Tag: God

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Sermon: Epiphany 5 RCL C – “New Horizons”

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

What gameshow would you be on if you were in a studio audience filled with people in the wildest costumes, all holding up goofy signs and enthusiastically shouting? Let’s Make a Deal. You’ve got the audience, Jay, the man with the table, pretty Carol Merrill pulling back curtains and striking dramatic poses in front of “A brand new Chevy Vega,” and, of course, Mr. Gameshow host himself, Monty Hall.

I remember watching Let’s Make a Deal as a kid but not really understanding it. Now, you can watch all the episodes on the Internet, and they are funny.

Monty would pick one of the crazy-dressed audience members and offer them $300, or they could make a deal. That’s when Jay would appear, carrying his table with a box sitting on it. You could keep the $300 or trade it for the unknown. The audience member would hem and haw, then make a choice, and it would run from there. One deal after another until the big prize. Some people won big; others may walk away with an ox pulling a cart. However, in the end, for the grand prize finale, Monty makes the final deal. You could keep what you had or have what was behind door number three—and there would be the lovely Carol Merrill posing before the hidden prize.

You’ve got $5,000 in hand, or you could make the deal, give it all up, and see what was behind door number three. What do you do?

The Event Horizon Model describes a phenomenon related to how we categorize memories. For example, consider your time in school.

Your entire experience is of the education process, but that process consists of distinct phases, such as elementary school, high school, college, and graduate school. These represent your education, and you have memories that are stored and sorted within and in the context of each phase. Think of it as a library. In a library, you’ve got the fiction section, non-fiction, biography, etc. In the Event Horizon Model, your memory has a section for grade school, high school, etc., and your memories are filed according to those various events. The current or most recent phase holds the clearest memories, while those from the past are a bit hazy. You’re not forgetful; instead, the information from earlier events is less relevant, so it gets set aside or even offloaded.

Throughout our lives, we have various events. Perhaps it is our schooling. It might also be stages of life—child, teenager, adult, married, married with children, and so on. That is a fairly typical progression. However, have you noticed that when you go from one to the next, it often feels as though you are starting over?

I was in school for a while, then I graduated and started to work. A new event and a new beginning. I decided to get married. I stopped being single and started being a spouse. Another event, but also the process of starting over. It really is a bit like saying, “Monty, I think I’ll take what’s behind door number three.” Everything we think we know is taken from us, and we embark on this new thing, and, for the most part, we’ve no idea what we are doing. This can cause anxiety, confusion, and any number of other negatives that impact our lives.

In situations like this, what is needed is something constant and stable that travels with us from one event to the next. We may choose what lies behind door number three—it’s not a bad thing—but we need a place to stand—a place of grounding.

The scene from our Gospel reading today occurs very early in Jesus’ earthly ministry. Jesus had a meal at Peter’s house, but the disciples didn’t seem to be traveling with Him just yet. On this day, Jesus returns to Bethsaida, Peter’s hometown, and the crowds gather. To address them all, He gets into Peter’s boat and asks him to push out from the shore a bit so that He can see and speak to everyone gathered. Afterward, He instructs Peter to push out into the deep water and fish.

Peter says, “We’ve been doing this all night, but if you say so, we will.” They do, and we have the miraculous catch of fish. Peter doesn’t know what is going on, but he knows he is afraid. This Jesus is a holy man, and he doesn’t feel worthy to be near Him, but Jesus says, “You think this is amazing? Stick with me; I’ll show you something special.”

We can interpret this scene in many ways, but today, I would like you to consider it as a representation of your life.

Peter’s boat is more than just his livelihood. His ability to eat and feed his family, to care for them, and to provide for their other needs revolves around that boat. Peter’s boat is more than his livelihood; it is his life, and Jesus steps into it. Jesus steps into Peter’s life. This is an “invasion of grace.” Jesus, God has not taken away Peter’s free will, but through these actions, Jesus is saying to Peter, “I want to be a part of your life.”

This is also a doorway leading to a new event in Peter’s life. He was a fisher of fish. He is becoming a fisher of men. Going from one thing to the next, and the anxiety is setting in, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” But Jesus tells him, “Do not be afraid. I will be with you. Always. To the end of the age. I will be with you from one horizon to the next. I will be your place to stand.”

Jesus says the same to us, but He is promising more than simply being present. In the context of this episode, I came to understand this at 1:04 a.m. Wednesday morning, and had to get up and write it down.

Jesus instructed Peter to head out into the deep water and cast his nets. Peter followed his advice, and they experienced a miraculous catch of fish—“They caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.” Question: What do you think Jesus was doing while all this was happening?

I always imagined Jesus sitting back and watching, but now I believe quite differently. I think He was right there with Peter. I think He rolled up his sleeves, grabbed hold of the net, and started hauling it in with all the rest. I believe He got soaking wet and stunk of all those fish, right along with Peter and the others. I think He joined His voice with Peter’s and shouted for the others to come and help. He laughed with them when James and John’s boat began to sink under the weight of all those fish. Jesus not only stepped into Peter’s life and turned it upside down, but He stepped into Peter’s life and lived it with him. Not as a bystander or judge to see how Peter would do but as a faithful friend. One who wanted the very best for Peter and the others and wasn’t afraid to step in and get dirty. And One who would be with them as they crossed the new horizons of their lives, providing them a firm place to stand, regardless of what was taking place.

