Luke 9:28-36 Today is the Sunday of the Transfiguration, the last Sunday in Epiphany, the last Sunday before Lent, our last chance to be festive before everything turns somber and we give up saying “alleluia” until the Easter Vigil. So we might [...]
Luke 6:27-38 We’ve heard Jesus say Love your neighbor as yourself. That sounds safe enough, even though we regularly confess we haven’t done it. But love your enemies? That’s not safe. In fact, it sounds downright foolish. But that’s what he said: [...]
Luke 6:17-26 If you’ve sat in church much, you hear words like “Blessed are you…” and you probably think “Oh yeah, The Sermon on the Mount.” Well, that’s not what you heard today. Today’s Gospel lesson is known as The Sermon on [...]
Isaiah 6:1-8; Luke 5:1-11 In the presence of God, Isaiah cries, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the [...]
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 This week’s Lectionary readings include St. Paul’s famous chapter on love. It’s probably one of the best passages ever written by anybody anywhere. But what amazes me about it is remembering who wrote it. Because, if you had first [...]
Luke 4:14-21 Luke tells us that Jesus went to the local synagogue every Sabbath, and in this reading we hear what happened when he preached at his hometown synagogue. There are two crucial points to notice: First, he reads a passage from [...]
I’m copping out and posting a favorite sermon I preached on this reading back in 2004. It’s here.
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Don’t you love it when you actually get to see annoying people get their just desserts? Some while back a friend and I were waiting for the light to turn on Broad Ripple Avenue, back when there was still [...]
Jeremiah 31:7-14 If we had a contest for prophets of doom, Jeremiah would win first prize, hands-down. We even have a term for a message like his—it’s called, fittingly, a “Jeremiad,” a long-winded diatribe against a society’s moral failings that will lead [...]
John 1:1-18 It’s now the second day of Christmas’s twelve days, and already we can feel the world around us pressuring us to get back to our old routines. Stores have reopened, and retailers are cringing behind their counters, waiting to take [...]