"In the Year King Uzziah Died"

 

The protests are beginning to happen now as we ended Week Three of the new administration. Democratic members of Congress are now being denied entry into government buildings such as the Department of Education, which is in danger of being shut down completely. The unelected president of the United States, Elon Musk, is busy destroying the USAID program which helps our farmers deliver necessary food resources to nations facing famine. He's also accusing the Lutherans, who have been very active for decades in helping to resettle refugees in this country, of being a money laundering operation. Wow. 

All of this motivated a wave of protests--50 in 50 state capitals on one day--to raise our collective voices against this authoritarian takeover of our country. 

And it made this week's First Reading from Isaiah more relevant than ever. The Gospel provided a nice touch, too. 

See what you think. 

Texts: Is.6:1-3; Luke 5:1-11

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I think all of us have those moments where we can remember where we were when some major newsworthy event happened.

We know where we were when we heard about the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Or the attack on September 11^th.

Or when major figures of the 1960s…such as JFK or Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated.

Or even moments of human triumph like the moon landing in 1969.

Big historic events punctuate the timelines of our lives.

Which is why the first seven words of our First Reading this morning from Isaiah are critical for us to take some time with and consider.

Because these words have resonance not just with the prophet Isaiah but with us today.

So let’s just start with who is King Uzziah…Azariah…I’m sticking with saying, “Uh-ZYE-uh.”

Uzziah was king of Judah…the southern kingdom.  Israel was the northern kingdom. That split between the two happened after the death of Solomon.

Uzziah ruled Judah for 52 years from 791-739 B-C-E.

Under Uzziah’s leadership…the southern kingdom had a lot of prosperity.

They acquired land and had a good agricultural economy.

He fortified their cities such as Jerusalem…and modernized their military…building watchtowers and the invention of catapults.

Things were looking very promising for them…despite the regional tensions of the Assyrian empire…which existed in the areas mostly to the north and east of Judah.

 The Book of Second Chronicles…has lots of praise for all the marvelous works of King Uzziah.

But like so many leaders…both then and now…pride and his own sense of self-importance…got the better of Uzziah.

He decided that as the king…he had the right to enter the temple in Jerusalem and offer incense… a role restricted to the priests.

A politician claiming a religious role.

Eighty priests confronted the king and the chief priest denounced him for violating the sanctity of the space.

At that moment…Uzziah got struck with leprosy.

He was hustled out of the temple…and serves out the remaining final years of his kingship in seclusion…as his son takes over.

Needless to say…things for both the kingdom of Israel and Judah began to spiral downward.

In less than forty years…Assyria would invade and takeover both kingdoms…scattering the Israelites and conquering their land.

The death of Uzziah indicates a time of great uncertainty and political turmoil.

And it’s into this period that the prophet Isaiah has a vision of God…one that is so overpowering and awesome.

Just the hem of God’s robe filled the whole temple.

Seraphs…these six-winged creatures are flying around and singing praises to God’s holiness.

This vision is overwhelming.

This scene of such a powerful figure…leaves Isaiah feeling every bit of his total inadequacy to be in this space.

He’s trembling inside…wondering…

” Why me? How am I in this place…seeing the Holy One? I am not worthy of any of this!”

Friends, this is the most honest and appropriate response to those moments when we find ourselves in a place where it feels truly holy.

I remember having this same sense of awe when I was standing by one of the lakes in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Surrounded by these natural structures of weathered granite rock several thousand feet high…I felt how small and vulnerable I was while also admiring and appreciating these old mountains of creation.

Isaiah is scared out of his wits.

The belief in his day was that no one was to see God and live…let alone a man of “unclean lips.”

This is a pretty typical response of anyone who finds themselves being called by God.

Lots of prophets…Moses…Jeremiah…Jonah…try to wiggle out of being a prophet.

You might even remember that Mary was a little on edge when Gabriel came to tell her that she was going to give birth to the Son of the Most High.

Prophets have the difficult task of being messengers for God.

But when the Holy comes calling… no amount of arguing or pleading is going to get in the way of God accomplishing God’s purpose.

