In the Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. “Pleasing; agreeable; amiable, pleasant and kind, delightful,” No, these are not actually words from the Gospel, nor are they a definition of love, but nonetheless, on hearing them I am sure we all recognised at once a portrait of…. ….ourselves…. The words are in fact the definition…
Sermons preached by the parish clergy on Christmas Eve 2020 Sermon preached by Fr Hanson at the 4:30pm Mass: Sermon preached by Fr Anderson at the 6:00pm Mass: Sermon preached by Fr Thompson at the 7:30pm Mass: Sermon preached by Fr Anderson at the 9:00pm Mass:
With today’s reading we begin a yearlong study of the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel that forms the centerpiece of lectionary year B. Mark is the shortest and punchiest of the Gospels, full of narrative detail and action that practically hurtles from its opening to its unsettling conclusion. Mark is known as a gripping storyteller…
I imagine today’s parable is a familiar one, so much so that I fear this will be a sermon in which it is difficult to say anything new. The moral of the story is probably as plain to you as to me, but the circumstances in which we confront it together are entirely unfamiliar, so…
A Sermon Preached by the Rector October 25, 2020 Stewardship II Some years ago, there was a book making the rounds called Blue Like Jazz,[1] the subtitle of which is “Nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality.” In one chapter, the author, Donald Miller, talks about why he didn’t like to go to church. He writes that…
A sermon preached by the Rector St Luke the Evangelist 2020 Stewardship I This Sunday, the Church observes the heavenly birthday of St Luke. Luke is mentioned three times in Paul’s letters, once as the “beloved physician.” As a doctor, he would have been educated and Greek-speaking, and indeed his Gospel is written to a…
The Hebrew Scriptures are full of reluctant prophets. But there was no prophet more reluctant than Jonah. Jonah is the only prophet in the Hebrew Scriptures who was sent by God to a people other than Israel, to a people other than his own; God commands Jonah to preach repentance to Nineveh, in Assyria. Now…
One way of thinking about how Matthew structured his Gospel is to see the dramatic events of the life of Christ as structured around two narrative arcs. Along one arc, it becomes clearer and clearer who Jesus is: that he is the Messiah, although his Messianic mission is entirely unpredictable and nothing like what most…
Over 25 years ago I was in Italy, my first trip to Europe. I took a boat trip from Bari to Patras, Greece; it’s a long ride, and you can go overnight. As it got dark I stayed out on deck and watched as the last distant lights on the coast winked out. I realized…
This summer we have been treated to a veritable onslaught of parables from Matthew, and we are still in chapter 13, now for the third Sunday in a row, and the onslaught continues. I think we can read this series of short parables as continuing to shed light on the reality of the kingdom of…
The parable of the sower from today’s Gospel reading affords us a chance to learn about what the kingdom of God is like, and even more about how it will be received. Part of what a parable teaches, quite apart from whatever content might belong to the story, is that the wisdom of God is…
Jesus said, ‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.’ The Bible presents us with many images and impressions of Jesus. Depending on where we pick up the New Testament and begin reading, particularly in the Gospels, we can come away…
Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And preach as you go, saying, ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ There is a negative skepticism in the idiom, the devil is in the details. There is a hopeful…
…I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. “Just let me show you,” was…
Today we celebrate together a neglected and misunderstood moment in our Lord’s life and ministry. It is the Ascension, which concludes Jesus Christ’s work on earth. And we say we believe in the Ascension every time we recite the Nicene Creed, but I doubt whether we are always fully aware of what the Ascension entails.…
Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son: if you ask anything in my name, I will do it. It seems this declaration from Jesus to the apostles leaves them a wide open field to furrow and plant their prayers of petition. …if you…
I have not owned my own car for 23 years. We have been fortunate to live in places where you don’t need one. So I have done a lot of walking in my life. I like to walk. But I have done a lot of walking these past few weeks—more even than I normally would.…
Blessed is He who cometh in the Name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. The Church’s calendar has brought us to the end of Lent and to the beginning of another Holy Week. This Lent has been unlike any other we have known. It is similar to past Lenten seasons in an ecclesiastical sense;…
One commentator has said that “The raising of Lazarus is the Gospel in miniature.” I think that is right, because this miracle, unique to John, fulfills his Gospel’s intent for the reader, encapsulates all John’s major themes, and occupies a crucial place in his telling of the story of Christ. The raising of Lazarus is…
The woman said to (Jesus), “I know that messiah is coming, he will show us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” There is something in us that naturally draws us to water. Beyond the physical need to have water when we thirst is a pull, an attraction, a…
In the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. The third chapter in the Gospel of St John is remarkably dense with reference and theological significance –and one verse –sixteen—almost sums up the entire Gospel: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in…
There are two things going on in today’s Gospel that I think need to be distinguished. The Lord Jesus is fasting, and he is being tempted. These are two different sorts of experience that we often conflate but that should be kept separate from each other. Jesus is in the desert fasting for 40 days…
There is a logical and beautiful flow at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. I don’t know if it’s the logic that makes it beautiful or if the beauty is in its logic. It does not matter. We really should read the whole of chapter five to get the natural movement. It starts…
Today’s gospel contains a message about vocation, about calling. Well, it contains many messages about many things, but let’s focus on vocation. The vocation of four fishermen, and you and me, and the Church of the Advent. When Jesus encounters the four fishermen, is there anything remarkable about them? At that point in their lives,…
From today’s Gospel: When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” In the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. Familiarity is a fine thing but today, as you were listening to words “Behold the lamb of God” three German words might have formed in your…
Today the church asks us on the first Sunday of the Epiphany season to meditate on the baptism of our Lord. The great puzzle about this event is why Jesus should undergo baptism at all. John the Baptist certainly seems puzzled. Jesus Christ has no sin to repent, so why does he need John’s baptism…
In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. The Lectionary can seem oddly out of synch sometimes. Today’s Gospel, appointed for the second Sunday of Christmas, is Matthew, which starts, “Now when the wise men had departed.” And yet tomorrow is Epiphany, and we gather tomorrow night to celebrate the wise men…
No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. The Incarnation of Our Lord and His Resurrection to eternal life mark human history in a way no other events have or ever will. One of the two big events in human history…
I have some bad news: Much of what you think you know about Christmas is wrong. But I also have some good news. In fact, I have the good news. Because the truth of Christmas according to Saint Luke is both more ordinary and more wonderful than what we get from countless carols and paintings…
In traditional artistic pictures of John the Baptist and Jesus, John the Baptist is always shown pointing toward Jesus. This traditional depiction reflects a deep theological truth about the relationship between the two men. John the Baptist’s whole message as recorded in the Gospels consists of pointing to Jesus. It is John the Baptist who…
