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SERMONS:
Pastor Peg posts her two most recent sermons on this page. If you are interested in reading more of her sermons you can go to pastorpeg.wordpress.com. For the season of Epiphany we are preaching about Our Spiritual Gifts: How we can recognize them and use them in our lives for Christ. Enjoy.
The Gift of Administration
January 11, 2026 Baptism of the Lord
Matthew 3:1-6 Matthew 3:13-17
I’m going to take you back to 1966 when a revolutionary management book was published and became a best seller. It was The Peter Principle by Laurence Peter and Raymond Hull, and was based on Peter’s very serious research on why there are incompetent managers.
The book states that in a large hierarchy a person who is competent at their job will be rewarded with a promotion to a position that requires different skills. If the person is able to adapt to the new skills, and does a good job, they will be promoted again. However, at some point they’re going to be rewarded for their competence with a new job that they won’t have the correct skills for and, for one reason or another, they won’t be able to adapt to the new position. They have, as Peter puts it, risen to their “level of incompetency.” Since the person now becomes classified as incompetent, they will not be promoted again.
Unfortunately, the rigidity of the upwards mobility of a hierarchy, which won’t allow people to be demoted back to competence, means that at any time in an organization there are any number of managers who end up in positions that they can’t be productive in. Once an organization reaches a point of having too many managers who don’t know what they’re doing, critical mass occurs and the company or organization goes downhill rapidly and often dies from built-up incompetence.
The irony of this book is that although it was based on serious research it was written as a satire. But great satire is always based on truth. After all, if we didn’t see the truth in the humor, we wouldn’t be able to laugh at it. Where is the irony? This satire actually became the book to be studied in business management courses all across America. It was handed out in boardrooms and management seminars. It was the management book that was supposed to save corporate America.
Since I was 5 in 1966, I didn't read this book until the 2000-teens but what struck me right away was that no mention was ever made of training people once they got into their new positions. Now you all know that I started out my life as an educator and anytime I was asked to teach a new subject I was always offered training for it. The book assumes that you’re never going to get any training, you’re just going to keep on being promoted until you reach a level of failure.
Well, that's a pretty grim way to run any organization. But I think we all assume that some people are just better managers than others. And that the traits needed for good management are something that you're born with, not something that you necessarily learn, so the idea of training was deemed to be not necessary.
I was talking with the youth group about spiritual gifts, and we acknowledged that some people are born with certain gifts. And those gifts might be a talent, like music; or they could be a personality trait, like kindness. I happen to be born with a good singing voice and an ear for music. However, I have a very good friend, a wonderful person who everybody loves, who literally can't sing a note. She cannot hear music. On the other hand, she’s a natural artist, and paints really well.
We also talked about how you know that something is a spiritual gift. One thing is that the gift gives you or others joy. I love singing, it makes me happy. And people have said to me over the years that when I sing for others that they find it enjoyable. We also said that your gift can help people in some way. I know that I’ve sung many babies to sleep. Apparently at that moment those babies found some comfort.
Any gift, spiritual or otherwise, is worth developing. Maybe you’re born a natural athlete, but if you don’t train yourself in your sport to be better at it, you’re not going to rise to your full potential. You can have a kind personality, but you can also learn how to be a kind person even when people are mean to you or you need to set boundaries.
Today our spiritual gift is Administration. I admit that when I first saw that on our survey I thought – What? How can administration be a spiritual trait? But then I took a moment and I realized that a gift of administration or organization is a HUGE spiritual gift. Think about how many moving parts there are to life. Any person who has the ability to organize, or help people organize, their lives or systems, is an amazing God-send to all of us. And we should all be praying for their good health at all times, because they keep things running for us.
I want you to look at the spiritual definition that was given on our survey: You lead and communicate in such a way that people work harmoniously to reach goals for God’s purpose. Our world so needs that. This is about more than keeping track of papers or filing them – the active word here is communication. All of us have given or we have received, at one time or another, really bad instructions on how to do something – and chaos has ensued. Part of being an administrator is the ability to be clear about what needs to be done.