Jimmy Buffett wrote a song—Door Number Three. The third stanza:

And I don’t want what Jay’s got on his table
Or the box Carol Merrill points to on the floor
No, I’ll hold out just as long as I am able
Until I can unlock that lucky door
Well, she’s no big deal to most folks
But she’s everything to me
Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three.

Some events in our lives are choices like going for what’s behind door number three. Other events are just life. You are in a phase of life where you are healthy, but life walks you through a doorway that leads to sickness. You are secure in your position then you find yourself unemployed. A relationship goes from good to awful. All these various events, where you pass through the doorway, and a new horizon lies before you, bringing the unknown, the destabilizing, the anxiety. However, if we have a place to stand, if we’ve allowed Jesus to step in our boats, invading our lives with His grace, then He will be with us regardless of the circumstances or the outcome. As with Peter, Jesus will be a faithful friend who is not afraid to get involved in the messiest parts of our lives, and along the way, He will provide that firm place for us to stand as we cross from one horizon to the next.

Jesus has climbed into your boat and asked you to put out into the deep. Do what He asks. Take what’s behind door number three.

Let us pray (pray this one for yourself as I read):
Father, I abandon myself into Your hands;
Do with me whatever You will.
Whatever You may do, I thank You.
I am ready for all, and I accept all.
Let only Your will be done in me,
And in all Your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into Your hands, I commend my spirit;
I offer it to You, Lord,
and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into Your hands,
Without reserve and with boundless confidence,
For You are my Father.
Amen.

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Sermon: Thomas Aquinas

Can you prove to me that there is a God?  Sounds easy enough, but when it comes down to it… not so much.  However, several have tried, and in the eyes of many, including the Church, have succeeded, one of which is our Saint for today, Thomas Aquinas.

Thomas was born in 1225 in Italy. His teachings and writings can only be compared to those of St. Augustine of Hippo when considering their effect on Christian thought (think of them as the Einstein’s of Christianity).  It was during Thomas’ life that the writings of the great philosopher Aristotle were ‘rediscovered,’ and it was Thomas Aquinas who took these writings of Aristotle and integrated them into Christian thought, which means that a new way of understanding God was brought into Christian thinking and that understanding was through the use of reason.  How so?  Think of the polarized views of today.

On one side, we have science.  Science is essentially all reason.  A bit like math: one plus one equals two.  That same reason has led some in the scientific fields or understanding to deny the existence of God; for example, the creation of the universe came about through the Big Bang; therefore, all that business in Genesis is just a fairy tale, and God doesn’t exist.  The other side is Sola Scriptura, which declares that the Bible is all that is needed to prove the existence of God.  Aquinas would say, “Not so fast,” to both groups.

In his greatest work, Summa Theologica, Aquinas puts forward five logical arguments (reasons) for the existence of God, the first of which is the argument of motion.  He begins by simply saying things move.  We can all agree on that.  From there, he says, for things to move, something had to make them move.  Think of a ball on a pool table: if that ball is going to move, something has to move it, whether it is the cue stick or gravity or even a ghosty; something made it move, but what made that something move?  You can chase that as far back as you want. Still, for Aquinas, you eventually have to admit that there was something entirely different that made the very first thing move: the ‘first mover,’ something that was the initiator of all other movement, so why not call that ‘first mover’ God?  That doesn’t reveal the God of Christianity, but it establishes some ‘higher power,’ as some refer to it today.  So, when it comes to creation and someone arguing the Big Bang started it all, Aquinas would ask, “Who made it go bang?”  To those who say Sola Scriptura, Aquinas would say, “God gave you a brain.  Use it.”  The one thing the argument of reason cannot answer is how we go from ‘higher power’ to the God of Christianity.  For Aquinas, that takes one more step: revelation.

Revelation goes back to our study of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, where we understood that our belief in God is a grace given to us by God.  Because of this grace, this revelation, even though we cannot prove that the ‘higher power’ is the God of Christianity, we can have faith and believe.  This same grace, faith, revelation helps us discern the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, and ultimately the ability to declare that Jesus is Lord, for as Jesus said to Simon Peter when Peter declared Jesus as Lord, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”  “Flesh and blood,” that is ‘reason’ did not reveal this to you, but the “Father,” that is ‘revelation’ did.

Confused?  It’s OK if you are.  Most of us are.  The important thing to note is that there have been and are really great thinkers of the Christian faith, like Thomas Aquinas, and through their work, we can learn that things like reason and science and faith are not incompatible opposites but work together in providing a more clear understanding of God as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.

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Sermon: Epiphany 3 RCL C – “Not Just any Book”

During World War II, a soldier was stationed on an island in the South Pacific. Seeing him, one of the island’s inhabitants approached him and showed him a copy of the Holy Bible he had received from a missionary several years prior. The soldier told him, “O, we’ve outgrown that sort of thing.” The native smiled back and said, “Well, it’s a good thing we haven’t because if it weren’t for this book, you would be our evening meal.”

