Sermon for Trinity XII, August 23rd, 2026

The Psalm says that God has known us from our very creation. He knows us intimately, like a potter who knows the clay he works with, like a farmer who knows his soil. There is NOTHING that can be hidden from God. He knows the TV show we watched last night, the food we ate on Tuesday, and our innermost secrets. The truth is, there is something deeply freeing about this. We don’t have to hide ourselves from God. He sees us at our best and knows us at our worst. Again, the Psalmist says, “My bones are not hid from thee, though i be made secretly, and fashioned beneath in the earth.” 

Brother and Sisters, what is our typical response to being truly known? How many people in your life have you completely bared your soul to? Some might say a few, some might say one. Some might say that not even my wife or husband truly knows our innermost being. 

In the Celtic Christian tradition, there is a beautiful name for a person with whom we may share the deepest places of the heart: an Anam Cara, a “soul friend.”……..

Christ Healing the Deaf-Mute

 Philippe de Champaigne, c. 1645–1665, oil on canvas. Public domain; image via Wikimedia Commons.