A unified witness of salvation

April 14, 2025 Mark Brians

In the beginning humans are created in a state on deep and utter union: Adam and Eve share communion with God, communion with one another, a kind of communion with the rest of the created world, and —often forgotten in theological accounts of prelapsarian life— unified within themselves. This is, in God’s words, “very good” (Gen 1:31). It is a blessed state (Gen 1:28). Union is, also, not just how we are made, it is what we are made for.

Jesus among the lampstands: a Palm Sunday pre-game

April 8, 2025 Mark Brians

We should recall from Exodus (25:31–39; and 37:17–24) that the lampstand in the Tabernacle, which was a picture, a microcosm, of the heavenly throne-room, was made in the likeness of a tree. Each of its arms were branches that bloomed into almond blossoms on which were set the seven lamps. It was a tree whose fruit was light. It was another burning bush, but a burning bush that had grown into full maturity.

Annunciation

March 24, 2025 Mark Brians

This Tuesday is the Feast of the Annunciation —the annual celebration of the day, nine months prior to Christmas, that the angel Gabriel came to Mary to announce the conception of the infant Christ in her womb. We confess in the Creeds and in the words of the eucharistic liturgy that Christ became incarnate by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary and yet we often fail to marvel at the wonder of this. For it is not as if Christ was merely born Christ was conceived —The second Person of the Godhead not only underwent mammalian birth but also mammalian gestation. Oh the long-suffering patience and obedience of the Son to submit to fulfilling the whole span of human experience!

The foxes

March 17, 2025 Mark Brians

Those in power here, both the pharisees and Herod, are afraid of the power of Jesus. And the best policy for those who rule in fear is to exercise dominion and control over others by spreading fear. Spread the worry and bring the upstarts to heel in being anxious about tomorrow’s troubles.

Incommensurate goodnesses

March 13, 2025 Mark Brians

I remember being pushed in a stroller by him through the wild labyrinthine corridors of queues of Disneyland; I remember being asked “are you buckled in?” and “are you hungry?” by him when I was a kid. And now here I am asking similar questions of him. Now I am pushing the cart around. Now I get the valet ticket, now I grab the car, now I have to remember where the car is, etc.

Lifted-up Lent

March 3, 2025 Mark Brians

We can think of Lent as a kind of “lifting-up.” This is literally what “Carnival” means (see my post here), but it can be helpful to help us understand Lent as well.

Not a nice Christmas

December 23, 2024 Mark Brians

*“The Last of the Spirits”,* illustration for Charls Dickens’ Christmas Carol *by John Lech*

The word “nice” is a rotten term. Originally it meant “foolish,” being an English word composed of two Latin terms: “ne” (“not”) and “scire” (“to know”). Over time it developed in meaning to its current form meaning something like “kind” or “good” but without any of the substance of kindness or goodness (see the entry for “Nice” at the Online Etymology Dictionary).

Rooster, witless, hails the morning

December 16, 2024 Mark Brians

Listening to Dcn. Ben chant the Magnificat on Sunday, after hearing the whole story of redemption from Genesis to Revelation, I was reminded of a scene from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Return of the King:

Maui sermon notes

September 3, 2024 Mark Brians

This past Sunday I took the 6:19 am flight to Kahului to preach and celebrate Holy Communion at Kingsfield Anglican Church. They have their service at 10 AM and All Saints has ours at 4 PM so it allows me to be at both parishes in a single Sunday —which is both exhausting and incredibly life-giving.

This week I preached two different sermons: one on Mark 7 at All Saints and one on Acts 9 at Kingsfield (they’ve been going through the Book of Acts for a while now and so I jumped-in where they were in the series). Since the folks at All Saints didn’t get to hear the sermon, I thought I’d post one strand of reflections from my preaching notes:

"Be silent!" on the structure of Mark 1:21-28

January 30, 2024 Mark Brians

Our Gospel lesson from Sunday, Mark 1:21-28, is a great example of a chiasm. It is also a great example of how a chiasm, other than being a nifty piece of literary trivia, can help us understand and teach the Bible —can help us ask of a given part of scripture “what’s this mean?” and “what is the main point?”

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