Author: Timothy Ensworth

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 ...

Signs and wonders

Signs and wonders (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Acts 9:36-41
May 12, 2019

Oh, my!  That’s what I said to myself when I saw that this was the lectionary text for this Sunday.  Oh, my!

Peter said, “Get up,” to the dead woman … and she did.

Oh, my!  What are we going to do with this?… Continue reading ...

Irony

Irony (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Luke 19:28-40
April 14, 2019

We stand at the head of Holy Week, a week that begins with hosannas of Palm Sunday and ends with the hallelujahs of Easter, a journey from joy to joy.

But it is not an easy journey.  We get from here to there, we can only get from here to there, by way of Maundy Thursday, by way of the shock and betrayal and abandonment of Maundy Thursday. … Continue reading ...

You are Job

You are Job (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Job 38:1-41
October 21, 2018

You are Job.

You are Job, living in a world filled with suffering and mystery, with bewildering grief and distressing uncertainty, a world you can never fully understand and a world that often breaks your heart.

You are Job, living in a world that doesn’t follow the rules, where the righteous are not always rewarded, a world where doing the right thing is no guarantee of success or praise or love.… Continue reading ...

Drawing the line

Drawing the line (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Mark 9:38-41
September 30, 2018

Were you listening on Thursday? Did you listen as Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, providing her account of being sexually assaulted at age fifteen by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh? Did you listen as he vehemently denied any participation in that assault or in any such behavior?… Continue reading ...

Shalom

Shalom (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 2:2-5
June 24, 2018

Shalom aleichem.

Peace to you.

Shalom is a greeting.  It’s a greeting you might offer as you open the door of your house to a friend — shalom — or a greeting you might offer with a nod of your head as you pass a stranger on the street — shalom. … Continue reading ...

Courage

Courage (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Genesis 12:1-3, Romans 12:1-2
June 10, 2018

But now they desire a better Country
that is an heavenly: wherefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God:
for he hath prepared for them a city

Do you recognize these words?  They are printed on the plaque that hangs in the South Street entrance of our church, honoring our six charter members: Abram Hosford, John Leavitt, Joseph and Cynthia White, and Levi and Mary Worcester. … Continue reading ...

Community

Community
1 Corinthians 12:7
May 20, 2018

When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place.  Suddenly there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there. … Continue reading ...

Creation

Creation (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Genesis 1:1 – 2:4
Revelation 21:1-5
April 22, 2018

It would have been easier to do nothing.

It would have been easier if God made nothing: no heavens, no earth, no universe, no us.  If God made nothing, no thing, if there were no human beings, no human history, God would surely be spared so much anguish, so much heartbreak, so much bitter disappointment. … Continue reading ...

Humility

Humility (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Job 42:1-6
April 15, 2018

When I look at the sky which you have made,
the moon and stars that you set in place:
Where do human beings fit in the picture?
What are we?

What are we?

Are we evolution’s crowning achievement?  Are we the unquestioned masters of this planet, beings of unmatched power and ambition, eager to fulfill our self-proclaimed destiny to become masters of the universe? … Continue reading ...