Enemy Love
Mercy feels like a burden—until you need it. Then it breaks you open and makes you merciful…
Feb 23, 2025•12 min
St. John’s Park Slope
Sermons from St. John’s Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, NY by The Reverend Ben DeHart and friends. We exist to proclaim the good news of the Gospel! Our Sunday services are at 10am, and our beautiful church, located in Park Slope, is easy to get to from all over the city. We hope you’ll stop by soon!
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St. John’s, Park Slope
139 St. John’s Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217
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Episodes
White Lotus Gets It Right
The kingdom’s way only feels upside-down because we’ve been living upside-down. In the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus isn’t flipping life on its head—he’s setting it right-side up, revealing the Good Life we were made for…
Feb 16, 2025•16 min
Today’s Gospel is Not a Morality Story
Today's reading is not a merit story. Peter isn’t seeking wisdom or asking for help—he’s exhausted, frustrated, and, frankly, annoyed. His response to Jesus’ call is passive-aggressive at best. And yet, Christ still gives him the prize. Grace strips him bare, exposing his pettiness, his self-absorption, the gap between the life he wants and the life he’s living. And in that moment—raw, humbled, undone—Christ says, “Do not be afraid.” For in Christ’s kingdom, only the wounded can serve. In Christ...
Feb 09, 2025•8 min
Fully Known and Fully Loved
“We spend so much of our lives curating a version of ourselves that we think will be accepted. Even when we long to be known, muscle memory kicks in, and we hold back, fearing rejection. Similarly, the terror of the Law is that before God there’s no hiding. But the good news of the gospel is that though we are fully seen we are completely loved.”
Feb 02, 2025•10 min
Love & Mercy
“We Episcopalians are right to present Jesus as a revolutionary, but we often hesitate to proclaim him as the Son of God. It’s as if we’re shy about asserting the fullness of his identity—embarrassed by the thought of claiming too much. But, friends, if Jesus isn’t the living Lord, then all the mercy we cherish is still buried with him in that tomb…”
Jan 26, 2025•11 min
Strange Glory
Epiphany reveals that God’s mercy must never be separated from his glory. Without his majesty, his love becomes mere sentiment. Yet in his compassion lies the power to triumph over sin, death, and all that seeks to destroy us…
Jan 19, 2025•13 min
It’s About God
The bearer of the winnowing fork has made common cause with the chaff…
Jan 12, 2025•16 min
Epiphany 2
The “dividing wall of hostility” has been torn down, but we’ve spent a whole lot of time trying to reassemble its fractured bricks. Still, the One who began tearing down the insider/outsider distinction can be trusted to finish the job He started…
Jan 07, 2025•12 min
Epiphany 1
The King sought by the Magi came not just for the chosen, the celebrated, or the deserving, but for the stranger, the outcast, and even the ungodly…
Jan 07, 2025•14 min
God is The Subject of The Story
When we pray that God would plant love in us, we’re not asking for a little help from our Friend, we’re asking that God would birth love in us…
Dec 29, 2024•11 min
Christmas: God Became Flesh To Undo Our Scars
God became flesh because the body keeps the score. We need more than a new mindset or an emotional tune-up—we need the One who can make us new…
Dec 25, 2024•16 min
John the Baptist’s Good News
Every vice in us will be cut off—and let’s be honest, we won’t like it. We love our greed more than we realize; that’s why we cling to it. But take heart, friends: the Judge, who has already borne our judgment, prunes not to condemn but to save…
Dec 15, 2024•14 min
“Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord”
When Isaiah calls us to “prepare the way of the Lord,” we might be tempted to think we are the change agents. Yet in the very next verse, the prophet reveals that the Lord is the true change agent: “Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill made low…” This means that everything matters, and, thanks be to God, the Lord’s cut-and-fill operation does not depend on us. *With thanks to Fleming Rutledge for all kinds of inspiration.
Dec 08, 2024•13 min
Advent Hope Isn’t Hallmark Hope
“Advent isn’t just about Christmas or the Second Coming—it’s about Christ breaking into the here and now. In a world gripped by conflict and uncertainty, we’re not called to retreat into Hallmark hope but to stand, lift our heads, and believe: our redemption is sure.”
