tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60204712024-03-17T14:00:31.413-04:00Reverend Ref +Random thoughts and sermons of an average, transplanted PNW priest serving a large parish in a mid-size, semi-coastal city on the right. I might even throw in some football here and there.Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.comBlogger2692125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-32516721136764362032024-03-17T14:00:00.001-04:002024-03-17T14:00:00.135-04:00Sermon; Lent 5B; John 12:20-33<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some
Greeks want to see Jesus, so they reach out to Philip.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Philip then goes to Andrew, and they both go
tell Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And then Jesus begins
talking about his impending death.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">At
first blush, this seems odd at best.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Telling them that, no, he was sorry, he had a full calendar and couldn’t
see them would have made sense.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But the
response Jesus gives just makes you scratch your head.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This would be like Monica telling me there
was someone in the office to see me, and I replied, “It’s time for the snow to
fall.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For if one flake falls, no one
pays attention; but if many snowflakes fall, they create a new heart and allow
people to share resources.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
I’ve said, and as you and many others have noticed, the Gospel of John is . . .
</span><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>different</i></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are
different time stamps.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There is a
different feel.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are different
focal points.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And it often seems like
Jesus is thinking and talking on one level, while everyone else is thinking and
talking on another level, as is the case today.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The unnamed Greeks, Philip, and Andrew are talking about seeing Jesus
like we would probably talk about seeing a person we’ve wanted to meet for a
long time.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus is somewhere else.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Unless
a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain;
but if it dies, it bears much fruit.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this
world will keep it for eternal life.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
you want to see Jesus, look here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
the Lenten devotional, </span><u style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Living Well Through Lent</u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">, there was a section
called, “Forgiveness and Letting Go.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This particular section reminded us that in order to practice
forgiveness we need to let go of control, resentment, self-righteousness, and
other things that create a barrier to forgiveness.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When we work on forgiveness, we are really
working on changing our heart.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Change
and growth often (always?) require letting go of what was.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We let go of some things and we take on other
things.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
author mentioned an old joke, “I want to grow, but I don’t want to
change.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another way of saying that is,
“I want our church to grow, but I don’t want to give up my pew.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
the context of forgiveness, we let go.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We let go of control and resentment, we let go of being controlled by
the hurt and pain done to us.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We let go
of what was and become a new person.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
the context of the Church, we also evaluate, or reevaluate, who we are and what
we want to accomplish.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are some
things which we will choose to continue, but there are probably some things of which
we need to let go.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We need to face the,
“We’ve never done it that way before,” and the, “We’ve always done it that
way,” arguments.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sometimes it’s okay to
continue that way, but sometimes not.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All
of everything I’ve been speaking of is about change.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We change through our ability to
forgive.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We change in order to find new
ways to minister.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our baptism changed
us.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our Lenten disciplines change
us.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Christ’s death and resurrection
changed him.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It also changed the
world.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It should change us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Greeks who wanted to see Jesus wanted to see the superstar of their day.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They wanted to see the man who changed water
into wine.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They wanted to see the man
who raised the dead to life.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They wanted
to see the man who made the lame walk and the one who fed the 5000.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But those things are only a part of who Jesus
is.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus is also the Son of God, second
person of the Trinity, the eternal Word, who sits at the Father’s right
hand.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He is God incarnate.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you want to see Jesus, you not only look
for prophet, healer, and miracle worker, but you also need to look for him who
died, was buried, rose again, and ascended to heaven.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you want to see Jesus, find the grain that
falls to earth and dies.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
grain falls to earth, dies, is changed, and rises in a new form, bringing forth
much fruit.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Likewise, for us to see
Jesus completely, we must also allow parts of ourselves to die so that we may
be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those
who love their life will lose it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe
this is a recognition that those who love their life in Christ Jesus are
willing to lose those parts of their lives that keep them separated from
God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sir,
we wish to see Jesus.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You
wish to see Jesus?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Very well.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What part of your life are you willing to let
fall to the earth?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What part of your
life are you willing to lose, to let die, and to change, in order to see Jesus?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span> </p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-45090662667007123292024-03-10T14:00:00.001-04:002024-03-10T14:00:00.150-04:00Sermon; Lent 4B 2024; John 3:14-21<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today’s
gospel story comes from the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The first part of that conversation is the
whole “born from above” or “born again” thing.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And then Jesus begins referencing his crucifixion and the purpose of his
incarnation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As sort of an explanation
for his crucifixion, he recalls the story of Moses and the infestation of
poisonous serpents among the Israelites, which we heard earlier.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">First
off, let me just say that the story of the poisonous serpents is one of the
most, if not the most, bizarre stories in the Bible.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The people complain about Moses and God, God
sends poisonous serpents that bit and killed the Israelites, they said sorry,
God tells Moses to craft a bronze serpent on a pole, and whoever looks at it
after being bit will live.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s a weird
story.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
it will continue to be weird because I’m not going to talk about this
story.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Neither am I going to talk about
the similarities of the crucifixion with Jesus being raised up on a cross to
give life like the bronze serpent was raised up on a pole to give life.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Instead, I want to talk about why Jesus came
into the world.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">According to John 3:16,
for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who
believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Additionally, God did not send the Son to
condemn the world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
want to go back to the temptation story from Luke.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In that story, Jesus was faced with three
temptations:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">stones to bread, bowing
down to Satan, and jumping from the top of the temple.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The second one had an important detail in it;
any ideas what that was?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was that all
the kingdoms of the world had been given over to Satan for him to do with as he
pleased.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is one of the places where
we get the idea that the world has gone to hell in a handbasket, or the idea
that we are IN the world, not OF the world.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or any number of other theologies that state the world is a bad place
and we just need to get to heaven to be okay.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Seeing
the world as a bad or evil place ruled by Satan will lead to other problems,
not the least of which is religious fanaticism.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Religion, any religion, can find fault with anything.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Religious fanatics will then use their
religion to stamp out, dominate, and demonize people and ideas they don’t like.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Everything
from the fight to keep slavery, to laws that keep women under control, to
prohibition, to book bans, to Jim Jones, to the Jewish and Native American
holocausts, and more are driven by the belief that the world is evil and we
must exert our religious authority to wipe it out.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">People spend a whole lot of time condemning
things and people they don’t like.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Don’t
get me wrong, there are certainly things that need to be condemned – child
abuse, human trafficking, spousal abuse, and animal abuse are at the top of
that list.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is not a
free-for-all.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But not everything you
don’t like is evil.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Which
brings me back to the temptation of Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Satan said all the kingdoms of the world had been given to him.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But whose were they to begin with?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the beginning, God created.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When you get right down to it, everything
belongs to God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus had no need to
receive them from Satan because they were/are his all along.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And if they are God’s, do they need to be
condemned?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Gospel of John says,
“No.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God
did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the
world might be saved.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Granted,
John does use condemnation language, but we must be careful when looking at
it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For John, condemnation is a refusal
to accept the gift of new life found in Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If a person accepts that gift, they will receive the gift of eternal
life, the bread of heaven, and living water as presented in Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If a person refuses that gift, then they
remain on the outside, in the outer darkness so to speak, and they have
condemned themselves to death.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">John’s
condemnation is the self-condemnation of refusing the gift Christ offers.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They have chosen darkness over light.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p>T</o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">hat
condemnation doesn’t come from God or the Son – “God did not send the Son into
the world to condemn the world” – and it certainly doesn’t, and shouldn’t, come
from us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
Jesus himself didn’t come to condemn the world, what makes anyone else think
it’s our job to condemn others?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s
almost like some people think they have been given authority to rule over the
world.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But the only one who said he
would grant that authority was Satan.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So
. . . who are those people who are busy condemning others really following?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
are not here to wield earthly power.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
are not here to force other people to bend or bow to our religious
interpretations.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are not here to
create a theocracy.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And we are certainly
not here to condemn others.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
we are here to do is to offer the love of God as exemplified in Christ to the
world around us in thought, word, and deed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
offer the love of God in thought – how we think about people shapes how we
speak and act toward them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
offer the love of God in our words – how we speak to and about people shapes
how others see how God shapes us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
offer the love of God in our actions – how we act toward others speaks volumes
about how we see them as people of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
us here at Saint Luke’s, we do these things through our interactions in the
Community, through our acts of Compassion, through our faithful Contemplation,
and through our involvement in the Culture.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
we are followers of Christ, then we are not called to condemn people.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Neither are we called to preach a message of
turn or burn.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But like Christ, we are
called to love sacrificially and be the light that points to the way of
life.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Christ did not come to condemn the
world.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What makes anyone else think it’s
their job to do so?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-91879424595100240212024-02-25T14:00:00.001-05:002024-02-25T14:00:00.236-05:00Sermon; Lent 2B; Mark 8:31-38<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Last
week on the first Sunday in Lent we heard Mark’s version of Jesus in the
wilderness and his encounter with Satan.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I know people don’t like it when I do this, but . . . what do you
remember about that gospel passage and/or the sermon?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Primarily
looking for:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Satan never left</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">,
and/or </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus was tempted all his life</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
Jesus we have the perfect example of what a perfect relationship with God looks
like.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This includes (among other things)
regular prayer, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, freeing those in bondage,
and treating minorities as equals.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It includes
prioritizing kingdom goals over and above worldly goals.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It means recognizing that the world will want
to silence you by any means necessary, up to and including death.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus knew this was where his path would
lead, and he understood the cross was part of his divine destiny.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He
understands this from the beginning. So he knew his destiny didn’t include
turning rocks to bread, leaping from the top of the temple, or to bow down to
Satan in exchange for worldly power.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just
because he COULD do those things doesn’t mean he needed to do them.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And, as I said last week, his temptations
didn’t end in the wilderness, they kept coming for the rest of his life, just
like us.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We see this in today’s gospel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today’s
gospel passage is preceded by the feeding of the 4000, an encounter with
Pharisees, trying to teach the DUH-sciples, healing a blind man, and asking the
twelve, “Who do people say that I am?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s
here where today’s passage takes place.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After
Peter acknowledges him as the Messiah, Jesus gives the first of his passion
predictions.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He lets the disciples in on
where his divine destiny will lead – to the cross.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Peter, however, takes issue with this.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">One
of the things that makes Peter so appealing is his relatability to us.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He’s impetuous.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He’s determined.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He’s earnest.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And he often has a short-term thought process.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
he rebukes Jesus for talking about his death and resurrection, it’s because
Peter cannot yet see what Jesus is all about.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s because Peter wants something different.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Peter, like a lot of people then and far too
many people today, wanted a militaristic, power-wielding, mighty conqueror.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He wanted a Messiah who would crush his
enemies and install the right people as powerful overlords.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And in order to accomplish his version of a
new world order, Peter takes on the role of Satan.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That
name, Satan, isn’t a proper noun, but is an adjective.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It doesn’t name the devil, but describes the
role of the adversary, someone who is opposed to.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We see a little of this today when someone
says, “Let me play devil’s advocate.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So
Peter takes on the role of adversary.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
in that role he tries to tempt Jesus to go down a different path.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The path Peter pushes is, in effect, the same
one Jesus faced in the wilderness:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">to
become politically powerful and use his influence to get people to revolt in
his name.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How
many times did Jesus bang his head on a wall and wonder if this was all worth
it?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How many times after hearing an
adoring crowd cry out for him did he think about using his power to establish a
larger following?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The temptation to both
quit and become great are very real.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Temptation
never left Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Temptation never
leaves us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
Jesus says, “Get behind me, Satan!” he is not saying Peter is the devil
incarnate.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He is recognizing that Peter
is playing the role of the adversary.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He
is recognizing that Peter is tempting him to change paths.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What path is Peter tempting him to take?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The path of worldly power.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Get
behind me, Satan!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For you are setting
your mind not on divine things, but on human things.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
is not banishing Peter.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He is not
evicting him from the group.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus isn’t
even accusing Peter of Satanic thoughts.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What Jesus </span><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>IS</i></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> doing is pointing out that Peter is, at that
moment, consumed by human thoughts.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He is
accused of putting human goals over and above kingdom goals.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And this, quite honestly, is the same rebuke
we also need to hear.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The command to, “Get
behind me” is a command to both Peter and us that we are to follow Christ, not
to lead him where we want him to go.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
is always the temptation we face:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">To
turn Christ into our follower, to lead Christ to places we desire, to equate
worldly power with the goals of God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
challenge we face is to submit our will to the will of Christ, to allow Christ to
lead us, and to strive for kingdom goals not worldly goals.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
story, and this season of Lent, reminds us that the path of discipleship
involves self-denial, servanthood, and carrying the cross of Christ.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">May
we never confuse personal ambition with Christian discipleship.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-7769019047570398612024-02-18T13:30:00.003-05:002024-02-18T13:30:59.614-05:00Sermon; Lent 1B; Mark 1:9-15<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
the synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke – Jesus has a wilderness
experience where he is tempted by Satan/the devil.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">John doesn’t have a wilderness temptation
story because he has a completely different viewpoint; but the other three do.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
three gospels agree that Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days after his
baptism. They also agree that he was tempted during that time.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Matthew and Luke tell us he fasted during
those forty days, Mark does not.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Matthew
says Jesus was tempted to turn stones to bread, prove he was God’s Son by
jumping off the temple, and to receive ultimate earthly power by worshiping the
devil.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Luke reverses the second and
third.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mark just tells us Jesus was
tempted by Satan.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And in both Matthew
and Luke, we are told the devil left Jesus after his temptations failed.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Luke gives us a foreshadowing of things to
come when he says, “he departed from him until an opportune time.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bum buh buh bummmm.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mark,
however, doesn’t mention the devil departing.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is why the temptation story in this gospel is my favorite
temptation story:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">because the devil and
temptation never leave Jesus.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
the other two gospels it’s easy to rationalize away or poo-poo the
temptations.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Turning rocks into bread is
just a magic trick designed to make you popular.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Throwing yourself off the top of the temple
is just stupid, because we all know God doesn’t work that way.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And bowing down to the devil in order to gain
ultimate worldly power – well, let’s just say that some people are better at
not doing that than others.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But that’s
it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s all there is and then Jesus
isn’t bothered again and goes through the rest of the gospel story being Jesus.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
in Mark, the devil never leaves him.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He
is tempted every day until his death; not just with those big three from
Matthew and Luke, but with other everyday temptations.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This makes the line from today’s Proper
Preface, “He lived as one of us, yet without sin,” that much more meaningful.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">One
of the reasons for the Incarnation was so we could have an example of godly
living to which we could relate.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
embodied a perfect relationship between God and man.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I cannot attain that level of perfection,
nobody can.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But I take some comfort in
knowing that the fully human part of Jesus faced the same daily temptations as
I do.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There
are places where Jesus tells demons and those whom he has healed to remain
silent.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’m tempted to tell everyone I
know to spread the word about how wonderful I am.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But spreading the good news of the kingdom
shouldn’t be driven by popularity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
the gospel of Mark, the disciples are often portrayed negatively or as not
getting it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have a friend who is fond
of saying, “They’re called DUH-sciples for a reason.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How many times was Jesus tempted to yell at
them, call them names, or outright fire them because of their lack of
understanding?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
were his temptations when everyone but the people of his hometown believed
him?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What were his temptations when his
fame was such that everyone wanted a piece of him?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Was he tempted to be snarky during the
feeding of the 4000?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What were his
temptations at being asked ridiculous questions?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What were his temptations before Pilate or
while on the cross?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The list can go on.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
doctrine of Jesus being fully human and fully divine can be hard to grasp, and
even hard to accept.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve pointed out to
people places in Scripture where I think Jesus made a mistake, and boy, people
don’t like that.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But mistakes are not
sins.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And if we’re going to proclaim
Jesus as fully human and fully divine, then there are probably times he made
mistakes as a fully human being.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Which
then leads me to think Mark was right:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">the devil never left Jesus and continued to tempt him throughout his
ministry.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That
sentence in the Proper Preface comes from Hebrews 4:15 which says, “we have [a high
priest] who in every respect has been tested (tempted) as we are, yet without
sin.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In short, the author of Hebrews
puts forth the full nature of Christ – fully human, fully divine, high priest
chosen by God, tempted in every way as we are and yet without sin.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So,
what can we say about Jesus?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We can say
he was fully human.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We can say he made
mistakes.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We can say he was tempted
every day of his life.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But if we stop
there we aren’t seeing the whole picture.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">To get the whole picture we also need to pair the fully human person
with the divinity of the Second Person of the Godhead.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He
made mistakes, but he learned to be better.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He was tempted, but he saw how that would separate him from God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">His humanity saw the world as it was, his
divinity saw the world as it should be.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">His human side submitted to his divine side, and his divine side was
willing to become a servant.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
Lent we are asked to make a right beginning.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if our right beginning was to incorporate all of Jesus into our
lives?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let us recognize our temptations
as that which separate us from God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let
us begin to see the brokenness of the world around us and work to fill that
brokenness with the healing divinity of God’s presence.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let us put aside our selfish and fragile egos
in favor of proclaiming the kingdom of God and serving those whom the world has
harmed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
are in the wilderness with Jesus being tempted every step of the way, like he
was.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let us then make a right beginning
and never tire of fighting temptation and sin as we work for kingdom goals.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-72116139100000013382024-02-14T19:35:00.000-05:002024-02-14T19:35:02.372-05:00Sermon; Ash Wednesday 2024<p><span style="background-color: white;">Like it or not, we live in a world of social media. </span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter,
Mastodon, and I don't know what all else, is happily taking in the lives we
give them. </span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">Photos of our kids and
grandkids, pictures and snippets of us and our spouse, along with images of
everything from our vacations to restaurant meals, all grace one or more of
these social media accounts.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">Some of
these posts are fun, some are intentionally deceptive, and some are designed
for self-promotion.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;">Some posts are because you want to share the beauty and
experience of a place you know most people won’t get to. I have a friend who was recently in India and
she posted some amazing photos during her trip.
