Prayer for the Dead

from the Greek Orthodox Church - used at Helen McGowan's burial:

O God of spirits and of all flesh, You have trampled down death and have abolished the power of the devil, giving life to Your world. Give rest to the soul of Your departed servant Helen in a place of light, in a place of repose, in a place of refreshment, where there is no pain, sorrow, and suffering. As a good and loving God, forgive every sin she has committed in thought, word or deed, for there is no one who lives and is sinless. You alone are without sin. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your word is truth.

For You are the resurrection, the life and the repose of Your departed servant Helen, Christ our God, and to You we give glory, with Your eternal Father and Your all holy, good and life‑giving Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

September 29 Sermon

O God, your Son gave the name Lazarus to the poor man of the parable, while the rich man’s only identity begins and ends with his wealth. Do justice for all who are oppressed. Put an end to humanity’s unbridled thoughtlessness. Let us cling to your word in Moses, the prophets and the gospels, so that we may be convinced that Christ is risen from the dead and be welcomed by you into your kingdom. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen. (Peter J. Scagnelli)

Clarence Jordan, farmer, theologian and one of the founders of Habitat for Humanity once said, “[The bible] doesn’t say you shouldn’t serve God and Mammon; it says you can’t.”

And yet, we sure do remember wealth and their names…

Jeff Bezos Bill Gates Warren Buffett Mark Zuckerberg Charles Koch

To name just a few…

But wealth and power don’t seem to interest God as much. And in fact, God doesn’t want us to be caught up with it either, because if we do, we will lose sight of what is around us, we will lose sight of the needs of this world and what God has called us to do. We cannot serve God & mammon.

I remember going shopping early in our married life. As we stepped out of the car, I started to walk across the street. Ellen saw the homeless woman lying at the light pole. I completely missed her. She engaged in a conversation and we bought a meal for her. Ellen saw what I missed, a person in need lying at the gate.

I am reminded of Walt Whitman’s words “despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks…”

We each have a part to play in bringing about good in our world, "Do a little bit of good wherever you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." ~ Archbishop Desmond Tutu put it.

But we live in a society that struggles with our individuality and the common good. We have a hard time seeing the need next door, in our town or in the nearby city or in the devastated places in our world (Bahamas, Syria), even as we are more and more connected in this media driven age.

In the parable, the rich man who goes unnamed ignores Lazarus, the poor man with a name (notice how Jesus reverses the dynamic!!) who is at his gate, and only after their fortunes are reversed at their deaths, does the rich man see Lazarus. It is Abraham, the patriarch of the faith that says to the rich man in hades that his brothers should listen to Moses and the prophets, for if they won’t listen to them, they will never listen to someone risen from the dead. (Hint: he’s talking about Jesus!)

Which is a reminder to us that we have Moses & the prophets and Jesus who was raised from the dead, telling us of our calling to care & serve one another, especially those in need like Lazarus.

The rich man was blinded because of all his wealth, he did not or would not see the poor man Lazarus who was at his gate. Was the rich man serving God or his wealth? What do we do?

A rabbi remembers the moment he felt that God had called him to be a rabbi:

The summer before he was to begin rabbinical studies, he volunteered to work on a building project in Ghana. For two months he lived in a tiny village with no electricity or running water; he spent his days mixing concrete to make bricks for a new elementary school and his evenings reading by gaslight and chatting with his new Ghanaian friends. It was the most constructive and fulfilling summer of his young life.

The day before heading home, his friends planned a going-away dinner in a small restaurant in Ghana’s capital city, Accra. When he got out of the taxi, it was raining and the air was thick with fog and smoke from burning trash.

Then he saw her: a young girl, lying by a sewer, red muddy water streaming by her, with her distended stomach and jaundiced eyes, her painful look of despair. Lying quietly in the rain, barely moving, she looked up at him, and they locked eyes.

He froze. After a summer of building and teaching and learning, a summer in which he felt as strong and as powerful as he had ever been in his young life, he felt powerless. He remembers:

“I felt like she saw right through me . . . Seeing this nameless girl dying before me was like seeing the demarcation between God’s dreams and our actions. I felt the call not so much as a clear prophecy from God but as a clarion cry of suffering innocence . . .

“My friends grabbed me and pulled me inside. Needless to say, I had no appetite. I was mixed up and confused about what had just happened . . . When I returned outside, I looked for her. She was gone. Maybe someone saved her. Maybe she was swept away. I just don’t know. It haunts me still...

“When I came home, I knew what I wanted to do with my rabbinate. To bridge the gap. To take pain away. To cross the chasm between oblivion and redemption.” [Rabbi Noah Farkas, writing in The Christian Century, July 3, 2019.]

To take pain away. To cross the chasm between oblivion and redemption. That is what Jesus parable for us is all about.

In his encounter with a starving girl, a rabbinical student encountered a Lazarus, who opened his heart and spirit to a new awareness of the gap that exists between the rich and the poor, between hope and despair, between emptiness and meaning.

Today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke challenges us to look around beyond ourselves and see God in the Lazaruses at our gates: the poor, the forgotten, the isolated, the marginalized; to realize the dignity of every human being as created in the image of God; to possess the humility that enables us to embrace one another as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of God our creator.

We are called to serve God, to help relieve the pain of others, to cross the chasms of our own making, and to be that redemptive power in this terribly divided world today as disciples of Jesus. Amen.

Looking at the Bible anew

I recently came across these articles; much food for thought as we read our Bibles...

The Black Presence in the Bible: Uncovering the Hidden Ones

The Bible is a multicultural book. This statement may sound controversial but archeology, history, and the text prove it to be true. In 2013 this controversy played out in the media when viewers of The Bible miniseries were upset that Samson was played by a black man. A second controversy occurred when a Fox News broadcaster confidently declared that Santa Claus and Jesus were white, yet when people researched original depictions of Saint Nicolas, they found pictures of a dark brown man. It appears that our faith has been distorted. As we celebrate Black History Month and prepare for Lent, how can uncovering the black presence in the Bible aid us in mourning against the sin of racism? One of the effects of racism is the whitewashing of history and sadly this has taken place even in our biblical studies.

Why it matters if your Bible was translated by a racially diverse group

For many Christians of color, the present is marked by wariness, not of Christianity itself but of our experience with it. Frederick Douglass spoke of the difference between hypocritical Christianity in America and the Christianity of Christ. He drew that distinction because early black encounters with the Bible were mediated. We were given enough of the text to keep us content in our plight. It wasn’t until black Christians began to read the Bible that we fully owned the Christian tradition.

Interview with Dr. Wil Gafney: Womanist Midrash Perspective on the Biblical Text

When it comes to scripture, we have veils over our eyes, as the apostle says. It’s like we can’t read critically because of our devotion to the text and the God of the text. Which is a good thing. For me, part of being a feminist, part of being a womanist is to say I need to step back and look really frankly. And sometimes that’s not doing a lot of Hebrew homework. Sometimes that’s just reading a thing out loud in context.

Walt Whitman's Advice to Us

“This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown, or to any man or number of men — go freely with powerful uneducated persons, and with the young, and with the mothers of families — re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem, and have the richest fluency, not only in its words, but in the silent lines of its lips and face, and between the lashes of your eyes, and in every motion and joint of your body.”

— Walt Whitman, preface to Leaves of Grass

September 22 Sermon

O Lord let the sincerity of our worship be matched by the depth of our commitment to justice and love. In a world where money rules supreme, may you alone be our master, and may we find our delight in serving each other. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen. (Peter J. Scagnelli,)

No servant can serve two masters: for either you will hate the one, and love the other; or else you will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (KJV)

The key to our understanding of Jesus’ parable from Luke today is that last sentence:

You cannot serve God and mammon.

Where do we put our trust in our lives today? Is it in wealth, riches, or possessions (Mammon)? Or Power & control? Or do we serve and trust God?

That is what Jesus is getting at today – what do we worship? Where is out trust? Whom do we serve?

And so Jesus tells a parable to his disciples.

A rich man had a manager who was accused of squandering the rich man’s property (sounds like the Prodigal Son!). The manager is called to account for this.

The manager worries about how he will live (like the Prodigal Son). He decides to make friends with the rich man’s debtors…

To one, he says cut the bill in half; to another take off 20 containers that you owe. The rich man does not condemn him, he praises the manager for his shrewdness.

We should notice a few things:

· The steward understands the trouble he is in

· But he uses his position to lower the debts of some debtors to get in good with them when they don’t know how much trouble he is in.

· He is praised by the rich man for doing such a thing; through his shrewdness, those in indebted to the rich man have some of the debts lessened, and the rich man would not risk losing honor by putting back those debts…

To which, Jesus tells his disciples to be so shrewd in their use of wealth. Not to hoard it, to build more barns with it, but to use it to serve others. Jesus is telling them to be faithful with unrighteous Mammon – to be faithful even with small things…

As the southern preacher Fred Craddock once said: “Most of us this week will not christen a ship, write a book, end a war, appoint a cabinet, dine with a queen, convert a nation, or be burned at the stake. More likely the week will present no more than a chance to give a cup of water, write a note, visit a nursing home, vote for a county commissioner, teach a Sunday school class, share a meal, read a child a story, go to choir practice, and feed the neighbor’s cat. “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much (Luke 16:10).”

Our discipleship is in those little things, to be faithful to them. And maybe like that steward, freeing people from debt – freeing people from mammon – is something we are called to do…

In the United States, 79 million people have unpaid medical bills; medical debt contributes to two-thirds of all personal and family bankruptcies. In CT alone - $351 million in medical debt on credit reports. A number of churches have found a creative way to help these families.

When someone can’t pay a medical bill, that debt is packaged with other people’s debt and sold to bill collectors for a fraction of the total amount of the bill. Those debts typically come from low-income people and are more difficult to collect. Because hospitals and medical practices are eager to get those hard-to-collect debts off their books, they sell the debt cheap.

A group of business professionals formed a nonprofit organization they named RIP Medical Debt. They buy up such medical debt for pennies on the dollar, and then forgive the debt. RIP recruits local groups to help — and churches have been especially responsive. A Kansas church’s commitment of $22,000 was able to wipe out $2.2 million in debt, not only for the Wichita area but all available debt for every Kansan facing insolvency because of medical expenses they couldn’t afford to pay — 1,600 people/families in all. A Maryland church erased $1.9 million for 900 families this past March. The total amount they raised: $15,000. An 18-year-old in Syracuse, New York, organized her high school classmates to raise a few thousand dollars that forgave $15 million worth of medical debt for 9,000 people.

A big part of RIP’s appeal comes from the impact that even a small donation can have. One pastor whose church is one of 18 that worked with RIP since 2018 says that medical debt and affordability issues resonate with parishioners.

“We need to do not just this thing but many things that practically show the love of God. It’s hard to tell somebody God loves you if they’re starving and don’t try to deal with the problem.” [National Catholic Reporter, July 2, 2019.]

That Pastor’s comment at the end of the story reminds me of the words from the Letter of James…

My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it? Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity.” (James 2:14-17)

Jesus holds up the model of the shrewd manager in today’s Gospel not as an endorsement of his treachery but for his ingenuity in getting things done, in the shrewdness he showed by forgiving debt. Jesus challenges us to be as ingenious for the sake of Kingdom of God as we are in our careers and professions, to be as ready and willing to use our time and money to accomplish great things in terms of the Gospel, the Good News, as we are to secure our own security and happiness.

To open our hearts to the possibilities we each have to build God’s kingdom of compassion, mercy and peace, right now, in our time and place – to show this faith by being faithful with what we have and by serving God and not mammon. Amen.

Sunday's Parable & an old Fable

An old fable of a trickster and thief...

A man once caught stealing was ordered by the king to be hanged.  On the way to the gallows, he said to the governor that he knew a wonderful secret and it would be a pity to allow it to die with him and he would like to disclose it to the king.  He would put a seed of a pomegranate in the ground and through the secret taught to him by his father, he would make it grow and bear fruit overnight.  The thief was brought before the king and on the morrow the king, accompanied by the high officers of state, came to the place where the thief was waiting for them.  There the thief dug a hole and said, "This seed must only be put in the ground by a man who has never stolen or taken anything which did not belong to him.  I being a thief cannot do it."

So he turned to the Vizier who, frightened, said that in his younger days he had retained something which did not belong to him.  The treasurer said that dealing with such large sums, he might have entered too much or too little, and even the king owned that he had kept a necklace of his father's.  The thief then said, "You are all mighty and powerful and want nothing and yet you cannot plant the seed, whilst I who have stolen a little because I was starving am to be hanged."

The king, pleased with the ruse of the thief, pardoned him.

(This story is from: Moses Gaster, The Exempla of the Rabbis (London: Asia Publishing, 1924).

I think this has much in common with Jesus' Parable of the Unjust Steward:

Jesus also said to the disciples, “A certain rich man heard that his household manager was wasting his estate. He called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give me a report of your administration because you can no longer serve as my manager.’

“The household manager said to himself, What will I do now that my master is firing me as his manager? I’m not strong enough to dig and too proud to beg. I know what I’ll do so that, when I am removed from my management position, people will welcome me into their houses.

“One by one, the manager sent for each person who owed his master money. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your contract, sit down quickly, and write four hundred fifty gallons.’ Then the manager said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘One thousand bushels of wheat.’ He said, ‘Take your contract and write eight hundred.’

“The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted cleverly. People who belong to this world are more clever in dealing with their peers than are people who belong to the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that when it’s gone, you will be welcomed into the eternal homes.

From Luke 16.

September 15 Sermon

Lord of love, When I feel far away – search for me. When I lose something precious – grant me the help of others to help me seek. When I am struggling to find faith – show me the simple faith of others. When I have an abundance of faith – lead me to support those in need. Remind me of my worth, the worth I find in you, the worth you see in me. In Jesus name. Amen.  (from the Spirituality of Conflict)

Those leaders with Jesus were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Jesus welcomed sinners and eats with them. This is who we follow. Not one who placated the ego of the comfortable but the one who sought out those on the margins and to connect with them, even eat with them.

When he hears them grumbling, Jesus takes his actions further by telling them a couple of parables.

A shepherd who loses one sheep (out of 99) and goes off to find that lost sheep and celebrates with friends when the shepherd finds the sheep.

A woman who lost one of ten coins, turns her place upside down until she finds it then rejoices with friends at finding the lost coin.

But wait a minute…

Would we seek the one sheep when we have 99? Or a lost coin? Wouldn’t we just chalk up our loss and move on?

But God doesn’t…

And what is all this celebrating over the lost…

“What about the faithful?” “What about those who have followed the path?” “What about those who were not lost?”

It doesn’t seem fair. But we know that Jesus became one of us to turn the world and our expectations upside down. These parables of the Kingdom challenge our idea of fairness.

For God doesn’t want to celebrate with just the faithful; God wants all to be found so they too can celebrate. And if we are really honest with ourselves, we all have been lost at one time or another. And God did not stop searching for us.

It is the story of our lives, that by the grace of God we are saved; that God always seeks us out, wants no one lost, wants all of us & creation to be complete & whole.

The parable is true, that often we are the lost and we are the ones searching for the lost.

And if the parables are all about the Kingdom of God, then what should we do?

Rachel Stafford is a teacher of children with special needs. She published a story about an experience she had had with one particular child. The story echoes something of our parables today.

Rachel had just begun a new job teaching children with severe learning and emotional difficulties in an inner-city school. The job was draining, often bringing her to tears - but she prayed each day that she could make a breakthrough to one broken soul.

Her most difficult charge was ten-year-old Kyle, the son of a drug-addicted mother, a boy with permanent scars along the side of his left arm from a beating with an extension cord when he was three. Kyle was given to angry, violent outbursts and running away.

Rachel and another teacher had planned a field trip for their students. But because of his behavior issues, Kyle would have to remain at school. Kyle flew into a rage, screaming, cursing, spitting, and swinging at anything within striking distance.

And then he did what he had done at other schools, at home, and once at a juvenile detention center: he ran. Kyle dashed out the door, straight into the heavy morning traffic.

And Rachel ran after him. She had no idea what she would say or do once - and if - she caught up with him. But she ran after Kyle.

Kyle ran for several blocks, dodging cars like a professional athlete. He was fast, but Rachel managed to stay with him. Finally he stopped, near a trash compactor behind a dilapidated strip mall. Bent over with exhaustion, he looked up, surprised to see his teacher running toward him. But when he saw Rachel, he did not run. He stayed still as Rachel approached. He calmed down; his anger and fear subsided. Rachel and Kyle locked eyes. Rachel willed every ounce of compassion and understanding in her heart toward his.

Before either could say a word, the principal of the school arrived with the police. Kyle would be taken for psychiatric evaluation. Rachel did not take her eyes off Kyle as he got into the car - and Kyle's eyes never left Rachel's.

Rachel later shared her disappointment at what had happened with Kyle, with his speech therapist who knew Kyle's history and family situation. The therapist placed her hand on Rachel's shoulder and said, "Rachel, no one ever ran after him before. No one. They just let him go."

Kyle eventually returned to school. He asked if he could return to Rachel's class. As the weeks passed, Kyle was glued to Rachel's side, complying with instructions, attempting to do his work - once even smiling. For a child with deep attachment issues, it was amazing to see Kyle finally developing a bond with someone - someone who ran after him. [From a story by Rachel Macy Stafford, http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=310]

We are called to follow the lead of Jesus. To seek out the forgotten, the lost, and the emotionally scared, the sinners, the poor, the homeless among us, to welcome them and eat with them and celebrate with them.

Who are the Kyle’s among us?

At one point or another, we all feel a little bit lost on our way towards and alongside Jesus in our journeys. Whenever we lose our way there will not only be the Good Shepherd seeking us out but hopefully, many, many Christians calling out our name too and running after us.

Is this not what it truly means to be a Christian, loving God & our neighbors and taking on the spirit of Jesus and setting our sense of ego aside to seek the lost or to allow ourselves to be sought out?

Amen.

Looking at 9/11 through a Theological Lens (of Love)

A friend of mine gave a great sermon on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I think he frames it well for us Episcopalians...

Here's an excerpt:

Forgiveness does not have to mean forgetting, and reconciliation is not always possible. Forgiveness means trusting judgment to God, and this is only possible by the grace that comes from God alone. Archbishop Tutu writes, “Forgiving means abandoning your right to pay back the perpetrator in his own coin, but it is a loss that liberates the victim.”

God became human in Jesus of Nazareth. He lived among us, not just teaching about love, but more importantly, showing us the love of God. Jesus chose to show power through his powerlessness on the cross. Jesus continually gave the example of turning the other cheek, of offering mercy, love, and forgiveness. God came in Jesus and offered us the redemptive power of his blood. He also gave us a pattern for how humans can live godly lives.

Jesus’ example was vital, as men and women do not naturally let go of past hurts. We have to learn grace and forgiveness. Children do not learn to forgive unless they are shown by example.

You have to be taught to love.

Read it all here:

https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/sermon/you-have-be-taught-proper-19-2011#

Remembering 9/11

Fr. Mychal Judge spoke these words to Engine 73, Ladder 42 in the Bronx, NY on September 10, 2001:

“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...

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 fire house, God's blessings go forth in this community. It's fantastic!”

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 Mike 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. He 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 Fr. Mike's body and then assisted by two firemen and two others, 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.

The words he spoke are just as true for us today as they were 17 years ago in NY. God needs you and God needs me; Keep supporting each other. Be kind to each other. Love each other. From what you do, God’s blessings will go forth into our communities.

Prayers:

God of steadfast love, who led your people through the wilderness: Be with us as we remember the 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)

Prayers on 9/11

Collect of the Day
O Almighty God, who brings good out of evil and turns even the wrath of your children towards your promised peace: Hear our prayers this day as we remember those of many nations and differing faiths whose lives were cut short by the fierce flames of anger and hatred. Hasten the time when the menace of war shall be removed. Cleanse both us and those perceived to be our enemies of all hatred and distrust. Pour out the spirit of peace on all the rulers of our world that we may be brought through strife to the lasting peace of the kingdom of your Son; Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-4
The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion—to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

Psalm 31:1-5,19-21
1 In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; *
deliver me in your righteousness.

2 Incline your ear to me; *
make haste to deliver me.

3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe,
for you are my crag and my stronghold; *
for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.

4 Take me out of the net that they have secretly set for me, *
for you are my tower of strength.

5 Into your hands I commend my spirit, *
for you have redeemed me,
O Lord, O God of truth.

19 How great is your goodness, O Lord!
which you have laid up for those who fear you; *
which you have done in the sight of all
for those who put their trust in you.

20 You hide them in the covert of your presence from those who slander them; *
you keep them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.

21 Blessed be the Lord! *
for he has shown me the wonders of his love in a besieged city.

Second Reading: Romans 8:31-39
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gospel: Matt 5:1-10
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” NRSV

Prayers of the People
With all our heart and all our mind, we pray to you, O Lord.

Make us instruments of your peace.
For the peace of the world, that a spirit of respect and forbearance may grow among nations and peoples, we pray to you, O Lord:

Where there is hatred, let us sow love.
For our enemies and those who wish us harm, especially those who are led to acts of terror; that in the aftermath of the destruction in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington on September 11th, 2001 we may grow ever more deeply in your spirit of justice and peace, we pray to you, O Lord:

Where there is injury, let us sow pardon.
For all who believe in you, Lord Christ, and all whose faith is known to you alone, that they may be delivered from the darkness of fanaticism that arises from poverty and oppression, and from the pride that arises from wealth and comfort, and brought into your light, so that divisions that foster violence may cease, we pray to you, O Lord:

Where there is discord, let us sow union.
For those who have lost their faith in you Lord God, for those who continue to mourn those who died in the World Trade Center, the airplanes and the Pentagon, may your Church give comfort and hope in this time of remembrance, we pray to you, O Lord:

Where there is doubt, let us sow faith.

For all those whose spirit has been broken and whose lives have been irrevocably disrupted by the violence of that day and its aftermath, we offer our prayers along with the persecuted, the lonely, and the sick who have bid our prayers today, that they may be relieved and protected. Especially we pray for_____________________________. We pray to you, O Lord:

Where there is despair, let us sow hope.
For the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church, especially in the Diocese of New York; that we may listen to the Gospel of reconciliation and proclaim it in word and action for the building of your reign here on earth, we pray to you, O Lord:

Where there is darkness, let us sow light.

For all who died in the terror of September 2001 and for those others whom we remember today, for those who believed in your resurrection and those who knew not your promise of eternal life, in trust that they have been found by you and are at rest in your holy habitation, we pray to you, O Lord:

Where there is sadness, let us sow joy.
We pray for the concerns of our parish.

Silence
And we pray for the forgiveness of our sins.

Silence

Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved as to love.
Take heart, in Christ we have been reconciled to God.

For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we reborn to eternal life. Amen. 

https://www.dioceseny.org/administration/for-clergy/liturgical-and-sacramental/resources-for-remembering-911/a-proper-for-september-11/

Apple Festival Sermon

Creator, we give you thanks for all you are and all you bring to us for our visit within your creation. In Jesus, you place the Gospel in the center of this sacred circle through which all of creation is related. You show us the way to live a generous and compassionate life. Give us your strength to live together with respect and commitment as we grow in your spirit, for you are God, now and forever, Amen. (A Gathering Prayer (from a Disciple’s Prayer Book))

In this beautiful space, we gather to celebrate God’s bountiful creation.

In the Gospel today, Jesus says to us, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.”

Hate. Does Jesus really mean this?

Jesus who proclaimed the Golden Rule, who said we are to love God with our whole being and to love our neighbors as ourselves, who told a story of a Good Samaritan, really wants us to hate?

Jesus is shocking us! I think what Jesus is getting at isn’t about hate at all. For just as Jesus uses parables to shake things up, making a point by turning things upside down, so to with his call to hate others even ourselves. As he confronts the crowd, he does it so that all will understand the demands of what he is calling them to do. It is the cost of the discipleship. Take up your cross, give up those possessions that holds you back from honoring your Creator – Love God above all else.

Wendell Berry (poet, author, farmer) writes, “How must we live and work so as not to be estranged from God’s presence in his work and in all his creatures? The answer, we may say, is given in Jesus’ teaching about love.”

In the end it is not about hate, its about love, a love that we have for God that ultimately trumps all of our possessions, all of our selves. A love that will help heal our broken world, a love that God our potter will shapes our lives if we are willing to let God do it. A love of neighbor as much as we love ourselves.

So when we hear that voice of Christ in our souls calling us, asking us to live out of that faith, then we must as the prophet Isaiah once uttered, “Here am I, Lord, send me.”

And we do that by honoring what God has created…

And those who continue that work on Earth.

Joy Harjo poem – Honoring

Let us live out of honor and love.

Amen.

Reconciliation with the Jews

In light of the anti-Semitic graffiti on the synagogue in Newtown; it is good to remind us of the better angels of our nature, and to seek reconciliation and fight anti-Semitism.

Links:

https://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Anti-Semitic-graffiti-found-on-Newtown-synagogue-14376085.php

https://www.facinghistory.org/nobigotry/the-letters/letter-george-washington-hebrew-congregation-newport-rhode-island

https://www.anglicanjournal.com/prayer-for-reconciliation-with-the-jews-passes-first-reading/

https://www.episcopalct.org/news/bishops-letter-on-tree-of-life-shootings/

O GOD, who didst choose Israel to be thine inheritance: Have mercy upon us and forgive us for violence and wickedness against our brother Jacob; the arrogance of our hearts and minds hath deceived us, and shame hath covered our face. Take away all pride and prejudice in us, and grant that we, together with the people whom thou didst first make thine own, may attain to the fullness of redemption which thou hast promised; to the honor and glory of thy most holy Name. Amen.

 —Proposed prayer “For Reconciliation with the Jews” (Anglican Church of Canada) 

Acknowledging Racism exists...

