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The podcast for this sermon can be found here.

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An old cowboy named Bud was overseeing his livestock in a remote mountainous pasture in California when a fella in a fancy car comes skidding up. He gets out and is wearing this outlandish high fashion getup, a Rolex, with his hair slicked back, and a California tan – the works. When he opens his mouth, he’s clearly from “back east.”

Coming over to Bud he asked, “If I tell you exactly how many cows you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?”

Bud sized up the fella another moment then agrees, “Sure, why not?”

The guy pulls out is iPad and iPhone, makes a call, and ask for a photo from a satellite above. Once received he runs it through some computer analysis and has it count the number of animals on the ranch. After a few minutes, he turns to Bud and says, “You have exactly 1,562 cows in your herd.”

“That’s right, pardner,” replied the old cowhand. “Well, I guess I owe you a calf. Pick one out.”

The fellas looks over the herd, picks one out and then proceeds to cram it in the backseat of his car.

Bud interrupts this process. “Listen. If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?”

“Why not?”

“You’re a U.S. Congressman.”

The man is shocked. “Yeah, how’d you guess that?” Continue reading “Sermon: Proper 16 RCL A – “Mistaken Identity””

Listen to the podcast of this sermon at Podomatic : 

C.S. Lewis summed up a very Anglican perspective of the Virgin Mary in the preface to Mere Christianity (it’s a bit wordy and a bit heady): “There is no controversy between Christians which needs to be so delicately touched as this [that is, the question of Blessed Virgin Mary]. The Roman Catholic beliefs on that subject are held not only with the ordinary fervour that attaches to all sincere religious belief, but (very naturally) with the peculiar and, as it were, chivalrous sensibility that a man feels when the honour of his mother or his beloved is at stake. It is very difficult so to dissent from them that you will not appear to them a cad as well as a heretic. And contrariwise, the opposed Protestant beliefs on this subject call forth feelings which go down to the very roots of all Monotheism whatever. To radical Protestants Continue reading “Sermon: Saint Mary the Virgin”

In The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen retells a tale from ancient India: Four royal brothers decided each to master a special ability. Time went by, and the brothers met to reveal what they had learned.

“I have mastered a science,” said the first, “by which I can take but a bone of some creature and create the flesh that goes with it.”

“I,” said the second, “know how to grow that creature’s skin and hair if there is flesh on its bones.”

The third said, “I am able to create its limbs if I have flesh, the skin, and the hair.”

“And I,” concluded the fourth, “know how to give life to that creature if its form is complete.” Continue reading “Sermon: The Day of Pentecost RCL A – “Drink Deeply””

Born into a destitute family in 1542, John of the Cross knew what it meant to rely solely on God. Later he would join the Carmelite order and later come in to contact with another great mystic, Teresa of Avila. Teresa had a desire to reform the order and recruited John to help, but when the monks in his monastery discovered what he was up to, they kidnapped him, locked him in cell, and beat him three times a week for nine months, until he was able to escape. For many, that would have driven them from God, but for John, it drove him closer, so that he understood that we should seek to separate ourselves from everything – both good and evil – so that we might find union with God.

In the Ascent of Mt. Carmel, John writes, “The soul that is attached to anything however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for, until the cord be broken the bird cannot fly.” Continue reading “Sermon: John of the Cross”

“When society collapses, I shall rule as the Pudding King!”

Sitting around reading the fine print while you eat your frozen dinner can sometimes prove to be quite profitable.

In 1999, David Phillips was reading the fine print on his Healthy Choice frozen dinner when he came across a promotion. It seems that every ten barcodes you sent in from a Healthy Choice product would earn you 1,000 frequent flyer miles for a particular airline.

Not having much to do that morning, Mr. Phillips did a bit of math and discovered that 10 barcodes of Healthy Choice meals was far cheaper than a 1,000 miles. In particular, he discovered that 10 Healthy Choice puddings, compared to 1,000 miles was a steal, so he ran around town and bought every pudding he could lay his hands on – all 12,150 cups. To avoid suspicion, he told the store managers he was stocking up for Y2K (that now mythical end of the technological world). Hence, “When society collapses, I shall rule as the Pudding King!”

