Words From Silence: Contemplation in a World of Action

A Sermon Preached at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark Easter 5 C: Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35 The Very Reverend Tyler B. Doherty, Dean & Rector Each year during Eastertide we listen to the story of the Acts of the Apostles—the birth of the early Church. Acts is sometimes dismissed as a little too fantastical. There are mass conversions, people are raised from the dead, prison walls tumble down, and the Holy Spirit whisks Phillip away in a manner that would make any fan of Star Trek teleportation jealous. Amidst all the oddness, however, is a very import message for the Church to hear and live from if we are to grow into what it means to be an Easter people—a people who live without slavery to the fear of death, a people who live from abundance instead or scarcity, a people who know, name and proclaim God’s unconditional love for all of God’s creatures. In a very basic sense, Acts is a story of what it’s like to see with the eye of love—to our...

A Sermon Preached at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark Fourth Sunday After Easter, Year C The Very Reverend Tyler B. Doherty, Dean & Rector Today’s Gospel highlights the nature of what it means to follow Jesus and the difference between having information about Jesus and being formed into his likeness, the crucial but oft overlooked difference between information and formation, between feeding our heads and opening our hearts. The people around Jesus, gathered for a joyous festival of light we know today as Hanukah are fed up. They want a straight answer for once. Are you the Messiah or not? “How long will you keep us in suspense?” What a question! The interesting thing, which I’ll tease out as we go along is that being kept in suspense without what John Keats calls, “irritable reaching after fact and reason,” is what keeps us faithful. “The opposite of faith, says Paul Tillich, “is not doubt, but certainty.” Like the people around Jesus, we want to have things figured o...