Seventh Sunday of Easter

7th Sunday of Easter (Sunday after Ascension Day) – Year B (RCL) 2009
Acts: 1: 15 – 17, 21 – 26; Psalm 1; 1 John 5: 9 – 13; John 17: 6 – 19
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish, Portland, OR
Sunday, May 24, 2009

STANDIN’ IN THE NEED OF PRAYER

Let us pray: God of truth and light we ask you this day to hold us in your light and bind us to each other in your truth. We are often tempted to live outside of – rather than live out your gospel message of love and truth. In the model of your Holy One, Jesus the Christ, you sent us the Word who taught us your words of truth and joy in you. Guide our hearts and our wills this day that we may look toward your Word for the promises which are fulfilled in Christ’s prayer that we all may be one. Fullfill in your people the good news which is proclaimed in your Easter joy. Amen.

(SUNG) STAND TOGETHER FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE,
WORK FOR WHAT MUST BE DONE.
LOVE EACH OTHER IN ALL THAT YOU DO,
TILL ALL MY PEOPLE ARE ONE.

One of the greatest gifts about being an ordained leader in the Christian faith is that people, all sorts of people from all walks of life – will ask you to pray for them and with them. In public services of worship – and in private moments in offices or hospital corridors, God’s people will ask you to direct their hearts and their souls toward the creator and lead them in prayer. It can be quite powerful to be left with the simple reality of another person’s fear and pain and then to translate that fear into words which address the very root of our heart, that is our connection with the God who loves us. To raise our mundane concerns into the petitions of the children of God, beseaching that God to act in powerful and healing ways in our lives and the lives of those whom we love, is an awesome responsibility. In the completion of the “farewell discourse” of the Author of John’s Gospel account of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth – that Jesus pauses before suffering and dying to lift those whom he loves to the heart of the God who loves them.

In the pericope for this 7th Sunday of Easter we reach the culmination of the farewell discourse and what has been called the great high priestly prayer. Jesus, knowing what is to come in following days pleads on behalf of those to whom will be entrusted the good news of the Kindom of God. In that prayer, which can seem wordy and stiff to the 21st century hearer – Jesus lays out all that has been done through his ministry and asks God to protect and sanctify those who will carry on the work of the Gospel. As I was reading this prayer and meditating on its message to me – I was struck by the author’s use of the word – Word. Two different Greek words are used to connote the different meanings which the author wishes to covey to the audience of Jesus’ use of ‘word’. The first, and most common one for this author is Logos. We are most familiar with that concept of Logos or word –from the prologue of this Gospel account. “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.” It is this Logos meaning to which the Church has assigned the concept of the Word become flesh and dwelling among us. The other Greek phrase which is translated is rhemata – which is perhaps better translated as “words” more along the context of those words being “commands” or “precepts” which are laid down to be followed. So, in this Gospel when Jesus refers to the “word” (singular) it might be taken in the context of the entire message which Jesus conveys in his ministry (logos); and when the phrase words (plural) is used Jesus is referring to those teachings which should be regarded as precepts or commands to be remembered and followed. Re-reading this morning’s High Priestly prayer in that context can help to open some new insight. Jesus is not claiming as might seem a little presumptuous that the disciples now understand all of the words which Jesus gave them. In fact, we know that at this point in the narrative they do not; and that they are far from understanding all that Jesus has done so far and will do for them in the next few hours. Rather, Jesus is praying for them and pointing out to God that they have received the Word – and have faith that the Word is from God, and is God. Jesus knows, as God knows, that the followers will be challenged in the days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries and millenia before them to understand all that has been told to them. Yet Jesus also knows that God’s message in the Word will reach out to the corners of the earth and beyond because of this rag tag group of believers, filled by the power of the Holy Spirit which God will send to them. For the success of that mission and ministry – Jesus prays that, “they may be one, as we are one.”

(SUNG) STAND TOGETHER FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE,
WORK FOR WHAT MUST BE DONE.
LOVE EACH OTHER IN ALL THAT YOU DO.
TILL ALL MY PEOPLE ARE ONE.

This prayer for “unity” is a large part of the message which the author of the Gospel has Jesus convey in the farewell discourse. The cultural and societal context for this emphasis would be evident in the struggles that the Johanine community was having with the rest of the Church in Jerusalem and the Mediteranian. The Christian community out of which the Author of John’s Gospel account arises was deeply divided from the rest of the early Church in its undertandings of Jesus’ ministry and mission. Still, that community knew that the central message of the Logos or Word that dwells among them was the same for all believers. That essential truth was the Jesus the Christ was the son of God and that belief in that truth would lead to eternal life for all who followed. The particulars of how that Word was revealed, and how the followers would interpret the meaning of the words which Jesus spoke was up for discussion – the essential truth was not.

In contrast to that early Johanine community which we read about in the Gospel narrative – we hear a story this morning from the Lukan community which was struggling to figure out how to carry on the message of the Good News of God in Christ. From the Luke/Acts account this morning we hear the story of the succession planning of the Apostles. Desiring to have the full complement of Apostles, the gathered leaders discern a means to replace the Iscariot Judas – who as we know despaired and took his own life after the betrayal of the Messiah. The gathered eleven, soon after the Ascension, decide that they must devise a method for choosing another Apostle to carry on the important work of the community. Two individuals are proposed to fill the spot. Note, please, that no declaration of “purity” of theological or Christological understanding is required of the nominees. Leaders from among them who are respected and admired are offered for consideration and the new Apostle is chosen after prayer by the casting of lots. Can you just imagine the sense of relief on the part of Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus? I trust that both of the individuals named in the reading went on to fruitful and distinquished carrers in the Episcopacy – though the narrative does not specify that. The important point being made by the author of the narrative, is that the work of the Gospel needed to be done. The individuals whom God and God’s Holy Spirit will lift up for that work, need to be respected and admired members of the community – nothing more and nothing less. We have, in our perpetuation of the institutional Church created such barriers for those who wish to serve in God’s vineyard – perhaps we would be better served by the casting of lots. Members of our Bishop Search Committee, and the voting delegates of Convention take heed.

