tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19285088265922410802024-03-16T14:51:41.107-04:00Wake up and LIVE"Dark clouds will break up, if you will wake up and live!"--Ella FitzgeraldSCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.comBlogger1679125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-87891270658463147702024-03-05T09:53:00.006-05:002024-03-05T09:53:45.346-05:00Inequality Spurs Righteous Anger<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0g6qJe7yKGhZK_sDCiIyZeOGyv5K9xT3g0mBG_ULhjHRBiTyi_EXFW-Z1sCDQMaFHI2SftcmsFbjBxQKj5pMKQKrbdOIP7A5zLaSfmDcJZbSD-Jd-E88F-qiDlYx-Z3V4f3IzvjOouen18d1BE-V_tfCQCWRvZkLbYEufkqjMZQKWHMZUDvQbj1ar3BD/s595/herods-temple-diagram-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="595" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0g6qJe7yKGhZK_sDCiIyZeOGyv5K9xT3g0mBG_ULhjHRBiTyi_EXFW-Z1sCDQMaFHI2SftcmsFbjBxQKj5pMKQKrbdOIP7A5zLaSfmDcJZbSD-Jd-E88F-qiDlYx-Z3V4f3IzvjOouen18d1BE-V_tfCQCWRvZkLbYEufkqjMZQKWHMZUDvQbj1ar3BD/s320/herods-temple-diagram-11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This is Year B, the Year of Mark's Gospel. But the original evangelist doesn't always give us enough meat on the bones of the Jesus story. And so, this week (and next) we will have stories from the Gospel of John. And John's Gospel puts Jesus in Jerusalem right away...in Chapter Two...and he's already geared up and ready to challenge the system of Empire that has permeated everything...including religion. <p></p><p>And--oh my--what a difficult text to have on the same weekend that an important commemoration was happening on the Georgia coast to remember the largest slave auction in the 19th century!</p><p>This was a moment of "Come Holy Spirit" as I wrestled with how to say things that need saying in a way that they might be heard...understood...and taken in with the hope it might make at least a few people do some self-evaluation and make a turn toward a way of striving for equality and equity.</p><p>That is my prayer.</p><p>See what you think.</p><p>Text: John 2: 13-22</p><p>+++<br /><br /></p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Most of the Episcopal Churches I’ve been to in my lifetime have
something we don’t have here: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">a plethora of stained-glass windows.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The sunlight streams through them creating beautiful and
mesmerizing patterns of golds…blues and reds on the floors and the walls. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Often times…the scenes depicted in the stained-glass feature one of
the Gospel stories about Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Sometimes….he’s the surprisingly Northern European white Jesus with
blonde hair and blue eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Other artists have captured him with darker hair and a darker
complexion more reminiscent of people from the Middle East. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Frequently…Jesus is shown lovingly cradling a lamb in his arms. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or he’s washing Peter’s feet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or talking with the Samaritan woman at the well. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In more majestic imagery…he’s either ascending into heaven…or we
see him in his dazzling brightness of the Transfiguration through his bleached white
robe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Those are all great. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But once…just once… I would love to see a Jesus in a stained-glass
window…his nostrils flaring…his muscles flexing as he’s flipping tables…sending
money flying everywhere and chasing people and animals with a whip of cords! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I want to see the human Jesus…the one who knows what it means to
get angry and be fed up. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think a lot of people would be able to maybe see themselves in
such an image of Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think it’s important for us to understand why Jesus has this
massive hissy fit in the Temple that seems so un-Jesus-like.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One of the shortcomings of the church…at least in this priest’s
opinion…is that we’ve allowed our Sunday schools…especially for children…to
cast this scene as “Jesus cleanses the Temple.” We’ve stopped the lesson at a
simple, “Jesus was angry about the House of Prayer being a marketplace.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s really only half right. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And that half-truth has fed into some of the anti-Semitism that we
see raise its ugly head… especially in this time of year…and is becoming
prevalent in this country and around the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s that whole ugly idea that Jews only care about money and controlling
commerce.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So what’s “the more” going on here in the Gospel?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">To understand Jesus’ anger…we need to look at both the where and when
that this happens. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This Second Temple…built by Herod the Great over the course of 46
years…was an enormous structure….the size of five football fields…. a massive
stone building taking up several city blocks…with many entry gates. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was the center of everything in Jerusalem.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There was an area for prayer happening in the Jewish section of the
Temple…and there was also something like a shopping mall. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Along the Temple’s outer courtyard was the place reserved for
Gentiles. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is where the money changers would have worked…taking in Roman
coins with the image of Caesar…in exchange for the Jewish currency which had no
graven image. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Think about those Ten Commandments we recited in the Decalogue and
heard in our first reading. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Roman Empire treated Caesar as a God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jews would never attempt to make an image of God…so the money used
to pay the Temple tax had no face on it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The time that this scene takes place is just before Passover.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Lots of Jews would have come from all over the countryside into
Jerusalem to commemorate the festival of their deliverance from Egyptian
slavery…and liberation from oppression. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They would be needing to come into the temple to get their lambs
for sacrifice…or doves if they didn’t have money. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Doves were reserved for the poor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Even Mary and Joseph had to buy a pair of doves for their sacrificial
offering. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Doves were also used by lepers and menstruating women.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So all the activities going on in this part of the Temple were normal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Sacrifices and getting the right coinage were part of the religious
practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s not what was sticking in Jesus’ craw.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What infuriated him…and it was the thing that sent John the
Baptizer out to the Jordan River in protest… was that the Roman Empire…and its
religious cronies…had so profaned the religion within this structure that the
poor were especially exploited and oppressed by the system. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is why in the Gospel accounts…we hear that Jesus particularly
targeted the tables of money changers and dove sellers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And…since this is the Gospel of John…Jesus is making it explicit
that <b><i>his </i></b>body…his own flesh and blood… is replacing this temple
of massive stones.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That the religion of justice is <b><i>in him</i></b> and not the
ginormous edifice with demands of taxes and sacrifices by the poor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What Jesus could not abide by was this conflation of religion with
the privilege and wealth…and how it oppressed the poor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">His protest was against an unjust system.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Such systems still exist. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In fact…it’s something that has haunted the Episcopal Church. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At the founding of our United States…a number of the most powerful
men who crafted and signed the Declaration of Independence and created our U.S.
Constitution were affiliated with the Episcopal Church. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One of those men was General Pierce Butler…a South Carolina Senator
and veteran of the Revolutionary War. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">General Butler was farmer and landowner.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He held property in several states…including much of St. Simon’s
Island. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">His Butler Plantation in Darien, Georgia, was left to his grandson
Pierce Mease Butler. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Butlers owned the land in Darien are where St. Andrew’s and St.
Cyprian’s Episcopal Churches stand today. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Owning so much land had made the Butler family quite wealthy….
growing sea island cotton and rice. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But with that generational wealth comes the truth about how they
were able to become one of the richest families in the country during the 18<sup>th</sup>
and 19<sup>th</sup> centuries. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Butlers owned slaves. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hundreds of them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When Pierce Mease Butler’s English wife…the actress Fanny
Kemble…came to the States and stayed on one of the Butler plantations…she was
horrified by the treatment of the slaves. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She couldn’t accept the arguments her husband and others made to
justify the institution. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She became an abolitionist. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As you might imagine…the marriage fell apart and she went back to
England.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Maybe she threw over a table or two.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One of the saddest moments in the history of Georgia and the young
country…happened on this date in 18-59.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Pierce Butler…having squandered 700-thousand dollars of his
wealth…sold 436 African men…women and children at a racetrack outside of
Savannah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was the single largest slave auction in the nation’s history. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It took two days…and it poured down rain from the start to the
finish.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They call it The Weeping Time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The thought was that the heavens wept… watching families being sold
like cattle. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There are commemorations and vigils of this travesty happening on
the Georgia coast in Darien this weekend.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Pierce Butler regained some of his wealth…about 300-thousand dollars’
worth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But at what cost and pain inflicted on others? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">To benefit from a system that dehumanizes people? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And at what further cost to us?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because sadly…we’ve been handed this legacy…wealth gained on the
backs and bodies of other people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is the heritage we have…all of us…as a people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Fortunately…the Episcopal Church is doing the work this weekend by
participating in the vigil in Darien to own its part of that heritage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is how we begin the work of repairing the breach of history. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can’t change what has happened in the past. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But we can acknowledge that it happened. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And then we can metaphorically work toward flipping over the tables
of systems that have benefitted some… at the great expense of others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One small but helpful step is to pay attention to where and how we
spend our money. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Maybe instead of eating at a chain restaurant…perhaps we go to a
local one owned and operated by a black or brown family. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s one simple and yet conscious way to make a difference. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our Gospel is giving us permission to see inequality…and to get
angry about it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our God calls us to not just get angry…but to flip the script and
to take actions to address injustices in the system. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Perhaps one day…I’ll finally see a stained-glass window in an
Episcopal Church of a blonde blue-eyed Jesus turning over tables in the temple.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’ll be a church ready to live into our Baptismal Covenant:
resisting evil, striving for peace and justice, and respecting the dignity of
every human being.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-78352369402910122652024-02-25T16:00:00.005-05:002024-02-25T16:00:00.147-05:00Change is Hard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIR61PW1PLjBKwNL9D30DF1jByITFiE3vbGU76hXwdzOX4qVQ_eJptQ85UrSEw20VO6TBvm85HtSNOWwojMj_k7OLM3Iz9gwc7fGUxzxEIPa6yrQBjtd4GS61Ybp-D4q0qHVYqWkxc60yvTwqOb818YwRdaYN-1sJGzt7xS1r2mU33pzNMiYpFUps5V6K1/s310/2024%20Lent%20Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="310" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIR61PW1PLjBKwNL9D30DF1jByITFiE3vbGU76hXwdzOX4qVQ_eJptQ85UrSEw20VO6TBvm85HtSNOWwojMj_k7OLM3Iz9gwc7fGUxzxEIPa6yrQBjtd4GS61Ybp-D4q0qHVYqWkxc60yvTwqOb818YwRdaYN-1sJGzt7xS1r2mU33pzNMiYpFUps5V6K1/s1600/2024%20Lent%20Image.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> I've had a week. So has the world. </p><p>Wars in Gaza and Ukraine drag on and our Congress is of no help to anyone with the Republicans preferring to kowtow to a disgraced presidential candidate than to actually work on the issues facing our country and the rest of the world. </p><p>The Alabama Supreme Court...under the control of a Dominionist Chief Justice...has decided that frozen embryos in an IVF clinic are "children." </p><p>And a non-binary high school sophomore in Oklahoma...Nex Benedict...died a day after a brutal beating in the girl's bathroom at their high school. Oklahoma is one of the many states that has been making the transgender community the target of hateful legislation. </p><p>Meanwhile...I've had to deal with putting out many metaphorical fires in my own sphere. </p><p>As I read the Gospel, I thought about all that's swirling around me. I reached the conclusion that in every case, what is tripping us up is the fear of things that are changing...and the people who are hell-bent on trying to keep the status quo alive...even if it's futile.</p><p>With that set up....here is my sermon. See what you think.</p><p>Text: Mark 8:31-38</p><p>+++</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our Gospel reading this morning should give us
pause. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because what Jesus is proposing is something
that many of us try to avoid at all cost: change.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Real change.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A real shift in how we are to live and move and
have our being.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A movement out of our comfort zones.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And his imagery…that “taking up your cross”…is
one that Mark’s initial audience…Jews living with the aftermath of a brutal and
destructive war that left them like a rudderless boat in the middle of the
ocean…would have put a lump in their throats.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They know what the cross represented.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The cross was an instrument of torture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As commentators like Ched Myers note…it was to
keep the lower classes…and anyone who challenged the law and order of the Roman
Empire…in line.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was used as a means of letting the powerless
know who was in charge.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And now Jesus…ever the relentless rebellious
upstart in Mark’s Gospel...is saying to his followers….saying to us…be ready to
challenge the status quo…and die.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But the death we are called to is not a death
on a cross. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And even in this speech…there is a metaphorical
message that is the one we must heed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So let’s first back up and figure out how we
got to this point of Jesus making this statement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the verses before our Gospel…Jesus is with
his disciples. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They are “on the way” through Caesarea Philippi.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Whenever Jesus and the disciples are “on the
way”…that’s about this journey toward a showdown coming in Jerusalem. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That they are in this particular region…means
that they are in a largely Gentile region.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In fact…this whole scene…according to Biblical
scholars…happened outside a cave with a shrine to the pagan God Pan. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Pan is a nature God…associated with shepherds…and
goats and sheep.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">His name also has given us the word “panic” as one
story says he helped a friend escape a vicious battle by letting out a terrible
screeching sound that sent the enemy fleeing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This seems a perfect spot then for the conversation
that takes place. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is where Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do
people say that I am?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And after a few rounds of lots of different
ideas…Jesus says, “But who do you say that I am?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And Peter…the Rock…announces, “You are the
Messiah!” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">You gotta love Peter! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As we talked about as the cast when we were
preparing for the staged reading of this Gospel, Peter represents us…all
humans. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He nails this one…naming Jesus the Messiah…the
Christ…the anointed one of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But Peter and all the disciples had a
particular understanding about what it meant to have a Messiah. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Their vision of the Messiah was like a knight
in shining armor who was going to ride in and be a warrior king…with sword and
a head full of steam…leading an army in a glorious if bloody battle to drive
out the Roman Empire once and for all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Instead…Jesus tells Peter to keep quiet about
this Messiah business. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus switches the title from Messiah…this
warrior…to Son of Man…or in other translations “the Human One.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Messiah that Jesus depicts is not fearsome
warrior. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He is one of the dissidents. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He is part of the disinherited.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He is one with those who are suffering. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He will not come on a war horse and lead an
army against Rome.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He’s plotting to ride into town on a donkey.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And as we heard…Peter doesn’t like any of this.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He really doesn’t like Jesus talking about
getting killed. That’s not the script that Peter knows…nor the one that any of
us would want to believe if we were Peter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When we think of a leader…we often look for someone
strong. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A person who will kick butt and take names.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And Jesus calls Peter “Satan.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Not because he thinks Peter is a bad guy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But just as Satan tested Jesus out in the
wilderness…and at least in Matthew and Luke’s accounts kept trying to get him
to give into egocentric desires for power… Jesus sees Peter’s rebuke as focusing
on the wrong thing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is where Peter, the disciples, the crowd…and
us…face the uncomfortable…difficult challenge from Jesus: we must change.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We must put away our ideas and identities built
on the conventional wisdom of what “Messiah” means…what “strength” looks like. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We must lose our old ideas of what it means to
be powerful.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And probably the toughest thing Jesus says in
this Gospel: he tells the crowd…and us…we must die to self…die to our
ego-driven ways… in order to gain our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Such directives can cause panic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We don’t want to die…even if the thing we’re
killing off is something that needs to go. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When I read through this… I thought about what
happens to so many of us when we go through a major event in our lives…some life-altering
moment that forces us to face ourselves and our image of ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s what happens to people when they retire…or
resign…or otherwise lose a job. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In our society….so much of who we are is tied
up in our jobs and what we do for a living. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The most common questions we ask each other
when we first meet: What’s your name and what do you do…meaning what do you do
for a living? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or if it’s a younger person…where do you go to
school? What grade are you in?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I’ll never forget the night that I woke up
sweating and in a panic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was about three weeks before the date that I
had planned to quit working for Florida Public Rado. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I knew what I was doing was the right thing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But I also had the fear…the panic…that if I was
no longer a public radio reporter…if I no longer was identified with that role…then
who was I?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus asked the question: Who do you say that I
am…and then answered Peter’s identity with a redefinition of what it means to
be the Messiah.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And in Jesus’s words…there is a sense that even
though he will undergo suffering…a new identity…a new thing… a new way will
come.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Something better…something stronger…something
that will not die.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That thing is Love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The invitation before us then is: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">what do we have to let go of? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What must die in order for us to fully live?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What in ourselves are we afraid to give up
because it might mean we have to radically rethink who we are…and how we relate
to one another?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What privileged status must we let go of?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What righteous anger keeps us from being able
to live into and receive the Love of God that is around us?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What words of resentment spoken in whispers have
caused more harm?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We’re living in a time when there is so much
bitterness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our political leaders are stoking fires of
tribalism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They’re behavior is trickling down into the way
we see and interact with each other. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We need the grace of God to get us to turn away
from the powerful pull of pettiness…hatred and hardness of heart and embrace
the life of mercy, forgiveness, and love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus is challenging us to not let our egos
separate us from the reconciling love of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I recently heard a prayer offered by the late
Rev. Jean Dalby Clift…an Episcopal priest and psychologist...that I think gives
us something to consider as we guard against those things that draw us away
from God and each other: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><i>O God of grace, give us your grace that we may
not savor the evil in others in order to disguise the evil in ourselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-10581164828512047572024-02-19T00:30:00.001-05:002024-02-19T00:30:00.131-05:00Covenant of Love<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWbzODdCqhvc0ngiTJrahQ5CoAmyvPfwLNM9yCdPO6dKKqJ8FPiiOrykgtBG1gxq_Z4oT7xQJaSpQAbQxPLE2ptx6Lapdh2NZa4mOjFFH4VyX5AI8KcbyixYtSbtaIN_zXgs3SrgwDRduRJd4UHL7IN2U3ZhGawL1km_dCMRDG_7I_R-Wy5jySZtYtpDLW/s1500/Noah's%20Ark%20with%20Rainbow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWbzODdCqhvc0ngiTJrahQ5CoAmyvPfwLNM9yCdPO6dKKqJ8FPiiOrykgtBG1gxq_Z4oT7xQJaSpQAbQxPLE2ptx6Lapdh2NZa4mOjFFH4VyX5AI8KcbyixYtSbtaIN_zXgs3SrgwDRduRJd4UHL7IN2U3ZhGawL1km_dCMRDG_7I_R-Wy5jySZtYtpDLW/s320/Noah's%20Ark%20with%20Rainbow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Well, it finally happened. </p><p>I spent several hours on Friday struggling to get some kind of a coherent thought down on paper for my sermon. I managed to finish some time just before 9pm. I got it formatted as I like it. And then put it and me to bed. </p><p>When the cat started yowling at 4am as he often does, I was awake enough to run through my head the start of my sermon. </p><p>And I hated it. It just felt so forced and pulling at anything to get into talking about the story of Noah. </p><p>I stayed in bed for another couple of hours, running things through my head. Finally, at about 6:30am, I got up, fed the cat, and went to the back room and opened a new document to start my sermon over. </p><p>I've heard from other preachers that this does happen. And at least I'm not pitching it because of a tragedy that forces me to go in another direction. </p><p>And I ended up touching in some ways on all the readings except for the Psalm! </p><p>See what you think.</p><p>Texts: Genesis 9: 8-17; 1 Peter 3: 18-22; Mark 1: 9-15</p><p>+++</p><p>
</p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“God so loved the world that he put his bow in the sky and promised
that no matter how much we did to deserve it…God would never wipe us out with a
flood again.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I know that’s not what the text says…but that is the basic promise
God made to all of creation at the end of the story of the Great Flood.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I made ya.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I love ya.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">You aggravate me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But I’m never gonna lose my temper like this again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The ancient people believed that the gods controlled the weather.
