God Has A Dream

Second Sunday after Epiphany, Yr. C, January 20, 2013

Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

            I was interrupted as I was beginning my sermon writing yesterday by my dog barking ferociously in the driveway.  When I ran down the stairs and opened the door, I saw my dog holding off two women in long black coats at the end of the driveway. They stood there looking warily at the dog, but not concerned enough to be scared off completely. I called my dog inside, and looked at the two women.  I knew instantly who they were.  They were Jehovah’s Witnesses.[1]

Members and Disciples

First Sunday after Epiphany/The Baptism of Jesus, Yr. C, January 13, 2013

Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

            Today we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus.  And our gospel reading is a reminder of the story of his baptism in the account given by Luke.  At our clergy bible study this past week there were several Episcopalians and probably just as many Baptists.  Baptists celebrate a “believer’s baptism”, a baptism that is chosen by the individual when a boy, or girl, is old enough to make that kind of decision for themselves.  Some of their children decide on baptism when they’re adolescents, while others come to baptism as an adult, some not at all.  Their baptism is modeled after the story we heard this morning. 

John had set himself apart in the wilderness.  He was calling people to repent and return to God.  People came to John to be baptized.  Jesus was one of them.  They all made a conscious choice to come to the river.  Episcopalians are among those Christians who baptize infants, even though infants are not mature enough to understand what is being committed for them … even though we have no idea what decisions they may make for themselves in the future.  Why do we do that?  Why do we “seal them as one of Christ’s own forever”, when we have no idea what they may want as adults?

The Journey

Feast of the Epiphany, Yr. C, January 6, 2013

Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

            In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?  For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 

            Every journey begins somewhere.  Every journey has a beginning, something that marks its purpose, something that nudges us out the door, something that prompts that first step out.  For the wise men, who were more likely wandering astrologers or members of “a priestly class of Persian or Babylonian experts in the occult”,[1] it is no different.  These pagans were following a star, a star that moved against the natural pattern of east to west, a star that was leading them to a king.  They weren’t the kings in this story.  They were seekers of a king, not just any king … but the king of the Jews.  Gentiles were looking for the very king that the Jews hadn’t yet discovered themselves. 

Our Songs

Advent 4, Yr. C, December 23, 2012 

Micah 5:2-5a; Magnificat; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

            When I was first at Two Saints and we did both the Christmas Eve services there, we still made the early service especially friendly for children.  When we did the crèche blessing, we usually sang a few verses of Away in the Manger.  The kids would come up and join us at the crèche at the front of the church, most without any leaflet with them.  Many too young to read it if they had it.  When it came time for the carol, we expected the children to join in the singing because they would know it.  But that never happened.  They didn’t know it.

            As a child, I remember going caroling in nursing homes with my Girl Scout troop, and in the neighborhood with friends.  I remember hearing Christmas Carols on the radio and singing them in school.  I remember being sick of them by the time Christmas arrived.  We sang them and we sang them and we sang them … all the time! 

A few days ago, as I was thinking about the service of Lessons and Carols we will do next week for the Feast of St. Stephen, I began to wonder how many of the songs my daughter would recognize.  So I asked her.