The message of Resurrection, remembered in this Easter season, is a message of apocalyptic proportions. The Good News of the community of Love springs to life and begins to spread as Dustin begins to say goodbye.

Sermon begins at minute marker 6:03

John 5:25-29; Acts 5:12–16; 2 Corinthians 4:13–15

Hymn: 478, I Come with Joy. Music: American traditional (USA), Southern Harmony, 1854, alt. Text: Brian Wren (England), 1968, rev. 1993, © 1971, rev. 1995 Hope Publishing Company Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. All rights reserved.

Resources

A Woman’s Lectionary for the Whole Church (Year W): A Multi-Gospel Single-Year Lectionary, Wilda C. Gafney, Church Publishing Incorporated, 2021.

This sermon was written for Seattle Mennonite Church as they were preparing for a season of major transition.

Support the show

John 3:16 is much loved by many & much detested by many others. This Laetare Sunday, Dustin looks beyond verse 16 to find a way to rejoice it.

Sermon begins at minute marker 7:20

Song of Solomon 4.7-16; Psalm 135.1-16; 1 John 4.7-12; John 3.11-17

Resources

• A Woman’s Lectionary for the Whole Church (Year W): A Multi-Gospel Single-Year Lectionary, Wilda C. Gafney, Church Publishing Incorporated, 2021.
• Finding Fred Podcast: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-finding-fred-91432380/
• Baker, Elna. “This American Life.” Episode. The Problem with Ghosts no. 793: The Wedding Crasher. Chicago, IL, March 10, 2023. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/793/the-problem-with-ghosts/act-two-6. 
• Sheeler, Jason. “Mister Rogers Encouraged Gay Costar Officer Clemmons to Stay in the Closet and Marry a Woman.” Peoplemag. PEOPLE, April 24, 2020. https://people.com/tv/mister-rogers-encouraged-gay-costar-officer-clemmons-to-stay-in-the-closet-and-marry-a-woman/. 
• Hymn: Voices Together 298, What Is the World Like. Words: Adam Tice and Music: Sally Ann Morris; ©2009 GIA Publications, Inc.

This sermon was written for Seattle Mennonite Church as part of their Lenten Series: From Garden to Table exploring the ways in which we are called into communion with all of creation.

Support the show

In this scripture, we come to the “ending credits” of the story of Mary that we have been following for the past several months. Using the musical West Side Story, Dustin urges us to ensure that we give credit to everyone who contributed to the story.

Sermon begins at minute marker 8:00

Luke 3: 21-23; 31-38

Resources

• A Woman’s Lectionary for the Whole Church (Year W): A Multi-Gospel Single-Year Lectionary, Wilda C. Gafney, Church Publishing Incorporated, 2021.
• Gospel of Musical Theatre podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gospel-of-musical-theatre/id1565558402?i=1000544599942 & https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gospel-of-musical-theatre/id1565558402?i=1000546595515
•  Stephen Sondheim, Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes (New York, NY: Knopf, 2010).
• Hymn: Voices Together 441 Crashing Waters at Creation Words Sylvia G Dunstan - ©1991 GIA Publications, Inc. Music, Traditional  Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. All rights reserved.

This sermon was written for Seattle Mennonite Church as the final sermon in a 12-week exploration of the Journey of Mary through messages and messengers that began with Advent.

Support the show

Magi from the East, travel (for two years) guided by a significant astrological event. Along the way (in the opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors)they stop at the home of a poor widow and her son; before finding their way to the chaotic home of Mary, the harried mother of toddler Jesus in Dustin’s dramatic interpretation of the familiar tale.

Paralleling that energetic telling of the journey of the Magi with the somber story of the small French town of Dieulefit, who sheltered and saved its Jewish community from the Holocaust, Dustin calls on us to listen for the silent messengers.

Sermon begins at minute marker 9:10
Scripture: Isaiah 60.1-6, 11; Matthew 2.1-12

Image: https://holymassimages.blogspot.com/
Hymns: Voices Together 267 & 268, What Child is This, music, traditional English, words, William C. Dix Christmas Carols New and Old, 1871, and Child of the Poor, words and music - ©1994 OCP Contributors: Scott R Soper, Greensleeves, Scott Soper. Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. All rights reserved.
Resources

• A Woman’s Lectionary for the Whole Church (Year W): A Multi-Gospel Single-Year Lectionary, Wilda C. Gafney, Church Publishing Incorporated, 2021.
• Menotti, Gian Carlo, Frances Frost, and Roger Duvoisin. Gian-Carlo Menotti's Amahl and The Night Visitors. Andrew Dakers Ltd., 1953. 
• Obituary: Gian Carlo Menotti, The Daily Telegraph, February 2, 2007.
• Barnes, Jennifer. Television Opera: The Fall of Opera Commissioned for Television. Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 2015.

This sermon was written for Seattle Mennonite Church as part of their Advent-through-Epiphany-long series on Mary, Messages, and Messangers 

Support the show

Elizabeth exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Who was the blessed woman, and what does it mean to be blessed in the first place? Dustin is an emerging Mariologist, and he walks us through the unfamiliar early life of Mary before Jesus as he explores what it means to be beloved and blessed by God, and the way he sees the SMC community fulfilling that blessing.