To Isaiah’s protest…God basically responds…

“Unclean lips? Hmm…OK…Seraph: do your job. Touch his lips with a hot coal! Now your sin…your perceived inadequacy is removed…so who will now do what I need to have done?!”

And we get those famous words from Isaiah: “Here am I: send me!”

Yay!! Isaiah is accepting the assignment! Cool, right?

Now…we had the option to stop the reading there.

And that would’ve been acceptable…maybe for some of us…even preferable.

But mean priest decided we needed to hear what came next.

Because…again…this is important for Isaiah’s time…and our time as well.

The assignment given to Isaiah is to go to the people…in this time when Uzziah has died…and they’re in the middle of political and cultural transition…and speak to them.

These are a people who have become pretty comfortable and complacent in the prosperity they’ve been enjoying.

Isaiah must tell them to get ready for some dark and troubling times.

And they won’t listen.

And they won’t understand.

They’ll refuse to see what is coming and what is coming is going to be the invasion of a very powerful and methodical Assyrian force that will up end their lives.

It’s a pretty terrifying prophecy laid upon Isaiah to deliver.

But even in that litany of horribles…God…who is the one constant in this story…also gives the promise that all will not be lost as things are falling apart.

There will be that remnant who will rise up out of this upheaval.

These are the ones who stick with God…follow the path that leads in a Godward direction.

That path…as the prophet Micah tells us… is the one that is about doing justice…loving kindness…and walking humbly with God.

This is the hope that has kept countless generations going and surviving through periods when the political and cultural worlds are feeling desperate…uncertain and even dangerous.

This is the same hope we need to keep alive in our own lives and with our own communities as we face some of the most difficult and unsettling events in our lives.

But it is often amid times of great uncertainty and peril…that God shows up.

Such is the case here with Isaiah.

Isaiah didn’t just wake up one day and strike out on his own.

God comes to him…and Isaiah…confessing his limitations…is nonetheless empowered by God and encouraged by God to go.

Speak up.

Have courage.

We’re in a moment where the church as a whole…and individuals in the church in particular…are sensing that God is calling us to not sit by but to stand up.

50501 protest at the Florida Capitol February 5, 2025.

We’re being sent to be the beacon we have promised to be…to do justice…be merciful…defend the defenseless.

The church is charged through the love of God to be like that bright beam of a lighthouse cutting through the fog to help those lost in the sea of hurt and hopelessness to find their way on these choppy waters.

Which brings us to Jesus with Simon in the boat.

Notice how Simon doesn’t have much luck catching fish in the same waters that he and the others have been trolling with their nets day after day.

That’s when Jesus tells him to go out further….go a little deeper…get away from the shore.

And—voila—Simon is catching so many more fish that other boats need to come and help bring in the haul.

Because the fish…or as Jesus notes…the fishing for people…means we need to not to stick to the same places we’ve always been.

Jesus is calling us into deeper waters.

As we are being sent out….we need to be ready to take the message of loving the neighbor…no matter who that neighbor is…what language they speak…who they love…or how they identify.

And even as we go out…we need to be prepared that our message may not be received.

Indeed…loving the foreigner may not be welcomed in some quarters.

So take that message out further… and wider.

There are others beyond our own kin that need to experience the true love of Christ.

And we are the bearers of that light.

God is calling us to this task.

May we be ready to respond to God with Here am I; send me.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.

 

 

 

The Brave Light: A Sermon for Candlemas

 

Another week of navigating a landscape that seems to be falling apart under our feet. The unelected South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, angered that he wasn't allowed to have access to sensitive personal data of Americans such as our social security numbers, has basically staged a coup from his make believe Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and shut out workers from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) computers. 

To say this is outrageous is an understatement. 

In addition to this evidence of a coup, Americans were shocked and in horror when an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet as it approached DC's National Airport Wednesday night, sending both into the Potomac River and killing all 67 people on both aircrafts. The next day, a small medical airplane crashed into a northeastern Philadelphia neighborhood, killing seven more people. The President blamed the Democrats even though he just fired the head of the FAA, who had dared questioned Elon Musk, the shadow president of the United States, about the safety of his Space X billionaire rocket boy toy program.

