Sermon — April 21, 2024 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings There’s a beautiful piece in the New York Times Sunday Magazine this morning, with the title, “The Poems That Taught Me How to Love,” in which Nicholas Casey writes of the summer term he spent in Chile at the age of 19, a summer … Continue reading →

Sermon — April 14, 2024 Michael Fenn Lectionary Readings One of the things I love the most about summer camp, particularly Christian summer camp, is that when you cross the line into camp–almost everything about who you are outside of camp does not matter anymore. Your varsity letter, your GPA, your parents divorce, your above-average … Continue reading →

Sermon — April 7, 2024 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Fatherand from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.”(2 John 3) (A greeting from the Second Letter of John. More on that in a moment.) I love this Second Sunday of … Continue reading →

Sermon — Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Alleluia! Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia! “Alleluia! Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed”—Or is he? If you were Mary or Mary or Salome on that first Easter morning, you might not be so sure. These women, the … Continue reading →

Sermon — Holy Saturday, March 30, 2024 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,comes up like a flower and withers, flees like a shadowand does not last. Do you fix your eyes on such a one?”(Job 14:1–2) The Book of Job is an arcane, … Continue reading →

Sermon — Good Friday, March 29, 2024 Michael Fenn Lectionary Readings There is an uncomfortable question that Good Friday brings up for me. Maybe you have thought this at one point or another. It feels almost blasphemous to really ask. For me, a question I have come back to from time to time is: Why … Continue reading →

Sermon — March 24, 2024 (Palm Sunday) The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings I spent a summer in college studying abroad in England, and while I was there, I chose to balance two parts of my brain: with one, I took a one-on-one tutorial in the history of economic thought from the Renaissance to the … Continue reading →

Sermon — March 17, 2024 Michael Fenn Lectionary Readings In the Gospel today, there is a small rhetorical device used that carries a lot of weight. I don’t know if it is easy to miss, because I am such an avid fan of plants and ecology that it jumped out at me immediately. Jesus says … Continue reading →

Sermon — March 10, 2024 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings I want to start this morning with a poll about a common English phrase. Show of hands: If you heard the news headline, “New facts have come to light in the case of the priest accused of embezzling from a local church”—this is a … Continue reading →

Sermon — March 3, 2024 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings The Cross is a symbol so familiar that it’s easy to forget what it means. For baseball players, the sign of the cross is a good-luck charm before stepping up to the plate. For Christian nationalists from the Crusades to the present day, the … Continue reading →

Sermon — February 25, 2024 Michael Fenn Lectionary Readings “Get behind me Satan” is maybe the most surreal moment of the gospel. If Jesus ever did curse, this would have been it. However, I think in the flashiness of this whole shebang that Jesus gives Peter, I have often missed what the actual rebuke is. … Continue reading →

Sermon — February 18, 2024 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings I know an avid golfer, and a couple years ago she told me about a great new system she had for working on her swing. There were all these small tips she’d gotten over the years from her coach that she wanted to internalize. … Continue reading →

Sermon — Ash Wednesday, February 14, 2024 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “As far as the east is from the west,so far has he removed our sins from us…For he himself knows whereof we are made;he remembers that we are but dust.”(Psalm 103:12, 14) I’ll never forget the conversation I had in a hospital … Continue reading →

Sermon — February 11, 2024 Pia Bertelli Lectionary Readings So, Jesus takes Peter and James and John, and leads them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. We know from Luke’s version of the Transfiguration story he took them up there to pray in peace away from the crowds. I imagine it might have been … Continue reading →

Sermon — January 28, 2024 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Last week, a YouTube video entitled “Police Called to Stop Filming During Piano Livestream” went viral, receiving over 7.5 million views in five days. It’s a thirty-minute video in which Brendan Kavanagh, a British teacher-turned-YouTuber, sits down at the public piano in St Pancras … Continue reading →

Sermon — January 21, 2024 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying,‘Get up, go to Nineveh…and proclaim to it in the message that I tell you.”(Jonah 3:1–2) The Book of Jonah is best known to children and casual readers as the one where that … Continue reading →

Sermon — January 14, 2024 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’” (John 1:46) The last few years have seen a steady stream of celebrity Christian conversions. This fall, the “LA Ink” tattoo artist and Goth icon Kat Von … Continue reading →

Sermon — January 7, 2024 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings I apparently made it onto Santa’s nice list this year, and so for Christmas I received many books. Being the person I am, I sat down and immediately read about half of them, one after another. Each of the stories I was given began … Continue reading →

Sermon — December 31, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5) There’s clearly something appealing about the contrast between darkness and light. In mythologies and philosophies from around the world, you find these two forces. Sometimes they exist in a … Continue reading →

