Rotten Apple Seeds

Here is today’s sermon, December 22, 2024, IV Advent, Year C. It is based on Luke 1: 39-55, The Visitation. In it I show how this is the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptural stories as well as the forerunner of the Gospel stories.

Here is today’s sermon, December 15, 2024, III Advent, Gaudete Sunday, Year C. It is based on Luke 3: 7- 18, the Preaching of the Baptizer. In it I explain that John was less of a “fire and brimstone” preacher and rather was instructing his followers how to live faithfully under Empire. I suggest how we may live faithfully as disciples in an inhospitable society.

A listener has communicated that I have been posting the same sermon over and over. I regret the error. I am now keeping a closer eye on the file that I am posting and this is the correct sermon for this week. It is based on Luke 3: 1-6, the Proclamation of John the Baptizer. I describe how we are setting the cast of characters for our story and that it is the story which unites us and redeems us.

Here is today’s sermon, December 1, 2024, 1 Advent, Year C. It is based on Luke 21:25-36, the Little Apocalypse. In it I describe that the violence outside of us is based on our own internal conflicts. We need to cultivate peace and silence in this busy Advent season.

Here is today’ sermon, November 24, 2024, Christ the King, Year B. It is based on the Kingship of Christ and the end of the Church liturgical year. In it I make the point that a Kin g, like Christ, embodies the people, and defines the era. Christ took on our personhood in the incarnation and was the Lord of the Sabbath.

Here is today’s sermon, November 17, 2024, Proper 28, Year B. It is based on Mark 13: 1-8, the Little Apocalypse of Mark. In it I discuss how the institutions and structures we live with are losing their legitimation. This is an opportunity for the Church, in that we are able to refine and redefine our message of resurrection hope.

Here is today’s sermon, November 10, 2024, Proper 27, Year B. It is based on Mark 12: 38- 44, the Widow’s Mite. In it I make the connection to the story of Elijah and the Widow of Zarapheth, 1 Kings 17. I also show how this offering prefigures Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

Here is today’s sermon, November 3, 2024, All Saints (Transferred), Year B. It is based on John 11: 32- 44, the Raising of Lazarus. In it I provide a short overview of the history of making saints, from the Age of Martyrdom through today. I explain the reforms of Anglicanism, including not praying directly to saints, and the term, Blessed ______, rather that Saint _____. I show how the title, “Blessed” makes these models of Christian discipleship more accessible to us.

Here is today’s sermon, October 27, 2024, Proper 25, Year B. It is based on Mark 10: 46-52, the Healing of Bartimaeus. In it I connect the cloak that he cast aside to be healed with the naked fugitive in Mark 14: 51- 52 and the young man clothed with white garments at the open tomb in Mark 16: 5. I make the connection to the Eucharistic Prayer C, “Open our eyes to see Your hand at work in the world about us. Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this table to solace only, and not for strength, for pardon only and not for renewal”. It also reflects John Cassian’s three movements of the mystical journey: Illumination, Purgation, and Unity.

Here is today’s sermon, October 20, 2024, Proper 24, Year B. It is based on Mark 10: 35-45, James and John Call Shotgun. In it I explain how service is cruciform. I discuss how we who are caring for a spouse, child, or parent are fulfilling this Divine mandate.