Give Him Your Heart. Christmas 2017

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In the bleak midwinter, right here and right now.Christmas 2017

+For years I dismissed the hymn “In the Bleak Midwinter.” The title itself turned me off---bleak midwinter? Forget it! But then I heard Annie Lennox’ version on her album Christmas Cornucopia. Lennox’ rendition is haunting, and the words hit me as being so honest, that I now listen to “In the Bleak Mid-Winter” year ‘round and have even used it as part of a Holy Week meditation. I am grateful to Christina Rosetti, the English poet who penned the words to the hymn in the 19th century and to Annie Lennox who got me to listen to it anew in the 21st.
My favorite line, and the one that summarizes my theology of Christmas well is this:  
“Our God, Heaven cannot hold “Him” nor earth sustain.”
God is so huge, so massive, so untamed that God’s… well God’s “Godness…” God’s Divinity…cannot be held in check. The Love and Light of all that is good in heaven and on earth cannot be contained, secured or held back. 

On this most Holy of Nights, God erupts out of heaven and pours out onto the earth.
In a barn.
In Bethlehem.
To a human mother.
Born. In the regular way---with the pain and the muck and the terror and the unspeakable, incomprehensible joy.
In the bleak midwinter…right here, and right now GOD has come to dwell among us.
In the bleak midwinter, right here and right now, God has arrived as a squawking, hungry, maybe even colicky baby.
In the bleak midwinter, right here and right now, in Attica New York, [in Buffalo New York], God has, once again arrived…as a vulnerable little being, in need of nurture. In need of care. In need of Love.
In the bleak midwinter, right here and right now, on this Holy night, God has descended from the heavenly throne to meet us right where weare.
In the Bleak Midwinter.
In Western New York.
In our hearts and throughout our souls,
God has arrived.
Here and Now, JUST AS WE ARE, God has come.
You who may only be here because your grandmother, grandfather, parent, sibling, spouse expects that you will , at least once or twice a year, attend church…

God has come for you and because of you.
You who may be a faithful attendee of church but who, if you’re honest, doesn’t even know what you believe anymore, God has come. For you, because of you, with you.
You who have so much fear, so much loss, so much doubt, God has come. Here and Now.
To be with you.
To be for you,
To be in you
To Be.
Here and Now
In the bleak midwinter of our lives, God, as God does again and again and again, God has come to be with us.
In the bleak midwinter our God, OUR GOD, the God for you, the God for me, the God for everyone everywhere, always and forever, has come because neither Heaven can hold this God, nor can Earth sustain. So this
 God, our God bridges the here and now with the always and forever.
     On this Holy Night, in this Bleak mid-winter, during our regular lives, full of hope and joy, full of doubt and despair, full of wonder and wander, God has come.
Not to judge.
Or to destroy
Or to terrorize.
No, on this Holy Night, in this mid-winter and in this place, God has broken into the world because God cannot stay away.
For God so loved the world that God came to be among us as Jesus the Christ.
God has broken free of heaven to roam this earth because God needs us.
And God knows, we need God.
    Perhaps you’re shocked that God needs us.
Perhaps you’re uncomfortable with the idea that you need God.
It’s why this night is so amazing, because it’s so very real:
We’re in this together, God and us. We both have our parts in bringing the Love, Light and Peace of God to this world. Right here and right now, on this Holy Night,  as we welcome the infant Jesus, we must remember that this birth, this baby, this gift is given to us and for us.

As the hymn states,
“What can I give him,
poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I would bring a lamb;
if I were a wise man,
I would do my part;
yet what I can I give him-
give my heart.”
    It’s so easy to dismiss the arrival of God incarnate as a gift for someone else. Someone more worthy, someone more holy, someone more devoted.
It’s so easy to dismiss the arrival of God in the person of the Baby Jesus as something much too big for us to fathom, for us to earn, for us to understand. And you know what? It is. It’s too big, we can never earn it, and we certainly can never understand it.
Perhaps if we were wiser, we would do our part, perhaps if we were shepherds we would bring a lamb but we, you and me here and now on this Holy Night, what can we possibly do with the greatest gift ever given? 

                            We can accept it.

We can open our hearts and invite God in. My friends, here. Now, on this Holy Night I invite you to give this baby, our baby, our Lord, and our Savior, your heart.
Amen.Give