Dr. Coakley is Norris-Hulse Professor Emerita at Cambridge University and Assisting Priest and Theologian-in-Residence at the Parish of the Ascension and St Agnes, Washington, DC. ‘He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire’ (Matt 3. 11) In nomine … I have not come here today to offer you sweet thoughts for Advent, even…
A sermon given at The Church of the Advent, Boston, by the Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, Bishop of Massachusetts, on Sunday, December 1, 2019, being the First Sunday of Advent and the 175th anniversary of the founding of the Parish Looking Back. Looking Forward. Anniversary blessings, Church of the Advent. A Blessed Feast of…
The art — or craft — of headline writer is highly specialized, absolutely critical, and frequently overlooked. A headline must be brief, but factual. Enticing, but informative. This is no easy task. Consider this memorable headline from a few years ago: “Smoking more dangerous than thought.” With that in mind, I wonder what headline might…
From the Second Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians, Now may Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. Life in heaven and on earth for the Christian…
A few weeks ago at the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, we heard about a significant moment in the life of the patriarch Jacob, who had a vision of angels passing between heaven and earth. Today we heard about another significant episode in Jacob’s life, one that changes him even more radically than…
Dr. Austin is Theologian-in-Residence for the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas. Angels’ Role(s) The feast of Saint Michael and All Angels brings much joy to many of us, for all sorts of reasons. May I begin with a personal reason? Susan, my late wife, and I deliberately chose this feast as the date for our marriage,…
The most profound spiritual truths are often best described in the simplest terms —something Jesus was very good at. He has a way with words. Losing or being lost, finding or being found — these common experiences resonate and touch on the deep human hunger for connection. In my chaplaincy days, I often encountered “Betty,”…
From the Letter of Saint Paul to Philemon, “Refresh my heart in Christ.” To love Christ means being His disciple and that means every aspect of life will be given to Him and made new. The joy of discipleship. The Gospel lessons throughout the summer introduced us to a Jesus who was a teacher, a…
It was pointed out to us a couple of weeks ago by Fr. Welch that it is vulgar to have a favorite book of the Bible, but like him, if pressed, I would have some strong preference for Hebrews. So I can’t resist preaching on today’s epistle reading. Because the lectionary finds us today at…
I had a sermon written and prepared, about wealth, and responsibility, and charity, and using our riches to build up the kingdom of God. Then El Paso. Then eighteen, nineteen, twenty killed; then 26 wounded. I was ready to speak about our personal riches, our societal riches, and how wealth is to be shared, not…
The story of Jesus’s visit with Martha and her sister Mary is one with a lesson, about the importance of cutting through distractions and focusing on the essential. Our Lord Jesus uses Martha’s experience as illustrative of this point, because she is the one who seems obviously to be carried away with secondary matters, but…
The Good Samaritan The familiar and beloved story of the Good Samaritan has provided inspiration and identity for charitable institutions for centuries. Take, for example, The Pennsylvania Hospital, founded in 1751 by Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Bond. The Hospital was very specific regarding who it would admit: “No patient shall be admitted whose Cases are…
In the Name of God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen Having listened with your customary attention to the words of today’s Gospel I am sure that many of you are in consequence — as I speak– wrestling with the question of “snake handling”.My reference is to that closing verse: “I have given you…
A sermon given on Monday, July 1, 2019, at The Church of the Advent, Boston, in observance of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (transferred), and hosting the Association of Anglican Musicians Restoring, Transporting, Resounding The king was out of his mind. King Philippe V, he was, grandson of Louis XIV of France. Philippe…
As some of you will know, I just returned from my first trip to Israel; I am glad to back among you, here in my church home. While I did not travel to the Holy Land primarily for spiritual reasons but mostly for a conference to do with my full-time job in academia, you cannot…
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare…
In the Name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On every Sunday and major feast we proclaim the doctrine that Jesus ascended into heaven. Compared to other teachings about Jesus’ life and ministry, however, we tend not to give the Ascension the attention it deserves. Until the fourth century it didn’t even have its…
One of my favorite TV shows is the animated sitcom King of the Hill. It tells the story of Hank Hill, a conservative family man living and working as a propane salesman in a Texas suburb. Hank’s father, Cotton Hill, is an even more rigid reactionary, a proud and patriotic war veteran who constantly belittles…
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Our calling is to show forth God’s love in the world until Christ comes again. What do you want to be when you grow up? When talking with children, that is one of the most frequently asked…
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen. Easter involves the body of Jesus Christ. It is not a ghost story. On Good Friday Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man and a secret follower of Jesus who sat on the court that condemned him, went to Pilate…
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen. As witnesses to Holy Baptism we confessed in the Apostles’ Creed that Jesus Christ was crucified, dead, and buried, and descended into hell. That means joy for Adam and Eve and all their children. We have already enjoyed the…
“How could they do that to him? All he wanted to do was good!” That is the natural reaction to what we have just heard from Saint John. Now let us ask, if Jesus is who Christians believe he is – the Son of God – why did he have to die? The fact is,…
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen. Christ’s Last Supper in the Upper Room in Jerusalem took place in the shadow of the Jewish Passover, commemorating the Exodus from bondage in Egypt and the ongoing miracle of the Children of Israel through God’s particular providence right…
Our Lord foretold several times what we have just heard. Here is the last of three instances in Saint Luke: “And taking the twelve, he said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that was written of the Son of man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be…
At the center of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle’s most famous book on ethics is a memorable portrait of a guy that he thinks is the perfect man. This fellow that Aristotle describes is brave, self-controlled, noble, rich, generous with his friends, openly scornful of his enemies—his deeds are few but impressive. So detailed is…
But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? It’s a question we have thought about at different periods in our lives. What are the factors you consider when choosing where to live? Do you prefer urban,…
Today’s collect uses the name “Satan” to refer to that great enemy of humanity. That is a Biblical name, but it’s a name that Saint Luke never uses. Luke uses exactly one word for the enemy that our Lord confronts and defeats in today’s Gospel reading. That name is the devil. So what does this…
I consider myself to be an amateur historian of sorts. I delight in perusing journals, wills, letters, and other ephemera, and in wandering through antique shops, libraries, museums. This immersion in other times, other places, other lives frequently leads to me to ponder, “What do we remember, and why?” I bring this curiosity about remembering…
“A Godly Vulnerability: The Irony of Emptiness” There is an adage that says, “There are no atheists in the trenches.” This phrase appeared during World War I, and came to represent the idea that the unbelieving heart comes to pray when it is in peril. That the resistant mind which asserts that the divine is…
