+The prophet Isaiah says: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear” To all who loved Jane I say: today she is rejoicing at a feast that would even make her 10 course Christmas dinners seem like a snack, for today, Jane is in paradise.
At the beginning of this service I read:
“Happy from now on
are those who die in the Lord!
So it is, says the Spirit,
for they rest from their labors.”
As I understand it, Jane emigrated from Scotland to the US when she was 3 years old. I also hear she worked at Tops just until a couple of years ago. Oh how familiar this sounds to me. You see, I had a grandfather who was a Scot. He worked as a pediatrician until he was 85 years old. His daughter, my mother, worked as a teacher until she was 78 years old. The work ethic of these Scot immigrants is something to behold isn’t it?
Today, in the nearer presence of God, Jane is finally resting. But not the kind of rest that would make her stubborn side mad or uncomfortable---you know how it was whenever you suggested to her that perhaps she slow down or you offered to help her with something---no this rest she now enjoys is, in all truth, blissful. It is a comfortable rest, a refreshing rest, an eternal rest.
But don’t think this rest is all angels playing harps…I have no doubt that in heaven there is a whole lot of story-telling and laughter. Endless, delightful, glorious laughter.
Today Jane is right there in the midst of it all, telling her stories, listening to others tell theirs. Laughing and joking and smiling all the way. Today, in paradise, Jane is in her element.
The psalmist writes:
The Lord shall watch over your going out and
your coming in, *
from this time forth for evermore.
Well guess what, the Lord has help now.
For those she has left behind know this…she is right here, right alongside you. You can no longer see her, touch her, but you will in ways too mysterious to explain, be led by her. The tears you shed today are testimonies to the love you had for her and you should shed them. The tears you shed today are also expressions of your sadness that you and Jane will not be together in the flesh anymore….but please do not cry for Jane, for even at the grave she is making her song Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia. Why? Because on this day, at this moment, Jane is in the presence of a love and a light that no longer surpasses her understanding. On this day at this moment, all has been revealed to her. On this day and at this moment Jane is fully, truly and eternally, home. Amen+
Sunday, May 27, 2018
The Dynamic Trio: No separate, but part of Trinity Sunday at Trinity, Hamburg May 27, 2018
+Part of my preparation for celebrating the Eucharist occurs when the server brings this bowl and towel over to me, pouring water over my fingers. It’s a symbolic hand-washing and while I dry my hands I utter a very simple prayer: “Gracious God, cleanse me from all iniquity and make me worthy to enter Your mystery.” I use this prayer about mystery because, truth be told, what happens on this altar is a mystery to me.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not real. Not fully understanding doesn’t mean something’s not real. It just means that some things can’t be explained as much as they must be experienced.
One of the mysterious concepts in Christianity is the Trinity: The one in Three and Three in One.
None of us fully understand it. We have some comprehension---we believe in One God who’s present to us in three distinct, yet linked ways: God as Father/Creator, God the Son/Redeemer and God the Holy Spirit/Sustainer---but to accept the Doctrine of the Trinity requires a leap of faith smack dab into the mystery of God. A mystery which won’t be fully revealed to us until our death. Until then, we’re grasping at straws whenever we try to come up with a hard and fast definition.
So, in no way am I going to try and make the Trinity understandable to you. Understanding is personal, it comes to each of us in different ways and at different times.
Just as it did for Nicodemus.
Nicodemus appears several times in John’s Gospel, each time, gaining a bit more understanding, a little more insight into who Jesus is and how Jesus is God. It was, for Nicodemus, a process.
Understanding is an ever-moving, changing, evolving process. It’s dynamic
And “dynamic” is an excellent way to describe the Trinity—The three persons of the Trinity are in constant movement toward one another and toward us.
Now let’s get one thing clear, we have one God. Period. When we say, “three persons” what we mean is that there are three distinct ways the Almighty is in relationship with us—the more authoritative, parental God who was and is the Creator of all things, the Son who felt all the same things we feel and was capable of all the same things as us and finally, the advocate, the Holy Spirit, that unseen God who acts in and through other people in our lives and is that still small voice deep within us.
But these three distinct characteristics of God are just that--- characteristics of a whole—they are not separate. They are “part of.”
Throughout the generations, people have fought visciously over the Doctrine of the Trinity--- St Nicholas was expelled from the Council of Nicea because he became so irate over the efforts to explain just what we mean by the Holy and Undivided Trinity, one God, that he punched another attendee. Others have made valiant efforts to explain the Trinity using visual aids:
St. Patrick used the three leaves of a Shamrock—each leaf distinct but not separate from the whole of the clover.
Icons show the Trinity as a swirling dance of interconnected parts—always attached, but each moving in its own way. Almost all expository attempts at describing the Trinity fall short because at its heart, the essence of the Trinity is relationship. And describing the essence of a relationship is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree…it just doesn’t work.