Soothing is temporary. Comfort is forever. St Luke’s Attica Advent 2B 2017

+”Comfort O Comfort my people, says the prophet Isaiah.
I don’t know about you, but I like to be comfortable. After a cold walk out to the barn, I love to change into flannel pants and a cozy sweatshirt.
We speak of comfort a lot---when someone seems really self-assured we say, “They’re so comfortable in their own skin.” Or when we eat a big old pot roast, or make a nice steaming stew, we call it comfort food.
This morning Isaiah is expressing a common refrain---we like to be comfortable…we long to be comfortable.
    The Israelites have just come out of exile; returning to the land their parents and grandparents had been forced to leave behind. A land the current generation had never lived in. For them, “home” was simply a fantasy, a place where problems never existed, where, if they could just get back, everything would be fine.
    I know the feeling. How many of us have said, “everything will be ok, just as soon as I make a little more money, or just as soon as the kids get a bit older, or as soon as my parent’s health problems stabilize, or as soon as my boss gives me a break.”
The Israelites thought, “everything will be ok, once we get home.”
But Isaiah is saying that while returning home was certainly soothing, it wouldn’t provide the comfort the Israelites longed for…because…
Only God can do that.
There’s only one source of true comfort: God.
We mistake all sorts of things for comfort. Often, what we think is comforting is, simply, soothing.
And soothing is qualitatively different than comforting.
To soothe is to alleviate, placate, relieve.
To comfort is to give strength and hope even in the most challenging of circumstances.
Soothing is temporary. Comfort is forever.
    Now, there’s nothing wrong with being soothed---there’s an awful lot of discomfort in our daily lives which is alleviated through soothing….and, even though when the soothing ends the discomfort returns, that little respite gives us the energy to fight through the disappointments and worries of daily life.
But, sometimes really bad things happen to us: Death, illness, abuse, heartbreak and hopelessness. Things that make us feel fragile, vulnerable, at risk. When that happens, we don’t need soothing, we need comfort.
As most of you know, a month ago I lost my wife to cancer. What gives more comfort than anything else in these dark days are those who’ve responded with cursing, laments and tears. I find this reaction honest and true. What really drives me nuts are those people who say, “oh you’ll be fine, every day will get easier.” Now, I know they’re just trying to soothe me…to give me a little relief…but I don’t want soothing I don’t want distraction. I CAN’T be distracted. Because-- and those of you who’ve dealt with deep hurt, fear and heartache know what I mean--when experiencing such gut-wrenching, life-changing events, nothing distracts.  You never forget what you’re going through. You can’t.
Soothing may distract, but it does not comfort. And comfort is what I long for.
Comfort is what I find through tears and laments.  Because when I fall apart, when I lose control, I am letting go and letting God. I’m making room for God’s comfort to envelope me.
      Isaiah knew that only by letting go of control, of the “what ifs”, the “if onlys,” the “whens” and the “one days,” do we allow God room to comfort us.
     Today I’m reminded of an inescapable reality—our resilience, our faith, our strength, our hope will, at times, wither and fade…at times life can just become TOO MUCH for us. And that’s ok.
Because we have God.
And God’s comfort is the one thing that will NEVER wither or fade.
     As our life unfolds, things happen: our paths get crooked, our valleys deepen, the mountains of despair grow higher and our spirit? It suffers. Soothing may take our mind off of the bumpy road, the deep valleys and the treacherous mountains of life, but when the soothing ends—and soothing always ends—we’re left with the crooked, the deep and the tall troubles of life. But when we focus on comfort, when we diligently and deliberately seek comfort in our lives, the road will straighten, the valley will rise, the mountains will lower and our spirit will renew.
So, my friends, focus not on what soothes, but rather focus on the One who comforts.
   Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of the Great Comforter, to ready ourselves for accepting the presence of God in our very lives and into our very beings. It’s a time when we accept that life is not always easy, and that fixes are not always quick. It’s a time when we accept that soothing, while less risky to pursue will, in time, wither and fade. It’s a time when we, each and every one of us, must prepare ourselves to accept the greatest comfort God has ever given us: a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. +

All Saints 2017

I was supposed to celebrate and preach at Trinity Hamburg and St. Paul's Springville today. However, cancer got in the way and I needed to stay home with Pete. I had re-worked an All Saints' sermon I gave three years ago, to use today. Here it is: 
Death is difficult. No doubt most of us here have had more than our share of death—- death of family, of friends, of beloved pets,  death is difficult.
The slightest, seemingly inconsequential thing suddenly takes on new meaning and the grief and sadness that overcomes us can be very painful.
Sudden deaths are especially shocking and terribly sad.
And as we weep, God is there to wipe away every tear.
My dad was ravaged by cancer. He was a mere shadow of his former self, the primary lung cancer had metastasized to his brain and his bones. He was wracked with pain and was hallucinating. His death was a relief from all that horror. Yet still, as he took his final breath it was shocking and terribly sad.
And as we wept, God wiped away every tear.
When my young friend Ian fell into a deep darkness that I can’t even comprehend and decided to take his own life, so many of us were shocked and terribly sad.
And as we wept, God wiped away every tear.

