St. Philip Lutheran Church27 September 2020 + Lectionary 26AMatthew 21.23-32; Ezekiel 18.1-4, 25-32Rev. Josh Evans, preaching So you think you’ve got it all figured out? Think again. The proverb that stands at the beginning of our reading from Ezekiel was a common understanding of justice: The children will pay for the sins of their parents, …
Lutheran Center Chapel, Chicago23 October 2019 + Lectionary 29CGenesis 32.22-31; Luke 18.1-8Rev. Josh Evans, preaching Over the past year, I have become deeply acquainted with the commute between Milwaukee and Chicago. I’ve seen I-94 through various stages of construction, but only recently, have I started to notice the signs that read “Stay In Your Lane.” …
This week, I was invited to preach at the weekly Eucharist at the Churchwide Office ("headquarters") of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), where I have also recently started a position as Interim Coordinator for Global Service Events with the Global Mission Unit of the ELCA. Pictured above, from left to right, is me, …
Continue reading A Sermon about Sabbath, Life, and Liberation: Lectionary 9 / Pentecost 2
Augustana Lutheran Church 7 May 2017 + Fourth Sunday of Easter 1 Peter 2.19-25 Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Fourth Sunday of Easter brings us to Good Shepherd Sunday. It’s tempting, isn’t it, to dwell in the midst of the idyllic early Christian community described in our reading from Acts, or to linger beside the …
Continue reading A Sermon about Resistance in the Face of Suffering
Augustana Lutheran Church 22 January 2017 + Third Sunday after Epiphany (Lectionary 3A) Matthew 4.12-23 How are your New Year’s resolutions going? I won’t make us do a show of hands (though that would be kind of fun), but I’m willing to bet most of us who made some sort of resolution for 2017 will …
Continue reading A Sermon about Change and Being Called as Dearly Beloved Disciples
...which started out as a Facebook post that became a wee bit too long. The first class I took in seminary was The Theology of Martin Luther King, Jr. I learned so much in that class -- from readings from King, from classmates, and of course from the brilliant Dr. Pete Pero. One of our …
Augustana Lutheran Church 28 August 2016 + Lectionary 22C Luke 14.1, 7-14 Wash your hands. Pray before you eat. Don’t chew with your mouth open. Keep your elbows off the table. All phrases that I imagine each of us has heard as children that teach us table manners. And the fancier the meal, these table …
Continue reading A Sermon for Those Who Have Been Told to Take the Lowest Place
Grace Lutheran Church 7 February 2016 + Transfiguration of Our Lord Luke 9.28-43 After about a month and a half of vacation time, I am very pleased to be back among you this morning and preaching no less on this feast day of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. I spent most of the holiday season …
Continue reading A Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday in Which I Quote Doctor Who
Every first Friday of the month, people of faith gather in prayer and song in front of the immigration detention center in Broadview, IL, to minister to our sisters and brothers who are being deported that day and to advocate for a more compassionate immigration policy in this country. This month I was invited to share …
Continue reading A Sermonette About Immigration Justice and God’s Abundance
Louis Stokes VA Medical Center 15 July 2015 + Pentecost 7B Mark 6.14-19; Amos 7.7-15 [Now with audio for your listening pleasure] Sometimes I wish I didn’t come from a tradition that compels me to preach the lectionary because sometimes the preacher winds up with texts like this one, texts that make you add a …
