"If we bring Luke chapter 12 and the lessons of history to the American Christianity of today, I have to say that we Christians have created for ourselves the worst kind of irrelevance. With some notable exceptions, the church of today has by and large ceased being countercultural. Instead, we have often without question embraced the values of our culture. In the imagery of fire, if the pilot light of the modern church hasn’t gone out entirely, it is most certainly flickering precariously."

Trinity Episcopal Lewiston, Homily for 08/14/2016 by Dr. Bill Barter

For the human reader of today's gospel, the lost sheep is valuable because a shepherd depends on it for livelihood; the silver coin has monetary value. But for Jesus (the one who comes to redeem the sinner) the sheep that is lost and the coin that is lost have their value in the fact that THEY ARE LOST. In the mind of Jesus and by the grace of God, being lost is what is most important about sheep and coins... and us.

The value of the lost

To be with God in Christ is to be Christlike.  My servanthood liberates others as Christ’s servanthood liberates me.  And as mere servants or slaves, we are only doing what we ought to do in the first place.

W. Barter Sermon 10-02-2016

The sin of pride apparent in the gospel then is not so much that I am so good that I don’t need God.  The sin of pride is that I am so good that I need God a lot less than the other person needs God.

Barter-Sermon-10232016

Let us be people of hope by following the examples of Joseph and Mary.

Barter - Sermon for Advent 4, Year A

When I reflect on this vulnerable baby, am I moved by the vulnerability of others? Just as God became manifest in Jesus, does Jesus in turn become manifest in me?” The nativity isn’t just a story. It is OUR story, OUR chance to embrace this baby, OUR chance to see our salvation and our calling in God’s moment of human vulnerability and the invitation to intimacy with God and one another.

Christmas Sermon 2016

Sermon on the Mount - Talk about the dream.

Fasting merely for the sake of ritual and not for the sake of social change is in many ways the worst use of privilege. When I can make a big deal out of not eating by choice, what does it do for people in the world who are hungry through no choice of their own? Then, fasting is empty, self-centered, and grossly privileged.

William Barter

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