Sermons from St. John the Divine

How many people do you know in painful, difficult situations who would love to have a fresh start in life? The first voice in Isaiah 40 declares, “The depressing part of exile is finished. Comfort and revival are on the way.” The second voice says, “God is not distant; he will come near.” This voice calls for all humanity to prepare to see the revelation of God’s glory. The last voice tells us to...

In the face of sin and injustice, both our own and the world's, we actively wait for Christ's second coming. This waiting is not passive; it is much more like the waiting work of active labor. As we begin the season of Advent, we wait, remember, repent, and believe, trusting that Jesus will come again.

On the first Sunday of Advent, we encounter some of Jesus’ tough teachings on the end of the world. However, Jesus doesn’t just talk about one end to the world, but multiple. The spiritual posture he encourages us to have when the world is ending is wakefulness.

Why do we think Jesus is so hidden? He is not playing tricks on us. We must learn where to discern his presence. The hidden Lord is present in scripture, in his body - the Church, in the Eucharist. He is also present with the hungry, the thirsty, the poor, and the outcast; with the prisoner, the immigrant, and the downtrodden. What we do for the least of them, we do for him.

When the day comes to be judged once and for all, all that judges us – our sins, our consciences, our false dominions – will itself be judged. The love that judges all these things on the Cross will be the same love that judges us when Jesus comes again. The One who judges us from the right hand of God is the One who loves us most.

Giving thanks is more than a religious compulsion marking our service to God. Our offerings of thanks and praise recognize the Compassion prior to our existence itself and everything we know and hold dear. From God’s gift to Israel, we see both God’s first and final gift to us in Jesus: creation and, finally, resurrection and new creation. Let us give thanks. 

The teachings of the Nicene Creed are so prevalent within our prayers and worship that studying them opens up our Episcopal faith and tradition. In this sermon, Bishop Doyle preaches on the faith statement that we believe "Christ ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father."

Jesus’ parable tells about loving God and neighbor. Two of the three men loved God and their neighbor by using the riches of their gospel faith given to them to influence people around them, while the third simply lived as though his faith really didn’t matter. The parable’s ultimate concern, however, is about salvation, an abundance of joyful salvation, of all kinds of people, everywhere in Houst...

Through his promise to be with his disciples always, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is already coming and coming and coming… to meet us now as we go forth into the world, back into the various realms of city life, to look, to point, and to radiate his light.

We must remember not to separate our identity by living a spiritual life at church and a secular like at work or school. We should, instead, strive to be consistent, bold, and intentional as we live for Jesus at all times.

The Beatitudes of Christ's Sermon on the Mount describe Jesus and those whom Jesus blesses. We should expect to see these blessed amongst the Church, but what does it mean to be a people where the poor, the merciful, and the meek are not only welcomed but loved? This work is the people called Church, that strange solidarity made of Christ's own desire. 

The main audience for the Sermon on the Mount was the disciples of Jesus, though the crowd also had the privilege to listen. The lesson from the passage is simple: whoever desires to be happy and content must accept Jesus Christ as Lord. "I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly".

You are loved, you are love, you love.

Christ is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, therefore, the love we’re called to points to Jesus himself. And, because God is love, if you want to learn how to love you must look where God is, you have to look at the cross.

With his typically devastating insight, Jesus is getting at our real priorities, our deepest loves, how we regard what is ultimate in relation to the things of this world that are not ultimate even if they are very important.

If you only love those who are worthy of your love, is that really love? We call that conditional love. How do you set the standards for loving others? It seems to me that as followers of Jesus, we have to look to him and to him only for setting the standards: Love your neighbor as yourself. How do you set the standard for loving God? Jesus says, give to God what is God’s. How does our giving show...

Jesus said as the gospel is preached, it will attract both “the bad and good.” If you say you are a Christian but evidence no fruit in your life that you are a Christian, then are you really a Christian?   We have a wonderful mission statement at SJD: Changing Lives for God in Christ. But does it mean that changing your life for God in Christ is a one-time event? As Leigh has been teaching, we nee...

The challenge for all who are followers of Jesus Christ is to ensure that we are always properly dressed. The major point in the parable is that while God is willing to clothe us in the garments of Christ as His followers, it is up to us to put them on and wear them faithfully to the glory of God, the Father. God is calling all believers to "put on Christ" and bear witness to His grace and love in...

What happens on Sinai is a kind of vision of cosmic harmony: what it looks like when God comes to live with God’s people and God’s people let him!

God gave the Law to Israel to provide community boundaries so that they would be a community of justice and love. God goes further in sending his Son to die for those who do not even keep the law.

We can change our minds. Usually, it takes either great suffering or great love. Change happens when we have an encounter with the radical love of God. A love that sees us first and foremost as beloved children. A love that also sees all the things that keep us trapped and wants to set us free. Free to step into the flowing stream of the reign of God.

Throughout the biblical story, people make themselves miserable by comparing themselves to others. From Adam and Eve to Joseph and his brothers to the vineyard workers who receive the same pay, instead of practicing gratitude, people lose their joy by thinking they deserve more. Gratitude toward God will bring us intimate joy while comparison drives us far from the One who created us in his image.

We may think that compared to some we are first-hour workers. But not when we take honest stock of our lives and receive again the grace of our Lord Jesus whose vineyard – the church – we have been invited to work for the sake of other would-be 11th-hour workers as well. We are all 11th-hour laborers, showing up late and undeservedly getting a full day’s wage because the landowner is ridiculously...

Despite the miraculous story of the Red Sea crossing and its unique prominence in the story of Israel, it is one we are asked to live out repeatedly. This familiar and foundational story is both a singular event in the Bible but also prefigures the ongoing power of the crucified and risen Christ. By grace, God’s mighty hand opened a path for the fleeing Israelites, it opened a tomb for Jesus, and...

We are created in the image of God. Each of us has an intrinsic value. Forgiveness of others springs from this value, meaning we are created in the image of God to forgive. As we practice forgiveness, we are bearing the image of a kind and merciful God and witnessing to the very heart of the gospel – the forgiveness of sin at the cross. By forgiving others, the image of God in us is gradually rest...