+I love a baptism. Who doesn't, right? Well ok sometimes children aren't fond of having a complete and utter stranger pour water over their head. Not once, not twice, but three times!!!!
But for any Christian, especially any Episcopalian --- baptism is the penultimate sacrament . Eucharist is awesome, it's a weekly reminder of the never ending presence of Jesus in our very being, fueling us to go out and do the work He's given us to do. Reconciliation, anointing, confirmation, ordination... all really nice sacraments . But the only one that everyone gets--the only one that's needed is baptism. Baptism makes us who we are--- followers of Jesus Christ, committed to his mission of loving everyone everywhere always, no exceptions.
And so that's why a baptism day [even when the baptisms don't happen at this service] is a big day in the church. Not only do we welcome three new members today --- Ryleigh, Vivienne, and Samuel---- we also reaffirm the promises made at our baptism. We're re-upping, as it were, our promises to do the work of Christ in this world, in this region, in this town and in this faith community.
A baptism is a bit of a swearing in ceremony. In the baptism liturgy the parents and godparents make a lot of promises. To renounce the forces of darkness in this world, to rely on Jesus as Savior and Lord, and to do everything in their power to make sure that the child being baptized will be raised in the faith and will know that whenever they find themselves lonely or lost, in trouble or in pain, that God, through Jesus Christ, and this community of faith, will be there for them. And then all those present promise to do everything in their power to support the newly baptized in their life in Christ.
This “swearing in ceremony” is not for the faint of heart.
Which is why, a baptism day is a BIG DAY. For those being baptized, for their family and friends, for the congregation, for the church and, if I may be so bold, for all of humankind. Because, at every baptism and every single time we renew our baptismal covenant, we swear, we vow, we promise to do the work of Christ. Always and forever. This is BIG, folks...when we do that work—really do that work---the world will be changed. It’s a tall order! But it's also an incredible privilege and honor to do this work, the work of Christ, the ministry of the baptized.
So just what is the ministry of the baptized?
Fortunately the baptism candidates are too young to get scared away by this list---
The Ministry of the Baptized means that we do whatever we can to ensure that the outcasts of our world are brought into the fold. That includes those people who, frankly, we may feel should remain outcasts---those who look differently than us, who love differently than us, who vote differently than us. But—even when we don’t agree with them, even when we don’t particularly like them, if they're being disrespected, abused, despised or an any other way, tossed aside, we, because we’re Christians, must stand up and speak out. We must say NO, this is not the way of God’s world.
The Ministry of the Baptized means that when people in our midst are hungry, lonely, or scared, we reach out to them. Being a baptized Christian means that when we hear of the misfortune befalling another it doesn’t cut it to just say “that's horrible, someone should do something about that.” No, it means that we must do something about it. We may not be able to feed them, or clothe them or soothe them our very selves, but it does mean that we best make sure they have access to the people, the organizations and the services that can.
The Ministry of the Baptized means that if we know that our government is engaging in things antithetical to the teachings of Christ then we need to write to our members of congress, our senators, the president and express our dismay. Sometimes the ministry of the Baptized means that we will march or write letters or join some other method of protest. It may not be comfortable, it won't make us that popular, but it’s our job.
The Ministry of the Baptized means that we promise to follow the teachings of the apostles, we promise to attend church, we promise to practice personal devotions, we promise to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.
Why do we promise to do all of that? Because all of that feeds us, strengthens us to do the work we’ve been given to do: seeking and serving Christ in all whom we encounter, loving our neighbor as our self, striving for justice and peace among all people and respecting the dignity of every single human being.
The Ministry of the Baptized is tough and holy work. Today we bring Ryleigh, and Vivienne, and Samuel into this work. May God bless them and may God bless us as we continue on this sacred and awesome journey.
Amen!
Monday, May 22, 2017
Saturday, May 20, 2017
St Barnabas Mission,Franklinville "Open our eyes to see the way Uncover Our Ears to Hear the Truth and Have the courage to live the life"
+ “But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him…. dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.”
Today we hear the story of Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church. It’s an oddity that we hear this story in the Easter season, Stephen’s feast day is Dec 26. Now Christmas seems like a terrible time to commemorate a horrific execution, but it fits. After all, we must never forget that Christianity is a radical, counter-cultural movement which shakes believers and non-believers to their core. To remember this the day after Christmas, when we commemorate the birth of the biggest social agitator of all time, seems fitting.