Our Gospel reading today is Luke’s version of how Jesus called his first disciples, chief among them Simon Peter. This is more than a matter of historical interest, because we too call ourselves disciples of Christ, and so much of what is true of Jesus’s first interaction with those who followed him then is also…
In the name of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. I can but be mindful today that we are in this Mass, on the recovery side so to speak, of the Annual Parish meeting. I am sure it went well and was an occasion of appropriate amity. It has to be said, however,…
Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.’ And Jesus answered him. ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church,…
In the name of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. It is striking that the Church calendar, after the great Feast of Christmas, plunges rather rapidly after Low Sunday into two particularly fascinating episodes. First the story of the Epiphany and secondly the Baptism of Christ. Both are deeply intriguing as soon as we…
Today the Christmas season comes to a close. It comes to a close in the feast the Church calls the Epiphany. It may interest you to know that the early church started celebrating Epiphany before initiating a commemoration for Christmas, so important was it in the minds of our forebears in faith. So why so…
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5) The first time I visited the small city of Bethlehem was more than a decade ago, and it was a very upsetting trip. Upsetting not because of the…
From Psalm 42: Deep calleth out to deep. Abyssus abyssum invocat. The Book of Psalms was put together about twenty-five hundred years ago. Contained within it are songs and poems, some of which are nearly three thousand years old. For many of them it is quite easy to identify the situation which gave rise…
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased! Many ask this time of year, “What is the true meaning of Christmas?” I dare say that some people ask themselves that question throughout their whole lives; not just at this time of year. If you were to…
What’s Inside? Here is the church / Here is the steeple / Open the doors / See all the people! This rhyme answers the question “What’s inside?” And this Christmas eve there are many things to wonder about, to wonder what’s inside. Maybe before you came into this church tonight, you wondered, what’s inside? Well,…
For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath magnified me, and holy is His name. It is an awful thing to be free, dear brothers and sisters, and most of us find it very hard to bear. Of course, we have no choice, for we were all…
It never ceases to surprise me, when I pay close attention to how we talk, and I notice how much of casual conversation consists of stock phrases. I don’t mean formulae, like “Good morning” or “Thank you” or “Excuse me.” Those have to do with manners – good manners – and they are there to…
With the season of Advent the church begins a new year. And we begin Advent in Year C with Luke chapter 3, which recounts the entirely unique ministry of John the Baptist. And we begin with this passage because Luke’s Gospel narrative in a way begins right here. The wonderful stories of Jesus’s miraculous birth,…
Across the Charles River, in Cambridge, the famous psychology professor Steven Pinker thinks that the world is getting better. In a recent interview he says that, thanks to the Enlightenment and especially to science, life on earth is improving. He acknowledges that human beings “tend to backslide into irrationality,” but all in all, placing his…
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom…to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. These words from the Revelation according to John are words which speak of a ruler, of one who has authority to free us, to forgive us,…
From Saint Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews: But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and keep their souls. We can grow closer to Christ even in times of trial and when we come through trials and tribulations, we will know the joy of the…
Jesus said, of the widow: “She out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living.” It’s tempting, perhaps, to read this as a lesson about money and sacrificial giving (especially in this stewardship season). But Jesus sets us straight — as he so often does: it’s not about money, it’s about…
Recently, a blogger and church musician, Jonathan Aigner (https://www.patheos.com/blogs/ponderanew/about-jonathan-aigner/), visited the Church of the Advent for Sunday worship and was moved to write the following on his blog, “Ponder Anew.” We thank Mr. Aigner for the opportunity to share his post here. Aslan Is Not a Tame Lion: The Serious Mistake of Casual Worship …
Alleluia! The Lord is glorious in his saints! O come let us adore him! Alleluia! Mary the Virgin. Paul the Apostle. Augustine the Theologian. Martin of Tours. Francis. Theresa of Avila, Father Damian of the Lepers. In our own day, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Mother Theresa of Calcutta. The list goes on and on. They cover the…
Take heart; rise, (Jesus Christ) is calling you. In all of the healings of Jesus, including the one presented in today’s Gospel of Blind Bartimaeus, Jesus supplies what is needed. “What do you want me to do for you? Master, let me receive my sight.” is the response; so simple and straightforward. Bartimaeus wants…
The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints. This saying has been attributed to Augustine of Hippo, John Chrysostom, Abigail Van Buren, the African Methodist Episcopal minister L. L. Nash, and Ignatius of Antioch, among others. No one can identify the origin with certainty. But thanks to St. Luke, who we…
And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” For a number of years we have sent a few of our high school and college-aged young people to Saint…
I live in Salem, Massachusetts. For those who do not know, Salem is the unofficial Halloween capital of the world. Just yesterday my fiancée Emily and I were taking what we thought would be a leisurely stroll through a street bazaar in the downtown. We ran into what seemed like an unending mass of humanity…
Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. There are lots of “isms” around these days. We are hearing a good deal from the media outlets about “isms”. Some of them are popular so you know…
To worship at The Church of the Advent is always to experience a celestial ceremonial. As the emissaries of Prince Vladimir famously reported in Kiev in 988, following their experience of Orthodox worship in Constantinople, “We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth.” And so it is for us tonight. The processions…
Too many years ago when I was a student in college, the Episcopal chaplain there was a very with-it fellow – concerned and involved and very in-the-know with all the issues of the day. He was a friend of mine, and I liked him a great deal. I was even his daughter’s babysitter from time…
The church calls us this day to set our minds on the Holy Cross of Jesus Christ, and I believe there is a practical point in doing so, a point that is summed up in the opening words of our passage from Philippians: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” I…
What do you do when you are in pain? I suspect that for most of us the inclination is to isolate, to withdraw. This is, of course, understandable but dangerous. Understandable because we really don’t like others to see us when we’re not at our best — feeling weak, vulnerable, or even ashamed. Dangerous because…
This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. We think of the heart as more than just a vital organ. It is one of the vital organs, but like many ancient cultures, including ancient Hebrew culture, our culture thinks of the heart as the governing center of our lives. …
One of my favorite novelists is the Roman Catholic Walker Percy; he was trained as a physician, and after a long bout with tuberculosis started to write. He wrote about half a dozen novels, numerous essays, and even some philosophical works. He was a Southerner, and lived most of his life in a small town…
In the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Wilfred Cantwell Smith, the late and celebrated Harvard scholar of comparative religion, entitled his immensely erudite study of the role of canonical religious texts and their interpretation in the major world religions What Is Scripture ? His rather abstract and detached (by virtue of…
