Proclaim by Word and Example

This sermon was preached for the Feast Day of Christ the King, Sunday, November 26 at St. Mark's, East Longmeadow, MA. The readings for this sermon were: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24,  Psalm 100, and  Matthew 25:31-46. My sister got me onto this podcast, Heavyweight, a while ago. In it, Jonathan Goldstein puts two people in conversation with one another about something important and meaningful they haven’t ever had the chance to talk about, the words they never said. Some of the most exciting episodes involve a person who had one brief encounter with a kind or compassionate stranger that completely changed their life. Armed with just a few sparse details, Goldstein the host goes on a wild chase to bring the two back together so that the stranger could learn how impactful their small gesture of kindness had been.  This past week’s podcast starts out that way. It’s the story of a man, Nick, who was accidentally shot by a coworker fooling around with a loaded gun. In chaos...

This sermon was preached for Sunday, November 19 at St. Mark's in East Longmeadow, MA. The texts for this sermon were: Psalm 123,  1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, and  Matthew 25:14-30. I once had a middle schooler in my Sunday school class ask me in all sincerity why we say grace before dinner. Why do we thank God for the food? He wondered. God didn’t do anything. People made this happen. Why should God get all the credit? How is that fair? I heard echoes of this question in the words of the third slave from Jesus’ parable - the who was given just one talent, buried it, and gave it back to his master when he returned. Here’s how he explains himself to his returned master, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ The slave names his fear, but I hear anger, too, in his words, and resentment. You went away. You were g...