Worship & Sermon Archive

‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink?' Matthew 25:44 It occurs to me that some of the most caring and generous people I know don't understand how unusual they are. They go through life with a natural sensitivity to what is going on around them. And not responding to an opportunity to give, seems unthinkable to them.

It occurs to me that some of the most caring and generous people I know don't understand how unusual they are. They go through life with a natural sensitivity to what is going on around them. And not responding to an opportunity to give, seems unthinkable to them. Now that I think about it, I actually know a lot of people like that! So many are part of our faith community. That is one of the things that make St Paul & St Andrew so amazing!

"When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones ...Jesus said, 'As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another.'" Luke 21:5-6 That's not a great lectionary text to show up as we're celebrating the start of the big roof project! But it is another reminder that it's not our lovely and quirky building that matters, but the vital work of love that the building makes possible. 

I've been thinking this week about the 'cloud of witnesses' who have been part of my life, and the life of this church, over the past decades. So many beloved friends and family members who have died, but are still with me in an almost tangible way. And I've been feeling very grateful.

I've been thinking this week about the 'cloud of witnesses' who have been part of my life, and the life of this church, over the past decades. So many beloved friends and family members who have died, but are still with me in an almost tangible way. And I've been feeling very grateful.

Friends, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about silence lately - and wrestling with my yearning for it at a time when silencing seems to be the objective of so many authoritarian powers. Like most things, silence isn’t good or bad in and of itself. It can be both generative and destructive, both holy and sinful.

Finally, the season has come! I’m not thinking of the lovely Autumn weather that has indeed shown up, after a sizzling September and a too hot early October. And I’m not talking about the election season, God knows. I’m speaking of the beloved annual pledge season, celebrated this time of year throughout Christendom. At this season, church communities all around the world start thinking and planning about the coming year, and figuring out how to meet whatever new challenges or opportunities may await.

So much of life depends on how we show up for one another, and just as importantly, how we allow others to show up for us. This week in worship, we’ll reflect on what it means to live that kind of mutual care: to lend what we can, to ask when we need, and to trust that God’s abundance flows through our shared courage.

This Sunday, in honor of the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, we will celebrate a Blessing of the Animals during our 11am service. It's a rare Sunday when we are not joined by a furry friend or two, but we hope this week to have many!

At a desperate moment in the life of his nation, the prophet Jeremiah gets a strange message from God: 'Buy a field in your hometown.' This at a moment when the Kingdom of Judah is about to be overrun by the armies of the Babylonian Empire, and Jeremiah himself is under house arrest for saying things that are critical of his own government and rulers. A strange time to invest in real estate.

These are days heavy with worry. The headlines shift by the hour, and the politics of our moment seem to lurch further into reactionary territory. It’s so very troubling. And more often than not, we are left wondering what to do, how to keep moving, how to make sense of this much uncertainty and ache all at once.

This week's Gospel passage is all about joy, and the need to never give up on anyone. Jesus is always getting criticized for spending time with the sorts of people nobody else wanted or cared about. Spending time because he understands that everyone matters to God. Every soul is of sacred worth. Every single person has the potential to increase our joy.

Over the past several Sundays, I’ve been intrigued and inspired by the challenging Jesus we’ve encountered in Luke’s gospel. The Jesus who says he didn’t come to bring peace, but division (Luke 12:51). The rule-breaking Jesus (Luke 13:14-16). The order flipping, imagination-stirring Jesus (Luke 14:13-14). This week, we’ll spend more time with the Jesus who refuses to be tamed - the Jesus who believes the power of love, the power of kindness, the power of drawing the circle wider and treating people’s needs as holy - can overcome even the most entrenched systems of exclusion.

Jesus is always getting into trouble, often because of his somewhat casual approach to rules. I can relate to that. There was a brief period of my life when I was a serious rule-follower; I believe it was several months in the spring of 1971. It didn't work out as well as it should have, and I soon reverted to my scofflaw ways.

Jesus is always getting into trouble, often because of his somewhat casual approach to rules. I can relate to that. There was a brief period of my life when I was a serious rule-follower; I believe it was several months in the spring of 1971. It didn't work out as well as it should have, and I soon reverted to my scofflaw ways.

Jesus said, "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" - Luke 12:49 I'm back! Did you miss me? It was tempting, given the present political circumstances, to stay in Ireland, a place of relative sanity, but it's not home. Here is home for me. You all are home to me.

Friends, Summer is peak travel season, and that’s no exception for the pastoral team here at St. Paul & St. Andrew. Pastor K is wrapping up a 150+ mile trek across Ireland this week; I’ve just returned from a (much less ambitious!) trip to Michigan; and Pastor Lea is heading out on her own journey in the coming days.

This Sunday, we’ll gather around a question Paul asked from prison: How does one become worthy of the gospel? We’ll explore together what it means to “grow in the gospel”—not as something we arrive at perfectly, but as a journey God takes with us. We’ll look at how the gospel confronts us, stretches us, and calls us beyond what feels safe or comfortable, even as it offers hope that can change the world.

The work of poet Andrea Gibson has been a balm and a charge - for me and for many. Since their death from cancer last week, I’ve been returning to their work and in particular their poem, “MAGA Hat in the Chemo Room” (which I highly recommend watching in full.) In it, Gibson describes being in a place meant to keep them alive, surrounded by people whose politics often seek to erase people like them. 

As I prepare to say goodbye (for now) to this community that has raised me, I’ve been thinking about what makes St. Paul and St. Andrew special. We do hospitality really well, living that radical welcome. Continuing our Grounded in Gospel and Growing in Grace series, hospitality is an intuitive next step.