Proclaim by Word and Example

This sermon was preached on Thursday, March 29, 2018 for Maundy Thursday at St. Aidan's, San Francisco. The texts for this sermon were:  Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14 ,  1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ,  John 13:1-17, 31b-35 , and Psalm 116:1, 10-17 When I was trained as a Godly Play teacher a few years ago, I learned that an essential part the Montessori-inspired children’s curriculum is what’s called “work time.” After the teacher physically acts out a Bible story with small figurines, the children are invited to play with the props themselves. After sitting impatiently through the story, they’re finally invited to wiggle their fingers in the sand of the Exile story, smell the chrism scent of the Baptism oil, and spill water all over the floor. Contained in this teaching method is an understanding that the act of retelling a story ourselves, with our bodies and voices, is a key part of learning. As a Christian educator, I also used other Sunday school curricula that suggeste...

This sermon was preached at Grace Episcopal Church in Medford, MA for the fifth Sunday of Lent. The sermon texts were: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 5:5-10, John 12:20-33 and Psalm 51:1-13. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. I feel so fortunate to be able to return to Grace a few times every year and I’m honored to be invited to share the Word with you this morning. I’ve been tickled to hear about all that you are up to and to admire from afar all the numerous ways this church continues to flourish since I served here as an intern two years ago. I have scarcely been more proud of this church than this past week, hearing about our teens and youth from our parish and Diocese. They joined countless other young people in walking out of classrooms, petitioning legislators, and demanding meetings with gun manufacturers--even when all this pesky snow got in the way. Although...

This sermon was preached on March 4, 2018 for the Third Sunday in Lent at St. Aidan's, San Francisco. The texts for this sermon were:  Exodus 20:1-17 ,  1 Corinthians 1:18-25 ,  John 2:13-22 , and  Psalm 19 . It sounds weird to say looking back, but I never would have expected, given my upbringing and childhood church, that my way back into Christianity would have been through getting to know the person of Jesus Christ. What I love about Christianity, of course, is that there are so many ways in, so many ways God reaches out to those who feel far from divine love--through the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures, the warm welcome of a loving community. So I blame the brothers at Society of St. John the Evangelist in particular for setting me up with Jesus. The kind, gentle, black-robed Anglican monks of Cambridge have it out to introduce the world to the power of relationship with God through friendship with Jesus. This Lent, in particular, they’ve outdone themselves with ...