STAFFORD
+There’s an image from today’s readings that I just couldn’t shake all week. It’s from the Collect of the Day—reading, in part:
“Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure.”
I love the image of us running toward God.
What makes you run toward God? What draws you? What implores you to move toward, rather than away, from the Divine?
The truth for me is that I run toward God when my own way of doing things, my own best efforts, have failed and I find myself in a bit of a mess.
I think what stuck with me this week, a week when our country seems to be at war with itself, a week when the pain of so many was put on full display, is that God doesn’t want any of this for us, for the world. But God needs us to participate in making the changes needed to bring God’s promises to their fullness here on earth.
I think that’s what this collect is reminding us about---that God doesn’t just swoop in whenever God feels like it. No God waits for us to come forward, arms outstretched, ready to receive the grace, mercy, pity and promise of God.
Faith is a two-way street. God doesn’t want us to be passive receivers of God’s grace, God wants us to be active seekers of God’s Grace and then active purveyors of God’s love in our world.
When we fail to run toward God, when we fail to be eager seekers of God’s grace and love, when we insist that we can Do It Ourselves, we find ourselves in a mess.
And what a mess it is.
Watch the news, it seems as if all we do is yell at each other, insult each other, accuse each other, demean each other.
Look around, it’s as if life itself, that incredible gift bestowed upon each and every one of us by and through our loving, life giving and liberating God (PB Michael Curry), has become disposable in our world. Murder rates are high, mass shootings have become commonplace and intolerance? Well intolerance seems to permeate throughout our culture.
It’s not pretty, is it?
Why God hasn’t given up on us, why God hasn’t just turned that Divine back on us is beyond me. But here it is, right there is today’s Collect, God pours mercy upon us, God has pity for us, God loves us, God roots for us, God longs for us to accept the offer of grace upon grace, hope upon hope and love upon love.
I don’t know about you, but I need to hold onto this promise of God with all my might. I need to be washed in the fullness of God’s grace, I need to revel in the heavenly treasure, because left to my own devices, left to our own devices we will—we have---made a mess of our world.
OK, so I know this may not be the most uplifting sermon you’ve ever heard, but bear with me, for out of the darkness and despair of the world I see glimmers of hope. Right here. Right now. In Stafford NY
You se, you have the secret. We have the secret. We have the way forward, we know that in spite of the anger and the discord and the hopelessness displayed in our world we know there’s another way, a better way, the only way:
The Love and Peace of God as given to us by and through the person of Jesus Christ.
We know that God has hope for us, that God’s promise is possible. One kind act. One hopeful act, one dedicated, loving act at a time.
I know that here at St Paul’s money is tight, worries keep multiplying and that it can feel as if you are out here in this beautiful countryside alone. That if only someone from the diocese, or the wider church, or the latest church growth book would tell you how to fill these pews, balance your budget and lift the burden of worry off of you, all would be well.
The bad news is, I don’t have that. But what I do have is a story-- one I tell all the time. It’s story of what I witnessed here two years ago when I last visited. The details may not be wholly accurate but this is my memory:
During announcements someone stood up and said that the previous week they had passed the Methodist Church during their weekly free meal. The line was especially long because they didn’t have enough help. The man who announced that here said, “can’t we help our neighbors, help our neighbors? I’m going to be there next week, who else would like to join me?” One by one well over ¾ of you raised your hands.
It was one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen. You were asked, and your neighbors received.
That’s grace in action. That’s God’s promise being obtained, that’s partaking in the heavenly treasure of God. For the heavenly treasure is nothing more—and nothing less—than loving your neighbor as yourself. It’s what we’re called to do. Love God. Love Neighbor. And you exemplify it. Perfectly. Keep it up. Look for the dark places, the hurting places, the lonely places in your world and enter those places, with light, with love, with hope. I know you are burdened --how can you keep it all going? We struggle with this worry every single day at the Diocesan offices. And I know at times it’s hard to see the forest of Love among the tress of worry, but, my friends, you are changing this world through your acts of love. What you do does make a difference. Thanks be to God. Amen.