Last week as word of the truck mowing down people on a bike path in lower Manhattan, our hearts sank and the memories of the now ubiquitous occasion of terror attacks came rushing back to the surface.
And as we wept, God wiped away every tear.
On September 11, 2001 we were collectively kicked in the gut, terrified and shocked as the twin towers fell.
And as we wept, God wiped away every tear.
When each of the people we will remember during this Eucharist died, those who loved them were shocked and terribly sad.
And each and every time:
God wiped away every tear
This is what makes today so wonderful in my eyes---it’s a day when the veil that separates the here and now with those who were and will be forever— lifts just a bit and we find ourselves in that Thin Place where the wonders of life eternal visit us here in our life temporal, reminding us that we are never ever alone, no matter how deep the grief, no matter how painful the loss, no matter how persistent the sadness,  we are surrounded by Love.
But All Saints’ Day isn’t just about the death of our loved ones. It’s about comfort in the midst of all loss. Take a good look at our reading from Revelation today and be encouraged by the words:
"These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; …
 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
All of us here today have lost things---jobs, relationships, health, hope, faith, even the church we remember…and we grieve these losses and it is while in the midst of that grief when we can feel the most alone. Today is the day that we remember we’re never alone .
Consider this sacred space—- can you feel them…all those people who loved this place. All those people who sat in these same pews— those who built this parish, those who held the hope for what this parish could mean to the surrounding community—-their presence lingers and on this great feast day may we all find comfort and strength in all that they did, all they accomplished, all they endured.
Comfort and strength.
I won’t lie to you. We need all the comfort and strength we can get.
Why?
Because the fact of the matter is this---the message we have for the world, the message so beautifully put in our reading from Matthew this morning is a message that was counter-cultural then and is, sadly, countercultural now.
The different and the outcast, the disabled and the ill, the young and the old, the immigrant and refugee are still reviled.
And our job is to push this world into more inclusion, more tolerance and more love.
That has always been our job and I fear it will continue to be our job for generations to come.
But, and this is where we really need courage and creativity, the way we do this job, the way we spread this message, needs updating. I’m not sure how that will look, but I know it won’t look like this---we owe it to our forebears, we owe it to our children, we owe it to our God to figure out how to be who we are in this 21st century world with limited resources, an aging congregation and a world that doesn’t want to hear our message of love for everyone, always.
Sounds like a tall order, doesn’t it?
It is.
You, Trinity Hamburg and St Paul’s Springville are on the cusp of the new. Next week Fr. Doc Whitaker will join you as an interim. He will challenge you, he will irritate you, he will inspire you, he will love you. At times it may feel like too big of a task, to tough of a challenge….
but, with this immense cloud of witnesses surrounding you, you can do this—it will require breaking out of your comfort zone, it will require doing some things---perhaps many things---differently, it will take courage. It will take hope. It will take flexibility. It will take love. It will take All the Saints, wiping your tears and guiding you to wherever it is God calls you to go. (For Springville: I for one will be cheering you on, every step of the way.) (For Trinity Hamburg: it has been an honor to walk with you these past 15 months. I won't be with you on a regular basis anymore, but know you will remain in my heart and in my prayers as you move into your next phase.)

Amen

Proper 21 A Trinity, Hamburg, St. Paul's Springville "Living Yes"

+Saying Yes while Living No. That’s how Biblical scholar Fred Craddock characterizes the parable at the end of today’s gospel—the Parable of the Two Sons.
A man had two sons---he asks them both to go work in the vineyard. The first says, “sure Dad, I’ll head right over,” and then doesn’t go at all. The second says, “no way, Pops, I’ve got better things to do,” but then has a change of heart and goes to the vineyard to work. The first son said yes and lived no, the second son said no, but lived yes.
So, just why did this story infuriate the temple authorities?
Well, maybe they saw way too much of themselves in the first son and not nearly enough in the second.
You see, even though Jesus tells this story in response to his authority being questioned, he’s really telling it to call the temple authorities out on their hypocrisy and corruption.
  Jesus turns the tables on their so-called righteous indignation by questioning their motives:
• Are they protecting “the faith,” or are they protecting their status?
• Are they protecting the honor of the temple, or are they protecting their role of prestige within the temple?
• Are they living their faith or are they just talking about their faith?
• Are they living a life of yes, or are they saying yes, and living no?
Jesus convicts them with his words and, if we’re honest, he convicts us, too.
But before we shut our ears and close our hearts to this “hitting close to home message,” hear me out.
     We readily point fingers at the hypocrisy of others---religious leaders, politicians, celebrities, sport heroes,  our bosses and our neighbors who say yes while most definitely living no. That’s easy.
What’s not so easy----and a whole lot more uncomfortable---is to list all the ways we say yes, but live no. But to simply beat ourselves up and say how bad it is that we say yes and live no far more often than we should is, to me, a cop-out. So often we say “yes we stink, we should do better blah blah blah” and then just go on living life as we have—that’s just another way to say yes and live no!!!! It’s taking the easy way out.
And you know what? I don’t want to take the easy way out, I’d rather take the tough way in.
You see it’s the defeatist attitude of beating ourselves up by admitting that we say yes and live no more often than not that keeps us mired in our shame…and that shame keeps far too many of us stuck looking from the outside in, assuming that our weakenesses, our sins, our mistakes keep us away from the fullness of God’s love, God’s mercy and God’s grace.
And that, my friends, is BULL.
Too many of us think that because we’ve had times in our life where we’ve said yes, but lived no—that we aren’t welcome, that there’s no room for us at the table of our Lord-- that “true believers” are those who have always, or at least most of the time, said yes and lived yes. That the only way to take a seat in the kingdom of God, in the fellowship of Christ, in a pew at Trinity (St Paul’s), is to clean up our acts, get all spiffy and bright and “perfect” BEFORE coming to church.
That’s completely backwards!
Why do we feel the need to pull ourselves together BEFORE showing up in a place designed to accept our brokenness, to heal our hurts, to forgive, heal, and renew?
It’s like what my mother always did before a cleaning lady came---she cleaned!!!  
                                      It’s nuts!
We’re way too hard on ourselves, assuming that the faith of “true believers” is unshakeable… unwavering.
Thinking that if we say we believe in God, we can’t ever question God.
Thinking that if we say we “love everyone, always no exceptions” that we can’t ever dislike or disagree with another.
Thinking that we can’t volunteer to help out on the altar or in the choir or in Sunday School or on the vestry because we don’t know enough or aren’t faithful enough or aren’t good enough.
The temple authorities don’t like that Jesus eats with prostitutes and tax collectors. The temple authorities want everything to look nice and tidy and bright; they’re way more interested in how things look,  rather than how things really are.
The kingdom of God here on earth, isn’t nice and tidy and bright, the kingdom of God is full of people like you and me, people who try our best but sometimes fail, people like you and me who sometimes say no, but then find a way to live yes, people like us who make mistakes but get up and try again.
Living into the yes isn’t a place of perfect people, it’s a place of perfect grace.
So perhaps we’ve all “said yes and lived no” more than we want to admit. The good news is, God doesn’t care about the mistakes we’ve made, nearly as much as God cares about the progress we’re making.
Like the parent in today’s parable, God’s far more interested in what we’re doing and how we’re living, rather than what we’re saying and how we look, because God isn’t keeping score, God is cheering us on.+