Let’s look at the next part: You enjoy being a leader and can endure adverse reaction to get the job done. The first word that pops out at me is enjoy. Remember we said that one way to recognize a spiritual gift is that it brings us joy, or brings joy to others? People who are good administrators enjoy tackling problems and trying to figure out how to create a solution for it. When they come up against adversity or resistance to the problem they don’t see it as a threat – they see it as a challenge, something they can wrestle with and get it onto the right track, or even change the direction if necessary. And the thing I always notice about effective administrators is that they are positive about solving problems.
You enjoy seeing tasks complete; are able to set guidelines, schedules, and policies; and can delegate to get the work done. There’s that word enjoy again. But the key to that sentence is delegate to get the work done. An effective administrator knows that the decisions might have to stop with them, but that other people have gifts and talents that are just as valuable to the project that should be acknowledged and utilized. Bad administrators try to dominate, not help the project, take the credit for other’s people talents and work, and basically make the work a negative experience.
But what does all this have to do with spirituality? Well let’s go back to the beginning of the definition: You lead and communicate in such a way that people work harmoniously to reach goals for God’s purpose.
Working harmoniously to reach goals for God’s purpose. I read a small management book once in which the author said that he was very depressed with his work in a company. He was a Christian and felt that he wasn’t living as a Christian in his corporate environment. But then the question came up in his mind – Why not? Why can’t I live as a Christian and as a business manager. He realized that he had bought into the corporate myth that you had to be dog-eat-dog in order to survive in the business world. He had created a split personality for himself: The loving Christian outside of work and the corporate shark inside work, and the dichotomy was making him miserable.
So he decided to stop being the shark and be a full-time Christian, and promote Christian values of generosity, respect and renewal, compassion, caring and competence, in his workplace. He put his Christianity into practice and his entire life changed. First of all, he started to enjoy going to work and doing the work. The people under him responded with greater productivity, and the jobs got done better and faster with a higher positive outcome.
That is carrying the attitude of Christ. And looking back I realize that that was what was lacking in the Peter Principle. When we work to create an environment of dignity, respect, and compassion, rather than just work to get the job done, or to get a promotion, the environment flourishes and becomes a place where people are held in reverence and Christ, God, and the Holy Spirit are present.
We cannot all be great administrators, but we can support them in their endeavors. And we can also try to be a little more organized ourselves. So when you look around at something that you have to organize and you think – I don’t want to do this, it takes too much time – take a moment, connect with Jesus, ask him to help you out, and remember that no matter how small your job at the moment is, that tiny little bricks also build God’s kingdom.
The Gift of Giving
January 4, 2026 Epiphany
2 Corinthians 8:1-5 Matthew 2:1-12
Happy New Year! Have any of you made your New Year’s resolutions yet? Two of mine are to meditate once-a-day and organize my home office better. So far I’m doing really well. But one of the problems with making New Year's resolutions is that perfectionism gets in the way. The minute I skip a day of action I tend to think: I’ve blown it. And then I get discouraged, and I don't continue with those self-improvement efforts or great ideas that I had for the New Year. Because of this I have concluded that: Perfectionism is the enemy of good intentions.
Instead, what I should be thinking is: So what, you missed a day of meditation! So what, today you didn’t straighten up the office bookshelves! So what, the papers you sorted two days ago are still sitting on the dining room table! So what! Tomorrow is another day. Another chance to reset and meditate, straighten up those bookshelves, and put away paperwork. There are 365 days of the year and not all of them are going to go perfectly. Just face every day the best you can and do the best you can.
If any of us don't live up to our own expectations that's OK. God will forgive us for not being perfect. Thinking about this I’ve decided that my prayer for this year is going to be: Lord, please help me forgive myself for not being perfect. So, my first New Year's message to you is: When you're not living up to your expectations, please say: Lord, please help me forgive myself for not being perfect.
