Tag Archives: sermons

Get up! Do not be afraid! A Sermon for the Last Sunday after the Epiphany

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I was struggling to figure out how to start my sermon this morning. I didn’t think the introduction worked very well at 8:00 so I went back upstairs between services and tried again. But it didn’t help; it still seemed flat. Then as I began to listen to the choir during the psalm chant, it came to me. The setting by Thomas Atwood is one of my favorites and as I listened, I was immediately transported back to Choral Evensong at All Saints’ Chapel in Sewanee, TN. I’ve come to love Anglican chant and a beautifully sung Choral Evensong is an opportunity for me to experience God’s beauty through music. As I listened to the choir this morning, I was reminded of the power and beauty of evensong, reminded of encountering God through music, and I was left wanting to hear more, to recapture those experiences of years ago. Continue reading →

Resist not Evil: A sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Year A

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I cannot hear or read the words of Jesus in today’s gospel without thinking of my past. Most of you know that I grew up in the Mennonite tradition. It’s not something I talk a great deal about because for most people the word Mennonite conjures up images of plain clothes and horse and buggies. The Mennonite community in which I was raised had abandoned those markers of identity and separation decades before I was born, although one could detect certain vestiges of traditional dress among some of the elderly of my home congregation. These outward symbols of difference may have faded away but for most, the teachings of the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition were, when I was a child, still closely followed. At the heart of those teachings were Jesus’ words here, “Resist not evil.” Continue reading →

“Or what king, going out to wage war…” A Sermon for Proper 18, Year C

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“Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.” Continue reading →

Stressed-Out Jesus: A Sermon for Proper 15, Year C

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What glorious summer weather we’ve been having the last few weeks! Corrie and I have been taking advantage of it, with gardening, long summer evenings on our screened-in porch. We’ve enjoyed the Union Terrace on a couple of Friday evenings. And I’ve written most of my sermons in my Amish rocking chair on the porch with its view of a riotous garden growing out of control. The weather and the fact that summer brings with it a somewhat slower pace, seems to lower stress levels and anxiety. But the arrival of August 15, and move-in day means that school, and the fall, and all its busy-ness are just around the corner. I hope the weather stays cool so I can continue to enjoy my evenings on the porch. Continue reading →

You are God’s Beloved Child: A Sermon for the Baptism of Our Lord, 2013

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The Sunday after the Epiphany is always the Baptism of our Lord. On this Sunday, we hear the story of Jesus’ baptism according to one of the gospels. It’s also a day when we often celebrate baptisms. Unfortunately, due to a combination of circumstances, we aren’t baptizing anyone at Grace today. But the lessons still give us an opportunity to reflect on baptism—what it means, why we do it, and how we can claim it as central to our lives as Christians. Continue reading →