Proclaim by Word and Example

This sermon was preached on Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at St. Andrew's for Ash Wednesday. The readings for this text were:  Isaiah 58:1-12 ,  2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 ,  Matthew 6:1-6,16-21  and  Psalm 103 or 103:8-14 . A few months after Kate Bowler received her terminal diagnosis of stage four colon cancer at age 35, she did what one might expect a Duke Divinity professor of Christianity to do: she wrote a New York Times Op-ed piece , which turned into a TED Talk , which turned into a book called Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved . She looked at her suffering and journey with cancer through the lens of her academic passion:  the Prosperity Gospel. The American theology that tends toward believing that we get what we deserve, that everything happens for a reason, and that willful, positive thinking brings God's blessing. She tells a little story in the book about searching for a church service on Ash Wednesday after her doct...

This sermon was preached on Sunday, February 16 at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Wellesley, MA for the occasion of the Holy Baptism of Grace Vera Gaede. The texts for this sermon  Deuteronomy 30:15-20 ,  1 Corinthians 3:1-9 ,  Matthew 5:21-37 , and  Psalm 119:1-8 . When Paul refers to the church in Corinth as people of the flesh, and as infants in Christ, he does not mean it as a compliment. The tone of Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth is oftentimes exasperated, chastising. He contrasts them with people who live by the spirit, who would not be as squabbling and indulgent as the Corinthians. Paul means to remind these folks in Corinth of their own spiritual immaturity and how far they have to go. Today, our parish will baptize an actual infant into Christ. So perhaps today is a good day to be reminded of our spiritual infancy, our need for milk. Lent is just around the bend, after all—forty days of challenging and growing our spiritual maturity. Pa...

This sermon was preached on Sunday, February 2 at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Holliston, MA for the occasion of the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord. The texts for this sermon were:  Malachi 3:1-4 ,  Hebrews 2:14-18 ,  Luke 2:22-40 , and  Psalm 84 . It's been such a joy for me to work with St. Michael's and the teens and adults of my church who are going on the Appalachia Service project together this summer. I'm so grateful that you have already been showing us the way and teaching us how to prepare for our trip. The trip preparations have also been bringing me back to my own experiences from high school volunteering with the Appalachia Service Project with my home church. My first trip in particular as a freshman when I was just 14 holds for me very vivid memories. See, the Appalachian Service Project mission trip that summer was my first really intimate encounter with the heart-breaking effects of chronic, generational poverty. I remember walking i...