On another note, today we're going to start our new sermon series on spiritual gifts. Our first one is on giving. On your explanation sheets giving is defined as: You contribute material resources and do God's work with liberality and cheerfulness. You contribute sacrificially, motivate others, and don't shun pressure or publicity. That is a lot to unpack. But I think it fits with Epiphany because today we're celebrating the wise men who gave Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Gold symbolizes royalty but also Jesus’ incarnation here on earth since he would need to use money to live. Frankincense is associate with spirituality and was used as an incense to purify the air. It represents Jesus in his priestly role as a spiritual leader and teacher. Plus, frankincense has anti-bacterial properties. Ancient people knew to treat a wound with frankincense so it would heal with less chance of infection. So, Frankincense also represents Jesus as a healer.
Myrrh was also used as an incense and as an embalming ingredient in many cultures and is associate with preparing the body and soul for the life afterwards. It represents Jesus’ sacrifice which he gave to us when he died, to free us from sin and to prove to us that there is life after this one.
So, let's look at the gifts of the wise men and see how they line up with our definition of giving that I gave a little while ago.
The first part of the definition is: you contribute material resources. The wise men definitely contributed helpful resources to Jesus' family. I read commentaries that pointed out that the gold probably allowed Jesus’ family to flee to Egypt before Herod had Jesus killed, and it allowed them to live safely in Egypt until they could move back to Israel. Of course, the wise men didn't know that the gold was going to be used for that purpose. They gave all their gifts in faith, but any gift we give is given in faith that it will be used well. Maybe it won’t be used for what you think it will be, but once you give a gift it will be used as the person needs to use it. We have to let go of the gift once it leaves our hands.
I know people who won't donate to organizations because they believe that the money will be wasted on high salaries for their executives and it won't go to the people who really need it. That’s a valid concern because there are organizations that end up in the news with those scandals. I recommend that people give locally because usually you can see the impact of those donations. Or you can pick an organization close to your heart – for instance I used to donate to juvenile diabetes because of my nephew. Or find an organization like UMCOR that you know uses your donations wisely.
But I want to add something to this idea. We usually think of material resources as stuff like money, clothing, or food. And, in many cases, those are needed, but not all of us have the means to donate materially. But I believe that the two greatest resources that we all have are our time and our expertise. Giving your time to help is just as valuable. Places like CORE, Angels Attic, or the Christmas Feeling fund, need people who are willing to give their time to work so that they can function. Also, we all have a field that we are knowledgeable or good at. I know that so many people in our churches have donated their knowledge and abilities to make our churches and our communities better places. Time and expertise is giving on a grand scale.
The second point is that we do God's work with liberality and cheerfulness. This speaks to how we give our resources, time and expertise. However, some people give because it strokes their ego. Look at me, and all the great things I do for people or organizations (like the Pharisee who brags on himself to God in the Temple.) Then they get upset when they’re not acknowledged enough for their generosity. Unlike giving someone a few bucks and getting a candy bar, Spiritual Giving isn’t transactional. We do it because we want to give expressions of love and support; we don’t look for a payout from it. It does make us feel good which is why we’re happy to do it. If you see someone who’s cranky about giving, or you’re cranky about giving, you need to check out what’s happening. There could be something wrong with the giving situation, or there could be something wrong with the giving person’s attitude.
You contribute sacrificially. Remember it’s not just material stuff but also time and expertise. I donated to both the Hobart Inn disaster and the Stamford fire last month. Could I have used that money to buy myself something nice? Yes, but I have enough and these people needed help to recover. Every month Pastor Dawn and I preach at the nursing home, which we volunteer our time for. But I don’t mind giving up my time because it’s so much fun. That’s the cheerfulness part.
Giving also happens when you motivate others. When we set out to motivate someone, we’re helping people grow by giving them our time and expertise to mentor them. We’re showing them that we care about them and that we believe in them and their futures. And we’re passing on valuable knowledge that will help someone both in the present and in the future. The people we mentor and motivate will in turn mentor someone else down the line, especially if we encourage them to pay it forward to someone else later.
