Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
May 17, 2020 |
Christians Like That
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Christians Like That
"Imagine a world where when people wanted to be heard and seen for who they were; be understood; they’d go to a Christian because Christians had reputations for listening and seeking commonality and understanding. Why not, Christians? Why can we not take a page out of Paul’s book here and seek to understand and care for others? To meet them where they are, not by way of condescending or pretending that everything’s the same. Not by way of minimizing differences, either. Or living in some sort of relativistic world where nothing is good or bad. None of that stuff, Paul doesn’t do that. But by in the midst of our difference, seeking to talk about that difference from a place of what we do share. And what we care about and desire. What we yearn for and need. What if we were Christians like that?"
May 10, 2020 |
Except Through Me
| The Rt. Rev. Thomas Breidenthal
Except Through Me
"Jesus is saying, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life, focus your hearts and your minds on my teaching, on my integrity, on my power, and on my risen-ness. If you stick with me, you will be alright.
If no one can come to the Father except through Jesus, it means that he is person who can bring everybody to the Father. And if Jesus is the Word of the Father, then he is the expression of the Father’s eternal desire that everyone should come to him."
If no one can come to the Father except through Jesus, it means that he is person who can bring everybody to the Father. And if Jesus is the Word of the Father, then he is the expression of the Father’s eternal desire that everyone should come to him."
May 03, 2020 |
God Loves Us And Is Expectant
| The Rev. Gary Lubin
God Loves Us And Is Expectant
"In a nutshell, great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them. Jesus summed it up with his command, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And it was not a request. God loves us and is expectant.
On a positive note our church is doing its darnedest walking The Way of Love to become Beloved Community. To love our neighbors so that there is not one needy person among us. One of the practices of The Way of Love is Go: to live like Jesus, crossing boundaries. This means moving outside our circles of comfort. Going to other places, places we are not familiar with; geographically, culturally, economically, spiritually. But how can we do these things at this time of lock-down and self-imposed isolation?"
On a positive note our church is doing its darnedest walking The Way of Love to become Beloved Community. To love our neighbors so that there is not one needy person among us. One of the practices of The Way of Love is Go: to live like Jesus, crossing boundaries. This means moving outside our circles of comfort. Going to other places, places we are not familiar with; geographically, culturally, economically, spiritually. But how can we do these things at this time of lock-down and self-imposed isolation?"
Apr 26, 2020 |
How Is Your Heart?
| The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane
How Is Your Heart?
"You see that’s what Jesus does for people, he takes their cold, sad, confused, scared, troubled hearts and sets them on fire. I know that many of you have felt this fire inside. I have seen it. And I also know that times like these can make us question the state of our hearts, especially as they are breaking. Breaking for those who are sick or alone, and for the many who have died. Troubled by so many unanswered questions."
Apr 19, 2020 |
Can God Save Us?
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Can God Save Us?
"If our goal is to come out of this thing as better people than when we went in, then I think we are missing the reality of how God is present in our lives right now. [...] We ask this question, 'God, will you save us?' This is the right question for our time. 'God, will you make me a better person during this?' is not the question. 'God, will you save us?' and not just one of us, and not just some of us. Will you save us, our people? Will you redeem us? Will you make things right?"
Apr 05, 2020 |
How Salvation Looks
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
How Salvation Looks
"How we are saved in the midst of this is going to look different for different people. For some people they are staying home and they needed this time to rest in a way they’ve never had before; being forced to slow down, being forced to not make their work or their busyness their god and that is important. But for other people, they’re being deprived of work, they’re being deprived of an income and some people don’t even have a home to go to. So how salvation looks for each one of us is going to be different."
Mar 29, 2020 |
Let Us Begin with Prayer
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin
Let Us Begin with Prayer
"Prayers are not a substitute for action or cover for a lack thereof. They are transformative. They are transformative for the one who prays and the ones for whom prayers are said. They bring us more consciously into experiencing the presence and the love of God. Prayer helps us clarify, center our thoughts, our fears, our longings. Prayer allows us to offer comfort and support to those feeling in great need. Prayer is when we turn our attention to God, and we acknowledge and are most open to that exchange of love. Love between God and ourselves and those we love."
Mar 22, 2020 |
Rest and Nourishment for the Journey
| The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane
Rest and Nourishment for the Journey
"Psalm 23 is exactly what we need to hear in the most difficult times. Jesus the Good Shepherd will lead us. He will lead us like he led the blind man to healing and restoration. And he will come and find us, just like he went and found that blind man. He will come and find us, even when we can’t find him. When we don’t know where he’s gone and when we don’t know how to thank him for all the good things that he’s done in our lives."
Mar 15, 2020 |
What Strange Times
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
What Strange Times
"The Israelites want to believe in God’s presence. They want to believe that they are being cared for. But when they look around, they’re filled with fear.
