Charles Hoffacker

The Rev. Charles Hoffacker lives in Greenbelt, Maryland, with his wife, Helena Mirtova. He is the author of A Matter of Life and Death: Preaching at Funerals from Cowley Publications. Many of his sermons appear on sermonwriter.com.
Sermons and Bible Studies
Enough to Raise the Dead, Proper 14 (B) – 2018
Travel to the city of Rome and go to the basilica named for St. Peter. Near the main entrance, you will find one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world, the Pieta of Michelangelo. Mary the mother of Jesus is shown seated. On her lap, in her arms, she holds the lifeless body of […]
This Sacred Discontinuity, Day of Pentecost (B) – 2018
The Bible and the church year commemorate many moments of grace. One of these moments of grace is what we celebrate here on this day of Pentecost: how the Holy Spirit fell like fire upon the infant church, equipping that small assembly for their global mission, energizing that community with nothing less than the life […]
Wait. Pray., Ascension Day – 2018
Today’s first reading and gospel form an unusual pair. They both come from the two-volume work attributed to Luke the Evangelist. One is from the end of the first volume, the book we call the Gospel according to Luke. The other is from the start of the second volume, the book we call the Acts of the Apostles. […]
Corpses in the Corridor, Proper 19 (A) 2017
As you heard today’s gospel, did it make you uncomfortable, so that you shifted your weight from one foot to another, or perhaps gazed awkwardly into space?That parable Jesus tells does not pack a dose of sweet comfort but challenges us outrageously in a spot where we are most tender: the trouble we have with […]
Give Alms! Ash Wednesday – 2017
On this day, may we consider together just what sort of gift we ask for when we pray in the Collect for “new and contrite hearts.” Just what sort of hearts does God want us to have? In the name of this God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The poet Robert Bridges was experiencing […]
Passionate Spirituality, Proper 11 (C) – 2016
It’s a brief story, and Jesus delivers the punch line: “Martha, Martha,” he tells his hostess. “You are worried and distracted about many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, and it shall not be taken from her.” Everything, therefore, hangs on the one thing that Jesus mentions, […]
Becoming a Place of Resurrection, Ash Wednesday – 2016
Jesus warns us to practice our piety in secret. We are not to give alms, to pray, or to fast in a way that plays to an audience of other people. Instead, we are to do these things in secret. And in each case a blessing is attached to this secret practice. As Jesus tells it, “your Father who […]
Hearts of Flesh, Proper 22 (B) – 2015
Today’s gospel leaves many of us uncomfortable for one reason or another. It doesn’t come across as good news. First, we have what sounds for all the world like Jesus’ absolute prohibition of divorce. That’s enough to cause us to squirm if we have a divorce in our personal background or as part of our family history. It’s […]
Welcome His Folly into Our Lives, Palm Sunday (B) – 2015
The story just proclaimed presents Jesus as mocked three times, by three different groups: first, the religious authorities; then the secular authorities; and finally, the ordinary people, the crowd. These instances of mockery have unexpected results. The pretensions of each group are dismantled. The stage is cleared of rivals, and the true king is enthroned. […]
Zigs and Zags, Christmas 2 – 2015
The start of this new year invites us to take out the map of our life and look at it carefully. This is a time to recognize where we have been, so that we may be better prepared for the future that awaits us. Where have you traveled in your life during these past 12 […]
The Perfect Christmas and the Real Christmas, Christmas Day (II) – 2014
Crossing the minds of almost everyone around this time of year is the fantasy of the perfect Christmas. This fantasy appears in many versions, but a standard one goes something like this: An attractive old house sits securely on its wooded parcel of land. There’s plenty of snow on the ground, and more is falling […]
Trust, Not Fear, Proper 28 (A) – 2014
Today we should remember something that all of us sometimes forget – that what God requires of us is not success, but faithfulness. The gospel we just heard is known as “The Parable of the Talents.” That word “talent” has a double meaning. Its original meaning in the Greek of the New Testament refers to […]
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