They hadn’t learned anything of carbon footprints or jet streams.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Insurance companies still seem to think that tornadoes and floods
are somehow “acts of God” as if God wants to wreck mobile home parks and swaths
of cities and towns.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">To be clear…like so many of the stories in Genesis…these are morality
tales and human projections…not so much actual historical events. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But they do serve a purpose of helping us to gain an understanding
about God and God’s relationship to us and each other.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our early biblical ancestors must have felt as though God was some
kind of vicious warrior. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">An angry hunter coming after humanity with torrential rains. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But then God the warrior concludes the hunt by hanging up the bow…the
bow and arrow…and declaring, “That’s enough.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And what a way to end such a turbulent struggle! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What a beautiful symbol of God’s enduring and lasting covenant of
love than to put that bow in the sky.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Don’t we all get excited when we see a rainbow?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It doesn’t matter how young or old we are…that gorgeous spectrum of
light…from the radiant reds to sometimes the palest purple…when we see a rainbow…
we all gaze in awe and wonder.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It fills us with a sense of hope that after a thunderstorm…the sun
will come back and dry up the puddles and warm our skin again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Somewhere deep in our DNA we must know that a rainbow means the end
of trouble…and a covenant of God’s abiding love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Is it any wonder then that the rainbow has become a symbol for
everything from peace and unity to LGBTQ pride and the celebration of the diversity
of love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s even the emblem of those engaged in the Kairos prison ministry
program.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There’s such hope embedded in that colorful visual image. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is God making good on the covenantal promise to be with us through
every turbulent storm we encounter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The word “covenant” suggests a stronger bond than just a simple
agreement. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And in this case with Noah…it’s God acting as the more powerful one
in the relationship to make a commitment to us and all of creation that I will not
let my anger spill over into a murderous rage. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Even as much as God might have lost it with humanity in these early
chapters of the Book of Genesis…there was still hope for humankind in saving
Noah and Noah’s family…as well as many species and plants that God told Noah to
take with him into the ark.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There was also much loss.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But out of those waters of the great flood….God made room for new
life….a fresh start or something like a do-over for creation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We could think of baptism in that same vein. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As it says in our Epistle reading from First Peter….baptism isn’t about
washing away dirt from our skin. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s about bringing us into closer relationship with God…and the
powerful force of Love that will not be kept down.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Bringing us into a new life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When we have a baptism…the candidate or their parents and
Godparents…make pledges to turn away from the things that reject God and
destroy creation…and lean into the love of God…and making that the center point
of our lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Through those waters of baptism…we are made one with the whole Body
of Christ…. becoming joined to Jesus as our brother and friend.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Baptism brings us into a relationship with God where we…like Jesus…hear
that we are God’s children…God’s beloveds…with whom God is well pleased. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s interesting to note that immediately after Jesus’s baptism…the
Spirit takes him out into the wilderness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think that’s true of us as well. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It seems that once we’re blessed and marked as Christ’s own forever….
we get signed up for also contending with all the things Jesus contended with
in his earthly ministry. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We get tested and tempted to seek things for selfish gain…rather
than seeing ourselves as part of community.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We fail to see how the way we live and move and have our being
affects all those around us…including our planet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We become consumed with our individual rights that we are unwilling
to make sacrifices that protect the individual rights of others. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We always hear the story of Jesus’s time in the wilderness on the
First Sunday of Lent…and there’s a reason for that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Lent is a time of wilderness testing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is the time for us to face those things…. those wild beasts in
our lives…that have kept us occupied with trivial matters or in a cycle of
self-reliance and shutting ourselves off from the power of God’s love. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The good news is that we are not left helpless and hopeless. Just
as Jesus had angels waiting on him in his time in the wilderness…there are
those around us who are sharing this same space…this same trip…heading down
that path which leads us to the cross and ultimately to resurrected life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All of us are in the same boat…the same ark….getting tossed about
by whatever storms are coming our way. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Each of us has our own beasts that we are contending with in our
lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But ultimately…we also all have the same God…the one savior Jesus…who
has promised not to leave us abandoned. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Look to that one hope…that one beautiful rainbow of love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Dare to open your heart enough to receive that love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">See it in the eyes of that neighbor…that friend…that companion on
this journey through Lent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And remember that you are not alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-36865703820722048482024-02-15T13:09:00.001-05:002024-02-19T13:18:32.360-05:00Ash Valentine's Wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNabOJi-O00y7vwfyBz5lOGAU2pOg4P8iYc1IuFctGAAEGk3SCaak029ouYKficQX6xgKwIijCXEgp9ovDmB2ADrLcSQrcskk6Lp8NzPLDUW3My-CCBMmtWIHTB97GMgyi5ORa69vKeCJFcGcAjFKsKJxdpSoy8DHc4R59KByzM__Z7g_B9TqVwl_TGzE/s960/2024%20Ash%20Wednesday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="960" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNabOJi-O00y7vwfyBz5lOGAU2pOg4P8iYc1IuFctGAAEGk3SCaak029ouYKficQX6xgKwIijCXEgp9ovDmB2ADrLcSQrcskk6Lp8NzPLDUW3My-CCBMmtWIHTB97GMgyi5ORa69vKeCJFcGcAjFKsKJxdpSoy8DHc4R59KByzM__Z7g_B9TqVwl_TGzE/s320/2024%20Ash%20Wednesday.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Happy Birthday to me! The last time Ash Wednesday coincidied with Valentine's Day was on my 50th birthday.</p><p>And that same day...a 17 year-old entered Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida with an AR-15, and killed a bunch of students and teachers. </p><p>And on this day...there was another shooting at the Super Bowl celebration in Kansas City. </p><p>No. I didn't mention it in my sermon. At this point, I am feeling as though anything I say on that topic of gun violence directly is met with rolled eyes and furrowed brows. </p><p>And I have other fish to fry at the moment. Starting with getting people to stop looking only at their flaws and failures...and the trouble with "other people" and begin to see that they are truly loved by God.</p><p>Text: Matthew 6:1-6; 16-21</p><p>+++</p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There’s something awkward about having Ash Wednesday land on the
same day as Valentine’s Day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As the rest of the culture is exchanging cards, flowers, and
chocolates…as they’re going out for an outrageously overpriced dinner for two
at a restaurant…we’re here. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the church sanctuary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Getting marked with an ashen cross on our foreheads…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">being reminded of our mortality. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Wow! Such romance, right?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But…y’know…this isn’t the only time we’re asked to stand at a 90 or
even 180-degree angle from popular culture. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Stores put up Christmas ornaments…setting up those huge light-up
reindeers at the end of the store aisles…while still hawking smiling jack o’lanterns
and black and orange Halloween decorations….and paper turkeys for Thanksgiving.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">While HalloThanksMas is happening around us in every marketplace…we
come into our churches on Sunday and remember our loved ones on All Saints’
Day…then wait patiently through Advent to celebrate the inbreaking of God
through Jesus at Christmas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So…in other words…being out of step with the culture is kind of old
hat for Christianity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s easy to fall into thinking that such a solemn day as Ash
Wednesday is a time for us to be sober…and sad. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One of my priest friends pointed out how we…the church leaders…pile
it on when we pray an opening collect that talks about “acknowledging our
wretchedness” as if we need to make THAT the focus for Lent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For some of us…we spend so much time in our everyday lives seeing
our “wretchedness” or hearing about how awful we are…that we fail to hear that
first part of the same collect. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God “hates nothing” that God has made and forgives the
sins…whatever they may be…of those who have turned to God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Honestly…if you’re here today…those of you in person and any of you
watching online…then take THAT in:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God doesn’t hate you or me. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God forgives you and me of any of shortcomings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because God is Love…and wants to Love you and me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s the Valentine from God to us…that we are and always will be God’s
beloved children.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our biblical ancestor…the prophet Joel…has the line about “rending
our hearts and not our clothing.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The rending of clothing in biblical times was about a person
expressing intense sorrow and grief. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But rather than ripping our clothes…Joel tells us…and the psalmist
confirms for us….that what God seeks is for us to open our hearts…pour out
whatever grievances we have…and allow God to do the work of loving us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Through our grief.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Through our feelings of inadequacy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Through our embarrassments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And through whatever wounds we carry that keep us from being able
to give and receive love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is the God who is “full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger
and of great kindness.” (Ps.103:8)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God says, “Come to me you who are weary and I will give you rest.
Please let me love you.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s what Ash Wednesday should be about.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A time for us to recognize that God showed us God’s love by meeting
us on the ground… in our own circumstances… through the life and ministry and
mission of Jesus…who we call Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And what we hear from Jesus’s words in our Gospel is to take this
time to get right within ourselves…as opposed to making a show of how righteous
we are to others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Think about some of what he says in our Gospel…particularly about
prayer. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He talks about not making a public display of prayer…but rather
going into your room and shut the door to pray. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is again an invitation to go into our hearts…our own rooms…and
make that prayer to God….<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Your kingdom come<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Your will be done<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On earth as it is in heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was once the custom of the church that those who were
catechumens…people who were preparing to be baptized…would spend the time from
Ash Wednesday to the Easter Vigil…separated from their church community to
study…fast…and pray. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They were…in a sense…forced to live in the wilderness for forty
days.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But what God is looking for from us is not so extreme…or adding one
more thing to do to our plates.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What God is seeking is our heart….our open hearts….to allow God’s
love to meet us in that place….so that God can help us to be the best versions
of ourselves for a world that blithely ignores those seeking to know that they
matter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As you hear the prayer of an invitation to a Holy Lent…remember: God
hates nothing…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God forgives our shortcomings…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">and in the tracing of that cross on our foreheads…we are reminded
that we are God’s dust…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God’s children…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God’s beloved.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-31714141930200485552024-02-13T14:54:00.000-05:002024-02-19T13:18:55.262-05:00"Epiphany" A Sermon for the Last Sunday After Epiphany, Year B<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7jUEcMeVZW4STY5G6JVfPD1BhjKF2m6Hps6hnjFJSAOFPZs1BIqMvU8B-LnAQBoTgk9kYJUXDEd6O0PehrpKRPVwsE3Vv_fXhRhGDs9Gue03rHD9GOxIoaYt21V6fKgdirlr2K43Wfzd0QOvsKFbRy5d-qwtFY8z1Y4Lh_D8WQdDqpWkILGIT5reP0pU/s1200/the-transfiguration-of-christ-greg-olsen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="1200" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7jUEcMeVZW4STY5G6JVfPD1BhjKF2m6Hps6hnjFJSAOFPZs1BIqMvU8B-LnAQBoTgk9kYJUXDEd6O0PehrpKRPVwsE3Vv_fXhRhGDs9Gue03rHD9GOxIoaYt21V6fKgdirlr2K43Wfzd0QOvsKFbRy5d-qwtFY8z1Y4Lh_D8WQdDqpWkILGIT5reP0pU/s320/the-transfiguration-of-christ-greg-olsen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>It was Friday morning. I knew I had to get my sermon for Sunday finished because we were into the final rehearsal and performance of a massive project: putting on a staged reading of the Gospel of Mark for the larger Valdosta community. I made myself settle down and lock in on what I wanted to say. I typed and typed...and finally got a completed draft finished. </p><p>"I'll get back to looking this over first thing Saturday," I thought. "For now, I have to get the map insert done for the programs so people will be able to see the regions of the Middle East we're talking about in the Gospel." I opened the other file, made a few tweaks, downloaded it onto a flash drive, and closed my laptop.</p><p>When I got to my office in Valdosta, I opened up my laptop. </p><p>Somewhere in that whole process of working with the map file...I lost the sermon. </p><p>All of it. </p><p>It wasn't even in the bowels of the laptop where one finds previously unsaved documents. It was gone.</p><p>After saying a few choice words, I sighed and resigned myself to the reality that I would have to start over. And I would not be able to put my mind to it until AFTER the Saturday afternoon performance, which went very well, by the way.</p><p>And so what you have here...and what my congregation heard...is a remix of what I had originally planned to preach...typed out at lightening fast speed between 9-11pm on a Saturday night. I actually think it's better than what I had planned to say. See what you think.</p><p>Text: Mark 9:2-9</p><p>+++</p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There’s a quote I heard recently from that great 20<sup>th</sup>
Century theologian…Dolly Parton:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Find out who you are and do it on purpose!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think the sage of Nashville has hit on the perfect theme for this
time as we finish the season of Epiphany and look to begin the season of Lent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because Epiphany is about discovery….and Lent is the chance to take
that discovery…and go a little deeper into ourselves and find those ways to
live more fully into our call to be the beloved children of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And speaking of Beloved…we have that recognition conferred on Jesus
for a second time in Mark’s Gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At the beginning of this season…we heard that Jesus went to John
the Baptizer at the Jordan River. And as Jesus was coming up from the
waters….he saw the heavens torn apart…the Holy Spirit descending as a dove… and
there was voice that whispered into his ears:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This was not a public testimony. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This was Jesus’ own private moment…something only he heard. An
identity that he now had to wrestle with and try to understand for
himself…about himself…what does it mean to be God’s Beloved Son?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I imagine that each one of us at different stages of our lives have
had a time when we’ve had to consider who we are….and even whose we are. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think that’s a lot of what happens in those angsty years called
“teenager” which can spill over into our young adulthood.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We go through difficult growing pains in our attempt to figure out
who we are as distinctly different people from our parents. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is a normal and natural process of becoming independent
adults. Sometimes we have to rush into that process earlier than we might like
as a necessary for our survival.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus hears this voice…and what we read in Mark’s Gospel is that he
is then immediately driven out into the wilderness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For those who originally heard this Gospel…the Markan community of
the First Century…they know what “wilderness” means. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They understand that their ancestors…upon escaping the oppression
and tyranny of Pharaoh…had to make a hasty run for their lives through the Red
Sea. They couldn’t even take the time to let their bread rise. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was go. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or perish. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So they went. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And then they spent forty years….aka a really long time…wandering
around in search of the place they could call “home.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus is in the wilderness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Mark doesn’t give us a lot of details about what happened out
there…but he gives us some clues…and we can imagine and fill in the details.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Satan is tempting him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Christians like to depict….Satan as a demonic character. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In Jewish rabbinical traditions…Satan is an accuser….a bulldog
prosecuting attorney…who tests the faith of the righteous. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Think of the story of Job…a righteous man who had done nothing
wrong…and Satan who attacks all the things that Job values in an effort to get
him to deny God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Whether as a demon…or a vicious bully….however we want to think of
what’s happening to Jesus out there in the wilderness…he’s up against the wall…
in a manner of speaking….with the wild beasts circling him….and the angels
hovering above…maybe giving him the strength and courage to make it through
this ring of fire.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I’m sure many of us in this room can understand what that feels
like. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I don’t think one can make it through life without having some
moments of feeling like we’re being put through hell.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And yet Jesus makes it out of the wilderness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And…upon learning of the arrest of John the Baptizer…has a complete
understanding of what is at stake and what he must do:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The time is now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God is with us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Get yourselves ready and trust that goodness and love will prevail.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus has had his epiphany. He knows who he is…what his purpose
is…and who he belongs to.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And in today’s Gospel….Peter, James, and John are bearing witness
and discovering the true identity of this man they have been following around
the Galilean countryside.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus brought along three witnesses to this transformative
moment…the same three he would bring along to some of his healings. It was as
if he was fulfilling the Jewish law as laid out in Deuteronomy that one witness
was not enough to bring charges against someone. There need to be two or three.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But this isn’t a transgression; this is a transformation. A big
reveal. And having seen it…these three are also changed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or are they?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At the end of yesterday’s reading of the Gospel of Mark…as we were
taking questions…it was noted that the disciples were….well….pretty dense. A
bless their hearts is in order here.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Even though these three have had repeated exposures to seeing
glimpses of Jesus….they can’t help but to keep thinking that Jesus is going to
the warrior Messiah they have always imagined. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or they become obsessed with their privileged place of being around
this great man….and they want to be his number one and number 2 guys…sitting on
his right and left.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Again…these are things we likely can understand…and have possibly
yearned to have for ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There’s something attractive to having prestige and power. We have
been trained and conditioned to expect that those who are the greatest get gold
stars on their papers. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They get the special parking space in the employee parking lot. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They win big prizes and get the admiration of many. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s how things work in the economy of our society.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s not how it is in God’s economy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In God’s economy…there is no number one….because we are all one. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Think about that voice from the cloud in our Gospel:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him!” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If we listen to Jesus….if we pay attention to what he is teaching
us….if we pledge to follow him…we will be taught to rethink that desire to be
number one. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We will need to let go of some beliefs…self-images…that perhaps are
keeping us from truly living into our call to be Beloved children of God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We may have to give up our need to have things…or be in control….in
the way that we have been shaped and formed by our culture which calls
dominance and having all the toys: success.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus wrestled with doubt and survived the wilderness with its wild
beasts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He placed his faith in God to walk with him through death into
life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We are given this story as the message to us to do the same. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-20757084864383113472024-02-04T23:15:00.000-05:002024-02-04T23:15:05.316-05:00Exorcise Hate and Embrace Love<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm2X0hYRTrQ2hs_SaxA1r-7FPn4vXEd2ARa53aAXlgZzyL7ZU4xS7C8Vu1z2f1-b9wP36K6oj-LRS_7UKSX-7mJe9Dnam93Da3WZ8aqkvJNiLGaosXGYb7odQNGVgwQbGXmsiKAjtHgx6b0o2_TdxmAp2prFjnLVlhWfGX3v2B8fDK1Yoe0Bd3C30735xI/s410/The%20Exorcist%20Movie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="410" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm2X0hYRTrQ2hs_SaxA1r-7FPn4vXEd2ARa53aAXlgZzyL7ZU4xS7C8Vu1z2f1-b9wP36K6oj-LRS_7UKSX-7mJe9Dnam93Da3WZ8aqkvJNiLGaosXGYb7odQNGVgwQbGXmsiKAjtHgx6b0o2_TdxmAp2prFjnLVlhWfGX3v2B8fDK1Yoe0Bd3C30735xI/s320/The%20Exorcist%20Movie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>What can I say: the lectionary diviners dished up a story of an exorcism, and that just reawakened my fascination with evil...and the things that infect our hearts and turn us inward and not in healthy ways. </p><p>And as I've been leading a class that is building toward a staged reading of The Gospel of Mark, I've been pouring thorugh all my books and commentaries and notes, and I'm just having the best time reconnecting with the Jesus of Mark who is the most human of the portrayls and the vision of a rebel Jesus who conquers with words and love and not swords and brute force.</p><p>I touch on that in this sermon. See what you think.</p><p>Text: Mark 1: 21-28</p><p>+++</p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Confession time: I love scary movies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Not slasher films with lots of blood and guts and gore. Those
aren’t very imaginative and just feel like they want to shock us and repulse
us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When I say “scary movie,” I mean the ones that put us on the edge
of our seats. That have us holding our breath. That make us uneasy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And the best ones are the ones that unfold the scary slowly and
methodically as they draw us into whatever the world the screenwriter,
director, and actors have created.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One of my absolute most favorite scary movies is William Friedkin’s
“The Exorcist.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I’m talking about the original film, the one released 50 years ago
at Christmas, that frightened and disturbed thousands of movie goers and won
two Oscar awards.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The gradual possession of Regan McNeil…and her mother’s desperation…her
frustration with the medical profession…and until she finally turns to a
Catholic priest who’s having a crisis of faith…is one of those movies that…for
me anyway…checks all the boxes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It's suspenseful…it draws me in…and above all…it’s scary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Not only am I fan of the movie…I am a bigger fan of the book by
William Peter Blatty. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Blatty had been educated by Jesuit priests,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In his writing and details…he put his extensive knowledge of Roman
Catholicism to good use…both in his descriptions of the exorcism rite and weaving
in the narrative of our Christian story of Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">After all…the doubting priest ends up losing his life to save the
possessed girl.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Maybe you can see why when an exorcism story shows up…I’m all in!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At our rehearsals for our staged reading of the Gospel of Mark
(which is Saturday February 10<sup>th</sup> at 3pm)…we’ve been discussing the
way Mark pieces together his telling of the Jesus story. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nothing is wasted in Mark’s Gospel. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And the scenes he presents not only have a surface meaning…but
there is a deeper context and commentary running underneath.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The original hearers of this Gospel would have understood some of
Mark’s social commentary…that we likely miss.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus and his disciples who he has picked up along the way enter
Capernaum and go to the local synagogue. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus enters into this place…a temple that isn’t in his hometown.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He begins teaching in a way that puts the resident scribes to
shame.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Can you imagine what that must have been like? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Think about it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Consider a skill or something that you are particularly good
at…something you’ve been trained to do. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">You’ve spent years and years learning and practicing becoming
proficient. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Suddenly…some stranger comes in and starts doing what you do…only
better. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">People start paying attention to this stranger.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This interloper gets all the accolades. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">You might get angry…annoyed…jealous. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Especially as you listen and realize that this person really does
have a better grasp of things than you do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They’ve displaced you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They’ve made you look pedestrian.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They’re success is getting on your last nerve.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Anger, jealousy, that sense of feeling like we’re not as good as
another. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All of those are such natural human emotions…rooted deeply in our
egos. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nobody likes to feel like they’re a fool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And our ego can get fired up when we’re embarrassed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When we let those feelings dominate our thoughts…it can lead us
into those shadowy corners where we harbor hurts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Build up enough hurt feelings…it isn’t long before we start to hate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And as the theologian Howard Thurman notes: “hatred dries up the
creative thoughts in the life of the hater” to the point where they only focus
on the negative in their environment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Meanwhile…Jesus rejects hatred because he sees how hate leads to
death of mind and spirit. And it drives a wedge between the self and God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In other words…hate leads to sin. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I have to wonder if the scribes….witnessing Jesus’ superior
teaching and the interest of the congregation in what he’s saying….might have
had that green-eyed monster of jealousy infecting their hearts? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And while the scribes themselves don’t say anything….Mark tells us
“a man with an unclean spirit” begins to cry out:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to
destroy us?! I know who you are, the Holy One of God!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We don’t know who this man is. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Perhaps he’s tapping into an “unclean” feeling rising in the hearts
of the scribes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This unknown man with an unclean spirit demands to know “Have you
come to destroy us?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Have you, Jesus, come into our space…brought in your new
teaching…one with authority and power…have you come to up end our status quo?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In word: “Yes.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Understand this though: Jesus has not come to throw out the
teachings of Judaism. After all, Jesus is all about keeping the commandments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In fact…he’ll cite parts of the ten commandments several times
throughout Mark’s Gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But like his predecessor…John the Baptizer…what Jesus is calling
out is the way Roman imperialism had infected the practices of Judaism. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There were those who claimed to be caring for the poor…and the
widowed…and taking care of their elderly parents…but a closer look at their
wallets…we find they’d been playing a type of shell game to hide their money as
a gift to the Temple…thus not doing the minimal things they were supposed to be
doing as good and faithful Jews. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In some ways…the cry of the man with an unclean spirit could be
seen as voicing the inner thoughts of those who feared Jesus’ attempts to bring
about a new order that would no longer benefit those who have enjoyed power
under the Roman rule.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s also interesting that it’s a man with an “unclean spirit” who
becomes the first to identify Jesus with the title: “the Holy One of God.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Evil knows who Jesus is. And in those times…it was thought that if
an evil spirit knew a person’s name…it was a way for that spirit to assert the
upper hand. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But Jesus shows that good is stronger than bad.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hatred is powerless in the face of Love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Fear dissipates when faith takes the lead.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is a moment of foreshadowing what will happen at the time of
the crucifixion…and resurrection…where the kingdom of God meets the kingdom of
Rome.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The forces for goodness and life go to the cross in a battle with
sin and death.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And ultimately God prevails.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I started this sermon talking about movies and I’m going to end by
mentioning the film many of you went to see the other night, “A Case for Love.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That film posed the daunting question “has love lost the battle?” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In our society with so much violence around us…has love gone down
for the count?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A woman who had been sex trafficked as a child and badly abused
finds her way to Thistle Farms ministry in Nashville…and is able to reconcile
with her past…to live in love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A couple in which one of them professes he had been a racist…ends
up adopting and caring for Korean orphans…because they want to live in love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A gay man rejected from his church meets a co-worker who helps him
see that he is a beloved child of God. He chose to live in Love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And that’s what it comes down to for us: we must make the choice to
do the work it takes to love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We must guard against those human tendencies to become angry or
jealous and give into pettiness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We must do this with God’s help.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-90476145681681504852024-01-22T07:17:00.009-05:002024-01-22T07:17:51.287-05:00"Look Y'all: Wake Up! Turn around and Be the Good News"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgM6s_tKqjaga1-SzjuAW-Gj8qnRcYqdtvLx1F74VS6xujSHleWYZwy-8BgphoaY5AdCOml2rM7SLoFpssrP1XFHPPEfAdbbTtEBTLoPANcLP9AiULTa36d1BItW9ygyAt3s4QF0wPp3IEtTKri1Pakd6NcGgSvCukoE-BCoPYNgbnZCg-yFP8VGQB0Bs/s640/outside%20altar%20early%20morning.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgM6s_tKqjaga1-SzjuAW-Gj8qnRcYqdtvLx1F74VS6xujSHleWYZwy-8BgphoaY5AdCOml2rM7SLoFpssrP1XFHPPEfAdbbTtEBTLoPANcLP9AiULTa36d1BItW9ygyAt3s4QF0wPp3IEtTKri1Pakd6NcGgSvCukoE-BCoPYNgbnZCg-yFP8VGQB0Bs/s320/outside%20altar%20early%20morning.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Sometimes when I sit down to write my sermons, I have a pretty clear idea of the direction I want to go and the message that I hope will be heard.</p><p>Other times, I feel as if I am yanking my own teeth out trying to find the right words and phrasing. </p><p>And when the text itself feels like its own sermon, I'm thinking, "What more can I really say?"</p><p>As it happened, I was having one of those "What now?" moments with the opening of Mark's Gospel and the call of the disciples. But when I yielded myself to the Spirit to help me, guide me, give me what maybe somebody out there needs to hear...I ended up saying things that, for some, were likely the words they needed to hear...even if they never tell me that. </p><p>I'm thinking of the new couple who came to church, seeking a place to worship, who smiled and laughed at some of my images. And the young person who brought a friend as almost a bodyguard into this strange little church that says it loves unconditionally...but do we really mean that love is for those who other churches have rejected?</p><p>No one specifically talked to me about the sermon, but in the end, I think I did God's will with my words. See what you think.</p><p>Texts: Jonah 3:1-5,10; Mark 1:14-20</p><p>+++</p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><a name="_Hlk156713313"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in
the good news.”<o:p></o:p></span></a></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I was recently having a text exchange with my
mentor…Mother Lee Shafer…who serves at a church in Louisville, Kentucky. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In our back and forth…we talked about preaching and
particularly about how hard it is to preach a sermon on Christmas Eve and
Easter.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As preachers…we were both like, “What else can I say
that hasn’t already been said, done, demonstrated in what we’ve heard in the
Gospel?” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I really feel that about Easter!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I had no idea that I would have that same feeling as I
looked at our reading this morning in Mark.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come
near; repent and believe in the good news.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In one sentence…Jesus has basically told the whole story of this
Gospel. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s the shortest sermon he will ever deliver. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When I was at our fall clergy conference… we talked about this line.