Several years ago, Joelene and I took a group of high schoolers from
Maryland over to the Oregon coast, and we posted pictures for people to see
what they were doing in that beautiful part of the world. Others are constantly posting photos or
videos of themselves and their partner or spouse. For some people, social media posts are all
about the clicks or the likes or how many comments they can generate. Regardless of the reason, we ultimately post
pictures because we want people to see them; otherwise, why bother to post
pictures?</p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">Now there's nothing wrong with doing this. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joelene and I have done it, and there are
several people here who have also done it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, when it comes to posting pictures of you
and your partner or spouse, I ran across something a while ago that basically
said, “Couples who post lots of pictures on social media tend to be less happy
than couples who don't.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">This, of course, is a generalization and doesn't account
for all couples, but the point it was making was that social media couples are
busy spending their time trying to look happy, while couples who post fewer
pictures of themselves tend to be happier because they are busy spending their
time actually working on their relationship and living their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, they are too busy living
their lives to continually post pictures.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;">What does posting pictures of you and your partner/spouse,
or not posting, have to do with Lent? Maybe
nothing. Maybe everything.</p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">In Lent we are called to a season of self-examination and
repentance, prayer, fasting, and self-denial. Lent is a highly introspective and highly
personal season. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a season where we
look to place God where God belongs in our lives – first. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a time we replace overeating with fasting
to remind us of those who don't have enough. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a time we cut back on our consumption and
give what we would have spent on ourselves to those in need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a time we replace gathering up with giving
away. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a time we replace social media
or computer games with reading and meditating on God's holy word. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a time we recognize how and where we’ve
sinned against God and others and work towards repentance and forgiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a time we replace self-centered desires
with God-centered activities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">Lent is a time we focus on our relationship with God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a time to return to the Lord, rending
our hearts and not our clothing, as Joel reminds us. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a time we follow Jesus' admonition to
focus on doing things in secret so that only God sees what we are doing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lent isn't about showing off our piety to
others; it's about deepening our relationship with God, and that is generally
something that is done behind the scenes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">Which brings me back to those social media couples who
continuously post their happy photos. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
the report I mentioned is correct, that couples who post lots of pictures are
less happy than those who don't, then I think there's a corollary between that
and Ash Wednesday/Lent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">Joel says to return to the Lord, and to rend our hearts not
our clothing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Joel’s time, you could
publicly show off your piety by tearing your clothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It advertised to others that you were doing
something for God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also a form of
self-promotion that said, “Look at how pious I am.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">Joel tells us to rend our hearts, not our clothing, because
what we do is not only between us and God, but tearing our clothing doesn’t actually
lead us to change our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus tells
us to practice our piety before God in secret, not before others publicly, for
the same reason.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">The look-at-me culture of social media is not a new
phenomenon, it goes back to the time of Joel and Jesus. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trying to convince other people, the public in
general, or your social media followers, that you're happy doesn't lead to
happiness. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What leads to happiness is to
work on the relationship with your partner or spouse. . . or God . . . behind
the scenes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spending quality time on
your relationship through conversation, mutually satisfying activities, and
prayer leads to a strong, healthy relationship and, ultimately, happiness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">This Lent, don't proclaim to the world what pious acts
you're performing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, work on them
in secret, changing your heart over time, and drawing ever closer to God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-24273443697273164982024-02-11T14:00:00.001-05:002024-02-11T14:00:00.134-05:00Sermon; Epiphany Last 2024; Mark 9:2-9<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today
is the Last Sunday after the Epiphany.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The whole season of Epiphany is based in revelation and
manifestation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">From the wisemen to his
baptism to the calling of the disciples to the demons recognizing who he is,
this season is designed to open our eyes to who Jesus is and how we can
manifest him in our own lives.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And it
culminates today with the Transfiguration.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
this story today Jesus takes three of his closest disciples up the mountain where
he is transfigured, meets with Moses and Elijah, everyone is overshadowed by a
cloud, and they all hear a voice saying, “This is my Son, listen to him.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My question in all of this has always been,
“How did they know it was Moses and Elijah?” because I’m sure Moses didn’t look
like Charlton Heston in </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Ten Commandments</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe they each had one of those,
“HELLO!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My Name Is:_________” stickers
attached to their clothes.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But probably
not.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Either
way, Jesus is seen talking with Moses and Elijah, and Peter interrupts to say,
“This is great!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We should put up three
tents, one for each of you.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I don’t
know how long Peter thought they were going to be there, but however long he
thought, he was wrong.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There
are two things in particular I want you to notice about this story.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
first is that you can’t stay on the mountain.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’m sure we’ve all had at least one mountaintop experience; an
experience so holy, so moving, so special that we say, “If only I could stay
here for ever.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But reality is that we
can’t stay there for ever.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
don’t hear this in today’s gospel passage, but if you read the rest of the
chapter, it’s clear that Jesus has work to do.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">First he heals a young boy from an unclean spirit.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Following that he talks to his disciples
about being a childlike servant to everyone.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The chapter closes out with a discussion on the dangers of exclusivity
and a warning about being a stumbling block to others.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
message is clear – we cannot stay in a safe, comfortable place worshiping the
Lord.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We need to get off our mountain,
proclaim the good news, and serve those in need.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
second is Jesus’ connection to Moses and Elijah.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Moses was the great lawgiver.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He also went up a mountain, was overshadowed
by the holy presence of God, and experienced a transfiguration of sorts as he
had to cover his face before the Israelites.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Elijah is counted as the greatest prophet of Israel, remaining faithful
to God while everyone else deserted him in favor of popular public
opinion.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Moses and Elijah represent the
Law and the Prophets.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
us Christians, we hold that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the
Prophets.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In Matthew, Jesus says he came
to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In both
Matthew and Luke, he says the Law and the Prophets were until John came, and he
is now here to proclaim the good news of the kingdom.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In Luke, he says that he is the fulfillment
of the Law and the Prophets.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And in
John, Philip declares to Nathanael that they have found him of whom the Law and
the Prophets wrote.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For us, Jesus is
intimately connected to the Law and the Prophets.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
mistake Peter made – and it’s easy to say this with 2000 years of hindsight –
but the mistake Peter made was in keeping them separate.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Let’s make three dwelling places – one for
you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">On
one hand, this makes perfect sense.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Three of the greatest figures of the faith are gathered together, so why
not offer to give each of them their own VIP tent?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For us Christians, however, this is the wrong
way to look at it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
I said earlier, for us Christians, we hold that Jesus is the fulfillment of the
Law and the Prophets.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In him and through
him all things are fulfilled.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
embodiment of the Law and the Prophets is found in him and through him.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He is inseparable from the rest.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is why making three tents is the wrong
approach – because Christ contains all.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
does Peter’s response to seeing Jesus, Moses, and Elijah on the mountain and
wanting to build three tents have to do with us today?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just this:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">we are still behaving like Peter.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Like
Peter wanted to separate Jesus from Moses and Elijah, from the Law and the
Prophets, we also tend to separate Jesus from particular areas of our lives.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">On
Sunday we proclaim Jesus as part of the Triune Godhead.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We state that through him all things were
made.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our baptismal promises and
covenant state that we will renounce Satan, evil powers that corrupt and
destroy God’s creation, and sinful desires that separate us from God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We promise to continue in the life of the
Church, repent, to seek and serve Christ in all persons, and to strive for
justice and peace.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
then, Monday through Saturday, we slander those whom we dislike, excuse our own
bad behavior because “they” deserved it, pursue our own desires over the needs
of others, and generally do what we want because all that Sunday stuff really
isn’t applicable in the world today.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
do exactly what Peter wanted to do – we put Jesus in a separate tent from the
rest of our lives.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We compartmentalize Sunday
behavior and expectations from how we live Monday through Saturday.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
story of the Transfiguration isn’t just about seeing the glory of Jesus
revealed up on a mountain.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The story of
the Transfiguration is also about us.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How are we being changed?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How are
our lives being transfigured in such a way that we reveal Christ to the world
around us?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Are we listening to Jesus on
a daily basis, or are we only listening on Sundays?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
is the Beloved Son, Second Person of the Trinity – listen to him, every day.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-3009100360081854102024-02-04T14:00:00.001-05:002024-02-04T14:00:00.251-05:00Sermon; Epiphany 5B; Mark 1:29-39<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Season of Epiphany is a season of revelation and manifestation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All of our gospel readings during this season
are geared to revealing who Jesus is and making that known.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today
the revelation of who Jesus is is found in one particular spot.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You could say that Jesus is revealed in the
healing of Simon’s mother-in-law and those of the whole city who were brought
to him.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But those healings don’t
necessarily reveal Jesus to be the Son of God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Among other things, faith healers were common in that day and age, as
well as the fact that both Peter and Paul healed people, and they
weren’t/aren’t the Son of God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
revelation of who Jesus is actually comes from the demons:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“he would not permit the demons to speak,
because they knew him.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus is
revealed as the Son of God not to those around him or those whom he heals, but
to the readers of Mark’s gospel.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
question becomes, why do the readers get to know who Jesus is through demons,
but not those around him?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are a
few answers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
first is that we readers already know the story (or stories, if you include the
other gospels).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sticking with Mark, we
already know about the baptism and voice from heaven.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We already know about his many healings.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We already know about the calming of the
sea.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We already know about the
Resurrection.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We know all that stuff, so
it’s no surprise to read that demons know who he is.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
the people of his day, however, it was not yet time.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As Jesus says over in the Gospel of John, “My
hour has not yet come.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus has a
mission to get to, as evidenced by telling his disciples he needed to go to the
neighboring town.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He could not afford to
have demons jumping the gun and announcing who he was.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another
reason he didn’t allow the demons to speak was because, even though they knew
who he was, they are still demons, and you really can’t trust demons.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the original “Bedazzled” movie, Dudley
Moore’s character is in love with a co-worker, although she doesn’t know
that.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In his attempt to at least get a
date, he makes a pact with the devil, who grants him seven wishes.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
one of those wishes, Dudley asks that he and the woman of his dreams be
together in the country, away from all distractions, with no other men around,
so there would be no competition, surrounded by children, because he wanted a
big family with her.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The devil grants
his wish by making them both nuns in a rural convent that takes in orphans.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or
think about Eve and the serpent.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
serpent begins by asking a false question:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He eventually convinces her she won’t die,
her eyes will be opened, and she will be like God, knowing good from evil.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Theologian Walter Brueggemann posits that the
conversation between Eve and the serpent is about moving the goalposts.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That is, God presents a GIVEN (don’t eat from
the tree), which is turned into an OPTION (it’s really not all that bad).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This was a way to get around what is clearly
stated.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In today’s terms, we might call
it rationalizing bad behavior.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
both these examples, the antagonist uses what is desired or known as the
starting point, but quickly finds ways to undermine the original intent.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As one ancient Church father said:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The demons make use of the truth as a kind of
bait.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And as both Augustine and
Athanasius pointed out, confessing Jesus as Son of God and the Holy One of God
is meaningless if not done in love.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So
allowing the demons to speak would have opened up a whole new can of worms
which Jesus wasn’t quite ready to deal with.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
is important for us as we work to reveal Christ in this Season of Epiphany and
as we work to make 2024 an Epiphany year.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s
important because we must always remember that love is the foundation of
everything God-related.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Love God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Love your neighbor.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How we treat the disenfranchised, the alien,
the hungry, homeless, and sick should all be based in love.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As John says, “Those who say, ‘I love God’
and hate others are liars.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And that
list goes on.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just
because you know who Jesus is does not mean that you love and follow him.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This certainly applies to the demons, but it
also applies to others as well.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">One big
“for instance” comes from those who passionately quote scenes from Revelation
that depict Jesus coming as a military conqueror striking down nations and
stamping out those who oppose him with fury and wrath.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They delight not only in portraying Jesus as
their conquering hero, but they delight in watching the bloody destruction of
their enemies.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is not only a
selected misreading of Revelation, it also totally ignores and marginalizes
God’s message of love.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Viewing
Jesus this way allows one to ignore his mandate to feed the hungry, clothe the
naked, and welcome the stranger and alien.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It allows one to ignore his example of not judging others for who they
are.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It allows one to ignore his mandate
to love, not condemn.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It allows one to
make an idol founded upon your own biases and hatreds rather than following and
acting upon the actual teachings and examples of Jesus.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
demons know who Jesus was, but they weren’t/aren’t interested in proclaiming
and following his loving example.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
demons were/are only interested in proclaiming a Jesus whom they can control
and use to manipulate others.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Plenty
of people know who Jesus is.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Plenty of
people also try to use Jesus to gain power, to control people, to rule over
people, and to punish people.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those,
quite frankly, are demonic actions that have no basis in the knowledge and love
of God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Additionally, those demonic
words and actions should be silenced as the demons themselves were silenced.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
are in the Season of Epiphany.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are in
the season of revelation and manifestation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">May we work to reveal Christ to the world in a way that doesn’t batter
people with a vengeful and vindictive lord, but shelters them from storms of
all kinds.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And then, here in this safe
and loving space, may they learn the truth of Christ, gaining the strength to
go and do likewise.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-59381370777637631772024-01-28T14:00:00.001-05:002024-01-28T14:00:00.340-05:00Sermon; Epiphany 4B; Mark 1:21-28<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
are in the Season of Epiphany.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Over the
past four weeks, what have you learned or what is something that has stood out
to you?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Answers</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let
me recap a few things that stand out to me.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We celebrate the Feast of Epiphany on January 6, the day we remember
when non-Jews traveled to Bethlehem to pay homage to Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We remember the Baptism of Jesus on the
following Sunday.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We hear about the call
of Philip, Andrew, Simon, James, and John, on the two successive Sundays after
that.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And today we hear that demons
recognize Jesus while people are trying to figure out who he is.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All of these stories are about telling us who
Jesus is.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All of these events have to do
with revelation and manifestation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
are in the Season of Epiphany.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are in
the season of revelation and manifestation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Robin Williams once did a skit on the top ten reasons to be an
Episcopalian.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Number five on that list
was that the church year is color coded:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">blue, white, green, purple, red, white, and green again. Each season has