If you ever have to sit down with me and watch one of my favorite movies, I don’t guarantee you’ll appreciate it as much as I do. It is an odd and eclectic mix and, I confess, often violent, but let’s be honest, you’ve got to kill a zombie. One that came out in 2010 (no zombies but quite violent and rough language) was The Book of Eli, starring Denzel Washington. What is interesting, given the violence and language, is the fact that The Book of Eli appears on a number of best Catholic film lists. Why? It is about a man, Eli, living in a post-apocalyptic world trying to save the last known copy of the Holy Bible. 

Without spoiling the movie, I’ll tell you that another character, Carnegie (played by Gary Oldman), wants Eli’s Bible. Carnegie will go to any means necessary to have it. However, for Carnegie’s men, going to so much trouble for one book seems like a waste of time and resources, especially since so many are getting killed over it.

Regarding Eli and the book, Carnegie tells one of his chiefs, “Put a crew together; we’re going after him.”

“For a __ book?” The man snaps back.

Carnegie rages, “IT’S NOT [JUST A] BOOK! IT’S A WEAPON! A weapon aimed right at the hearts and minds of the weak and the desperate. It will give us control of them. If we want to rule more than one small, ___ town, we have to have it. People will come from all over; they’ll do exactly what I tell ’em if the words are from the book. It’s happened before, and it’ll happen again. All we need is that book.”

That would be funny if it weren’t true.

Robert Seiple, former president of World Vision, writes, “In 1915, A Russian Armenian was reading his Bible when he was beheaded. I saw the Bible—large, thick, and well-used. Inside was a reddish stain that permeated most of the book. The stain was the blood of this man, one of more than a million casualties of a religious and ethnic holocaust. About 70 years later, a large shipment of Bibles entered Romania from the West, and Ceausescu’s (dictator of Romania) lieutenants confiscated them, shredded them, and turned them into pulp. Then they had the pulp reconstituted into toilet paper and sold to the West.”

People want to take the Bible, weaponize it, and use it for gain, and others see it as so dangerous that they want to destroy it. One book is causing so much trouble. However, in America, studies show that we don’t read it and don’t think much of it. 

To be a member in good standing of the Episcopal Church, you only have to receive communion three times a year. That’s pretty low. When it comes to reading the Bible, American Christians as a whole aren’t much better. The American Bible Society “defines Bible users as people ‘who use the Bible at least 3–4 times each year on their own, outside of a church setting.’” 

We have a Book that people fight and die for, but we, as a Christian people, don’t give it much thought. Why?

My opinion—and that is what it is—is that it is too convenient. We’ve never had to fight for it. In this country, it’s a bit like running water. We don’t give it much thought unless, for some reason, we have to do without it. That is my opinion; however, Barna’s Christian research group has a more researched opinion.

Barna states, “We have shifted from being a nation in which people believed that right and wrong—i.e., morality—was defined by the Bible. We now live in a nation where only 42 percent believe that the Bible is true, accurate, and relevant, and where the largest share of adults believes there is no absolute moral truth, that all truth is determined by the individual.

“On what basis do they determine ‘their’ truth? Primarily emotions: if it feels like the right or appropriate thing to do, say, or believe, then that becomes the course of action, no questions asked.” (Source)

In other words, when it concerns the Bible, we’re like that World War II soldier, “We’ve outgrown that sort of thing.” Because of that attitude, the cracks are beginning to show.

In the time of Nehemiah, the people had returned to Jerusalem after being exiled to Babylon. In our reading today from Nehemiah, the people have completed rebuilding the walls around the city and have come together for one purpose—now that the city walls are restored, they want to restore their hearts to God. To do this, they ask that the Book of the Law be read so a day is set and a platform built. 

Generally, the Scriptures would have been read in the synagogue, but this day was special. We read, “Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen,’ lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” For about six hours, the people stood and attentively listened to God’s Word. When the reading was complete, the people got down on their knees, bowed their heads to the ground, and worshipped.

They worshipped because they had been provided the opportunity to hear God speak. Then, of all things, they wept. They cried over hearing God’s word. Why? It could have been for joy at knowing that through God’s word, they were being restored. It could have been bitter tears from knowing their sins and how far they had fallen. They could have been crying over the beauty of the message. They were likely crying for all these reasons and more, which led Nehemiah to tell them not to. He wanted them to rejoice in the Word of God and the fact that God, in His goodness and mercy, had provided them with a written document on how to maintain relationship with Him. And it is for this very reason that we, too, should be reading the Bible daily. It contains the words of life and, more importantly, the words of our God.

Preaching in the fourth century, St. John Chrysostom tells his congregation, “I exhort you, and I will not cease to exhort you to pay heed not only to what is said here, but when you are home also you should occupy yourselves attentively with the reading of Holy Scripture…. The reading of Scripture is a great defense against sin. Ignorance of the Scripture is a great misfortune, a great abyss. Not to know anything from the word of God is a disaster. This is what has given rise to heresies, to immorality; it has turned everything upside down.”

