A sermon for the Sunday before Epiphany

Ephesians 3:1-12

Every day it is a little lighter. In a few days, January 6th, it will be Epiphany, the coming of the light. Epiphany is a minor festival for those of us in the Western Church, even though for those in the Eastern Church (three hundred million of them), Epiphany is the most important celebration next to Easter. We forget that what we call Christmas did not become a holiday in the Western Church until 336 A.D., more than three hundred years after Christ died and rose again.

What is Epiphany?

When we talk about light and darkness, we know in physics that light is simply that which overcomes darkness. Darkness is simply not having enough light. The same with cold and heat. It’s just a physical thing.

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Jesus means “Yahweh Saves” or as a pdf document.

And Suddenly . . . or as a pdf document.

Peace . . . not as the world gives or as a pdf document.

He carries me on his shoulders or as a pdf document.

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A sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent

This is Mary Sunday. What do we say about Mary? In the Apostles’ Creed we confess “born of the Virgin Mary.”

This is part of the larger question: What is Christmas about? We say: “Let’s get back to a real Christmas.” What has happened is that Christmas has become frantic with shopping. Where is Christmas? Or is it just “Xmas,” and the “X” is the whatever, the unknown and you supply whatever is meaningful to you?

How do we put Christ back into Christmas? How do we get back to real Christmas? To talk about this is to raise the question: “Are you going to be a spoil sport? Don’t spoil Christmas. This is a magical time of year.” The reason that Christmas has become confused is our own fault. We have made it happen this way, and we have to face it.
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Matthew 24:36-44

A sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent

Many people know the 2002 movie, “Catch me if you can.” It’s the true story of a twenty-one year old young man, a skilled forger, who passes himself off as a doctor, a lawyer, a pilot and the FBI agent who pursues this young man over the course of several years.

There is also a children’s game: “Catch me if you can.” It’s similar to tag and hide and seek.

We play this game with God as well. Most of all, it’s a game of good works. The whole New Testament is full of exhortations to do good works. It says in the Sermon on the Mount:  “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). It’s not only there but is found throughout the New Testament. In 1 Peter 1:15-16: “As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (Leviticus 11:44). It’s the same in Romans 10:5 and Galatians 3:21.

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Romans 4:5

A sermon for Christ the King Sunday

Today marks the end of the season of Pentecost in the Christian calendar. We’re usually not conscious of the fact that the season of Pentecost is divided into four parts. The first part is about the greening, the awakening of nature, the second about seeding, the third part about growth, and the fourth part of the Pentecost season is about harvest. The same is true for the hymns. They, too, are about the harvest.

What will be the yield and the quality of the harvest? When will the end come? We know that people are calculating the time of the end. There was a time when some people misused the Mayan calendar to figure out the time of the end. And more recently New Age spiritualists have said that because of the alignment of the planets, we know the end is coming, and you had better get ready. We kind of smile and tolerate these prophets of the end times.

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