Sermons

Today is a day to celebrate, and rightly so. From the urgent and earth-shattering messages by way of the Son of God, a small group of students were charged with spreading the Word: Go and tell. Go and make disciples. Go and baptize. And on this day, less than two months out from the resurrection, something astonishing happened. Just as the baptism of Jesus symbolized a healing closure to the Flood, the understanding of many languages on Pentecost symbolized a healing closure to the Tower of Babel. Where once God caused misunderstanding and disunity, on this day God brought understanding and unity. It is absolutely a day to celebrate!Continue Reading

Nine days ago, the world marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of VE Day, Victory in Europe Day, the end of one front of combat in the Second World War. We have probably all seen videos and photographs of the joy, the relief, and the shared celebrations of that time. Some of us might even be old enough to remember when that great day came.Continue Reading

Twenty years ago, the Nickelodeon television network aired a brand-new animated children’s program called Dora the Explorer. It featured a little girl named Dora Marquez who followed maps to find small treasures. When our children were quite young, they enjoyed the show – until they outgrew it. Our son George let us know he was beyond Dora with this criticism. “She turns to the camera and asks us to help her find something,” he said, “when it’s right there.” What’s engaging and interactive for three-year-olds becomes less appealing once you discover the obvious.Continue Reading

Over the years, the familiar statement of identity from John chapter fourteen, verse six has developed into a litmus test, an indication of God’s implacable judgment, his unbending exclusion, and – for those unfortunate enough to find themselves outside his circle – his absence.Continue Reading

Discovering Abundance

St. John says plainly that Jesus was using a figure of speech that the disciples did not understand. It’s not often that John, the most mystical and challenging of the gospels, gives us a straight-up hint as to what’s going on. But here he does just that. John is telling us not to take this teaching literally, because it can’t be done. A figure of speech is something that points beyond itself, in this case to abundant life.Continue Reading

Eyes to See

Once there was a shoemaker who was saying his prayers before bed when he heard a voice saying, “I will visit you tomorrow.” The shoemaker did not usually hear voices, but this one was unmistakable. He had never heard the voice before, but he recognized it immediately, and as the voice spoke, a warm golden glow filled the room. The shoemaker knew. Jesus would be coming to pay a call on him.Continue Reading

Have you ever asked God for a sign?Continue Reading

The Lord is risen! Easter is here, a time for celebration, a time for joy and glad gratitude for a promise kept and the knowledge that death shall be no more. And yet.Continue Reading

It is finished. He is dead. The struggle is over, and the very last words he said from the cross were showing that even to the last moment, he is in charge: “It is finished.”

Barbara Brown Taylor, Episcopal priest, author, and professor, says that when she was a hospital chaplain, her supervisor said that the best way to get a patient to talk was simply to sit down and say, “Tell me about it.”Continue Reading

Turned Upside Down

Today Jesus is entering the most troubled place in the world. It is a place of struggle, conflict and confrontation. It has a history of killing the prophets, fighting wars, and living in violence. It is a place in turmoil. The most troubled place in the world is not, however, a geographic location but the human heart. The reality that our hearts are the most troubled place in the world is as true now as it was at the time of Christ.Continue Reading