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Category Archives: sermon
Why have we come here? Good Friday 2019
We come not to glory in his death, but out of fear of our own; and not only, nor even the death of our bodies, may they never endure such pain as his; but the death of our souls, the diminishing returns of our humanity, the erosion of love and the weary wearing away of compassion. On the cross, we see the destitution of our humanity, what it has come to, that we would sacrifice Christ to keep an unquiet peace, and pile on the death of God to weight the scales of injustice. We see where it could all end up, if we would prefer instruments of death to a way of life that makes us vulnerable to the demands of love and of mercy. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, homily, sermon, story
Tagged angels, cross, Good Friday, hope, Jesus, reserved sacrament
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Maundy Thursday: the end of love
Love is a decision. It is our choice to make, and we cannot make the excuse that someone else destroyed it, if Jesus washed Judas’ feet, and healed the ear of the servant sent to arrest him, and restrained the angels from coming down from heaven to frighten the hell out of Herod and that weasel, Pontius Pilate, letting love be his gospel, and his end. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Jesus, love, Maundy Thursday
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The stones would shout
If these walls could speak, they would sing of the sun’s light seeping into sandstone, warming the night when Love comes calling … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer, sermon preparation
Tagged Palm Sunday
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Anointing
They say that scent is the closest sense to memory; I wouldn’t know, but Jesus, enveloped in the memory of myrrh – his mother Mary eked it out, birth by birth – his mortality laid out end to end, Jesus … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry
Tagged anointing of Jesus, John 12:1-8, Judas, Mary of Bethany, Year C Lent 5
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Refreshment Sunday: Going over Jordan
For Christians, when God says, “I have rolled away your disgrace,” can it help but bring to mind the rolling away of the stone from the tomb that is to come in a few short weeks, the hope beyond Good Friday? Continue reading
Posted in sermon, sermon preparation
Tagged Jordan River, Joshua, Laetare Sunday, Lent, Refreshment Sunday
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People want answers
What is our role, as the church, as Christians, when we are faced with the questions that arise after a disaster, asking where is God when trouble happens, and what it means when God is or is not seen to intervene? What is our line? Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Exodus 3:1-15, Jesus, Luke 13:1-9, Moses, NT Wright, Pontius Pilate, Samuel Wells, suffering, theodicy, Tower of Siloam, year c lent 3
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Citizens of heaven
Our citizenship is in heaven, declare the confident and the confused, the helpless and the hopeful, in every language invented under the Word of God; and the kingdom of heaven is at hand, says Jesus, where love is unwavering and indiscriminate; where death is defeated by the stubborn and resilient love of God, and the hope of heaven. Continue reading
Posted in current events, sermon, story
Tagged #christchurchmosqueshooting, Luke 13:34, Philippians 3:17-4:1, Year C Lent 2
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Hungry for God
If we could turn stones into bread to feed the food insecure, the child whose father goes without to turn away her crying hunger, the mother who works night and day to provide for them; if we could turn beach sand into bread rolls, wouldn’t we do it? Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged devil, Jesus, Lent, Luke 4:1-13, Psalm 91:11-12, temptations
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Remembrance, repentance, and reconciliation
In Lent, we bury [the word of ululating praise] beneath our tongues, yet even in dust and ashes it is our song, tuning in to Christ’s love, our hope, the truth of God’s undying mercy. Continue reading
Bright cloud
There are those bright clouds in which we recognize God’s presence already among us, working in us and through us as we struggle to do the right thing, even when the way is obscure and foggy, even when we are terrified, even when we confronted with anger, grief, failure. The way of the cross is not an easy road, but it does lead to deliverance, to freedom from unclean spirits, eventually to resurrection. Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged grief, Jesus, justice, LGBTQ, Transfiguration, UMC
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