This interconnection between wisdom - holy astonishment - and familiarity is at the heart of Trinity Sunday. Before his Ascension, Jesus promised that we would not be left comfortless. Our comfort comes when the Holy Spirit enters the picture and the full Trinity is present. Because then, even when the world is totally and completely astonishing, we will be able to recognize God’s presence and we will be recognized in return. We will know that we are not alone.
Read MoreIf, by chance, these days are making you weary, I invite you to remember those late night Torah studies and the bleary eyed disciples in the upper room. Their story is a promise, that it is when we reach our limits that the flame of God appears, drawing us into a new future.
Read MorePaul and Silas inspire an extraordinary conversion without teaching or preaching or proselytizing in any way. It is their hope, founded in resurrection, which emanates out from their very beings, that changes the jailer’s life; his own little apocalypse. Without any coaxing or force, the veil is gently lifted, hope is restored, and the whole world is new. This is the power of resurrection in real time. The truth of a post-Easter world is that hope is never truly lost.
Read MoreI hope that as we celebrate our teenagers and young adults, we send them from Christ Church with all of the best end of year vibes. And, that whatever nostalgia and excitement they feel, they will remember clearly what Jesus showed his friends. May they always remember that they are called to love one another as Jesus loves us. As yearbook quotes go, that one will age well.
Read MoreI would love to hear what you think we might learn about who you are from your estate sale, but I’m also curious about what we might learn about who God is by being in relationship with you. If I've learned anything from estate sales, it’s that every little item can be meaningful. Nothing is too old or too small or too broken to be loved, and it’s the same with us. Everything God has created reveals, in one way or another, that God is good and holy and magnificent. If people learn from my life that God cares about half-dead house plants and foot health, that’d be great! Each of us is just the treasure that someone has been looking for to open their eyes to the wonders of the Kingdom of God.
Read MoreWe can use the failures, the R.U.D.’s in our lives, to know that the Easter message is for us. It’s not just an abstract idea or distant historical event. Someone figured out early on that we needed one more story told around the charcoal fire for the gospel to really sink in.
Read MoreMuch to my chagrin, I only made it six verses into the book of Revelation before we started talking about Jesus’ wounds, just like our friend, doubting Thomas. So, I peeked over at the Acts reading, and sure enough, it mentions the crucifixion and the blood of Christ. I can take a hint. Even though Jesus has been raised from the dead, his wounds are still important. They’re clearly the theme of the day. The wounded Jesus has something to tell us that the pre-Holy Week Jesus was not yet able to say, so we should listen up.
Read MoreWe are in the garden this morning, my friends, where all the best love stories happen, because Easter is a love story. Christ is risen, and he is calling your name.
Read MoreTonight, our scriptures and our faith tradition call out to us from the past to remind us that in this Eucharistic feast, we participate in the sacrifice of Christ, at the core of which, is hospitality. This is how Jesus asked to be remembered, at a shared meal in which the loftiest serve the lowliest. Everyone is invited to share in the meal. We are meant to crowd the table. We are meant to squeeze in at the altar rail. We are meant to become one family by feasting together, as humans have been doing since time immemorial.
Read MoreWe can definitely see the impact of the recent days in Mary’s behavior. She is calm, she is joyful, she is celebratory. She is everything we would expect from a woman who got her beloved brother back after having lost him. It’s no stretch to assume that everyone in proximity to this miracle might share in the joy of the occasion, but for some reason, we find Judas in a foul temper, full of scathing criticism. What is going on here? How can two people who witnessed the same miracle be so at odds in their demeanor?
Read MoreJesus tells stories to save us from ourselves, and to help us see ourselves and other people as God sees. Whether you are lost and need to be found, or you find yourself grumbling about how God could love those other people so much, today’s parable of grace is for you, no matter how you park your shopping cart.
Read MoreJesus wants his disciples to know that death can never stay comfortably on the front page, fenced behind the explanations of what happened to other people. And this is all the more true when Death itself is a power, an agent of those anti-creational forces that are at the heart of every Empire.
Read MoreJesus doesn’t tell us why awful and tragic things happen to people. He doesn’t tell us why Jerusalem or the powers that be stone the prophets of God. But he laments over the state of the world, as we do.
Read MoreI will tell you that a temptation of mine is to use this sermon to expose all the lying tempters in our world from politicians to preachers. But you don’t actually need my help with that. Each of you, like Jesus in the wilderness, is perfectly capable of spotting a snake oil salesman when you see one. No, the most dangerous lies, the ones we fall prey to again and again in this life, are the ones we tell ourselves.
Read More“Do not fret yourself because of evildoers.” The Psalmist seems to speak right through the centuries to our moment where, I for one, see a lot of fretting going on. Whether your news source is the daily paper or podcasts, cable tv or social media, we seem to be in a frenzy of fretting.
Read MoreThe first 39 chapters of Isaiah come from the last few years of the Kingdom of Judah before the Babylonian Exile. The people’s beloved king, Uzziah, had just died, and they worried that their nation’s stability and security may have died with him. It was a tumultuous time of social and political transition for the Judeans, to which we can most certainly relate.
Read MoreFar from being a quaint holdover from dusty old church customaries, it turns out that this feast day captures the very heart of our faith and our hope.
Read MoreThe Torah, the Way is not simply a cold, impersonal, feature of the world. It is the Law of the Lord, and that Lord is a humble and personal God who will come to instruct and guide, heal and save, God has come to give us life. In this way, the Psalm ends in praise of the God who is “my strength and my redeemer.” If we are to have the energy, the power to join in the pattern of life that the Law provides, we will do so not through our own efforts but by joining in the endless, dynamic energy of God. This is what eternal life is about, not so much an endless succession of days, but a grounding in the very reality that is Life itself.
Read MoreIn his book, When God was a Bird, Mark Wallace explains that birds in scripture have something vital to teach us about our incarnate God. And yes, Ragan did loan me this book. Wallace explains that while the birth of Christ in human form may be the ultimate manifestation of the incarnation, or embodiment, of our God, we can see and understand this aspect of God in other places in the natural world, and birds are a fabulous example.
Read MoreElizabeth welcomed Mary with open arms and was all too ready to comfort her and let her know that everything would be okay. But then Mary spoke, and the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leapt, and Elizabeth's whole world was rocked - again. I imagine it was unsettling at first. But this brave young woman who is carrying the Christ child was able to comfort Elizabeth, too.
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