LEROY
+There’s an image from today’s readings that I just couldn’t shake all week. It’s from the Collect of the Day—reading, in part:
“Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure.”
I love the image of us running toward God.
What makes you run toward God? What draws you? What implores you to move toward, rather than away, from the Divine?
The truth for me is that I run toward God when my own way of doing things, my own best efforts, have failed and I find myself in a bit of a mess.
I think what stuck with me this week, a week when our country seems to be at war with itself, a week when the pain of so many was put on full display, is that God doesn’t want any of this for us, for the world. But God needs us to participate in making the changes needed to bring God’s promises to their fullness here on earth.
I think that’s what this collect is reminding us about---that God doesn’t just swoop in whenever God feels like it. No God waits for us to come forward, arms outstretched, ready to receive the grace, mercy, pity and promise of God.
Faith is a two-way street. God doesn’t want us to be passive receivers of God’s grace, God wants us to be active seekers of God’s Grace and then active purveyors of God’s love in our world.
When we fail to run toward God, when we fail to be eager seekers of God’s grace and love, when we insist that we can Do It Ourselves, we find ourselves in a mess.
And what a mess it is.
Watch the news, it seems as if all we do is yell at each other, insult each other, accuse each other, demean each other.
Look around, it’s as if life itself, that incredible gift bestowed upon each and every one of us by and through our loving, life giving and liberating God (PB Michael Curry), has become disposable in our world. Murder rates are high, mass shootings have become commonplace and intolerance? Well intolerance seems to permeate throughout our culture.
It’s not pretty, is it?
Why God hasn’t given up on us, why God hasn’t just turned that Divine back on us, is beyond me. But here it is, right there is today’s Collect, God pours mercy upon us, God has pity for us, God loves us, God roots for us, God longs for us to accept the offer of grace upon grace, hope upon hope and love upon love.
I don’t know about you, but I need to hold onto this promise of God with all my might. I need to be washed in the fullness of God’s grace, I need to revel in the heavenly treasure, because left to my own devices, left to our own devices we will—we have---made a mess of our world.
OK, so I know this may not be the most uplifting sermon you’ve ever heard, but bear with me, for out of the darkness and despair of the world I see glimmers of hope. Right here. Right now.
In LeRoy, NY.
You see you have the secret. We have the secret. We have the way forward, we know that in spite of the anger and the discord and the hopelessness displayed in our world we know there’s another way, a better way, the only way:
The Love and Peace of God as given to us by and through the person of Jesus Christ.
We know that God has hope for us, that God’s promise is possible. One kind act. One hopeful act, one dedicated, loving act at a time.
I don’t know who manages your Facebook page, but bravo! A couple of times a week I get a notice that St Mark’s has a new post and when I click on it I find God’s Love on display, in action, right here, right now. Whether it is a word of scripture, a beautiful photograph, the summer lunch program or an invitation to the community gathering at St Mark’s as you grapple with how engage in civil, loving, respectful discourse and active and open listening, St Mark’s is a beacon in this area of what our Presiding Bishop calls the Way of Love. The Way of Love, the Way of Christ, the Way of Light, the Way of God is a way of peace, a way of understanding, a way of respect…It is a way of Grace, a way of promise, a way of treasure. The answer to the problems which face most of the churches in this region, in this country, in this world is right here, among you. A willingness to tackle the tough issues, a willingness to reach out a helping hand, a willingness to bring dignity to every single human being in this area.
I know you are burdened by building issues, money issues, church growth issues. I know at times it’s hard to see the forest of Love among the tress of worry, but, my friends, one kind act at a time, one reach across the aisle at a time, one loving, life giving, and liberating act at a time you, the people of St Mark’s are running toward the promise of God. And for that we rejoice and thank our wondrous, awesome and grace-filled God. AMEN.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Ephphatha and the Syro-Phonecian Woman: A Lesson in Guts and Openness Proper 18B Sept. 9, 2018 Final Sermon Trinity Hamburg
+The Syro-Phonecian woman had guts. Some might even say gall. She bested Jesus in a debate about who deserves God’s mercy. At the time of this encounter with the woman, Jesus didn’t know he was the Messiah for all people—she, through her debate with him--- enlightens Jesus. This encounter between Jesus and the woman comes early enough in his ministry that Jesus is still finding his way….realizing that he’s not only the messiah for the Jewish people but is indeed the messiah for everyone, everywhere, always.
