Only a God who knew the messiness of the incarnation—of being both human and divine, loving and hurting, sheep-chasing, coin-hunting, fatted calf-preparing as a means of love, could find redemption and promise, phorismo, wisdom, prudence, shrewdness, in a thorough scoundrel.
That on that first Sabbath, God did rest, but perhaps God’s rest wasn’t just about ‘not doing’ more creation, but rather ‘connecting with’ the creation God had made and hallowed; about delighting in what creation had to offer; in exploring the wideness of God’s expanding love and playfulness. Maybe God buried God’s face in our toes and laughed at our expressions and simply enjoyed learning the quirks of God’s humans and animals and oceans, of the ferns; of the redwoods.
KGL+ Sermon Trinity Church Boston Year C Proper 12 July 27, 2025 May the words of my mouth and
We cannot forget who and whose we are, if we wish to have a legacy in this world. It will not be for the money, or success or achievement that we are remembered—Jesus’ gifts are not the way the world works, remember. It will be in the ways we loved.
During these waning days of Lent, with only scattered palms ahead of us, we can deny the accusation of our insignificance: by pouring out our love. No matter how much the world tells us that we are wasting our energy and our resources and our God-given potential. But we pour it out, over each imperfect human. Towards our savior, Jesus. Abundantly offered to God not as a sacrifice, friends, but as revolutionary declaration.
This is why we do this. This is why we gather together, and this practice of holding one another in both the joy and pain every week is to affirm that we don’t only understand God as being in the highlights, but God’s presence is indeed part of our interwoven existence encompassing all parts of the spectrum.
Sensing—knowing—believing—you can choose your own adventure here– that the divine is not away from us, not on some far-off horizon, but in the very perimeter of our own body’s warmth and breath, comforts and disturbs.
From the one who was before time and will be beyond time, God is present here, now, in this room and outside in the traffic, and waiting for the bus, because that is the God who authors our Great Story—the one tale our hearts long to hear as many times as we can stand, schmaltz aside—the story that love, indeed, is everywhere, because God, indeed, is now part of this strange human existence.
The mystery of Christ among us—Emmanuel with us—Jesus born here and now—is only real if we believe that the incarnation—the fleshiness of God—is real and found in every unexpected place.
KGL+ Sermon Trinity Church Boston Year C, Advent 4 December 22, 2024 May the words of my mouth and
