Category Archives: sermon

Year C Proper 7: a brief litany of idolatry

The prophet drips irony using the voice of the idolatrous and indolent who say, “do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” It is in itself idolatrous: the idolatry of the one who worships their own … Continue reading

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Year C Proper 6: stories

This Sunday, I will most likely preach not from the pulpit but from the steps, sitting on the floor, in the middle of our Sunday School’s end-of-year celebration. With that change of perspective comes the realization that I can’t say … Continue reading

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Year C Proper 6: David, Bathsheba, and Jesus go to Stanford

It may be that he should weep at her feet, and kiss them, the Son of David begging forgiveness, belatedly, of the daughter of Bathsheba. Continue reading

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Year C Proper 5: the widows of Zarephath and Nain

A boy died in Zarephath, and his mother and Elijah cried out to God in anger at the injustice, in bitterness at the waste of life, saved by a miracle and spent so soon. Another mother’s son died in Nain, … Continue reading

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Martyrs

The commemoration for tonight’s healing prayers, held in orange, is for Blandina and Her Companions, the Martyrs of Lyons.  The Collect: Grant, O Lord, that we who keep the feast of the holy martyrs Blandina and her companions may be … Continue reading

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Year C Proper 4: un/worthy

There is a wideness in God’s mercy that covers the ends of the earth and beyond. The conveners of this lectionary clearly put these stories together to demonstrate to the listening church the breadth of God’s embrace, the wideness of … Continue reading

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The Stone Mason

Only the mason knows the secret flaw carved into the setting of precious stones and metal, glorious, reflecting sunlight and the king’s delight, having built God a home, domesticated the Wild One, his prize. Inspired by the whorl and swirl … Continue reading

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Trinity 2016: Delight

Wisdom calls out – the wisdom of God; we may know her as the Holy Spirit. When she is spoken aloud, she becomes the Word. The Word was in the beginning, the yet unspoken, ever articulate Wisdom of God. Only … Continue reading

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Unbabel

Slab-flat vowels like a block of dough slapped down on the kneading board; sibilant aromas of spice and fruit from afar off mingle with crisp consonants. Syllables roll like oranges through the early morning marketplace; polyphonic strangers drawn by the … Continue reading

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Year C Easter 6: Down by the river

Silt sinking to your shoes, knee deep in ooze, you lose your stream of thought way down by the river to pray. Tripping, tickling trout tumbling upward, hope lifts labour over falls, life runs down by the river to pray. … Continue reading

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