Sermon — December 25, 2023 The Rev Greg. Johnston Lectionary Readings I should say before I begin: Merry Christmas! It’s such a delight to see each one of you here this morning. It’s a very different vibe from last night. I should also say: I’ve been lazy with this sermon. A couple weeks ago I … Continue reading →

Sermon — December 24, 2023 (Christmas Eve) The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings There’s a certain kind of magic in a good Christmas gift. You might think that the magic happens when you receive the thing you’ve been hoping and praying for—when you come tearing out of your bedroom at five o’clock in the morning … Continue reading →

Sermon — December 24, 2023 Michael Fenn Lectionary Readings If you are like me, primarily a dweller of the city of Boston, there is a normal level of this kind of existential terror that happens when you move to Wyoming. And not just because of the hunting, fishing, cowboys, bears, or the ever-present wind.  I … Continue reading →

Sermon — December 3, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Now, I don’t often stand up here and brag about my own accomplishments, but you should know: In addition to being loving father and a decent cook and a once-distinguished student of ancient languages, I happen to have been known, in the late-’90s Winchester … Continue reading →

Sermon — November 26, 2023 Michael Fenn Lectionary Readings At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year, an armistice agreement took effect between the Allied Powers and Germany, which would lead to the end of the violence of the first world war. Trenches had been carved across landscapes, … Continue reading →

Sermon — November 19, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Like many of you, I sometimes wake up at night, troubled by important questions. Did I remember to reply to that email, or did I leave it as a draft? Should I buy a copy of Britney Spears’s new memoir, or should I just … Continue reading →

Sermon — November 12, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings If there’s one thing I’ve learned while homeschooling a kindergartner whose tastes lean toward the spookier elements of the spooky season, it’s that if you’re going to teach out of an early-elementary curriculum on ancient history, you need to have a strong stomach and … Continue reading →

Sermon — November 5, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “Beloved, we are God’s children now;what we will be has not yet been revealed.” Amen.(1 John 3:2) You know that I love languages, English and otherwise. Clever wordplay, etymological trivia, puns; these things bring me really unbelievable amounts of joy. Some of you heard … Continue reading →

Many forest trees and shrubs will have what is called a ‘mast year’, where they produce an extraordinary amount of fruit or nuts. In our region, we most often notice this with acorns. There is no definitive underlying pattern for when mast years occur, nor are forest ecologists certain about how exactly such an endeavor … Continue reading →

Sermon — October 22, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “Jesus said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s,and to God the things that are God’s.’” (Matthew 22:21) You’ll sometimes hear this verse quoted as an argument for the separation of church and state, often in its traditional … Continue reading →

Sermon — October 15, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Last weekend, as I flipped through newspaper images of devastation coming out of Israel, one understated caption stuck with me. The photo showed a multi-story building in the city of Sderot that looked like it had come down in an earthquake, with two walls … Continue reading →

Sermon — October 1, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Have you heard the one about the guy who went to his pastor to complain about the Church? (It’s a shocking premise, I know.) So this guy walks into the pastor’s office, unannounced, and the first thing he says is, “I’ve just about had … Continue reading →

Sermon — September 24, 2023 Michael Fenn Lectionary Readings I arrived home unceremoniously early from my semester abroad on March 20th, 2020. I had bought a price-gouged ticket, packed up my apartment in a day, traveled through an almost abandoned Edinburgh, and stayed in the Dublin airport for nine hours. Arriving home, it was quiet … Continue reading →

I have a moral dilemma for you all, today. Purely hypothetical. Imagine that it’s January, and there’s just been a winter storm, and a snow emergency has been declared. The next day, you go to shovel out your car to get to a doctor’s appointment. You spend an hour digging it out, and then put … Continue reading →

Sermon — September 12, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “So you, mortal,” God says to Ezekiel, “I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel;whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.”(Ezekiel 33:7) I sometimes think that deep down, in our heart of hearts, most … Continue reading →

Sermon — September 3, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings In a 2012 book, the writer Anne Lamott described what she calls “The Three Essential Prayers”: “Help,” “Thanks,” and “Wow.” I’ve always loved that. It captures the essence of prayer. Most of our prayers, from the incoherent ones we say while lying awake in … Continue reading →

Sermon — August 27, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “He asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they answered…He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’”(Matthew 16:13-15) I wonder: If you walked around Boston and took a poll, asking people the question, … Continue reading →

Sermon — August 20, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “She came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”(Matthew 15:22) Jesus’ words to the unnamed Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel reading can be difficult to hear, and … Continue reading →

