1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20) When you walk around wearing head to toe black with a white band around your neck, you hear a lot of people’s opinions about the Church. Sometimes people rush to tell you where they go to church and who their pastor is, or how often they go to church, or what denominationContinue reading “May We Listen”
Category Archives: ordinary time
What To Do at the End of the World
Matthew 25:31-46 Lately, I’ve been having a lot of conversations about the end of the world. The pandemic, the once-in-a-generation cataclysms that are happening multiple times a year, the horrors of war and genocide all have us anxious, and grieving, and exhausted. A friend who lives and works in Jerusalem recently said to me “IContinue reading “What To Do at the End of the World”
Talents or Seeds?
Matthew 25:12-30 I was speaking with another preacher this week and he mentioned that this week’s parable is the perfect opportunity for a stewardship sermon. I think most lifelong churchgoers will know what he meant by that, a sermon specifically reflecting on financial stewardship, even more specifically the money we share with our worshipping community.Continue reading “Talents or Seeds?”
Loyal Love
Matthew 22:34-46 I am indebted for this sermon to the work of Robert Alter, particularly his translations of Deuteronomy and Leviticus and commentaries therein. I am also grateful for the teaching of the Rev. Dr. Rebecca Abts Wright, who first lifted up for me the rich symbolism of the Hebrew scriptures and how it affectsContinue reading “Loyal Love”
We Believe Together
Philippians 2:1-13 When I was a teenager, I was asked to stand up for what I believed in. And I mean that literally. During a Christian Education session at my beloved church camp, the chaplains asked us all to stand up or raise our hand. They told us they were going to read aloud theContinue reading “We Believe Together”
The Unfair Kingdom
Matthew 20:1-16 “That’s not fair!” “Well, life’s not fair!” I don’t know about y’all, but that is a very familiar exchange from my childhood, and every year that I’ve been alive has been another opportunity to learn just how unfair life really is. The parable of the generous landowner, as it is known, is aboutContinue reading “The Unfair Kingdom”
Claiming Her Crumbs
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28 “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” “Lord, help me.” “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” When we studied today’s GospelContinue reading “Claiming Her Crumbs”
Lost at Sea
Matthew 14:22-33 Yesterday, some members of our two parishes gathered at Trinity Episcopal Church in Arrington to take part in an ancient mode of prayer. On Trinity’s beautiful campus, set a little apart from their cemetery, is a labyrinth, a circuitous path laid in the ground for the purpose of prayerful walking. Those who haveContinue reading “Lost at Sea”
Awakening
Matthew 17:1-9 Please note that some of the links in this sermon lead to descriptions of discriminative policies affecting LGBTQIA+ individuals and people capable of pregnancy. I include these policies to ensure that any narrative built around recent events at Asbury University do not leave out the violence done by such policies and the systemsContinue reading “Awakening”
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”
Mother A Writes 