its own color for a specific reason.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Season of Epiphany is green because it’s about growth.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We grow into the knowledge that Jesus is the
revealed embodiment of God incarnate.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
bring this up because, as we traverse the seasons of the year, it just might be
that Epiphany is the one season appropriate for the entire year.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In one way or another, Christ is being revealed
in Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and beyond.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Christ is always being revealed to us.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We should be looking to reveal Christ to others and to manifest him in
our own lives.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our lives, and the whole
year, are simply one, long Season of Epiphany – a season of revelation and
manifestation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
about an hour we will gather for our annual meeting.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We will share a meal and we will do the
business of the parish.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">To be honest, I
don’t know anyone who gets excited about annual meetings – well, I know one,
but she gets excited about strange stuff.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Annual meetings are often boring.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They can be too long.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In every
parish I’ve been in, someone always has a habit of taking the microphone and
won’t – stop – talking.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sometimes people
argue.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And every so often people yell at
the priest for things done and undone, for using the wrong wine at Communion, or
for any number of misdoings, real or perceived.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ah
yes, the annual meeting where we gather to proclaim the love of God and work to
reveal Christ to the world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Actually,
that is exactly what the annual meeting should be about – how we proclaim and
reveal Christ to the world around us.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
will certainly look back and review all we have done in 2023; and in our looking
back, we can use that as our starting point for 2024.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
are in the Season of Epiphany, the season of revelation and manifestation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our Patron Saint is Saint Luke.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He is traditionally known as a physician and
evangelist.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here’s a question for you:
how many books of the bible did Luke write, and can you name them?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And no, this is not a trick question.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
author we know as Luke, and the person we have claimed as our Patron Saint,
wrote two books – the gospel bearing his name and the Acts of the
Apostles.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is important for us to
know as we move forward.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s
important because in the Gospel according to Luke, we are given a record of how
Jesus is revealed to be God incarnate.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Through his birth, baptism, interactions, healings, miracles, and
eventual resurrection, the revelation of Jesus as Son of God is woven
throughout the gospel story.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s
important because in the Acts of the Apostles, we are given a record of how
Jesus is manifested to the world through the Church.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Through the actions, interactions, miracles,
martyrdoms, and witness of the early Church, the knowledge and love of God, and
of his Son Jesus is manifested to the world around them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
are in the Season of Epiphany.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are in
the season of revelation and manifestation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our patron, Saint Luke, wrote about these two things in his gospel and
the book of Acts.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Church seasons come
and go, and we mark each season with appropriate celebrations and
liturgies.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">While those are all important
and we should pay attention to each, what if we looked at all of 2024 as an
Epiphany season?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if we actively
looked for times and opportunities to reveal Christ to those around us?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if we manifested Christ in our own lives
in such a way that people took notice?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Christ
is alive and well, but it’s up to us to make him known.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I challenge you to see 2024 as one, long
Season of Epiphany.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I challenge you to reveal
and manifest Christ in such a way that causes people to come and see what this
is all about.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-15976599230783500212024-01-14T14:00:00.003-05:002024-01-14T14:00:00.128-05:00Sermon; Epiphany 2B; John 1:43-51<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today’s
gospel story is a story of evangelism.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When I talk about evangelism, Episcopalians tend to get nervous.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe that’s because we think evangelism
means going door-to-door telling people about the Episcopal church.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe we think it means telling people the
story of our spiritual journey.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe we
think we need to tell people why they need Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or maybe we think it’s about telling people
they’re going to hell if they don’t change their ways.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let’s be honest – we have an uneasy
relationship with evangelism because we’ve seen how other people do it, and
we’re not like that.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But here’s the
thing – the only way the Church (in general) and this parish (in particular)
will begin to grow is through evangelism.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Church will grow if we are intentional about living into our mission.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">First and foremost, our mission is to restore
all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Within that we teach people how to be
disciples.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And in that teaching, we
focus on becoming centers of Community, Compassion, Contemplation, and Culture.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All
this falls from the tree of evangelism.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately, evangelism has become a taboo word or topic lo these past
many years.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s because we have
images of people on the street waving their big floppy bibles and yelling at
us.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or images of people being forced to
go door-to-door asking if they’ve found Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or images of people proclaiming the right way to believe to avoid
burning in hell for all eternity.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
that is not necessarily evangelism.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
would argue that that actually does more harm than good.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Evangelism,
although primarily associated with Church, can also be seen/used as campaigning
for a cause.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For instance, when I was a
football official, I was an evangelist for that hobby.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I talked to anyone I knew who was in decent
shape and who liked football about becoming an official.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Evangelism,
then, is talking to people about joining you in something you love.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If we’re talking about something we love, why
are we using evangelism to terrorize people or make them feel awful about
themselves?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s not evangelism.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Years
ago I heard a story about Episcopalians and faith that went something like
this:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">someone asked an Episcopalian what
they believed.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Episcopalian thought
for a minute.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They wondered if they
should talk about how much of the Bible they hear in church and that they are a
“bible-believing” church.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They wondered
if they should recite the Nicene Creed as a summary of the faith.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They wondered if they should recite the
Baptismal Covenant to show how they put their faith into action.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They wondered if they should talk about how
bread and wine are changed into the Real Presence of Christ during Holy
Communion.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or maybe, they thought, they
should talk about how the entire service is a place of Holy Mystery where we are
drawn into the presence of God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finally
they simply said, “Come and see.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That
is evangelism.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That is inviting someone
to come, participate, and learn about what you love.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
you notice, this is exactly how Jesus and those with him do evangelism.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When Jesus meets Philip, he doesn’t yell at
him.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He doesn’t hit him over the head
with a big floppy Torah scroll.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He
doesn’t tell him he’s going to burn in hell for incorrect beliefs. He simply
says, “Follow me.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Earlier in the
Chapter when he meets two people who want to know where he’s staying, he says,
“Come and see.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today
when Philip tells Nathanael about Jesus, Philip says, “Come and see.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And when Jesus is talking to Nathanael, he
tells him that he will see great things.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
asks Philip to follow him because he wants to show him what a life in perfect
relationship with God could look like.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Philip tells Nathanael, “Come and see,” because he’s excited about how
this man has the ability to change lives and he wants to share that good
news.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When Jesus tells Nathanael he will
see great things, he isn’t necessarily talking about miracles (there are only
seven in the gospel), but more about how Jesus will be revealed as the Son of
God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
is how evangelism is supposed to work.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It works by inviting people to experience what you experience.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It works by wanting to share what you love.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It works by leading people and showing them
why this is important.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Come
and see” is a much more effective evangelism strategy than, “Turn or burn.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
for “Come and see” to work, we have to know a few things.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">First,
what is it about Jesus that you find compelling?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You need to know that before you ask anyone
to join you on this journey.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Second,
what is it about this place – St. Luke’s and the Episcopal church – that draws
you in and makes you want to stay?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">TEC
isn’t for everybody, and that’s okay.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why is it okay for you?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s
important to know why you are here before you ask anyone to come and see.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Third,
how have you experienced God in this place?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If there’s something compelling about Jesus, and you believe this place
helps you articulate that, then I hope those things have led you to an ongoing
experience of God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Having
answers to these three questions will better equip you to both ask people to
come and see, and to have an answer when they respond, “Why should I?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We can’t answer for them, all we can do is
give our honest answers as to why we are here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
are in the season of Epiphany.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are in
the season of manifestation and revelation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are in the season of learning the true nature of Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is something that, to be quite honest,
must be learned by each person individually.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
we learn the answers to these questions and have our own experiences of
manifestation and revelation, we can help reveal Christ to others by saying,
“Come and see.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-56379912114941926172024-01-07T14:00:00.001-05:002024-01-07T14:00:00.129-05:00Sermon; Epiphany 1B; Mark 1:4-11<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today
is the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We always commemorate Christ’s baptism on the First Sunday after the
Epiphany because this is part of the season of manifestation and revelation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">First,
what do we know about Jesus?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is not
a rhetorical question, so feel free to name some characteristics.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He is the Son of God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He is the Second Person of the Trinity.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He was fully human and fully divine.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He was without sin.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Other named characteristics . . .</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Second,
what is the purpose of baptism?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s the
sacrament of adoption into Christ’s Body.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It washes/cleanses us from sin.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It offers new life in the Holy Spirit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So
. . . if we believe Jesus was without sin, and if we believe baptism cleanses
us from sin, why did Jesus get baptized?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There has been a lot of discussion about this very thing over the
centuries.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">One popular heresy put forth
the idea that Jesus only became part of the Godhead at his baptism (this is the
heresy of adoptionism).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Orthodox
Christianity refutes that, holding to the belief that Christ was, is, and ever
shall be part of the Godhead.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So again,
why the need for baptism?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
don’t claim to know all the reasons, but there are two in particular that I
find especially compelling.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The first is
as an example.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We’ve all heard the
saying from people in leadership positions that goes something like, “I
wouldn’t ask you to do anything I wouldn’t do myself.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
followers of Christ, we look to him to set examples for how we are to
live.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">From seeing that people are fed
and cared for to treating outsiders and foreigners as equals, to treating women
with dignity, to not blaming victims for their mistreatment, to praying and
worshiping regularly, Jesus is our example.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This includes baptism.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are
baptized because Christ was baptized.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
second reason has to do with water.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
today’s gospel Jesus sees the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like
a dove.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In Matthew it says the heavens
were opened.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Opened or torn apart, the
last time the bible records something like this happening is in Genesis 7 when
the heavens were opened and the earth was flooded.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
that Genesis story God saw all the evil that humans did and he was sorry he
created them.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">His solution was to open
the heavens to flood the earth and kill every living thing – every animal,
every man, woman, and child, while only saving eight people and a limited
number of animals.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In that story water
was a destructive force.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
that story is also a prefiguring of baptism.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In baptism we are submerged in water (sometimes literally, sometimes
symbolically), symbolizing the death of our old sinful selves.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are then sealed by the power of the Holy
Spirit, remembering the descent of the Spirit on Jesus, and we are raised to
new life in Christ, just as Noah and his family began their new lives after the
flood.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After
the flood, God put his bow in the sky as a sign and covenant that he would
never do that again.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Christ’s
baptism goes a bit further.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When he was
baptized, he sanctified the waters so that we are blessed by the same water
that anointed Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And unlike in
Genesis when the heavens were opened to rain down destruction, the baptism of
Christ opened the heavens to rain down life.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In Christ and through his baptism, we have been given living water.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
the baptism of Christ we have at least two examples of why the Baptism of
Christ was necessary:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">as an example for
us to follow, and as the act that moved water from a force of God’s destruction
to a force of sanctifying life with God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let
us then follow Christ’s baptismal example.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let us continue in fellowship and prayer.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let us continue to resist evil.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let us proclaim the Good News.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let us serve people as Christ served
them.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let us work to respect the dignity
of every human being.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let
us also remember that through baptism the waters of destruction have been
forever changed to become waters of life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">With
that in mind, let us now renew our own baptismal covenant.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-48212721493241342652023-12-28T13:45:00.002-05:002023-12-28T13:45:12.502-05:00Sermon; Christmas Eve 2023; Luke 2:1-20<p>Merry
Christmas!</p>
<p class="Standard">On this
night we are made glad by the yearly festival of the only-begotten Son Jesus
Christ. This holy night shines with the
brightness of the true light. On this
night we, like the shepherds before us, are confronted by an angel bringing
good news of great joy, and witness a multitude of the heavenly host, praising
God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest.” </p>
<p class="Standard">This is
the night of the Incarnation, the night when God broke into our realm to be
with us.</p>
<p class="Standard">And we
are afraid.</p>
<p class="Standard">We are
afraid of the true light that shines in the darkness and in the dark corners of
our lives that we would rather keep dark.</p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We are
afraid of being confronted by good news that threatens to overturn systems of
our own making or that reveals how poorly we've managed God's creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We are
afraid of coming into contact with the heavenly host as they sing, “Glory to
God in the highest,” and wonder at how we have fallen short of giving God the
glory due his name.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We are
afraid of God, lying in a manger, helpless and at our mercy, and wonder if God
will treat us the way we treat other vulnerable people in need.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We are
afraid because, like a disobedient Adam in the garden, we are coming face to
face with God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard">But,
like the shepherds before us, we are being given a message delivered by
angels. That message, first and
foremost, is this: Do Not Be Afraid.</p>
<p class="Standard">Do not
be afraid of the light that exposes the darkness; be thankful that the light of
God removes all darkness from your life.</p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do not
be afraid that systems we made will be overturned; be thankful that God's
system will prevail and that all creation will be made new.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do not
be afraid of falling short; be thankful that we get to join the heavenly
chorus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do not
be afraid of a helpless God lying in a manger; be thankful for a God who shows
us what it's like to see the face of God incarnate in the face of others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard">I
suppose God could've chosen to come in a very different way. God could've chosen to come in power and
glory, with the army of heaven behind him, setting the world ablaze and
offering us no chance. That's what
people, both then and now, expect. </p>
<p class="Standard">Instead,
God has done the unexpected. </p>
<p class="Standard">God has
come to dwell with us in the form of a man, beginning his journey like we all
do, tiny, vulnerable, and totally dependent on others. It is in this baby that, like the song says, “the
hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” All of this comes into our thoughts as we
look into the face of the Christ child. </p>
<p class="Standard">For
those of us who are parents, there is boundless hope in the face of a
child. The future is wide open with
nothing but great possibilities. </p>
<p class="Standard">But
there are also a great many fears. Everything
from, “What if I drop him,” to “What if she marries the wrong person,” and so
many others. </p>
<p class="Standard">If we
aren't careful, we can allow those fears to overtake us. But fear is easy.</p>
<p class="Standard">This is
why the message of the angels is, “Fear not.”</p>
<p class="Standard">Do not
be afraid of the light of God.</p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do not
be afraid to give more than you think wise.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do not
be afraid to love more than is safe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do not
be afraid to sing with the angels.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard">How
might we claim that fearlessness that the angels announce to the shepherds and
to us? One way might be for us to think
of God as our baby or our child.