Sermon — August 13, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Now, I’m not usually one to jump to Saint Peter’s defense. Peter is the central disciple, the first leader of the Church after Jesus’ departure, the Rock on whom the Church is built. But of all the disciples, Peter can sometimes be the hardest … Continue reading →

Sermon — August 6, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings There’s a paradox at the heart of Feast of the Transfiguration, which we celebrate today. On the one hand, it’s one of the most glorious events in Jesus’ life, the moment at which it’s clearer than any other that Jesus truly is the Son … Continue reading →

Sermon — July 16, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings From time to time in my ministry, I’ve had a certain kind of conversation with a parent who’s concerned about their child’s spiritual life. It’s usually about how they wish their kids found the same joy and peace in a church community or practice … Continue reading →

Sermon — July 9, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings There are certain phrases that evoke a whole story. One of my favorites is “I just couldn’t resist…” As in, “I’m trying to cut down on caffeine, but an iced coffee sounded so good on a day like today, and I just couldn’t resist.” … Continue reading →

Sermon — July 2, 2023The Rev. Greg JohnstonLectionary Readings I’ve just finished watching—you might say “binge-watching”—the Netflix cooking competition show The Final Table, in which twenty-four chefs from around the world faced off in a series of culinary competitions. Murray said to me last week while I was cooking and watching, “Daddy, what are you … Continue reading →

Sermon — June 18, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings All across New England, it’s officially strawberry season. Towns across Connecticut are holding Strawberry Festivals. Last weekend, when we were down in Long Island, we had our first farm-stand strawberries of the year, a rare chance to bite into a ripe berry that was … Continue reading →

Sermon — Trinity Sunday, June 4, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Now, you might think that scheduling a baptism on Trinity Sunday is just a clever way of getting out of preaching a sermon on the Holy Trinity. You might even appreciate the effort. After all, Trinity Sunday, this Sunday after Pentecost every … Continue reading →

Sermon — Pentecost, May 28, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston The last year or so has seen a huge explosion in the field of “large-language models,” artificial-intelligence technologies that can be trained to process text and produce things we never thought they could: art and music and entire conversations, all in response to a paragraph … Continue reading →

Sermon — May 21, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Of all the Sundays in the entire church calendar, today seems to me be the one in which the apostles’ lives actually seem something like our own. For the last six weeks, we’ve been in the season of Easter, celebrating Jesus’ resurrection appearances. Next … Continue reading →

Sermon — May 14, 2023 Lectionary Readings In a 2006 study, a psychologist at Leeds University asked 92 volunteers to sit down and write out the common English word “door” on a piece of paper 30 times in 60 seconds. You might be able to imagine what happened next. You may even have experienced the … Continue reading →

Sermon — May 7, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,a holy nation, God’s own people.” (1 Peter 2:9) If there’s one thing that human beings are really good at, it’s immediately picking up on the small signs that identify whether someone else is a member … Continue reading →

Sermon — April 30, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings I just finished re-reading the 2016 novel A Gentleman in Moscow. It’s really is one of the best books I’ve ever read; if I were as popular as Oprah (and I’m not sure why I’m not), it would be sold in supermarket checkout aisles … Continue reading →

Sermon — April 23, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32) I don’t know whether it’s because the weather’s been so nice or because … Continue reading →

Sermon — April 16, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Reading “Although you have not seen God, you love God; and even though you do not see God now, you believe and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter … Continue reading →

Sermon — Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Alleluia! Christ is risen.The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia! Now, on any other day I would start with a cute story or an illuminating anecdote that perfectly fits the theme of the sermon. But it’s Easter Sunday. And some of our younger … Continue reading →

Sermon — April 2, 2023 — Palm Sunday The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two,from top to bottom.” (Matthew 27:50-51) There’s no symbolic barrier or divide in our world that’s more pointless than … Continue reading →

Sermon — March 26, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings There’s a phrase in our liturgy that has a special place in my heart, and appropriately enough, it’s the one I say the most often during our service on any given Sunday morning. Think about the words that come out of my mouth during … Continue reading →

Sermon — March 19, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Page Last week, a thirty-five-year-old man was released from the prison where he had spent the last eighteen years after being convicted for a murder he did not commit. In 2004, Sheldon Thomas was arrested after a witness recognized Sheldon Thomas’s picture in a photo … Continue reading →

Sermon — March 12, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings This year I’m serving as a chaplain to the Episcopal Service Corps program in Boston. Every two weeks, I drive down to St Mark’s in Dorchester and spend the morning with a community of six young adults who live in a house there together, … Continue reading →

Sermon — Sunday, March 5, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in himmay have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15) There are many hard jobs in the world, but without any doubt “rescue diver” is in … Continue reading →