Acknowledging Racism Is A Good Start. But It’s Only The First Step

 

Listen here: https://the1a.org/shows/2019-08-19/antiracism

An excerpt:

Ibram X. Kendi, director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, wants to have a different conversation. In his new book, “How to Be an Antiracist,” he proposes a new way of thinking about countering racism:

What’s the problem with being “not racist”? It is a claim that signifies neutrality: “I am not a racist, but neither am I against it.” But there is no neutrality in the racism struggle. The opposite of “racist” isn’t “not racist.” It is “antiracist.” What’s the difference? One either endorses the idea of a racial hierarchy as a racist or racial equality as an antiracist. One either believes problems are rooted in groups of people, as a racist, or locates the roots of problems in power and policies, as an antiracist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an antiracist.

Hurricane Dorian Prayers

A prayer for those awaiting Hurricane Dorian:

O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude; you are still the Master of land and sea. We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control. During this hurricane season, we turn to You, O loving God. Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time. Gracious Father, all the elements of nature obey your command. Calm the storms and hurricanes that threaten us and turn our fear into praise of your goodness. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

And a prayer for those already affected by Dorian:

Lord, you who calmed the storm at sea, quiet the fears, ease the pain, tend the grief, and light the darkness of your children affected by Dorian. In stunned silence, be their voice. In rages against the night, be their balm. In bewilderment, be their hope. Lead rescuers to the lost, shelter the waiting. Sustain those who work to make life's necessities spring forth in this desert of gloom. Blanket the weary with your tender touch. Shake us from our comforts to share out sisters and brothers' sorrow and burden and assist and pray them into new life. We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus, who suffered and was raised to new life. Amen.

(both adapted from different sources)

Labor Day: The end of our American Triduum

This weekend is the unofficial end of summer and our American Triduum.

It is good to remember that our lives are connected to one another!

A Prayer for Labor Day:

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 
(from the Book of Common Prayer, p. 261)

You Can Change the Story

This was the poem (story) by Joy Harjo (poet laureate of the US) I used in my sermon

You Can Change the Story, My Spirit Said to Me as I Sat Near the Sea
For Sharon Oard Warner and DG Nanouk Okpik

I am in a village up north, in the lands named “Alaska” now. These places had their own names long before English, Russian, or any other politically imposed trade language.

It is in the times when people dreamed and thought together as one being. That doesn’t mean there weren’t individuals. In those times, people were more individual in personhood than they are now in their common assertion of individuality: one person kept residence on the moon even while living in the village. Another was a man who dressed up and lived as a woman and was known as the best seamstress.

I have traveled to this village with a close friend who is also a distant relative. We are related to nearly everyone by marriage, clan, or blood.

The first night after our arrival, a woman is brutally killed in the village. Murder is not commonplace. The evil of it puts the whole village at risk. It has to be dealt with immediately so that the turbulence will not leave the people open to more evil.

Because my friend and I are the most obvious influence, it
is decided that we are to be killed, to satisfy the murder, to ensure the village will continue in a harmonious manner. No one tells us we are going to be killed. We know it; my bones know it. It is unfortunate, but it is how things must be.

The next morning, my friend and I have walked down from the village to help gather, when we hear the killing committee coming for us.
I can hear them behind us, with their implements and stones, in their psychic roar of purpose.
I know they are going to kill us. I thank the body that has been my clothing on this journey. It has served me well for protection and enjoyment.
I hear—I still hear—the crunch of bones as the village mob, sent to do this job, slams us violently. It’s not personal for most of them. A few gain pleasure.
I feel my body’s confused and terrible protest, then my spirit leaps out above the scene and I watch briefly before circling toward the sea.

I linger out over the sea, and my soul’s helper who has been with me through the stories of my being says, “You can go back and change the story.”

My first thought was, Why would I want to do that? I am free of the needs of earth existence. I can move like wind and water. But then, because I am human, not bird or whale, I feel compelled.
“What do you mean, ‘change the story’?”

Then I am back in the clothes of my body outside the village. I am back in the time between the killing in the village and my certain death in retribution.

“Now what am I supposed to do?” I ask my Spirit. I can see no other way to proceed through the story.

My Spirit responds, “You know what to do. Look, and you will see the story.”

And then I am alone with the sea and the sky. I give my thinking to time and let them go play.

It is then I see. I see a man in the village stalk a woman. She is not interested in him, but he won’t let go. He stalks her as he stalks a walrus. He is the village’s best hunter of walrus. He stalks her to her home, and when no one else is there, he trusses her as if she were a walrus, kills her and drags her body out of her house to the sea. I can see the trail of blood behind them. I can see his footprints in blood as he returns to the village alone.

