Sermon Notes: St. Nicholas

These sermon notes are from my 8 AM sermon on St. Nicholas.

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

In 1823 this popular piece was written by Clement Clarke Moore and St. Nicholas began his transformation into the Santa Claus we know today. But there is so much more about St. Nicholas, some fact, some legend, but all true about a kindly bishop who served his people 1700 years ago. And on a day when Bishop Ahrens is visiting us, it is good to remember what Bishops do and in the heart of Advent to remember one whose life was in service to the Christ child.

We know about Nicholas...

Born in Patara (in Turkey) mid to late 3rd Century Lost both parents when he was young (teenager?); had much wealth but gave it away

As a layperson, was elected bishop of Myra (now Demre), a sea port along the Mediterranean Sea.

Then there were the stories told about him…

Saving three condemned innocents (Righter of Wrongs) – the oldest of the stories only a century or so after Nicholas

Three Impoverished Maidens (The Story of The Dowries) -freed from slavery/prostitution

The Evil Butcher (or Evil Innkeeper) -protector of children

Famine Relief (The Miracle Of The Grain) -wonder worker (also Friend of Sailors)

Took part in the famous council of Nicaea (325)

What it means for us today…

He came as a witness to the light - John the Baptist
To witness is to shine with the light of Christ - Nicholas

Nicholas became so popular because he was a faithful follower of Jesus, for his life clearly reflected the way each one of us is called to show God's love to others, especially those in need. He bore witness to the light and to love through his service, justice and work (to prisoners, sailors and children) kindness done often in secret, seeking nothing in return.

Almighty God, who in your love gave to your servant Bp. Nicholas of Myra a perpetual name for deeds of kindness on land and sea: Grant, we pray, that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Learn more here.

Sermon: December 7 (Advent II)

I went looking around yards at Thanksgiving as people put up their decorations. I found nothing. Nada. I could find no one putting up John the Baptist in their yard. He can’t be that unpopular… so I looked him up in the Yellow Pages. I looked on page after page of churches, I finally found 1 named after John the Baptist. One in Bridgeport. In all of Fairfield County – only 1. Sure, there is only one St. Nicholas Church as well, but right now he is everywhere as Santa Claus.

Why is John so unpopular? Could it be his appearance?

John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

Could it be his message?

He was proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Every Advent our Gospel readings center on this strange, austere, humorless character John the Baptist. The John of the Gospel is no one’s idea of Christmas joy: subsisting on locusts and wild honey, clad in camel hair, haunting a wild river bank. We happily take on the role of St. Nick, but no way do we see ourselves as John the Baptist. He has become a non figure in our rush to Christmas.

The larger culture has forgotten him entirely and if it were not for churches and our readings on these Sundays in Advent, we would forget him entirely. It is no surprise that you can’t buy John the Baptist figurines; now if he could help sell a house or save a job, maybe, but not now… And in one sense, I don’t think John would mind that at all, let me explain.

I grew up loving (and playing) football, I bet that surprises you…
-played it throughout High School
-played TE, usually the last player on the line

The 6 or so guys who play this offensive line have 1 major role, to block. To make the path, the holes for the running back, to make sure no one sacks the QB. Who gets the glory? The running back or QB. Whose name is in the paper, whose jersey is worn by kids? The running back or QB. But each week, those blockers get out there and make a path so the running back can do his job. They prepare the way, and even as their names are unknown or forgotten, they have done their job if that running back (or QB) is remembered and celebrated for his runs and scores.

So too, John the Baptist. He is known as the forerunner. The one who was preparing the way for Jesus by what he did. He was not looking to make a name for himself. Now, all the Gospels do remember him. They remember the crowds who came to John seeking that forgiveness, seeking his baptism. And after John, those crowds, those people went to see Jesus, some even became his followers, his disciples.

But it was John the Baptist, who first cried out in that wild wilderness for all to see a new reality, where all flesh, everyone, shall see the salvation of God. John felt that the reality that God wanted, the will of God, was not being done. He challenged everyone to be baptized to free them from that sin, from that reality that was not God-filled. Prophets, as messengers from God, help us to see a new reality, God's reality, but to accept this we must repent of our sins and prepare the way for our salvation by trying to live in God’s reality. And like the prophet Isaiah who cried out, Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. John is aware of his role as the one in the wilderness crying out to prepare the way of the Lord.

“The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

So why should we remember him? Why is he important? We need John the Baptist because he helps us prepare for Christ’s coming into the world. Its true that we truly can’t journey to Easter, without first going through the cross of Good Friday. It is equally true that we cannot make our journey to the manger at Christmas without going through the wilderness and coming face to face with the message of John the Baptist in Advent.

The season of Advent is there to help us truly prepare for Christmas, to hear, John the Baptist calling us to repent, to not gorge ourselves in a Christmas that began weeks ago that is all centered on shopping and stuff. John calls us to live more than the gluttonous onslaught to buy happiness; it is the journey we make to Christmas, all the steps, all the preparations that will make Christmas into the joyful event we want it to be. Full of hope and peace, full of joy and anticipation, where life is ready to repent and to forgive, where life is ready and eager to meet Christ again this Christmas.

And it is John the Baptist that is exactly who Advent calls us to be. In our own baptisms we promised to become Baptizers along our own Jordan Rivers. So let’s take on the work of the “Baptizer” this Christmas; let’s become heralds like John as we go about our holiday preparations: May we give the gifts of “comfort” and joy . . . may every kindness and generosity we extend this Christmas mirror Christ’s presence in our midst . . . may we joyfully take on the hard work of creating a highway through the rugged lands of estrangement and alienation . . . may the gifts and greetings and hospitality we extend proclaim the good news that God’s compassion has dawned that a new reality, God’s reality awaits us, if we are ready. [Connections]

Advent reminds us of our higher calling, of our connection to one another and our need to repent and live in ways that are in harmony with our God, for our salvation is drawing near. Amen.

An Advent Thought...

"There is no time like the Christmas season—a season of anticipation and joy as we await the birth of the Word of God—when commercial pressures are stronger and threaten our discipleship more. The culture does its utmost to shift us from simple celebration to a frenzy of spending by telling us blatantly or subliminally that unless we buy, our lives will be diminished. When Christmas is over, if we have succumbed to these pressures, many of us find ourselves feeling "down," descending into a January gloom that leaves us asking how we will pay for what we have spent, and wondering if it was all worth it.