In all seriousness though – Jesus’ prayer whether “high priestly” or not – was a heartfelt pleading to God to care for and protect, to support and sanctify those whom Jesus would make responsible for the continuation of the Good News. Jesus knew what they and we would face in a world which would be hostile at best to the threat to its power. Jesus knew and knows the temptations and taunts which the evil in our world will throw against the power of good. In this farewell prayer, Jesus asks God to protect and defend, to set apart and sanctify that rag tag band of believers who would stumble their way to the resurrection moment. As they grew in number and confidence they would haltingly and boldy proclaim the Good News of God in Christ. They would challenge the religious and political powers of their day and speak truth to power. Emboldened by the power of God’s Holy and life giving Spirit they would change the face of the world – and leave it in our hands to continue the work. As Jesus prayed that prayer for them – so Jesus continues to intercede with God on our behalves. As we gather in Jesus’ name to do the work which we have been given to do, we also must realize that the message of unity – not the message of conformity – is essential to our success in witnessing to the evil of the world that God’s Good News continues to shape our hearts, our minds and our institutions. We are all one as children of God. Our job as the Church is to proclaim to a world which wants no part of truth – that we witness to Truth made manifest in the Christ. It is that Christ who was sanctified so that we may also be sanctified in truth, who calls us to live out in unity the example of Christian comitment to the poor and downtrodden of our world. It is that Christ who sanctified himself so that we may also be sanctified in truth, who calls us to live out in unity the good news of relief to those who are held captive and freedom to those who are bound in slavery. As we witness to the power of that sanctified Christ in our hearts, in our lives and in our Church – we continue Jesus’ prayer that we may be one as Christ and Creator are one.

(SUNG) TILL ALL GOD’S PEOPLE ARE ONE.


Amen.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Sixth Sunday of Easter – Year B (RCL) 2009
Acts: 10: 44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 5: 1 – 6; John 15: 9 – 17
St. Stephen’s Epsicopal Parish, Portland, OR
Sunday, May 17, 2009

YOU ARE MY FRIENDS – BECAUSE YOU LOVE

Let us pray: Powerful Jesus, in your glorious resurrection, you defeated death, broke the bonds of evil, and took your place in glory. You not only defeated death – you also came back to your disciples and to us. You call us to be part of your redeeming resurrecting work. You make our hands your hands in the world. You made us your friends. Give us what we need to be worthy of your trust and faith in us, prepare our hearts and minds to do the work to which you have called us – the work of reconciling all things to yourself. In your holy and life giving name we pray. Amen.

(SUNG) WHEN YOUR DOWN AND TROUBLED, AND NEED SOME
LOVING CARE, AND NOTHING NOTHING IS GOING RIGHT.
CLOSE YOUR EYES AND THINK OF ME, AND SOON I WILL BE
THERE TO BRIGHTEN UP, EVEN YOUR DARKEST NIGHT.

Once again we find ourselves in the middle of the farewell discourse of the Author of John’s Gospel account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazaraeth. This morning on this Sixth Sunday of Easter – we hear the voice of our beloved Savior telling us of the power of love. This Gospel text, in fact, is often used for the Celebration and Blessing of A Marriage. It was the text for a wedding that I preached yesterday. I was tempted to just take that sermon and move it over to this morning; but somehow it losses its effect with a Bride and all of the trappings that go with a Wedding. All of our readings in this Easter season have pulled from our sacred stories in scripture the message of God’s unbounded and all encompasing love for God’s people even, and perhaps especially when we are most unlovable. We love, scripture tells us, because we are loved. God loves and is love – so we are able to inherit a piece of that godhead and we strive to love as we ourselves are loved. God in the incarnation of Jesus the Christ has told us that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our hearts, and minds and strength; and that the second is very much like the first to love each other, i.e., our neighbors as ourselves.

The passage taken from the 15th Chapter of the Author of John’s Gospel is one used in Holy Week, specifically at the Maundy or Holy Thursday liturgy. This idea of re-using a sermon text seems to be taking on a theme of its own…Now, I know that I probably could have taken my sermon from that night and delivered it today on this 15th chapter text since most of you here present were not present when that sermon was delivered. That would present some problems, however, in addition to it being considered sort of “cheating”. The message to take from the Gospel text would be different however for the ears of those hearing it on the night Jesus was handed over to suffering and death than it would be for those hearing it in the sixth Sunday of the season of Easter joy and resurrection celebration. Imagine, the same text with a different message culled from it depending on the circumstances of the listener? I love the Anglican ethos of Scripture, Tradition and Reason all contributing to our understanding of how God speaks to us.

The pericope from the Author of John’s Gospel reading this morning is closely linked with the section which we shared together last Sunday. Thinking all that way back, Jesus was telling the disciples of the vinegrower and the true vine. The interconnected nature of God’s relationship with Jesus and with us, and how that relationship will be nutured and fed when Jesus departs from his friends and God sends the Spirit of truth to dwell among them and us. In this next section of the farewell discourse Jesus addresses the disciples and speaks to them of love and of friendship. In our current cultural understanding of how we relate with God and God’s relationship with us – what has developed in the last century is an understanding of a “personal” relationship with God in Christ Jesus. That development is a natural progression from the ethos of post modern thinking. What we fail to realize at times is that this understanding is far different from the understanding of 1st Century humanity in the hebraic and helenistic world. The idea of God being our “friend” was a truly a revolutionary one.

(SUNG) YOU JUST CALL OUT MY NAME, AND YOU KNOW
WHEREVER I AM, I’LL COME RUNNIN TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER OR FALL – ALL YOU HAVE TO
DO IS CALL AND I’LL BE THERE YES I WILL, YOU’VE GOT
A FRIEND.

Reflect back to our hebrew scripture stories and we can grasp that God invites us into covenant relationship – and that relationship is based on God’s desire to teach and guide the chosen people into an understanding of the commandments and precepts of the requirements for the continuation of that covenental relationship. You will be my people, and I will be your God we hear in the Book of the prophet Jeremiah. Time and again as Yahweh deals with the people that relationship is based on awe and trembling – power and might. God is God and the people of God cannot even see God’s face and live. With the coming of the godhead as manifest in Jesus of Nazaraeth; the relationship between God and humanity is changed. God, in all of God’s majesty, in fact dwells among mortals. Jesus gathers in those with whom God is opening a new covenant and it is those whom God will call friend. In the passage which we share this morning from the 15th Chapter of the author of John’s account, Jesus is preparing those followers for their journey without him. “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.” This is, in fact, what is referred to as the mandatum novum or “new commandment” from which we derive our term maundy Thursday. In the meal that Jesus would share with the followers on that night the great gift would be given. The gift is the presence of the Christ in form of bread and wine that is to be offered “for the remembrance of me.” It is that gift which we receive each Sunday as we gather around God’s table and share as friends.

