Sermons

title: Homily Proper 10 author: The Rev. Dale C. Hathaway Homily July 15 Ordinary Time, Proper 10: Supply St. Peter’s Two great themes of Ephesians We will hear from this letter in the NT for the next 6 weeks, up through the end of August. A little introduction to it seems like it might be in order, to help train our hearts and ears to hear the word spoken through the rest of the summer. I will take all this personally to heart, because, in fact, I am in need of a word of hopefulness during these times that seem so dark and fraught. This letter takes a cosmic view of things. It is a classic view of Christ as the Lord of all creation. Creation is big. Christ has reconciled all creation to himself and to God, and Christ has united people from all nations to himself and to one another in his church. In an almost trite sort of way, I can tell myself, “This, too, will pass away.” “In the scheme of God’s plan for creation, these times don’t even measure a blip.” That message do...

author: The Rev. Dale C. Hathaway title: Homily: Spartanburg: Proper 9 date: July 8, 2018 lectionary Welcome: Introduction Thank you for inviting me to pray with you this morning, to celebrate the Eucharist this morning, and to share with you about the Gospel as I hear it and see it. This is the first time I have supplied in Spartanburg. I’ve come along ways from the little mining town in Arizona where I was born. You can see that my white hair indicates a well-traveled head. Of course you wouldn’t know ahead of time that my hair began turning white in my 20’s. I am a retired priest, but I’m not retired in the sense of kicking my feet back and not knowing what to do. I am teaching as an adjunct at Winthrop University because my wife is on the faculty there, teaching Math to folks who are going to be teachers. I teach in the Religion Department. I was raised in the West, went to seminary and graduate school in the midwest, was a rector of congregation in Northern Indiana and on...

Homily: July 1, 2018 – Our Savior Proper 8 lectionary David: “lament” poetry and song Psalm 130 De profundis We are a church built on the backs of prophets and apostles who have gone before Personal conviction: in order to see, hear God, one can start anywhere. Based on the premise that God created all that is; so therefore God’s imprint is found everywhere. The same applies to preaching the Gospel. I have taken my vow to faithfully preach the Gospel very seriously. “As a priest, it will be your task to proclaim by word and deed the Gospel of Jesus Christ,…” 1 Conviction, then, that the Gospel can be proclaimed from any setting. For me, to preach the Gospel does not mean that my sermon must focus on the text we read from one of the 4 gospels. It includes that, but it is much bigger than those particular words from the Bible. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is much larger than that. It was, afterall, “at the birth of the beginning.” Today, I begin with the psalm. In the course ...