Sermons from St. John the Divine

Resentment is one of the worst sins in a community. Jesus calls us to set aside resentment and practice forgiveness and gracious confrontation. 

Jesus builds for us a vision of what the community of the church should be like. One where qualities like humility, concern for one’s neighbor, and forgiveness are plentiful and prized among its members. This sort of community requires a commitment to being in relationship with one another, a commitment that is not always easy to make. But, when we do come together as a united body, with Christ as...

Jesus tells his disciples that they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. This will look different in every life, but for all, it requires giving up the desire to feel in control and the expectation of constant comfort and ease. The call to faithfulness is a call to fully place our trust in the Lord and his plan for our lives. Even when it means getting comfortable with being...

After Peter's confession of Jesus as Messiah, Jesus foretells his death on the cross and his resurrection, and Peter rebukes him. Clearly Peter, and the disciples do not fully understand the nature of Christ's victory over sin and death, and Jesus reminds them again, that to be a disciple they are to take up their cross and follow him. This leads us to ask the question, do we really know Jesus, an...

It is Christ in the power of the Spirit who transforms us. Our call is to form ways of living that open us to His work in us. And as that happens more and more, not only will we grow into his likeness. More and more others will look at this community and see people who live in our lives what we say on our lips.

God practices mercy at all times and in all places, even when we cannot see it. At Jesus’ crucifixion, no onlooker saw God’s mercy in action. When his brothers sold Joseph into slavery, Joseph did not see God’s mercy. When bad things happen to good people, we do not see mercy. But that does not mean God’s mercy has left the building. Do you understand the mystery of God’s mercy?

The naming of the mother as a Canaanite in Matthew’s Gospel recalls Israel’s history of conflict with its Gentile neighbors. This history of violence we are permitted to see in the violence Jesus suffers for sin on the Cross and has overcome. Her cry for mercy for her tormented daughter is the world's cry for healing, reconciliation, and peace. The healing of the Canaanite daughter shows us the he...

Central to the Christian faith is not escape from a sinking world. It is to witness to a sinking world that there is more, there is rescue, there is hope that has a name. His name is Jesus Christ.

We often look to our circumstances to discern God's will, but amid the waves of our world we must look to Jesus.

In today's Old Testament reading, Moses is transformed by his time in God's presence. From there he is able to draw the people out of hiding, so that they too can know God on an intimate level.

We are transfigured as we come up to the table each Sunday. Expect an encounter with Christ as you commune with him. Then go out from here, back down to the plain of your life, refreshed, restored, and ready to shine the glory of God in your world.

According to Jesus, the kingdom of heaven is like a great many things. Jesus' parables in our gospel reading this week are a challenge, an invitation, and a source of comfort for us -- the ones through whom Christ intends to establish that kingdom on earth.

Under what conditions would we decide that Jesus is the most precious discovery in the world, and we will completely sell-out to have a relationship with him? What would that look like?

Just as Christ has the dual nature of being both fully human and fully divine, so we too have a dual nature of being created in the image of God while also being awash with original sin. 

Jesus is teaching about the reality of life in this world. Good and bad both exist together, at the same time, in the same place. This is true about our own individual lives, as well as our churches, our nation, and society as a whole. The problem is that we don’t always know which is which. In the end good will prevail. God is in the messiness of our lives and this world. Keep awake and watch for...

Only God can cultivate the various soils of our lives to bring forth the abundant harvest that is ours to have in Christ.

Christ's message is the seed our heart needs to grow spiritually. His words are the sure foundation of our faith. 

In our Old Testament lesson, Abraham sent his servant to his homeland to find a wife for his son Isaac. The servant finds a willing bride in Rebekah and brings her back to her new husband and home. The loving relationship between Isaac and Rebekah prefigures the spiritual unity of Christ with his bride -- the Church. Our lesson from the Gospel of Matthew provides a glimpse of what that intimate re...

In all the verses for the day, Jesus contrasts man’s law with God’s law. Man’s law was formed because of the Ten Commandments given to the Jewish people to guide them through the moral traps of life. However, well-intentioned religious leaders added to the Ten Commandments until it became its own trap. The rules and regulations became a huge burden. Jesus responds to this situation with an invitat...

God revealed his character of sacrificial love to Abraham by asking him to sacrifice the most important person in his life. An obedient Abraham learned how to cede control and trust in God. It is a lesson all of us need to learn as we grow as disciples of Jesus.

Before sending them off, Jesus tells his disciples twice to not be afraid, which makes us wonder: what did they have to fear in the first place?

Jesus requires total allegiance in this world. Our reaction to Jesus will be the basis of judgment in heaven. As a follower of Jesus Christ, we (the church) are the light that drives away the darkness in this broken world.  

The most potent spiritual weapon we have in culture is not to point out how desperately others need Christ but how much we need Christ.

We cannot be Jesus’ disciples in our own power. Yet the call is not to do nothing: we can desire to follow him. We can surrender our lives again and again to him. And even if that surrender feels partial and incomplete, God can do powerful things with those whose lives are yet still growing.

In today's passage, the Lord Jesus shows us that it is his will to share the responsibility of the spreading the Good News of his Kingdom with the world. In his recruitment strategy, he turns conventional wisdom on its head by choosing a most unlikely group to lead his mission.