Then they said to him, what must we do, to be doing the works of God? John 6:28 To get the full meaning of this piece of Scripture from John’s Gospel one really has to go back to verse 28 and not start at verse 37 like our lectionary. When you do that, that is,…
Canon Macdonald-Radcliff is the Executive Director of the World Dialogue Council and formerly the Dean of All Saints’ Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt. In the name of God, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. In a context where much is controversial, it is surely safe to say that Chapter 6 of the Gospel of St John is…
Last time I was in this pulpit I pointed out that in Mark’s Gospel a great many things happen on a boat. Well, here we are again. This time things are a little different though. There is a sense of urgency in this scene. Jesus has just miraculously fed many thousands, and rather than prolong…
The apostles returned to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. (Mk 6:30) Being a follower of Jesus can be full of surprises. No matter how long one has lived as a Christian there will continue to be astonishing moments in one’s life. There is nothing dull about faithfulness to Jesus. There…
He charged them to take nothing for their journey. As someone who spends a significant, even inordinate, amount of time on de-cluttering efforts I am intrigued by this idea of “take nothing.” I know that on my ultimate journey, as on yours, there will be no choice in the matter of what to take: We…
From St Paul’s Second Letter to the Church in Corinth: I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me . . . for when I am weak, then I am strong. (12:10) And from the same letter, earlier on: For the Son of God, Jesus…
But ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “do not fear, only believe.” It sounds simple, doesn’t it? When Jesus tells the ruler of the synagogue, do not fear, only believe, there is a simplicity to the instruction that is clear and direct. That clarity is attractive. If only we…
In Mark’s gospel, a lot of things happen on a boat. Jesus seeks refuge from the huge crowds that press upon him in a boat; Jesus takes at least three trips across the Sea of Galilee on a boat; Jesus preaches to people gathered along the shoreline from a boat. And in today’s reading, a…
Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground, and should sleep and rise, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how.” This morning in the Gospel we heard Jesus teaching about the Kingdom of God, and the language he uses is the language…
Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother. We are now in those weeks of the Church’s calendar called “the season of Pentecost”. I prefer the name “Trinity season” and I’ll tell you why in a minute. Brace yourself. This season is long and it will not fly by. At…
Maybe you remember this: In 1965, Hebrew National launched an ad campaign for their kosher hot dogs, touting their superior quality with the memorable tagline: “We answer to a higher authority.” Answering to a higher authority can lead to a convergence of disobedience and discipline—often in an unexpected, even counterintuitive way. It’s not disobedience that…
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. I ’d like to begin this evening by telling you a story, a story that was first told by Will Willimon, who I know is a friend of this parish. It’s actually a Christmas story, which granted is a…
From the Book of Exodus: And God called to Moses out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to…
…..We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. The letter “R” provides an alliterative device that will, with God’s help, give aid to you and me this morning. It will help me make three points and keep the sermon organized. I will then stop after the three points. That…
From the Gospel this morning: . . . that they may be one, even as we are one. This morning I intend to preach a very theological sermon. Now don’t worry. It’s going to be brief. Not lengthy, not even lofty. But it is going to be very theological, and so – if only for…
Fr. Eames is Rector of the Church of the Advent, Medfield, MA. “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy;…
All you need is love was the Beatles’ happy chant from that 1967 “Summer of Love”. Something has told me since 1967 that love is not all you need. As much as the world was crazy over the Beatles the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, and in some circles is still crazy over the Beatles, their “Summer…
In the Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. “Pleasing; agreeable; amiable, pleasant and kind, delightful,” No, these are not actually words from the Gospel, nor are they a definition of love, but nonetheless, on hearing them I am sure we all recognised at once a portrait of…. ….ourselves…. The words are in fact the definition…
The fourth Sunday of Easter has long been known as Good Shepherd Sunday, thanks to the appointed readings, especially that which we have just heard from John’s Gospel, wherein Jesus states in no uncertain terms: “I am the Good Shepherd.” Due to Easter’s moveable date, Good Shepherd Sunday does not always occur in April —…
In the name of the One true God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. And Jesus said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts.” Why are we troubled? For the past six decades or so humankind has been in the midst of an era often called, the “age…
Alleluia ! Alleluia ! Alleluia ! It is a very odd and wonderful word – Alleluia. I wonder how many people here this morning know what it means. Some of you, certainly. But I suspect that those of you who don’t know are probably in the majority. Indeed, I would to wager that hundreds of…
There are actually three kinds of people who travel. There are wanderers, there are tourists, and there are pilgrims. Wanderers can’t stay still because they can’t stand themselves, and so constantly wander, thinking that someplace else will be better – it doesn’t matter where; just keep going. Tourists like to be interested in things, but…
Alleluia, the Lord is risen! Alleluia. We’ve just completed Act III of a drama that will continue for two more acts, but those acts are the deepest and most important acts that any human being can do, because we are to participate in that dying and rising with our Lord, even as Noah this evening…
‘IT IS FINISHED’ We have come to the end of the Passion narrative, as Our Lord says, “It is finished.” We have heard the story of Jesus betrayed, mocked, physically and emotionally abused. Who could have done this? We did. In A Matter of Eternity, Dorothy Sayers says: “God was executed by people painfully like…
INTRODUCTION Holy Week is a pilgrimage towards our encounter with Jesus, face to face. As with any pilgrimage it proceeds in stages; sometimes we ascend mountaintops and catch a vista that helps us to see where we are, at other times we trudge through dry valleys that challenge our determination to complete our journey. John…
No matter how old or how young you or I may be, we’ve still got a lot to learn. And God has a great deal to teach us. Sometimes, we have to learn what God has to teach again and again – learning and relearning. Day by day. Week by week. Year by year. For,…
Sir, we wish to see Jesus. (John 12:21) Seeing Jesus will only happen through serving him. We see and experience nature all around us. In these observations and experiences we learn that there are certain patterns in the natural world and these are developed into principles. The patterns of days turning into nights, seasons following…
When I was in Australia, prior to my ordination, I was in the seminary’s Ministry Formation program, taking classes and training for practical matters in church work. Part of the program included a series of guest speakers, who would come in and address us ordinands on some topic relevant to our upcoming ministries. One such…
From the Lesson this morning: God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. (Genesis 22:8) I wonder if it has ever occurred to you that the story we heard this morning in the lesson is repellent and horrible. It is the account of something that is monstrous beyond measure, and we should…
“The Negation of Evil: How Mankind Counters the Devil” In the name of the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. I have favorite television shows, we all do, but still one of my favorites is the Twilight Zone. There is an episode from season two in 1960 entitled “The Howling Man” which…