“Him?” A Sermon on St. Matthew for St Matthew’s, Buffalo September 24, 2017

+So there are two things about St. Matthew’s story that I want to talk about this morning. First, let’s spend some time on who he was---Matthew was a tax collector----when we think tax collector we think of some disembodied IRS worker on the other end of the phone line, or the IRS address where we send our yearly taxes---but in Jesus’ time the tax collector wasn’t disembodied at all. He was your neighbor and he stood in the town square hand out-stretched, expecting—demanding---payment. What the payment amount was wasn’t found on some tax table published by the Roman Empire, no the amount owed was determined by the tax collector. And the amount varied greatly. You see tax collectors in the Roman Empire didn’t work for a salary or an hourly wage. No, they lived on whatever they could skim off of what they collected. The Empire had their expectations of what everyone should be taxed, and they expected that the collectors would charge each household more than what the Empire wanted so that they—the tax collectors---could make some money. It was an underhanded, nasty business and the Jewish people detested them. Not only because the Romans were a hostile occupying force, but because the way money was handled violated their principles.
So in and of themselves tax collectors were disliked. And then you have Matthew. He was doubly disliked….why? Because not only was he a tax collector, working for the Roman Empire, he was Jewish---he was a turncoat, working against his own people for his own distasteful gains. Matthew was hated.
And yet, Jesus chooses him—a turncoat, yellow bellied tax collector---to “follow him.”
And it wasn’t just Matthew---many of Jesus disciples, the men and women who became the apostles of Christ, were of questionable repute. Jesus didn’t care who his followers were on the outside, he didn’t care what people, what society thought of them, he cared about who it was they wanted to be and n some cases who he knew they could become. Jesus attracted the curious and the searching, the lost and the lonely, the reputable and maligned, the unacceptable and the unexpected.
Consider this: Jesus walks in here, right now, and asks if he and his friends can join us. Now his friends may not look like you and me, they may not act like you and me, they may not smell like you and me, they may not sound like you and me. We may know them—they may be notorious drug dealers from down the street, they may be prostitutes, gang-bangers. They may Carl Paladino, or Osama Bin Laden. They may be ---they probably would be---people who make us uncomfortable, uneasy or even down right mad. But Jesus has asked them to “follow him” and here they are.
What would we do?
I think, when we consider the story of Matthew, we have to consider just how radical a story it is. Matthew was not a rational choice for Jesus. Which makes sense because, frankly, being a follower of Jesus Christ isn’t rational at all.
Which brings me to my second point about the story of Matthew. “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting in the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And [Matthew] got up and followed him.” (Mt9:9-10)
He gave up what he knew, he gave up his livelihood, he gave up his profession, such as it was, his friends, his family, and followed Jesus. So did Peter and Andrew John and James and the rest of the 12. The dropped what they were doing to follow Him.
Now while I know that our baptism doesn’t demand that we drop all that is familiar to us to follow some itinerant preacher, to be true followers of Jesus, to emulate the likes of Matthew, we do need to take risks. We need to stand up while others stay back, we need to speak out while others stay silent, we need to reach out to those others would just as soon keep out, we need to give even though there may be more that we want for ourselves. In short, to follow Him, we need to let go of things that we find familiar and comfortable and easy. Why?
Because following Jesus means looking outside of ourselves, moving beyond our comfort zones, stepping away from the usual and the familiar so that instead of being focused on us, we can be focused on Him.
So..what does that mean for all of us, here and now? I don’t know exactly. It’s up to each of us to consider this question…both as individuals and as a congregation. What blocks us from doing the work of Christ here and now?
What stands in our way….worry? Fear? What others may say?
What stands in our way? Our building issues, the decline of our neighborhood, the loss of church membership?
What stands in our way?
Lots stood in Matthew’s way. He was despised. He was wholly dependent on shady business practices to make a living. He had turned his back on his own kinfolk in order to make a buck. He was hated. He was feared. And yet he followed Him.
What do we need to do to be like Matthew, to risk everything for Him? That’s a question each of us needs to answer for ourselves. But what I do is that When we do that, when we follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ---fully and completely, amazing things will happen:
Tax collectors will become our friends, fishermen will drop their nets and the Kingdom of God will grow, right here and right now.
Amen.

