Sermons from St. Anne's in-the-Fields episodes:

• March 22, 2020Lent 4 - Breathing Under Water

  “What does it mean to ‘breathe underwater?’ I’ll be the first to say, I

  have no idea. There was no class on any of this in seminary. And yet,

  before we grow any supernatural gills, we need to recognize that we are

  underwater. The indefiniteness of this moment; the uncertainty of it

  strikes us all differently, and yet the feeling of being underwater is a

  good one–some of us might feel like life is a massive undertow, and for

  others of us it is the dread of looking down and not being able to see the

  bottom.”

  ...more

  

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• March 15, 2020Lent 3 - Fear - Greg Johnston (3/15/20)

  “I don’t know what you’re feeling right now. Confusion, or fear? Anxiety,

  or panic? Whatever you’re feeling, God is right there with you. If you

  can’t ‘shout for joy to the Rock of [your] salvation’ right now, then wail

  in lament and growl in frustration. If you can’t ‘come before [God’s]

  presence with thanksgiving,’ then ‘raise a loud shout’ of fear and anxiety.

  Trust me, there are plenty of psalms for that.”

  ...more

  

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• March 08, 2020Lent 2 - Springsteen Born Again - Garrett Yates (3/8/20)

  “‘You must be born again,’ says Jesus. ‘If you want to see the Kingdom of

  God, you must be born again.’ What does that mean? Some Episcopalians get a

  little nervous, a little anxious, with that phrase. We associate the phrase

  at its best with Jimmy Carter, and at its worst with the televangelist. The

  holy roller. The guy with iridescent teeth and a silky tent revival voice,

  he and his wife rocking the bouffant hair. Is that what you want from us,

  Jesus?”

  ...more

  

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• March 01, 2020Lent 1 - Shame - Greg Johnston (3/1/20)

  “Guilt, at its best, opens us up. It leads us outside ourselves and turns

  us toward reconciliation with someone else. Someone who never feels guilt

  is either Jesus or a sociopath; either they’ve never done anything wrong,

  or they’ve never felt any remorse for it. Shame, on the other hand, is

  never healthy. If guilt is the feeling that you’ve done something wrong,

  shame is the feeling that you are wrong. That you’re not good enough.

  You’re not strong enough or pretty enough or brave enough, rich enough or

  tall enough or smart enough. Where guilt leads us to turn out toward

  another person for forgiveness, shame leads us to turn into ourselves for

  concealment.”

  ...more

  

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• February 27, 2020Ash Wednesday - Garrett Yates (2/26/20)

  “For some of us, coming to Ash Wednesday, coming to get the imposition of

  ashes, feels a little odd. It feels odd because it’s like someone living in

  a dust bowl being reminded that things are dusty. We know that; we open the

  news and often enough it reads like Henderson’s letters to a friend:

  ‘Letters from a Dust Bowl.’ And nevertheless, we come. ‘From dust you came,

  and to dust you shall return.’ Coughing, tired, struggling for any

  visibility – we come.”

  ...more

  

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• February 23, 2020The Transfiguration - Greg Johnston (2/23/20)

  “Like ten-year-olds, we hustle to set up our tents. We lie back down again

  on the porch and look at the stars, praying for wonder to strike. We go to

  the museum or the chalkboard again and stare, waiting for the aha moment to

  come. We look at our children and our spouses and our parents and we

  feel…other feelings, mixed with overwhelming joy and love. But these

  moments where we once found holiness, these moments where we saw the light

  of God shining forth, were never the places to pitch our tents, never the

  places for the Holy One to dwell.”

  ...more

  

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• February 16, 2020Epiphany 6 - Garrett Yates (2/16/20)

  “Hell. Divorce. Lust. Rage. Adultery. Asceticism. Lying. Betrayal. Mm! I

  think I’ll just choose my favorite of these. And that’s ‘liable to

  judgment.’ We don’t think we fear the Last Judgment. But we do.”

  ...more

  

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• February 02, 2020The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple - Greg Johnston (2/2/20)

  “So we pray for ‘pure and clean hearts.’ We ‘await the day of his coming.’

  But do we really want to be melted by the refiner’s fire? Do we really want

  to be scoured with the fuller’s soap? Do we really want the sleeping god to

  awake and hear our prayers?”

  ...more

  

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• January 19, 2020"Come and See" - Garrett Yates (1/19/20)

  “Our spiritual growth is many-sided and complex. But we shouldn’t get too

  fascinated with its complexity. Because, in the end, it’s the three-word

  sentences that are likely to save us. ‘I love you.’ ‘I forgive you.’

  ‘Sheldon, come home.’ ‘Come and see’ is Jesus’ invitation.”

  ...more

  

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• January 12, 2020The Baptism of Jesus - Greg Johnston (1/12/20)

  “‘He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.’ It

  just wouldn’t have the same ring to it if it was a pigeon flapping over to

  sit on his head. It was, of course, a pigeon. Pigeons and doves, are, after

  all, members of the same family. The species we call the ‘common pigeon’ is

  the same as the ‘rock dove.’ It’s just that, in our culture, we think of

  pigeons as being kind of grimy. Uncouth. ‘Flying rats.’ But doves! Oh,

  doves! So beautiful, so intelligent! …I say all this because I think we

  often look at our lives and see pigeons where we ought to see doves. We

  feel the Spirit of God whooshing towards us and we cower and run, covering

  our heads with our handbags and ducking under an awning.”

  ...more

  

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