Sermons

The Pride Shabbat It was the night before the Boston Pride Parade. Rabbi Katy and I dug through the tablecloth drawer in Edwards Hall and found enough different colors of cloth that we could set up the tables as a rainbow.  Katy put out special sabbath candles, and we filled little compostable cups with grape […]

Isaiah 42:5-10a, Ephesians 3:14-21 I’ve heard the riddle many times before–in clergy gatherings where pastors are feeling cynical, from supposed church growth experts, from folks who have concluded they have outgrown the church. The play on words only makes sense if you’re familiar with the Good Friday tradition of preaching on “the seven last words […]

Psalm 63:1-8; Matthew 13:44 “So what’s your concept?” Patrick had seen my puzzled look and came over to help. “I had an interesting conversation this week about joy,” I said, “and so I want to paint joy. But this is the wrong green.” I was at the final paint party led by Open Spirit’s Artist-in-Residence, […]

Psalm 84:1-7; Luke 17:20-21 “A toxic climate.” We hear that phrase a lot these days–on the news, on Facebook posts bemoaning the state of our nation.  Sometimes the reference is to the political climate–the culture of lying whenever the truth is inconvenient, hyper-partisanship that boxes in even the most broad-minded of our politicians.  Sometimes the […]

Psalm 121 Imagine that we are walking through an old growth forest in the Bavarian region of Germany. It’s kind of like the forests we may have envisioned as children when we heard the stories of Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood.  There are giant deciduous trees–maybe beech–with broad canopies of leaves above […]

Isaiah 40:28-31; Luke 2:41-52 Girls be strong! We can kick a goal, run a marathon. Hike up a mountain, do you want to come along? Girls be strong! Last Thursday night, Fran and I were invited to a concert at our friends Matia and David’s house in Wayland. I vaguely recognized the name of the […]

Exodus 20:1-4; Luke 8:19-25 It was an impressive group gathered around the conference table at Bay Path Elder Services in Marlborough.  There was a hospice nurse and a hospice chaplain,  a social worker from a senior center, the director of an elder services network, an entrepreneur who started his own organization matching volunteers with isolated […]

Genesis 1:26-31; Matthew 25:31-40 “Someone once said that Jesus began the most revolutionary movement in human history. A movement grounded in the unconditional love of God for the world–and a movement mandating people to live that love, and in so doing to change not only their lives but the very life of the world itself. […]

Psalm 133; Revelation 21:1-6 [Note: This sermon draws heavily from Melinda Ponder’s book, Katherine Lee Bates: From Sea to Shining Sea, published in Chicago by Windy City Publishers in 2017.  Page numbers in brackets refer to Ponder’s book.] “But if Christ came to the world nearly 2000 years ago to teach us to love each other, why is […]