Category: Sermons
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Matthew & Ezekiel on power & predation
Last Sunday after Pentecost: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 100; Ephesians 1:15-23; Matthew 25:31-46 Listen to this sermon. ** I have a confession to make: there is much rejoicing in the Saylor-Oliver household on this, the final Sunday of Lectionary Year A. We’ve been talking for weeks about being ready for a break from the Gospel According…
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Transformed for hope: A sermon about Paul on culture
Image credit: “Detail” by Richard Due via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost: Exodus 1:8-2:10; Psalm 124; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20 ** Some of you know that my first job out of seminary was as a digital media resource expert serving Christian educators across the Episcopal Church. The Center for the Ministry of…
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The parable of the landowner’s wise restraint
Image credit: “Running” by Mackenzie Black via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) Seventh Sunday after Pentecost: Genesis 28:10-19a; Psalm 139: 1-11, 22-23; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 I’ve been traveling for work the last the couple weeks, first in the Midwest and then in Germany. But at the beginning of the trip I got to spend a day…
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The binding of Isaac: A sermon about discernment
Image credit: “Binding of Isaac” by Lawrence OP via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: Genesis 22:1-14; Psalm 13; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42 During my first year of seminary, my classmates and I went on retreat to a remarkable intentional community in the heart of Virginia’s capital. The founder of Richmond Hill is a guy…
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The abundant life of the followers of Christ
Image credit: “abundance” by Barbara Gilhooly via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Fourth Sunday in Easter: Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10 Before we begin, one programming note: Today we will further reinforce the spiritual impossibility of avoiding mixed metaphors. You’ve been warned. The Fourth Sunday of Easter is informally known as Good Shepherd Sunday,…
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Praying with scripture—and our imaginations
Fourth Sunday in Lent: 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 I wasn’t at the morning liturgies last week, but I have it on the sound authority that is the parish website that Mother Kate had a challenge for us: “You NEED to be praying and reading the Bible,” she said. “It is what…
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Ash Wednesday: Don’t grovel!
As on so many of our most significant holy days, on Ash Wednesday we are challenged to try to integrate a couple of at least seemingly unrelated ideas and rituals. The first is the “Invitation to a Holy Lent,” which offers the context that this season began as a time of preparation for baptism, and…
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You are the salt of the earth
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany: Isaiah 58:1-9a, [9b-12]; Psalm 112:1-9 [10]; 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, [13-16]; Matthew 5:13-20 I can still remember the angriest I ever got in seminary. It started, I am not surprised to notice upon reflection, with me sticking my nose into someone else’s business. Two of my international student classmates were having a heated conversation…
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Why I’m a Christian
A sermon for Advent 1: Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44 As most of you know, I’m a doctoral student up the street at Teachers College. It is a seriously inspiring place: a racially, geographically, religiously diverse community united by a desire to serve others and the common good. In the tumult following the election,…
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A Parable of Grit, and Hope
A sermon for Proper 24: Jeremiah 31:27-34; Psalm 119:97-104; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Luke 18:1-8 A friend and I play a sort of ongoing game of long-distance tag. We’re both interested in character formation, and we’re enchanted by one idea that is currently en vogue. Researchers call it grit. Our obsession with popular discussions of grit has gotten a…