Sermons from the National Cathedral: Soundings for the Journey

This collection of Samuel Lloyd’s sermons from the National Cathedral provide a clear voice of a “generous-spirited Christianity” (immediate and accessible) which is deeply needed in this new century. He sees the heart of the gospel as the gift and call to be fully human and he preaches not only with grace, but with a canny sense of the struggles of the age. His is a stealth radicalism of compassion, which comes in under the radar, often catching the reader unawares with its clarity and challenge, with its bite and risk.
These sermons are the product of a literary and generous imagination combining intellectual rigor with simple charity in assuring his readers of the abiding goodness at the heart of things. It’s as if he’s saying over and over again, “Don’t lose heart!” Good news in a time when the heart seems to have been knocked out of things. And what is at the heart of these sermons? A sense of the sacred, and affirmation of the holy, an affirmation of hope in a time when many fear, with the poet Philip Larkin, that, in the end, there is “no sight, no sound,?/No touch or taste or smell, /nothing to think with,?/Nothing to love or link with.” Lloyd preaches Good news.

Even though they were delivered from the lofty pulpit at the National Cathedral, these sermons land squarely at our feet precisely where the "rubber meets the road." They are biblically based, intellectually exciting and spiritually alive and send us on our way with new vision and hope.

In this compelling and delightful book, Samuel Lloyd has given the world an extraordinary gift. Lloyd is probably the finest preacher in the Episcopal Church; and in this book, we are provided with a faithful, generous, thoughtful account of the Christian drama. Be prepared to cry, think, and laugh. Lloyd is not simply a careful reader of Scripture, but he connects Scripture with a wider canon of literature and art. You don't simply read this book, you study it and allow it to make a real difference to way you look at the world.

Samuel Lloyd's sermons provide rich fare for hungry souls, and they bear repeated reading and reflection. Drawing frequently from the world of literature, Lloyd deftly invites his hearers to explore the vagaries of the human spirit as it encounters and is overtaken by the Divine. God's ways with us are such that the most ordinary and seemingly unexceptional can become the means of revelation.

It was my pleasure to hear many of these sermons as a member of the congregation of the National Cathedral. Samuel Lloyd offers thoughtful soundings of generous spirited Christianity to help navigate life's journey. He is clearly one of the most outstanding preachers in the country!

These sermons preached by Samuel Lloyd from the Canterbury pulpit of the National Cathedral encourage in us all a love for the Gospels and help us to find Jesus in a multitude of different situations in daily life. The illustrations which Sam uses to preach profound and challenging truths are endlessly imaginative and drawn from his great love of literature and also quarried from his own journey of faith. This book will be helpful alike to those who read it and to those of us who, like Lloyd, preach the word of God to others.

The Very Reverend Samuel Lloyd III is a stunningly gifted teacher and preacher. Powerful, relevant and immensely thought-provoking, Sermons from the National Cathedral reminds us that the basic tenets of faith, love, acceptance, compassion, respect and forgiveness have always been, and will continue to be, the means by which mankind can face even its darkest challenges. Sermons from the National Cathedral inspires, illuminates and leads the reader to a life of higher purpose and to a mission of more devoted spiritual understanding.

Lloyd was a highly effective rector at Boston’s historic Trinity Church before being elevated to the post of dean at Washington’s National Cathedral in 2005. Then, to the surprise of all concerned, he returned to Trinity as priest-in-charge in September 2011: rising in the church means more administration and less preaching, it seems. And Lloyd relished preaching. These sermons, from the cathedral’s Canterbury pulpit to an ever-shifting congregation of visitors, tourists, and dignitaries, exhibit the finest homiletics of a denomination not generally praised for great preaching. In an era that Lloyd recognized as one in which we are approaching religion in an “increasingly individualistic, more private and eclectic” manner, he sought to demonstrate “a new work of the Spirit,” responsive to our times. The sermons here are arranged thematically into three “Books”: “Reflections on Faith,” “Events and Issues” (including his sermon for President Obama’s first inauguration), and “Church Year.”A mirror of important times in the history of the Episcopal Church and the nation, these sermons will be of interest to most Episcopalians and most seminaries. With a foreword by Jon Meacham.

As someone who is both a full time pastor and preacher as well as writer I know full well how hard it is, seemingly impossible at times, to offer a word of hope, encouragement, and inspiration on a weekly basis. There are times when I feel high and dry yet I need to muster up a word about The Word to my congregation. Reading these sermons was an act of lectio divina for me, or slow divine or meditative reading. . . .If you are a pastor and in need of some inspiration or a serious Christian who likes to read and reflect upon Scripture then look no further than Sermons From the National Cathedral. You won't be disappointed.

Lloys's style is marked by clarity of exposition, tight writing, only enough quotations to suddenly arouse interest, and topicality without the subjects becoming quickly out of date. These are well-crafted works that deserve repeated reading in whole or in part, as can serve a mediations for daily prayer. ... In rereading the sermons it is possible to savor Lloyd's considerable skills as an expository writer.