Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Happy Pentecost! Theologian and scientist Teilhard de Chardin wrote that the harnessing of fire is what made human civilization possible. He went on to say that someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides…
St. James' Episcopal Church – Mt. Airy, Maryland
Sermons on 2018 (Page 2)
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! Well, it’s still Easter. For some reason, I’ve found that the church does a really good job of setting aside Advent and Lent as seasons of “special intention” – but not Easter. Which is a shame, because while Advent has four Sundays,…
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! The story of the apostle Thomas reaching out to touch the wounds of the risen Christ has inspired many gorgeous, haunting, and thoughtful paintings throughout history. It is such a vivid story, it is no wonder. But out of all of them, The Incredulity…
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! A friend from high school posted this on Facebook on Thursday: Happy Opening Day, the ultimate clean slate. Hope springs eternal and all that jazz. It happens every spring, and it never gets old. Go Phils![1] I have to admit that it took my brain a…
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! Tonight, perhaps more than any other night, we are elemental in the way we come close to God. Our night is marked in darkness and light, in silence and song. We kindle fire and tell stories in the dark. We splash water. We ring bells and shout Alleluia! We meet again at…
Good Friday is the winter solstice of the liturgical year.[1] Last night after processed the body of Christ to the garden, we stripped the altar and emptied out the aumbry – and extinguished the candle that burns 27/4 all year except on these few days. The light disappeared, just as the Light of God appeared to be snuffed.[2] All these…
Maundy Thursday is a day of transition. Momentum shifts on this day. The light darkens. Shadows lengthen. General ideas about “the Lenten journey” become specific items[1]: a towel, a bowl, oil, a cup, some bread. This is the night we remember Jesus’ last night. Jesus gathered intimately with his friends for a meal. He gave them a mandate to love, and showed…
Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! We’re doing Palm/Passion Sunday a bit different this year, as I wrote about in The Shell a few weeks ago. Instead of a brief Palm celebration outside and turning immediately to the Passion inside, we’re holding on to the triumphant entry longer and moving into the passion through…
I will put my law within in, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. There are many stories about covenant in the Hebrew Scriptures. Think of Noah and the rainbow, and Moses and the stone tablets. In today’s beautiful reading, the prophet Jeremiah speaks of a covenant written…