Tiny Jesus Figurines
Tiny Jesus Figurines
by Adam Thomas
This sermon is about keeping watch for the presence of Christ in our lives, especially in the midst of debilitating exhaustion. And I got a great reminder of this last Sunday morning when I went into my office after services. From your pew, you probably can’t see this tiny Jesus figurine I’m holding. Well, a crafty parishioner had hidden about twenty of these all around my office. The kids and I brought some of them home, and ever since, members of my family have been finding tiny Jesuses all over the house: atop the milk in the fridge, on the piano’s keys, on the framed school pictures, in my shoe.
The Springs of the Water of Life
The Springs of the Water of Life
by Adam Thomas
God has blessed us, on this Feast of All Saints, to have the opportunity to share in the sacrament of Baptism today. A sacrament is a window into the deeper reality of God that undergirds all of Creation. The sacrament of Baptism helps us see this deeper reality by proclaiming the belovedness of every child of God and charging the people of the Church to nurture this beloved identity. Baptism also helps us see God’s desire to bring all of Creation back into right relationship by offering forgiveness for every way we might distort our relationships. Finally, Baptism is a ritual cleansing with water, a literal bath that invigorates us to serve God in this world: loving our neighbors as ourselves, working for justice and peace, and safeguarding creation for future generations. Since Baptism involves water, I thought we’d spend our sermon time talking about water this morning – water, this necessity for life that makes up the majority of our bodies, that we pour into our waterbottles every day, that we bathe in, swim in, splash in, and gaze upon as it stretches to the distant horizon.
Seeds of Life and Hope
Seeds of Life and Hope
by Adam Thomas
Today we conclude our Season of Creation with a final sermon in our series about humanity’s relationship to the natural world. We began this series a month ago with the reminder that humanity is one with nature, part of nature, not over it or against it. We then asked nature for forgiveness for human exploitation and chose repentance, the changing of our hearts and minds as we interact with the more-than-human world. Then in the last two weeks, we practiced awe, awareness, and gratitude in our interactions with God’s Creation. In all these reflections, we have been guided by Pope Leo, Bishop Steven Charleston, Wendell Berry, and Meister Eckhart.
We return to Bishop Charleston today, who shares with us a message of hope in the midst of the “gathering darkness” of this “windswept moment in history.” He says, “We are not afraid because we have seeds of life and hope in our pockets. Our task is to cast them as far and wide as we can. The breath of the Spirit will do the rest.” With this hope in our hearts, let’s conclude this series of sermons by pondering the nature of seeds and by locating our trust in the breath of the Spirit.
Mystics in Our Own Backyards
Mystics in Our Own Backyards
by Adam Thomas
Today is the fourth of five Sundays in our Season of Creation. So far, we have remembered that humans are part of nature, we have asked the Earth for forgiveness for human exploitation, and we have embraced the spiritual practice of awe. Today, we are going to deepen that practice with an exercise in awareness and gratitude. And we’ll begin with a foundational principle of our faith: because God created all things, all things are sacred. Every element of Creation bears the potential for sacramental encounter with God through the holy offering of our awareness. That’s why we call it “paying” attention. We put in the currency of our attention and receive a hundredfold the blessings of God. These blessings then spur our gratitude, which triggers a desire for greater awareness, which delves a deeper well of gratitude. Through God’s grace, this virtuous cycle turns us into mystics in our own backyards.
Stand in Awe
Stand in Awe
by Adam Thomas
Today is the third of five Sundays in our Season of Creation. Two weeks ago we listened to Pope Francis reminding us that humanity and nature are not two separate things. Last week, we recognized humanity’s tiny cameo in Planet Earth’s 4.5 billion year existence, we asked Earth for forgiveness for human domination, and we began the action of our repentance. This week, famed activist, poet, and farmer Wendell Berry guides us with his down-to-earth wisdom, as we embrace the spiritual practice of awe.
