Sermon - Easter 5 (April 29)

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen. (BCP)

Who does God love? (Answer: Everyone! All creation. “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” 1 John)

“If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.” – PB Curry. But we have struggled with how we offer it, how we reach forth our hands in love.

In our first reading this morning, a eunuch from the court of the Queen of the Ethiopians felt drawn to Jerusalem to worship, studying a scroll he picked up, a passage from Isaiah. He doesn’t understand the meaning behind the text, but a young man has come up to his chariot and asks if he needs help.

The young man is Philip the Deacon, commissioned to be an evangelist in Acts chapter 6. He is led by the Holy Spirit to his encounter with the Ethiopian Eunuch. Philip uses the text of Isaiah, to tell the eunuch about Jesus, he relates the passage to the imagery of the suffering servant found in Isaiah to what Jesus suffered in his last days.

Now the eunuch sees water and wants to be baptized. He is prepared. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship. He travels home, continuing to study scripture. He is ready to say yes.

It is clear from both Leviticus & Deuteronomy that eunuchs were looked down upon. They were not to be a part of the assembly (community of the faithful). They could not be priests serving in the holy of holies along with others who were deemed defective in some way. You get the feeling that they were shamed and on the margins of society.

Did they feel God’s love? I don’t know. They certainly did not feel that love from others even if some were elevated to the courts of Kings and Queens throughout the Mediterranean.

But the love that God has for all, would come back in Isaiah (56), as both the foreigner and the eunuch who were faithful were lifted up.

Do not let the eunuch say, “I am just a dry tree.” For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

That is an interesting play on words, but the message is clear, they will be honored not excluded.

Jesus takes it one step further, he is calling everyone to form God’s people, not just Jews but Gentiles too. In baptism we are truly one family as beloved children of God, and that is to be the sole claim on family allegiance. Jesus does not place limits on who can be baptized.

So Philip baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch. The spirit sends them on their way, the eunuch goes home rejoicing and Philip goes on his way to continue proclaiming the Good News.

Who does God love? (Answer: Everyone! All creation.)

We are heirs to Philip’s call to share God’s love by the Spirit that guides us today. That Good News seeks to dismantle barriers, extending its circle beyond the in-group to embrace those on the outside, the lost and left-behind. Who are the outsiders, the disenfranchised, the excluded (the eunuchs of our day) & how can we reach out to them, build bridges with them, learn from them?

Writer Anne Lamott, explains in her book, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, why she wants her little Presbyterian church to be part of her son's life:

“I want to give him what I found in the world, a path and a little light to see by. Most of the people I know who have what I want – which is to say, purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy – are people with a deep sense of spirituality. They are people in community, who pray, or practice their faith . . . They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle.

“When I was at the end of my rope, the people of St. Andrew’s tied a knot in it for me and helped me to hold on. The church became my home - that it's where, when you show up, they have to let you in. They let me in. They even said, You come back now.

“Sam was welcomed and prayed for at St. Andrew's seven months before he was born. When I announced during worship that I was pregnant, people cheered. All these old people, raised in Bible-thumping homes in the Deep South, clapped. Even the women whose grown-up boys had been or were doing time in jails or prisons rejoiced for me . . . Women [who] live pretty close to the bone financially on small Social Security checks . . . routinely sidled up to me and stuffed bills in my pockets – tens and twenties . . . And then almost immediately they set about providing for us. They brought clothes, they brought me casseroles to keep in the freezer, they brought me assurance that this baby was going to be part of the family.

“I was usually filled with a sense of something like shame until I'd remember that wonderful line of Blake's – that we are here to learn to endure the beams of love – and I would take a long breath and force these words out of my strangled throat: Thank you.”

Who is hurting around you? Who is looking for hope? Who feels ashamed & excluded?

The Spirit is sending you, like Philip, to reach forth your hands in love to them. We are the baptized in Christ, we are part of something greater than ourselves, something which transforms and transcends the fragileness of our lives. May our families, communities and parishes become those welcoming places where that love is extended to everyone.

Because, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.” Amen.

Reclaiming Jesus

A Confession of Faith in a Time of Crisis 

We are living through perilous and polarizing times as a nation, with a dangerous crisis of moral and political leadership at the highest levels of our government and in our churches. We believe the soul of the nation and the integrity of faith are now at stake.

It is time to be followers of Jesus before anything else—nationality, political party, race, ethnicity, gender, geography—our identity in Christ precedes every other identity. We pray that our nation will see Jesus’ words in us. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

When politics undermines our theology, we must examine that politics. The church’s role is to change the world through the life and love of Jesus Christ. The government’s role is to serve the common good by protecting justice and peace, rewarding good behavior while restraining bad behavior (Romans 13). When that role is undermined by political leadership, faith leaders must stand up and speak out. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.”

It is often the duty of Christian leaders, especially elders, to speak the truth in love to our churches and to name and warn against temptations, racial and cultural captivities, false doctrines, and political idolatries—and even our complicity in them. We do so here with humility, prayer, and a deep dependency on the grace and Holy Spirit of God.

This letter comes from a retreat on Ash Wednesday, 2018. In this season of Lent, we feel deep lamentations for the state of our nation, and our own hearts are filled with confession for the sins we feel called to address. The true meaning of the word repentance is to turn around. It is time to lament, confess, repent, and turn. In times of crisis, the church has historically learned to return to Jesus Christ.

