Back to Narnia

The Rev. Noah Van Niel

Christ and St. Luke’s

August 28th, 2022

Proper 17 (C): Sirach 10:12-18; Psalm 112; Hebrews 13:1-8; 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14

In our house we have recently begun reading the Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, to my oldest son. This is a parenting milestone I have long looked forward to since one of my most vivid and fondest childhood memories was having my father read those same stories to me when I was a boy. Though it comes second in the narrative order of the books, we have begun with the first composed and most famous of the septet, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. It has been so much fun to enter back into that magical world with Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy; a world that is at once strange and familiar, which is so often the case when we revisit something from our past later on in life. The story is unchanged, but we have changed, and so we experience it as new and old at the same time. I was also excited to revisit these stories because it was only in my 20’s that I learned Lewis had written them as Christian allegories, and given my current occupation, I was curious to see where and how those themes would reveal themselves.

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Jesus is Dangerous

The Rev. Noah Van Niel

Christ and St. Luke’s

August 14th, 2022

Proper 15 (C): Jeremiah 23:23-29; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56

The late Bishop, Barbara C. Harris, the first female Bishop ordained in the Anglican Communion, whom I got to know while growing up and serving with her in Massachusetts, had a sermon she used to preach that began in a very memorable way. Bishop Barbara, all 5ft nothing of her, skinny as a rail, hunched over, would march herself up into whatever pulpit she was ascending, and in her smoker’s rasp would bellow out “JESUS IS DANGEROUS.”

“Wait, what?” That’s what her listeners would always think. So she would say it again. “JESUS IS DANGEROUS.” 

“Dangerous? Did she say dangerous? Courageous, sure. Strong? Wise? Compassionate? Loving? Of course. But dangerous? Jesus? Surely, she must be mistaken.” She was not.

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Emblems

The Rev. Noah Van Niel

Christ and St. Luke’s

July 17th, 2022

Proper 11 (C) [Track 2]: Genesis 18:1-10a; Psalm 15; Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42

(You can view the full service here. The sermon begins at 23:05)

Two weeks ago, I finally got myself organized enough to go over to see the M.C. Escher exhibit at the Chrysler Museum. Like many people, I was familiar with Escher only from college dorm room posters with his mind-bending staircases and perception altering patterns. But as the exhibit makes clear, very effectively, there was a lot more to Escher’s artistic output than that. I encourage those of you who haven’t seen it already to get over and take a look, the exhibit is only here until the end of August.

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