Introduction 2025 Sermons 2026 Sermons
2024
January 7, Epiphany
Texts: Matthew 2:1-12; Isa 60:1-6; Eph 3:1-12
Sermon: “Seeing Brothers and Sisters at the Dawn of a New Day”
Synopsis: From a rabbinical parable about defining the moment when dawn begins: “It is when you can look on the face of any man or woman and see that it is your sister or brother. Because if you cannot see this, it is still night.” It is night in our nation. We are mired in politics of division for which political violence becomes an easy option. God’s politics are different. St. Paul in Ephesians tells us that God is extending the promise to Gentiles, creating One New Humanity. Matthew shows us the promise of Gentiles worshiping the Jewish king.
Quote from sermon: “Voting is one of the greatest inventions we’ve had to put political violence behind us as a constant way of life. But now millions of our fellow citizens say that they once again believe in political violence when it comes to elections. I have to admit that I’m afraid we will not be able to get through this year without at least some violence. Do you share that fear? How can you and I become part of working to minimize that violence?”
January 14, Epiphany 2B
Texts: John 1:43-51; 1 Sam 3:1-20; 1 Cor 6:12-20
Sermon: “Being God’s Temple in the World”
Synopsis: All the readings involve the tabernacle/temple, and thus the experience of God’s presence abiding in a building or place. One of the themes of John’s Gospel is that Jesus relocates the place of God’s presence to himself, and then to his followers. St. Paul echoes this theme by proclaiming our bodies as the temple for the Holy Spirit. The place of God’s presence in the world are persons, not buildings.
Quote from sermon: “Can we be fully saved without also renewing the institutions that nurture us? God knows that we have failed leadership in our temples of power, and so we are called to witness, as Samuel did to Eli and his sons, that when human leadership is corrupt and failed, then our full salvation as human beings also requires that our temples of power and wealth need to come under new management. My friends, this is so much easier in a democracy, in which we actively take part in choosing our leaders. I want to lift up to you that this democracy thing is also a part of our salvation. In our discipleship we are called to follow Jesus and Samuel in speaking prophetically to our leaders. To our temples of wealth and power.”
January 21, Epiphany 3B
Texts: Mark 1:14-20; Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 1 Cor 7:29-31
Sermon: “Repenting of Our Version of the Gospel”
Synopsis: Still near the beginning of preaching this theme, it is important to make the case for talking “politics” at all, even if it’s primarily God’s politics. One of the main tasks is to shift the center of our Gospel talk, which is so often on ‘going to heaven when you die,’ to proclamation of God’s reign coming into the world through Jesus the Messiah. I used a favorite source for this task. Brian McLaren has a great story in A New Kind of Christianity (pp. 237ff.) to lead off his section on “What is the Gospel?” (pt. 5, chs. 14-15). He’s having lunch with a theologian who challenges his Protestant focus on Paul’s so-called Gospel of Justification by Grace through Faith, and it basically rocks his world. He had to begin to unlearn what he had considered to be the Gospel in order to begin learning a whole new perspective.
Quote from sermon: “. . . we need to get a better grasp of what the offer of God’s grace is more fully about. It’s not just about saving a few souls for the afterlife. As good as that hope is, the Gospel is about something much bigger. It’s about saving God’s “very good” Creation. It’s about joining with our children and grandchildren to make this world we are leaving them a better place. So it’s about addressing the major issues of our time: Like climate change, and economic inequality, and the rise in authoritarian politics, most often mixed with racism and homophobia — the rise of neo-Nazism. Do you think more people might show up in the pews to hear about what God’s politics in Jesus have to say to such things?”
January 28, Epiphany 4B
Texts: Mark 1:21-28; 1 Cor 8:1-13
Sermon: “God’s Reign and the Politics of Healing”
Synopsis: In 2024, the dominant reality in our nation and world is the rise of authoritarian nationalistic movements. Conversation about politics is crucial to everyday living. Nothing will be the same in our nation if we succumb to racist nationalism. Last week (Epiphany 3B), we zeroed in on the Gospel as being political. This week, we begin to elaborate the politics of God’s reign as defined by healing, in contrast to human politics centered on the power to control others through the use of force. In such an important year, this will be only the beginning of the Gospel and politics.
Quote from sermon: “Why do we call this [healing] ‘politics’? First of all, we should expect it to be about politics because Jesus has already told everyone that it is about God’s reign coming into the world, and you can’t have a reign without a politics. Second, Mark gives us a big clue by using the quintessential word for politics, not just once but twice in this short passage. It’s the word translated as ‘authority.’ In Greek, it’s the word exousia, which can also be translated simply as ‘power.’ Who has the power, the authority, in human communities? The rulers. The people in charge. The politicians, if you will. . . . But Mark tells us twice that the people recognized a very different kind of power and authority in Jesus. In short, Jesus’ power and authority was about healing, about restoration and forgiveness — not about punishing or casting out. Yes, this was a very different kind of power, a very different kind of authority. In other words, it’s a very different politics.
