Rev. Javier A. Bautista discusses Luke 16:1-13: “When I think of the wonder of the world God created in abundance, and I compare it to the world I encounter in the gospel today, a world of seeming scarcity, of being wily with resources, I’m taken aback a little bit. There’s a marked contrast between the faithful stewards of creation, the intended purpose for humankind, and the dishonest manager we meet in our story today.”
Luke 15:1-10
“All are welcome.” It’s a sign we have hanging outside the entrance of our church… It so defines what we think St. Paul’s is about… To me, “all are welcome” is the message of the gospel; “all are welcome” is the message of Jesus.
Luke 14:25-33
A couple of months ago, I shared some thoughts on who we are and who we want to be… Today, I want to share some thoughts on how we define ourselves as individuals…. We have so many ways of defining our identity… But one way we determine our identity that stands out from the rest is our possessions, our stuff, and Jesus says we have to give it all up…
Luke 14:1, 7-14
George Washington, one of the founding fathers and the first president of the United States, transcribed a little book as a school exercise sometime before he was 16 years old. It is entitled Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation … The gospel today sounds a little like Washington’s rules. It reads like a lesson in table manners… but there’s something more at stake here.
Luke 13:10-17
In my reading and studying, I came across a phrase recently that really struck me: “Christianity is still in its infancy.” You might say to yourself, “what a long infancy! We’ve been around for 2,000 years.” But there’s so much more for us to be able to grow into.
Luke 12:49-56
I have often mentioned how, as a late bloomer, I went back to college while our sons were in high school. I worked full time, so I would take evening classes at Barry University…
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40
About a week ago, I met up with a group from St. Paul’s, right in front of this church, and we hopped onto a 15-passenger van and headed down to Newton Grove. We visited the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry…
Luke 12:13-21
When you change lanes, you’re supposed to check your blindspot. It’s an area you don’t see. It’s there, but you don’t see it. Hold that thought. […] In all my years of ministry, all the times I’ve met with folks or heard confession, there’s one thing I’ve never heard. I’ve never heard anyone confess this. I’ve never heard anyone come in and talk about this: greed.
Luke 11:1-13
The last few years that I was living in California, I belonged to a group of ministers who met twice a month to do Bible study as we prepared for upcoming sermons. When this passage from Luke about prayer came up in the lectionary, one of my colleagues who serves as a hospice chaplain told us about a woman he had worked with a few months ago. He said that as they talked about her faith and prayer life, she had told him that she didn’t feel like God was listening to her prayers.
Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42
I moved to a new home a few weeks ago […] I know that I’m settling into a new place to call home when I put up a picture frame on the wall […] and I have this icon […] It’s this beautiful picture of Jesus standing there in colorful robes at the moment of creation […]. It’s a beautiful vision of the created order in its right place, of things redeemed, reconciled, living in harmony […] I’ve been looking at other icons of sorts this past week — images in the news — and these images tempt me to say, “so much for mystic visions of a redeemed world…”