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We noted it’s powerful declaration…that it comes so early in Mark’s
Gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus is coming back from his testing in the wilderness. He hears
that his forerunner…John the Baptizer has been arrested.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And this statement begins his ministry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At the conference…we did an exercise where we were to say this line
as we thought it should be said. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We were to bring our own voices to breathe out these same words of
Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And never have you seen so many priests do anything and everything
to avoid being called on to speak! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was as if we were embarrassed to make this bold declaration
ourselves…or maybe just too shy to put it out there. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Possibly…we feared what our fellow presbyters would think of us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Thank goodness… a couple of deacons finally spoke up.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But instead of repeating the words on the page…they took it one
step further…shortening the text and really making it theirs!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I’m paraphrasing but I remember one of them said something like: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Look, y’all. Wake up! Turn around and be the Good News!” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What a great way to capture this moment! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What a way to bring what is on the page forward…and place it in our
laps as the call to all of us to shake off old ways and habits that keep us
from living and loving to our fullest potential.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And to understand that time for that to happen is right now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I’m often struck by how many people think that this language about
“the kingdom of God” is what we hope for when we die.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Like…physically die…stop breathing…cross over.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">No: what Jesus is talking about is a death of things that prevent
us from living into our potential and our call to be the lights and love of God
in our world right now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He’s talking about transformation and the grace of God that will
carry us through those changes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If there is one certainty about what happens to a person when they
have an encounter with God…it’s that they will be changed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We see it in the story we heard about Jonah…which by the way is one
of the most hilarious reads in the Bible. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jonah is this most reluctant prophet…doing everything he can not to
go to Nineveh. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He hides on a boat…gets swallowed by a big fish.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When he finally does walk into Nineveh…he rails and rails about how
God is going to destroy them… make mincemeat of them…if they don’t repent…and
believe. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He’s got some regular fire and brimstone street preaching going on!
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And much to Jonah’s astonishment…the Ninevites listened. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Even as he was cursing them…somewhere in all that hollering…the
universal translator was employed…and what they heard was God saying, “Come
back to me! Quit these ways that place a barrier between you and me…and come
back!” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And thanks be to God….their change of heart and behavior spared
them. That even through all that heat and shouting from Jonah…the call of God
touched them…and moved them to respond.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We just never know what in our words or actions will become that
conduit for God to reach another person. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">How what words we choose to express our faith will make a
difference and maybe help someone take a second look at themselves and realize
that they really are a beloved child of God?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I often find myself in conversations with people who are not
believers. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Some of them are more on the spectrum of not wanting to be part of
“organized religion.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Others are proud to proclaim their disbelief to me early and often
as if I might’ve forgotten from the previous time before or something.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But I’ve had the occasion where someone who doesn’t believe in God…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or more accurately…has been so hurt by those who say they believe
in God that they want nothing to do with the church…that when we’ve spent time
listening and talking…they’re often moved in ways they hadn’t expected. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When they’re met with God’s love….through presence and not with
proselytizing…they feel that difference that maybe there’s something to this
“God thing” after all. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It seems that’s what was at work with Simon, Andrew, James, and
John.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Simon and Andrew were average fishermen working their nets in the
Sea of Galilee…a freshwater lake that was good for fishing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">James and John were part of the Zebedee family fishing business…a
much bigger operation run by their dad. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They’d probably heard about John…his whole come out to the
Jordan…you sinners…and repent…and thought, “Nah. I’ll just keep fishing,
thanks.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But when Jesus shows up…and simply offers the chance to go “fish
for people…” Simon and Andrew lay down their nets and follow. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Such a simple invitation…and yet it moved them so profoundly that
they left behind their nets to see what this meant…this different type of
fishing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">James and John…same thing. Jesus called. And they answered. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I’m not sure their dad was excited about this, but luckily he did
have hired hands to help with mending the nets. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Turning around…moving in a different direction…believing and
trusting in God’s grace to not fail us is a risk. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There will always be those who are the outside observers casting
doubt on our decisions…or mocking us for listening to that small still voice of
God within us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But remember what Jesus proclaims in his one-sentence sermon: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God is present…right now…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Lay down those things which distract us and divert us from living
in love and our fullest potential to be present. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Just our presence to those who are longing for a deeper connection to
this One Love that’s around us is enough.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or…in the words of a Georgia deacon:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Look y’all: wake up! Turn around and be the good news!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> </span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> </span></p><p><br /></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-57018353450658163862024-01-20T22:08:00.001-05:002024-01-20T22:08:34.339-05:00"You Are My Beloved" A Sermon for Epiphany 1<p> </p><p>I have been lackadaisical about updating this blog, but for good reason. My mother-in-law passed away shortly after the 1st of the year, and so I had to quickly pull some things together and make a trip to France to be with my wife and her family. And this week has been a lot of getting caught up from being away. So now I am finally posting the sermon I preached on January 7th right before I took off for Haut de Gan. </p><p>I'm just happy the Gospel lesson was a very familiar one, and since I am involved in an intensive study of Mark's Gospel with a group at my parish, I had done a lot of the exegetical work ahead of time.</p><p>See what you think.</p><p>Text: Mark 1:4-11</p><p>+++</p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I have never been to the Holy Land…not in a real physical sense. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">My Hebrew professor at seminary… a quirky guy who loved technology
and gadgets…had a pair of virtual reality goggles. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Putting them on one day when we were at his house for a meeting…I
was able to see the road where the story of the Good Samaritan was to have
taken place. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It looked like a narrow rocky twisting and turning mountain path. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was cool. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But…honestly…I could’ve been looking at the southwest of France and
seen the same thing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Virtual reality is still just virtual.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I’ve lived vicariously through friends and colleagues who were
fortunate enough to spend two weeks at St. George’s College in Jerusalem. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They posted photos and kept running online diaries of their visits
to all the places which now are far too dangerous for pilgrims and tourists
because of war. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Many of my friends have had the experience of wading into the
waters of the Jordan River. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Some have been deeply moved at the feeling of being in the place
where Jesus was baptized.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I’ll admit…I’m a bit envious. Maybe someday I’ll go.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Recently…I was reading an account of a Lutheran pastor who also did
a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She…like others… was awe-struck at being able to stand in the
Jordan River. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She thought how amazing it would be to collect some of the water
and bring it back with her to the States…mix it in with the water in the
baptismal font so that everyone baptized in her church would be touched by the
waters of the Jordan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She brought along a special container.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She carefully collected and sealed up her jar of Jordan River
water. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She made sure to pack it carefully. And it made it through many
airports and across the Atlantic Ocean. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But when she pulled it out to take it to the church…she was
horrified to discover her sacred object was a filthy mess of slimy…muddy…watery
sediment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">While the Jordan River starts as very clean pristine snow-fed
waters at Mount Hermon in the northernmost part of Israel…as it flows
southward…it picks up lots of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sand…dirt…and
mud until it empties into the Dead Sea. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So much for her grand plan to put this smelly mess she had so
carefully saved into the lovely, distilled water of the baptismal font! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nice thought, but no thanks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Still…there’s something so absolutely perfect about the idea of the
Jordan being such muddy water. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Especially as we think about what John is doing…and what Jesus
participates in…and the tradition we carry forward with our own baptisms.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Ritual cleansing is part of the Jewish faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The act of “dipping” or “baptizing” was and is still done at a
mikvah. A mikvah is either a special pool or some other flowing freshwater
source. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">People who convert to Judaism are expected to go to a mikvah with a
rabbi. The ritual is a way of bringing them into the tribe of Judaism. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the days of John and Jesus…this ritual was about cleansing the
outside of the body of things that cause impurities…blood for example. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jews were expected to do this type of ritual cleaning before they
could enter the Temple.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was a purification of the flesh…but not of the soul.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But John wanted something more. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">John was at odds with the religious authorities of his day…not to
mention his objections to the occupying Roman Empire. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He didn’t think the religion being practiced in the Temple was pure
enough. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So John had declared that <b><i>his</i></b> baptism was one of
repentance: more of a national baptism for Israel…to turn around…get back to a
fundamental form of Judaism…stop with the going along to get along with Rome. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s no mistake that John set up his community at the Jordan River.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There’s symbolism using the Jordan to baptize people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Afterall…the Jordan River are the waters of deliverance for the
people of Israel as they entered what was the promised land. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For John…his baptism was more than cleaning the outside of the
body; he was proposing a radical change….an internal shift…a moral cleansing as
well. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">John saw his baptism as a preparation for the coming of the
anointed one…the Messiah. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So when Jesus shows up to be baptized by John…this is a really big
deal. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Some have wondered if Jesus really needed to be cleansed of “sin”
since he was the “sinless” one?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think it’s not so much a matter of Jesus <b><i>needing</i></b> to
be baptized. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s more like this is something he wanted to do. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Like we talked about last week…in Jesus we have a vision of a God
whose deepest desire is to be with us and be in our experience…not hovering
above us…but being in those muddy waters of life with us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A full participant in the human experience…and bringing humanity
and divinity into close contact.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And if John wanted his baptism to move people to a higher plane of
their inner beings…he got way more than that with Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because as Jesus rises up from the water….the heavens tear
apart…the Holy Spirit descends as a dove…and he hears: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well-pleased.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nobody else heard this voice. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nobody else saw this vision of a dove.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nobody else was aware that the heavens had split apart.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is a visual image that we should all park in the back of our
minds because the same “torn apart verb…schizo”….will come up again later when
the curtain of the Temple tears in two at Jesus’ crucifixion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It seems that…for Jesus….this baptism is <b><i>not</i></b> one of
repentance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But it <b><i>is</i></b> one of an inner understanding of his
mission…his work…and what his purpose would be going forward in this story of
God’s people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He’s in the muddy waters with us…and he’s destined to lead us to
higher ground. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">His baptism both defines Jesus….and gives him the clarity of who he
is <b>and</b> whose he is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our own baptisms are the same…and no less instructive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We may not have had all the fireworks of the heavens opening and
doves descending and otherworldly voices whispering in our ears that we are
beloveds. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Maybe we did and we just don’t remember it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But our baptisms into the Body of Christ are an important and
powerful affirmation of our place as the adopted children of God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They bring us into a deep and abiding bond to each other and to our
families…our communities…and our society to approach others from a starting
point of love. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our parents and godparents…aunts and uncles…stood with us or spoke
for us…in making the covenantal promises to be the children God so wants us to
be. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Children of love…bringing good news to a hurting world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We pledged to continue in the traditions of our biblical
ancestors…sharing meals…and saying prayers. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We have committed ourselves to seek out the good and to resist the
things that will wreck our relationships with each other and with God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s one of the toughest things to do in a world where loving
neighbor and especially loving your enemy…that person you really don’t like…
gets us no brownie points and may even make us figurative punching bags for the
people who don’t “get it.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But our call through our baptism is to ignore that noise…resist the
temptation to give up and stay the course of remaining committed to one
another.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Keep on loving…and respecting the dignity of each other.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Continuously search for the Christ in the eyes of everyone we meet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">My gosh: if all those who claim the mantle of Christ could see the
Christ in the person who is different from themselves…can you imagine what a sea
change that would make?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">How different would things be in the world?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It might feel as profound as the heavens being torn apart…a dove
descending and a voice speaking such words of wisdom as “You…all of you…are my
beloveds with whom I am well-pleased”!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Then maybe God’s dream for us really would be realized.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-88250163578243669182024-01-04T12:36:00.010-05:002024-01-04T12:36:56.513-05:00"The Word Became Flesh for Love's Sake"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBx8fmb8FLre3qP8X9KGBVfPOu2N8ywRH-YEJeUoVlE5WSS2yKwy5QGVF2UE8Ai540vbPuTFyxOTgSpz0ntL6_xMPeA-Hus-F6IYhq03ku9qmgFGkWltJZ91SSH_cy2qzmRjqaLDwrjpXZvi74Kwnt913wm0tJRrFCv298nGG_0uBFvl-y1a_Qji45n9Ei/s2048/St%20John%20Gospel%20Opening%20to%20John%20Gospel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBx8fmb8FLre3qP8X9KGBVfPOu2N8ywRH-YEJeUoVlE5WSS2yKwy5QGVF2UE8Ai540vbPuTFyxOTgSpz0ntL6_xMPeA-Hus-F6IYhq03ku9qmgFGkWltJZ91SSH_cy2qzmRjqaLDwrjpXZvi74Kwnt913wm0tJRrFCv298nGG_0uBFvl-y1a_Qji45n9Ei/w300-h400/St%20John%20Gospel%20Opening%20to%20John%20Gospel.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to handle preaching on the opening to John's Gospel. It has such an otherwordly quality that I find it hard to grasp the best way into it. But with prayer and lots of wandering around...I finally got to a place of "a-ha." And it seemed to really strike a chord with a number of people in the congregation. </p><p>See what you think.</p><p>Text: John 1: 1-18</p><p>+++</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Whenever I hear this prologue from John’s Gospel….I feel myself
getting plunged into an otherworldly sea of poetry. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Unlike our other evangelists…who either give us a timeline of
Jesus’ bona fides as the promised Messiah from the House of David…or a Jesus
who’s already starting his adult ministry and preaching a one sentence sermon
right off the bat…John traces Jesus back to the very beginning. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The beginning that sounds like the Book of Genesis:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth….the
earth was a formless void and darkness covered the deep…”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">John wants us to know that Jesus was present with God and the Holy
Spirit even in that very beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Word was there. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And the Word was with God…and the Word is God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And this Word became more than just a Word.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This Word became flesh and lived among us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This Word that was at the beginning when God was creating the
heavens and the earth…has now come into the realm of the earth…bringing heaven together
with the earth into a human form.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This Word was born through the same way most everyone is born.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Word was made flesh and blood…bones and ligaments…and coming to
life thanks to the strength and courage of a young woman who said, “Here am I.
I will be this mother of the Savior.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As one commentator put it…this incarnation of the Word made flesh
is a moment where humanity and divinity has a group hug.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because the Word becoming flesh is the ultimate testament about a
God whose entire being and language is one of Love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Why else would God have become human?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I mean…God could’ve manifested as great ball of fire…or some
magnificent creature.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But rather than coming to us in some terrifying way…God came to us
as a vulnerable baby.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s true Love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I remember the time when I felt that Love so profoundly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">My father had died and we had had his funeral and burial in New
Hampshire. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But because my parents had briefly relocated to Tallahassee…and my
father had been one of the favorites at his assisted living facility…and so
many of my friends wanted to have “something” to remember my dad and support me
and my mom…we held another memorial service at St. John’s in Tallahassee. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">My mother had been attending church there…and thought the woman
associate rector was the bomb…and that I needed to meet this priest. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But I could’ve cared less about the church…or women priests…or St.
John’s.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">After all…St. John’s for much of the 1990s had been the home of the
most virulent homophobia I’d ever heard coming out of an Episcopal Church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Reluctantly…I agreed to having a memorial service for my father on
All Saints’ Day…which was a Thursday. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That following Sunday…St. John’s had a tradition of processing
banners with the names of the departed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">My mom asked me to come back to church and carry my dad’s banner. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So…again…reluctantly…I went back to St. John’s to process this
banner…which they then gave to my mom to take home. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Now…I had been in church three times in about a month and a
half….the most I had been to an Episcopal church in more than 15 years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I figured… I was done. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I’d completed all my obligatory good daughter deeds and I could go
back to doing crosswords and drinking coffee on Sunday mornings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But the Word which became flesh became a DJ…spinning all the
greatest hits from the 1982 Hymnal in my head. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">No matter where I was or what I was doing…I was hearing all the
hymns from my childhood growing up in the church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I bind unto myself today that God is working his purpose out as we
crown him with many crowns the Lamb upon his throne…(incidentally the second
line of that last hymn ironically says: Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns
all music but its own!)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I could not hear anything but the Episcopal hymnal. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When the following Sunday came around…I woke up with a booming
voice in my head that commanded me to “Show Up!” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I showered. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I got dressed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And I went back to St. John’s. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And for the first time in 39 years of being an Episcopalian… I
heard every word of every prayer and every hymn and every line of Scripture and
it all said one…unmistakable…and overwhelming message:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“You are loved. You always have been loved. And I will always love
you.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There was no asterisk. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There was no “I love you if you do x-y-z.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This love was deep…and broad and wide. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Word became flesh…so that the Word could use that opportunity
to infuse all flesh with this Love. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">To wrap all of us up in this cosmic hug that says, “You are so
loved that I want to be with you…live with you…live within you. Experience your
joys….and endure your sorrows…and bring you through the foggy darkness of a
world that rejects and belittles people to show you the light that leads you to
better days.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Word…The Love…came to us for this purpose.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As we hear in John’s Gospel: “…to all who received him, who
believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We who gather here and come to this table every Sunday are God’s
adopted children. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Through faith and grace we have become part of God’s loving
inclusive family.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Now is the time for us to take what has been given freely and
lovingly to us…this Word…and make it tangible for others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I see that happening all the time here at St. Barnabas. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We bring the experience of Christ to others through such loving
gestures as preparing our bags of loving kindness to those who are without a
permanent home. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I see it in the way we take time to bake cookies for service
members living away from their families during the holidays. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I see it in visiting with those who are homebound.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And there are so many other ways in which we manifest the light of
Christ for others and remind those who are seeking to know this Love that they do
matter…they are valued…and they are so loved that God sent God’s Word into the
world not to condemn it…or call it rotten. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But to rejuvenate it…and remind us that the One who we call our
Creator…who we say made all things…declared them…us and all of creation… good.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This One…this Word…wants us to live…and become agents of Love through
grace upon grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May that Love that put on
human flesh at that First Christmas grow and spread like wildfire through us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-67375620460371032232023-12-24T20:00:00.001-05:002023-12-24T20:00:00.134-05:00Christmas Still Happens: A Sermon for Christmas Eve 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxpEvZhyphenhyphenevJYAQaDohreBmwn9Blspf1rDlSbTUqEUWlocCgZj448b_K-XF5ghyphenhyphenGXNxzsi0-crG1FSjX2p7Hb-41br1jbmAM8RmGGbRjv56dNjhwwXGJb3b1AuIfPX7ZbMPaDvYgcpc5kd0PEUYnIgpwflNkVqmsLTUW4IO9s1m81yM1M36IkHPZ7SawkTD/s970/baby%20jesus%20bethlehem%202023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="970" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxpEvZhyphenhyphenevJYAQaDohreBmwn9Blspf1rDlSbTUqEUWlocCgZj448b_K-XF5ghyphenhyphenGXNxzsi0-crG1FSjX2p7Hb-41br1jbmAM8RmGGbRjv56dNjhwwXGJb3b1AuIfPX7ZbMPaDvYgcpc5kd0PEUYnIgpwflNkVqmsLTUW4IO9s1m81yM1M36IkHPZ7SawkTD/s320/baby%20jesus%20bethlehem%202023.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> This has been a really rough year for so many in my congregation. Hurricane Idalia is still messing with people's lives as they fight with their insurance companies over damages. Others have had difficult health events. And then there is the reality of war happening around the world which touches the lives of those connected to the air force base. <p></p><p>I keep hearing people saying that "Christmas is canceled" particularly in the Holy Land due to the terrorism and war that has been gripping the region for the past two and half months. If ever there was a time for us to call upon Jesus to be made manifest, now seems the time!</p><p>I realize that most preachers in the United States will steer clear of the hardships that surround us as they preach their Christmas Eve sermons. We want everyone to be happy and joyous, after all. But I'm just too much of a journalist, too much of a person who sees the things happening in the world and knowing that those are the things my people are hearing and experiencing, too. So I don't want to ignore the realities happening around us. But I want to also remind us that those realities are met on Christmas by a new thing, a new reality that has come to redirect our attention back to Love. </p><p>And so here it goes. See what you think.</p><p>Text: Luke 2: 1-20</p><p>+++</p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Prayer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Word was made flesh and dwells among us.