Jesus is Lord. That is our foundational confession. It was central for the early church and needs to again become central to us. If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar was not—nor any other political ruler since. If Jesus is Lord, no other authority is absolute. Jesus Christ, and the kingdom of God he announced, is the Christian’s first loyalty, above all others. We pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Our faith is personal but never private, meant not only for heaven but for this earth.

The question we face is this: Who is Jesus Christ for us today? What does our loyalty to Christ, as disciples, require at this moment in our history? We believe it is time to renew our theology of public discipleship and witness. Applying what “Jesus is Lord” means today is the message we commend as elders to our churches.

What we believe leads us to what we must reject. Our “Yes” is the foundation for our “No.” What we confess as our faith leads to what we confront. Therefore, we offer the following six affirmations of what we believe, and the resulting rejections of practices and policies by political leaders which dangerously corrode the soul of the nation and deeply threaten the public integrity of our faith. We pray that we, as followers of Jesus, will find the depth of faith to match the danger of our political crisis.

I. WE BELIEVE each human being is made in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). That image and likeness confers a divinely decreed dignity, worth, and God-given equality to all of us as children of the one God who is the Creator of all things. Racial bigotry is a brutal denial of the image of God (the imago dei) in some of the children of God. Our participation in the global community of Christ absolutely prevents any toleration of racial bigotry. Racial justice and healing are biblical and theological issues for us, and are central to the mission of the body of Christ in the world. We give thanks for the prophetic role of the historic black churches in America when they have called for a more faithful gospel.

THEREFORE, WE REJECT the resurgence of white nationalism and racism in our nation on many fronts, including the highest levels of political leadership. We, as followers of Jesus, must clearly reject the use of racial bigotry for political gain that we have seen. In the face of such bigotry, silence is complicity. In particular, we reject white supremacy and commit ourselves to help dismantle the systems and structures that perpetuate white preference and advantage. Further, any doctrines or political strategies that use racist resentments, fears, or language must be named as public sin—one that goes back to the foundation of our nation and lingers on. Racial bigotry must be antithetical for those belonging to the body of Christ, because it denies the truth of the gospel we profess.

II. WE BELIEVE we are one body. In Christ, there is to be no oppression based on race, gender, identity, or class (Galatians 3:28). The body of Christ, where those great human divisions are to be overcome, is meant to be an example for the rest of society. When we fail to overcome these oppressive obstacles, and even perpetuate them, we have failed in our vocation to the world—to proclaim and live the reconciling gospel of Christ.

THEREFORE, WE REJECT misogyny, the mistreatment, violent abuse, sexual harassment, and assault of women that has been further revealed in our culture and politics, including our churches, and the oppression of any other child of God. We lament when such practices seem publicly ignored, and thus privately condoned, by those in high positions of leadership. We stand for the respect, protection, and affirmation of women in our families, communities, workplaces, politics, and churches. We support the courageous truth-telling voices of women, who have helped the nation recognize these abuses. We confess sexism as a sin, requiring our repentance and resistance.

III. WE BELIEVE how we treat the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger, the sick, and the prisoner is how we treat Christ himself. (Matthew 25: 31-46) “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” God calls us to protect and seek justice for those who are poor and vulnerable, and our treatment of people who are “oppressed,” “strangers,” “outsiders,” or otherwise considered “marginal” is a test of our relationship to God, who made us all equal in divine dignity and love. Our proclamation of the lordship of Jesus Christ is at stake in our solidarity with the most vulnerable. If our gospel is not “good news to the poor,” it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ (Luke 4:18).

THEREFORE, WE REJECT the language and policies of political leaders who would debase and abandon the most vulnerable children of God. We strongly deplore the growing attacks on immigrants and refugees, who are being made into cultural and political targets, and we need to remind our churches that God makes the treatment of the “strangers” among us a test of faith (Leviticus 19:33-34). We won’t accept the neglect of the well-being of low-income families and children, and we will resist repeated attempts to deny health care to those who most need it. We confess our growing national sin of putting the rich over the poor. We reject the immoral logic of cutting services and programs for the poor while cutting taxes for the rich. Budgets are moral documents. We commit ourselves to opposing and reversing those policies and finding solutions that reflect the wisdom of people from different political parties and philosophies to seek the common good. Protecting the poor is a central commitment of Christian discipleship, to which 2,000 verses in the Bible attest.

IV. WE BELIEVE that truth is morally central to our personal and public lives. Truth-telling is central to the prophetic biblical tradition, whose vocation includes speaking the Word of God into their societies and speaking the truth to power. A commitment to speaking truth, the ninth commandment of the Decalogue, “You shall not bear false witness” (Exodus 20:16), is foundational to shared trust in society. Falsehood can enslave us, but Jesus promises, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32). The search and respect for truth is crucial to anyone who follows Christ.

THEREFORE, WE REJECT the practice and pattern of lying that is invading our political and civil life. Politicians, like the rest of us, are human, fallible, sinful, and mortal. But when public lying becomes so persistent that it deliberately tries to change facts for ideological, political, or personal gain, the public accountability to truth is undermined. The regular purveying of falsehoods and consistent lying by the nation’s highest leaders can change the moral expectations within a culture, the accountability for a civil society, and even the behavior of families and children. The normalization of lying presents a profound moral danger to the fabric of society. In the face of lies that bring darkness, Jesus is our truth and our light.

