St. Pete's Rock

Same Sex Marriage

2012-02-02T10:51:00.002-05:00

After our brief discussion on Sunday, for those who want to continue thinking about this subject, I invite you to read these two articles... (plus an update, see below)

The Power Of Marriage by David Brooks (NY Times):

Anybody who has several sexual partners in a year is committing spiritual suicide. He or she is ripping the veil from all that is private and delicate in oneself, and pulverizing it in an assembly line of selfish sensations.

But marriage is the opposite. Marriage joins two people in a sacred bond. It demands that they make an exclusive commitment to each other and thereby takes two discrete individuals and turns them into kin.

Same-sex complementarity: A theology of marriage by Eugene F. Rogers Jr. (Christian Century):

A year ago the bishops of the Episcopal Church received a 95-page report by eight theologians to provide the church with a "theology of same-sex relationships." (The report was published in the Winter 2011 issue of the Anglican Theological Review.) As you might expect, the panel split into two parties, "traditionalist" and "liberal."

What you might not expect—if you follow such debates in mainline Protestant bodies—was how the sides began to meet. Certain familiar arguments disappeared. New arguments took their place. And some of the new arguments converged in ways their authors perhaps had not intended.

This just in...

In 2011, majorities of most religious groups favored allowing gay and lesbian couple to marry legally, illustrating that the old narrative of battle lines between secular supporters and religious opponents no longer serves as an accurate characterization of the landscape of the same-sex marriage debate. In the general population, 2011 was also the first year on record in which supporting same-sex marriage was not a minority position.

Where did that come from? Look here: Beyond Secular vs. Religious: Religious Divides in Support for Same-Sex Marriage

Candlemas

2012-02-02T10:17:00.001-05:00

Today is the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple aka Candlemas - it is not Groundhog Day - that is a movie by Bill Murry. :)

There is a wikipedia article here.

"Traditionally the Western term "Candlemas" (or Candle Mass) referred to the practice whereby a priest on 2 February blessed beeswax candles for use throughout the year, some of which were distributed to the faithful for use in the home."

Prayer:

Almighty and everliving God, we humbly pray that, as your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple, so we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts by Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Reading: Luke 2:22-40 ~ Common English Bible (CEB)

22 When the time came for their ritual cleansing, in accordance with the Law of Moses, they brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. 23 (It’s written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male will be dedicated to the Lord.”) 24 They offered a sacrifice in keeping with what’s stated in the Law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

25 A man named Simeon was in Jerusalem. He was righteous and devout. He eagerly anticipated the restoration of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26 The Holy Spirit revealed to him that he wouldn’t die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 Led by the Spirit, he went into the temple area. Meanwhile, Jesus’ parents brought the child to the temple so that they could do what was customary under the Law. 28 Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God. He said,

29 “Now, master, let your servant go in peace according to your word,
30 because my eyes have seen your salvation.
31 You prepared this salvation in the presence of all peoples.
32 It’s a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and a glory for your people Israel.”

33 His father and mother were amazed by what was said about him. 34 Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “This boy is assigned to be the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that generates opposition 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your innermost being too.”

36 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, who belonged to the tribe of Asher. She was very old. After she married, she lived with her husband for seven years. 37 She was now an eighty-four-year-old widow. She never left the temple area but worshipped God with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 She approached at that very moment and began to praise God and to speak about Jesus to everyone who was looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

39 When Mary and Joseph had completed everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to their hometown, Nazareth in Galilee. 40 The child grew up and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.

Open Communion

2012-01-31T14:00:00.000-05:00

aka, Communion for those not baptized.

After our brief discussion on Sunday, I thought I would point to excellent articles on this subject (pdf format):

The opening of the eucharistic table to the unbaptized is a practice inspired by the radical hospitality of Jesus. Too often, however, the practice of open communion is adopted casually, without the systematic theological reflection called for by something so central to ecclesial identity and mission. Among the issues the practice raises are (1) its reliance on the claim that Jesus would not have shared a ritual meal with his disciples alone, (2) its departure from the paschal ecclesiology at the heart of contemporary liturgical renewal, which links baptism and eucharist to a post-Constantinian understanding of mission, (3) its failure both to appreciate the pastoral value of longing, and to avoid a modernist commitment to the immediate gratification of individual desire, (4) its naive assumption that boundaries are necessarily inhospitable, and (5) its taking the place of genuine evangelism and public ecclesial witness. This first essay, while not an exhaustive argument against open communion, addresses these critical issues.

Baptism, Eucharist, and the Hospitality of Jesus: On the Practice of “Open Communion” by James Farwell

This second essay engages in an extended dialogue with James Farwell's essay, rebutting many of his arguments against open communion and suggesting a number of theological considerations that might lend support to the practice of inviting unbaptized persons to take communion. The logic of the relationship between baptism and eucharist is discussed in light of the reference of both to the kingdom, and tied to the various forms of Jesus' meal ministry in the gospels. The essay also speculates about what in the present context of Episcopal church life might be driving the trend toward open communion. Finally, there is a review of factors to be taken into account in deciding whether the consequences of open communion for Christian life are acceptable.

In Praise of Open Communion: A Rejoinder to James Farwell by Kathryn Tanner

Here is an essay by one community that practices "open communion" and the rationale behind it.

Come to the Table: a reflection on the practice of open communion at saint benedict’s table by Jamie Howison

an article by Rick Fabian on "First The Table, Then The Font" that also gives a rationale for such open communion.

and a blog post by Tobias Haller on "communion before baptism" in which he argues against such open communion and the devaluing of baptism.

Do you tithe?

2012-01-30T20:51:00.002-05:00

Insightful analysis is here:

To Tithe or Not to Tithe ... (NY Times)

(Oh, and I think you should!)

Oscar Romero Poem/Prayer

2012-01-30T20:46:00.002-05:00

A Future Not Our Own

It helps now and then to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another 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 include everything.

This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one
day will grow. We water the seeds already planted
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing this.
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.

Final Prayer on Sunday

2012-01-30T20:43:00.002-05:00

This was the final prayer used at our Annual Meeting:

O GOD of all the ages, the God of our fathers andmothers, we thank you for the heritage and witness of all who have gone beforeus in this parish of St. Peter’s. Keepus, we pray, faithful to their vision, and eager for the promises of your callto service in our time. In the swift anduncertain changes of life today, let us not draw back into contentment withthings that have been, for fear of things that may be. Reveal to us in the faceof all people the image of our Savior Christ, that by the guidance of yourSpirit, we may help them to grow with us into the full measure and maturity ofhis humanity, in truth, in freedom, and in peace; Through Jesus Christ ourLord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

(Adapted from a prayer by the Rev. Massey Shepherd (1978))

210th Annual Parish Meeting

2012-01-30T20:40:00.001-05:00

To find the Rector's Address and the Reports, you can find them here:

http://www.stpetersonthegreen.com/id6.html

January 22 Sermon

2012-01-29T15:36:00.003-05:00

A long time parishioner and a newcomer were discussing the new priest at coffee hour just after his first sermon.

"Oh, thank God the last one is gone!" the veteran parishioner went on. "He always preached that if we didn't mend our ways and reform our lives we would all go straight to hell."

"But isn't that just what the new reverend said today?" the newcomer observed.

"Yes but our old pastor seemed happy about it."

Jonah would have been happy if the Ninevites were going to hell. He hated them.

The Ninevites, a neighbour to the north, were an enemy of Israel. God was looking for a prophet to send to them to have them repent of their evil ways.

God called Jonah. Twice! When God first sent him to the Ninevites, Jonah ran the other way as fast as he could go.

Eventually a big fish brought Jonah back and as we heard this morning, God called Jonah a second time and sent him to the Ninevites. He proclaimed what God asked of him and the people of Nineveh listened.

God did not destroy them because they repented of their evil ways. Jonah, though, was angry. He knew God might forgive. And now the hated Ninevites were saved.

God said to Jonah the reluctant prophet, "can’t I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand people who can’t tell their right hand from their left, and also many animals?" (Jonah 4:11 CEB)

Jonah could only see the hated enemy, but God saw his creation, a people who have erred and strayed like lost sheep.

And yet God called Jonah anyway…

Jesus called his first disciples... Nathaniel who doubted anything good came from Nazareth, and this week, the fisherman, Simon and Andrew, James and John. He called them to fish for people. He called the doubters, he called the zealots, and…

It is Jesus who calls each of us even in the rush of our lives today he calls us to come follow him.

And how we follow could be as simple as how we love, and a mom learns about the power of a mother’s kiss:

“My youngest daughter always had me kissing her boo-boos. I did it because, as every mother knows, it makes it feel better. What I never understood was the thought process behind the action.

"One day my daughter asked me to kiss her boo-boo when I was pressed for time, so I hurriedly obliged. She cried, telling me it wasn’t any good because my kiss didn’t have any love in it. I realized that kissing boo-boos was really about loving the pain away.

“This simple truth, along with the value of mindfulness my daughter taught me, has encouraged me to slow down, to become more aware and present in the moment. Slowing down is a conscious decision to live at a gentler pace and to make the most of the time I have.

“When my own mother passed away, I did not forget the love she gave me; it will live on in my heart forever. She gave me life, but beyond that, she gave me love . . .

“With that errant kiss, I realized it was my responsibility as a mother to watch over my child’s spiritual growth . . . By simply showing my child kindness through listening, I believe I have satisfied my child’s earliest spiritual needs. By being genuine — that is, personally connected and physically present — I have satisfied my child’s developing spirit.” [Mary Ann Rollano, writing in Spirituality & Health, November/December 2005.]

It is Jesus who entrusts to each one of us — whether we are a fisherman or a mom or even reluctant like Jonah — the work of discipleship: to extend, in whatever our circumstances, the love of God to all; to proclaim, in our own homes and communities, the compassion, the forgiveness, the love that is bound in the life of Jesus.

As God is present to us in the person of Jesus, we are called to be present to one another in our love and care. To be the “fishers” that Christ calls us to become and to “cast the net” of God’s love that we have experienced upon the waters of our time and place, to reach out and grasp the hand of those who struggle and stumble, to “love” away the hurt and pain and fear in ourselves and others.

Jesus calls you and me, today, to come follow him, will you answer or will you run the other way? Amen.

January 15 Sermon

2012-01-29T15:31:00.003-05:00

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial. Is how our second reading puts it this morning (NRSV). I have the freedom to do anything, but not everything is helpful. Is how another translation puts that same line (CEB).

St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, was reminding his flock in Corinth that just because they could do something, doesn’t mean they should. Not everything benefits us. Not everything is helpful or good.

He was particularly concerned about those who gave their bodies away to sexual immorality, which seemed to be an issue for the Corinthians, as it is for our society today!

Many in the Corinthian Church struggled with how to live, earlier in the letter Paul tells the wealthier members of the congregation have to treat the poorer members with more respect. Paul reminds them that to honor God, it all begins with the understanding that their body, not only the gathered body of the faithful, but each of them is a temple of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit is in each of them.

The Holy Spirit that descended upon Jesus like a dove at his baptism is the same Spirit who was in the Corinthians and who we each were given at our baptism. We were sealed by the Spirit and Paul appeals to this understanding in how we treat and use our bodies.

It would not take a great leap to go from the sin of Paul’s day to the indulgent appetites of today in our culture. We are bombarded with images from TV to the internet and beyond that tell us to crave sex, food, wealth, the latest and greatest gadgets… and our lives are so busy, we don’t take the time to treat ourselves right – to eat the right food, to exercise properly, no matter what our age, to quit those bad habits like smoking that make our lives shorter.

“Don’t you know, St. Paul asks, that you have the Holy Spirit from God, and you don’t belong to yourselves?”

Our ethics lies in how we treat our body because Paul reminds us, it is connected with who we are, with everything about ourselves.

But even more than that, St. Paul was trying to get those in Corinth and those in our day, to see beyond our individual selves, to see beyond the cravings and lusts we have, and to remember that God is in each of us, the God who knows us each by name, the ground of our being, and that we no longer live for ourselves alone, but for Jesus who died for us so that we would truly live.

What might this look like today? An incident observed and reported in The New York Times' "Metropolitan Diary" [July 12, 2010] comes to my mind:

On a rainy afternoon, a woman finished lunch at the cafe at the Museum of Modern Art. She then gathers up her oversize pocketbook and large bag of gifts she has purchased in the museum shop and then steps onto the escalator to the museum lobby. As she steps off and onto the hardwood floor, the heel of her boot hits a damp spot and she slides forward. She loses her balance and falls flat on her face in front of a tour group, her packages and pocketbook scattered all over the lobby - a lobby packed with people waiting out the storm.

A man in his mid-20s rushes over and helps the woman to her feet.

"OK?" he asks, and then, quietly, "But you're embarrassed, aren't you?" He smiles, winks - and suddenly he falls to the floor. He fakes a tumble that closely resembles the woman's genuine fall.

His fall diverts the attention of onlookers from her clumsiness. "Boy, that floor is slippery - someone should mop it up before someone gets hurt," someone in the crowd says.

The young man scrambles to his feet. He makes sure the woman is OK. And she is - thanks to the sensitivity and creativity of a kind stranger, both her balance and dignity are restored as she retreats unnoticed into a nearby gallery.

It was a simple act of kindness from a stranger, but it truly mirrors the love of God in how he used his body to help another!

Consider that God became one of us in Jesus, taking on our humanity in all its messiness, clumsiness, embarrassments and disappointments and he showed us how to deal with it all with generosity, compassion and grace. St. Paul tells us to follow Jesus and honor God with our body, to turn our attention away from ourselves, but to what God has given to us to use for others.

And on this MLK, Jr. weekend, to put it in the words of MLK, Jr. “The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"

I have the freedom to do anything I want, but not everything is helpful to me or to this world. So what will you do with God’s spirit today? Amen.

Baptism of Jesus Sermon

2012-01-29T15:29:00.000-05:00

“When we touch our baptism, we touch our past, but also our present and our future. Whenever and however our baptism took place and however much or little regard has been paid to it since, it is a sign in our flesh of the enduring love of God.” (Daniel Stevick)

On this day when we celebrate the baptism of Jesus, we also remember our own baptism (even if it is what our parents did for us long ago) we think about the baptisms that have taken place here in this church for 210 years, as we also look forward to Katelyn Elizabeth Bender’s baptism this morning at 10:15 AM. The Past, Present & Future are all wrapped together in baptism and God is in the midst of it all.

As we imagine the scene of the baptism of Jesus, we think of John the Baptist standing near the river, wearing camel’s hair, people are flocking to him, to confess their sins, out in the wilderness.

Several Jewish groups of that time observed some type of ritual baptism, and yet John knows that what he does, his proclamations, his baptisms, are just a beginning, they anticipate the one who is to come, the messiah. His baptism by water for repentance will become the baptism by the Spirit.

John the Baptist prepares the way of the Lord much like his ancestors did from Abraham and Sarah to Moses and Miriam to David and Jeremiah. It all comes to fruition when Jesus of Nazareth comes and all that John had anticipated happens; Jesus is baptized.

And it is Jesus who sees the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descending like a dove upon him and a voice that proclaims, “You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11)

It is God’s Spirit who descended that day, anointed Jesus for the mission and ministry that would encompass his life for the rest of his time on earth and that same Spirit sent Jesus away from his baptism to go and do.

In our own day, baptism is our ritual of initiation into God’s community the Church. As our rite says, “In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.”

Today, Katelyn will be baptized into the household of God.

There will be many people around the world who will be baptized on this day, and God will hear their names presented and it is God who will act by sending the Holy Spirit upon them. And no matter where that baptism takes place, it is that baptism that propels them & us into the future.

For the Spirit of God also rests on us, reminding us that nothing will ever separate us from the love of God, for we are all sealed by the Spirit and marked in Christ’s name.

