New Believers, New Stories (Sermon preached 15 May 2022)

Today we are going to baptize these three gorgeous little ones into the Body of Christ. We are going to welcome them into a living community that takes its name from the Greek word, Christos, the title that was bestowed, nearly two thousand years ago, on Jesus of Nazareth, a Palestinian Jew.

  

Christos means “anointed one”; specifically, “God’s anointed”, as in, the long-awaited Messiah (which is “God’s anointed” in Hebrew) who is foretold in the Jewish Scriptures. And Christianity is the name that was given to the religious movement that, after his death and resurrection, spread from that tiny corner of the Roman empire throughout the world. Taking root in places that Jesus’ earliest followers could never have imagined; shaping, and being shaped by the peoples it encountered and the times of which it became a part.

One scholar called this process “indigenization”...(read more)

No Idle Tale (Easter Sermon 4 April 2022)

Alleluia, Christ is Risen! Hallelujah, we are here! We are here, together, on this bright, beautiful Easter morning. We are here with flowers and brass and the choir. We are here seeing one another’s faces. We are here, knowing that Easter joy is bouncing across wifi networks to beloved in Christ, far and near. We are here, offshoots on that great sprawling vine that is the body of the resurrected Christ, all over the world, ALIVE!

 

This Easter, we are here maybe even daring to believe that resurrection really is more than whistling in the dark. Resurrection really is more than a momentary escape from that unrelenting news feed. Resurrection really is more than a story we tell ourselves so that we can keep on keeping on. Resurrection really is more than just “an idle tale”.

 

Luke alone, of the four Gospel writers who describe the events of that long-ago morning, the first day of the week following Jesus' crucifixion, is the one blunt enough to use that term...(read more)

Idle: Not by Susan Springer Anderson

Acrylic on paper, 8"x10"

2022

For the last several years, the Parish of St. Matthew has had the privilege of featuring the work of Susan Springer Anderson, artist, teacher, mother, business owner, and member of the Parish, on our seasonal bulletin covers. Her Eastertide design was titled in response to this sermon.

Let's Just Do It (Sermon preached 20 March 2022)

Last week, our wonderful guest preacher Kathy Wilder said that one of the distinguishing marks of Jesus’ leadership was his willingness to have tough conversations. And this morning’s Gospel reading certainly bears that out!

 

Jesus has been talking to his followers about how incredibly important it is that they be awake, and prepared, for the unexpected moment when God’s call becomes suddenly, abundantly clear. That moment, he warns, requires an immediate, faithful response.

 

He’s just called them hypocrites, for ignoring the signs that are right in front of them, when some of the people in his audience bring up the brutal killing, ordered by Pilate, of some pilgrims who had come from Galilee to worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. As if, maybe, to suggest that those people might have screwed up; those people must not have been paying attention...(read more)

Misplaced Resurrection Stories (Sermon preached 27 February 2022)

Today is the last Sunday of Epiphany –  Epiphany being that season that sits between the arrival of the Magi to worship the Christ child, twelve days after Christmas, and the beginning of Lent. The season where we focus on ways in which the reign of God was manifest in Jesus. The ways he showed us and told us what that reign looks like.

Today we get one last “hit” of disclosure before entering the wilderness three days from now on Ash Wednesday. And the hit is a really big one – it’s the Transfiguration – an event recorded in all three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke).

 

Yes, there are small differences between the three accounts, but on the essentials of this extraordinary episode they agree: Jesus takes his three closest friends up onto a mountain; while they are there, Jesus’ face changes, his clothes become radiant, and he is joined in conversation by two long dead prophets; Peter blurts out something silly about a building project...(read more)

Will You Do Me a Favor? (Sermon preached 6 February 2022)

“Will you do me a favor?” When someone asks me that question, I like to think, for a minute, before I answer! I have a friend who, when she is asked “will you do me a favor”, always replies “If I can…” which is brilliant, right? Because it sounds willing, but still, there’s lots of wiggle room. “If I can…” can mean “if I can…think it makes sense”; “if I can…find the time”; “if I can…decide it’s worth my while”; “If I can…live with the consequences.”

 “Will you do me a favor?”Jesus asks Simon Peter in the Gospel story we just heard. They’re standing at the water’s edge on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, which is another name for the Sea of Galilee. Jesus has been looking up at a huge crowd of people, already gathered, with more still coming. He’s seen the two fishing boats down on the beach, and the fishermen who’ve pulled them in, taking care of their nets - and has just climbed into one of the boats.

“Will you do me a favor? Can we put out a bit, so that I can teach from out there? Then everyone will be able to hear me.” It seems like no big deal, to Peter. It’s not as if he has plans for the boat. He fishes at night, so he’s done! All he’ll have to do is sit there ...(read more)

The Epiphany That is Us (Sermon preached 16 January 2022)

Happy Second Sunday of Epiphany! It’s great to be with you, albeit virtually. What a gift technology continues to be, right, as we move through this challenging time.

 Last week in his sermon, Bruce suggested that the Adoration of the Magi, the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, and the Wedding at Cana, where Jesus turns water into wine - the story we just heard from John’s Gospel - these three together form a kind of opening triptych for this Epiphany season, this season of unveiling. Each of these events reveals a dimension of who Jesus is: God’s son, given for all the world; God’s beloved, sent to proclaim good news; and God’s incarnate word, source of life abundant.

 

As we continue on through Epiphany, which will last another six weeks, each Sunday Gospel reading will tell of more revelations. From the synagogue in Nazareth to the shores of the sea of Galilee to the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus will be manifesting who he is and what he has come to do. It is all great stuff...(read more)

The Holy Work of Portrait Restoration (Sermon preached 26 December 2021)

Good morning! And merry day-after-Christmas! We’ve gathered, we’ve celebrated, we have feasted, we’ve exchanged gifts. And we have heard the story, once more, of the birth of a child, some two thousand years ago, in a stable. Attended by animals, adored by shepherds and glorified by angels. And now it’s the first Sunday after Christmas. And the first really clear day in a while.

 Which may bode well for doing a little wondering about what difference Christmas really makes, after all is said and done. No worries – I can’t imagine ever being able to fully answer that question! Let alone in a Sunday sermon that I promise will be on the short side. It just seems to me that especially since, in a few minutes, we are going to be baptizing three new members into the body of Christ – and welcoming them into this local expression of it, this Parish of St. Matthew’s – maybe we can come up with just a small nugget. Something helpful for all of us to take away...(read more)