V. WE BELIEVE that Christ’s way of leadership is servanthood, not domination. Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles (the world) lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:25-26). We believe our elected officials are called to public service, not public tyranny, so we must protect the limits, checks, and balances of democracy and encourage humility and civility on the part of elected officials. We support democracy, not because we believe in human perfection, but because we do not. The authority of government is instituted by God to order an unredeemed society for the sake of justice and peace, but ultimate authority belongs only to God.

THEREFORE, WE REJECT any moves toward autocratic political leadership and authoritarian rule. We believe authoritarian political leadership is a theological danger that threatens democracy and the common good—and we will resist it. Disrespect for the rule of law, not recognizing the equal importance of our three branches of government, and replacing civility with dehumanizing hostility toward opponents are of great concern to us. Neglecting the ethic of public service and accountability, in favor of personal recognition and gain often characterized by offensive arrogance, are not just political issues for us. They raise deeper concerns about political idolatry, accompanied by false and unconstitutional notions of authority.

VI. WE BELIEVE Jesus when he tells us to go into all nations making disciples (Matthew 28:18). Our churches and our nations are part of an international community whose interests always surpass national boundaries. The most well-known verse in the New Testament starts with “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16). We, in turn, should love and serve the world and all its inhabitants, rather than seek first narrow, nationalistic prerogatives.

THEREFORE, WE REJECT “America first” as a theological heresy for followers of Christ. While we share a patriotic love for our country, we reject xenophobic or ethnic nationalism that places one nation over others as a political goal. We reject domination rather than stewardship of the earth’s resources, toward genuine global development that brings human flourishing for all of God’s children. Serving our own communities is essential, but the global connections between us are undeniable. Global poverty, environmental damage, violent conflict, weapons of mass destruction, and deadly diseases in some places ultimately affect all places, and we need wise political leadership to deal with each of these.

WE ARE DEEPLY CONCERNED for the soul of our nation, but also for our churches and the integrity of our faith. The present crisis calls us to go deeper—deeper into our relationship to God; deeper into our relationships with each other, especially across racial, ethnic, and national lines; deeper into our relationships with the most vulnerable, who are at greatest risk.

The church is always subject to temptations to power, to cultural conformity, and to racial, class, and gender divides, as Galatians 3:28 teaches us. But our answer is to be “in Christ,” and to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable, and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)

The best response to our political, material, cultural, racial, or national idolatries is the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Jesus summarizes the Greatest Commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, and your mind. This is the first commandment. And the second is like unto it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:38). As to loving our neighbors, we would add “no exceptions.”

We commend this letter to pastors, local churches, and young people who are watching and waiting to see what the churches will say and do at such a time as this.

Our urgent need, in a time of moral and political crisis, is to recover the power of confessing our faith. Lament, repent, and then repair. If Jesus is Lord, there is always space for grace. We believe it is time to speak and to act in faith and conscience, not because of politics, but because we are disciples of Jesus Christ—to whom be all authority, honor, and glory. It is time for a fresh confession of faith. Jesus is Lord. He is the light in our darkness. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

23 signatories including...
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church

Gospel of Thomas

In Bible Study, we have begun reading and discussing the Gospel of Thomas.

Learn more here (some reflections by an Episcopal priest):

http://awakingheart.com/home/2017/7/31/approaching-thomas

http://contemplativejournal.com/gospel-thomas-engaging-thomas/

http://contemplativejournal.com/gospel-thomas-becoming-thomas/

And to read the Gospel of Thomas on your own:

https://www.gospels.net/thomas/

Poor People's Campaign

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Poor People’s Campaign organized by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968, the Episcopal Church is teaming with ecumenical partners including the National Council of Churches into action, ministry, and official relationship with the 2018 Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

The Episcopal Church Executive Council approved a resolution at its January meeting “acknowledging the unfinished work of the 1968 Poor Peoples Campaign, celebrate the revival of the movement as the 2018 Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.”

The resolution concluded that the Poor People’s Campaign will “recognize these issues of poverty and justice severely affect our domestic and global brothers and sisters and commit to ministry of active engagement, advocacy, and support throughout the Episcopal Church.”

“This is an important partnership and we are enthused that the Episcopal Church is teaming with others in this important initiative,” commented the Rev. Melanie Mullen, Director of Reconciliation, Justice and Creation Care. “The work of the Episcopal Church through General Convention and Executive Council fully embodies the values of the gospel that underlie the Jesus Movement.”

For Episcopalians and the Episcopal Church, the goals of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival are:

• To live into our partnerships with the National Council of Churches and with the Poor People’s Campaign;
• To rally Episcopalians on the issues of poverty and justice;
• To ask for consideration in joining marches occurring nationally on April 4, the anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Sunday, May 13, Mother’s Day;
• To encourage all interested Episcopalians to sign up here to participate.

 

Fundamental Principles of the Campaign

1. We are rooted in a moral analysis based on our deepest religious and constitutional values that demand justice for all. Moral revival is necessary to save the heart and soul of our democracy.

2. We are committed to lifting up and deepening the leadership of those most affected by systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, and ecological devastation and to building unity across lines of division.

3. We believe in the dismantling of unjust criminalization systems that exploit poor communities and communities of color and the transformation of the “War Economy” into a “Peace Economy” that values all humanity.

4. We believe that equal protection under the law is non-negotiable.

5. We believe that people should not live in or die from poverty in the richest nation ever to exist. Blaming the poor and claiming that the United States does not have an abundance of resources to overcome poverty are false narratives used to perpetuate economic exploitation, exclusion, and deep inequality.