May it be the Word we hear…read…mark…learn and inwardly digest as the guiding
light of our hearts. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I was casually scrolling through my social media…Facebook and
various news sites…when I came across a story about the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Bethlehem….and their nativity scene. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Interested…I clicked on the headline…which said there was something
“controversial” about their display. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Having in my previous career reported and witnessed no end of
controversies about nativity scenes and menorahs and all kinds of religious
symbols on display in government buildings…I had to wonder what could be so
controversial about a church putting up a nativity scene in the Holy Land?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The story popped up on my screen…and the image was arresting.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Instead of a manger with Mary and Joseph looking on in awe and
wonder on the Christ child….the church had assembled broken rocks and concrete.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And there…in the middle of the rubble…was Baby Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Instead of swaddling clothes…he was wrapped in the Palestinian
kufiyah…their traditional black and white scarf. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There were a few sheep scattered in the ruins. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Off in the distance…one could make out a shepherd here or there. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Even in this scene…the heavenly chorus is able to reach the lowly
shepherds with good news.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It looked like so many of the images we’ve been seeing emerge from
the Holy Land as the war in Gaza rages on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The church’s display captured the reality on the ground and the
feelings in the air.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was certainly a provocative move.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What many Americans probably don’t realize is that Bethlehem…the
city which we commemorate as the birthplace of Jesus…lies inside the
Israeli-occupied West Bank…a little more than six miles south of Jerusalem. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And while there has been a lot of attention focused on Gaza…there’s
been tension and violence in the West Bank for some time as Israel creates more
and more settlements in areas with Palestinians. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7<sup>th</sup>…relations
between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank have gotten worse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There are the extremist Zionist factions which have no problem
assaulting Palestinians….taking out their hurt and anger and fear on those who
farm olives. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There are those Palestinians who support fighting against Israel
who they see as the oppressor and a source of their misery.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For Palestinian Christians…they are embroiled in a nightmare. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The voices of peace on both sides…Jews and Muslims desiring a
two-state solution to the constant conflicts in the region… are still out there.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But the noise of war captures much more attention.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Bethlehem…which relies largely on Christian tourism especially at
Christmas…is not a safe place to go. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Christian leaders in this little town made the difficult decision
to cancel tree-lighting ceremonies. And while there are Christmas Eve services
being held…they are not the same as in years past. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The headline writers have told us that “Christmas is canceled” in
the Holy Land. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But I would argue quite the opposite.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because that image of Jesus laying amidst the broken bomb-scarred
rocks in a Lutheran Church in Bethlehem is as much a sign of Christmas for us
in the 21<sup>st</sup> century as what those ragtag shepherds saw when they
trekked off to the manger in search of the Messiah…two thousand years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus then…and now…comes to us amidst the chaos and the rubble of
real life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus was born into a world in which his own earthly parents would
be forced to flee to Egypt as refugees. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The political landscape of the Roman Empire was fraught with
tyranny and bullying of the Jewish population. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was a dangerous world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There were greedy people holding positions of power and privilege. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There were those doing what they could to get by and not cause any
trouble.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There were some who had dropped out of society to go live on the
outskirts of town with John the Baptizer by the Jordan River.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And there were hundreds of people who felt hopeless to counter what
was happening in society….and others who kept looking for ways to end the
corrupt systems that held them back.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And there were wars.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All of it sounds a lot like our world today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So when newspeople want to report that Christmas is canceled…I say,
No.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Go find another phrase for your click-bait! (and as a journalist by
training…I reserve the right to criticize my colleagues of the Fourth Estate!)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Yes, maybe all the usual activities aren’t happening. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Maybe the manger scene is messier than what we’re used to seeing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But Christmas is not just about Christmas trees and gift-giving….or
the latest pitch for a new Toyota. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Christmas for us is the celebration of God’s in-breaking into the
world…the day that Love came down to earth to dwell among us as one of us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And boy! It is so important and necessary for that Love to come to
this world now!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Given all the upheaval in Europe and the Middle East…and our own
continued meanness and in-fighting in our national and state politics…with our
social safety net in Lowndes County stretched to the breaking point…we sorely
need to get back to the Source of Life…and Light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We need that light to shine boldly and brightly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We need it to pierce through the depths of the gloom and darkness that
threatens to overshadow all that is good.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Now maybe you’re sitting there thinking, “Great, but where is that
light coming from? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When is it going to show up?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I don’t have an answer for that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But I can at least get a glimpse of where to look.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can start by taking in the sight of our Advent wreath. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can see the flickering lights. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Each candlelight was added one at a time through Advent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Now…we have this ring of fire around the one central Christ candle.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This gathering of light can serve as an outward and visible sign to
us… a beginning for our prayers and meditations. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And again…it’s a symbol. A representation of the light of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At our baptism…we were handed…or maybe our parents and
godparents…received a candle representing the light of Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Besides being a sweet gift…that candle is meant to be the reminder
of what is inside all of us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Each one of us carries with us that light of Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So it is really each one of us who has the potential to do the work
that Christ came into the world to do: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">to sit and care for those who are brokenhearted, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">the oppressed, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">the person in need of a friend.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One of the traditions at Christmas Eve is to sing “Silent Night.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We do this by candlelight. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The usher lowers the overhead lights as we pass the light to each
other’s candle. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Tonight…as we do this…think of it as the symbolism of being a light
of Christ for your family…your friends…for your neighbors. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A light that you can pass on to someone else.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A light that may need you to cup your hand around at times to keep
it going.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Take a moment to look at a room full of candlelight.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Be still and know that the God who is meeting us in this moment is
the God who is calling us now to fulfill the dream of God’s peace on earth as
it is in heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The world cannot cancel Christmas if we commit to being Christ’s
hands and feet…ears and eyes…head and heart. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Time for us to show up and shine on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-29882562592929268782023-12-24T13:30:00.001-05:002023-12-24T13:30:00.129-05:00The Magnificat: A Song of Strength for These Times<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLoQNybdrZEArafRlqtm3v9OFVDi1jLBjBXBZWRKVvdK-cdIgaaGYdsjIY4soaUXGShBSBzgrvLao-ilVzUk-xwf00yc_k5wNd6etQcXpcKnW31V7DblMuoYhMLAKI82Clh9wayXNEJb4ljQvwuXCaGoX6wPDcmNA6icZDvKOdrqTWRWFrwPEvzhqFfu8Y/s1370/annunciation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1370" data-original-width="1300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLoQNybdrZEArafRlqtm3v9OFVDi1jLBjBXBZWRKVvdK-cdIgaaGYdsjIY4soaUXGShBSBzgrvLao-ilVzUk-xwf00yc_k5wNd6etQcXpcKnW31V7DblMuoYhMLAKI82Clh9wayXNEJb4ljQvwuXCaGoX6wPDcmNA6icZDvKOdrqTWRWFrwPEvzhqFfu8Y/s320/annunciation.jpg" width="304" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">There is something seriously unfair about having Advent 4 and Christmas Eve on the same day. Beginning with the crunch it places on those of us preaching and leading services, not to mention the laity who help us to create a worshipful and prayerful atmosphere. And, again, I spent this week dealing with a head cold. The only upside of it is that I didn't drive to Valdosta on Wednesday, but instead stayed home and locked myself in our home office for two days to get my sermons finished for Sunday. Hallelujah! </span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Hopefully, these words reflecting on Mary's Song the Magnificat will linger in people's heads for the few hours before we celebrate Christmas Eve. Of course, they can always come here to read them if they need a refresher. :-)</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">See what you think.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Text: Canticle 15 in the Book of Common Prayer</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">+++</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">“My
soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">It
was March 1965. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">The
campus of Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was
gathered for their Evening Prayer service. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">There
was a young man at the service…one of the second-year students…singing these
words that we know as the Magnificat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">He
was getting swept up in their meaning. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">“He
has shown the strength of his arm. He has scattered the proud in their
conceit.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">As
those words and the music of Mary’s song filled his head and his heart…this
young man’s thoughts turned to the announcement he had heard on campus that
week. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. would be leading a march in Selma, Alabama, and would
appreciate having seminarians join with him in standing up for the black
population.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">As
this young man sang words about “lifting up the lowly” he knew what was
happening: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">God
was speaking to him….through Mary’s song…and was calling him to respond to Dr.
King’s request to go to Alabama.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">That
young man’s name was Jonathan Myrick Daniels. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Not
only did Jon Daniels go to participate in the March; he stayed in Alabama to
help with voter registration, tutoring black children, and challenging the
segregation of Alabama’s Episcopal Churches. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">The
march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge challenged him to think about his
privilege. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">It
would have been so easy for him to go to Alabama…take part in the action…and
then retreat back a comfortable distance to Massachusetts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">But
Daniels felt he needed to stay. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">This
ended up being a fatal decision. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Later
that year…he was shot to death in Hayneville, Alabama, while protecting a black
teenage girl from a white man at a package store. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Daniels
is one of the many remembered as a martyr of the civil rights movement in
Alabama.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Jonathan
Daniels is one of my personal Episcopal heroes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">I
love him both as a fellow native of New Hampshire… and even more so for how he
lived out his faith…even when it cost him his life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">It's
not surprising to me that the words of Mary’s song moved him so deeply.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">It
is a stirring poetic tribute to the power of God and the way God empowers us to
accomplish things beyond our imagination. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">The
Magnificat is a remix of another power packed song of praise…one which young Mary
no doubt knew from her Jewish ancestry. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">If
we remember our Old Testament stories… Hannah sang God’s praises when she
birthed her son Samuel…the last of Israel’s judges.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Hannah
also sang of a God who “raises up the poor from the dust….to make them sit with
princes.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">This
song is one for any of us who have felt ourselves looked upon with the
harshness of judgment…or have felt our knees knocking as we stand before those
with more power. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">It’s
a song to have in our hearts whenever we face any kind of struggle or
potentially difficult situation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Think
about Mary’s situation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">A
young… teenager…betrothed to a carpenter named Joseph… has just been told that
she’s going to become pregnant…and her child will be holy and called ‘Son of
God.’ <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Luke
tells us that she was “much perplexed” by this angel and his message. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">(Gee:
I can’t imagine why?)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">I
think perplexed might be a bit of an understatement given the circumstances. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Amazingly…she
doesn’t tell Gabriel to get outta dodge with this crazy idea. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Instead…after
hearing him out…Mary steps up. She accepts this role.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">And
then she immediately heads off to see her cousin Elizabeth…maybe to seek the
wisdom and comfort of a much older woman. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Perhaps
she wanted to find a person who might hear this story and give her some kind of
rational explanation for what was happening. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">And
why wouldn’t a young woman seek the counsel of an older woman?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">When
Elizabeth sees her…not only does she get excited but her own child in her
womb…that rascally John the Baptizer…starts leaping for joy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Before
Mary can even say anything…Elizabeth is like…” Woot! Here comes the mother about
to bear the brother to deliver the light of love that comes from above! Woot!” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">It’s
this affirmation…this praise and recognition from a trusted member of the older
generation that launches Mary into her song.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">“My
soul magnifies the Lord” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Her
soul…her innermost being…is expanding with this hope…this peace…this joy…this
love! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">This
task…becoming the God-bearer…is no small work. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">She’s
accepted a role of helping to birth a new future for her people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Her
act will help to lead them out of from the tyranny of despair. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">She
has a purpose…and is praising God for choosing her to rise to this occasion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Love
is on the move…and she is a key part of the movement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">And
by the way… so are we!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">While
we may not be God-bearers in the same way that Mary was…we are still the ones
today who bring forth that life…that light… that love of Christ into every
place we go and interact with others. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">How
well we listen to others…and how we respond….makes all the difference in how a
person who doesn’t know Christ discovers the God they might’ve heard about but
have never experienced. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">They
might find in us the spirit of Christ meeting them without prejudice or malice
or indifference…but instead seeing them as a fellow traveler…seeking a
connection to something that gives them a sense of purpose and meaning. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Through
us…they might see a soul that is magnifying the light of Love represented in
that last candle on the Advent wreath. The candle of Love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">May
each of us shine so brightly as we enter into this Christmas season that those
whom we meet will feel that presence of God’s love for them…and be glad in it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">In
the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-71706575924648091342023-12-17T19:00:00.038-05:002023-12-17T21:31:33.304-05:00Rejoice Always...Even When It's Hard<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ytYVtotr6RU9v0BKNUtOctuStSjl8DwwMQvftptFasG8Z0BnBK-d6upYkJRubSq6DJ2FMNYRKDHJBTxnnCnHMeXQJu0D5JOH4gtVGBPXZodfEONY348s_GCR2BG8rkZDwJoP61Ivq658Ldp1ioKnk9Gf3aPDrn3pEERF7GH8EHMCAv4ZREsiOD_NMsWS/s640/3B%20Advent.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ytYVtotr6RU9v0BKNUtOctuStSjl8DwwMQvftptFasG8Z0BnBK-d6upYkJRubSq6DJ2FMNYRKDHJBTxnnCnHMeXQJu0D5JOH4gtVGBPXZodfEONY348s_GCR2BG8rkZDwJoP61Ivq658Ldp1ioKnk9Gf3aPDrn3pEERF7GH8EHMCAv4ZREsiOD_NMsWS/s320/3B%20Advent.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Self-revelation: I am under the weather with a really nasty head cold. When I tried to read this sermon to my wife, I had to stop repeatedly because I was coughing so much. So already, with my sinuses throbbing, the thought of "joy" wasn't a really exciting topic for me to think about.</p><p>Add to that that I pressed on through my yuckiness to go to Valdosta on Wednesday because I had at least three meetings scheduled, one of them being the Finance Committee which had to meet so there would be a proposed 2024 budget ready for the vestry meeting on Sunday. In the course of my various meetings, I heard a lot of pain, a lot of fear, a lot of uncertainty. I did not hear a lot of joy.</p><p>So Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians seemed the most relevant scripture to work with for this sermon. Granted, the pericope set aside for the Sunday lectionary was just some of his exhortation at the end of the letter. But still, knowing some of the "behind the scenes" about that particular letter made it a relevant scripture from which to preach to a congregation of people who aren't all feeling holly jolly right now.</p><p>See what you think.</p><p>Scripture texts for 3B Advent: Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11, Ps.126, 1 Thess. 5:16-24, and John 1:6-8, 19-28</p><p>+++</p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Today we have lit a candle for “Joy.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s the pink candle on our Advent wreath, and it’s that reminder
that we are waiting with joyful expectation for the birth of Jesus on Christmas
Day. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The prophet Isaiah is once more declaring the joy and exultation
felt from having “the Spirit of the Lord upon him to bring good news to the
oppressed and bind up the brokenhearted.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The people of Israel are coming out of exile and can celebrate
their freedom from captivity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our psalmist keeps up the theme. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The people are laughing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They are rejoicing that God has answered their cries of anguish. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We hear in the Gospel lesson again that John the Baptizer knows
that he is just a herald of someone bigger, brighter, and more powerful than he.