Thinking of God in this way might be a little unorthodox, but let me
explain why it works.</p>
<p class="Standard">When we
have a baby, we work to provide a hopeful future for that child. How are
we providing a hopeful future for the people of this parish and city in the
name of God?</p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When we
have a baby, we work to provide nourishment for its health and continued
growth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How are we nourishing the people
of this place in the name of God?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When we
have a baby, we make sacrifices so it has what it needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What sacrifices are we making for God in our
lives today?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When we
have a baby, its smile and laugh can light up a room and drive away all
darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can we see that same joy and
light in our relationship with God?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And when
we have a baby, we sing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We sing
lullabies, we sing silly songs, we hum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Do we allow ourselves to sing out for God on a regular basis?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard">The
Incarnation of God in human form is probably the most important miracle and event in our history. Having God come among us as an infant can
open our eyes to a new way of seeing and relating to God.</p>
<p class="Standard">And the
only way we can do this, the only way we can be hopeful, be nourished,
sacrifice, laugh, and sing is to be not afraid.</p>
<p class="Standard">Be not
afraid to let this child change your life.</p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Be not
afraid to see God as a baby who needs you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Be not
afraid to show the world how much you love and live for God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Standard">Merry
Christmas!</p>
<p class="Standard">Be not
afraid.</p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-41909717182091620312023-12-24T14:00:00.001-05:002023-12-24T14:00:00.130-05:00Sermon; Advent 4B; Luke 1:26-38<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today
is the Fourth Sunday of Advent.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today is
the fourth Sunday of our preparation for the coming of the Messiah.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today is the fourth Sunday of looking forward
and preparing for God with us.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And today
we hear from the ultimate preparation story, that of what is called “The Annunciation
of Christ.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is the story of the
angel Gabriel appearing before Mary to announce that she will bear the Son of
God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
we prepare for the coming of the Messiah, both in the Already and the Not Yet,
how might today’s gospel help us prepare for both of those events?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It can help, I think, if we look to follow
the good example of Mary.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Over
the years Mary has been ascribed a variety of traits and characteristics that
may or may not be true.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’m not here to
debunk those stories and ideas about her as much as I want to challenge our
assumptions and maybe give her character a little more depth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some
of those assumptions about Mary include the idea that she was a young teenage
girl, that she was passive, that maybe she really didn’t have a choice in the
matter, and that she was “meek and mild.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mary
may or may not have been a young teenage girl.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There is ample evidence that she was – the use of the word “virgin”
certainly implies a young teenager, along with our understanding of the social constructs
of the time in which girls were married off at much younger ages than men –
give evidence that she was a young teenager.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Add to this that she was engaged, which in that time and place indicates
this was probably a family arrangement in which she had no say.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So, yes, she could have been a young teen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
then again, she may have been a young woman, for this is how Isaiah prophesied
the birth of the Messiah:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Look, the
young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Being older, she could have matured and
developed her own independent sense of self.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Being an unwed pregnant woman is not an easy task, so it’s possible that
Mary was older, braver, and more self-assured than a young teenage girl.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
to the claim that she had no choice in the matter, let me say that was not the
case.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God always gives us a choice –
free will is one of the hallmarks of our faith, and we always have the choice
to say yes or to say no, to follow God or to follow our own desires.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gabriel could have come to me and said, “You
will become a priest of God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You will
move your family thousands of miles and back again.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You will leave your daughter on the east
coast. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You will not be close to your
family again.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Had the angel Gabriel
said </span><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>THAT</i></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> to me, I very well might have said, “No thank you.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
Mary, after hearing all the angel’s words, after pondering them in her heart, said,
“Here am I, the servant of the Lord.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mary most certainly had a choice, and she said, “Yes.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
for the idea that Mary was meek and mild, don’t believe that for a minute.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mary was as far from meek and mild as you
could be.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She was intelligent, brave, fiery,
and feisty.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She
is intelligent.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As Gabriel is making the
announcement to her, the gears in her head begin to turn.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She begins to ponder what this all means.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She starts to put two and two together and,
rather than being dumbfounded by all this, she asks questions.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She doesn’t ask for proof, as Zechariah did
when Gabriel told him about his future son John, but she asks for clarification.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“How can this be, since I am a virgin?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In other words, “How can this happen under
these circumstances.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She doesn’t want
proof, but she wants an explanation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She
is brave.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She faced down an angel without
fear.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve always told people that the
reason the first words from an angel are, “Do not fear,” is because they are
scary dudes.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When the angel appeared
before Zechariah, he was terrified and fear overwhelmed him, so Gabriel said, “Do
not be afraid.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After Mary gave birth, an
angel of the Lord stood before some shepherds, and they were terrified.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The angel said, “Do not be afraid.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
Mary did not cower in fear.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mary was not
afraid.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mary stared down the angel Gabriel
without fear.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And she agreed to be part
of God’s plan to actively involve himself in the world as he had never done
before.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This young, as-yet unmarried
woman agreed to become pregnant in order to help fulfill God’s mission on
earth.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Young, unwed, pregnant women have
a hard enough time here in the 21</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">st</sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Century U.S.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Imagine the difficulties she would have faced
in that time and place – not the least of which was a possible death sentence.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
Gabriel tells Mary to not be afraid, it isn’t in reference to the angelic
presence, as it was with Zechariah and the shepherds.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This “Do not be afraid” is looking
forward.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Do not be afraid to let God
work through you.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Do not be afraid of
how you may be treated.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Do not be afraid
of what could happen.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Do not be afraid,
because God is with you.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mary
is fierce.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She knew this pregnancy and
this child would change the world.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In response
to this understanding, she prophesied what has become one of the most famous
songs in Scripture, the Magnificat.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In that
song she recognizes that God will lift up the lowly, God will scatter the proud
in the thoughts of their hearts, God will throw down the powerful and raise up
the lowly, God will fill the hungry with food, and God will send the rich away
empty.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is a prophecy of a new
social order.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is the fight song of
the weak, the abused, and the powerless.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mary is anything but meek and mild.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">On
this Fourth Sunday of Advent we hear the story of Mary.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is the story of an independent,
strong-willed, brave, fierce woman of valor.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mary was Fiona, Merida, Moana, and Mulan all rolled into one real-life
amazing woman.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mary was anything but
meek and mild.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As this season of Advent comes to a close,
we would do well to follow Mary’s example in answering God’s call and to not be
afraid of where that will lead.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God was
with Mary, and God is with us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 319.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And really, isn’t that what we’ve been
preparing for?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 319.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-47526397247811598982023-12-17T14:00:00.001-05:002023-12-17T14:00:00.130-05:00Sermon; Advent 3B; John 1:6-8, 19-28<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There’s
an ancient story about a monastery where all the monks were old, tired, and
waiting to die.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They’d lost their fire
for the Lord and had long since ceased to really care about their fellow
brothers.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Although they shared the same
living space, prayed together, ate together, and worked together, each monk
lived in his own world with heart and mind turned inward.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">No
one came to the monastery.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There were no
visitors, and no new brothers.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
buildings were in need of repair, but the monks didn’t care.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They felt it wasn’t long until there’d be no
monastery at all.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Everything would
return to dust. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then
one day, a holy man visited them.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He was
a monk himself.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For a time he lived with
the old brothers, prayed with them, talked with them, worked, ate, and slept
with them.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He was wise and loving.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The brothers turned their hearts and minds
outward and listened to him. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When the
time came for him to leave, this holy man stood before the brothers who were
bidding him farewell and wished them God’s peace.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some of the monks shook their heads sadly; ‘There’s
nothing here for us now that you’re going,’ they thought.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But the visitor’s last words to them
were:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Among you stands one whom you do
not know, the Christ.” </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then he walked
away.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Well,
the brothers were quite astonished.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They
looked at one another with surprise.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Which one of them could be the Christ? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Surely not Brother William, who never arrived
at the chapel on time and never did his work either, for that matter; surely
not Brother Mark, who annoyingly slurped his soup; surely not the Abbot, who
was always gruff with everyone.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Christ
wouldn’t be late for chapel, or neglect his work, or slurp his soup, or be
gruff!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yet
their visitor was a holy and reliable man who had spoken the truth to them the
whole time he was in their company.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
too must be true.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">One among them must be
Christ!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So each of the monks began to
treat the other as if he were Christ, for they didn’t know who it was.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They looked for ways to serve one another and
were kind to one another and shared with one another.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Each did his work as a gift to the Christ who
was among them.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Each honored his fellow
monk by listening with full attention and respect.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They began to overlook little things that had
annoyed them about one another and began instead to see the good that was in
every person. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Life began to flow back
into the dying community.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A vitality and
joy was reborn that had been lost for many years.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The people of the town nearby learned that
something had changed at the monastery.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In curiosity they came, and in love they were received.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Each
was graciously welcomed and made to feel at home.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Every effort was taken to care for their
needs, and each monk accepted visitors as they were.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Men, women, and children came to be refreshed
and renewed.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The brotherhood grew as men
came, even from far away, to join the community.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All
the visitors and the new brothers were treated as if they were Christ, for the
wise monk had said, “Among you stands one whom you do not know, the Christ.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
tell this story not because we’re old, although we certainly aren’t young.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or because we’re tired, although some of us
are that.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nor because our buildings are
falling apart, although they do need upkeep.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nor because we have become internally focused and are simply waiting to
die.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
tell this story because of our proximity to Christ.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let
me ask a question:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">With whom do you
fight the most?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’m willing to bet it’s
our family, or a group we are heavily invested in.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There’s a hypothesis that says Jesus was
trained as a Pharisee.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I don’t know if
that’s correct, but he sure had a lot of arguments with other Pharisees, so it
makes sense.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This might also be accurate
because in today’s gospel John is approached by a group sent by the
Pharisees.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">John points out that “among
you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Pharisees were in close proximity to
Christ and yet they missed seeing him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe
they missed him because he was late to worship services.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe they missed him because he slurped his
soup or chewed with his mouth open.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe they missed him because he was gruff with people.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe they missed him because he was one of
them and they were so busy looking for something extraordinary that they couldn't see past the ordinary.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
story of the monks can be seen as a retelling of Matthew 25 – the gospel we
heard on Advent 1.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In that passage
Christ welcomes all who served “the least of these,” and he dismissed those who
didn’t.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Both stories remind us that
Christ isn’t necessarily an extraordinary figure whom we will easily identify
as the Messiah; most of the time Christ comes incognito.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How we treat that person in our midst is how
we treat Christ.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here's
another story.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Last Sunday just after 7
am I answered the church phone.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was a
guy named Leon coming into Buffalo on the bus from South Dakota.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He needed a ride to an acquaintance’s home,
but he didn’t know the exact address.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nor did he have his phone number because his phone was stolen at a
shelter.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He told me he was planning on
going to Glendive to live with a friend, whom he was contacting that day to let
him know he was coming.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Over the course
of Monday, he told me his father left the family when he was three, he was
attacked by a group of boys which caused brain damage, his mother was hit by a
car and killed as she crossed the street.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He’s had his phone and coat stolen, and he lost the $14 he had to his
name.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I picked him up at the bus stop,
put him in a hotel, bought him a couple of meals, and put him on a bus to
Glendive.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I hope he's okay.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I also hope I treated that version of Christ
with dignity and respect.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
are in the time of preparing for the Already and the Not Yet.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In our preparation for the arrival of Christ,
let us not be so focused on looking for his power and glory that we miss the
Christ standing in our midst.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We can’t
afford to miss the extraordinary found in the ordinary.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We can’t afford to miss seeing Leon for who
he is.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We can’t afford to not see Christ
in the other.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Among
you stands one whom you do not know, the Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let us always act as if that were so.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And in doing that, we will accept visitors
for who they are, people will come to be refreshed, and people will join this
community of love because Christ stands among us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-33840750307449654002023-12-03T14:06:00.000-05:002023-12-03T14:06:10.236-05:00Sermon; Advent 1B; Mark 13:24-37<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
have been hearing Advent stories for the past several weeks.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The ten women waiting for the
bridegroom.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The slaves and their
talents.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The separation of the sheep and
goats.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">These were all stories telling us
to keep awake and be prepared for the end of days.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And today, on this First Sunday of Advent, we
get a typical visual description of the end of days.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today
Jesus tells us there will be suffering, the sun will be darkened and the moon
will not give its light, stars will be falling from heaven, powers in heaven
will be shaken, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Well . . . okay . . . maybe not that last
part; but you get the idea.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
as long as there have been humans on earth, people have been expecting the end
of days.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ancient people feared both
solar and lunar eclipses.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wars, rumors
of wars, floods, earthquakes, and plagues have all generated end-of-the-world
speculation and for all that speculation, for all that effort to try and
pinpoint the end, for all the hysteria, for all the books and radio shows,
every one of those end-times “prophets” have been wrong.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Every.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">One.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Every. Time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
fact of the matter is that not one Bible prophecy expert knows when the end
times will take place.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So if you’re one
of those people who listen to them eagerly waiting for the end days, please
stop.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They are wrong.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They will always be wrong.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They prey upon your fears.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And they really don’t know when that day will
be.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You
know who else doesn’t know when that day will be?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus himself doesn’t know when the end of days will be.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“But about that day or hour no one knows,
neither the angels in heaven, </span><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>NOR THE SON,</i></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> but only the
Father.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And if Jesus doesn’t know, what
makes anyone else think they do?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
have one question, and one thought.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">First, the question:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why are