A Season of Creation
The Season of Creation
by Adam Thomas
You might have noticed that our second reading today came from a non-biblical source. This is a highly uncommon practice in the Episcopal Church, so uncommon in fact that the bishop had to approve it. For today and for the next four Sundays, we will hear readings from sources other than the Bible as we celebrate a Season of Creation. This special season is a fairly new invention in the life of the Church. The season sets off a series of Sundays in September and early October with the specific intention of praising God’s presence in Creation and recommitting ourselves to the preservation and renewal of the natural world. It makes sense that this special season takes place during the long months of so-called “ordinary time,” which is another name for the thirty-ish Sundays between Pentecost and Advent. The days of harvest are upon us. The liturgical color of the time after Pentecost is green. Godly Play calls this time the “green and growing” Sundays. So, each Sunday from now until October 4th, we will share special readings, prayers, and songs in order to grow our awareness of, appreciation for, and commitment to God’s movement in Creation.
A Resounding Yes (Updated)
A Resounding Yes (Updated)
by Adam Thomas
Twelve years ago this week, I preached the most personally impactful sermon of my entire ministry. They say if the sermon doesn’t resonate with the preacher, it won’t resonate with anyone else. I never know for whom I am writing a particular sermon, but that one twelve years ago was for me. I needed to hear it, and it turned out so did a lot of other people. Today, I’m going to revisit that sermon because it’s message is perennial, and it turns out I need to hear it again now.
Who Did Not Know Joseph
Who Did Not Know Joseph
by Adam Thomas
Today we’re going to talk about the past, specifically about how the past is a story continually being written and rewritten. We’ll start with a few famous sayings about the past in order to ground us, and then we’ll look at the most ominous sentence in the entire Bible, which begins our reading from the book of Exodus this morning. By the end of this sermon, I hope we will all have a new appreciation for our roles in ensuring access to a story of the past that is as accurate to the events of history as possible.
A Lantern to My Feet
A Lantern to My Feet
by Adam Thomas
I don’t often preach about the psalm, but today’s reading begins with a particularly beautiful verse that captured my imagination this Tuesday, my normal sermon writing day. I was planning on writing at the Westerly Library while my kids were at theatre camp, but the back rear tire of my car had a screw embedded in it, causing a slow leak. Thankfully the guys at Town Fair Tire could take my walk in. I grabbed a seat in the waiting area, under harsh fluorescent lights, trying to ignore America’s Funniest Videos on the TV. I sat there, hoping the Holy Spirit would nudge me toward some words to share with you. (Don’t worry, the tire place will become important in a few minutes; I’m not just talking about it to pad the length of this sermon.)
Charisma
Charisma
by Adam Thomas
Today we’re going to talk about spiritual gifts. I know we read the difficult story of the Binding of Isaac this morning, but I preached on it the last time it came up in the rotation, so I can point you to that sermon if you’d like. We’re going to talk about spiritual gifts this morning for two reasons. First, in today’s second lesson, St. Paul talks about God’s “free gift of eternal life.” Second, I’ve been preaching a lot recently about walking in this fractured and fractious world, trying to hold on to hope, grow in grace, do justice, and live in the liberating light of God’s love. The practice of discerning, cultivating, and sharing our spiritual gifts guides us in this walk with Jesus Christ. And so today, I’d like to talk about giftedness.
Hope Does Not Disappoint Us
Hope Does Not Disappoint Us
by Adam Thomas
it has been about nine months since I preached a sermon about hope, so I think we’re due for one today. Hope is one of those slippery theological concepts because true, enduring hope differs from the more common Pollyanna-ish, reality-defying hope. But since we more often encounter the Pollyanna-ish hope, such a watered down version of hope tends to creep to the forefront of our minds. St. Paul, however, describes a much more hard-won hope, one that begins in suffering. And that’s the hope we’re going to talk about today. Also, a little bit of Calvin and Hobbes, but we’ll get to that in a minute or two.
How Old is God? (and other questions)
How Old is God? (and other questions)
by Adam Thomas
Today is our Youth Sunday at St. Mark’s, and to celebrate we invited the Godly Play kids to ask me any questions they desired. We collected a list of twelve questions, ten of which are autobiographical in nature. We’ll run through those quickly. The last two are absolute theological doozies, so we’ll spend the bulk of this sermon tackling those two. Here we go with the first ten.
Grace, Love, Sharing
Grace, Love, Sharing
by Adam Thomas
At the end of his second letter to the church in Corinth, St. Paul writes these memorable words of blessing: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” As we celebrate the Holy Trinity today, I’d like to focus on the three words that Paul associates with this fundamental truth of Creation: grace, love, and communion.
