Category Archives: sermon

Romans 8: 12-17

Belonging Belonging, left longing for freedom, longing for love; owned and disowned in one sweet, divided breath? No. Belonging, beloved; longed-for and loved, left wanting for nothing that father and mother of all can supply, owing no debt in pounds … Continue reading

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A study in contradictions

Psalm 29: One God, gloried by gods Breaking thunder. Powerful and splendid, breaking the cedars of Lebanon, breaking them down, bringing them joy, the joy of a child at play. Stricken lightning. Strong oaks writhe; the all too solid tree-flesh … Continue reading

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Isaiah 6: 1-8

the seraphs, shimmering as if aflame flew on strong winds bellowing the coals to life; even the heavenly hosts used borrowed tools to take cleansing fire to touch my lips, set loose my tongue. Burning from the outside in, swallowing … Continue reading

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The birthday of the Book of Common Prayer

This is an edited version of a sermon celebrating the anniversary of the first English Book of Common Prayer. The anniversary falls on June 9th, but it “is properly celebrated on a weekday following Pentecost,” (Lesser Feasts and Fasts) and my calendar … Continue reading

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And another (Pentecostal) thing …

With all the fuss about people hearing Galileans butchering their own languages with their heavy accents, where are the people curious about the fire sitting on top of these folks’ heads? (“Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and … Continue reading

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Postponing Pentecost reflections

“How can they be drunk?” asks Peter, in all innocence. “It’s only nine o’clock in the morning!” And every time, I have to smile, or smirk, or weep at his innocence, or naïveté. As in the rest of the gospel … Continue reading

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God’s right-hand wo/men

Or, Eternity: the Sunday Update! Parts of this morning’s sermon for St Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Elyria, are already covered in the previous post (TGIF and Eternity), so I won’t repeat those parts here, but here’s where eternity ended up (so … Continue reading

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TGIF and Eternity

Spoiler alert: this blog post may contain themes to be explored in Sunday’s sermon 😉 It’s Friday. Cue the “tgif” facebook posts, the end-of-work, end-of-week blowout plans. We like endings. We like our time packaged into boxes with sides and … Continue reading

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Troubling comfort

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:34 Today’s Daily Office reading does not promise that “all shall be well, and all manner of things shall … Continue reading

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Blessed are the pure in heart

From this morning’s Daily Office readings: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. I like that. I would like to see God. I would like to see God more clearly. I would like to be able … Continue reading

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