These writings are designed for preaching on the Sundays that correlate to the scripture listed in the Lectionary of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. As of Advent 2010, these are no longer the texts selected for use in most Episcopal Churches. But mine does.
Each sermon links to the scripture that influence it.
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Did I Dream That?
(A sermon for Mark 1:1-8 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, December 9-10, 2023.)
I used to have a recurring dream in which I would find myself feeling stressed and frustrated_ because today was my college final exam. In that dream, I desperately searched for the classroom that I had never bothered to learn where it was in the first place. As I roamed through random buildings on campus, I was so unsure and upset because I couldn’t understand why I didn’t look for this building yesterday. Why didn’t I attend the class all those yesterdays? And why didn’t I read the textbooks all those yesterdays? …So that today, I would be ready.
To add insult to injury, I would typically wake up from this dream wondering_ is that my reality? Did I really let that happen? Then after a few minutes of being awake, I would realize it was just a dream, and feel relieved.
I don’t typically put a lot of stock in dreams, or what they mean. To me, it’s just the brain’s way of rejuvenating while I sleep. And sometimes the dreams are just a front row seat to some movie, and in this case, a movie that is not all that much fun to watch.
But maybe putting stock in that dream is not such a bad idea. It’s a reminder of how I’ve created situations for myself that invoke angst and misgivings that I could’ve prevented. And it’s a reminder that sometimes I go too fast, and don’t pay attention to the things that matter.
Gospel & Sermon begin at 19:29 During this time before Christmas, we hear the message, “Slow down, it’s Advent.” We’re encouraged to hurry less, breathe slower and easier, and revel in the Good News that the birth of Christ is soon upon us.
It’s easy to say _ “slow … down”. Much harder to do _ especially since our modern society tells us_ this is the time to speed up, worry more, fill up our calendars and our to-do lists because _ CHRISTMAS DAY_IS_ COMING!
So how do we slow down, when there are so many expectations? Reading Mark’s Gospel today helps with some perspective _ John the Baptist exclaiming the words of Isaiah: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
The theme of this short passage is _to prepare or_ be prepared. Preparing ourselves for what’s to come. Preparing ourselves in some way that’s not been fully explained. Preparing ourselves perhaps, for some exam, in some building that has some unknown location.
With Advent morphing into Christmastide, we prepare for both _ by slowing down and relishing in how well we’ve done. But also, to take heed and speed up, to catch up on things that we missed along the way.
Consciously this may seem hard to do. But this preparation for the future _ sometimes slowly _ sometimes quickly_ is something we do every day all day long. Our days are full of thinking about the little and big choices we make. Our minds drift all day long, thinking about the choices and how much to prepare.
We choose to continue to listen to this sermon _ or think about something else. We choose where to drive after church. We choose what we’ll eat after church. We choose if we’re going to watch the Giants not make the playoffs again. We choose to get involved. We choose to help our neighbor. We choose if we’ll pray. We choose to prepare for the Second Coming. We choose to care a lot _or care a little.
And behind all of those choices, we think about, how much do we need to prepare for all of these choices?
As certain stages in our lives unfold, we don’t need to think consciously about many of these choices. Our choices and preparation become instinctual. Our brains act on auto-pilot.
But when preparing for the unknown, how will we know that we’ve prepared enough for everything that we want to prepare for? Moreover, how much should we prepare for Jesus’ return?
I can’t tell you the exact amount. Just like I can’t tell you what you should eat, or where to go, or how to nurse your broken heart over the so-called “Giants”.
I can say that I believe the point of Advent is to slow down, take a moment to not worry, and feel _the joy that comes from knowing that the birth of Christ is just the beginning of the story. I can also say that you have to prepare yourself in this life, not only for your daily activities and choices, but for something that surpasses all of our understanding _ which is our afterlife.
Then I think how much should we prepare for that final exam? How do we make sure that we’re not running around regretfully trying to find the right building?
It’s up to each of you to decide. If you’re not prepared, you should be. If you are prepared, and wondering how much more you should prepare, the answer is simple, and really not as complicated, or as structured as you might think.
It’s _ prepare more today than you did yesterday, and each day continue doing just that. That’s how we’ll get the A+ on that final exam. That I’m sure.
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There Must Be Some Misunderstanding
(A sermon for Matthew 18: 21-35 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, September 16-17, 2023.)
How many of you have ever been mad at God?