Jesus explains to the disciples the ultimate requirement of this friendship which God is offering – though at the time they really don’t “get it”. It is only after Jesus returns post resurrection that the real depth of these words which Jesus shares with them is recognized. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” It is that act of laying down of life which seals the new covenental relationship between God and humanity. In that totally selfless act the relationship between humanity and divinity is changed forever. It is from this point forward that our relationship changes from servant to friend. Think about the intimacy of friendship – we tell our closest friends things that we would tell no one else; we depend on our friends to be there when all others might desert us; we trust that our friend will forgive even our most hurtful actions and be there when we turn to pick up the pieces of fractured relationship. It is in that spirit of intimacy that Jesus tells them, “I have called you friends.”

The friendship which we share with God is different, however, than the friendship we share with each other. How many of your friends would you be willing to lay down your life for? How many of your friends offer you the level of intimacy which Jesus offers in gifts of bread and wine as body and blood? It is not our late 20th or early 21st century understanding of “best friend” which Jesus is talking about in this passage. How could it be? The friend relationship that God is establishing in the new covenant of the Christ is not based on equality of the two parties. I could hardly compare my desire to be in relationship with God to God’s desire to be in relationship with me. I will, in my human nature and in my sin, stray from the friendship. God will, in Divine nature and free from evil and sin, never stray from the friendship. I think that is a piece of what makes the invitation to love each other as God has loved us so difficult to accept. We can never live up to the charge, because we are not God – we are, afterall only human.

Here’s the Good News – we are not expected to live up to perfection – we are only asked to live up to potential. God has given each of us the ability to love, we can accept that gift or not. The choice is ours. The choice in relationship with God is always ours. We don’t even have to be the first one to seek out that relationship, in fact Jesus tells us that we are not the initator of this friendship which God offers. “You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” Jesus offers one commandment, the new one, that we love one another as God has loved us. If we truly live that one commandment than we don’t need to worry about living the others which were given on Mt. Sinai, because they are all included in that one! If we love one another as God has loved us then we will not worship other gods, profane the sabbath, dishonor our parents, kill each other or any other actions to void the covenant which God made with Israel and renews with us in Jesus the Christ. “If you keep my commandments” Jesus tells us “you will abide in my love.” Oh how simple is the commandment to love one another – simple yes; easy, no. God has given us all that we need to live as God’s friends. Christian community to share the gifts and burden’s and the bread and wine as food for the journey. We gather this day, as we do everytime we gather in God’s name to seek the strength to love each other as God has loved us.

Amen

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Fifth Sunday of Easter – Year B (RCL) 2009
Acts 8: 26 – 40; Psalm 22: 24 – 30; 1 John 4: 7 – 21; John 15: 1 – 8
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish, Portland, OR
Sunday, May 10, 2009

FRUIT OF THE VINE

Let us Pray: Pruning and sculpting God we are the work of your hands. Through our triumphs and tragedies we ask you to help us see your hand at work in our lives. We often want to believe that we can succeed through our own efforts and you gently remind us in our pride to return to you as the source of all our being. Shape us and prune us as you see fit, so that we may produce good fruit and bountiful harvest. Abide in us as you have promised – help us to abide in you as you have told us in the words of the Word, your Holy One, Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

(SUNG) ABIDE WITH ME, TIS’ EVEN-TIDE THE DAY IS PAST AND GONE
THE SHADOWS OF THE EVENING FALL, THE NIGHT IS COMING
ON.
WITHIN MY HEART A WELCOME GUEST, WITHIN MY HOME
ABIDE.
O SAVIOUR STAY THIS NIGHT WITH ME, BEHOLD WITH ME
ABIDE.
O SAVIOUR STAY THIS NIGHT WITH ME, BEHOLD TIS’
EVENTIDE.

Now I know that it is 7:45 or 10:00 AM and that this hymn is designed for another time of day; but the sentiment in it and the message of “abiding” in relationship with the Savior is perfectly appropriate for the Gospel message this morning so you are just going to have to live with the difficulty of hearing an evensong hymn in the early morning hours of this Fifth Sunday of Easter. It is this word “abide” which struck me when I was ruminating on the scriptures for this Sunday. Here is a definition of our English word which the translators of our Greek manuscripts render as “abide”. To wait for. To endure without yielding, to bear patiently; to accept without objection. To remain stable or fixed in a state; to continue in a place. The author of John’s Gospel uses this word eight times in the eight verses of that Gospel which comprise our pericope for this morning. Jesus calls on us to abide with him as he abides in us. Remain with Jesus as Jesus remains with us. Many have used this message thoughout our human history as a true comfort and consolation in times of difficulty and distress and this is certainly worthwhile and rewarding as the author of the old hymn points out. What can be challenging of course, is that not only do we have this message of abiding in the Christ as the Christ abides in us, but also the image and metaphor of the true vine and the branches. In that metaphor come some less “comforting” images – images like sharp knives pruning and dead branches burning; not quite as pastoral and comforting.

In this fifteenth chapter of the author of John’s Gospel we find ourselves in the middle of what scripture scholars describe as “the farewell discourse”. The author uses many different metaphors in that discourse to describe Jesus’ relationship to the disciples as well as the relationship of the “son” to the “father”. This morning we encounter the agrarian metaphor of the vinegrower, the true vine and the branches. Jesus tells the disciples that God is the vinegrower; Jesus himself is the true vine and the disciples and consequently ourselves are the branches. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, Israel has been identified as the “vine”; and now Jesus re-identifies that metaphor by placing himself as the “true vine”. Throughout our Christian history; the metaphor of the branches has been used in varied ways with differing degrees of judgement. Certainly we can see the power of scaring people into “good behaviour” by using Jesus’ description of the branches being “gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” What makes more sense for me, though, is to see that the challenges, pains and tragedies of my life have been those times when the pruning of my branch is working towards helping me to bear better and more abundant fruit.