Proper 18 A Grace Lckprt The essence of God is in relationship September 10, 2017

+Our readings this morning are about following God’s commandments, working through disagreements and remembering that Jesus is present whenever we gather in his name. So, just how are these three themes connected? Well, Jesus clearly knew that once the church was organized, institutionalized---whenever 2 or 3 are gathered---conflict would occur. Jesus knows us and he knows that we’re going to fight.
So, instead of telling us that we shouldn’t, he tells us how to repair our relationships AFTER we fight.
We’re to speak to each other directly. That is, we aren’t to gossip or triangulate. Of course, that doesn’t always work, because sometimes the other person won’t speak directly with you, or maybe it feels too risky, too scary to do it alone. In that case we’re to bring one or two trusted people with us to have the conversation. If that fails and we can’t resolve the disagreement, it’s brought to the whole community for discussion, resolution and hopefully reconciliation.
So… why is this important? Why must we reconcile with each other?
Because wherever and whenever two or three are gathered the Divine is present. The essence of God is activated when we are in relationship with one another. It's why the Godhead is made up of three parts—- Creator/father God, Jesus/Son God and Holy Spirit God. The fullness of the Divine, the fullness of God cannot be experienced in the singular. Sure, each of us are in relationship with God, but if we really dug into that relationship we’d discover that our relationship with God has a little God the father, a little Jesus the son and a little Holy Spirit mixed in. To experience the Divine completely? We need to be in community. Just like the holy and undivided trinity Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a relationship, so is the expression of God most fully felt when we are in relationship with each other.
I know this may sound convoluted, but hear me when I say that the glory of God is best experienced when we are in good and holy relationship with others. This is what Jesus is saying in today’ s gospel—-wherever two or three are gathered, He will be in the midst of them….and he doesn't want to be in the midst of rancor and discord, so he gives us a guidebook for how to make our relationships whole and healthy, for when our relationship with each other is whole and healthy, our relationship with God is as well.
We humans are built to be in community—- it is when we are at our best! Why? Because as Paul said in our epistle two weeks ago, we are, each of us, blessed with unique gifts; a variety of skills, talents, viewpoints. When we work together, with our own unique gifts, we create a community that is altogether new and wonderful.
But, as I said earlier, when two or three are gathered there is bound to be disagreement and conflict. Jesus gets that…. he isn't telling us we shouldn't have conflict, he knows we will— he's telling us to admit the conflict and work to resolve it.
More damage is done in our world when people ignore, hide or deny conflict. That breeds resentment and increases the volatility of anger a hundredfold. You know that old adage for married folk—- “never go to bed angry?” Well there's wisdom in that. For when we go to bed angry the anger settles in and festers. Soon that festering turns into an infection and what was a little disagreement becomes a civil war.
This is why diplomacy is such a vital part of national security. When two sides are speaking to each other, face to face, eye to eye, it is a lot more difficult to start a war. I think it is why some of the more seasoned diplomats in Washington get a little worried when the President tweets things---hard to be in relationship when you only use 140 characters!
The bottom line is that our job, as followers of Jesus Christ, is to, in all things, love. We are to love each other enough that when we disagree, we can talk about it, work it out, reconcile.
If there is one thing we need in this world, so especially apt as we remember the darkness of Sept 11 2001, it’s the ability to work out our problems without guns, bombs or airplanes turned into weapons. So let’s take a lesson from Jesus and show the world that even though conflict is bound to happen, we can, through the lessons of loving relationship given to us through the Holy and Undivided Trinity, resolve our conflicts and move forward in Love. For when we lead with love others will follow and soon the anger and darkness of this world will be taken over by the light and love of the next! Amen.

Get Behind Me! Pick Up Your Cross! And Be the Christian I know you Can Be! Proper 17A Sept 1, 2017

+For the past month our gospel readings have given us several versions of Peter—insightful and loyal follower of Jesus, braggadocious blow hard and everything in between. Today it seems Jesus has finally “had it.” Peter and Jesus have different understandings of what being the Messiah means. Jesus has just warned—“we’re headed for Jerusalem and it’s going to get nasty. I’m going to call out the hypocrisy of the authorities. You’ll betray me, I’ll be arrested and killed. You won’t be far behind…but don’t worry, it’s what has to be done and it’s worth it, for by doing this death will be defeated, forever.”
Of course this WAS NOT what Peter thought would happen. He figured that the temple authorities would be put out on their ear and the Roman Empire sent packing. In short Jesus would be the king of the world. And being King of the world does NOT include being arrested, flogged, spat upon, mocked, nailed to a cross, and killed.
Regardless of who thought what, to me the most difficult words in this gospel aren’t ‘get behind me Satan’ but, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.”
This sentence causes many of us to feel like Christian failures. But, it’s important to consider what it means to “take up one’s cross.” And what it doesn’t mean. When Jesus tells us to take up our cross he’s NOT expecting us to be arrested, tortured or killed (although that is the reality for some Christians in the world even today) Nor does it mean lamenting our sinfulness through self-flagellation or walking across a bed of hot coals. Nor is taking up our cross some excuse to wage a bitter war of vengeance on those who have wronged us. It’s not what Jesus meant then and it’s not what Jesus means now. This also doesn’t mean that somehow those who have been killed, tortured, imprisoned for their faith are doing anything wrong—they are not at all. What it means is that taking up one’s own cross is a very personal matter and what is “my cross” may not bear any resemblance to your cross.
What God wants us to do—always and everywhere---is to live full and joyous lives,  proclaiming the good news, loving our neighbors as ourselves and seeking and serving Christ in all whom we encounter.
Doing that---really really doing that---will not always look pretty or feel nice. At times doing that will feel like a burden, other times it may feel dangerous, still other times it may feel way too difficult. Because to live a full and joyous life in Christ means that we are not fulfilled and joyous until our neighbor is too.
It means that to be completely full of joy and peace the world must be ruled by joy and peace instead of terror and angst.
Sometimes it means going against social mores. Sometimes it means going against your own family, your spouse, your church. You see, living as a Christian, taking up our cross means that we take the teachings of Jesus and we attempt to apply them to all that we do. Everything. Always.
And that’s not easy…
For months now I have been increasingly frustrated and depressed about the lack of civility in our culture. People have become ruder. It seems like lying is not only accepted, but expected. The dog eat dog world of big business seems to have trickled down to everyday life. Just this week I heard about a woman pulling a gun on another woman who over the last 10 cent notebook at a Michigan Wal-Mart. A GUN! So, I decided the only way to bring more civility into our world was to be kinder. For the past month or so I’ve been determined to be a generous driver. When I get to a four way stop I let everyone else go first. When I am crawling along on Transit Road and someone is trying to turn into traffic from a parking lot, I slow down and wave them in. When cruising down the thruway and someone hangs right on my bumper event though I am totally boxed in and cannot make a move I am committed to not cursing or making any hand gestures or even giving the driver a taste of his own medicine when he finally maneuvers around me. And you know what? When I do this I actually feel better, Happier. More full of joy.
Trust me. This isn’t easy. And traffic behavior is really low on the list of situations where acting Christ-like is a challenge. Standing up for the disenfranchised, the destitute, the abused, the forgotten, the ignored…that’s a lot more difficult
Speaking up against bullying, vitriol and hate…much more difficult.
Going into the flood waters when everyone else is running for high ground….way more difficult.
Standing between a raised fist, a loaded gun or an angry mob…that’s p difficult and very dangerous. But…all of this is required of us through our baptismal covenant.
So, while taking up your cross doesn’t mean self-flagellation or walking across hot coals it does mean living according to the teachings of Jesus---and when we do that, when we love God and one another, we’ll find that, even through the difficulty, we are full of joy, full of love and full of peace.
So my friends, take up your cross in whatever manner fits for your circumstance. Whether it’s speaking up or speaking out, standing up or sitting in; marching against or marching for, when we live as Christ has taught us we won’t end up the King of the world, but we will end up full of joy and love and peace, just as Jesus promised. Amen!

