Category: Sermons

Tonight’s baccalaureate sermon on Mark 14: 3-9. I’m going to tell you the opposite of pretty much everything everyone else is going to tell you this weekend. You have probably already heard and will hear again tomorrow that you are the best and the brightest, that it’s your job to go out there and make […]

Praise, Palms, Silence, Stones Luke 19: 28-40  (Palm Sunday) Here’s the thing about English majors:  we believe in metaphors.  I don’t just mean we like them or appreciate them.  I mean we believe in them.  In Franz Kafka’s story, The Metamorphosis, when we read about Gregor Samsa waking up one morning to find that he […]

Sermon on Luke 13: 1-9   |  3 March 2013 – Lent 3 Apparently fig trees are like the scrappy underdogs of the tree world.  They have “aggressive root systems” that do whatever they have to do in order to find water and nutrients in the rocky, arid Middle Eastern soil where they grow wild.  […]

Mama Jesus Or Jesus Is My Chicken Luke 13: 31-35   I am completely fine with it if all you walk away with tonight is the thought that Jesus is your chicken. It’s a gift from Jesus himself, this image of him as a mother hen and us as his baby chicks in need of […]

Against the Self-Made Man…or Woman Luke 4: 1-13   There is no such thing as a self-made man.  Or woman. I hope you won’t tune me out.  I hope you won’t chalk this one up to “unrealistic preacher stuff” and let yourself off the hook.  I also hope that what I’m about to say will […]

Three Essential Prayers: Wow Luke 9: 28-36   I didn’t intend to end our Three Essential Prayers series on Transfiguration Sunday but it was fortuitous when things turned out that way.  There aren’t many better examples in scripture of the perfect moment for a “wow” prayer.   Today’s the day in the Christian calendar we […]

Three Essential Prayers: Thanks Luke 17: 11-19     What are the magic words?  You know, the ones parents coach and coax out of their kids.  Until I read a certain book last year, I thought there were two “magic words” phrases and I thought they were “please” and “thank you.”  This is what I […]

Three Essential Prayers: Help John 2: 1-11   I can’t tell you how to pray.  I could tell you about styles of prayer and techniques but that’s not what this is about.  I’m also not going to tell you that you should pray. Thursday night at forum I said it wasn’t a “you fail” forum […]

Ponder Luke 2: 1-20 Advent 3   Mary doesn’t say much.  Have you noticed? We focus a lot of our attention on her seemingly simple “yes” to the angel Gabriel.  We also appreciate her response to her meeting with Elizabeth, her beautiful song of praise and joy and anticipation at what God does.  But by […]

What Are We Waiting For? Luke 3: 1-6 (Advent 2)   Here’s the thing I used to get confused about:  waiting does not have to mean waiting patiently.  I remember being in my grandmother’s kitchen waiting for something – for the fudge to set up or the timer to go off on the cookies.  I […]