While John doesn’t use the word “joy” or “rejoice” …. but we all know he can’t
wait for the Messiah to show up to clean up what John sees as the excesses of
the religious authorities and the persecution they’ve been suffering living in
the Roman Empire. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And then there’s Paul…writing to this very young church in Thessalonica
to “Rejoice always.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All these happy…joy-filled readings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But what if that’s not where we are? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What if we aren’t feeling joyful? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What if we’re the oppressed and the brokenhearted waiting to hear
that good news?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Truthfully, that’s exactly who Paul was writing to when he put pen
to papyrus in writing this first letter to the Thessalonians. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They were a people who converted from paganism in the joyous exuberance
of all converts to a new faith. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They had heard Paul’s preaching and teaching…long before any of the
Evangelists had started spreading the Gospels. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In fact, this is the earliest of Paul’s letters written sometime
around 51 CE. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They believed in Jesus Christ…believed that he had died and that
God raised him from the dead. They…like some of the communities of our Evangelists…also
believed that Jesus was returning at any minute and the kingdom of God would be
fulfilled. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And so a few weeks went by. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Then it became months. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">People started to die. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The pressures from the surrounding Greek culture which rejected
them for accepting Jesus began to wear them down. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Paul had…in his very Paul way…successfully made himself unwelcomed
by preaching about Jesus to the local Jewish community in their synagogue which
had caused a whole heap of trouble for some of the believers (Acts 17:1-10). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So Paul and his companions had to make a hasty retreat out of town.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Thessalonians were starting to struggle with maintaining hope
and faith in a society that told them they were fools. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Despite the promise that the light would overcome the darkness…their
world was looking pretty darn dark. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There was no joy in this tiny community. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And so Paul…hearing about what was happening to the Thessalonians after
sending his compatriot Timothy to check in on them… writes this letter to the
church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I’m kind of sorry that we only hear this very last portion of his
letter. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is one where Paul is at his most pastoral. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He’s gentle in his tone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He implores the Thessalonians to do the same…be kind to one another…respect
and support each other and greet one another “with a holy kiss” (5:26). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He gets it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He knows they’re having a hard time, and they are feeling lost and
alone. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He regrets that had to leave them in such a rush.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And he reminds them that all of what they are experiencing is part
of the growing pains of being this new fledgling group wanting to follow
Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s not easy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Not everybody’s gonna like you or want to hear about Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There will be rejection and hardship.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And actually practicing Christian principles doesn’t win someone a
whole lot of brownie points when confronting the powerful. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But that’s not the whole story. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There is also hope…peace…and yes: even joy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because being a follower of Christ means remembering what happened
at the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just when the followers of
Jesus thought all was lost…and that the Roman authorities had won by killing
all that was good…the believers were met with a resurrected joy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They saw that Love…that’s “Love” with a Capital L “Love”…did win. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Life overcame death.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God had declared victory.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is the hope that all Christians turn to…that we have been promised
that death, destruction, bullies, and tyrants do not get the last word.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We may not see the fruits of that faith in God right away. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We might have to shed some tears…and experience grief…and find
ourselves at times in what John of the Cross called “the dark night of the
soul.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But the promise remains that “joy will come in the morning.” (Ps.30:5)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That is our truth and the reality we are invited to embrace. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When we believe and trust that God doesn’t abandon us when we’re
down and out…our outlook shifts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can re-center ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can slow down…breathe easier…and not only be a light to someone
else…we can more easily <b><i>receive</i></b> that light from someone else. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We’re preparing now for the birth of the one we call “Messiah.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Not only has God <b>not</b> left us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God is coming to <b>meet</b> us….in whatever state of mind…emotions…physical
or mental health that we’re in at the moment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">No matter what else is happening to us….or in this crazy world
around us that wants to distract us and drag us down…we can take in the lights
of hope, peace and joy as a way to remember that God is with us…now and always.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That is a reason for us to rejoice! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-83829493880856544152023-12-10T20:58:00.025-05:002023-12-10T20:58:00.138-05:00Peace, please<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGjFpsH61c1Wr5e8OiGhoHugRSqPX-4t_setRGHbLOE34I-r89GRPTmc9FnfbDebbp6rzhGzzi9qa5dkoP4KVAMh1yUGUtCChRwAcRNtLYynOJCL4qxDcdYOSilCgI0MAEnFm8JvI1mEMmEyDwfSLQcRZpaGikB_dN2UwaMTxaxceAbTj-EfktPQ_ADx_/s640/Strasslers%20lighting%20the%20wreath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="640" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGjFpsH61c1Wr5e8OiGhoHugRSqPX-4t_setRGHbLOE34I-r89GRPTmc9FnfbDebbp6rzhGzzi9qa5dkoP4KVAMh1yUGUtCChRwAcRNtLYynOJCL4qxDcdYOSilCgI0MAEnFm8JvI1mEMmEyDwfSLQcRZpaGikB_dN2UwaMTxaxceAbTj-EfktPQ_ADx_/s320/Strasslers%20lighting%20the%20wreath.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /> </span><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p>One of the things I am aware of serving at St. Barnabas is that we are the closest Episcopal Church to Moody Air Force Base; hence, when members of the Air Force look for an Episcopal Church, we're the ones they're most likely to find first.</o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p>With the war ragining in Gaza, one of our members was deployed in late October for an undetermined amount of time. The deployment left all of us a little nervous. And we were especially concerned for the kids. </o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p>Thankfully...he made it back...and just in time to help us light the candle for Peace on the Advent Wreath. </o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p>Texts: Is. 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8</o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p>+++</o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Abandonment has got to be one of the loneliest and most fear-filled
feelings in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The ache of wondering if you’ve been forgotten…or
worse…intentionally left behind to fend for yourself in an unfamiliar place.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Maybe some of us remember a time when we were little kids and we’d
have gone shopping with mom. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Mom was on a mission to get what she needs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But we’d become enthralled with the toys strategically placed at
kid eye-level. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Mom…focused and intent on getting in and out of the store…would go
about her business.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She needs to get these items. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She’s not there for trinkets and plastic and sparkly things. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So she moves on with finding the essentials….while we’d still be
fixated on the bright shiny object.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Mom…her shopping…was of little interest or consequence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Until we became aware that mom was no longer with us. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Separated…and mom nowhere sight…we’d start to panic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We’d look down this aisle…over here and over there. Nothing. Our
brains would start to pester us with questions:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Where did she go? Why did she leave me? Where am I?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And then we’d hear a voice calling out our name.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The store manager on the loudspeaker would be summoning us to the
front of the store to be reunited with mom…who…by the way…was just as panicked
and probably fearing the worst circumstances…realizing she’d lost her focus on us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s the sort of feeling of “abandonment” I’m talking about and
on a small scale…caused by a momentary lapse in attention.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But imagine that same sense of abandonment on a bigger scale.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The despair that arises when we’re forced into a situation we’re in
some place foreign…with no idea when or if we’ll ever get home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s the wilderness…and it can feel a little like abandonment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We have no sense of up or down…left or right. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There’s no compass to help guide our feet in the direction of the town.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s unknown territory.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s the situation of the people Isaiah is speaking to in our
first reading.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Israelites had be invaded by the Babylonian Empire. Their best
minds and tradespeople had been captured and taken away to a foreign land.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Those left behind in the ruins were like a rudderless ship. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This was the wilderness…another time when the people of Israel
mourned for losses…and the exiles wondered if they’d ever see their native land
again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Now… the prophet is announcing the good news that those who had
been scattered can return home. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Persia and King Cyrus had defeated the Babylonians. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Israelites who had been exiled can return!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All is well now…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">” Comfort o comfort my poor beleaguered and suffering people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">You are saved. God is with you!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can hear in this passage an exchange of voices…the one
announcing to prepare the way! Make a straight path in this wilderness! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There’s dialogue of exuberance: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Cry out!” says a voice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“What should I cry?” asks the prophet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The cry is to be a proclamation: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">humans are mortal…and like flowers and grass they fade away…but God
endures forever. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can get a sense of this as a moment of such joyousness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s like listening to the end of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a
Dream’ speech, where he thundered out “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God
Almighty we’re free at last!” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is the same declaration we’re hearing in the Gospel from that
wild and hotheaded character John the Baptizer. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Like the prophet Isaiah…John knows that he is not the almighty. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">His baptism is not like the one that is coming to the people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He knows that the people are about to receive a baptism that will
set them free once and for all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Wait and see!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“You who are feeling hopeless...lost…abandoned…get ready! Freedom
is coming!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">These messages of freedom…of merciful release…of return from that
place of feeling lost and abandoned carry a particularly urgent tone in our
world today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">During that brief period of the ceasefire in the Middle East…the
world could sigh with some relief as groups of hostages…particularly young
children…were freed from underground tunnels in Gaza. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At the same time…Israel freed several Palestinians…a number of them
teenagers…who they had detained for minor and sometimes no offenses. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There were signs of celebration as families were reunited. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But sadly…the war rages on. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The fate of the remaining hostages is unknown. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Families of those who have been released…both those being held
hostage by Hamas and some of the Palestinian prisoners…are revealing stories of
mistreatment and abuse since this conflict began on October 7th. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All of this has spilled over into hostilities in this country. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Arab and Palestinian Americans as well as Jewish citizens are
reporting an increase in harassment and abuse. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We’ve heard reports of people getting shot, some have been stabbed
and beaten all because they wore the Palestinian scarf…the black and white
checkered kufiyah…or the Jewish head covering…the kippah. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Thursday night was the beginning of Hanukkah…an eight-day
celebration in which Jews remember another time when they were attacked and overcame
adversity…even having enough oil to keep their candles lit. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Sadly…some have felt they can’t safely engage in this candle
lighting practice because of the anger and backlash for the war in Gaza. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In fact…my state representative sent out a plea to non-Jews in her
district to light a menorah as a way of showing solidarity with their neighbors
and allow them to mark their holiday tradition without fear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">(Not a problem in my household since we are an interfaith couple).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It makes sense then that on this second Sunday of Advent…we’ve lit
a candle for peace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because we could stand to have more peace… less war… less violence…
occupying our every day lives in this world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">None of us here may be able to stop to the geopolitical conflicts
of the world…in the Middle East…Europe or Africa. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The one thing we CAN do is to commit to asking for God’s guidance
to lead us to be peace makers in our families and our communities. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can take this time of Advent to consider the ways we engage with
those around us that might influence others toward a more peaceful coexistence.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Like the ripples on water when you drop a stone into the middle of
a pond…our actions and behaviors can affect others to model and change their
behavior.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The words we choose when we’re
in conflict with someone can make a difference in resolving a dispute.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Taking a breath before responding in anger or frustration with our
colleagues and loved ones…may save a relationship.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Such actions may seem small…but they do add up.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And in this time when people seem to feel free to say the most
hateful things online…and in person…to one another…we have an opportunity and a
covenant to keep building people up and not tearing them to shreds.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Isaiah was proclaiming a time of God’s salvation coming to a
hurting and scattered people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">John was declaring God’s presence was not far from a disillusioned
and depressed people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Now it’s our turn to speak words of comfort to our friends and
neighbors as we pray…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-50259105279027018212023-12-05T16:39:00.007-05:002023-12-05T16:39:59.466-05:00The Flickering Light of Hope<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii20BUmuspjZGBh3Oey9Dk_lcohEUF8SzP78_Fh7fmQq2q-smLXwhIbnpHmXwzsWsnTeoI_ybsKG6VTdyaOncXAS79gUxScfracFXS_R5WcwZuavuA6TeXXfbSpNAC4v0-X5vIP0IQ1x2oxWM81sO2gOle07-FPJXawMXbBtebYQrTtTUrO0IAfOD-cyY_/s640/Advent%20Wreath%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="507" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii20BUmuspjZGBh3Oey9Dk_lcohEUF8SzP78_Fh7fmQq2q-smLXwhIbnpHmXwzsWsnTeoI_ybsKG6VTdyaOncXAS79gUxScfracFXS_R5WcwZuavuA6TeXXfbSpNAC4v0-X5vIP0IQ1x2oxWM81sO2gOle07-FPJXawMXbBtebYQrTtTUrO0IAfOD-cyY_/s320/Advent%20Wreath%201.jpg" width="254" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>And in a blink of an eye, it's Advent! </p><p>People always ask if you're ready for Christmas. But I have to admit, when I woke up Sunday morning, I couldn't say for certain that I was ready for Advent, this season of waiting. Worse: Advent this year is shortened because the 4th Sunday of Advent falls on December 24th...so the church has to do a quick switcheroo from purple to white altar hangings, green the church, and go from anticipation and waiting to: Merry Christmas within a matter of hours!</p><p>I'm also very aware that things for many people in my congregation are less than cheery. The hurricane has taken a mental toll on folks in Valdosta, and the war in Gaza has meant that some of our service members have been deployed. </p><p>So to have apocalyptic readings on Advent 1 was both appropriate and chilling. But as the late Harvey Milk said, "You gotta give them hope!" And so here's what I had to say. See what you think.</p><p>Texts: Psalm 80: 1-7, 16-18 and Mark 13:24-37</p><p>+++<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p><p>
</p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Happy Church New Year! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And welcome to beginning of Advent…a time of waiting and exciting
anticipation of the new thing that is on the horizon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That “new thing” of course being Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I find that the Advent season that we observe in the Episcopal
Church is both a beautiful and difficult time of year. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I love the purple candles and the altar hangings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I enjoy the music which speaks to a longing for God’s presence to
come closer to us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And yet… this is also a tough time of year for many…especially this
year. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">While we keep singing and praying for the coming of Jesus…the music
in every department and grocery store has been heralding the birth of Jesus
since Halloween.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And they want to make sure we know that we can use his birthday as
an opportunity to stock up on all those extra things we don’t really need…”low-financing
available!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We’re expected to be joyful…but some folks just aren’t right now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And then our new Church Year gives us a Gospel lesson from Mark that
sounds ominous. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Those who put together the lectionary couldn’t anticipate that many
in our area would still be picking up the pieces from a hurricane. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or that we would be witnessing two very brutal wars—the one in
Ukraine and what is happening now in Gaza and the Holy Land. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We hear from this 13<sup>th</sup> Chapter of Mark…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The sun is darkened. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The moon gives no light. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Stars are falling from heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The times were scary when Mark wrote down this Gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Jews had revolted against the mighty Roman Empire of First
Century Palestine…and the Roman Empire had completely crushed that rebellion
and destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem… pummeled it so that “no stone was left
on top of another stone.” (Mark 13:2c)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All
that is left of that structure today is the Western or Wailing Wall. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mark’s Jesus warns the disciples to
beware of false prophets. Prepare for painful divisions in families. Get ready
for hardship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Sheesh!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Sometimes…it might feel as though these words put down on papyrus
so many thousands of years ago sound as if they could be talking about our
lives right now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The words of our psalmist…” Restore us O God of hosts; show the
light of your countenance and we shall be saved” sounds like it could be a good
mantra for 2023. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And yet… Jesus reminds us not to fall asleep but to stay awake.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because all the “things” happening around us are just distractions
from the important thing we are preparing to welcome. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Light that is coming into this sometimes chaotic, messy, and
gloomy world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This Light is coming…and it
will not let anything snuff it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
matter what is happening beyond the red doors of our sanctuary… this Light will
be the light of the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The question for us is: How do we stay centered on God amid the
whirlwind of things going on around us?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can start with lighting a candle of Hope on our Advent wreath.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That first flame which burns inside us and helps to keep us going. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hope…which is the grounding of Love…the “sure and steadfast anchor
of our souls.” (Heb.6:19)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This hopeful flickering light serves as the reminder that all is
not lost.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Last Sunday… a group sat around a table in the parish hall and with
the help of Deacon Karyl they put together Advent wreaths to take home. They
even made a couple of extra ones. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Keeping the vigil of lighting the Advent wreath at your own dinner
table or some other special place in the home is a way to have that tangible
reminder that we are in a season of waiting. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If you don’t have an Advent wreath…get four candles…purple or blue maybe
one pink one…and of course the white Christmas one in the center. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Arrange them in a circle. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And each week…every night… light one candle for Hope. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The next week Hope will be joined by peace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Then joy….hope and peace<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And finally Love….becomes the final word for Advent. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Take some time to sit before the light and imagine it as the light
of Christ meeting us in our homes and our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can use these candles as a means of keeping Hope alive in our
hearts and minds during the week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Take the bulletin and insert home and make use of the prayers and
the scriptures as you keep watch and wait for Christ’s return. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There’s a lovely prayer for mission that’s in our Book of Common
Prayer. I invite you to pull out your red books…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s on found on the bottom of page 124.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This prayer for mission is one that we often use when we think of
those who must work overnight shifts in hospitals or other emergency jobs as
well as people who find themselves in dire straits…people who could stand to
see that Hopeful light of Christ coming to them in times of distress during the
night. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And even though it’s morning here…go ahead and join with me in
sending more hope into the world as we pray: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><i>Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work,<span style="background: white; color: black;"> or watch, or</span></i><span style="color: black;"><i> <span style="background: white;">weep this night, and give your angels charge over
those who</span> <span style="background: white;">sleep. Tend the sick, Lord
Christ; give rest to the weary, bless </span><span style="background: white;">the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the
afflicted, shield the </span></i><span style="background: white;"><i>joyous; and all for your love's sake. </i><em><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><em><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">May
your light of hope burn brightly this Advent season. <o:p></o:p></span></em></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><em><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In
the name of God…F/S/HS.</span></em><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-38194089879280437442023-11-26T23:28:00.007-05:002023-11-26T23:28:57.435-05:00Christ the King: A Sermon for the Last Sunday After Pentecost Year A<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisvX6PWmH5oRDB9YTOLk0jSSZCXP40wQQeRkN2k3s23YVq1nvTqU9czMVjcaTeefM4Ny58XJpVXbu0YfTn1e54pcubyyYeEpTakBxzYLwKiJ-PGLu3qgxwsP4Z9Bh73TWESdJcH97LTkXAv-aJ_BHKo4rdOFomWtAg3FcURIFX4NJn4ZzVAE746gvSuDZV/s994/ctk1-jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisvX6PWmH5oRDB9YTOLk0jSSZCXP40wQQeRkN2k3s23YVq1nvTqU9czMVjcaTeefM4Ny58XJpVXbu0YfTn1e54pcubyyYeEpTakBxzYLwKiJ-PGLu3qgxwsP4Z9Bh73TWESdJcH97LTkXAv-aJ_BHKo4rdOFomWtAg3FcURIFX4NJn4ZzVAE746gvSuDZV/s320/ctk1-jpg.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>At long last, we've reached the end of this very long season of "After Pentecost." Ready or not, Advent is coming...and that means new projects to run alongside that idea that we're supporsed to be "waiting with anticipation" the coming of Christ. Seems the way of the church is to get as busy as possible before Jesus shows up!! </p><p>I'm taking on a fun, and ambitious, project of doing a staged reading of the Gospel of Mark. The script is almost 90 pages, meaning that this will probably take anywhere from 90-100 minutes to do this reading. I'm hoping we'll get an audience for it. It's slated to go up on Saturday, February 10th. So we'll see what happens.</p><p>OK...back to today. I found myself this year bothered by the idea of "Christ the KING." It isn't the Christ part that was troubling; I'm really cool with the idea of Jesus being the head of things. </p><p>It's this "King" business which was troubling. There are a lot of political leaders these days who think that they are the King of the country, or the city, or the state. The Matthew Gospel has the king deciding who are sheep and who are goats...something that...again...our political leaders have engaged in this behavior way too much lately. </p><p>So most of this sermon was really me wrestling with these questions...and taking the congregation on a ride with me. See what you think.</p><p>Texts: Ephesians 1: 15-23; Matthew 25: 31-46</p><p>+++</p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Good morning! And welcome to the Last Sunday After Pentecost…also
known as Christ the King Sunday. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s odd to call <b><i><u>this</u></i></b> Christ the King Sunday. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One could argue that in any Christian Church…Christ ought to be
King every Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And it was relatively recent history that this last Sunday
following Pentecost became Christ the King Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This whole idea started in 1925 with Pope Pius XI. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At the end of World War I…there was growing secularism in Europe
and fascism was beginning to take root. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Pope decided the best way to combat these dual pressures on the
church was to declare…emphatically…that Christ is King and to mark a particular
Sunday…the last one in October right before All Saints’ Day… as Christ the King
Sunday. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In 19-69…Pope Paul VI thought the Last Sunday After Pentecost…and
right before Advent… was the better placement for the celebration of Jesus as
Lord of Lords and King of Kings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And so that’s where we are today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This celebration of Christ the King does raise some interesting
questions for us in our time...particularly when we think about that whole
history of how this day came to be a special day on the church calendar. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Just as in the era of the 1920s…we here in the 2020s are living at
a time when more and more people are identifying as “Nones.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span lang="ES-DO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: ES-DO; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s
N-O-N-E-S. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They’re not interested in Christianity or any religious group. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In this country and around the world…our politics are skewing in
the direction of authoritarianism…a system which centralizes power to a few and
demands loyalty to an ethic that runs counter to that of a God of Love and
Prince of Peace. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Perhaps we need to make a renewal of our commitment to this idea of
Christ as King.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But then that poses another problem. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We live in a pluralistic society…one where we must contend with the
idea that not all people who profess a faith in God also understand Jesus as
the Son of God…let alone believe in a God who comes to us as the Holy Spirit,
too. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> have a very
particular understanding of who Jesus is. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And our thoughts on Jesus are not the same as our fellow
descendants from our Biblical ancestor Abraham. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And then there are Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans: oh, my! They too
live in our society…and they worship in a faith that calls them to a higher
good for all creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It might then seem a bit arrogant for us to assert Christ as King.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Here’s the good news: we don’t have to diminish Jesus or shy away
from our belief in Jesus as Christ the King.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We <b><u>can</u></b> have our beliefs about Christ as King <b><u>and</u></b>
love and accept our siblings of other traditions or no-traditions at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because they’re not excluded from the kingdom of God in Christ…even
if they don’t profess Jesus as the Son of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One of the early church fathers…Irenaeus… found this hope for
inclusion of all in the Letter to the Ephesians that we heard this morning. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For Irenaeus… this passage reiterates the idea that Jesus’ life,
ministry, and death was in fact for all of humanity…and not just an exclusive
few believers. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus came into the world to be a Second Adam… restoring all people
to the right relationship with God that was lost in the Garden of Eden. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The twentieth century theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer also
emphasized that point. In his “Letters and Papers from Prison,” Bonhoeffer says
that Christ wasn’t just a person; he was the person who represents all of
humanity…no divisions between people. He is all people…and came as a savior for
all of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Karl Rahner…another twentieth century Jesuit priest and theologian…put
forward an even more radical and controversial theory. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Rahner suggested that people who never heard the Gospel are
“anonymous Christians”…having benefitted from Christ without even knowing it.
