“Little girl, get up!” “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (Mk 5:41, 34) Let’s start today’s sermon with a little experiment. I invite you all to stand up. Now turn to face one other person. Extend your hand and shake that person’s hand. Good. Now,…
How many of you have seen the movie The Karate Kid? It’s about a teenager who feels alone and unprotected in the hostile environment of his school and community. He is scared – unable to defend himself against the bullies of his neighborhood. He is afraid. Young Daniel meets an old man, Mr. Miyagi, who…
“We walk by faith and not by sight.” (2 Cor 5:6) While we live in the real world that is fraught with danger and filled with wonder, there is a movement beneath the surface that reveals a deeper – spiritual – dimension. Faith is a matter of perception and trust taking us beyond the obvious….
There are some weeks where I look ahead to the readings and go… “Can I find someone else to preach today?” No one seemed keen on taking my spot, so unfortunately that means that I can’t. So let’s dig in on Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, because I can’t stomach looking in depth at…
“Speak O Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Sm 3:9). Today in the first reading, we hear of Eli, whose “eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see” (1 Sm 3:2). If you don’t know the story of Eli, it starts in earnest right in the first chapter of 1…
One of the challenges to Trinity Sunday, which we celebrate today, is that it is the only day in our Episcopal calendar devoted to a doctrine and not to a person. But a bigger challenge is that there are no Biblical passages that discuss this peculiar understanding of our faith as God being three persons….
Pentecost means “The Fiftieth,” as it fell on the fiftieth day – or a week of weeks – after the Passover. Today, we heard a story from Acts where the followers of Christ were gathered together and were blessed by the Holy Spirit. We heard John tell us that Jesus “breathed on them and said,…
May often signals a season of transition in the church. Graduations, maybe the end of a Sunday school season with thanks to the teachers and time off in the summer. These ends often don’t immediately lead to new beginnings but, rather, to in-between times. Bu it’s hard to live in “in between” spaces — in…
The other day, I was looking at a care label on one of my shirts and read, “Warning: Do not iron while wearing shirt.” I know that laundry and dishwasher pods have large instructions on them that say “Do not eat” and the manufacturers have developed childproof packaging. There’s a warning on my washer that…
Last week, I summed up the readings before I started and said that I was tempted to simply say that God is love and that’s all you need to know and sit down. And then I proceeded to travel down the rabbit hole of the stories of the Good Shepherd and how they were connected,…
“You are witnesses of these things” (Lk 24:48). Jesus doesn’t say to the disciples, “You will be witnesses” or “Please be witnesses” or even “Consider being witnesses if you have time in your busy schedules, between fishing and fixing your nets.” Nope, it’s simple: “You ARE witnesses of these things.” We are witnesses. As it…
A week ago, we celebrated the resurrection. But there comes a time when we must live the resurrection. That is not always easy. There are days when we prefer to just stay in bed, pull the covers over our head, and close out the world. Some days it seems far easier and safer to lock…
