Proclaim by Word and Example

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 in...

  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 th...