A Positively Poetic Priest

St. Peter's  Easter 4A April 30, 2023 Our choir did a lovely job of singing the 23rd Psalm this morning. I have a hard time hearing the 23rd Psalm sung without thinking about the Vicar of Dibley. Which started me thinking about the special relationship that show had with sheep... including the groundbreaking interrupting sheep joke at the end of the episode titled the Christmas Lunch Incident in 1996. You remember that one, Geraldine, the Vicar, played by Dawn French, and Alice, her verger, played by Emma Chambers are having tea in the sacristy when Geraldine says, Knock, knock. Who's there? The interrupting sheep. The interrupting she... Baaaaa! You get it? No, sorry, 'cause I hadn't finished my bit. Do it again, and... No, that's the joke, you see. The interrupting sheep always interrupts people. See? And that's funny? Yes. It's hilarious. Well, depending on your preferred level of comedy. Today is commonly known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Every year in the ...

When you go about your daily routine do you do it for yourself or do you do it in Jesus' name? I don't think most of us really actually think about it. We simply do what we feel like we need to do and get on with it. However, when we start our day with prayer, and make an intention to do things in Jesus' name our understanding and perspective on everything we do that day, is different. And pretty much always for the better. We are able to see through Jesus' eyes and heart we are able to respond with Jesus' compassion all of which far surpasses our own abilities. Its amazing that even Christians can forget to claim Jesus' name in their lives. We believe and do good works out of our belief and then we simply go through our day forgetting to acknowledge that Jesus is walking with us. During this time with the Diocesan Partnership, there is an online book study happening on Jim Wallis' book, Christ in Crisis. Which very much seems like the kind of title we need ...

There are many different versions of this picture. We have probably all seen one. It is a picture of Christ, made up of the faces of humanity. I encourage you to take a closer look at it. Either now, during the rest of my sermon,  on the way to or from communion, or after the service is over.  In the passage from Revelation today, we are heading towards the end of the book. The apocalypse is over, the battle between good and evil, between the forces of God and the forces of wickedness has been completed. God shares the new holy city of Jerusalem with God at the center of it. God is the light and the source of the water of life. God is at the center of the city and all people walk in God's light and praise God  for all the gifts given. The gates of the city are never shut, symbolizing the safety and security of the city. There are an abundance of trees in the city, symbolizing vitality and growth, reminding us of the Gar...

The First Sunday After Epiphany 1/8/17 The Matthean account of the Baptism of Jesus Every year it happens. The name report. My mom is an elementary school music teacher. And every year there comes a point when she comes home fed up with trying to remember six hundred children’s names and the usual and sometimes very unusual ways that they are spelled. Sometimes it is the boys names, too many Brandons and Brendans and Brennans and Braydens and Bransons to be able to keep straight. Sometimes it is the girls names, how many different spelling variations are there of Kaitlyn or Catherine and which want to be known as Cate or Cat or Kathy or Katie? However, we all know what power there is in remembering someone else’s name. In society, being on a first name basis with someone else used to mean that you knew them very well. With the rise of the informal culture, this understanding has disappeared and knowing someone’s first name is not as powerful as it used to be. However, knowing...