In exchange for the pudding – because, after all, who can eat 12,150 cups of pudding – he enlisted the help of the Salvation Army to help him peel off the barcode labels. They got the pudding and he got the miles, plus an $800 tax deduction for his donation.

In the end, it cost Mr. Phillips about $2,000 for 1.25 million frequent flyer miles. Depending on the carrier, that’s around 50 to 60 roundtrip tickets or about $40 a trip for reading the fine print.

Today we have one of those very curious readings from the Old Testament that makes you want to double-check that you didn’t pick up a Stephen King novel when you thought you were reading the Bible.

The Lord is making His covenant with Abram, telling Abram of the land and descendants He will give to him, but Abram asked the Lord how he was to know that this was really going to happen. The Lord said, “’Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.” Later, after Abram had fallen into a deep sleep, “A smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.’”

What has happened? For us, this may sound quite bizarre, but for Abram, it would have been familiar. The Lord has made a blood covenant with Abram.

At that time, when a treaty was agreed to, the two parties would slaughter the animals and lay one half on either side of a trench where – sorry if this gives you a queasy stomach – but in the trench the blood from the animals would collect, then the two parties would walk through the trench, the act clearly stating, “May this – this carnage and blood – happen to me if I break my treaty with you” (for you Harry Potter fans, think of Severus Snape’s Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy).

Abram saw the fire pot and flaming torch – the Lord – passing through the trench that he had made. Abram saw God sealing the covenant in blood. Through these actions, the Lord is saying to Abram, “I will spill my own blood before I break my covenant with you. You will forever be my people and I will forever be your God.” However, for a covenant to remain intact, both parties must keep their end of the deal, which makes God’s actions even more remarkable, for God is also saying, “I will also be responsible for you. I will pay the price if you fail to keep your end of our agreement. I will shed my blood if you fail.”

On the night before he was crucified, Jesus and his disciples gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem. Jesus washed their feet and they shared a meal. “Then Jesus took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’  And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’”

By our sin it is impossible for us to keep the covenant with God; and Jesus said, “What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.” God fulfilled the covenant he made with Abram by the shedding of His Own Precious Blood.

In the world today, like the Pudding King, most are looking for the small print and loopholes. They look for ways to get a piece of the good deals and ways to finagle out of that bad ones. They will work the system to get what they want, and if they cant’ figure it out for themselves, they’ll hire a lawyer to work on their behalf.

Our God is not interested in loopholes or finagling, but he does have a “want,” a desire that He is willing to gain at any cost: He “desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Because of His great love for us, through Jesus, God satisfied this desire and obtained for us our salvation by fulfilling the blood covenant He made with Abram.

Some 400 years after Abram, Moses said to the people, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” He kept His covenant then and He keeps it today with us. He is our God and we are His people.

Let us pray: Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of this redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

This 85 year old couple, having been married almost 60 years, had died in a car accident. They had been in good health the last ten years mainly due to her interest in health food, and exercise. When they reached the pearly gates, St. Peter took them to their mansion which was decked out with a beautiful kitchen and master bath suite and Jacuzzi. As they “oohed and aahed” the old man asked Peter how much all this was going to cost. “It’s free,” Peter replied, “this is Heaven.” Next they went out back to survey the championship golf course that the home backed up to. They would have golfing privileges everyday and each week the course changed to a new one representing the great golf courses on earth. The old man asked, “What are the green fees?” Peter’s reply, “This is heaven, you play for free.” Next they went to the club house and saw the lavish buffet lunch with the cuisines of the world laid out. “How much to eat?” asked the old man. “Don’t you understand yet? This is heaven, it is free,” Peter replied with some exasperation. “Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol tables?” the old man asked timidly. Peter lectured, “That’s the best part, you can eat as much as you like of whatever you like and you never get fat and you never get sick. This is Heaven.” With that the old man went into a fit of anger, throwing down his hat and stomping on it, and shrieking wildly. Peter and his wife both tried to calm him down, asking him what was wrong. The old man looked at his wife and said, “This is all your fault. If it weren’t for your blasted bran muffins and uncountable laps around the mall, I could have been here ten years ago!”