Being a Christian means standing up to injustice and intolerance. It means speaking our mind when the dignity of another human being is being violated. It means going against the grain, against the crowd, against popular opinion…all actions which won’t make us too popular!
Hearing the truth isn’t easy! When someone tells us a truth we’re not ready to hear, we don’t listen. If we aren’t ready to hear we go to great lengths to not listen. If we can’t or won’t tolerate the message, then, as in the case of Jesus, Stephen, Ghandi, Martin Luther King and countless others, we silence those truthtellers forever.
In the spirit of those silenced, our Christian faith demands that, as long as there are needy people in our world, as long as children go without adequate health care, as long as young girls in many countries are denied education, as long as people can’t worship the God of their choosing or love the partner of their desire, or speak their mind without fear of being silenced… as long as the dignity of every human being isn’t being honored then we, as followers of Christ, won’t be satisfied, won’t rest, and will never, ever stop listening, hearing, and responding until the work of God through Jesus Christ is finished.
Living as a Christian goes against the cultural norms of society. Throughout human history-- since Cain and Abel--- we seem to always be looking for a way to be “one up” on others.
The theory goes something like this:
We live in fear of being without, of being left out, of being in need and having nothing and no one to care for us. So in striving to NEVER be the one on the outs, the one who’s in need, the one who is vulnerable, we look for scapegoats, for people who are less than, who are the “other” . People worse off than us.
After 9/11 when it became clear that we weren’t going to capture Osama Bin Laden in short order, our focus changed to Iraq and Sadaam Hussein. Many assumptions were made about Sadaam’s intentions and capabilities so soon we were engaged in an all out war to avenge the murder of thousands on 9/11. A murder this man did not commit. Of course he committed plenty of other murders and was a horrific tyrant, but the fact of the matter is-- he wasn’t who attacked us on 9/11.
But that didn’t matter.
What mattered was that we were so scared, so rocked to our core we had to do something---someone had to pay--because only by lashing out, only by an eye for an eye would our fear, our vulnerability, our grief, be relieved.
Why?
Because it’s easier to be mad than to be sad.
It’s easier to be mad than to be afraid.
In the short-run, it’s just easier to be mad.
When shaken, when nothing makes sense anymore, we look for a scapegoat-- someone or something to receive our sadness, our terror. We do this because living with that sadness, living with that fear is too uncomfortable.
So we off load it on another.
It’s easier to lash out in anger than to settle in and feel deep sadness or to sit with tremendous fear.
But, although we do it all the time, this off-loading of our sadness and our terror on another doesn’t work. Because the relief is only temporary. Soon enough something else comes along to shake us, and the cycle begins all over again.
Franklinville is a town that’s hit some pretty tough times. Being a faith community here isn’t easy…it must feel pretty frightening— I’ve heard from a number of you…you love this place, yet you’re deeply afraid that it won’t survive. Can you keep going, should you keep going, how will you keep going?
Our Easter readings remind us that resurrection is difficult to understand. It doesn’t happen like we think it will, we don’t always recognize it, even when it’s right in front of us. Our resurrection lesson is this: God always provides. Maybe not in the way we expect, probably not in the way that feels easiest, certainly not in the ways we think God should…but God ALWAYS provides.
This is the Easter message—the way to resurrected living is through the garden, the cross and the empty tomb.
We hear it in our liturgy, we hear it in the scripture, we hear it from the pulpit, and today we hear it from the psalmist:
God is our crag and our stronghold. God is the castle that will make us safe. God is here.
God never gives up. God won’t rest until we uncover our ears and, once and for all hear.
God is longing to be loved and adored by the good people of this region. The question isn’t “is there a place for St Barnabas Episcopal Mission,” the question is what are the cries of the people calling St BArnabas to do?
Jesus gives us our marching orders in this morning’s Gospel:
We must :
Open our eyes to see the Way
Uncover Our Ears to Hear the Truth
and
Have the courage to live the Life the Risen Christ leads us to live.
Alleluia and Amen.+
Today we hear the story of Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church. It’s an oddity that we hear this story in the Easter season, Stephen’s feast day is Dec 26. Now Christmas seems like a terrible time to commemorate a horrific execution, but it fits. After all, we must never forget that Christianity is a radical, counter-cultural movement which shakes believers and non-believers to their core. To remember this the day after Christmas, when we commemorate the birth of the biggest social agitator of all time, seems fitting.