6. We recognize the centrality of systemic racism in maintaining economic oppression must be named, detailed and exposed empirically, morally and spiritually. Poverty and economic inequality cannot be understood apart from a society built on white supremacy.

7. We aim to shift the distorted moral narrative often promoted by religious extremists in the nation from issues like prayer in school, abortion, and gun rights to one that is concerned with how our society treats the poor, those on the margins, the least of these, women, LGBTQIA folks, workers, immigrants, the disabled and the sick; equality and representation under the law; and the desire for peace, love and harmony within and among nations.

8. We will build up the power of people and state-based movements to serve as a vehicle for a powerful moral movement in the country and to transform the political, economic and moral structures of our society.

9. We recognize the need to organize at the state and local level—many of the most regressive policies are being passed at the state level, and these policies will have long and lasting effect, past even executive orders. The movement is not from above but below.

10. We will do our work in a non-partisan way—no elected officials or candidates get the stage or serve on the State Organizing Committee of the Campaign. This is not about left and right, Democrat or Republican but about right and wrong.

11. We uphold the need to do a season of sustained moral direct action as a way to break through the tweets and shift the moral narrative. We are demonstrating the power of people coming together across issues and geography and putting our bodies on the line to the issues that are affecting us all.

12. The Campaign and all its Participants and Endorsers embrace nonviolence. Violent tactics or actions will not be tolerated.

Learn more here (including the demands). 

In partnership with the Institute for Policy Studies, PPC has just released The Souls of Poor Folk: a national audit 50 years after the original Poor People's Campaign was launched by Rev. Dr. King and SCLC. In many areas, our nation and its poor and working-class peoples are dramatically further behind today on economic and social indices than a half-century ago. Almost half of our nation's population is currently poor or low-income.

Weeks before the 1968 Poor People's Campaign was to mobilize in Washington DC, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered in Memphis, having been invited there by Rev. James Lawson. Rev. Lawson continues to train and organize today; you can hear him in two recent NPR programs, as interviewed by Debbie Elliott: Codeswitch's "The Road to the Promised Land, 50 Years Later" and her feature NPR story "When MLK Was Killed, He Was in Memphis Fighting for Economic Justice."

May 13th Mother's Day launch of 40 Days of Moral Action  - Stay tuned!

Earth Day Sermon (Easter 4)

(8 am sermon)

We give you thanks, most gracious God, for the beauty of earth and sky and sea; for the richness of mountains, plains, and rivers; for the songs of birds and the loveliness of flowers. We praise you for these good gifts, and pray that we may safeguard them for our posterity. Grant that we may continue to grow in our grateful enjoyment of your abundant creation, to the honor and glory of your Name, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP p. 840)

As we continue our celebration of Easter, today we remember its Earth Day, a day to remind ourselves as Christians that as we celebrate new life in Easter, we also give thanks to God for this beautiful plant and all living creatures that our God created and we remind ourselves to be good stewards of all of this.

As I thought about Earth Day and Jesus, I came across this saying – Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.” (Gospel of Thomas, 77)

It’s from the Gospel of Thomas. An ancient text written in Greek sometime in 100 – 200 CE – the copy we have is from Egypt and written in Coptic from around the year 350 CE. We will be studying this apocryphal Gospel beginning on Wednesday (how’s that for a plug!).

But for me, this passage from Thomas, reminds me of words from the Gospel of John – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1: 1-5)

Jesus (the Word) was there from the beginning – all came into being through him; he is the life that is the light of all people. He is the light over all things – look around creation and you will find Jesus, you will find God in the beauty of creation, wood and stone. And if you look you just might find life.

"Earth is crammed with Heaven.
And every bush aflame with God.
But only those who see take off their shoes."
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Mark Hirsch loved his job as a photographer and visuals editor for the Dubuque Telegraph Herald, capturing life along the northern Mississippi. But, in the cutbacks that have become endemic in print journalism, his job was suddenly eliminated after 19 years. Mark's flourishing freelance career was cut short when he was almost killed when he was hit by a truck. For a long time after the crash, he was unable to work; he had trouble sleeping and suffered from memory issues. Life was pretty bleak for Mark and his family.

Then he got an iPhone. Learning how to use the device, he started taking pictures with it. His first picture was that of a 160-year-old Bur Oak tree sitting in a cornfield near his Wisconsin home. Mark had driven by that tree every day for 19 years, but had never really looked at it. Like most professional photographers, he scorned the iPhone as a camera - but Mark was surprised at the quality of the image of the old tree. A photographer friend was equally impressed - and challenged him to do an entire series of images of the tree.

And so in March 2012, Mark began to take a picture of that tree every day for the next year - before sunrise, after sunset, anytime, in every season. Every day Mark would be at that old tree, waiting and watching, noting the simple beauty he had missed for so long. He captured images with his iPhone of a darting blackbird, a nest of eggs, a brilliant firefly, the full moon, meteorites streaking in the dark sky behind the tree.

The local paper heard about Mark's project and began to publish the daily photo. Mark also began to post his images on Facebook. Soon thousands were following his daily posts. For the final photo on day 365, Mark invited anyone to join him at the old tree. Three hundred people showed up - and many who couldn't be there sent objects to decorate the tree.

