Sermons

First Sunday after the Epiphany: The Baptism of our Lord, Year C, January 13, 2019 Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29 Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 St Thomas the Apostle The Rev’d Leo Loyola I can make a claim that most of you can’t. I was baptized twice in my life. The first time happened when I was barely three months. I obviously don’t remember anything about it. But I do remember the second time quite well. It was a Saturday afternoon at a beach in Waikiki. My church friends huddled around me, as we prayed and sang. My college roommate Cord who had been discipling me for months led me through the crystal-blue waves. He stopped, and asked me again, “Are you sure you want to do this?” I said “Yes, let’s do this!” I pinched my nose and contorted my face, as my roommate dunked me back-first into the cool…

First Sunday after Christmas, December 30, 2018 Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 147 Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7; John 1:1-18 St Thomas the Apostle The Rev’d Leo Loyola Recently I got a new car. You can’t miss it. It’s the very, very bright yellow Jeep Renegade in our parking lot. Since getting it, I’ve heard two basic comments. The first is something most new car owners expect to hear: “Wow, what a nice car!” The second, most don’t. I know I didn’t, when asked “Did you want yellow?” On the surface, the comment seems to stem from curiosity: Was this your only choice at the dealership? Did Melody want you to get yellow? But, of course, I know better. I know sarcasm when I hear it. What they’re really saying is, “What an ugly color. I would have gotten it in black or white or red.” The truth is I absolutely wanted my yellow…

Proper 29B, November 25, 2018 2 Samuel 23:1-7; Psalm 132:1-13 (14-19) Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37 St Thomas the Apostle The Rev’d Leo Loyola It was 1925, and the Great War, “the war to end all wars”, had ended. In its aftermath, the world was growing darker. From the east, there was the rise of the Soviet Union. In Germany, the Nazis grew in power. And in Italy, Benito Mussolini dropped any pretense of democracy and established his dictatorship. Of this ominous climate, Pope Pius XI had this to say: Conditions have become increasingly worse because the fears of the people are being constantly played upon by the ever-present menace of new wars, likely to be more frightful and destructive than any which have preceded them. Whence it is that the nations of today live in a state of armed peace which is scarcely better than war itself, a condition which…

Proper 23B, October 14, 2018 Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Psalm 22:1-15 Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31 St Thomas the Apostle The Rev’d Leo Loyola I last spoke of the Bible’s heavy bias towards the poor and disenfranchised. So what does it then say of the rich and wealthy? If Scripture favors the poor, does it, thus, frown upon them? If so, then, a lot of people in this Diocese, this state, and this country will be in for a surprise upon Jesus’s return. For the most part, if you happen to fall into this category you’re generally safe. Any real critique we do see against the rich are specifically against those who put their wealth before God. Any curse made is generally against those who wield unfair power and advantage over the poor and the powerless. For example, Mark 4 tells us that “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of…

Proper 20B, September 23, 2018 Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37 St Thomas the Apostle The Rev’d Leo Loyola It began as an experiment. A group of first-year students from a very conservative seminary wondered what the Bible had to say about the poor and poverty. So they scoured through the Old and New Testaments of an old bible. And in their fervor, they made several keen observations: Poverty—second only to idolatry—was the most prominent theme in the Old Testament In the entire New Testament, one out of every sixteen verses spoke about the poor or the subject of money In the Gospels themselves, the proportions were greater. One out of ten in Matthew, Mark and John. And in Luke, one out of seven. After hours of work, the group identified thousands upon thousands of references. Surely, they felt, that the authors of bible saw the moral…

Proper 16B, August 26, 2018 1 Kings 8:[1, 6, 10-11], 22-30, 41-43; Psalm 84 Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69 St Thomas the Apostle The Rev’d Leo Loyola I love being a priest. Not because I thrive the attention from what I wear, or the thrill of inspiring people hearing me preach. I love it because it is, for me, a way of life. The priesthood allows me to boldly express my faith as a Christian. And yet being a Christian—lay or ordained—is not always easy. Sometimes we get pigeonholed into the same group as other Christians who we vehemently disagree with theologically and those we simply abhor. Take, for example, the Christian Right, those who arguably define American Christianity. For these evangelicals, Christianity is about having the right principles and doctrines. It’s about morality. It’s about how moral values shape culture for the better. Under their terms, to be Christian means…