Sermons

S

This page serves as a list of every sermon I have ever preached: the prize winning, the terrible, the merely mundane, the intellectually embarrassing and the slightly above average. I am making the text of all my sermons available because I learned a great deal about preaching from reading through all of A. Powell Davies, Forest Church and William Sloane Coffin’s published sermons (I also read the majority of Marilyn Sewell’s). I learned as much from their bad sermons as I did from the good ones. In fact, learning that someone like Coffin occasionally preached a lousy sermon has been a great inspiration to me when I didn’t want to face my own ill-crafted text. I hope that my own instances of shoddy craftsmanship will be similarly inspiring. All sermons from 2007 to 2012 were preached at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland (now the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cleveland), where I served as minister. Unless otherwise noted, my sermons from September 2017 to July 2018 were preached at the First Parish Church, Unitarian Universalist, Ashby, Massachusetts where I served during my final year at Harvard and my sermons from August 2018 to the present were preached at the First Unitarian Univesalist Church of Houston, where I am currently the senior minister. In addition to my time with these two congregations, I served the Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach as an intern minister (2005-2006) and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown as a contract minister (2006-2007). I also served the First Religious Society in Carlisle (2014), First Parish in Lexington (2014), and the First Parish in Milton (2013) as a sabbatical or summer minister. 

2023

July 30, 2023: Being, Becoming
June 18, 2023: Juneteenth
June 11, 2023: Joy
June 4, 2023: 100 Years of the Flower Communion
May 21, 2023: New Horizons; Transformations, The Eighth Principle
May 7, 2023: Suffering for Blasphemous Libel
April 30, 2023: Networks of Resistance: A May Day Sermon
April 16, 2023: A Day of Mourning
April 9, 2023: The Blessed Fool
March 26, 2023: The Living Tradition
March 12, 2023: The Buddha Should be as Useful as a Can
March 5, 2023: Building Beloved Community
February 26, 2023: Ordinary/Extraordinary; An Ordination Sermon for J Sylvan (Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church, Houston, TX)
February 19, 2023: Widening Love’s Circle
January 22, 2023: Our Covenant

2022

December 24, 2022: Christmas Eve, 2022
December 11, 2022: Ignorant as the Dawn
December 4, 2022: The Waning of the Light
November 13, 2022: The Ground of Being
November 6, 2022: Act Upon Hope
October 30, 2022: All Souls
October 23, 2022: Being a Descendant, Becoming an Ancestor
October 16, 2022: To Give, To Receive
October 2, 2022: The Sacred and the Secular
September 25, 2022: The Photographer as Dissident
September 18, 2022: Seeds
September 11, 2022: Roots and Branches
June 5, 2022: Flower Celebration (video)
May 22, 2022: The Successful Pilgrim (video)
May 15, 2022: Covenant Sunday: Success and the Beloved Community (video)
May 7, 2022: ¡Día de las Madres! (Español) (video)
May 1, 2022: May Day: A Tribute to the Workers Holiday (text) (video)
April 17, 2022: Troubled by the Truth (text) (video)
April 3, 2022: Building the Legacy of Tomorrow (text) (video)
March 6, 2022: Self-Help (text) (video)
February 20, 2022: Missing Malcolm in Michigan (text) (video)
February 6, 2022: Reimagining Care (text) (video)
January 16, 2022: Struggling with Revolutionary Love (text) (video)