And it is that same Spirit that calls us, moves us to live out our baptismal lives in this world, where so many people are in need of that love that God gives to us; which reminds me of a story…

Two friends are having lunch at a local restaurant when one woman is distracted by a scene two tables over.

"What's the matter?" her friend asks. "See that couple over there? We're sharing the same waiter except they're being so demanding that he barely has time for anyone else. Look at how they turn up their noses at everything he brings them."

"Maybe their order just isn't to their liking." "No, that's not it at all. I was a waitress in college and I know the game. They're just trying to berate that kid into a free lunch."

Just then, they watch as the manager walks over to the table and stands next to the waiter. The couple complains loudly about the food and service. The manager takes the check from the waiter and motions him away. "See what I mean?" the woman says.

The embarrassed waiter comes over to the women's table. "Is there anything else I can get you?" he asks, his eyes downcast as he places the check on the table between the two women.

The former waitress snatches the check before her friend can even look at it and pulls out several bills from her purse. She hands everything to the waiter.

"Keep the change."

"But ma'am, that's . . ."

She takes the young man's hand and squeezes it. She looks him in the eye and says, "I know the kind of afternoon you're having. You're a terrific waiter. And you've earned every dime of this. So don't argue with an old lady who's been there." [From The Other Ninety Percent by Robert K. Cooper.]

It is a simple act of generosity, a simple act of love. And when we become vehicles of God's love, when we become the means for manifesting God's presence in our world to others, we live out of our baptism; of that knowledge that we too are God’s beloved and God is pleased with us.

In time Katelyn will join us in that, but for now, it is all of us gathered here, her family, friends and this praying and caring community who will witness to the great love of God by what we do in this world.

May all that we hold, may all that we touch, may all that we are, realize the true miracle of God who came among us in Jesus, who lives in each of us now, and who guides us on our journey for just as Mother Teresa put it, “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.” Amen.

MLK Day of Service

2012-01-16T09:38:00.001-05:00

Don't forget to do something today for the good of a neighbor, community or our nation.

Holy Scriptures (Bible)

2012-01-05T14:19:00.004-05:00

From the Book of Common Prayer (Catechism)

The Holy Scriptures

Q. What are the Holy Scriptures?
A. The Holy Scriptures, commonly called the Bible, are the books of the Old and New Testaments; other books, called the Apocrypha, are often included in the Bible.

Q. What is the Old Testament?
A. The Old Testament consists of books written by the people of the Old Covenant, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to show God at work in nature and history.

Q. What is the New Testament?
A. The New Testament consists of books written by the people of the New Covenant, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to set forth the life and teachings of Jesus and to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom for all people.

Q. What is the Apocrypha?
A. The Apocrypha is a collection of additional books written by people of the Old Covenant, and used in
the Christian Church.

Q. Why do we call the Holy Scriptures the Word of God?
A. We call them the Word of God because God inspired their human authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible.

Q. How do we understand the meaning of the Bible?
A. We understand the meaning of the Bible by the help of the Holy Spirit, who guides the Church in the true
interpretation of the Scriptures.

All we need - The Bible - Which one?

2012-01-05T14:16:00.002-05:00

#CEBTour

I recently learned of a "Conservative Bible Project" that aims to eliminate the liberal bias in the Bible and hold on to the glorious ideal of conservatism (as they define it).

Is that what we really need?

Thomas Jefferson cut his Bible up to suit his needs. In many ways, we all look to passages in the Bible that conform to our understanding of God and humanity, but to cut out what we disagree with seems to narrow God into our nice little box.

Instead, we should have translators from around the world, from different denominations and different theologies to help guide the translations of a bible so that we can engage it all.

The Common English Bible from their website:

Combining scholarly accuracy with vivid language, the Common English Bible is the work of 120 biblical scholars from 24 denominations in American, African, Asian, European, and Latino communities, representing such academic institutions as Asbury Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, Bethel Seminary, Denver Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Seattle Pacific University, Wheaton College, Yale University, and many others. Additionally, more than 500 readers in 77 groups field-tested the translation. Every verse was read aloud in the reading groups, where potentially confusing passages were identified. The translators considered the groups' responses and, where necessary, reworked those passages to clarify in modern English their meaning from the original languages. In total, more than 700 people worked jointly to bring the Common English Bible to fruition; and because of the Internet and today’s technology it was completed in less than four years.

The CEB and the older NRSV help me engage the Bible daily. What translation helps you?

Sermon for Holy Name

2012-01-05T14:04:00.005-05:00

Intro: The celebration of this scriptural festival marks three events: first, the naming of the infant Jesus; secondly, the performance of the rite of circumcision as a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham "and his children for ever"—thus Christ's keeping of the Law; thirdly and traditionally, it is honored as the first shedding of the Christ's blood. The name Jesus means literally "Yahweh saves." The feast of the Holy Name of Jesus has been observed in the Church since at least the sixth century.

Sermon:

This name "which is above every name" has all things in it, and brings all things with it. It speaks more in five letters than we can do in five thousand words. It speaks more in it than we can speak today; and yet we intend today to speak of nothing else, nothing but Jesus, nothing but Jesus.

Before his birth the angel announced that this child, born of Mary, would be great: "he shall be called Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of his father David." The angel thus intimates that this was a name of the highest majesty and glory. And what can we say upon it, less than burst out with the psalmist into a holy exclamation, "O Lord our Governor, O Lord our Jesus, how excellent is thy name in all the world!" It is all "clothed with majesty and honor;" it is "decked with light;" it comes riding to us "upon the wings of the wind"; the Holy Spirit breathes it full upon us, covering heaven and earth with its glory.

But it is a name of grace and mercy, as well as majesty and glory. For "there is no other name under heaven given by which we can be saved," but the name of Jesus. In his name we live, and in that name we die. As Saint Ambrose has written: "Jesus is all things to us if we will." Therefore I will have nothing else but him; and I have all if I have him.

The "looking unto Jesus" which the apostle advises, will keep us from being weary or fainting under our crosses; for this name was set upon the cross over our Savior's head. This same Jesus at the end fixes and fastens all. The love of God in Jesus will never leave us, never forsake us; come what can, it sweetens all.

Is there any one sad?—let him take Jesus into his heart, and he will take heart presently, and his joy will return upon him. Is any one fallen into a sin?—let him call heartily upon this name, and it will raise him up. Is any one troubled with hardness of heart, or dullness of spirit, or dejection of mind, or drowsiness in doing well?—in the meditation of this name, Jesus, all vanish and fly away. Our days would look dark and heavy, which were not lightened with the name of the "Sun of Righteousness"; our nights but sad and dolesome, which we entered not with this sweet name, when we lay down without commending ourselves to God in it.

So then let us remember to begin and end all in Jesus. The New Testament, the covenant of our salvation, begins so, "the generation of Jesus"; and "Come Lord Jesus," so it ends. May we all end so too, and when we are going hence, commend our spirits into his hands; and when he comes, may he receive them to sing praises and alleluias to his blessed name amidst the saints and angels in his glorious kingdom for ever.

from a sermon of Mark Frank

A Christmas Blessing

2011-12-28T21:19:00.001-05:00

as you journey on the 12 days of Christmas...

May the joy of the angels,
the eagerness of the shepherds,
the perseverance of the magi,
the obedience of Joseph and Mary,
and the peace of the Christ child be yours this Christmas.
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you always. Amen.

New Year's Prayers

2011-12-28T21:12:00.002-05:00

Oh Thou, who art ever the same,
Grant us so to pass through
the coming year with faithful hearts,
that we may be able in all things
to please Thy loving eyes. Amen.
Mozarabic, 700 A.D.

Bless us, O Lord,
and bless the time and seasons yet to come.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
And fill this new year with your kindness,
that we may be glad and rejoice
all the days of our life. Amen.
Fr Victor Hoagland, C.P.

Eternal Father,
you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation:
Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world,
our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Prayer for the Feast of the Holy Name (January 1)

Christmas Day Sermon - 10 AM

2011-12-28T21:00:00.003-05:00

Gracious God, we celebrate life this morning because you are so near, so entwined with our lives, for this Holy Birth affirms it, the Reality of Christmas assures us of this fact. For your presence this morning we sing for joy. O Lord, this morning we celebrate your life, and all our lives, together, forever. Amen.

This morning as we gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus, I am reminded that his birth took place not in the best of times, but probably in the worst.

As Chris Yaw put it, “It is a tale of an impoverished single mom in a conquered hamlet of some backwater corner of a vast empire, putting her newborn into an animal trough where the fledgling birth announcement was entrusted to village idiots whose only other marketable skills were watching sheep.”

Such an improbable and humble tale still captures our imagination 2,000 years later, because God so loved us, that God was born for us in a place that no one expected, in a humble way no one planned. And those events are not lost on us today.

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 did not wait by Madeleine L'Engle )

As I though about this, I heard about the death of Kim Jong-il of North Korea, and I was reminded of a story I read about the Korean War. (And it is a Christmas story!)

His name was Brother Marinus, a Benedictine monk, he died at the age of 87 in 2001.

But three days before Christmas in 1950, his name was Captain Leonard LaRue, and he received a call to help refugees in need. Captain LaRue was the skipper of a freighter that had been carrying supplies to American servicemen in Korea on behalf of the Navy. About 200 vessels converged on the port of Hungnam, North Korea to help evacuate troops and refugees fleeing from the war.

''I trained my binoculars and saw a pitiable scene,'' Captain LaRue remembered. ''Refugees thronged the docks. With them was everything they could wheel, carry or drag. Beside them, like frightened chicks, were their children.''

The refugees were crammed into the cargo holds of a freighter that was designed for around 60 people to be on board.

''There were families with 8 and 10 children,'' Captain LaRue remembered. ''There was a man with a violin, a woman with a sewing machine, a young girl with triplets. There were 17 wounded, some stretcher cases, many who were aged, hundreds of babies. Finally, as the sun rode high the next morning, we had 14,000 human beings jammed aboard the ship. It was impossible, and yet they were there.''

The ship headed towards the South Korean port of Pusan, 28 hours away. They would travel through heavily mined waters. Enemy submarines were known to patrol the waters. The refugees had little food or water and there were no blankets or sanitary facilities.

But they got through, and the refugee freighter arrived at Pusan on Christmas Eve, only to be turned away, because of the refugees already there. Captain LaRue was told to head for an island, 50 miles to the southwest.

The ship arrived at the island on Christmas and by the next day, every refugee left the ship. Not one person died! And in fact, the number of Koreans had grown by five, for five babies were born aboard that ship.

His ship was decommissioned in 1952 and soon afterwards, Captain LaRue entered the Benedictine Monastery in NJ. Captain LaRue looked back on the rescue as a turning point in his life. As he put it: ''I often think of that voyage. I think of how such a small vessel was able to hold so many persons and surmount endless perils without harm to a soul. The clear, unmistakable message comes to me that on that Christmastide, in the bleak and bitter waters off the shores of Korea, God's own hand was at the helm of my ship.''

The United States Maritime Administration called his feat ''the greatest rescue by a single ship in the annals of the sea.'' (from the NY Times Obituary of Leonard LaRue, October 20, 2001)

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
(Christina Rossetti)

In the bleak midwinter Jesus was born for us, to set us free and to help us understand what that abundant life truly is. Be it on a ship in war, be in a hospital room or a doctor’s office, in our own homes or even on the street. God comes to us and is with us in the best and worst of times. Go out today, listen to the angles, follow the star, and celebrate the birth that continues to change the world and our lives forever. Amen.

Christmas Meditation - 10 PM

2011-12-28T20:56:00.002-05:00

Lord Jesus Christ, your birth at Bethlehem draws us to kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth: accept our heartfelt praise as we worship you, our Savior and our eternal God. Amen.

Music is such a part of our Christmas celebrations that without it, Christmas would not be the same. Some radio stations have been playing Christmas music since Thanksgiving. It can get a little old at times, but those carols, those anthems sweet, all remind us what tonight is all about, the birth of Jesus, of God coming into our midst!

One of those carols, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, tells us in one of its stanzas:

Yet with the woes of sin and strife
the world has suffered long;
beneath the heavenly hymn have rolled
two thousand years of wrong;
and warring humankind hears not
the tidings which they bring;
O hush the noise and cease your strife
and hear the angels sing!

The carol plants us in reality: We live in a world of sin and strife, warring humankind hears not what the angels sing.

O hush the noise and cease your strife
and hear the angels sing!

It is a call for us to hush our noise and strife, and listen, pay attention, for maybe God is speaking to us this very night in the music we hear. For music helps us not only get in the mood but it tells a story. The other night at a concert, it was these words that struck me, to hear this story in a new way:

THE MAN WHO RAN THE INN by Peter McCann

It was cold out on the desert
But they were headed for the light
O little town of Bethlehem
It were a warm and welcome sight
Mother and her unborn child in the bitter winter wind

`Till he saw the man took pity
On the state that she was in
Here`s to the man who ran the inn
Don`t you wish that we could always be
Just a little more like him

He found some room beneath the roof above his home
He just couldn`t let a little child be left out in the cold

Well, it wasn`t much to look at
It was old and tumbled-down
But he said `you`re welcome to it
It`s the last room left in town.`

I don`t know why he did it
I`d have loved her just because
I guess we`ll never know his name
But I bet that Jesus does!

Here`s to the man who ran the inn
Don`t you wish that we could always be
Just a little more like him
He found some room beneath the roof above his home
He just couldn`t let a little child be left out in the cold

Compassion, joy, hope. Christmas is about this and so much more. The innkeeper just couldn`t let a little child be left out in the cold and neither can we; hear what the angels sing tonight and let that baby enter in your home and your soul. Amen.

Christmas Eve Sermon - 5 PM

2011-12-28T20:51:00.000-05:00

The stars that shine at Christmas
Shine on throughout the year,
Jesus, born so long ago,
Still gathers with us here,
We listen to his stories,
We learn to say his prayer,
We follow in his footsteps,
And we learn to love and share. Amen.
(Lois Rock & Alison Jay)

To Love & Share – What God did so long ago at that first Christmas – Who came to be with us in Baby Jesus – Stories! – What we hear in this South American folktale:

A Gift for the Christ Child: A Christmas Folktale by Linda Schlafer

What we give is important, how we learn to love and share speaks to how that Christ child has entered into our hearts. As one of our beloved carols puts it:

How silently, how silently,
the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,
but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him,
still the dear Christ enters in.

So if as Herod, we fill our lives with things and more things;
If we consider ourselves so important that we must fill every moment of our lives with action;
When will we have the time to make the long slow journey across the burning desert as did the Magi;
Or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds;
Or to brood over the coming of the Child as did Mary?
For each of us there is a desert to travel, a star to discover, and a being within ourselves to bring to life. (from Edward Ericson)

Follow that star. Celebrate the birth. For our journey begins on this scared night. Amen.

Some Christmas Quotes

2011-12-23T21:54:00.001-05:00

“Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.” ~ Oren Arnold

“There's more, much more, to Christmas
Than candlelight and cheer;
It's the spirit of sweet friendship
That brightens all year.
It's thoughtfulness and kindness,
It's hope reborn again,
For peace, for understanding,
And for goodwill to all!” ~ Author Unknown

The only blind person at Christmastime is he who has not Christmas in his heart. ~ Helen Keller

Christmas on TV

2011-12-23T20:34:00.001-05:00

The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) has spent the last week putting the finishing touches on an hour long television program, Christmas in Chelsea Square, that will air over CBS stations nationwide on December 24th at 11:35 pm (EST). The 194-year-old seminary was selected by the network last summer to produce the annual television special. The central portion of the program features a traditional Christmas service of lessons and carols for which the homilist is the Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop and Primate, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Also featured are excerpts from a reading of Clement Clarke Moore’s famous poem that begins, “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” as well as a brief segment that introduces viewers to the Seminary’s history and present day mission. General is known for the beauty of its Episcopal liturgy and music as well as its idyllic campus located in the Chelsea district of New York City on property donated by Moore and known as Chelsea Square.

