Sermons

Notes 1 Opening We're still in apocalyptic / end times mode this week. This focus on end times is characteristic of the shift from the old church year to the new church year. It is characteristic of the transition between one era and another. From a Christian perspective it marks the transition from the old covenant of ancient Israel to the new covenant of the church founded on the Messiah named Jesus. It applies to the transition of other eras as well. For example from ancient Rome to modern Europe. For example the shift from the primary role that Great Britain had prior to the world wars and the increase of influence of the United States. It seems likely that it accompanies our own time as the influence of the United States declines and that of China increases. Great change brings with it dramatic anxiety and worry, fear, and imaginary enemies. We live in such times. It applies equally well on a small scale. The transition from childhood to adult hood. The changes that occur w...

November 21, 2021: Reign of Christ - Proper 29 (34) Note: Lectionary Opening When I was young I was well aware that the imagination was important at least in school and classes like English. I thought of myself is not very good at using my imagination. I was an oldest child, the namesake of my father, and for my early education I was intent on doing what I was told. It was really not until I was in my 20s that I came to realize how much using my imagination was something that fed me. Even then I thought of imagination as kind of luxury item. At that point the most important thing for me was finding a job and learning how to support myself. By the time I was in my 30s life itself was getting pretty complicated. I came to learn that using one's imagination was an important tool in the therapeutic setting. A healthy use of imagination could help one get well or to cope better with life. Later still I was introduced to the spirituality of Ignatius of Loyola. His conversion to Chris...

  Proper 28b Notes 1 The Jesus Movement The Jesus movement emerged from the much larger Judaism of the first century. It was a time when people had a keen sense that it was the end of everything that they knew. They saw signs for it everywhere. Probably one of the most visible signs of that era was the bloodbath and destruction that the Romans inflicted on Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. I sometimes think that the Jesus movement will end at a time when people have a keen sense that the end of everything that we know is fast approaching. I have been aware I'm seeing and feeling that myself. When I was a younger man I couldn't have imagined that I would see the Northwest Passage. The Arctic north was a fabled mythic place and I dreamed of going there one day. In the meantime what has happened is that Mary Pat and I had the opportunity to take an Alaska cruise some years ago and we got to see some of the last glaciers of that part of the world in the process of falling into the...

All Saints Opening Will our children have faith? A formative book call my teacher from my early ministry. He has asked a fundamental question that has stayed with the church as far as I could tell for 30+ years. An old joke from 100 years ago ask the question, when is a school not a school? The answer is, when it is a Sunday school. What the church has done for generations to try to pass on the faith to our children has by and large failed. Right at the present moment even the question of what school is is being fundamentally challenged around the country. We don’t know what a school is for in a time when there is disagreement about what is truth, and truth or falsehood is seen to be for an individual to choose. But if that’s the case it is even more in question how one passes on the faith that gives us life through Jesus Christ. The basic insight of Westerhoff is to shift the focus of how Christian formation is passed on to our children. In his words, no longer is it helpful or ...