people so concerned with the end of days?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">People with signs proclaiming, “The End is Near.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">False prophets proclaiming made-up dates of
the end.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Millions of people willing to
buy into the lies.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
believe people want to know when the end will come because it offers an easy
out.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Think about it:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If I'm saved, and if I know when the end is
coming, then I don’t have to do anything.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I don’t have to care for those in need, because I'm outta here.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I don’t have to protect the environment,
because I’m outta here.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I don’t have to
work for equal rights, justice, or anything else to help make the world a
better place because I’m outta here.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s an easy life of escapist rapture fantasy that has no basis in
reality.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
an example, there are several scenes in the unfortunately all-too popular </span><u style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Left
Behind</u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> series in which the “heroes” of the book ignore people suffering and
dying only to focus on themselves and the happy fact that they have been saved,
so they don’t need to bother with the world’s problems.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s a rapture fantasy with no basis in
reality, nor with any basis in Christianity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now
a thought.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Advent
is the season of the Already and the Not Yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It looks forward to the Already of the coming of the Messiah, born of
Mary in Bethlehem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also looks forward
to the Not Yet of the coming of the Messiah at the end of days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is this looking forward aspect of Advent
that led to it becoming the first season of the new Church year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, once again for fun . . . Happy New Year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here
we are in Advent, the season of looking forward to the coming of the
Messiah.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Which naturally leads some
people to anticipate the end of days.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After all, it’s right there in the gospel.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I can almost picture Jesus with a sign or
t-shirt that says, “The End is Near.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
what if we changed our mindset?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if
Advent isn’t about preparing for the coming of the Messiah at the end of
days?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if Advent is about new
beginnings?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Advent
is the beginning of the Church year.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Advent looks forward to the birth of Jesus 2000 years ago.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Advent looks forward to the coming of the
Messiah in power and great glory.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yes,
pieces of Advent, primarily today, look forward to the end of days, but the
overall theme of Advent is looking forward to new beginnings.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today
it looks forward to the new beginnings of God’s reign.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Advent 2 & 3 look forward to the new
beginnings of Jesus’ ministry.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Advent 4
looks forward to the birth of Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Advent signs we carry shouldn’t say, “The End is Near,” but should
say, “The Beginning is Near.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Advent
is the season of beginnings.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
if we began to pursue justice.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if
we began to treat others as we want them to treat us.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if we began to push for living wages or
universal health care or affordable housing.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if we began to manifest gospel justice.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if we began each day by praying the
Baptismal Covenant.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
end will surely come.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hebrew prophets
talked about the end of days.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You can
read about it in Revelation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
discusses it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The end will surely
come.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Even so, no one, not the angels,
not the prophets, not the televangelists, not end-times authors, not even Jesus
himself, knows when that will be.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
you know what we do know?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We know when
the beginning is.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This Advent, let us
work to make a right beginning so that the kingdom of God may be manifested
here on earth as it is in heaven.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-31947692811046851842023-11-26T14:00:00.001-05:002023-11-26T14:00:00.124-05:00Sermon; Proper 29A, Christ the King; Matt. 25:31-46<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We’ve
been looking at Advent stories from Jesus in these last days.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Remember, Jesus is in Holy Week.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He is in his last days before he is betrayed,
arrested, and crucified.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And today’s
gospel passage is his last teaching to the disciples, which began back in
Chapter 24, before he is arrested.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
his last days on earth, Jesus tells us what the last days will be like for the
nations of the world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
the Son of Man comes in glory, all the nations will be gathered before
him.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He will separate the righteous from
the unrighteous, with the righteous being led to eternal life, and the
unrighteous being cast out into eternal punishment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
with that in mind, I’m going to ramble for a bit here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">According
to Jesus and the rabbis of the day, the two greatest commandments of the Law
are 1) love God, and 2) love your neighbor.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The rest of the law is just various aspects of how we do that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Other
commandments showing how we do that include the provision that farmers leave
produce behind for the poor and aliens to gather for food.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Aliens are to be treated as citizens.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The seventh day is a day of rest.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Every fifty years debts are to be forgiven,
property returned, and slaves set free.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Widows, orphans, and strangers are to be protected and cared for.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All
these laws, and others, show how God cares for those on the bottom of
society.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All of these laws show us how
loving God translates into loving our neighbor, and how loving our neighbor
translates into loving God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Earlier
in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says to do to others as you would have them do to
you.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He talks about the narrow gate and
the hard road leading to life, but the wide gate and easy road will lead to
destruction.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is followed by a
discussion of proper living, not correct beliefs.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In all the gospels he heals and feeds without
exception.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He is filled with compassion
and reserves his attacks for the religious and political leaders, as well as
the wealthy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Elsewhere
in the New Testament we are given examples of God’s inclusivity, the need to
love and care for others, to live in peace without retaliation, and the
ultimate goal of God to restore humanity to right relationship with each other
and with God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
say all this because over and over Scripture makes clear that we are to love,
care for, feed, clothe, and shelter those in need.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Well, maybe “makes clear” isn’t exactly
right.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The problem is that you actually
have to read Scripture.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You actually
have to do the hard work of reading in context and see how God is speaking to
address all these things.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s
easy to find passages that indicate whom you should hate, or who is to be cast
out.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s easy to find passages that
support your own biases, or your own reasons for why you should exclude others,
or determine who should submit to whom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
instance, many people have used the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as
punishment for men wanting to have sex with other men.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But Ezekiel tells us that Sodom &
Gomorrah were destroyed because they didn’t aid the poor and needy, even though
they had an excess of riches.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or how
many women have heard, “Wives, be subject to your husbands,” without the
husband ever reading further to see how he is supposed to treat his wife?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">People
will claim they believe every word of the Bible, or that they believe the Bible
is the literal, inerrant word of God until kingdom come; but those same people
will then give a multitude of reasons why the homeless can’t be housed, or why
the poor can’t be offered living wages, or why the hungry should only receive a
limited amount of free food.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those same
people will easily find verses to support their prejudices and hate.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
that is the wide, easy road that leads to destruction.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finding reasons to exclude and hate is
easy.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finding reasons to call for the
elimination of groups you don’t like is easy.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finding support for your biases is easy.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But finding reasons to love and help others is much harder.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">These
calls for righteous and caring behaviors are not just directed at individuals,
they are also directed at the nations of the world.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is because salvation is not only focused
on individuals, but is also focused on community.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Which brings me back to today’s gospel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
the King has gathered all the nations before him where he separates the people
one from another.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Although it seems the
people are separated individually, they are actually separated in groups.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus the King addresses both the sheep and
the goats as a whole.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is not an
individual interview where people must answer for their individual
actions.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Instead, this is a blessing and
condemnation for each community and each nation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
the King says, “Come you that are blessed,” giving his blessing to the overall
population.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The answer of those blessed
is not an individualistic, “When did I see you . . .?” but a communal, “When
did </span><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>WE</i></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> see you . . .?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just as those blessed are blessed communally, those condemned are also
condemned communally.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
we do individually is important, but it’s equally important to what we do as a
community and as a society.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There
are many religious people who claim to take the Bible literally.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are many religious people who claim
that certain people can’t be helped and deserve what they get.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those are the people who are willing to take
the wide, easy road of exclusivity, scapegoating, and proof texting.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those are the people who, when confronted
with the very words of Jesus the King in this chapter, will jump through all
kinds of hoops and mental gymnastics to point out why this passage doesn’t mean
what it says.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
take the Bible too seriously to take it literally.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Scripture tells us to love God and love
neighbor.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Scripture tells us that God
overwhelmingly is concerned for the downtrodden, the poor, the sick, and the
outcast.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Scripture tells us to feed the
hungry, welcome the stranger, and clothe the naked.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And it will be to our detriment –
individually, communally, and nationally – if we make excuses as to why we
didn’t or why we won’t do those things.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">On
this Christ the King Sunday, may we do the hard work the King has charged us
with doing.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Because if we don’t, we will
be cast out into the outer darkness and eternal punishment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
that is the Gospel Truth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-69116987370356555262023-11-19T14:00:00.001-05:002023-11-19T14:00:00.139-05:00Sermon; Proper 28A; Mat. 25:14-30<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Last
week I said that we were in the end times.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are in the end times of the long, green Season after Pentecost.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus is also in the end times of his life as
our gospel reading takes place during Holy Week.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s during these end times when he gives us
a series of Advent parables – parables that focus on preparing for the coming
of the Messiah.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Last week it was the ten
women waiting for the bridegroom.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
week it’s a rich man going away on a journey and leaving his property under the
care of three slaves.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">To one he gives
five talents, to another he gives two, and to the third he gives one.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After
a long time, the rich man returns to find the slaves who had been given five
and two talents had doubled their amount, while the slave who had been given
one talent buried it in the ground, giving that one talent back to the rich
man.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And once again we have a story from
Jesus that ends with someone being locked or cast out of the presence of the Messiah.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Despite
the obvious allusions to money (one talent was equal to something like 20 years
of wages), this story is not about money.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Neither is this story about financial prosperity, or that God will
richly bless you with wealth if you just put forth a little effort.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This story could be about using what we have
been given for the spread of the kingdom; and there have been plenty of
commentaries and sermons about that, so I won’t bore you with another one.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Part
of my job as a preacher is to engage Scripture in new ways that help you see
these stories in new, different, and hopefully relevant ways.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As I was thinking about how I might possibly
present this old story in a new way, I asked myself, “What do you see?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
do I see?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I see generosity.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I see abundance.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I see trust.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I also see fear.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I see scarcity.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And I see a self-fulfilling prophecy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
see generosity.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the story, the rich
man simply gave his servants anywhere between 20 and 100 years of wages, never telling
them what to do with it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He never said
he expected any kind of return on it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">From his wealth, he simply gave it away.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">From
this we know that God is generous with his love.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God showers us with his love.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God will never withhold his love.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God will never use his love to blackmail us (i.e.,
if you loved me, you would …).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
doesn’t mean we will never experience hardship or pain.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It also doesn’t mean that if God loves you,
you will be blessed with riches, as the false and deceitful purveyors of the
prosperity gospel like to preach.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Instead,
it simply and wonderfully means that God loves you.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Period.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It also means that God loves those whom you are not so sure about,
because God is generous in loving.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">May
we also be generous.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
a side note:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This isn’t an economic
parable, but just think what society would look like if people were as generous
with their wealth as the rich man in the parable, or as generous as God is with
his love.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
see abundance.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How often do we look at
what we have – money, time, skills, whatever – and think, “I don’t have
enough.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are constantly seeing the
world through a lens of scarcity, worried that we will not have enough or have
less.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s like that saying:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Equal rights for others does not mean less
rights for you – it’s not pie.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If it
weren’t for a theology of abundance, you wouldn’t have created the food
pantry.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Two of the three slaves saw
their gift through the eyes of abundance, and then did great things.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">May we see abundantly.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
see trust.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The rich man turned over a
vast amount of wealth and trusted his slaves to care for his estate.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The slaves could have taken the money and
ran, but they didn’t.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the same way,
God has trusted us with the care of his estate.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I could argue that we haven’t done a very good job of caring for his
creation, but I still think God trusts us to do the right thing.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">May we trust more.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
also see fear.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Look at the first part of
the gospel.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A rich man is going on a
long journey and entrusted his property to three slaves.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">To one he gave 100 years of wages, to another
40 years of wages, and to a third 20 years of wages.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And then he went away.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">From the beginning we see the rich man is
abundantly generous and trusting.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
yet . . .</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
yet, the third slave was fearful of the man.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He explains why, but there is nothing in the story that would lead us to
this conclusion.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">His fear is
unfounded.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">His fear might be based on
hearsay.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">His fear may come from listening
to others without getting to know the man himself.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And isn’t this how some people see God – as
someone who they only know through the limited stories of others and as someone
of whom to be afraid?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If people are
afraid of God, we are doing it wrong.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
see scarcity.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I touched on this above,
but whereas the first two slaves worked from abundance, the third worked from
scarcity, only seeing what he didn’t have or couldn’t achieve.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">His view of scarcity maintained the status
quo, never risking, never changing, never growing.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">An old football official once said, “The only
difference between a rut and a grave is how deep it is and how long you’re in
it.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Viewing things through the lens of
scarcity will bury you as surely as the third slave buried his talent.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
see a self-fulfilling prophecy.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those
who view God as vengeful, mean, murderous, spiteful, etc. will certainly
encounter that God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those who preach
that kind of god can expect to find that kind of god.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For to all those who have no sense of
generous and abundant love, even what little love they exhibit will be taken
away from them and they will be cast into the outer darkness where there will
be weeping and gnashing of teeth because their evil and wicked ways drove
people away from God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
parable is about a lot of things, but today it’s about the difference between living
into generosity, abundance, and trust, versus that of living in fear and
scarcity.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">May
we learn to live in the generous abundance of God’s love in such a way that we
will increase those entering the kingdom.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And from that hard work, may we enter into the joy of the Lord.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-33025824777863164792023-11-12T14:00:00.001-05:002023-11-12T14:00:00.134-05:00Sermon; Proper 27A; Matt. 25:1-13<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are approaching
the end.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We’re approaching the end of
Ordinary Time, that long, green Season after Pentecost.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This season has been described as the time we
examine the life of Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is the