This metaphor of the vine and the branches has been used also as a descriptor for Christ and Christ’s Church. This account of the Gospel narrative does not often; or at least not as frequently as the author of Matthew’s account does – depict the Church and its workings as part of Jesus’ ministry. This metaphor of the vine and the branches is, consequently viewed as a working metaphor for the Church and its ministry in the world in Jesus’ name. That ministry speaks to how we witness to the Gospel or Good News of Christ in a world that has wandered from its call to serve the least among us in the name of the Holy One of God.

(SUNG) O SAVIOUR STAY THIS NIGHT WITH ME, BEHOLD WITH ME
ABIDE.
O SAVIOUR STAY THIS NIGHT WITH ME, BEHOLD TIS’
EVENTIDE.

Some of you may be aware of the powerful and prophetic ministry of +Steven Charleston, former Bishop of the Diocese of Alaska and former Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA. Several years ago the Diocese of Oregon invited Bishop Charleston to be the keynote and facilitator for a conference on reconcilliation. That difficult process, reconcilliation was addressed again last week at The 40th Annual Collins Lecture by Retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Our world continues to need reminder of the ways in which God calls us to be witnesses to the truths that live deep within us. I would like to share with you this morning a piece which Bishop Charleston wrote for the Episcopal Church as she prepared to meet for the Seventy Fifth General Convention in Colombus, OH. The media and fear mongers of our society and our Church often would have us wringing our hands and fretting our hearts about the state of our Church as we gather in Convention and map out for ourselves the work of witness to our selves as a Church and to our world. Bishop Charleston has another suggestion – and he writes a piece which he titles “What Witness Will We Make” – the words still ring true as we look to our Seventy Sixth gathering in Anaheim in July:

As the Episcopal Church, the most important question before us is not about schism or sexuality. It is about witness. What witness will we make? Christian witness is the public affirmation of faith. It is how we let the world see that we practice what we preach.

Today those of us in the Episcopal Church are being called on to make our witness. We have the opportunity to be what we say we are. The world is watching. What will we do?

The answer is a matter of faith. We witness to what we believe.

In the Episcopal Church, we believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in the Bible. We believe in the Good News. In fact, we believe so strongly in all of these essential parts of our shared faith that we are not afraid to disagree with one another about what they mean to us.We welcome difference as the active presence of God's Holy Spirit moving amongst us. Our witness is not to conformity but to community.

As the Episcopal Church we are not concerned that everyone in the pews believes exactly the same thing, in the same way, at the same time. Instead, we are concerned that no one is left out of those pews because of what they believe, who they are, or where they come from.Our witness is to the unconditional love of God through the grace of Christ Jesus. Therefore, we accept the risk of grace by not setting limits to love with our own judgment of others. There are no border guards at the doors of the Episcopal Church. We respect the dignity of every human being and are never ashamed of who sits next to us in worship. We are all the children of God just as we are all sinners in need of mercy.

There are no walls around the Episcopal Church. We believe that God is at work in the world. We are not concerned that this world sees us as perfect, pure, or powerful. Instead, we are concerned that people see us practicing justice, doing mercy, and walking humbly with the God we believe loves us all equally.Our witness is to hope, not fear. We believe that men and women, no matter how separated they may think they are by religious conviction, cultural value, or social location, are never truly apart unless they choose to be. We have nothing to fear from one another unless we allow fear to be our witness. While the distance between us may seem great and the path to reconciliation impossibly long, we have the guidance and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we never despair of one another or deny one another for to do so would be to despair and deny the power of that Spirit.

Our witness is to mission. While the Spirit leads us to truth, we carry on with the task God has given us. We do not place pride before discipleship. While we may have many disagreements between us, we have only one mission before us. We never question the faith of the person who seeks to do the work of God. We believe that it is not important to know if that person is "right" or politically correct. It is only important to know if she or he feels welcomed into the servant ministry of Christ.

There are no loyalty oaths in the Episcopal Church, but there are many jobs for those who want to help heal a broken world.Our witness is to the reconciliation of God in a time of fear. In the Episcopal Church, we stand together not even if we disagree, but precisely because we disagree. We practice the radical hope of God. We embody a faith that says there are many rooms in the house of God, but one home for us all if we choose to live together. It is time to make our witness. In a century already marked by the terror of war, with zealots of all traditions inciting us into the patriotism of fear, what witness will we make? What alternative will we offer? What fresh vision will we share? Will we retreat into yet smaller factions of "true believers," whether from the Right or the Left, smug in our self righteous assurance that we have the truth? Will we struggle over property and power as though these things had lasting importance for us? Will we vilify one another and become agents of suspicion among the very people we love? Will we worry more about what people think of us than what God expects of us?

It is time to make our witness. It is time to take off our halos, our mitres, and our martyr's crown to stand up and be counted. What witness will each of us choose to make?I can not answer for anyone in this Church but myself. I do not ask that you agree with my theology. I do not demand that you read your Bible exactly as I read mine. I know that you and I may disagree on many subjects and find it hard to live together. But I also know that you are as much in need of God's forgiveness as I am. You and I need one another now more than ever because there are so many others who need us both in this hurting world. That world, the poor and the hungry, the captives and the prisoners, are depending on us to do more than argue with one another. For them, our witness is not a matter of church politics. It is a matter of life and death. I am counting on the fact that you know that.

Now is the time for us to extend our hands to one another. We will not walk away from the Body of Christ. Now is the time for us to use our hands. We will not place pride over mission. Now is the time for us to raise our hands. We will not forget that to God alone goes the glory.Are you a witness? Will you join me in this affirmation of faith?In my life I have known many seasons in the Episcopal Church. This is the season for our witness. This is the time for us to do something totally unexpected and wonderful, to confound those who say we have lost our vision. This is our moment to show the world that we can practice what we preach and be who we say we are. Our finest hour will not be when we think we have won something from one another, but when we know we have nothing to lose by loving one another.

