John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children…

In this season of Advent, we are guided by Words of beginning, words that help us mark out the journey and take a step out the door, together, towards the home God has called us to. Is it a physical journey? Yes, sometimes. This journey to the dawning of the Christmas light will move us to get up, out…

What was something you were called as a child, an endearing nickname, a secret name known only by your mother or a dear grandparent? I’m not going to ask you to share it, but take a moment and try to find that name or word. For me, what comes to mind, is how when I was little, my parents would call me…

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have…

As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite…

I feel like there is a sermon I’ve been trying to preach all my career. It’s one that keeps nagging me, keeps pushing itself to the front of my mind. It’s the sermon the Spirit seems to have stirred up and put upon my heart as an identifier — Seth, this is the burning of your bones. And it comes to mind…

In between faith and works there lies a tension — a point of integration between what we know and what we do. It’s that space between right belief and right action. The tension has to exist, it has to pull in both directions, to remind us of the positive bind that exists in the Christian journey. One has to have the other. Faith and works, together, bring life. Faith without works, well, it’s dead. Works without faith are shallow, actions that lack significance, a living by just going through the motions.

This integration point is grace. Faith that lives out in works discovers the grace of Christ at the tension point. Faith that lives out in action awakens in us our need for and reception of grace.

James makes it quite clear, echoing Jesus’ teachings to simply be with the poor, to love our neighbors, to pray for our enemies. The work is right in front of us. We are formed in belief so that we may live belief out in action, an unstained, pure religious action that does not turn a blind eye to the needs of the widow or orphan, but integrates our lives with them, coming close, in love and compassionate care.