December 22 Sermon (Advent 4)

from the 8 am service...

O God, who from the family of your servant David raised up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate Son and the spouse of his virgin mother: Give us grace to imitate his uprightness of life and his obedience to your commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP)

St Joseph the Carpenter. He often is a forgotten saint.

Unless you are trying to sell your house and you bury a statue of him in the front yard…

But this time of year, Joseph often comes to mind. Even if is just for a moment.

I think of Joseph & how he is often portrayed in Eastern Orthodox Nativity Icons.

“Unlike the well-known Nativity scenes in the West, in Orthodox Icons Joseph is usually found in the bottom of the icon, away from his betrothed and her Son, but still close as their protector. Sometimes seen listening to an old man, Joseph looks troubled. He is beset with new doubts regarding this birth, and these doubts are delivered to him by Satan in the form of an old man… These arguments, which ultimately did not cause Joseph to stumble, have constantly returned to trouble the Church, and are the basis of many heresies regarding Who Christ was and is. In the person of Joseph, the icon discloses not only his personal drama, but the drama of all mankind, the difficulty of accepting the Incarnation of God.” (A Reader's Guide to Orthodox Icons)

But Joseph being troubled must have taken place, I think of the unrecorded conversation between him and Mary.

It must have been a painful conversation.

We’ve all experienced that kind of devastating encounter: when we were told we were no longer needed, when we discovered that someone we trusted betrayed us.

The evangelist Matthew leaves that conversation out of his story of Jesus’ birth. But we know it took place: when Mary told Joseph she was with child. We know how Joseph felt because we’ve felt that way: betrayed, foolish, naïve, used.

But the difference is that, despite his own pain, Joseph realizes Mary’s own confusion and anguish and fear over what has happened. But love enables these two hearts — no matter how broken and scared — to do that.

Joseph could not and would not subject her to the Law of the time; he would not expose her to public humiliation and shame. They would work this out “quietly.” Their difficult conversation ended on a note of compassion and mercy.

And then Matthew picks up the story from there: how God interceded and Joseph trusts God in the angel’s message, and God’s Christ enters human history in the person of Jesus.

WH Auden’s “For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio,” picks up that conversation…

“Auden’s Joseph is a man consumed with uncertainty, who genuinely wants to believe Mary–but like so many of us, wants God to make this risky trust easier, to give him certainty and silence the whispering voices within and outside his head” (Bridget, Women in Theology)

Joseph: All I ask is one
Important and elegant proof
That what my Love had done
Was really at your will
And that your will is Love.

Gabriel: No, you must believe; / Be silent, and sit still.

And further on in the Oratorio are these lines…

You must behave as if this were not strange at all.

Without a change in look or word,
You both must act exactly as before;
Joseph and Mary shall be man and wife
Just as if nothing had occurred.
There is one World of Nature and one Life;
Sin fractures the Vision, not the Fact; for
The Exceptional is always usual
And the Usual exceptional.
To choose what is difficult all one’s days
As if it were easy, that is faith. Joseph, praise.

It was said by many detractors that Jesus was born in scandal. But we know better. Jesus was born in mercy and compassion. God became one of us, out of love, not strange at all.

Joseph’s response is the first light of the Kingdom of God that this little boy — Joseph’s little boy — would proclaim.

In today’s Gospel — Matthew’s version of Jesus’ birth — God’s plan of humankind’s salvation depends on Joseph, whose life has been turned upside by the angel’s news. Joseph accepts the son as his own as a matter of love and compassion, of trust and faith.

To choose what is difficult all one’s days
As if it were easy, that is faith. Joseph, praise.

God’s birth in our midst depends on human partners — a Mary, a Joseph, you and me — willing to put aside our own fears and hurts to be God’s ministers of mercy, prophets of God’s justice, mirrors of God’s compassion.