What will deliverance look like for us during this pandemic? I’m not the kind of Christian who believes if you just pray hard enough, a vaccine will just appear. Or that people will all of a sudden be safe. [...] What’s fascinating right now is our job as people of faith is to interrupt our own lives, to make real sacrifices in the way that we are living, so that we can participate with our government workers, our healthcare workers, and with our community so that as many people can be cared for as possible in way that’s practical. Our job is to reach out to each other in ways we haven’t before. We are literally loving each other by staying away from each other."
What will deliverance look like for us during this pandemic? I’m not the kind of Christian who believes if you just pray hard enough, a vaccine will just appear. Or that people will all of a sudden be safe. [...] What’s fascinating right now is our job as people of faith is to interrupt our own lives, to make real sacrifices in the way that we are living, so that we can participate with our government workers, our healthcare workers, and with our community so that as many people can be cared for as possible in way that’s practical. Our job is to reach out to each other in ways we haven’t before. We are literally loving each other by staying away from each other."
Mar 08, 2020 |
When You Recognize God
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
When You Recognize God
Jesus’ response to this [question from Nicodemus] is that this isn’t just a tweak. This is new life, new birth, a new perspective. You do not earn the presence of God. You do not achieve the reconciliation of the world. You cannot get your act together enough to be saved. God shows up. God is in this world, present and active, moving and loving, bringing justice. Will you see it?
Mar 08, 2020 |
Called To Be Receivers
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin
Called To Be Receivers
To receive we need to be willing to be vulnerable. We need to be willing to be open to what somebody else might bring us. To be open to that aspect of understanding of God’s love that maybe we can’t quite see for ourselves, but maybe we can begin to see through somebody else’s eyes. Through somebody else’s worlds, through somebody else’s experience. We are called not only to go forth, but we are called to be receivers. We are called to be receivers of God’s love.
Mar 01, 2020 |
Led Into The Wilderness
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin
Led Into The Wilderness
Wilderness can sound kind of scary, like maybe a place we don’t want to go. Maybe a place that’s terrifying. And yet, wilderness is not inherently that. Wilderness is a place apart. Apart from our normal day to day. Apart from our comfort zone. Apart from where we find our regular busyness, where our mind usually goes, where we are most at ease. Wilderness takes out of all of that and takes us into a place separate, a place that’s unfamiliar. A place that perhaps, we are more open to hearing God.
Feb 26, 2020 |
Embracing the Truth
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Embracing the Truth
As a people of God we are beckoned, we are invited by God to take some time to reorient ourselves around the truth of the lives we live, to embrace our own mortality, and to embrace the temporary reality in which we currently reside. We are invited to deny any semblance of pretended stability and security and acknowledge that the true stability that we find is in the love of God and the true security is in our eternal belongingness to the one who makes us.
Feb 23, 2020 |
Walking Up a High Mountain
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin
Walking Up a High Mountain
Jesus, who touched his disciples, who had compassion, asked them to rise and to not be afraid. It is that expression of God that I would experience in friends, in family, even in strangers. God’s presence among us, in the simplest ways assures us that we are loved, that whatever path we walk, we do not walk alone.
Feb 23, 2020 |
Interrupting Grace
| The Rev. Gary Lubin
Interrupting Grace
So, as the light of Christ shines its brightest and fullest, excited Peter continues speaking. And while he’s just yacking away, a bright cloud dramatically overshadows the mountain. God is trying to get a word in edgewise. God affirms Jesus is God’s very own, and only, beloved Son. “With him I am well pleased,” God says. Then God is obliged to interrupt Peter with this powerful command, “listen to him."
Feb 16, 2020 |
Checking Boxes
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Checking Boxes
The point of our commandments, the point of the Great Commandment of God, is that we will live in love with our God and with our neighbor. That our hearts will be set outward towards those around us. That is the commandment of God. That our lives will be devoted not simply to following a set of rules so we can say we’re good people. But that our lives might be devoted to one another, fully and totally, that we might give ourselves sacrificially to one another. And that by giving ourselves to one another, give ourselves to God.
Feb 09, 2020 |
Wooing God
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Wooing God
"The message of God is: You are loved, act like it! Stop acting like you need to prove you’re lovable. You’re loved. You all are still trying to woo God and prove to God you’re worth it and God’s already died for you. It’s done. Stop acting like you’ve got to win God over. You’ve got God in your corner. You are deep in the heart of God. And you’re still thinking that you’re going on your first date. It’s done. You belong. Now what?"
Feb 09, 2020 |
A True Fast
| The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane
A True Fast
"A true fast, a real fast, a fast that is acceptable to God, is a fast that requires you both to give up something and to take on something. We often separate these things: “I’m giving up chocolate and I’m going to take on reading.” A real fast requires both: giving up and taking on. Not either/or. For when we give from a place of deep gratitude, we give of ourselves and when we take up a cause that is good for the other, we have to relinquish our own self interests."
