This sermon was based on Leviticus 10: 8-11
We are in the midst of a particular and peculiar cultural obsession with food. There are multiple networks running food programming 24 hours a day, making celebrities right and left. On any given day you can find some cooking related reality contest airing on your tv. You can read blogs about food: about how to photograph food, about how to cook it, about where to best eat it...
This sermon was based on Genesis 17: 1-8. 15-16
The story of Abram and Sarai starts with a promise and a question, as so many of the good things in life do. Will you trust me enough to go out to where I am leading you, God asks them. Will you come and follow me? And the promise: I will be your God and you will be my people, I will give you land and descendants, you will be a people with a place...
The text for this morning was Deuteronomy 34: 1-12
Last night we headed downtown, as some of you might have, to join in the dia de los Muertos parade and festival. I’ve always intended to go, but last night we actually got ourselves there. It’s a wonderful event, the giant puppets, the sea of people carrying candles, the feeling of community. But then we got to the art center and it seemed like perhaps the event has...
This sermon continues a year long series on questions of faith. We are also gathering once a month to reflect together about the questions posed.
Of the three parts of the trinity, Jesus was the hardest for me to come to. Not, I think, because Jesus is inherently hard to come to. Come to me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That’s the invitation, and it sounds like a really good one. No, it was hard for me because of all...
This sermon was preached on the anniversary of our pastor's ordination. It draws on two texts: Isaiah 43: 1-10 and Romans 12: 9-21
Lots of you asked me last night, can you believe its been 10 years? It’s a funny question to think about, and I have, a bunch, over these past few months. I mean, in a sense, no, I can’t. I realized, going to General Synod and hanging out with the young clergy crowd, I’m not really so young any more. I mean, I know that might...
Matthew 21: 1-11
This is a weekend of parades, my friends. Our little palm and ribbon parade hardly rivals the one held yesterday, but it points us toward one that certainly drew crowds and excitement in the same way. I was out in my front yard with the kids yesterday mid morning as crowds of people started walking by on their way to the parade. Even a mile away, with no plans to go ourselves, we could feel the excitement in the air. It felt like a holiday. Families...
Psalm 130 and Ezekiel 37: 1-14
I had a conversation last week with a colleague group about death and resurrection. Father Matt of Incarnation Episcopal was leading a conversation about the ways we use story to understand our lives. He suggested that there are three forms of story we need: irony, tragedy and comedy. However, he said, as Christians we try to bypass tragedy with our focus on the resurrection. This reminded me of the delightful scene of my 5 year old’s tball...
I’ve run across an opinion piece from Nicholas Kristof in a couple of settings this week, and have been struck by how much the situation he describes resonates with the scripture we’re reading today. I always hesitate to criticize another church or faith tradition, so let me be clear that my concern in this situation is not with the catholic church, per...
I've been fascinated this week with grammar. Specifically with the grammar of two sentences in this reading. It’s simple grammar actually, simple enough even for one like me who can barely tell a verb from a noun. You are salt for the earth. You are light for the world. In this really very famous passage, Jesus uses simple present tense. You are salt. You are light. He is not...
Today we come to the end of our Christmas celebrations here at church. My children love the 12 days of Christmas idea and keep reminding me that it isn’t over – no, don’t take those ornaments down… But they’re right, until the magi get there Christmas isn’t over. Our tradition is to celebrate the arrival of the magi 12 days later, at Epiphany. It makes sense, that having seen the rising of the star, it would take them a little while to get to Bethlehem. In fact, I’ve heard that...