And finally, we don't shun pressure or publicity. Giving has many levels and sometimes we are asked to give some very hard things with a lot of expectations. Sometimes those expectations are private and sometimes those expectations are public, and both can come with a lot of pressure. But being under pressure is a chance to grow in our trust of God. We can pray and ask God to give us the strength to take things one step at a time.
If our intention is to help others, we will be able to make it through, because God knows we’re working on building the kingdom and will give us strength and guidance. And sometimes our public giving comes with resistance or misunderstanding about what we’re doing, like when people march for equal rights. But I believe that when we face public adversity, whether it’s police lines or opposition at a town council meeting, we recognize that this is part of our spiritual journey. When we stand up for what is the right thing to give and do in our communities, we grow in our faith.
As you can see there are a lot of ways to give. We can give big or small; locally or far away; materially or with our time and expertise; person-to-self, person-to-person, and person to community: and privately or publicly, but it is all valuable giving and will help us to grow and bring the world to a better place. So never discount your giving and always remember: That any act of well-intentioned giving is an act of love to God and connects you to His Eternal Kingdom.
God’s Family Gifts
December 28, 2025 Sunday after Christmas
Micah 5:2-5a Luke 2: 21-38
The Sunday between Christmas and Epiphany is low energy. For ministers, it’s because we’re tired from all the Christmas activity. For people in the congregation, it’s because you’re tired from all the Christmas activity. In a way, it’s good to end up a little tired when you do something you love, because it means that you put effort into it to make it successful. We also have New Year’s to look forward too, followed by Epiphany Sunday, when we celebrate the wise men coming. Then on the following Sunday is the Baptism of the Lord. But this odd little Sunday in between doesn’t seem to celebrate an official event.
However, I did some research and found out that actually this day is an important celebration called the Feast of the Holy Family. On this Sunday we’re supposed to remember the family of Jesus and how they nurtured him and helped him to grow, and we're supposed to acknowledge the importance of our families.
Traditionally a family is a unit of two loving parents and children. But life doesn't always work that way. Sometimes a parent dies, is absent, or leaves and just one parent is raising a child. Sometimes both parents are gone, and the children are left alone, in which case grandparents, or other relatives might be raising the children. Sometimes families are split and living in two locations. Sometimes families are blended, and a child might have a mother, a father, a stepmother, and a stepfather, plus biological and step-siblings. And there are families which have adopted children. And all of these families are valid.
Since humanity’s earliest times, the family unit, however it looks or is structured, is the basis of society. The family is the way humans have developed societies by creating social structures for the acquisition of food, clothing, and shelter. It’s provided safety so that people could grow, and then in turn have families of their own so that our species can continue. Any social structure that you look at comes down to that point of a family unit.
Now I know that there are families out there that are not positive, or loving, or nurturing for either the parents or the children. That is a tough, sometimes a horrible, situation for anyone to live in the middle of. The only thing I can offer to that, is that as Christians we try to be as loving as we can to everyone so that we can be examples that show people how we can be more loving to each other. And for people who we know don’t come from loving families or supportive homes, we as a community can be a family to them. As individuals and as a church, we can support those who need love and nurture.
Sometimes coming from a dysfunctional family can be a shameful thing to children or adults. We can encourage people to have no shame about that. We can support people and guide them when they look for therapy. And we can treat them like our brothers and sisters in Christ. So today is not only a day to think of and pray for our immediate families, but to think and pray for all of the people we are connected to that are like family. All of us have two families: Our families of blood and our families of love. And they aren’t always made of the same people.
Today’s scripture from Luke talks about two important family events in Jesus' early life. The first one is right at the beginning. After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. By performing this ritual Luke shows his readers that Jesus' parents followed the laws of Moses. This ceremony would have been performed at home with a priest or rabbi.