Funeral Homily for Bud Burns Sept 2, 2017

+Bud Burns knew the Good Shepherd. He knew his Lord and the Lord knew him. On Monday afternoon Aug 21st as Bud took his last breaths, the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, wrapped Bud in his arms and brought him home.
I have no doubt that Bud Burns’ and the Good Shepherd had and have a great relationship. I hope that gives Carol and the rest of the family comfort. I hope it gives all of us who loved Bud, comfort. Comfort in knowing that he never suffered, never worried, was never scared. For Walter J. Bud Burns knew that his redeemer lives and that it was his redeemer who accompanied him on the journey home.
Bud or Budly as I called him, was a child of God. And from the time he was knee high to a grasshopper Bud served God---both formally in his many years as an altar boy and then as an adult a chalice bearer, usher, lector and stalwart member of the Good Shepherd altar guild—and informally as a good and decent man who lived out his baptismal covenant promise to respect the dignity of every human being in all he did.
Now don’t get me wrong, Bud had flaws, he made mistakes and I don’t doubt that he had regrets----we all do----but in the years I knew him, I experienced Bud Burns as a man of integrity, of faith, of joy and above all else, a man who delighted in all things life brought to him. Whether it was sneaking into my office during the Strawberry Festival to share a beer, or talking to our dogs through the rectory windows, or laughing at the heron who kept stealing fish from his koi pond, or exuberantly greeting each and every child who entered this church, or walking across the sanctuary draining the last bit of wine out of the chalice when he was chalice bearer or whether when just about every chair up here was taken one Easter morning and he made himself quite at home in the Bishop’s chair, Bud Burns took delight in life. Just like the Good Shepherd…
…There are many images of Jesus as the Good Shepherd but my favorite is the one that has Jesus walking along with a lamb wrapped around his shoulders, surrounded by children and more sheep with a huge grin on his face. It’s an image of the Good Shepherd experiencing pure and utter delight in the moment. When Carol chose this gospel reading for today, this was the image that immediately popped into my head---but, in my imagination, next to Jesus stood Bud, walking alongside Jesus, a lamb wrapped around his shoulders, children and sheep around his feet and delight—pure and utter delight---shining through his grin.
You see, for so many people….many of us here today…Bud was a type of Good Shepherd. If you were feeling lost or lonely, sad or depressed, Bud would be there with a smile, or a joke, a hug or (often) all three. If you hadn’t been seen around church for awhile when you did return Bud might tease you at first but then he would tell you how much you were missed and how glad he was that you were back. Then there is Jack. Jack is a special needs adult who has been attending Good Shepherd for many years. When Jack would get upset, confused or angry, Bud was often the only person who could calm him down. Bud also encouraged Jack, protected Jack and loved Jack.
Yes, Bud Burns was Good Shepherd’s resident Good Shepherd. Quick with an act of incredible kindness, the first to bring a smile to your face and someone who would throw his head back and laugh alongside you. That was our Bud.
I loved Bud Burns…even if he was a Yankee fan.
I loved Bud Burns because every single time I found myself caught up in the bramble of life, me I felt overwhelmed or confused or sad as soon as I saw Bud and got my hug and my kiss, everything EVEYTHING was ok.
There was something about the essence of Bud. He exuded playfulness and joy. For those of you who don’t know, Bud and Carol met when Carol sold his house. She had a couple who lingered in the house for a long while, deciding whether this was the one they would buy. As she waited for this couple Carol says she just absorbed his spirit. What a beautiful thing….and I get it….for Bud had a spirit unlike any other---a spirit of peace, of joy, of hope and of light.
The world needs the likes of Bud Burns---kind, thoughtful, funny, irreverent and loyal---- and this world will miss him dearly. But in sure and certain hope of the resurrection we know that we will once again be graced by his presence on the last day. Until then Bud,  keep ‘em laughing at the heavenly banquet. We promise to carry on your spirit in all that we do…laughing at the absurdity of life, embracing the joy of life, and making sure that your dear beloved Carol is cared for….forever AND ever.
 Rest in peace, good and faithful servant. Job well done!
And thank you for being our Good Shepherd. Amen.

