Sermons
So. How many commandments are there really?
There are a lot of different definitions of the word “commandment.” No matter which definition you use, there are a lot of commandments in the Bible. This leads to the question by at least some people, how many are there? This isn’t a bad question, even if it is hard to answer, it is more that it is the wrong question. Commandments are about what we should do, so perhaps…
First we listen, then what?
This Sunday the Lectionary has us looking at one of most well-known Old Testament stories, at least well-known in churchy circles, namely, Moses and the burning bush. The New Testament has us in Romans and Matthew. At first I didn’t know what to do with the passages. This past week has been difficult if you value the musical and/or cinematic work of Peter Cullen (look him up), Tim Curry, and…
How many women did it take to raise a deliverer?
I like sermon titles that are questions. If you have been following along with me for any length of time this is not a surprise to you. The questions don’t have to be provocative but if they are . . . I’m fine with that. So what about today’s question? It contains another, unasked, question, to wit, which deliverer? The deliverer in question is Moses and the number of women…
Who said what?
There is a Gospel story that I have always found a bit problematic. Our Gospel lesson for this Sunday is Matthew 15:21-28, often referred to as the story of the Canaanite woman. If the details have slipped your mind, a Canaanite woman asks Jesus to free her daughter from the torments of a demon. Jesus does not respond. She asks again and Jesus tells her he was sent to the…
Are we struggling alone? Are you?
It seems to live is to struggle. I’m not convinced that life is “nasty, brutish, and short.” I have been trying hard not to think or speak for other people but I think struggle is a constant for all of us. So if struggle is a common thing then why is it so hard to convince ourselves we are not struggling alone. I was drawn to the alternate Old Testament…
Wrestling and food
The past month was a good one for me. I am one of those people who can find it difficult to take time off, at least from preaching in my case. The rest was deeply appreciated and I am immensely grateful to the good people of St. Mark’s for “making” me take time off 😄 The Lectionary texts for this Sunday posed a bit of a problem for me. As…
Hospitality . . . again
PLEASE NOTE: St. Mark’s will not be having services in the month of July this year so the next sermon will be the first Sunday of August. It might seem strange for me to talk about hospitality again, after all, it was only a couple of weeks ago we talked about it. The thing is, the more I sat with these texts, the more I realized hospitality is a sufficiently…
Who does God use?
Today is Fathers’ Day and I can’t say I found much to say about fathers in the texts . . . at least nothing particularly complimentary. So instead I decided to look at the broader context of all our texts and I found myself asking the question, which is the sermon title to no one’s surprise, “Who does God use?” As questions go, this one has some importance. So who…
Let’s talk about hospitality
What is hospitality? If we are going to talk about it as the sermon title suggests, we should probably give some thought to what it means. Hospitality is more than being civil to people you don’t know well, or perhaps at all. It is more than inviting people into your space—home, office, coffee shop table. It is more than entertaining, throwing a good party. Hospitality is all about making someone,…
Have you been called? Have I?
What does it mean to be called? I’m not talking about being called in for supper, important as that call is. Being called is being asked to take up a calling. Some people are called to be doctors, some to be teachers; these people feel that there is more to their career than a financial decision or even a personal preference. They are doing what they are meant to do….