Think of your own relationships---the most precious ones you have—how would you describe them? Can you find the words? Could you diagram it? You could get close, but it would still be lacking. That’s my point---to describe the Holy and Undivided Trinity just doesn’t do it justice, because it’s a relationship and relationships are hard to explain.
God is relationship.
Retired Lutheran Pastor Richard Lischer of Wisconsin shared this interpretation of the Trinity he discovered while contemplating a stained-glass window of the Trinity. He writes: “The fairly typical Trinitarian design of three interconnecting triangles reminded me of an aerial photograph taken of our small farming community. Besides the straight and orderly rows of crops in the fields, another distinct pattern emerged: well-worn paths criss-crossing from one farmhouse to another. These paths, worn into the ground by generations of neighbors visiting and helping out in times of need, linked the town, they knit the community together.” Lischer’s description of the interconnectedness represented in those paths explains my experience of the Trinity.
God grooves paths in our lives, coming to us at different times and in different forms to address a variety of needs.
God, in three persons, Blessed Trinity, reaches out to us as a strong parental type when we feel small and childlike. God in three persons, Blessed Trinity reaches out to us as a forgiving friend in times of loneliness and confusion. God in three persons, Blessed Trinity reaches out to us as a sustaining force of inexplicable peace when we are bereft and lost, angry and bitter, hopeless and helpless. God in three persons, Blessed Trinity, longs to be a palpable presence in our lives, so God, in God’s infinite wisdom, walks a number of paths to reach us.
Although difficult to explain, the formula of the Trinity is simple
God Loves Us.
God Wants to be With Us, In All things and At All Times.
Through the miracle and mystery of God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity, God’s Love is always with us.
And that, although almost impossible to explain, is so utterly real.
Amen.
Sunday, May 20, 2018
She’s Here, Make Room! The Day of Pentecost, 2018 Chapel of the Good Shepherd at Brookside and Christ Church, Albion
+ The Feast of the Pentecost is the day the church was born so today’s our birthday! It’s a day when we remember that this bringing the kingdom of God to reign here on earth thing? It’s our job…a job we are well-prepared to do IF we’ve followed the teachings of Jesus Christ and make room for the Holy Spirit to enfold us in her fiery wind-blown ways. Yes I said “she.”
In orthodox traditions, of which we are one, The Holy Spirit is referred to in the feminine.
Now, onto the story. The disciples were gathered in one spot because it was the Day of Pentecost. Yes, Pentecost, in ancient Judaism, is the culmination of the Jewish Feast of Weeks, which commemorates Moses receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai. Why is the last day of the Feast of Weeks called Pentecost? Because it falls 50 days after the first night of Passover. The Jewish Day of Pentecost was also one of the three holidays in ancient Israel when all Jews were required to be at the temple to make their sacrifice. This is why, on that first “Christian” Pentecost, Jerusalem was teeming with people. The city was packed and because a crowded city puts everyone on edge and an edgy city didn’t bode well for the followers of Jesus, the disciples were hiding, caught between the traditions of their Jewish faith and the bewildering happenings of the previous few weeks—crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and now, today, crazy wind and flames falling from the sky.
Of course, Jesus NEVER does anything by happenstance, so sending the Holy Spirit on this day, at this time was by design. It was another example of Jesus saying, “this is the new way….the Torah got us this far, but now we have farther to go, we have a different way to try.” And, just as he’d promised, Jesus has sent us an instrument through which His work of redemption for this world can and will continue.
But, much like the dramatic ascent into heaven of last week, the Holy Spirit on this last day of the Easter season, on this 50th day, arrives in style, on tongues of fire and gusts of violent wind.
OK so now we know what to call her and where the name of Pentecost came from and why the disciples were all in one place…but just what or who is the Holy Spirit?
Well, she isn’t anything. Or she’s everything.
We can’t see her, but she’s everywhere, we can’t hear her, but she speaks volumes, we can’t touch her, yet we do feel her.
The reality of the Holy Spirit is this:
she can’t be explained, she needs to be experienced.
She can’t be defined, she needs to be felt,
she can’t be corralled, she must be allowed to run free.
Oh and she’s everywhere, all the time…we just need to perceive, welcome and embrace her.
The scripture writers have given us this story of the Holy Spirit arriving at a very specific time, in a very specific way, but the truth of the matter is, she’s always been here, moving among us, between us, through us.
Always.
But, as is often the case with human beings, we didn’t notice. Not because we’re really bad at this thing called faith, but because, in spite of the fire and wind for the most part the Holy Spirit is really subtle.
---She’s that still small voice whispering deep within us. The voice we can’t hear unless we quiet ourselves enough, still ourselves enough to notice.
----She’s that sense of inspiration, acknowledgement or realization that comes when you’ve finally left a nagging issue behind, when you’ve turned to another task and in the middle of something completely different you have that “eureka” moment.
