Sermons on Life of Christ (Page 13)
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White Privilege
This morning I want to talk about white privilege. White privilege is a short phrase which encapsulates an enormous amount of social meaning. So let’s unpack it briefly. Privilege is anything that you have and take for granted that others don’t have. This may include finance, education, access to legal help, being able to vote, having a voice, being respected, being valued, freedom to move and to develop a career. If you are enjoying privilege, as we all are to…
Losing in Christ
Genesis 21:8-21 Romans 6:1b-11 Matthew 10:24-39 I am very grateful to have colleagues with whom to share the sometimes daunting privilege of preaching. When I looked at this morning’s readings, I wished that one of them had offered to preach today! These are tough readings. Our Old Testament readings this summer follow the saga of Abraham and Sarah, the great ancestors of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Today we heard the disturbing story of Hagar and Ishmael. Although God had promised…
Why was it necessary?
1 Peter 1:17-23 Luke 24:13-35 This morning’s gospel is a deeply heart-warming story of the two disciples who walked in deep sorrow and in their sadness did not recognize the resurrected Christ walking by their side. Those of us who have experienced grief or illness know how that happens; in our times of deepest pain it is most difficult to recognize God, which is one of the reasons that developing a discipline of looking for God in the midst of…
Deep Sadness
And so we come to the deep sadness that is at the heart of humanity. Today we are faced with our human propensity to victimize the innocent, to resort to violence when we are threatened. Today, dozens of Christians were killed worshipping in church in Egypt. Today, children are dying of starvation in the Sudan and Somalia while as much as half of all the food produced in this country is thrown away. Today, Syria is a desolation. We can…
Jesus Wept
John 11:1-45 Personally, I have two favorite bible verses that I would like to share with you. Through the years, I have found that these two verses have the ability to either give me goosebumps or make me to tear up, or actually sometimes, cause me to do both. The first of the two we heard last year, year “C” in our Episcopal Lectionary. The verse comes from Luke in his account of the Passion of Christ. Two thieves are…
The Light and Its Shadow
John 9:1-41 In the last hundred years a myth has arisen. That myth tells us that there is only one way to read the Bible. Yet as far back as the 2nd century, the Greek scholar and Christian theologian Origen claimed that scriptures should be read in three different allegorical ways. I mention that this morning, because today’s lengthy gospel passage can be read on several different levels and I am considering two – the surface or literal level and…
Our Calling
Fishing on the Sea of Galilee was not a great job. It was dangerous, with the sudden storms that swept upon the lake. And it didn’t bring in much money. Fishing was big business, but unlike the captains here in Morro Bay, the fishermen were not entrepreneurs. They were at the bottom of a rigid hierarchy, and got to keep very little of what they caught. Fishermen had to have licenses to fish the waters as well as provide most…