time when we learn to become disciples.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In a few weeks we will begin liturgical time – Advent, Christmas,
Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, and Easter.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That is the time we examine the events of the life of Jesus: his birth,
baptism, trials, death, and resurrection.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But for now, we are coming to the end of the season.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In our gospel
readings, Jesus is also coming to the end.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He’s in Jerusalem and living through Holy Week.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He will soon be arrested and crucified.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He is coming to the end of his season on
earth.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And as he comes to the end, he
presents a series of four Advent parables, so named because they deal with the
end of days and preparing for the coming of the Messiah.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For us, Advent
begins in three weeks. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Right now, as
Ordinary Time winds down, we are in a mini-Advent – a time of preparing for the
time of preparation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">These parables are
Jesus telling us to keep awake and pay attention, because the end of days are
near.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Advent parable
we hear today of the ten bridesmaids/young women/virgins is probably the most
famous of them.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We all know this
story.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The women gather to wait for the
arrival of the bridegroom and to gain entry into the banquet.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They fall asleep.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The bridegroom comes.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Five need to go buy oil.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Five get in, while the five who left to buy
oil are locked out.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This story isn’t
so much a parable as it is an allegory – where each part of the story stands
for something else.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The bridegroom
represents Jesus, the expected one who is delayed in coming.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The women are those faithful people doing
their best to follow and wait for the Messiah.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The oil they carry has often been attributed to representing good
works.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And the wedding feast is the
heavenly banquet we look forward to and, for us, is symbolized by Holy
Communion. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But allegories can only take
us so far.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here are some
things to notice.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All ten women had
oil, so all ten performed good works.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All ten fell asleep.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Had the
bridegroom shown up when expected, all ten would have been allowed into the
party.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">From this story Jesus tells us
to, “Keep awake, for you know not the time or hour.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">One problem I have
with this story is that because the bridegroom was late, he caused five women
to be shut out of the banquet.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Due to
his poor timing, he was the reason that five women, who had originally been
prepared for his arrival, were no longer welcome.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If the bridegroom represents Jesus, what do
we do with a story that shows him locking those out of heaven who were
originally worthy?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another problem I
have with it is that it has often been used as part of hell and damnation
sermons.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">People are told to always be
working for Christ, because if you aren’t, you’ll be locked out of heaven.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And while we might initially think that’s a
good thing (always working for Christ, that is), it falls apart when you really
examine it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It can also cause a lot of
angst.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if Jesus returns while I’m
sleeping?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if he returns if I’m
arguing with my spouse or children?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
if he returns while I’m doing something not holy?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">These concerns can
drive some to think, “I’m not good enough,” or, “I’m not doing enough for
God.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This can lead to all sorts of
emotional and spiritual problems.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So if this story
isn’t about hell and damnation, if it isn’t about blaming five women for being
foolish and ill-prepared, if it isn’t about blaming one guy for his own poor
planning and bad timing, what is the point of this story?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think the point of this story is being
willing to wait.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The five foolish
women were only prepared to wait for a short time.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or maybe they were only prepared to wait for
a time convenient to them.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The five wise
women, however, were prepared to wait for a longer, undetermined length of
time.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How are we at waiting?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It used to be that
we would wait for letters to be delivered and answered.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then fax machines appeared and we didn’t have
to wait so long.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now we have cell phones
and smart phones that give us everything we want right now.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How many of us get annoyed when a person
doesn’t respond to a text within five minutes or less?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or think about the
approaching holiday season.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I remember
when Christmas decorations didn’t dare appear until after Thanksgiving.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now they are side-by-side with Halloween
decorations.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s the Easter Beagle,
Charlie Brown</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Easter special was prophetic when it showed the kids going
shopping for Easter supplies and the store was decked out with Christmas decorations
and a banner that read, “Only 246 Days Until Christmas!”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or think about all
the false prophets in Christianity who promised the coming of the Messiah on a
certain day.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">People like William Miller
who said the end was coming in 1843, and then revised that to 10/22/1844.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hal Lindsey wrote </span><u style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Late, Great, Planet
Earth</u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> in 1970 predicting the end of the world, only to have to update it
multiple times.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There’s Tim LaHaye’s
poorly written </span><u style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Left Behind</u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> series which is so far off the mark it would
be comical except that people believe it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">John Hagee has made multiple false claims about the end of the world,
the most recent having to do with lunar eclipses and “blood moons.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And on and on and on.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">People would rather believe the escapist fantasies
of false prophets than do the hard work of waiting in the here and now.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">These are good
lessons for us as we prepare to enter the Advent season in a few weeks.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The push for Christmas is here.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The push for the apocalypse is here.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The push to have everything right now is
here.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But we must learn to wait.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And in the end,
this is why the five foolish women were locked out of the banquet – not because
they didn’t have enough oil, but because they wanted the bridegroom to arrive
on their schedule.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They believed that
their timeline was more important and more accurate than the timeline of the
bridegroom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Miller and Hagee
and LaHaye and Lindsey and all the other false prophets have convinced too many
people that Christ will appear when they say he will because they have read and
understand the signs.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We must have the
courage in the face of popular apocalyptic fantasies to say, “No, we will not
follow you, and we will wait.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The end is surely
coming.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The question we need to answer,
though, is this:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Are we willing to wait
for the actual arrival of Christ, doing the work we have been charged with; or
are we only willing to wait as long as it is convenient for us, attempting to
force Christ into our timeline?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This story of the
ten women makes it clear that we should be prepared to wait as long as it takes,
doing the work of Christ and the Church until such time as we are invited into
the banquet.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen.</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-70901932353696950492023-11-05T14:00:00.001-05:002023-11-05T14:00:00.137-05:00Sermon; All Saints' Sunday; 2023<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today is All
Saints’ Sunday.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think I mentioned this
in one of the articles I wrote, but All Saints’ Sunday has become a combination
of two days.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">First, it commemorates All
Saints’ Day (Nov. 1), that day on the Church calendar when we remember the Saints
and martyrs of the Church.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is the
day when we remember people like Stephen (Dec. 26), the Evangelists John (Dec.
27) and Luke (Oct. 18), Francis (Oct. 4) and many, many others.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When we don’t always have a chance to
celebrate the Saints of the Church, it’s good to have a day to remember them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Second, All
Saints’ Sunday also incorporates All Faithful Departed (Nov. 2).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is the day we remember all those who
have died in the faith.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">These are all
those known only by some, but who are all known by God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some of those people we remembered at the
reading of the necrology earlier.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some
of those named are of an unknown faith, or no faith, who were killed by violent
acts and for whom God still weeps.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All Saints’ is
also the only Feast Day that may be celebrated on a Sunday, in addition to its
specific day of November 1.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So this is
the day we remember the Saints and martyrs of the Church, as well as all the
faithful who have gone before.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It makes sense,
then, that our first reading comes from Revelation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unlike popular opinion, or certain
interpretations that see Revelation as some sort of magical prediction of doom
and destruction, or seeing it as God’s revenge upon non- or wrong believers,
Revelation is actually a book of hope.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is a book that tells us of an uncountable multitude from every
nation, tribe, peoples, and languages who will stand before the Lamb robed in
white.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is a book of comfort that
reminds us God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Because of all
this – remembering the Saints and martyrs of the Church, remembering All
Faithful Departed who have gone before, and placing our hope in the
Resurrection to live eternally in that place where there is no more sorrow or
pain, but life everlasting – we use this opportunity to renew our own baptismal
vows.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We use this opportunity to
remember that we were buried with Christ through baptism into his death so that
we may live a new life with Christ in his resurrection.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’m going to
assume that we were all baptized at some point in our lives, whether as infants
or as adults. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We either made promises,
or promises were made on our behalf, that we would continue to live in the
Faith.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let’s do a little survey:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>How many of you remember your
baptism?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>How many of you remember the
promises you made, or that were made on your behalf?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>How many of you believe being a
baptized Christian is an important part of your life?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Our baptism gives
us a foundation for living our lives in a way that honors God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our baptism informs our lives in a way that
should cause us to follow Christ more closely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And as Episcopalians, our baptismal covenant gives us a framework to do
all that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It helps us make right
decisions in everything from interpersonal relations to how we vote to how we
live in union with God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The baptismal
covenant, you might say, is our guidepost on living life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can we be expected to uphold and live
into this covenant if we don’t even remember the promises we made?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer is, “We can’t.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I believe this is
why the BCP says that if there are no baptisms it is appropriate to renew
baptismal vows on the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, the Easter Vigil,
Pentecost, and All Saints’ Day (or Sunday).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We need to be reminded on a regular basis of how we promised to live our
lives.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We need to be reminded on a
regular basis that our baptism wasn’t a one and done thing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In that respect,
baptisms are much like weddings.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A
baptism is generally a big family celebration.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So is a wedding.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But then life
sets in.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After a wedding comes the
actual marriage, and as those who have been married for any length of time
know, it takes work.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After the baptism
comes the work of attempting to live into the promises we made.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think renewing our vows four times a year helps
us do that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">During the
renewal, you will be asked a series of nine questions.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The first four questions are about what you
believe.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The next five are questions
about how you will live.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In looking at
those questions, you will notice that they get progressively more difficult.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The first basically asks if you will continue
to be faithful in prayer and worship.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The last one asks if you will strive for justice and respect the dignity
of every human being.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">These are not easy
things to do; which is why the answers to the last five include the clause,
“with God’s help.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">These are hard things
to do, and unless we do them within the fellowship of God, we will fail.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We’ll probably fail anyway, we’re human; but
we have a better chance of succeeding if we allow God to help.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">On this All
Saints’ Sunday, let us remember and commemorate the Saints and martyrs of the
Church.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let us remember All the Faithful
Departed, those known to us and those known only to God.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let us join with angels, archangels, and all
the company of heaven as we sing, “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and
might.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And let us strive to live into
the covenant we have made with God, loving our neighbors as ourselves.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amen</span></p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-34510507013222872192023-09-21T16:57:00.000-04:002023-09-21T16:57:01.025-04:00Sermon; Matthew 18:21-25<p>This week's sermon wasn't written out. </p><p>If you want to hear it, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100064275566472/videos/347507980957415" target="_blank">click here to be taken to the recording of the service</a>.</p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-25704129726704048212023-09-10T13:45:00.004-04:002023-09-10T13:45:25.824-04:00Sermon; Feast of Saint John the Apostle & Evangelist (tr); Saint John's Day<p>Welcome to Saint John's
Day! Every year on or about this time we celebrate our patron saint
as we kick off the program year. You will see in various places
around the church this attractive neon green card listing the major
events we have scheduled for this year. I encourage you to take
this home, put it on your refrigerator, put one in your car or
office, or just have available wherever it's handy, and use it as a
reminder of the events and activities scheduled here at Saint John's.
And since these are special activities, or activities we don't want
you to miss, I also encourage you to invite a friend to any and all
of these.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So today we celebrate
Saint John. His Feast Day is December 27, and we transfer it to
early September so we have a focal point for the beginning of the
program year. It gives us a reason to celebrate as we kick things
off. But while this is our tradition, it should not be the only, or
even primary, reason we celebrate Saint John the Apostle and
Evangelist. We remember and celebrate our patron saint because his
was a message of love.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Tradition says Saint John
is the person who wrote the 4<sup>th</sup> Gospel and the three
letters bearing his name. Some traditions also claim he was the
author of Revelation, but there is some debate about that. If you
see or hear things along those lines, don't worry about it. The more
important thing to remember is that he was probably most certainly
the Beloved Disciple in the Fourth Gospel, he most likely wrote four
of the New Testament works bearing his name, and he focused on love.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In the gospel and those
three letters, John uses the word “love” 72 times; that is
almost half as much as all other gospels and letters in the New
Testament combined. For John, love is the hallmark of discipleship
and the foundation of everything. It is where God started and how we
continue.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">What has come into being
was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines
in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son so that those who believe in him may not
perish.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This is my commandment,
that you love one another as I have loved you.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Simon, son of John, do you
love me?</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Simon, son of John, do you
love me?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Simon, son of John, do you
love me?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This is the message that
we have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">If a person says they love
God whom they can't see, yet hates those people whom they can see,
they are a liar.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">And on and on and on.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The message is clear:
love must be at the heart of all we do. In John's view of
discipleship there is no place for petty arguments or grandiose power
struggles. Things people have done and continue to do in the name of
Christianity over the centuries have been based more in terror and
hate than in assurance and love. As bearers of the banner of John
and in the name of Christ, we must be forceful and vocal in decrying
acts of hatred that are wrapped up and disguised as love.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This include everything
from standing up to misconduct in the Church to calling out those who
would punish people for being poor and/or homeless.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The problem with love,
though, is it isn't flashy. It's not attention-grabbing. It's not a
conspiracy theory designed to get people riled up. It's not used to
attack people because you didn't get what you wanted.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Instead, love is patient;
love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things. Love is sacrificial and gives the strength to lay down one's
life for another.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">As an example of this, a
group of 4 to 8-year olds were asked, “What is love?” Here is
what they said:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> When my grandmother got
arthritis and couldn't bend over to paint her toenails, my grandpa
did it for her, even when his hands got arthritis.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Love is what's in the
room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> If you want to learn to
love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Love is like a little old
woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know
each other so well.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> When someone loves you,
they say your name different.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We aren't always like
this. There are times when love is not in us.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We went to Martin's
yesterday and as I was pulling into a parking space, there was
another car who pulled in from the opposite direction who wanted to
pull through to park so they were facing out. We sat there in a
stare down, with me signaling her to back up because she had half her
van in both spots. She finally put it in park, got out and went into
the store. I found another spot, but not before making a comment
about puncturing her tires.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">That, my friends, is not
love.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In a world full of
insurrections and hate, in a world full of spiteful, angry people, in
a world where people are more concerned with themselves than with the
greater good, in a world where greed is seen as a virtue, Saint John
gives us a different message. Those kids give us a different
message.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">As Christians and as
people who proclaim Saint John as our patron, we must strive to live
in love. That isn't always easy, but remember that it is the easy
road that leads to destruction. Love is the narrow, difficult path
Christ calls us to travel.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Here's the paradox: Love
isn't a war cry leading us to conquer those around us; but in
pursuing love, love will conquer all.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Today is Saint John's Day.
