Asking the Clergy: What inspired your best sermon?

What makes a sermon good — or even great? An uplifting message? A fascinating back story? A quote from Scripture or a classic movie? This week’s clergy reveal the origins of their most memorable homilies.

Rabbi Anchelle Perl

Director, Chabad of Mineola

To make a speech is a sacred responsibility. So my best sermons will always be the result of daily Torah study and a deep appreciation and respect for each of my congregants who make the weekly trek to shul.

My sermons are the most uplifting when I remember that the essence of a rabbi is to be a teacher, a guide for life, a moral barometer and the conscience of the community. The word rabbi means "my teacher," thus our job is to teach Torah and to teach right from wrong based on the Godly value system enshrined in the Torah — with a few jokes thrown in. I am heartened by a sermon that leaves us all dreaming about the Godly soul within each of us, and that strives to deepen our relationship with God.

Ultimately, the best homily is underscored by the teaching “One who is pleasing to his fellow men is pleasing to God. But one who is not pleasing to his fellow men is not pleasing to God.” ("Ethics of Our Fathers," Chapter 3). That said, my most uplifting sermon came from the Torah, which explains the meaning of Moses name: “For he was drawn from the water.” (Exodus 2:10) My sermon was about how we should be like Moses, who never forgot how he was rescued and set about helping others when they were in a jam.

The Rev. David Anglin

Pastor, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Amityville

On Dec. 22, 2019, I preached a sermon called “Christmas Beauty,” which emphasized a theme that I feel is often neglected. I spoke of how all beauty is rooted in God. I also pointed out how art has been enriched by the Christian belief that God was in Christ born as a visible human — and thus God can be painted and sculpted. Christ’s love brings the beauty of forgiveness and peace to our lives. Beauty washes away negativity was a recurring refrain in the sermon.

What inspired this sermon? My favorite scene from the Martin Scorsese gangster film “Goodfellas”! The gangsters are enjoying a night out at the Copacabana. Jerry Vale is onstage singing “Pretend You Don’t See Her, My Heart” — a beautiful voice and a beautiful song. As the gangsters listen to the music, all the brutality and toughness vanishes from their faces, replaced by enraptured innocence.

The “Goodfellas” scene captured my imagination because it illustrates how beauty washes away negativity. And the supreme beauty — Christ’s crucified love — washes away the negativity of our sin.

The Rev. Terrence Buckley

Rector, Christ Episcopal Church, Bellport

The event that inspired my most memorable sermon was, unfortunately, a tragic one. Several years ago, I received word that a friend of my son’s had died of a drug overdose. They had been friends since their youth and had been teammates on their school hockey team. I remembered the friend as a great player, gifted athlete and fun to be around. I had a hard time coming to grips with the loss of such a wonderful young man, whose life had been so full of promise. It didn’t seem fair.

This young man’s father and I had been talking a few months before his death, and he had asked me if I would consider offering pastoral counsel to his son. I said I would, but I quickly got on with my busy schedule and forgot about it, a decision I’ll always regret.

I soon began to learn just how pervasive the problem of opioid addiction was on Long Island. I wanted desperately for people to know that those suffering from this affliction weren’t “bad” people. They were good people who were suffering, not only from a physical sickness, but one of the spirit. I decided to preach a sermon urging my congregation to look at those addicted in a new light — not as criminals or pariahs, but as neighbors who were in desperate need of help. Soon thereafter, many others reached out to me to let me know they were experiencing similar situations in their own families and were grateful to me for highlighting the pastoral and spiritual aspects of the problem. Sometimes, tragedy can create opportunity.