Sermon for the Feast of the Holy Name
January 1, 2025, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, AR
Readings: Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 2:15-21
Every proper baptismal font should have eight sides. Don’t worry, ours does. The eight sides are symbolic for the eighth day, the day of resurrection, the day outside the bounds of our normal time, space, and seven-day week. The eighth day is a new day in a new creation.
Continue reading “The 8th Day Promise”A sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas
December 29, 2024, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, AR
Readings: John 1:1-18
I want to know the whole story. Maybe that’s a reason I’ve always been attracted to a certain kind of literature. I want to know what led a person to a certain event or decision–and not just them, but how did the history of their family, their friend circle, their community lay the groundwork for such a decision. I like true crime TV shows for the same reason. I want to know the backstory because I feel I can understand, at least a little more, what’s behind the story I know.
Continue reading “The Whole Story”A sermon for Christmas Eve
December 24, 2024, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, AR
Readings: Luke 2:1-20
Just about every year I was a shepherd. I imagine parents fought over whose children would get to be shepherds at the pageant. The costumes were easier. A bathrobe for the tunic, a bath towel for the headcovering, a stick, and you’re set. Every year, dressed in my bathrobe, I would stand there as one of the teenagers pretended to be the Archangel Gabriel, announcing good news, usually without much conviction: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
Continue reading “Shepherds and Angels”A sermon for the 4th Sunday of Advent
December 22, 2024, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs
Readings: Micah 5:2-5a; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-55
We are in a mess we cannot work ourselves out of. Advent (and it’s still Advent for a couple more days) begins in the dark: in the darkness of our brokenness, of our sorrow, of the mess we and the world have worked ourselves into. We find ourselves in a corner, and unable to get out. Oh, we try. We try everything we can think of. But there is simply no way out of this sin and death business, no way to free ourselves from the chains of decay, no way to shortcut our sanctification, our forgiveness, our healing, our wholeness.
Continue reading “A Rubiks Cube and a Promise”A sermon for the First Sunday of Advent
December 1, 2024, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, AR
Readings: Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 21:25-36
Well, happy Advent. If you were expecting it to seem a little more like what we see out and about, you might be a little disappointed today. There are Christmas lights downtown and at Garven Gardens, and everyone is getting holly and jolly. Gifts are on everyone’s minds, and Santa’s at the mall. But here, in the church, the Christmas decorations aren’t out, and they won’t be a for a while. There aren’t any carols. Santa’s certainly not here, but nor is the babe in a manger. And our readings aren’t even Christmassy. Instead of angels and shepherds keeping their watch and wisemen on the way, we get Jesus telling us the end is coming: distress among nations, signs in the heavens, fear and foreboding and shaking; death, judgment, heaven, hell. Happy Advent.
Continue reading “Come, Lord Jesus”A sermon for the Funeral of Alexandre “Joe” Bruce Mouton
November 30, 2024
Readings: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; Revelation 21:2-7; Matthew 5:1-10
A joyful man. A gracious host. Someone with a twinkle in his eye that betrayed his mischievousness. A funny, funny person who probably wouldn’t mind if I started today with a Boudreaux and Thibodeaux joke (but don’t worry, I decided not to–if you want to know which one I would use, come see me after). A loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Today we gather to give thanks for the life of such a man. We give thanks for the gift he was in our lives–the gift he will continue to be. Today we commend him to God, the giver of all good gifts, confident that God will pull Joe to himself in grace, mercy, and love. Because Joe was baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, he is marked as God’s child forever.
Continue reading “In Memoriam: Joe Mouton”A sermon for the Last Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 29
November 24, 2024, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Hot Springs, AR
Readings: John 18:33-37
“Are you the king of the Jews?” That’s Pontius Pilate’s question for Jesus. Today is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday after Pentecost, the last Sunday of the church year. Today is a triumphant day, when we declare that Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. And yet, curiously, our gospel reading is not about Christ seated in heaven, but rather about Christ before Pilate: Christ accused, Christ on trial, Christ on his way to his cross.
Continue reading “Pilate or Mary?”A sermon for the 26th Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 28
November 17, 2024, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, AR
Readings: Mark 13:1-8
I am sure you remember the day; I know I do. It was March 31, 2023. A tornado hit Little Rock and continued east. By the time it got to the delta town of Wynne, it was an EF-3. On the ground for 73 miles, it was as wide as 13 football fields with winds as high as 150 mph. The town was devastated. Four people died; 26 injured. The little Episcopal church in the town, Grace Church, which had been closed for a few years, took a direct hit. The brick edifice was leveled, turned into rubble. Not long thereafter, I joined a team of clergy and lay folks from East Arkansas who went to sift through the rubble and sort those bricks that had been so violently thrown down by the storm.
Continue reading “From Rubble to New Creation”A sermon for the 25th Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 27
November 10, 2024, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, Arkansas
Readings: I Kings 17:8-16; Psalm 146; Mark 12:38-44
“Go now to Zarephath,” God tells the prophet Elijah today. The story from the Hebrew Scriptures takes place in the midst of a famine that Elijah himself prophesied. Elijah and the wicked King Ahab are facing off, and in the background, God is facing down Baal, the false god who was believed to provide rain and harvest plenty. As this false god takes hold in Israel because of Ahab’s leadership, God sends the prophet in to remind the king and the nation not to put their trust in rulers or any child of earth or in any idol that they might make; but to put their trust in God, both in good times and in bad times.
Continue reading “Go Now to Zarephath”A sermon for All Saints’ Sunday
November 3, 2024, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, Arkansas
Readings: Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9; Psalm 24; Revelation 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44
Help wanted. Heaven in need of Saints. You open up the classifieds and you come across this ad. You’ve been looking for work. Help wanted. Heaven in need of Saints. Job description: Praise God for eternity. Pray for those on earth. Compensation: None. You have to buy in some way. It might be through suffering, sickness, and pain. It might be through persecution and blood. But it’s gonna cost you. Benefits: Eternal life. Training required: Extensive on-the-job training with the Holy Spirit. Skills needed: Must be able to carry a cross. Help wanted. Heaven in need of Saints.
Continue reading “Help Wanted”