The images have been published in a beautiful book titled That Tree. But for Mark, the old Bur Oak was much more than a photographic subject.

"I would describe that tree as I would a friend. My initial description a year ago would have been as simple as a tree in a cornfield, but now I would describe it as a tree of life in its own realm. I was never very good at slowing down but I am now. I've learned to see things differently. And I've embraced an incredible appreciation for the land in and around that tree.

"That tree gave me healing and inspiration that I needed more than I had realized. And it taught me to slow down, take time to look around, and appreciate the almost (but not quite) hidden beauty that abounds in our world - sometimes even in your own backyard." [CBS Sunday Morning, CBS-TV, July 28, 2013.]

With his photographer's eye, Mark Hirsch experienced that moment of realization that the beauty & wonder of our loving God is in our midst in the simple, the ordinary, the everyday of creation. The discerning eye of a photographer who is moved by the natural beauty of a magnificent old tree, we, too, can be transformed by such joyful gratitude to God who gave us this beautiful and bountiful earth and through the new life of Easter, we have our being & our light. Our relationship with creation is important.

“How we treat the earth defines the relationship that each of us has with God.” – Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

“Be good to the land and the land will be good to you.” - Philip James Jones, founder of the Jones Family Farm in Shelton, (1821-1912).

Amen.

Amen.

God & Creation (on Earth Day)

 

Genesis 1

“The earth is the Creator’s in all it’s fullness; this world, and all that lives within its sphere.”
- Psalm 24

“By Christ, all things were created---for Christ [and for God’s pleasure].
In Christ, all things hold together.
And through Christ, all things are reconciled to God.”
- Colossians 1:15-20

"The initial step for a soul to come to knowledge of God is contemplation of Nature."
- Iranaeus, 3rd C.

"The whole earth is a living icon of the face of God."
- John of Damascus (b. 675)

"If we fall in love with Creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion."
- Hildegard von Bingen (b. 1098)

"Any error about Creation also leads to an error about God." - Thomas Aquinas (b. 1225)

"God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars."
- Martin Luther (b. 1483)

"If we learn to love the earth...we will discover what it means to be truly alive."
- Teresa of Avila (b.1515)

“All are but parts of one stupendous whole,Whose body Nature is, and God the soul."
- Alexander Pope (b. 1688)

"Earth is crammed with Heaven.
And every bush aflame with God.
But only those who see take off their shoes."
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning (b. 1806)

"...these millions of sights and sounds and scents and motions weaving their endless harmonies...
come out of [God's] heart to let us know a little of what is in it."
- George MacDonald (b. 1824)

"In the created world around us we see the Eternal Artist, Eternal Love at work."
- Evelyn Underhill (b. 1875)

"Because God created the natural---invented it  out of...love and artistry---it demands our reverence." - CS Lewis (b. 1898)

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God.....God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature....I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles."
- Anne Frank (b. 1929)

“The world has been created for everyone’s use, but you few rich are trying to keep it for yourselves.
…not merely the possession the earth, but the very sky, the air, and the sea are claimed for the few….
The earth belongs to all, not just to the rich.”
- Ambrose of Milan (b. 340)

“Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote a book with ink. Instead, [God] set before your eyes the things that [God] had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?”
- Augustine (b. 354) De Civitate Dei, Book 16

“If…[people]…exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion…[they] will…do likewise with their fellow [humans].

“All creatures of our God & King, lift up your voice and with us sing:…O brother wind, air, clouds, and rain, by which all creatures you sustain….O sister water, flowing clear, make music for your Lord to hear….Dear mother earth, who day by day unfold blessings on our day…O praise You! Alleluia!”
- Francis of Assisi (b. 1181)

“If I spend enough time with the tiniest creature—even a caterpillar— I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God is every creature.”
- Meister Eckhart (b. ca. 1260)

“Let [people reverence, above all, Me, [their] God, and so much gentler will [they] become toward
My creatures …on whom, on account of Me, their Creator, [they] ought to have compassion.”
- Birgitta (b. 1303)

“There is no creature so small and abject, but it reflects the goodness of God.”
- Thomas å Kempis (b. 1380)

“Everything in [Creation] tells us of God. …Let everyone regard [themselves] as the steward of God in all things…Then [they won’t] corrupt by abuse those things which God requires to be preserved.”
- John Calvin (b. 1509)

“Open your eyes, and behold:The whole world is full of God.”
- Jacob Boehme (b. 1575) The Way to Christ

“All created things are living within God’s hand.
The senses see only the actions of creatures,
but faith sees in everything the action of God.”
– Jean Pierre de Caussade (b. 1675)

“…faith in Jesus Christ…will lead us beyond…concern for the well-being of other human beings
to the broader concern for the well-being of the birds in our backyards, the fish in our rivers,
and every living creature on the face of the earth.”
- John Wesley (b. 1701)

“[Humanity] will become impoverished because they will not have a love of trees….
If you don’t love trees, you don’t love God.”
- Nikephoros of Chios (b. 1750) A Lack of Trees Brings Poverty

“Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully,
[one] can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.”
- George Washington Carver (b. 1864)

“When you defile the pleasant streams and the wild bird’s abing place,
you massacre a million dreams and cast your spittle in God’s face.”
- John Drinkwater (b. 1882)

“I am I plus my surroundings, and if I do not preserve the latter, I do not preserve myself.”
- José Ortega y Gasset (b. 1883)

