Pentecost: A Common Language

Sermon | May 23, 2021

I’m just gonna say it because I know everyone is thinking it: The whole argument that “We’re not drunk” is not a good argument in favor of the presence of the Holy Spirit, particularly if the reason for not being drunk is that it’s 9 o’clock in the morning. It is as if Peter is

Luck in the Kingdom of God: Barsabbas and Matthias

Sermon | May 16, 2021

So, there they are, Peter and 10 others sitting in Jerusalem waiting for the Holy Spirit to come upon them as Jesus had promised. A few days before they had witnessed the Ascension. There they stood on the top of the Mount of Olives as Jesus materialized into heaven; as his physical being became the

Grace of God

Sermon | May 9, 2021

Good morning Christians, Seekers, and Friends: We live in a bubble of grace. While we may not always recognize it, each and every cell in our body—each and every hair on our head is not only surrounded by, but made of, God. Will you do me a favor? For just a minute will you close

Miracles Growing!

Sermon | May 2, 2021

Good morning Christians, seekers, and friends! How are you? Isn’t this time of year just glorious in Seattle? As a quick look at my bulletin letter will show, I am obsessed with Seattle’s flowering trees and plants lately. Their blooms, fragrance, and abundant beauty in our wonderful city overwhelms me. I get a similar feeling

Moral Blindness and Immanuel Kant

Sermon | April 18, 2021

We find ourselves today with Peter and John at Solomon’s portico at the Temple in Jerusalem. They are surrounded by throngs of people who are stunned by their capacity to heal a man crippled from birth. Peter says to the crowd: “This healing was not done in our names, but the name of Jesus… You

Higher Love

Sermon | April 11, 2021

Good morning Christians, seekers, and friends: So, a friend thought it would be funny if I were to begin my sermon today that old joke “A priest, a rabbi, and minister walk into a bar….” And she assured me that if I did so, she would laugh out loud. So, I thought, what the heck?

Hallelujah!

Sermon | April 3, 2021

As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ tonight, the word that marks this moment is hallelujah. It means praise God, which is sort of odd to say praise God as a way of praising God. The truth is hallelujah is a rather untranslatable word: it is more a guttural affirmation; a mysterious proclamation; a

Time Changes

Sermon | April 2, 2021

Good Evening From Leviticus 23:5: “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, (in Hebrew between the evenings) shall be a Passover offering to the Lord.” What a difference a day makes. So much happens during Holy Week both in our scripture reading and in our church life, that when we

Jesus’ New Commandment

Sermon | April 1, 2021

Good evening Christians, seekers, and friends, I wonder what it would be like for someone who doesn’t really know much about Christianity to come into the Church tonight. At this point, a little over eighty percent of the American populace knows that Easter celebrates Resurrection but what, exactly, this means to those of us who

Category: Spiritual Formation