Sermon begins at minute marker 4:53
Genesis 17.15-22; Luke 1.39-45

Photo from The Church Council of Greater Seattle
Hymn: Voices Together 216, Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming. Lyrics: stanzas 1–2 anon., “Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen,” (present-day Germany), 15th c.; Alte Catholische Geistliche Kirchengasäng, 1599; trans. Theodore Baker (USA), 1894; stanza 3 Friedrich Layritz (Germany), Liederschatz, 1832; trans. Harriet K. Spaeth (USA), The Hymnal, 1940, alt. Music: German traditional, 15th c.; Alte Catholische Geistliche Kirchengasäng, 1599; harm. Michael Praetorius (Germany), Musae Sionae VI, 1609 Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. All rights reserved.

Resources

• A Woman’s Lectionary for the Whole Church (Year W): A Multi-Gospel Single-Year Lectionary, Wilda C. Gafney, Church Publishing Incorporated, 2021.
• “The Gospel of James” translated by Stevan Davies in The Infancy Gospels of Jesus: Apocryphal Tales from the Childhoods of Mary and Jesus - Annotated & Explained, SkyLight Paths Publishing, 2009
• RadioLab, “The Ashes on The Lawn,” December 2, 2022. http://www.wnycstudios.org/story/ashes-lawn-2212/
• I Use My Love to Guide Me. Barnard Center for Research on Women, 2018. https://bcrw.barnard.edu/i-use-my-love-to-guide-me/

This sermon was written for Seattle Mennonite Church as the second in a 12-week exploration of the Journey of Mary through messages and messengers that began on the first Sunday of  Advent and lasted until Lent.

Support the show

All Saints Sunday was a wonderful chance to eat together and share stories of our saints. We even got to make icons and hear part of the story of Ruth read out loud by four voices. Listen as Dustin reflects on the stories of his saints, his icons, and one of his favorite books of the bible, Ruth.

Sermon begins at minute 7:02

Ruth 1:14-18 and 3:1-1
Photo by Kampus Production on pexels
VT 209, We Dream of a Turning, Music - ©2019 MennoMedia Inc. Contributor: Kathryn Harsha

Support the show

The Bible has taught us well to allegorize stories by substituting God for the male figure in a story, and Jerusalem or Humanity for the female figure. However, Hebrew poetry lends itself to double entendres and multiple meanings. With the help of the 1957 Broadway musical The Music Man, we will examine the well-established structure of this poem with curiosity; asking, “Can this song be sung a different way?”

Sermon begins at minute 6:36

Song of Songs 5:2-9 and 8:5-10

Resources: See the SMC website or Facebook page sermon posting for links to the songs below:

• Meredith Wilson, “Goodnight My Someone” from The Music Man 1957
• Gillian Russo, March 12, 2020, The history of Broadway shutdowns, Broadway News https://broadwaynews.com/2020/03/12/the-history-of-broadway-shutdowns/
• Meredith Wilson, “Being In Love” from The Music Man 1962 film
• Meredith Wilson, “The Sadder-but-Wiser Girl for Me” from The Music Man 1957
• Meredith Wilson, “Rock Island” from The Music Man 1957
• Meredith Wilson, “Pick-a-little, Talk-a-little” from The Music Man 1962 film 
• Meredith Wilson, “My White Knight” from The Music Man 1957
• The Gospel of Musical Theatre podcast, PRIDE BONUS: The Music Man! https://open.spotify.com/episode/0SuOaBfBwh1BmAauyZwgSy?si=TfsS_GpUS-eU-QvEHjiF5w
• Meredith Wilson, “76 Trombones” from The Music Man 2022
• Meredith Wilson, “Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You?” from The Music Man 1962 film 
• Meredith Wilson, “My White Knight” from The Music Man 2022
• Meredith Wilson, “Till There Was You” from The Music Man 1957
• BibleWorm podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/2bqkenlYIp1f4nf0b16m6L?si=qrqiaIHoRouD01zLbzroQg
• The Forgotten Books of the Bible: Recovering the Five Scrolls for Today, Robert Williamson, Jr., 2018
• Voices Together 48, Music: Ralph Vaughan Williams, Five Mystical Songs, No. 4; Text: George Herbert, The Temple, 1633. Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. 
• Image: Photo by Klub Boks from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/marching-band-playing-different-musical-instruments-8884280/

This sermon was written for Seattle Mennonite Church as part of their 6-week series exploring The Festival Scrolls of the Hebrew Tradition.

Support the show

John 6:22-59 is an etiological story - a "Just So Story" - a story about the way things came to be the way they are.

Sermon begins at minute marker 3:54

John 6:22-59

This sermon was written for Woodland Park Presbyterian Church.

Support the show

This Gaudete Sunday we are reminded to rejoice for the moments of rose.

Sermon begins at minute marker 2:25

Isaiah 55.1-13

This sermon was written for Woodland Park Presbyterian Church as part of their Advent Series: Seek the Welfare of the City exploring the ways in which we are called into community and solidarity with those around us.

Support the show

Every Sunday in October I will be releasing a sermon that speaks to some aspect of the upcoming election. This sermon was originally delivered on July 14, 2019, at Woodland Park Presbyterian Church as the beginning of a series on Hebrews.

Scripture reading: Hebrews 1:1-4: Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.