Luke 21:15-21

I have already greeted some of you, you, and been greeted, with the words “Happy New Year’s”. But today I just as easily could have greeted you with these words: “Happy Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ Day. “

Now there is a mouthful. Maybe even a tongue twister to say ten times fast. And that is probably not the greeting you will hear most on this first day of 2012. No, we will be greeting those we meet with the more familiar words of “Happy New Year.” For indeed it is the first day of the year, and it is only every so often that we actually gather here in church on this day.

But take a look at the scripture insert in your bulletin and you will see that we celebrate this day neither as New Year’s Day or even as the Second Sunday of Christmas, but rather as the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. Continue reading →

Isaiah 40:1-11

“A voice cries out: in the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

Despite the activity outside our doors in the last few days, those words were not the instructions that the Garden Committee gave to the workers creating the new pathway to the Cutler Memorial Garden. If you did not walk by the Parish House this morning, make sure you take note of the lovely new brick walk that will now lead folks back to our other sanctuary — the garden behind our church.

And besides, if those were the instructions, the workers were not listening – the garden walk was designed with gentle curves; it’s not a straight highway, but rather a beckoning path that invites both friend and stranger to make their way, to go to a quiet place of rest, and there to meet God. Continue reading →

A Sermon for St. John’s Episcopal Church, Charlestown, Massachusetts

Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18 1, Thessalonians 5:1-7, Matthew 25:14-30

Today, on this Commitment Sunday, we will be invited to bring our pledges of time, talent, and treasures for the year 2012 here to the altar. On this Sunday when we talk about those things, we are presented in the Gospel with of all things, a parable about talents — about those who receive them, those who use them, and those who do not. Continue reading →

A Sermon for St. John’s Episcopal Church, Charlestown, Massachusetts

Matthew 21:28-32

At the end of today’s gospel lesson, we hear a parable by Jesus that brings us back to the vineyard. The story reminds me of a farmer I knew in Vermont. John and his wife were the kind of people who welcomed all kinds of folks into their lives. Up the road from them lived a teenage boy who spent a lot of time at their farm. He received from them the kind of love and support he did not receive from his own family. Continue reading →

Matthew 20:1-9

Before I became a priest, I spent a number of years as a teacher in elementary classrooms. One of the phrases that I heard with great frequency, especially after making a decision that seemed arbitrary or capricious was this:

“That’s not fair!”

My students, as most children are, were highly attuned to matters of just and fair treatment by the adults in their lives. I mention that phrase because there is another place where I have heard it with some frequency – and that is during the coffee hour after church on a Sunday when today’s Gospel has been read. Continue reading →