Catharsis

Sermon for Sunday, June 22, 2025 || Proper 7C || 1 Kings 19:1-15a; Luke 8:26-39

We have come to the part of our church year when I wear green for about six months. The weeks that stretch from Pentecost to Advent are known as “Ordinary Time” because no particular season falls during them. But I prefer the way Godly Play describes these next six months – the “green and growing Sundays.” As we begin these green and growing Sundays, I’d like us to spend this sermon time taking a deep, cleansing breath.

There is so much going on in the world – so much division, so much violence, so much uncertainty – that collapsing our personal worlds into smaller and more controllable ones becomes an attractive option. Most of us are personally insulated from the largest sources of upheaval, which makes this ability to retreat into ourselves possible. However, while managing our mental and emotional health in the midst of turmoil is definitely beneficial, ensconcing ourselves in bubbles of isolation is not a long-term lifegiving approach.

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God and Not-God (Updated)

Sermon for Sunday, June 15, 2025 || Trinity Sunday C || John 16:12-15

Nine years ago on Trinity Sunday, I preached a sermon called “God and Not-God: A Short History.” I’m going to preach a portion of that sermon again this morning before veering off in a different direction. This short history comprehends five truths that God has revealed to us, culminating in the truth of the Holy Trinity. But we need to begin at a more fundamental starting place.

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Nine Pieces of the Spirit

Sermon for Sunday, June 8, 2025 || Pentecost C || Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17, 25-27

Today, on this Feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the gathering of Jesus’ first followers. And we celebrate the Spirit’s continued movement in our lives. The Spirit moves in so many ways that we might easily miss how the Spirit is present with us. So I’d like to take this sermon to talk through in brief nine ways we encounter the Holy Spirit. You have a handy bookmark in your program to help you remember the nine ways. Also, as a reminder of the Spirit’s presence among this gathering, we are going to map these nine ways of encountering the Holy Spirit upon the beautiful piece of stained glass art by our own Alison Ives that will hang above the altar for the next six months.

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I Am Thirsty

Sermon for Friday, April 18, 2025 || Good Friday || John’s Passion

Here we are on Good Friday. We’ve just heard the Passion Gospel, a reading of such overwhelming depth and consequence that we have trouble taking in the whole thing at once. So my practice each year on Good Friday is to take a single moment of the Passion and dwell with it. Today, this moment happens when Jesus, hanging from the cross, says, “I am thirsty.”

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What Other Option Do I Have

Sermon for Sunday, May 25, 2025 || Easter 6C || John 5:1-9

Last week we talked about embracing new life and new ways of being. This embrace of newness aligns us with the God who says, “Look! I am making all things new.” I told you that I found the idea comforting – the idea that I was continually being made new; even at 42 years old, I am in the process of becoming the newest version of myself. And so are you, no matter your age. What I failed to talk about last week was why we so often don’t embrace new ways of being. And that’s where we are going to start today in this accidental sequel to last Sunday’s sermon.

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All Things New

Sermon for Sunday, May 18, 2025 || Easter 5C || Revelation 21:1-6

Today’s sermon is about newness, and it springs from the reading from Revelation in which God says, “Look! I’m making all things new.” We’re going to dig into the concept of newness and celebrate our opportunity to be renewed again and again, while also recognizing that everything new is made up of everything old.

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Fearing Death

Sermon for Sunday, May 11, 2025 || Easter 4C || Psalm 23

Today, on this beautiful Sunday morning in springtime, when plants are growing and animals are having babies, we’re going to talk about…death. Now, as you can probably tell, I am not dead. So I have no special information to impart to you about what happens after we die. I have only my hope in the resurrection, that the essence of who God created us to be embraces new and abundant life in a way that we cannot even imagine in the midst of our physical existence. I have only this hope in the resurrection and my faith in the promise that Jesus makes to prepare a place for us and bring us to himself, so that where Christ is, we may also be.

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The Other Side of the Boat

Sermon for Sunday, May 4, 2025 || Easter 3C || John 21:1-19

Let me start like this: I am not going to talk about Star Wars today. I was all prepared to write a sermon chock-full of Star Wars references because today is the unofficial Star Wars holiday, May the 4th, as in “May the Fourth be with you.” (And also with you.) But then I read the Gospel lesson for today, the story of Peter and the others fishing after the resurrection, and a powerful memory from my recent life surfaced. I feel compelled to share this memory with you instead of talking about Star Wars. And if you know me, then you know this compulsion must be pretty strong. So I’m going to spend a good chunk of this sermon sharing the story of my last conversation with a 101-year-old man the day before he died.

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Resting All My Weight (Updated)

Sermon for Sunday, April 27, 2025 || Easter 2C || John 20:19-31

Today we are going to do Part Two of last Sunday’s sermon. We’re going to dig into the meaning of the word “believe” because it is central to the story of the disciple Thomas and to our stories as well. Let’s start with the scene in which the Risen Christ encounters Thomas a week after standing amidst the others. Jesus invites Thomas to touch his wounds, saying, “No more disbelief. Believe!” Thomas immediately responds with the highest form of adoration in the entire Gospel: “My Lord and my God!”

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The One Whom Jesus Loves

Sermon for Sunday, April 20, 2025 || Easter Day || John 20:1-18

Good morning and welcome to St. Mark’s on this Easter Sunday morning. I am so glad to be here worshiping with you today on this most sacred of all Feasts of the Resurrection. On this day, we proclaim that nothing in all creation, not even death, can separate us from the love of God in the power of the Risen Christ. On this day, we celebrate the emptiness of the tomb and the fullness of new life granted through the Resurrection. On this day, we run alongside Mary Magdalene and Simon Peter to witness the miracle of miracles.

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