I was privileged to give this sermon Sunday ( July 12th, 2026 ) at Saint Philip’s Episcopal Church in Circleville, OH.

Listen to this sermon here.

Peter Drucker, one of the most influential business management gurus of the 1990’s had a saying about communication:

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.”

I kept hearing what wasn’t said in the parable of the Sower as I was studying our gospel reading. 

In the parable of the Sower, Jesus gives us a broad explanation of how he was teaching the Good News of the Father, by explaining the kingdom of God through stories, or parables. Our reading starts with the parable Jesus tells the people about someone sowing seed in a field. The seed sprout and grow depending on what kind of soil it falls on. The seed on the path are eaten by the birds and never have a chance of growing. The seed on the stony ground sprout but cannot put down roots and whither. The seed among the thorns cannot grow as it is choked out by the thorns. Only the seed falling on good soil will sprout and grow to be harvested; some yielding a hundredfold, some sixty fold, some thirty fold.

What Jesus does not talk about in this story is whether or not the seed is good. There is no mention of any bad seed in this parable. I believe that is an important point of this story, the unsaid truth of this parable; the seed is good. 

Several times, since I’ve moved to Lancaster 8 years ago, I’ve planted grass seed mixes of grass and clover. Spreading it just like in our gospel parable; casting it as evenly as I can by hand. My wife Darlene and I own an empty lot in Lancaster. We purchased this lot with the idea that we would build our retirement home there. When we bought it, it was covered by weeds, brush and bushes, and several nearly dead mature Siberian Elm and Douglas Fir trees covered in poison ivy. We cleared some of it, but after I caught the worst case of poison ivy I’d had since I was a child, we hired someone else to remove the trees and level the ground in preparation for building. We then had this empty, muddy lot – it was early Fall, so we scattered a mix of grass and clover seed, covering our planting with straw and hoped for the best. 

I was reminded of something in casting that seed mix of grass and clover as I felt it in my hands. In that seed, we hold life itself. We hold a miracle, right there in our hand. That seed is a living link between us and the creation of the world: when our world and everything in it was created and pronounced to be good. We spread the seed of the creation upon that ground, and it grew into a living carpet. It has been several years since we seeded our empty lot; the grass and clover have been productive, at least thirty-fold. The poison ivy and other weeds on our empty lot have been crowded out. 

The seed is good.

In our gospel reading, between the first part of our reading and the second, the disciples ask Jesus directly – why do you speak to the people in parables?

Jesus quotes from the prophet Isaiah:

With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:

For this people’s heart has grown dull,

    and their ears are hard of hearing,

        and they have shut their eyes,

        so that they might not look with their eyes,

    and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart and turn—

    and I would heal them.’

When Isaiah made this prophecy, God was revealing to Isaiah that the people were not going to repent to Isaiah’s preaching. God was letting Isaiah know that his preaching to the people would result in the people’s hearts being hardened. God was letting Isaiah know that the conquest and destruction of the people and their kingdom had to happen as part of their hearts turning back to God. Only after the people had been carried off into exile and returned to their promised land, would their hearts also be ready to turn to God.

Jesus uses this Isaiah passage to teach the disciples and us, that His ministry is the fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah. But just because God sent His Son to speak to us doesn’t mean that we are any more ready to listen and to see and to understand the word of the kingdom of God. 

Why speak in parables?

There is a creative, playful aspect in the way Jesus uses these stories to illustrate our relationship with God. Jesus is presenting the Good News of the kingdom of God in a different way, indirectly, and that approach will make the difference in bringing us back into relationship with God.  Jesus uses parables to engage with our minds indirectly on an emotional level, because we are unwilling to see or hear or understand his message directly. The parable is meant to slip past our conscious defenses and speak directly to the heart, to help bring about a change of heart. A change of heart that will lead to spiritual healing. 

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.”

Jesus is using the parables to speak to our hearts in what he does not say. Psychologists, and Advertising people have long known that the way to get people to buy into anything is to appeal to their emotions, to those instinctive, feeling areas of our minds. Once a person’s emotions and feelings are captured by an idea, that person will then fill in the gaps in the logical, rational, areas of their minds. The logical reasons behind the decision to do anything are almost always an afterthought – after we have decided to do that thing we want to do already on an emotional level.

With a parable, Jesus presents a situation, a story which demonstrates how good it is to live in the kingdom of God. That seed falling on the good earth and flourishing into an abundant harvest. It is an attractive, feel good, image. The person who hears it is interested. They may later ask a follower of Christ for understanding which leads to their eyes and ears being opened to God’s message of redemption. 

The seed, the Word of the kingdom of God, is good. 

The Message of the Christ, that we are all forgiven by our God, that God’s Spirit lives in us; is good.

Planting that seed, that meme, that idea of the kingdom of God, spreading the Word so that God can work in our lives, is good.

Just as in the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth, many people will not see, will not hear, will not understand the Word of the kingdom of God. They instinctively reject any talk about religion. But the message – the seed is good – can be conveyed without talking about it directly. By our actions, by our lives, our friendships with our neighbors.

We Christians have a great message, a message of hope to a world in despair.

That each one of us has that of God in us, that seed, that essence of the divine nature in our being. 

That each one of us, working together in community, can bring about the kingdom of God – right here and now.

Jesus shows us a way in our lesson today, how to spread the Good News – indirectly, emotionally, so that the hearts of the people may turn and be healed by God.

Isaiah 55:10-13

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Romans 8:1-11

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law– indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!”

“Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

I was privileged to give this sermon Sunday ( May 10th, 2026 ) at the Episcopal churches, Saint John’s, Lancaster, OH and Saint Paul’s, Logan, OH.

Listen to this sermon here.

In the 1982 movie, “Conan the Barbarian”, Conan and his friend Subotai are sitting at their fire, late in the evening, talking about their religious beliefs. Conan believes in Crom, a god of the earth who lives high on a mountain. Subotai prays to the four winds of the everlasting sky. Subotai concludes that his god is greater than Conan’s god who lives below the everlasting sky. Conan unhappily concedes the argument, but he is not about to start praying to the everlasting sky.