In cities and communities across the United States, Mexicans and Venezueleans and other Latino/as have been demonstrating, waving their national flags and calling out the MAGA movement for its racism and attempts to deport people legally allowed to be in the country. There have been reports of round ups of workers at restaurants and factories by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. It's causing fear and some places have reported that school children are absent from their classes, likely because their parents are in hiding. Even the Episcopal Church took a hit from the anti-immigrant attitude of the administration. The Church's program that helps to resettle refugees has been forced to furlough almost two-thirds of its staff. 

All of this is supposed to make America "great" and fix our "ruined" economy that was doing fine. But people said their eggs were too expensive post-pandemic. Last time I checked, eggs were still almost $8 for a dozen.

We are in February....Black History Month...although the President has now ordered that federal agencies are not allowed to hold any kind of recognition of it...or Women's History Month...or Pride Month...

That doesn't apply to churches. So today...I was using Howard Thurman's words to bless candles...quoting Amanda Gorman in my sermon...and singing the spiritual "This Little Light of Mine." 

If there ever was a time for people to look at the stories of Jesus in the Gospel and seek the strength and courage to stand up to the bullies and tyrants...it's now. 

Text: Luke 2:22-40

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We’re all familiar with Christmas…and the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem.

We all know that Epiphany is the day that we rejoice that the Magi…three wise Gentile scientists from the East…follow the star to find the Jewish Jesus and hail him as a king.

We are in the midst of marking the season AFTER Epiphany…with all the many revelations and moments of seeing who Jesus is…and in turn…finding out who we are in this big ol’ body of Christ.

And tucked away in the middle of this After Epiphany season is today’s celebration… the day Mary and Jospeh present Jesus at the temple.

Secular society doesn’t care about this particular holiday.

We don’t have any special chocolate candies or decorations.

Nobody is going to have a “Presentation of Our Lord” Toyotathon sale event.

But we mark this day…calling it Candlemas…with the blessing of candles and celebrating this “Light that has come to enlighten the nations.”

This day in the life of the very ordinary Jewish parents of Jesus was simply part of their traditions and keeping with the law of Torah.

Mary’s period of purification…as prescribed in Leviticus Chapter 12…has finished.

She and Joseph bring their first-born child…Jesus…along with two pigeons as sacrificial offerings to the priest at the Temple.

Now…we might not think much of this…but there’s a reason Luke wants us to know these details.

It’s again…that reminder that Jesus is not one of the “in” crowd…the wealthy of his society…and neither were Mary and Joseph.

His parents are dirt poor.

Really…really poor.

Most Jewish parents would be able to afford to bring a lamb and a turtledove.

Maybe they’d have to settle for a couple of turtledoves.

But the Mosaic law outlined in Leviticus also made room for those who didn’t have anything to speak of…so they could bring a couple of pigeons instead.

For the society at this time…nothing in this scene is abnormal.

But then…some new characters come in.

Simeon…a devout old man in Jerusalem…and the prophet Anna…who represents a descendant of the lost tribe of Asher…a region in the far northern region.

A character from the North…and one from the South…both encounter this newborn baby.

And both of them have that moment of seeing… in this child.. something that they had longed for.

Freedom.

Release from the tyranny and corruption of the Roman Empire.

A renewal and revival of their spirits and the hope they’ve been seeking while dealing with the day-to-day indignities of their situation.

I’ve said it before: babies are signs of hope.

Babies represent new life…a future.

And so…when Simeon takes Jesus into his arms…his whole body seems to get flooded with those hopeful feelings.

Looking into the face of Jesus…he sees in him that candle…the flame of the Spirit…that will lead the people out of this gloom and despair.

And…once more…Luke…our evangelist, the musical lyricist and composer…has him burst into what we have turned into a song—the nunc dimittis—which we just sang a version of before this Gospel reading.