Let us celebrate our Patron Saint. Let us welcome those who have
come to share this day with us. Let us eat and be merry.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">But above all, let us
strive to live in love.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Amen.</p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-9723634666065474852023-08-20T13:14:00.004-04:002023-08-20T13:14:19.326-04:00Sermon; Proper 15A; Matthew 15:10-28<p>You may have heard the saying, “If
your religion makes you hate someone, you need a new religion.” Or
maybe you're more familiar with the Anne Lamott quote, “You can
safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out
that God hates all the same people you do.” These two quotes come
into play in today's gospel.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In the first half, Jesus is talking to
the people about cleanliness issues and calling out the scribes and
Pharisees for their hypocrisy. They were attacking the disciples for
breaking tradition by not washing their hands. There is a whole
issue about outward appearance versus inward holiness. Several
chapters later this will come up again as Jesus compares the
Pharisees to tombs that are beautiful on the outside, but inside they
are full of rotting corpses.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Jesus is telling us it isn't outside
influences or other, unclean people which contaminate us. What
actually defiles us is what we harbor inside of us and what we spew
forth from our mouths. We are defiled by our racism, sexism,
slander, false witness, bullying, etc. Another aspect of this is
using your religion to justify bad behavior or, as I began, to
hate/abuse those whom you dislike in the name of God. When someone
begins by saying, “The Bible clearly states . . .” I know I'm
probably in for a hateful, bigoted rant.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">From the beginning God so loved the
world. Are we reflecting that love, or are we reflecting our own
biases and hatreds that we use to establish our superiority? Jesus
calls us to examine ourselves and what is coming out of our mouths
and hearts.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Immediately after this confrontation
with the Pharisees and his discussion about outward purity,
hypocrisy, and inward holiness, Jesus goes to the region of Tyre and
Sidon. This region is traditionally Gentile country. It was once a
Phoenician city-state ruled by King Ethbaal. In Matthew, other than
the Holy Family's flight to Egypt and a brief excursion into the
territory of the Gadarenes, this is only the third time that Jesus is
in Gentile territory. In that first instance, he was an infant. In
the second, he exorcised two demons, although there is no mention of
the demoniacs asking to be healed, and Jesus is forced to leave the
area by those living there. So really, it is this story today where
Jesus first interacts with a Gentile outside of Israel. And the
encounter is problematic.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">A Gentile woman comes to Jesus begging
for her daughter's demons to be exorcised. Whereas earlier he did
this without question, or without being asked (so we can assume they
were men), here he completely ignores this mother. Jesus just sits,
or stands, there and ignores her impassioned plea for him to show
mercy toward her daughter. It gets to the point where his disciples
urge him to send her away. Jesus responds to the disciples by
saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” He
doesn't even have the decency to address her directly. This is like
when we go through a third party to tell someone we aren't talking to
them.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Why is this? Why would Jesus refuse to
engage with her. I think there are a few reasons. First, let's face
it, she was a woman. The only other woman Jesus has interacted with
so far in Matthew is the one who touched his robes to be healed of
her bleeding disorder. That woman, though, was a daughter of Israel.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Second, the woman today was a
Canaanite. The Canaanites were the original people of what came to
be the Holy Land, and Israel attempted to displace them as they moved
into that land. So there's a lot of bad history between the
Canaanites and the Israelites.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Third, and maybe most importantly, she
was from the region of Tyre and Sidon. Remember I said this area was
once ruled by King Ethbaal? It turns out that he was the father of
Jezebel, the woman who married King Ahab and helped him become the
most wicked king in Israel's history. Jezebel is remembered as one
of the most evil and reviled women in all of Scripture. This woman
Jesus encounters is not only a Canaanite, but is also a daughter of
Jezebel. So it's no wonder that Jesus is ignoring her.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Have you ever said something and then
regretted saying it? Or maybe given a speech and realize it's
directed at yourself (preachers do this on a regular basis, by the
way)? I think this is one of those times for Jesus.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“I was sent only to the lost sheep of
Israel,” and, “It isn't fair to take the children's food and
throw it to the dogs.” Add to that his comments to/about the
Pharisees that it isn't what goes into the body which defile a
person, but what comes from one's heart and out of one's mouth that
defile a person – things like evil intentions, false witness, and
slander – and how he thought they were being hypocritical. It now
seems that his words have come home to roost, so to speak.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In this story he encounters a Canaanite
woman, a traditional enemy of Israel, who is also a daughter of
Jezebel. In that encounter his first response is to ignore her. His
second response is to call her a dog. But here Jesus the man also
begins to change.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Through her persistence, and with the
memory of what he just said about hypocritical behavior and what
really defiles a person, he reconsiders his position. I think he
comes to realize that God's love and acceptance really is for all
people, not just those whom we have deemed as chosen. In this
moment, Jesus the man saw how his words were hurtful and exclusionary
and was transformed to seeing God's love and inclusion extended to
all people.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">A question for us is what do we do when
we have sexist, racist, xenophobic, or other evil thoughts toward a
person or people? I recently heard someone say, “We aren't
responsible for our first thought; but we are responsible for our
second thought and our first action.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The Canaanite woman, like other
minority groups, has revealed an inherent bias in Jesus the man and
his disciples. How do we deal with being confronted with our own
biases? Whether that is toward people who are gay or transgendered,
those of different ethnicities, or refugees, or the homeless, or
people whose past history is problematic for you, as was the
Canaanite woman to Jesus and the disciples, how we deal with those
people and our thoughts can tell us a lot about how we see God
present in their lives. We can call them dogs and look to send them
away, or we can work to show them God's all-encompassing love and
show them kindness, mercy, and justice.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This story is transformational because
we are shown how Jesus himself was transformed by this encounter.
Following in the footsteps of Jesus not only includes praying,
worshiping, feeding, and sheltering, it includes confronting our own
biases and our own hypocrisies when facing people not like us –
refugees, women, minorities, gay, trans, homeless – so that we may
be transformed in such a way that we include all people in God's
loving embrace.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">All of us have inherent biases we need
to confront. This story shows us how Jesus confronted those biases
to show mercy to someone of dubious heritage. And if we can't
confront our biases and be transformed to reflect the love of God, we
will no doubt create an idol made in our own image that despises all
the same people we do.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Amen.</p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-22554149132627695222023-08-13T12:20:00.002-04:002023-08-13T12:20:26.884-04:00Sermon; Proper 14A; Matthew 14:22-33<p>This gospel passage always comes with a
flood of images: It follows on the heels of John the Baptist's death
and Jesus feeding the 5000. It has Jesus dismissing the crowds and
finding a place to be alone and pray; the rising of the storm that
batters the boat and the disciples; the boat in the middle of the sea
making no headway; Jesus walking across the stormy sea; Peter
stepping out to walk on those same stormy waters; Jesus rescuing
Peter, and the confession of Jesus as Son of God. There is one
particular part of the passage, though, that keeps jumping out to me.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">But when the disciples saw him walking
on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And
they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and
said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered
him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
So Peter gets out of the boat, walks on the water, becomes afraid,
then begins to sink, is saved by Jesus, and ends up back in the boat.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">What keeps jumping out and has my brain
sort of spinning around is the individualistic nature of this scene.
It gives me the same feeling as when people ask me, or I hear the
question, “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and
Savior?” It gives the impression that Christianity is all about
me.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Picture this: The disciples are in the
boat, wind howling, waves beating against the boat, when a figure
comes walking toward them. Jesus calls out to them and, as proof,
Peter says, “Make me walk on water.” There is no concern for the
other eleven. He doesn't say, “Call <i><b>US</b></i> out to you”
He doesn't even invite Jesus into the boat; because, for Peter, it's
all about him right now. I don't know if this is where the
hyper-individualistic Christianity comes from, but it seems possible.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Christianity – and I can't speak to
other faiths because I don't know enough about them – but
Christianity is a faith of community. We do things together. Our
creed says, “<i><b>WE</b></i> believe . . .” The central act of
our worship, Holy Communion, is done <i><b>TOGETHER</b></i> in
community. That is why in the early days of COVID we held Morning
Prayer, because there was no community for Communion. Our Prayer
Book is a book of common prayer because we hold these prayers in
common, we pray in community.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Becoming a Christian and remaining a
Christian is an individual choice, to be sure. The baptismal
covenant states, “I believe . . .” The Apostles' Creed is an
individual statement of faith. Thomas cried out, “My Lord and my
God.” We each make individual choices to come worship every Sunday
and to, hopefully, conform our lives to the example of Jesus. But
all that aside, we need each other. We practice this faith, not
individually, but together.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">As Paul says, we are the body of
Christ, making up its various parts. Some are eyes, some hands, some
ears, some feet, and none of us can say, “I have no need of you.”
I don't know if Peter was saying he had no need of the other eleven,
but he certainly stepped out of the boat on his own. He didn't say,
“Command us,” he said, “Command <i><b>ME</b></i>.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This is not to say that we don't or
shouldn't participate in times of individual discernment. There are
certainly times we need to pray and ask God, “What would you have
me do?” We need to be open to the moving and calling of the Holy
Spirit. There are times when we belong in this boat with all of the
other disciples. And there are times when we are called to get out
of this boat, following where Jesus leads, so that we can serve and
minister somewhere else or in some other capacity. Or, in certain
cases, we need to leave the boat for our own health and safety. But
discerning where God is calling you is very different than saying,
“Prove it's you and command me to walk on water.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">One is discerning where God is calling
you. The other is an attempt to bend God to your will. Or, worse
yet, to prove to yourself that God is on your side, rather than
figuring out how you can be on God's side.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We see how this plays out in the end of
the story. Peter stepped out of the boat to walk with Jesus on the
water. He left his community behind to do what he wanted, mistaking
discernment for personal goals. For a few steps, for a few seconds,
he succeeded. For a brief moment he was walking on water with Jesus.
Then he began to sink. On his own he could not maintain his ability
to walk on water. On his own he could only live his individualistic
dream for a short time. If it weren't for Jesus, he would have
drowned out there on his own.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">What did Jesus do in response? He
reached out, grabbed his hand, pulled him up, and put him back in the
boat. He put him back in the community he had left behind. By doing
this he basically told Peter, “It's not time for you to step out on
your own.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This story should remind us that
Christianity is a community of faith. We will face storms. There
will be times we aren't making any progress or are stuck in one spot.
But getting out of the boat because we want Jesus to do something
exciting for us isn't what we should be doing. Christianity isn't
always thrilling. Church isn't always exciting. Just because we
think it's better out there is not a reason to leave the boat.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Discernment and desire are two
different things, and we need to know the difference.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">May we have the courage to stay in the
boat, and the wisdom to discern where God is calling us to be.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Amen.</p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-18501646587236575012023-08-06T12:42:00.002-04:002023-08-06T12:42:07.474-04:00Sermon; Transfiguration; 2023<p>The movie “Oppenheimer” opened in
theaters a week or so ago. I don't know if they planned for that
date, or if it was coincidence, but it was relatively good timing. I
can't comment on the movie because I haven't yet seen it. That said,
though, I do want to give you some historical facts around the time
of Oppenheimer that you may or may not have known, and which the
movie may or may not (probably not) address. Also notice the
emphasis on <i><b>SOME</b></i> facts, because otherwise we'd be here
all day.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In 1933, Leo Szilard conceived the idea
of using an atomic chain reaction in a bomb. In 1934 he filed a
patent application using neutron-induced chain reactions to create
explosions. In January, 1939, Otto Frisch observed atomic action in
an ionization chamber, and with the help of William Arnold, he coined
the term “fission” to describe that process. Both Oppenheimer
and Szilard heard of this new discovery later that month. In August
of 1939, Albert Einstein wrote to President Roosevelt warning of the
prospect of an atomic bomb.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In July, 1941, an English research
committee wrote a report laying out the feasibility of an atomic
bomb. Over the course of the next several years, scientists are
assembled and progress is made on developing an atomic bomb. Various
places, including Oak Ridge, TN, Hanford, WA, and Los Alamos, NM, are
developed and tasked with various projects in the creation of the
bomb. And on December 6, 1942, construction began on the Los Alamos
site which was advertised as empty and desolate.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It turns out, though, that the site for
the Manhattan Project wasn't empty and desolate; it was inhabited by
Hispanic farmers and ranchers. Those people were given less than 24
hours to vacate the area, after which their homes and farms were
bulldozed, and cattle and other livestock killed, to make way for the
research center. As compensation for their loss, the government paid
white landowners $275/acre, while Hispanic landowners were paid only
$7/acre, with most not even actually receiving that money. Hispanics
were forced, then, to work menial jobs at the new laboratory, often
without protection from the radiation.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">1945 saw the creation of an initial
target list in Japan. The Trinity test, the first atomic explosion
in history, took place on July 16. Eventually the target list was
narrowed to Hiroshima. A B-29 bomber crew was selected, and a plane
called <i>Enola Gay</i> was loaded with the Little Boy bomb, the
first atomic bomb to be used in combat in human history.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">On August 6, 1945, at 8:16 am local
time, the crew of the <i>Enola Gay</i> dropped Little Boy over
Hiroshima, Japan, with an explosive force estimated at 15 kilo-tons
(15 thousand tons), killing approximately 70,000 people instantly.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In that moment there was a blinding
light and the world was transformed for ever.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Moses went up the mountain to receive
the Torah, the law, from God. During his time with God he was
changed. He didn't know it, of course, but his face shone with a
brightness that required him to cover it when he was with the people.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">When discussing this incident, one
commentator notes that, as the moon reflects the light of the sun,
Moses reflected the blinding brilliance of God. Another author said
much the same thing in that the brilliance of God literally rubbed
off on Moses.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Moses' connection and contact with God
would change the Israelites, and the world, for ever. They were
moving from an enslaved people in service to Pharaoh, to a free
people in service to God. Through the Israelites' relationship with
God, many other peoples would come to know God. From the example of
Moses, we can learn that the more we are in touch with God, the more
we ourselves will be transformed in such a way that we also reflect
the light of God.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Similar to Moses, Jesus also was on a
mountain. But where Moses was alone, Jesus had friends with him.