I am a witness. I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in God's gospel of justice, compassion, and reconciliation. I believe in the community of God and I will work faithfully with every person to bring peace and healing to the world. I open my hands. I open my heart. I want the world to see that I am not afraid. I step gratefully into the unconditional love of God. I stand up to be counted not for what I think is right, but for what I believe to be possible. How about you?

Will you stand with me?

Are you a witness?

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Today (Sunday, May 3 2009) marked the begining of the ministry of Deacon Ken Arnold with the Community of St. Stephen's Episcopal Parish, Portland.

Deacon Ken gave the sermon - so I did not have to preach!

Third Sunday of Easter

Third Sunday of Easter – Year B (RCL) 2009
Acts 3: 12 – 19; Psalm 4; 1 John 3: 1 – 7; Luke 24: 36b – 48
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish, Portland, OR
Sunday, April 25, 2009

CALLED TO RESURRECTION RESPONSIBILITY

Let us Pray: Risen Jesus, we proclaim our belief in your presence among us. We are your messengers as you charged us to be – and yet we are often doubtful of the hope we proclaim. As you opened the minds and hearts of your disciples to the truth of your word; so open our hearts and minds to claim our inheritance as your Resurrection people that we might bodly proclaim as have the saints before us, that you are risen! You are risen indeed. Alleluia, Amen.

(SUNG) COME BACK TO ME, WITH ALL YOUR HEART
DON’T LET FEAR KEEP US APART.
TREES DO BEND THOUGH STRAIGHT AND TALL
SO MUST WE, TO OTHERS CALL
LONG HAVE I WAITED FOR YOUR COMING HOME
TO ME AND LIVING DEEPLY OUR NEW LIFE.

On this third Sunday of Easter – we hear the third resurrection appearance narrated according to the author of the Luke/Acts Gospel account. This third appearance is interesting in that it comes directly on the heels of the second appearance to the two un-named disciples along the road to Emmaus. There are several parallel occurrances in both appearances and one distinctive occurrence in the 3rd resurrection appearance which is of paramount importance in our response to its call.

“While the disciples were telling how they had seen Jesus risen from the dead, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’. The two disciples who had spent time with Jesus (apparantly not knowing that it was Jesus) along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus are now excitedly telling the others of their experience. Though we are not told the exact location of this encounter with their risen saviour, it is safe to assume that we are in “the upper room” which is “locked for fear of the Jews” as we are told in the author of John’s account of this event. Picture the scene if you can, and try to frame it within your own life experience. Two of your friends are excitedly telling of an incredible experience they had along the road just before dark. It seems that they believe that a loved and respected teacher and mentor whom everyone knows had been executed by the political and religious leadership just a short time ago, is in fact alive and walking among them.

Imagine your reaction to these two excited and enthusiastic friends. Some of us would put on our pastor or “helper” faces and try to talk with them. “Now, we know how upset you’ve been in the past few days – and it’s perfectly understandable. Grief is a powerful emotion and our minds can play all sorts of tricks on us in the dark.” Others might simply go the route of disbelief and dismissal. “Get a load of them, sad isn’t it when we just can’t accept the reality of our world?” Still others might be swayed by their enthusiasim and convince ourselves that they saw what they “wanted” or “needed” to see in order to make sense of the crasy events of the last few days. Very few of us, I would imagine, would have bought the whole story, hook, line and sinker! How could we? We know the limits of our world. The dead are dead – that’s final, they don’t breath again, they don’t walk again – and they certainly don’t eat again.

This is the practical and realistic side of our nature. Our experience teaches us that death is the end of our understanding in relationship with each other. We do not know what the dead experience, but we do know what we experience about the dead. Then there’s Jesus, once again upsetting the balance of our lives. Once more, turning our minds and our hearts inside out with radical messages of new life and new possibility in relationship with our God – whom we had already figured out perfectly well, thank you very much! Now we are told, the one whom we betrayed and crucified – the one whom we mocked and spat upon; has returned breathing, walking and eating among us and bidding us “Peace”. What in God’s name is going on?

(SUNG) COME BACK TO ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART
DON’T LET FEAR KEEP US APART.
LONG HAVE I WAITED FOR YOUR COMING HOME TO ME
AND LIVING DEEPLY OUR NEW LIFE.

So this Jesus has come back, or so it would appear from the stories which are narrated in our Gospel accounts. Yet it is not the same Jesus whom the disciples encountered prior to the Good Friday experience. This is a different Jesus, one who is loving and yet distant, “do not hold onto me” he tells the Magdalene. Something is different about this Jesus. The disciples and followers have difficulty recognizing the Resurrected Jesus as he appears among them. Actions are necessary which allow them to place Jesus in a context where they will be able to identify and accept that it is indeed the Risen Lord who is in their midst. Bread must be broken and shared, food must be taken and eaten – and then their eyes are opened to see the Christ and to share the Christ.

While they are busy and distracted, arguing among themselves about the impossibility of what some of them have seen and believe – Jesus stands among them and says, “Peace be with you.” Because they were not able to comprehend the incomprehensible – they are filled with fear and confusion. We are told they they were “startled and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost.” I wonder what my own reaction would have been had I been present in that upper room? I wonder if I would have been open to the possibility of the presence of the resurrected Jesus? Probably not. I can examine the instances in my own life when I have known, in retrospect that the power of the resurrected Christ was present and I have never been particularly receptive in the moment. I have witnessed resurrection moments in my own life – for myself and for others around me – and my reaction has generally not been much different from the reactions of those in the story we hear this morning. I am usually distracted and doubting, fearful and confused as to what is truly happening in the moment. Afterwards, with hindsight and introspection, I can “see” that it was the power of the risen Christ which allowed the moment to be so grace filled- but generally not while I am in the middle of the fear and confusion. Jesus can take the moment and patiently reveal to me the truth of our encounter, and then slowly and cautiously I can reconstruct the events in my mind and experience the miracle of new birth and new possibility.