On first reading, the apostle Paul’s sermon in front of the Areopagus or Mars Hill in Athens has that same message as this scene from “Conan the Barbarian”. My God is greater. Paul’s delivery is more polished, tailored to his Greek audience using logical arguments which the Greeks invented, concluding that he worships a God that cannot be depicted in a statue. A God that does not need worship but deserves to be worshiped because He is the creator of all beings that have life and breath as well as everything else that exists. A God that Everyone should worship instead of the many gods that are venerated by the Greeks.

Paul’s sermon may be understood to be quite clever in that he found a shrine in Athens to the “unknown god” and uses this shrine to establish that the Greeks through their own piety have already acknowledged the existence of the living God of the Jews. Paul also includes a reference in his sermon to a Greek idea that this single creator god is the father of all peoples, as written by both the philosophers; Epimenides of Crete, and Aratus of Soli.

In this way, Paul firmly establishes that the Greeks themselves already have this belief in a single creator god. Paul goes on to claim that the time of ignorance is over. Through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, a man sent by the living God who through his resurrection from death reveals to us how all people should live and worship.

In short, this “unknown god”, the living God, is the only God deserving of our worship. 

Paul’s sermon is held by many, to be the model of how to appeal to unbelievers, to bring them to Christ. First, you find some common ground with your audience, then you show that true worship should only be rendered to the creator God who made all things. A God that cannot be physically represented in a shrine or temple and does not need our worship; as He is our Creator we owe homage and worship to Him. You close the argument with the incarnation of Jesus Christ who through his ministry and resurrection proclaim the truth of our way of belief and worship.

Our lessons today demonstrate that we have more to share in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. A large part of the appeal of Christianity should be the love we have for God, which finds expression in the love and hope we try to express to everyone we meet. Our reading from First Peter explains it like this:

Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.

Hope, with Gentleness and Reverence. Not, I’m right and you’re wrong. Our goal is to persuade, not to insult. To win people over, not to drive them away. 

In other words, we should preach and teach from the fruits of the Spirit in hope, with gentleness – which comes from our being patient and tolerant with our sisters and brothers in Christ. Reverent from our understanding, that within each one of us is that of God.

The apostle Paul had every reason to be patient and tolerant. In his younger days, Paul was known as Saul. Saul the religious zealot who had none of these Christian virtues other than a fierce single-minded devotion to his own idea of God, who he thought wanted him to persecute all the followers of Christ, wherever he could find them. Paul’s conversion to being a follower of Jesus Christ, must have influenced him in how he performed his later missionary work. 

Maybe it was not cleverness when Paul praised the people of Athens for being pious. Maybe Paul was thinking about his life before he knew Jesus Christ. Paul thought that he was pious when he was known as Saul. Paul then channels this understanding from his own life experiences, in his sermon to the people of Athens. He is not just establishing ‘common ground’ in his sermon. Paul is honestly establishing an emotional connection to his audience, to personally demonstrate to them what it is to be a follower of Christ, with gentleness and reverence. This honest emotional connection should be the underlying truth of every sermon we preach.

Jesus in our gospel lesson reveals yet another advantage Christians have in our reaching out to others. The presence of the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth, also known as the Holy Spirit, which whispers Truth to All people. When we speak and teach and preach with gentleness and reverence, with the Spirit of Truth as our mentor and guide, we cannot fail to plant that seed of truth in the minds of the people in our midst. And those people to whom we are speaking, teaching, and preaching will go on about their lives with that seed of truth in their minds, nurtured by the Spirit of Truth. We may never see or experience the flowering of that truth, but we need to patiently extend to everyone, gentleness and reverence; because everyone grows in the spirit in God’s time, not our time.

I started this sermon with a description of a scene from a movie about two friends talking about their religious beliefs. One of the friends ‘won’ their debate about who’s god was greater. Their conversation resulted in no-one changing their minds; neither of their beliefs was challenged; there was no spiritual growth in either one of them. As Christians, our Savior and God expects more from us. For we are to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded of us.

We possess all the tools necessary to do the good work. We have God’s Truth; the Good News that we are all forgiven in Jesus Christ.

We can practice living into and using the fruits of the Spirit to spread the Good News.

We have the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth as our partner working with us – as long as we practice our outreach patiently in gentleness and reverence. 

The World has never needed the Good News of Jesus Christ more than it does right at this moment. The Greek philosophers and thinkers in Athens invited the Apostle Paul to come and speak to them. The Areopagus in Athens was the Facebook of their time, and these Greek thinkers craved what was new and different – just as the social media platforms of our time are always looking for that idea or image which will go viral.

What we have to offer is not merely different; it is completely at odds with the message of the world and completely affirming at one and the same time. Our message is like a cool drink of water when we are thirsty. Our message encourages and uplifts the spirit.

We can be that quiet voice which speaks to each person in gentleness with reverence.

We can be that listening ear, to each person that needs to be heard.   

We can bring about the kingdom of God, each one of us – one to another.

Acts 17:22-31

Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring.’

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

1 Peter 3:13-22

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you– not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

John 14:15-21

Jesus said, ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

I was privileged to give this sermon Epiphany Sunday ( March 8th, 2026 ) at the Episcopal churches, Saint John’s, Lancaster, OH and Saint Paul’s, Logan, OH.

Listen to this sermon here.

There is nothing like a drink of water when we are thirsty. Everything alive on Earth requires some water every day to survive.  Each one of us requires around a gallon of water every day for good health.

In our first lesson from Exodus, the people are thirsty. They receive manna from Heaven every morning, and quail swarm over their encampments providing both bread and meat. But they have traveled to an area with no source of water for themselves and their animals. The people are thirsty and desperate. Moses is in fear of his life. God again provides, this time a miracle of a spring of water from a stone to give His people what they need.