For Simeon…looking into the face of Jesus…he knows he can go in peace…because in Jesus he sees a future of freedom.  

This child will grow up to be that Messiah he’d been waiting to see all these years.

The light he sees in Jesus is enlightening his own soul.

At the same time…Simeon knows there will be a cost.

Not everyone is going to rejoice and understand the message of Jesus.

Some will resent it and rebel against it.

Their inner thoughts…their jealousies…pettiness…their desire to have power over others…will get exposed.

He tells Mary, “This is going to hurt you, too.”

Simeon exits the scene…and now in comes Anna…an old woman and prophet who was apparently a Temple regular.

She sees Jesus.

And…just like Simeon…this old lady from the north…looks at this baby Jesus…and is overcome with joy and filled with hope.

Now Luke doesn’t tell us what she said.

But we know that she is looking around the Temple…at all of these people who are living under a cloud of heaviness from the Empire…and she’s telling them:

“This is the one! This is the light that will cut through this fog of oppression!

He is our redemption!

The favor of God is upon him!”

This light that Simeon and Anna saw…this is why we mark this day with blessing candles.

And it’s the reminder that each one of us has that light of Christ within us that gets revived and refreshed when we encounter Christ.

In the hearing of the Word.

In the receiving of the Bread and the Wine.

In the way we interact with each other.

Because the Light that came into the world to lead the nations didn’t do it as a one-off and a singular event.

This light has been passed on throughout generations.

It’s what we share with each other both within this sanctuary space and what we carry back out of our red doors into our local communities.

Back when I was leading a chapter of PFLAG…I used to encourage the parents and friends at the meetings to take the things they were learning about how to be a friend and ally to the LGBTQ community back out into their workplaces…their homes…churches and synagogues.

I would remind them…these people who loved their LGBTQ children and friends: “it’s good that your light is shining brightly in your own house. But I need you to take that light out into the streets because it’s really dark out there in the world.”

The same is true for us in the church.

If the church wants to do what it is called to do…to do justice…love kindness…and walk humbly with God…then it begins with us tending to the wicks of our own lanterns and candles…shine that light of Christ…and pass it on to those who are waiting to see Christians show up.

And show up as Jesus did.

With love and compassion.

With justice and mercy.

With a desire to burn as bright as that lantern held up by the Statue of Liberty as she welcomed the newly-arrived immigrants from war-torn and famine-ladened countries of Europe over a century ago.

There is a tremendous need in this time for us to bring forth the light of Christ and not retreat back into the shadows of fear.

I want to end with the words I heard again when I was in Morning Prayer this past week.

The Reverend Jan Cope…Provost at Washington National Cathedral…was meditating on Jesus as that Light to the nations…which is also in all of us.

She read from Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb”:

“When day comes, we step out of the shade,

Aflame and unafraid.

The new dawn blooms as we free it,

For there is always light,

If only we’re brave enough to see it,

If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.

 

"The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me"

 

The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde preaching at the Washington National Cathedral.

What a strange...sobering...and utterly horrible week it has been. 

The inauguration of the 47th president was on Monday...which coincided with the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Given the former's attitudes and campaign rhetoric...that just seemed like the cruelest of ironies.

And it didn't take long for the new old president and his cronies to begin his shock and awe campaign on the nation. They immediately took down the Spanish language translations of the White House website, have stopped processing passports of transgender individuals who refused to identify as either male or female, begun raids in certain cities to arrest and detain people who are immigrants, and have announced that churches and schools are no longer protected spaces for people seeking sanctuary.

Oh, and he pardoned all of the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the government and prevent the certification of the 2020 votes confirming that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had won that election. Five police officers who defended the Capitol died from that incident. Another 140 officers were badly injured.

Suddenly now, the Fraternal Order of Police is upset with the president. A little late folks.

