[RCL] Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:4-9 or Canticle 15 [or Canticle 3]; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally known as “Gaudete” or “Rejoice” Sunday, so called because of the heightened excitement in anticipation for the birth of Christ. But as we listen to the gospel appointed for this day, it may…

[RCL]: Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:4-9 or Canticle 15; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 “Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us…” begins our collect for today. This sounds like one thing, but it means something else entirely, doesn’t it? It sounds like God is out at Hogwarts with Harry Potter, stirring…

We are well into the third week of the Advent season. Advent is a season of waiting, expectation, and preparation for the coming of the Messiah. But who is this Messiah? Do we have any preconceived idea how we would like this Messiah to be? John the Baptist seems to have certain ideas. In today’s…

What happens when our expectations don’t get met? How about when it’s our expectations about God that don’t get met? A few years ago, Steve Johnson, a wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills, voiced his surprise on Twitter when things didn’t turn out the way he hoped during a football game. After Johnson dropped a…

“Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us.” When cooks attending services in villages all over England would hear these words from the Collect of the Day, they would hurry home afterward to stir up the fruity batter that had been fermenting in their kitchens for weeks, the prime ingredient…

The Season of Advent is perhaps the most confusing and most inspiring of our church seasons. In it, we anticipate both the coming of the Christ child at the first Christmas and the second coming of Jesus at the end of the world. It is a season in which the readings focus on the paradox…

Here’s a question for you. Why the pink, or rose-colored, candle on our Advent wreath this morning? After all, the other three candles are all either violet or perhaps a shade of blue. Need a hint? Well, consider that this is the third Sunday in our current Advent season, a time of reflection and even…

A highway shall be there,and it shall be called theHoly Way;the unclean shall not travel on it,but it shall be for God’speople;no traveler, not even fools, shallgo astray.(Isaiah 35:8-10) The earlier verses (5-6) of this beautiful chapter in Isaiah are much more familiar than the few lines quoted above. The opening of blind eyes and…

This is a story about Jesus and John the Baptist. John the Baptist is near the end of his life. He wants to know if his life work is being fulfilled. He sent those who lived with him to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come?” Jesus responds by saying to them,…