I believe that the people were not only thirsty for water but suffered from a spiritual thirst. It’s like when we are on a long car trip and we keep asking the driver, “Are we there yet?”. The people are asking Moses, “When are we going to get to this promised land?” And as things turned out, the promised land is 40 years away. Just about everyone who left Egypt dies including Moses, before the people finally arrive at their promised land. People freed from slavery entered the wilderness, and after 40 years of wandering, the descendants of those people because of the hardships they endured, developed a spirit of discernment, of waiting and watching, waiting and watching for their eventual arrival at their promised land.

We today, are also suffering from a spiritual thirst. Many of us have wandered, and many of us still wander in a spiritual wilderness. This is a good thing. It is very good for us to understand, to be aware, that there is something missing in our lives, and that we are seeking, looking, and searching for our promised land.

In our gospel lesson, Jesus is thirsty. Jesus is tired. Jesus is traveling back home to Galilee passing through Samaria after celebrating the Passover in Jerusalem. It is high noon, the sun is overhead, he sits down by the well of Jacob to rest but there is no bucket, no clay jar or rope to draw water from this well. The disciples go into the nearby city of Sychar to buy food. A Samaritan woman comes out to the well with her clay jar and rope to draw water and Jesus asks for a drink of water. The woman seems to be startled, asking Jesus how can he, as a Jew, can ask a Samaritan woman for a drink? In all the stories of Jesus in the gospels, Jesus is often talking to people he should not talk to, and most of the time someone is criticizing him for doing so!

Jesus ignores her question to him, instead telling her that if she knew who he was she would ask him for living water. Water that after you drink it becomes a boundless spring within you such that you never thirst again. The woman is very interested in this living water. I don’t think we can truly understand how hard it was in those days to get the water everyone needed every day. We just turn on a fauct, in our kitchen or bathroom, and the water just flows – life giving water for drinking or washing. The woman in our lesson had to not only lift the water up from a deep well, but then to carry it a mile or two back to her home.

Jesus asks the woman to bring her husband to him, but she states that she is not married. Jesus reveals that he knows her domestic situation, information that he as a stranger cannot possibly know. She recognizes Jesus as a prophet of the Lord. Now the woman has a problem, a complaint for God.  She is a believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – she claims Jacob as an ancestor. Just as the people complained to Moses in our first lesson about their lack of water, the Samaritan woman lodges her complaint with Jesus the prophet of the living God.

Identifying Jesus as a religious leader she tells Jesus that her people used to worship God on the nearby mountain, but you say that people must worship in Jerusalem. What she does not ask is where is She supposed to worship. She does not have to ask. As a Samaritan, the woman is not allowed to worship in Jerusalem. The religious authorities had decided that the people of Samaria, a people descended from Jacob can not worship in their temple in Jerusalem. Jesus answers her unspoken question that the time has come when people everywhere will worship God in spirit and truth. She in turn replies that she knows the Messiah is coming. Jesus tells her that he is that Messiah.

Jesus and this woman are not talking about water now. They are talking about the prophesy of Isaiah – when all the peoples of the world will worship the living God in spirit and in truth. They are talking about the Messiah sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Both Jesus and the woman were physically and spiritually thirsty that day at the well. Jesus the man and the Woman of Sychar drank some water from the well of Jacob their famous ancestor which sated their physical thirst. They drank from living water in their conversation; the woman, one of the many at that time waiting and watching for the Messiah to come. Jesus the Christ, for people to hear and believe in God’s Good News that all people are forgiven and can worship the living God in spirit and truth, wherever they are, whoever they are, just as they are.

I can picture this woman running back to her city, asking the people there, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”.

The Jesus that the disciples left at the well is not the same man they find on their return. Jesus is now overflowing with energy and purpose. He announces to the disciples that the time of the harvest has arrived! He is no longer tired, or hungry; his encounter with the Woman at the well has revealed to him that the Samaritan people of Sychar are ready for God’s message of redemption. These people know and understand the prophesies of Isaiah. They understand that God would send the Messiah, and they have been waiting and watching for this Messiah to arrive.

In her haste to hurry back into the city to spread the word about Jesus, the Woman left her rope, and her jar by the well.
She came back to the well with many people from the city, to hear the Good News from the Savior of the World.

There are many people around us, spiritually thirsty just like those people in the city of Sychar. Although we face different challenges in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. We live and work in a very different world; our modern world is full of options and choices. The world marketplace of ideas and products is constantly making sales pitches to us, whenever we listen or watch any sort of media.

We’ve got Christian churches everywhere here in town, and yet many people don’t attend any church. Many people here, do not participate in any regular spiritual or religious practice, and moreover many have bad feelings and associations about religion in general and Christianity in particular. Maybe like me, the church they were raised in changed over time, becoming more rigid in belief so they stopped going. Maybe there were personality conflicts at their church; they were just not comfortable attending anymore and stopped going to church, and not just their church but any church. Maybe this experience happened to one or both of their parents, so that as children, they were raised to avoid those ‘religious’ people and are still doing so as adults.

And yet. And yet, we are creatures, created beings, created in spirit and truth by the living God. If we don’t drink from living water we are spiritually thirsty, and must continually try to fill that spiritual void in our lives. I believe that here and now the fields are ripe for harvesting. I believe there are a great many people seeking to quench that spiritual thirst, searching for living water. Searching for truth, for meaning, and for salvation.

As Christians, we represent Christ to our friends and neighbors. Like Jesus did at the well, we need to talk about living water, with the people around us, in our daily life and work. Especially to people like the Woman at the well. She was spiritually thirsty, wandering in a spritual wilderness, ready to hear the Good News of God. We should welcome opportunities to have those deep conversations with people, to be bold, and also sensitive to the nature of our souls which are as timid and elusive as wild deer in a deep forest.

It may simply be enough to let our friends know that we go to church, and if they’d like, to come and see for themselves.