In this season and in every season, may we imitate the compassion and faith of Joseph: to seek understanding and acceptance within our families even at the cost of our own expectations and hopes, to seek to be sources of affirmation and support for our spouses and children, to be the protectors of the world God has given into our hands. Amen.

Changing Religion

From Five Books.com:

Oliver Burkeman, the Guardian columnist and author of The Antidote, recommends five of the best self-help books published in 2019.

Perhaps what we were saying a moment ago about busyness could lead us to your second self-help book choice, which is Seculosity by David Zahl which you called “remarkable” in the Guardian. Could you tell us more?
It surprised me how much I got from this book, because it is – in a very low-key, not in your face way – a Christian work, and I’m not a Christian. David Zahl’s basic argument is that this idea that we’re not religious these days is mistaken; we’ve just transferred our religious urges onto things other than conventional organized religion. What he means by that is that we’re seeking salvation of some sort in work, in shopping, in the cultivation and creation of identities online, in parenting, in foodie culture and a whole bunch of other domains. We seek transcendent meaning from secular sources. ‘Seculosity’ is religiosity applied to the secular world.

I think he makes a really good argument from a Christian perspective: that religion has many, many flaws, but it has built into it a capacity for forgiveness that our other modern secular ‘religions’ don’t. This is the quality that he would call ‘grace’ – the idea that you are worthy, and acceptable, despite, perhaps almost because of, your flaws. That you don’t need to deserve God’s love, by meeting some kind of level of accomplishment or virtue, in order to have it. That’s very much not true when it comes to seeking salvation through, say, your work; there, you really do have to meet specific criteria to count as worthy, and you’ll probably find that the bar you’re supposed to meet keeps rising the closer you get to it.

“You might be seeking salvation from things that can’t really provide what you need”

I became a parent, what, three years ago now, and I’ve found that it’s very easy to think that you’re going to somehow one day find the perfect way of parenting, and, as a result, create the perfect adult, and as a result, finally get to consider yourself a worthy and successful parent. But it’s totally, totally counter-productive, a massively anxiety-inducing way of thinking. This book helps you see that that’s what you’re doing – that you’re trying to get something out of it, that it can’t provide. Though Zahl does, toward the end, make the case for his flavour of Christianity, I think it’s a really useful argument no matter your feelings about religion: that you might be trying to seek a kind of salvation from things that can’t really provide what you need.

Parenting is an interesting example, because parenting advice books are often explicitly described as parenting ‘philosophies.’ People are looking for guidance that goes beyond the practical.

I don’t mean to imply that by giving up the idea of achieving salvation through being a perfect parent, you are relegating parenting to something that isn’t really very important or satisfying. I think it’s abandoning that quest for salvation that enables you to really engage with it, and to connect to the meaning that it actually has to offer.

It’s not that there isn’t something transcendent about the relationship between a parent and child. It’s that there is something in that relationship that is spoiled when what you’re really trying to do is implement a philosophy.

By the way, I haven’t totally won the battle with implementing philosophies. I still fall for it all the time. But… baby steps.

I guess whenever we are struggling, we grasp at solutions. We convince ourselves it would be easy if only we could follow this philosophy perfectly. It has an internal logic, I think.

Yeah, and I think there’s also a sense of always wanting to be in control, of wanting to feel in a position of mastery. Of course, actual religion is very much about you not being in control. The good versions of religion don’t make your worth, as a human, dependent on having achieved mastery. You have to accept your relative place in the universe, but in return, you get the underserved gift of grace. I shouldn’t talk as if I understand the theology fully, because I don’t. But the core of the idea resonates deeply with me.

The other thing that’s worth saying is that there’s a chapter in this book on how religion can become a form of seculosity as well. There are plenty of versions of religion, especially here in the US, where it becomes its own form of secular salvation through believing that religion is the path to material riches, or to constant happiness in daily life, or something like that. It’s absolutely possible that you can engage in this mistaken quest for an unattainable form of salvation in a megachurch, as much as at the office or a shopping mall.