Sermon — February 26, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings If you want a master class in the self-justifying half-truth, you don’t need to look any further than the Congressional testimony of one William Campbell, then President & CEO of Philip Morris, USA. In April 1994, Campbell and six other tobacco-industry leaders were called … Continue reading →

Sermon — February 19, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings The writer Dave Zahl tells the story of a visit he paid to a friend of his, a priest who’d burned out terribly during his first call at a small, underfunded Episcopal church in New York City. (Don’t worry— This story is not meant … Continue reading →

Sermon — February 12, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings There’s a traffic phenomenon I’ve discovered in my years driving around the Northeast. I call it “the New-England Green.” Now, a driver’s ed instructor will tell you that there are three states a traffic light can be in. Red means “Stop.” Yellow means, “Stop … Continue reading →

Sermon — February 5, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Last week, Alice Krapf sent me a copy of the Rev. Philo Sprague’s sermon on the 50th anniversary of St. John’s: the Sunday fifty years to the day after the first service this church celebrated on January 5, 1840. On that first Sunday, that … Continue reading →

Sermon — January 29, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom,and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”(1 Cor. 1:18-31) There’s nothing in the world that’s more holy than a good waste of time. Now to be clear, before you all pull out your phones and start … Continue reading →

Sermon — January 22, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings When I was a kid we used to spend every Fourth of July down in New Jersey, at my grandparents’ house, in the town where my parents lived as teenagers. The town is built around a big lake with beaches and docks all around … Continue reading →

Sermon — January 15, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) If I were a betting man, which I’m not, I’d be willing to wager about three dollars that 95% of you, when you hear this verse from the … Continue reading →

Sermon — January 8, 2023 — The Baptism of Jesus The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) I sometimes wonder how different the world would be if we really, truly believed those words. I don’t mean that I wonder what it would … Continue reading →

Sermon – The Feast of the Holy Name, January 1, 2023 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Do you know the story of your name? Many of us do. Maybe like my five-year-old Murray, you were named for a grandparent whose birthday was the day you were due. Maybe like me, you were given one … Continue reading →

Sermon — Christmas Day, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston

Sermon — Christmas Eve, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings When Prince George was born in July 2013, the news of a new heir to the United Kingdom scored two photos above the fold on the front page of the Washington Post. The LA Times ran the headline “The prince of wails has arrived.” … Continue reading →

Sermon — December 11, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Have you ever felt like you’re wandering in the spiritual wilderness? I don’t mean the kind of wilderness people mean when they talk about finding God in nature, a wilderness of mountains to climb and pine trees to smell and babbling brooks in which … Continue reading →

Every year, on the Second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist appears in the wilderness with a stark message: “Repent!” he says, “for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:2) John is the cousin of Jesus, sometimes called the “forerunner.” He’s often depicted in art literally pointing the way to Christ. His prophetic … Continue reading →

Sermon — November 27, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings What is it that keeps you up at night? Is it anxiety or fear about the state of the world, about mass shootings or car crashes or the small-but-real chance that the already-horrible war in Ukraine might escalate even further? Is it the midnight … Continue reading →

Sermon — November 20, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings When I was a kid, we spent a fair amount of time in the car, for New Englanders: five-hour drives to visit my grandparents in New Jersey, sitting in traffic on I-95 North for summer vacations, a continuous stream of errands and activities driving … Continue reading →

Sermon — November 13, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings When I walked here last Sunday morning for church, I saw a flatbed truck and a crane being operated by the Department of Public Works right over in Thompson Square. (Did anyone else see them?) Do you know what they were doing?) If you … Continue reading →

Sermon — All Saints’ Sunday, November 6, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “You were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption.” (Eph. 1:14) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Over the last few … Continue reading →

Sermon — October 30, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Page I have some good news for you and some bad news for you. Which one do you want first?          Well actually, it’s not up to you. The order has been predetermined. Because if last week’s sermon could’ve been titled “Some Good News for Tax … Continue reading →

Sermon — October 23, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings I don’t know if you realize this, but if you’re sitting here in church on a beautiful Sunday morning in October, you’re probably more like a Pharisee than a tax collector. I’m not trying to insult you. I’m not talking about this Pharisee or … Continue reading →

Sermon — October 16, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings When I was in college, I spent a semester’s-worth of Saturday mornings learning how to use an old-school, hand-operated printing press. This is the sort of thing I love: learning how to hand-set lead type in a little wooden frame; applying just the right … Continue reading →