I am in the village with my friend. The people are gathering and talking about the killing. I can feel their nudges toward my friend and I. I stand up with a drum in my hand. I say:

“I have a story I want to tell you.”

And then I begin drumming and dancing to accompany the story. It is pleasing, and the people want to hear more.

They want to hear what kind of story I am bringing from my village.
I sing, dance, and tell the story of a walrus hunter. He is the best walrus hunter of a village.

I sing about his relationship to the walrus, and how he has fed his people. And how skilled he is as he walks out onto the ice to call out the walrus.

And then I tell the story of the killing of a walrus who is like a woman. I talk about the qualities of the woman, whom the man sees as a walrus. By now, the story has its own spirit that wants to live. It dances and sings and breathes. It surprises me with what it knows.

With the last step, the last hit of the drum, the killer stands up, as if to flee the gathering. The people turn together as one and see him. They see that he has killed the woman, and it is his life that must be taken to satisfy the murder.

When I return to present earth time, I can still hear the singing.
I get up from my bed and dance and sing the story.
It is still in my tongue, my body, as if it has lived there all along,
though I am in a city with many streams of peoples from far and wide across the earth.

We make a jumble of stories. We do not dream together.

© Joy Harjo. Conflict Resolution From Holy Beings. W. W. Norton & Company, 2015. pages 101-104

September 1 Sermon (Proper 17 C)

Gracious God, open our eyes to see your hand at work in the world about us. Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this Table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal. Let the grace of this Holy Communion make us one body, one spirit in Christ, that we may worthily serve the world in Jesus name. Amen.

How do you see the world?

We each have a world view, lenses with which we see what is happening around us, to determine our reaction, interaction, and how we understand what we have seen.

Henry Thoreau is reported to have said “The question is not what you look at but what you see.”

Much too often, we fail to see beyond our fears, our biases, our habits, the story we see is limited. Sometimes our blinders are like a racehorse and we aren’t getting a full picture, or maybe like someone with a cataract, we aren’t getting a full view, but something really narrow or very unclear.

The day of the banquet, there were some leaders watching Jesus closely… how would he act? Would he say the wrong thing?

Even the banquet host was focused on getting the best of the best, to be with Jesus.

Each had a vision for what they thought Jesus would react, how he would be. They waited to see what they thought would happen. Their vision was narrow and limited.

But Jesus challenged their views… He tells them a parable…

A parable on honor and humility… do not choose the place of honor at such a banquet, for you might be asked to move and you would be dishonored, but choose the lowest place and you may be moved up and honored in the sight of all.

For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Live lives of humility but Jesus doesn’t end it there.

He talks to his host… don’t invite those who can repay you, your relatives, the rich and powerful. The honor isn’t there but in those who can’t repay, invite them: the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind…

You will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

Jesus changed the story of hospitality; he opened their eyes to possibilities, but did they take the blinders off, did they cast off their narrow view… our lives are connected and we are called to live humble, honorable lives that invites everyone to the banquet, and most especially those who are so often forgotten, the ones we don’t see, the ones who can’t repay us…

As I sat with Jesus parable, I thought of a story, a poem shared by the Poet Laurate of the US, Joy Harjo, this poem entitled You can Change the Story connects with what Jesus did in his parable.

[poem]

The story changed; the new vision helped the village saw what happened anew; the evil did not come from the strangers but from one in their midst.

I feel that poem, that story she wrote from her Muscogee Creek Nation heritage speaks to all of us.

We can change the story. If we but look anew.

This is what Jesus is doing with his parables for us.

The author Luke Timothy Johnson points out that Jesus is challenging all of our conventional patterns of seeing.

“We might typically see this passage as a call to change our service and outreach to the poor. Indeed it certainly is that. However, it is also a challenge to see more deeply the gap which lies between those we believe are ok to go to church with and those Jesus is inviting into the community, in point of fact inviting to come to the table with us and full members of the family of Abraham.” (Luke, 227)

Jesus invites us to be a community of Love. Offering deep hospitality to all from the well of love we have.

Jesus asks us to see one another from his perspective; a Christ-like humility that realizes that we are not the center of all things but part of a much larger world and to embrace a spirit of Gospel-centered gratitude for all the blessings we have received, not because of anything we have done to deserve them, but only because of the complete and unconditional love of God for us and for all.

May we open our eyes, really open our eyes to see what God is doing right around us; may we change our story to fit with what God is doing and join in! Amen.