Today we celebrate All Saints Day. We celebrate the baptisms of Morgan Oliver, of Margaret Abigail, and of Jackson Tyler. Today is a very, very special day in the life of the church. Many of you may have heard last week that my grandfather John Kilbourn passed away on October 25. On that Thursday I had the opportunity to fly to Florida to be with my grandmother…
Matt. 23:1-12
I’m taken with the Gospel reading, these words that Jesus shares with his disciples. He’s giving some reflections on the leaders of the Jewish tradition at that time. I think it’s important to remember that when we look at the scriptures, particularly the New Testament, we see Jesus engaged with Judaism and with Jewish leaders and where he critiques. He’s not criticizing Judaism; Judaism is really a prototype for all religion…
Have I ever told you how much I love New York City? I love the teasing that goes on here at St. Paul’s about the various places we’re from and have traveled in our lives. My being a New Yorker is part of that. I love the kind of bantering we do, especially my Boston friends, Red Sox fans. You know the difference betwen Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park? You can get a hot dog at Yankee Stadium in October…
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” This saying of Jesus from today’s Gospel reading is so familiar to some of us that no matter how it is read we tend to hear it in the King James version: “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are Gods…”
I will always remember hearing my mother’s voice saying, “What is this world coming to?” When I was a teenager and a young adult I smiled when I heard her say that because I was thinking, “she just can’t keep up with the changing times.”…
A few years ago I had the opportunity to work as a hospital chaplain in one of the most delicate places I have ever set foot—UNC hospital’s Medical Intensive Care Unit. This was a place of threshold for most people…
In our Psalm (78) this morning, Verse 4 says, “We will recount to generations to come the praiseworthy deeds of the power of the Lord and the wonderful works He has done.” Now I’ve been here for about a month and I’m still getting to know you and since you’re still getting to know me too, I thought I’d tell you a little story about myself. I grew up in Florida. Every summer I went to a Christian camp in Leesburg which is at the heart of central Florida in the swamp…
This morning we have two lessons from the Old Testament and from the Gospel that are about God’s provision. So I’d like to explore those two lessons and think about what it means that God will provide. I have to confess to you from the outset that the times in my life when I have been in challenging and difficult circumstances and someone has stepped up and said, “Don’t worry, God will provide;” that hasn’t really been a great comfort to me…
Where were you? Where are you? And where are you going? Those are three questions I’d like to share some thoughts on this morning as we gather on this tenth anniversary of 9/11, September 11, 2001. Where were you? Where are you? And where are you going? It seems there’s a certain part of us, whenever there’s some historic event that happens in our lives, we remember where we were when we heard about it or discovered it…
Since I had done the Memorial Day homily, I thought it was only fitting to bookend the summer by volunteering to do the Labor Day homily as well. I honestly can’t believe that the summer is about over. I don’t know about you, but I still have some more summer left in me. But our kids are back at school and Fall is fast approaching. I am certainly not sorry that I volunteered to do today’s homily, but I have to admit that today’s Gospel is in many ways one of the most difficult passages to interpret in the whole of Matthew’s gospel…