This is a text of a Palm Sunday sermon preached at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church. It is based on Matthew 27:11-54. If you ever find yourself wondering how seemingly rational, intelligent, good-hearted people could be convinced to make a 180-degree turn to embrace falsehoods and far-fetched conspiracies, and rally behind people whose…

The Jewish religious authorities had a dilemma. Jesus’ ministry was rising in popularity to the point that it was becoming a threat to both the Jewish leadership and to their Roman overlords. The high priest, Caiaphas, thought the answer to this was obvious. “You do not understand that it is better for you to have…

In John 10:31-42, the Hebrew religious authorities are about to stone Jesus because of the blasphemy, as they put it, of “making yourself God” even though he is “only a human being.”  He responds as he often does by referring his critics back to the Hebrew scriptures in a way that highlights their duplicity while…

Jesus’s dialogue with a group of Jewish followers in John 8 is not going well, and the next thing he is about to say isn’t going to improve the mood of the conversation. “Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death,” he tells his listeners. “Now we know you have…

What does it mean to be a child of God? In John 8, Jesus is confronting the Jews who were following him. “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free,” he tells them. But wait, they respond. Aren’t we…

Jesus’s harsh condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees is evident once again in John 8:21-30. Entry into the realm of God, we learn, is not possible for people who cling to religiosity in order to gratify themselves. People who engage in performance but do not worship in spirit and truth will not be where God…

A woman accused of adultery is brought before Jesus. The religious authorities see this as an opportunity to ensnare Jesus in a trap. The Mosaic law, they say, mandates that the woman be stoned to death. So, they ask Jesus, what do you say? They think they have Jesus stuck between showing the woman mercy,…

The sermon I heard today at an Episcopal church in Philadelphia was based on the dry bones story in Ezekiel 37. The priest homed in on the question God asks Ezekiel as he surveys the valley of dry bones: “Mortal, can these bones live?” He pointed out that the Christian church in America is in…