Category: Society

The Field at Anathoth

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Sermon for Sunday, September 28, 2025 || Proper 21C || Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

This sermon is about hope. More specifically, this sermon is about what we do when the world is falling apart. And we’re going to start today with the Prophet Jeremiah, who lived at a time when the world as he knew it was ending. Centuries earlier, the Assyrians had conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. But the southern kingdom of Judah held on, thanks in part to the geographical impregnability of Jerusalem. Now, in the early sixth century BCE, the Babylonians were the conquerors, and they were laying siege to Jerusalem. Jeremiah, like the Prophet Isaiah before him, told the truth about the present circumstances: that divisions in his society, a widening gap between rich and poor, and a lack of care for the most vulnerable were all signs of Judah crumbling from within. This only emboldened aggressors like Babylon, and here they were, at the very gates of the city. Indeed, in 587 BCE, the Babylonians succeeded in conquering Judah. In the process, they destroyed the temple and took a host of prominent Judeans into exile.

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I am Ashamed to Beg

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Sermon for Sunday, September 21, 2025 || Proper 20C || Luke 16:1-13

The parable Deacon Chuck just read is, admittedly, very confusing. But one thing the dishonest manager says leapt out to me this week, and that’s what we’re going to focus on today. After his boss is getting ready to fire him, the manager says, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.”

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Sin and Salvation

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Sermon for Sunday, September 14, 2025 || Proper 19C || 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10

Today we’re going to talk about sin and salvation. We’re going to talk specifically about two ways of looking at salvation, one which is more helpful for our lives of faith than the other. I’ll get to these two ways in a minute, but first I want to talk about Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and scribes in this morning’s Gospel reading.

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The Good Samaritan

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Sermon for Sunday, July 13, 2025 || Proper 10C || Luke 10:25-37

As I prepare to go on vacation after today’s services, I am so glad that the piece of scripture I get to talk about this week is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Easily in the Top Five most memorable parts of the Gospel, the story of the Good Samaritan stands as Jesus’ most enduring teaching about what it means to be in relationship with other people. So let’s spend the sermon time this morning unpacking this parable and see what Jesus has to teach us about the danger of “othering” and the power of compassion.

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The Time That is Given Us

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Sermon for Sunday, July 6, 2025 || Proper 9C || Galatians 6:7-16

Today, we read a good chunk of the end of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. One line jumped out at me this week, and that’s what I’d like to focus on this morning. Paul says, “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up.” Let us not grow weary in doing what is right. Another translation says, “Let’s not get tired of doing good.”

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Catharsis

Published on by Adam Thomas1 Comment
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)

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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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The Capacity to Act

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Sermon for Sunday, April 6, 2025 || Lent 5C || Philippians 3:4b-14

Two-thirds of the way through this sermon, I’m going to bring today’s second reading into it, but first I need to set the stage. Today, we’re talking about power, which is one of those tricky words because it can mean many different things to different people. We’re going to talk about three understandings of power, and I hope you will stick with me because the third one is the one we are aiming for.

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For it is Written

Published on by Adam Thomas1 Comment
Sermon for Sunday, March 9, 2025 || Lent 1C || Luke 4:1-13

I’ve never been able to get over the fact that the devil quotes scripture in today’s Gospel reading. Twice Jesus defends himself from the adversary’s onslaught using words from the scriptures. Jesus is so full of the Holy Spirit that the words of life spill from him and counter the devil’s temptation. “One does not live by bread alone.” “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” I imagine the tempter was getting pretty darn frustrated. But the adversary adapts, and for the third attack, the devil uses the same tactic.

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Love Your Enemies

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Sermon for Sunday, February 23, 2025 || Epiphany 7C || Luke 6:27-38

(Content warning: I talk about the Holocaust in this sermon.)

Love your enemies. This is the most shocking thing Jesus says in the entire Gospel. Love your enemies. We read this and throw up our hands, thinking Jesus must have gone mad. How could we possibly do such a thing? The whole point of an enemy is that you don’t love them. Enemies are to be defeated and demeaned and destroyed, right? The history of our war torn world would say yes. But our savior says differently. Love your enemies, Jesus says. If we’re going to take Jesus seriously – take ALL of what he says seriously – then we need to wrestle with this command to love our enemies. So that’s what we’re going to talk about today. What does it mean to love our enemies?

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