Seven or eight years ago, I had kidney stones—a most unpleasant experience. After the procedure, I still had some issues. My doctor responded to those issues: “Drink more water.” I said, “There’s also this going on.” He said, “Drink more water.” “And what about this,” I asked. “Drink more water.” When it was sorted out, I asked my doctor how I could prevent them in the future. He said, “Drink more water.” I began to see a trend.

Would you like to know more about God and how He works in the world? Read your Bible. Would you like to know about God’s plan for your life? Read your Bible. Would you like to have a better understanding of the world around you? Read your Bible. Would you like help getting from one day to the next? Read your Bible. See the trend? Don’t have a Bible? I’ll buy you one. Need help reading the Bible? Let’s talk.

Writing in the sixth century, St. Isidore says, “If a man wants to be always in God’s company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us.” Read your Bible. You haven’t outgrown it. Let God talk to you.

Let us pray: Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Sermon: The Baptism of Our Lord RCL C – “Suffering”

A jet traveling from New York to California was experiencing a severe thunderstorm. As the passengers were being bounced around by the turbulence, a woman turned to the priest sitting next to her and, with a nervous laugh, asked, “Father, you’re a man of God. Can’t you do something about this storm?”

The priest replied, “Sorry, I’m in sales, not management.”

Baptism has been popping up these past several weeks. Sometimes, I plan several sermons around a particular theme or topic, but this was not one of them. Yet, here we are again—The Baptism of Our Lord.

As we understand, we have been baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus and given new life in Him. It is an assurance of God’s love for us, but do you ever think God has a funny way of showing His love for you? If you did feel that way, you wouldn’t be the first.

Teresa of Avila was traveling in bad weather. When she attempted to cross a stream, her carriage suddenly stuck in the mud, and she fell into the water. She complained to Jesus, and He said, “That’s how I treat my friends. ” Teresa replied, “No wonder you have so few friends.”

It would seem that if we were joined with God in our baptism, then everything should be coming up roses. For many, this is their way of thinking, and when things go south, they begin to wonder. Does God love me? Has He forgotten me? Is He angry and punishing me? Or maybe God just likes to mess with us.

The movie Bruce Almighty with Jim Carrey? Very funny and surprisingly accurate. When Bruce experiences a series of unfortunate events, they bring suffering into his life. When he’s had enough, he gets mad at God and says, “God is a mean kid sitting on an anthill with a magnifying glass, and I’m the ant. He could fix my life in five minutes if he wanted to, but he’d rather burn off my feelers and watch me squirm!”

When we think of God’s love and our union with Him through baptism, and things go wrong, we begin to feel that it’s just not right. These kinds of nasty things should not be happening to me. I’m on the team. But thinking in such a way shows that we haven’t been paying attention.

We read that when Jesus was 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.’” Such a declaration from the Father could lead you to believe that nothing would ever come against Jesus, but…

“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

The “men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him.” (Luke 22:63)

“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

The crowd “kept shouting, ‘Crucify, crucify him!’” (Luke 23:21)

“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

The soldiers “flogged [Jesus]. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and struck him with their hands.” (John 19:1-3)

“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

“They crucified him (Luke 23:33)… mocked him (Luke 23:36)… he breathed his last. (Luke 23:46)”

“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” You are God’s sons and daughters. You are His beloved. With you, He is well pleased. However, from what we know of Jesus’ last day, it is not always easy to be a child of God. Although we have passed through the waters of baptism and participated in the death and resurrection of Jesus, the raging of the seas still pound against us. We have been redeemed, but all creation is still groaning and waiting. 

Archbishop Michael Ramsey writes, “The old world continues with its contradictions and its sufferings, but by the Cross and resurrection these very contradictions and sufferings can be transformed into things fruitful and creative wherein, by faith in the Crucified, the power of God may be found. There is no escaping from the facts of this world. Rather does membership within the world-to-come enable Christians to see the facts of this world with the light of the Cross and resurrection upon them, and to know that their own tasks are but the working out of a victory that Christ has already won.” (Glory: the Spiritual Theology of Michael Ramsey, p.25)

Our faith in God’s will is not a fatalistic acceptance but a faithful one—faith in the Father’s love. Faith when you pray, “Thy will be done,” for this is baptism. We are baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus, but that death we are baptized into is an internal death of the old self—the person of sin that resided in us all. Therefore, our souls experience this new and resurrected life in Christ, but our bodies, like Jesus’, must continue to endure the crushing waves of the world and the suffering that comes with it.

How’s that old song go?

“I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine
There’s gotta be a little rain sometime.”
(Rose Garden by Lynn Anderson)

In this life, Jesus never promised us a rose garden. St. Peter confirms this. “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:12-13) 

Suffering is going to happen, so what are we, as a Christian people, to do when trials and suffering arrive at our doorstep? Peter answers that one for us as well. “Let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1 Peter 4:19)

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:43-45a) In other words, pray to your Father in Heaven and say, “Thy will be done,” then have faith that God’s will is being accomplished regardless of the suffering that is pouring out. You may not feel all that great about it. His will might just be painful at times. In many cases, you will not understand it or know why, but have faith and “pray for your enemies.” That is, continue doing good, for this is also your Father’s will.