February 4, Epiphany 5B
Texts: Mark 1:29-38; Isaiah 40:21-31
Sermon: “Healing Humanity’s Politics of Division”
Synopsis: The political conversation continued, under the shadow of rising authoritarianism and racist nationalism. Last week, an opening move in the conversation was to establish a base-line of “God’s Reign and the Politics of Healing.” This week, we go deeper with the thesis the most important thing God sends Jesus to heal are our politics themselves.
Quote from sermon: “Tragically, this [politics of healing] is an area in which I think Christianity has lost its way, lost its true mission. For centuries, Christianity as a religion has seen its mission as calling others to convert to the religion of Christianity. And what has that accomplished in terms of healing our human politics of division? It has only made things worse, right? Christianity as a religion has become part of the landscape of human history of Us-vs-Them thinking trying to force others to do things our way. Even now, millions of our fellow Christians consider themselves ‘Christian nationalists,’ with the mission of forcing this nation to become a Christian nation. I consider that way of thinking to be directly opposed to the politics of healing which Jesus came to bring us. I submit to you that this is the sin which Jesus came to take away, first and foremost. Why? Because in killing him on the cross, that was partly an expression on the part of many Jews of Jewish nationalism. Of their belief that the Messiah would come to make everyone Jewish. And the Romans see Jesus as a threat to their imposition of a politics of division. This is why it’s so urgent that we come to see the mission of the Gospel not in terms of religion but in terms of God’s healing reign come into the world. Jesus comes to offer us not a new religion to add to the divisions. No, Jesus comes to offer us a new politics of healing to heal our politics of division and violence. Jesus offers us nothing less than a new way of being human based on forgiveness rather than scapegoating, based on the amazing and radical call to love even one’s enemies rather than hate them.”
February 11, Transfiguration B
Texts: Mark 9:2-9; 2 Kings 2:1-12; 2 Cor 4:3-6
Sermon: “Transfiguration: Glimpsing Transformative Leadership”
February 18, Lent 1B
Texts: Mark 1:9-15; Gen 9:8-17; 1 Pet 3:18-22
Sermon: “Minding Our Minds for God’s Mission”
February 25 — Sunday off
March 3, Lent 3B
Texts: John 2:13-22; Ex 20:1-17; 1 Cor 1:18-25
Sermon: “Having Faith in Being God’s Temple in the World”
March 10, Lent 4B
Texts: John 3:14-21; Eph 2:1-10; Num 21:4-9
Sermon: “How on the Cross the God of Love Reveals Our Wrath”
March 17, Lent 5B
Texts: John 12:20-33; Jer 31:31-34; Heb 5:5-10
Sermon: “Human Civilization Unwittingly Judging Itself Guilty . . . as ‘Nationalist’”
March 24, Palm/Passion B
Texts: John 12:12-16; Phil 2:5-11; Mark 15
Sermon: “Two Parades: Symbols of Two Powers”
March 28, Maundy Thursday
Texts: John 13:1-17, 31b-35; Ex 14; 1 Cor 11:23-26
Sermon: “Holy Communion and the Democratic Ideal”
March 29, Good Friday
Texts: John 18-19; Isaiah 52:13–53:12
Sermon: “A Collision of Powers . . . Gives Rise to New Creation”
March 31, Easter B
Texts: Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18; Isaiah 25:6-9
Sermon: “The Easter Victory as a Movement for Equality”
April 7, Easter 2B
Texts: John 20:19-31; Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 1:1-2:2
Sermon: “Living into God’s Dream of One Human Family”
April 14, Easter 3B
Texts: Luke 24:36b-48; Acts 3:12-21, 1 John 3:1-7
Sermon: “‘That the Messiah Should Suffer’ . . . to Expose Nationalism”
April 21, Easter 4B
Texts: John 10:11-18; Acts 4:5-12; 1 John 3:16-24
Sermon: “The Good Shepherd as Model for Political Alternatives to Nationalism”
April 28, Easter 5B
Texts: John 15:1-8; 1 John 4:7-21; Acts 8:26-40
Sermon: “‘Abiding’: Staying Plugged into Love Not Violence”
May 5, Easter 6B
Texts: 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17; Acts 10:44-48
Sermon: “True Victory in Christ Is Win-Win”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
May 12, Easter 7B (Mother’s Day)
Texts: John 17:6-19; 1 John 5:9-13; Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Sermon: “Jesus’ God: Such a Different ‘Father’ That She’s Really ‘Mother’”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
May 19, Pentecost B (Confirmation Day)
Texts: John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15; Acts 2:1-21; Romans 8:18-27
Sermon: “Statements of Faith as Life Stories, Not Eternal Truths”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
May 26, Memorial Day / Prayer for Peace
Texts: John 15:9-14; Micah 4:1-5; Eph 2:13-18
Sermon: “Honoring Our Soldiers by Working for Peace”
June 2, Proper 4B
Texts: Deuteronomy 5:12-14; Mark 2:23-3:6; 2 Cor 4:5-12
Sermon: “What Does it Mean to Be Saved by an Indigenous Man? For One Thing, the Fourth Commandment Is Anti-slavery, Pro-labor”
June 9, Proper 5B
Texts: Mark 3:20-35; 1 Sam 8:4-20; 2 Cor 4:13–5:1
Sermon: “Binding the Strong Man with the Crucified Indigenous Man . . . Exposing Christian Nationalism”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