But in today’s gospel, Jesus still thinks he’s only been sent for the Jews, which is why he rudely—and I mean rudely—dismisses this “unclean woman.” She’s unclean, according to Jewish purity laws, because she is not Jewish, she’s a foreigner, a gentile, a Syro-Phonecian (called a Caananite in Matthew’s Gospel)!
Now, you may be surprised to hear me say that Jesus didn’t know something but, it’s clear to me---and you are free to disagree---that Jesus is corrected, taught, enlightened by the Syro-Phonecian woman.
I actually find it refreshing, that Jesus could be wrong about something. But more than Jesus being wrong, what I find most amazing in this reading is the grace with which the woman responds.
Jesus insults her--- really insults her---yet she doesn’t yell at him, she doesn’t cry, she isn’t struck dumb by his insolence, she simply replies to him calling her a dog with a logical argument: “you may think of me as a dog, she says, but even dogs get the crumbs. I’m not asking for the fullness of your glory, I’m just asking for the crumbs. For the crumbs are better than nothing and I know what you can do, so I’ll take even just a portion.” This display of great faith in Him and great love for
her daughter turns Jesus’ heart and ultimately changes his mind.
It’s a startling Gospel story and one that has infuriated women for generations. All our readings this morning are about the danger of judging a book by its cover, the danger of excluding people from our lives because of the size of their paycheck, the color of their skin, the name of their God, the gender of their beloved, the party affiliation on their voter registration card.
Culminating with this Gospel reading we’re told--- compassion, wisdom, and love can come from all sorts and conditions of people. Be slow to judge and quick to welcome…for there are angels all around us, eager to teach us exactly what it is we may need to learn, even –especially- when we don’t know we need to learn it! Just like Jesus.
But that’s not all I want to talk about this morning.
No on this morning, the last morning before your new Priest arrives, I want us to talk a bit about where you’ve been—where we’ve been---as you ready yourself for where you and Shannon will go from here!
In August of 2016, when I drove out here to meet with Gretchen and Cami after Blane’s hospitalization in I had never been here, never worshipped at Trinity , Hamburg before. But over the course of the next two years we came to know each other well. We walked through some tough times together--- and now, like a parent leaving her child in his freshmen dorm room, I am turning y’all over to Shannon and I am turning Shannon over to you. It’s a time of great expectation and hope.
Friends, while you look forward to all that is new don’t forget what has been and what you’ve been through---the great times, the bad times, all of it. Because all of it has lead to this moment in time. All of it makes Trinity Hamburg who she is. Embrace who you have been as you embark on who you will become.
I’m honored to have walked part of this walk with you and I promise to be back as much as Shannon can stand having me around!
Now, back to the Gospel for a moment, because the encounter with the Syro-Phonecian woman is only the first half of our gospel for today. The second half of the story is about the deaf man coming to Jesus for healing. It is about Jesus opening the man’s ears.
Jesus says, Ephphatha. It means “be open.”
To you, the faithful of Trinity, Hamburg: EPHPHATHA be open, be open to your past, be honest about it, learn from it, but do not stay in it for staying in it is to close you off from all that is and all that can, should and will be.
Ephphatha. Be open… be open to try new things, be open to risk failing for when you are willing to fail, you quite often succeed.
Ephphatha be open and be brave enough to speak the truth. To yourselves and to one another.
Ephphatha: be open to all sorts and conditions of people that come through these doors and more importantly be open to all those whom you encounter outside these doors. Invite them to come in and to be opened—opened to the amazing, outlandish, incredible, and abundant love of God as experienced through Jesus Christ in this place.
Because when you do that, when speak honestly and hear openly you become a safe place for an increasingly hurting and lost world. A world looking for a place to safely be in the presence of truth. The truth that is Jesus Christ. My friends, I love you all and I can’t wait to see what happens next. May God bless you and may God keep you and may God continue to pour out Divine grace on each and every one of you. Amen.
