Sermons

Christopher Thomas Sermon for the First Sunday after the Epiphany, Baptism of Our Lord, Year B – 1/10/21 Genesis 1:1-5 Psalm 29 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11 “I love to tell the story of unseen things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story, because I know ‘tis true; it satisfies my longings as nothing else can do. I love to tell the story, ‘twill be my theme in glory to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.” – Katherine Hankey, William Fischer Listen…to the story. “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the…

Christopher Thomas Sermon for the Second Sunday after Christmas Day, Observing Epiphany, Year B – 1/3/21 Jeremiah 31:7-14 Psalm 84:1-8 Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a Matthew 2:1-12 “Tell out my soul, the greatness of the Lord! Unnumbered blessings give my spirit voice; tender to me the promise of God’s word; in God my Savior shall my heart rejoice!” Most of you know that for many years I was the Parish Business Administrator, and many years before that, a member, of Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Houston, Texas. Christ Church Cathedral holds a lot of different, fascinating distinctions in its journey story, being the second oldest surviving congregation in Texas, and the only one of the original Houston congregations still worshiping on its original site some 180+ years. The parish currently worships in the third structure to stand at that location, a beautiful, turn-of-the-20th century Victorian-Gothic building that is loaded with signs and…

Christopher Thomas Sermon for the Nativity of Our Lord, Year B, Christmas I – 12/24/20 Isaiah 9:2-7 Psalm 96 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-14(15-20) Of one thousand stars I see There are many more unseen I’m amazed how they sparkle They do not sleep or dream. When I hear the stars are out tonight I sleep before to stay awake The moon will rise and give notice To the coming of awe before the break The sky will lighten heavens palace Sending down rays of illuminating light Covering the first frost late autumn Reminding me of winter’s nearing sight If I could take just a few stars I’d put them on a tall tree I’d walk the ground beneath the glow Blessed with all that is given free. – Starry Night, by Doug Pederson When words escape us, all we are left with is awe and wonder. When actions escape us,…

Christopher Thomas Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent, Year A – 12/13/20 Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Canticle 15 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:6-8, 19-28 I am always and forever fascinated by language, by words, what words mean, what they stand for. Because words are simply, merely representative of actions and feelings and realities that reflect and actually go beyond our mortal human experiences. Words are mystical, bordering almost on magical, because they transcend linear time and space; sometimes we tire of them, but they don’t have a shelf-life and expire; no, no words are past, and present, and future. And that excites me! Anything that transcends, that breaks the bounds, the boundaries, the limits of linear time, excites me, because it lifts me out of my own mortality, if even for a moment, and gives me brief glimpses of God’s arc of time and space. And so, as we light…

Christopher Thomas Second Sunday of Advent, Year B – 12/06/2020 Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God… The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is not, in fact, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, at least according to Mark, is John. John, you know him. I feel sure you’ve seen him. I know I have. You know the one I’m talking about. John. He used to stand under the canopy of Foley’s Department Store on Main Street in Houston, Texas. “Repent!” “The end is near!” “For you know not the hour or the day that our Lord will make his return!” “Prepare the way of the Lord!” He’s the one I would studiously avoid making…

Christopher Thomas First Sunday of Advent, Year B – 11/29/2020 Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 We light the candle of hope, to remember the hope we have in Christ, for whom we must remain alert as we wait for his return. Hope. And wait… Hope. And wait… Hope. And wait… How those words are intricately intertwined, at once such juxtapositions of each other, each required of the other, for this most queer of journeys that we find ourselves on. Oh, you might think that the journey to which I refer is the journey of 2020, and that certainly has been, and continues to be, a journey of nothing less than, Hope. And wait… But the journey to which I speak is one that is much broader, longer, deeper, and wider. It’s the journey that was going on long before each of us showed up, you…

Christopher Thomas Twenty Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, Proper 28 – 11/15/2020 Judges 4:1-7 Psalm 123 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Matthew 25:14-30 “For God alone my soul in silence waits; from God comes my salvation.” – Psalm 62:1 Time, and waiting, at least to my way of thinking, seem to be at such odds. I think that’s because, as I now rapidly approach the marking of 55 trips around the sun, I feel such a sense of urgency around the fleeting nature of this thing called Chronos, human time. It’s a gift; we’re only given so much, time. It’s the one commodity that we cannot manufacture more of, steal more of, beg, borrow, or plead more of. We are given, by God, what we are given, this lifetime, and that, as they say, is that. And so, I am disquieted, anxiety-filled, even at times overwrought, by waiting. I think what…