The next event is focused on Mary. When a woman gave birth to a baby boy she had to rest for forty days in the home. She wasn’t supposed to go outside, she was simply supposed to stay in the house recover from childbirth and take care of the baby.
This must have been very stressful for Joseph because usually the new mother’s family would help her out by doing her chores such as collecting water from the well, shopping, doing laundry, or any other job that would involve her being outside of the house. So, Joseph would either have had to do all these things himself or find someone to help him out.
Once the forty days were finished Mary would have gone to the temple in Jerusalem and have undergone a purification ritual. Then they would have made the necessary sacrifice to bless the healthy baby, the mother, and the father, and prayers would have been given for a prosperous family. This scripture again reinforces the fact that Mary and Joseph are good Jewish parents and that Jesus is being raised in a good Jewish Home. Also remember that Mary was an unwed mother and there is a certain social shame attached to that. These actions show Mary’s piety as a good Jewish woman, and it establishes her as Jesus' mother who will nurture him.
I am sure that Joseph and Mary were not the only parents there with a mother to be purified and a child to be blessed. The Jewish Temple probably did this ritual every day to any number of families. Mary and Joseph know that Jesus is supposed to eventually become the Messiah but he's not the Messiah yet, he's just a little bitty baby. And remember that even though we talk about the three wise men coming they probably didn't arrive the day after Jesus was born. It says in their scripture that they visited Mary and Joseph at a house so by that time they had probably moved out of the stable. It’s quite possible that Mary and Joseph we're still living in the stable until Mary had finished her purification. I’m sure that they were then planning on moving out.
So, there are Mary and Joseph doing a very common ritual and all of a sudden Simeon, guided by the Holy Spirit, goes up to Mary and Joseph and proclaims his thanks to God because he has seen the Messiah before he dies. And then Anna, a fixture in the temple and a very well-known woman of great piety, proclaims that Jesus is going to redeem Israel.
I think Mary and Joseph felt a bit vindicated by these two encounters. They had been under a lot of stress because of the whole unmarried parent and census thing. They knew that Jesus was the Messiah, but I think that was a very heavy secret to bear. I mean, you can't tell people because they're going to think you're delusional. It's one thing to brag that your son is going to grow up to be a doctor or lawyer, but to tell people that your son is going to grow up and be the Messiah, that's a step too far. I think these two encounters were a way for God to give assurance to Simeon and Anna, but also to give a public assurance to Mary and Joseph that what they knew was actually true, and that they were doing it right.
And thinking about that assurance I realized that a lot of the stress that many of us feel as parents, and many of us feel as children, comes from the question: Am I doing this right? Am I being a good parent to my children? Am I teaching them what they need to know? Am I being loving enough, firm enough, setting boundaries properly and just teaching them how to go through life so that they survive it? And not only survive it, but so they end up living well?
And our children always ask: Am I doing this right? Am I being a good child? There's so much I need to learn, am I learning it correctly? I don't understand how these boundaries work, can someone show me how to manage them? Am I learning enough so that I can get through life, survived it, and end up living well?
I think that today, on the Feast of the Holy Family, we can acknowledge that there is a lot of anxiety attached to whether or not we’re building good families. I also think that we can help each other to find the assurances that we’re doing it right. And we can help each other find out how to do it better. The great gift of Jesus was that he came to teach us how to be better people, and that in turn strengthens us to have better families.
I think that one of the greatest gifts that we all can have is a supportive and loving family. This day reminds us that we should thank God for those people who do support us, whether they be our family of blood or our family of love. Remember that wherever you find the people who love and support you that is your family. So today let's give thanks for them, pray for them, and look for ways to support them in the coming year. God gave us the gift of Jesus, but he also gave to Jesus the gift of his family. Let us try to be that gift for others.
