Words of the Mouth and Meditations of the Heart

Sermon for Pentecost 3, 2022, delivered at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Louisville, KY Text: Luke 9:51-62 Elijah is walking down from a mountain where God has told him to go find his successor as a prophet of God. Eventually Elijah comes across Elisha, who is plowing a field. Elijah says “Follow me,” to which Elisha replies “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” Elijah replies with “if you must, but I am calling you now.” Later on, Elijah hears that the Samarian king Ahaziah had fallen and been seriously hurt. Ahaziah sends his messengers to ask the god of the city Ekron if he would survive the fall, and Elijah tells the messengers that he won’t because he doesn’t follow God. Ahaziah takes offense at Elijah’s words, and orders a company of 50 men to bring Elijah to him. Elijah refuses to go, and the company is killed by fire raining down out of the sky. These are the stories that Jesus refers to in the Gospel passage this morning, one being where he rej...

Sermon for Pentecost, 2022 Text: Acts 2:1-21 , Romans 8:14-17 , John 14:8-27 Сьогодні день П’ятидесятниці. І за своєю особистою традицією я розмовляю іншою мовою. Сьогодні цією мовою українська. As is my personal tradition on the Day of Pentecost, I say  something in another language. And today, that language is Ukrainian. But listening to the Gospel reading this morning, I realize that Pentecost is more than just a group of people breaking out  into other languages, and other people understanding them. It’s about the Holy Spirit. The disciples didn’t do a flash mob sort of event to entertain and surprise people. They were full of  the Holy Spirit. Paul doesn't say that we are the Children of God because of our faith, but  because the Holy Spirit bears witness that we are truly God’s Children. And Jesus says that we  will not be taught and reminded of his works by word of mouth or written words, but by the Holy  Spirit. There is a mystery in how our conscio...