Rotten Apple Seeds

Here is today’s sermon, January 14, 2024, II Epiphany. I preach on John 1: 43- 51, the call of Nathaniel. In it I discuss how Jesus seeing Nathaniel under the fig tree shows the initiative of a call is God’s and it fits in the vision of a redeemed Earth.

Here is today’s sermon, January 7, 2024, The Epiphany. It is based on Stanley Hauerwas’ theology on the patience of God and God’s people in the face of an empire based on violence. I have the congregation the chance to hear this sermon or for me to preach on the Star of Bethlehem.

Here is today’s sermon, December 24, 2023, Christmas Eve, Year B. It is based on the Christmas story, specifically the proclamation to the shepherds. I give a contemporary description of the events.

Here is today’s sermon, December 17, 2023, III Advent, Year B. It is based on John 1: 6-8, 9-28. In it I describe how the Divine is encountered in “not-ness” or how we can speak more accurately about God by saying what God is not. When we speak of what God is like, we always fall short. I explain that the sense of the absence of God is the beginning of prayer.

Here is todays sermon, December 10, 2023, II Advent, Year A. It is based on Isaiah 40, as well as Mark 1, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” I explain the context of Isaiah and then give a spiritual interpretation. There is a kataphatic spirituality wherein we add Godly activities to our lives. I explain rather the apophatic spirituality wherein the spiritual life if the process of subtraction....

Here is today’s sermon, December 3, 2023, 1 Advent, Year B. It is based on the gospel, Mark 13:24-37. I explain the origin of the term, Son of Man from Daniel 7 and apply it to today.

Here is today’s sermon, November 26, 2023, Christ the King, Year A. It is based on Matthew 25, the parable of the Sheep and the Goats. In it I explain how the encounter with people in need, in empathy and love, is holy ground and incarnates Christ.

Here is today’s sermon, November 19, 2023, Proper 28, Year A. It is based on Matthew 25, the Parable of the Talents. In it I provide an explanation of how this parable reflects the economy of the time and how most Jewish people were oppressed by debt. I also apply this parable to church resourcing.

This is today’s sermon, November 12, 2023, Proper 27, Year A. It is based on Matthew 25: 1- 13, the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids. I give an interpretation of the parable based on the sacrifice of the cross.

This is today’s sermon, November 5, 2023, All Saints, Year A. I asked the congregation whether they wanted me to preach on Saints or the Beatitudes. They wanted to hear about the Beatitudes, so I explained how to live them in today’s world.

Here is today's sermon, october 29, 2023, Proper 25, Year A. The congregation wanted to hear me preach on Matthew 22: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the proph...

Here is today's sermon, October 22, 2023, Proper 24, Year A. It is based on Matthew 22:15-22, "render unto Caesar..." In it I draw the distinction between our obligations to the State, founded on violence and domination, and our allegiance to the Kingdom of God, founded on communion.

Here is today's sermon, October 8, 2023, Proper 22, Year A. It is based on Matthew 21:33-46, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;this was the Lord’s doing,and it is amazing in our eyes". Aware of the amount of conflict and war in this violent world, I explain that the opposite of war is not peace as in armistice. Rather, the opposite of war is creation. J...

Here is today's sermon, Proper 22, Year A, October 1, 2023. It is based on Matthew 21:23-32, the Parable of the Two Sons. In it, I explain that the parable is about the ministry and preaching of John the Baptizer. The Pharisees rejected John's message while those who are considered unrighteous embraced John's message. In our world, authority is based on power and violence. I explain th...

Here is today's sermon, Proper 20, Year A, September 24, 2023. It is based on both Exodus 16:2-15, Manna in the Desert, as well as the Gospel, Matthew 20:1-16, the Workers in the Vineyard. I make the contrast between two worlds. First, the world we have created, in which justice is what is due us, in a world of scarcity and need, and we need to compete for these scarce resources. I contrast th...

Here is today's sermon, Proper 19, Year A, September 17, 2023. It is based on Exodus 14:19-31, the Crossing of the Red Sea and Matthew 18:21-35, the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. I show that forgiveness is like crossing the Red Sea in an escape from bondage in Egypt in that refusal to forgive and holding resentments is a form of self imposed bondage. The Sea is a metaphor of Creation as...

Here is today's sermon, Proper 18, Year A, September 10, 2023. It is based on Romans 13 : 8, "Owe no debt to another except love". I discuss how love has become transactional, even contractual. Most of our relationships and socializing is now based on contract and transaction. In the Church, we are taught to offer the gift of forgiveness which is based on the gift of honesty to each...

Here is today's sermon, Proper 17, Year A, September 3, 2023. It is based on the reading from the Hebrew Scriptures, Exodus 3:1-15. I discuss why the name of the Lord is Holy and Awesome, using a story from Arthur C. Clarke, then show where the names of the characters in the Hebrew Scriptures come from. i explain why the name, Jesus, or Emmanuel, was so important. I suggest in prayer that we e...

Here is today's sermon, Proper 16, Year A, August 27, 2023. It is based on Matthew 16:13-20, "Who do you say that I Am?" In it I describe what the term, Messiah, would have meant to Peter and the disciples in the time of Christ. From there I discuss how I have encountered Jesus. I make the point that Jesus is fully Divine, a High Christology, emphasizing His power, ability to work mi...

Here is today's sermon, Transfiguration Sunday, Year A, August 6, 2023. It is based on the account of the Transfiguration in Luke 9; 28- 36. I begin to describe the Transfiguration as a glimpse of the Beatific Vision described by Aquinas and Dante, and also in a movie with Nicholas Cage (yes, Nicholas Cage!). From there, I pivot from being redeemed by seeing the right thing to being redeemed b...

Here is today's sermon, Proper 12, Year A, July 30, 2023. It is based on Matthew 13:31-33,44-52, the parables describing the Kingdom of God. I begin with a history of the term, Kingdom of God, in the history of Israel, and then turn to what it may mean for us today. I suggest that it means to encounter the Divine in our gratitude for what we have as gifts.

Here is today's sermon, Proper 11, Year A, July 23, 2023. It is based on the Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat (Matthew 13:31-33,44-52). In it I make the point that being a weed is simply being a plant that is undesirable. In our world, our nation, and in our congregations, we are encountering a trend to purge ourselves of undesirables. Mose pleas for diversity or toleration are dismissed as...

Here is today's sermon for Proper 10, Year A, July 16, 2023. It is based on the Parable of the Sower and the Seed, Matthew 13:1-9,18-23. In it is give an account how each of us in our own seasons of life, assume the place of the thorns, the birds which devour the seeds, the poor soil, and the rocky soil. But we also take on the good soil at other times in our lives and that's OK. It all wo...

Here is today's sermon, Proper 9, Year A, July 9, 2023. It is based on Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30, "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will refresh you. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light". Instead of seeing our burdens as some sort of imposition from a Divinity which is alien and withdrawn from us far away, I use the image of the yoke to show that Jesus is prese...

Here is today's sermon, Proper 8, Year A, July 2, 2023. It is based on the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. I imagine that, instead of an angel telling Abraham that the sacrifice is not necessary, rather he goes ahead with the sacrifice. In his grief and reflection after the event, he is given the opportunity to grieve not only for his son, and his faith in the unique G...