----The Holy Spirit is when everything falls apart and we are angry, lost, sad, hopeless, confused and then, days later, months later, years later, we realize that if we hadn’t experienced that loss—the loss that felt overwhelmingly painful at the moment---we never would have experienced the joy of something altogether unexpected and new.
[For Good Shepherd, Brookside: The Holy Spirit is when a group of people decide to tackle a problem like the lack of quality education for all children as witnessed by the Eaton Reading Camp and Grace’s school project plus the MOPS program at St John’s as well as their community meal and all the other works of the spirit evident in the churches represented here today.]
The Holy Spirit moves among us and gives us the courage to do what we never thought we could. The Holy Spirit moves among us and gives us the audacity to do the things other people are shocked that we will actually do.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t have a cute birth story or a miraculous resurrection tale. She may not be describable or definable, but She is here and we must, in all things and at all times, do everything in our power to experience her.
The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us. She‘s the whisper in our ear, the shout in our heart, the hope in our soul. She‘s the nudge that leads us places we never thought we could go, she’s the detour that feels frightening but ends up being enlightening.
She’s the love we feel for one another.
She’s the hope we share with the world.
She’s the frustration we feel with the status quo, the anger we feel with injustice, the disgust we feel with evil.
She’s our conscience, she’s our longing, she’s our passion. So let us welcome her, and follow her as she leads to where we are called to go.
The Holy Spirit Has Arrived. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! Amen.
In orthodox traditions, of which we are one, The Holy Spirit is referred to in the feminine.
Now, onto the story. The disciples were gathered in one spot because it was the Day of Pentecost. Yes, Pentecost, in ancient Judaism, is the culmination of the Jewish Feast of Weeks, which commemorates Moses receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai. Why is the last day of the Feast of Weeks called Pentecost? Because it falls 50 days after the first night of Passover. The Jewish Day of Pentecost was also one of the three holidays in ancient Israel when all Jews were required to be at the temple to make their sacrifice. This is why, on that first “Christian” Pentecost, Jerusalem was teeming with people. The city was packed and because a crowded city puts everyone on edge and an edgy city didn’t bode well for the followers of Jesus, the disciples were hiding, caught between the traditions of their Jewish faith and the bewildering happenings of the previous few weeks—crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and now, today, crazy wind and flames falling from the sky.
Of course, Jesus NEVER does anything by happenstance, so sending the Holy Spirit on this day, at this time was by design. It was another example of Jesus saying, “this is the new way….the Torah got us this far, but now we have farther to go, we have a different way to try.” And, just as he’d promised, Jesus has sent us an instrument through which His work of redemption for this world can and will continue.
But, much like the dramatic ascent into heaven of last week, the Holy Spirit on this last day of the Easter season, on this 50th day, arrives in style, on tongues of fire and gusts of violent wind.
OK so now we know what to call her and where the name of Pentecost came from and why the disciples were all in one place…but just what or who is the Holy Spirit?
Well, she isn’t anything. Or she’s everything.
We can’t see her, but she’s everywhere, we can’t hear her, but she speaks volumes, we can’t touch her, yet we do feel her.
The reality of the Holy Spirit is this:
she can’t be explained, she needs to be experienced.
She can’t be defined, she needs to be felt,
she can’t be corralled, she must be allowed to run free.
Oh and she’s everywhere, all the time…we just need to perceive, welcome and embrace her.
The scripture writers have given us this story of the Holy Spirit arriving at a very specific time, in a very specific way, but the truth of the matter is, she’s always been here, moving among us, between us, through us.
Always.
But, as is often the case with human beings, we didn’t notice. Not because we’re really bad at this thing called faith, but because, in spite of the fire and wind for the most part the Holy Spirit is really subtle.
---She’s that still small voice whispering deep within us. The voice we can’t hear unless we quiet ourselves enough, still ourselves enough to notice.
----She’s that sense of inspiration, acknowledgement or realization that comes when you’ve finally left a nagging issue behind, when you’ve turned to another task and in the middle of something completely different you have that “eureka” moment.
----The Holy Spirit is when everything falls apart and we are angry, lost, sad, hopeless, confused and then, days later, months later, years later, we realize that if we hadn’t experienced that loss—the loss that felt overwhelmingly painful at the moment---we never would have experienced the joy of something altogether unexpected and new.
[For Good Shepherd, Brookside: The Holy Spirit is when a group of people decide to tackle a problem like the lack of quality education for all children as witnessed by the Eaton Reading Camp and Grace’s school project plus the MOPS program at St John’s as well as their community meal and all the other works of the spirit evident in the churches represented here today.]
The Holy Spirit moves among us and gives us the courage to do what we never thought we could. The Holy Spirit moves among us and gives us the audacity to do the things other people are shocked that we will actually do.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t have a cute birth story or a miraculous resurrection tale. She may not be describable or definable, but She is here and we must, in all things and at all times, do everything in our power to experience her.
