Sermons from November 2024
Christ the King
The scene depicted in today’s gospel reading is a really hard one to imagine playing out today. A lone, demonstrably non-violent person, unarmed and bound, has already been repeatedly questioned and passed from one worldly power-base to another, until finally reaching the one holding most the worldly power, the representative of the Empire. That this seemingly non-threatening and unarguably physically vulnerable prisoner is invited to speak and be heard by the folks in charge is unimaginable today. That the Roman…
The Destitute Widow and the Destruction of the Temple
Mark 12:38-44 Year B Proper 27 – 25th Sunday after Pentecost Based heavily (and quoting some passages) from commentary by Sung Soo Hong, www.workingpreacher.org. Today’s passage from Mark’s gospel tells a story—one familiar to many—of the window who comes to the temple and gives all that she has, a pittance, in contrast to the wealthy who are giving from their abundance. In this understanding the widow is the “model of discipleship”, in contrast to the scribes who are the opposite.…
All Saints 2024
John 11:32-44 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how…
Sit in the question
In seminary, I took a class on Leadership Practices. It was a truly formative course for me as it not only gave me some new ways of understanding my own leadership style within a church context but also helped me dive deeper into my own spiritual practices. One important exercise we engaged in, in this class, was sitting with questions. Questions like “Says who,” “Why,” “Where is God in this,” or “What is being asked of me here”? These…