Sermon — October 9, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings For many people, life in a city neighborhood like ours can be transient, just one stop on a train that goes from the suburbs to a college dorm to an apartment in the city back to a house in the suburbs or maybe just … Continue reading →

Sermon — October 2, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings There may come a time in your life when you find yourself living with someone who feels the need to announce, publicly, their completion of every basic household chore. You may already have lived with them. You may be living with them right now. … Continue reading →

Sermon — September 25, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “[The rich man] called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’” (Luke 16:23–24) There’s a lot to say about this … Continue reading →

Sermon — September 18, 2022 The Rev Greg. Johnston Lectionary Readings “The manager asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him,‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’” (Luke 16:5–6) Debt relief is as hot a topic today as it … Continue reading →

Sermon — September 11, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings I once heard an interview with a baseball umpire who’d been recruited to test out a new ”electronic umpire” system in the early days of its development. It used lasers and cameras and computers to detect exactly where the baseball crossed the plate, then … Continue reading →

Sermon — September 4, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:25, 33) I’ve always wanted to suggest this as a reading for someone’s wedding… I’m joking, of … Continue reading →

Sermon — August 28, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Page In every wedding planning process and at every wedding reception, there is a moment that has the power to distil and clarify decades-long relationships into a single decision: the seating chart. For months, the happy couple (or maybe just one of them and an … Continue reading →

Sermon — August 21, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings Shame tends to sear things into your memory. I can tell you about the time I hugged the wrong dad’s hairy legs at a barbecue with family friends when I was maybe three or four years old, and how embarrassed I was to be … Continue reading →

Sermon — August 14, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings These are hard readings, this week: verse after verse of judgment, suffering, division, and despair. They seem to be starting out with something nice— “Let me sing for my beloved my love-song!” (Isaiah 5:1)—but things quickly take a turn. Oh, I’ll sing a love … Continue reading →

The Rev. Greg Johnston Sermon — August 7, 2022 Lectionary Readings When I was in elementary school, my parents finished the basement in my childhood home. Before, it had been a dark and dirty place; I was scared to go down there by the laundry machines alone. But now, it was a bright room, with … Continue reading →

Sermon — July 31, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings I had a conversation a few years ago with a man who had big plans for a new non-profit he wanted to start. He’d spent a long career working hard in the financial sector, and been able to retire early, so he needed a … Continue reading →

Sermon — July 3, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “It was the middle of November when the strange man came to the village,” writes Dorothy Sayers in her short mystery, “The Incredible Elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey.” “Thin, pale, and silent, with his great black hood flapping about his face, he was surrounded … Continue reading →

Sermon — June 26, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “For freedom Christ has set us free.” (Gal. 5:1) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The 2013 PBS special Constitution USA opens with a shot of the NPR news quiz host Peter Sagal riding … Continue reading →

Sermon — June 12, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings

Sermon — The Day of Pentecost — June 5, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” (Romans 8:14) Today is the Day of Pentecost, when we celebrate the arrival of the Holy Spirit among the disciples gathered long ago. The Spirit makes … Continue reading →

Sermon — May 29, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30) The English bishop and New Testament scholar Tom Wright tells the story of an older English bishop and scholar, Stephen Neill, who taught him how translate this verse. They’d both grown up with the … Continue reading →

Sermon — May 22, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Massachusetts has one of the world’s most boring flags: the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on a white field. The seal itself is kind of interesting. It consists of three elements—and by the way, I’ve printed the seal out on a bulletin insert so … Continue reading →

Sermon — May 15, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings It’s become commonplace to observe that life is like a journey, and religion is no exception to this trend. A quick Google Books search for “spiritual journey” shows that the phrase was virtually unused until 1950 or so, then began a gradual rise before … Continue reading →

Sermon — May 8, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving andhonor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Once upon a time, a group of friends were trapped in an escape room together. It was one of those birthday parties, where … Continue reading →

Sermon — May 1, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings This is one my favorite stories in the Bible, and it’s definitely one of the silliest. Easter has come and gone, Jesus has died and risen again, and the disciples have gone home to Galilee. They’ve gone back to their ordinary lives, they’ve gone … Continue reading →

Sermon — April 24, 2022 The Rev. Greg Johnston Lectionary Readings

The Rev. Greg Johnston April 17, 2022 This Christmas, I received a surprising gift. It arrived in a large cardboard box, about four feet tall, and after I cut through the tape and laid out all the parts, it took me a few minutes to figure out what it was. As I assembled it, things … Continue reading →

The assembled “elders of the people,” the “chief priests and the scribes,” (Luke 22:66) are so close to being right about Jesus. “We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king,” they say to Pontius Pilate. (23:2) This is … Continue reading →