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” That familiar aphorism is taken from a letter written by Benjamin Franklin to a friend in 1789. Franklin got lots and lots of things right, but this he got wrong. Or shall we say half wrong. There is nothing certain about…
…and a voice came out of the cloud, “this is my beloved son; listen to him.” Our goal is to see Christ in His glory. We are given the gift of having that vision with us now so we can be prepared for heaven and inspired on the way. There are many of us who,…
When the artist Paul Gauguin[1] completed the painting he would later call his manifesto, he was 50 years old and broken: his body by illness and injury; his mind by relentless depression and overwhelming debt; his spirit by insurmountable grief at the death of his 19-year-old daughter, Aline.[2] He declared “I have lost my daughter.…
From the Gospel this morning: Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. You didn’t have to have a sophisticated education to be a fisherman in ancient Judea. You probably learned the trade – sailing the boat, catching the fish, mending the nets – from your father, who learned it from his…
Many of you know my son Tristan; he is eight years old now, and currently he is obsessed with talking interactive computers like Google’s search engine, which lets you ask rather than type a question and answers back in an audible voice. Mostly he asks about the weather or about the news or to hear…
The heavens, you know, have always fascinated us and excited our imagination. I am sure that there is no one here this morning who has not felt the thrill, the moment of exaltation which is inevitable when, on a clear night, the stars dazzle us and the panoply of the heavens is spread out from…
In the name of the One true God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Recently at another Church I work at as Christian Education Director I was leading a lesson on the Incarnation. In the middle of the lesson a young student raised their hand and said, “My grandfather does not believe in heaven.” After…
Christmas. When you hear that word, what’s the first thing you think of? Is it special Christmas music, or Christmas cookies, or Christmas vacation? Or maybe it’s presents. …the presents you hope the grownups in your family might give you. (You’ve been asking and asking, right?) Or perhaps the present you have made specially for…
This morning I would like to reflect on two key words from today’s Gospel: wilderness and witness. First, wilderness. Certainly “voice crying in the wilderness” is one of the most familiar phrases from this portion of John’s Gospel. We can only imagine how the early readers of, or listeners to, John’s Gospel, understood this…
John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem. (Mark 1:4-5) Why did they go out? Why did they go out to see this wild man, this frankly scary man…
The Rev’d Margery Kennelly is the Episcopal Chaplain at Harvard University. What a joy it is to be with you here today on your Feast ofTitle. I know your beautiful church – although not because I have been able to attend many of your Sunday services. I am familiar with your church- with its closets…
Recently we had a visitor here at the Church of the Advent who told me his family was used to attending a Unitarian Church. I think he could tell this would be a little different from their usual experience. But he seemed to strike a reassuring note when he said at the Unitarian church “the…
Fr. McClain is Associate Rector for Christian Formation at St. David’s Episcopal Church, Baltimore, Maryland. When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests…
Dr. McGowan is the Dean and President of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University. This sermon was preached at the Solemn Mass concluding the conference, “Anglo-Catholicism: Uncovering Roots,” held at the Church of the Advent, November 15 – 16, 2017. The Eucharist is a sacrifice. See, I said it. I was never really expecting to…
This morning I want us to look briefly at a verse taken from the Epistle reading we just heard: Paul’s first letter to the Church at Thessalonika. In it he addresses a problem which was of concern to members of the Church there: what should they believe about those in the Church who had died…
From St. Paul, writing to the Colossians: “For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (3:3) And from St. Paul writing to the Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (2:20) Outside of Easter, of course, today…
A month or so ago, I got my marching orders from the Stewardship Committee, and, being the dutiful and obedient soul that all of you know me to be, I am following their instructions to the letter. Today my sermon will be about Stewardship, and it will be in two parts. The first will address…
In today’s Gospel, Jesus once again shows himself to be a master of teaching-by-inquiring. Not for the first time, and not for the last, he answers a tricky question with…a tricky question. He frequently uses this technique to guide people toward some truth. Perhaps he learned this from his father, who sets the stage…
My favorite medieval historian, the Parisian scholar Remi Brague, says that one could define the modern age, our age, as “the age without angels.” And I think there is something right about this. We don’t think or talk about angels much these days, and philosophers and theologians haven’t done so deeply for a long time.…
Let’s pretend. Let’s pretend that someone is casting a play, and you are invited to take a role. The play is called “The Parable of the Laborers” and you have your choice of roles: A laborer who comes early in the day; a laborer who comes mid-day; or a laborer who starts work late in…
From St. Paul the Apostle: “Far be it from me to glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Galatians 6:14 It’s hard to know what to make of Jesus. If our Lord has been – and still is – one of the most influential figures in human history, it is also quite…
The Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost (Year A, Proper 18) “Back to School: Paul’s Syllabus” // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Ezekiel 33.7-11 Psalm 119.33-40 Romans 12.9-21 Matthew 18.15-20 In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Welcome back! Our program year at the Advent officially/unofficially kicks…
Canon Macdonald-Radcliff is the Executive Director of the World Dialogue Council and formerly the Dean of All Saints’ Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Today’s specific Gospel verse poses some rather interesting challenges not only in the passage we heard, but also because of the wider complexities presented…
Not so long ago I read an article online that passionately argued for the elimination of one of the elements that comprises our liturgy every Sunday. The author—we have to call him something, so let’s call him Mr. Sensitive—objected to the Roman Catholic church’s use of the phrase “Lord, I am not worthy to have…
The Rev’d Daniel McClain is Associate Rector for Formation at St. David’s Church, Baltimore, MD. In her short story,“The Displaced Person,” Flannery O’Connor symbolizes the glory of the transfiguration with a peacock. More precisely, her characters’ responses to that peacock show us how disruptive glory can be, and how easy it is to miss glory.…
I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him…
As many of you know I went to graduate school in New York City many years ago now, and I did my PhD in philosophy there. During graduate school I came to realize that when I told people that I was getting a PhD in philosophy most of them managed to at least pretend to…
You may have noticed that so often, when Jesus really wants to get his disciples attention, he places a child in the midst of them — either literally or figuratively. Think of his gentle rebuke to the disciples, when he is in the midst of blessing children: “…Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me,…
Fr. Weldon is the Rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Waban, Massachusetts. From John’s Gospel: The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” And Jesus said to them, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”…
Trinity Sunday (Year A) 11 June 2017 // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Genesis 1.1-2.3 Psalm 150 2 Corinthians 13.(5-10)11-14 Matthew 28.16-20 In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Some days more than others, it can be truly humbling to be a preacher. It certainly…
