The Sermon Unbound

06/15/2023

Three LeBaDang original prints signed by the artist.

For Sale

09/14/2022

04/12/2021

Considering putting up a YouTube course on Preaching similar to what I used to teach. The goal would be to learn to preach without a full text. Is there any interest?

10/22/2018

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is expected to issue findings on core aspects of his Russia probe soon after the November midterm elections as he faces intensifying pressure to produce more indictments or shut down his investigation, according to two U.S. officials.

12/20/2017

There are two themes that I have found useful for this season.

1. Tsim-tsum, from the Hassidic heritage. "In the beginning, God ..." and there was nothing else but God. So, where does Creation happen?

The Hassidic response is to say that G-d withdraws G-dself from the Universe (which is all G-d) to create a small space in which the universe can happen. This reveals to us the wonderful graciousness of G-d/

That'll preach!

2. "In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God." What does it say about the character of God and the universe that God is defined as a community? How does the image of God in Community differ from the image of the Lone Ranger? How does that image critique our universe/ culture?

How does God-as-Community differ from "Am I my brother's keeper?" What might God-as-Community say to budgets? to Healthcare? to Social Security? to Medicare? to fiscal priorities? to economic systems? to rights and entitlements?

If there is truth in the Trinity, in God-as-Community, then ...

12/20/2017

I don't know about you, but I have always found Christmass to be a difficult sermon to preach. Much as I might ache to, I cannot wipe the slate clean of Xmas and all its accouterments. The secular world has firmly taken hold of Xmas and shaken it free of almost any deep theological meaningfulness.

So, how to put Christ into Christ-mass?

How can we help people find again the sense of wonder, of miracle, of sacrament in this most holy of feasts?

The last few years, I have been struck by the incredible vulnerability of God. Not the Baby Jesus image but the "God coming down to earth to be born as a baby human" image. Not the crass sentimentality of the Baby Jesus but the deep theological power of vulnerability.

What could it mean that the King of Kings, the God Creator, came as a dark-skinned impoverished vulnerable child of wandering homeless Jews?

How does that image resonate in December of 2017 in the USA under Trump?

I remember the awe and wonder of holding my adopted son for the first time. I remember the tragedy of being with a family as their new born child gasped for a life that would never be. I remember being with a parishioner whose adoption fell through went they went to the hospital to pick up their new son. I remember the face of a doctor in Haiti as he struggled to keep a tiny child alive who was riddled with worms -- and his face when he failed and the child died.

What are your memories of both wonder and vulnerability?

What does it mean that this infant child was destined to go into exile in a foreign land as he flees the murderous oppressor?

What does it mean that Jesus probably looked far more like a modern Arab "terrorist" than a WASP?

Have you ever been stuck at an airport or a bus station wondering where you would sleep tonight?

People resonate with images and stories rather than essays. Go tell them the Christmas story in a way that calls them to new action. May God bless you this Christmas season.

11/20/2017

Advent Series Ideas

First are the traditional Advent themes: one on the people involved, Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, etc. and the other on the themes, Heaven, Hell, Judgement, etc. I assume you can find lots of material on those by yourselves. Remember that the Advent Series is a set-up for Christmas and should gently lead into the Good News that you have to share on that day.

Second, a dramatic re-telling of the story leading up to Christmas. I’m suggesting a Pilgrimage to Bethlehem. If done as a dramatic retelling, then it needs to be seen as a series of scenes leading up to the birth. Scene 1 could be hearing that they have to go to Bethlehem and the troubles that causes them., Scene 2 travelling on the road and what that must be like with Mary on a donkey and Joseph walking the whole way., Scene 3 could be a created scene of stopping along the way or the second part of the travel, Scene 4 could be the famous “no room at the inn,” and Scene 5 the actual birth.

Or, this could be set in a modern context, a pilgrimage to grandmother’s house (as so many will do for thanksgiving).
The subtext for the pilgrimage could be, How Do I/we come to Jesus?

Third, a series that builds backwards from the birth, focusing on the vulnerability and helplessness of God made Flesh, and then setting up four sermons ahead of that to lead into that notion of God came down that we might go up.

Here, I would be tempted to focus on immigrants and the marginalized in our American society. How do we treat strangers and sojourners? How do we become radically inclusive? What does it mean that Jesus is with those who are powerless (the “am ha’aretz”) during his childhood? Why does he choose fishermen and not the wealthy landowners? This Advent, what does it mean that Christianity is now seen as the religion of wealthy white evangelical men? What does Jesus say to the women of America?

Clearly this last is the most risky. For those who are looking for a sanitized fairy-tale version of Christmas, the messy realities of life can be upsetting. But above all, the question remains, what is the Good News of hope in the midst of our life? How do I prepare for Jesus? How do I follow Jesus in real life?

11/15/2017

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the
Last Sunday after Pentecost
Christ the King, Year A, RCL

The Epistle Ephesians 1:15-23
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

The Gospel Matthew 25:31-46
Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Ruminations:
What is a king? For many, it is the person who sits at the apex of a triangle, at the top, at the head. It is one who has incredible power and riches. It is one to whom others bend and who orders people and nations.

Much leadership is based on this model.

1. But there are other models, one of the most powerful, based in Jesus, is worked out in the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership (www.greenleaf.org). Servant Leadership suggests turning that triangle upside down on its head, and that instead of having things flow down from the top, they flow up from the bottom. It suggests seeing leadership as service to others.
One of the more ironic and iconic titles of the Pope is the “servant of the servants of God.” It suggests a Servant Leadership approach to that job while surrounding the Pope with all the pomp of imperial and holy leadership.
Yet, think of the current Pope, the current Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, etc. In their own way, each of these people modelled servant leadership.

2. What could that servant leadership look like? Is there anything in either the Parable of the sheep and the goats, or the Epistle reading, which could help us to disc3ern how to live as servant leaders?

Seems to me that this might well be the focus of either just Christ the King Sunday or perhaps even the whole of Advent …

Servant leadership is a journey of many stages. Whether you’re an individual or organization, and wherever you are in the process, The Robert K. Greenleaf Center offers a broad spectrum of resources to bring the servant-leadership community together, to learn, think, connect, share and grow. We’ve g...

11/15/2017

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the
Sunday closest to November 16
Year A, Proper 28, RCL


The Collect
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Epistle
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

Ruminations:
At first glance, the Epistle might be read as a letter to encourage anxiety. You never know when things will change, you never know who is coming or when, you might get surprised in the middle of the night!

At a time when many are living with anxiety -- who knows what tweets will appear the next morning? Who knows what N Korea will do or we will do? Who knows how isolated we will become on the world stage? -- perhaps a reading that increases anxiety is not the best thing.

Granted the purpose seems to be to suggest that we be ready at all times, to live as if each moment will be our last. What else could we read in the text? What word of hope is there in the text?

What does it mean to be children of the light, or children of the day?

What does it mean “For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.”?

And why should that lead us to “Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.”?
Where is the hope and peace in this lesson?