The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us. She‘s the whisper in our ear, the shout in our heart, the hope in our soul. She‘s the nudge that leads us places we never thought we could go, she’s the detour that feels frightening but ends up being enlightening.
She’s the love we feel for one another.
She’s the hope we share with the world.
She’s the frustration we feel with the status quo, the anger we feel with injustice, the disgust we feel with evil.
She’s our conscience, she’s our longing, she’s our passion. So let us welcome her, and follow her as she leads to where we are called to go.
The Holy Spirit Has Arrived. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! Amen.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Beverly Mileham Funeral Homily May 19, 2018
+This is how I remember Beverly Mileham:
Sitting at her table in the food pantry, smiling that fabulous smile of hers, looking at me with a glint in her eye, and saying, “Hi ya, Kid!” I had the honor of being Bev’s parish priest for about 7 years, and since I left Good Shepherd and Ascension in late 2015, I’ve loved the handful of times I’ve seen her…always being greeted with that quintessential “Hi Ya Kid!”
This morning we bid our Mother, Grammy, Tick Tock, Aunt, sister-in law, neighbor, friend, fellow parishioner, good bye. But as Bev very clearly stated in the instructions she left regarding this very service, she does not want sadness, she wants joy and celebration. As the poem in the bulletin states:
“I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one, I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.”
Well Bev, the memory of you is a happy one and you not only have left us with an afterglow of smiles in death, but you did so in life as well.
From the shenanigans of that young farm girl on the ridge up in Wilson, to the delight she took as a mother and most especially these last years, as a grandmother, Bev brought smiles to all those whom she encountered.
I’ll never forget whenever she spoke to me about her marriage to Tom—she always had a wistful smile about her and the reminiscence usually ended with, “I miss him so.” Or when she would be bragging on one of the grandkids and she’d say, they’re such great kids,” Bev’s own memories brought her joy.
My goodness, she was a hard worker. Since us Niagara County gals need to stick together, I’d like to say that Bev’s work ethic and zest for life was instilled in her up on the farm—Mary recalls endless stories about what that life was like. As Paul told me the other day, she was proud of being a farm girl.
And something I didn’t know until speaking with the Mary and Tom the other day, Bev, was quite the musician, playing in a Bell Choir and singing in another choir that performed all over…a stroke took away Bev’s ability to sing in that way…but when she could, it brought her great joy. But—and this, I think, is the key to who Bev was---after she could no longer do it there wasn’t a hint of bitterness about her. In fact, and I think the choir members here at Good Shepherd would attest to this, she loved to listen to them sing. It brought her joy.
Do you notice theme here? Things brought her joy---her 44-year marriage to Tom, her children, her grandkids, her friends from long ago on the farm, to the friends she made in the antique and estate sale business, to the friends she made singing in choirs and volunteering in a variety of ways including her work right here in the GS Food Pantry, Bev experienced and most importantly shared her joy, her delight.
Let me set a scene for you:
You’re a person down on your luck, you’ve been out of work for months, you’ve exhausted your savings, the generosity of your friends, family and the side jobs you’ve been picking up don’t bring in enough money. You can’t feed your kids. So, you screw up your courage and find your way to the food pantry. As you walk in the first stop you need to make is at a table “personed” by Joan and Bev. At that moment your whole experience could turn into a nightmare of shame and despondency or an experience of respect, dignity and joy. I saw how Bev interacted with the folks at the Food Pantry---and you know that greeting I shared with you earlier—that “Hi Ya kid” that always made my heart sing? She greeted every single person who walked through the doors of the Good Shepherd Food Pantry with the same affection. Every single time. Folks that isn’t just nice, it’s exactly what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ expects of us, taught us and showed us.
It's evident right there in today’s Gospel reading, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”
All those who encountered Bev saw God in her eyes, they heard God in her words, they experienced God in her deeds.
As sure as I stand here today I know that very early on Wednesday morning when Beverly entered the nearer presence of God she was embraced, welcomed, greeted with the heavenly version of “Hi ya kid, job well done.”
Rest in peace dear Beverly, may all of us learn from you and go out from here remembering the happy times, the laughing times and the bright and sunny days.
Amen.
Sitting at her table in the food pantry, smiling that fabulous smile of hers, looking at me with a glint in her eye, and saying, “Hi ya, Kid!” I had the honor of being Bev’s parish priest for about 7 years, and since I left Good Shepherd and Ascension in late 2015, I’ve loved the handful of times I’ve seen her…always being greeted with that quintessential “Hi Ya Kid!”
This morning we bid our Mother, Grammy, Tick Tock, Aunt, sister-in law, neighbor, friend, fellow parishioner, good bye. But as Bev very clearly stated in the instructions she left regarding this very service, she does not want sadness, she wants joy and celebration. As the poem in the bulletin states:
“I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one, I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.”
