Words of the Mouth and Meditations of the Heart

Sermon for Pentecost XXI, delivered at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Louisville, KY Text: Matthew 22:15-22 We’ve been decluttering at home recently, which means a trip to the Meriwether electronics recycling center and a drop off at Goodwill. There’s usually no one around at Meriwether to check what I've brought in, but there’s always someone at Goodwill asking me if I want a receipt for the things I donate to the store. I never have said yes to a receipt because to me it wouldn’t be a true donation if I could lessen my annual taxes with my offerings. I have to give without receiving anything in return to feel that I am truly showing God’s love and giving things away. There’s another reason, though, and it comes from this morning’s Gospel reading where Jesus says the phrase that we hear every now and then: give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s. What I give to God is my material possessions and what I give to Caesar is my taxes. It can be a little difficul...

Sermon for Pentecost XVIII, 2023, delivered at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Louisville, KY Text: Matthew 21:23-32   The Gospel reading this morning reminds me of an Islamic parable of sorts that I first heard a long time ago. It involves Nasrudin, a Mullah or a learned leader in the Islamic faith. The story goes like this: One day the people in a village thought they would play a joke on Nasrudin. As he was supposed to be a holy man of some indefinable sort, they went to him and asked him to preach a sermon in their mosque. He agreed. When the day came, Nasrudin mounted the pulpit and spoke: “O people! Do you know what I am going to tell you?” “No, we do not know,” they said. “Until you know, I cannot tell you,” said the Mullah, overcome with indignation. He descended from the pulpit and went home. Slightly chagrined, a deputation went to his house again, and asked him to preach the following Friday, the day of prayer. That day, Nasrudin started his sermon with the same question as...