August 23, 2020 - The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

O God, grant us always to remember who you are, so that we might know that we are your beloved children. Amen.

            Stories matter. Just consider the popularity of documentaries or how many times families reminisce about their shared memories. Stories are one of the few things that set apart human society from the animal kingdom – we analyze, celebrate, and remember the past. One theologian has noted that the problem of modern society is that we have convinced ourselves that the only story that we have is the story that chose for ourselves. The problem with choosing our own story to live by is that is simply doesn’t work. I might wish that I was a 10-time Wimbledon champion, I might even tell people that’s true, I could even buy replica trophies and put them on my fireplace mantle. But that wouldn’t make the story true. Instead of us choosing the story we live our lives by, we have been given a story by God. It is the story of our loving Creation, our grace-filled redemption, and our empowerment by the Holy Spirit. When we forget that story, we lose our guiding star, our hope, our purpose, our identity. And forgetting that story, we turn to other stories to tell ourselves and these other stories are called idols.

May 17, 2020 - Easter 6A

Lectionary Readings

In the name of God, in whose love we live, and move, and exist. Amen.

            What is the story that you live your life by? You know, what’s the story that you tell yourself to get through the daily grind, to make yourself get out of bed in the morning, to motivate yourself to do things that you don’t really want to do, to find hope in this pandemic? In a great book called Seculosity that I’ve mentioned before, the author says that religion is shorthand for whatever that story is. Religion is the thing that focuses our desires, ranks our priorities, and determines what we say “yes” and “no” to. And any story that you live by is a religion in this sense. So it’s not a question of which box do you check off for “religious affiliation,” it’s a question of your guiding principles and which gods you worship.

November 3, 2019 - Proper 26C

Lectionary Readings

Come, risen Lord, and deign to be our guest; nay, let us be thy guests; the feast is thine. Amen.

            Last month, we took the girls to the Renaissance Festival and had a really good time. I had never been that event before and didn’t quite know what to expect. It’s a 25-acre village that’s set up in Huntersville that mimics an English village in the 16^th century. There’s an assortment of food and entertainment options including a blacksmith, jousting, and all sorts of shows. But this is a sermon, not an infomercial for the Renaissance Festival. What absolutely fascinated me as a preacher and someone who has an eye on the culture is how this event isn’t just something you attend, it’s something you participate in.