Then they will hear, what we believe, and who we worship, and they will know that there is truly a Savior of the world.

Amen.

Exodus 17:1-7

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Psalm 95

Venite, exultemus

1 Come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

3 For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land.

6 Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

8 Harden not your hearts,
as your forebears did in the wilderness, *
at Meribah, and on that day at Massah,
when they tempted me.

9 They put me to the test, *
though they had seen my works.

10 Forty years long I detested that generation and said, *
“This people are wayward in their hearts;
they do not know my ways.”

11 So I swore in my wrath, *
“They shall not enter into my rest.”

Romans 5:1-11

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person– though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

John 4:5-42

Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

I was privileged to give this sermon Epiphany Sunday ( January 4th, 2026 ) at the Episcopal churches, Saint John’s, Lancaster, OH and Saint Paul’s, Logan, OH.

Listen to this sermon here.

In our readings this Sunday, Isaiah is joyful, he is enthusiastic! Even though darkness covers the Earth, and many of their people are currently enslaved by the Babylonians, the Lord God will appear in light and bring great things to the people. Good times are a coming! It is time to rejoice!

This passage in Isaiah is a prophesy to the people that there will be a religious rebirth in their worship of God. The Sons and Daughters of Abraham will return. Reverent and sincere religious practice will be the norm. And not only that, but all nations will be converted to the worship of the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Gold and Frankincense are mentioned as gifts – which shows how we Christians believe this prophecy foretold the birth of Jesus Christ and the wise men of neighboring kingdoms recognizing His divinity even while He was a small child. Isaiah is prophesying that the Kingdom of God is at hand!

I imagine the people receiving this message from Isaiah being destitute. Their country had been destroyed, all able-bodied men and women taken into slavery. Everything valuable has been stolen. And here is Isaiah – the Lord is coming, it is going to be great, everyone is going to return and all the nations around us are going to give us the riches of world. But that is not all; we will not only be incredibly wealthy, but we will also be pious, and upright in faith and wise as Solomon. Which is the reason why all the peoples of all the nations of the world will want to worship as we do.

Paul talks about this also in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul knows all about this prophecy that someday all the peoples of the world will worship the one God. Paul after all feels he personally has been called to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the gentiles.

This message is a mirror to this season of the year. Two weeks ago, we had the shortest, darkest day of the year – the winter solstice. From now until this Summer, the days will lengthen, life and light will return to the world little by little until Spring comes with Easter and the Good News that we are forgiven in Christ. It is in this Winter season we also observe the cyclic nature of time; an ending of the year past as we celebrate the start of a new year.

As my favorite author Roger Zelazny – writes:

“The stars have run their fiery courses to their proper places, positioned with
elegant cunning, possessing of noble portent”

Just as the wise men were guided by the star to the birthplace of Jesus, so do the heavens align to the start of a new year. In the depths of Winter, we anticipate new possibilities. A brand new year when we are given another opportunity to try again, to do better.

As a fan of American popular cinema, I am reminded of a movie from 1993 staring Bill Murray – Groundhog Day. In this movie, Bill Murray’s every man character is a very flawed and unpleasant weatherman named Phil from Pittsburgh. He is in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to witness Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog, predict the coming of Spring. Phil is stuck living this same Groundhog day thousands of times, living it in different ways with each repetition until he perfects that single day, and he is finally released from repeating it yet again.

One of the great things about this movie is the progress of Phil, the weatherman. Phil is a real jerk, however he has the talent to do almost anything and with the thousands of repetitions of this single day he learns to ice sculpt, to play the piano, to speak the French language, but he remains someone who does not love anyone not even himself. He finally lives that day where he loves someone else and knows that he is undeserving of their love of him.

This movie also reminds me of an important fallacy about the nature of people and belief. We often talk about the eternal nature of God, that we believe in unchanging Truth with a Capitol T. The common conception is that we churchgoing people, we Christians who believe in God should have an unshakeable ever-present faith, which sustains us through all our troubles as we live our lives. Just as Phil the weatherman is basically a jerk and is fundamentally that person even in his redemption, we Christians should have this unchanging righteous nature due to our faith in God.

I have never experienced my belief in God this way. Our beliefs, our faith, are formed from our thoughts, which are constantly changing, from moment to moment, as we have our doubts and as we have our epiphanies. With enough coffee in the morning, I can experience spiritual highs and lows every 20 minutes or so. In the middle of a sleepless night, when I am worried about my daughter Olivia or my wife Darlene, my thoughts can run wild with all the terrible things that might be happening to them. I believe we conclude during our episodes of frantic thinking that there is something wrong with us. That we should be more constant in our faith in God, and in Jesus Christ.

We then feel even worse about being fearful, and afraid, and human. When nothing could be further from the Truth. ( Air quotes during Truth ) We fail to appreciate the agility of our minds, created by God; able to imagine the infinite possibilities in each moment, whether in our hopes or our fears. Our faith or our doubt. We should find comfort with our thoughts as we do with our changeable Ohio weather. That whatever our thought of the moment, our next thought will at least be something completely different. We should embrace the speed of our thoughts as yet another human strength, because it allows us to explore many possibilities in the twinkling of an eye, and yes, to also doubt ourselves and what we believe.

We all have this ability to test our beliefs, our faith, our actions, and to change our lives. Having minds which can change, to improve ourselves by refining our beliefs, when we are presented with information that is new – what a marvelous tool God has given to us.

Faith is not Faith, until it is tested in the crucible of our thoughts and fears. We will have our doubts – there is no doubt about that. We will be afraid, we will be fearful, and we come together in this place, with our family and friends to find comfort in each other and our collective belief in the Good News of Christ. To find refuge in each other. To lend a helping hand to those who are in a dark and fearful place right now. In the sure and certain knowledge that we ourselves will need that helping hand in the future. That is why we come here, to worship, to be reminded of who we are, to share in the mystery of faith.

