Sermons

Last week the Gospel told the story of Jesus feeding 5,000 people with five barley loaves and two fish. Afterward, I began thinking about those people, who had ventured out to find Jesus, motivated, as we are told, by “the signs that he was doing for the sick.” I’ve tried to put myself in their […]Read more “Possibility: The First Step is Believing”

Who was your childhood hero? Maybe it was a favorite author, an actor, an athlete, maybe a particularly cool seminarian. For me it was Omar Visquel, the shortstop for the Cleveland Indians in the 90s. I grew up as a huge baseball fan and he was my guy. He won 11 gold glove awards, nine […]Read more “Accountability as Heroic”

I come to you in the name of the One on whom all our hope is founded, Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit.  AMEN A recent NPR story headline, “if your brain feels foggy and you’re tired all the time, you’re not alone,” pretty much sums it up for me. So when I read today’s gospel […]Read more “Come Away and Rest a While”

Twice in my life I have found myself lost in a great work of art and therein almost anesthetized to the great act of violence the very work itself was portraying. This happened once while I was listening to a soprano sing an aria from the opera Salome.  Her impeccably clear soprano voice carried me […]Read more “Art, Opera, and John the Baptizer”

“And he was amazed at their unbelief.” I speak to you in the name of one God, Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen + This morning, we hear about Jesus returning home after some time away—and not just any normal time, but time in which he has been transformed into more of who God made […]Read more “Turning Unbelief Into Belief”

+In the Name of God: Who was, and is, and is to come.  Amen. “Now as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you – so we want you to excel in this generous undertaking.”  2 Corinthians 8:7 Since this is my last […]Read more “Generosity of Spirit”

Thank you to four of our high school graduates (class of 2021) for preparing reflections in lieu of a sermon today. Specials to Sarah Palmentera-Reid, Grace and Peter Hanson, and Nora Lumsden!!!Read more “Youth Sunday Sermon(s)”

Sermon Preached at All Saints’ Chicago (virtually and in person) on Sunday, June 13, 2021. 3rd Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6): Mark 4:26-34 I speak to you in the name of one God, Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen + I’ve recently started watching a new PBS series called “Human: The World Within.” It is […]Read more “Exercising the Muscle of Faith”

+In the Name of God:  who was, and is, and is to come.  Amen. “Then Jesus went home; and the crowd came together again, so that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat.  When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his […]Read more “The Family of God”

Last week I was talking to one of my colleagues about yet another of the delightful posts he had written describing the theological musings/pronouncements  of his four year old son, Isaac.  Something to do with the Holy Spirit, I believe.  It made sense given that Pentecost had just happened.  I jokingly asked Eric what Isaac […]Read more “The Holy Trinity and Flash Mobs”

Who among us – mother, father, aunt, uncle, grandparent, or friend – has not spent time deeply engaged with a young child in a game of “peek-a-boo?” You know that game, where you are before a young child and you either hide behind your hands or their favorite blanket, and then pop out and say […]Read more “Ascension Day Sermon (transferred) 2021”

At the risk of you getting your own ear worm, I quote from the iconic Tina Tuner. What’s love got to do with it.  What’s love but a second hand emotion.  Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken? Every time I’ve read the gospel appointed today over the past few weeks, this […]Read more “What’s Love Got to do with It?”

I speak to you in the name of one God, Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen + “All are welcome, because all belong…All are welcome, because all belong” For decades, the Episcopal Church has used the slogan “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You.” You can find this slogan on almost every Episcopal church street sign with […]Read more “All are Welcome, because All Belong”

+In the Name of God: who was, and is, and is to come.  Amen Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd.” John 10:11 This past week, one of All Saints’ faithful parishioners stopped by the office with a gift for the church. It’s a beautiful, framed photograph of two panels from a stained-glass window. One […]Read more “Good Shepherds for Each Other”

I speak to you in the name of one God, Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen + From today’s Gospel, “While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering.” People experience surprises in different ways. Some people love surprises…they love the anticipation of knowing something is about to happen but not exactly what that […]Read more “The God of Surprises”

+In the Name of God: who was, and is, and is to come.  Amen Living God, for whom no door is closed, no heart is locked, draw us beyond our doubts, till we see your Christ and touch his wounds where they bleed in others.  Amen. New Zealand Prayer Book, The Fourth Sunday of Easter […]Read more “Reaching out with wounded hands”

I speak to you in the name of one God, Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen + Alleluia, Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!  It is so right that we proclaim and shout this message from the mountain tops this morning, because friends, we need Easter more this year than ever before…I […]Read more “Transformation Begins in the Darkness”

+In the Name of God who was, and is, and is to come. They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead […]Read more “A Parade, a Protest March, & a Funeral Procession”

I speak to you in the name of one God, Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen + We often think of Lent as a time of giving things up. This year, I’ve heard a number of people giving up alcohol, or chocolate, or meat. The hope is that in giving something up we push things […]Read more “Give in to God”

Look at it and live I come to you in the name of the One in whom all our hope is founded, Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit. Amen From the book of Numbers: “Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people died…. So Moses prayed […]Read more “Look at it and Live”