Read more here.

Happy Hanukkah! (& the Apocrypha)

2011-12-22T12:44:00.000-05:00

#CEBTour

Our brothers and sisters of the Jewish faith are celebrating Hanukkah. You can read a nice article at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah

As the article tells us, one of the ancient sources for the festival:

The story of Hanukkah is alluded to in the book of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. The eight day rededication of the temple is described in 1 Maccabees 4:36 et seq, though the name of the festival and the miracle of the lights do not appear here. A story similar in character, and obviously older in date, is the one alluded to in 2 Maccabees 1:18 et seq according to which the relighting of the altar fire by Nehemiah was due to a miracle which occurred on the 25th of Kislev, and which appears to be given as the reason for the selection of the same date for the rededication of the altar by Judah Maccabee.

1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees is found in the Apocrypha and is available in the Common English Bible. You can look up passages including the Apocrypha here (choose the CEB).

As an Episcopalian, I believe the Apocrypha should always be a part of our bible. The Biblical Apocrypha is accepted by Roman Catholics and Orthodox as fully part (canonical) of the Bible. Episcopalians also receive these books but without determining their canonicity.

In the new year, I will write more about why I like the Biblical Apocrypha.

Thinking of St. Thomas

2011-12-22T12:27:00.003-05:00

Yesterday the Church remembered St. Thomas the Apostle. He is best known as Doubting Thomas, because when the other disciples told him they have seen Jesus after the cross, he did not believe them. He wanted to see it for himself. Don't we all?

Here is one monk's thought:

Thomas, rather than the scapegoat, is for me the hero among the disciples. For me, Thomas will always stand for the person who gets the news second-hand, the person who wasn’t there when the miracle took place….Which is why I find Thomas such a powerful witness. Thomas dares to express for me, perhaps for many of us, the meandering doubts that can wander through our minds, about whether it really happened.

-Br. David Vryhof
Society of Saint John the Evangelist

You can read his whole sermon here.

Thinking about doubt and faith, here is an excellent piece...

A Christian on Hitchens' Atheism and Lowe's Muslim Problem

An excerpt:

David Caton owes me one. I interviewed the head of the Florida Family Association last week during his bigoted but successful crusade to get companies like Lowe's to pull ads from All-American Muslim, the Learning Channel reality show about a community of Muslim Americans. Before Caton hung up on me -- he gets angry when you question his complaint that the show presents Muslims in too positive a light and not as crazed radicals plotting to impose Islamic shari'a law from Maine to Monterey -- I corrected his pronunciation of imam, a Muslim cleric, from Eye-mam to the proper Ee-mawm. Later that day, I heard him say it properly on CNN.

But that's all he got right. I concern myself with Caton -- who also likes to hire small planes to haul banners over Orlando warning people that homosexuals visit Disney World -- only for two reasons. One is that a major corporation like Lowe's actually caved to the Evangelical's ugly Islamophobia. The other is that he got his 15 minutes of fame at about the same time that Christopher Hitchens died, on Dec. 15. Hitchens was best known as one of the "angry atheists" for his 2007 best seller God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, and narrow-minded fundamentalists like Caton made his work a lot easier. So of course did extremist Muslims, as well as extremist Roman Catholics, Jews, Hindus and all the fanatics who ruin religion the way drunks ruin driving. Which is why Hitchens' attacks on faith, while brilliantly written, could also feel gratuitous.

Read the whole article from time.com!

With all due respect to the memory of Christopher Hitchens, making the here and now better would be difficult without religion. But it's also hard enough without the un-Christian antics of people like David Caton. As Christmas ought to remind us.

Amen!

And always remember, the opposite of faith is not doubt but fear.

Christmas Poems (Herbert)

2011-12-21T22:20:00.002-05:00

George Herbert (1593-1633)

Christmas (I)

After all pleasures as I rid one day,
My horse and I, both tired, body and mind,
With full cry of affections, quite astray;
I took up the next inn I could find.

There when I came, whom found I but my dear,
My dearest Lord, expecting till the grief
Of pleasures brought me to Him, ready there
To be all passengers' most sweet relief?

Oh Thou, whose glorious, yet contracted light,
Wrapt in night's mantle, stole into a manger;
Since my dark soul and brutish is Thy right,
To man of all beasts be not Thou a stranger:

Furnish and deck my soul, that Thou mayst have
A better lodging, than a rack, or grave.

Christmas (II)

The shepherds sing; and shall I silent be?
      My God, no hymn for Thee?
My soul's a shepherd too; a flock it feeds
      Of thoughts, and words, and deeds.
The pasture is Thy word: the streams, Thy grace
      Enriching all the place.
Shepherd and flock shall sing, and all my powers
      Outsing the daylight hours.
Then will we chide the sun for letting night
      Take up his place and right:
We sing one common Lord; wherefore he should
      Himself the candle hold.
I will go searching, till I find a sun
      Shall stay, till we have done;
A willing shiner, that shall shine as gladly,
      As frost-nipped suns look sadly.
Then will we sing, and shine all our own day,
      And one another pay:
His beams shall cheer my breast, and both so twine,
Till ev'n His beams sing, and my music shine.

December 18 Sermon (8 AM)

2011-12-21T22:01:00.000-05:00

Almighty and everlasting God, you have stooped to raise fallen humanity by the child-bearing of blessed Mary; grant that we who have seen your glory revealed in our human nature, and your love made perfect in our weakness, may daily be renewed in your image, and conformed to the pattern of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (David Silk)

We began Advent on Nov. 27 anticipating the 2nd Coming of Christ. The following weeks, we heard from John the Baptist and other prophets and messengers about the need to prepare the way of the Lord, to be ready for God's reality breaking into our lives and into our world. We end our season of Advent with Mary, to whom the angel Gabriel came & spoke to her... "Greetings favored one. The Lord is with you."

It is Mary's, Yes – “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word", that allows God's reality to break into the world that Christmas long ago. This is not some starry eyed teenager but one who by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit humbled herself to accept the gift of the Christ Child. From this, Mary would give us a song, one we call the Magnificat, a song about the power tables being turned, about the lowly being lifted up, which she herself had experienced.

Mary’s yes to God and God’s choosing her is important. It is as one preacher said: “Two things seem clear when God chooses someone for a really important role. God usually chooses someone weak and insignificant in society - and God chooses that person to die.

As a young girl Mary would not have been taught to read - young boys, yes, but not young girls. Ancient peasant cultures counted females, including wives, among a man's possessions, along with slaves, oxen and donkeys. The selection of Mary's husband would be entirely her parents' affair. She could not refuse their choice. As a female Mary would be allowed to enter the synagogue, but had to remain in the back or in the balcony, behind a grill. If perchance she did learn to read, she was not allowed to read the Torah in the synagogue service. But God chooses the weak and insignificant in the eyes of some, to do God's great work.

Mary was also chosen to die. There are many ways of dying. Mary did her dying in shame and pain, as a refugee in Egypt. God called Mary to the shame of becoming an unwed mother . . . all of this asked of a girl of twelve or thirteen. And her deaths were just beginning. As a widow she would watch her son die the painful death reserved for the scum of society on a cross.

Mary had no role in Jesus' public life. Hers was a hidden life. But Mary, as God's secret, became one of the most influential, celebrated women in history . . . This secret, weak, unlettered Mother of God, who is our mother, is the wisdom of God, the power of God. [Rev. Killian McDowell, O.S.B., in a sermon at St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minn., January 1, 2005, reprinted in The Abbey Banner, Spring 2005.]

We who prepare to come to the manger again this week are challenged to have Mary's words and life in our hearts and on our lips; to understand the yes that she gave, that our hearts could be ready to say yes and be God's servants in this world...

So as you sing the carols this week, as you ready your nativity scenes, as you look out on this beautiful land of ours, ready you heart to say yes to Jesus at Christmas, to say yes to the angel, to say yes to God, for we are to bear Christ to this world just as Mary once did. Amen.

God in the NY Times

2011-12-14T12:44:00.002-05:00

Some interesting articles from last weekend in the NY Times.

Americans: Undecided About God? By ERIC WEINER

THE holidays are upon us again — it sounds vaguely aggressive, as if the holidays were some sort of mugger, or overly enthusiastic lover — and so it’s time to stick a thermometer deep in our souls and take our spiritual temperature (between trips to the mall, of course).

For some of us, the season affords an opportunity to reconnect with our religious heritage. For others, myself included, it’s a time to shake our heads over the sad state of our national conversation about God, and wish there were another way.

For a nation of talkers and self-confessors, we are terrible when it comes to talking about God. The discourse has been co-opted by the True Believers, on one hand, and Angry Atheists on the other. What about the rest of us?

The rest of us, it turns out, constitute the nation’s fastest-growing religious demographic. We are the Nones, the roughly 12 percent of people who say they have no religious affiliation at all. The percentage is even higher among young people; at least a quarter are Nones.

Apparently, a growing number of Americans are running from organized religion, but by no means running from God. On average 93 percent of those surveyed say they believe in God or a higher power; this holds true for most Nones — just 7 percent of whom describe themselves as atheists, according to a survey by Trinity College.

Read the whole article. His comment, We believe that G. K. Chesterton got it right when he said: “It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.” makes me think he hasn't been in an Episcopal Church lately. We take our religion seriously but can joke about it too!

When a Catholic Terrified the Heartland By ROBERT A. SLAYTON

WITH Mitt Romney, a member of the Mormon church, quite possibly heading toward the Republican nomination, Americans may be faced with a presidential aspirant whose faith many find strange and troublesome. It would not be the first time that has happened, and during a previous campaign the response was pretty nasty.

The article reminds us we have been down this road before. Have we learned from it yet?

And finally, we can't forget Tim Tebow.

Tim Tebow’s Gospel of Optimism By FRANK BRUNI

CAN God take credit for the victories of a thick-set N.F.L. quarterback who scrambles in a weirdly jittery fashion, throws one of the ugliest balls in the game, completes fewer than half of his passes and has somehow won six of his team’s last seven games?

That’s a question that actually hovers over the miraculous success of the Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, and at this blessed juncture it’s a silly one, because the answer is unequivocal: Yes. Tebow is powered by conviction and operating on faith, and so are the teammates he’s leading. And you needn’t be an evangelical Christian (as he is), a seriously religious person or even a football fan to be transfixed and enlightened by his example. I speak as a football fan only when I say the following, which I never expected to: The mile-high messiah has a gospel for us all.

Read the whole article. I agree with him that we are losing the extraordinary response of the Broncos to his (Tebow's) leadership in this debate about his faith.

New Bible

2011-12-08T09:32:00.001-05:00

#CEBTour I just recieved my new bible - a thin Common English Bible with the Apocrypha. Thank you CEB!

The preface is very helpful as it reminds us that 400 years ago the King James version was translated so that it would be in the common english of the time so anyone could read it. The CEB of 2011 endeavors to do the same today. It is written at a 7th grade reading level and tries to be very accurate with the translation from the original Hebrew & Greek.

To compare it with other translations, go here.

I will comment more on the CEB when I look at the Apocrypha.

I will also be using it for St. Peter's Bible Challenge of 2012.

More details to come...

For the Baptist (Advent Poem)

2011-12-08T09:30:00.001-05:00

THE LAST and greatest Herald of Heaven’s King
Girt with rough skins, hies to the deserts wild,
Among that savage brood the woods forth bring,
Which he more harmless found than man, and mild.
His food was locusts, and what there doth spring,
With honey that from virgin hives distill’d;
Parch’d body, hollow eyes, some uncouth thing
Made him appear, long since from earth exiled.
There burst he forth: All ye whose hopes rely
On God, with me amidst these deserts mourn,
Repent, repent, and from old errors turn!
—Who listen’d to his voice, obey’d his cry?
Only the echoes, which he made relent,
Rung from their flinty caves, Repent! Repent!

St. John Baptist by William Drummond

Advent 2011 Portal

2011-12-07T12:59:00.001-05:00

Go on the journey:

http://vimeopro.com/episcopalchurch/advent-2011

Some articles that caught my attention...

2011-12-07T12:58:00.001-05:00

My Take: An open letter to Kermit the Frog by Rev. Danielle Elizabeth Tumminio

Dear Kermit,

You’re right. It’s not about the building.

In your newest movie, I hear them saying that you guys are irrelevant, washed up.

But I’m an Episcopal priest and for years they told me that I and other Christians were washed up and irrelevant, too.

You see, since beginning my ministry, I, like many other Christians, have been bombarded with facts about church decline. The number of people attending church is decreasing while churchgoers' average age is increasing, and a turbulent economy means that the number of people able to tithe or even to give pocket change to churches is decreasing as well.

Read the whole thing here.

Read George Washington's letter on religious freedom here.

The People Who Hate Tim Tebow By Chuck Klosterman

The King James Bible & Us

2011-12-06T19:37:00.001-05:00

#CEBTour

There is a wonderful article in the National Geographic about the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.

The KJV, for short, had an immense contribution to the English language, to art, music and so much more.

An excerpt:

You don't have to be a Christian to hear the power of those words—simple
in vocabulary, cosmic in scale, stately in their rhythms, deeply
emotional in their impact. Most of us might think we have forgotten its
words, but the King James Bible has sewn itself into the fabric of the
language. If a child is ever the apple of her parents' eye or an idea
seems as old as the hills, if we are at death's door or at our wits'
end, if we have gone through a baptism of fire or are about to bite the
dust, if it seems at times that the blind are leading the blind or we
are casting pearls before swine, if you are either buttering someone up
or casting the first stone, the King James Bible, whether we know it or
not, is speaking through us. The haves and have-nots, heads on plates,
thieves in the night, scum of the earth, best until last, sackcloth and
ashes, streets paved in gold, and the skin of one's teeth: All of them
have been transmitted to us by the translators who did their magnificent
work 400 years ago.

You can read the article here.

I grew up with it, have memorized a few lines from it but do not use it in my day to day life. I find it easier to read more modern translations.

I usually use the NRSV, although from time to time I use other translations as well.

Currently, I am reading more and more from the Common English Bible and enjoying it.

A great place to find a lot of translation is Biblegateway.com

I will write an article soon on the Apocrypha and why it should be in your bible!

Chapel on the Green Sermon

2011-12-06T19:22:00.001-05:00

People thronged to him from Judea and Jerusalem and, as they confessed their sins, were baptized by him in the Jordan River into a changed life.
John the Baptist is the one character you never see in Nativity displays. We don’t have statues of him, reminding us to repent, to change our ways. But without John, Advent makes no sense, our preparation for Christmas could not happen. For John reminds us that a changed life is born from within us.

Consider this story…

Kari Robert's brother Tony needed a new kidney to survive. Kari offered her own kidney, but doctors would not even consider it. Kari weighed 320 pounds. And that made her a poor candidate for surgery of any kind, much less one that involved donating a kidney, which were already compromised by her extra weight.

Kari was devastated. A busy working mom, she could not believe her weight had gotten so out of control. So Kari went to work, eating carefully and healthier, walking one mile, then two, and soon three miles a day.

Three years and 135 pounds later, Kari was tested again and found to be a perfect match to donate a kidney to her brother Tony. The love of a sister for her brother saves one life - and in the long-run, probably saved two. [TODAY.com, September 29, 2011.]

The most precious gifts that we give are the gifts that require something from ourselves. Advent teaches us that true Christmas giving is inspired by the Spirit's call for justice, compassion, love and peace and that same Spirit empowered John the Baptist's proclamation of the coming of God's Messiah into the world. Today, our thoughtfulness of the needs and wishes of another are the real manifestations of the love of God in our midst and where we can find the true joy of Christmas. Amen.

Advent 2 Sermon

2011-12-06T19:15:00.001-05:00

Comfort, comfort ye my people,
Speak ye peace, thus saith our God;
Comfort those who sit in darkness,
Mourning ’neath their sorrow’s load;
Speak ye to Jerusalem
Of the peace that waits for them;
Tell her that her sins I cover,
And her warfare now is over.

This poem (hymn) based on our text from Isaiah this morning, is a poem of comfort, a poem of gentleness, a poem of community. Comfort – when you hear that word, what comes to mind?

A certain food (for my wife its mashed potatoes), maybe it’s a drink, an image (Calgon take me away) or something else that brings to your mind comfort?

But for God, its comfort of a different kind:

Comfort not for those who are already comfortable but to those who were suffering, those in pain, those looking for help – to them in the reading from Isaiah, God calls out, Comfort my people. It is God remembering the plight of his people.

To those contented and to those suffering, that message would also be sounded by John the Baptist who appears on the scene preaching God’s word, saying repent, change your life, find comfort in God. As the forerunner to Jesus, John sets the stage for all of us.

In Isaiah and JTB, the scattered sheep are being called to come together, to find their comfort with God, to walk the road to Jordan, to Jerusalem, to Bethlehem, to return home once again with their God. I think of this story from Scotland:

Once upon a time there was a pastor who inherited a church on a large island, but that was about it — there was a church building, but not much else. There were a few old souls who came regularly, but most of the younger ones stayed away. They were too busy with the fields and animals, with the new satellite TV, internet, and their own business.

And when the pastor would inquire after them in town or in the pub they'd excuse themselves with the explanation that they prayed better without all those people around them. They did better with their own quiet along the shore or by their own fireplace or kitchen table after everyone else had gone to bed.

So the pastor started visiting them one by one. He'd sit by the fire, drink tea, chat about the price of grain or sheep, and not mention religion. The fire would be crackling warm while the wind gusted outside, and the pastor would lean over and take a twig out of the fire. He was careful to take one that was glowing hot and burning well, and he would lay it on the edge of the stone fireplace and let it sit. He'd continue with the conversation and say not a word about the twig.

And as they'd talk the twig would cool down; the glow would begin to fade; the twig would smoke and eventually die out. When that happened the pastor would stop in midsentence, look his parishioner in the eye, and put the twig back on the fire, holding it until it caught again. And then he'd take his leave.

The first man got the message. Next day a woman did. Pretty soon the story started getting around, and by the end of the month the church was packed… (from Megan McKenna)

Why was the Church packed? Because they understood, they needed the fire, they needed God. And they needed each other. We too need to dream, repent, turn our faces toward God together. Advent is something we do together to catch the fire of Jesus at Christmas.

The season of Advent, with our readings, with the figure of John the Baptist, reminds us of our higher calling, to live more than what our culture says about this time, a time of buying happiness, and instead to make this journey together through Advent.

A journey that begins by making all the preparations in ourselves and our world and helping make this world ready for our God who is coming into its midst. For we are called to repent of our sin, to make the crooked straight, to bring up the lowly, to bring comfort to God’s people…

· Much like our journey to Chapel on the Green today; bringing comfort to the homeless

· the work of Conect (Congregations Organized for a New CT) and all the 25+ congregations and their people coming together to promote job training, affordable health care & home mortgages – Conect gives voice to the voiceless esp. with the government. – They did it together from very diverse faith groups.

The Advent journey we make together is to live in ways that are in harmony with our God and each other, for the time of our salvation is coming near, and we must be ready & eager to meet Christ again this Christmas. Amen.

St. Nicholas (of Myra)

2011-12-06T19:10:00.001-05:00

Today is the feast day of St. Nicholas of Myra, aka St. Nick, aka Santa Claus.

You can learn more about him at this website.

An excerpt:

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara.
At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of
Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian,
died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words
to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used
his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering.
He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra
while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the
land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and
his concern for sailors and ships.

Widely celebrated in Europe, St. Nicholas' feast day, December 6th, kept
alive the stories of his goodness and generosity. In Germany and
Poland, boys dressed as bishops begged alms for the poor—and sometimes
for themselves! In the Netherlands and Belgium, St. Nicholas arrived on a
steamship from Spain to ride a white horse on his gift-giving rounds.
December 6th is still the main day for gift giving and merrymaking in
much of Europe. For example, in the Netherlands St. Nicholas is
celebrated on the 5th, the eve of the day, by sharing candies (thrown in
the door), chocolate initial letters, small gifts, and riddles. Dutch
children leave carrots and hay in their shoes for the saint's horse,
hoping St. Nicholas will exchange them for small gifts. Simple
gift-giving in early Advent helps preserve a Christmas Day focus on the Christ Child.

Prayers:

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, kindle in your church the
never-failing gift of charity, that, following the example of
your servant Nicholas of Myra, we may have grace to deal in
generosity and love with children and with all who are poor and
distressed, and to uphold the cause of those who have no
helper; for the sake of him who gave his life for us, your Son
our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever. Amen.

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.

A Story of Why We Need Each Other & the Church

2011-12-03T10:22:00.001-05:00

Once upon a time there was a pastor who inherited a church on a large island, but that was about it — there was a church building, but not much else. There were a few old souls who came regularly, but most of the younger ones stayed away. They were too busy with the fields and animals, with the new satellite TV, internet, and their own business.

And when the pastor would inquire after them in town or in the pub they'd excuse themselves with the explanation that they prayed better without all those people around them. They did better with their own quiet along the shore or by their own fireplace or kitchen table after everyone else had gone to bed.

So the pastor started visiting them one by one. He'd sit by the fire, drink tea, chat about the price of grain or sheep, and not mention religion. The fire would be crackling warm while the wind gusted outside, and the pastor would lean over and take a twig out of the fire. He was careful to take one that was glowing hot and burning well, and he would lay it on the edge of the stone fireplace and let it sit. He'd continue with the conversation and say not a word about the twig.

And as they'd talk the twig would cool down; the glow would begin to fade; the twig would smoke and eventually die out. When that happened the pastor would stop in midsentence, look his parishioner in the eye, and put the twig back on the fire, holding it until it caught again. And then he'd take his leave.

The first man got the message. Next day a woman did. Pretty soon the story started getting around, and by the end of the month the church was packed…

Why? Because they understood, they needed the fire (God) and they needed each other.

(a story from Scotland, from Megan McKenna )

Invite Someone this Christmas

2011-12-01T15:30:00.000-05:00

Its that time of year when people feel an urge to come back to Church. It is a good thing!

Why not invite your friend, neighbor, coworker who may be looking for a Church home or a place to come just for the season., to St. Peter's?

Do it! Just as Canon Frank Logue puts it:

Christmas will be upon us sooner than I care to imagine.
With it, as with Easter, comes one of our two best opportunities to
invite friends, family and co-workers to join you for worship. Survey
after survey shows that most southerners who do not have a church home
will react favorably to an invitation to church at these times of year.
Even in this post-Christendom age many are culturally conditioned toward
Christmas and Easter worship.
This is a great time of year to make sure that you have flyers about
your Christmas liturgies and any other special events, such as Lessons
and Carols. Encourage everyone in your congregation to give them to
friends, family and co-workers with an invitation to join your church family for Christmas. The one caveat is this: even
if the person reacts favorably, and even says they will come, they might
well not darken the church doors this Feast of the Nativity. Most of us
then decide that the seed has been scattered on soil not yet disposed
toward growth and then never make another invitation. This is where we
can easily fail in scattering seed.

It may well take a Christmas invitation, followed by an Easter
invitation, followed by yet another Christmas invitation before your
friends actually show up for church. Never underestimate the inertia
that must be overcome to make the move from not attending church to
worshipping faithfully. Keep the invitations persistent and low key,
always making sure folks know they are welcome, without ever making
someone feel bad for not showing up. That is how such seeds are
consistently scattered.

Read his whole article here or here.

A handy flyer regarding our Advent & Christmas services is here.

CONECT is founded!

2011-12-01T14:18:00.001-05:00

I was there last night at its founding as an observer. It was a great founding!

Here's a story about it:

Churches, synagogues CONECT to join force to fight social ills by John Burgeson

A significant new multi-faith organization, united to fight such social ills as unfair banking practices, high health insurance costs and abusive treatment of immigrants, got a rousing start Wednesday night as about 1,500 packed an East End church to incorporate CONECT.

The name stands for "Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut." It's a multi-faith amalgam of 25 houses of worship in Fairfield and New Haven counties, encompassing Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims and Unitarians. Organizers said that CONECT might eventually span the state. The event took place at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit on Union Avenue, which was packed to the rafters with supporters.

There were about a dozen VIPs seated behind the pulpit, including Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who pledged to work with CONECT.

"I'm always happy to meet with your representatives," he said. Other politicians and officials there included state Sen. John McKinney, R-Fairfield; state Insurance Commissioner Tom Leonardi; Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch and state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport.

Member houses of worship in Fairfield and New Haven counties pledged nearly $101,000 Wednesday night to get CONECT going, and another $70,000 in grant funds were taken in as well. Some small churches from poor neighborhoods pledged a few hundred dollars, while churches and synagogues from wealthier towns contributed many thousands.

"The idea is for people to get power ---- safe streets, quality health care and so forth," said Peter A Rosazza, auxiliary bishop emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford, and one of CONECT's founders. "These issue come from the people."

CONECT leaders said that they expect its numbers to swell.

"We have a number of faith organizations here who are observing us tonight who are interested in becoming members as well," said Elizabeth Keenan, coordinator of the Pastoral Council at St. James Parish in Stratford, and another one of the organizers. "We've gotten to the tipping point where we could incorporate tonight. We'll be here for a long time."

You can read the whole article here.

A Decade of Progress on AIDS (Bono - Ny Times)

2011-12-01T14:15:00.000-05:00

I’LL tell you the worst part about it, for me.

It was the look in their eyes when the nurses gave them the diagnosis — H.I.V.-positive — then said there was no treatment. I saw no anger in their expression. No protest. If anything, just a sort of acquiescence.

The anger came from the nurses, who knew there really was a treatment — just not for poor people in poor countries. They saw the absurdity in the fact that an accident of geography would deny their patients the two little pills a day that could save their lives.

This was less than a decade ago. And all of us who witnessed these dedicated African workers issuing death sentence after death sentence still feel fury and shame. AIDS set off an almost existential crisis in the West. It forced us to ask ourselves the big, uncomfortable questions, like whether capitalism, which invented the global village and kept it well stocked with stuff, could also create global solutions. Whether we were interested in charity... or justice.

The wanton loss of so many lives in Africa offended the very idea of America: the idea that everyone is created equal and that your destiny is your own to make. By the late 1990s, AIDS campaigners in the United States and around the world teamed up with scientists and doctors to insist that someone — anyone — put the fire out. The odds against this were as extreme as the numbers: in 2002, two million people were dying of AIDS and more than three million were newly infected with H.I.V. Around 50,000 people in the sub-Saharan region had access to treatment.

Yet today, here we are, talking seriously about the “end” of this global epidemic. There are now 6.6 million people on life-saving AIDS medicine. But still too many are being infected. New research proves that early antiretroviral treatment, especially for pregnant women, in combination with male circumcision, will slash the rate of new H.I.V. cases by up to 60 percent. This is the tipping point we have been campaigning for. We’re nearly there.

How did we get here? America led. I mean really led.

You can read the whole op-ed piece here.

Another piece from Time (with Bono) is here.

A Prayer on AIDS Day

2011-12-01T14:12:00.001-05:00

A Collect for World AIDS Day

Loving God, You provide comfort and hope to those who suffer. Be present with all HIV positive 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.

You can read the Episcopal, ELCA Presiding Bishops issue World AIDS Day 2011 letter here.

An Advent Story

2011-11-27T16:02:00.001-05:00

This story comes from the Cherokee and goes along well with the Gospel reading and Jesus telling us to keep awake...

"Why Are Some Trees Always Green?" (A Cherokee Folk Tale)

Once upon a time when it was still very early upon the earth, the Great Spirit decided to visit the creatures of the earth, still new from creation. Everyone was told to stay awake and to watch and wait for seven nights. And those who stayed awake were promised gifts, gifts of power. They were all excited and determined to stay awake to get this power. They all began with chatter and wonder, questioning and suggestions on how to do it. Many thought it would be easy and boasted that they'd be able to do it.

Practically everybody made it through the first night, except for a few who slipped away and didn't dare show their faces. The second night they were beginning to think it would be easy until it grew very dark and there were no stars because of the thickness of the fog. It was getting harder, eyes were drooping and heads nodding, and jerking up again and again. By the third night no one was saying much of anything, but walking around, jumping up and down, leaning up against trees and rocks, splashing water on their faces, singing aloud, anything to stay awake.

By the fourth night most were asleep, out cold, not even trying any more, exhausted. And the seventh night came and only a few were still awake. And the Great Spirit came, found them sleeping, looked at those still watching and waiting, and smiled. Among the animals only the owl and the panther had stayed awake, and so they were given the power to see in the dark, and from then on, they'd be night creatures, hunting in the dark, preying on those who had fallen asleep and had to rest at night.

Among the plants and trees there were a few more that had made it through all the nights: the pine, the evergreen, the spruce, the hemlock, the cedar, the laurel, and the holly had been watchful. These were the faithful ones, and they were given the power to stay green through all the seasons of the year. And their leaves would have great medicine for the healing of the nations. They would keep their leaves and needles while all the other plants and trees, bushes and grasses would lose them and have to fall asleep through the long snows until spring woke them up again. And so it is until this day.

Sermon: 1st Advent (Nov. 27)

2011-11-27T15:25:00.001-05:00

Most gracious Lord, by whose direction this time is appointed for renewing the memory of your infinite mercy to us in the incarnation of your Son Jesus; grant that we may live into this holy time, in the spirit of thanksgiving, and every day raise up our hearts to you in the grateful acknowledgment of what you have done for us. Help our souls receive your Son once again at the approaching solemnity of Christmas. And as Christ came into the world to do good to all, guide us, so we may be watchful at this time in avoiding everything that can be injurious to our neighbors, but in all things may follow the spirit of charity, bringing comfort and relief to all. Grant, O Lord that we may prepare to meet our redeemer. Amen. From John Goter, 17th Century (adapted)

Thanksgiving is over. Well, it was barely over when our national holiday of Black Friday began. There is nothing wrong with wanting to find a bargain (I clip coupons!) but to hear about such violence and such raw greed on the day after thanksgiving bothers me.

Into such darkness, our new year is born – our season of Advent, with our new blue set, in the darkest of days, hopeful of the Coming of our Savior, in the 1st Advent - Birth of Jesus and in the 2nd Advent - The return of Jesus.

Advent is our season that calls our spiritual lives to be awakened, to "cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light" as our collect calls us to do.

What are your works of darkness? Do you know them? Do you wrestle with them night and day? Is that what we saw on the news regarding “Black Friday”?

There is something about Advent that makes us suddenly mindful. Perhaps it is the clear night skies with the gaze of the moon and stars on us. Perhaps it is the windswept clarity of early winter, when the trees are swept bare, and there is no sign of the lushness of summer to hide our works of darkness from ourselves and from one another.

And what does Jesus call us to do in these days – “keep awake-- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.” Why is that? Why keep awake when the rest of the animal kingdom is bedding down for the winter? Storing up for a long winter's nap? Why is it now that you and I are to be awake?

In Advent, salvation is nearer to us, nearer to us because we are preparing for the coming of the Christ child. We are preparing for the return of Christ. We are waking up to God with us.

So that is why. But how do we wake up when our bodies are telling us to hibernate with the best of them. The darkness beckons to us, lulls us into slumber, and for some of us, even into depression. How do we do we fight all of that and put on the armor of light?

Jesus said to his disciples, "In those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see `the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory.”