Sometimes prayer becomes difficult, daily reflection times yield no insights, and our faith is at low ebb. A choice lies before us; we can go on with our journey in an attitude of faithful perseverance or be sidetracked by yet more assaults on our reason and our purses. The New Year bargain sales, too good to miss, are even more enticing when we see that there is nothing to pay for fifteen months. Bookstores have shelf after shelf of self-help books promoting success in relationships, jobs, finance, and fulfillment. Therapies offer to fix our psyche, but a healthier way to move through the darkness also lies before us. An honest reading of Scripture reveals a very different per­spective of the human journey."

by Elizabth J. Canham in Weavings (A Hard Time We had of It)

Human Rights Day - Dec. 10

In 2008, Human Rights Day (December 10) marks the 60th anniversary of a world-changing event. On December 10, 1948, amid the smoldering ashes of World War II, the brave voices of the newly formed United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, calling for “the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want…”

In the ensuing 60 years, the Universal Declaration “transformed the language and texture of international relations, gave legitimacy to anti-colonial movements, inspired a new form of activism and helped bring down totalitarian regimes,” according to Harvard law professor and Catholic theologian Mary Ann Glendon. A World Made New, Glendon’s 2001 book, drew its title from the nightly prayer of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who chaired the drafting of the Declaration. Mrs. Roosevelt was a member of St. James’ Episcopal Church, Hyde Park, New York.

All of the world’s major religions helped to craft the Declaration, which recognizes and defines a broader range of rights than those mentioned in the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man. In a departure that foreshadowed the pronouncements of Vatican II 17 years later, the Roman Catholic Church joined the World Council of Churches and the Lambeth Conference in endorsing the Declaration’s provisions on religious freedom, arguably one of the world’s oldest human rights concepts. The Bible tells us in the Book of Ezra that “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing…”

This proclamation, inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform on a clay cylinder discovered by archaeologists in 1879, set out a policy of religious toleration and promoted the material well-being of conquered peoples. A replica of the cylinder commands a place of honor in the United Nations headquarters in New York.

But the Universal Declaration goes well beyond a proclamation of tolerance. Article 18 asserts that all persons have “the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” including the right to change their religion or belief, and the freedom to manifest their beliefs in public through “teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

The 1981 UN Declaration on the Eli-mination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief refined these concepts further to include the right of religious communities to choose lay and ordained leadership according to their own criteria.

In the United States, this right is buttressed by a legal tradition that also guarantees the right of individuals to serve in any capacity for which their religious community deems them qualified. The government may not interfere, and it is unlawful for private citizens or other religious groups to collaborate across state lines to frustrate the free exercise of these rights and other constitutionally protected activities.

In practical terms for the Episcopal Church, this means that a bishop or senior warden, for instance, has a constitutional as well as an ecclesiastical right to serve in that capacity if the church has authorized it, and the church has a constitutional right to authorize it. Persons not bound by the constitution and canons of the Episcopal Church, therefore, may not interfere with the exercise of these rights.

Promoting respect for religious freedom and other human rights on the American scene is integral to advancing their realization in lands where they are fragile or non-existent. Human Rights Day commemorates the creation of a blueprint for a world where mercy and truth meet, where righteousness and peace kiss—a world that does not yet exist. Yet the epistle for December 7 reminds us “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.” As we watch and wait and prepare for the Advent of our Lord, let us pray that this hope for a world made new might become a lived reality.

Article by Donn Mitchell. He is editor of The Anglican Examiner, an on-line magazine of religion and public affairs, at www.AnglicanExaminer.com.

Resources:

Full text of the Declaration and translations: www.unhchr.ch/udhr/

U.S. State Department Report on International Religious Freedom: www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: www.ohchr.org/english/

Episcopal Public Policy Network: www.episcopalchurch.org/eppn.htm

Prayers:

O Holy God, you love righteousness and hate iniquity: Strengthen, we pray, the hands of all who strive for justice throughout the world, and, seeing that all human beings are your offspring, give aid to those who promote the dignity and freedom of every person; through Jesus Christ the Liberator, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Almighty God, who created us in your own image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Missing Poem

This poem was to be read at the Christmas Tree Lighting but was cut...

“First Coming” by Madeleine L’Engle

God did not wait till the world was ready,
till...nations were at peace.
God came when the Heavens were unsteady
and prisoners cried out for release.

God did not wait for the perfect time.
God came when the need was deep and great.
God dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine. God did not wait

till hearts were pure. In joy God came
to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame,
God came and God’s Light would not go out.

God came to a world which did not mesh;
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh,
the maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
God came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

Speedy Christmas!

Watch this!

Jolly ol' St. Nicholas...

Almighty God, who in your love gave to your servant Nicholas of Myra a perpetual name for deeds of kindness on land and sea: Grant, we pray, that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

******

NICHOLAS OF MYRA

FRIEND OF CHILDREN, GIVER OF GIFTS, CLIMBER OF CHIMNEYS, ETC. (6 DEC 326)

The story of St. Nicholas offers a possible way of dealing with the "Santa Claus" problem, to parents who do not want to lie to their children, even in fun, but do not want to say simply: "Bah, humbug! There is no such thing as Santa. Forget about him."

Nicholas was a native of the western part of what is now Asiatic Turkey. He became Bishop of Myra in the fourth century, and there are many stories of his love for God and for his neighbor.

The best-known story involves a man with three unmarried daughters, and not enough money to provide them with suitable dowries. This meant that they could not marry, and were likely to end up as prostitutes. Nicholas walked by the man's house on three successive nights, and each time threw a bag of gold in through a window (or, when the story came to be told in colder climates, down the chimney). Thus, the daughters were saved from a life of shame, and all got married and lived happily ever after.

Because of this and similar stories, Nicholas became a symbol of anonymous gift-giving. Hence, if we give a gift to someone today without saying whom it is from, it can be called "a present from Saint Nicholas (or Santa Claus)." Some parents explain this to their children and invite the child to join them in wrapping a toy (either something purchased for that purpose, at least partly with the child's allowance, or else a toy that the child has outgrown but that is still serviceable) or an outgrown but not shabby item of the child's clothing, or a package of food, and then going along to donate it to a suitable shelter that will give it to someone who will welcome it. This gift is then called "a present from Santa," so that the child understands that this is another name for an anonymous gift given to someone whom we do not know, but whom we love anyway because God does. (Presents within the family can be "From Santa" or "From Santa and...")