The Father says, “You are my child, my beloved; with you I am well pleased.” “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For I am certain,” St. Paul tells us, “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.” (Romans 8:18, 38-39)

You are God’s child. He loves you, and regardless of your circumstances (that is a management decision), He is pleased with you. Therefore, stand in faith and perseverance, knowing His will is being fulfilled in your life.

Let us pray (a prayer of St. John Paul II):
O God, You are our Creator. You are
good and Your mercy knows no bounds.
To You arises the praise of every creature.
O God, You have given us an inner law
by which we must live. To do Your will
is our task. To follow Your ways is to
know peace of heart. To You we offer
our homage. Guide us on all the paths we travel
upon this earth. Free us from all the evil
tendencies which lead our hearts away
from Your will. Never allow us to stray
from You. Amen

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Sermon: Harriet Beddel

Deaconess Bedell with a medicine man and Bobby Jim Tiger outside the Seminole mission

There are many sources within the Church listing the Saints celebrated. Because there are so many, most days have more than one Saint appointed. Today is no different. There are at least a dozen we could name. In the Episcopal Church, included in these feast days are those who may not be official Capital “S” Saints but who the Church describes as Holy Women and Holy Men. Today’s saint comes from this list, and she is closely linked to Oklahoma—Harriet Bedell.

Born in 1875, Harriet knew from an early age that she wanted to serve in the church, especially after hearing a missionary preach on the needs of those in China and Native Americans in this country. Her mother said no to her traveling abroad but allowed Harriet to go to school in New York to become a missionary/teacher in the United States.

She attended St. Faith’s Training School for Deaconesses. What is a Deaconess? Diane is training to be ordained a Deacon, but until 1970—Ladies, don’t shoot the messenger—until 1970, women were not allowed to be ordained, so the church created the position of deaconess. According to the Episcopalian Dictionary, “A deaconess used to be a ‘devoted unmarried woman’ appointed by the bishop to do just about anything that happened to be needed in a parish or an institution.  She could be a spinster or a widow–if she married, that automatically terminated her appointment.

She wore a distinctive, identifying garb and went wherever she could make herself useful.  She visited the sick and the poor, she gave Baptism and Confirmation instructions, she read Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and the Litany at public services, she specialized in work with women and children, and when licensed by the bishop to do so, she gave ‘addresses–which means she preached.  And if circumstances called for it, she mopped the floor and mowed the lawn.” (Source)

The church may not have had ordained Deacons, but they had Deaconesses doing the work of one.

Following her training in New York, Harriet traveled to Watonga, Oklahoma, where she worked alongside Deacon David Pendleton Oakerhater at the Whirlwind Mission. The Cheyenne so respected her that she was adopted into the tribe and given the name Vicsehia, which translates as “Bird Woman.” She served there for ten years until contracting tuberculosis and moved to Colorado for treatment.

Afterward, she would serve various Native American nations in Alaska and Florida. She remained very active following her retirement in 1938 and died on this day in 1969.

The daughter of Pharoh was bathing in the river when a basket, holding the infant Moses, floated down to her. Moses’ sister saw all this and ran to the daughter of Pharaoh and asked if she could find a nursemaid for the child. Pharaoh’s daughter said yes, so Moses’ sister brought Moses’ mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.”

Harriet lived her life as though she had heard those exact words, except that in her case, the child she was to care for was the Native Americans she was called to live among. She also understood that the wages she would receive were not worldly but, instead, blessings from Our Father in Heaven and entry into His Heavenly Kingdom.

I wonder, how might our Lord be saying to you, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.”

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Sermon: Christmas 1 RCL C – “Being Light”

A young girl once consulted with her priest. “I cannot stick it out any longer. I am the only Christian in the factory where I work. I get nothing but taunts and sneers. It is more than I can stand. I am going to resign.”

“Will you tell me,” asked the priest, “where lights are placed?”

“What has that to do with it?” the young Christian asked him rather bluntly.

“Never mind,” the priest replied. “Answer my question: Where are lights placed?”

“I suppose in dark places,” she replied.

Speaking of Jesus, John wrote in the Prologue of his Gospel, “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it…. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.”

It speaks of Jesus, but it also speaks of the illuminating light of Jesus. A light that seeks out others and enlightens them in the ways of God. Jesus says toward the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Jesus is the light, but he has shared His light with us so that we might also become beacons of hope and love in the darkness.

What does such light look like? 

Desmond Tutu was born in 1931, and he died on December 26, 2021. He was also one of ours—a South African Anglican bishop and theologian known for his work against apartheid and for human rights.

In 1940, Desmond’s mother worked as a cook in a hospital for women. The story tells that Desmond—he was nine years old at the time—and his mother were walking down the street, and a white man in a dark suit was walking toward them. The rules of apartheid dictated that Desmond and his mother step into the gutter, bow their heads, and allow the white man to pass. However, before they had the opportunity to do so, the white man stepped off the street first and, as they passed, tipped his hat to Desmond’s mother. After a time, Desmond asked his mother why the white man would do that, to which his mother replied, “He is a man of God.” The white man was Trevor Huddleston, Bishop in the Anglican Church.