Being a Christian means standing up to injustice and intolerance. It means speaking our mind when the dignity of another human being is being violated. It means going against the grain, against the crowd, against popular opinion…all actions which won’t make us too popular!
Hearing the truth isn’t easy! When someone tells us a truth we’re not ready to hear, we don’t listen. If we aren’t ready to hear we go to great lengths to not listen. If we can’t or won’t tolerate the message, then, as in the case of Jesus, Stephen, Ghandi, Martin Luther King and countless others, we silence those truthtellers forever.
In the spirit of those silenced, our Christian faith demands that, as long as there are needy people in our world, as long as children go without adequate health care, as long as young girls in many countries are denied education, as long as people can’t worship the God of their choosing or love the partner of their desire, or speak their mind without fear of being silenced… as long as the dignity of every human being isn’t being honored then we, as followers of Christ, won’t be satisfied, won’t rest, and will never, ever stop listening, hearing, and responding until the work of God through Jesus Christ is finished.
Living as a Christian goes against the cultural norms of society. Throughout human history-- since Cain and Abel--- we seem to always be looking for a way to be “one up” on others.
The theory goes something like this:
We live in fear of being without, of being left out, of being in need and having nothing and no one to care for us. So in striving to NEVER be the one on the outs, the one who’s in need, the one who is vulnerable, we look for scapegoats, for people who are less than, who are the “other” . People worse off than us.
After 9/11 when it became clear that we weren’t going to capture Osama Bin Laden in short order, our focus changed to Iraq and Sadaam Hussein. Many assumptions were made about Sadaam’s intentions and capabilities so soon we were engaged in an all out war to avenge the murder of thousands on 9/11. A murder this man did not commit. Of course he committed plenty of other murders and was a horrific tyrant, but the fact of the matter is-- he wasn’t who attacked us on 9/11.
But that didn’t matter.
What mattered was that we were so scared, so rocked to our core we had to do something---someone had to pay--because only by lashing out, only by an eye for an eye would our fear, our vulnerability, our grief, be relieved.
Why?
Because it’s easier to be mad than to be sad.
It’s easier to be mad than to be afraid.
In the short-run, it’s just easier to be mad.
When shaken, when nothing makes sense anymore, we look for a scapegoat-- someone or something to receive our sadness, our terror. We do this because living with that sadness, living with that fear is too uncomfortable.
So we off load it on another.
It’s easier to lash out in anger than to settle in and feel deep sadness or to sit with tremendous fear.
But, although we do it all the time, this off-loading of our sadness and our terror on another doesn’t work. Because the relief is only temporary. Soon enough something else comes along to shake us, and the cycle begins all over again.
Franklinville is a town that’s hit some pretty tough times. Being a faith community here isn’t easy…it must feel pretty frightening— I’ve heard from a number of you…you love this place, yet you’re deeply afraid that it won’t survive. Can you keep going, should you keep going, how will you keep going?
Our Easter readings remind us that resurrection is difficult to understand. It doesn’t happen like we think it will, we don’t always recognize it, even when it’s right in front of us. Our resurrection lesson is this: God always provides. Maybe not in the way we expect, probably not in the way that feels easiest, certainly not in the ways we think God should…but God ALWAYS provides.
This is the Easter message—the way to resurrected living is through the garden, the cross and the empty tomb.
We hear it in our liturgy, we hear it in the scripture, we hear it from the pulpit, and today we hear it from the psalmist:
God is our crag and our stronghold. God is the castle that will make us safe. God is here.
God never gives up. God won’t rest until we uncover our ears and, once and for all hear.
God is longing to be loved and adored by the good people of this region. The question isn’t “is there a place for St Barnabas Episcopal Mission,” the question is what are the cries of the people calling St BArnabas to do?
Jesus gives us our marching orders in this morning’s Gospel:
We must :
Open our eyes to see the Way
Uncover Our Ears to Hear the Truth
and
Have the courage to live the Life the Risen Christ leads us to live.
Alleluia and Amen.+
Sunday, May 7, 2017
Easter 4 at St Luke's Jamestown, NY May 7, 2017
[I preached some version of this sermon at each of the three Eucharists at St.Luke's. Each one was a bit different, but all worked off this basic manuscript]
+The Parable of the Good Shepherd, is a very familiar story, and because of that familiarity, it’s hard for the more challenging parts of the story to come through.
Yes, Jesus is the Good Shepherd and we are his Sheep-- no matter how lost, how tangled up in the bramble we get, He’ll always look for us, and bring us home. It’s a nice image and Jesus does do all of that, BUT, there’s more to this story than cute little lambs and a gentle, loving and committed shepherd.