His theory was highly influential on the Roman Catholic Church’s Vatican II
statement. The Roman Church had to struggle with its antisemitism following
World War II and the Holocaust. Rahner’s theory helped them find their way toward
issuing an apology.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All this sounds fantastic, right?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It keeps asserting that Christ is King.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But then what about this passage from Matthew’s Gospel? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Aren’t some people sheep and others goats?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Doesn’t this sound like a more exclusive…only Christians get
eternal life…talk?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I suppose one could read it that way…. if we believe that only
Christians do the clothing of people, feeding them, offering them water when
they’re thirsty, being kind to strangers, visiting the sick and those in
prison. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But we know that’s not true. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In fact, we know plenty of people who call themselves “Christian”
who not only <b>don’t</b> do these things; they have invested more time and
energy in attacking fellow followers of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can see that playing out right now with our siblings in the
Methodist church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And even the Southern Baptist Convention has turned on some of its
own. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The English hymnwriter and minister Samuel John Stone captured this
well with these words in the old standard “The Church’s One Foundation”:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Thank goodness Stone completes that stanza with “soon the night of
weeping shall be the morn of song!” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When we sit in judgment of each other…deciding who is a sheep and
who is a goat…we’re putting ourselves in that seat at the right hand of God…and
making ourselves King or Queen of the universe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think if we are honest with ourselves…we’re all bouncing back and
forth between being a sheep and being a goat. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There are days when we get it all right… and others where we fall
short of this expectation that we will care for the least and lowest among
us…either out of ignorance or exhaustion or both.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What I think is so telling about this vision of the kingdom is that
those who Jesus declares as “righteous” and even those who are “unrighteous”
are totally taken off-guard. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Both groups are like, “Huh? When did I do all that?” or “We never
saw you in need? When did we miss that?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The message seems to be that we can’t know which group we’re in. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nor should we be so quick to assume which camp we belong to. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What we can do is take in the lessons Jesus teaches through the
Gospels…trust in the power of God’s love…and then do our best to emulate
Christ…both in our giving and receiving.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">By making that our priority…and our ethic of living…we establish
Christ as the King of our hearts and minds. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In that way we can only hope for a world where God’s kingdom will not
only come on earth as it is in heaven…but will be seen and experienced through
us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-86784237458311127372023-11-26T23:04:00.001-05:002023-11-26T23:04:46.513-05:00Your One Wild and Precious Life: A Sermon for 25A Pentecost<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE7AL2p79GS92Sa17PxKHQ9B5WtJJggAeVk7Nzj5KXpZoIpD5WTXNUp0nRstM6PgcwI2HrsqUFMDEdtHoqNSpCsPj2E5iY0h8Y6TEUuzLf17dxzy2ft8csUzJRVl_alpXSUbmo3t9GC1vFyaVln3zHR3BW5H3q0zhn9d4xMU8xGqG5DClGNNIXqoPgU_L2/s1920/562020-grasshopper-insect.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE7AL2p79GS92Sa17PxKHQ9B5WtJJggAeVk7Nzj5KXpZoIpD5WTXNUp0nRstM6PgcwI2HrsqUFMDEdtHoqNSpCsPj2E5iY0h8Y6TEUuzLf17dxzy2ft8csUzJRVl_alpXSUbmo3t9GC1vFyaVln3zHR3BW5H3q0zhn9d4xMU8xGqG5DClGNNIXqoPgU_L2/s320/562020-grasshopper-insect.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>As I contemplated the parable of the talents in Matthew, I couldn't help thinking about a poem that I have often retrned to because of its question at the end. Mary Oliver presses us to think about how we're using this time that we've been given on the planet. Do we exist or do we live? Do we spend all day inside in an office or do we take a walk, get together with friends, see how we can be of service to someone in need? Do we even pay attention to the grasshoppers?</p><p>See what you think.</p><p>Text: Matthew 25:14-30</p><p>+++</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Who made the world? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Who made the swan and the black bear? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Who made the grasshopper?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">These are the opening lines to a Mary Oliver poem called, “The
Summer Day.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Oliver becomes fascinated by a grasshopper that has landed on her
hand. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She observes and gets delight from watching this insect eat some
grains of sugar.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: #4f4f4f; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Now she lifts her pale forearms and
thoroughly washes her face.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Now she
snaps her wings open, and floats away.”</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For
Oliver…this is a moment to take in creation and while she says she doesn’t know
what prayer is…she has an inkling of something special has gone on in this
connection with a grasshopper as she strolled through the fields.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The poem
finishes on a question:</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">“Tell me,
what else should I have done?</span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Doesn't
everything die at last, and too soon?</span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Tell me,
what is it you plan to do</span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">with your
one wild and precious life?”</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What do we
plan to do with our one wild and precious life?</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Oliver poses
a real challenge to us in her poem. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s similar
to the challenge laid before us in this Gospel lesson from Matthew. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What is that
we are to do with the abundant grace gifted to us? </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Do we live
into it and share these gifts we’ve been given? </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or do we
hoard them, bury them, keep them under lock and key? </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our Gospel
lesson is all about us recognizing and accepting the love and light of Christ
within us and then bringing that out into our communities. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s through
that sharing that others begin to see themselves as part of that web of love
and light. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Connections
start to build…attitudes shift…and we begin the process of moving in a more
Godward direction.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This passage
from Matthew…just like last week’s…was especially written and spoken to a
people who needed hope and encouragement to keep going in the face of daunting
times. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Things hadn’t
gone as they thought they would. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Roman
Empire destroyed their temple for a second time.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus had not
returned in the way that they thought he would. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So this
parable was again a reminder to not lose hope in God amidst the rubble of their
lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather…keep living and growing
their talents in the faith that God will be with them. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Interestingly…when
we talk about “talents” today…we often think of some sort of skill that we have
that is uniquely ours. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And scholars
believe this understanding of the word “talent” comes from this reading out of
Matthew.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But the “talents”
we’re talking about here in this Gospel lesson were very large units of
money…almost like gold bricks. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Just one
talent would equal 15 years’ worth of a laborer’s day wages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So the guy
who got just the one talent was given a whole bunch of money…even if it wasn’t
as much as the other two. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the
parable…the “master” gives out the money…and then departs…and returns “after a
long time.” </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That “long
time” is that sense for Matthew’s community of having to rethink this idea of
Christ returning.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The three
people with their different talents are then left with that Mary Oliver
question: What are you going to do with this one wild and precious life?</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We hear that
at least two of the people go off and find ways to increase the talents or
gifts. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They had no
idea if what they were doing was the right thing.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They didn’t
know if they were going to have any kind of return whatsoever. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But
still…they trusted… and took a risk to go do something with their talents. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And then
there’s the one with the single talent. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And I was curious
that this one created a whole narrative about the master.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Some of you
may recall a baseball movie from the 1970s…”The Bad News Bears” starring Tatum
O’Neal and Walter Matthau. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In one
scene…Matthau…who is this gruff alcoholic coach…holds a team meeting with his bumbling
rag tag little leaguers.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He puts the
word “Assume” on a chalkboard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And then he
broke apart the word to explain the meaning of what happens when we “assume”
something?</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Yeah: so
here’s the One Talent guy making an assumption about the master and the
master’s motives and personality. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“I knew you
were a harsh man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You reap where you did
not sow…you gather where you did not scatter seed.” </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Really?</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Sadly, this
sort of thinking seems hardwired in some of us, doesn’t it?</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Disappointment
and hurt happens. It’s part of living. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But sometimes
those bruises…those emotional hurts… don’t heal as they should.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And then the
scar tissue of whatever trauma happened in someone’s life…locks them into a
stuck place…and instills such deep wounds that fear becomes their worldview. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They can’t
trust that others aren’t going to hurt them.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If suspicion
and fear is our baseline outlook on everyone and everything…it only makes sense
that we transfer those same feelings onto God.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There was a
period in my life when I was convinced that God hated me.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I had lost a
lot of important people to death in a very short time frame. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One died in a
car accident. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One was shot
to death in a robbery at the end of my street. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And my
favorite aunt had died of cancer.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nothing felt
right in my world.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Even though I
went to church…I believed that the only prayer that applied to me was the
Confession of Sin. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Those were
some of the loneliest and most terrible days of my life. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I felt cut
off from everything and everybody…including and especially myself. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In
retrospect…I can now see that where I was living then was in that place where
there was wailing and gnashing of teeth because that was my worldview. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Thankfully a
chaplain helped me emerge from that space and at least see that God didn’t hate
me.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Truthfully…it
took a lot longer for me to reach an understanding of God’s endless well of
love for me. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But having had
that intervention from a chaplain determined to get me to see that God loves
and doesn’t hate made the shift in me that I could say more prayers than the
Confession of Sin. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It also meant
there was still a pathway for God to reach me when I was more ready to listen…truly
and deeply listen…to God’s voice and not the narrative that I created about God
full of assumptions based on how human beings acted and spoke about God.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Through that
process of coming to experience God in a true…real…and complete way…I came to a
place of seeing God’s crazy and exuberant love for me and for everyone.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">No
exceptions. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">No hidden
clauses. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The craziest
part about it is that all God asks is that we trust in this Love…believe in
it…and then share that love with others. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because
that’s our talent. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our one wild
and precious life…full of abilities…skills…messy as it can be at times…is the
talent that we can grow…given a spark through Word and Sacrament into the Body
of Christ…so that we can<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>make a
difference in the life of others and in our community. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Everyone in
here has agency to be that person who sits with another who finds herself in
that place of wailing and gnashing of teeth and invites them to unbury their
talent and put it into play for their own good…and the good of another.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Let what we
take from here…the prayers… the hymns… the bread and the wine…inspire us to
live into this one wild and precious life that we’ve been given.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because the
world needs us. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All of us. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Keep going.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name
of God…F/S/HS. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-54221231710193472622023-11-16T08:03:00.000-05:002023-11-16T08:03:04.443-05:00Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-51zESgzX5DhQ-khE3j5d1kTZBglFgmCDGYwtti4WFe8Aj1RgVxcqvByxQeynOKRvweDWKO3Y54c6bR5C7ou2n4O_WiL7fFj-uZDEhUwxw0JOQmaZR_z2AAtfwCHXDebdbA8RCnoznPIQB9JKVKepPWe3pFfOdTXjoshYg65PnxzIQYXpdLL181FKv2wJ/s1024/lantern%20with%20heart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="1024" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-51zESgzX5DhQ-khE3j5d1kTZBglFgmCDGYwtti4WFe8Aj1RgVxcqvByxQeynOKRvweDWKO3Y54c6bR5C7ou2n4O_WiL7fFj-uZDEhUwxw0JOQmaZR_z2AAtfwCHXDebdbA8RCnoznPIQB9JKVKepPWe3pFfOdTXjoshYg65PnxzIQYXpdLL181FKv2wJ/s320/lantern%20with%20heart.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Our diocesan convention took place in Augusta, which for those who don't know the geography of this region is basically on the other end of the earth from Tallahassee. OK, not really...but it is...no matter how you slice it...a long five to six hour drive. </p><p>I could not get myself to write my sermon before convention. During convention, I was staying with our delegates in an Airbnb; hence I really didn't have a moment to myself to do my usual "write. pause. wander. write. snack. wander. write." </p><p>So Saturday night, when I finally got home and spent the demanded time with Ernest the cat, petting him and talking to him, and explaining why I had to be away and apologizing for the absence of "the other one," I sat my butt down in front of my laptop and began writing. </p><p>Thanks be to God for the Gospel...my time in choir...and a very long drive through some rain to help me formulate my thoughts!</p><p>Text: Matthew 25:1-13</p><p>+++</p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Y’know that feeling of when you hear a song and then it gets stuck
in your head? It just plays on and on like somebody hit the repeat button on
the stereo in your brain. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Well this week…I’ve had one of those endless loops playing…thanks
to this morning’s Gospel reading about the ten bridesmaids and their lamps in
need of oil and fire. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The tune in my head is a spiritual that we sang when I was in the
choir at St. Thomas in Thomasville. The song is called “Keep Your Lamps!” with
a musical arrangement by Dr. Andre Thomas. Dr. Thomas was the director of the
choral music program at Florida State University for many years…and he gifted
Tallahassee with some great concerts during his tenure. This particular
arrangement uses a djembe as the only accompanying instrument to the choir…as
they sing, “Keep your lamps trimmed and burning…keep your lamps trimmed and
burning. Keep your lamps trimmed and burning….the time is drawing nigh.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It goes on to warn the children not to grow weary ‘til their work
is done and that the Christian journey soon be over.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Like so many spirituals…these words were not only ones of
encouragement and hope; they were likely a secret message spread from one slave
to another on the plantations to be ready for their escape from the sin of
bondage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s a really beautiful and haunting tune…which I posted to our St.
Barnabas Facebook page if you’re interested in hearing it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So this song has been in my head all week.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Even at our diocesan convention as I sang other songs with our
delegation and a large gymnasium of devout…dedicated Episcopalians…my own
private soundtrack was still playing in the background.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Keep your lamps trimmed and burning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When that happens…when a song gets that much air time in my brain…I
figure that might be telling me what I should be paying attention to as I
consider this Scripture about the 10 bridesmaids at a wedding.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I couldn’t help but think about what’s going on with the five who
brought extra oil. Did they really lug along an extra canister with them to a
wedding? And what about the five who brought just enough to sustain them for
the processional…the vows…and up until the reception? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Of course…this is a parable. And a parable’s purpose is to give us an
image to make a bigger point. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For the original hearers of this Gospel in Matthew’s community… that
point was an important one about not losing hope. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The people who heard this Gospel originally are all post-Pentecost
people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus has ascended.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Holy Spirit has made that flaming dramatic wind-swept entrance
into the Upper Room.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The apostles have been sent out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Matthew’s Gospel is for that community of people who thought for
sure Jesus was going to return any minute now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When he doesn’t…their faith begins to falter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That spirit that was warming their hearts…putting the fire in their
bellies…was starting to die down…just like the lamps of the five bridesmaids
that started to dim before the bridegroom arrives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This parable…in the same way that slaves used spirituals to
communicate a message of hopeful encouragement…was meant to remind that
Matthean community to not lose hope in the face of disappointment and despair. They
had to feed that fire within. Keep going. They needed to do some rearranging of
their mental furniture to live into a new reality of believing that God was
present still…even if God had not yet come. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is classic moment of “the more things change, the more they
stay the same.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because we still can struggle with that feeling of “Where is God?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In those times when feel a disconnect between us and God…we might feel
our fires starting to die down to just glowing embers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The diocesan convention theme was “Kindle our hearts and awaken
hope.” It’s a line found in the Collect for the Presence of Christ found from
the Evening Prayer service. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As part of the work of the convention, our keynote speaker…Dr. Lisa
Kimball…professor-extraordinaire and head of the Lifelong Learning Center at
Virginia Theological Seminary…asked us to choose a word or phrase about
something troubling us. As we logged onto our phones to enter the information…
a huge word cloud appeared on the screen…displaying what was foremost on
everyone’s minds. Not surprisingly…war and violence were the biggies. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We acknowledged our fears…and the things which
loom large in our collective minds…the thick cloud of despair that was hanging
over us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But then she led us in another exercise where we were to examine
photographs…mostly of nature and scenes from around Georgia…taken by Bishop
Logue and other members of the diocesan staff. We took some time to silently
study what was in front of us…sharing at our tables about what we saw in the
images. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There were scenes from country roads…sunrises…flowers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And there was a mood shift. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Seeing beauty…finding words to describe the photos we held in our
hands…was the reminder that even as things seem as if they are spinning out of
control in the world…God shows up to point us back to life…love…and light. And
the words we used to talk about these photos became our prayer and answer to
the world’s troubles.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There are plants…flowers… that sensation of casting a fishing
line…all sorts of things in our every day experience that remind us that God is
present with us…even when everything feels like it’s draped in a dark cloth of
heaviness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">These are the reminders of the hope of God’s promise to not leave
us comfortless in times of trouble.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What those five so-called foolish bridesmaids got wrong was that
they left for the local Wal-Mart to get more oil rather than wait for the
bridesgroom to come and see what he might do to get their fires roaring again…more
vibrant. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Perhaps another rush of wind from the Holy Spirit might’ve got
those fires going stronger again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s not the size of the flame in our lamps that matters: it’s that
there is a flame burning at all that is the most important thing. That flame is
the light of Christ that we bring out into those places where people are
struggling to keep hope for the future alive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hear the Words of the prayers and scripture and let them light a
spark in you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Come to this table and become re-membered into the Body of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Dip your fingers into the baptismal font and remind yourself that
you are one of God’s beloved children…meant to bring Love back out into the
world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Keep your lamps trimmed and burning!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-27391801686807026512023-11-05T12:30:00.001-05:002023-11-05T12:30:00.134-05:00We are Saints<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfOKJpCq35q96RizkbYyVcHM0g_igJNVHwbF9AWSGfhrebk-jaPLXMlPX195bMlRM4lLIseuA3XWW2c_IkeURMQUV8u5iHxJ0wyxZKk0K3BIoFvcMPuOqXCPLzDxN9fnLJuVgqjqp-gwED5fQ7peMIyO4crurDB6ICTpW16qAdxoHdqgcvLOWmdsaRgxK7/s672/%5BUNSET%5D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="672" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfOKJpCq35q96RizkbYyVcHM0g_igJNVHwbF9AWSGfhrebk-jaPLXMlPX195bMlRM4lLIseuA3XWW2c_IkeURMQUV8u5iHxJ0wyxZKk0K3BIoFvcMPuOqXCPLzDxN9fnLJuVgqjqp-gwED5fQ7peMIyO4crurDB6ICTpW16qAdxoHdqgcvLOWmdsaRgxK7/s320/%5BUNSET%5D" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>With all the bad news out there these days (and it has been really bad!) it felt to me that I needed to keep up with the theme of last week and remind us that we were not made to be destructive and disregarding of each other. We were made and charged with caring for each other and the whole of creation. </p><p>Preaching such a message during times of war, and when "progressives" on college campuses are chanting slogans that are anti-Jewish (Cornell had to cancel classes because of the threats being made on their Jewish students), when Gazans are getting bombed to smithereens in an attempt to eradicate the terrorist group Hamas, and when war in Ukraine has fallen off the news because of all of this...while people are getting gunned down outside the Motel 6 a half-mile from my house.....oy!! Preaching in these times feels as if I'm spitting into the wind! </p><p>But that wind is the Holy Spirit. A Spirit who has been spit into and at many times, and won't stop pursuing us to relentlessly seek real relationship with those who want to see Love win in this chaotic world. </p><p>Whose on board with me on that one?!</p><p>Read and see what you think of this message for All Saints' Sunday.</p><p>Texts: Rev. 7:9-17; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5: 1-12 </p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p>+++ </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I’m not much of a gambler. But I am willing to bet that there isn’t
one person in here who thinks of themselves as a saint. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A lot of us probably think that sainthood is a bit too lofty…and
nothing we could or should claim for ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or perhaps we believe only dead people can or should be called “Saints.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And to earn that title of “Saint” the deceased person’s life must
first be put through committees, councils, tested, evaluated again and again
and THEN maybe…if a church authority wills it to be…we can announce that this
person is worthy enough to be called a “saint.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think that for many of us…we are so hyper-focused on our
shortcomings that we can’t see ourselves as God sees us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That delightfully wonderful special being God loves beyond measure.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We let the weight of the world’s judgment weigh us down.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We are more willing to see our sinfulness…and not our saintly
nature.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But someone a whole lot smarter than me once said, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“There are no saints without a past and no sinners without a
future.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Seriously: two of the heavy-hitters of Christianity stubbed their
toes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">St. Peter denied knowing Jesus at a critical hour. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And St. Paul was a persecutor of Jesus’ followers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">William Adams tells a great story about the fabulous preacher Fred
Craddock…and his encounter with a stranger.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Craddock and his wife were vacationing in Tennessee. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They’d stopped at a small quiet restaurant and were looking forward
to a simple night out together. They noticed there was an elderly gentleman who
was visiting guests at various tables in the restaurant.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This man approached them with a jovial greeting. <span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Where are you folks from?” he asked.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Oklahoma,” was the answer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“What do you do?” the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>man asked Craddock.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“I teach homiletics at the graduate seminary of
Phillips University.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Oh, so you teach preachers do you. Well, have I got a
story for you,” and with that he pulled up a chair and sat down at the couple’s
table. The man reached out with his hand and introduced himself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“I’m Ben Hooper.” I was born not far from here across
the mountains. My mother wasn’t married when I was born, so I had a hard time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When I started to school my classmates had a name for
me, and it wasn’t a very nice name.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I used to go off by myself at recess and during lunchtime…
because the taunts of my playmates hurt so much. It was just as bad on the
weekends when I would go downtown. I could feel every eye burning a hole
through me. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They all were wondering just who my real father was.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When I was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to
our church. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">To avoid all the looks, I used to sneak into church
late and slip out early. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But one Sunday morning the preacher said the closing
benediction so fast that I got caught, and I had to walk out with the crowd. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Everyone was staring at me, as we made our way to the
door. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Suddenly, I felt a big hand on my shoulder. I looked
up, and the preacher was looking straight at me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Who are you, son? Whose boy are you?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was the same thing all over again, I thought. Even
the preacher was putting me down. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The preacher didn’t say anything else for a while. He
just stared at me, studying my face. And then he began to smile a big smile of
recognition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Wait a minute,” he said, I know who you are. I see the
family resemblance. You’re a son of God!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">With that, he slapped me on the back and said, “Boy,
you’ve got a great inheritance. Go out and claim it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As old Ben stood up to take his leave of them, he said,
“that was the most important single sentence ever spoken to me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And with that he shook their hands and continued on to
another table to greet old friends.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: .5in; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Craddock came to realize later that this elderly man… Ben Hooper… was
a former Governor of the State of Tennessee. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Ben Hooper’s pastor was right: each one of us is a beloved child of
God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And God’s beloved children are saints. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Does that mean we’re perfect? No. It’s not about being perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our sainthood comes from God’s work which is done through us…a God
of unconditional love who carries us through the difficulties of life…and leads
us to plains and places where we can make a difference in the lives of others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Life sometimes presents enormous challenges…ones that can cause us
to drift away from God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our reading from Revelation sings the praises of those “who have
come through the Great Ordeal.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “great ordeal” referred to in that case
was a time of persecution during the Roman Empire in days when Christians were
getting blamed for all the ills of society…and were being thrown to lions and crucified.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But in truth…we face great ordeals of our own every day here in the
21<sup>st</sup> century. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Wars and violence and increasing tribalism…unbridled greed…
threaten to cancel the covenantal relationships we have with God and one
another…to live into that Great Commandment to love God and love neighbor as
ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And yet the message we hear in our scriptures today is one of
encouragement and hope. And a reminder that if we stick close to the source of
love and life…we can pass through whatever fires are burning around us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Again…I’m not much of a gambler…but I bet everyone in this room can
think of time when they faced a crisis or some kind of turmoil…and can identify
a person or persons who showed up at a critical moment to sit with us…hold our
hand…dry our tears…and walk us through to the other side of whatever seemed
like an insurmountable obstacle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Those people…the poor in spirit…the peacemakers…were our saints and
the embodiment of Jesus in our world today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">On Wednesday…we held a prayer service to commemorate All Saints’
Day. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I said then, and I’ll say now, the saints in our lives are not just