Well Bev, the memory of you is a happy one and you not only have left us with an afterglow of smiles in death, but you did so in life as well.
From the shenanigans of that young farm girl on the ridge up in Wilson, to the delight she took as a mother and most especially these last years, as a grandmother, Bev brought smiles to all those whom she encountered.
I’ll never forget whenever she spoke to me about her marriage to Tom—she always had a wistful smile about her and the reminiscence usually ended with, “I miss him so.” Or when she would be bragging on one of the grandkids and she’d say, they’re such great kids,” Bev’s own memories brought her joy.
My goodness, she was a hard worker. Since us Niagara County gals need to stick together, I’d like to say that Bev’s work ethic and zest for life was instilled in her up on the farm—Mary recalls endless stories about what that life was like. As Paul told me the other day, she was proud of being a farm girl.
And something I didn’t know until speaking with the Mary and Tom the other day, Bev, was quite the musician, playing in a Bell Choir and singing in another choir that performed all over…a stroke took away Bev’s ability to sing in that way…but when she could, it brought her great joy. But—and this, I think, is the key to who Bev was---after she could no longer do it there wasn’t a hint of bitterness about her. In fact, and I think the choir members here at Good Shepherd would attest to this, she loved to listen to them sing. It brought her joy.
Do you notice theme here? Things brought her joy---her 44-year marriage to Tom, her children, her grandkids, her friends from long ago on the farm, to the friends she made in the antique and estate sale business, to the friends she made singing in choirs and volunteering in a variety of ways including her work right here in the GS Food Pantry, Bev experienced and most importantly shared her joy, her delight.
Let me set a scene for you:
You’re a person down on your luck, you’ve been out of work for months, you’ve exhausted your savings, the generosity of your friends, family and the side jobs you’ve been picking up don’t bring in enough money. You can’t feed your kids. So, you screw up your courage and find your way to the food pantry. As you walk in the first stop you need to make is at a table “personed” by Joan and Bev. At that moment your whole experience could turn into a nightmare of shame and despondency or an experience of respect, dignity and joy. I saw how Bev interacted with the folks at the Food Pantry---and you know that greeting I shared with you earlier—that “Hi Ya kid” that always made my heart sing? She greeted every single person who walked through the doors of the Good Shepherd Food Pantry with the same affection. Every single time. Folks that isn’t just nice, it’s exactly what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ expects of us, taught us and showed us.
It's evident right there in today’s Gospel reading, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”
All those who encountered Bev saw God in her eyes, they heard God in her words, they experienced God in her deeds.
As sure as I stand here today I know that very early on Wednesday morning when Beverly entered the nearer presence of God she was embraced, welcomed, greeted with the heavenly version of “Hi ya kid, job well done.”
Rest in peace dear Beverly, may all of us learn from you and go out from here remembering the happy times, the laughing times and the bright and sunny days.
Amen.
Sunday, May 13, 2018
It’s our time, it’s our turn, the time is now. Ascension Sunday, St Paul’s Springville May 13, 2018
+Ok let’s face it, the Ascension is weird. Why did Jesus rise from the dead, hang out for awhile and then leave in a Technicolor, MGM drama-filled way?
The quick answer is that I have no idea, but the more lengthy answer is this: I think Jesus walked the earth for a while after his resurrection and then physically and visibly “left,” for some very good reasons. Us.
The resurrection of Jesus, while the major part of our Christian faith, can be a little tough to fathom... And yet, at least for me, I know it to be absolutely true. But what if I’d actually known the man? What if I was a contemporary of Jesus? What if I’d lived in 1st century Palestine and counted Jesus as one of my friends? What if I saw him take his final breath, saw his body removed from the cross and laid in a tomb. What if, a few days later, that same very dead friend calls me by name, places my hand in his wounds, joins me for a fish breakfast and preaches one more sermon?
How does one deal with it? Think about how utterly FREAKED out you’d be. Of course you’d like to think you’d be grateful, joyful and happy. But at first I think most of us would have FREAKED out.
So, I think I get why we have this span of time---40 days to be precise---between Jesus’ resurrection on Easter morning and the Ascension of Christ into heaven. We need some time to adjust.[1]So I believe the 40 days were, in many respects, a “do-over” for the apostles. They, with a resurrected Jesus by their side, get to revisit all the lessons he’d taught them. They get to see that all things are possible through Him. They get to understand that all the crazy mind blowing things he said and did were not side-shows, they weren’t the work of a mad man or a freak show. They were the work of a Savior, they were the work of a man sent by God, they were the work of God made human. They were the opening chords of a chorus of a new life. The apostles then and we now were granted some time to realize that God’s not kidding. Death is dead, darkness is defeated, loss is overturned, hate will not win, hope does live and God’s kingdom, a place where there is no longer Jew or Greek, Male or female, black white or brown, gay straight, rich, poor, Christian, Jew Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist or agnostic.
God’s not kidding.
God loves us and God knows that with a little help we can make God’s goal of freedom, joy and love come true, right here and right now, one step at a time.
But still, why the spectacle of ascending into heaven? Couldn’t Jesus just have said good bye and disappeared? Why the show?
Well, I don’t think Jesus ever did anything without a very good reason so I think we need to consider why a bodily, visible Ascension was necessary. And again, as I said before, that reason is right here, right now. It’s us.
Jesus knows that this isn’t the time for subtlety. Time is a-wasting and Jesus knew that we need to get busy, we need to get on with it. No gazing up at the sky, no waiting for Jesus to re-appear. It’s our time, it’s our turn, the time is now.
The resurrection of Jesus, while the major part of our Christian faith, can be a little tough to fathom... And yet, at least for me, I know it to be absolutely true. But what if I’d actually known the man? What if I was a contemporary of Jesus? What if I’d lived in 1st century Palestine and counted Jesus as one of my friends? What if I saw him take his final breath, saw his body removed from the cross and laid in a tomb. What if, a few days later, that same very dead friend calls me by name, places my hand in his wounds, joins me for a fish breakfast and preaches one more sermon?
How does one deal with it? Think about how utterly FREAKED out you’d be. Of course you’d like to think you’d be grateful, joyful and happy. But at first I think most of us would have FREAKED out.
So, I think I get why we have this span of time---40 days to be precise---between Jesus’ resurrection on Easter morning and the Ascension of Christ into heaven. We need some time to adjust.[1]So I believe the 40 days were, in many respects, a “do-over” for the apostles. They, with a resurrected Jesus by their side, get to revisit all the lessons he’d taught them. They get to see that all things are possible through Him. They get to understand that all the crazy mind blowing things he said and did were not side-shows, they weren’t the work of a mad man or a freak show. They were the work of a Savior, they were the work of a man sent by God, they were the work of God made human. They were the opening chords of a chorus of a new life. The apostles then and we now were granted some time to realize that God’s not kidding. Death is dead, darkness is defeated, loss is overturned, hate will not win, hope does live and God’s kingdom, a place where there is no longer Jew or Greek, Male or female, black white or brown, gay straight, rich, poor, Christian, Jew Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist or agnostic.
God’s not kidding.
God loves us and God knows that with a little help we can make God’s goal of freedom, joy and love come true, right here and right now, one step at a time.
But still, why the spectacle of ascending into heaven? Couldn’t Jesus just have said good bye and disappeared? Why the show?
Well, I don’t think Jesus ever did anything without a very good reason so I think we need to consider why a bodily, visible Ascension was necessary. And again, as I said before, that reason is right here, right now. It’s us.
Jesus knows that this isn’t the time for subtlety. Time is a-wasting and Jesus knew that we need to get busy, we need to get on with it. No gazing up at the sky, no waiting for Jesus to re-appear. It’s our time, it’s our turn, the time is now.
And this means you all as well.
I think what Jesus is saying is, “I have to go, and I know that’s going to hurt you…it’s going to hurt me….but the reality is that if I didn’t go, you wouldn’t grow to be the people I know you can be.
Folks, you know a lot about saying good-bye, about figuring out how to go forward without any roadmap except for the roadmap of God’s love. Here you are, almost a year since Fr Gary retired. You had an interim priest who pushed and prodded you, you took a long hard look at your situation and you made some decisions. You’re thinking outside the box, you’re taking some risks. Your reality is that you can’t afford a priest every week. You’ve learned to worship through Morning Prayer. I know a lot of you don’t like it, and for others of you it’s unfamiliar and uncomfortable…but you’re trying.
I think what Jesus is saying is, “I have to go, and I know that’s going to hurt you…it’s going to hurt me….but the reality is that if I didn’t go, you wouldn’t grow to be the people I know you can be.
Folks, you know a lot about saying good-bye, about figuring out how to go forward without any roadmap except for the roadmap of God’s love. Here you are, almost a year since Fr Gary retired. You had an interim priest who pushed and prodded you, you took a long hard look at your situation and you made some decisions. You’re thinking outside the box, you’re taking some risks. Your reality is that you can’t afford a priest every week. You’ve learned to worship through Morning Prayer. I know a lot of you don’t like it, and for others of you it’s unfamiliar and uncomfortable…but you’re trying.
A lot of things have changed, but one thing hasn’t changed.
Love for God, Love for our neighbor and Love for each other.
Love for God, Love for our neighbor and Love for each other.
When Jesus left he left his work behind for us to continue. Howwe do it doesn’t matter nearly as much as the fact that we do it. That we Love. That we manifest Love in all we do.