The Gift of Light
December 24, 2025 Christmas Eve
I was looking for a fun saying to put on the on the bottom of tonight’s bulletin and I found one that asked: Are you part of the INN (I-N-N) crowd or part of the stable crew? The implication is that you’re either chasing the desire to be a cool, successful person according to the dictates of the world, or you’re one of those people who get into the dirt of life and try to make it the world a better place.
But this got me thinking about that phrase And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. I’ve seen many of presentations of the Christmas story, from pageants to movies and TV shows, and Mary and Joseph seemed to go through any number of rejections before they find a place to stay. They’re always shown being turned away from multiple houses until a kindly Innkeeper allows them to use his stable. And often the Innkeeper turns them away at first but then has a change of heart.
But I really thought about that event, and I've come to a different conclusion about this story.
Everybody has been ordered to return to their hometown for the census, and I can imagine that Bethlehem was stuffed to the gills with people. Probably most of the family houses were overflowing with men, women, and children. And the fact that Joseph inquires at an inn says to me that he doesn't have a family house to return to, even though his family is from Bethlehem. So, he’s looking for a place at a local inn. But I’m sure that the inns were full up too.
Back then inns weren't like today’s hotels; they didn't have nice separate rooms to stay in. Inns had either a large common room which everybody bedded down in, or two common rooms, one for men, and one for women and children. So, I really think that the people who rejected Mary and Joseph, weren’t being cruel and uncaring, they were simply packed and there was literally no room to squeeze Mary and Joseph in anywhere.
But there was an innkeeper who saw that Mary was pregnant and very near term; that Joseph was extremely worried; and he decides that he’s going to solve this problem. (My father told me that there are two kinds of people in the world – those who think they can never solve problems and those who believe that they can, or at least do something to alleviate a situation.) He offers them his stable to be in.
You might think: Well, that's kind of an insulting place to put someone. But actually, an innkeeper would want to provide a good shelter for the animals that his guests travelled with, so it was probably a very nice structure that was shielded from the elements. And animals give off heat, so it was probably very warm and dry. It was a good emergency accommodation. So, the innkeeper certainly wasn't cruel. The innkeeper gave Mary and Joseph what they needed in that time and place. I realized that that innkeeper was giving an action of compassion and grace.
We’re celebrating tonight the gift of light. What does that mean? First of all, it does mean brightness and being able to see. In the gospels, Jesus is always trying to get his disciples to see how they can connect with God. To see their potential and the potential of others. To see what it means to live inside of God's love and to accept God's forgiveness. To forgive others, and to give others mercy and compassion. To understand how to find hope; how to work for peaceful resolutions of conflicts; how to accept joy and give joy; and how we can love ourselves, others, and God, better, deeper and wider. Jesus shown a light on all of that.
But light also means the opposite of heaviness. When we relieve the burdens of someone, when we solve problems, we are lightening other people's loads. That's what that innkeeper did for Joseph and Mary. The two of them went from having no place to stay and Mary possibly having her baby out in a field, to a place where they were sheltered, warm, and Jesus could be born in a safe environment. I'm sure the innkeeper considered them to be guests at his inn, and he gave them food, water and blankets, and made sure that they were comfortable. He lifted their burden when it was needed with love and compassion.
On my Hobart church sign I always put events and one side and a seasonal phrase on the other. I used this phrase but changed it to: Be part of the inn crowd and the stable crew. In other words, you can help someone no matter what the need is or your status in society.
Sometimes when we’re an expert in something (and we are all experts at something) then we can bring light to people by sharing our knowledge with kindness and compassion to make the world a better place. And sometimes we're all part of the stable crew mucking in and helping people out and relieving their burdens, which is also an act of kindness and compassion.
And when you don't know what to do, think about what Jesus has taught you. It's not necessarily the phrase, What would Jesus do? It's, What would Jesus have you do to bring light and understanding to the world, and to lighten the burdens of others in the world?
Both of those actions shine the light of Jesus through us, on to others, and out into the world. And when we’re shining our light, we’re helping to build, one brick at a time, the glorious Kingdom of God.