Harrowing Of Hell

Category: Temple

This is no time for a child to be born

Sermon | December 25, 2025

“This is no time for a child to be born, with the earth betrayed by war and hate… Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.” These lines were written by Madeleine L’Engle during the Vietnam War era and they could have just as easily have been written today. But that’s the thing. These words

Alertness and the Crisis in Gaza

Sermon | August 10, 2025

To watch the sermon click here. Good morning. I’m glad to see you here. As I mentioned last Sunday, the topic on the table today is Gaza. I know this probably won’t be a sermon that meets everyone’s expectations. In fact, I’ve already received a pile of emails with opinions and information to “help” guide

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Sermon | July 7, 2024

To watch the sermon click here. Why is it so hard to see things we’re not expecting? Why is it so hard to change our minds? There’s a mystery in today’s gospel. Jesus has been teaching, healing, casting out demons, gathering disciples. He’s even raised the dead—the daughter of Jairus, administrator of the Capernaum synagogue—though

Listening to God’s Call

Sermon | January 14, 2024

To watch the sermon click here. Jesus, make of me what you will make of me; while you be what I love. Amen. Good morning, Epiphany! It is so good to be with you. I haven’t been in this pulpit in about seven years and yet, it feels as if it was yesterday. I have

The House of God

Sermon | December 24, 2023

To watch the sermon click here. When I was a graduate student, I lived in an apartment about a mile north of the UW. It was in a large, ramshackle old house that was bulldozed years ago and replaced by a civilized apartment building. One morning, as I was sitting in bed reading for my

The Holy Name

Sermon | January 1, 2023

Today being the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus has, naturally enough, got me thinking about names, and the significance of names. Today is the day commemorating Jesus’ bris, or circumcision, when he was given the name that the angelic messenger had given to both Mary and Joseph. My own name, Susan, is common

Can We Weary God?

Sermon | December 18, 2022

733 BC was a very interesting year. It was the year that king Ahaz of Judea met the prophet Isaiah by the upper pool, over the hill, down past the Fullers field, just outside the walls of the city of David. It was a regular place sort of like meeting at the Madrona playfield across