Pictures of Nicholas often show three bags of gold next to him, and often these bags have become simply three disks or balls. Nicholas became the patron of an Italian city (I think Bari, which is where his body is now buried) that was a center of the pawnbroking business, and hence a pawnbroking shop traditionally advertises by displaying three gold balls over its front. It is thought that some persons looking at pictures of Nicholas confused the three round objects with human heads. Hence there is a story of a wicked innkeeper who murdered three boys and salted their bodies to serve to his guests, to save on the butcher's bill. Nicholas visited the inn and confronted the innkeeper, who confessed his crime, whereupon Nicholas prayed over the brine-tub and the three boys leaped out unharmed. Other stories have him saving the lives of three innocent men who had been condemned to death. Still other stories have him coming to the rescue of drowning sailors (could this be related to the brine-tub incident?). Nicholas has always been popular with children, mariners, pawnbrokers, the Dutch, the Russians, and recently, the department-store owners. (American readers may remember the story of the brine-tub through reading it as children in the book The Dutch Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins, author of The Spanish Twins, The Italian Twins, and many similar books, all children's favorites in the middle of this century. They may now be banned as politically incorrect -- I have no idea. If your children know the brine-tub story, from this book or elsewhere, they may be interested to know how it may have originated.)

In many countries, Nicholas visits children on his feast day, 6 December, and brings them gifts then. In these countries, there is usually no exchange of Christmas presents, but there may be gifts again on January 6, the feast of the coming of the Wise Men, who brought gifts to the Holy Child of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In America, it may be thought necessary to yield to outside pressure and let Nicholas distribute gifts on December 25.

If you want to show your children (or yourself) how Nicholas is remembered by Christians with a background different from your own (unless, of course, this IS your background), you might want to attend an East Orthodox service at this time. Many Eastern Orthodox congregations have services on the evening before 6 December that feature "visits from Saint Nicholas." He appears as a bishop, with no red suit. The faithful leave their shoes outside the church door, and find in them afterwards gold coins (actually chocolate wrapped in gold foil) representing the gold dowries of the three daughters. To find a service and inquire what it is likely to be like, look up CHURCHES, ORTHODOX in the Yellow Pages. For an English-language service, "Orthodox Church in America" or "Antiochan Orthodox" parishes are likely choices, but do not overlook other possibilities.

We are told, but it is uncertain, that Nicholas was imprisoned for his faith before the accession of Constantine, and that he was present at the Council of Nicea in 325. We may note in passing that the picture of him as roly-poly is a late development. Early stories indicate that he was generous to others, but not given to self-indulgence. Indeed, even as an unweaned infant, he fasted regularly on Wednesdays and Fridays....

by James Kiefer

Learn more about St. Nicholas here and here.

A Bucket List

I have seen this list on various blogs.

A great idea. I have decided to put it in as "a bucket list" (that is, things to do before one kicks the bucket).

Are there things that should be added?

Things done (by me) are bold
Things not yet done (ever?) are plain.

• 1. Started my own blog
• 2. Slept under the stars
• 3. Played in a band
• 4. Visited Hawaii
• 5. Watched a meteor shower
• 6. Given more than I can afford to charity
• 7. Been to Disneyland/world
• 8. Climbed a mountain
• 9. Held a praying mantis
• 10. Sung a solo
• 11. Bungee jumped
• 12. Visited Paris
• 13. Watched lightning at sea
• 14. Taught myself an art from scratch
• 15. Adopted a child (4!)
  
• 16. Had food poisoning
• 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
• 18. Grown my own vegetables
• 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
• 20. Slept on an overnight train
• 21. Had a pillow fight
• 22. Hitchhiked
• 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
• 24. Built a snow fort
• 25. Held a lamb
• 26. Gone skinny dipping
• 27. Run a Marathon (it was 5k!)
  
• 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
• 29. Seen a total eclipse
• 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
• 31. Hit a home run
• 32. Been on a cruise
• 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
• 34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
• 35. Seen an Amish community
• 36. Taught myself a new language
• 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
• 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
• 39. Gone rock climbing
• 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
• 41. Sung karaoke
• 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
• 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
• 44. Visited Africa
• 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
• 46. Been transported in an ambulance
• 47. Had my portrait painted
• 48. Gone deep sea fishing
• 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
• 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
• 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
• 52. Kissed in the rain
• 53. Played in the mud
• 54. Gone to a drive-in theater
• 55. Been in a movie
• 56. Visited the Great Wall of China
• 57. Started a business
• 58. Taken a martial arts class
• 59. Visited Russia
• 60. Served at a soup kitchen
• 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
• 62. Gone whale watching
• 63. Got flowers for no reason
• 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
• 65. Gone sky diving
• 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
• 67. Bounced a check
• 68. Flown in a helicopter
• 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
• 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
• 71. Eaten Caviar
• 72. Pieced a quilt
• 73. Stood in Times Square
• 74. Toured the Everglades
• 75. Been fired from a job
• 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
• 77. Broken a bone
• 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
• 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
• 80. Published a book
• 81. Visited the Vatican
• 82. Bought a brand new car
• 83. Walked in Jerusalem
• 84. Had my picture in the newspaper
• 85. Read the entire Bible
• 86. Visited the White House
• 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
• 88. Had chickenpox (twice!)
  
• 89. Saved someone’s life
• 90. Sat on a jury
• 91. Met someone famous
• 92. Joined a book club
• 93. Lost a loved one
• 94. Had a baby
• 95. Seen the Alamo in person
• 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
• 97. Been involved in a law suit
• 98. Owned a cell phone
• 99. Been stung by a bee
• 100. Ridden an elephant

I've got a lot to do!

Online Advent Calendar

The Diocese of Washington's fifth annual online Advent Calendar supports the Bokamoso Youth Program of Winterveld, South Africa.

Each day from December 1 through Christmas, visitors can open one of the calendar’s windows to find links to a daily meditation, the daily office and a videotaped interview with one of the scores of young people who have benefited from Bokamoso’s work.

Founded in 1999 to help at-risk youth, the Bokamoso program provides essential training in life skills, scholarships for college-level education and the emotional support for the young people of Winterveld. Through the performing arts, program participants spread their message in their own community and in the United States, spending a month each in residence at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Md.