Our Rocky Faith is Enough Proper 16a August 27, 2017

+Lutheran pastor and author Delmer Chilton says this about today’s gospel:
[The name Peter comes from the Latin word “petra” which means rock. Now most of the time people who are nicknamed Rocky are stalwart, immovable, straight-ahead, no-nonsense kind of guys, like Rocky Balboa. Somehow the name Rocky doesn’t seem to fit Simon son of Jona.] For this Rocky, this Peter, was, to [be blunt], not very stalwart or immovable.
Simon, now Peter, was hot one minute, cold the next:
“I’ll walk on water, Lord.” And then, “help, I’m drowning!”
“I’ll never deny you Lord!” Then,
“ Jesus? Never heard of him.”
“Lord, I’ll stand by you forever!” Then,  “Well, Jesus is dead, I’m going fishing.”
Was Jesus making fun of Simon by calling him Peter?
Was He joking when he said that “on this rock of questioning, unstable, doubting and undependable faith I will build my church?”
Why would Jesus choose someone so flawed, so irritable, undependable, doubting, questioning, fearful and full of angst as Simon Peter? Someone so……….
Like us? Shouldn’t the foundation of the church be entrusted to someone more deserving, more capable, more reliable?
Apparently not.
It appears that God rarely chooses the all put together and the likely. Consider Abraham, Sarah, Noah, Moses, Jonah, Ezekiel… the list goes on and on… countless flawed and very human people who God chose as  prophets—- prophets!!!
Apparently, in God’s eyes, one needn’t be perfect, one needn’t even be particularly capable, to be chosen. God plucks prophets, redeemers and saints --even a messiah---out of the most unlikely of places and unusual of circumstances.
So why not Simon Peter… a Galilean fisherman who’s full of bravado and self-assurance one moment, cowering behind pillars of doubt, fear, and denial the next?
Just like us.
Peter wasn’t Jesus’ favorite, or even the most devoted apostle. But Peter’s The One. Obviously Jesus saw something in Peter that he thought was perfect for the establishment of the church. And although I don’t know that Jesus envisioned denominations, dioceses, parishes ,Church conventions, reformations and schisms (well he probably figured there’d be fights) when he mentioned “Church,” I do think the choice of Peter sheds light on the Church as an institution, it’s past, it’s present and it’s future.
Peter was flawed; Jesus knew that, God knew that, we know it. But God was willing to let Peter make his mistakes and Jesus was willing to let Peter grow into his role, because they knew that a big part of learning, of growing, is messing up. We don’t learn without making mistakes. They’re instructive and useful-- as long as we admit them, take corrective action, and try again. Going through this process teaches us---as individuals and as communities of faith.
Admitting our mistakes and then trying again. That’s what living a faithful life is all about folks. Most Sundays we have corporate confession and absolution. We confess our sins and are absolved. Forgiven. All of us.
How can God forgive what I’ve done, you may ask?
Or, how can God forgive that scoundrel a few pews over?
But, you see, God’s forgiveness is abundant, constant and without caveat.  Forgiveness by God is assured as long as we admit that we’ve made a mistake and strive, with all our might, to learn from it. That’s reconciliation and repentance: an amendment of life. We don’t promise to never make another mistake, we simply promise to learn from those we do make and when we mess up, admit it, make it as right as we can and move on. It’s what we tell our children all the time. Admit your error, fix it and try to do better next time.
This is what the church as an institution needs to always do: admit, repent, reconcile.
The Church makes mistakes: some small, resulting in hurt feelings, others large, resulting in atrocities; but regardless of the magnitude, the church MUST admit its, our, mistakes. And then do better.
So often the Church has not done this. We preach a God whose love knows no bounds, whose care for us is never compromised, yet we hide our mistakes, too proud or too ashamed to admit the error of our ways. When we, as a church, do this, we insult God and we deny the lessons we’ve learned from all who’ve come before us.
   Why was Peter chosen to be the cornerstone of our faith, the gatekeeper of salvation and the symbol of the Church as Institution? Because. ….
When Peter said:
I’ll walk on water, Lord.
Then, help, I’m drowning!
We’ve said (and say)
We’ll serve the poor,  just after we skim some off the top…
And when Peter exclaimed:
I’ll never deny you, Lord…
Jesus? Never heard of him.
We proclaim:
We’ll love everyone, no exceptions. Well, except for the Jews. And the Muslims…and the immigrants….and the women…
And LBGTQI  people…oh and the people with disabilities…and the folks who don’t look like us or vote like us.
And when Peter exhorted:
« Lord, I’ll stand by you forever…
Well, Jesus is dead, I’m going fishing.”
We’ve said:
Yes, the church is greater than the sum of its parts but if you make that decision, I’m out of here.
God chose Peter in spite of, maybe even because of , his flaws. God knew who Peter was and God knows who we are. But God also knows who we, through the help of the Holy Spirit, can be. Rocks and all.
So, my dear friends of Calvary Church, as you welcome your new rector next week, don’t regret your past or be afraid of your future, simply embrace what the Holy Spirit lays in front of you and together, with Fr. Robert, be who it is God is calling you to be.+