the St. Matthews or Luke’s…or even Barnabas’…although those saints can point us
in a Godward direction. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But quite often there are saints in our own lives and experiences
who we can see and take lessons from in what it means to live out our faith. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Siblings…parents…best friends…teachers…co-workers…strangers: these
are the people who we notice and can see through them how to live lives that
show us the way to be caring, loving creatures of God through stewardship of
the earth and each other. We will be remembering some of those saints shortly
when we have our Prayers of the People. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God’s purpose…to grow a people grounded in Love and loving-kindness…is
still getting worked out through the saints of today: that’s you and me. As we
head back out into the world this week… may we carry with us the knowledge that
we are God’s beloved children…made for goodness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Claim it!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-72529120186818694592023-10-29T12:00:00.007-04:002023-10-29T12:00:00.146-04:00The Greatest Commandment at a Time of Greatest Need<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_lLk1L7l2OcLx88L7YMKZ95EPmdfrbqbbMUJGmBByoGCmmBUbjKnV6aVRJj-ETHzApDpoUy5QZcq1I4YL0Nia6rYofbdfG-HLZudhqAKhx42rUbHnPk9m3ENOzeywr3MbEUnbZP126ZmtyhOVtPQ10yZSbgkllwYQRUGgAFFt6yZ1jshcGWL2GLImut4/s2500/israel-bombs-northern-gaza-amid-hamas-war.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1667" data-original-width="2500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_lLk1L7l2OcLx88L7YMKZ95EPmdfrbqbbMUJGmBByoGCmmBUbjKnV6aVRJj-ETHzApDpoUy5QZcq1I4YL0Nia6rYofbdfG-HLZudhqAKhx42rUbHnPk9m3ENOzeywr3MbEUnbZP126ZmtyhOVtPQ10yZSbgkllwYQRUGgAFFt6yZ1jshcGWL2GLImut4/s320/israel-bombs-northern-gaza-amid-hamas-war.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfpyss0fz5AeVA3YCYCP4bhqM2VXXpT4zeVAUTsUWtDFoiaQMphHm8CH45rDb_2tGjSGlgJAjbsWF9ji7GlAWb7TXz_9q6Wiunjn1dDvrZA85mRs-8wnJFuMNS5xPPJYV6BSw-l2mvISnIkEynqZCDI7socRKrvU1yx6goehWPDQgzXgvv0zh-XdFnlpH/s1200/Lewiston-Maine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="1200" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfpyss0fz5AeVA3YCYCP4bhqM2VXXpT4zeVAUTsUWtDFoiaQMphHm8CH45rDb_2tGjSGlgJAjbsWF9ji7GlAWb7TXz_9q6Wiunjn1dDvrZA85mRs-8wnJFuMNS5xPPJYV6BSw-l2mvISnIkEynqZCDI7socRKrvU1yx6goehWPDQgzXgvv0zh-XdFnlpH/s320/Lewiston-Maine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>This has been another terrible week in the world. Not only are things escalating in the war between Israel and Hamas, I was shocked and deeply saddened when I opened Facebook about 9:30pm on Wednesday and saw a message from one of my friends marking them "safe" from the mass shooting in Lewiston, ME. </p><p>Lewiston is not a huge metropolitan area. By Florida standards, it might be considered a large town or a very small city. The population, roughly 36,000 people, is one of those places where you know your neighbors in ways that most urban areas don't. </p><p>To have 18 people killed...and more than a dozen wounded? My New England heart felt the injury. </p><p>The next day...listening to the news was an exercise in collective grieving. And it was those thoughts that I had to sit down and start writing my sermon for the 22nd Sunday After Pentecost. </p><p>Text: Matthew 22:34-46</p><p>+++</p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“The world is losing its humanity.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I heard that statement on the radio this week. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Philippe Lazzarini said it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He’s the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. He was speaking of the humanitarian crisis
growing in Gaza…a result of Israel’s retaliation for the brutal and horrific
attack unleashed on them by Hamas a few weeks ago. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In that same radio hour that I heard Lazzarini’s interview…I also
listened with a heavy heart to a shell-shocked and saddened reporter in Maine. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The otherwise small and quiet city of Lewiston has joined the list
of places in America reeling from a mass shooting event. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">No one knows why it happened. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The gunman was found dead after a massive manhunt. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A report on the CBS Evening News suggested that this man…who was an
Army reservist suffering from mental health issues… may have become enraged
over a breakup with his girlfriend. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But that’s only speculation…as people try to make sense of a
senseless act of violence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“The world is losing its humanity.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I thought about this comment…and the news of the week… as I stared
at the words of our Gospel lesson.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I thought about the time frame in which this Gospel was written…roughly
twenty years after the second destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The original hearers of this Gospel…just like us…were living in a
time of upheaval…violence…and uncertainty about the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Judaism has lost one of its major structural grounding points…the
temple. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A new thing…which would come to be called Christianity…was emerging
for those who found Jesus as the way…the truth…and the life amidst the chaos of
the world around them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">With that in mind…Jesus appears in this Gospel lesson as the
symbolic representation of the beatitude: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they
will be called children of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In this scene in our Gospel…we see another attempt to get Jesus to
indict himself…and lose credibility among the people who are listening to his
reinterpretation of the law. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He’s already dealt with business about paying taxes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the exchange right before this one…he’s had to answer a question
about the resurrection to people who didn’t believe in resurrection. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Now here comes a smarty-pants lawyer asking him a question about
the commandments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s really a silly question in some ways to pose to an observant
Jew. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The First Commandment…one Jews know as the Shema…is a phrase which
is recited every day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Any Jew worth their salt would know that the first command is to
love God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God is one…love God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">These were the words Moses spoke in Deuteronomy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The fact that Jesus could rattle that off probably didn’t surprise
anyone. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What this cheeky lawyer <b><i>wasn’t</i></b> prepared to hear was Jesus’
further commentary on his question. Jesus expounds upon the law…drawing on a phrase
found in Leviticus… that one must love the neighbor as one’s self. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He then ties the two together by saying that to love God and love
your neighbor… are the underpinning to the rest of the law and everything the
prophets ever said. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If we’ve been paying attention throughout this year of Matthew…we
remember that Jesus famously told those listening to his Sermon on the Mount
that the love of neighbor means not just loving the people you like to hang out
with. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Loving our people…the ones who look like us…talk like us…think like
us…is actually a pretty easy thing to do. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But in addition to loving our own kind…Jesus expects his disciples…which
includes us…to love our enemies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As Jesus said: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain
on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Tough as this is…what Jesus is saying is that to love God with our
all and all means that we must love the things that God loves: which is
basically all of creation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The trees…the birds… the animals…the waters…and most
importantly….the people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All humankind. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All the things who God has made in God’s image. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That sounds good, right?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Putting it into practice? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s where we hear again the lament: we are losing our humanity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At times of war…in the face of such horrific atrocities…how does
one love the enemy who kidnaps and kills innocent people? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">How does one love the enemy who retaliates with dropping bombs from
the air with no concern for those getting killed on the ground? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">How can one’s heart not harden with one mass shooting after another
and no effort to change that narrative? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The phrase “thoughts and prayers” rings so empty now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And yet the words in today’s collect…where we ask God to “increase
in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity” and keep us moving in the
direction of loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves…are so timely for
this moment. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s when the world seems to want to jack up our fears that our
faith in a God who loves must become stronger and more resilient.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Much in the same way our ancestors heard these Gospel messages when
they were facing times of crisis in their world…we must resolve to not give up
hope…to not lose sight of those helpers who show up and stay with us during moments
of pain and suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Helpers like the 23-year-old Palestinian ambulance driver who stayed
to administer aid to those Israelis wounded by Hamas gunmen at a music festival.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or the doctors and nurses in Lewiston Maine who rushed back to work
on a Wednesday night to treat people injured by high-powered bullets.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was the PBS host and Presbyterian minister Fred Rogers who
encouraged the young viewers of his television show to “look for the helpers” when
they’re feeling scared and under threat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Look for those who show the love of God through the way the show up
for others. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Not only can we be that for each other…we can look for those people
in our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can elevate those stories and give thanks for those who despite
efforts to undermine peace and justice…persist in never giving up on Love as
their truth…their way. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Perhaps then we can hope to recover our humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-20319654354450220022023-10-25T22:56:00.003-04:002023-10-25T22:56:18.241-04:00Give God What is God's<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Sermon
for 21A Pentecost<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Proper
24<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">October
22, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> </span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> </span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtFZgBmuFLp9zAGOTIgQS6uoMiqvVyIxrFj4lAY_de_3ZDlT3NBxrl9tjoRc_ZdZ7mE5wUuid8WsSDLWjmmpDoVASDKbsa99Gk2EiRk6l0OjAn0471Y7rCc9Vr7shEDpmaV8SQRGbw4wrfOJvYMaPWis-Z4i78lZe6mZt-GwXcG2vS-tKQPyQAoIisc70B/s750/denarius.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="750" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtFZgBmuFLp9zAGOTIgQS6uoMiqvVyIxrFj4lAY_de_3ZDlT3NBxrl9tjoRc_ZdZ7mE5wUuid8WsSDLWjmmpDoVASDKbsa99Gk2EiRk6l0OjAn0471Y7rCc9Vr7shEDpmaV8SQRGbw4wrfOJvYMaPWis-Z4i78lZe6mZt-GwXcG2vS-tKQPyQAoIisc70B/s320/denarius.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Last week, I was off at Virginia Theological Seminary to celebrate my alma mater's Bicenntenary. It was fun to visit with a few of my friends, and walk around the campus without a care in the world. No paper to write. No tests or chapters to read. I could just enjoy myself. </p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Now I'm back and just in time for the passages in Matthew's Gospel where we witness Jesus having repeated run-ins with people who want to trip him up. Yeah, good luck with that!</p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">It is also coming at a time when there is a war raging in the Middle East. The October 7th attack by Hamas, which was horrific in its indiscriminate slaying of Jews in Israel, has been met by an awful retaliation of bombings of Gaza, which has killed thousands of Palestinians. </p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">The Holy Land...is not so holy. It is hell. And I pray for the violence to stop. </p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">All of this was on my mind as I wrote this sermon. See what you think. </p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> </span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Text: Matthew 22:15-22<br />+++ </span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There’s a woman we’ve been praying for this year who recently
passed away after a relatively short illness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Her name is Lucy Morgan.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Lucy was a friend of mine and a journalism colleague in
Tallahassee. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Back in the 1990s…when I was working in public radio…Lucy was the
bureau chief for the St. Petersburg Times…now the Tampa Bay Times. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The St. Pete Times holds the distinction of having been one of the
best newspapers in the state…and Lucy was among their Pulitzer Prize winning
journalists. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She was called the “Dean of the Press Corps” not just because of
her long-tenure as a bureau chief…but because she was a formidable presence…and
not a person to mess with.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She was quick-witted…funny.. and was dogged in her pursuit of the
truth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And…like any good journalist…she had an ethical core that demanded
fairness in her quest to get to the bottom of a story.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If there was one thing Lucy could not abide…it was those
journalists who liked to play the game of “gotcha.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Lucy didn’t feel the need to set up her interview subjects for the
purposes of entrapping them. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the world of political reporting…liars would become quickly self-evident.
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Armed with facts…a good ethical reporter has no need to play
“gotcha.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Those reporters who liked to play the “gotcha” game earned Lucy’s
disdain…and by extension…the rest of us in the Capital Press Corps would also
shun and shame them for their behavior.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The “gotcha” style of questioning is more about the ego of that
journalist…the insecurity that makes them need to play a game in order to feel
like they have the power and the upper hand in the interview. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It has nothing to do with getting the information the public needs to
know. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That same kind of egotistical power playing is on full display in
our Gospel lesson this morning. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Here we have this unholy alliance of the Pharisees and the
Herodians coming together against their common irritant: Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At this point in Matthew’s Gospel…Jesus has already run afoul of
both groups with his triumphant ride into Jerusalem…mocking the Empire… and his
table-turning in the Temple. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He’s a threat to the status quo…a rebel with a cause. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Herodians would have allegiance to King Herod Antipas…the King
installed by the Roman Empire…the oppressors of the Jews. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Herod’s also the one who arrested and then beheaded John the
Baptist. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Pharisees represent the rule-keeping religious sect of Judaism…who
see Jesus and his disciples not keeping with the proper order of things…and
calling into question “the way things are.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">These two groups are looking for ways to trip him up. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So, they send some underlings to harass him. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">After his inquisitors put on a show of flattery…they try to zing Jesus
with their “gotcha” question:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the Emperor or not?’<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What a set up!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If he says, “No”…the Herodians can accuse him of sedition against
the Emperor.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If he says, “Yes”…the Pharisees hope it will undermine his
credibility among the occupied Jewish citizens by making him look like a Roman
sympathizer. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The denarius…the coin Jews had to use to pay taxes to Rome… not
only had the image of Tiberius Caesar; it proclaimed Caesar to be divine. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Such a phrase was highly offensive to the Jews and they resented this
idea of Caesar being “divine” in any way. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus isn’t interested in their gotcha question. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He knows what they’re trying to do. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Afterall…this is the Jesus who has earlier in the Gospel flipped
over tables in the Temple… so he’s not playing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He takes their gotcha question and turns it inside out. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Show me the coin! Who’s head is this?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“The Emperor”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“OK…well…then you give this secular object representing secular
things with this secular authority’s image to the secular authority. And you give
to God those things with God’s image what is owed to God….” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And what bears this image of God?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Well…look in the mirror.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The thing God desires is us…the whole of us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Every part of us. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our good…bad…and even our ugly us. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All our love… all our heart, all our mind, all our soul…all our
strength.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As it’s said in Luke’s Gospel, for God… the very hairs on our heads
are of more value than the cost of sparrows in the market place. (Luke 12:6-7)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The image of Caesar on the coin…just like the images we have of our
founding fathers on our own currency …are fine for earthly commerce. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But God deals in hearts and minds…not silver and gold. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus’ answer raises for us the importance of seeing the difference
between what <b><i>poses</i></b> as powerful in our secular society versus the
power of God which is over and beyond all that worldly authority. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This language is putting before us the tension that we must live
into as citizens in our society. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We must negotiate how to move from this place…this safe haven where
we confess a belief in the risen Christ and come to God’s table to remember
Christ’s work through the cross to bring us into relationship with God…and
allow that to shape our actions when we leave here.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That includes how we put our earthly income to use and how we confront
the systems and structures of our world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What are the values we carry from here that inform those choices
about our finances and what we take out into the public life?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The group that writes our Prayers of the People often wrestles with
this…especially as we contemplate the writing prayers for “the nation and all
in authority.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We talk about where the needs are in our community and the
pressures that weigh on our elected officials. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We also recognize that we live in a pluralistic society…so we don’t
seek a Christian theocracy. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But we know that if our leaders would work from a basic level of
following the words of the prophet Micah…to do justice, love mercy, and walk
humbly with God… our world would be a kinder and more equitable place for all
people.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We might actually bring about a society where all people have equal
access to food…shelter… and education.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Where our differences in age…income…orientation…skin color…national
origin…are seen through eyes of awe and delight instead of fear and suspicion.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is the dream that we would hope would bring about peace for
all…and end such conflicts as we are seeing play out in Israel and
Gaza…Ukraine…and Sudan. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Praying for our leaders…seeking peace and justice for all
people…helps to form us and the guide us in the decisions we make. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">By asking for God’s guidance for others…we’re directing our own
hearts toward making this a better society…and helping us to put our resources
to the best use for everyone. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">May we lift those prayers in hopes of God’s will being manifested
on earth as it is in heaven. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> </span></p>
SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-710501440460045512023-10-08T22:50:00.005-04:002023-10-08T22:50:39.432-04:00Taking Care of the Vineyard: A Sermon for 19A Pentecost<p>This has been a hard week to get into writing a sermon based on the Gospel of Matthew. We just had our annual Fall Clergy Conference where I spent time getting ready for preaching the Gospel of Mark. And so my mind has been filled with lots of thoughts about Mark. And not as many thoughts about Matthew. I tried a little experimentation with my sermon which my loyal audience (aka my spouse) told me wasn't worth the effort. After tinkering some more, this is where I landed on discussing "vineyards." See if this works for you. </p><p>+++</p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Texts:
Ex. 20:1-4;7-9;12-20 and Matt 21:33-46<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When I first sat down and read through this morning’s Gospel…I
thought, “Wow! This is violent!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I considered the message of the Ten Commandments we heard earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">These are basic rules or law.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All the people in this Gospel… and the community who heard this
Gospel…would have known this law.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Presumably…we know this too…although Jesus did give us a simpler
way to remember it as, “Love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all
your mind, and you should love your neighbor as yourself.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And my next thought, “How quickly do we forget the basic rules of
how to live and treat one another!” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This story…often called the Wicked Tenants… is telling the sad
history of Israel…which isn’t that different than the tale of humanity today. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think we can all figure out who is who…but just in case we need a
refresher…the landowner is God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God has this lovely vineyard…which in this case… we’re to
understand as Israel. We might even broaden that thought to include the whole
earth…but Matthew seems to be mostly interested in Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This vineyard is producing fruit…good fruit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The tenants in this story represent the stiff-necked Israelites who
refused to listen to the prophets of the Old Testament.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The prophets in this case are the slaves in Jesus’ parable. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The books of the Old Testament are full of stories about how Israel
failed to heed the prophet’s warnings to stick close to God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That failure was often seen as the reason Israel found itself <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>conquered and exiled and occupied. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In this Gospel moment… the occupier is the Roman Empire.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We know that the landowner’s son is Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because Matthew is writing post-resurrection, post-the second
destruction of the temple in Jerusalem…Matthew has Jesus predicting his own
fate in this squabble he’s having with the elders and the chief priests.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He even includes the fact that the son gets killed “outside” of the
vineyard. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus was killed outside Jerusalem. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus has been having a LOT of arguments with the religious
authorities lately. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If you remember last week…the debate was over why the elders didn’t
believe John the Baptist…and questioning by what authority is Jesus making
trouble in the Jerusalem temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As background: this chapter of Matthew starts with Jesus’
triumphant entry into the holy city… and then he goes into the Temple and
starts flipping over tables and cursing fig trees. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is a riled-up and ready to rumble Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Rumble with wit and words not weapons.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The elders, chief priests and later the Pharisees confront him…and
this is when Jesus launches into parables that point to their shortcomings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And he intentionally uses language that his challengers…and
Matthew’s community… know very well. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He provokes them with his choice of imagery.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A vineyard that has a fence around it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One of the common phrases used in rabbinic Judaism is “putting a
fence around Torah” or “a fence around the law.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What would the law be? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Well…it’s the commandments we heard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Think about this vineyard then producing fruit. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The fruit is what comes from us. The seed of love planted in us
with our baptism and watered through scripture and community gathering. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When we follow the very basic concept of loving God and loving our
neighbor as ourselves…the vineyard produces beautiful and abundant fruit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Love builds a better community. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is an idea that would not have been foreign to the religious
authorities engaged with Jesus in this scene. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So when the “tenants” refuse to let the landowner collect<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">the
fruit of this vineyard…it’s an act of defiance and rejection. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They’re refusing to give back to the landowner the fruits. The fruits
which have been nurtured by this vineyard. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jesus quotes Psalm 118, a psalm celebrating God’s mercy that was
sung at many a Jewish festival…about rejected stones becoming chief
cornerstones. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This was his way of saying: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Y’all have strayed from your roots…from those basic ideas of love
God and love your neighbor. And because you have…don’t be surprised when you
find tax collectors and prostitutes and everyone else you think of as the
riff-raff occupying your seats.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is a harsh Gospel. Not just for them. But for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This parable speaks to the ways we can fail to recognize the gifts God
has freely given to us…and our refusal to acknowledge and return that favor by
giving ourselves back to God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can become possessive…greedy and exploitive of those gifts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And at what cost to us?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been thinking a lot about
how this parable reflects the current crisis we’re in with our climate. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I listen to a lot of radio shows. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Many of the programs I’ve heard lately are asking the question, “Is
it too late to save our planet?” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Everyone now seems to agree that human beings and fossil fuels are
the main contributors to climate change. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Seriously, at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in
DC…there’s a whole exhibit funded by the Koch Brothers…that shows the
devastating impacts of humans and our industries have had on the planet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Farmers are seeing firsthand that climate change affects their
growing seasons…and the yields they’re getting at the harvest time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because storms are getting more intense… because droughts are
happening more frequently… and wildfires are more prevalent…everyone’s
insurance rates are on the rise…homeowners…businesses…churches. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So…the older generations are beginning to get antsy about all of
this …while the younger generations are clamoring for something to happen right
now to move away from fossil fuels and invest in cleaner energy sources.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And it gets me wondering about what our Christian response should
be. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If we truly believe the things we say in the church…if we believe
that the earth is the Lord’s for God made it…that “all things come of thee…O
Lord…and of thine own we have given thee”…then care for creation… “this fragile
earth our island home”… must be a priority. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We only have a relatively short time on the planet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can either treat what we have here as a gift that we nurture and
take care of…or we exploit and abuse the gift at our own peril. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The landowner in this parable and our planet are the examples of God’s
selfless giving…and grace freely bestowed on us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">How we respond to that generosity is what Jesus is driving at in
the parable. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">God’s desire is for us to enjoy what we have…and live in peace and
love for one another and all creation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In turn…our response needs to be selfless gratitude and love for
the gifts of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When we view all that is within us and around us as part of God…
when we place God at the center and grounding for our lives…our focus shifts
away from acting out of self-centeredness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s true love which makes for a better and happier community. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-80370790990766301532023-10-02T11:25:00.002-04:002023-10-02T11:25:14.544-04:00"Be of the Same Mind": A Sermon for 18A Pentecost<p> It's always a good reminder to the church that we are stronger together than when we pull apart. And yet human nature seems to always want us to get into competition with each other. And competition brings out the accusations and the nitpicking and the feelings of worthlessness...at least it does in some of us.</p><p>I thought it was important to address those things, especially since we've been spending so much time these past few weeks on texts about living in community. See what you think. </p><p>+++</p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Text:
Phillipians 2:1-13</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I came across an interesting story about three American women
writers: Adrienne Rich, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was 1974. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Each of them had been nominated for a National Book Award in
poetry. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Adrienne Rich ended up winning the award. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But in an act of solidarity and radical humility…her acceptance
speech began:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“We…Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, and Alice Walker…TOGETHER…accept
this award in the name of all women whose voices have gone and still go unheard
in a patriarchal world.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The three of them had conspired that… no matter who won the
prize…this would be the statement they would make. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They rejected the model of competition that such award ceremonies
generate. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For them… it was important to stand together in unity…recognizing
that each of them were gifted writers deserving of the prize. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our American culture…and really all of western culture… puts a lot
of stock in individual achievement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We love to crown winners and sigh and shake our heads at losers….