“A wrong attitude toward nature implies, somewhere, a wrong attitude toward God.”
- T.S. Elliot (b. 1888)

“I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for [humanity]
if [we] spent less time proving that [we] can outwit Nature
and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.”
- E.B. White (b. 1888)

“The beauty of the world is Christ’s tender smile for us coming through matter.”
- Simone Weil (b. 1909)

“One has to be alone, under the sky, before everything falls into place
and one finds [one’s] own place in the midst of it all.”
- Thomas Merton (b. 1915)

“Around the world, we can see the results of exploitation which destroys much without taking future
generations into account. Today, all…have a duty to show themselves worthy of the mission given
them by the Creator by ensuring the safe-keeping of that creation.”
- Pope John Paul II (b. 1920)

"If I am going to be in a right relationship with God,
I should treat the things [God] has made
in the same way [God] treats them."
- Francis Schaeffer (b. 1912)

"To drive to extinction something [God] has created is wrong.
...Christians have a responsibility...in caring for the earth."
- Billy Graham (b. 1918)

"[God's] concern for...Creation should be sufficient to inspire us to be equally concerned.
God intends...our care of creation to reflect our love for the Creator."
- John Stott (b. 1921)

“The maternal sea is polluted, the heavens rent, the forests are being destroyed
and the desert areas are increasing. We must protect Creation.
Better yet, we must embellish it, render it spiritual, transfigure it.
But nothing will be done unless there is a…conversion of [our] minds and hearts.
“If nature is not transfigured, [it] becomes disfigured.”
- Othrodox Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch (b. 1921)

“Once we repossess a sense of our own holiness,
we will recover the sense of the holiness of the world….
Only in this way will we once again become aware that our destiny
and the destiny of nature are one and the same.”
- Philip Sherrard (b. 1922) Human Image, World Image

“The first law of our being is that we are set in a delicate network of interdependence
with our fellow human beings and with the rest of God’s Creation.”
- Desmond Tutu (b. 1931) God Has a Dream

“The same God who commanded us to love one another
also commands us to work and take care of the garden.
Here, humans find that God has delegated to them authority and responsibility
to protect and preserve what we do not own, what belongs to God.
God did not abdicate ownership.
Rather, God appointed a steward, a caretaker.
Justice demands that the steward faithfully execute the assigned responsibility.”
- George D. McKinney, Jr. (b. 1931)

“How we treat…Creation defines the relationship each of us has with God….
To commit a crime against the natural world is a sin. “For humans to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation….for humans to degrade the integrity of Earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the Earth of its natural forests, or destroying its wetlands…. for humans to contaminate the Earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life, with poisonous substances---these things are sins.”
- Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (b. 1940)

Earth Day Prayers

From The Book of Common Prayer:

A Prayer for the Knowledge of God's Creation

Almighty and everlasting God, you made the universe with all its marvelous order, its atoms, worlds, and galaxies, and the infinite complexity of living creatures: Grant that, as we probe the mysteries of your creation, we may come to know you more truly, and more surely fulfill our role in your eternal purpose; in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for the Conservation of Natural Resources:

Almighty God, in giving us dominion over things on earth, you made us fellow workers in your creation: Give us wisdom and reverence so to use the resources of nature, that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Beauty of the Earth

We give you thanks, most gracious God, for the beauty of earth and sky and sea; for the richness of mountains, plains, and rivers; for the songs of birds and the loveliness of flowers. We praise you for these good gifts, and pray that we may safeguard them for our posterity. Grant that we may continue to grow in our grateful enjoyment of your abundant creation, to the honor and glory of your Name, now and for ever. Amen.

You can also find some prayers relating to the earth on my blog, especially concerning those who work in the fields and the fruit of the earth:

Almighty God, we thank you for making the earth fruitful, so that it might produce what is needed for life: Bless those who work in the fields; give us seasonable weather; and grant that we may all share the fruits for the earth, rejoicing in your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

More prayers are at stpetesrock.blogspot.com/2010/04/earth-day-prayers.html

LITANY FOR THE VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE #NationalSchoolWalkout

On this National School Walkout, as students walk out to remember the victims and mark the 19th anniversary of the Columbine School Massacre, let's pause to remember all victims of Gun Violence...

LITANY FOR THE VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE

O Lord our Protector, we implore your healing of a nation enamored with guns and wracked by the mayhem they cause.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Lift souls and offer hope to all whose desperation would end only through taking their own life.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Bring forbearance and love to our homes so that frustration and anger are resolved through conversation, not violence.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Oversee those places where we gather to learn and worship that they may be safe sanctuaries for all who enter them.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Be present where we work that mutual respect and just relationships might govern our economic lives and disagreements be resolved through engagement not revenge.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Join us where we walk and play that our streets and turf may cradle dreams rather than be littered with shell casings.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Strengthen, encourage and support all who advocate for sensible gun safety laws and regulations.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Open the hearts and minds of those who govern our shared life that they may know the anguish of a nation reeling from gun deaths and join in common action in addressing the racial, social, economic and psychological factors which cause them.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Individual petitions are invited silently or aloud.
Concluding Collect

God of all mercy, who weeps with us as we anguish over lives broken and lost to the gun violence which so pains our community: Open our ears that we might hear their cries; open our eyes that we might see their fears; open our hearts that we might embrace them in love; and open our arms that we might protect them from all harm; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Litany by The Rev. Marc D. Smith, PhD
Bishop’s Deputy for Gun Violence Prevention
Episcopal Diocese of Missouri
msmith@holycommunion.net

#PrayFastAct #ForSuchATime - Economic Opportunity Initiatives

"By the 21st day of the month, many people have exhausted 90 percent of their SNAP benefits. This makes the last week of each month the hungriest week in the United States for many families. By the time rent, utilities, and transportation costs are covered, families have little money left for food. For many low-wage workers, retirees, people with disabilities, and their families, even careful planning cannot stretch their SNAP benefits a full month.

