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“What did you expect?”: a sermon for the FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT (30 NOVEMBER 2025)

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  Text: Gospel of St. Luke 24.13-53      Divine Comedy.   Would you like to go for a walk?   Just to be clear, this is not an invitation to leave the room.   Rather, I’d like for you to join me as I walk through this Gospel passage – which, as it happens, is all about two walks undertaken on the same day but each in a very different mood.   This story, which begins on Easter afternoon, is full of pathos and what the late NT exegete Richard B. Hays called “exquisite dramatic irony” [1] ; indeed, I find it to be quite humorous, even playful.   This Gospel scene reminds one of a Shakespearean comedy.   Of course, the God of Israel is somewhat of a wily God – he seems to enjoy surprises and plot twists.   The New Testament claims that he did indeed keep all the promises made to his people, and yet as he did so, he upended all expectations for how he would prove faithful to Israel.   God sends his Son into the world to red...
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“How to suffer with purpose”: a sermon for the TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (23 NOVEMBER 2025)

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       Haters .   Does anyone hate you?   We all have “haters”, don’t we?   Have you ever been lied about?   Have people gossiped about you?   Have people accused you of things that you didn’t do?   It hurts when this happens, and it can scare us into being very careful and cautious in what we say and do.   It can be quite frightening to be hated, to know that people are saying mean things about you, most probably behind your back or perhaps on social media.   Of course, most haters don’t have the courage to directly confront those they are hating on.   If we don’t make an intentional decision to continue to be authentic, to be our genuine selves, fear can easily make us hide – perhaps literally – to hide who we are and what we believe.      When we read the Gospel, we find that Jesus had many haters.   From early on in his ministry, there were people who despised him so much that they wanted to ...
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