James Liggett
The Rev. James Liggett is the retired rector of St. Nicholas’ Episcopal Church in Midland, Texas. He is a native of Kansas and a graduate of the University of Houston and the Episcopal Divinity School. He has served parishes in Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma and has been a contributor to Sermons That Work since the 1980’s.
Sermons and Bible Studies
He Strictly Ordered Them…, Proper 8 (B) – 2003
“He strictly ordered them that no one should know this….” What a peculiar way to end a miracle. After all, this is the sort of thing everybody was looking for; this is the sort of thing that would be great press; and it was the sort of thing that would really make his reputation. But […]
Light from Light, Christmas Day (III) – 2002
Have you ever noticed that when you get together with your family and start telling stories about when you were growing up, or what happened years ago, the same events sound very different as different people tell the story? Depending on who’s describing it, the guy who used to live across the street was a […]
The Hope of Christmas, Christmas Eve – 2002
That story, the Christmas story, and all that goes with it, continues to draw us; it continues to have a strange, haunting power over us. And that power is not just nostalgic; it is not even mostly nostalgic. As important as Christmases past have been — both that first Christmas in Bethlehem and our own […]
The Last Candle Is Lit…, Advent 4 (B) – 2002
The last candle is lit. Ready or not, Christmas is upon us. Ready or not, we will be back here Tuesday night to meet our Lord as he comes to us as a child; and to pray that we may continue to meet him, as he comes to us in so many ways, at so […]
Today Is the Sunday…, Easter 7 (A) – 2002
Today is the Sunday after the Ascension; and this year we hear Luke tell the story of the risen Lord’s departure from his disciples. The Ascension is probably not the best known of the feast days on the calendar, but it is one that takes on increasing depth and importance the more you think about […]
The Disciples Were Behind…, Easter 2 (A) – 2002
The disciples were behind locked doors because they were afraid. They were behind locked doors on Easter Day, and a week later, they were still huddled behind locked doors, frightened, hiding, and, at least in Thomas’ case, filled with doubt. They hardly appear to be the beginning a movement that will transform human history. But […]
Whose Wife Will…, Proper 27 (C) – 2001
“Whose wife will the woman be?” Isn’t that a great question? The Sadducees were the oldest and most conservative of the major religious groups of Jesus’ day. One of their big disagreements with the Pharisees and other groups was over the fairly new notion that there would be a personal resurrection after death. The Sadducees […]
The First Temptation…, Proper 21 (C) – 2001
The first temptation most everyone who hears this parable faces is the temptation to do theological dentistry. That is, to try to pull the teeth of the parable. That’s usually done by saying that we are not like that rich man and we don’t act like he acted. Then we say that the real point […]
There Is a Delightful Book…, Proper 13 (C) – 2001
There is a delightful book called Tales From a Magic Monastery, by Theophane the Monk, (Crossroad, New York, 1981), that you might enjoy reading some day. It’s a collection of stories set in a very special monastery “off over there somewhere” — a place where the truth is always acted out. This is what happened […]
Today We Hear about Mary and Martha…, Proper 11 (C) – 2001
Today we hear about Mary and Martha — two really remarkable people who have often been treated rather badly. To be sure, they are famous and, if nothing else, doubtless have had more women’s guilds named after them than anyone else. But they are so often used as types, as symbols, that their own story […]
A Manifestation at Cana, Epiphany 2 (C) – 2001
The story of the wedding at Cana of Galilee has been read in Epiphany for a very long time. That’s because the theme of Epiphany is the manifestation, the showing off to the world, of Jesus-of who he is, of what he is about. The business of changing water into wine was the first of […]
Several Years Ago…, The Transfiguration – 2000
Several years ago, one of the Public Opinion companies, it was probably Gallup, did a survey of Americans and asked a very interesting question. They asked several thousand people whether they had ever had what they would call “a religious experience,” a personal experience of whatever sort, that brought them somehow into the presence of […]
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