Sermons

Feast of All Saints’ (transferred)

Year C ReadingsDaniel 7:1-3,15-18Psalm 1 (Psalm 149 is prescribed by the RCL, but its conclusion is so violent I used Psalm 1 instead, which has similar theology but in a different tone and mood.)Ephesians 1:11-23Luke 6:20-31 One of the joys of getting back into parish ministry after three years as a hospice chaplain is...

Whose Values Do We Seek

Year B Jeremiah 11:18-20 Psalm 54 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37 May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth… Jesus told the disciples…  that there were schemes being devised against him…  that he would be betrayed into human hands…  and be killed…  and would rise on the third day…  but they didn’t understand…  and were...

The Life-Giving Cross

Year B Isaiah 45:21-25 Psalm 98 Philippians 2:5-11 John 12:31-36a May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth… In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing...

Flipping the Narrative

Year B Isaiah 35:4-7a Psalm 146 James 2:1-10, 14-17 Mark 7:24-37 May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth… I’m about to retire…   I’m about to make a transition…  cross a divide…  of sorts…  from one way of spending my time…   to another…  from one way of being a priest…  to another…  from one pattern...

Law and Tradition

Year B Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 Psalm 15 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth… When I used to attend Friday night services at synagogue… we used a prayer book…  that contained a prayer…  that’s similar to what we just heard from Deuteronomy… but the one we read at...