Bishop Huddleston not only could have but should have ignored them; instead, he ignored the societal expectations and norms and honored the Image of God that was within them. He became a light in a dark world.

Tutu said much later, “I couldn’t believe my eyes, a White man who greeted a Black working-class woman.”  This one event was a great deal of the inspiration for Desmond becoming an Anglican priest.

What does it look like to be the light in the darkness? It is not necessarily something big and grand. Sometimes, it is nothing more than a tip of the hat, but that tip of the hat can speak volumes of the work of God.

Later, Bishop Tutu would say, “So often when people hear about the suffering in our world, they feel guilty, but rarely does guilt actually motivate action like empathy or compassion. Guilt paralyzes and causes us to deny and avoid what makes us feel guilty. The goal is to replace our guilt with generosity. We all have a natural desire to help and to care, and we simply need to allow ourselves to give from our love without self-reproach. We each must do what we can. This is all that God asks of us.” 

How will you be the light? You don’t have to look far, and you don’t have to come up with some grand scheme. All that is required is that you be faithful to God’s calling to love one another as He has loved us.

Let us pray (a prayer from Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman that we can each make our own):  Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that my life may only be a radiance of Yours. Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus! Stay with me, and then I shall begin to shine as You shine, so to shine as to be a light to others; the light, O Jesus, will be all from You; none of it will be mine; it will be you, shining on others through me. Amen.

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Sermon: Christmas 2 RCL C (Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23) – “Squirrels”

He had semi-cameo roles in Monsters, Inc., and Ratatouille and won the coveted Palm Dog Award at the Cannes Film Festival, but he is best known for his role in the movie Up. Of course, we are talking about the one and only Dug (aka: Dug the talking dog.) 

Dug is a Golden Retriever who can talk via a unique collar created by his master, Charles Muntz. The collar can read Dug’s thoughts and then translate them into English. Famous Dug lines:

“My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you.”

“My master is good and smart.”

And, “I do not like the cone of shame.” 

However, Dug’s most famous line is, “Squirrel!”

For those who do not know the meaning, it occurs when you are on task and getting things done, and something irrelevant to the task and often inconsequential catches your attention. (For the record, we like letting squirrels loose in vestry meetings because they frequently generate some of the best ideas.) So, some squirrels are good, while others affect us negatively. 

A study was conducted on office workers and screen time to track attention spans. The researchers would watch and time how long someone stayed on a particular task. For example, you pull up a document and begin reading/writing. How long do you continue doing this before switching to something like viewing email? In 2004, workers averaged two-and-a-half minutes. I don’t know if that is good or bad, but by 2012, the time had been reduced to seventy-five seconds. These same researchers say that today, the average attention span is forty-seven seconds.

That’s office workers; however, in the real world, the average attention span of a human is 8.25 seconds, which means you’ve dropped in and out of this sermon multiple times, and I’m just getting started. 8.25 seconds sounds pretty sad, but what makes it even more pathetic is the fact that a goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds. Bottom line: we have a lot of squirrels running loose in our heads. I suppose that’s not so bad if we are watching TV or scrolling social media, but it does become problematic when we are trying to do things like driving or studying.

The squirrels will lead us straight into a ditch if we are not careful.

In our Gospel reading, we read about the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt. Joseph had a dream that Herod would try and kill Baby Jesus, so he quickly fled Israel with Mary and Jesus and went to Egypt, where they lived for a few years. Then, another dream tells Joseph it is safe to return to their homeland, so leaving Egypt, they eventually settle in Nazareth. In telling this story, Matthew reminds his readers of something the Prophet Hosea had said, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” (Hosea 11:1) However, Hosea wasn’t thinking of Jesus when he said this. Instead, Hosea is referring to the Israelites’ escape from 400 years of enslavement in Egypt. The “son” Hosea is speaking of is all the people. The Lord has brought all His people out of Egypt and out of slavery.

Following their escape, the Israelites passed safely through the Red Sea, and their enemy was destroyed when the waters crashed back down. They wandered in the desert for all those years but eventually came to the Jordan River. With the Ark of God going before them, they made the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River—the river was caused to be stopped up, and they crossed on dry land. They entered the Promised Land and began the fulfillment of God’s plan. 

Some might say that God’s plan for the Israelites was to conquer the land they had been given and have a home of their own. This is true to an extent, but that was not their primary purpose. We read of it in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah what this was.

“Thus says God, the Lord,
    who created the heavens and stretched them out,
    who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
    and spirit to those who walk in it:

‘I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
    I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
    a light for the nations,

    to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
    from the prison those who sit in darkness.’”

(Isaiah 42:5-7)

The Israelites were to be the Light of the Nations, but… “Squirrel!” They lost their focus. Their attention was drawn away from God. “Wow. That’s a pretty girl. Kinda looks like Scarlett Johansson. Who cares if she is a Gentile, and who cares if God said we weren’t to marry Gentiles? She’s the goil for me.” “Our crops failed this year, but all the Gentiles’ crops did great. It must be the gods they worship that did the trick. We’ll worship Yahweh on the Sabbath, but we’ll worship these other gods the rest of the week.” “Ever heard the expression, ‘When in Rome?’ Well, we aren’t in Rome, but if we want to get along with all our new neighbors, we better start acting like them.” “But God said we can’t.” “Yeah, well, God forgot to mention their goils look like Scarlett Johansson!” 

