Sermons

Isaiah 35:1-10
James 5:7-10
Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon delivered at Ballard First Lutheran Church, Seattle, WA

The prophet Isaiah says: “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad… The eyes of the blind shall be opened… sorrow and sighing shall flee away…”

Almost every statement in this prophecy is about the future.

What if we take this beautiful, hopeful vision and turn it around? If everything is future tense, that certainly implies that this lesson from Isaiah is the collective vision of a yearning people. Where were they, in relation to his vision?

Continue reading “Prophetic Waiting—Dec. 11, 2016”

Malachi 4:1-2a
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke 21:5-19

Sermon delivered at Ballard First Lutheran Church, Seattle, WA

Grace and Peace to you brothers and sisters.

It’s a little ironic to me this morning that soon, before we share a little bread and wine together in Communion, we will all pray in unison the Lord’s Prayer. You know, the “Our Father,”—“the prayer Jesus’ taught us…”

It’s poignant for me, because in that prayer—in this newest translation that you say here at Ballard First Lutheran—we will all pray, “Save us from the time of trial.”

“Save us from the test,” it might say.

Continue reading “Lead Us Not Into Temptation—Post-Election, Nov. 13, 2016”

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Ephesians 1:11-23
Luke 6:20-31

Sermon delivered at Peace Lutheran Church, Puyallup, WA

Grace and Peace to you from God our Creator and our Lord Jesus Christ.

As I was gathering my thoughts to speak with you today I was thinking about who I should tell you that I am.

Well, my name is Joshua Sullivan, I am a Christian. I am also a candidate for ordination in the ELCA, in the Lutheran church, the same denomination as Peace Lutheran here in Puyallup. So, therefore, I’m a student. Specifically, I’m an intern at Ballard First Lutheran in Seattle and an intern at a non-profit organization called the Faith Action Network of Washington.

Continue reading “God “in” the World, God “and” the World—Nov. 6, 2016″

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Philemon 1:1-21
Luke 14:25-33

Sermon delivered at Ballard First Lutheran Church, Seattle, WA

Good Morning!

Maddy and I would like to thank you for your awesomely warm welcome, especially the flowers and the lovely care package we found in our apartment. We’ve been venturing out to different spots and using the gift cards, and really beginning to settle in here. So thank you, again.

And thinking about welcome, and being preaching for the first time. You know, everyone, my urge climbing up here having shaken all of your hands, having received your warm welcome—the urge is to do everything perfectly right, and to please all of you! And to hit this sermon out of the park.

But reading about Jesus wanting us to hate our families and renounce possessions, the honest truth is that these three readings really confuse me, they’re upsetting and more than a little confounding.

Continue reading “Whose Choice to Chose?—Sept. 4, 2016”

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15

Sermon delivered at Bethany Lutheran Church, Cromwell, CT
Listen to an audio recording of the sermon.

Good morning!

Yes, it’s very strange to be up here. But here I am! And Pastor Paul has given me the wonderfully easy job of greeting you my home congregation, of thanking you, of saying goodbye to you, and preaching the Gospel to you. And all under 10 minutes.

And on Trinity Sunday! so easy…!

Continue reading “Not “Because” of You, But “Through” You—Trinity Sunday, May 22, 2016″

John 8:21-29
“A Substance in a Cushion”, poem by Gertrude Stein

Sermon delivered in Marquand Chapel, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT

[Opening prayer: “Lord, increase my bewilderment.”]

I guess it’s not much of a coincidence that I find myself up here today, in the center of the week about “ritual arts.”

Yes, I was trained as an artist.

But these three years discerning my call to ministry and wrestling with a past in the arts has not been easy nor, to be frank, has it been very fun. But those wounds are still healing, and I don’t want to bleed all over you’all now.

Best not to think of this as a “Sermon”— Continue reading “God, Please, Let It Be Complicated—Feb. 3, 2016”

Partial Animals: A Collection of Stories, Songs, Artifacts, Images, Poems, Documenting the Anthropogenic Climate Interference, by Edgar Garcia
1 Corinthians 12:4-26

Sermon delivered at Marquand Chapel, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT

I don’t think I can explain why, but each member of this pathway has citizenship before they have arrived.

The Body of Christ is both a road which leads back in time, yet also grounds a lack of temporality in an eternally receding and approaching pathway.

And then these things like God and Book and Church are silent classifications which only stare out from translucent Bible-paper with forlorn mena-tones.

The weaving is a hypostasized message then, including its own story, but also, as a web of the Spirit, it can flinter in the showing shadows of eye, ear, nose, hand, foot—of conscientious unbelievers or fictitious future preservationists.

Continue reading “Reflection: On Hoffman, Garcia and Paul of Tarsus’s Letter to the Corinthians—Apr. 17, 2015”