Those friends noticed that his face changed in appearance, and his
clothes became dazzling white, which all happened while he was
praying – while he was in contact with God. While they were
gathered on the mountain, a cloud overshadowed them and a voice
proclaimed, “This is my Son, the Chosen; listen to him!”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The disciples still have a ways to go
before they figure it all out, but in that moment on the mountain,
Peter, James, and John were transformed in a way that they didn't yet
understand. As Peter would later write, “We had been eyewitnesses
to his glory.” This transfiguration of Jesus, this revelation of
Jesus' true nature as fully human and fully divine, not only
transfigures Jesus, but also transforms the world for ever.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Today, August 6, provides us with a
unique opportunity to witness two transformational events. One is
the awesome power and blinding light of atomic warfare. The other is
the transfigured faces of those who have been in the presence of the
awesome power and blinding light of God.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Both of these events have changed us.
With the bombing of Hiroshima, then Nagasaki, and then with the
proliferation of nuclear arsenals, we have been changed in many ways.
For those old enough to remember, recall life before the nuclear
age. For others, recall the movement from “Duck and Cover” to
realizing that “Duck and Cover” wasn't going to help anyone. For
myself, my friends, and others my age, it was an understanding that
we were doomed, it was plans to head directly to ground zero when the
EBS told us missiles were on their way because we didn't want to
survive a nuclear attack, and it was reoccurring dreams of nuclear
war.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Contrast that with how the
transfiguration of Moses and Jesus can change us. We see Moses being
changed to reflect God's light and we understand that spending time
with God will affect us. We see Jesus' true nature being revealed
and those on the mountain being overshadowed by a cloud. In that
moment we know God is with us, and in that moment we move toward
reflecting the presence of God to those around us.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This is both the day the atomic bomb
was dropped on Hiroshima as well as the Feast of the Transfiguration.
Both events are transformational. The question we must always ask
is will we allow ourselves to be transformed by fear, destruction,
and death, or will we allow ourselves to be transformed by a loving,
creative, and living God?</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">August 6. How will you be transformed
and transfigured?</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Amen.</p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-85317119333707395152023-07-30T12:00:00.001-04:002023-07-30T12:00:00.148-04:00Sermon; Proper 12A; Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52<p>As I mentioned last week,
today we have five parables that come rapid-fire one right after
another with no explanation.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The kingdom of heaven is
like a mustard seed. The kingdom of heaven is like yeast. The
kingdom of heaven is like a hidden treasure. The kingdom of heaven
is like a valuable pearl. The kingdom of heaven is like a net that
catches fish of every kind.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">All these are then
followed up with one of my favorite verses: “Have you understood
all this?” Like your 9<sup>th</sup> grade algebra class, everyone
says, “Yes,” with a dumbfounded expression on their faces and
glazed-over eyes.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The kingdom of heaven is
like a mustard seed that someone plants in a field, like yeast a
woman mixes in with three measures of flour, like men who sell all
their possessions after finding hidden treasure and a valuable pearl,
and like a fishing net that catches both good and bad fish.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Far from understanding all
this, I'm left trying to figure out just what Jesus is saying.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">There are basically two
ways to address these five parables. The first is to delve deeply
into each parable, drawing your attention to possible meanings or
possible implications. So if I take about 10 minutes per parable,
plus the opening and closing, you're looking at a 55-minutes sermon.
So let's not do that.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">A second way is to find a
common theme between them, which seems more reasonable. So what is
the common theme between a mustard seed, yeast, hidden and valuable
treasures, and a fishing net? The common theme as I see it is the
kingdom of heaven. And before you say, “No kidding, Captain
Obvious,” stay with me here. The kingdom of heaven is so beyond
our comprehension that Jesus uses multiple parables that reflect
certain aspects which help us see the complete picture. So let's
take a look at these kingdom parables.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The kingdom of heaven is
like a mustard seed which someone planted in their field. The
kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixes in with three
measures of flour. In these two parables, the kingdom of heaven is
easily missed, but subversively powerful.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The kingdom of heaven is
easily missed because the mustard seed and yeast are really small.
They are subversively powerful in that they affect everything around
them. This small seed grows into a large shrub becoming a tree that
welcomes birds to nest. The yeast in the three measures of flour
hearkens back to Genesis when Sarah made cakes for the three
visitors. It changed the flour in a way that provided a great amount
of food in a generous act of hospitality.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The mustard seed and the
yeast change things in a way that disrupts the status quo, offering
rest and refreshment to those who otherwise might find none. And
isn't that what the kingdom of heaven is all about – offering a
home of rest and refreshment which disrupts how people normally do
business? The kingdom of heaven also offers a place of refuge where
people are accepted, loved, and fed.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The kingdom of heaven is
like a hidden treasure or a pearl of great value which someone sells
all he has to obtain. These are, or seem to be, unrealistic acts.
Which of us would sell everything we own in order to purchase one
thing of value? But this is exactly what the kingdom of heaven is –
a hidden treasure that is subversively hospitable and disruptive; and
for us to participate in that, we need to be all in.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The kingdom of heaven
offers rest and refreshment for all. The kingdom of heaven disrupts
the systems of the world. If we want to be part of that, we need to
give up those things that keep us beholden to the ways of the world.
We need to be willing to give up attitudes and behaviors that are
comfortable for us but limiting or discriminatory to others. We need
to give up the way we've always done things in favor of how God wants
things done.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We don't do this by
accident. We do it purposefully and intentionally with the goal of
finding what God has planted or what God has kept hidden from the
world. The world says we can't house people living on the streets.
God says, “Here's a big tree, let everyone come and make a home.”
The world says, “We only have limited resources.” God says,
“Here's some yeast, go change things and feed those in need.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We need to look for ways
to subvert the systems of the world that are based in racism,
classism, power, and control. And when we find it, we need to give
up everything to pursue kingdom goals.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Finally, at the end of the
age, the net of the kingdom of heaven will be cast far and wide
catching fish of every kind. The angels will then separate the
righteous from the evil, the good from the bad.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The net, as the kingdom of
heaven, wants everyone.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It wants all people to be
part of it. Our catechism reflects this when it says the mission of
the Church is to restore ALL people to unity with God and each other
in Christ. But the reality is that not all people want to be part of
the kingdom of heaven. There are also those who actively work
against it – those who work for the benefit of worldly power
structures, against Godly equality, and against God himself. Those
are evil and demonic forces. They are also forces that we have to
live with and swim next to. But at the end of the age, those evil
forces will be caught up in the kingdom's net and tossed aside.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">All five of these parables
are kingdom parables. All five let us know what the kingdom of
heaven is like. All five are needed because Jesus is trying to
explain in human terms what exists beyond what we can envision. To
borrow from Paul, “Now we see only dimly.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The kingdom of heaven is
like a mustard seed that someone sowed in his field. Nobody sows a
mustard seed in a field because it grows into this big shrub or tree
that takes away resources and invites birds to come and nest.
Planting that seed is an act of subversion that disrupts how the
world does business.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The kingdom of heaven is
like a woman who mixes yeast into three measures of flour. That
yeast changes the composition of the flour allowing it to rise and
feed a great number of people. In a world that limits resources, the
yeast of the kingdom of heaven is a subversive act giving us a
foretaste of God's heavenly, generous banquet. The abundance of this
meal subverts the world's focus on scarcity.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The kingdom of heaven is
like a hidden treasure or rare pearl that you actively seek out.
Part of our relationship with God is to seek him out. Seeking after
God is woven all through Scripture. Ps. 27:11 says, “You speak in
my heart and say, 'Seek my face,' * Your face, O Lord, will I seek.”
We are called to seek out after God with all our heart, mind, soul,
and strength. In other words, we are called to give our all in
pursuit of that hidden treasure and pearl of great price – which
reflect the presence of God.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The kingdom of heaven is
like a net thrown into the sea catching fish of every kind. It is
not our job to separate the good from the evil, but it is the job of
the angels to do that at the end of the age. The kingdom of heaven
starts small but will subvert the systems of the world to create a
place where all can live and be fed. The kingdom of heaven, because
it begins small and is subversive, must be actively sought after with
all that we are and all that we have. The kingdom of heaven seeks to
draw in all people.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Do you understand all
this?</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Then let us bring into the
world a new message of holy subversion mixed with an old faith that
gives rhythm and substance to our lives.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Amen.</p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6020471.post-30025784138378409432023-07-23T13:19:00.001-04:002023-07-23T13:19:09.213-04:00Sermon; Proper 11A; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43<p>We are in the midst of a series of
kingdom parables. Chapter 13 of Matthew is the first time Jesus uses
parables in this gospel, and it's like he's been saving up these
stories until now when they come one right after another. This is a
new style of teaching for Jesus, as parables are designed to give new
insights to challenge certain beliefs, and are specifically targeted
for willing learners. Which could very well be why his first parable
of the sower ended with, “the one who understands bears fruit,”
and why he says in a couple of places, “Let anyone with ears
listen.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Today we have the second sowing
parable. A man sows good seed in his field, but an enemy of his
secretly sows weeds, hoping to destroy his crop. When the weeds came
up with the wheat, his slaves ask if they should tear out the weeds,
but the owner says he'll deal with it at harvest time.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The first thing to notice is that the
slaves want to rip out the weeds. They are the ones who want to keep
the field pure and undefiled. But the landowner says, “No, let
them grow up together. Then the reapers will sort things out.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Another thing we need to look at is,
what exactly is a weed? A weed, by definition, is any plant you
don't want. I recently heard that it was due to the advertising of
the Scott's lawn products that convinced people to spray for
dandelions and other weeds in order to keep a green lawn. So we
developed this idea that dandelions are unwanted intruders in our
beautifully manicured lawns.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">But here are some things you may not
have known about dandelions. They are good sources of vitamins A, C,
and K, iron, calcium, and magnesium. They contain high levels of
beta carotene. They may reduce inflammation, help with blood sugar
management, reduce cholesterol, lower blood pressure, protect against
liver damage, slow cancer cell growth, and help with skin care. They
are also a necessary food source for bees. And as we have all been
made aware lately, if we lose the bees, we lose everything. So we
might want to be careful when labeling things or people weeds,
because they just might be more beneficial than we know.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Like the slaves only wanted the right
plants, we tend to only want the right people.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This desire to only want the right
people is part of our human nature. It shows up in religion,
politics, sports, business, families, you name it. We want to be
surrounded with only those people who are like us, or who are
beneficial to us. Because of this, we might be too quick to label
some people as weeds.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The Vestry had a work day this past
Tuesday. We covered a lot of material, but one thing stuck in my
mind that related to today's parable. Our facilitator brought up
something called Fundamental Attribution Error. This is when you
attribute your best behavior to character while attributing someone
else's best behavior to the environment, and then treat negative
behaviors the exact opposite.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">For instance, when I'm on time to
events it's because I'm considerate and dependable. When you're on
time, it's because all the traffic lights were green. And when I'm
late, it's because traffic was a mess and I hit all the red lights,
but when you're late it's because you're lazy and inconsiderate.
Weeds and wheat. We see those who don't meet our expectations as
weeds that need to be eliminated, while we see ourselves as good,
productive wheat. The reality, though, is you don't know their whole
story. Like a dandelion whose partial story is that it makes a mess
of our yard, we don't realize how healthy and important it is for us
and the environment.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The last thing I want to look at is the
explanation Jesus gives. The good seed are the children of the
kingdom. I'm going to assume that we are all children of the
kingdom. We are the good seed. We are not the sower or the owner of
the field. Nor are we the slaves laboring in the field. And we
certainly aren't the reapers. Therefore it is not our job to pull up
the weeds before the harvest; for by attempting to create a pure
space without weeds, we would only damage ourselves. Nor is it our
job to harvest the weeds at the end of the age and throw them into
the fire; that is a job for the angels alone.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">What exactly is our job then? Our job
is to grow. Our job is to grow and bear fruit.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Last week we heard the parable of the
sower and the seed scattered in various places. I pointed out that
the parable wasn't about God's bad aim, or predestination, but was
about using what we have been given for the kingdom of God. It was
about learning, understanding, and doing. When we do that, we
reflect seed sown in good soil.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Today there is no doubt about who we
are and where we have been sown. We are good seed sown in good soil.
And what does good seed sown in good soil do? It grows. Even
though it may grow alongside a weed, it grows and produces good
fruit.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for you are with me,
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Even though I grow in a field of weeds,
I shall not fear; for the Lord is with me.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Our job is not to create a perfectly
pure field without any differences or challenges. Our job is to grow
and produce good fruit. In that growing we just might find the weeds
aren't as bad as we thought. We might also find they have useful
properties that are beneficial to the kingdom. But we will never
know that if we spend all our time ripping them up and throwing them
into the fire.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Because honestly, for every person out
there who thinks they are wheat, I can almost guarantee you that
there is someone else in this building who thinks you are a weed.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So let's not spend our time trying to
rip out and burn up. Instead, let's spend our time growing and
learning. And in that way we will find that we haven't created a
uniform lawn fit for an HOA, but we have created a wild, diverse
garden that benefits more than we can see.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Amen.</p>Reverend Ref +http://www.blogger.com/profile/12608521436386973234noreply@blogger.com0