2021

December 24, 2021: Christmas Eve (text) (video)
December 24, 2021: Servicio de Navideño (Español) (video)
December 12, 2021: Possibilities (text) (video)
December 5, 2021: Unexpected Gifts (text) (video)
October 31, 2021: All Souls Day (text) (video)
October 24, 2021: Frankenstein’s Theology (text) (video)
October 17, 2021: Mourning the Past (text) (video)
October 10, 2021: Grieving the Future (text) (video)
October 2, 2021: Reimaginando Nuestra Comunidad (Español) (escrito) (video)
September 25, 2021: The Transient and the Permanent (text) (video)
August 29, 2021: When the Spirit Says Do (text) (video)
August 22, 2021: Water Communion (text) (video)
August 15, 2021: Let It Be a Dance (text) (video)
August 8, 2021: We Would Be One (text) (video)
July 25, 2021: Turn the World Around (text) (video)
July 18, 2021: When Our Heart is in a Holy Place (text) (video)
July 11, 2021: Gather the Spirit (text) (video)
June 13, 2021: Juneteenth and Earth Centered Spirituality (video)
May 23, 2021: Humanism and the Just Life (video)
May 16, 2021: Humanism and the Good Life (video)
May 9, 2021: El Día de las Madres y el Humanismo (Español) (video)
May 2, 2021: The Wide Universe (video)
April 4, 2021: Finding Each Other on the Road to Emmaus (video)
March 21, 2021: Growing in Generosity: Rooted in Faith (video)
February 28, 2021: I Ask No Monument: The Legacy of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (video)
February 21, 2021: A Unitarian Universalist Response to Evil (video)
February 7, 2021: These Things Figuratively: The Wisdom of Origen (video)
January 31, 2021: Truth & Lies (video)
January 24, 2021: The Resurrection of the Living (video)
January 17, 2021: 1876, 1968, and Today: The Need for a Radical King (video)

2020

December 24, 2020: Christmas Eve (video)
December 13, 2020: Passing the Flame (video)
December 6, 2020: Stirring the Embers (video)
November 22, 2020: Truth and Reconciliation (video)
November 8, 2020: Between Breaths (video)
October 25, 2020: Grounded in Faith (video)
October 11, 2020: Foundations (video)
October 11, 2020: Conexiones (Español) (video)
September 20, 2020: The Water of Time (video)
September 6, 2020: Ingathering: Water Communion (video)
August 23, 2020: Now or Never (video)
August 9, 2020: Here and Now (video)
August 2, 2020: The Fierce Urgency of Now (video)
July 26, 2020: Waiting for… (video)
July 5, 2020: Marching On (video)
June 28, 2020: Collective Liberation (video)
June 21, 2020: Abolition Democracy (video)
June 14, 2020: Kairos & Chronos (video)
May 24, 2020: The Persistence of Mourning (video)
May 17, 2020: The Persistence of Solitude (video)
May 3, 2020: How Can I Keep from Singing? (video)
April 26, 2020: Renewal and Regeneration (video)
April 12, 2020: No Respecter of Persons (video)
March 29, 2020: Illness is not a Metaphor (video)
March 22, 2020: Once Upon a Time, We Had Time (video)
March 8, 2020: Now is the Time (video)
February 23, 2020: Freedom Dreams (video)
February 2, 2020: Loving the Hell Out of the World (video)
January 26, 2020: Enduring Friendships (video)
January 25, 2020: Eulogy for the Rev. Robert Lloyd Schaibly
January 19, 2020: Prophetic Friendships (video)
January 12, 2020: When Enemies Become Friends (video)
January 5, 2020: Two Bodies, One Heart (video)

2019

December 24, 2019: Christmas Eve Homily (video)
December 15, 2019: Prayer as a Kind of Hope (video)
December 8, 2019: Hope in Times of Crisis (video)
November 17: The Courage of Being (video)
November 10: Take Courage (video)
November 9: Dedication of the Thoreau Campus of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston
October 20: Pursuing Virtue: To Lead a Good Life 
October 6: The Unnamable All (video)
September 29: The Religion of Democracy: Acts of Faith in Times of Crisis (video)
September 15: This Changes Everything: A Religious Response to Climate Change (video)
September 8: Disrupting White Supremacy (video)
August 25: Water Communion 2019 (homily) (video) and Blessing of the Backpacks (prayer)
August 18: The Rainbow Sign: The 400th Anniversary of Slavery in the United States (video)
August 11: Question Box (video)
June 30: The Eighth Principle
June 2: A Modern Church for a Modern Age
May 19: Two Bodies, One Heart (First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco)
May 12: Flower Communion
April 21: Unitarian Christianity (Easter 2019) (video)
April 14: I’ve Been This Way Before
March 31: A Free and Responsible Search for Truth and Meaning (Fourth Principle)
March 24: Acceptance of One Another and Encouragement to Spiritual Growth (Third Principle) (video)
March 10: Justice, Equity, and Compassion in Human Relations (Second Principle)
February 24: Black Humanism
February 17: Weaving a Tapestry of Love and Action (video)
January 27: Where to Begin (Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship)
January 20: The Moral Arc of the Universe (video)
January 13: Where to Begin (video)