Jesus told us that he would come again, but he didn't give us a time, lay out a plan. He only told us to keep awake, be ready, he will come at an unexpected time, in a time of darkness and suffering, but when he comes there will be glory. We fight the darkness by keeping watch…

It is like a young wife and her infant daughter who can barely contain themselves as they wait. Any moment now her husband's unit will march into the arena after a year in Afghanistan. They've talked every day via Skype, so at least she knew he had made it through another day; he saw images on his laptop of their little Sarah who was born after he left - he has yet to hold his daughter.

The waiting began with the first word that his unit would be called up; the waiting took on new urgency as he made arrangements for the family's care during his absence. Waiting was part of the couple's everyday routine until they made their daily Skype connection - and if it was late or delayed, the waiting became unbearable. Their waiting became expectation as the day approached when he would come home.

Now, on this day they have been waiting for for an eternity, their eyes meet the moment he enters the arena. A few more minutes for the formal dismissal . . . wait, wait, wait. And the long wait melts when husband and father, wife and mother, and beautiful daughter are in each other's arms again. They go home, happily awaiting the next chapter of their life together as a family.

Such a story is what Advent’s waiting and hoping and expecting are all about. Such hopefulness is the light in the darkness.

So how do we become ready?

That wonderful 17th Century prayer I said at the beginning of this says it all: that as Christ came into the world to do good to all, that we too may thus prepare to meet him, that we may be watchful at this time above all others, in avoiding everything that can hurt our neighbors and in all things following the spirit of charity, bring comfort and relief to all, si that we may prepare to meet our redeemer.

If we are doing those things, if we are waiting with such anticipation, we will be ready when he comes again in his glory with the armor of light on us.

May we in this holy time of Advent, renew our lives by waking up and remembering the gift that God gave to us so long ago in the birth of his son, and who invites us into a joyous time of preparation to remember and rejoice at Christmas, and to prepare and wait for Christ's coming again among us. Amen.

Which Bible?

2011-11-22T20:49:00.001-05:00

#CEBTour

A portion of this Sunday's Gospel:

"But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake-- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake." (NRSV - Mark 13: 32- 37)

"But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the angels in heaven and not the Son. Only the Father knows. Watch out! Stay alert! You don’t know when the time is coming. It is as if someone took a trip, left the household behind, and put the servants in charge, giving each one a job to do, and told the doorkeeper to stay alert. Therefore, stay alert! You don’t know when the head of the household will come, whether in the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows in the early morning or at daybreak. Don’t let him show up when you weren’t expecting and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: Stay alert!”(CEB - Same Passage)

The NRSV (New Revised Standard Version) has been my preferred translation for many years now and is the translation we use at St. Peter's Church. It was produced in 1989. I spend more and more time now looking at the CEB and feeling very comfortable with it. It is a fine translation!

Common English Bible Translation Background (from their website)

Known for being “built on common ground,” the Common English Bible is a collaboration of 120 academic scholars and editors, 77 reading group leaders, and more than 500 average readers from around the world who joined together to clearly translate the Bible’s original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages into 21st century English. More than half-a-million copies of the Bible are currently in print. It’s also available online and in 20 digital formats.

“When we say ‘built on common ground,’ we mean that the Common English Bible is the result of collaboration between opposites: scholars working with average readers; conservatives working with liberals; teens working with retirees; men working with women; many denominations and many ethnicities coming together around the common goal of creating a vibrant and clear translation for 21st century readers, with the ultimate objective of mutually accomplishing God’s overall work in the world; in essence, helping Bible readers live on common ground,” says Paul Franklyn, PhD, associate publisher for the Common English Bible.

Combining scholarly accuracy with vivid language, the Common English Bible is the work of 120 biblical scholars from 24 denominations in American, African, Asian, European, and Latino communities, representing such academic institutions as Asbury Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, Bethel Seminary, Denver Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Seattle Pacific University, Wheaton College, Yale University, and many others.

Check it out here: http://www.commonenglishbible.com

From the Newstand

2011-11-22T20:27:00.001-05:00

I read these articles on Sunday and thought everyone should take a look...

Southern Hospitality, but Not for Newcomers
By YUNTE HUANG

IMAGINE this: It’s Sunday morning, beautiful and quiet, except for the mockingbird practicing comic routines on the sweet gum tree in the backyard. As usual, you get ready and drive your family to church. Everyone is well dressed, and the kids are singing in the back seat.

Somewhere along the way, you spot a stranger by the roadside, carrying a Bible, looking lost. As a good Christian, you pull over and offer him a ride. In the car, you introduce him to your family, making sure your kids know their manners. You chat with the stranger. Chances are, he’s from somewhere else, maybe even another country. You drop him off near where he’s going; or, God willing, he’ll come, on your invitation, to your church for the service. If the latter, it will make your day, having welcomed a stranger into the benevolent fold of the Lord.

That stranger could have been me, 20 years ago, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Fresh out of college in Beijing, I had left my home country in the wake of the Tiananmen massacre. Landing in the sleepy college town, I was disappointed that Times Square was nowhere to be seen. I started going to churches, and without a car, I had to rely on good Samaritans for rides on Sunday. A newbie not yet brazen enough, I always carried a Bible, which seemed to work better than a hitchhiker’s thumb. When kindhearted folks — men in immaculate suits and women in puffy, flowery dresses — stopped for me and asked what church I was going to, I would invariably say, “Yours.”

If the same scene is played again today, you, the good Samaritan, could be in trouble. According to an Alabama law that went into effect on Sept. 1, it is a crime to knowingly give an illegal immigrant a ride. (Read the whole article!)

After Egypt’s Revolution, Christians Are Living in Fear ...
By ANDRÉ ACIMAN

THE images streaming from Cairo’s streets last month were not as horrifying as those of the capture and brutal death of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, but they were savage all the same. They were a sobering reminder that popular movements in some parts of the world, however euphorically they begin, can take disquieting and ugly turns.

When liberal Muslims joined Coptic Christians as they marched through Cairo’s Maspero area on Oct. 9 to protest the burning of a Coptic church, bands of conservative Muslim hooligans wielding sticks and swords began attacking the protesters. Egyptian security forces who had apparently intervened to break up the violence deliberately rammed their armed vehicles into the Coptic crowd and fired live ammunition indiscriminately.

Egyptian military authorities soon shut down live news coverage of the event, and evidence of chaos was quickly cleared from the scene. But the massacre, in which at least 24 people were killed and more than 300 were wounded, was the worst instance of sectarian violence in Egypt in 60 years.

Confusion and conflicting narratives abound. Some claim to have overheard an announcer on television encourage “honorable Egyptians” to come to the rescue of soldiers under attack by a mob of Copts. Others heard a Muslim shouting that he had killed a Christian. (read the whole article!)

Reading Between the Poverty Lines
By TERESA TRITCH

A new and improved gauge of poverty, released this month by the Census Bureau, shows that 49.1 million Americans are poor, and that the ranks of those just above poverty are larger than previously believed. The middle class is under pressure, too, battered by stagnating incomes and unavoidable expenses like medical bills.

The older, official poverty line is still used to determine eligibility for government benefits, but the new formula offers a broader view of life both in and out of poverty. These numbers bear directly on issues of joblessness, budget cuts and health care costs — and more broadly on the question of whether government policies to help the poor and boost the economy do any good. The answer is an emphatic yes.

If only lawmakers were paying attention. Instead, they are fixated on budget cutting, generally downplaying the good that government programs do while ignoring the consequences when they fall short.

However you slice it, the definition of poverty is abysmally low. (Read the whole article!)

Can Gary Chapman Save Your Marriage?
By BRUCE FEILER

I HAD never heard the word “gonads” mentioned from a church pulpit. But on a picnic-perfect afternoon in August, as more than 1,000 people crowded into the Brentwood Hills Church of Christ outside of Nashville, Gary Chapman, a 73-year-old Southern Baptist pastor and author of the mega-selling phenomenon “The Five Love Languages” (7.2 million copies and counting), was talking about what he calls Christianity’s “great sex swindle.”

“That is the idea that good Christians don’t talk about sex,” he said, “at least not out loud, and certainly not in the church. I want to say that both of those ideas are fallacious. Dr. Ruth did not invent sex. Sex was invented by God.”

For the next hour, the centerpiece of a daylong conference called “The Marriage You’ve Always Wanted,” Dr. Chapman discussed the Bible’s robust support for conjugal sex. He also delivered a pastoral primer on the differing sex drives of men and women. Men, he said, explaining their relentless buildup of sperm cells, are far more driven by physical needs; women, by emotions. (Read the whole article!)

National Bible Week

2011-11-20T15:58:00.001-05:00

Romans 15:4 (CEB): “Whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction so that we could have hope through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures.”

Is that bible of yours sitting gathering dust on your bookshelf or table?

Now is the time to pick it up, dust it off and read it!

Start with today's Gospel reading (Matthew 25: 31 - 46), consider what Jesus is saying and what he expects of us:

Look here for the CEB version.

Look here for the Message version.

Look here for the NRSV version.

Now, go and do (and keep reading!).

Sermon Notes: November 20

2011-11-20T15:54:00.001-05:00

These are my sermon notes from the 8 AM service on Nov. 20, 2011 – Proper 29 (A)

Just finished a book – Sue Cappucci told me to read – The Hole in Our Gospel.

“This is a story of how a CEO faced his own struggle to obey God, whatever the cost, and his passionate call for Christians to change the world by actively living out their faith. Believing that the “good news” is more than a private transaction between God and us, the author Richard Stearns challenges readers with this question: What does God expect of us?” (from the website)

His book goes into great detail about our belief in Jesus and how too often our Bible has a big whole in it, where we have missed his message. He uses the parable we heard this morning to get us to think about how we need to reach out. What does God expect of us? 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…

“Let me take some liberties and paraphrase these verses for today’s reader: ‘For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.’” Rich Stearns

(2) 9 year old Austin Gutwein learned about children in Africa who had become orphaned because of AIDS. Austin believed he could do something—that he had a “talent” that God could use. “After watching the video, I realized these kids weren’t any different from me except they were suffering. I felt God calling me to do something to help them. I decided to shoot free throws and on World AIDS Day, 2004, I shot 2,057 free throws to represent the 2,057 kids who would be orphaned during my day at school. People sponsored me and we were able to raise almost $3,000 that year. From that year forward, thousands of people have joined me in a basketball shoot-a-thon called Hoops of Hope. By doing something as simple as shooting free throws, Hoops of Hope participants have raised over $500,000. (pp. 265-266)

When we recognize the opportunities we have been given, when we know our talents, we can explore ways that we can pay it forward. For example, if you think of “access to clean water,” then “Paying It Forward” might be something like “contribute toward building a deep well in a developing country” or “give up buying soda, coffee and other drinks and donate the money toward water and sanitation projects in the developing world.” The list of ways to pay it forward is endless. This is not about giving a hand-out to someone, but about giving others the same opportunities you have been given.

Truly, I tell you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, members of my family, you have done it for me. (Jesus)

Further Thoughts: Penn State

2011-11-15T20:57:00.001-05:00

Now that Sandusky has given his first interview, I am still very uncomfortable with the defense of his actions and his inability to see that most of his interactions were inappropriate due to the power he had over those boys. He wasn't simply horsing around...

There have been three articles on this scandal that I have read and were very thought provoking (here are some excerpts and links to the original articles):

A Word in Defense of the Witnesses—and the Word Is “Ambiguity” By Scott Huler (Scientific American)

You and I – and every single other decent person on the planet who has heard about the Penn State abuse allegations – are having the same revenge fantasy. Or, I don’t know, call it a Guardian Angel fantasy. We would have run into the shower and wrapped the kid in a towel; we would have grabbed a bat and whacked the coach; we would have blown our trusty whistle and dialed 911 while simultaneously pulling the fire alarm and screaming “Stop!”

Every radio sports jock on the dial has said the same thing: “You just can’t see something like that happening and walk away. You just can’t!”

Except the grand jury testimony shows – well, yes you can. People do. People did. People saw unspeakable things happening, and instead of putting on their superhero costumes and running to the rescue they … hesitated. They hoped it would stop. They walked away, and then thought better of that and called their bosses. And you know you would have done better, right?

Let’s All Feel Superior By DAVID BROOKS (NY Times)

First came the atrocity, then came the vanity. The atrocity is what Jerry Sandusky has been accused of doing at Penn State. The vanity is the outraged reaction of a zillion commentators over the past week, whose indignation is based on the assumption that if they had been in Joe Paterno’s shoes, or assistant coach Mike McQueary’s shoes, they would have behaved better. They would have taken action and stopped any sexual assaults.

Unfortunately, none of us can safely make that assumption. Over the course of history — during the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide or the street beatings that happen in American neighborhoods — the same pattern has emerged. Many people do not intervene. Very often they see but they don’t see.

And finally, A priest’s view of Penn State By James Martin SJ (Washington Post)

The terrible parallels between the horrific sexual abuse cases at Penn State and those in the Catholic Church are by now well known. But as a priest, I must say this at the outset: the vast number of children and young people abused in the worldwide church dwarf--by an order of magnitude--the number of victims at State College.

The similarities between the two institutions are striking: In both cases children were abused in the most sordid and tragic ways, scarring individuals for life. In both cases well-meaning adults reported the abuse, or at least their suspicions, to officials in the institution, assuming that this would put an end to the crimes. In both cases high-level officials could have reported these crimes to the police but did not do so (for a variety of reasons.) In both cases the abuse happened in an institution that seemed for many to be at the center of their lives. (The cheer “We are Penn State” shows a deep identification with the university.) In both places the desire to avoid “scandal” led to even greater scandal. In both cases there were complex emotional reactions about a person (a coach or a priest) who was also thought to have “done much good” in other parts of his life. And in both cases longtime members of the institutions (parishioners and students) responded with intense emotions over the scandal. (The rioting at Penn State may have shown not only frustration over the removal of Coach Joe Paterno, but also shame and anger over the public denigration of their school.)

All food for thought. Let us pray for the victims and work for justice and safe places for all children.

Dear God our Creator, we remember those children affected by abuse. We remember those who have lost their lives to this malfunction of our society. We pray that their souls are now at rest. We remember children living in homes of domestic violence. Deliver them and protect them from further harm. We pray for perpetrators, that they may seek help. Help them to relinquish their need to exert power and control. We remember current victims whose lives are filled with fear and uncertainty, those who are trapped in the psychological cycle of violence and abuse, hope and false love. We ask that you give them a new vision. Guide them with your wisdom to make sound choices that will lead to new life. We give thanks to those who dedicate their lives to providing education, shelter, and support to the victims of abuse. Finally, O gracious God, be present with us, restore peace and hope, help us to strive for justice that we may persevere with your Holy Spirit. In faith we pray, Amen.

Adapted from a prayer written by the Rev. Angela F. Shepherd (from “Women’s Uncommon Prayers)

Sermon: November 13

2011-11-13T14:08:00.001-05:00

Success with Honor – It is the motto of the Penn State Football team & until this past week, we all thought it was true. It was tarnished as we watched the unfolding scandal there; it makes you wonder what success meant and what honor meant with the cover-up and the poor judgment that so many people engaged in over many years there.

What is success & honor?

I think of the students who in their grief and shock tried to come to terms with what happened, gathering in groups, some who felt wronged and a few who lost control, & things got out of control. I think of the riots in England. One injustice became a way for some to vent the worst of our nature upon innocent people in their own neighborhoods. Neither was a success. Neither had honor. Neither was about the injustice that had really occurred.

And then there was Tahrir Square in Egypt, where the protest stayed peaceful, it brought together different groups in a fight for justice. The Tahrir Square crowd included supporters from Cairo’s leading soccer teams, The two groups have a longstanding post-match tradition of fighting one another. Yet in the Square they stood together in solidarity and to defend against Mubarak’s thugs. And they did achieve success as the government finally fell…

What might Jesus say to us about success & honor today?

In the Gospel of Matthew, we hear the Parable of the Talents as a stark reminder that 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. Success and honor is tied to how we use those gifts.