Learn more here.

World AIDS Day

A Prayer for those living with HIV/AIDS:

Almighty and most gracious Father, healer of the sick and defender of the weak: look with your gracious favor upon all who suffer from AIDS and other HIV related diseases. Comfort them in their distress and their pain. Sustain and guide those who care for them. Sharpen the minds of those whose research will one day lead to a cure. Give to our nation and all the peoples on the earth, the wisdom, diligence, and dedication to conquer this scourge, which continues to lay waste your creation. Turn our eyes and our hearts to the poorest on this earth who suffer most from the terror of this dread disease. Receive into the arms of your mercy all who have died and grant that in the last day we may join the saints and angels around your throne in heavn, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Advent Conspiracy

Advent is coming...

Ho will it change your Christmas?

Mission struggles to feed region's needy

From the CT Post
By AMANDA CUDA, Updated: 11/22/2008

Terry Wilcox has a lot of stories. Wilcox, is executive director of the Bridgeport Rescue Mission at 1088 Fairfield Avenue, which provides shelters for the region's homeless, as well as multiple food service programs. The mission has a soup kitchen at its headquarters, a kitchen at the women's shelter, and a mobile kitchen, which travels to a different neighborhood in Fairfield County every night dispensing hot meals.

The mission also a food pantry, stocked with items that staff members use to assemble packages for clients. Over time, Wilcox has seen a lot of people with a lot of needs and he's collected a lot of stories. There's the story of the married father with two kids, who works three jobs, yet still relies on the mission to help feed his family. There's the story of the 13-year-old boy who rode his bike to the mission from his home in Stratford, because his mother needed him to pick up food for dinner. But the most devastating story Wilcox has heard lately is a story told in numbers. A year ago, all of the mission's food programs combined served an average of 400 meals a day. Today, they serve anywhere from a thousand to 1,200 meals a day.

Read the rest here.

Visit the BRM website here.

A Prayer for the Start of Advent

Advent begins on Sunday, November 30:

Your word is near, O Lord our God, Your grace is near.
Come to us then, with mildness and power. Do not let us be deaf to you, but make us receptive and open to Jesus Christ your Son, who will come to look for us and save us. Today and every day, for ever and ever. Amen.

(by Huub Oosterhuis, SJ)

Prayers for Thanksgiving

Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so freely bestowed upon us.

For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea. We thank you, Lord.

For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women, revealing the image of Christ, We thank you, Lord.

For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and our friends, We thank you, Lord.

For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve, We thank you, Lord.

For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play, We thank you, Lord.

For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity, We thank you, Lord.

For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice, We thank you, Lord.

For the communion of saints, in all times and places, We thank you, Lord.

Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord; To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

Sermon Notes: November 23

These are my sermon notes from the 8 AM service:

Matthew 25 - Episcopal Relief and Development's mandate.

What can we learn from this final parable of Jesus? The sheep have a job to do…

(1) Witnessed on a New York City street: A homeless man is sitting on the curb near St. Bart’s Church. He has set his hat out in front of him. A shabbily dressed homeless woman dragging a cart filled with garbage bags walks by. She pauses in front of the man. Deciding that he was worse off than she was, she takes out of her worn, ripped coat pocket two crumpled dollar bills and places them in his hat. It is a random act of charity that goes almost unnoticed by the world, a snapshot of compassion that both inspires the spirit and breaks the heart. That was reported in The New York Times, December 29, 2003.

The homeless woman in front of St. Bart’s manages to see beyond her own hardships to embrace Christ’s compassion in the homeless man she meets on the street…she saw a fellow human being…she saw Christ… Sometimes we don’t see Christ…

(2) In July 1995, the city of Chicago was wrapped in a deadly heat wave. For days the mercury hung in the three-digit-zone, the heat index reaching 120 degrees. During the heat wave, more than 700 Chicagoans died. Emergency teams reported finding inadequate or nonexistent ventilation in the residences of the dead, many had cardiac or pulmonary weaknesses. What major media accounts failed to report was another deadly killer: the absence of community. The majority of people who died in the heat wave died alone. They had no one checking in on their attic apartments or their windowless lives. No family, friend or neighbor showed up to discover the severity of his or her plight. Sixty-eight of these individuals died so anonymously that Cook County officials buried them in a mass grave.

The absence of community does not require a heat wave or cold spell, much less hundreds of deaths, to make its presence known. It surrounds us daily — in our neighbor­hoods, our work lives and the anguish of our own souls. We may not always be aware of this void. But the scarcity of a deep sense of community can wreak havoc below the surface of our outwardly busy lives, just as it occasionally makes the ultimate claim on an elderly individual living alone. [Adapted from "Breathing together" by Peter W. Marty, The Christian Century, August 23, 2005.]

Without community, we lose our connections, we fail to notice the needs of others, we can’t see Christ…

(3) Talia Leman, an eighth grader in Iowa who loves soccer and swimming, and whose favorite subject is science. When Talia was 10 years old, she saw television clips of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and decided to help. She galvanized other kids and started a movement to trick-or-treat at Halloween for coins for hurricane victims. The movement caught the public imagination, Talia made it on the “Today” show, and the campaign raised more than $10 million.

With that success behind her, Talia, now 13 years old, organized a program called RandomKid. At randomkid.org, young people can link up with others to participate in various philanthropic ventures. On the Web site, Talia has organized a campaign to build a school in rural Cambodia, backed by children in 48 states and 19 countries. [NY Times, Nov. 16, 2008]

Jesus calls us to the work of living community — community that is centered in the holiness of God that dwells within every man, woman and child. A community that sees Christ in all the members of the human family and responds to their needs. [Connections]

Supporting our Troops this Holiday Season

Want to wish some of our military personnel good cheer these holidays and thank them for their service?

Holiday Mail for Heroes

From the front lines to the home front, the American Red Cross provides service members, their families and veterans with the care and assistance they need. The Red Cross is partnering with Pitney Bowes this holiday season for the Holiday Mail for Heroes campaign.

For the second year in a row, we’re collecting holiday cards to distribute to American service members, veterans and their families in the United States and around the world. Pitney Bowes is generously donating technology, resources and postage to make this holiday card program possible.

