Mark 1:4-11

If you grew up near a pond or a lake, then you may recall the experience of throwing a pebble or stone into the water, just to watch the concentric waves created by the splash grow larger and larger, perhaps even reaching the edges of the pond. Maybe I enjoyed watching that phenomenon because I was never particularly good at skipping stones across the water. But I could toss a stone up in the air as far as I could and watch it plunge into the water. Watching those circles expand — I could do that again and again. And sometimes, as those circles reached the shore, I imagined them continuing onto the land under my feet, and never stopping.

When our children come into church from Godly Play and join us for a baptism, I’ve noticed that some of them like to get close, and on their tiptoes look into the baptismal font. I wonder if they, with their own sense of wonder, are looking for those circular waves that start moving out into the world.

For this baptismal pool is at the center of our worship this morning. It is at the center of our worship because we hear the story of the baptism of Jesus. It is at the center of our worship Continue reading →

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 →