Sermons

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January 15, 2012

Evangelism and Spiritual Direction

Posted by johnmangels under Looking for God, Sermons | Tags: , , , , |
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Preached (without any notes at all) about evangelism and spiritual direction this morning.

Talked about how we all have had bad experiences of being evangelized that color how we think about what many Episcopalians refer to as the “E’ word.  I shared how in college some guy came on campus talking about the pigs and the Christians (are you a Christian, or are you a pig?) …  After a couple of minutes of this I left.  But not before telling the speaker that I considered myself a Christian.  And for the first time in my life he had made me embarrassed to admit it.  (Two people in the congregation had had good, as well as bad experiences of being evangelized.  Everyone had bad experiences.) (more…)

 

December 23, 2011

The Shepherd, Jacob

Posted by johnmangels under Christmas, Sermons | Tags: , , , |
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This is my sermon for the Vigil tomorrow night:

My father named me Jacob, after the patriarch — for all the good that does!  What good is a name like that to a shepherd?  People today forget that Jacob himself really was a shepherd.  They refer to their leaders as shepherds.  But they mean it figuratively.

They look at real shepherds with contempt, and go out of their way to avoid contact with us.  They call us thieves behind our backs — and even sometimes to our faces.  But they wear our wool and eat our meat all the same.

Shepherds live hard lives in some ways, exposed to the hot summer sun and the cold winter winds, fighting off wild animals, working throughout the day and night when necessary.  I’m told we also smell.  I wouldn’t know.  But they say we pick up the odor of our charges, and people of breeding turn their noses up when we are near. (more…)

 

November 20, 2011

Christ the King (Sermon)

Posted by johnmangels under Jesus, Sermons | Tags: , |
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I think we have a problem when we talk about Jesus as our king — analogous, perhaps, to the problem we have when we talk about gospel love.  We simply don’t use the words “king” and “love” the way Jesus used them.

For us, in every day American English, the word “love” is about what we feel.  For Jesus, the word “love” was an action verb about what we do.  We want to pair the words “love” and “hate” as opposites.  I suspect pairing the words “love” and “kill” would come closer to being opposites, as Jesus used the word “love.” (more…)

 

November 9, 2011

All Saints’ Day Sermon

Posted by johnmangels under Communion, Personal, Saints, Sermons, St. George's | Tags: , , , |
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“… Do not go gentle into that good night
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

“Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so …
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
and death shall be no more …”

I thought of these words, from Dylan Thomas and John Donne respectively, when my friend and colleague, Marcia, died just before this All Saints’ Day.  I think they capture some of the tension I feel between my sense of loss and anger when someone dies and my belief in the promise of fullness of life with God in the communion of saints. (more…)

 

August 6, 2011

Peter Walks on the Water — We do too!

Posted by johnmangels under Looking for God, Sermons, St. George's | Tags: , , , , |
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Actually, when I wrote this sermon (for tomorrow) I titled it “Jesus Walks on the Water.”  but my sermon writing is somewhat stream of consciousness (often) and I ended up somewhere unexpected.  Reflecting on what I had written, I found myself thinking about how we, like Peter, walk on (or at least in) the waters of faith.  So here it is:

Be honest now.  What would you do – how would you react – if you were in the middle of a stormy lake, in a small boat, and you saw Jesus walking on the water towards you?

Or is this so common an occurrence that you don’t have to think about it? (more…)

 

July 15, 2011

Turning Your Life Over To God

Posted by johnmangels under Looking for God, Sermons | Tags: , , |
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This is my sermon from July 3 (in Ft. Bragg):

Paul talks in our reading from Romans this morning about not being able to do the good that he wants to do, but doing evil he doesn’t want to do instead.  I’ve been thinking, since last week, about what it might mean to turn my life over to God and let Jesus live in me.  And I’m thinking, really, that these are just two sides of the same coin.  On my own, I always fall short and miss the target.  But when Jesus lives in me, suddenly that’s changed.

Some of you may be more familiar with the twelve step version:  admitting your life is out of your control and turning your life over to your higher power. (more…)

 

April 22, 2011

Easter 2011

Posted by johnmangels under Easter, Sermons, St. George's | Tags: , , , , |
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This is what I think is going to be my Easter sermon this Sunday, so members of my congregation may not want to read it (before then):

One phrase that really caught my attention in the Daily Office readings this past week was from John’s gospel:

“The truth of the matter is, unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.” [John 12:24 The Inclusive Bible] (more…)

 

March 27, 2011

Sermon for Lent 3 Year A (The Woman at the Well)

Posted by johnmangels under Bible, Sermons | Tags: , , , |
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This is the sermon I didn’t give this morning in Fort Bragg:

This morning, we hear the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.  Like many stories of Jesus’ life, this is a story about expanding the boundaries of who counts with God. (more…)

 

September 21, 2010

Preaching and Jazz

Posted by johnmangels under Personal, Sermons | Tags: , , |
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I know I’ve been quiet for a while; busy with church, prayer life, music and reading.  And that may continue for a while.  But I did finally get back to my clergy writing group.  And here is what I did for our free write today:

“What I’m thinking about is preaching and jazz.  (more…)

 

June 26, 2010

Bruce Buel

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I preached a homily at the celebration remembering the life of Bruce Buel, the  brother of one of our active parishioners, this afternoon.  This is it: 

I never met Bruce. Cathy talked about him, and how much his presence meant in her life. And how she misses him, now that he’s gone. And the fact that he was afraid to die. And how much that troubled her. But I never met Bruce. I did not have that privilege. (more…)

 

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