Presiding Bishop’s Christmas Message 2019

In the first chapter of John's Gospel, sometimes referred to as the prologue to the Gospel, sometimes spoken of as the whole Gospel in miniature the Gospel writer says this. As he reflects on the coming of God into the world in the person of Jesus. As he reflects on Christmas. He says, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.

I don't think it's an accident that long ago, followers of Jesus began to commemorate his coming into the world when the world seemed to be at its darkest.

It's probably not an accident that we observe Christmas soon after December 21, the winter solstice. The winter solstice being in the Northern Hemisphere the darkest time of the year.

Undoubtedly, these ancient Christians who began to celebrate the coming of God into the world, they knew very well that this Jesus, his teachings, his message, his spirit, his example, his life points us to the way of life itself, a way of life, where we take care of each other. A way of life, where we care for God's world. A way of life, where we are in a loving relationship with our God, and with each other as children of the one God, who has created us all.

They also knew John's Gospel and John's Christmas story. Now there are no angels in John's Christmas story. There are no wise men coming from afar. There's no baby lying in a manger. There's no angel choir singing Gloria in excelsis Deo in the highest of the heavens. There are no shepherds tending their flocks by night. Matthew and Luke tell those stories. In John, it is the poetry of new possibility, born of the reality of God when God breaks into the world.

It's not an accident that long ago, followers of Jesus began to commemorate his birth, his coming into the world. When the world seemed darkest. When hope seemed to be dashed on the altar of reality. It is not an accident that we too, commemorate his coming, when things do not always look right in this world.

But there is a God. And there is Jesus. And even in the darkest night. That light once shined and will shine still. His way of love is the way of life. It is the light of the world. And the light of that love shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not, cannot, and will not overcome it.

God love you. God bless you and may you have a Merry Christmas and may this world be blessed. Amen.

The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry is the Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church

"Being a Christian is not essentially about joining a church or being a nice person, but about following in the footsteps of Jesus, taking his teachings seriously, letting his Spirit take the lead in our lives, and in so doing helping to change the world from our nightmare into God’s dream."

Signs of Hope in Iraq

I used this story in my sermon:

May 13, 2019 issue

How two Iraqi peacemakers are rebuilding community after ISIS

The Christian families of Qaraqosh in northern Iraq were driven from their homes when ISIS extremists overran the city in August 2014. Those who have returned confront a difficult task—rebuilding homes, businesses and churches that had been damaged or destroyed during the ISIS occupation or the coalition air-and-ground offensive to drive the militants out of the city in 2017. Surveying the the reconstruction efforts, Joe Cassar, S.J., who leads the efforts of Jesuit Refugee Service in the region, told America rebuilding houses is good and necessary, but just as important is rebuilding trust. 

It gives me hope for Iraq.

December 15 Sermon (Advent 3)

Almighty God, who gave the prophets boldness to confess your purposes before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP adapted)

“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

John the Baptists’ question from prison is at the heart of our faith.

Jesus, are you the one?

As he sat in the cold, dank prison cell, imprisoned for opposing King Herod and all his vices, I wonder if John was asking the question with a wonder if it all was worth it. It certainly doesn’t seem like he regretted anything – God called him and he followed, he baptized and he spoke out against sin.

Jesus saw John this way -I tell you, he was more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’

So John asks, “Are you the one?”

Jesus knew what John was asking so he answered the disciples of John, “Go and tell John what you hear and see…”

What you hear and see…

“the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

The Messiah, the one in whom John hoped is doing what we heard in our first lesson from Isaiah who is speaking to a fearful people:

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.

Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come and save you."

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert”

Jesus through his words and actions is proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has come near. Our season of Advent, the anticipation of Christ coming among us, is about this action, the joy even in the midst of sorrow.

Henri Nouwen put it this way - “Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing - sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death - can take that love away.”

Joy & hope can even be found in the midst of sorrowful circumstances. John’s situation in prison must have been difficult, but Jesus calls on him -as he calls on us today! - to draw on a wellspring even deeper than we know, the one who calls to us - Be strong, do not fear - and above all rejoice! Look for signs among the shadows…

Five years ago, Christian families were driven from their homes in northern Iraq by ISIS. Homes, businesses, schools and churches were destroyed during the occupation. Now that ISIS has been driven out (at least, for the time being), Christian families are returning to face the long, hard road of rebuilding their vandalized, damaged homes and villages.

But amid the devastation, there are lights of hope and moments of joy..

In one Qaraqosh neighborhood, Hai Alaskary, the Syriac and Chaldean Catholics of this largely Christian city had lived side by side with Shabak-Shiite neighbors before ISIS. Now they are learning how to live together again. The Brothers of Jesus the Redeemer, a small, recently established community, picked a small house in this neighborhood to continue their work of presence and hospitality… to be a sign of hope and fraternity to the city’s Christians and Muslims, a sign “that we can live together without hate…. We can live together and work together without any problems.”

The Muslim community wants their Christian neighbors to return; the brothers see their mission as trying to make it possible for Christians to rebuild their homes and re-establish their lives. The brothers teach English, math and computer science in an afternoon program to help Christian and Muslim students get their educations derailed by the conflict. They organized a dinner to mark the end of the Muslim fasting season of Ramadan at which 400 people — Christians and Muslims — came together to celebrate their neighbors’ return and the restoring of peace and good will in the village.

During the occupation of Nineveh, the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine created a school for refugee children in Erbil, a region safe from ISIS. Now, as Christians return, the sisters are re-establishing schools in Nineveh, as well as maintaining kindergartens and schools to serve refugees who are unable or unwilling to return to their homes. Many of the children the sisters work with are traumatized from the loss of their homes and the grueling flight from Mosul and the villages around Nineveh. Their work is one of healing as well as education and welcoming children of all faiths, turning away no one.

Uncertainty about the future remains the “biggest and worst challenge.” One Dominican sister says. “Personally, I believe that living in the Middle East is really beyond our [individual] powers and our abilities. To keep the cross in the Middle East, I think, is not just our dream; it must be the dream of God as well.” [From “How two Iraqi peacemakers are rebuilding community after ISIS” by Kevin Clarke, America, May 13, 2019.]

In this Advent season, Christ comes as the light of God that illuminates our vision in new ways, enabling us to see God’s grace and compassion in one another & in our world. The readings on this 3rd Advent Sunday begin with lifeless, depressing pictures that are transformed into life-giving and enriching images: from death to life, from barrenness to harvest, from illness to wholeness. The Brothers of Jesus and the Dominican Sisters are reflections of that light of hope and re-creation in Iraq.

Are you the one? – John asks.

Jesus responds – Go and tell what you hear and see…

We are all called today to reflect that light, that hope and love, to go and tell of God’s presence in the darkest times, enabling miracles of resurrection to take place here and now.

The church of which we are part is called not just to glimpse such sacramental signs of hope, restoration, and joy, but also to embody the very sacramental glimpses ourselves, the visible, audible, encouraging signs for a weary and fearful world.

Be strong, do not fear!

And above all: Rejoice!

For Jesus is the one. Amen.

December 8 Sermon (Advent 2)

Lord Jesus,
Master of both the light and the darkness,
send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.
We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.
To you we say, “Come, Lord Jesus!” Amen.
(Rev. Henri J. M. Nouwen)

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
(Bob Dylan ©1964)

John the Baptist could have uttered those words - the times they are a-changin

Instead he tells everyone - Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

He calls everyone to repent.

