Sermons

Proper-21b http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Pentecost/BProp21_RCL.html Almighty power in mercy & pity If God is going to work with us about anything, God must first have our attention. Of course, God can do lots of things without me. Really an infinite number of things. But if what we’re talking about is me cooperating with God — which on the whole seems like a good thing to do — we have to be, like, cooperating . Right at the very beginning of our liturgy today, I claimed something that gets my attention. In the collect of the day I addressed God and claimed that: “O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity:” God’s power is found in mercy? Amazing! When we show mercy and pity we are cooperating with God’s “almighty power” -- they become our super-powers 1 . Sometimes for sure God’s power is just power. Awesome power. Creation. Making the heavens and the earth. Making the tiny creatures that crawl upon the earth. Making creatures like ...

  September 19, 2021 Proper 20b Sept. 19, 2021 St. Paul's, Monroe, NC http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Pentecost/BProp20_RCL.html Long fascination with this "Lady" When I was just a young teenager I had a pretty strong appetite for reading. I read lots of different kinds of things, wherever my interest took me. I was interested in Nikola Tesla because he was a scientist and he had a connection with Colorado Springs where I had an aunt. I was interested in Dr. Lister and Dr. Jenner of the 19th century who were pioneers of modern medicine. My father was a doctor and at that point I still assumed that’s what I would become. One of my fascinations was the Byzantine Empire. I’m not really sure where that interest came from. I wasn’t yet particularly interested in church history or theology; that would come later. It was at that age that I was especially fascinated by the architectural beauty of the cathedral in Constantinople. It was known as Hagia Sophia, or holy...

Proper 19b Sept. 12, 2021 St. Paul's, Monroe Remember — Memorare Lectionary page Over the last week or two we have seen and heard and read and viewed countless reflections on the events of 20 years ago. Not all of us at Saint Paul's have memories of that fateful day, but most of us recognize it was a day that changed just about everything. The pundits have reflected on lessons learned, there have been poignant stories of initial victims and their families, of survivors and their families, and those who are still suffering the effects. I know for me it has been emotional. One thing that has not been especially prominent has been a focus on the religious connection with that day and it’s after-effects. It’s a little surprising to me because more than any other event in my life I experienced 9/11 from the perspective of the church. That day 20 years ago, I was a long ways away -- six time zones away -- from the events. A 12 hour flight away. I had been in Hawai’i all of fou...

  title:Proper 18b -- Sept. 5, 2021 author: Fr. Dale date: Sept 5, 2021 Unofficial end of summer When I was young I didn't think about Labor Day as anything but associated with the school year starting. Later of course when I began working in the church I was the one typically responsible for overseeing the beginning of Christian education. So it was the beginning of work after a few weeks at least of vacation. Labor Day weekend. And we've been waiting so long for things to get back to normal, but it never seems to quite get there. We're not ready to start Sunday school here at Saint Pauls, getting there perhaps, but not there yet. We are going to make an effort to begin scheduling to Sunday morning Eucharist services. I have tried to encourage open feedback as we begin to try to emerge from our time of pandemic. I'm really serious about that. You see that we have different bulletins from the second service. They are different but I hope equal in some other fundam...

Proper 17b August 29, 2021 St. Paul's, Monroe lectionary ( For a different take on a similar subject, this oped was published in the NY Times on the same day I delivered this sermon. Opening When my mother died my brother and I pretty well knew what of her things each of us siblings expected to "inherit". There wasn't anything of particular value that I expected or wanted. A few sentimental things. Among them were several books that ended up on my bookshelves. One was the 1st ed. Jerusalem Bible I had given my mother back in ca. 1970. The other was a collection of small books of poetry that I knew to be among my step-father's favorite writings. Excerpts were read at his wedding to my mother and also at his funeral almost 40 years later. The poetry was by James Kavanaugh. It's a name that might mean something to some of you, but I mention it because he was a poet, but also an ex-priest who wrote about the church and by extension theology. Today we have ...

Proper 16b Christ Church, Lancaster August 22, 2021 Gathering lectionary In the collect today, we pray that God would provide power to the church gathered in unity of spirit. This is one of those times when I think, "What if God is listening to us?" I mean who do we think we are? And what presumption to think that we are in unity of spirit? And what would that even look like? Church gathered together This might be one of those times that's kind of a "one off" -- a turn of phrase to get the liturgy started. And yet, it is a powerful and evocative phrase when we pause to consider it. I feel distressed with my fellow clergy when they begin the liturgy with "Good Morning." I apologize if your favorite priest does that. But speaking for myself only, that everyday greeting, the thing the grocery clerk might say, takes away from the sacred nature of the gathering of the church. The church -- in Greek it is "those who are called out" -- ...

Proper 14b August 8, 2021 St. Paul's, Monroe 1 Introduction It's been an interesting week Exhausting in many ways for me. Physically. Shifted at mid-week from one chaotic house filled with boxes to another one filled with boxes. A group of 5 "college hunks" did the heavy lifting to get us here. That's right. We hired a moving company called "College Hunks Hauling Junk." What they left us to do was -- well all the details. We'll probably be working on it for months. Wednesday We moved. Well that was a really big deal for us. Big in the sense that it wore us out. Not so big in the sense that both Mary Pat and I have been easily confident that beginning our ministry here in Monroe has been in harmony with God's plan for us. Friday was an important day It was one of the major feast days of the year , the Feast of the Transfiguration. I have been drawn from a long ways back in my life the to the narrative of the mystical vision of the three d...