Sermons

Christopher Thomas Sermon for Third Sunday after Pentecost, Year A – 6/21/20 Genesis 21:8-21 Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17 Romans 6:1b-11 Matthew 10:24-39 Well… “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?” I’m going to share with you just a little bit of the “Priest’s Playbook” here in the beginning of this. There are three types of sermons that any good priest might offer to you, and they are basically modeled on the psychological implications of the ways that Jesus lived out his earthly ministry, functioning as a pastor, a priest, and a prophet. Sermons take on the characteristics of these different aspects of Jesus’ nature. Sermons tend to be particularly pastoral or prophetic. It doesn’t take much to figure out that pastoral sermons are the ones we look to for comfort and strengthen, binding up the hearts of the faithful as we sojourn through life. They shore us…

Christopher Thomas Sermon for First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday, Year A – 6/7/20 Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a Psalm 8 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20 So God created humankind in God’s image, In the image of God God created them; male and female, God created them. – Genesis 1:27 I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that piece of holy writ across the course of my 54 years, probably many, and never paid much attention to it. Until… It was Fall of 2009, my second full semester of seminary at Brite Divinity School, and I was determined to tackle and knock out all my foundational “required” courses so I could move on to the fun stuff, the electives, and so I enrolled in “Introduction to Hebrew Bible,” the study of the Old Testament. Doesn’t sound very exciting; let’s get this out of the way. On that very first…

Christopher Thomas Sermon for Day of Pentecost, Year A – 5/31/20 Acts 2:1-21 Psalm 104:25-35, 37 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 John 20:19-23 Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love as you have loved, and do as you would do. – Edwin Hatch (1835-1889) Spiration. Breathe in, breathe out. The root of life. The source of life. The wind-swept wave from above that shattered the dark, formless void in the moments even before light. Breathe in, breathe out. “…next the Creator formed humanity from the dirt and dust of the ground, and then spirated the breath of life.” Chronos, human time, is bounded, then, now, and always, by spiration. Breathe in, breathe out. Spirations, therefore, must be holy moments, right? Transitions in, and transitions out. From that very first spiration, when a babe is “inspired” to life with a slap on the rear, to…

Christopher Thomas Sermon for Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year A – 5/24/20 Acts 1:6-14 Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11 John 17:1-11 For anyone who knows me well, I’m just not a person who is big on “PDA’s,” Public Displays of Affection. You know what I’m talking about. Intimacy of any sort played out in a public setting. Now, who knows why that is. We could analyze my upbringing, maybe I didn’t see or experience many examples of PDA’s growing up, or maybe it’s all my time being inculcated to be a “Proper Southern Gentleman” who keeps his feelings and emotions private, to himself. Who knows? I’m sure I can and probably will spend lots of money trying to figure this out! And I didn’t grow up as a big “hugger” either. If you ever saw the movie “Dirty Dancing,” I’m sure you remember that iconic scene where Patrick…

Christopher Thomas Sermon for Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A – 5/19/20 Acts 17:22-31 Psalm 66:7-18 1 Peter 3:13-22 John 14:15-21 When you’re weary, feeling small When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all I’m on your side, oh, when times get rough And friends just can’t be found Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down – Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon & Garfunkel Troubled. Troubled. Troubled. Paul Simon penned those iconic words, as Simon & Garfunkel’s anthem of angst took to the airwaves and pretty much summed up the feelings of a nation, maybe even a world, that was, “troubled,” to say the least. The year was 1970, and the world was on the edge of crises, the Vietnam War, raging all around, politics deeply dividing nations, peoples, communities, friends, families. Sound familiar? To say that things were “troubled” would have been…

Christopher Thomas Sermon for Third Sunday of Easter, Year A – 4/26/20 Acts 2:14a, 36-41 Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17 1 Peter 1:17-23 Luke 24:13-35 One of the most fascinating and engaging classes I had the opportunity to take during my three years in seminary was a course taught by Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. The course was titled “Prophecy in the Second Temple Period,” and while I didn’t know much about the Second Temple Period, or Judaism for that matter, I was tantalized by something that would eventually resonate deep down into my very core, something that drew me in, beckoning me into and onto this journey toward the intersection of prophesy and exile. In retrospect, it probably was a very significant part of my priestly calling. Now, I’ve always perceived myself something of a prophet, but that…

Christopher Thomas Sermon for Second Sunday of Easter, Year A – 4/19/20 Acts 2:14a, 22-32 Psalm 16 1 Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31 Be Careful of What You Ask For – You Might Get It! I saw it. With my own eyes. I wasn’t there, in person, but through the wonders of technology, and computers, I saw it, and yet, I simply could not believe it. I sat there, stone cold stunned, too shocked and frightened to move. The day started as most any other. I arrived at the Cathedral early on that September day, because arriving early, before dawn, was, is the way that a business administrator gets some serious work cranked out before phones start ringing, requests start coming in, life starts happening, in the heartbeat of the Church. I was buried in my office, in front of my computer, when I started getting pinged with notices from CNN…