June 16, Proper 6B
Texts: Mark 4:26-34; 2 Cor 5:6-19; Ez 17:22-24
Sermon: “Sowing Mustard Seeds of ‘Good Trouble’”
June 23, Proper 7B
Texts: Mark 4:35-41; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Sermon: “Trusting Jesus Is in the Boat with Us as We Anticipate the Storm of Political Violence”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
June 30 — Sunday off
July 7, National Holiday
Texts: Mark 10:35-45; Gal 5:1, 13-26; Gen 12:1-3
Sermon: “The Big Lie of Nationalism — and Why ‘Christian Nationalism’ Is an Oxymoron”
July 14, Proper 10B
Texts: Mark 6:14-29; Eph 1:3-14; Amos 7:7-15
Sermon: “To Follow Jesus Is to Renounce Immunity”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
July 21, Proper 11B
Texts: Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56; Jer 23:1-6
Sermon: “Learning to Talk Politics . . . God’s Politics”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
July 28, Proper 12B
Texts: John 6:1-21; Eph 3:14-21; Psa 145:15-16
Sermon: “God’s Politics Revealed, Part 1: Equality”
August 4, Proper 13B
Texts: Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35; Ex 16
Sermon: “God’s Politics Revealed, Part 2: Abundance”
August 11 — Sunday off
August 18, Proper 15B
Texts: John 6:51-58; Prov 9:1-6; Eph 5:15-20
Sermon: “Yeasty Bread and Wine for Our Transformation”
August 25 — Sunday off
September 1, Proper 17B
Texts: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23; James 1:17-27; Deut 4:1-2, 6-9
Sermon: “The Most Important Prophecy in History”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
September 8, Proper 18B (including Healing Liturgy)
Texts: James 2:1-9, 12-17; Mark 7:24-37; Isaiah 35:4-7a
Sermon: “Faith and Healing: Participating in the Faithfulness of Jesus”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
September 15, Proper 19B
Texts: James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38; Isa 50:4-9a
Sermon: “Dangerous Speech: Hell, Satan, and Politics of Division”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
September 22, Proper 20B
Texts: James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37; Jer. 11:18-20
Sermon: “Serving One Another as the Cure to Arguing with One Another”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
September 29, Michael and All Angels
Texts: Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3; Luke 10:17-20; Rev 12:7-12
Sermon: “Harry Potter Vs. Star Wars: Learning to Read the Christian Story in Light of the Power of Love Rather than the Force”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
October 6, Reconciling in Christ Sunday
Texts: John 14:15-17; 16:7-11; Acts 8:26-39; Gal 3:23-28
Sermon: “Pastor Paul’s Testimony: How My Mind and Heart Have Changed”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
October 13, Proper 23B
Texts: Mark 10:17-31; Heb 4:12-16; Amos 5:6-7, 10-15
Sermon: “No Longer Rich or Poor in the Coming Age of God’s Reign”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
October 20, Proper 24B
Texts: Mark 10:35-45; Isa 53:4-12; Heb 5:1-10
Sermon: “‘Columbus Day’ or ‘Indigenous People Day’: Governance by Servitude or Service”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
October 27, Reformation Sunday
Texts: Romans 3:19-30; Jer 31:31-34; John 8:31-36
Sermon: “Repenting the Failures of the Reformation (Hint: Colonialism and Nationalism)”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
November 3, All Saints Sunday B
Texts: John 11:32-44; Isa 25:6-9; Rev 21:1-6a
Sermon: “All Saints and Living into the Promise of New Creation”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
November 10, Proper 27B
Texts: Mark 12:38-55; Heb 9:24-28; 1 Kings 17:8-16
Sermon: “Preparing to Live in Love under Christian Nationalism”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
November 17, Proper 28B
Texts: Mark 13:1-8; Heb 10:11-25; Dan 12:1-3
Sermon: “Surviving the End of the World”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
November 24, Reign of Christ B
Texts: John 18:33-37; Rev 1:4b-8; Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Sermon: “Recovering the Nonviolent God of Jesus under the Shadow of Christian Nationalism”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
December 1 — Sunday off
December 8, Advent 2C
Texts: Luke 3:1-6; Mal 3:1-4; Phil 1:3-11
Sermon: “Preparing the Way of the Lord: Leveling out Inequity from Our History with Nationalisms of All Kinds”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
December 15, Advent 3C
Texts: Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18; Zeph 3:14-20
Sermon: “Escaping Enemy Mode with Joy”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
December 22, Advent 4C
Texts: Luke 1:39-55; Micah 5:2-5a; Heb 10:5-10
Sermon: “‘Son of God’: The Revelation of the Nonviolent God of Love — and God’s Politics of Love in a Violent World”
Sermon Take-Home Notes
December 24, Christmas Eve
Texts: Luke 2:1-20; Isa 9:2-7; Gen 1:1-5
Sermon: “Stories of Resistance: Shining Light in the Darkness of Nationalism”
December 29 — Lessons and Carols, no sermon
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