Every year is our Groundhog day. Every year, we are given that same opportunity, that same gift, another year to live and love with all the wisdom and experience from our past years. Every year, we can correct where we fall short, to perfect what we do well, to become our better selves.

Many people at this time of year make New Year resolutions, those promises to ourselves about what we will do better in the coming year. Today, we will be renewing our baptismal vows. A new years’ resolution, to affirm our service to God in this coming year.

Using the liturgy of our baptismal vows is a way to focus our variable thoughts, hopes, and doubts. To open ourselves to all the possibilities present in the mystery of faith. The kingdom of God starts within each one of us. When we make that better decision. When we help one other person, who in turn helps someone else. Maybe this coming year will be the year that everything changes for us and for our world.

Even though darkness currently covers the earth and the people are lost in deep darkness, may the light of the Lord arise in each one of us in glory and in our leaders with the brightness of the dawn.

Amen

Isaiah 60:1-6

Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;

but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.

Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;

your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.

Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,

because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.

A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.

They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.

Psalm 72:1-7,10-14

Deus, judicium

1 Give the King your justice, O God, *
and your righteousness to the King’s Son;

2 That he may rule your people righteously *
and the poor with justice;

3 That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people, *
and the little hills bring righteousness.

4 He shall defend the needy among the people; *
he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.

5 He shall live as long as the sun and moon endure, *
from one generation to another.

6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown field, *
like showers that water the earth.

7 In his time shall the righteous flourish; *
there shall be abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.

10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute, *
and the kings of Arabia and Saba offer gifts.

11 All kings shall bow down before him, *
and all the nations do him service.

12 For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress, *
and the oppressed who has no helper.

13 He shall have pity on the lowly and poor; *
he shall preserve the lives of the needy.

14 He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence, *
and dear shall their blood be in his sight.

Ephesians 3:1-12

This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles– for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

`And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'”

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

I was privileged to give this sermon last Sunday at the Episcopal churches, Saint John’s, Lancaster, OH and Saint Paul’s, Logan, OH.

Listen to this sermon here.

In our gospel readings for today, Jesus tells us two parables about finding what is lost.  

As is the case with most of His parables, Jesus presents us with a fairly simple story, easy to repeat and remember, but when we meditate on these stories, we find many layers of meaning which light our path to the kingdom of God.

In our first layer of meaning is the understanding that the sheep and the coins are not just sheep and coins. The sheep and coins represent all of us. We are the lost in these stories. We are lost to God, God as the shepherd and as the woman who has lost her coin. God is worried about us; God wants us to be found.

Being lost to God means that we have forgotten something fundamental about ourselves. That we have lost our connection to that divine spark which is the birthright of every one of us.

I was thinking about people being lost and I remembered the Lost boys, from the story of “Peter Pan or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” by Sir James Matthew Barrie.

The Lost Boys are so lost that they have forgotten how to grow up at all. Although, even in the paradise of Neverland some of them do grow up and become Lost Men, the pirates who are the crew of Captain Hook’s ship the Jolly Roger. When we are lost to God and have forgotten our Creator and God, we don’t mature into adulthood and responsibility – maybe some of us retain the innocence of childhood as the lost boys do, but others of us mature into lost people who actively participate in the evil of the world.

Our reading from Jeremiah today describes people who are lost as being – foolish or stupid – ‘they do not know me’,  ‘they have no understanding’ , but do possess ‘skill in doing evil’, as ‘they do not know how to do good’.

There is also a movie which comes to my mind about being lost. This movie has many characters, an entire isolated community of people who are just like the ones described in our reading from Jeremiah. In this movie there is also a man accused of being lost – however, he the only one in the story who knows exactly who he is and where he is going. This movie is the western epic from 1958 – The Big Country. In this movie, Gregory Peck is a retired sea captain who travels to an unnamed part of the American western plains to marry a cattle baron’s daughter. Everyone tells him how important it is to stay on the road and that if he leaves it, he will be lost on the endless plains. But for a man who can navigate on the open ocean with a compass and the sun overhead and the knowledge of where he is in relation to the road and the river – the Big Muddy – he always knows exactly where he is and who he is. 

Gregory Pecks’ sea captain character is a model of Christian modesty and forbearance. He is roughed up by some local cowboys and just passes it off as being new to the area, an initiation that any newcomer would face. He refuses to fight the Charlton Heston character in front of a crowd, instead fighting with him in private in the very early hours of the following morning – then asking the question – what did this fight prove? He ultimately brings an end to a war between competing cattle barons by promising water to both barons from this same river – the Big Muddy that by the end of the movie he controls.

Being Lost to God, is not a problem that God can solve for us, it is our problem, in that we have lost our relationship with God within ourselves. And because of this loss of connection with our divine nature, we blindly seek to fill the void it leaves in our lives. The supporting characters in – The Big Country – and many of us, are lost to ourselves. Lost without that anchor of a relationship to our divine nature – we attempt to fill that void;

Finding ourselves – taking ownership of our salvation, by seeking God in prayer and study. 

Where we, through God’s grace and mercy come to that realization that God has also been looking for us all along, so that He can extend His forgiveness to each of us.

Jesus in the parable of the lost sheep concludes with the mystery of redemption:

There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

In the parable of the lost coin, the woman spends more money on the celebration of the finding her coin, than the value of the coin which was lost. The woman and her neighbors celebrating the finding of the coin are God and His heavenly host rejoicing that a person lost to God and themselves has returned to a state of grace. We are not coins with some set value – each one of us is of infinite worth, created in the image of God Himself, which is why the heavens rejoice when any of us are redeemed by accepting God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28

For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.  

1 Timothy 1:12-17

I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners– of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Luke 15:1-10

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

I was privileged to give this sermon today at the Episcopal churches, Saint John’s, Lancaster, OH and Saint Paul’s, Logan, OH.

Listen to this sermon here.

In our gospel lesson for today, Jesus gets invited to a dinner party.
Not just any dinner – but the Sabbath meal.
Not just any house – but the home of a leader of the Pharisees. A leader among the most traditional and conservative of the priests in the city of Jerusalem.