At some point in time in your life, you probably couldn’t help but think “Thanks a lot, God.” or “I can’t believe God let that happen”. It’s not surprising. From our individual armchairs, we can’t see the big picture and sometimes it can be annoying. It can be about really important stuff like why do natural disasters occur? Or why are kittens and puppies abandoned? Or it can be trivial stuff like, why is my vodka on the rocks so expensive? Or why is it still so hot up here?
Or how about the big question, why do you let Satan and his minions run around and cause all this havoc? Life is hard enough as it is without them stirring stuff up.
So it’s fairly easy to blame God for just about anything.
Gospel reading and sermon begins at 17:35 In today’s Gospel, Peter talks about “his brother in the Church ” who sinned against him and felt like he should forgive. In other words, Peter is ticked off and at an unknown someone. So what if that someone was Jesus?
Like most misunderstandings, Peter and Jesus have some history that could lead up to this. So let’s back up a bit.
Going back a few chapters in the Gospel, Peter is getting along well with Jesus. Peter acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God and Jesus replies that on Peter, He will build his Church.
But Peter still doesn’t fully know what this means and stumbles a bit. He’s expecting Jesus to stay alive and be the Messiah_the King of Israel, and freaks out when Jesus announces he’ll be killed soon. Peter witnesses the transfiguration, gets confused, and thinks he has to build three tabernacles. Following this, the Apostles are unable to cast out a demon and Jesus shows his impatience and says, “How long shall I put up with you?” and scolds them for their lack of faith. Then finally, prior to this Gospel reading, the disciples are discussing which of them was greater than the other, and Jesus essentially warns them about continuing to act this way. So for all what Peter has done and seen, and been told, he’s finding out that he’s no better than the rest who have done less _ and getting scolded.
Poor Peter. He’s trying so hard.
But he’s in uncharted territory being one of the first followers of the Son of Man, and so I can imagine it must have been overwhelming at times and a bit confusing. So it’s absolutely conceivable that Peter would feel hurt by Jesus scolding them, and taking it personally, thinking this Jesus-guy is wrong for scolding me.
But Peter is also wise enough at this point to know that it’s best to forgive. (He’s already been taught the Lord’s Prayer and to forgive those who trespass.) So he asks, “”Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?”
For Peter this probably seems more than generous as was the custom at that time to forgive only three times. So Peter may be in a forgiving mood but he’s also wanting to gain back Jesus’ favor. Jesus though comes back with, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy times seven”.
Do your math and that’s 490 times.
For those familiar with this verse, you most likely already recognize that Jesus’ recommendation to forgive ‘seventy times seven’ is really that it should be a number so high that you forget how many times you’ve forgiven and better yet, forget the reason why you feel the need to forgive in the first place.
If I say “I forgive you”
“I forgive you”
“I forgive you”
“I forgive you”
“I forgive you”
“I forgive you”
“I forgive you”, that’s seven times and it’s easy to remember how many times I said it.
If you try to do this 490 times, I doubt you will really be able to keep track. But if I’m wrong and you can keep track, please forgive me _ 490 times.
If this story is really about Peter being mad at Jesus, then Jesus knows that Peter is upset with Him, knows that he’s upset with not just any brother of the Church but he’s upset with the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Or in other words God himself.
And God understands. He’s not seeking Peter’s forgiveness, or your forgiveness when you get mad at Him. He’s seeking an understanding, for you to calm down and trust that our salvation is His goal. It’s difficult to always understand the reasoning for God’s actions, and it can sometimes feel like He doesn’t care. But He does care, and the method of repeating forgiveness is a meditation to calm the mind and heart, break apart the gloomy cloud, and remember that He does care and His goal for us is salvation. And for good measure, Jesus tells us a story about a farmer and his servant, and his servant’s servants, and debts that are owed, that reminds us that not forgiving leads to wrath and greed.
The truth is we don’t always know all the reasons why someone sinned or trespassed against us. Despite popular conception, it is absolutely_1_Hundred_%_ impossible to know what someone else is really thinking. Even those closest to you. From your armchair, only you can know what you are thinking. And of course, God knows too.
So_live by your favorite credo for forgiving: “Let Go and Let God”. Or Lose your temper but don’t lose faith. Or_Trust the process. Or _All will be revealed.
Forgive three times, forgive seven times, forgive 490 times. The number of times is not really important. Jesus’ point is for our own sake, no matter who, or what the reason is, just forgive.
