The headline immediately caught my attention: Mich. Residents Receive Letter Calling Christmas Lights “Pagan.”  Someone on the night of Dec.14th drove around Hudsonville, Michigan, hand-delivering letters to any house featuring holiday displays informing them that they were honoring not the Baby Jesus, God’s Son, but the pagan sun god, Saturn.  My immediate reaction might not be what one would expect of a member of the clergy.  The first words out of my mouth were, “The author of this letter is right!” I say that the author is right, not in condemning people for putting up holiday displays, but in that the … Continue reading Embracing the Pagan Roots of Christmas

A sermon for the 25th Sunday after Pentecost: Isaiah 65:17-25; Luke 21:5-19 Here we are, on the brink of the change of the season.  I don’t mean that Christmas is coming. I mean we stand on the threshold of Advent. While retailers have already decorated their stores with trees and lights, we who follow the liturgical calendar must first go through Advent. Before we can hang the greens or lay a baby Jesus in the manger, we must spend a brief season in anticipation. In two weeks, Advent begins.  Advent was not meant to be a time for just opening … Continue reading Prophetic puzzles, prophetic hope

A sermon for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost: Luke 18:1-8 A young boy went to his mother one day and asked for a new bike. His mother replied “Well, if you are a good boy, maybe you’ll get one for your birthday.” Well he tried his hardest to be good.  He did his chores.  He obeyed his parents.  His birthday finally came but no bike. He said to his mother, “I’ve been very good, why didn’t I get a bike?” “Maybe you weren’t good enough.  You better ask Father Burke,” she said.  “Maybe God will give you a bike.” So … Continue reading God hears

A sermon for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost: Luke 17:5-10 Well, friends, here we are again – another of the difficult sayings of Jesus.  ‘So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves.  We have done only what we ought to have done.”’ “We are worthless slaves.”  That’s the part of this Gospel reading we stumble over, isn’t it?  Here are words from the lips of Jesus that make us a bit uncomfortable.  But, have courage.  As was the case with the parable of the shrewd steward, who made friends … Continue reading Giving with the faith of a poppy seed

Philemon 1-21; Luke 14:25-33 Just a few weeks ago, it fell to me to preach on the passage from Luke where Jesus says, “I came not to bring peace, but division” – one of the more difficult sayings of Jesus, no doubt.  And now here we are, this morning, hearing these words from the lips of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother cannot be my disciple.”  Is there any harder thing we can imagine Jesus saying?  Where did the love go, Jesus?  Wait, isn’t Jesus’ message about reconciliation and … Continue reading Discovering our Family

Luke 11:1-13 A few weeks ago I presided over a wedding ceremony out at Chateau Morissette.  During the rehearsal, as I walked the bride and groom and the wedding party through the various parts of the ceremony I said, “And now this is the part where we all say the Lord’s Prayer.” The maid of honor asked without missing a beat, “Are we debtors or trespassers?” Now, what might be funnier than her question is the fact that most of us know exactly what she meant with no further explanation.  Indeed, what we have come to call “The Lord’s Prayer” are some of the most familiar … Continue reading The Teacher’s Prayer

A sermon for the third Sunday after Pentecost 1 Kings 21:1-21; Luke 7:36-8:3 Once upon a time, I was a huge bumper sticker fan, so much so that my older sister, on one of her visits, looked at all the slogans and pithy sayings on the back of  my car and said, “Wow!  You’ve got a lot to say!”  That’s when I started noticing them more – cars festooned with bumper stickers.  We came to refer to them as “preachy bumpers.”  Turns out, like some kind of cultural short-hand, they give us a glimpse into the psyche of Americans and … Continue reading A Misbehaving Woman Making History

A sermon for Trinity Sunday, Year C Proverbs 8:14,22-31 Today, the first Sunday after the day of Pentecost, is traditionally known as “Trinity Sunday.”  It is on this Sunday that we acknowledge directly the doctrine of the Trinity and preachers and Sunday School teachers alike try their best to get both their minds and their tongues around this rather esoteric concept.  Our readings try to shed light on this doctrine, this story we tell over and over that God, “Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” is not one, or three, but three-in-one.   Our hymns celebrate this sacred mystery of the … Continue reading Wisdom unites us

Easter Day I Corinthians 15:19-26; John 20:1-18 In the early hours this morning a group of us gathered on the paving stones of our labyrinth for a second year to observe a very ancient rite in the Christian faith – the lighting of the new fire.  The rubrics, the stage directions as it were in the Prayer Book, simply say, “In the darkness, fire is kindled.” What a simple, throw-away line.  Go, kindle some fire.  We have numerous ways to accomplish such a feat – from old-fashioned flint and tinder, to strike-anywhere Ohio Blue Tip matches, to clickable fire-sticks.  No … Continue reading Mary remained

A sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C John 12:1-8 The table was set for Thanksgiving dinner.  Family and invited guests began happily to devour the feast before us.  In due course, the small talk started. “Have you seen it yet?” Jane, a seminary classmate of mine asked me.  I knew what she meant but I played a little dumb.  “You know,” she continued, “the latest Harry Potter movie?” “Yeah, I saw it,” I said, hoping she might drop the subject. “Well, what did you think?” she asked with interest.  At this point, even in seminary, I had … Continue reading An Uncomfortable Meal