, Luke 3, Year C Advent 2
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over the water 