Proclaim by Word and Example

This sermon was preached for a joint St. Andrew's - St. Michael's online service for Sunday, September 20. The texts for this sermon were:  Exodus 16:2-15 ;  Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 ;  Philippians 1:21-30 ; and  Matthew 20:1-16 . So I’ve spoken with some of you about this before but I don’t think I’ve preached on why I wanted to become a youth minister in the first place. When I was a teenager, I was part of my church’s youth group. And every Thursday night, we’d roll up to the barn, this old building in the back of the church property that was filled with dilapidated couches. And we’d walk in the door and one of the adult advisors of the group would come up and give us this huge hug. And in that hug was all the love and acceptance and grace that I needed and longed for as a teenager.  What I noticed, and what I was fascinated and intrigued by, was that happened to every kid that walked through the door. Even the “bad kids”, even the kids with failing grades, and t...

This sermon was preached for St. Andrew's/St. Michael's online worship on Sunday, August 23. The texts for this sermon are:  Exodus 1:8-2:10 ,  Psalm 124 ,  Romans 12:1-8 , and  Matthew 16:13-20 . The first lesson of our confirmation curriculum, we had all the eighth-graders write down what they’d been taught to believe in big markers on a flip-chart sheet. We ended up with lots of things like “getting into a good college is everything” and “skinny = pretty” but also “money doesn’t buy happiness” and “God loves me.” After all this had been scribbled down and read through, I told the kids to rip up the paper. They stood and blinked for a second, doubting that they heard correctly, and then dove right into ripping and tearing and giggling and making a right old mess of things. We then read this passage, from Paul’s letter to the Romans: “ Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of G...

This sermon was preached for online worship for St. Andrew's and St. Michael's on August 2, 2020. The text for this sermon was Genesis 32:22-31. This story from our Old Testament reading today is a really pivotal moment in Jacob’s life. It’s out of this wrestling with God and himself that Jacob receives a new name and a new calling – one that the people of God will carry throughout the scriptures, and generations, to today – Israel the one who struggles with God.  The powerful message of this story though, lies in when this moment occurs in Jacob’s life. You may remember Jacob was born the youngest twin. After tricking his older brother out of his birthright as firstborn not once but twice, Jacob runs off into exile and makes a new family. This moment happens just before Jacob is about to return home and meet his brother for the first time.  He does not know what we know – that across the river Esau will forgive and embrace him. The moment of reconciliation between wronged bro...

This sermons was preached for the St. Andrew's/St. Michael's online service for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecosts. The texts for this Sunday were:  Genesis 22:1-14 ,  Psalm 13 ,  Romans 6:12-23 ,  and  Matthew 10:40-42 . One of my projects in seminary was working with a small, urban parish on re-imagining welcoming. How could we make visitors who came through their door feel comfortable and appreciated? I focused a lot on small, tangible things like how confusing the bulletin might be for non-Episcopalians or thinking through whether a giant hug-fest during the peace might be extremely welcoming or totally intimidating. But we also sank into the most beautiful and symbolic expressions of Episcopal hospitality: that daring moment when we all drank from the one cup of salvation, when no one is turned away from the table. The past few weeks, our parish leadership has been hard at work considering another, seemingly opposite question. As we begin to regat...

This sermon was preached for online worship for St. Andrew's and St. Michael's for Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2020. The texts for this sermon are:  Acts 2:1-21 ,  1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 ,  John 20:19-23 , and  Psalm 104:25-35, 37 . Before I start my sermon, I want to acknowledge that we recorded our Prayers of the People on Tuesday afternoon. So, so much has happened in our nation since then that needs our prayer, our lament, our action. So on behalf of St. Andrew’s and St. Michael’s parish communities, let us pray. God of boundless love, today we remember before you the Black community across this nation in their grief and anguish, especially the families and friends of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. On this day of Pentecost, send your Spirit on our broken and hurting nation, especially all those feel overwhelmed by fear, anger, and despair. God of compassion, you have called us to be a society of liberty, justice, and love for every living b...

This sermon was preached live on Facebook for Sunday, May 10. The texts for this sermon are:  Acts 7:55-60 ,  1 Peter 2:2-10 ,  John 14:1-14,  and  Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 . All throughout this week, little gifts began popping into my inbox: short videos of our confirmation class eighth-graders reflecting on bible passages.  The verses the kids chose to recite ranged from Gospel parables to Deuteronomic commandments to apostolic advice. Some kids read their passages slowly, others whipped through. One couldn’t help but giggle a bit and give a huge whoop when he was done. Another breathed passion and anger into the voice of the character of the older son. One kid chose his passage because it was his grandmother’s favorite. Another because it reminded him of his passion for building. This verse urged her to be kind, this one prompted him to stick to his convictions. One heard in the image of the fortified tower of Proverbs 18, “if we have faith we always...

This sermon was preached for the third Sunday of Eastertide for online worship on Sunday, April 26. The readings for this sermon were:  Acts 2:14a,36-41 ,  1 Peter 1:17-23 ,  Luke 24:13-35 , and  Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17 . So I have to say that in Lent, the feeling of being wilderness, of sacrifice and fasting…that all made sense and seemed to fit. But now that we are on the other side of Easter, I find myself drawn to Peter’s language of exile from our epistle today. Peter addresses his letter “to the exiles of the Dispersion” and refers to “this time of exile.” With this language, Peter invokes the times of trial when the People of God were expelled from their temple, their homeland, wrenched from their normal patterns of life and worship. Exile’s not off the mark these days. We are all exiled from, in some way or another. Exiled from our school community, our jobs, our friends, our own place of worship—the places many of us feel closest to God. But we are also exiled...