Begin by settling your breath. Let your shoulders drop. Inhale deeply. Exhale slowly. Let the noise of the world fade as you enter this sacred space of reflection. The Humbling Waters (2 Kings 5:1–14) Picture Naaman—powerful, respected, armored in reputation—yet beneath it all, afflicted. Leprosy marked his skin, but pride marked his heart. He came…
Last week, I offered a lengthy sermon and reflection on a lengthy set of readings. This week, I think I went the opposite way. See what you think… Freedom is not the absence of responsibility; it’s the opportunity to respond faithfully. In the Galatians reading for this Sunday, Paul insists that Christian freedom is not…
Debie Thomas says all of this about today’s Gospel reading much more eloquently than I: He haunts the places of the dead. Every night, the townspeople hear him, shrieking among the tombs. When they’re quick enough, they catch him, wrap his wrists and ankles in chains, and haul his naked body — securely shackled — back to town. But…
During the time of Oliver Cromwell, thousands of stained-glass windows in English churches were destroyed, because the English puritans objected to objects of veneration, which they called ‘abused images’. Of those stained-glass windows that did survive, few were undamaged, and there was an irreplaceable loss of priceless English church heritage. Amongst the windows that were…
Today I have with me the book Stone Soup by Marcia Brown, and I’d like to read it. Bear with me… there are important points about this book that connect with our readings today. Before I begin, I’d like to note that Marcia may have written this version of the story, but it’s an old…
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened” (Acts 16:25-26). My life flows on in endless song;Above…
Jesus said to the man, “Do you want to be made well?” And how does he answer? He says, “I have no one to put me in the water. When the water bubbles others get there first. They cut in line.” So often, we think we know what’s going on. We make assumptions and move…
The book Love You Forever by Robert Munsch begins with a mother holding her new baby. She rocks him and sings a little song: I’ll love you forever,I’ll like you for always,As long as I’m living,My baby you’ll be. As the years go by, of course, the baby grows. He becomes a toddler, and get into…
On this Sunday, we focus on shepherds, lambs, and sheep as the image of the divine-human relationship. It also happens – through an oddity of the lectionary calendar – that today is Mother’s Day. And while I don’t normally celebrate Mother’s Day in church because there are people who have mothers who shouldn’t be celebrated,…
You’ve heard me preach on fishing before… it’s not my thing. So we’re not focusing on the fishing part today… “Follow me,” Jesus said (Jn 21:19). Two simple words. “Follow me.” Every time we have this reading, I am taken back to grade school. Having the last name of Miller, I was always somewhere in…
Sermon By The Rev. Dr. Chuck Alley, former rector of St. Matthew’s Church in Richmond, Virginia The resurrection has occurred, and the disciples know that Jesus’ tomb was empty. Yet doubt and fear reign as they sequester themselves in a house behind locked doors. It is there and under the circumstances of their doubt and…
Jesus found Mary Magdalene when she was lost. Not physically, but emotionally. We don’t hear much about her from the text. We hear rumors about her, but nothing supported in the Bible. We DO know that she had 7 demons cast out of her by Jesus. And then she followed Jesus. But now, NOW… Jesus…