Amen.
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Planting the Good Seed
A sermon for Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, July 22-23, 2023.
Someone that inspires me to be a better person and a better Christian is the Lutheran Pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber. She writes and preaches a lot about grace, faith, the idiosyncrasies of humans, as well as her own recovery from addiction, and her personal failings.
In a recent sermon (found here), she reflected on preaching over the years at St John’s Cathedral in Denver, and the irony of living across the street from the church 30 years earlier with a deep feeling of disdain for church bells. Because then, on any given Sunday at 8am, you would have likely found her [quote] “unspeakably hungover or still intoxicated from the night before”.
Gospel reading and sermon begins at 16:05 Her sermon compared her path (of addiction to ordination), to Jesus’ parable of the frustrated man who wanted to cut down his fig tree in Luke’s Gospel (13:6-9) because it didn’t bear fruit for three years. Knowing her own journey and how many years it took, she felt this “poor tree hadn’t even been given its full chance”. Thus, her sermon was about how we perceive time differently from God, and how God is infinitely patient with all of us, and when we listen, God is “saying to us [about ourselves] …some things take time. And I [God] have all the time in the world.”
Doesn’t that _feel_ good? ___ Knowing God has all the time in the world to be infinitely patient with us while we continue to walk and still stumble, to continue to have faith and still doubt, to continue to love but still mistakenly judge.
When I reflected on today’s Gospel, I was drawn back to Nadia’s sermon, but I also thought about … dandelions. Dandelions_ the invasive plant species damaging crops with deep roots and spreading seeds over long distances. Their reputation makes them a perfect example of the type of weed you would use to ruin the crop of your enemy.
But dandelions are known to be highly edible, and nutritious for humans and other living creatures. They can help bring nutrients to shallow-rooting plants. They assist pollinating insects. They are a possible source for creating rubber (according to Wikipedia). And when they dry up, they become a source of fun to blow apart.
Overall, dandelions are a great example of encountering something in life in which we take the good with the bad.
In today’s Gospel, the farmer was obviously wise to not let his enemy’s weed destroy his wheat. The farmer’s plan was to let the weed grow and dispose of it at harvest time. And the explanation that Jesus gives of the parable is “the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil”. So when we reach the end of days, the weeds are collected and burned and the good seed though will prevail to the kingdom of the Father.
So _ we take the good with the bad during this life, and at the end of this mortal coil the good will prevail.
But wait, there’s more.
The last sentence of Jesus’ explanation is “Let anyone with ears listen!” This statement could just be a perfunctory end to the lesson. Instead, it feels like a third part of the Gospel-Reading whereas the first part is the parable, and the second part is the explanation.
This third part is instruction.
But what do these instructions mean? What are we to listen for? The explanation makes it seems as if it’s predestined; you’re either sowed as a good seed or a bad seed. But _ listening means to pay attention _ to the choice. It’s still a choice for man to listen to the call of the one planting the good seed or the one planting the bad seed.
The farmer listens. He does not instruct his workers to seek revenge on his enemy. He lets the weeds grow and he wisely plans and waits. He does not fret.
Now we don’t have any sense that the weeds in this parable were dandelions. But it could have been something similar, and the farmer after the harvest may have been able to make something good out of the bad seed. For example, a nice dandelion salad for lunch.
And isn’t that life after all? You can take the good with the bad. We make good choices; we make bad choices. We listen to good advice; we listen to bad advice. And we watch others do the same.
But God is with us through all of that. And Jesus’ parables, as this one does, helps us with seeking, hearing, and growing toward God. Fortunately, unlike dandelions we have free will to choose if we are the crop, or the weed. And for those around us _ in our families and communities _ we can help them to choose.
Whether it’s ourselves or those we know, God is infinitely patient and has all the time in the world. Unfortunately, our time on this earth is more limited. So best to pay attention and use that time wisely.
But no matter who we are or where our journeys take us towards being the bountiful crop (and not the weed) _ it’s good to know the instructions on which way to go are always there for us _ it’s good to know that the church bells will continue to ring at 8am, despite the condition that we may be in_ and that God never gives up on our journeys.
He knows with time we can all get there.
Amen.
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Sheep In the Midst of Wolves
A sermon for Matthew 10:16-33 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, June 24-25, 2023.