Our goal is to collect and distribute one million holiday cards to spread holiday cheer and facilitate thanks to these brave individuals and families. Please send cards to this address, following the guidelines listed below:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

More details, including guidelines, visit their website here.

Help our Troops Call Home

The Department of Defense Military Exchanges have been authorized to sell the following prepaid calling cards to individuals and organizations who wish to purchase these cards for our troops serving overseas in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Visit here.

American Supports You

Thank you for joining millions of your fellow Americans in wanting to find ways to show support for our military. Whether you want to send a care package to a soldier, donate airline miles to help reunite returning military men and women with their families, support scholarship funds or send support to wounded service members, on this page you will find organizations dedicated to helping our troops and their families.

Visit here.

Sermon: November 16

Faith is a verb. I know the dictionary doesn’t say that but it is true.

Our faith, what we believe in, is lived through what we say and what we do. As Martin Luther King Jr. put it: “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase.” Taking those first steps of faith are important because they en-flesh what we believe but our next steps are just as important for they also speak of our faith

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T.S. Eliot These words from T.S. Eliot remind me that our call to live out our faith, to take that first step and the next, and the next after that, is a risk, a risk that will lead us to where God calls us to go, further than we can imagine, even when we can’t see the staircase, or it is a risk we are unwilling to take. For that is the point of the parable in the gospel…the servants are rewarded not because of the results of the talents they earned (God is not a bookkeeper checking on results) but because they were faithful servants who used the talents given them; the faithless servant refused to use the talent given him and buried it away…that is not enough says the master…that is not enough says God. We can’t live in fear for our faith calls us to risk, for without faith, we are lost…

“For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” How true it is that when we have talent, a gift, if we do not exercise it, if we don’t use it, we tend to lose it, as if it had been taken away… In college…I learned sign language and become somewhat proficient at it, but after college, I have used it less and less and now I barely can remember much of it, same could be said of my Spanish… I suspect we all have gifts, talents that remain unexplored, untried, or left to dust…

The Parable of the Talents is a stark reminder that we each have been entrusted with faith and we each have been entrusted with gifts, talents, charismas. God does not want us to sit on those gifts, does not want us to hide our faith under a bushel basket in fear but God wants us to use the gifts, to show our faith, for the good of others, to build up the Body of Christ, to help restore those who have fallen away & those in need.

I think of a story about the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven, who despite his artistry, was not known for his social grace, who was often uncomfortable around others and gruff with people. There is a story that when the son of a close friend died, Beethoven rushed to the home of his friend to express his grief. He had no words to offer, but for the next half hour, he sat at his friend's piano and expressed his emotions in the most eloquent way he could. When he had finished playing, the maestro quietly got up and left. His friend later said that no one else's visit meant as much to him and his family. [Philip Yancey]

Greatness in the kingdom of God is not defined by the talents and resources we possess but by what we are able to accomplish with what we have been given. Some of us possess great skills in medicine, in science, in literature, in the arts; some of us possess the ability to listen, to offer encouragement and care, to translate compassion into support and healing. Every one of us has some measure of talent, ability or skill — "talents" that have been entrusted to us by the "Master." Jesus teaches in today's Gospel that our place in the reign of God will depend on our stewardship of those talents: whether we "bury" them in fear or selfishness or use them readily to reveal the presence of God in our midst. [Connections]

And to use them to help others discover their God given talents too…

There is an organization called Five Talents’ International. Its mission is to fight poverty, create jobs and transform lives by empowering the poor in developing countries using innovative savings and microcredit programs, business training and spiritual development. It is based on the Parable from Matthew we have just heard (Matthew 25:14-30). They carry out this mission in partnership with the churches of the Anglican Communion.

Here’s one story from their ministry (and website):

After Joy’s husband died of malaria, she found herself alone, taking care of six children in the Kabale District of Uganda, near the Rwanda border. Instead of giving up in despair, she started a brick-making business. With a small loan of $150 and some savings she was able to purchase a small piece of land and employ eight people to make bricks. In just four months, she sold $150 worth of bricks with an inventory worth $400 available for sale. Since 2003, she has gotten several additional loans to enlarge her brick-making business. She also has expanded into growing potatoes and operating a small store. The profits from her business allow her to provide for her children's education and to hire 13 employees who now can support their families as well.

What is the impact of Five Talents?
• More than 20,000 people were helped in 2007.
• Thousands more since it began in 1999.
• Now supporting 13 programs in Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Tanzania and Peru.
• Currently providing technical assistance in Bolivia and Ghana.
• Repayment rates average more than 90%. (our banking industry would like to see such repayment rates!)

The ministry of FTI is to help people identify their gifts, train them with skills to nurture those gifts and then provide a community of support to sustain them in their use. Indeed its ministry is to help increase the talents and support them in their work!

Five Talents International is in a risky business. for the entrepreneur with the risks of starting one’s own business and there is risk for the giver, to “encourage…and build up” our brothers and sisters and release control of the gift into the hands of the recipient and trust them with it.

There is much God has given us, but we must be willing to take that first step, trust our God given talents and continue in faith to take our steps and help others take those first steps too… MLK, Jr. & T.S. Eliot were right, faith is taking that first step and understanding that those who will risk going too far by continuing to take steps are the ones who can find out how far one can go in life. Only by using our talents, by trusting our faith in our God who is faithful, can we risk going too far…

So let us learn from Scripture, let us number our days and apply our hearts to wisdom, let us in humility and faith live our lives, taking steps, taking risks, using our talents so that God’s glory may be made manifest through what we do. Then at the last may we hear… “Well done, good and faithful servant of God; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” Amen.

Remembering the victims of the California Fire

Mount Calvary Retreat House & Monastery in Santa Barbara, CA was destroyed this week by fire.

"Santa Barbara County Sheriff-Coroner Bill Brown, who flew over the burn area early Friday, said the Mount Calvary Benedictine monastery appeared to be completely destroyed and that he counted more than 80 homes burned to the ground, many in the winding streets around Westmont College." (AP)

Please pray for the monks (order of the Holy Cross) and all those affected by those wild fires.

You can read the NY Times article here: Monks Turn to Reflection With Monastery in Ruins.

Veterans Day Prayers

Governor of Nations, our Strength and Shield:
we give you thanks for the devotion and courage
of all those who have offered military service for this country:

For those who have fought for freedom;
for those who laid down their lives for others;
for those who have borne suffering of mind or of body;
for those who have brought their best gifts to times of need.