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

These words from T.S. Eliot remind me that our call to live out our faith & use our gifts, 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. 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 from us. 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, unused; but it is never too late to use them…

This is a story from the Boston globe:

They had a lived a good life together, these 39 years. But it would soon send. The doctors said his esophageal cancer was inoperable - nine months, maybe a year. So what would he like to do with the time that's left? "I'd like to have a garden."

"That would be nice," she said vaguely, surprised, since he had never shown the slightest interest in growing anything. Maybe a few tomato plants in a bucket on the deck, she assumed.

But she came home a few days later to find their yard filled with workers, boards, dirt and a Bobcat - and a 20-by-30-foot raised garden. He was sitting in a chair, watching, talking, laughing. He had told some friends what he wanted to do and they happily signed on to make it happen. He tried paying for the materials, but the guys wouldn't hear of it. She kept thanking them and telling them they were amazing. When they left, she turned to him and said, "Have we met? You don't garden. I don't garden. This thing is gigantic - what are we going to do with it?"

"I think it will bring people together," he said. Soon he was too weak to sit by his garden - nine months was now optimistic, doctors said. Their friends, who didn't want to tire him or ask how he was doing, came and worked in the garden instead. They planted and hoed and watered and weeded.

He died a few weeks later, but his garden had already yielded strawberries and lettuce. The first fruits of his garden were shared at the luncheon after his funeral.

All summer the garden became the focus of everyone who knew and loved him. It produced more vegetables than anyone knew what to do with. People came to remember him, share stories and memories, cry together - and weed. The garden couldn't cure anything or heal the loss or loneliness, but it gave everyone something to do. His wish for his garden was realized: it brought people together. He had said to his wife just before she died, "I don't want this to become a memorial garden after I'm gone. Just enjoy it. Have an eggplant on me." [Adapted from "Life in the garden" by Joan Wickersham, The Boston Globe, September 23, 2011.]

Success 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. 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 Kingdom of God, is through our faith and the stewardship of those talents: whether we "bury" them in fear or selfishness or use them readily, honorably to reveal the presence of God in our midst.

Let us use our gifts, taking steps, taking risks, using our talents so that God’s glory may be made manifest through what we do today. So then at the last may we may hear what true success and honor is, with those words: “Well done, good and faithful servant of God; enter into the joy of your master.” Amen.

Veterans Day

2011-11-11T10:35:00.001-05:00

Thank you to all who served this country!

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)

All Souls Day

2011-11-02T08:35:00.000-05:00

The Commemoration of All Faithful Departed:

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.

A Poem for All Souls (by Wendell Berry):

I tremble with gratitude
for my children and their children
who take pleasure in one another.

At our dinners together, the dead
enter and pass among us
in living love and in memory.

And so the young are taught.

Diocesan Convention Follow-Up

2011-10-25T19:43:00.000-05:00

Resolutions Report

10/23/2011 - Overview

We voted to affirm our common participation as the Diocese of Connecticut in God's mission of restoration and reconciliation, and accepted the invitation to mutual responsibility and interdependence.
We reaffirmed that the financial contribution of each parish toward the common mission and common resources is 12.5% of operating income. We identified benefits and consequences of participation at less than 10%.
We approved a minimum salary for clergy.
We approved changing our canons so that we can participate in the mandatory denominational health plan, although we delayed its implementation until January 2013.
We voted to revise Canon IX, which will let us appoint a Church Attorney who is not a "Member of the Church"
We approved a non-binding resolution asking the bishop to permit clergy to officiate at same-sex weddings.
We voted to "endeavor to" adopt the Genesis Covenant principles; urged all local eucharistic communities to evaluate and reduce energy use and to perform an energy audit. We authorized creating a new task force to help local eucharistic communities implement these plans.
We approved asking every local eucharistic community to study and discuss, "A Circle of Protection: A Statement on Why We Need to Protect Programs for the Poor."
We endorsed the August 3, 2011 "Proclamation of the Refugee Congress"
We approved a resolution declaring a year of dialogue on "communion of the unbaptized" [Note: no implementation info]
We postponed a resolution to endorse the Marriage Encounter Movement
We authorized moving Diocesan House, giving authority to the Bishop & Diocesan Executive Council to research and act
We approved a change in the standing Rules of Order, reducing the time before Convention that nominees for Standing Committee need to be identified

You can find more detail here.

An excerpt from Bishop Ian's address:

By now you have probably figured out that this diocesan convention is somewhat different from the other 226 conventions of the Diocese of Connecticut! One of the changes is that today we are doing all of our business within the context of the Holy Eucharist. Our time together in convention, in this place, is indeed holy time. And it is a right, good and joyful thing that all of our conversations and deliberations throughout the day be embraced by, framed by, the celebration of God’s word and sacrament. Given the Eucharistic framing of the day, my remarks this morning thus will be less of an address and more of a sermon. And you might be pleased to know that this sermon will thus be a bit shorter than a normal Convention address (although perhaps a bit longer than your average Sunday sermon.) So let’s spend a few minutes reflecting on the scriptures we have just heard by asking ourselves: What is God up to? What does it mean to put God’s mission first?

You can read his whole sermon here.

Story from the 10:15 AM service

2011-10-23T15:14:00.002-05:00

THE call came around 3:30 p.m. on a sultry Minnesota day. The hospice social worker, Cheryl, explained the situation in a rush. She had tried 15 judges, and all were either in court or otherwise unavailable. By chance, she had reached me directly.

This is a short excerpt from the NY Times story - Making a Judgment on Love By LLOYD ZIMMERMAN

I used this story as a way for us to think about the Gospel reading: two greatest commandments: Love God, Love others as yourself.

Another excerpt:

Thinking of my father, I made a few legal inquiries, verifying that Thomas and Donna had completed a wedding license certificate, that the family supported the wedding and it was not a ruse to divert an inheritance, and that the humanitarian nature of the wedding was real and true.

It would all have to be done by phone, and it would have to be fast.

The moment that Donna heard the news, Cheryl later told me, she rushed to put on a wedding dress that she had been saving for years.

Witnessed on their end by a hospice chaplain and the bride and the bridegroom’s family, who encircled Thomas’s bed, the couple were placed under oath. Acting in the place of the wedding license registrar, I swore them to the truth of all of the statements on their license application. Donna swore to the truth and signed the application. Thomas swore to the truth by squeezing the hospice worker’s finger “yes” and signed an “X.”

October 23 Sermon

2011-10-23T15:04:00.000-05:00

(Sermon given at the 8 AM service.)

At Diocesan Convention

· We gathered around tables

· We got to share a little bit of our faith story with another person

· We then looked at the themes of our God encounters and their commonality at the table

It was a very different exercise from our usual work at conventions – it was relationship building and a great way to see beyond ourselves, to the people at our table and thus to the diocese made up of all these parishes and all those gathered in Farmington.

Jesus is asked, “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?"

Our own Catechism (in the back of the BCP) reminds us that The Ten Commandments were given to define our relationship with God and our neighbors.

So instead of just picking one of Ten Commandments or any other, Jesus reminds us of our interconnected relationships.

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."

It is an ethic of love; what matters most? Our relationship, our love of God and the love of our neighbors as ourselves, they are all connected.

As Thomas Merton put it, “God does not give His joy to us for ourselves alone, and if we could possess God for ourselves alone we would not possess God at all. Any joy that does not overflow from our soul and help others to rejoice in God does not come to us from God.” Our love & joy that come from above, come from God & must be shared. The two commandments are connected.

One of the themes at our table as we shared our stories was the risk that was part of opening ourselves to the change, to the event with God. Risk is part of our lives, risk is a part of love…

Surrounded by family and friends, they exchange their wedding vows. They love each other - there's no question. Each is the other's most cherished and trusted friend. But they are understandably nervous. They know the other's quirks and flaws - and each realizes that they are not the easiest person in the world to live with, either. They also know that their dreams and hopes for their own lives will now be joined to the those of the other - and that means compromise, understanding and sacrifice. They are very much aware that loving with all your heart is a big risk . . .

She has gotten into trouble again, and again she has to be bailed out. The family has been through this before. She is deeply sorry, resolves to change, and begins to clean up her act - but quickly stumbles again. One more bad decision, one more irresponsible lapse of judgment. But her family is always there to lift her back up, to help put the pieces of her life back together. The pattern has gotten tiresome and they often resent it; helping her demands more sympathy and energy than they can manage. They have learned the risk of loving with all your strength . . .

Business has been painfully slow. His CFO advises him that people are going to have to be let go. But some of these folks have been working for him since day one. Nobody would blame him if he just closed the whole operation down; everyone knows the numbers and the market. But these are people's lives and the lives and futures of their families. So he and his management team keep at it, committed to keeping the operation going, no matter what it takes. Make no mistake, loving with one's whole mind often requires a huge risk . . .

We are not called to love the Lord our God with half a heart, part of a mind, or a smidge of spirit: nor can we truly love our neighbor as ourselves if we don’t risk anything. Whether its with our spouse, or as parents or at our job, everywhere we go requires a risk to love as fully and as completely as God asks.

And it is as true for those disciples as it is for us today: “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)

Remember: Love God, Love Neighbor – God loves you! May we embody such love. Amen.

October 16 Sermon

2011-10-23T14:45:00.001-05:00

The right idea will fly.

So says a billboard in Bridgeport, depicting the Wright brothers testing the world’s first successful airplane. It is part of the campaign of the Foundation for a Better Life which began as a simple idea to promote positive values, and is best known for the billboards we see. As I saw the picture I was reminded of a story about their invention…

One day during the early history of the airplane, the Wright brothers were working in their shop. Suddenly, something outside caught Wilbur's eye and he ran to the window. Running outside, Wilbur yelled back, "Orville! Come out here! Look, another aviator is using our patent!"

Orville came running out to see a figure soaring high in the sky. "He certainly is," Orville confirmed. "That's our three-axis control, with simultaneous warping and steering."

"Call the police!" Wilbur shouted. "I'm going to our attorney's! We'll file an injunction immediately! That flyer can't do that to us!"

But Orville, who had been watching through his binoculars, gently restrained his brother. "Hang on, Wilbur. Forget the attorney," he said. "It's a duck."

I don’t know if this story is true or apocryphal, but it does speak to the Gospel for today, about human invention and the source of everything: God.

“Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”

Jesus moves the conversation of paying taxes to the emperor from what the Herodians and Pharisees wanted to hear, a trap that Jesus couldn’t escape, to a deeper level of truth. Yes, give to the emperor that which is the emperor's, it’s his picture on the coin, give it back to the emperor. And give to God that which is God's.

In his response, Jesus is not saying, "give to the Emperor those things that are the Emperor's, and the rest to God." Nor is Jesus saying, "give to the Emperor the worldly things and give to God the spiritual things."

These statements would put Caesar equal to God, and Jesus would never make the Emperor or his stuff into a golden calf, another thing to be worshipped…

We may give our money back to the government, to the Emperor in the form of taxes, we pay bills with it, we spend it, we save it. But the almighty dollar isn’t almighty, and it belongs to God just as assuredly as we do.

“Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”

For God created everything that is & by God’s will they were created and have their being. Everything is part of God’s creation. We are made in the image of God. So the answer that Jesus gives, remind us that we owe God everything, & we owe God our lives: how we live them, how we give them away, it’s all important.

The miracle of flight begins with God, with the duck naturally flying and in the invention & genius of the Wright Brothers and their airplane. Both are truly gifts from God. It’s not about holding on to what we have or to defend it, but to share with our world all the gifts that we have.

So the right question to ask, as Bishop Andy Doyle puts it is, “If all things are God's, how does God want me to use everything?”

Be a talent for creating great food, or signing, or fixing things around here, or reaching out to mentor a child, or to invent, it should make us ponder and think about how God would have me help others with what I have been given. How do I as a steward of God's stuff in my life, understand and enact the kingdom of God through what I do with them? (another way of putting it)

There are emperors in our lives that demand many things of us. Be that at our workplaces, be they the government, even friends, there are many things in our lives that act like Caesar and demand of us our time, talent and even treasure.

Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s…

But we are not to see in those places and those people the true control of our lives, and make them our God. We need not make fortresses to protect what we have done and then give only small offerings to God who has created all things and brings life into the world.

Render unto God the things that are God’s…

What Jesus has done these past few weeks in the parables and again today, is to remind us that God invites us into a sacred relationship with the gardener, with the vineyard owner, with the host of the great banquet, the holy one who is God, the Creator of life. And we are given the privilege of serving as stewards for all the gifts so freely given to us.

All things come from thee O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee, words from King David that we use every week at the 8 AM service. All things come from God and we have the honor to use such gifts as God wishes us to use all things of God’s creation, for it is only then will we soar with God. Amen.

October 9 Sermon

2011-10-09T14:42:00.000-05:00

Be patient.

They are words I often tell my kids. They live in an era of now: you want a song, you can download it in less than a minute. You want a bite to eat, stop by the drive through window. Need information, google it and have it instantly on your computer. Sometimes they expect that from parents too!

Patience is a virtue, I often tell them.

We adults have a hard time with it too and need to hear those words. Our smartphones can instantly get what we need and we expect to always get someone by phone.

The Israelites were not patient, when Moses was delayed coming down the mountain. In fact, they were so impatient to hear from God, they decide to make their own gods out of silver and gold. God who was not happy with such perverse actions and was ready to get rid of the lot of them, but Moses convinces God to remember his servants, his covenants with them.

God remembers and is patient for them to cease from their evil ways, for a time.

But will God remain so? Jesus tells another parable about the Kingdom of Heaven.

A King is throwing a Wedding banquet for his son. It is a great big party and he sends slaves out to gather the invited guests. But they do not come. Again slaves are sent, but these invited guests made light of it, ignored them, beat them, killed some. The King is enraged and destroys the city that houses the unworthy guests.

And then he sends his slaves to invite everyone they meet, the good and the bad! And the banquet hall is filled. Jesus ends by saying, for many are called, few are chosen. Maybe better yet, Many are called, but few follow through…

Woody Allen’s line: "90 percent of life is just showing up” makes sense! But there is more, showing up is right & good but in the parable, the King notices someone without the proper attire. How did you get in here? The man was speechless. So the King had him thrown out. Why is he cast out? Why is he speechless?

The good and the bad were invited after the invited guests failed. But this lone wolf, got in…and it harkens back to the parables we have been hearing the last few weeks about faith and discipleship.

Show up. You bet! Everyone is invited but you do it in faith, even with doubts, you show up in faith, not speechless about why you are there. It’s grace. If we don’t get it, like that speechless man, maybe God will visit and help us learn what it means to be invited; this comes from a Jewish folk tale.

The Proud King sat on his throne, he did not listen to the words from sacred Scripture, nor did he honor the people from whom he was king. One day the King went hunting. A trumpet sounded the signal that the deer had been driven from its hiding place, and the king urged his horse forward to be the first in the chase. His majesty's steed was the swiftest in the land. Quickly it carried him out of sight of his nobles and attendants. But the deer was surprisingly fleet and the king could not catch up with it. Coming to a river, the animal plunged in and swam across. Scrambling up the opposite bank its antlers caught in the branch of a tree, and the king, arriving at the river, gave a cry of joy.

Springing from his horse, he took of his clothes and swam across with his sword. As he reached the opposite bank, however, the deer freed itself from the tree and plunged into a thicket. He found, lying on the ground beyond the thicket, a beautiful youth clad in a deer-skin. He was panting as if after a long run. The king stood still in surprise and the youth sprang to his feet. "I am the deer," he said. "I am an angel from God and I have lured you to teach you a lesson."

Before the King could recover from his surprise the youth ran back to the river and swam across. Quickly he dressed himself in the king's clothes and mounted the horse just as the other hunters came up. "Let us return," said the angel. "The deer has crossed the river and has escaped."