I am reading a book by an historian at Yale named Timothy Snyder, and I’m not sure whether to recommend it to you or not. The title is Black Earth, and it is the account of the destruction of civilization in Eastern Europe by the Soviets and the Nazis in the period between the two…
Fr. Tucker is the Rector of Christ Church, Bordentown, New Jersey. +In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Fr. Warren, Fr. Wood, clergy, wardens, vestry, and people of the Church of the Advent, I bring you greetings from Christ Church Bordentown; our church cat, the Venerable…
From St. Paul writing to the Church at Colossae: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. ( 3:1 ) If you think back on the Gospel story, you will remember that there were many times in our Lord’s life and…
Several years ago I went to Copenhagen, Denmark, to give a paper on my favorite philosopher, the 19th-century Danish Christian thinker Søren Kierkegaard. At the conference dedicated to his writings there were old friends of mine who work in the same area of philosophy, and as usually happens at these things, I met some new…
Holy Scripture can be mysterious and downright puzzling. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of us, since Scripture’s theme – broadly speaking – is itself a mystery and a paradox. It is the mystery and the paradox that the infinite God, Creator of all that is, eternal and omnipotent, enters into a relationship…
Today, on Good Friday, we meditate on John’s account of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word “Passion” of course comes from the Latin, and it can mean a couple of different things. In Latin the word “passion” can mean suffering. And of course our Lord suffers as a result of his being…
Alleluia. It is an odd word – Alleluia. And I suspect that most of us use it without having the slightest idea what it means. Indeed, I am certain that hundreds of thousands, even millions of Christians have used this word and rejoined in this word without knowing at all what they were saying. It…
A rabbi of my acquaintance, a hospital chaplain, tells of being asked, time and again, by many of the sick or suffering people she sees: Why me? To this plaintive question she has one inarguable answer: Because you have a body. Just over three months ago, we joyously celebrated God’s taking on a body —…
People nowadays often fuss and fret about the question of the meaning of life. What is the meaning of life? Is it meaningless? And if there is meaning, why isn’t it obvious? Dozens of answers have been given to these questions, and so there has been a great deal of fuss and fretting. And yet,…
The Fifth Sunday in Lent 2 April 2017 // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Ezekiel 37:1-14 Romans 8:6-11 John 11:1-45 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. Then said…
From St. Paul as he writes to the Church in the city of Ephesus: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. It has often been said that the ethics of the New…
Today’s passage from John’s gospel is full of transitions: From the beginning to the end we see the full spectrum of our Lord Jesus Christ’s character, moving from his humanity to his divinity. We also see a shift from physical, literal water and bodily thirst to spiritual, living water and the thirst of the human…
From the Lesson this morning: Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Gen. 12:1) And from the Gospel, the words of Jesus: The wind blows where it will and you hear the sound of it, but you…
“Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down…’” Throw yourself down. In this time of Lent, which we as the body of Christ have just entered into, we consider many things– especially…
Ash Wednesday 1 March 2017 // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Joel 2.1-2, 12-17 Psalm 103.8-14 2 Corinthians 5.20b-6.10 Matthew 6.1-6, 16-21 In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Our OT reading today is about as bracing as they come. The name “Joel” appears in holy scripture only one time,…
“You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” What’s the first thing you say to yourself when you hear Jesus say “You must be perfect?” If you are at all like me, the first thing you say to yourself is something like “That is never going to happen.” If we are at…
And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his Temple.—Malachi 3:1 It was, I think, a mixed blessing which God bestowed upon us when He gave us dreams and taught us to hope. A mixed blessing, and for the dreamer a dream can be a dangerous thing, for we can be injured by…
Today is our annual parish meeting, so it seems a good time to share this anecdote. A priest of my acquaintance, rector of a prestigious urban parish for only a few months, was preparing for the parish’s annual meeting (and that’s a lot of work, as my colleagues can attest). In the midst of this,…
The Third Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A) “Jesus Begins: Call, Communion & Commission” // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Amos 3.1-8 Psalm 139.1-17 1 Corinthians 1.10-17 Matthew 4.12-23 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. I know it’s just January, but look how far we’ve…
From St. John’s Gospel, the word of John the Baptist: “I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.” And from St. Matthew’s Gospel, the voice from Heaven: “Thou art my Son, my beloved.” This morning for the sermon I want to do a bit of Bible study. Last week we…
This evening we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, the commemoration of the visit of the wise men to the Infant Christ. We just heard the story from St. Matthew’s Gospel, and like all the stories of Christmas, it is a touching one. How often has it captured the imaginations of poets and painters. And…
From John of Patmos, the author the Book of Revelation, and from the prophecy of Isaiah: Behold, I make all things new. ( Rev. 21:5 ) Rejoice and be glad in that which I create. ( Is. 65:17 ) I must admit to you this morning that the holiday which most of the world has…
The gospel reading for Christmas from St. Luke combines the extraordinary with the ordinary, the heavenly with the earthly. It tells an astonishing story but one that is also everyday. For St. Luke, who God is/becomes clear to us in the most mundane human events, the birth of a baby, lying in an animal’s feed…
Last Sunday we heard an account of John the Baptist preaching and baptizing in the wilderness. “Repent,” he cried, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” John must have been convincing, or perhaps people were just afraid of him and did what he said, because crowds came out to him, confessed their sins, and…
It is a horrible thing to be exiled: to be thrown out and forced to leave the place which is your home . . . and to be sent to a place which you do not know and which does not know you. It is horrible, and most of us cannot imagine it. We’re lucky,…
As many of you know, I grew up in Dallas, Texas, which is very much the buckle of the Bible belt. I spent a lot of time in the coolest downtown neighborhood, holding talks in the back room of a hip bar on Tuesday nights, much like the Theology on Tap events we sponsor at…
After this I looked, and lo, in heaven an open door. . . At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne. . . and before the throne burn seven torches of fire which are the seven spirits of God. (Rev. 4:1, 2, 5)…
Ms. Grant-Rose is the Executive Director of Common Cathedral. Good Morning, grace be with you my friends and peace. I am pleased to have the privilege of meeting with you and sharing the good news of the Gospel this morning. To help focus our next few moments I find it helpful to pray. So, if…
The Baptismal Font here at the Church of the Advent – which we will use twice this morning – was the very first gift to the Parish. A Miss Elizabeth Perkins had it made for the Advent in 1850 when the church was not here on Brimmer Street, but on Green Street, which doesn’t exist…
Twenty-third Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 25, Year C) “Power for Publicans & Pharisees” // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Jeremiah 14.(1-6) 7-10, 19-22 Psalm 84 2 Timothy 4.6-8, 16-18 Luke 18.9-14 ☩ In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. “The Pharisee and the Publican” — that’s the traditional name of the…
