During the summer, I am preaching without notes or a text; as such, what follows is the unraveling of my thought processes for a sermon, not the actual words I spoke. I was riding the T on my way to Mass General when I noticed a young fellow across from me pick up a pair … Continue reading »
Tag Archives: Abraham
The Word Happens
(Sermon for February 28, 2010 || Lent 2, Year C, RCL || Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18) Something happens during our worship service that I would bet you’ve never really noticed before. Actually, this something happens twice during our worship. In fact, this something has already happened twice during this very service. The readers finished both the … Continue reading »
Eternity happens
The following post appeared Saturday, September 19th on Episcopalcafe.com, a website to which I am now a monthly contributor. Check it out here or read it below. * * * ‘Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” ’ (John 8:58) You can always tell when Jesus says something … Continue reading »
For the sake of ten (part 3 of 3)
This relationship which God has extravagantly blessed us with challenges the understanding of God’s immutability. Indeed, in the story, it seems (at first glance at least) that Abraham is swaying God’s mind. Many, if not most, ancient and medieval Christian thinkers assert that a facet of the divine is changelessness. This makes sense because the … Continue reading »
For the sake of ten (part 2 of 3)
Thinking we understand the ways of the world, and of God, for that matter, is a major cause of all kinds of unrest. I have been a student for nineteen years and one piece of learning that has quietly crept up on me as the years rolled by is this: there sure is a heck … Continue reading »
For the sake of ten (part 1 of 3)
Abraham stares after them as they make their dusty way down into the valley. They are men to his eyes, and yet, in the shadow-stretched twilight they appear indistinct, almost shadows themselves. But not shadows; for these beings shine. They shine with the borrowed light of the one who remains with Abraham on the hilltop … Continue reading »