Let us lift up these families in our prayers, as on April 21, we will commit again to pray, fast, and take action, so Congress can address the causes that lead to hunger and poverty in our nation and around the world." - Bishop José García, Bread for the World

April 2018 #PrayFastAct for Economic Opportunity Initiatives

The Episcopal Church and the ELCA continue our united call to Pray, Fast and Act in support of good policies and programs that provide opportunities for and respect the dignity of all people.

This month, our focus is on economic opportunity initiatives. Although the U.S. government facilitates a variety of programs, all too often families find it nearly impossible to break out of poverty. Many families work low-wage and low-skill jobs, yet still struggle to keep up with their needs.

The 2018 federal poverty level for a family of two–like a single parent with one child—is $16,460. Sadly, many families are in this group of working poor. Though some individuals can work hard 40-hour weeks and 52-weeks a year, they still can be below the poverty line.

For example, a person working 40-hours a week and 52-weeks a year at the federal minimum wage would earn $15,080 a year. These positions almost never provide paid vacation or sick time and often not even federal holidays, and not all are lucky enough to have consistent full-time work throughout the 52-week year. In Congressional testimony last month, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce heard that this working poor represent 80% of people receiving government assistance.

Education as a means of economic opportunity to increase wages and gain better employment is one means of helping this demographic gain upward mobility.

ON APRIL 21, JOIN THE EPPN AND PRESIDING BISHOPS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND ELCA AS WE PRAY, FAST, and ACT FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY INITIATIVES.

PRAY for the working poor of our nation, that while they fight to keep their families housed, fed, and clothed that we may fight to provide them with educational opportunities.

Almighty God, who hast so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer – Collect For Labor Day

FAST in solidarity with those who while they labor tirelessly still struggle to provide for themselves and their families. Help us remember that though they are working, they are unable to access education and training which would open greater opportunities to support themselves and their families.

Share on social media using #PrayFastAct and @TheEPPN. On the 21st, post a picture of a dinner place setting with the reason you are fasting this month.

ACT by urging Congress to pass robust federal funding for educational programs!

You can also study this one-pager on the connection between economic opportunity, education, and poverty.

A Step Along the Way (Prayer)

This prayer was composed by (RC) Bishop Untener of Saginaw in Nov. 1979 for a celebration of departed priests. It was included in a reflection on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Romero and is often erroneously labeled as Archbishop Oscar Romero's Prayer.

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.

Nothing we do is complete,
which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development. 

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

~ Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw

Tax Day Prayer

Income Tax Day

On this day of internal revenue
    some of us are paid up,
    some of us owe,
    some of us await a refund,
    some of us have no income to tax.

But all of us are taxed,
    by war,
    by violence,
    by anxiety,
    by deathliness.

And Caesar never gives any deep tax relief.

We render to Caesar . . .
    to some it feels like a grab,
    to some it is clearly a war tax,
    to some – some few –
        it is a way to contribute to the common good.

In any case we are haunted
    by what we render to Caesar,
    by what we might render to you,
    by the way we invest our wealth and our lives,
    when what you ask is an “easy yoke”:
        to do justice
        to love mercy
        to walk humbly with you.

Give us courage for your easy burden, so to live untaxed lives.  Amen.

From Walter Brueggemann's Prayers for a Privileged People ((C) Abingdon, 2008).

Easter 3 Sermon (April 15)

O God, it is your will to hold both heaven and earth in a single peace. Let the design of your great love shine on the waste of our wraths and fears, and give peace to your Church, peace among nations, peace in our homes, and peace in our hearts. Amen. (NZPB)

We continue to celebrate the 50 days of Easter, a season of peace that comes through Jesus and his resurrection. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus had been seen and Mary has reported it to the disciples. Cleopas & the other disciple on the road to Emmaus experienced Jesus in his witness to scripture & in the breaking of bread. But when the gathered disciples finally see him, they are still afraid.

It’s a ghost. They are terrified. He tells them peace – shalom, but they don’t get it, Easter has not happened for them yet. Just as we heard last week in the Gospel of John, disciples in a locked room.

The disciples are still living with fear. Only after watching Jesus eat do they get it, or at least begin to get it. So Jesus explains again the words he spoke; he puts his life in perspective through what Scripture says. The fear has so controlled the disciples that they are not living out of the faith, the hope, the love that Jesus shared with them. They were commissioned to continue his ministry, he gave them the Scriptures, and instead he finds that they have returned to old habits.

They were commissioned to be his witnesses of all that they experienced. I think they struggle like we do, to not only have a particular moment where we minister but to sustain it long term.

Easter is not just a day; it is about all of our life as baptized Christians (which Everett Wolf Ahmed will begin after his baptism this morning.) It’s having the long view…

Many years ago, a group of settlers made their home in a beautiful valley between two spectacular mountain ranges. One day a young man managed to climb the highest mountain peak overlooking the valley and the village. What he saw took his breath away. He told his family and friends that he saw the world from the perspective of an eagle; he saw the world as one in all its beautiful color.