"Repentance refers to far more than a simple being or saying one is sorry for past sins, far more than mere regret or remorse for such sins. It refers to a turning away from the past way of life and the inauguration of a new one, in this case, initialized by an act of baptism.” (Ben Witherington)

An inauguration of a new life - the times they are a-changin for all who received John’s baptism in the River Jordan. But it was more than that, the kingdom of God was coming and our lives needed to reflect that.

But John sees that some leaders of the people (Pharisees and Sadducees) are coming for his baptism but aren’t really interested in changing...

John is clear that one’s religious heritage will not save you. As the scholar Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. writes: “The Pharisees and Sadducees are warned not to imagine that the mere ritual of baptism will preserve them from God’s wrath. Rather they must do the good deeds that are appropriate to genuine repentance in view of the coming kingdom…Belonging to the children of Abraham will not protect those who refuse to repent and do good works...”

Today the Pharisees and Sadducees are us. John looks at us. His cry for repentance is to us.

Will we live into our baptism? – to see the changes God has wrought in our lives – to turn away from all that holds us from living that faithful life and to live into all such good works as God has prepared for us to walk in?

A chronically ill toddler could not always go along with her brother and sister on their various adventures. But at Christmas time, Mom and Dad assured her that she would get to meet Santa. For weeks the little girl spoke of nothing but her coming visit to Santa; Mom prayed for a Santa who would live up to her daughter’s expectations.

Finally, on one of the sick little girl’s better days, Mom decided to take the chance. In order to avoid lengthy lines, they arrived just as the mall was opening and Santa was settling into his big chair.

When the little girl saw him, she squealed, “Santa Claus!” and darted past the assistant elves toward Santa. The slightly startled Santa greeted her with a big smile and swept her into his ample lap. She snuggled in, stroked his beard and uttered in joyful awe, “Santa!” For several minutes, Santa and the little girl talked and laughed like two old friends, oblivious to the small crowd gathering to share in the magic of the moment.

The toddler’s mother stood nearby, her eyes filled with tears of joy. Just then, a man edged over to her and, to her surprise, she noticed that his eyes were as moist as hers. “Is that your little girl?” he asked quietly. The woman nodded. With a catch in his voice and quiet pride, the man said, “Santa is my son.” [Ruth Dalton, Catholic Digest.]

The coming of Christ invites all of us to become “Santa” or “St. Nick” to bring the joy and hope of this season into the lives of everyone. Taking on the role of gift giver is not confined to this season alone but to every season of every year. Playing Santa like the Santa in the story is much like our baptismal calling to becoming prophets of Christ like John the Baptist, bearing witness to God's presence in our own time and place, and changing our lives so that our lives match the good works that God call us to do in our lives.

Repent – says John, to which Bob Dylan would add…

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last

For the times they are a-changin’ Amen.

World AIDS Day Prayers

 

Loving God, You provide comfort and hope to those who suffer. Be present with all HIV+ persons and their families in this and every land, that they may be strengthened in their search for health, wholeness and abundant living, through Christ our Companion. Amen. 

 

Holy Friend and Comforter: On this World AIDS Day we remember especially the millions now living with HIV in all nations. Be with them, we pray. Lord, hear our prayer. Lead our government and the governments of all countries to protect and promote the rights of HIV+ persons to treatment, health and stigma-free living. Amen.

 

 #WorldAIDSDay

December 1 Sermon

May the sounds of Advent stir a longing in your people, O God. Come again to set us free from the dullness of routine and the poverty of our imaginations. Break the patterns which bind us to small commitments and to the stale answers we have given to questions of no importance. Let the Advent trumpet blow, let the walls of our defenses crumble, and make a place in our lives for the freshness of your love, well-lived in the Spirit, and still given to all who know their need and dare receive it. Amen. (Howard Thurman, The Mood of Christmas).

Longing and waiting. Two themes of Advent.

