Rotten Apple Seeds

Here is today's sermon, Proper 20, Year A, September 24, 2023. It is based on both Exodus 16:2-15, Manna in the Desert, as well as the Gospel, Matthew 20:1-16, the Workers in the Vineyard. I make the contrast between two worlds. First, the world we have created, in which justice is what is due us, in a world of scarcity and need, and we need to compete for these scarce resources. I contrast this with the City of God, in which there is abundance of resources, so there is no need to compare ourselves and our labors to one another. After all, just like the laborers in the Vineyard, they did not make the seed to grow, but rather were hired to labor to gather what God has raised up. I also reference the Smurfs.

Here is today's sermon, Proper 19, Year A, September 17, 2023. It is based on Exodus 14:19-31, the Crossing of the Red Sea and Matthew 18:21-35, the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. I show that forgiveness is like crossing the Red Sea in an escape from bondage in Egypt in that refusal to forgive and holding resentments is a form of self imposed bondage. The Sea is a metaphor of Creation as the imposition of Order and Peace upon the primal Chaos and Violence (Chaoskampf). If we are willing to accept the Spirit's invitation in the Cloud, to take a single step toward forgiveness, we can participate with the Lord in the Creation of a New World and new relationships.

Here is today's sermon, Proper 18, Year A, September 10, 2023. It is based on Romans 13 : 8, "Owe no debt to another except love". I discuss how love has become transactional, even contractual. Most of our relationships and socializing is now based on contract and transaction. In the Church, we are taught to offer the gift of forgiveness which is based on the gift of honesty to each other. The ability to tell the truth is a genuine gife we offer to the world, is such need of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Here is today's sermon, Proper 17, Year A, September 3, 2023. It is based on the reading from the Hebrew Scriptures, Exodus 3:1-15. I discuss why the name of the Lord is Holy and Awesome, using a story from Arthur C. Clarke, then show where the names of the characters in the Hebrew Scriptures come from. i explain why the name, Jesus, or Emmanuel, was so important. I suggest in prayer that we each reflect on our experiences of the Holy and what name the Lord would give us.

Here is today's sermon, Proper 16, Year A, August 27, 2023. It is based on Matthew 16:13-20, "Who do you say that I Am?" In it I describe what the term, Messiah, would have meant to Peter and the disciples in the time of Christ. From there I discuss how I have encountered Jesus. I make the point that Jesus is fully Divine, a High Christology, emphasizing His power, ability to work miracles, and heal. I also discuss a Low Christology, where Jesus is our Brother, fully human and able to experience all that is human and common to us.

Here is today's sermon, Transfiguration Sunday, Year A, August 6, 2023. It is based on the account of the Transfiguration in Luke 9; 28- 36. I begin to describe the Transfiguration as a glimpse of the Beatific Vision described by Aquinas and Dante, and also in a movie with Nicholas Cage (yes, Nicholas Cage!). From there, I pivot from being redeemed by seeing the right thing to being redeemed by seeing rightly. I use the quote from Saint Exupery, "We see rightly with the heart; what is essential is invisible to the eye", and Iris Murdoch's definition of love as "The nonviolent apprehension of the other as other". I show that we are redeemed by loving others by allowing them to be themselves and not trying to mold them into our expectations.

Here is today's sermon, Proper 12, Year A, July 30, 2023. It is based on Matthew 13:31-33,44-52, the parables describing the Kingdom of God. I begin with a history of the term, Kingdom of God, in the history of Israel, and then turn to what it may mean for us today. I suggest that it means to encounter the Divine in our gratitude for what we have as gifts.

Here is today's sermon, Proper 11, Year A, July 23, 2023. It is based on the Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat (Matthew 13:31-33,44-52). In it I make the point that being a weed is simply being a plant that is undesirable. In our world, our nation, and in our congregations, we are encountering a trend to purge ourselves of undesirables. Mose pleas for diversity or toleration are dismissed as liberal or pie in the sky progressivism. I give a biblical argument for the inclusion of undesirables in the Church based on the Inclusion of Gentiles in Acts 10.

Here is today's sermon for Proper 10, Year A, July 16, 2023. It is based on the Parable of the Sower and the Seed, Matthew 13:1-9,18-23. In it is give an account how each of us in our own seasons of life, assume the place of the thorns, the birds which devour the seeds, the poor soil, and the rocky soil. But we also take on the good soil at other times in our lives and that's OK. It all works out. in addition, I explain that the real point of the parable, and all parables, is not our place in the parable, but rather that it explains the Divine nature or the nature of the Kingdom. I show how this parable shows how generous, even profligate, Divine love is. It is spent on all: those who deserve it an those who do not.

Here is today's sermon, Proper 9, Year A, July 9, 2023. It is based on Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30, "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will refresh you. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light". Instead of seeing our burdens as some sort of imposition from a Divinity which is alien and withdrawn from us far away, I use the image of the yoke to show that Jesus is present and active among our burdens and challenges. I extend this to Romans 7:15-25a, where I suggest that much of our suffering is from our desire to have a life and circumstances very different from our present situation, thus leading to frustration and disappointment. Instead, by following the spiritual rule of "wholehearted cooperation with the inevitable", we may find serenity even in the misdt of our challenging circumstances.