Last Sunday’s Gospel from Matthew tells us that Jesus reached a point in his ministry in which he needs to begin delegating. So Jesus gives his twelve apostles instructions to spread the Good News that the kingdom of heaven has come near, and that they should go to nearby villages to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons.
There is no mention that the apostles were at all bothered by this request. At least no one captured on record any apostle saying, “Wait _ what?.” “Uhmm, yeah, I’m just a fisherman.” or “Yeah, and I’m just a tax collector.” or “Yeah, I don’t know how to do any of those things.”
Any discomfort the apostles had was probably not worth recording. But I think it’s easy to believe that Jesus had prepared them for this day. I’m sure he knew their respective strengths and weaknesses, and since the beginning of his ministry, they all experienced being welcomed by some and despised by others.
In the verses between last week’s and today’s Gospel Jesus says to them, “I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves.” So he knows what they are up against and so today’s Gospel is a bit of a pep talk, an encouragement, that no matter what happens _ to stay steadfast in their mission.
Gospel reading and sermon begins at 9:38 Part of Jesus’ pep talk is don’t be afraid. Where you will go and who you will meet, can only kill your body. They cannot kill your soul. To make them feel assured of this Jesus says, even a sparrow worth half-a-penny on earth is valued by God, and you _ are more valued than that.
So go forth and “proclaim from the rooftops!” Jesus instructs. Speak openly, not as if it was a secret, or something we should only talk about in certain circles.
The second thing Jesus says is don’t get any lofty ideas about your status in this world just because I’m bestowing upon you a lot of power that you didn’t have before. I say “a lot” even though in the modern world we can cure the sick including lepers. But casting out demons is best done by someone ordained. And outside of George Romero, HBO, and countless other filmmakers, raising the dead is definitely still beyond the realm of modern possibilities.
Still, if you could do all of these things, or even one of them, the message is to not to get too full of yourself. As Jesus says, “A disciple is not above the teacher.”
So, where does that lead us? Perhaps it’s the same message _ to stay steadfast.
One could say it’s hard being steadfast in these modern times. It can be hard in certain circles to spread the Good News, to talk openly about our faith. And it can be hard to keep oneself in check to not judge others for their lack of faith, and to not feel superior to those who lack faith.
As human beings with emotional cores, and busy schedules, and never-ending-to-do lists, and distractions and stress and obligations galore, it requires steadfastness to maintain balance.
A couple of months ago King Charles III was coronated. Even though there was an enormous amount of hoopla around the pageantry and celebration of a man becoming king of the British Empire, it was still an Anglican Church service designating this man as the ultimate defender of the faith for the Church of England _ a defender of Christian faith _ a defender of Episcopalian faith.
To me, receiving such a calling is quite a tall order which is probably why he looked about as nervous as you can get. But he held it together pretty well and evidently understands, as he stated several times, that he is “to serve”.
Thus, now that the Coronation service and party is over, Charles has a job to do. And that job requires him to stay steadfast _ not to let his ego get out of control and act superior, OR be afraid of what he’s called to do, or be afraid of those who will try to make him feel inferior because of his faith.
Which brings us back to today’s Gospel reading. Jesus is not just talking to his apostles. He’s speaking to all of us and encouraging everyone who believes in the Good News to go forth _ and to tell others about it, and remember just because you know the Good News, this does not make you better than anyone else.
Like most of you, I spend a lot of my time in the secular world, and I wish talking about this Good News could be a little more fluid in that world. I wish we could talk about it more_ like we talk about our favorite sports team, or music band, or movie, or recipe. I would like it more if we could discuss our religious beliefs as quickly, readily, and easily, as we do with these other lesser things.
This is one of the reasons I said it’s hard being steadfast in these modern times. But still _ let’s be steadfast. Let’s be _ not afraid. Let’s be_ not the King of England, or the ultimate defender of the faith. But let’s be_ wise in our own lives, and for our families, and be the defenders of the faith in our community. And let’s not forget we are still here to serve.
Just like the apostles, I believe Jesus has equipped us and prepared us to do exactly that. As we have faith in Him, he has faith in us.
Amen
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The Way of Love
A sermon for John 15:1-8 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, May, 13-14, 2023.