But in today’s gospel, Jesus still thinks he’s only been sent for the Jews, which is why he rudely—and I mean rudely—dismisses this “unclean woman.” She’s unclean, according to Jewish purity laws, because she is not Jewish, she’s a foreigner, a gentile, a Syro-Phonecian (called a Caananite in Matthew’s Gospel)!
Now, you may be surprised to hear me say that Jesus didn’t know something but, it’s clear to me---and you are free to disagree---that Jesus is corrected, taught, enlightened by the Syro-Phonecian woman.
I actually find it refreshing, that Jesus could be wrong about something. But more than Jesus being wrong, what I find most amazing in this reading is the grace with which the woman responds.
Jesus insults her--- really insults her---yet she doesn’t yell at him, she doesn’t cry, she isn’t struck dumb by his insolence, she simply replies to him calling her a dog with a logical argument: “you may think of me as a dog, she says, but even dogs get the crumbs. I’m not asking for the fullness of your glory, I’m just asking for the crumbs. For the crumbs are better than nothing and I know what you can do, so I’ll take even just a portion.” This display of great faith in Him and great love for
her daughter turns Jesus’ heart and ultimately changes his mind.
It’s a startling Gospel story and one that has infuriated women for generations. All our readings this morning are about the danger of judging a book by its cover, the danger of excluding people from our lives because of the size of their paycheck, the color of their skin, the name of their God, the gender of their beloved, the party affiliation on their voter registration card.
Culminating with this Gospel reading we’re told--- compassion, wisdom, and love can come from all sorts and conditions of people. Be slow to judge and quick to welcome…for there are angels all around us, eager to teach us exactly what it is we may need to learn, even –especially- when we don’t know we need to learn it! Just like Jesus.
But that’s not all I want to talk about this morning.
No on this morning, the last morning before your new Priest arrives, I want us to talk a bit about where you’ve been—where we’ve been---as you ready yourself for where you and Shannon will go from here!
In August of 2016, when I drove out here to meet with Gretchen and Cami after Blane’s hospitalization in I had never been here, never worshipped at Trinity , Hamburg before. But over the course of the next two years we came to know each other well. We walked through some tough times together--- and now, like a parent leaving her child in his freshmen dorm room, I am turning y’all over to Shannon and I am turning Shannon over to you. It’s a time of great expectation and hope.
Friends, while you look forward to all that is new don’t forget what has been and what you’ve been through---the great times, the bad times, all of it. Because all of it has lead to this moment in time. All of it makes Trinity Hamburg who she is. Embrace who you have been as you embark on who you will become.
I’m honored to have walked part of this walk with you and I promise to be back as much as Shannon can stand having me around!
Now, back to the Gospel for a moment, because the encounter with the Syro-Phonecian woman is only the first half of our gospel for today. The second half of the story is about the deaf man coming to Jesus for healing. It is about Jesus opening the man’s ears.
Jesus says, Ephphatha. It means “be open.”
To you, the faithful of Trinity, Hamburg: EPHPHATHA be open, be open to your past, be honest about it, learn from it, but do not stay in it for staying in it is to close you off from all that is and all that can, should and will be.
Ephphatha. Be open… be open to try new things, be open to risk failing for when you are willing to fail, you quite often succeed.
Ephphatha be open and be brave enough to speak the truth. To yourselves and to one another.
Ephphatha: be open to all sorts and conditions of people that come through these doors and more importantly be open to all those whom you encounter outside these doors. Invite them to come in and to be opened—opened to the amazing, outlandish, incredible, and abundant love of God as experienced through Jesus Christ in this place.
Because when you do that, when speak honestly and hear openly you become a safe place for an increasingly hurting and lost world. A world looking for a place to safely be in the presence of truth. The truth that is Jesus Christ. My friends, I love you all and I can’t wait to see what happens next. May God bless you and may God keep you and may God continue to pour out Divine grace on each and every one of you. Amen.
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Allow the Cart of Rules to Help, Rather than Hinder, the Horse of Faithful Living.
+As a child I was terribly shy, had school phobia, and was basically afraid of my own shadow. It was a tough way to grow up and anxiety remains something I live with daily. The difference is, I’ve developed coping strategies to manage the symptoms. One of those strategies is learning what the lay of the land is before I embark on something new. As a young professional looking for work, I would drive to the site of an interview the day before so I could scope out the route to the building. Why?
I don’t like surprises; I like to know what I’m getting into. It’s one of the reasons I like rules so much. I may not follow them all the time, but I like to know what the rules are before plunging in. Knowing what the expectations are—knowing what is acceptable and what is not---is a coping strategy I utilize to manage my chronic anxiety. It works and my life got a lot easier once I figured this out.
That’s what rules, expectations, guidelines do for us…. they help us to manage our behavior so that nothing gets out of hand. My checking out the lay of the land before I go to an unfamiliar place is a functional coping mechanism but, if I needed to go to the place sixteen times before feeling comfortable then this coping mechanism would go from functional to dysfunctional.
It’s a matter of degrees.
So when the Pharisees in today’s Gospel get upset over the cleanliness practices of the disciples they’re putting the cart of rules ahead of the horse of living. As Jesus says, if what comes out of your mouths is vile, than what goes into it doesn’t really matter. If your “coping mechanism” your “rule” your “guidelines”, your “ we’ve always done it this way,” get in the way of being a compassionate, loving, responsible, caring person, then what is the point?
Which brings us to our reading from the Epistle of James. A very short letter, the excerpt from today is brilliant: “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”
James is onto something here---don’t just spew commandment after commandment, rule after rule, rather allow these guidelines to lead you into living a good, a Godly life.
According to James all we do that is good---the big stuff--like helping the poor and the needy, standing up against injustice and caring for our environment-- to the small stuff like holding the door open for someone—all of these actions come from God.
Think about this: when you’re driving to work or to school and wave a car into the lane ahead of you; when you help a classmate or a co-worker with a problem, when you lend your Wegman’s or Tops card to the person in front of you in line; when you thoughtfully choose the candidate to vote for based on what they say they will do for the needy of our community---every single good thing you do comes directly from God, directly from, as James’ puts it: above.
We are all INSTRUMENTS of God’s Love, of God’s Grace, of God’s Goodness. All of us. In all we do. All the time. Wherever we find ourselves— work, school, volunteering, recreating, socializing, God is at work, through us.
In all we do, God is there, USING us to further God’s purpose: to bring the entire world --all 7 1/2 billion of us-- within God’s Loving and enduring embrace. This is James’ message. Specifically he tells us behaviors to avoid: not listening, being quick to lose our temper and lavishing in sordidness. He then suggests behaviors to embrace, to cultivate:
-- be quick to listen, slow to speak, and eager to care for those most vulnerable.
The good news about James’ message is this---all of these things are within our reach. What parent doesn't want to be slower to anger with his or her children? What friend doesn't want to be a better listener? Who doesn’t want to help and support those in need?
James encourages us not just to think the faith, but to do it.” To allow the cart of rules to help, rather than hinder the horse of faithful living.
James is reminding us that our faith isn’t something to be exercised once a week on Sunday, within these walls, but is, instead, something to be lived 24/7.
Which makes this such a good reading for Labor Day weekend. Because faith is at work in all we do, including our labor. As theologian David Lose states: Sunday is not the pinnacle of the Christian week, it’s intended to serve and support our Christian lives the rest of the week–Monday through Saturday. On Sundays we’re refreshed and renewed through the Word of God, the Food of God, the forgiveness of God and the Fellowship of God. Then, once refreshed and renewed, we’re called, commissioned, and sent back into the world to work with God for the health of the people God has put all around us.” We are God’s instruments of Love in this world. Us. You and me
God gives us work to do, tasks large and small. Our Labor Day message, our everyday message, the message I want to give you, on this last Sunday before the next chapter of life here at St Paul’s Cathedral is this: go out into the world, seeking and serving God in all whom you encounter, out in the world and within the walls of this storied church.