All that imagery comes in the middle of the parable and we don’t get the middle this year, we only get the beginning.
And in the beginning we hear a lot about the gate. It sounds, at first listen, that Jesus is saying there’s only one gate, that there’s only one way into the arms of God, that anyone who doesn’t follow Christ’s way, is out of luck.
Now, while I agree that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life and that my salvation is gained through my belief and trust in Him, I don’t believe that the way we know Jesus, the way we access God, is the only way God is reached nor do I believe that it’s the only way God reaches out to us.
I believe that God reaches out to humanity in a variety of ways that all lead to the same place: the one sheepfold of God, the one kingdom of God. As Jesus says elsewhere in John’s Gospel, “My father’s house has many dwelling places.” Many dwelling places that are all under one “roof.”
Am I saying that you can get into heaven even if you don’t believe as we believe?
You bet. And I think Jesus says that too.
Now, before we go on, there are a couple of things you need to know about this story.
When Jesus talks about the gate of the sheepfold he’s talking about the Shepherd. As shepherds pasture their flocks they cover lots of territory …they must keep moving along the countryside to avoid overgrazing …so… when it’s time to stop for the night they have to create a sheepfold along the way. Back in Jesus’ day that was usually a cave. The shepherd would gather all the sheep and then stretch out over the opening to keep the sheep in and the thieves, bandits and wolves out. So, quite literally, the Shepherd is the Gate.
Jesus, by saying “very truly I tell you anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit,” is telling us that the only right way to get into the sheepfold is through the gate. He’s saying that he’s the gate, so the message is clear, right: You get into the sheepfold of God only when you enter the sheepfold through Him, through Jesus?
Well I don’t think so…
Here’s another thing you need to know about shepherds in the time of Jesus. They were despised by most everyone. Their work was dirty and being transient, they had few friends and family… they had no real home village to speak of…. They had their sheep, and other shepherds…that was their community. Therefore, because they only had each other, it wasn’t uncommon for several flocks to gather in one cave for the night. Several flocks led by several different Shepherds meant the shepherds would take turns being the gate throughout the long, cold night.
So is the only way to God through the gate of Jesus, as we know Him?
No.
I believe that the sheepfold of God is immense and that the gatekeepers of the sheepfold are as wide and varied, as unique and as numerous as the stars in the sky.
And I think it’s why Jesus mentions the sheep knowing their own shepherd’s voice-- it suggests that more than one flock was in each sheep-fold-
It’s right there in verses 3,4 and 5:
The gatekeeper---the shepherd—opens the gate, calls His or her sheep and they Hear their shepherd’s voice. They recognize their shepherd and respond to their shepherd.
It’s the same message we’ve heard throughout Easter. Mary Magdalene hears Jesus’ voice and realizes that it isn’t the gardener at all, it is her Shepherd. Thomas denies that Jesus is raised until such time as he hears Jesus’ voice, looks into his eyes and realizes that Jesus, is indeed his Lord, his God, his shepherd. It’s what we heard last week in the Emmaus story---the disciples’ hearts burned as the stranger spoke to them and then, in the breaking of the bread they realize, they recognize that this is no stranger at all, but their friend, their teacher, shepherd, their Lord, their God!
Jesus, as experienced through our sacred scripture, worship, and traditions is our shepherd, we hear his voice and we recognize him!
But this doesn’t mean that other sheep don’t hear another voice that they recognize and follow.
They do. Jesus tells us they do. He says: They will not follow a stranger, because they don’t know the voice of the stranger. Right here, smack dab in the middle of the cozy little story about sheep and their shepherd, Jesus tells us that there are many ways to know God, to worship God, to love God. The issue isn’t how we do it, the issue is that we do it.
The issue isn’t the name of our shepherd, the issue is that everyone, everywhere, always, has a Shepherd whose voice they recognize.
Today we welcome Wesley into the household of God through the sacrament of baptism. We’re thrilled that they have Jesus as their Good Shepherd and thankful that they will know that wherever life takes them, no matter what kind of bramble they may find themselves in, no matter how dark their valleys, their Shepherd, our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, will call their names and lead them home! And for that we say Amen and Alleluia!!
+The Parable of the Good Shepherd, is a very familiar story, and because of that familiarity, it’s hard for the more challenging parts of the story to come through.
