St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York9 November 2025 + The First Sunday of Advent(Proper 27c / Lectionary 32c)Luke 20:27-38The Rev. Josh Evans Whose wife is she anyway?It’s such a bizarre question –not to mention steeped in patriarchy and misogyny,as though this woman’s only defining characteristicsare her marriages (all seven of them),not to mention her childlessness. …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York20 April 2025 + Resurrection of Our LordLuke 24:1-12The Rev. Josh Evans Maybe you remember my Christmas Eve sermon,which I began by quoting Madeleine L’Engle’s well-known poem,“The Risk of Birth.” “This is no time for a child to be born…” she begins. Four months and three liturgical seasons later,I’m stuck …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York3 November 2024 + All SaintsJohn 11:32-44Rev. Josh Evans It’s a well-known story,often summarized with the title “The Raising of Lazarus”without a second thought. Start reading the actual story,and you’ll quickly realize: This isn’t so much about the raising of Lazarus –which only takes up two short verses at the …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York21 July 2024 + Mary Magdalene, ApostleJohn 20:1-2, 11-18Rev. Josh Evans If Jesus is “the reason for the [Christmas] season,”then Mary Magdalene is the reason for the Easter season. Mary Magdalene,witness to the resurrection,apostle to the apostles –without whom no good news would have been proclaimed. “Woman, weeping in the …
St. John’s Lutheran ChurchAlbany, New York7 April 2024 + Second Sunday of EasterJohn 20:19-31Rev. Josh Evans If the villains of Holy Week are Judas and Peter, then the villain of Eastertide is Thomas. Doubting. Thomas. Who earns his infamous title not even for anything particularly egregious that he does … but solely for being absent …
St. John’s Lutheran Church31 March 2024 + Resurrection of Our LordMark 16:1-8Rev. Josh Evans “They said nothing to anyone.” Okay. Time to wrap it up, and we can all head to Easter brunch early. See you next Sunday! *** Okay, maybe not quite yet … y’all did come all this way… *** Remember how it …
St. John’s Lutheran Church17 March 2024 + Lent 5bJeremiah 31:31-34; John 12:20-33Rev. Josh Evans It’s a changing and challenging world – shaped by bitter political rivalries, competing factions and parties vying for power, unrelenting wars and violence, displaced peoples fleeing persecution and oppression. In the midst of it all, Jeremiah prophesies. Jeremiah knows something of …
St. John’s Lutheran Church16 April 2023 + Easter 2aJohn 20.19-31Rev. Josh Evans Unbelievable. A word which, by definition, implies something too improbable to be believed, something extraordinary, outside the bounds of what we expect to be true. It can be exclaimed in complete and utter amazement after witnessing something truly spectacular … Unbelievable! Or in …
St. John’s Lutheran Church9 April 2023 + Resurrection of Our LordMatthew 28.1-10Rev. Josh Evans The possibilities are endless:Happy birthday!Congratulations!Thank you!Even “Just because!” It looks like a harmless enough greeting card, but after you sign it, close it, and pull a little tab out of the side, the recipient will be greeted not just with your …
St. John’s Lutheran Church26 March 2023 + Lent 5aJohn 11.1-45; Ezekiel 37.1-14Rev. Josh Evans It’s probably the most famous prophecy in the book of Ezekiel: the valley of “dem dry bones.” Truthfully, it’s a bit of a terrifying vision: for these dry bones to suddenly shake and rattle and come together, with sinews and flesh …
Pastor Josh Evans 