Right now we find ourselves in the time of the year that the church calls “ordinary time.” Ordinary time is the long interval that stretches from Pentecost to Advent, and it’s called ordinary not because it’s mundane or plain but because it is numbered: In Latin “ordinary” just means numbered in order. You may remember…
Fr. Mead, the recently retired Rector of Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, New York City, served as Rector of the Church of the Advent from 1985 to 1996. In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen. My heartfelt thanks go to Fr. Warren for the honor of being…
The Church of the Advent began with a short walk on Bowdoin Street. A short walk, but a rather purposeful one. In a late autumn evening of 1843, Richard Salter, a physician, walked from his office at No. 4, Bowdoin Street, to the office, No. 2, of a friend and colleague, William Coale. Having been…
From the book of the Prophet Isaiah: In the year that King Uzziah died, I also saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up: and his train filled the Temple. Above it stood the seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his…
This morning we heard a story known as the parable of Dives and Lazarus, from the Gospel of Luke. Dives, in fact, is not a name given in the parable. It simply means “rich man” in Latin, but because this parable was very often depicted in medieval art, the term for the unnamed rich man…
Too many years ago, when I was the rector of a church in Newton, I got the bright idea in my head of setting up a large (life-sized, in fact) cross in the churchyard during Lent. This is the custom in some places, and I decided to start it at my own church. You couldn’t…
Five years ago, in March 2011, a devastating tsunami struck Japan, killing nearly 16,000 people. Another 2,500 are missing, presumed dead. One man who lost his wife in the disaster continues to search for her body. After scouring the mountains, forests, and shoreline looking for her, he has turned to the sea. Now in his…
So I missed last week because I was traveling abroad, but I am now back and ready to do a little bit to keep Fr. Sammy from having to do every single thing around here, and a good way to help out is to do a bit of preaching, which I am very happy to…
Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost “4 Cs of The Narrow Door” // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Isaiah 28.14-22 Psalm 46 Hebrews 12.18-19, 22-29 Luke 13.22-30 ☩ In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Last Sunday we looked at one of Jesus’ “hard sayings” — That he came to bring division,…
Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 15) // 14 August 2016 “A Hard Saying” // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Jeremiah 23.23-29 Psalm 82 Hebrews 12.1-7 (8-10) 11-14 Luke 12.49-56 ☩ In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Where I grew up, everybody knew Jesus said tough things — we called…
Fr. Thornley is a Curate at St Marylebone Parish Church, London, England. “God brought Abram outside and said, “Look toward Heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them… So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” One of my earliest…
From the Gospel this morning: Take heed and avoid all covetousness: for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. This morning in the readings from Holy Scripture we heard the voice of a young man and the voice of an old man. The young man is Jesus, only thirty or…
In today’s reading from Luke’s gospel, we encounter the one and only time in the entire New Testament that anyone asks Jesus for instruction in prayer. “Lord, teach us to pray.” I am glad that our reading contains all the verses that it does, because this entire section from the gospel of Luke is in…
Are you ever confused by Jesus? I am. And if not by Jesus himself, certainly by some of the stories told about him. And if not by the stories themselves, certainly by the variety of interpretations they inspire. So, today: Mary and Martha. Is this a tale about sibling rivalry? Or is it a story…
When I was a child my family and I did all our traveling together by car; we were too poor for plane tickets, so our family vacations when I was a kid were all done by road trip. I still love this way to travel, and I have a lot of fondness for the open…
From St Paul writing to the Galatians: “Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” (6:14,15) For the past few weeks…
Most human beings will do almost anything they can to gain acceptance and enhance their status. Nowadays, we call this “self-esteem” – feeling good about oneself and then, as one’s status is enhanced, feeling better about oneself. People like that. And, of course, there is the all-important matter of the acceptance and esteem others may…
Preached at a Healing Mass with Litany for Victims of Gun Violence. The psalm appointed for this evening, Psalm 31, is a full-fledged Psalm of Lament: the plaintive, passionate voice of humanity crying out to divinity. Yet, for some reason, the creators of the Lectionary chose to include only the final five verses. As poetic…
You may have noticed how, from time to time, an emotion or psychological attribute makes the news, and becomes a sort of pop-culture flavor of the week: remember when self-esteem was all the rage? Having what was called “low self-esteem” was held responsible for everything from failure to live up to expectations, to unhealthy relationships,…
Dr. Ferlo is the President of the Bexley Seabury Federation. Pope Urban IV usually receives the credit for getting us here in church on a Thursday evening that’s not even in Holy Week. Miraculous is the memorial … in which the sign is renewed and the wonderful things are transformed, in which is contained all…
This morning we are celebrating a mystery, a very great mystery, the mystery of the inner being and inner life of God. And I think I should begin by making clear what I understand this word mystery to mean. First of all, it’s not a question of whether the butler did it or not. That’s…
From the Revelation to John: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. . . . I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star. As many of you may know, I love making big sweeping statements. In fact and to be…
Fr. Clarke is Rector of St. Paul’s Church, Malden, Massachusetts. God has gone up with a shout! — Psalm 47:5a In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. What do crafters of foreign policy rate as their toughest question? Ask Catherine Ashton, former high representative for security policy…
The words we hear today from Jesus to his disciples come from a portion of John’s gospel known as the farewell discourse. Despite this formal/academic, somewhat highfalutin term, the act is familiar to anyone who has ever said goodbye, even if only temporarily, to a dear person or place. A parent dropping a child off…
From this Sunday forward in Eastertide, we will be reading through some of Jesus’s final teachings to his disciples recorded in the Gospel of John. You may recall that we have been looking at his post-resurrection appearances; now though we shift back in time as it were, to events that take place right before Jesus’s…
In today’s reading, and not for the first time, Jesus identifies himself as a shepherd: a common laborer who works with his hands, whose shoulders ache, whose job is never done. The full import of the relationship between sheep and shepherd may not hold much meaning for us today. Being sheep-like or sheepish might not…
Third Sunday of Easter “The Fire of Forgiveness” // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Acts 9.1-19a Psalm 33 Revelation 5.6-14 John 21.1-14 ☩ In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Today I will tell you two stories. One, the story we read today from John’s Gospel, took place on the…
From the First Epistle of Peter: Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation; for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. (2:2) Let me emphasize three phrases: newborn babes, spiritual milk, tasted the kindness of the Lord. Today, the Sunday after Easter Sunday, is…
Homilies by the Rev’d Phillip Ellsworth, March 25, 2016 1. Father, forgive them. 2. Today you will be with me in paradise. 3. Woman, behold thy son. 4. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 5. I thirst. 6. It is finished. 7. Father, into thy hands I…
Fr. King is Associate Professor of Church History at the School of Theology of the University of the South and the Director of its Advanced Degrees Program.