Most of us who have had some success in our careers get opportunities like this. We get invited to the Boss’ house, and we make polite conversation. We admire his or her home, we accept a seat at the table, we watch how much we drink. We don’t express our opinions too forcefully.

We just try to make a good impression.
Jesus does not act the way we usually do.  (pause)

Over the last two Sundays, our gospel readings have shown Jesus as the revolutionary, the firebrand, who came to bring fire to the earth!

Who said

Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!

Who rebukes the leader of a synagogue with

You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?

All too often, when I see some problem with our country, or our community, I feel this outrage!
Something must be done about this right now!
 
I sometimes then waste my limited time and energy confronting people, rather than finding some way to work with them.
 
In our gospel readings of the past couple of weeks, Jesus seems to be feeling this outrage, this need for action.
 
But Jesus knows when to be forceful, and when to use a different approach.
 
A leader of the Pharisees invites Jesus, this wild, rough, Galilean prophet, the son of a carpenter from the county, invites this Jesus to his home for the Sabbath meal.
 
Jesus could have been loud and reactionary. He could have blamed the Pharisees present for many of the problems with their society. But, Jesus does not see the Pharisees as his enemy.
 
Jesus ministered to everyone, even the Pharisees.
 Everyone.
 I can picture Jesus at this Sabbath dinner.
 

Jesus is the special guest, with all these high-status religious leaders. He could claim a good seat at the top of the table next to the leader among the Pharisees, his host.

Maybe, one of the other guests, has not gotten the word and has already claimed the seat reserved for Jesus. The other Pharisees are whispering to this man, you should move to another seat, we want Jesus to sit here so we can question and watch him closely.
 
Jesus is watching these men, with the love and regard he has for everyone.
Jesus then speaks,

When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you,Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

After Jesus said this, I wonder if there was a sudden rush for the seats at the foot of the table.

Jesus, once he has their attention, also gives them a bit of his revolutionary, kingdom of God stuff, which he addresses directly to the leader of the Pharisees who invited him to this dinner.

When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid.

I am sure, that Jesus’ tone was friendly, but this message is a rebuke, because this is exactly who the leader of the Pharisees had invited to this dinner.

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

Our gospel passage does not say how the leader of the Pharisees received this criticism from Jesus.
It seems that Jesus was not invited to dinner again.
We do not see in the gospels that Jesus regularly attended the sabbath dinner at a Pharisee’s home.

In this gospel account of Jesus attending a dinner, Jesus shows us one way to creatively protest,
gently and firmly,
    by telling a story, which demonstrates the Good News:
        that we are all the children of God,
            that we can all live in the kingdom of God.

It is very easy for us to pick fights with people who do not agree with us. We disagree about some issue, and we label them as liberals or conservatives, progressives or libertarians. Once we have labeled them, they in turn label us. Their and our positions on the issues of the day harden as our hearts harden, so that even when we talk to one another, we are shouting slogans at each other, rather than listening to each other in the give and take of a conversation.
 
We start to see these other people as the enemy, as an obstacle to be overcome, instead of as our neighbors.
 
As I was preparing this sermon, I remembered two people who lived lives of protest. Who creatively and courageously worked to bring about the kingdom of God. Who also consciously and consistently refused to see the people who disagreed with them as enemies or opponents to be overcome, but instead saw them as neighbors, friends and allies who had not yet joined with them.
 
John Woolman was born in 1720 in the colony of New Jersey. As a young man he learned how to tailor clothes, and how to run a business. He was a Quaker and came to a personal realization that slavery was wrong, and that he must do something about it.
 
With the support of his local Quaker meeting, he traveled to other Quaker meetings and churches throughout New England for over 30 years, speaking against slavery, asking everyone who owned slaves to free them. In 1772 he traveled to England presenting the case to end slavery to the Yearly meeting of British Quakers. This one man, working throughout his life to convince his fellow Quakers to end slavery, led to the Quakers getting slavery abolished in Pennsylvania in 1790. Converting people who owned slaves both in Northern and Southern colonies to give up the institution of slavery, convincing them to free their slaves by talking to them one on one.
 

Mahatma Ghandi was the other person who came to my mind as someone who creatively and courageously protested British rule, seeking freedom for the people of India.
 
Ghandi felt very strongly in the worth of every person he met. When he was invited to a gathering where there was a servant present serving the guests, Ghandi would take the serving tray from the servant, thank them, and serve the other guests himself. Ghandi would do this at meetings with Indian leaders to remind them that the people were not protesting just for the Indian leaders to replace the British ones. But that those Indian leaders should see themselves as public servants of a free India. Ghandi’s act of service to others is a great example of a personal act of protest and awareness.
 
Before we protest, before we work to change anyone else’s opinions on the great issues of our day, we have our own inner work to do.
 
In our hearts and in our minds, we must know that these people, our neighbors,
who disagree with us,
    who we are protesting,
        who we are confronting, are not our enemy.
 
These people are our brothers and sisters.
We are all the children of God; our Father and Creator.
 

We should strive to strike that balance, as Jesus did, delivering our message of protest in creative ways.
 
With the resolve of John Woolman, pleading for the dignity of all people for over 30 years; never giving in or giving up.
With the moral force and firmness of our own conduct and example as Mahatma Ghandi did throughout his life.
 
Courageously seeking to convert,
always seeking to speak to our common humanity.
Always listening to that small, still voice of the Spirit.

Jeremiah 2:4-13

Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord:
What wrong did your ancestors find in me
that they went far from me,
and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?

They did not say, “Where is the Lord
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us in the wilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
in a land that no one passes through,
where no one lives?”

I brought you into a plentiful land
to eat its fruits and its good things.
But when you entered you defiled my land,
and made my heritage an abomination.

The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?”
Those who handle the law did not know me;
the rulers transgressed against me;
the prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after things that do not profit.

Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord,
and I accuse your children’s children.
Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look,
send to Kedar and examine with care;
see if there has ever been such a thing.

Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
for something that does not profit.

Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
says the Lord,
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living water,
and dug out cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns
that can hold no water.

Psalm 81:1, 10-16

Exultate Deo

1 Sing with joy to God our strength *
and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.

10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said, *
“Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”

11 And yet my people did not hear my voice, *
and Israel would not obey me.

12 So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts, *
to follow their own devices.

13 Oh, that my people would listen to me! *
that Israel would walk in my ways!

14 I should soon subdue their enemies *
and turn my hand against their foes.

15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, *
and their punishment would last for ever.

16 But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat *
and satisfy him with honey from the rock.

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” So we can say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.

What can anyone do to me?”

Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Luke 14:1, 7-14

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.

When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you,Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

I was privileged to give this sermon today at the Episcopal churches, Saint John’s, Lancaster, OH and Saint Paul’s, Logan, OH.

Listen to this sermon here.

I was at the supermarket the other day, to pick up a few items. This supermarket is part of a national chain with stores all over Ohio. I noticed something strange about my fellow shoppers. They were scanning every item with their phones to check that the price was the same as the one marked on the shelf. I did some research when I got home, and as it turns out several national supermarket chains are not updating the price on the shelf for every change in the scanned price of their products. Posted prices can be as much as several weeks out of date, with shoppers paying significantly more for their groceries than if the posted prices on the shelves were correct.

When I saw our old Testament reading from the book of Amos this Sunday, I was struck by the lines:

especially as I read in yet another news article about another grocery stores’ scales were giving false readings when weighing produce.

My fellow shoppers knew about this.

They were protecting themselves against paying more than the posted price.

In our lesson from Amos, he was delivering this message from God to the people of the city of Bethel in the Northern Kingdom of Israel about 300 years before the time of Christ. Bethel means “House of God”. It is where Abraham had made sacrifices to God, it is where Jacob had his dream of the stairway or ladder with Angels descending from and ascending to Heaven. The ark of the covenant was kept for a time at the temple in Bethel before being returned to the temple of Jerusalem. Bethel was an important center of worship and commerce. The Northern Kingdom ruled by King Jeroboam had won territory and riches in wars with the neighboring kingdoms. There were many wealthy and influential people in the kingdom of Israel. Unfortunately, these same wealthy people were using their power and influence to enrich themselves at the expense of their fellows. Rather than being generous with their workers, they robbed them; rather than setting prices fairly they made their bushel baskets smaller yet charged more for them in the marketplaces. Their money the shekel was strong, yet this did not benefit the working people and the poor. Amos blames King Jeroboam for these abuses against the working people of his kingdom, because if the King turns a blind eye to these abuses or even benefits from them, he is guilty, according to the law of God and man.

Amos is my favorite prophet of the old testament. He is the prophet of working people. A herder, and a dressor or cultivator of the Sycamore Fig tree. The Sycamore Fig was an important source of food for the poorer, rural people in the middle east. In order that the fig should ripen to produce the best fruit, it was necessary to cut each fig at the right time to cause the figs to fully ripen several weeks later.

When I was assigned to preach to you this morning, and I read this passage from Amos – I knew I was being called to preach about fairness.

This has been a difficult sermon to write and deliver.

The difficulty is not about the problem. Our society today seems more unfair, more unforgiving, more frankly scary ( pause ) than ever before.  We are worried about every aspect of our lives, our work, our children, our parents. Our media institutions that deliver information to us know that if they can make us uneasy, scare us, then we pay more attention to them.

Anyone who wants to raise money, even for the best of causes, has to first get our attention by an appeal to our pity, or our fears. It is exhausting to be approached in this way until we just become apathetic and numb to further appeals on our time and our treasure, and most importantly our limited attention.

This Sunday morning, the last thing I want to do is to add to anyone’s worries or fears, I would rather talk about hope.

I am not endorsing any solutions to the problems of fairness or justice in our society, but I am bold to make this claim from the book of Amos.

God will punish the dishonest,
the unjust,
those people who knowingly practice deceit and do not repent.

We as the people of God, through all the disinformation and our own emotional exhaustion; must rely on God’s grace to remind us of who we are. We are the people of the kingdom of God. We need to hold fast to one another and not let all the bad information out there cause us to turn against one another. We are charged as Christians to love each other as we love ourselves. And as part of that Christian love, to forgive each other, as we accept the forgiveness God extends to all of us.

In our Amos passage, the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel had a king. So the people suffering from injustice had no recourse but to wait for God’s punishment to bring them justice.

How should we as God’s people bring about change in our communities?

All I am going to say is that we, as God’s people, need to be as involved in our communities as we are moved by the Spirit,
to address the basic unfairness, and injustice we see around us.

Who ( pause ) will change things for the better if we do not?

In becoming involved in our local community, we must let the holy Spirit guide us.  

To listen,
to heal,
to affirm,
to be positive,
To be open and engage with everyone.
to demonstrate by our example, the fruits of the Spirit to everyone around us.

Amos encourages us with the hope that eventually  

In the kingdom of God: justice flows like a river,

      and righteousness like a never-failing stream.     

I believe that we can help address these issues of fairness and justice.
I believe we can care for each other.
But we need to always be listening and be guided by that quiet voice of God.

Amos 8:1-12

Colossians 1:15-28

Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers– all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him– provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Luke 10:38-42

As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

I was privileged to give this sermon at Saint John’s, in Lancaster Ohio and Saint Paul’s, in Logan, Ohio – Episcopal Churches June 29th, 2025.

Listen to it here.

Today’s lessons are about the importance of commitment in living a life in Christ.

In our gospel reading for today from Luke, we hear that Jesus has entered into the last part of his three years of ministry. Jesus is aware that as he travels towards Jerusalem, he is traveling toward his own death. Yet, even as Jesus is aware of his fate, he “sets his face to go to Jerusalem”. Jesus is committed to follow the path that God has asked him to take, even unto his own death.

