Tag: Bible

The Other Side of the Boat

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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)

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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

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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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Three Definitions of Passion

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Sermon for Sunday, April 13, 2025 || Palm/Passion C || Luke 22:39–23:49

At the end of today’s service, we will read the Passion Gospel together. This is the tragic and beautiful story of Jesus’ last hours, one of only a handful of stories that appears in all four accounts of the Gospel. We call this reading the “Passion” Gospel because the word “passion” comes from the Latin “passio,” (and Greek “pathos”) which mean “to suffer.” In English, when we say “passion,” we’re usually talking about a type of overwhelming devotion to something or an intense romantic connection to someone. But both of these English definitions benefit from the word’s origin, for both are things we will suffer for.

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Racing to Meet Us (updated)

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Sermon for Sunday, March 30, 2025 || Lent 4C || Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

This sermon is about shame. And I’m going to start with an illustration from that time of life that seems to invest everyone with some sort of secret shame – and that is middle school.

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With My Arms Spread Wide (updated)

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Sermon for Sunday, March 16, 2025 || Lent 2C || Luke 13:31-35

The world is a heavy place right now, and my last several sermons have been quite heavy in response. So today, I’d like to return to an imaginative space with a story sermon, the kind that I offer once or twice a year. Please imagine with me a letter written by Simon the Pharisee some years after the events described in this morning’s Gospel reading.

Simon, a servant of the Lord God, to Judith, my dearest sister and confidant: Peace to you and your house.

I know you think I only write to you when I need advice, but in this case, I write with a more urgent need. Yesterday in the marketplace something happened that shook me to my bones and caused me to let go of a secret I have been holding onto so very tightly for years. I need to tell you the truth about myself before you hear others slander me. I hope after you read these words you do not think less of me; rather, I hope you might consider joining me in my new-found freedom.

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For it is Written

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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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The Imposition of Ashes

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Sermon for Wednesday, March 5, 2025 || Ash Wednesday || 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

In just a few minutes we will participate in a ritual that we do exactly once a year. On Ash Wednesday, we come to the altar rail, kneel like we do for Holy Communion, and receive the “imposition of ashes.” I will scrape two lines of soot on your foreheads, making the sign of the cross. And I will say, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Admittedly, this is a strange ritual, but its weirdness gives it power. Today’s service is one of the more memorable liturgies of the church year specifically because the imposition of ashes is so strange and potentially off-putting.

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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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By the Grace of God

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Sermon for Sunday, February 9, 2025 || Epiphany 5C || 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Today I’m going to talk about grace. This is a word we use a lot in church, but “grace” is one of those concepts that defies easy definition. So this morning, we’re going to try to squeeze our way to an understanding of grace by looking at how we use the word in other contexts and then by looking at the story of the Apostle Paul.

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