I know the changes at St Paul’s may seem scary, annoying, unsettling or all of the above, but the lesson of Jesus’ Death, Resurrection and Ascension is this: trust God, trust yourself and remember that Jesus is with us, in all we do, for ever.
Yes the Ascension is weird, but sometimes we need the unexpected, the unfamiliar, and the unbelievable to shake us up and toss us just where God wants us to be!
Amen and Alleluia.
[1]! [now full disclosure here---the Bible is a living document written by people at various times and for various reasons. Therefore I must report that many scholars believe that the Ascension of Christ, what we are commemorating today didn’t happen 40 days after Easter morn but most likely happened Easter night, or a couple of days later….but not 40. No worries though, in God’s kingdom there are no clocks or calendars, so time? It’s just an outdated concept. ;-) ]
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Convicted. Easter6B May 6, 2018 St John’s Grace, Buffalo
+I had a seminary professor who, when reading certain passages of scripture would stop us midsentence and say, “That, that right there? Those words? They convict me.”
Well, several phrases in today’s readings convict me, us, the church and the world.
From Acts:
“These people have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. Surely no one can stop them from being baptized with water, can they?”
And from the Gospel of John:
“Love each other just as I have loved you.”
In Acts, Peter’s saying, “listen, even though these people look different, sound different, act different they belong in this fold: baptize them, call them sister and brother.”
In John Jesus says, “hey folks, do what I did, live how I lived. Love everyone.”
Three years ago the “baptism that wasn’t” gained a lot of notoriety for the church. And not in a good way. There was a young family who were members of the Episcopal Cathedral in Orlando Florida. They had attended for a while and wanted to get their infant son Jack, baptized. They did what any couple would do, they made an appointment with the priest, discussed the sacrament, and scheduled the baptism. As the baptism day approached the cake was ordered, Jack’s white suit was all set, the Godparents were praying up a storm when, 3 days before the scheduled service, the Dean called Jack’s parents to cancel because there were several parishioners who had “issues” with the baptism. Why? Because Jack had two dads, instead of a dad and a mom.
“These people have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. Surely no one can stop them from being baptized with water, can they?”
“Love each other just as I have loved you.”
Convicted, indeed.
To make matters worse, the Bishop of Central Florida, Greg Brewer, got involved, saying he’d meet with the parents to see if they were committed to raising Jack in a Christian household.
So, Jack’s dads were attending the Cathedral, allegedly a Christian house of worship and they, Jack’s parents, requested their child be baptized. Yet the Bishop needs to “vet” them?
“Love each other just as I have loved you.”
Convicted, indeed.
Then, last weekend I read a story on social media, perhaps you saw it, an African-American man posted a photo of a package that had been mistakenly delivered to his address. The title of his post was “Why this package won’t be delivered until UPS picks it up.” The man said that while it made more sense for he or his teenage son to drop the package off at the correct home, a few streets over, it wasn’t safe, so he would wait for UPS to redeliver it. Why? Because the African American man said it wasn’t safe for him or his son to go up to a stranger’s house with a package---he said, “it’s not safe in our predominately white neighborhood for an African American male, no matter that we also live in this neighborhood to approach the house of strangers. It’s how young black men get killed, all the time.
Think about not being able to send your son out to pick up a gallon of milk, or to wait at the corner for his buddies to pick him up. Think about not being able to have your teenage son or your middle aged husband, or your colleague from work, or your fellow parishioner, or your neighbor, or, or, or feel safe enough to do a basic errand simply because of the color of their skin. I know, we hear these stories all the time, but really consider it. Would any of us here tolerate it if we couldn’t do basic errands without the fear of being shot for standing, walking, driving or hanging out? No. We wouldn’t.
“Love each other just as I have loved you.”
Convicted, indeed.
Folks, we’ve been talking about it for a long time:
It’s not ok to hate, it’s not ok to be intolerant, it’s not ok to discriminate. We’re called, above everything else, to do one thing:
Love others as we have been loved.
“Love each other just as I have loved you.”
Convicted, indeed.
My friends, what happened in Orlando, what happens to people of color---especially young men of color----every single day is not ok.
It is not Love.
It is Fear.
Ignorant, unacceptable, unbelievable fear. Fear of the other, fear of the difficult, fear of the uncomfortable, fear of the unknown.
It’s far too easy to sit back and say, “all that intolerance isn’t here.”
“I don’t have a racist bone in my body”
“ I welcome everyone to this altar, no exceptions.”
Well guess what, that’s not true.
We’re human. We fear. Sometimes we even hate.
We are commanded to love everyone as we ourselves have been loved. Everyone.
I don’t, you don’t, we don’t.
How do I know that?
Because this very day people are starving to death.
This very day people are dying alone.
This very day children are being denied access to an education.
This very day people are being denied basic human dignity because of the color of their skin, the people they love, the God they worship.
This very day people are not being loved as Jesus loves us.
