Boasting Against Suffering

Third Sunday after Pentecost Exodus 19:2-8a Romans 5:1-8 Matthew 9:35-10:8 We boast against our sufferings because we are not ashamed of them. We boast against our sufferings because we know that any trial or hardship we endure will never claim the final victory over God’s people. We boast against our sufferings because we, the body …

Suffering and Hope

Trinity Sunday (C) Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 Romans 5:1-5 John 16:12-15 I was working as a hospital chaplain intern when I received a message from the nurses’ station. “Ms. Bellwether in room 406 would like to receive the sacrament of confession.” I suspected that because she referred to confession as a sacrament she was Roman Catholic, …

Repent but Not Like That

Third Sunday in Lent Isaiah 55:1-9 I Corinthians 10:1-13 Luke 13:1-9 I don’t feel super comfortable with how Jesus reacts to the tragedies described in our Gospel reading. If I were Jesus (and thank God I’m not), I wouldn’t have responded the way he does to the news of Pilate slaughtering Galileans who were trying …

Enduring Through Hope

Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 17:22-31 I Peter 3:13-22 John 14:15-21   Helen was tough as nails. She was a 68 year old nurse, with calloused hands and skin covered in tattoos. She didn’t mince words and she always said what she meant. She swore like a sailor and she never tried to reign it …

Not Everything Happens for a Reason

Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost Job 19:23-27a 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 Luke 20:27-38 Listen to the sermon

A Parachute and Not an Anvil

Trinity Sunday Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 Psalm 8 Romans 5:1-5 John 16:12-15   Listen to the sermon.

God with Us, Not Beyond Us

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost Isaiah 50:4-9 James 3:1-12 Mark 8:27-38 Listen to the sermon. I’m a Christian not because of the resurrection (I wrestle with this), and not because I think Christianity contains more truth than other religions (I think God reveals himself, or herself, in many forms, some not religious), and not simply because …

What About When Hope Does Disappoint Us?

Second Sunday after Pentecost Exodus 19:2-8a Romans 5:1-8 Matthew 9:35-10:23   Listen to the sermon.