The King watched them ride away and then flung himself on the ground and wept bitterly. There he lay until a wood-cutter found him. "I am your King." "You are a fool," said the wood-cutter. "Come, carry my bundle of sticks and I will give you food and an old garment."

The next day, the beggar King reached the palace in tattered clothes. "I am the King," he said to the guards, but roughly they sent him away. "Woe is me," cried the King. "I am punished for my sin."

But for the kindness of the very poorest he would have died of starvation. He wandered miserably from place to place until he fell in with some blind beggars who had been deserted by their guide. Joyfully he accepted their offer to take the guide's place. Months rolled by, and one morning the royal heralds went forth and announced that the King would give a feast to all the beggars in the land.

From far and near came beggars in hundreds, to partake of the king's bounty, and the beggar King stood among them, with his blind companions, in the courtyard of the palace waiting for his majesty to appear.

"Are you a beggar?" said the angel. "No your majesty. I have sinned grievously and have been punished. I am but the servant of a troop of blind beggars to whom I act as guide."

The angel took him to a side room & said, "I know you are changed that you have repented. It is well. Now you can resume your rightful place." "Gracious majesty," said the beggar King, "I have learned humility and wisdom. The throne is not for me. The blind beggars need me. Let me remain in their service."

"It cannot be," said the angel. "I see that you are truly penitent. Your lesson is learned and my task is done. I will see that the blind beggars lack nothing, for all your people need you now."

With his own hands he placed the royal robes back on the King and himself donned those of the beggar. When the courtiers returned they saw no difference & the angel disappeared into the crowd. The King sat on the throne again, read scripture and nowhere in the whole world was there a monarch who ruled more wisely or showed more kindness and sympathy to all his subjects. (A Jewish Folk Tale: The Beggar King)

You and I are invited to God’s party. Every week we get a taste of that party, a foretaste of that heavenly banquet, here at this altar. We are invited because of God’s grace, not because we have earned it, its an invitation to all. We just have to show up in faith. And as we do, listen to St. Paul: beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Beloved, be patient, God is with you, let us think of these words & join in the celebration. Amen.

Opening Prayer (Sermon)

2011-10-07T19:29:00.002-05:00

O Lord, open our eyes
To behold your presence.

O Lord, open our ears
To hear your voice.

O Lord, open our hearts
To receive your love.

O Lord, help us to behold, to hear and to receive you in Word and Sacrament
That our mouths may proclaim your praise. Amen.
(adapted from a prayer by David Adam)

October 2 Sermon

2011-10-07T18:48:00.000-05:00

Francesco had the life, anyone could want. He was born into a loving home that had no need. His father worked very hard as a merchant and did exceedingly well. Francesco and his 6 siblings had the best of schools. The world was his. He tried the military, but there was no glory there. His youth was filled with many misadventures, lots of wealth but no direction. The 13th century in which he lived was a time of political unrest, a time of church infighting, a time when so many people looked for the abundant life but had a hard time finding it in the institutions of the day.

Then it happened, quite unexpectedly, after a serious illness got him thinking about the life he was living. He started to help lepers near his hometown. He went on pilgrimage to Rome for enlightenment, begging along the way for those in need. Then in dilapidated church, as he sat and prayed, he heard the words of God, “"Francis, go and repair My house which you see, is falling ."

And the life of the one we call Francis of Assisi was never the same again. What Francis heard from Jesus on the Cross of San Damiano was repair my Church. And he did that, in his own way, one stone at a time, stones that were made up of his life, living stones and the lives he changed through his witness to the Gospel. It not only happened with the Church of San Damiano but the whole Church would know of St. Francis, and to this day the Franciscans carry on rebuilding the Church just as Francis once did.

On Thursday night, we gathered as a parish to begin to think about God’s words to Francis. Rebuild my church. Our parish home is beautiful but we carry too much debt and we are not growing enough to live within our means. As we sat and listened to Peter Saros our consultant, he began by having us say why we are here, why we call St. Peter’s our home, the living stones inside of us. And then Peter challenged us to consider how we, together, can rebuild St. Peter’s through growth and stewardship, to reach stability that will enhance our mission and ministry.

It is a challenge that Francis faced and that we face, as have countless others. To rebuild the Church for our time so it can continue its mission for centuries to come.

The parable that Jesus tells, of the Wicked Tenants, is also story about the Church. A landowner leases his vineyard to some tenants. When he sends slaves to collect his produce at harvest, the tenants beat some, kill others and refuse to do what they had said they will do. When the son comes, they kill him thinking that it all will be theirs. What will the owner do? The landowner will get rid of the tenants to a miserable death and give it to others who will indeed give the produce.

Jesus is telling his parable in the midst of those who do not believe in him, they do not understand Jesus as the cornerstone but they understand his parable that he is the son and they are the wicked tenants and they want to arrest him but fear the crowds…

And yet if we think about the parable, we are now the generations who are the tenants in God’s vineyard called the Church. How do we give of the harvest today? What is our fruit?

The warning of the last line, “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.” is a reminder that God has expectations that we produce fruit. Not unblemished, perfect fruit, but fruit of who we are, our time, our talent, our treasure, those God given gifts. God is not waiting for us to fail. No, God is waiting for us to follow Jesus, to live in faith so we can truly have joyous, generous & authentic lives, to be the fruit that is born from a vision of abundance, and share that with the world.

According to a Native American legend, the chief of a certain tribe lay dying. He called his three sons to him. "My sons, my life is at its end. Soon one of you will succeed me as chief. I want each of you to climb our ancestors' holy mountain and bring back something beautiful. The one whose gift is most precious will become chief."

Several days later the three returned from their journeys.

The first son brought back a flower that was extremely rare and beautiful.

The second son brought back a stone of precious gold.

But the third son said, "Father, I have brought nothing back. As I stood at the top of the holy mountain, I saw that on the other side was a land of fertile green pastures and crystal waters. I could imagine our people settling there and establishing a better life. I was so taken by what I saw that I had to return here before I could find something to bring back."

The old chief smiled and said to his third son, "You will be our chief for you have brought us the gift of a vision for a better future."

God has given us a wonderful "vineyard" that we often take for granted. Christ, the Son of the vineyard owner, comes seeking the fruit of this vineyard. The fruit that will come from all of us, the Church, this Body of Christ, will only produce abundant fruit, when we live the vision that Jesus taught, of God’s love for all creation, a vision that Francis understood and that we are challenged to live here in Monroe.

For Francis, he saw this vision, in the fruit that his friends were to live. “We have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way.”

May we welcome Christ into this vineyard of ours, aware that he calls us to the demanding vision of the Gospel, to rebuild the Church in our time, to be that loving and healing presence in our lives and in this Church, so we can share that with our world. Amen.

Of Love & Loss

2011-09-27T12:54:00.001-05:00

I quoted some from an article written by Mark Gwin about his family's experience with a wildfire in TX in my sermon on Sunday. His an excerpt from the beginning of his article:

This has been a long lesson in humility and hope. That it is not a story of futility and despair, I give thanks to my family, friends, coworkers and community, who have taken a devastating event and made it inspirational.

My family and I fled from our home on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 4, while a gentle dusting of ash fell and the sun glowed red overhead in the thick plume of smoke that covered the sky. Since that day I’ve known moments of grief, but have yet to be lost in it because in every instant I’ve been uplifted by the bravery and kindness of others.

My wife, whose office was destroyed by the Wilderness Ridge Fire in 2008, has wisdom born of experience, and I try to heed her words. "It's not about letting go, it’s about letting in." Opening to the new world in which I find myself, I am starting to learn how dependent I am upon the kindness of others.

You can read the whole wonderful article here and his wonderful quote, "Human kindness is grace made flesh."

Our Red Doors

2011-09-27T12:50:00.003-05:00

As some have noticed, we have painted all of our doors red (like most Episcopal Churches). Why red?

"The red door tradition goes back to the beginnings of cathedral architecture in the Middle Ages. The color red, signifying the Blood of Christ, was painted on the north, south and east doors of a church. Such symbolism represented making the sign of the cross — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus the edifice was marked as a sanctuary, identified as a refuge and safety zone from physical or spiritual dangers. The red doors shut out evil. Supposedly an enemy could not pursue his victim across the sacred threshold. The red doors speak to the world of holy ground that exists inside those doors, space that has been purged and made clean by the Holy Spirit.

The red-door tradition continues even today in our Episcopal Church (and other churches) although its interpretation may have changed. Now the color red shines forth with the warmth of welcome. Now the color red gleams like fire, showing the light and presence of the Holy Spirit for all who enter into our parish."

Our doors are red to welcome everyone to a place of peace, refuge, sanctuary and salvation.

All are welcome at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church!

September 25 Sermon

2011-09-27T12:45:00.000-05:00

Is the Lord among us or not?

It is a question that has been asked throughout the ages. Is God with us here at this moment?

In those good times, when our blessings seem abundant, we need to give thanks for all that we received and yet too often we forget to do this nor do we remember that God is with us.

In those bad times, when we struggle with what is before us, we need to pray for strength to overcome even when wonder why God is silent or seems so far away because God is still with us.

For the Israelites, they thirsted on their journey. They were given quail and manna by God but now they had no water in the wilderness. They were an angry bunch and Moses got the brunt of it.

Instead of remembering the good times, instead of remembering that God fed them, instead of remembering God’s faithfulness, they quarreled and wondered if the God of their ancestors was still with them.

Again, God was faithful, and when Moses struck the rock, the people recieved water.

The God who liberated them from slavery in Egypt, the God who gave them manna and quail to fill their appetites, provides water to quench their thirst.

Indeed, the Lord was with them on their journey through the wilderness.

This has been a long lesson in humility and hope, wrote Mark Gwin just a few days ago. It is not a story of futility and despair, my family and I fled from our home on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 4, while a gentle dusting of ash fell and the sun glowed red overhead in the thick plume of smoke that covered the sky. Since that day I’ve known moments of grief, but have yet to be lost in it because in every instant I’ve been uplifted by the bravery and kindness of others.

Gwin a volunteer firefighter, the publisher of The Bastrop Advertiser, and a member of Calvary Episcopal Church in Bastrop, TX, wrote about his family’s experience with one of the TX fires that destroyed his home and so many others. What stands out in his story is the kindness he received from neighbor and stranger. As Gwin put it,

“It makes it silly to feel sorry for myself, because the loss of our home pales in comparison to the outpouring of love. I can never give back even the half of all that has been given me, but I suppose that is the truth and the beauty of the human condition. Human kindness is grace made flesh.”

Grace made flesh. God with us. And then he ends his story with this,

“I loved my home, perhaps too much or perhaps not enough. I built it with my own hands over the course of two years for my family. My sons were born there, their height at each birthday was marked on the cedar post in the center of the living room. So much is gone: my journals, the videotapes of the boys, the last letter my grandfather ever wrote me. But so much is left. In the Lord's Prayer, the only material thing we ask for is our daily bread. My family has been given that and so much more. So I offer thanks.”

Is the Lord with Mark & his family? Indeed God is, and Mark knows it and he felt such grace through the kindness and love of others. Grace made flesh.

Jesus, God made flesh, was confronted by the authorities over what he was saying and doing, and he returns their questions by asking them about John the Baptist, who they failed to believe. And then he tells them a parable:

A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, `Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' He answered, `I will not'; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, `I go, sir'; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first."

Faith. The tax collectors & harlots, the sinners of the day, heard and believed, while the authorities, the faithful ones, failed to believe. It is this abiding grace, for the worker who comes last to the vineyard, the one who said no but then comes, Jesus tells them, God is with you and in your lives. Believe and have faith. The challenge for us today, is to do the will of God by living out our faith in our lives, by saying yes and going…

A seven-year-old girl came to Church School faithfully each week. Her parents would drop her off. They would return an hour later to pick her up or would arrange with a friend's family to bring her home. The Dad was vice president of sales for a local company and Mom was in real estate and was always juggling several deals. The couple's Saturday night parties were the stuff of legend in the community.

One Sunday morning, the pastor saw the daughter in church - and, to his shock, sitting next to her were her parents. The pastor spoke to them at coffee hour and welcomed them. The parents explained what had happened the night before at their party… "It got a little loud and out of hand... The noise woke up our daughter and she came downstairs to the third step. She saw that we were eating and drinking, and she said, 'Oh, can I say the blessing? God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food. Good night, everybody.' And she went back upstairs. Then people started to leave: 'Oh my, look at the hour, we've got to be going.' 'We've stayed way too long.' Within two minutes the room was empty."

We began cleaning up, picking up crumpled napkins and half-eaten food and gathering up the empty glasses and dirty dishes. And with two trays, we met on either side of the sink - and we said: "Where do we think we're going?" [From Craddock Stories by Fred B. Craddock.]

Jesus parable of the two sons takes the Gospel into the midst of our busy, complicated everyday lives. Our faith is only words until our actions give full expression to what we believe through our relationships with others; our identifying ourselves as Christians and calling ourselves disciples of Jesus means nothing until our lives express that in concrete ways.

On good or bad days, in thirst or fire or even at a party, we need to give thanks to God for our blessings, live out those blessings through our words and actions and remember that God is always with us, even to the end of the ages. Amen.

Int'l Day of Prayer for Peace

2011-09-21T10:55:00.002-05:00

Prayers from the BCP:

Almighty God, kindle, we beseech you, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that in tranquility your dominion may increase till the earth is filled with the knowledge of thy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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.

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.

Dedication of Sanctuary Flags

2011-09-21T10:47:00.003-05:00

The Prayer:

Almighty God, we thank you that you have put it into the hearts of your people to make offerings for your service, and have been pleased to accept their gifts. Be with us now and bless us as we set apart these flags to remember our founding in the United States of America and in the Episcopal Church to your praise and glory and in memory of Anthony T. Gadzinski (a WWII Navy veteran), Hattie Gadzinski (who worked in a war factory making parachutes), in honor and memory of Navy Seal Team Six and in honor of the ministry of the Rev. Kurt J. Huber; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Symbolism:

The American Flag is what would have hung in our church at its birth – It has 15 stars and 15 stripes, the two additional stars and stripes, approved by the United States Congress's Flag Act of 1794, represent Vermont and Kentucky's entrance into the Union. It is best known as the Star Spangled Banner Flag as it flew over Ft. McHenry during the war of 1812 and Francis Scott Key wrote his famous poem which would become our national anthem with that flag in mind. It wasn’t until 1818 when congress changed the flag to 20 stars (for all the states at that time) and reduced the stripes to 13 to represent the original 13 colonies; for each new state admitted to the union, a new star would be put on, now numbering 50.

The Episcopal Church flag was adopted in 1940 by the General Convention (first conceived in 1918 by the Diocese of Long Island.) The large, red cross that divides the flag is a cross of St. George, the cross of the Church of England, and it represents our ties with our mother church. There are nine small crosses in the upper left quadrant arranged in a St. Andrew's cross, the cross of the Church of Scotland, for it was bishops of the Church of Scotland who agreed to lay hands on Samuel Seabury, ordaining him our first bishop. This cross honors the part the Church of Scotland played in the birth of our church. Each of the nine small crosses that comprises the St. Andrew's cross represents one of the original nine dioceses that in 1789 founded the Episcopal Church (including Connecticut). The colors each have a symbolic meaning: Red is for the blood Christ shed for us and for the lives of the martyrs of our faith; White is the color of purity. The blue of the upper left hand field, is not the deep ocean blue of the American flag, but the light blue of the sky, used often for the clothing of the Blessed Virgin. It is often called Madonna blue because it represents the human nature of Our Lord which He received from His mother.

September 18 Sermon

2011-09-21T10:44:00.001-05:00

Its not fair.

Parents have heard that phrase from their children, for a long time. I know I have!

Its not fair. It’s the cry of one who feels wronged. That someone else got something they didn’t deserve or that they should also get something, it should all be equal! We may laugh as adults at how children can react but we adults do it too.