So that means we have more work to do. That means we have to stretch ourselves. That means we have to risk, that means we have to give more out of our abundance , that means we have to accept and love, as we have been loved. Everyone, everywhere, no exceptions.
And it means we cannot, we will not, we must not let any discrimination, any racism, any homophobia, any sexism, any classism, any xenophobia go unchallenged. We must stand for those who can’t, we must speak for the silenced and we must confront those who bully, abuse and deny.
We must.
Because if not us, who?
Amen.
Well, several phrases in today’s readings convict me, us, the church and the world.
From Acts:
“These people have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. Surely no one can stop them from being baptized with water, can they?”
And from the Gospel of John:
“Love each other just as I have loved you.”
In Acts, Peter’s saying, “listen, even though these people look different, sound different, act different they belong in this fold: baptize them, call them sister and brother.”
In John Jesus says, “hey folks, do what I did, live how I lived. Love everyone.”
Three years ago the “baptism that wasn’t” gained a lot of notoriety for the church. And not in a good way. There was a young family who were members of the Episcopal Cathedral in Orlando Florida. They had attended for a while and wanted to get their infant son Jack, baptized. They did what any couple would do, they made an appointment with the priest, discussed the sacrament, and scheduled the baptism. As the baptism day approached the cake was ordered, Jack’s white suit was all set, the Godparents were praying up a storm when, 3 days before the scheduled service, the Dean called Jack’s parents to cancel because there were several parishioners who had “issues” with the baptism. Why? Because Jack had two dads, instead of a dad and a mom.
“These people have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. Surely no one can stop them from being baptized with water, can they?”
“Love each other just as I have loved you.”
Convicted, indeed.
To make matters worse, the Bishop of Central Florida, Greg Brewer, got involved, saying he’d meet with the parents to see if they were committed to raising Jack in a Christian household.
So, Jack’s dads were attending the Cathedral, allegedly a Christian house of worship and they, Jack’s parents, requested their child be baptized. Yet the Bishop needs to “vet” them?
“Love each other just as I have loved you.”
Convicted, indeed.
Then, last weekend I read a story on social media, perhaps you saw it, an African-American man posted a photo of a package that had been mistakenly delivered to his address. The title of his post was “Why this package won’t be delivered until UPS picks it up.” The man said that while it made more sense for he or his teenage son to drop the package off at the correct home, a few streets over, it wasn’t safe, so he would wait for UPS to redeliver it. Why? Because the African American man said it wasn’t safe for him or his son to go up to a stranger’s house with a package---he said, “it’s not safe in our predominately white neighborhood for an African American male, no matter that we also live in this neighborhood to approach the house of strangers. It’s how young black men get killed, all the time.
Think about not being able to send your son out to pick up a gallon of milk, or to wait at the corner for his buddies to pick him up. Think about not being able to have your teenage son or your middle aged husband, or your colleague from work, or your fellow parishioner, or your neighbor, or, or, or feel safe enough to do a basic errand simply because of the color of their skin. I know, we hear these stories all the time, but really consider it. Would any of us here tolerate it if we couldn’t do basic errands without the fear of being shot for standing, walking, driving or hanging out? No. We wouldn’t.
“Love each other just as I have loved you.”
Convicted, indeed.
Folks, we’ve been talking about it for a long time:
It’s not ok to hate, it’s not ok to be intolerant, it’s not ok to discriminate. We’re called, above everything else, to do one thing:
Love others as we have been loved.
“Love each other just as I have loved you.”
Convicted, indeed.
My friends, what happened in Orlando, what happens to people of color---especially young men of color----every single day is not ok.
It is not Love.
It is Fear.
Ignorant, unacceptable, unbelievable fear. Fear of the other, fear of the difficult, fear of the uncomfortable, fear of the unknown.
It’s far too easy to sit back and say, “all that intolerance isn’t here.”
“I don’t have a racist bone in my body”
“ I welcome everyone to this altar, no exceptions.”
Well guess what, that’s not true.
We’re human. We fear. Sometimes we even hate.
We are commanded to love everyone as we ourselves have been loved. Everyone.
I don’t, you don’t, we don’t.
How do I know that?
Because this very day people are starving to death.
This very day people are dying alone.
This very day children are being denied access to an education.
This very day people are being denied basic human dignity because of the color of their skin, the people they love, the God they worship.
This very day people are not being loved as Jesus loves us.
So that means we have more work to do. That means we have to stretch ourselves. That means we have to risk, that means we have to give more out of our abundance , that means we have to accept and love, as we have been loved. Everyone, everywhere, no exceptions.
And it means we cannot, we will not, we must not let any discrimination, any racism, any homophobia, any sexism, any classism, any xenophobia go unchallenged. We must stand for those who can’t, we must speak for the silenced and we must confront those who bully, abuse and deny.
We must.
Because if not us, who?
Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)