Fourth Sunday of Lent // Laetare Sunday “Lest We Forget” // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Joshua 4.19-24, 5.9-12 Psalm 34 II Corinthians 5.17-21 Luke 5.11-32 ☩ In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. As we often do at the start of a sermon, let’s take a moment to get…
From the Lesson this morning: And he [Abram] believed the Lord and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. (Gen. 15:6) Righteous. Righteousness. How very many times do we come across these words in the Bible ! So and so was a righteous man. The Lord is a righteous judge. The Lord your God is a…
First Sunday of Lent “Four Fs of Fasting” // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Deuteronomy 26.(1-4)5-11 Psalm 91 Romans 10.(5-8a)8b-13 Luke 4.1-13 In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. In our lectionary, Year C is the year of St. Luke. Luke’s gospel dominates the readings all year (Matthew is Year…
This morning I’d like to begin by telling you about a rather amazing and saintly man, George Frederick Houghton, who was the founder of the first church I served in New York City, the Church of the Transfiguration. Fr. Houghton was a New Yorker, and, as a very young man, had been given permission by…
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany (Sexagesima) “Preparing to Prepare” // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Jeremiah 1.4-10 Psalm 71.1-17 1 Corinthians 14.4-10 Luke 4.21-32 + In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Last Sunday and today we are studying a single story in St. Luke’s gospel, one single “pericope.” Pericope is a fancy…
From the Gospel this morning: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Peter is one of my favorite characters in the Gospel story. I love dear old Peter. And one reason that this is possible is that in all four Gospels his character is more finely drawn and with more detail than…
Feast of the Epiphany // 6 January 2016 “The Reveal” // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Isaiah 60.1-6, 9 Psalm 72 Ephesians 3.1-12 Matthew 2.1-12 In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. I want to read a few words and phrases and I hope you…
Today is the second Sunday after Christmas and it is a somewhat irregular Sunday, for it only happens when Christmas falls on certain days of the week. It is also a Sunday which seems – liturgically – not to be able to make up its mind. Instead of just one, there are three different Gospel…
It may be the long dark nights at this time of year which made story telling an almost necessary pastime, not so long ago, or perhaps it is the apparent charm of the story itself – mother and child, angels and shepherds, the ox, the ass ? Whatever it was, whatever it is, Christmas has…
Are you ready for Christmas? That’s a pretty common question right now. Are you ready for Christmas? One way we get ready for Christmas is by picking out presents and wrapping them. We may spend lots of time carefully wrapping presents. Why do we wrap presents? Why don’t we just say, here’s a book…a sweater…a…
Fourth Sunday of Advent “God is Coming” // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy Wood Micah 5.2-4 Psalm 80 Hebrews 10.5-10 Luke 1.39-49 (50-56) † In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Just five more days. It’s hard to believe, but after all this time — after watching and waiting and (in…
From the Book of Psalms: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” It was “good news” that John the Baptist preached to the multitudes. That at least is St. Luke’s opinion. At the end of the section of the Gospel we heard this morning the evangelist tells us, “So, with many other exhortations, he…
Second Sunday of Advent (Year C) “Aspects of Advent” // A Sermon by Fr. Sammy L. Wood Baruch 5.1-9 Psalm 126 Philippians 1.1-11 Luke 3.1-6 In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Light your candles quietly, such candles as you possess, wherever you are. That’s the first line…
Dr. McGowan is the Dean & President of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University. “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon…
They say timing is everything. And certainly this feast of Christ the King comes at a most fortuitous time. I suspect there’s no need to catalogue the forces of evil and sin we encounter in headlines and in human hearts. Every day, news reports – whether from halfway around the globe, or right next door–…
The Church of the Advent began with a short walk on Bowdoin Street. A short walk, but a rather purposeful one. On a late autumn evening of 1843, Richard Salter, a physician, walked from his office at No. 4, Bowdoin Street, to the office, No. 2, of a friend and colleague, William Coale. Having been…
From St. Paul, writing to the Colossians: “For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (3:3) And from St. Paul writing to the Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (2:20) Today is the feast day by…
Jonathan Myrick Daniels was born in Keene, New Hampshire in 1939, one of two children of a Congregationalist physician. When in high school, he had a bad fall which put him in the hospital for about a month. This was for him a time of reflection. Soon after, he joined the Episcopal Church and began…
Sermon preached by The Rev’d Allan B. Warren III at the Church of the Advent, Boston The Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost, October 26, 2015 This morning we heard the account of the healing of a blind man from the Gospel of Mark. It’s a familiar story, and it ought to be, for it also appears in…
This story from Mark’s Gospel is commonly called “The Rich Man.” Frequently the focal point of commentary on the story is the instruction Jesus gives to the unnamed man: “Sell what you have and follow me.” But to dwell on the dramatic divestment aspect of the exchange between the man and Jesus causes what I…
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. We’re waiting for Joaquin this weekend, so perhaps it’s fitting that we’re sort of in the eye of Hurricane Francis today. It is a “Francis Fest” at the Advent – keeping the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, blessing…
I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising that many of the things we were taught and learned as small children stay with us for the rest of our lives. Drummed into our heads when we are five or six or seven or eight, they stay there. One that will certainly never leave me is this: Stop,…
From the Gospel this morning: “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out.” There is great diversity in what we call the New Testament, and the reason for this is simple. It’s not one book, but, as we all know, it is a collection of writings…
This morning I want us to think about something none of us likes to think about very much. That may not be an engaging beginning for a sermon; even so, it is, I think, a fact of life that we ought to think about such things. If we don’t like them, it is probably because…
I want you to join me in a science experiment. Raise one index finger if you will at arm’s length like so. Close your right eye and observe where your finger appears against a fixed point in the distance, perhaps the pulpit here where I am standing. Now open the right eye and close the…
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. The opening scenes of Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan stay with you a long time. It’s D-Day, Allied troops are storming the beach at Normandy and they’re met with a barrage of mortar and automatic weapons fire. The ocean…