We each have that longing to find God, and so we journey to those places where we believe God dwells, we go to church, we visit sacred places. Some of those places are sacred places for many people like the Temple in Jerusalem, other places have become sacred to us (Cathedrals & shrines). Perhaps it is the garden we kneel down in and tend to, perhaps it is a place from our childhood wanderings. Maybe it is our front porch or kitchen or barn. Or an activity that you do, music or biking or boating. Wherever your sacred place or places are, it is where you take your longing for God and transfer that longing into prayer. Where you take that thirsty soul and let it loose and send it out to connect with God.

Mahatma Gandhi said that Prayer is not asking, it is a longing of the soul. The dwelling place of God is wherever we lift the veil that separates us from God, and invite God in. Where does God dwell for you? Where do you let the longing of your soul loose, and connect to God?

But so often that holy longing is displaced. Interrupted by routines that do not feed our soul. Fears that imprison our imaginations. Patterns of life that are dull and stale and bind us to things of no real importance.

Advent comes every year to remind us of this holy longing. For us to pause our lives and seek out God; to break free from all that holds us back.

And in this longing is also waiting. Waiting for what God is going to do just as God had done it in the past, breaking forth in unimagined ways. Waiting for our God in our lives, as we seek and search out God who is already in our midst.

Bernard of Clairvaux, the twelfth-century abbot and theologian, wrote of “three Advents”: first of all, the Incarnation, the Advent at Christmas; and last of all, the Advent at the end of the age (Matthew’s subject in this week’s Gospel). And the second or “middle” Advent, the one in between these other two, is the everyday arrival of Jesus: the host at the table, the still small voice, the hungry mother, the weary refugee. In other words, Jesus comes to us again and again, a thousand swords remade into a thousand ploughshares in Isaiah’s imagery. The new era of God’s shalom is dawning even now - though its glimmers appear in unexpected places and at unexpected hours, like a thief in the night. (Salt Blog)

Longing and waiting – our journey in Advent – finding God in our midst.

She saw the posting on a professional web site: an editing position with a major publisher of cookbooks. This was her dream job. So she re-worked and edited her resume, wrote and re-wrote a concise cover letter that checked all the boxes in the posting, and sent it off.

Then the first round of waiting began. But while she waited, she discretely asked friends in the business what they knew about the publisher and the kind of shop they ran. She researched the company’s most successful projects — and their biggest flops. She also checked out the company’s financial picture — how stable are they and how is their market trending?

Then she got a call. Could she come in for an interview? Of course! she said, trying to remain cool and professional. A day and time were arranged.

She then set to work imagining the questions she would be asked, what they would most like to know about her and her experience and how well her skills matched up with what the company was looking for. She also collected samples of her work that best showcased those skills.

The first interview went well, she thought. The interviewer thanked her for coming and said they would be in touch. More waiting. She went over her first interview again and again, re-working some of her answers and re-thinking her responses to questions that threw her. After that first interview, she had a better sense of what the company was looking for this hire and re-worked her portfolio.

After what seemed like an eternity, she was called back for a second interview — this time with the editor she would be working for. Before the meeting, she was able to talk with a former boss of hers who knew the editor and the publisher’s work. He offered wise counsel to her on how to approach the interview. He even offered to make a call to the editor on her behalf.

She met with the editor for over two hours. They immediately clicked, swapping ideas like trusted colleagues. The meeting ended with an offer, which she accepted immediately.

She owes her dream job to her ability to wait in the spirit of Advent.

We think of such waiting as wasted time: preventing us from moving while we wait for someone else to act. But the season of Advent calls us to a more creative waiting: envisioning what is to come and living in ways for that vision to be realized. Longing & Waiting are part of the human experience. Advent is about waiting in hope, anticipating the good that is possible and can be fulfilled in the dawning of Jesus Christ and the longing of our souls.

Residing in our faithfulness to God’s ways, so that the walls of our defenses may crumble and we can make a place in our lives for the freshness of God’s love, well-lived in the Spirit, guiding us toward the fulfillment of Advent, of God coming among us. Amen.