This is what we are told happened in that upper room with the frightened and confused followers. Jesus came back to them, to reveal to them that what had been promised had been delivered. God, in God’s goodness and grace had kept the covenant yet once again. In this new covenant – all would be welcomed into the life of repentance and forgiveness of sin. This then, is the one distinctive occurrance in this 3rd resurrection appearance which is of paramount importance in our response. In this appearance to the disciples and followers in that upper room – Peace is proclaimed; joy is experienced, knowledge is imparted and finally, unlike the previous appearances - responsibility is commanded. It is in this third appearance that Jesus gives the “commission” which the author of this Gospel account imparts as “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

Here then is where the resurrection responsibility is imparted to the disciples – and consequently to us. “You are witnesses of these things.” This is where we are called to be witnesses to the world of what we have seen and what we believe. The resurrected Jesus doesn’t spend long periods of time as we understand that concept with the followers. What the resurrected Jesus does do for them – and for us – is to open up our minds to understand the scriptures. Now I know what your going to say – that you don’t always understand all of the scriptures; and here’s a secret for you – neither do I. What I do know, is that Jesus was very clear in what he commanded the disciples to do; and, I believe, very clear in what is commanded of us to do. If we are to claim to be Christ’s followers – if we are to identify as “Christians” – then we will have to take on this resurrection responsibility. If we are to rescue that title of “Christian” from the hands and pulpits of those who would look to use it to bearate all who fail to believe as they believe – then will will have to take on this resurrection responsibility. The good news is that we don’t have to take it on alone. Jesus as promised is with us, always, until the end of the age. We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit, the advocate to assist us. In community the responsibility is shared among us, and the gifts of God’s Holy Spirit are distributed among each of us to make the job easier, but be clear, the job belongs to all of us.

Jesus did not leave them knowing that all of their doubts and questions had been quieted. Jesus did not leave them assured that they would never again be filled with fear or confusion, with doubts or dispairs. Jesus did not leave them perfectly equipped for the work to which they were called and ready for any situation which would face them. Jesus did not leave them alone. Jesus did not leave them. What Jesus leaves them and us with is the gift of the Holy Spirit to aid in our discernment of the scriptures. What Jesus leaves them and us with is the gift of the meal which he shared with them and with us to provide nourishment for the work to which they were called and to which we are called in their footsteps. We are called to proclaim Good News. We are charged with the proclamation of repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Christ’s name to all nations beginning from this place – we are witnesses of these things; and for that we have a resurrection responsibility.

Amen

Second Sunday of Easter

Second Sunday of Easter – Year B (RCL) 2009
Acts 4: 32 – 35; Psalm 133; 1 John 1: 1 – 2: 2; John 20: 19 – 31
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish, Portland OR
Sunday, April 19, 2009

A FAITHFILLED DOUBTER

Let us pray: Holy God our hearts are full of the joy of this season in the church, and in the world. All around us signs of new birth and renewal greet our eyes and our ears. Often in the midst of this celebration our hearts can turn to other concerns, which leave us anxious, fearful or unsure of the promises of renewal. Yet, you return to the locked rooms of our hearts and burst in with your blessing of shalom. Fill us with this gift of your peace that emanates from the breath of your Spirit. Keep coming to us, Holy Redeemer; keep raising us from the dead. Help our Alleluia’s resound with the true joy of your presence in our resurrected lives and the hope of new and unending life in you. Amen.

(SUNG) SHALOM HAVERIM, SHALOM HAVERIM, SHALOM, SHALOM
L’HITRA OT, L’HITRA OT
SHALOM, SHALOM

In “liturgical lingo” the second Sunday in Easter is often referred to as “low Sunday”. This title some believe has to do with the placement of this Sunday in relation to the penultimate celebration in the Christian calendar which was observed last week that of the Resurrection – while others will argue that it refers to the large drop in attendance figures from those who were simply “churched out” over the events and celebrations of Holy Week; and the disappearance of those whom “mi sainted Irish Mither (may she rest in peace) used to describe as “A & P Catholics”; i.e., “ashes and palms”. The celebration of this 2nd Sunday in Easter is also referred to as St. Thomas Sunday and as “Quasi Modo” Sunday. That title comes from the first line of the Latin text of the traditional Introit for this Sunday, which began with that phrase and is translated as “As newborn babes”, from the 1st Letter of Peter’s 2nd Chapter which the Church used to refer to those newly baptized the previous week at the Vigil service. Those of you more familiar with Quasi Modo as the character from the Victor Hugo Novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame might remember that the central character was found on the doorsteps of the Cathedral on the Sunday after Easter and was named after this day. The “St. Thomas Sunday” moniker refers to the fact that in all three of the years of the liturgical cycle for lectionary readings the passage from the author of John’s Gospel dealing with the appearance of the resurrected Christ in the locked room when the Twin Thomas is present is used on this Sunday. So, we might rightly refer to this as “doubting Thomas Sunday”. If we did, though we might not want to be so negative or pejorative in our descriptions of this telling of Thomas’ experience with the Risen Savior.

From many faithful believers – Thomas (or in Greek, “twin”) gets the short shrift from the events of this Gospel story. The author of John’s Gospel in this pericope tells us first of the events on the evening of the Resurrection. Ten of the disciples have gathered themselves in a house and locked the doors “for fear of the Jews.” Despite their fear and vigilant security measures – Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘peace be with you.’ The author then tells us that after saying this Jesus shows them the marks from his hands and side. Only after this are we told that “the disciples rejoiced when the saw the Lord.” Now even though the other ten disciples do not demand that they must see the markings of Jesus’ physical body; the scars from the hands and side of the Christ – it is not until they actually see them that they become convinced that Jesus is with them in body as well as in spirit. Thomas may demand that he will not believe until he touches those scars – yet none of them is able to acknowledge the reality of this resurrected savior among them until they encounter the manifestations of his physical body; his scars, his voice or his breaking of bread and sharing of food with them. The primary emotional experience for those who encounter the risen Christ in these post resurrection experiences seems to be fear. Whatever there is about this Jesus’ appearance after emerging from the rock hewn tomb; something about it keeps others from freely recognizing the teacher, rabbi and friend with whom they freely mingled and mixed in the villages and cities healing the sick and scandalizing the religious authorities of the day. This resurrected Christ embodies a sense of calm and deliberate peace that is communicated each time we experience an encounter with those who witness the miracle of Jesus of Nazareth’s crucified body in the fifty days before the Pentecost moment and the coming of the Holy Spirit.


