Sermons from September 2019

Welcome to St. Francis Sunday — the Sunday when we remember the person most associated with animals in the history of Christianity. I have always loved St. Francis Sunday because it reminds me that Jesus’ life, Jesus’ death, Jesus’ resurrection, the good news for a broken world that we celebrate every Sunday — these events were not just for me, not just for humankind, but for all of creation. A relationship between God and the non-human animals of the world…

The Very Rev. H. T. Knight Theologian Karl Barth once said to a preacher:  “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both.  But interpret newspapers from your Bible.” It’s hard to pick up a newspaper or watch the news these days without hearing about climate change.  The front page of yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle had a photo of a young person at the climate march holding up a big sign:  “ADULTS! DO YOUR HOMEWORK  (THE KIDS HAVE DONE…

I have always been a firm believer in hope.  I believe the best way to overcome loss, is to remind ourselves of all that we have been blessed with.  I believe that the best way to combat failure is to look at what can be learned from that failure to achieve success.  I believe that the best way to combat depression is by looking to the future with faith in a God who promises to sustain us.  And, of course,…

During my second year of seminary, a friend of mine and I started talking about the price of our faith journeys.  I complained about the difficulty of the life I had chosen.  About all that I had given up to enter seminary.  Then my friend told me his story.  He had been a successful executive for the long-distance phone company, MCI, long before that company had gone public or grown into the multi-billion dollar entity that it became.  At one…

As a gay man, I have a sort of love/hate relationship with the word pride. Sometimes pride refers to the self-respect and strength that is needed to sustain a person or a group in the face of hardship. For obvious reasons, pride is an important word for the gay community. But, as a parent, I have an issue with another meaning of the word pride, which is an inordinate self-esteem. As parents, it has always been important for me and…