2018

December 24: Christmas Eve
December 2: Candles of Hope (video)
December 1: The Right Hand of Fellowship at the Ordination of Sarah Prickett (Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Church)
November 11: Democracy in Crisis (video)
November 4: The Virtues of Conservatism (video)
October 28: Collective Memory, a Sermon in Response to the Shooting at the Tree of Life Congregation (video)
October 7, 14, 21: We Make the Road By Walking (offered at all three of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston’s campuses) (video)
September 30: Habits of the Heart (video)
September 23: Put Your Hands Up (video)
September 9: Water Communion (video)
August 19: In the Permanent Emergency
August 12: The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart
July 8: Two Bodies, One Heart (First Parish in Needham)
June 17: Love the Hell Out of the World
June 3: Feed More Sheep
May 20: The Most Notorious Liar in America
May 6: Chuang Tzu and the Butterfly
April 29: A Place to Grow Our Souls: Bring a Friend Sunday
April 8: The Most Notorious Liar in America (First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia)
April 1: Finding Each Other on the Road to Emmaus
March 25: Our Foremothers’ Blessing
March 4: For What We Have, For What We Give
February 18: A Black Christ
February 4: Intangible Dreams
January 21: Two Bodies, One Heart
January 7: You and I 

2017

December 24: Christmas Eve
December 3: Into the Dark of the Night
November 19: Ashby Thanksgiving Service (with the Ashby Congregational Church) (no text available)
November 12: You and I (First Parish Cambridge) (audio)
November 5: Through All the Tumult and the Strife
October 29: You Say You Want a Revolution
October 22: Abolition Democracy (Unity Temple) (audio)
October 15: Abolition Democracy
September 24: The Image of God (The First Church in Salem)
September 24: Ashby 250th Anniversary Service (no text available)
September 17: Sometimes You Need a Story to Survive (no text available)
August 13: Let Us Dream Freedom Dreams (First Parish Church in Berlin)
August 6: Through All the Tumult and the Strife (First Parish Cambridge)
July 9: The Image of God (Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn)
July 2: Democracy as a Religious Practice (First Parish Needham)
June 4: Two Bodies, One Heart (First Parish Northfield)
April 30: Finding Each Other on the Road to Emmaus (Memorial Church of Harvard University) (Audio)
April 23: Finding Each Other on the Road to Emmaus (First Parish in Wayland)
March 26: The Image of God (Unitarian Universalist Church in Andover)
March 19: Democracy as a Religious Practice (First Parish Church in Plymouth)
January 29: Democracy as a Religious Practice (Bell St. Chapel)
January 22: Democracy as a Religious Practice (Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford)

