When he comes, what will he do?

When he comes, what will he do?
Matthew 21:33-46
October 4, 2020

It’s all gift, all of it:

the vista from the ledges on the brow of Blue Hill, stretching from the mountains of Acadia across Blue Hill Bay and Penobscot Bay to the Camden Hills,

the brightly-colored leaves — orange and yellow and red — providing a last visual treat before long months of chill and darkness,

the fire that sparks and crackles, taking the edge off the chill and intimating deep mysteries of the universe in its dancing flames.… Continue reading ...

A house divided against itself

A house divided against itself (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Mark 3:20-30, 4:35-41
January 21, 2018

I am distressed.

Last Monday, Jorge Garcia was deported to Mexico.  Jorge is thirty-nine years old, married with a fifteen-year-old daughter and a twelve-year-old son.  He was brought to the United States as a child thirty years ago by an undocumented relative. … Continue reading ...

Heartbreak

Heartbreak (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Ecclesiastes 8:9-17
October 29, 2017

Life, your life, is not all sweetness and light, is it?

Sometimes it is disappointing.

You had to reserve the campground four months in advance, so this one day is your window of opportunity to climb the mountain you’ve waited thirty years to climb, and it’s raining. … Continue reading ...

A public witness

A public witness (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 10:32-33
June 25, 2017

Bay of St Columba

In the Bay of St Columba on the Isle of Iona,
The stones remember Columba and the monks
Who followed him in trust to work and pray.
With the constant arrival and exit of cold salty waves, 
Which daily invade the beach and flee back out to sea,
Smoothed rocks covering the sand sing and chant,

    “Where have you gone, dear friend?Continue reading ...

The marks of a great nation

The marks of a great nation (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Jeremiah 31:7-14
January 4, 2015

Sing with joy for Israel, the greatest of the nations …

Do you have a problem with that?  Do you have a problem with calling Israel the greatest of the nations?  Does it seem to you … presumptuous?  Chauvinistic?  Prideful?  Does this claim by a Hebrew prophet about his own nation make you uncomfortable?… Continue reading ...

Eye for an eye

Eye for an eye (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
John 13:31-35, Exodus 21:12-27
April 24, 2016

Jesus said: “Now God’s glory is revealed.”

How? Where? What does it look like? You see it, don’t you? God’s glory is all around us. We just have to open our eyes. It is all around us, from the delicate lines and colors of a tiny woodland wildflower to the mind-boggling dimensions of a black hole in deep space, from the gentle plip plop of raindrops onto the surface of a lake on a windless day to the bone-jarring boom of an active thunderhead.… Continue reading ...

Listen to her!

Listen to her! (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Proverbs 8
May 22, 2016

Lauren and Katherine, this is my advice to you on the occasion of your high school graduation.  I will not say, “This is my parting advice to you,” because even though you will be going to far away Iowa City, we are not parting. … Continue reading ...

Peace is defending

Peace is … defending (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 11:1-10
December 4, 2016

What does peace on earth look like?

Wolves and sheep will live together in peace,
and leopards will lie down with young goats.
Calves and lion cubs will feed together,
and little children will take care of them.

That is peace!  But where, on earth, can you find a scene like this one?… Continue reading ...