They were called out of Egypt to be the bearers of God’s light, but all these squirrels kept drawing their attention away from God. This led to their disobedience, and they ended up looking like everybody else, wandering around in darkness. 

So, out of Egypt, God called another Son. But this One is His True Son—Jesus. As we read today, like the Israelites, Jesus was called out of Egypt. Like the Israelites, Jesus passed through the waters of the Jordan River at His baptism. Like the Israelites, Jesus was to be a light to the nations. Unlike the Israelites, Jesus accomplished this great work of the Father. Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness… the squirrels did not overcome Him.

On Christmas Eve, we talked about baptism and understood that Jesus did not need to be baptized by John the Baptist because He was without sin. However, Jesus humbled Himself and submitted to the baptism of John so that He might show us the way to become sons and daughters of God.

Jesus was “called out of Egypt,” and in a spiritual sense, to be “called out of Egypt” is to be called out of slavery to sin. Jesus was “called out of Egypt,” not because He was a slave to sin but, like His baptism, He was called out of Egypt so He could go before us, lead us, and again show us the way out of Egypt where we were enslaved. 

Now, through the work of the Cross, we have been delivered through the waters of the Jordan River at our baptism and placed in the Promised Land. We are to be this light to the nations, calling all of creation out of Egypt so they, too, might participate in God’s Kingdom. However, we can only accomplish this great work if we don’t lose our focus. We can’t allow our attention to be drawn away from God by all the silly squirrels that bounce around us.

St. Paul teaches us, “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2) 

There are all sorts of squirrels that can be fun to chase around and see where they lead. However, when it comes to our relationship with God, we must let them go. We can’t be drawn away from God’s righteousness, but we must keep our eyes on the narrow path that leads to Him. 

Let us pray:
Father in Heaven,
You made us Your children
and called us to walk in the Light of Christ.
Free us from darkness
and keep us in the Light of Your Truth.
The Light of Jesus has scattered
the darkness of hatred and sin.
Called to that Light,
we ask for Your guidance.
Form our lives in Your Truth,
our hearts in Your Love.
Through the Holy Eucharist,
give us the power of Your Grace
that we may walk in the Light of Jesus
and serve Him faithfully.
Amen.

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Sermon: Nino

Legend has it that a Jewish Rabbi named Elias was in Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified.  Following the crucifixion, he found the soldier who had won Jesus’ robe through the casting of dice and bought it from him.  He then returned to his own country in Georgia, where he took the robe.  Later, the robe would find its home in the crypt at the Orthodox Cathedral in Mtskheta.  It is brought out on October 1st every year and celebrated as the Robe of Christ.

Around the year 300, a young girl, Nino, was born in Cappadocia, Turkey.  When she was twelve, her family moved to Jerusalem, where Nino would eventually become an orphan.  She was taken in by an older Christian woman who told her the stories of Christ, including the history of the Robe.  Hearing this, Nino desired to be found worthy to travel to Georgia to venerate the relic, so she began to pray to the Theotokos, the Mother of God. 

Her prayer was answered, and the Virgin Mary spoke to her, “Go to the country that was assigned to me by lot and preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will send down His grace upon you, and I will be your protector.”

Nino did not believe she could carry out such a task. “How can I, a fragile woman, perform such a momentous task, and how can I believe that this vision is real?”  In her vision, she was given a cross made out of grapevine, and the Theotokos said to her, “Receive this cross as a shield against visible and invisible enemies!”  When she woke up, the cross was in her hands.  She relayed the words of Mary to the Patriarch of the church, her uncle, who prayed.  “O Lord, God of Eternity, I beseech Thee on behalf of my orphaned niece: Grant that, according to Thy will, she may go to preach and proclaim Thy Holy Resurrection. O Christ God, be Thou to her a guide, a refuge, and a spiritual father. And as Thou didst enlighten the Apostles and all those who feared Thy name, do Thou also enlighten her with the wisdom to proclaim Thy glad tidings.” (Source)

A series of events eventually led Nino to the people of Georgia, where she converted the Queen and King, solidifying the Christian faith in that country.  

The Church that was initially established by the preaching of the Apostle Andrew and later built up by Nino still exists today, and the people of the Russian Orthodox Church and others still revere Nino.  

Naaman came to Elisha to be healed of his leprosy, so Elisha instructed him to go and bathe in the river. Naaman thought that to be too simple of a task. He wanted to earn his cleansing, but his servant said, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”

To do God’s will, some are called to go and preach the Gospel, while others are called to simply wash and be clean. When God calls a person to the fulfillment of His will, it is not about whether or not the task is simple or challenging. Instead, it is about our obedience in submitting and following through. 

Whatever God is calling you to, be obedient. When you are uncertain or even unmotivated, obedience will see you through.

