Archive for 'Sermons'

III Lent – March 27, 2011 – Year A (RCL)

Today’s Gospel lesson has to do with a woman who, unlike Nicodemus, who came to Jesus in the dead of night, didn’t come to Jesus—just the opposite.

Jesus came to her.

Not only did this woman end up believing in what Jesus had to say—recognizing him for who he was—but she also went and told her friends about him.

It’s quite possible that she and her friends became the nucleus for the first group ...

II Lent – March 20, 2011 – Year A

In the Gospel lesson we just heard we meet a man named Nicodemus.

Who was he?

What do we know about him?

The writer of the Gospel according to John describes him as a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews, who came to Jesus, after hours, so to speak, with a question, only he never got a chance to ask it.

We can only guess what the question might have been.

By the time that Nicodemus gets ...

I Lent – March 13, 2011 – Year A

Thanks to an organization called “The Center for Inquiry” billboards have begun appearing in Indianapolis and other places proclaiming that we “don’t need God—to hope, to care, to love, to live”.

Some of you may have seen them already.

I haven’t, but I’ve seen pictures of them.

Now, of course, a case can be made for such a claim.

As Lutheran Bishop William Gafkjen, writing in yesterday’s Indianapolis Star, readily admits: “Hope, care and love are deeply human ...

Last Epiphany – March 6, 2011 – Year A – RCL

Well, until the rains came and nearly washed us all away, we had a few days there where we saw the sun again and it got a little warmer.

It felt good to doff our coats for a moment and let some of that warmth soak into our bones—let the wearying load of our many responsibilities, real or imagined, fall to the ground for a second or two, and just bask ...

VIII Epiphany – February 27, 2011 – Year A

“So do not worry about tomorrow,” we hear Jesus say to his disciples (and maybe a crowd that has begun to gather).

Ironic, isn’t it, that Lucy and I should have recently returned from a clergy seminar hosted by the national Church called “Planning for Tomorrow”!

Actually, I made it a point to listen closely yesterday because the reading for Noonday Prayer was taken from this morning’s lesson from Matthew, but it ended with ...

VII Epiphany – February 20, 2011 – Year A (RCL)

Our bishop makes it a point to pray daily for her clergy colleagues and for the congregations they serve.

She also is careful to keep “the diocesan household” –by which she means everybody in the Diocese—informed, when there’s something she thinks all of us should be praying about or someone all of us should be praying for.

And every once in a while she shoots her clergy a suggestion or two about how ...

VI Epiphany – February 13, 2011 – Year A (RCL)

I’m afraid there’s not much warmth to be found in this week’s lessons from Holy Scripture.

At least on first reading them, on first hearing them, they do sound pretty bleak.

You may have gotten the feeling that I tried to read the Gospel lesson in as gentle a tone as possible—at least I hope you did—but it takes some doing.

(Hey! It’s almost Valentine’s Day! Where’s the love?)

It may be helpful to know ...

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – February 6, 2011 – Year A (RCL)

Today’s readings offer yet another opportunity to explore the dynamics of evangelism and Christian mission.

The apostle Paul, writing to Christians in the city of Corinth, emphasizes the need for Christian faith to “rest not on human wisdom but on…the power of God.”

The only wisdom worth having, as far as Paul is concerned, is not what he derogatorily refers to as “the wisdom of this age”, but what he calls “God’s ...

IV Epiphany – January 30, 2011 – Year A (RCL)

In this morning’s Gospel lesson Jesus takes his disciples up a mountain to acquaint them with the way life is in the kingdom of God.

The writer of Matthew says that Jesus did this “when he saw the crowds”—so it’s possible that Jesus did it for a reason.

He may have done it because he was afraid that what he had to say might not be heard in the marketplace or wherever the ...