(SUNG) SHALOM HAVERIM, SHALOM HAVERIM, SHALOM, SHALOM
L’HITRA OT, L’HITRA OT
SHALOM, SHALOM

One week (or literally translated eight days) after the Easter empty tomb experience, the disciples have again gathered in the house; the doors, though not locked are still closed, and this time Thomas is with them. Again Jesus appears in the midst of them and says, “Peace be with you.” This “peace” with which Jesus greets the disciples to relieve their fear is the peace of the Hebrew “shalom”. This shalom blessing has become a central piece of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori’s priesthood, episcopacy and now primatial ministry. Listen as she explains a deeper meaning of this “peace” or “shalom” which comes to us from our Hebrew ancestry. “There's a wonderful Hebrew word for that vision and work – shalom. It doesn't just mean the sort of peace that comes when we're no longer at war. It's that rich and multihued vision of a world where no one goes hungry because everyone is invited to a seat at the groaning board, it's a vision of a world where no one is sick or in prison because all sorts of disease have been healed, it's a vision of a world where every human being has the capacity to use every good gift that God has given, it is a vision of a world where no one enjoys abundance at the expense of another, it's a vision of a world where all enjoy Sabbath rest in the conscious presence of God. Shalom means that all human beings live together as siblings, at peace with one another and with God, and in right relationship with all of the rest of creation. It is that vision…where the specter of death no longer holds sway…to say "shalom" is to know our own place and to invite and affirm the place of all of the rest of creation, once more at home in God.[1]

We might remember that earlier in the author of John’s telling of the Gospel narrative we have other encounters among Jesus, Thomas and his fellow disciples. In the eleventh chapter after Jesus tells them that Lazarus has died and that they will go up to Bethany; Thomas says to his fellow disciples; “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Again in the 14th Chapter, in Jesus’ farewell discourse he tells the disciples that in the mansion of God there are many dwelling places and that he goes to prepare a place for them and that he will return and take them to himself so that where he is, they may be also. Jesus’ tells them that they know the way to this place where he is going and it is Thomas who states for them that they do not where Jesus is going and so “how can we know the way?” This leads Jesus – in this author’s narrative to deliver another of the great “I am” statements – when he says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Thomas then becomes in this Gospel telling the major voice that gives revelation of the true nature of Jesus the Christ – revealing early knowledge of Christ’s inevitable death – providing revelatory information about eternal life – and by issuing in our reading this morning the clearest statement of insight in the entire Christian testament of Jesus’ relationship to God and humanity when he responds to Jesus’ invitation not to doubt but to believe and says; “My Lord and my God.”

So here it is, my friends the second Sunday of Easter and Jesus’ hope for the future of the ministry in this world, in the Church and in the lives of those for whom he gave his very life are cowering in the locked room of their house for fear. (Hmmmmm) here comes that theme again! What exactly might they fear? The author tells us “for fear of the Jews”, and what does that mean? Perhaps the temple authorities who had demanded the blood of their friend to appease their jealousy and judgment? Perhaps it means the very people of their families and loved ones or friends and neighbors whom they fear might be mocking them for their support of the Messiah who was executed at the hands of the great power of Rome? Perhaps it is the fear mentioned by the author of Mark’s Gospel reading from last Sunday, and that sentence reads: “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement has seized them; and they said nothing to any one for they were afraid.” My assertion is that they fear what will be expected of them if what Mary tells them is true. My guess is – all that Jesus had told them about their ministries, their work and their reward was beginning to crystallize and they began to gain some concept of what impossible work was in front of them; and they were afraid – they were very afraid. The irony of this Gospel story is that it was not the Roman soldiers and angry Jewish authorities who were trying to reach the disciples in their locked house; it was not the family, friends and neighbors who were trying to get at the disciples to taunt and mock them for their foolish devotion to a meaningless messiah. Rather it was Jesus – the risen and somehow changed teacher and rabbi who was trying to reach them and by that reaching, was able to break through the locked chamber and bid them the blessing of Shalom to calm their fear. In the midst of that fear – despite the locked chambers of their hearts and the locked doors of their house – Jesus enters and breathes on them and empowers them with the strength of the Holy Spirit – and it is only by the power and by the grace of that Holy Spirit – that they will be able to be free of the fear and full of the future.

(SUNG) SHALOM HAVERIM, SHALOM HAVERIM, SHALOM, SHALOM
L’HITRA OT, L’HITRA OT
SHALOM, SHALOM

Amen.


[1] The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts-Schori in a sermon delivered at The National Cathedral, Saturday, November 4, 2006 on the occasion of her Investiture as the 26th Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA).

Easter Day

Easter Day 2009 – Year B (RCL)
Acts 10: 34 - 43; Psalm 118 1 – 2, 14 – 24; 1 Corinthians 15: 1 – 11; Mark 16: 1 – 8
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish, Portland, OR
Sunday, April 12, 2009

CLINGING TO HOPE

Let us pray: Holy God, our lives are ruled by fear. It is fear which keeps us motionless in the face of danger. It is fear which keeps us passionless in the face of injustice. It is fear which keeps us imprisioned in our cynacisim in the face of so many who are needy. Your constant message to us in the person of Jesus was “be not afraid”. Help us to break from the bonds of fear and boldy proclaim your reign among us as the Risen One who is our hope. Amen.

(SUNG) ALLELUIA GOD IS COMING
ALLELUIA GOD IS NEAR
ALLELUIA GOD IS COMING
ALLELUIA GOD IS HERE.

What we buried on the last Sunday of the Epiphany is now risen and the great word for our joy and exultation is uttered again in our churches and in our hearts – ALLELUIA. All of this is because what the followers of the Christ buried in that tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimithea; the broken and bruised body of the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Light of the Nations and the Glory of God’s people was not there in the early morning hours of that Sunday; and because of that absence of a body – hope was reborn.