On Tuesday, January 21st, the Washington National Cathedral held its traditional Prayer Service for the Nation. The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, diocesan bishop of Washington, DC, was the preacher. And Bishop Budde took that opportunity, preaching on a text from the Gospel of Matthew, to speak of unity and the pieces that are needed to be in place for us to heal and become a more unified nation. One of those keys was that vulnerable people need to feel that they are protected, something that they are not feeling right now because....well...please see all of what I have already written. Bishop Budde looked at the president and vice president as she made her plea for him to have compassion and show mercy. It was bold, and it was on point. 

And, as one might imagine, the backlash against her has been intense. Some Republican members of Congress have demanded that she, born in New Jersey, be deported. The president called her a "so-called bishop" and that her message was "nasty." He demanded an apology. She refused.

Because Jesus' teachings are good...and require no apology.

The uproar from this service filtered down to all of us who work in the vineyards of The Episcopal Church. There was concern about what might happen on Sunday: will we see new people who want to be in a church based on compassion, mercy, and justice? Or were we going to have some troublemakers come in to disrupt our worship?

And what were we going to preach in the wake of all of this and as we enter into these times?

Here's what I had to say. See what you think.  

Text: Luke 4:14-21; 1 Cor. 12:12-31a

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“The spirit of the Lord is upon me…”

All this week…as I have been preparing this sermon…this phrase that has been lingering in my head.

Morning, noon, and night…this phrase has been on repeat.

I have a vivid memory of when I encountered this passage in Luke’s Gospel.

It was on a sunny October morning in Washington DC.

I was sitting quietly in the nave of St. Monica and St. James-Capitol Hill…the place where I was assigned to do my field ed.

The light was streaming in through the windows casting purple and yellow shadows over the baptismal font.

I opened my Bible to the Gospel of Luke…and began reading through this portion.

And as I did…I remember being overcome with a deep and profound understanding not only of my own call to be a priest…but what this passage means for all of us who claim the mantle of Christ.

Because this passage is basically the crux of the Jesus movement…his mission statement…the bass note of Jesus’s call.

We’re going to be hearing a lot of “call” stories during this season of Epiphany.

Epiphany is really all about being called….having that great “A-ha!” or “Eureaka!” moment…when we realize what we’re meant to be doing with this one precious life we all have.

Epiphany is a time for considering those gifts of the Spirit Paul has been talking about…and what and how we use those skill sets we have to making this a better church and a society where we can all breathe free.

In this case…we’re witnessing the crystallization and Jesus’ public testimony of his call…his purpose.

How the Spirit that is upon him is moving in him…through him…and out of him to accomplish God’s purpose in the world.

It all began with his baptism at the Jordan River…when the Holy Spirit descended upon him as a dove.

From that point forward…the Spirit becomes the life blood pumping through his veins.

It’s the Spirit that drives him from the Jordan out into the wilderness for forty days.

That time…alone in the dessert…helps to shape and refine him….and the Spirit is there…giving him the power to resist the tempter as he tries to steer Jesus away from his life’s purpose.

The Spirit then guides him home…back to his hometown… to the synagogue where he grew up.

He’s now a young man. A very faithful…and faith-filled young man.

But in this space…this synagogue…he is with the people who remember him as a little boy.

I think we all might relate to what that’s like…when you go back to some place…your hometown…where they knew you when you were young…and maybe even a little stupid?

They know your mama and your papa and your siblings.

It can be so hard to break free of the preconceived ideas of who you are and what you’re all about in those situations…and it’s no different for Jesus here.

Still…he’s the hometown boy.

So when he comes into the synagogue…the community honors him by calling upon him to read from the scroll of the prophets.

He unfurls the scroll…and finds in this passage in the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah:

The spirit of the Lord is upon me…

I wonder how that must have felt coming out of his mouth.

Indeed…the spirit of the Lord is upon him.

It’s in him…

It’s on fire in his heart.

This spirit is upon him to bring good news to the poor.

Yes indeed.

It’s on him to heal…teach…and touch people who are the powerless and those feeling hopeless under the iron fist of the Roman Empire.

The spirit has sent him to proclaim release to the captives.

All those same weary people who are feeling hemmed in and cut off…including cut off from their own hearts. Jesus has come to release them and regather them.

The spirit is giving him power to give recovery of sight to the blind.

We’re not just talking about physical blindness.

The spirit is giving him the power to open the eyes of those whose status have kept them comfortable enough that they fail to see the suffering around them.

He’s here to open the eyes of everyone…to see each other more clearly as children of God.

Everyone is of equal importance and value to God.

The spirit of the Lord is upon him to liberate the oppressed…those on society’s margins…those being “othered”…and bring them out from the edges and into the center.

With this Holy Spirit-inspired mission…Jesus is accepting this assignment…and when he accomplishes all of this…it will truly be the Jubilee Year of the Lord’s favor.

He takes his seat.

Now all these folks who’ve known the little boy Jesus are looking at him for a word.

A message.

The synagogue didn’t have a clergy person…so they want to hear from Jesus.

“Tell us, O wise one, what shall we make of this passage?”

And…in this moment of his own Epiphany…sitting in his childhood synagogue…Jesus looks around the room at all of them:

“This scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Full stop.

This is Jesus’ mission.

The mission will be accomplished when those who have heard these words of the prophet Isaiah accept that this is their mission, too.

They have the power to make these things happen.

They can help bring about a truly peaceful and prosperous world by reaching out to one another…treating each other with respect and dignity…refusing to treat people as “others”…as objects of scorn and derision…and helping to free people from the devils that plague them…those internal and external forces that belittle them and tell them they don’t matter.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon them.

It’s also upon us in this hearing.

The mission statement of Jesus is also the mission statement of anyone who says they are a follower of Jesus.

We are all called to be a friend to those who are living in fear for their financial security…their healthcare…their safety.

We are all called to help free people from captivity…whether that’s encouraging the addict to get help in recovering from an addiction…or aiding a person escaping some kind of abusive and dangerous situation.

And we are all called to recognize our own prejudices and to do our best to see Christ in all people…and not just the people who look like us or talk like us or worship like us.

These ARE the core values of our faith…and our following of Jesus.

If we have been baptized into his life…death…and resurrection…then we are bound to the basic principles of having compassion for those who are scared…showing mercy for those who are vulnerable…and seeking a world where everyone is treated with fairness and equity.

These principles don’t make us popular.

They never have.

But they will always put us on the path toward God.

Jesus didn’t read those prophetic words of Isaiah out loud to just let them evaporate into the ether.

And we shouldn’t let them fade away or refuse to hear them either.

To be a Christian in this time…and in our country today…is to remember that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was not one of the powerful rulers of this world.

And he didn’t want to be.  

He was one of the disenfranchised…living and moving and having his being among the outcasts of society.

In this time that we’re in…we need to read…mark…learn…and inwardly digest this message.

Take these scriptures home and read them again and again.

And then…with those gifts that we’ve each been given by the Spirit that is in us…whether we are teachers…listeners…healers…or helpers…use those gifts to give back love into this world to those who need it most.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon us.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.

 

Setting Sail in Love: Homily for a Wedding

 

Texts: Ruth 1:16-17, Ps. 148, Luke 6:32-38

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Today is truly a happy and joyous day.

Katie and Houston are getting married!

I am honored and blessed that I get to be a part of making this happen and to be with you on this day.

You’ve been on quite the journey to get here.

There was friendship and bonding over D-and-D…living with others as roommates…

And then…when the roommates moved out…and after making it through the COVID lockdown…you came the realization that you were falling in love.

You’ve gone from Knoxville to Valdosta…back to Knoxville…lived together…lived apart…New Mexico…Iceland.

There’s been break ups and make ups….friends and trusted advisors assuring you…”Y’all are gonna be good.”

You’ve tested all the waters of your relationship…and found them to be clean and clear.

And now it’s time to set sail.

And the good news for both of you is that you aren’t on this journey alone.

All of us here…and even some who could not join with you today…we are all with you on this ocean.

Supporting you and this relationship that you’ve nurtured and brought together.

Now some of you might be thinking that it was a bit strange to hear a reading from Luke where Jesus is talking about “loving your enemy” when we’re celebrating a marriage!

But this reading speaks to a core value about the true meaning of what love is and should be all about.

Because the basic idea is that love needs to be shared....and spread around liberally and not kept under lock and key.

It’s so easy to become self-absorbed…and even myopic when we think about love.

We can get into defining it by material things…flowers and chocolates at Valentine’s Day.

And we can make love something to possess.

I think that’s something couples often need to be wary of as they grow together.

 If there’s too much focus on one’s own relationship…and too much reliance on that one other person to meet all the needs and wants…it can lead to resentments within the relationship…while also pushing away other people.

But love…and I mean “Love” with a capital “L”…is always seeking for us to take love out…let it be seen.

This Love is about kindling the love that is within each of us…and then sharing that kindness to people who aren’t our partners or spouses…and make connections across differences.

That Love gets energized by seeking and serving our neighbors…lending support to those who need an empathetic ear or just to have someone even notice that they exist.

That’s the kind of Love that we all need to share with each other…and it is this Love that exists in both Katie and Houston.

Through all of that testing of your relationship…you’ve found that you are capable of not only loving each other…you’ve found the love that is within you.

And that love within you…that comes from that Great love that is God…is the love you share with the world.

Even in that very short time that you were with us at St. Barnabas…we felt your loving presence.

You cared for our garden beds…helped us with the annual pumpkin patch and shared in making music and theater that brought life and joy.  

You gave of yourselves…the talents that you have…and encouraged happiness in our congregation.

And that brings me to one other part of this Gospel passage that I think is important to take to heart.

It comes at the end when we hear Jesus say, “the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

That’s really true of all of your relationships…especially your marriage.

What you bring into this…whether it’s the thrill and exhilaration of hiking to the top of a mountain or just hanging out at home… cooking dinner…and watching a movie…the people that you are individually…your dreams…your interests…when put together…shaken up and stirred about…will produce and pour out a greater gift of love.

Love that is so abundant that it’s overflowing…and getting shared.

Marriage won’t always be free of pain or hurts. That’s not in the promises you’re making to each other.

But what you are promising is that you will bring who you are…the full measure of yourselves…into this marriage.

And the more you put into it…God who is love will guide you when the tempests come and rock your boat…and get you back to sailing on calmer seas.

Bon voyage and anchors aweigh as you embark on this next part of your life’s journey.

Blessings to you on this day and always.

And let the church say…Amen.

 

Finding Jesus in the Crowd: A Sermon for 1C Epiphany

I did not actually preach this sermon. I wrote it. But I have come down with "the Tallahassee crud" and have been coughing and blowing my nose for 48 hours. It started with that tell-tale sign of the scratchy throat...and then blossomed into this...crud. 

Rather than getting up early to drive to Georgia and push myself to lead the service, I put out word to our retired deacon and asked her to lead Morning Prayer with Communion using our reserved sacrament (of which we had a lot of wafers so I knew we would be OK). I emailed her my sermon and told her to simply tell everyone that these were my words. That way she wouldn't have to dream up a sermon in less than 24 hours. 

See what you think. Cough. Cough. 

Texts: Isaiah 43: 1-7; Luke 3: 15-17, 21-23

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Before I start…I have to acknowledge that the references to fire in our lessons this morning have given me pause because of what’s happening in California.

I have several friends who live in the Los Angeles area…including my best friend from my childhood. I was able to reach her through a text message, and while she and her family and home are safe…it’s very much touch and go for them as there are fires on two sides of where they live.

We all know the trauma of natural disasters and can appreciate the worry and panic many of our fellow citizens are experiencing right now. So many in Los Angeles have lost their homes and businesses and places of worship. So please keep them in your prayers.

Images of water and fire are fairly common in Scripture…and our daily lives.

We hear the prophet Isaiah promising to those who have been traumatized that God is with them…helping them “pass through waters” and not letting the “fire burn them.” God is the protector and the shield from the dangers and horrors that the people have had to endure.

These are people who have suffered a hostile take over and exile from a foreign empire.

And Isaiah is now serving as the prophet of comfort to the faithful survivors…reminding them that despite all appearances to the contrary…God is still with them so keep going.

It’s important for us to know this background because it is this history that is in the DNA of all those people coming out to John to be baptized in the Jordan River.

There’s a reason we hear Luke say that “the people were filled with expectation.”

All of these people…including the ones that John was probably shocked to see…the tax collectors and soldiers and even some Pharisees…they all have this shared history of having been conquered and uprooted and threatened by tyrannical forces.

They are the descendants of that surviving cluster from centuries earlier.  

The ones Isaiah was comforting.

They’ve heard the stories of their ancestors…the promises that all in this life is not in vain if they keep hoping…hope beyond hope…that there will be a Messiah.

They’re looking for that one sent to save them from their current misery living under the Roman Empire.

But John isn’t it.

And he knows it’s not him.

But even John isn’t without hope. Because he has faith and trust that there is someone coming who will be that great one. And that’s what he promises to them.

Now…once again…the crafters of our lectionary have decided to drop some verses from this Gospel reading…and so I am going to add them back in for you.

Because…just like with the story of the wise men and Herod…it’s critical for us to know that in the middle of this scene of lots of people seeking to turn their lives around and heed John’s message to basically “get right with God”…John is doing all of this with some serious risk.

When Herod sought out John…John took that opportunity to speak the truth to the powerful ruler.

He told Herod that his marriage to Herodias…who had been married to Herod’s brother Phillip…was both immoral and illegal…and that as Jewish leaders go…Herod was a brute and an abusive jerk.

This Herod comes by his immorality honestly.

 He’s the son of the King Herod who wanted to find the young Jesus so he could kill his rival.

Folks: The Herods are not a nice Jewish family.

The truth hurts…and for John…it would cost him first his freedom…and eventually his life.

That’s what happens to the one who announces that there’s a greater person coming…that one who would threaten the power structures in ways that should make them sit up and take notice.

Why does this matter?

Because it is the reminder that this time of Jesus was not a tranquil time.

And in times of threat…when we feel a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads…that’s when Jesus shows up.

And interestingly….not in a grand way…with a fanfare of trumpets or riding in on a white horse to save the day.

Luke’s description makes us see that Jesus was one with all the people getting baptized on that particular day.

In the midst of all these people…with their expectations…driven and sustained by the hope that someone…oh, please God…someone will see them…

know them…

recognize them…

and remember them in the middle of this time when the powerful seem to have the upper hand on everything…

there is Jesus…already with them.

The one praying.

The one on whom the Holy Spirit descended as a dove…the one that voice whispered, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

He’s there!

He was not called Messiah.

He was called Son. Beloved.

This one.

This child of God…has had his own epiphany. His own understanding of who he is and whose he is.

And for us…it’s a reminder not only that God is with us at all times…especially in the times when we are feeling the outside pressures of the world getting us down.

It also speaks to the message that I think we are sometimes reluctant to accept.

That the God who…in Jesus has drawn earth and heaven closer together…can be found with us and in us today.

It kind of reminds me of the Joan Osbourne song from the mid-90s…where she contemplates “what if God is one of us…a slob like one of us…just a stranger on the bus…trying to make his way home.”

The lyrics challenge us to think about the God incarnate….and to consider our understanding of God’s close relationship to humanity.

So close that God might be standing with us in the crowd…and we might not even know it.

If we take our faith seriously…and not literally…can we imagine that through our baptism…we are made siblings by Christ…and with Christ…and in Christ?

That being brought through those waters we are carry a piece of Jesus in us?

Jesus is part of our story…our tradition…our way of seeing the world.

And he shows us how to be family…a human family.

When look at the stranger…we are to seek and serve them as if they are part of our Christian family…whether we know them to be or not. 

As we move into this season of Epiphany…our Scriptures will continue to challenge us to both look for that light of Christ in others…while also seeking to find that same light within ourselves.

Because it’s there…waiting for us to keep the oil filled…

trim the wick…

and let it burn brightly…

for justice…for mercy…and to keep us walking humbly with God.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.