Proclaim by Word and Example

This sermon was preached for Sunday, October 6, 2024 at St. Andrew's, Ayer. The texts for the sermon were:  Job 1:1; 2:1-10,  Psalm 26,  Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12, and  Mark 10:2-16. That is not the Gospel I would have chosen for my first sermon with my new church, if it was up to me. It’s a doozy on any Sunday but especially when you don’t know the people you are preaching to very well. I don’t know who among you has been hurt by divorce, and who has been saved by it. I don’t know who struggles with the boxes of male and female, or who has been wounded by the Church’s historically strict vision for what marriage should or can be. I don’t know how this passage has been preached or interpreted to you before - full judgment or with abundant grace. But if this passage feels like a bit of a trap, it’s because it is one. The Pharisees pose this question about divorce to Jesus precisely because it was contested and controversial, in their day and still in ours. The leaders are asking not so

This Goodbye message was shared for my last Sunday at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in East Longmeadow, MA.  This goodbye has been really hard for me. I’ve shared that from the pulpit in each of my sermons this past month and also in personal conversations with many of you. This was my first church, really, in so many ways. My first two Holy Weeks as a solo priest. 7 burials, 2 weddings, 16 baptisms, 106 sermons. So many of you let me into your lives in profound and meaningful ways. I waited with you in hospital waiting rooms, anointed you while you held your newborns, prayed you through your loved ones’ last breaths, puzzled through church finances over your shoulders, and pronounced your first kisses as married couples. You embraced my children - teaching them songs, celebrating their many noises during worship - you even gave my daughter the bed that will carry her through toddlerhood. You taught me the quirky St. Mark’s traditions, old and new - the Craft Fair, the 5k, Christmas

This sermon was preached for the second Sunday of Creation and the baptism of Patrick Wayne on Sunday, September 8, 2024. The texts for this sermon were: Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23,  Psalm 125, and  Mark 7:24-37. In her book on the Bible, titled Inspired, Rachel Held Evans retells the pivotal story of how Jacob became Israel. On his way back home, Jacob wrestled long into the night with a mysterious figure, refusing to release the stranger even when he dislocated Jacob’s hip, even when dawn was breaking. Jacob won't let go of the stranger until he blesses him - blesses him with a new name, Israel, which means he who struggles with God.  Rachel Held Evans leans on the story again as she tackles the hardest parts of scripture. She writes, “I'm still wrestling, and like Jacob, I will wrestle until I am blessed. God hasn't let go of me yet.”  I won’t let go until you bless me. Jesus wants us to hang on, too. Throughout his ministry, Jesus praises persistence. He instructs his

  This sermon was preached for the first Sunday of the Creation of Season, September 1, 2024 at St. Mark's East Longmeadow, MA. The texts for this sermon were: Song of Solomon 2:8-13,  Psalm 45:1-2, 7-10, and  Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23. Back when I was going through confirmation class as an eighth grader, our pastor was trying to convince us that the Bible isn’t so boring after all. He had my classmate open his Bible up to Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon, as it’s sometimes known, and begin reading out loud. I’ll never forget how bright red my friend’s face got as he got further and further into the erotic descriptions of the two lovers’ passion. And I’ll tell you what - the lesson stuck! I also never forgot how the Bible is full of fascinating nooks and crannies, war stories and explicit love poetry, nihilistic treatises and rallying cries for justice, letters of advice and visions of dragons. The whole range of the human experience is in there - good and bad. In the Episcopal tra

This sermon was preached for Sunday, August 25, 2024 for the fourteen Sunday after Pentecost. The texts for this sermon is  Psalm 84,  Ephesians 6:10-20, and  John 6:56-69 . Most Friday evening, as my little family of four sits down for dinner someone reminds the rest of us it’s time for Shabbat prayers. Now you’re really supposed to do the opening Sabbath ritual when the sun goes down. And you’re supposed to have candles, bread, and wine, at the very least. But in our family we do it when the kids are hungry, regardless of what’s going on with the sun. And we make do with what we have: hopefully, if we’ve kept on top of our shopping that week, there’s some grape juice for the kids. Sometimes “the wine” is actually just whatever beer we have in the fridge. In a pinch, I’ve even mixed some lemon juice with sugar and water. The bread is usually just part of what we are having for dinner: anything from a piece of tortilla to a macaroni shell to a chunk of chicken nugget.  For us, for our

  This sermon was preached on Monday, August 19, 2024 at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in East Longmeadow for the burial office of George Edward Mont.  My name is the Rev. Mia Kano. I’ve only been priest-in-charge here since 2022, so I didn’t get a chance to meet George while he was a parishioner here. But as it turns out, I did celebrate Eucharist once a month at The Reserve. One time that I came, the social activities director called me over to say that there was a new Episcopalian resident who had heard about my services and was specifically excited to meet with the Episcopal priest. It was George. I thought I was just stopping by to say hi, but instead I had one of those deep, memorable conversations that makes me feel so blessed and honored to get to be a priest. That day, George was feeling weighed down by life. He opened up to me in a profound way. It was clear that it wasn’t about me specifically though - George was reaching for God and his faith.  Much of what we talked abou