Ascension Written Sermons

The Rev. Robert P. Travis 20 th Sunday After Pentecost Sermon – 8:00 and 10:30am Church of the Ascension, Knoxville TN RCL Proper 26 Year A 10 / 30 /2011 Text: Micah 3:5-12, Psalm 43, 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13, Matthew 6:24-34 Sermon Text: When I read this gospel passage, knowing I’d have to preach on it, I have to admit I felt apprehensive. Not only have I never preached on this before, but over the years I’ve received strong criticism citing exactly these words from Jesus. Pointing to this passage, I have, on several occasions had devout protestants ask me “ Why do people call you “father” in your church, don’t you know Jesus said “call no one ‘father’ on earth?” As if to point out how they are more Christian than we are. I often thought they were somehow missing the point, but could never quite put my finger on what they were missing. Maybe some of you teachers and instructors, were concerned when you heard Jesus tell us not to be called ...

The Rev. Amy Morehous Church of the Ascension Proper 25, Year A October 23, 2011 You come along. . . tearing your shirt. . . yelling about Jesus. Where do you get that stuff? What do you know about Jesus? --- Carl Sandburg, “To a Contemporary Bunkshooter” That deceptively simple and angry beginning sounds like something we might read online, doesn’t it? Has anyone here heard it before? It’s actually the beginning of a poem first published in 1916 by Nobel laureate, Carl Sandburg. It’s a sometimes angry, sometimes sarcastic screed of a poem against false preachers - people preaching a false Gospel, and putting words in the mouth of Christ. Someone who is the exact opposite of Paul’s description of a minister of the Gospel. I can’t quote the whole poem here. There’s definitely not any love in it, and it uses several words that I can’t use at the dinner table. It is a fast gallop of a poem, full of slashing words and images. It makes of itself an interes...

The Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost: Proper 24 Year A Matthew 22:15-22 Christ's Own Forever “And to God the things that are God's.” So, I am going to start today's sermon off by doing something that is a little bit unconventional, at least by Episcopalian standards. I am going ask for you all, the congregation, to do something participatory this morning. So what I would like you all to do right now is to reach out in front of you and grab that nice little red book we call the Book of Common Prayer which is in front of you, and I would like each of you to turn to page 308. Now this is a section of our prayer book that most of us are pretty familiar with. The page you are looking at contains the words and prayers which are said towards the end of a Holy Baptism. They are the very words that were prayed over each of us at the time of our own baptisms, both in the Episcopal Church and in many others. What I want to ask of e...

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost October 2, 2011 The Truth of the Matter Is, There Are Consequences The Reverend Dr. Howard J. Hess I. Introduction. The Truth of the Matter Is, There Are Consequences When we turn away from God and God’s Son . This week I met with the Wednesday Women’s Bible Study to consider today’s lectionary readings. As always, the discussion was lively and thought provoking. Shortly into the study, one of the participants asked, “Where is the good news or the joy in all of this?” She was astute – today’s parable demonstrates greed, stubbornness, murder, and ultimate retribution. The answer I gave was this: “The good news is in the truth of today’s readings, because knowing the truth, particularly God’s truth, will always ultimately set us free.” Were I in the study now, I would add to my answer that one aspect of God’s truth is God’s persistent, constant offer of grace. II. What then is the truth of God found in today’s parable from Matthew...

The Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost - Proper 21 Matthew 21:23-32 Still Time to Change “ And even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.” I don’t know if this will be a shared experience or not, but one of the most anticipated and important events for everyone during my high school years was not the prom, or the senior prank, but it was the opportunity to select a quotation that would go under each person’s name in their senior year book. It was choosing the quote that would be eternally tied to your name in the high school year book which would of course undoubtedly sit as a permanent and unmovable fixture on the book shelves of every member of your graduating class forever. Well, ok, so probably not, but still, you get the idea. It was a big deal. For some reason, as I was preparing for this sermon, the quotation that I selected my Senior year was brought back to mind when I read this morning's Gospel. “Yes, there are two paths that you can g...

The Rev. Robert P. Travis Pentecost 20A Sunday Sermon 8 and 10:30am Service, Church of the Ascension, Knoxville TN 9/18/2011 Scripture Text: Jonah 3:10-4:11, Psalm 145:1-8, Philippians 1:21-30, Matthew 20:1-16 Sermon Text: As you may know, I have two daughters, one in First Grade and one in Kindergarten. Do you know how they would respond to this gospel passage? “ That's not fair!” We hear that phrase more than other phrases in our home. In fact, we hear it every day, that's how I know. It is hard to be the arbiter of fairness, as any parent will know. But it is certainly not just children who deal with this. I was going grocery shopping at 9pm, just to pick up a few things. Usually I shop over near where we live, by Pelissippi and Northshore. But this time I was in Bearden, so I went to the Bearden Kroger. Apparently 9pm is the hopping time at that store, I was kind of surprised when I went in and it was mobbed. I wanted to get home af...