Collaborators
Collaborators
by Adam Thomas
One of the most powerful words in the English language is the first person plural pronoun “We.” That’s what we are going to talk about today on this day when celebrate the birth of the church and baptize a child into this wonderful part of God’s household. We’re going to talk about the power of collaboration and how our community of encouragement, togetherness, and mutual support is a prophetic enterprise in a world of increasing fracture and isolation.
Why Do We Need to Organize?
Why Do We Need to Organize?
by Adam Thomas
I didn’t preach yesterday, so for today’s post I decided to share with you what I said at the delegates’ assembly for the new faith-based community organization I have been a part of building for the last four years. This meeting, which happened about two weeks ago, included choosing of issues and choosing a name. We chose “SAIL,” which stands for the Southeast Alliance for Interfaith Leadership. I am so excited to help launch this organization publicly in the fall. I had the job at this meeting to talk about the “why” behind our organizing. Here’s what I said, written in partnership with our lead organizer Pat Speer.
Keep My Commandments
Keep My Commandments
by Adam Thomas
Today we are going to have a nuts and bolts sermon. After several sermons in a row with lots of ancient Greek and complex theology, this morning we’re taking a step back and looking at one of the fundamentals of our faith. Over the next ten minutes, we’re going to explore what Jesus commands us to do.
Today’s Gospel reading follows on directly from last week’s. Jesus is sharing what Bible scholars call the “Farewell Discourse,” which is Jesus’ long talk with his disciples before heading out to the garden where he will be arrested. The Farewell Discourse spans about 20% of the Gospel According to John and includes many of Jesus’ most famous sayings. One of them is this: Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
John 14:6
John 14:6
by Adam Thomas
Today we’re going to spend our entire sermon time talking about a single verse of the Gospel reading. John Chapter 14, Verse Six says: “Jesus said to [Thomas], “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The first half of this verse is so beautiful and enlivening in its poetry. Then, to our modern ears, we hear the second half of the verse as terribly exclusive, as a complete barrier against anyone who is not Christian being able to gain access to God. So let’s wrestle with this verse this morning and see where we end up. We’ll start with the first half, this great “I Am” saying, and my hope is that the “I Am” statement will shine a new light on the second half of the verse.
Driven Out
John 14:6
by Adam Thomas
Today we’re going to spend our entire sermon time talking about a single verse of the Gospel reading. John Chapter 14, Verse Six says: “Jesus said to [Thomas], “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The first half of this verse is so beautiful and enlivening in its poetry. Then, to our modern ears, we hear the second half of the verse as terribly exclusive, as a complete barrier against anyone who is not Christian being able to gain access to God. So let’s wrestle with this verse this morning and see where we end up. We’ll start with the first half, this great “I Am” saying, and my hope is that the “I Am” statement will shine a new light on the second half of the verse.
On His Way to Me
On His Way to Me
by Adam Thomas
The world is a heavy place right now. I know I have felt way more stress than normal weighing me down recently. When I feel like this, I recognize my need to pray more, to connect more closely to God, to be an active participant in my relationship with the One who is nearer to me than I am to myself. Throughout my adult life, whenever I have felt this need, I have reached for my guitar. Before the pandemic, I had not written a new song in several years. But during those first months of lockdown, I wrote six new songs. Writing those songs was the only way I could find to realign myself with God in the midst of such a strange and scary time.
Ten Things I Have Learned About Death & Grief
Ten Things I Have Learned About Death and Grief
by Adam Thomas
As I read today’s Gospel reading for the umpteenth time in my life, something new struck me. Ten of the disciples are together, locked in the house for fear of the authorities. They are together in their grief and confusion over the fact that Jesus’ mission ended with such violence and immediacy a few days before. What are they going to do now? How could it all have gone so wrong? The ten of them sit together, I imagine, staying silent for long periods of time interrupted by little bursts of conversation: trying to make sense, trying to comfort.
Then there’s Thomas. He’s the only one not with the others. He’s off somewhere by himself. I imagine Thomas walking the streets of Jerusalem, alone with his thoughts and his tears. He was the one ready to die with Jesus when they went to see Lazarus and his sisters. And then he ran off like everyone else. Unlike the others, Thomas is alone in his grief and confusion. Maybe also the jagged knife feeling of betrayal. He knows he cannot face the others right now. He needs to be alone.