On our behalf they have entered into danger,
endured separation from those they love,
labored long hours, and borne hardship in war and in peacetime.

Lift up by your mighty Presence those who are now at war;
encourage and heal those in hospitals or mending their wounds at home;
guard those in any need or trouble;
hold safely in your hands all military families;
and bring the returning troops to joyful reunion and tranquil life at home;

Give to us, your people, grateful hearts
and a united will to honor these men and women
and hold them always in our love and our prayers;
until your world is perfected in peace through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

(Compiled by the Rev. Jennifer Phillips)

------------

O judge of the nations, we remember before you with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy. Grant that we may not rest until all people of this land share the benefits of true freedom and gladly accept it disciplines. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN. (BCP)

Sermon: November 9

These words we heard on Tuesday Night…

“I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit. ” ~ John McCain

“So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers. In this country, we rise or fall as one nation — as one people.” ~ Barack Obama

These words from the speeches by John McCain and Barack Obama on that historic Tuesday night are all about hope and working together in the midst of these difficult days. We have entered a new era with an African-American as President elect at the same time we live in the midst of the worst unemployment in 14 years, too many mortgages in foreclosure, an October that retailers would like to forget, the auto industry on the ropes and we watch Congo descend into chaos and warfare with a world in financial trouble. We have our work cut out for us to live into that hope and to pray and work for better days ahead.

There will be the naysayers and there will be people who say the end is at hand. Many of these are same types who also say that while everything is going to hell in a handbasket, so is everybody else, going to hell that is… [2 pictures shown – the end is at hand]

In the midst of all of this, we have the parable of the ten maidens that Jesus gives us today. And at first glance, this parable of judgment might seem to give us little reason to hope and more to fear, but it really is a story about living that hope in our lives right now and in every moment we have breath in us.

As Jesus tells it, 10 bridesmaids were given the honor to meet the bridegroom 5 were wise and prepared (extra oil) 5 were foolish and had only oil in their lamp The Bridegroom was delayed and all 10 slept When he finally arrived the foolish ran to get more oil because their lamps grew dim but were not welcomed back when they returned…

It would be as if you had cleared security and gotten in the crowd to see John McCain or Barack Obama on Tuesday night, waiting all day with your camera and when the candidate arrives you realize your battery is dead and you did not bring a spare, you run out to get a battery but by the time you return, you cannot get back in…

Now Jesus tells us that this parable is how the Kingdom of Heaven will be like, so Keep awake says Jesus, be prepared, for you know neither the day nor the hour when the kingdom will come, for the bridegroom in the story is Jesus. And he is looking at our lives, and seeing how unprepared we are to live, how we don’t have that hope oozing through us, we don’t have that extra oil to be ready for what may come.

In the Jewish tradition having oil was often connected to good deeds or the torah. To live a life prepared is, as I said last week, to live according to the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes.

“Readiness in the Gospel of Matthew is all about living the quality of life described in the Sermon on the Mount. Many can do this for a short while; but when the kingdom is delayed, the problems arise. Being a peacemaker for a day is not as demanding as being a peacemaker year after year when the hostility breaks out again and again, and the bridegroom is delayed…” (New Interpreters Bible)

Let me illustrate this with a story from the new comedy Ghost Town, Bertram Pincus is a curmudgeon of a dentist. He is unmarried, friendless, a loner, meticulous even obtuse at times. After a failed romance, Bertram has shut himself off from others. “I don’t mind crowds,” Bertram says, “only the people in them.” Then, during a routine colonoscopy, something goes wrong with the anesthesia. Bertram is clinically dead for seven minutes. He recovers to find himself a medium between the living and the dead.

On leaving the hospital, Bertram is besieged by anxious ghosts only he can see and hear. The ghosts trail him around Manhattan, pleading with Bertram to take care of the unfinished business they have left behind; only when these unresolved things are settled will they be able to rest in peace for eternity. Now Bertram is really annoyed. He wants nothing to do with these spirits and their problems. The ghosts make Bertram confront the incompleteness of his own life. So Bertram begins to help the ghosts, one by one: for one ghost, he heals the breach between her two warring daughters and so on.

Bertram discovers that generosity can be more fulfilling than cruelty; that being mean and cold is not all the fun its cracked up to be. In helping these souls find peace, Bertram Pincus fills the emptiness of his own soul with a new tenderness and sense of compassion and empathy toward others and himself.

“Ghost Town is an offbeat take on today’s parable of the ten bridesmaids and the gift of time in our lives. There is so much we want to do with our lives — but the many demands on our time to make a living derail us from making a life, a life that is centered in the love of family and friends, in an awareness of God’s living presence and a yearning for contributing to the greater good of all.” (Connections by Jay Cormier)

It is Jesus who warns us not to fall into the trap of the five foolish bridesmaids or Bertram Pincus or those souls who left unfinished business, all who squander their time before the Bridegroom’s arrival, but to embrace the wisdom of the five “wise” bridesmaids, trimming our “lamps” with the “oil” – which is the stuff of our relationships, the love, compassion, generosity and forgiveness, to live out those Beatitudes in our lives until his coming again. Then we will be ready.

As was said on Tuesday night, “This is our moment. This is our time — to reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope…” (Barack Obama)

And in that hope is our life and what we will do with it each and every moment that we have, as a former US treasury secretary put it: “Infinitely more important than sharing one's material wealth is sharing the wealth of ourselves—our time and energy, our passion and commitment, and, above all, our love.” ~ William E. Simon

Amen.

What does our President-elect believe?

To find out what our President-Elect Obama believes, I invite you to read:

His 'Call to Renewal' Keynote Address (June 28, 2006)

Small Excerpt:

And that night, before I went to bed I said a prayer of my own. It's a prayer I think I share with a lot of Americans. A hope that we can live with one another in a way that reconciles the beliefs of each with the good of all. It's a prayer worth praying, and a conversation worth having in this country in the months and years to come. ~ Barack Obama

Faith Has Role in Politics, Obama Tells Church

Small Excerpt:

“My faith teaches me that I can sit in church and pray all I want, but I won’t be fulfilling God’s will unless I go out and do the Lord’s work.” ~ Barack Obama

Prayers after an Election

Prayers after an election:

O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that, being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to the President of the United States and to the President-Elect and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. (BCP p. 180 #19, adapted)

Under your law we live, great God, and by your will we govern ourselves. Help us as good citizens to respect neighbors whose views differ from ours, so that without partisan anger, we may work out issues that divide us, and support those elected candidates to serve the common welfare; through Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. (PCUSA, p. 732, adapted)

Prayer for an Election

Almighty God, to whom we must account for all our powers and privileges: Guide the people of the United States in the election of officials and representatives; that, by faithful administration and wise laws, the rights of all may be protected and our nation be enabled to fulfill your purposes; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A thought for Election Day

May God shed God's grace on us this day as we go out and Vote!