Everyone wanted to see what the young man had seen - but the climb was treacherous. Several villagers slipped and fell, some were killed trying. A stonemason in the village decided to build a series of steps up the mountain. Working with only a hammer and a chisel, it took him months to create the first step. His neighbors scoffed at the idea - this could never be completed in their lifetimes. But, undaunted, the mason continued to work on his stone path. Years later, the mason, now an old man, had finished just four steps. The villagers thought that was the end of the project - until an apprentice of the old mason took up the work. Despite the ridicule, he continued carving the steps up the mountain. Years later, the second mason was succeeded by a third, then a fourth, and later a fifth.

Decades went by. The village grew into a city; electric lights replaced the lighted street poles; automobiles made the horse-drawn wagons obsolete; new businesses were established. But the work on the steps continued. The stoneworkers were considered eccentric oddities by the townsfolk, but everyone agreed that they were the most determined people they had ever met. Over the years, nearly fifty stone carvers worked on the steps.

One day, almost a hundred years after it began, the last stone carver walked into the office of the mayor. "The work is done," the mason said. "These tools belonged to the first stonemason. They have been handed down each time another mason took up the task. They are our gift to the village. The work is done." [From Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance by Joseph M. Marshall III.]

The peace and reconciliation envisioned by the Risen Christ has been turned over to his disciples, to those first witnesses. Now the apostles and the first Christian communities have passed on the work of building the path to countless generations and to us, making us the step carvers for our own time, building on the steps that have been lovingly given to us.

In our struggles to live his Gospel of compassion, forgiveness and justice in the simplicity of our everyday lives, in the complexities of our work places, in our work to realize our hopes and dreams for ourselves and our families, we complete a step to the reign of God, we add one more stone to the foundation of God's kingdom.

In the Gospel of Luke today, Jesus enlarges the disciples understanding to get them unstuck from their fear and to live into the peace of Christ. And for me, the best understanding of this was a prayer composed by (RC) Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw in Nov. 1979 for a celebration of departed priests. It was included in a reflection on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Romero and often erroneously said to be from the Archbishop himself. How we build a step…

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

· The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
· We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.

Nothing we do is complete,
which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

· No statement says all that could be said.
· No prayer fully expresses our faith.
· No confession brings perfection.
· No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
· No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
· No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

· We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
· We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
· We lay foundations that will need further development.
· We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
· We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete,

· but it is a beginning,
· a step along the way,
· an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

· We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
· We are prophets of a future not our own.

To his prayer I say Amen.

We are God’s witnesses today – the workers, God’s ministers.

How will you build the next step?

May whatever you do, be done in peace and love, and may you take the long view. Amen.

Our Summer Project: The Psalms

“What can I give back to God for the blessings he’s poured out on me?
I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God! I’ll pray the name of God;
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do ,and I’ll do it together with his people.”
+ Bono frequently reads Psalm 116 from Eugene Peterson’s The Message at the beginning of U2’s concerts.

 
"Most Christians for most of the Christian centuries have learned to pray by praying the Psalms. The Hebrews, with several centuries of a head start on us in matters of prayer and worship, provided us with this prayer book that gives us a language adequate for responding to the God who speaks to us."
—EUGENE PETERSON,
AUTHOR OF THE MESSAGE

Peace & War

We Lived Happily During the War
By Ilya Kaminsky Copyright © 2013

And when they bombed other people’s houses, we

protested
but not enough, we opposed them but not

enough. I was
in my bed, around my bed America

was falling: invisible house by invisible house by invisible house.

I took a chair outside and watched the sun.

In the sixth month
of a disastrous reign in the house of money

in the street of money in the city of money in the country of money,
our great country of money, we (forgive us)

lived happily during the war.

Prayers for Peace:

Almighty God our heavenly Father, guide the nations of the world into the way of justice and truth, and establish among them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness, that they may become the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP)

O God, it is your will to hold both heaven and earth in a single peace. Let the design of your great love shine on the waste of our wraths and sorrows, and give peace to your Church, peace among nations, peace in our homes, and peace in our hearts. Amen. (NZPB)

Day of Rememberance (Yom HaShoah)

In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is called Yom Hashoah.

Holocaust Remembrance Day is a day that has been set aside for remembering the victims of the Holocaust and for reminding Americans of what can happen to civilized people when bigotry, hatred and indifference reign. The United States Holocaust Memorial Council, created by act of Congress in 1980, was mandated to lead the nation in civic commemorations and to encourage appropriate Remembrance observances throughout the country.

Learn more here.
"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me." — Martin Niemoeller

An interesting article, "The Holocaust’s Lessons for the Church" can be read here.

What can you do today? Respond to the threats of Genocide and speak out. Look here.

The internationally recognized date comes from the Hebrew calendar and corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on that calendar (this year it is April 12). It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. (from http://www.ushmm.org/remembrance/)

Our prayer:
Almighty God, we remember before you this day those killed during the Holocaust, for the innocents murdered, for those who wrongly used your name to kill, and for those who did not speak up against such injustice. Guide us in our efforts to root out intolerance and prejudice in our world, that we may not make peace with oppression and may stand as witness to those who died. Help us to work towards the day when no one will fall to such a sword. We ask this through him who was executed as a criminal by an oppressive state, Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen.