"Greater Than Knowledge": Sermon for 8 Pentecost

When my wife and I offered seats to another couple in an urgent care waiting room in San Diego last week, even as the man moved to accept, he said, "Whatever you want to do," which is a common primal male response. He didn't want to owe us a favor, so he acted like he was doing us one. I've acted the same way whenever I've assumed that there wasn't enough grace to go around. Scarcity thinking afflicts all our relationships and also lies at the root of mass tragedies such as genocide as well as the killing of Jesus Christ. Through the mystery of the feeding of the 5,000 by the Sea of Galilee (which we St. John's pilgrims will visit next week), Jesus offers the radical alternative of abundance. The trick is that nobody -- neither church, government, nor charities -- can be abundant for us. We have to begin by loving God and our neighbor all by ourselves. My Sunday sermon is here.

"A House Collided": Sermon for 7 Pentecost

When Jesus's followers returned from their first missionary journey, he decided they needed a day off and led them to a deserted place. But those who needed to be healed and saved got there first. And so their work continued, and the Church's work continues still. Its heart (the Episcopal Church's, especially, as demonstrated in its recent General Convention in Anaheim) is for the marginalized instead of the majority, the worker instead of management, the Palestinian instead of the Israeli. But when it comes to person-to-person ministry, do we work as hard as Jesus's disciples did? What if we always led with our pastoral selves instead of our own needs? Nurtured by the rich texture of incarnational relationship, our families, workplaces, and churches would be foretastes of St. Paul's new humanity -- households that survive and thrive even if someone happens to drive an Oscar Meyer Wienermobile into our living room. My Sunday sermon is here.

Mix 'Em, Match 'Em, Collect 'Em

Semi-annual self-portrait.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

"What Is Jazz?": Sermon for 6 Pentecost

John the Baptist lost his head because of a disagreement over family values, namely his reprimanding King Herod for marrying his brother's wife. While today's hottest social issues, abortion and homosexuality, won't get anyone's heads chopped off (in the U.S., that is), corrosive debates about them could lead to further dismemberment of the church. That's one reason the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams (shown above), and others have worked hard at this month's General Convention in Anaheim to change the subject to global economics -- not that everyone agrees on that subject, either. Perhaps the best we can do is honor each other's passion for a better world and church and remember, as House of Deputies president Bonnie Anderson reminded us, that unity isn't the same as agreement. My Saturday evening sermon is here.

Boss And Big Boss

That's Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and Archbishop of Canterbury Roman Williams (center, with beard), preparing for ++Rowan's evening talk at General Convention.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

"The Wilderness:" Sermon For 5 Pentecost

While human-made systems offer their people security in exchange for increments of freedom, spiritual freedom is in unlimited supply. For Christians, the key to being free is to avoid being fearful -- including about what others may think of us. My July 5 sermon is here.

Jerusalem Meets Anaheim

When 20 pilgrims from St. John's visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth in August -- whether bobbing in the Dead Sea, touching the rock of Golgotha, or walking streets Jesus Christ may well have known -- we'll be in the tender care of Canon Iyad Qumri, renowned Holy Land guide and interpreter. I caught up with Iyad today at the Episcopal Church's General Convention in Anaheim, where he's a guest along with his wife, Simone, a member of the staff of St. George's Episcopal Cathedral and College in East Jerusalem, where we'll be staying in August. And yes, that's Pastor Karen, our distinguished former associate vicar.

On Friday night, Kathy and I are taking the Qumris to President Nixon's favorite Mexican restaurant. Who knows what it's called?

Never Mind, Mordecai

Andrew Sullivan notices Gov. Palin's Esther quote from the Hebrew Testament, noted here Tuesday afternoon.

News From The Grassy Knoll

Andrew Sullivan is still yearning for scandal, preferably one that erases his shameful journalistic error.

We'll Always Have Paris