America the Beautiful
by Katharine Lee Bates (1859–1929)

O BEAUTIFUL for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Those stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Praying for the Election & Beyond

Prayer for a Sound Government:

O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth.
Lord, keep this nation under your care.

To the President and members of the Cabinet, to Governors of States, Mayors of Cities, and to all in administrative authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To Senators and Representatives, and those who make our laws in States, Cities, and Towns, give courage, wisdom, and foresight to provide for the needs of all our people, and to fulfill our obligations in the community of nations.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To the Judges and officers of our Courts give understanding and integrity, that human rights may be safeguarded and justice served.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

And finally, teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens, that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society; that we may serve you faithfully in our generation and honor your holy Name.
For yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Amen.

Sermon: All Saints Sunday

One day a visitor asked the parish priest on a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea, “How many people usually worship here on Sunday?” The priest’s answer was, “Oh, about ten to twelve thousand, I would suppose.” The visitor was somewhat bewildered. “This is a tiny island,” she said, “and the church is small. Where do all these people come from and how can they possibly fit into so small a church building?”

The priest smiled and then said to the visitor, “All the people who ever lived on this island since it received the gospel message are still here. Just think of what we say in the sacred liturgy: ‘Therefore with all the angels and the saints and the whole company of the faithful we praise your glory forever.’

“Don’t you realize,” he added, “that when we sing the Trisagion [Holy, Holy, Holy] we are joining with all the holy ones who have ever worshiped in this church?”

A wonderful story that reminds us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses that join us every time we come to worship together here in this sacred place. And on All Saints Sunday, we turn our attention to those who are with us in Spirit. “Let us now sing the praises of famous men and women, our ancestors in their generations.” Words from the book Ecclesiasticus, calling us to remember the saints.

Every year, we do just that. It began this year on Friday Night with the carnival celebrations of Halloween (All Hallows Eve). “Halloween is the time of year when we see that Christ has so triumphed over Evil that even little children can mock the Devil with impunity.” With children dressing up in freakish costumes, similar to the way “our ancestors had used the most powerful weapon in the human arsenal, the power of humor and ridicule, to confront the power of death.”
For in each case, we remember that Christ has brought us out of death into life, out of darkness into light. The saints live in that light.

On All Saints Day, we remember the saints from long ago and not so long ago…asking God to help us follow them in all virtuous and godly living… “In the New Testament, the word “saints” is used to describe the entire membership of the Christian community, and in the Collect for All Saints’ Day the word “elect” is used in a similar sense. From very early times, however, the word “saint” came to be applied primarily to persons of heroic sanctity, whose deeds were recalled with gratitude by later generations.” (Lesser Feasts & Fasts, 2000)

And so we remember the saints who lived the godly life…Today is also November 2. Traditionally the day set aside to remember All Souls, or (as our BCP puts it) the Commemoration of all the faithful departed. We remember our loved ones, family members, friends, even those whose name has become silent, no lips to speak their names. Even they are commemorated on this day. They are no less members of the community of the faithful in heaven then the saints we think of, but they are not recognized except by those who remember and love them.

“But of others…there is no memory…they have perished as though they have never existed…but these also were godly persons, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten, their offspring will continue forever, and the glory will never be blotted out.”

We remember them, we think of them because God remembers them, they are at home with God, they are counted among that countless throng in heaven we call the communion of saints, both known and unknown.

Today, though is not just about remembering our departed loved ones or thinking of the saints of past years and their lives. We need to consider the saints of today and the saints yet unborn… For we are also counted among the saints…why? heroic deeds? a devout faith? a pious spirit? No. We are numbered among them because through our baptism, we are part of the household of God, members of Christ’s body, and part of that faithful tribe who call themselves Christians. It is baptism that links us with the communion of saints.

Today is really a feast day for all of us as we understand our place among the communion of saints. To use James Joyce’s words in thinking about the Church, that it’s “here comes everybody.” Everybody belongs, no matter how saintly they think of themselves or not.

Today, John Decker Sikes joins the communion of saints as he his baptized in just a few moments (at the next service). He will take his place among the body of Christ and as full members in Christ. It is Christ who is, in a sense, given to us in Baptism, is ritually remembered and taken in again at communion (taking in bread and wine as Christ said, “do this in remembrance of me.”) It is this same Christ who is our friend, throughout our life and in our death welcomes us with the saints home. It is Christ who remembers us and holds us in our death. For this is the hope of the saints, this is the hope that our ancestors in their generations lived with, it is our hope today. “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are,” the First Epistle of John tell us.

This hope is grounded in our lives. How we follow Christ, living our lives as witnesses to this faith… How we live in faith is the Gospel message for today, consider that the Beatitudes were given to the disciples and the crowds gathered on a mountain; where Jesus taught…

Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, who are meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who are merciful, those who are pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness sake…

We are called to live out of these: Have we been merciful? Or meek & humble? Have we tried to bring peace to our world? I think of those Pilgrims for Peace who stayed here on Friday…

In a society that lives on wealth and prestige, on aggressiveness and displays of power, the Beatitudes are a very different way of living our lives. They challenge us to see that the saints and the faithful departed were committed to their faith, their community and their God. They lived these Beatitudes in their lives. We account them faithful and numbered in heaven. Let us commit ourselves to the faith of Christ, and let us in hope, remember the saints, our faithful departed, knowing that one day we will join them.

For as that (first) hymn put it: “But lo! There breaks a yet more glorious day; the saints triumphant rise in bright array; the King of Glory passes on his way…”

or as another song has put it: “O Lord, I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in…” Amen.

Why we vote

I saw this in an article from the Micah Challenge that got it from the Mennonite's magazine.

