2nd Sunday after Pentecost

Preaching at Trinity Episcopal Parish, Seattle.

Readings for today.

Listen to the Sermon.

As a preacher, there are weeks when it seems like the lectionary was selected to highlight the news of the week.  This past Thursday, June 20, was World Refugee Day - a day set aside by the United Nations for international recognition of refugees and displaced persons around the world.  71 million of them in the last year, according to the U.N.[1] 

Trinity Sunday / Last Sunday at St. Hilda St. Patrick

Readings for today.

Listen to the sermon.

Hello, St. Hilda St. Patrick.  It is both wonderful and difficult to stand here with you this morning.  My heart is very full, and it is a good fullness of grace and gratitude.

Pentecost

Readings for Today.

Listen to the Sermon.

I love a good after-dinner conversation.  Gathered around the table with friends. Relaxed, with clean feet and full bellies.  When the conversation turns to bigger thoughts about life and the future. Even on a full stomach, we can hear the anxiety and fear in Philip’s voice when he asks Jesus, again, about seeing the Father.  

We know that kind of anxiety and fear – in our every day personal lives, in our uncertain and chaotic world, and in our life as a community of faith.  So much in life brings mixed feelings and unknowns - a new health diagnosis, children moving toward adulthood and independence, the impending big earthquake, and even the arrival of a new vicar.  Things we can prepare for, but not things we can control. And that makes us anxious and fearful, even in anticipation of hopeful outcomes.

Like the disciples, what we really want to know is if we will be OK.