So, how are all those New Year’s resolutions working out for you? Mine seems to be getting more difficult, because instead of losing weight, I’ve already gained an extra few pounds!

Of the top five resolutions, you will almost always find: eating healthier, quit smoking, and getting healthier. I suppose we all want to look better and live healthier, but I would also suggest to you that behind all of these efforts is one single fear. The fear of death. But I’ve got news for you, you can run a hundred miles a day, but you will not outrun death. It will catch you. (Thank you Fr. John for depressing us all this morning! Not my intent, though.)

In the opening chapters of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Mr. Brocklehurst comes to collect Jane from her aunt and uncle’s home and take her to a school for girls. Jane’s aunt, Mrs. Reed, has described Jane to Mr. Brocklehurst as a child with a “tendency for deceit.”

Mr. Brocklehurst, a rather unpleasant man says to Jane, “No sight so sad as that of a naughty child, especially a naughty little girl. Do you know where the wicked go after death?”

“They go to hell,” was Jane’s ready and orthodox answer.

“And what is hell? Can you tell me that?”

“A pit full of fire.”

“And should you like to fall into that pit, and to be burning there for ever?”

“No, sir.”

“What must you do to avoid it?”

Jane deliberated a moment: her answer, when it did come was objectionable: “I must keep in good health and not die.”

I must keep in good health and not die. Even though it is inevitable, like jane, we would like to avoid it, but what Benjamin Franklin said is true, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Therefore, somewhere in our minds, we accept the inevitability of death and then begin to console ourselves by saying things like, “Dying is just a part of living” and “Death is natural.” But what if I told you that these are just lies? What if I told you that you were not created to die?

Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” God did not create death. You were not created to die. It was through our sin that death came into the world. We say with Jane Eyre, “I must keep in good health and not die,” and then make our resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking and all the rest in an attempt to avoid death, because death is not natural. Dying is the most un-natural thing we will ever do, so we fight against it. We may accept it and be reconciled to the fact that it will happen, but every cell of our bodies will reject death’s claim over our lives. And fortunately for us, so does God. God has rejected death’s claim over you and through Christ has restored what was taken through sin.

Again, to the Romans, Paul wrote, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

That ancient serpent holds out his sinful fruit to each of us, and just as Adam and Eve took and ate, so do we. The moment that fateful fruit touches our lips we are dead, but God in His infinite goodness extends to us the one thing that can overcome this sting of death. He extends to us His Son, and through our baptism we are united to Jesus in His death and into His resurrection. Therefore, for us, death is not an end or a destination, it is only something we pass through.

Hear again the words we read earlier that the Lord spoke through the Prophet Isaiah:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.

Jesus’ baptism shows us how we might follow him, and his death provides a way for us to pass through the waters and the fire without being overwhelmed or consumed. One of the great theologians, Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote, “The Church does not dispense the sacrament of baptism in order to acquire for herself an increase in membership but in order to consecrate a human being to God and to communicate to that person the divine gift of birth from God.”

Luke wrote in our Gospel, Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” As we rise from the waters of our own baptism, the voice of God is also heard: “You are my son, my daughter, my beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Your only real death occurs here—in the waters of baptism—but you do not remain, for through the One born in a manger, the One who was worshipped by shepherds and kings, the one who conquered death once and for all, raises you to new life, consecrating you as sons and daughters of God Most High.

Let us pray: Father in Heaven, when the Spirit came down upon Jesus at His Baptism in the Jordan, You revealed Him as Your own Beloved Son. Keep us, Your children, born of water and the Spirit, faithful to our calling. May we, who share in Your Life as Your children through Baptism, follow in Christ’s path of service to all people. Let us become one in His Sacrifice and hear His Word with faith. May we live as Your children, following the example of Jesus. Amen.