Sermons from St. John’s Episcopal Church

From the propers this week, Father Harris takes us on a whirlwind tour through Jesus’s rapid-fire parables from mustard seeds and hidden treasures to drag nets sorting fish. But behind these vivid images lies a radical question: what are you actually giving your life to? Weaving together the Old Testament story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel with ancient Christian wisdom, this sermon dives into why moral self-improvement isn't our ultimate end, but simply the groundwork that makes room for real, transformative joy. Tune in for a challenging, deeply insightful wake-up call to cut through modern chaos, clear out the clutter of fleeting desires, and go all-in on the truest treasure of the world.

From the propers this week, Father Harris tackles the age-old frustration with parables: why can't Jesus just be direct? It turns out, the cryptic nature of these stories isn't a hurdle but an invitation to the hard work of cultivating our inner lives. The field isn't just the world out there, but the complex terrain within each of us, where good and evil grow tangled together. The message is both humbling and liberating: we cannot make ourselves perfect, and our anxious efforts to tear out our flaws often do more harm than good. Instead, Father Harris calls us to trust the Master of the field with our moral development, to discern wisely but without anxiety, and to let the images of Scripture reorganize our thinking. It is a message to have faith whilst we make our pilgrimage up Jacob's ladder.

From the propers this week, Father Harris takes us into the chaotic, restless sea, the symbol of primordial disorder that God is always in the process of ordering. The parable of the sower discloses three conditions of the soul that hinder our reception of God's scattered seeds: the hardened soul that has stopped listening, the shallow soul that springs up with joy but cannot endure hardship, and the divided soul choked by cares and the lure of wealth. But rather than treating these as separate categories of people, they are stages along a pilgrimage; parts of the spiritual journey that we all must make. We begin hard and self-protective; we pass through trials that test our roots; and we constantly fight against the thorns of anxiety and beguilement. The key, he insists, is not finding the right textbook or teacher, but cultivating an interior disposition of attentiveness; an abiding inclination to love, such that we might bring our desire for understanding to the altar and to wade into the tossing sea with Jesus.

From the propers this week, Mother Laura Warner Gilmer takes up the Apostle Paul's honest confession in Romans that choosing righteousness is far harder than simply deciding to do it. Why? Because there is war going on within each of us. Pairing Paul's struggle with the well-known Native American parable of the two wolves, she gently pushes the wisdom further: the question isn't only which wolf we feed, but which wolf we're fed by. What desires, what definitions of success, what sources of identity are we allowing to sustain us? With her characteristic warmth and wit, Mother Laura reminds us that every choice carries an invoice that will come due. While we will all fall short, we are called to strive for the better part, the kinder approach, the more considerate response. And she leaves us with Bob Dylan's unmistakable refrain: you're gonna have to serve somebody. The only real question is which master we'll serve.

From the propers this week, our guest and esteemed Bishop - the Right Reverend Robert Price - offers us a deeply personal and stirring reflection on the power of God's gracious act of naming. Beginning with the story of his own family origins, Bishop Price shows how God's grace ultimately breaks through every box, boundary, and expectation the world places on us. In recognition of our patron, he reminds us that the name "John" means "God is gracious," and that graciousness becomes our true surname, overriding family pressures, past failures, and fears of scarcity. God's claim on us has the last word, calling us away from fear and into joy, away from death and into new life. It is a word of hope for us on our parish's 80th birthday, for the confirmands coming forward to receive God's extended grace, and for anyone who needs to remember that God's grace will always surprise, redirect, and sustain us.

From the propers this week, Father Oliver Butler speaks to the truth that the God who made us in His image is also the God who sees us and never forgets us. Weaving together Hagar in the wilderness of Genesis who names God El-Roi ("the God who sees me") and Jesus' promise that not one sparrow falls unnoticed and even the hairs of our head are numbered, he reminds us that life is lived not on the refreshing mountaintop but down in the valley, where the Good Shepherd chases us down and meets us right where we are.

From the propers this week, Father Harris unpacks a single, easily-overlooked Greek word that bridges "harassed" and "jaded," revealing the deep wound at the heart of our common humanity. As Jesus looks upon the crowds with compassion, He sees people flayed by life, layer after layer worn down, and His response is to send out the Twelve with a radical, counter-cultural mission: give without payment, fear no loss, and let your peace rest on others. It’s a high and difficult calling, but one that is deeply practicable, and it begins with coming to the altar to ask for the strength to become truly generous citizens of the kingdom.

From the propers this week, Father Harris reflects on the universal human cry, "I just want to know what to do," through the lens of Saint Matthew's sudden, life-changing decision to leave his tax booth and follow Jesus. Exploring our tendency to seek happiness in quick fixes or misplaced security, Father Harris addresses the deep anxiety of feeling lost or disconnected from the leader of our spiritual journey. Ultimately, we have been offered a profound comfort: even when we lose sight of the way forward, Jesus is paying attention to us, and his timeless invitation to follow Him is personalized for each of our lives.

From the propers this week, Father Harris acknowledges the discomfort and confusion that often surround Trinity Sunday and its seemingly abstract, "out-there" doctrine. Rather than attempting a complex philosophical defense, he reframes church doctrine not as cold, rigid laws meant to dominate us or be weaponized against others, but as living wisdom meant to be inwardly digested, wrestled with, and infused into our hearts. Ultimately, the Trinity serves as a beautiful, dynamic image of the entire cosmos: a movement of love flowing out from the Father and returning through the Son. We are invited to step into the middle of this cosmic journey, moving past blind conformity so that we might be truly formed by this mystery and actively participate in God's love.

Acts 2:1-21. Pentecost is God’s plan coming together, which means people coming together.