Advent originated as a penitential observance, focused on God’s call as redeemer and judge of all time. Today begins the church’s new year. It seems counterintuitive to the way in which we usher in our new year on January 1 with all the hype and celebration. Advent, though, sets our celebration of the coming of…
Thanksgiving is a spiritual practice Before it was a noun, “thanksgiving” was a verb. The difference matters. A desert father once said: “If you have a chest full of oranges, and leave it for a long time, the fruit will rot inside of it. It is the same with the thoughts in our heart. If we…
The aim of the gospel of John is clearly stated in the last verse of its last Chapter. John 20:31 states, “But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” The question of…
This week’s sermon took the form of an instructed Eucharist.
I don’t often turn to the King James Version of the Bible, for I find wading through the Elizabethan language to be problematic. But this week’s Gospel reading is an exception. Let me read for you one passage from today’s Gospel in the standard lectionary version and then the King James Version: NRSV KJV Jesus…
How do you deal with those you find difficult to love? “‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ … ‘You shall love your neighbor as…
Many sternly ordered Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled even louder. Throughout history, the lame and the blind who have been obliged to beg for their food have sought to benefit…
In his book Jesus Among Other Gods, Ravi Zacharias relays a story that Sir Isaac Newton, the great scientist and mathematician, had a dog that he loved very much. Wherever Newton went, the dog went with him. One time he had worked for months on a theory about the nature of the universe, working late…
Today’s Gospel reading is radical: a rich, young man asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” In response, Jesus tells him that he is lacking in one thing, and instructs him to go and sell what he has and give to the poor. I mean, this is a pretty radical thing to…
Every once in a while, I enjoy preaching a sermon that isn’t me talking through how I view the readings, but rather about asking questions that I found myself asking after the readings. These sermons are intentionally structured to ask a question and then to provide some time to give you an opportunity to ponder…
I wanted to start today with this story: Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering. Finally fed up, God said, “That’s it. I have had enough. I am going…
The other day when Brian and I picked up Zak from after school care, I was reminiscing back to grade school. Zak’s class was marching from the play room back to the classroom, and one of his classmates got picked to be the line leader. I was thinking about how in second grade, my class…
