The Ordination of Priests
June 22, 2013
Bishop Rob Wright’s sermon during The Ordination of Priests at the Cathedral of St. Philip.
The Feast of St. Alban the Martyr
Matthew 10: 32-42
Good afternoon!
From the gospel lesson Jesus says, “Those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” The great preacher and teacher of preachers Fred Craddock said a sermon must be “clear, compelling and urgent.” Jesus hits all three of those marks today: “I bring a sword not peace. I must be to you more than family. Take up the cross and follow me.”
Jesus said these words to his disciples in the first days of the church. Call it the ordination sermon of the twelve. He said these things, I think, because He wanted to be clear: When you boil down church, boil down discipleship, boil down even faith to their bare essentials, church, discipleship and faith are about one thing: the worthiness of God! Without God being worth it all, without Jesus showing us He is more than death, without the Spirit ever with us, neither baptism nor ordination nor any of the suffering that comes with them makes any sense!
Rowing Michael’s Boat Ashore… and down the road!
May 12, 2013
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA Sermon given as Deacon and Seminarian
Seventh Sunday in Easter – Year C RCL
Acts 16:16-34, Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21 & John 17:20-26
Last Sunday morning, as Ceci and I were standing in the narthex, about to process in for the 8:00 o’clock service, as usual, Jeff began playing the opening hymn. After a few notes Ceci smiled and said, “This is my favorite hymn.”
I turned and looked at her, matching her smile with my own, I said playfully, “You know you say that all the time.” And, while that might be a little bit of an exaggeration, as someone who’s served with Ceci for the past several years, believe me when I tell you, she says it A LOT!
It’s not a judgment – it just points out the fact that singing is an important part of the Episcopal liturgy. WE SING. It’s one of the things that we love to do.
If you don’t believe me, take it from Garrison Keillor, the voice of NPR’s Prairie Home Companion. In an essay about Episcopalians, after sharing a list of ways people make fun of us, he said, “But nobody sings like them.” He shared this experience:
If you were to ask an audience in Des Moines, a relatively Episcopalianless place, to sing along on the chorus of “Michael Row the Boat Ashore,” they will look daggers at you as if you had asked them to strip to their underwear. But if you do this among Episcopalians, they’d smile and row that boat ashore and up on the beach! ….And down the road!
I like that image!
jodygreenwood 