Matthew 2:1-12 When I was a teenager, I was cast one year as one of the three wise men along with two of my classmates. We had all aged out of being sheep and shepherds and angels, and we weren’t quite old enough yet to play Mary or Joseph or the angel Gabriel, although byContinue reading “For All People”
Category Archives: epiphany
For Love’s Sake
Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a] For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved one particular prayer in the prayerbook more than any other. It is found in the Compline liturgy, prayers for the close of the day, which was prayed before bedtime every night at my summer camp growing up and at the end of everyContinue reading “For Love’s Sake”
Staying Soft-hearted
Genesis 45:3-11, 15 & Luke 6:27-38 Some authors claim that the teaching to love our enemies is the only entirely original and unique teaching of Jesus. These scholars point out that nearly everything else Jesus teaches can be found in the writings of the Old Testament, and much of the same teachings can be foundContinue reading “Staying Soft-hearted”
The Trust of (Angel) Trees
Jeremiah 17:5-10 Tomorrow is the 6th anniversary of my ordination as a deacon in the Church, and as I’ve been reflecting on the past 6 years something has struck me. I have served nearly my entire ordained ministry in “unprecedented times.” Plague, violence around the world, multiple contentious election cycles, an awakening to a newContinue reading “The Trust of (Angel) Trees”
A Day in the Life
Mark 1:29-39 There are some days when I feel especially grateful to the hundreds and thousands of people who contributed to the composition and preservation of the Scriptures. Today, as we read this passage from Mark, is one of those days. A lot of people over two thousand years and many continents made it possibleContinue reading “A Day in the Life”
Expansive Love
This sermon was preached on the Occasion of the baptism of twin boys, and speaks more to that momentous occasion than to any specific lections. The Propers for the day were Epiphany 2, Year B. While I was on my pilgrimage this past fall, the last site we visited was also my favorite. It wasContinue reading “Expansive Love”
The Fourth Birth Narrative
Mark 1:4-11 For a long time, I believed there was only one story of Jesus’s birth- the one with the small town and the manger and the angels and shepherds and wise men. Then I learned that there were two- one had the wise men, one didn’t. Then I studied the four Gospels for yearsContinue reading “The Fourth Birth Narrative”
Transforming Community
Matthew 5:21-37 Something I noticed for the first time while preparing for last week’s Wednesday Bible Study and for this morning’s sermon has really impacted me and how I’ve been hearing Jesus this week. For several weeks now we’ve been hearing passages from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew’s Gospel. This is Jesus’s stumpContinue reading “Transforming Community”
Themselves for the Sake of the Kingdom
Matthew 4:12-23 A dear friend pointed out to me this past week that Jesus begins his public ministry not just after his baptism, but also after John has been arrested. She said “Jesus began preaching the kingdom right after it had become unequivocally clear that preaching the kingdom gets people in trouble with those inContinue reading “Themselves for the Sake of the Kingdom”
No Greater Legacy
John 1:29-42 John the Baptizer is remembered in scripture for the way he dedicated his entire life to his one true purpose, pointing toward the Messiah. Even before his birth, John was already acting instinctively to fulfill this vocation, pointing his mother’s eyes toward Mary and the salvation promise she carried within her. As aContinue reading “No Greater Legacy”
Mother A Writes 