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Sermon: Advent 2 RCL C – “Song of the Soul”

A violinist noticed that his playing had a hypnotic effect on his audience. They sat motionless as though they were in a trance. He found he had the same impact on his friends’ pets. Dogs and cats would sit spellbound while he played. Wondering if he could cast the same spell over wild beasts, he went to a jungle clearing in Africa, took out his violin, and began to play. A lion, an elephant, and a gorilla charged into the clearing stopped to listen, and sat mesmerized by the music. Soon, the clearing was filled with every kind of ferocious animal, each one listening intently. Suddenly, another lion charged out of the jungle pounced on the violinist, and killed him instantly.

The first lion, bewildered, asked, “Why did you do that?”

The second lion cupped his paw behind his ear. “What?”

If you ask the experts, they will tell you that a digital recording produces better sound quality than a vinyl record. If you ask me, I’ll tell you vinyl produces better quality. Why? For whatever reason, I can hear it better, and for someone who does not hear so well, that is reason enough to spend a few more dollars on the music I genuinely enjoy. 

When you look at a record, you can see it has grooves/lines that the needle settles into. However, when you put a vinyl record under a microscope, it looks like a mountain range: ridges, valleys, bumps, wiggles, and all. When you play a CD, it is reading a digital code made up of ones and zeroes. When you play a vinyl record, the needle (stylus for all you aficionados) reads all those ridges, valleys, bumps, and wiggles, converting them into electrical signals that are then played through the speakers. If all goes well… beautiful music, but you have to take care of records.

A scratch on a CD may or may not damage the sound quality, but even minor scratches on a vinyl record will produce a popping sound. Why? You’ve added a new element to the ridges and valleys, and the needle reads it. It may pop, but if the scratch is bad enough, the needle may jump out of the groove and skip part of the song.

Today, our Gospel reading begins with a list of who’s who. Luke, by providing all these details, isn’t dropping names. Instead, he is setting the timeframe for those who would read his Gospel. So, with the info provided, we know it is about 29/30 AD. (FYI: many believe that AD means “after death,” referring to the death of Jesus. However, it is an abbreviation for Anno Domini, meaning “the year of our Lord.”) What is Luke setting the timeframe for? The ministry of John the Baptist.

John, we are told, went about the region surrounding the Jordan River “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Luke then states, “as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah.” In other words, Luke tells us that John’s ministry is a fulfillment of prophecy. 

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.’”

That is Isaiah 4:3, but who is speaking those words? To learn this, we have to read the first two verses of Isaiah 40.

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.”

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” Isaiah records the words, but it is as though he is sitting in the room with God, for it is God Himself speaking. God is calling for the comfort of His people. Why? 

You’ll remember from last week, we discussed the Babylonian Captivity—when the Israelites were taken slaves in Babylon following the sacking of Jerusalem. God is speaking comfort because that captivity is nearing its end. The people will soon be set free and allowed to return home, and it is God who will lead them. A few verses on, the Lord says,

“He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.”

(Isaiah 40:11)

So, putting that all together, the Lord says that He will lead his people out of captivity and that the way ahead shall be made ready and made easy. As though calling on His Holy Angels, the Lord says to them, 

“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth.”

So, if Isaiah was talking about the release of captivity from Babylon, why then was Luke applying this passage to the ministry of John? Answer: the people are still being held captive. However, this time, it is not by some foreign adversary (although the Romans occupy the land); instead, they are being held captive by their sins.

John  came “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” The call to “Prepare the way of the Lord” is not about preparing smoother roads. It is about preparing the soul. 

You were created in the Image of God, an image that is perfection. An image that was never meant to decay or even know death. People will say that “death is natural.” No, it is not. It is the most unnatural thing we do. We were created for life eternal, but through sin, death entered in—the Image of God that is within us became distorted.

Our bodies and souls were created to play the most beautiful music. Music that was in perfect harmony with our Creator. Yet, through the sin of Adam and Eve, we received our first “scratch.” Over time, and through our disobedience, we became even more damaged so that the music we now play contains discord—pops, skips, and missing pieces; therefore, John’s proclamation for repentance is still valid. Luke’s call to fill in the valleys and smooth the rough ways is a way of saying we need to repair the scratches so that we may again play beautiful music. How do we do this? 

Isaiah told those in captivity that God would lead them. Remember his words: “He will tend his flock like a shepherd.” God will also lead us. God, the Good Shepherd—Jesus—will lead us. It is He who leads us out of the captivity of our sins and restores the Image of God within us. In the next chapter of Luke, we hear Jesus also quote Isaiah.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:18-21)

Jesus will restore the image of God within, but just as we must protect and care for a vinyl record, we must also protect and care for our souls. This is not because Jesus will get tired and just quit repairing the scratches. Through grace, He never will, but to sin is to willingly place ourselves back into the captivity we were set free from. St. Paul also asked this same question.

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” A few verses on, he says, “Sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace… Thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” (Romans 6:1-2, 14, 17-18) 

We are not those who willingly submit ourselves to captivity and the slavery of sin. Sin shall not be our master and defile the beautiful song of our souls. Instead, we submit ourselves to God and allow His ways to rule in our lives so that the song of our souls may once again be in harmony with the Lover of our souls.

St. James tells us, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you…. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:7, 10)

Submit yourself to God so that the Image of God within you may be restored.

Let us pray: Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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