Rotten Apple Seeds

Here is today’s sermon, March 29, 2026, Palm Sunday, Year A. It is based on the Passion in St. Matthew. In it I explain that we are called not to be passive and submissive spectators in this drama, but rather witnesses who testify with our lives.

Here is today’s sermon, March 22, 2026, V Lent, Year A. It is based on John 11: 1-45, the Raising of Lazarus. In it I explain that Mary’s and Martha’s statement, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died,” was a statement not of fact,but regret. Raising Lazarus shows us that Jesus is the Lord of Second Chances.

Here is today’s sermon, March 15, 2026, IV Lent, Year A. It is based on John 9: 1-41, the Man Born Blind. In it I question whether his healing was worth the years of blindness and poverty that he and his family endured. I ask the larger question about the role of old in suffering.

Here is today’s sermon, March 8, 2026, III Lent, Year A. It is based on John 4: 5-41, Jesus and the Woman at the Well. In it is show the many scriptural connections and references that are woven in this beautiful tapestry of a story. Inasmuch as these threads form a unity, the gospel itself call us to be one body, which is Christ’s.

Here is today’s sermon, March 1, II Lent, Year A. It is based on John 3:16. In it i discuss how we understand Divine Beauty, rather than power. Thus, the Cross teaches us a new aesthetic.

Here is today’s sermon, February 22, 2026, I Lent, Year A. It is based on Matthew 4: 1-11, the Temptation in the Desert. In it, I explain that, when Jesus acts in history, He redeems the past, the present, and the future. I discuss Jesus redeeming the Hebrew in the Desert, fulfilling Satan’s temptations in his own time, and redeeming us today.

Here is today’s sermon, February 18, 2026, Ash Wednesday, Year A. It is based on the idea that ashes represent absence, or lack. We are anticipating the True Presence at the end of Lent into Easter.

Here is today’s sermon, February 15, 2026, Last Epiphany, Year A. It’s is based on Matthew 17:1-9, the Transfiguration. In it I show how the Transfiguration is one bookend of God’s glory and the other bookend is the crucifixion. We are beginning Lent, so we are looking toward Golgotha.

Here is today’s sermon, February 8, 2026, V Epiphany, Year A. It is based on Isaiah 58 1-12 and Matthew 5: 13-20, “You are salt…You are light”. In this sermon I explain how this is an internal critique of religious people, that we are called to BE who we ARE, to live the law rather than fulfill obligations.

Here is today’s sermon, February 1, 2026, IV Epiphany, Year A. It is based on Matthew 5: 1-12, the Beatitudes. In it I make the point that the Beatitudes are not properly understood as those qualities we need to possess in order to “earn heaven”. Rather, they are glimpses of the Divine presence in the present: God’s grace is so rich and abundant that God ‘s presence is encountered among the forgot...

Here is today’s sermon, January 18, 2026, II Epiphany, Year A. It is based on John 1: 29-42, John the Baptizer identifies Jesus. In it I make the distinction between the Hebrew notion of sacrifice and how it differs from pagan notions of bribery of the Gods.

Here is today’s sermon, January 11, 2026, II Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord, Year A. It is based on Matthew 3: 13-17, the Baptism of Jesus. In it is described how often in the scriptures, Jesus is revealed through the symbols of water, cloud, and dove. I discuss the chaoskampf theory, of how creation was accomplished through a struggle between the waters of chaos in the waters (Leviathan) and the o...

Here is today’s sermon, January 4, 2026, The Sunday of the Epiphany, Year A. It is based on Matthew 2: 1-12, the Journey of the Magi. In it, I make the observation that, given the distance (in light years) that stars are from this planet, it is likely that the Star of Bethlehem was already dead by the time the light arrived to guide the Magi. Since the source was already dead, but the Light contin...

Here is tonight’s Christmas Eve sermon. It is base don Luke 2:1-14(15-20), the Birth of Jesus. In it I distinguish between optimism and hope. I make the point that hope offers a pathway and agency for us who follow the Baby in the manger.

Here is today’s sermon, December 21, 2025, IV Advent, Year A. It is based on Matthew 1:18-25, the Dream of Joseph, the Father of Jesus. In it is make the connection to Joseph, son of Jacob in Genesis as the interpreter of dreams. I also discuss how the cycle of allowing our expectations to die leads to new and abundant life.

Here is today’s sermon, December 14, 2025, III Advent, Year A. It is based on Matthew 11:2-11, the Baptizer’s question, “Are You the One Who is to come?” In it I discuss how Jesus’ mission was not to destroy the prisons that John was held in, but rather to accompany him in his prison. In doing so, Jesus transforms the situation. He comes to us in our need and accompany us as He transforms our situ...

Here is today’s sermon, December 7, 2025, II Advent, Year A. It is based on Matthew 3: 1-12, John the Baptizer. In it I explain that all the details about John, though offputting, represent important resonances from the Hebrew Scriptures and the prophets. We inherit these resonances as we inherit the Covenant.

Here is today’s sermon, November 30, 2025, I Advent, Year A. It is based on Matthew 24:36-44, the Little Apocalypse. In it I explain that, while it is commonly seen as a description of how we are called to be vigilant for Jesus’ return, perhaps it rather describes the oppression under Empire into which Jesus, the Incarnate Word, came. I describe the hope in Isaiah 2 under similar oppression.

Here is today’s sermon, November 23, 2025, Christ the King, Year C. It is based on Luke 23:33-43, the Crucifixion. In it I describe how a king represents the realm he rules. Christ on the Cross demonstrated the suffering of Israel under Roman occupation and the hope of deliverance through Resurrection.

Here is today’s sermon, November 16, 2025, Proper 28, Year C. It is based on 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13, those who do not should not eat. In it I discuss how Episcopalians read the portions of the scriptures within the overall story of salvation found in the Holy Bible. I give the context of work as a punishment for sin In Genesis 3 and the Lilies of the Field from the Sermon on the Mount.

Here is today’s sermon, October 25, Proper 25, Year C. It is based on Luke 18: 9:14, the Righteous Pharisee and the Tax Collector. In it I suggest that each of us has a component of both in our spirituality. I also make the point that the Tax Collector redeemed the Pharisee as a Christ figure.

Here is today’s sermon, October 19, 2025, Proper 24, Year C. It is based on the Parable of the Persistent Widow and Unjust Judge. In it I discuss how, as a congregation, we can oppose those imperial forces which look to rob us of our humanity and control us.

Here is today’s sermon, October 12, 2025, Proper 23, Year C. It is based on Luke 17:11-19, the Grateful Samaritan Leper. In it, I discuss that it is only as a matter of the Samaritan’s outsider status that he saw Jesus as the Great High Priest. We see who we are as disciples when we reach out in non-judgmental love to those who are outsiders in our nation, our communion, and our congregation.

Here is today’s sermon, October 5, 2025, proper 22, Year C. Since it was the Blessing of the Animals, I spoke on the life and spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi.

Here is today’s sermon, September 28, 2025, Proper 21, Year C. It is based on Luke 16: 19-31, the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. In it I point out that this is not a condemnation of wealth on its face. Instead, as we consider our legacies, let us consider the wisdom and the intangibles we hand on rather then a focus on wealth as our legacy.