2016

December 4: Let Us Dream Freedom Dreams (First Church Salem)
November 27: Let Us Dream Freedom Dreams (First Unitarian Church in Worcester)
November 6: A New Heart and a New Spirit (Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson)
October 23:  A New Heart and a New Spirit (Unitarian Universalist Society of Grafton and Upton)
October 9: While There is a Soul in Prison (Unitarian Universalist Society of Rockport)
September 25: While There is a Soul in Prison (First Unitarian Church of New Bedford)
August 28: While There is a Soul in Prison (First Parish in Needham) (Audio)
May 29: Reimagine (Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford)
May 15: Two Bodies, One Heart (Hopedale Unitarian Parish)
April 24: Democracy as a Religious Practice (Unitarian Universalist Society of Grafton and Upton)
April 17: Reimagine (Hopedale Unitarian Parish)
April 3: Reimagine (First Parish in Wayland)
March 20: Deeper Shadows to Come (Hopedale Unitarian Parish)
March 6: Deeper Shadows to Come (Fall River Unitarian Church)
February 7: Unknown Visions of Love (Hopedale Unitarian Parish)
January 31: Democracy as a Religious Practice (Unitarian Universalist Church of Reading)

2015

December 6: How Heavy the Heart (no text available) (Foxborough Universalist Church)
November 29: Through Eyes That Have Cried (Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson)
November 15: Through Eyes That Have Cried (Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Lynn)
November 8: Democracy as a Religious Practice (First Church in Salem)
October 25: Two Bodies, One Heart (Bell St. Chapel)
October 18: Democracy as a Religious Practice (Fall River Unitarian Church)
October 16: Democracy as a Religious Practice (Harvard Divinity School)
October 11: Charge to the Minister at the Installation of the Rev. Aaron McEmrys, with Rev. Alan Taylor (Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Virginia)
June 28: …Or Perish Together as Fools (Audio) (First Parish in Cambridge)
May 24: Breaking White Silence (Follen Community Church)
May 17: Breaking White Silence (Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Andover)
May 10: Two Bodies, One Heart (First Church in Salem)
May 3: On The Silence of the Pulpit (First Unitarian Church in Worcester)
March 29: Basho’s Road (Theodore Parker Unitarian Church)
March 15: The River May Not Be Turned Aside (United First Parish in Quincy (Unitarian)) 
March 1: Two Bodies, One Heart (Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara) 
February 22: Through Eyes That Have Cried (Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford) 
February 8: Two Bodies, One Heart (First Parish in Milton)
January 18: The Omens Are All Against Us (Winchester Unitarian Society) 
January 4: Through Eyes That Have Cried (First Religious Society in Carlisle)

2014

October 19: Unknown Visions of Love (Community Church in Boston) 
October 12: This Land is Your Land? (First Parish in Wayland) 
September 28: Through Eyes That Have Cried (Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson)
August 31: Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in the Labor Movement (No Text Available) (First Parish in Lexington)
August 24: A Black Christ (First Parish in Lexington)
August 17: Through Eyes That Have Cried (First Parish in Lexington)
August 3: The River May Not Be Turned Aside (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Wilmington)
July 27: Unknown Visions of Love (First Parish in Lexington)
July 20: Two Bodies, One Heart (First Parish in Lexington)
July 13: Over My Head (First Parish in Lexington)
July 6: The River May Not Be Turned Aside (First Parish in Lexington)
June 22: Unknown Visions of Love (First Universalist Society, Salem, MA)
March 23: Over My Head (Starr King Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Plymouth, NH)
March 16: Over My Head (Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing)
February 16: Over My Head (The First Religious Society in Carlisle)
February 9: Basho’s Road (The First Religious Society in Carlisle)
February 2: A Black Christ (The First Religious Society in Carlisle)
January 19: Been Waitin’ So Long (The First Religious Society in Carlisle)
January 12: The Gift of Grace (The First Religious Society in Carlisle)
January 5: Let’s Have a Jubilee! (The First Religious Society in Carlisle)

