Sermons

The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

January 22, 2023

We were very disappointed that visa problems made it impossible for the young people from Bokamoso to visit us in person as they have done so many times in the past. Instead, Jim Cawley and Connie Sullivan, the Vice President and President of the Bokamoso Foundation, respectively, spoke to us about their own involvement with the program and their perceptions of how things are going. We also showed several videos of the young people singing, dancing, and speaking to us.

The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

January 15, 2023

Last week Marjory Bankson spoke to a well known but unique story in the bible. There was allusion to an astronomical phenomenon ascribed with significant supernatural meaning, and caused three wise men to embark on a journey, under a star that announced the arrival of the world’s savior. I thought of a contemporary parallel. Whereas their pinpoint sign was in the heavens, ours is closer to earth, in equal measure a phenomenon of nature. It shines quite brightly every day and portends a coming, but of a different sort. Its radiance is a bit strong as it warms things up steadily and slowly, like the gospel message spreading wide and far. I will not focus on the many catastrophes of that radiance which awaits our future, but instead on the need awaken to many of nature’s changing landscapes which is less than commodious.

People on earth live in their own reality. It is a social construction of how the world works and will never be complete since reality is subjective and multidimensional. However, there can be focus on an integrated whole, one with the sustainable grounding in the biosphere. Ideally it would be one we can rest true faith in. When we face this particular reality, we can begin to find ourselves not inside a polycrisis, but above it in an enlightened fashion. A true reality allows examination of our selves and its relation to things that sustain long term. It is without the techno contraptions we have put too much reliance and faith in. That reality will make readily evident our Homo Collosus nature of capitalist grooming, where we overshoot resources, land, energy and the biosphere’s carrying capacity, as William Catton describes. To me that radiant warming is a signifier of a call to reflect on our way of life, our assumptions, and the limits of our technologies, if not its nihilistic tendencies. It also is a call to be prepared and resilient, with guarded optimism.

Epiphany

January 8, 2023

Today we celebrate Epiphany, a sudden insight or flash of intuitive understanding according to Webster’s dictionary. I pray that today will bring such an epiphany for you.

On the liturgical calendar, Epiphany or 12^th night, marks the end of Jesus’ birth story — signaled by the visit of wise men from afar. In many cultures, 12^th Night, or 3 Kings Day, is the real celebration that involves the exchange of presents, reserving Christmas for the birth of the Christchild.

I grew up thinking that Epiphany was when we took down Christmas decorations, because we always included the wise men in our Christmas celebration two weeks earlier. Now I see Epiphany as a season of call!

Christmastide

January 1, 2023

Advent 4

December 18, 2022

And, like the poem, I find standing here and trying to speak for or of Jesus daunting. Take what I say if it works. Leave it if it doesn’t. The warmth of the sun can still warm both our bodies in the bright light of God’s love for this earth, this world, you.