Sermon, 6th Sunday after Trinity, 2024
In this sermon, we continue with our series on the purgation cycle of the seven deadly sins. This sermon focuses upon the sin of wrath or unjustified anger. Wrath seeks to destroy whatever may be causing one frustration, the ultimate end of which is murder. Christ Himself connects anger with murder in the Sermon on the Mount which is one of the texts referenced. Is there the possibility of a justified anger? Yes, for there truly are injustices in this world that we are called to correct. As recovering sinners, however, we should always be wary because our natural tendency is to rationalize our sin away. Propers Manuscript
Sermon, 1st Sunday after Trinity, 2024
The color of the Trinity season is green to represent the spiritual growth of the season. But what is spiritual growth? Is there a process for it? How do the Trinity season Bible readings of the Book of Common Prayer fit into this theme? David G. Phillips has proposed that these lessons are structured around the medieval three fold way of growth in holiness applied to each of the seven deadly sins. This sermon introduces this topic which we will more thoroughly explore this Trinity season. His original paper can be found here and is highly recommended reading. Propers Manuscript
Sermon, 2nd Sunday after Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, 2024
Christ Jesus is both our Good Shepherd, leading us through the Valley of the Shadow of Death in this life, and The Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world. He is set before us as an example of godliness and righteousness in conduct, but also of a love that sacrifices for others. We therefore are called as His followers to be obedient and sacrificial in our lives. We too are to be sheep, obediently following our shepherd, and Shepherd, laying our lives down for others. Propers Manuscript
Sermon, Palm Sunday, 2024
In the Epistle lesson for Palm Sunday from Philippians 2, we are instructed to have the mind of Christ, and more specifically that we would follow the example of humility set by Christ through His Passion and service to God and to us humans. Yet our American culture fights against the formation of godly humility in us, and unfortunately, too many churches do not provide the tools to form us in such godliness. We must be discerning. We must be students of the scripture. We must seeks the old paths found in the Church that are healthful for us. And then we must endeavor to follow Christ in humble ministry.…
Sermon, 5th Sunday in Lent, Passion Sunday, 2024
What is the Atonement? How have many people through history mischaracterized the Atonement wrought for us by Jesus Christ? In the Atonement, Christ marries, His Bride, the Church, and from the cross He looked down upon His people in love, knowing that all the pain and suffering He endured would bring wholeness to all who would have faith in Him and would redeem Creation to an even greater glory that it originally had. May we stay at the foot of the cross, always in His loving gaze. And may our eyes be firmly fixed upon the Man, upon the God, who saves us and lives in us. Propers Manuscript
Sermon, 4th Sunday in Lent, 2024
In today’s Gospel, we read of the feeding of the 5000. This miracle shows us of the abundance that we have in Christ. How does this abundance translate into the lives of the faithful? Is this a health and wealth gospel or is there something deeper here? Propers Manuscript
Sermon, Third Sunday in Lent, 2024
Many Christians try to live in two worlds. We like the things of the world, holding on to habitual sins and things in this world that do not lead us into godliness. But we also attend church and might read our Bibles now and then. We want Jesus, but not enough to actually be too inconvenienced by Him. Christ reminds us in St. Luke 11, that a house divided against itself cannot stand. And St. Paul reminds us that if we really are children of the light, then we should walk as children of the light. Let us not be half-in and half-out. May be we all-in for following Jesus.…
Sermon, First Sunday in Lent, 2024
Christ endured the fasting and temptation in the wilderness out of love for us. He endured torture and death out of love for us. He rose and ascended to heaven where He sits at the right hand of God interceding in love for us. But yet He also knew that the joy to be had when humanity and God are once again united in the world to come was worth all of the agony that He endured. In our lives, we are blessed with sublime moments that allow us to glimpse God, that allow us a foreshadowing of that blessed joy that will one day be ours in its entirety. …
Sermon, Quinquagesima Sunday, 2024
The epistle lesson this Sunday is St. Paul’s masterful ode to love, 1 Corinthians 13. In love we allow ourselves and our plans to be interrupted by others. Jesus demonstrated such love when He paused during His final journey to Jerusalem to heal a blind man. However, the disciples in their ambitions, could not be interrupted by the plans Jesus set before them. They were committed to their own plans so that they could not comprehend what Jesus had to do to redeem the world. May we deny our own ambitions to listen to our Lord and follow Him in service to all. Propers Manuscript
Homily, the Feast of St. Stephen, 2023
St. Stephen, as the first Christian martyr, shows all the followers of God what godly dedication should be. First, he is not afraid to speak the truth boldly, and yet he does not do so out of malice or hate for those who are murdering him. St. Stephen, with his dying breathe, follows the example of Christ by praying for His persecutors even as they killed him. And yet one of these persecutors would become St. Paul by whom the gospel was spread throughout the Roman Empire. The Church, the Body of Christ, grows through our suffering. Let us therefore welcome the suffering that God brings to us. May we…