Dec 01, 2024•11 min
Christ the King (Part 2)
A Lord of Lords Encore
Nov 24, 2024•10 min
Why “Jesus is King” is Good News
Was Pilate a tyrant or a coward? Either way, I see myself in him. When I fear weakness, I dominate. When I fear conflict, I wash my hands clean. Both betray insecurity. True strength—the way of our King—is risky, confident, and bold…
Nov 24, 2024•11 min
The Scribe and the Widow
I’m far more like the honor-seeking scribe than the self-giving widow. I’ve chased ‘long robes,’ ‘respect,’ and ‘seats of honor’ — even while pretending not to. But Jesus doesn’t praise the successful scribe; he exalts the selfless woman who gave it all.
Nov 10, 2024•13 min
Too Good To Be True?
A sermon about love two days before the national election. (But mostly it’s about Christ love because mine is so often fickle.) “Jesus’ summary of the law is the good life, but it’s not the good news. ‘All you need is love’ is my anthem until someone cuts me off or shouts their politics. But there’s One who loved even His enemies—and He loves me when I barely pull off loving my friends.”
Nov 03, 2024•14 min
"The Expulsive Power of a New Affection"
Were the disciples angry at James and John for seeking privilege, or because they hadn’t thought of it first? I suspect the latter—and I’m no different. Even when I pretend to be last, I still want to be first. I need my heart to be healed to truly love others as myself…
Oct 20, 2024•14 min
The Sinking Sand of Wealth
This passage hits hard. Like the rich man, we often trust in money over God, leaning on the sinking sand of Mammon instead of the solid rock of Christ. The disciples, torn up, ask, “Who then can be saved?” Christ offers the only hope: “For you, it’s impossible, but not with God—for with God all things are possible.”
Oct 13, 2024•13 min
Is He Really Preaching About Divorce?
Though we fail to keep our word, God never fails to keep his promises…
Oct 06, 2024•15 min
Our Relief
“For the last three weeks, the disciples have been consistently clueless—seeking a Messiah on their terms, consumed with their own greatness, and hoarding the kingdom’s power for themselves. Their bumbling is our relief. Despite their faltering, Christ’s commitment never wavers.”
Sep 29, 2024•14 min
How to Be Great
“The contrast couldn’t be clearer: Jesus lives to serve, while his disciples scramble to be served. But his cross isn’t just a model to follow—it’s the power that saves and heals the so-called ‘greatest.’”
Sep 22, 2024•15 min
What 'Deny Yourself' Doesn't Mean
''C-3PO says, 'We’re made to suffer; it’s our lot in life.' But Jesus’ call to 'take up your cross' flips the script. We don’t 'lay down our lives' in resigned despair but in resurrection hope..."
Sep 16, 2024•15 min
Boldness and Boundaries
It’s the 1st century. You’re a woman, a Gentile, and you’re begging a Jewish man to heal your demon-possessed child. By every standard, you’re an outsider. Yet this Jesus, who just declared all foods clean, goes further still—he makes the ‘unworthy’ worthy...
Sep 08, 2024•11 min
Coming For Your Heart
Jesus sees through the highly edited versions of ourselves and loves us anyway. No matter what lurks underneath, He draws near to heal our hearts.
Sep 01, 2024•13 min
How to Abide Today
Like the crowds, I don’t easily ‘abide.’ When I’m refused the quick fix or the easy victory, I scatter like the Twelve on their darkest day. But God is faithful even on our worst day. He’s moving toward us, even when we don’t stay
Aug 25, 2024•17 min
The God Who Keeps His Promises
"If God chose to lay down his life rather than break his promise, how much more will he stay true to you and me now that the hardest work is done?"
Aug 18, 2024•11 min
God's Compulsion is Our Liberation
C.S. Lewis and Rick Rubin share a similar truth: Lewis didn’t decide to follow Jesus—he was decided upon. Rubin’s creativity didn’t come from within—it came from without. Both reveal that “God’s compulsion is our liberation...”
Aug 11, 2024•12 min
What the Sign is Pointing To
Like the crowds following Jesus, I often seek the sign rather than what it’s pointing to. I’m fixated on loaves and fishes when the “bread of life” is right in front of me. Thankfully, Christ intervenes with “living water”—sustenance that will not perish but “springs to eternal life.”
Aug 04, 2024•11 min
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