Tag: feature

Tiny Jesus Figurines

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Sermon for Sunday, November 8, 2026 || Proper 27A || Matthew 25:1-13

This sermon is about keeping watch for the presence of Christ in our lives, especially in the midst of debilitating exhaustion. And I got a great reminder of this last Sunday morning when I went into my office after services. From your pew, you probably can’t see this tiny Jesus figurine I’m holding. Well, a crafty parishioner had hidden about twenty of these all around my office. The kids and I brought some of them home, and ever since, members of my family have been finding tiny Jesuses all over the house: atop the milk in the fridge, on the piano’s keys, on the framed school pictures, in my shoe.

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The Springs of the Water of Life

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Sunday, November 1, 2026 || All Saints A || Revelation 7:9-17

God has blessed us, on this Feast of All Saints, to have the opportunity to share in the sacrament of Baptism today. A sacrament is a window into the deeper reality of God that undergirds all of Creation. The sacrament of Baptism helps us see this deeper reality by proclaiming the belovedness of every child of God and charging the people of the Church to nurture this beloved identity. Baptism also helps us see God’s desire to bring all of Creation back into right relationship by offering forgiveness for every way we might distort our relationships. Finally, Baptism is a ritual cleansing with water, a literal bath that invigorates us to serve God in this world: loving our neighbors as ourselves, working for justice and peace, and safeguarding creation for future generations. Since Baptism involves water, I thought we’d spend our sermon time talking about water this morning – water, this necessity for life that makes up the majority of our bodies, that we pour into our waterbottles every day, that we bathe in, swim in, splash in, and gaze upon as it stretches to the distant horizon.

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The Tinker and the Prince (updated)

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Sermon for Sunday, October 25, 2026 || Proper 25A || Matthew 22:34-46

I preached a slightly longer version of this sermon in 2020, but I was in my seventh month of looking into a camera at the time. I have yearned to share this fairy tale with you face to face, and today’s the day.

Long ago in a faraway land, the wise old king lay dying. So the king called his sister, who was even wiser than he, and said to her, “Take my crown and remove the three jewels that adorn it. When my son fills those three settings with ornaments of his own, you shall crown him king.”

“But that’s not fair,” the young prince said, and he stomped his foot in protest. “I am king the moment after you draw your final breath.”

“Not so,” his father said. “I fear I have indulged your selfishness too long, my son. You would turn the whole world upside down just to believe yourself right side up. Therefore, I decree that your aunt will be regent until you present her with three tokens showing you have learned what it means to love with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

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