The Story of the Ragman
Sunday, April 7, 2024 - the Sunday after Easter For this day, I decided to repeat something I did in 2023 that I plan to keep as an annual tradition. After all the intensity of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter,…
“Wit,” an Empty Tomb, and Resurrection
Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024 - Mark 16:1-8, Acts 10:34-43, Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24, 1 Cor 15:1-11 Many years ago, when I was living in Marietta, Georgia, I held season tickets to the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. I used to…
In Remembrance of Me
Maundy Thursday, March 28, 2024 - Mark 14: 17-31 Mark 14: 32-50 Also Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 When Jesus and his followers gathered the night before he was crucified, they weren’t just meeting up for a friendly…
Tearing the Veil
Sunday, March 24, 2024 - Mark 15:1-39 [40-47] Also Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 31:9-16, Phillipians 2:5-11, Processional Gospel, John 12:12-16 In the great archetypal stories of myth, fairy tale, and sacred texts, we see represented the deepest truths about the human…
Broken Open to New Life
Sunday, March 17, 2024 - John 12:20-33, Also Jeremiah 31:31-34, Psalm 51:1-12,Hebrews 5:5-10 We’re surrounded by plants. We walk on lawns of green grass. We’re sometimes shaded by tall trees. Flowers bloom everywhere we look. Even in our kitchens, we…
Symbols of Life
Sunday, March 10, 2024 - John 3:14-21, Also Numbers 21:4-9, Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22, Ephesians 2:1-10 There are a lot of wonderful themes in today’s reading. I could talk about light, and I’m sure there will be sermons about light, but…
Shining Like the Sun
Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024 - Mark 9:2-9, 2 Kings 2:1-12, Psalm 50:1-6, 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 Last week, I talked about what it must have been like to be near Jesus. To directly experience that pure love of God. We can’t…
Jesus and the Power of Love
Sunday, February 4, 2024 - Mark 1:29-39, Isaiah 40:21-31, Psalm 147:1-11, 20c, 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 In Jesus' Presence Do you ever wonder what it must have been like to be in Jesus’ presence? What would it have felt like to…
What Demons Possess Us Today?
Sunday, January 28, 2024 - Mark 1:21-28 A Problem of Language Today, I want to talk about healing. In our gospel text, we hear of a man healed by Jesus of an “unclean spirit.” Jesus clearly performs an exorcism of…
Mystery, Miracles, and the Unexpected
Luke 1:26-38 - December 24, 2023, Christmas Eve Sermon Last year, right around this time, I heard the most amazing story. It was posted to Facebook by a friend’s wife, Christie. This happened to her about 14 years ago, and…
Testifying to the Light, Life, and Love of God
Third Sunday of Advent, December 17, 2023 We’ve been given several readings today that, at first glance, don’t necessarily seem to have much to do with each other. And yet I find key phrases or ideas in them that seem…
All Flesh is Grass…All Flesh Shall See the Glory
The Second Sunday of Advent, December 10, 2023 Today is the second Sunday of Advent, and the emphasis of today’s readings is mostly on preparation for the coming of the kingdom of God, or what my friend Chuck Queen just…
Sheep, Goats, and the Final Judgment
Matthew 25: 31-46 (November 26, 2023) In 1975, a Marine on leave in Aiken, SC named Dannion Brinkley was on the phone with his best friend while a storm raged outside. As they spoke, a bolt of lightning struck the…
The Parable of the Bridesmaids
Matthew 25: 1-13 (November 12, 2023) For thousands of years, humans have built spiral-shaped labyrinths. You may think that a labyrinth is just like a maze, but where a maze often has dead-end paths, labyrinths do not. The pathway of…
The Beatitudes
Matthew 5: 1-12 (November 5, 2023, All Saints Sunday) Matthew's Focus We shouldn’t think of the Gospels as being like the transcript of a news reporter who was present at all of the events and recorded them just as they…
Whose Image?
Matthew 22: 15-22 (October 22, 2023) I watch a lot of animal rescue videos, especially from an organization called Hope for Paws. They’re always getting calls from people who report animals who’ve been stranded or abandoned. Often, the dog they’re…
The Wedding Banquet
Matthew 22: 1-14 (October 15, 2023) I mentioned last week that we were beginning a series of texts where Jesus is in confrontation with the religious authorities. Parables, we remember, were used by Jesus to “reveal what had been hidden…
The Parable of the Vineyard
Matthew 21:33-46 (Sunday, October 8, 2023) I’ve rented more than one home in my life. For a period of time when I lived in Marietta, GA, I owned a condominium. But ever since I left Marietta for the northeast Georgia…