offering a “better luck next time.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This type of competition and hyper-individualism are exactly the
things that Paul is cautioning the Church at Phillipi to avoid. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is a love letter. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He founded this church and clearly holds a deep affection for the
people. This is one letter where the apostle brings up “joy” and “rejoicing”
over and over…at least sixteen times. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So, there are definitely good things happening in that
church…things which help lift his spirits as he is writing this letter from one
of the many jail cells he found himself in during the course of his ministry.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But there’s also clearly something amiss. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Somewhere… in some portion of the community… there’s been a
disagreement…or some deep resentment of some kind… that’s threatening to rob
the Church of Philippi of its joy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Scholars have tried to figure out exactly what was happening
there…but they can’t quite put their fingers on it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What we do know is that in some of the other churches around the Mediterranean
region in Paul’s time…there were outsiders who would come in and question
customs or beliefs…or…in the case of the Corinthians…there were those who
thought their particular gifts made them better than others. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Bible is a couple thousand years old… but human behavior…with
jealousy…envy and rubbing each other wrong way… are still things which plague us.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">To address this under-the-surface trouble that’s rippling through
the Church of Philippi… Paul writes this letter and encourages them to remember
who they are and whose they are. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">(Y’all remember him, right? You remember Jesus?) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And then he goes on to quote what many believe are the words of an
ancient hymn:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality
with God as something to be exploited…but emptied himself…. humbled himself…and
became obedient to the point of death…”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The example Jesus gives to us is that of a person who understands
that true power doesn’t come from “winning” or “conquering” in the way we’re
encouraged to think about it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">True power is when we bring our full selves… our skills…our
experiences… and our wisdom… and join with others who share a common vision.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Together…a unified church works toward creating a world where all
people… no matter who they are… are reminded they are valued and given the
dignity and respect due to everyone. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hallelujah!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s power in
humility! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But not humble to the point of being a doormat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For reasons that are among the great mysteries of English
translations when it comes to the Bible…the line <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the
interests of others” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">lacks a critical word. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the Greek…there is a “kai” inserted into the sentence… “kai”
meaning “also.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So the line should actually read: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Let each of you look not to your own interests but ALSO to the
interests of others.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In other words… do take care of yourself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But not to the point of narcissism…because you must still have
appreciation for others’ gifts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">People who are narcissistic becomes hoarders of the love they are
expected to extend to their kinfolk and even the stranger. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They are the takers without ever giving back to the community. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Narcissism has no place in the Christian community. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At the same time…Paul’s reminding us of Jesus’ humility…and how he
emptied himself…didn’t lord it over others that he was on equal footing with
God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So…what does that mean…”to empty ourselves”?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Liz Cooledge Jenkins… in writing for The Christian Century
magazine… suggests that when we think of this type of humility…the thing that
needs “emptying” are the extremes of how we view ourselves…especially when we
get into that place of viewing ourselves and comparing ourselves to other
people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can get caught up in that mind game of seeing other people as
less than our idea of perfect or even so much better than ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The extremes can lead us to become really arrogant… <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or we collapse ourselves into the tiniest ball of self-belittlement.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In both cases… these extremes can damage the church community. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So then it’s on the church to keep us from falling into one of
these destructive behaviors.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Those who become too arrogant… need the community to hold them
accountable in love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Those with that tendency to think they’re a nobody…and take
humility to the point of thinking they’re of no worth… need the community to
remind them that they do matter. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Not only does God value them as much as the lilies of the field…so
does the church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think this letter to the Philippians couldn’t come at a better
time for us at St. Barnabas…especially as we are engaging in a listening
process as a congregation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s the reminder that each one of us plays an important role here
and each one of us contributes gifts of this community…gifts which come from
that love of Christ that brought us here together here in the first place. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We each have a variety of skills and smarts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We come from diverse experiences and backgrounds… all of which
matter. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">No one here is a greater than or less than in this church. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We all have something that we can contribute toward our stated
vision for a world of “health, healing, and hope with unconditional love.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Paul’s letter encourages us to see ourselves rightly as beloved
children of God…and give mutual respect to each other.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We need that reminder early and often.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">To take the time to acknowledge the work each of us is doing to
help grow and sustain our community.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s number crunching the budget…creating and folding
bulletins…cleaning up of the grounds…watering plants…visiting the sick…working
with community groups…serving on diocesan committees…or preparing coffee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Each of us is doing something that contributes to our community. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s about living into this ethic of love which keeps the ego in
check and puts aside self-centered righteousness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And it takes practice. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because it’s counter to our culture which lures us into wanting to
shine the spotlight on some but not others… and demands that there must be
winners…or heroes…while others are losers and villains. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If we’re going to claim unity in Christ…if we’re going to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>follow in Christ’s teachings…then we have to
“do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility regard others as
better than yourselves.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Regard others as people also worthy of praise…dignity and respect. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If we do this…we’ll show others a side of Christianity that seems
to have been lost in all the noise of culture wars and such.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And we might show God at work in us…shining like a lamp in the
darkness for those seeking to know this God who loves so deeply. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-10207157631521446032023-09-24T18:30:00.001-04:002023-09-24T18:30:00.140-04:00Knowledge is Power: A Sermon for the Feast Day of St. Anna Alexander<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PcRndcA4P3ENBld3RzF6iXPVSHQKh9I2vv_5P-54BKqVeDVAvpLEnE18Lw-C4j2125JJnuTZSWYUg4moM1XloaTwcW4YdjuM-NMOc6DeyZE0Z4nQX4HvzaMJ81XZjzlFUFc0KXVTt-QL2I5mkNFps9spA_ZagInKv7uhojRCKRh2jM7W5M-TpCcFlNfo/s400/Anna_Alexander.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PcRndcA4P3ENBld3RzF6iXPVSHQKh9I2vv_5P-54BKqVeDVAvpLEnE18Lw-C4j2125JJnuTZSWYUg4moM1XloaTwcW4YdjuM-NMOc6DeyZE0Z4nQX4HvzaMJ81XZjzlFUFc0KXVTt-QL2I5mkNFps9spA_ZagInKv7uhojRCKRh2jM7W5M-TpCcFlNfo/s320/Anna_Alexander.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We’ve all heard the phrase “Knowledge is power.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Teachers know this well. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">People who enter the teaching profession don’t do it for the great
pay and certainly these days they don’t do it because they think they’re going
to get a gold star or a medal of some kind. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For many… the motivation to teach comes from their own insatiable
appetite to learn. And then they want to pass along what they’ve learned to
others. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The reward for their work comes when they see in the face of a
child that spark… when a connection gets made… and there’s the big “a-ha!” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And there is so much joy in watching a student fall in love with
learning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One of my friends who teaches at Florida State says that she
realized recently that her years and years of study… and then working in the
world of academe gave her the advantage of knowing how to persist in the face
of bureaucratic red tape. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Universities are great big bureaucracies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Knowing how to negotiate through them is a learned skill. And it’s
these skills that one carries into every day life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Again…”knowledge is power.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s so disturbing to see
political leaders actively working against teachers and their abilities to pass
along knowledge. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Teachers have a passion for wanting to encourage students to
understand the world and be able to think through problems and find solutions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They want to encourage the next generation to recognize the
mistakes of the past and lead us to a better future. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Not only is knowledge powerful… it leads to independence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Teachers know this. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Anna Alexander knew this. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">You have in your bulletin insert this morning a very brief history
of Deaconess Anna Alexander’s life. But there’s much more to be said about this
remarkable woman who our Episcopal Church recognizes as among the saints of our
tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Anna was the youngest of eleven children. Her parents… Aleck and
Daphne Alexander… had been slaves in the mid-1800s. Aleck was a waiter on the
Butler Plantation outside of Brunswick. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That’s where he encountered the retired English actress Fanny
Kemble, the wife of the plantation owner Pierce Butler. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Aleck was a teenager…and he begged Fanny to teach him to read and
write. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Unlike her husband… and the rest of rural Georgia society at the
time… Fanny was a staunch abolitionist. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Georgia law prohibited teaching the African slaves…but Fanny did it
anyway. And Aleck proved to be an exceptional student. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When Aleck and Daphne married… they moved to Pennick to start their
family. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They both had a keen appreciation for how important education had
been in their lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And they knew this would be the bedrock for their children as well
as they prepared them for the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The family were all Episcopalians and so their two major textbooks
became the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Anna took to education like a fish to water. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She left Georgia and graduated from St. Paul’s College in
Lawrenceville, Virginia…a school founded by the Reverend James Soloman
Russell…an African-American Episcopal priest who had been one of the first
graduates of Bishop Payne Divinity School… a school started to train blacks for
the Episcopal priesthood. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">My own alma mater...Virginia Theological Seminary…had refused to
train black men for ministry…hence the need for Bishop Payne Divinity School. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When Anna went back to Georgia…she joined her sisters Mary and Dora
in teaching at St. Cyprian’s School in Darien. Anna was living in Brunswick.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Every day…she would make the trip to Darien by foot and by row boat
to teach children.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was during a service at St. Athanasius Episcopal Church in
Brunswick… that Anna felt a call to start a school and later a church in her
hometown of Pennick. With the help of one of her brothers…they built a one-room
schoolhouse and later added a loft above the classroom where she lived. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In 1901…Anna had her first six students. The following year… they
opened their church…The Church of the Good Shepherd. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">About five years later… the Bishop of Georgia…C.K. Nelson… went
against the Southern cultural norms of the time and he ordained Anna Alexander
as the first African American deaconess in the Episcopal Church. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This was the formal recognition of her calling to be an educator.
Deaconesses in the Episcopal Church were women operating in various service
professions…including teachers. Anna’s teaching…like that which her parents had
instilled in their children… was very much tied to the Book of Common Prayer
and the Bible. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Unfortunately…her ordination in 1907 came at the same time that
there was a split in the diocese of Georgia. The state’s population had grown
enough that The Episcopal Church created a second diocese…the diocese of
Atlanta…and sent Bishop Nelson to the west. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Georia elected a new bishop named Frederick Reese…a man who didn’t
know Anna Alexander. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Bishop Reese and the diocese of Georgia segregated their
convention… excluding the eight black congregations from participating in the
larger life of the Episcopal Church. The separate Council of Colored Churchmen
went largely unnoticed by their white counterparts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This disparity continued until 19-47…the year Anna Alexander died. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But knowledge is power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
Anna Alexander knew how to work around the church to continue to seek funding and
support for her school and Good Shepherd through the program that is now the
Episcopal Church Women or E-C-W. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She kept teaching and encouraging the children of Pennick. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She started taking them on trips to visit some of the historically
black colleges including Fort Valley State…Voorhees University in South Carolina
and her alma mater St. Paul’s in Virginia. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In our Gospel… Jesus encourages those who are getting held down
under the thumb of an oppressive Roman Empire to turn to him…and ‘take his
yoke’ upon them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This is a Jewish phrase for “be my student” or “let me be your
tutor.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What Anna Alexander provided to her community was fifty plus years
of breaking down barriers and opening the world to children in very rural
Georgia in ways that might never have happened for them otherwise. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Thanks be to God for her and for all those who today persist with
determination to teach and excite the minds of the next generation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-12810571748845628752023-09-18T08:21:00.000-04:002023-09-18T08:21:02.261-04:00Forgiveness: A Sermon for 16A Pentecost<p> Really, this sermon is sort of a "Part Two" from last week's and it comes at a crucial time in my particular journey. </p><p>I have been struggling for several years with how, or even if, I can forgive a family member who did serious damage to me and my wife. Events at St. Barnabas recently reopened that wound. I didn't bleed out all over the congregation, but I did realize that if I don't do some things to address this wound, it has the potential to hamper my ability to function well as a priest. </p><p>And so I am doing what I need to do. And offering what I can offer in my sermon... which began with my honest gut reaction to the Gospel. See what you think.</p><p>Text: Matthew 18:21-35</p><p>+++</p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I don’t know about y’all….but when I read the first two verses of
this Gospel…with Peter asking “How many times must I forgive…” and Jesus was
saying, “Not seven times…but seventy-seven times…” my initial response was…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Really, Jesus? Really?! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because that’s how hard it can be to be forgiving. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Truly forgiving from the heart. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For anyone who has ever been used or abused in any way….anyone who
has ever felt the sting of discrimination…this idea of forgiveness and getting
to that place of forgiving the one who has committed the wrong against us can
feel that the task is as an impossible as Sisyphus pushing that huge boulder up
a hill. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And this passage has been misused by some in the church to wrongly
chastise people living in abusive relationships. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">To be clear: not any part of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, Son,
or Holy Spirit condones abusive behavior of <b><i>any </i></b>kind. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">To wrap our minds around today’s reading…it’s important to remember
last week’s Gospel. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I wish the two parts had been read together…but they weren’t. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So…quick review of what we called “The Rule of Christ” from this
past Sunday: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When we last left Jesus and the disciples…Jesus was laying out for
them the way to live in harmony in community…and managing the conflicts that
inevitably arise in community.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">An example of this: let’s say a member has done something… broke
some kind of trust with another member. The first thing that must happen is
that the offended person goes to the offender and says,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“You hurt me…and this is how you hurt me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The offender listens…perhaps didn’t realize what they had done. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Maybe they give their perspective. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Perhaps there’s more listening…more discussion…and in the end… the
offender makes apology… and the relationship can be reconciled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If that doesn’t happen… and there’s still conflict… or perhaps the
issue has escalated…bring in two or three others to work out a resolution and
get the offender to right their behavior. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If that still doesn’t stop the wrong behavior… it’s time for the
whole church to get in on the issue. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And then… if things are really not going to change… then the person
who is the disruptor will ‘be as a Gentile or tax collector’… a First Century
way of saying to this Jewish audience hearing all of this… “this one is not one
of us.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This system is a way of giving the one who has been hurt a chance
to air their grievance…while establishing a system that insures that the one
accused of committing a wrong isn’t simply thrown out without bringing in
cooler minds to hear the whole story. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The church back in Matthew’s days… and in some ways still … remains
a fragile community,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nobody wanted to just toss aside people whenever there was
disagreement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This Rule of Christ sets up boundaries for behavior…and how to
manage the conflict. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That brings us up to speed with Peter and Jesus and today’s Gospel.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Peter isn’t talking about any old person who he might need to
forgive. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He says “if another member of the church”…in other words…if one of
my kin folk here does me wrong… do I need to forgive them seven times?” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Seven… meaning “perfection.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So does my forgiveness need to be perfect?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And Jesus’ answer is basically… it needs to be more than perfect.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We are to live… knowing that we are a forgiven people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But forgiveness doesn’t happen without the acknowledgement…and the
recognition that a wrong… a sin… has happened. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can’t forgive something where there isn’t a wrong that has
occurred. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And forgiveness can only come from the person who has been wronged.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">To make this point abundantly clear… Jesus tells a parable of the
servant and the king. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And it’s a really over the top story!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As Eugene Boring notes… in the economy of Jesus’ day… a talent is
the largest monetary unit. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Just one talent is the equivalent of the wages of fifteen years. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the parable… this servant owes the king ten thousand talents….in
other words… an impossibly high number. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It would be like saying that a person working at a fast-food
restaurant for minimum wage must pay back a debt of one trillion dollars or be
thrown in jail and their family members sold into perpetual slavery. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s just not possible for the worker with that sort of salary to
make the payment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the story…when the servant begs for mercy… the king (who knew
the guy would never be able to pay him back)… cancels the whole debt and sends
him away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Again… this is an extravagant move… an unexpected gesture of
kindness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But that servant never acknowledges the grace granted to him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Instead… when he runs into a fellow servant…a guy who owes him
basically the equivalent of maybe fifty or sixty dollars…not only does the
fortunate and forgiven one <b>demand </b>the money right there on the spot… when
this other servant also begs for mercy… this guy starts to choke him…before
having his colleague thrown in jail. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Others see what’s happened. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We might call these others “the church”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They run to the king: “Your lordship… oh benevolent mighty one…
this man who you forgave of his debt has lashed out at another!” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The king explodes in anger.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He revokes his mercy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And he has the man tortured for the cruelty shown to a fellow
servant. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Again…this is another outrageous action. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If we are to follow what seems to be Matthew’s logic… that “the
King” is a representation of God… do we believe that the God who is “slow to
anger and abounding in steadfast love” as we hear often in our psalms…can be so
vicious as to demand torture of those who fail to show forgiveness?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Would God really cancel mercy?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Remember…this parable is full of extremes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Extremes that are meant to shake us up and get our attention.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So…perhaps rather than get so bogged down in the details of the
parable itself… we should take it as answering Peter’s question about how perfect
does he need to be in his forgiveness? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or to personalize it… how perfect do we need to be in forgiving
others?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Maybe instead of seeking to be perfect in our ability to forgive
others… we need to get back to that idea that we have been granted grace… and
mercy…and forgiveness from a God who knows us better than ourselves…and that
includes those parts of us that we aren’t proud of. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s interesting to me that we have these examinations of
forgiveness in our tradition at this time of year while our siblings in Judaism
are entering those days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur… The Days of Awe…a
period where Jews throughout the world are expected to do a self-assessment at
how well are they doing at tikkun olam…the work of healing, repairing, and
transforming their communities. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Like us…wrestling with forgiveness… this involves admitting that
there are short-comings in that effort to repair breaches. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That work will require heartfelt apologies and seeking forgiveness.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And it is on-going.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It may never be perfect… but it is necessary to keep engaging and
never giving in to despair.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At the Rosh Hashanah service I attended with my wife yesterday… her
rabbi mentioned in his sermon that perfection is an expectation we place on
ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be “perfect” leads to
disappointment and loneliness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because God alone is perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We can only do our best to live into that Golden Rule of “Do unto
others as you would have done unto you.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Or… in the words we say each Sunday with the Lord’s Prayer…
“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Forgiveness is hard work. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But when a person makes a true apology…seeks mercy… and changes
their actions to right their past mistakes… forgiveness is the appropriate
response. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It’s not that we forget…or gloss over what has happened. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But our forgiveness is a way to liberate ourselves…the ones
offering forgiveness… from the need to seek revenge. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Freeing us to live more in love rather than stewing in hate…and it
helps us to return to right relationship with God and each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the name of God…F/S/HS. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1928508826592241080.post-73545671188654397322023-09-12T14:56:00.002-04:002023-09-12T14:56:52.123-04:00Practicing the Rule of Christ<p> Sometimes, the Sunday lectionary grabs one by the throat and insists that you must not look away from the very difficult lesson. That's how I felt, anyway, when I saw what was on the docket for Sunday.</p><p>This lesson on how to deal with conflict in the church is showing up at a time when the Episcopal Church is facing scrutiny for some incidents involving bishops who have used and abused their power. I have already talked enough here about my own involvement in shedding light on the wrongdoings in the diocese of Florida. Bishop Howard is now a subject of a possible Title IV proceeding, the ecclesiastical discipline canon for those clergy who have not done right by their office. Articles in The Living Church and Episcopal News Service revealed that there are additional Title IV cases involving two other bishops, one of whom is retired an reportedly assaulted the President of the House of Deputies at last year's General Convention. After going through the proper channels to address this problem, an attorney in the Presiding Bishop's office recommended that the offending bishop be given "pastoral care" instead of being stripped of his privileges as a bishop. This failure to discipline the offender set off a tidal wave of anger in the church, which the Presiding Bishop <a href="https://religionnews.com/2023/09/05/bishop-michael-curry-responds-to-complaints-of-free-passes-for-accused-bishops/" target="_blank">was forced to address.</a></p><p>All of this, coupled with a few tense moments recently at St. Barnabas, weighed heavily on my heart and mind as I wrote this sermon. See what you think.</p><p>Texts: Matthew 18:15-20, Romans 13:8-14</p><p>+++</p><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One of the things our Episcopal Diocese of Georgia requires of all
new priests serving parishes here is that we have to take a week-long course in
Conflict Management. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Note that it’s not called Conflict “resolution” but Conflict
“management.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The understanding is that in any group…and a church being a
particular type of group… there is always going to be conflict. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because we’re human beings…each with our own experiences of life
which inform how we interact with other human beings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And that will…inevitably…lead to conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I’ve done the training…in fact, I did some of it twice because
another diocesan requirement of priests is to attend Leading with Grace where
some of the same conflict management concepts with the same trainers happened
again. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One of the things I remember about the Conflict Management training
for priests was that there was only one person who was entirely comfortable
entering into a conflict situation…and she was one of the trainers!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The rest of us fell along a spectrum of “I’ll do it if I really
have to” to the ones who really didn’t like conflict at all…and joked that the
turtle…a reptile able to tuck its head back into its shell… was their power
animal. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We all loved each other through our hesitations…and examinations of
how we handled conflict…and left with tools and understanding that we could
apply not only in our church communities…but in our everyday dealings with
others. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What we learned is pretty much the directives laid out in our
Gospel lesson. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We could call this “How to Manage Conflict in the Church.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But another theologian had a snapper title. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Estrella Horning called this “The Rule of Christ.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And it’s a simple concept of how to preserve community living. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Because that’s really Matthew’s goal with this particular story.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If someone commits a wrong against you…your first step is take that
person aside and have a one-on-one. And hopefully, that will be all it takes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But…y’know…that step is probably the hardest step. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Some people simply suffer in silence and say nothing…harboring the
hurt…taking the abuse…feeling unloved…until it comes out in ways that are
usually self-destructive. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Some people… instead of taking the person aside and addressing them
directly… begin a campaign of talking behind their back and spreading gossip and
rumors about them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Telling five or ten others rather than the one person who needs to
hear the complaint.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nothing can be more destructive to a community…and more antithetical
to love… than gossip.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Gossip goes against the whole notion of “love your neighbor.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And this is why…once more…Jesus’ instruction in his “Rule of
Christ” for living in a community…is to start at the most intimate level…the
one-on-one. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When speaking to the person…know that they might not be aware that
they have been doing harm. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Talk it out…pray…and hope that this will resolve the issue.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If that doesn’t work… then bring in two or three others into the
discussion. See if a few more minds around the table can come to a better
understanding.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If the person who has committed the wrong still won’t listen…that’s
when it goes to the wider church. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The point of this Gospel lesson isn’t about being punishing and
punitive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What Jesus is driving at is that when living in right relationship
in community… the person who has committed the wrong or the sin against another
member deserves protection from arbitrary actors. At the same time…those who’ve
suffered wrong need to be heard…and their injury taken seriously. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If we follow this model… not just in church but in how we live and
go about our lives in the world… the outcome is a healthier community…one that
“lays aside the works of darkness and puts on the armor of light” as we heard
in Paul’s Letter to the Church in Rome.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And fair warning to y’all: Jesus will be making even more of this
lesson next week. Because of course this Gospel falls in a much larger context.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the section right before today’s reading… Jesus tells the
parable of the lost sheep. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The shepherd…upon realizing that one sheep has gone missing…leaves
the other ninety-nine… the ones who are doing OK… and goes off to find the one
that has wandered away. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Upon finding that one… the shepherd rejoices.
Because…ultimately…God’s goal is to bring all back into right relationship. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hence…this Rule of Christ reading this morning. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The timing of this Gospel lesson couldn’t have been more
prescient…at least in the life of the broader Episcopal Church. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Some recent reports have come out in various church news
publications about bishops in the church behaving badly. One was accused of
verbal and physical assaults of family members. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Another is under investigation for intentionally ignoring church
canons that allow for the full participation of LGBTQ people in the life of the
Episcopal Church. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And in yet another case… a high-ranking member of the laity was
reportedly assaulted by a retired bishop from her diocese at last year’s
General Convention as she entered the hall to be introduced to the House of
Bishops. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All this at a time when we’re in the midst of doing our part here
in Georgia to complete the Safe Church Safe Communities training before
November…. the very training that demands better of all of us in how we treat
each other.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When the mechanisms in place in the church fail to protect the
rights of those injured…all of us suffer. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In this case with the bishops…the loud megaphone of the church news
services brought the issue into the light. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And the offending parties have become to us as “a Gentile or a tax
collector.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It seems justice could only truly happen when the press became “the
church.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There is now a pledge from members of the House of
Bishops…including our own Bishop Frank Logue…that there <b><i>will</i></b> be
an examination of what went wrong in these processes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">With God’s help…and with true repentance… those bishops who will be
gathering at their fall meeting in a couple of weeks… will make amends and work
toward a more just outcome for people who’ve suffered abuse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">What does all of this mean for us at St. Barnabas? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think the main take away is that if we intend to follow Christ…we
need to be prepared to air out our differences with each other in a manner
where love, mercy and forgiveness are at the center of our discussions rather
than getting into an argument over who is in the right. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This doesn’t mean that the person who commits a wrong or does
injury gets away with what they’ve done. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But when we bring it to the person’s attention…we take the time to
listen to each other…in love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And when apologies are made… we accept that as true and work toward
the reconciliation of relationship. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Coming into right relationship is God’s ultimate goal. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And that needs to be ours as a church… as a representative body of
Christ… as well. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">May we treat one another justly, rightly, and in love…in the name
of God…F/S/HS. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>SCGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08162762233972733978noreply@blogger.com0