Our Rocky Faith is Good Enough Proper 17a

5

Our Rocky Faith

Proper 16A August 27, 2017 

Calvary, Williamsville

+Lutheran pastor and author Delmer Chilton says this about today’s gospel:

[The name Peter comes from the Latin word “petra” which means rock. Now most of the time people who are nicknamed Rocky are stalwart, immovable, straight-ahead, no-nonsense kind of guys, like Rocky Balboa. Somehow the name Rocky doesn’t seem to fit Simon son of Jona.] For this Rocky, this Peter, was, to [be blunt], not very stalwart or immovable. 

Simon, now Peter, was hot one minute, cold the next:

“I’ll walk on water, Lord.” And then, “help, I’m drowning!”

“I’ll never deny you Lord!” Then,

“ Jesus? Never heard of him.”

“Lord, I’ll stand by you forever!”Then, “Well, Jesus is dead, I’m going fishing.”

​Was Jesus making fun of Simon by calling him Peter?

Was He joking when he said that “on this rock of questioning, unstable, doubting and undependable faith I will build my church?”

​Why would Jesus choose someone so flawed, so irritable, undependable, doubting, questioning, fearful and full of angst as Simon Peter? Someone so……….

Like us? Shouldn’t the foundation of the church be entrusted to someone more deserving, more capable, more reliable?

Apparently not.

It appears that God rarely chooses the all put together and the likely. Consider Abraham, Sarah, Noah, Moses, Jonah, Ezekiel… the list goes on and on… countless flawed and very human people who God chose as prophets—- prophets!!!

Apparently, in God’s eyes, one needn’t be perfect, one needn’t even be particularly capable, to be chosen. God plucks prophets, redeemers and saints --even a messiah---out of the most unlikely of places and unusual of circumstances.

So why not Simon Peter… a Galilean fisherman who’s full of bravado and self-assurance one moment, cowering behind pillars of doubt, fear, and denial the next?

Just like us.

​Peter wasn’t Jesus’ favorite, or even the most devoted apostle. But Peter’s The One. Obviously Jesus saw something in Peter that he thought was perfect for the establishment of the church. And although I don’t know that Jesus envisioned denominations, dioceses, parishes ,Church conventions, reformations and schisms (well he probably figured there’d be fights) when he mentioned “Church,” I do think the choice of Peter sheds light on the Church as an institution, it’s past, it’s present and it’s future.

Peter was flawed; Jesus knew that, God knew that, we know it. But God was willing to let Peter make his mistakes and Jesus was willing to let Peter grow into his role, because they knew that a big part of learning, of growing, is messing up. We don’t learn without making mistakes. They’re instructive and useful-- as long as we admit them, take corrective action, and try again. Going through this process teaches us---as individuals and as communities of faith.

​Admitting our mistakes and then trying again. That’s what living a faithful life is all about folks. Most Sundays we have corporate confession and absolution. We confess our sins and are absolved. Forgiven. All of us.

How can God forgive what I’ve done, you may ask?

Or, how can God forgive that scoundrel a few pews over?

But, you see, God’s forgiveness is abundant, constant and without caveat.  Forgiveness by God is assured as long as we admit that we’ve made a mistake and strive, with all our might, to learn from it. That’s reconciliation and repentance: an amendment of life. We don’t promise to never make another mistake, we simply promise to learn from those we do make and when we mess up, admit it, make it as right as we can and move on. It’s what we tell our children all the time. Admit your error, fix it and try to do better next time.

​This is what the church as an institution needs to always do: admit, repent, reconcile. 

The Church makes mistakes: some small, resulting in hurt feelings,others large, resulting in atrocities; but regardless of the magnitude, the church MUST admit its, our, mistakes. And then do better. 

So often the Church has not done this. We preach a God whose love knows no bounds, whose care for us is never compromised, yet we hide our mistakes, too proud or too ashamed to admit the error of our ways. When we, as a church, do this, we insult God and we deny the lessons we’ve learned from all who’ve come before us.

  Why was Peter chosen to be the cornerstone of our faith, the gatekeeper of salvation and the symbol of the Church as Institution? Because. ….

When Peter said:

I’ll walk on water, Lord.

Then, help, I’m drowning!

We’ve said (and say)

We’ll serve the poor, just after we skim some off the top…

And when Peter exclaimed:

I’ll never deny you, Lord…

Jesus? Never heard of him.

We proclaim:

We’ll love everyone, no exceptions. Well, except for the Jews. And the Muslims…and the immigrants….and the women…

And LBGTQI people…oh and the people with disabilities…and the folks who don’t look like us or vote like us.

And when Peter exhorted:

« Lord, I’ll stand by you forever…

Well, Jesus is dead, I’m going fishing.”

We’ve said:

Yes, the church is greater than the sum of its parts but if you make that decision, I’m out of here.

God chose Peter in spite of, maybe even because of , his flaws. God knew who Peter was and God knows who we are. But God also knows who we, through the help of the Holy Spirit, can be. Rocks and all.

So, my dear friends of Calvary Church, as you welcome your new rector next week, don’t regret your past or be afraid of your future, simply embrace what the Holy Spirit lays in front of you and together, with Fr. Robert, be who it is God is calling you to be.+