2013

December 1: Over My Head (Theodore Parker Unitarian Church)
November 3: Unknown Visions of Love (First Parish Dorchester)
October 20: Over My Head (First Universalist Church of Essex)
October 13: Encountering the Kingdom (Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn)
September 29: Over My Head (Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson)
August 18: Over My Head (First Church in Salem)
July 28: Over My Head (First Parish Milton)
July 21: Encountering the Kingdom (Video) (First Parish Milton)
July 14: Present to Each Other (Video) (First Parish Milton)
July 7: The Present Now (Video) (First Parish Milton)
June 30: This Land is Your Land? (First Parish in Concord)
April 10: Unknown Visions of Love (First Parish Milton)
March 10: Unknown Visions of Love (First Parish Church United, Westford, MA)
February 11: Stuff Our Congregants Do! (No Text Available) (Harvard Divinity School)
February 3: Unknown Visions of Love (Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua, NH)
January 6: Let’s Make It a Jubilee Year! (First Church in Salem)

2012

November 25: Unknown Visions of Love (The Universalist Church of West Hartford, CT)
November 18: The Finite and the Infinite (Tufts University)
November 4: This Land is Your Land? (First Parish Sudbury, Unitarian Universalist)
October 28: Radical Love (Tufts University)
September 23: The Practice of Pilgrimage (Tufts University)
August 12: The Road Ahead, the Road Behind (Audio)
August 5: L’esprit de l’escalier (Audio)
June 10: Embracing the Ecstatic (Audio)
June 3: Are Woven Fine (Audio)
May 20: Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose (Audio)
April 29: Basho’s Road (Audio)
April 15: Pilgrimage as Practice (Audio)
April 8: Beyond the Tomb (Audio)
March 11: Our Foremothers’ Blessing (Audio)
March 4: For What We Have; For What We Give (Audio)
February 12: Towards A New Abolition (Audio)
February 5: Changing the Story (Audio)
January 29: Next America, Next Religion? (Audio)
January 22: Occupy Your Wallet (no text) (Audio)
January 15: America’s Unfinished Business (Audio)
January 8: Loss and Gain (Audio)


2011

December 24: Christmas Eve Service (Audio)
December 21: Blue Christmas (Audio)
December 4: A Feminine Divine (Audio)
November 20: The Promised Land (Audio)
November 13: The Moral Imagination (Audio)
November 6: Without Vision the People Shall Perish (Audio)
October 16: Walking Together (Audio)
October 9: By Their Groups You Shall Know Them (Audio)
September 25: The Root of It All (Audio)
August 28: The Gospel of Inclusion (Audio)
August 14: Likeness to God (Audio)
June 12: To Love A Parade (Audio)
June 5: Cast the Circle Wide (Audio)
May 22: Zhuangzi’s Dream (Audio)
May 15: The Medium is the Message… But What Is the Message, Really? (Audio)
April 24: Easter Sunday: Prophet, Not Messiah! (Audio)
April 17: Islam and Terror (Audio)
March 20: Women in Islam
March 13: Islam
March 6: Who Do We Serve?
February 27: What Does It Mean to be a Unitarian Universalist?
February 20: Unknown Visions of Love
January 30: What Does It Mean to be a Religious Community?
January 16: A House for Hope?
January 9: Tragedy in Tucson

2010

December 24: Christmas Eve (Audio)
December 21: Blue Christmas
December 19: A Very Dickens Christmas A Very Dickens Christmas (Audio)
December 12: What the Scholar Taught
December 5: The Infinite and the Finite (Audio)
November 21: Thanksgiving: Gratitude
November 14: The Lotus Flower (Audio)
November 7: Ending the Drug War
October 24: The Many and the One
October 10: Privilege and Oppression
October 3: Association Sunday: The Religion for Our Time
September 26: In the Beginning
September 19: Reflections Of
August 29: One Light, Many Windows
August 22: The Root of It All
August 8: Love in Action
July 25: Question Box
June 13: The Bible and the End of Times
June 6: By the Time I Get to Arizona
May 16: The Buddha Should be as Useful as a Can (Audio)
April 18: The Pause That Refreshes
April 11: To Be Human
April 4: Other Voices, Other Views, Other Easters
March 14: Listening to Phoebe
March 7: What I Shouldn’t Say
February 7: Black Humanism (re-published in the UU World)
January 30: Love, Sex and the Bible
January 17: A Time for Change
January 10: How Fundamentalists Read the Bible
    
