This past week, I was offered a chance to take my 15-year-old goddaughter niece to see the musical “Hamilton.” It seems her father made a mistake on the date when buying a pair of tickets, so he couldn’t take her as planned. And she REALLY wanted to see this show. It wasn’t entirely convenient for […]
Good morning. First thought: today’s Gospel reading from John may be one of the most important messages in the Bible on Christian daily living. Second thought: if one wants to think about the application of scripture to life today, it really helps to have an example. So, this morning, I want to talk about seeing […]
Well, my brothers and sisters, today is my last day with you as your seminarian. As such, this is my last sermon at Holy Cross. And, while there are several good readings to choose from on this occasion, I would be remiss if I left this place without having preached on the book of Revelation. […]
There was a battle raging in the wilderness, but now it has come to the city. And not just any city, but Jerusalem: yeru-shalayim, the City of Peace. If you can remember back to the first Sunday in Lent, all the way back to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, then you might recall […]
There is a battle raging in the wilderness. The temptation of Jesus in our Gospel reading this morning is not merely an assessment of Jesus’ self-control or his spiritual discipline; it is, in fact, the beginning of a war for the allegiance of humankind. The battle raging in the wilderness is between two kingdoms: the […]
Focus: In Christ, we find a new identity, our true identity. We must be ready to see with Christian eyes and love with Christian hearts. We must be ready to participate in what Jesus Christ is doing in the world—to live out the Christian drama. This may require us to let go of, and even […]
From now on you will be catching people. Now, I was very excited to preach when I first saw our readings for this week: the calling of Jesus’ first disciples, the call of the prophet Isaiah, and Paul’s summary of the Gospel message to the Corinthians! I thought, “Here it is! This is my chance […]
Writing a sermon seems pretty easy. Modern American life is so violent, so brutal, so inhuman—as anyone who has watched the news, driven on the beltway, or dealt with automated customer service can tell you. Simply keeping it together is a daily task, and an act of kindness can appear as a kind of revolution. […]
Good morning. When a layperson is invited to preach, I think the congregation expects two things: announce the big idea up front, and get to the point quickly. So, first, the big idea. As 1st Corinthians states, and as you can read throughout the New Testament, a big idea is that we have, each of […]