Commitment.

When I was a senior in high school, I had completed the course-work that prepared the student for further study in college or university. I made pretty good grades, I had a solid 3.6 grade point average. I had completed all the math and science courses that my high school offered. I had completed extra project work in science – reproducing the Michelson–Morley speed of light experiments over a six month period. I had also completed an elective composition course, where we wrote three research papers on any historical topic and presented these papers to the class.

The natural choice of secondary education for me was to go to the University of Akron. I lived in Summit County. Akron U is a 30 minute commute from my parents’ house. However, although my parents could provide room and board, and a car for commuting to school; they did not have the means to cover my tuition.

I decided that I would join the Navy, and save money to go to college to study Electrical Engineering. I had a plan. A nine year plan. Four years in the Navy. Five years at Akron U including a year of paid internship to pay for my last two years of Engineering school.

At eighteen years old – I committed myself to a nine year plan.

Returning to our gospel lesson from Luke, we have an interesting passage. The people in the next town in Samaria seeing that Jesus and his disciples are heading toward Jerusalem would not let them enter their village. And Jesus’ disciples James and John ask Jesus if they should pray for God to rain fire down on the village.

Our gospel lesson today – makes several references to the ministry of the prophet Elijah.

Earlier in Luke chapter 9, we have the story of the transfiguration, where Jesus, Peter, James and John meet with Moses and Elijah. So it is not surprising that James and John still had that encounter with Elijah in mind when they meet these Samaritan villagers. On three separate occasions, Elijah called down fire from heaven, so James and John perhaps feeling hurt that the Samaritans would not let them stay in their village, wanted to also call down fire to consume them.

Jesus himself in our gospel reading uses a reference to Elijah saying that the commitment of a follower of Christ must be stronger than Elisha’s commitment to God, when he was called to follow Elijah while plowing a field. This passage is found in First Kings chapter 19. Elisha asked to say goodbye to his parents – just as the man asks Jesus in our Gospel passage – and Elijah allowed Elisha to say goodbye to his parents.

But Jesus takes a harder view on commitment.

“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God”

It is interesting that in our old testament reading for today, we have another example of commitment from Elisha. It is at the end of Elijah’s life just before he is carried up to the heavens in a whirlwind. Elisha stays with him to the moment that he is carried away. Elisha is rewarded for his commitment and loyalty by being granted twice the spirit of Elijah.

Going back to our gospel reading, Jesus asks another man to follow him. The man asks to be permitted to bury his father first. Jesus’ response, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Commitment, above and beyond the commandment to honor one’s parents.

This passage in the gospel of Luke contrasts the old testament agreement between God and man and our new testament relationship with God as taught by Jesus Christ. The old testament agreement was to follow the law given to Moses. To follow the dietary restrictions, the rituals of behavior and conduct.

The general conception is that God as described in the old testament was much harder, rigid, a stickler for the law of the ten commandments. That Jesus Christ in the new testament, or this new agreement, teaches us a more gentle, compassionate relationship with our God.

In the case of the Samaritan village – yes – we Christians do not believe in destroying someone just because they want to go their own way. Just because they believe something different is no reason for them to be our enemy.

However, that does not mean that our commitment to God, living into the example set by Jesus Christ is any less, and in the case of our lessons today – Jesus expects us to be far more committed to the establishment of the kingdom of God than the old testament prophets in following God’s commandments. We do not have to follow the old testament laws and rituals, but we are expected to follow instead the spirit of the law. To love our neighbors at least as much as we love ourselves. And if we can, to love each other as God loves us.

What an extraordinary commitment that Jesus asks of all of us!

Rather than obey to letter of the law, a complicated set of regulations, and obligations: Jesus teaches us to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. This is not just a requirement to return good for evil. This is an obligation as in the parable of the Good Samaritan to help those in need and through our actions make our communities better places to live. That we, as we live in Christ, we are bringing about the kingdom of God.

Living in Christ is not an obligation imposed from without, like obeying a law, it is rather a responsibility, a commitment we accept from within, a freely given sacrifice of our time and effort.

The law of the old testament was that you follow the rules, the rituals, and you were forgiven. You break the rules go against God’s law and you will be punished. Everyone who had this testament, this agreement with God was stuck in this purely transaction relationship with God.

In the Christian understanding of the kingdom of God, we are already forgiven. God has forgiven all of us of our sins against Him and each other. Jesus asks us to commit to the spirit of the law as our freely given sacrifice to God, and to bring that understanding of the kingdom to everyone around us.

Not everyone is ready to make that commitment.

There were three men in our gospel passage who were called by Jesus to follow him. To the first Jesus replied that to follow him would mean that that man would be homeless – as Jesus himself has no home. To the second man whose father had died, Jesus replied that he should proclaim the kingdom of God, rather than bury his father. To the third man who wanted to say goodbye to his family, Jesus replied that he should not look backward but ever forward to the kingdom of God.

It does not appear that any of these men became disciples, but Jesus did not condemn them. Jesus was strict perhaps, but the decision to commit to the kingdom must come from within each one of us, when we discover what God is calling us to do.

In our lesson from Galatians, Paul gives us an idea of how to discern our calling. “For freedom Christ has set us free”. We are free to commit ourselves to that calling which fills us with the fruits of the spirit.

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Generosity

Faithfulness

Gentleness

and Self-Control

Once we find that calling; we need to commit to it to the exclusion of all else, ever looking forward, because this is how we ourselves will proclaim the kingdom of God.

All that sounds pretty good, and it is good – but it is not easy. There will be setbacks, there will be problems. We can mistake our calling, and have to re-evaluate our path forward.

I was called to be an Electrical Engineer, and a father and husband and now (pause) a preacher. When you find your place in the kingdom – you will know – and I believe you will not look back, but will look ever forward, committing your life to the kingdom of God.

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

Galatians 5:1,13-25

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

Luke 9:51-62

When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”