Mark 1:4-11 / Baptism of Our Lord B / 08 January 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the Deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said....
Luke 2:21 / Name and Circumcision of Our Lord / 01 January 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Luke 2:21
It’s one little verse in Luke. Easily overlooked in Luke’s narrative of Jesus’ birth and infancy. But the verse demonstrates Luke’s attention to detail. Up until this verse, he does not refer to Jesus by name. In Bethlehem’s manger he is simply a baby, a swaddled newborn with no name. When the shepherds visit, they don’t ask what most people ask when a child is born, “What’s his name?” He didn’t have a name a week ago, until today. Today He gets His name Jesus, and with His name He gets the mark of the covenant: circumcision.
John 1:14 / Christmas Day / 25 December 2011 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
Note: I am indebted to a 1964 sermon by Rev. Alton F. Wedel for many of the thoughts and words expressed in here. This sermon is dedicated to his memory. - WMC
The Word became Flesh and dwelt among us.
This one sentence captures the heart and essence of Christmas. This is more than a miracle; this is a mystery. A profound revelation full of meaning. When you get past the angels and the shepherds and the stable and the manger, when you peel back the soft sentimentalities and the holiday expectations and the nostalgic remembrances of Christmases past, there remains this infinitely deep Mystery that goes to the very depths of our existence: The Word became Flesh and dwelt among us.
Luke 1:26-38 / Advent 4B / 18 December 2011 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
“For nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1:37
We’ve come to the 4th Sunday in Advent and our readings take a kinder and gentler turn. Gone and past are the big eschatological texts warning of the approaching last day. Gone too is John the Baptizer, that strange almost creepy, figure appearing in the wilderness, that voice calling us to repentance and to the water of Baptism. We go from the Jordan wilderness to an obscure town in northern Galilee named Nazareth. It’s a garrison town in the high country, a watchtower over Israel standing guard over the north. It was unknown in the Old Testament. There we meet a young girl somewhere between 16 to 18 years old, planning her marriage to a man named Joseph.
John 1:6-8, 19-28 / Advent 3B / 11 December 2011 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
Last week we heard the preaching. Today we consider the preacher. “There was a man sent from God, who name was John.” Who was he, this strange man of the wilderness, dressed like an Old Testament prophet, subsisting on wilderness food? In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, John is a prophet, sent in the spirit of Elijah. In fact, he is Elijah, says Jesus, if you believe that Jesus is the Christ. He is Elijah come to prepare the way of the Lord.
Isaiah 40:1-11 / Advent 2B / 04 December 2011 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
Last week, a coming King. Today, a prophetic voice. The second Sunday of Advent brings the prophetic voice of Isaiah and the prophetic person of John the Baptizer. You know it’s Advent when John makes his appearance in the wilderness, calling Israel out away from temple and synagogue back into the wilderness. John is a figure straight out of the pages of the Old Testament. Camel’s hair, leather belt, locusts, wild honey - he’s the complete package, looking like Elijah and appearing where Elijah had disappeared.
Isaiah 64:1-9; Mark 11:1-10 / Advent 1B / 27 November 2011 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
Come on down, Lord! Come on down! Tear open those heavens and come down and make the mountains shake. Kindle the fire, boil the water, make those heathen quake in their boots at the sound of your name! Do like you used to do back in the good old days when you used to shake things up in a big way! Show yourself for who you are, God, and come down to save us!
Matthew 25:31-46 / Proper 29A / 20 November 2011 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
“And He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.”
We believe and confess this. We believe and confess that Jesus Christ, whom we do not now see, who reigns over all thing at the right hand of the Father, will reappear on the Last Day in great glory to judge the living and the dead. The Last Day is a day of judgment.
Matthew 25:14-30 / Proper 28A / 13 November 2011 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
Today is the second to last Sunday in the church year. Hard to believe it, but we are coming to the end again. And with the end comes some thoughts about the End, that is the end of all things. The Last Day. The Judgment. The coming of Christ in glory. Eschatology. Last things.
Matthew 05:01-12 / All Saints / 06 November 2011 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
In the life of the believer, there is both the now and the not yet. What is seen is now, what is not yet is not yet seen. There is the now of faith and the not yet of sight. All Saints Day is about the now and the not yet. The now of this life and the not yet of the life to come.