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Exodus 33:12-23; Psalm 99; 1 Thess 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22 PRAY… Good morning! If we haven’t met yet, my name is Ben. It won’t surprise you to know I’m here today because Miles is off with many of you on retreat at Shrine Mont. I’m very aware that the people of Grace are passing through a very significant season of great love and great loss…in the deaths of Bill, Ann and now David and in the tender care of their families, along with the pending retirement of your rector who

Gospel of Matthew 22:1-14 My eyes keep getting worse. I got a new glasses prescription back in November, and already I can tell, I need to go back. And when I do go back, and the doctor asks her series of binary questions “which is better–1 or 2? Now, which is better, 2, or 3?” I get analysis paralysis, fussing over the idea of a perfect solution for my imperfect vision. With a text as layered as this parable, and so many interpretations on the books, I get analysis paralys

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46 19th Sunday after Pentecost A; 10.04.26; G. Miles Smith+ The gospel reading today is another Jesus-story…with sharp edges. In this case, Jesus told an angry story directed at criticizing the chief priests and Pharisees…who were constantly finding fault with Jesus. Jesus spent a lot of time in synagogues and visiting the Temple in Jerusalem. So, you could say, in terms of today, that Jesus spent a lot of time

Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32 G. Miles Smith+ When you are a priest…you may enter into peoples’ lives and places…in ways that…when I think about it…can be extra-ordinary. Sometimes the familiarity of priestly things obscures…just how extra-ordinary it really is. We have all heard plenty of priests talking in different scenarios and doing liturgical things…so we are not surprised. But perhaps it would serve us all well…to consider just how unlikely…all this real

Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32 G. Miles Smith+ You’re either going to love it…or hate it. And even if you love it…sometimes you’re probably still going to hate it. And yet…there…is our salvation. I’m talking about the truth of God… as told by the hymn…or poem…to Christ in the Philippians reading. Whether Paul composed it himself, or was quoting from others…this hymn-poem is one of the oldest forms of a creedal statement about Christ in the New Testament and in C

Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35 G. Miles Smith+ [Preface: In fairness to everyone this morning, I want to acknowledge that my homily is effectively a minority report on today’s gospel reading. Many Christian denominations would agree with almost everything about my homily except my conclusion. The Episcopal Church does not have an official position on the matter which Jesus raises this morning. The prayer book says neither yeah nor nay. So our prayer book effectively a

Psalm 139:1-11, 22-23; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 8th Sunday after Pentecost A; 07.19.26; G. Miles Smith+ Sometimes it can be difficult to know what to do with scripture…even when the language is clear. We effectively talked about that a lot this past Wednesday in the Bible study on the Gospel of Mark which Matteo is leading so very well. Even when the words of scripture are familiar…there can still be a disconnect such that they do not affect us much. Fo

We all have a friend or relative who loves plants, loves gardening, can’t stay away from the soil. For me that person was my paternal grandmother, Fern Abbott, of blessed memory, from whom I got my middle name, and because of whom I gave my son the same middle name. She had a honey-sweet voice, handwriting so beautiful it looked like effortless calligraphy, and she taught me how to do crossword puzzles, which I do every day and so I think of her every day. My point here is th

Gen. 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67; Song of Songs 2:8-13; Romans 7:15-25a; Mt. 11:16-19, 25-30 6th Sunday after Pentecost A; 07.05.26; G. Miles Smith+ Let me begin this morning by calling your attention to an important distinction…about how Episcopalians observe this Sunday and its implications for our Christian responsibility. And then a few more words about the scripture today. + The Book of Common Prayer (p.16-17) identifies only two national holidays in its liturgical calendar—

Matthew 10:24-39 4th Sunday after Pentecost A; 06.21.26; G. Miles Smith+ Jesus said: “…I have come to set a man against his father…” And “whoever loves father more than me is not worthy of me…” Happy Father’s Day!? It is a fairly rare occasion when this gospel text, which comes back around every three years, actually falls on Father’s Day. But this is one of those years. And it is especially jarring to hear Jesus’ words like this…on Father’s Day. + If w

Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7); Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35-10:8 (9-23) 3rd Sunday after Pentecost A; 06.14.26; G. Miles Smith+ So, now that the Vestry has announced their appointment of the Discernment Committee…that will begin working later this summer on the search for your next Rector…I’m thinking that frees up the Vestry…to undertake a new and even more daunting task: the formation of a team of parishioners…to go out into Keswick…“to cure the sick, raise the dead, c

Genesis 12:1-9; Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 When Christians invoke Abraham as the beginning of a line that will, eventually, include Jesus, our reasons for mentioning him vary. In genealogical terms, Abraham is the progenitor and we are the progeny, Not in terms of our DNA, but in terms of a human chain of events that begins when Abraham says yes to God: not just the people who can trace their own lineage back to these early desert wanderings, but the even larger number of people

Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Canticle 13; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20 Trinity Sunday A; 05.31.26; G. Miles Smith+ As you’ve probably noticed by now from our service, today is Trinity Sunday…a Sunday when the Church is called to meditate upon “the glory of the eternal Trinity.” It always falls on the Sunday after the Day of Pentecost when the Church remembers and celebrates God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. So, Trinity Sunday is timed to remind the Church to put so

Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Canticle 13; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20 Trinity Sunday A; 05.31.26; G. Miles Smith+ I know you don’t spend your time thinking about the intricacies of the Christian liturgical calendar -- that’s my job. :) But, the first Sunday after the Day of Pentecost is always called “Trinity Sunday”…a Sunday…as reflected in the Collect of the Day…when the Church is called to meditate upon “the glory of the eternal Trinity.” It is something o

Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-35, 37; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13; John 20:19-23 The Day of Pentecost A; 05.22.26; G. Miles Smith+ Today is the Day of Pentecost…a day when most churches commemorate and celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. And this may be my last chance to really speak to you about the Holy Spirit…definitely my last Day of Pentecost with you. So here we go. I have a lot to say. And I want to begin by acknowledging…just how very difficult it is…to even speak of

John 14:15-21 There’s a beloved professor at my seminary who likes to say, “The Jesus we encounter in the Gospel of John is so divine, his feet barely touch the ground.” In the Gospel of John there are no earthy parables, no teachings drawn from the nitty gritty of how people make a living. Instead there is a loftiness and an enigmatic quality to the way Jesus speaks in John, and today’s reading is no exception. What does the spirit of truth mean? What does the discourse on

John 14:1-14 Sunday of Easter A; 05.03.26; G. Miles Smith+ The Gospel of John has something…that exists nowhere else in the New Testament. It has been called Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse”. What is so unusual about it…is that it is Jesus…talking to his disciples…for five consecutive chapters. Nowhere else exists such a continuous set of Jesus’ teachings. And what also makes them distinctive is the subject matter…Jesus is concerned about what will happen to his dis

Psalm 23; John 10:1-10 Fourth Sunday of Easter A; 04.26.26; G. Miles Smith+ The Fourth Sunday of Easter, for a number of churches, is called Good Shepherd Sunday. In the Episcopal Church, we don’t actually call today that, but we do focus on this theme in our prayers and scripture every year. So in The Collect of the Day, we prayed about Jesus who is the good shepherd. We also prayed Psalm 23: “The LORD is my shepherd…” The 1st Letter of Peter is addressed