Our Identities

Sermon for Sunday, September 15, 2024 || Proper 19B || Mark 8:27-38

My sermons are now available in podcast form. Click here for Apple Podcasts or search “WheretheWind.com Sermon” on your podcast app of choice.

The first novella, “Arrow Ten,” is finished! You can read or listen to the whole thing by clicking here.

In the age of the internet, identity theft is a prominent danger. Answering silly quizzes on Facebook, clicking innocuous links in emails, downloading attachments, falling victim to a data breach – all of these are ways that scammers can steal our identities, impersonate us to open credit cards, or empty our bank accounts. My identity was stolen once, years ago, and I had to assure my bank that I was definitely not renting limousines in Texas. We spend a lot of time, money, and worry protecting our identities, but I wonder how often we think about what our identities actually consist of. What are the most important facets of our identities, and how do they change over time? And how does “follower of Jesus” fit into the picture of our identities? That’s what we’re going to explore for the next ten minutes.

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Breathe in the Holy Spirit

Sermon for Sunday, September 1, 2024 || Proper 17B || Mark 7:1-23

Today we’re going to spend the bulk of the sermon breathing through a guided meditation. We’re going to invite the Holy Spirit in through our inhalations; then, with our exhalations, we will breathe out into the world the values of a life lived following Jesus. But before we get to the meditation part, just a little background.

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Bios and Zoe

Sermon for Sunday, August 18, 2024 || Proper 15B || John 6:51-58

What does it mean to be alive? The biological definition is fairly simple: to be alive means that the processes which keep our bodies functional are working. Our hearts pump blood, our lungs exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen, our digestive organs turn food into nutrients and waste, and our brains keep all these systems running. In this way, we are alive like amoebas are alive, just at a more complex scale.

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Sabbatical Retrospective, Year 2023: The Funeral Homily

During my sabbatical, I’m not writing new sermons, so on Mondays I am choosing one post from every year of WheretheWind.com to highlight. In 2023, my church was in the midst of an unprecedented number of deaths and funerals in the parish. This sermon was a response to that reality and is now one of the most often viewed posts on this website.

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Sabbatical Retrospective, Year 2021: The Rainbow

During my sabbatical, I’m not writing new sermons, so on Mondays I am choosing one post from every year of WheretheWind.com to highlight. In 2021, nearly a year into the pandemic building closure I wrote this sermon about Noah’s ark.

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Sabbatical Retrospective, Year 2020: Why Are You Weeping?

During my sabbatical, I’m not writing new sermons, so on Mondays I am choosing one post from every year of WheretheWind.com to highlight. In 2020, I preached the following sermon on Easter Sunday, less than a month into the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Sabbatical Retrospective, Year 2019: The National Memorial for Peace and Justice

During my sabbatical, I’m not writing new sermons, so on Mondays I am choosing one post from every year of WheretheWind.com to highlight. In 2019, I wrote notes each week of my first sabbatical, and this is one about my time at the Lynching Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.

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Sabbatical Retrospective, Year 2017: The Uniqueness of the Incarnation

During my sabbatical, I’m not writing new sermons, so on Mondays I am choosing one post from every year of WheretheWind.com to highlight. In 2017, I preached this sermon on Christmas Eve.

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Sabbatical Retrospective, Year 2016: The Spiritual Desert

During my sabbatical, I’m not writing new sermons, so on Mondays I am choosing one post from every year of WheretheWind.com to highlight. Near the end of 2016, I was going through time of dryness spiritually, and this sermon grew out of that.

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