From the Archives: Further Up, Further In
The Christian life, the redeemed life of salvation, is not about resting on our laurels or sitting on our blessed assurance. It is not about counting our blessings while people suffer around the world or by sitting back and turning a blind eye, mute mouth, and deaf ear to the problems, wrongs, and evils of this world. The Christian life is not about believing that all of the right people already belong to this church or the Kingdom.
The Christian life is a hope-filled, joy-filled, gratitude-laden response to the summons to go further up, further in.
Sermon: Is the LORD Among Us or Not?
Jesus tells them that tax collectors and prostitutes are getting into the kingdom of God ahead of them. His cousin, John the baptizer, came with the good news and the religious elite didn’t listen but the social outcasts did. Birthday parties for prostitutes, receptions for tax collectors, banquets for lepers and sinners and ragamuffins. The mercy of God has been on full display with all of the wrong sorts of people getting in like Flynn to the kingdom of God and it has not moved the religious crowd toward conversion, confession, or conviction.
Instead, their hearts have calcified.
He says: And even after you saw it, you didn’t change your mind and believe.
Again, I ask, Is the LORD among us or not?
Sermon Commentary: Are You Envious Because I am Generous?
You cannot preach against contempt by giving the congregation someone new to condemn or hold in contempt. The only way to preach against contempt is to throw yourself, your sermon, and your congregation on the rock that is Christ, on the ground that is holy, on the bush that burns yet is not consumed, on the lavish and radiant love of Almighty God which purges, purifies, convicts, converts, rescues, and redeems.
Sermon: Are You Envious Because I am Generous?
And of all the audacious acts that Nineveh could conceive, it never occurred to Jonah that they just might accept the invitation. Despite his eventual willingness to see the mission through to completion, Jonah had not wrapped his mind around the great grandiosity of God’s graciousness or the magnificent might of his mercy.
Sermon: Masters of Mercy
Masters of Mercy explores how our habits form us in an age when Americans spend nearly 49 hours each week consuming digital content. Moving through Matthew 15—from the Pharisees’ obsession with purity to the persistent faith of the Canaanite woman—the sermon reveals the widening reach of God’s saving mercy. Isaiah and Romans confirm that God gathers outsiders and extends grace beyond expected boundaries. Because we ourselves have been gathered and welcomed to a table we did not earn, Christians are called to become “masters of mercy,” formed by Christ and sent to gossip the good news.
Sermon: Thy Strong Word
God does not always show up in the ways we expect. Elijah encounters him not in wind, earthquake, or fire, but in sheer silence; the disciples encounter him walking across a raging sea. Yet in both stories, the decisive reality is the same: the trustworthy Word of the living God. The Word who tells Elijah to go and Peter to come still speaks to us, calling forth the same response from God’s people: trust and worship.
Sermon: Tell and Show
This sermon considers the feeding of the five thousand as an instance of God’s characteristic pattern of “telling and showing.” Jesus has already described the hidden, abundant economy of the kingdom through parables; now, in a deserted place among a hungry crowd, he makes that kingdom visible through compassion, healing, bread, and the gathered fragments. Read alongside Isaiah 55 and Psalm 145, the miracle reveals God’s provision as the tangible expression of his steadfast love and the fulfillment of his covenant promises. The Eucharistic pattern of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving then becomes not only a sign of Christ’s self-offering but also a pattern for Christian witness: having heard and seen the goodness of God in Christ, the Church is sent to tell that good news and embody it before a hungry world.
Sermon: It-is-Well Hallelujah
In Jesus Christ you are not a lost cause! You are not damaged beyond Jesus’ ability to repair! Yes, through our sins and wickedness, we are broken beyond our own repair, but Jesus is the one who makes all things news, reconciling us to himself, restoring us to the Father. The Good News is that Jesus “wastes his time on you” because you are beloved by God.
Sermon: Gamblin' on Heaven
At its core, every wager is an act of faith. Every bet asks the same question: What, or whom, can I trust with my future? Christ followers are called to trust in something stronger.Something steadfast.Something surer.Our passages show us that the safest, surest bet is not a sports team, player, statistic, political party, stock, or a man-made work. Instead, our readings demonstrate what it looks like to train for the Kingdom by gamblin’ on heaven. In fact, these passages show us the false bet, the better bet, and the sure bet.
Hymn: Upon the Height of Tabor's Mount
I have worshipped in parishes in the almost forty years of my life, I have become increasingly aware that the wonders of our hymnal (TEC 1982) include a surprising lack of options for certain days of the year or biblical themes. The Transfiguration is one such story. Occurring twice in the lectionary with its own feast day and Last Epiphany, the hymnal has a rather thin set of offerings to commemorate this incredible hinge moment as Galilean ministry becomes Jerusalemite mission.
Sermon: A Parable Girl Summer
In the midst of a world seeking answers in all the wrong things and all the wrong places, Christ calls us to trust in him by watching for him, waiting on him, and working with him. In a world of god-delusions and god-confusions, Christ beckons us to live with gospel-vision in light of God's provision.
Sermon: The Falcon and the Falconer
Jesus describes what it looks like when the Messiah comes to town…because the Messiah has come to town! The Spirit has already descended upon him, he has received the Father’s anointing, and he will move forward from this sermon on his search-and-rescue mission. The promises of God are being fulfilled and will be fulfilled through Jesus: it is a veritable Jubilee.
Sermon: Who God Says You Are
The Bible tells a different story where God is the main actor;Where God does the work of salvation;Where God transforms us through his grace and mercy.It’s a story of the God who always loved you.We are not saved by what we have done.We are saved by what God has done for us.We are saved by who God says we are.
Sermon: Another Story Must Begin
The Gospel tells the story of transformation and redemption. And when that transformation happens, the story doesn’t end there. The Gospel was never only about personal salvation. It was always about being Christ’s witnesses as agents of reconciliation and ambassadors of the good news in a world desperately in need of hope, of a future, of God.
Little House and Living Water
Jesus said that we will be filled with the living water, that eternal life will gush forth in us. This water will leave us fully satisfied, satiated, and quenched. But we are creatures who get parched very easily and we need a steady diet of living water. From what pools are you drinking? Too many of us drink from the pools of popularity, the pursuit of wealth and happiness, alcohol, sex, grumbling, or narcissism. To all who are thirsty: Jesus offers himself, he invites us to be satisfied in him. He will not run dry.
Old Friends and Bookends: A Trinity Sunday Sermon
Three persons are present in creation: God the Father is obvious. The Spirit is there, too, brooding and hovering over the deep like a mother bird over her young. But did you notice the second person? When God said let there be light and it was so, this was the presence of the divine Logos. The Word who would later be the Word made flesh flowing forth from the metaphorical mouth of God as an active agent in creation. Before we ever hear about stars and skies, slithering snakes, and slow-slinking sloths, we see Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a co-eternal relationship overflowing with love into creation.