2009

December 24: Christmas Eve
December 21: Blue Christmas
December 20: Births, Rebirths and Creations
December 6: Trouble the Waters
November 8: The Pagan Origins of the Bible
October 25: Beyond the Burning River
October 11: What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality
October 4: Standing on the Side of Love
September 27: The God of Abraham
September 20: A Joyful Welcoming Religious Community
August 30: How Religious Liberals Read the Bible
August 23: Magical Thinking
August 16: Question Box
June 7: Tomorrow’s Unitarian Universalism
May 31: A Shame Free Zone
May 17: Pursuing the Moral Mind
April 19: In Every Generation
April 12: Trauma and Recovery
April 5: An American Religion
March 29: A Tribute to Utah Phillips (no text available)
March 22: The Bounty of the Earth
March 8: In Search of Redemption
March 1: Generation to Generation
February 22: Happy Birthday, Mr. Darwin! (no text available)
February 8: A Black Christ
January 25: Learning to Fall
January 18: Letter to the President-Elect
January 4: Considering the Sabbath

2008

December 24: Christmas Eve
December 21: Blue Christmas
December 21: Who Are My Neighbors? (no text available)
December 7: Wrestling with Materialism
November 30: What Is To Be Done?
November 23: Gone to Croatan
November 9: Drum Major for Justice or Drum Major for Empire?
October 19: A Shared Ministry with Rachel Webb
October 12: Association Sunday: Radical Hospitality
October 5: God Loves Everyone
September 14: Society Sunday: Remembering the Black Humanist Fellowship of Liberation
August 24: Original Blessing
August 17: Bring Many Names
August 10: Rejecting a Culture of Violence
June 15: Reimaging the City
June 8: Towards Beloved Community
May 18: Approaching Prayer
May 11: Julia Ward Howe and the Story of Mothers’ Day
May 4: Reality is What You Make of It; Or the Strange Case of Emperor Norton I
April 27: God of the Oppressed
April 20: Haggadah
March 23: Considering Resurrection
March 19: Remembering the Dead
March 16: From You I Receive, To You I Give
March 2: Comforting the Afflicted, Afflicting the Comfortable
February 24: Freedom and Form
February 10: Fear Itself
February 3: Imago Dei

2007

December 24: Christmas Eve
December 21: Blue Christmas
December 9: The Gifts of Grace
December 2: Radical Hope
November 11: A Community of Strangers
November 4: There is No Hell
October 14: Nurture Your Spirit, Help Heal Our World with Rev. Joan Van Becelaere
October 7: No One Is Illegal
September 30: The Transient and the Permanent in Liberal Religion
September 23: From Cleveland to Chiapas and Back Again
September 16: The Trouble with Beginnings
July 15: On Traveling On (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown)
July 1: Radical Love (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown)
June 3: Celebrating Membership (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown)
May 13: Julia Ward Howe and the Story of Mother’s Day (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown)
February 18: This We Do Covenant (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown)
January 21: The Case for Reparations (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown)

2006

December 10: Towards Utopia (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown)
November 5: The Leaven and the Light (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown)
October 29: Cycle of Life (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown)
October 1: Of Pacayal and Pluralism (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown)
September 24: Hello Goodbye (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown)
May 14: Mother’s Day (Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach)
April 23: No One Is Illegal (Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach)
April 2: Humanism? Theism? (Unitarian Universalist Church in Anaheim)
March 19: Remembering the Dead (Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach)
January 22: The Need for Reparations (Unitarian Universalist Church of Orange County)
January 15: The Need for Reparations (Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach)

2005

December 11: Remembering Rexroth (Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach)
December 4: Humanism? Theism? (Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church)
November 27: Love Does Not Punish (Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach)
October 2: Humanism? Theism? (Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach)

2004

June 27: God In The Numbers (Unitarian Universalist Church of Great Lansing)

Follow Me