Sermons

The Rev. Stomberg and the Rev. Galloway discuss the meaning and historical context of the Epiphany narrative; what it means to “follow the light”; what the Light actually is; where we can find the Light; what distance we must travel to find it; and what gifts we are asked to offer the King when we find Him.

The Epiphany has not ended; it shines forth to this day, radiating out from the day of Christ’s Incarnation; it is the very reason we as Gentiles can share in the riches of Christ’s inheritance. This means that we who have received this light have the responsibility to both continually seek its source and reflect it so that others may do the same.

God spoke the universe into existence. God created all we can and cannot see. This same Divinity broke into time and space, born of a Pure Virgin, to save all of humanity. But we in our folly refuse to accept this glorious truth while at the same time believing we will make science fiction a reality. This contradiction must not be so for the professing Christian.

The mystery of the Incarnation – literally “taking on flesh”, that Christ Jesus, fully human yet fully divine, was born of a pure Virgin – that mystery reminds us that the God of the universe is real, and He loves us so much that he chose to be born among us, that he may sympathize with our weaknesses and perfectly redeem all the pain and suffering we face in life.

The Rev. Stomberg and the Rev. Galloway discuss the importance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the Christian life; the idea of her perpetual virginity; types of love; masculinity and femininity; gender roles; the impact of the transgender movement on children; and much more.

There are no words given to Saint Joseph in all of Scripture, and yet, Joseph is the greatest example of a husband and father in all of humanity. Indeed, Joseph is the most important man who ever lived (apart from Christ). He is here to prove that a good man doesn’t need attention, he doesn’t need to say many words, he doesn’t need to be a superhero. A good man needs to be a righteous man. May we all imitate his uprightness of life and his obedience to God’s commands.

We are not very good at being patient. As devout Christians, we really should be wanting Jesus to return, to judge the living and the dead, being patience while living among a world that hates us. What we shouldn’t be doing is wishing for Jesus to wait until after our lifetimes, as if our own plans are more important than God’s plan of salvation! When the LORD comes should not be our concern; it should be how we prepare for the LORD’s return!

We need Advent to remind us of these responsibilities as we wait for Christ to return. And for that reason, Andrew is the perfect saint to start the Advent season. He also (unsurprisingly) embodies the call of John the Baptist in today’s Gospel reading for the second Sunday of Advent to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”

We need to constantly realize that in Christ, we are a new creation. We need to be reminded of this truth by, and for, each other. Christ gives us grace anew so that we are equal to the task of fighting back the darkness, even when the odds and circumstances seem overwhelming. Like Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, and many other heroes who went before us, we must put on the full armor of God in the battle against evil.