Today’s gospel reading is a delicious story. We encounter enthusiasm, prejudice, and extraordinary insight all in one short story. It is sometimes good for us to remember that we get above ourselves when we regard the people of our Lord’s day as being so inferior to ourselves as not to be taken too seriously. Obviously…

We’ve all heard little kids holler at each other, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” For a mother, that phrase can be horrifying because it usually means the kids are doing something like hanging upside down on a tree branch they had to climb pretty high to reach in the first place or daring each other…

We find ourselves, on this Second Sunday after the Epiphany, early in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This week between two holy days — The Confession of St. Peter and the Conversion of St. Paul — has been observed for many years as a particularly appropriate time to pray for the unity of…

The text from the St John Gospel is a quintessential evangelism and mission text. First, Jesus said to Philip, “Follow me,” and he did! This is remarkable. It is just backwards from the way we are inclined to gather people into the Christian faith. There is a wonderful hymn by St. Richard of Chicester, commonly…

[Note to the Preacher: select a movie or movies you have recently seen in place of my movie illustrations.] I recently went to see the movie The English Patient. The story depicts humankind at our best and out worst. It was an excellent movie and has received wide acclaim. I recommend it as a thought-provoking and…