On the Episcopal Church’s website, there is a truly inspiring video from Michael Curry, our Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, in which he discusses the Way of Love. Curry states in the introduction that, “In the first century Jesus of Nazareth inspired a movement. A community of people whose lives were centered on Jesus Christ and committed to living the way of God’s unconditional, unselfish, sacrificial, and redemptive love. Before they were called “church” or “Christian,” this Jesus Movement was simply called “the way.””
The “Way of Love” as Bishop Curry states is a pattern of seven practices: Turn. Learn. Pray. Worship. Bless. Go. Rest. I’m curious_How many people have seen or have at least heard of this 4-minute video?
In short,
To TURN _ Pause, listen, and choose to follow Jesus
To LEARN _ Reflect on Scripture each day, especially Jesus’ life and teachings
To PRAY _ Dwell intentionally with God each day
To WORSHIP _ Gather in community weekly to thank, praise, and draw near God
To BLESS _ Share faith and unselfishly give and serve
To GO _ Cross boundaries, listen deeply, and live like Jesus
To REST _ Receive the gift of God’s grace, peace, and restoration <which also means sleep>
Gospel reading and sermon begins at 5:02 For me, the video is a testament to the Episcopal Church’s commitment to following Jesus’ words and what makes worshiping in a Episcopal tradition so special.
The word “Way” in this context is a method _ a way to do something. But the word ‘way’ is also a direction and can describe a series of connections _ for instance a high-way.
Today, Jesus talks about a Way _ about being the vine and that we are the branches. “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” Now anyone with a basic knowledge of plants and trees can understand that this would be the result. The internal mechanism of all living things is a series of connections _ say_the original superhighway. Without these ways, or without these connections, we don’t grow, we don’t develop, we don’t bear fruit…..That’s what happens when we don’t have a connection.
But the same can be true if we don’t have a Way of doing something. Without a way, we wander aimlessly, arbitrarily or without purpose.
For example
Imagine coming to Church _ and there was no Book of Common Prayer, or Hymnal, or even a Bulletin. Imagine instead of colorful vestments, Father Matt was wearing a hoodie, and sweatshorts, and sneakers. Imagine if instead of reading the Gospel, Father Matt read “The Great Gatsby” out loud in its entirety. Imagine if there was just milk and cookies instead of bread and wine. And imagine that when you come back next week, none of that stuff happens, and Father Matt says, “and-now-for-something_completely different”.
Of course that doesn’t happen. The Episcopal Church one could say is_ set in its ways. If you’ve been attending service for any length of time, you know that. And if you’re new then I’m sure you’ll catch on quickly to these liturgical rituals.
And they are rituals and they are rituals with a purpose. The Sunday Eucharist service is a series of deliberate acts of proclamations and responses that work all of our senses.
For our eyes, it’s the beautiful colors, icons and flowers that adorn the altar. It’s the physical space of the church.
For our ears, it’s hearing the scripture read aloud, along with a sermon to not so much tell you what the scripture means, but to start a dialogue. And it’s hearing the beautiful voices of our choir.
For our nose, it’s the incense from the thurible.
For our taste, it’s wine and bread.
For our touch, it’s the aerobics during service of sit down-stand up-sit down-kneel-stand-up _ and the handshake, fistbump or hug during Peace.
This sensory information that we experience is first sent to the emotional center of our brains, connecting how we feel about what is happening. A short period follows and the information is sent to the cognitive center of our brains, connecting how we think about what is happening.
And that sensory information is memorized, and when repeatedly experienced, it becomes a ritual, a pattern, and it’s a pattern that we practice each week. And we treat it like practice, because the more we do it the better we become at it.
But what we’re getting better at, when we come to Church, might be knowing when to “sit-stand-sit-kneel-stand” or knowing the words of the prayers. But what’s really happening is that we’re practicing to become a person before God, that enacts the higher values that are bestowed to us, and to take those teachings and go out into the world and enact those values.
And the cool thing about this is you don’t have to do it alone. As a Christian, as Jesus said today, you can’t do it alone. You have to be connected. That is the way.
Anna Julia Haywood Cooper, esteemed Episcopalian and author wrote, <quote>“… religion (ought to be if it isn’t) a great deal more than mere gratification of the instinct for worship linked with the straight-teaching of irreproachable credos. Religion must be life made true; and life is action, growth, development–begun now and ending never.”<unquote>
For us, we must stay connected as branches to the vine. We must grow and develop. We must stay active and practice the Way of Love. When we do, we will bear fruit “now and ending never.”
Wired For Faith 
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