Its not fair. He got the promotion and I didn’t; its not fair I am sick and so many are healthy, my neighbor has power and I don’t. Even our history speaks of those moments.

Consider the Israelites. Moses had helped them escape from Egypt. Believe in God of your ancestors, follow me. He said and they did. Now they are in the wilderness. Are they grateful? Well they were but the harsh reality of being away from the civilization they knew makes them regret the decision.

“You have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

Its not fair, in Egypt we had it all, but here we have nothing. Now Moses could have pointed out that they were enslaved in Egypt and reminded them of the horrific conditions that existed for these now liberated people. What did God do? Set them straight? No, what God did was give them meat and bread, quail and manna. Out of the abundance of God’s love, God gives them food to eat in the wilderness. When they wonder about who did this, Moses tells them,

"It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat."

It is God’s abundant love that sets his people free, a freedom from the scarcity that entrapped them and instead to see the love of God abundant for them, & God feeds them. Likewise, in the parable Jesus tells in the Gospel for today, it is about God feeding his people grace. The parable tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner…

Its time to harvest the grapes, so the landowner hires workers early in the morning, but he doesn’t stop there he goes out again and again and again. Each time hiring those who are standing idle, who haven’t been hired, and he tells them they will get paid whatever is right. When evening comes, all those hired get paid, those hired last were paid first, and given the daily wage. Those who worked all day must have expected more, but when it came there turn, they also received the daily wage. So no matter if they worked all day or if they worked 1 hour, they all got the same pay.

It’s not fair. Many of the laborers cried out! We worked harder than anyone else, why should those who didn’t work as long earn the same as us? That’s no way to run a vineyard! And the landowner replies,

“Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?' So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

This is a parable about the kingdom of heaven; and there God’s generosity and abundance knows no bounds. The parable speaks to the open invitation to God’s kingdom, an invitation to all, first or last, we all receive the same pay, the same salvation, we are free. Such generosity is not earned because of working all day, it is a gift from God, it is grace, it fed the Israelites in the wilderness and it feeds God’s people now. We can reject it or accept it and live. So what does that mean for us today? Let me tell you an Arabian folk tale:

A man walking through the forest saw a fox that had lost its legs. He wondered how the poor animal could survive. Then he saw a tiger come into the clearing with game in its mouth. The tiger ate its fill and then left the rest of the meat for the fox. The next day God fed the fox by means of the same tiger. The man began to wonder at God's great goodness and said to himself, "I too shall just rest here in full trust in the Lord that he will provide me with what I need." The man remained in the forest for several days. But nothing happened. The poor man was almost at death's door with hunger when he heard a voice: "Oh, you poor fool. Open your eyes to the truth. Stop imitating the disabled fox and, instead, follow the example of the tiger." [From The Song of the Bird by Anthony deMello, S.J.]

It’s not fair! How could God care for a disabled fox and not a human being? And yet the voice of God keeps coming back to us, a voice that speaks of God's generous and abundant love and grace for us. Much like the generosity of the landowner, and the care of that tiger for the fox, the call to discipleship demands that, like the tiger & landowner, we seek to embody such abundance in our lives. It isn’t about fairness.

It is about a God who so abundantly loved us, that he sent his only Son to help us be free. A God who continues to feed us here at this altar and invites us, begs us, pushes us by the Holy Spirit to bring that love and grace that we feel here out into a world that shouts out “It’s not fair!” May we open our hearts to the wisdom that God offers us today, so that without concern for the cost of discipleship or the reward of our labors, we may grasp the honor of working in God’s vineyard at whatever time we arrive. Amen.

A Wake Up Call

2011-09-13T20:06:00.003-05:00

(AP) -- The ranks of the nation's poor swelled to nearly 1 in 6 people last year, reaching a new high as long-term unemployment woes left millions of Americans struggling and out of work. The number of uninsured edged up to 49.9 million, the biggest in over two decades.

The Census Bureau's annual report released Tuesday offers a snapshot of the economic well-being of U.S. households for 2010...The overall poverty rate climbed to 15.1 percent, or 46.2 million, up from 14.3 percent in 2009.

Reflecting the lingering impact of the recession, the U.S. poverty rate from 2007-2010 has now risen faster than any three-year period since the early 1980s, when a crippling energy crisis amid government cutbacks contributed to inflation, spiraling interest rates and unemployment.

Measured by total numbers, the 46 million now living in poverty is the largest on record dating back to when the census began tracking poverty in 1959. Based on percentages, it tied the poverty level in 1993 and was the highest since 1983.
You can read more about it here.

It is a wake up call for all of us to work toward alleviating poverty from our midst. Too many have fallen into the pit, too many do not have affordable health insurance. We need to help!

Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP p. 826)

Bishop Michael Curry On Preaching

2011-09-13T09:59:00.001-05:00

Some great thoughts about preaching...

The Rt. Rev. Michael Curry, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, preached at Trinity Wall Street on Ascension Day, June 2, 2011.

You have a much-deserved reputation as a great preacher. Why is preaching so important?

I really do think preaching, certainly at its best, when it’s done with a deep desire that God and the good news of Jesus might really come to bear and touch somebody’s life, makes all the difference in the world. What matters is, does the preaching open up that moment in such a way that the eternal word of God becomes flesh and actually dwells among us? When that begins to happen, then God is in business, and God’s doing something, and when God does something, lives get touched. And changed.

You are often asked to be a guest preacher at parishes around the country. How does that compare with preaching to the same congregation all the time?

It’s different. You don’t necessarily know that community or that congregation as well. But I’ve got to tell you, I’ve learned that the longings in the heart are the same. You can go anywhere in the world, and the deep longings of the soul for God and to be in relationship with other people, those longings transcend all sorts of cultural and sociological differences. So if you really do begin to preach to the human heart and the soul, and the deep needs of our common humanity, and bring the Gospel to bear there, you’re going to click. You’re going to make a connection.

You can read the whole interview by Trinity Wall Street here.

A Pastoral Letter on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11/01

2011-09-13T09:55:00.002-05:00

Pastoral Letter from the Bishops

Please share in parishes on Sunday, September 11.

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Our lives were radically changed by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Many among us lost family members, co-workers and friends. Others survived to give witness to the horror of that day and the bravery of first responders. Many people from this diocese became volunteers at ground zero and stayed with that work for months. Episcopal churches in Connecticut opened their doors for prayer in ways we had never seen before. And we reached out to persons of other faiths, often in silence and with tears, to seek God and a pathway of new understanding and reconciliation.

Over these ten years we have been a nation at war. Men and women of our communities have served in the armed services across the globe at great risk and great sacrifice. The costs and casualties of the War on Terror have been huge.

The 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 gives us a focused moment for remembering those who died in the attacks of that day, their families and communities who still bear the loss, those who responded with such courage and bravery, those who serve their country now, and the families who wait at home.

Deep within our faith is the reality that God is at work even in the most terrifying circumstances of human life. Hate and terror are not final realities. With St. Paul we can believe that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ.

This weekend, we invite you, to reflect with us on the reality of God's Mission of reconciliation here and now. Open your hearts in prayer to the God of love and healing and hope. Join one of the September 11th Memorial Observances in your area. Reach out to your neighbors, especially to those of other faiths and no faith at all, remembering how much our lives depend on one another. Take this opportunity to recommit yourself to God's work of reconciliation in and through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and the hope that can lead all humanity beyond fear and war.

At 7PM this Sunday, we will be participating in the interfaith memorial service at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford. We invite you to join us.

Wherever you are this Sunday, please join your prayers with ours for peace, unity within our common humanity, healing and hope.

Faithfully,

The Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas
The Rt. Rev. James E. Curry
The Rt. Rev. Laura J. Ahrens

Prayers for 9/11/11

2011-09-12T19:47:00.004-05:00

God of steadfast love, who led your people through the wilderness: Be with us as we remember the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. By your grace, lead us in the path of new life, in the company of your saints and angels; through Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. Amen. (Diocese of Long Island)

God the compassionate one, whose loving care extends to all the world, we remember this day your children of many nations and many faiths whose lives were cut short by the fierce flames of anger and hatred. Console those who continue to suffer and grieve, and give them comfort and hope as they look to the future. Out of what we have endured, give us the grace to examine our relationships with those who perceive us as the enemy, and show our leaders the way to use our power to serve the good of all for the healing of the nations. This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, who, in reconciling love, was lifted up from the earth that he might draw all things to himself. Amen. (Bp. Griswold)

9/11/11 Sermon

2011-09-12T19:37:00.002-05:00

Lord, take me where You want me to go, let me meet who You want me to meet, tell me what You want me to say, and keep me out of Your way. Amen.

This prayer was a favorite of Fr. Mychal Judge. Father Mike was a chaplain of the Fire Department of New York City beginning in 1992 and was recognized as the first official victim of the 9/11 attacks. On that day, when he heard that the World Trade Center had been hit, Father Judge rushed to the site. He was met by the Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, who asked him to pray for the city and its victims. Fr. Mike administered the Last Rites to some lying on the streets, and went to the command post in the North Tower to see where he could assist.

When the South Tower fell, debris from the tower entered the lobby and many were killed including Fr. Mike. A NYPD lieutenant, who was also buried in the debris, found Judge's body and then assisted by two firemen and two civilian bystanders carried his body out of the North Tower lobby using a chair and took him to nearby St Peter's Church. The picture of that scene has become one of the iconic photographs from 9/11.

His story stays with me, because his life speaks of how we are to live with one another. A man who rushed to do his duty, to be a prayerful presence in the midst of crisis. A man who loved his neighbor, who cared for the fire fighters under his care, and as a Franciscan monk, he also looked out for those in need in his community. Not forgetting the poor and needy of NYC. And he talked about being thankful and loving in a sermon to a group of firefighters just the day before 9/11:

“Thank You, Lord, for life. Thank You for love. Thank You for goodness. Thank You for work. Thank You for family. Thank You for friends. Thank You for every gift because we know that every gift comes from You, and without You, we have and are nothing. As we celebrate this day in thanksgiving to You, keep our hearts and minds open. Let us enjoy each other's company, and most of all, let us be conscious of Your presence in our lives, and in a special way, in the lives of those who have gone before us. No matter how big the call. No matter how small. You have no idea what God is calling you to. But he needs you. He needs me. He needs all of us. Keep supporting each other. Be kind to each other. Love each other. Work together and do what you did the other night and the weeks and the months and the years before and from this house, God's blessings go forth in this community. It's fantastic!”

He spoke these words to Engine 73, Ladder 42 in the Bronx, but it is just as true for us today gathered under the trees here in Monroe. God needs you and God needs me, Keep supporting each other. Be kind to each other. Love each other. From what we do, God’s blessings go forth and in all things give thanks to God. On this 10th anniversary of 9/11, we need to remember the life of Fr. Mike and so many others that died that day. We need to remember to love (Trinity Wall Street), to give thanks for our lives and all God’s gifts, and to hear this day as a call to compassion (Washington National Cathedral).

“This is a time to honor, to heal, and for hope,”

which is what the readings do this day: For Job, there is hope for the tree, with just a taste of water it will be reborn. And from that hope Job cries out to God, remember me! (Our cry too!) From Paul’s letter to the Romans, we are reminded that nothing, on this earth, nothing in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (It is God who holds us and will never let us go.) And in the words of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew – you are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world. Don’t lose your saltiness, don’t hide your light. Let your light shine before others, be salty, so that all may see your good works and give glory to God.

Today of all days, show forth your light and those good works! And on this day, I think we also need to sit in silence, to remember, to honor, to pray & hope. As one author put it,

“For just a brief time, I long for, in the words of an ancient hymn, “all mortal flesh keep silence,” in the face of the fear and trembling that gripped us one September day ten years ago.” (Diana Butler Bass)

I invite you into that Silence, to remember 9/11, to ponder the words of Father Mike, to hear what God is saying through the scriptures to us today, to open your hearts and listen

(pause)

but don’t just stop there, remember the words of Fr. Mike, open your hearts and your minds and go in love, hope & compassion, be God’s blessings today.

Lord, take me where You want me to go, let me meet who You want me to meet, tell me what You want me to say, and keep me out of Your way. Amen.

Survivors - Found (poem)

2011-09-12T19:31:00.004-05:00

This is the poem I read at the Civil Observance of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 held on the green. The poem (Survivors - Found) was written by Joan Murray following the attacks on 9/11/01 and was read on NPR.

We thought that they were gone--
we rarely saw them on our screens--
those everyday Americans
with workaday routines,

and the heroes standing ready--
not glamorous enough--
on days without a tragedy,
we clicked--and turned them off.

We only saw the cynics--
the dropouts, show-offs, snobs--
the right- and left- wing critics:
we saw that they were us.

But with the wounds of Tuesday
when the smoke began to clear,
we rubbed away our stony gaze--
and watched them reappear:

the waitress in the tower,
the broker reading mail,
a pair of window washers,
filling up a final pail,

the husband's last "I love you"
from the last seat of a plane,
the tourist taking in a view
no one would see again,

the fireman, his eyes ablaze
as he climbed the swaying stairs--
he knew someone might still be saved.
We wondered who it was.

We glimpsed them through the rubble:
the ones who lost their lives,
the heroes' doubleburials,
the ones now "left behind,"

the ones who rolled a sleeve up,
the ones in scrubs and masks,
the ones who lifted buckets
filled with stone and grief and ash:

some spoke adifferent language--
still no one missed a phrase;
the soot had softened every face
of every shade and age--

"the greatest generation" ?--
we wondered where they'd gone--
they hadn't left directions
how to find our nation-home:

for thirty years we saw few signs,
but now in swirls of dust,
they were alive--they had survived--
we saw that they were us.

A Prayer for the 10th Anniversary of 9/11

2011-09-12T19:11:00.001-05:00

O gracious and loving God, on this 10th anniversary of the terror attacks on 9/11, we lift up our nation in prayer. We remember all the victims who lost their lives to hate. We remember the brave and courageous who rushed to the scene to help, to those who came to search through rubble, who cut through steel and debris. We remember those who grieve loved ones lost and for all the anxiety and fear we had in those days. We also remember how we came together to support one another in a time of need. Have mercy, Lord, give us strength and peace to not seek revenge nor turn our hurt to hate, but make us courageous in compassion and in justice for all. Help us to know your steadfast love & hope, your presence that is as near as breath; rekindle in our hearts the hope of life that conquers death. This we ask in your son’s name, Jesus our Lord. Amen

When Sudden Terror Tears Apart

2011-09-07T13:16:00.001-05:00

A hymn by Carl P. Daw, Jr.

When sudden terror tears apart
the world we thought was ours,
we find how fragile strength can be,
how limited our powers.

As tower and fortress fall, we watch
with disbelieving stare
and numbly hear the anguished cries
that pierce the ash-filled air.

Yet most of all we are aware
of emptiness and void:
of lives cut short, of structures razed,
of confidence destroyed.

From this abyss of doubt and fear
we grope for words to pray,
and hear our stammering tongues embrace
a timeless Kyrie.

Have mercy, Lord, give strength and peace,
and make our courage great;
restrain our urge to seek revenge,
to turn our hurt to hate.

Help us to know your steadfast love,
your presence near as breath;
rekindle in our hearts the hope
of life that conquers death.

C.M. (suggested tunes: BANGOR, DETROIT) or C.M.D. (suggested tune: THIRD MODE MELODY)

The Rev. Carl P. Daw, Jr. is a prolific Episcopalian hymnwriter. He wrote this hymn to commemorate the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon September 11. The hymn debuted at the noon eucharist at the Episcopal Church Center, New York City, on September 18. Daw, is the executive director of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.

A Poem by Wendell Berry

2011-09-06T19:32:00.002-05:00

I know that I have life
only insofar as I have love.

I have not love
except it comes from Thee.

Help me, please, to carry
this candle against the Wind.

Sabbath 2005