This is a small excerpt but says why I think we should vote:

We are citizens of our communities—many of us leaders, and we take advantage of much that our communities offer. We can’t just refuse to help set the direction of our towns and counties and nation!

Besides, if we believe that God instituted government for the good of people, and we live in a democracy where we are the government, isn’t it our duty to help our government do the things God instituted it to do? We Christians can do a lot, through the government as well as outside it, to improve the condition of our fellowman, to promote Christian order and justice and the reign of peace. Goodness, with all the drunkenness in our land, we certainly can vote to promote more Christian behavior.

-Anna Landis Funk (from two letters written by her in 1880 in Indiana)

You can read the whole thing here.

All Saints & All Souls

“All Saints' Day is the centerpiece of an autumn triduum. In the carnival celebrations of All Hallows' Eve our ancestors used the most powerful weapon in the human arsenal, the power of humor and ridicule, to confront the power of death. The following day, in the commemoration of All Saints, we gave witness to the victory of incarnate goodness embodied in the remarkable deeds and doers triumphing over the misanthropy of darkness and devils. And in the commemoration of All Souls we proclaim the hope of common mortality expressed in our aspirations and expectation of a shared eternity.” – The Rev. Sam Portaro from “Brightest and Best”

Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy
Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

O God, the Maker and Redeemer of all believers: Grant to the faithful departed the unsearchable benefits of the passion of your Son; that on the day of his appearing they may be manifested as your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is really All Hallows Eve, or the Eve of All Saints' Day:

“All Saints' Day is the centerpiece of an autumn triduum. In the carnival celebrations of All Hallows' Eve our ancestors used the most powerful weapon in the human arsenal, the power of humor and ridicule, to confront the power of death.” – Rev. Sam Portaro from “Brightest and Best”

"Halloween is the time of year when we see that Christ has so triumphed over Evil, that even little children can mock the Devil with impunity." – Fr. Victor

You, O Lord, have made us from the dust of the earth and to dust our bodies shall return; yet you have also breathed your Spirit upon us and called us to new life in you: Have mercy upon us, now and at the hour of our death; through Jesus Christ, our mediator and advocate. Amen.

Pilgrims for Peace

“Praying with Their Feet"

A group of pilgrims – people of faith from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Unitarian Universalist and other traditions – will be “praying with their feet” for peace as they walk around Connecticut. The pilgrims hope to proclaim peace in the name of all people and all faith traditions and to invite neighbors to a conversation about what they can do to make peace in a war-weary world. Churches, synagogues, mosques, and people’s homes will be places of rest, refreshment and welcome to the Pilgrims on their route.

The theme of “walking,” or pilgrimage, is important for all great religious traditions, and the Rev. Emmett Jarrett, an Episcopal Franciscan priest, noted that the prophet Isaiah wrote in the eighth century BCE of “how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the one[s] who bring glad tidings, announcing peace.”

St. Peter’s will host the peace pilgrims on Halloween (October 31). A meal, a place for rest for the pilgrims and an opportunity for conversation with the community will take place that night. Join them for a conversation on peace at 7 PM in our Undercroft (Parish Hall). All are welcome!

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Sermon Notes: October 26

These are the notes from my sermon on October 26:

Which commandment in the law is the greatest?" Jesus said to him, "`You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

613 commandments in Hebrew Scriptures
-Jesus lifts out these two; equal importance.
-an ethic of love

Hillel the Elder (famous Jewish religious leader)
-lived during the time of King Herod
-When asked for a summary of the Jewish religion in the most concise terms, Hillel said: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study it.” (2nd part)
-Shema (The Lord our God, the Lord is one…)

Love God, Love Neighbor – God loves you!

IRIS (at Diocesan Convention) Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services

· refugee resettlement arm of Episcopal Social Service, Inc., since 1982.
· IRIS has resettled over 4,000 people.
· Last year IRIS welcomed 112 refugees from 19 countries. Nearly one half came from Africa. · IRIS is a program of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.
· Director told a story… a synagogue become a sponsor for a Iraqi refuge family from Baghdad, in thanksgiving the Muslim family joined the Jewish congregation on its first day of the celebration of Sukkoth, Feast of Booths, a week-long harvest Festival.

“As for the disciples, it was not by their fantastic worship, not by their biblical knowledge, not by their insight or wisdom, not by their sanctity, not by their moral uprightness that they would be known to the world. Not by their eloquent or convicting preaching. Not by their buildings, or their budgets would they be known. Not by their faith to move mountains, or by their personal purity would they be singled out as belonging to Jesus. It would be by their love.” (from synthesis, HKO)

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.” (John 13:34)

This is a true story: An eight-year-old boy had a younger sister who was dying of leukemia. His parents explained to him that she needed a blood transfusion and that his blood was probably compatible. They asked if they could test his blood. Sure, he said. The results showed that his blood would be a good match. Then they asked the boy if he would give his sister a pint of blood, that it could be her only chance at living. He said he would like to think about overnight. The next day he went to his parents and said he was willing to donate his blood to his sister. So they took him to the hospital where he was put on a gurney beside his sister. Both of them were hooked up to IVs. A nurse withdrew a pint of blood from the boy, which was then put into the girl’s IV. The boy lay on his gurney in silence while the blood dripped into his sister. The doctor came over to see how he was doing. The boy opened his eyes and asked, “How soon until I start to die?” [Jack Kornfield, cited in Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.]

Whether it’s a neighbor nearby like one’s sister or far away like a refugee family, our calling is simple: Love God, Love Neighbor – God loves you!

Micah Challenge Sunday

“And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

Micah Challenge Community Prayer

God of all creation: We pray to you at a moment in history of unique potential, when the stated intentions of world leaders echo something of the mind of the Biblical prophets and the teachings of Jesus concerning the poor, and when we have the means to dramatically reduce poverty.

Today, we want to commit ourselves, as followers of Jesus, to work together for the holistic transformation of our communities, to pursue justice, be passionate about kindness and to walk humbly with God. We pray that you will transform the hearts of decision-makers of both rich and poor nations, to fulfill their public promise to those living in impoverished and marginalized communities; the promise they made to bring an end to extreme poverty.

We pray that your Spirit will stir Christians everywhere to be agents of hope for and with the poor, and to work with others to hold our leaders accountable in securing a more just and merciful world. May your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. In justice, mercy and humility we pray. Amen.