June 21, 2026
4th Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 7A – Mark S. Winward
Jesus said, “Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” – Matthew 10:39
The Cost of Discipleship
In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Wow, tough Gospel reading this morning—perhaps the hardest of Jesus’ teachings. But seriously, when there is a selection in the cycle of readings that is difficult to understand, hard to swallow, or seemingly harsh, that is probably the exact place a preacher should focus. So, I feel responsible to explore this very hard set of sayings of Jesus in today’s Gospel. Why was Jesus so harsh?
For one thing, he knew the sacrifices his followers would make to spread the Good News of his kingdom – and it was indeed costly. The great second-century Church father, Tertullian, famously wrote, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Especially in the first three centuries of the Church, Christians would be beaten, tortured, and killed in ways limited only by the imagination of their persecutors. And it was their refusal to deny Jesus as Lord that inspired millions to embrace a faith ironically represented by a Roman symbol of execution: the cross. Martin Luther famously wrote, “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.
June 14, 2026
3rd Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 6A – Mark S. Winward
Introduction: The Rhythm of Spiritual Breath
Just for a moment, please close your eyes, relax, and become aware of your breathing. Sense the rhythm of your breath – in and out, in and out – not forced or controlled, but as a natural expression of the rhythm of your life. Take in air to sustain your life, and return it. Without both, it is impossible for each of us to live or flourish.
Far too often, we Christians slip into the temptation of attempting to live on a single breath: either spiritually inhaling or spiritually exhaling. At times we may retreat into a comfortable spirituality that asks little of us beyond our own growth; at other times, we may rush into reaching out to the world without remaining rooted in prayer. Whether as individuals or congregations, without a balance between an inward and an outward faith, we cannot truly know what it is to spiritually flourish.
The Breath of God
Scripture connects breath with the very life of God. The Hebrew word ruach and the Greek word pneuma both can be translated spirit, wind, or breath. The Hebrew scriptures tell us the breath of God was breathed into Adam at creation. The New Testament recalls the Holy Spirit being breathed upon the disciples by the risen Christ. So when we speak about spiritual breath,
June 7, 2026
2nd Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 5A – Mark S. Winword
“Thus says the Lord… ‘For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.’” – Hosea 6:6
Ordinary Time, Extraordinary Calling
Today marks the beginning of the season of Pentecost, also known as Ordinary Time. In the rhythm of this church year, we have awaited the coming of the Messiah in Advent, celebrated his arrival in Christmas and Epiphany, confronted our need for redemption in Lent, walked the way of the Cross during Holy Week, remembered Jesus’ death for our sins on Good Friday, celebrated his glorious Resurrection and Ascension at Easter and Ascension Day, and rejoiced in the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Now we enter a season in which we live all of that out in the ordinary course of daily life.
We mark our lives by significant events: births, deaths, marriages, baptisms, graduations, and birthdays. Yet most of life is lived in the spaces between those milestones. During the season of Pentecost, we reflect on our day-to-day discipleship – what it means to embrace our faith, receive God’s grace, and go forth rejoicing in the power of the Spirit.
That’s why I’ve asked the Altar Guild to leave the doves up throughout the season of Pentecost. If Pentecost celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit that we receive in baptism, then the season of Pentecost is the rest of the story: what we do with that gift.
May 31, 2026
Trinity Sunday – Mark S. Winward
Beyond Our Two-Dimensional Thinking
One God
Today is Trinity Sunday, the only day on the Church calendar dedicated to celebrating a specific understanding of God—or, perhaps more accurately, a common misunderstanding of God. If you were to ask how many gods Christianity has, a lot of people would answer “three”: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But this ignores the fact that the foundation of the Hebrew Scriptures is the Shema: “Shema Israel Adonai Elohinu, Adonai ehud”—Hear, O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is One. This profession of monotheism sets the Jews apart from all other ancient peoples, serving as the core of their identity.
The Mystery of the Plurality
Despite this emphasis on oneness, there are hints throughout the Hebrew Scriptures that something more complex is going on. In the Genesis creation story, God says, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.” This is not just a quirk of translation; God speaks using plural language: “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.” While Jewish scholars have understood this passage in different ways, Christians have long seen in it a hint that God’s nature may be more complex than a simple singularity. The Gospel of John explains this through the “Word” who was present with God before all time: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,