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Sermons from Trinity Cathedral
Important Note: Right-Click on the links below and then choose "Save Target As . . ." to download these files to your computer for later listening. November 16, 2008 - 27th Sunday After Pentecost - Nicholas Knisely This is a tricky parable to try to interpret, and many have tried their best - in some cases, perhaps sugarcoating the message along the way. This is a scary parable when we read it, when the master says that a servant who makes no return on the master's investment must be thrown out into the outer darkness. If the master of the story is God, this must mean that we have to work hard - really hard - to earn our way into heaven. But this interpretation does not make sense with the rest of what we know about God. What's another way to read this? November 9, 2008 - 26th Sunday After Pentecost - Nicholas Knisely Our gospel lessons begin to turn to focus on Jesus' coming again to dwell with us. The stories have to do with those who are in the Kingdom of God and those who are out of the Kingdom of God. Today's story focuses on wedding customs of Jesus' day - and we're left wondering about the last line, when those who didn't keep their lamps burning are turned away when they come late to the party. How can this story speak to us today, and what does it symbolize? All Saints Sunday - November 2, 2008 - Licia Baldi Affer All Saints Day is the yearly observance in the Church's life where we recognize the example of those who have gone before us. It is the example of the saints that model forth what a life in Christ is to be about. The long line of saints have passed down traditions to us, traditions that we sometimes struggle to follow and understand, but ideas that have formed us as the people of the household of God. It is particularly meaningful that on this day, we baptize children into God's household - a place of both nurture and expectation. October 26, 2008 - 24th Sunday After Pentecost - Nicholas Knisely In the midst of the anxiety and tension of the world, it is the job of the Church to praise God with one another and show the world that there is another way to live. Worshipping God all together, side by side, means that we cannot objectify others and thoughtlessly do them harm. When we learn each others' names, those who are strangers instead become neighbors. October 19, 2008 - 23rd Sunday After Pentecost - Nicholas Knisely There's a lot more behind today's Gospel story of the Pharisee's followers (seminarians) questions to Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar. What casual readers of the story may not know is that the coin in question was actually stamped with an inscription that indicated that Caesar was divine. This is just one twist in a complex story; one that is more meaningful when examined deeply. Typical interpretations may say that Jesus is giving a press-conference worthy dodge to a trick question or another clever way of saying that everything belongs to God. Let's file this away and dig deeper . . . October 12, 2008 - 22nd Sunday After Pentecost - Licia Baldi Affer After the Israelites wander in the desert, they lose their patience when Moses goes up to the mountain to meet with God. The going gets tough, and they feel alone, lost, abandoned - and living by Somebody else's schedule. In their despair, they build for themselves a better god out of gold that they can see and feel when things don't go the way they want them to. Perhaps we feel the same way during this turbulent economic and political climate. How do we know that God is still there? |