Yes, Jesus is the Good Shepherd and we are his Sheep-- no matter how lost, how tangled up in the bramble we get, He’ll always look for us, and bring us home. It’s a nice image and Jesus does do all of that, BUT, there’s more to this story than cute little lambs and a gentle, loving and committed shepherd.
All that imagery comes in the middle of the parable and we don’t get the middle this year, we only get the beginning.
And in the beginning we hear a lot about the gate. It sounds, at first listen, that Jesus is saying there’s only one gate, that there’s only one way into the arms of God, that anyone who doesn’t follow Christ’s way, is out of luck.
Now, while I agree that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life and that my salvation is gained through my belief and trust in Him, I don’t believe that the way we know Jesus, the way we access God, is the only way God is reached nor do I believe that it’s the only way God reaches out to us.
I believe that God reaches out to humanity in a variety of ways that all lead to the same place: the one sheepfold of God, the one kingdom of God. As Jesus says elsewhere in John’s Gospel, “My father’s house has many dwelling places.” Many dwelling places that are all under one “roof.”
Am I saying that you can get into heaven even if you don’t believe as we believe?
You bet. And I think Jesus says that too.
Now, before we go on, there are a couple of things you need to know about this story.
When Jesus talks about the gate of the sheepfold he’s talking about the Shepherd. As shepherds pasture their flocks they cover lots of territory …they must keep moving along the countryside to avoid overgrazing …so… when it’s time to stop for the night they have to create a sheepfold along the way. Back in Jesus’ day that was usually a cave. The shepherd would gather all the sheep and then stretch out over the opening to keep the sheep in and the thieves, bandits and wolves out. So, quite literally, the Shepherd is the Gate.
Jesus, by saying “very truly I tell you anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit,” is telling us that the only right way to get into the sheepfold is through the gate. He’s saying that he’s the gate, so the message is clear, right: You get into the sheepfold of God only when you enter the sheepfold through Him, through Jesus?
Well I don’t think so…
Here’s another thing you need to know about shepherds in the time of Jesus. They were despised by most everyone. Their work was dirty and being transient, they had few friends and family… they had no real home village to speak of…. They had their sheep, and other shepherds…that was their community. Therefore, because they only had each other, it wasn’t uncommon for several flocks to gather in one cave for the night. Several flocks led by several different Shepherds meant the shepherds would take turns being the gate throughout the long, cold night.
So is the only way to God through the gate of Jesus, as we know Him?
No.
I believe that the sheepfold of God is immense and that the gatekeepers of the sheepfold are as wide and varied, as unique and as numerous as the stars in the sky.
And I think it’s why Jesus mentions the sheep knowing their own shepherd’s voice-- it suggests that more than one flock was in each sheep-fold-
It’s right there in verses 3,4 and 5:
The gatekeeper---the shepherd—opens the gate, calls His or her sheep and they Hear their shepherd’s voice. They recognize their shepherd and respond to their shepherd.
It’s the same message we’ve heard throughout Easter. Mary Magdalene hears Jesus’ voice and realizes that it isn’t the gardener at all, it is her Shepherd. Thomas denies that Jesus is raised until such time as he hears Jesus’ voice, looks into his eyes and realizes that Jesus, is indeed his Lord, his God, his shepherd. It’s what we heard last week in the Emmaus story---the disciples’ hearts burned as the stranger spoke to them and then, in the breaking of the bread they realize, they recognize that this is no stranger at all, but their friend, their teacher, shepherd, their Lord, their God!
Jesus, as experienced through our sacred scripture, worship, and traditions is our shepherd, we hear his voice and we recognize him!
But this doesn’t mean that other sheep don’t hear another voice that they recognize and follow.
They do. Jesus tells us they do. He says: They will not follow a stranger, because they don’t know the voice of the stranger. Right here, smack dab in the middle of the cozy little story about sheep and their shepherd, Jesus tells us that there are many ways to know God, to worship God, to love God. The issue isn’t how we do it, the issue is that we do it.
The issue isn’t the name of our shepherd, the issue is that everyone, everywhere, always, has a Shepherd whose voice they recognize.
Today we welcome Wesley into the household of God through the sacrament of baptism. We’re thrilled that they have Jesus as their Good Shepherd and thankful that they will know that wherever life takes them, no matter what kind of bramble they may find themselves in, no matter how dark their valleys, their Shepherd, our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, will call their names and lead them home! And for that we say Amen and Alleluia!!
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