To you, the faithful of St Paul’s: labor on in God’s vineyard, continue to be a beacon of hope and love for this city and for this region and with Dean Derrick, Labor On in the vineyard of our Lord, igniting the Beloved Community, right here and right now. +
I don’t like surprises; I like to know what I’m getting into. It’s one of the reasons I like rules so much. I may not follow them all the time, but I like to know what the rules are before plunging in. Knowing what the expectations are—knowing what is acceptable and what is not---is a coping strategy I utilize to manage my chronic anxiety. It works and my life got a lot easier once I figured this out.
That’s what rules, expectations, guidelines do for us…. they help us to manage our behavior so that nothing gets out of hand. My checking out the lay of the land before I go to an unfamiliar place is a functional coping mechanism but, if I needed to go to the place sixteen times before feeling comfortable then this coping mechanism would go from functional to dysfunctional.
It’s a matter of degrees.
So when the Pharisees in today’s Gospel get upset over the cleanliness practices of the disciples they’re putting the cart of rules ahead of the horse of living. As Jesus says, if what comes out of your mouths is vile, than what goes into it doesn’t really matter. If your “coping mechanism” your “rule” your “guidelines”, your “ we’ve always done it this way,” get in the way of being a compassionate, loving, responsible, caring person, then what is the point?
Which brings us to our reading from the Epistle of James. A very short letter, the excerpt from today is brilliant: “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”
James is onto something here---don’t just spew commandment after commandment, rule after rule, rather allow these guidelines to lead you into living a good, a Godly life.
According to James all we do that is good---the big stuff--like helping the poor and the needy, standing up against injustice and caring for our environment-- to the small stuff like holding the door open for someone—all of these actions come from God.
Think about this: when you’re driving to work or to school and wave a car into the lane ahead of you; when you help a classmate or a co-worker with a problem, when you lend your Wegman’s or Tops card to the person in front of you in line; when you thoughtfully choose the candidate to vote for based on what they say they will do for the needy of our community---every single good thing you do comes directly from God, directly from, as James’ puts it: above.
We are all INSTRUMENTS of God’s Love, of God’s Grace, of God’s Goodness. All of us. In all we do. All the time. Wherever we find ourselves— work, school, volunteering, recreating, socializing, God is at work, through us.
In all we do, God is there, USING us to further God’s purpose: to bring the entire world --all 7 1/2 billion of us-- within God’s Loving and enduring embrace. This is James’ message. Specifically he tells us behaviors to avoid: not listening, being quick to lose our temper and lavishing in sordidness. He then suggests behaviors to embrace, to cultivate:
-- be quick to listen, slow to speak, and eager to care for those most vulnerable.
The good news about James’ message is this---all of these things are within our reach. What parent doesn't want to be slower to anger with his or her children? What friend doesn't want to be a better listener? Who doesn’t want to help and support those in need?
James encourages us not just to think the faith, but to do it.” To allow the cart of rules to help, rather than hinder the horse of faithful living.
James is reminding us that our faith isn’t something to be exercised once a week on Sunday, within these walls, but is, instead, something to be lived 24/7.
Which makes this such a good reading for Labor Day weekend. Because faith is at work in all we do, including our labor. As theologian David Lose states: Sunday is not the pinnacle of the Christian week, it’s intended to serve and support our Christian lives the rest of the week–Monday through Saturday. On Sundays we’re refreshed and renewed through the Word of God, the Food of God, the forgiveness of God and the Fellowship of God. Then, once refreshed and renewed, we’re called, commissioned, and sent back into the world to work with God for the health of the people God has put all around us.” We are God’s instruments of Love in this world. Us. You and me
God gives us work to do, tasks large and small. Our Labor Day message, our everyday message, the message I want to give you, on this last Sunday before the next chapter of life here at St Paul’s Cathedral is this: go out into the world, seeking and serving God in all whom you encounter, out in the world and within the walls of this storied church.
To you, the faithful of St Paul’s: labor on in God’s vineyard, continue to be a beacon of hope and love for this city and for this region and with Dean Derrick, Labor On in the vineyard of our Lord, igniting the Beloved Community, right here and right now. +
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)