One of the major themes of the Gospel retellings of the Resurrection story is this one of hope rekindled amidst the despair of the events leading up to the discovery of the empty tomb. Each of the other three Gospels include stories of Resurrection appearances by Jesus among the women of the community, the apostles and the disciples. The Markan text, in its original form does not. The narrative story depicted by the author of Mark’s Gospel is famous for its aprubt ending. It truly does not have a full conclusion. Some scholars have speculated that Mark doesn’t really have a full account of the resurrection because Mark wants to portray the resurrection as a story that continues. There is no ending because this story is a true beginning – a new and never-ending story A story in which we are called to be just as much a part as those who experienced it for the first time. Many of these same scholars have conjectured plausible explanations for the text of this Gospel ending at verse 8a which reads “and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afriad”. One possibly reason is that the original ending was lost. Another was that possibly the author died or was otherwise prevented from finishing the work. Still another possibility was that the author deliberately ended the Gospel at this point knowing that the readers and hearers of this text would already know about the resurrection – and wanting to close with an emphasis on the human dimension of discipleship; the terror, the amazement and the fear juxtaposed against Jesus’ call to proclaim the Good News. All of these explanations are just that, conjecture, and we do not have any difinitive answers to funally lay to rest all of the questions; just as we do not with most aspects of our faith or our lives. In this Gospel text the young man dressed in white (who may or may not be an angel) tells the women that the disciples will see the resurrected Jesus in Galilee, but that is different from telling the resurrection story itself. Just as much as trusting in the narrative from this Gospel author’s understanding, we need to trust in the strength of our own understandings which are formed of much more than simple historical facts around the death and resurrection as it has been handed down to us in our sacred stories. Those understandings are a unique and sometimes messy conglomeration of scripture, teaching, hymnody and selective memory that shapes our individual vision of the resurrection experience.

Now, any preacher or religious professional worth her or his salt, knows that we are preaching to two different audiences on Easter day! The first audience are those of you who are visiting or searching this morning for the hope of the Easter message – maybe this guy has something different to say; maybe this one can convince me and relive me of my doubts or answer my questions more directly about this bodily resurrection thing. The second audience are you who have been coming week after week, year after year to hear the Easter message of hope and promise preached in this place – or in the other places of your lives that you call home. You’ve heard it all – death, despair, resurrection, hope…according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John! Well, for both of my audiences today – I don’t mean to disapoint you, but I have no concrete proof; no newly discovered Gnostic Gospel or writing from historians of first century Palestine to corroborate our Gospel author’s text. I have no answers beyond what I know to be true; that I have watched too many people cross over to not know that there is SOMETHING to which they cross over to, I’ve seen it in their eyes or I have watched it in their smiles and it takes only but the leap of faith to let go of what we know and grab onto what we do not. God is in our coming – as every mother knows; and God is in our going as everyone who has gone or been present with another who has gone knows. The fear is replaced by hope because of this day – this Easter Day!

(SUNG) ALLELUIA GOD IS COMING
ALLELUIA GOD IS NEAR
ALLELUIA GOD IS COMING
ALLELUIA GOD IS HERE.

Fear is one of the most basic of our human emotions and reactions when faced with the unknown. This fear is not always a bad thing. Armed with this fear our bodies and brains can prepare for possible danger – by pumping up the adrenalin and boosting the “fight or flight” reaction for our own protection and safety. The other possibility though is that our fear will lead to paralysis and inaction when our minds are not able to comprehend and simply will not allow any concrete action to occur. This, it would appear, is the kind of fear which the author of Mark’s Gospel depicts in the retelling of the events we hear this morning. In the previous chapter of this gospel narrative, the author had told us that Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses and Solome witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion and burial. Now, we are told, in the early morning hours after the Sabbath these same witnesses are come to the tomb to annoint the body of Jesus with scented oils and spices. It is now established that these women have witnessed the crucifixion, death and Resurrection of Jesus – in contrast to the male disciples who fled when Jesus was arrested, and to Peter (the leader upon whom the new community would be founded) who had denied Jesus three times. It is interesting to note that it is the women who are listed as witnesses – especially since Jewish law and tradition, does not accept women as witnesses in legal proceedings. Later critics of the new Christian community would use this circumstance of women as witness to bolster their argument around the lack of validity of the resurrection claim. One might be sure however, that the if the Church was looking to fabricate this story it would NOT have used women as witnesses to it; and this points rather to evidence that the story is true; as the women reported it.

The women approach the tomb wondering who will roll back the heavy stone which covered the entrance. They discover that it had already been removed (by whom we are not told, and we can sense from the divine passive tense of the narrative that it was not moved by human hands) and here we have another reason for the fear which is gripping these young women in the early morning hours of this most frightening day. Steeling their nerves, these women enter the tomb – not something that I’m sure I would have done; and encounter a vision which will change their lives and the lives of all who will come after them, forever. They see a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side – where they would have expected to see the wrapped corpse of the teacher, and we are told they were alarmed. Well, I’ll just bet they were. Consider what their emotional state must have been! They are caught up in terrible grief. It is very early in the morning. They have gone to the tomb expecting to encounter nobody but find themselves in the presence of a heavenly being. It is no wonder that they are afraid. Their entire worldview is being challenged. Angelic beings are found in places of death, death which was the final voice in all of their lives seems to have been silenced. The very foundations of what they knew and believed were not so foundational anymore. It would have been just about at this point (if not far earlier in the story) that I would have grabbed my boots and headed for the hills! So yes, fear is the normal reaction and it is that fear which is reported by the author of this Gospel account.

(SUNG) ALLELUIA GOD IS COMING
ALLELUIA GOD IS NEAR
ALLELUIA GOD IS COMING
ALLELUIA GOD IS HERE.


It is not, however, that fear which we are encouraged to live in – either by the resurrected Jesus or by those who in the narrative attempt to guide the action of the story. “Do not be alarmed” the angelic presence says to them, “you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised, he is not here.” In the other Gospel narratives the first words of the risen saviour are “fear not” and “do not be afraid”. Fear does not allow us the option to move forward in hope. Jesus calms fears and engenders hope as the emotion to carry forth the good news that death has been conquered and no longer has power over humanity. Hope becomes the great power which can override the fear.

The author of Mark’s Gospel concludes with the following statement…”terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” The literal translation of the Greek oudeni ouden would place an additional emphasis on this statement with the use of a double negative. The literal translation would be “nothing to no one” fear had so griped their bodies and their minds that they were unable to even express that fear to those whom they loved and trusted. Who then, was there to tell of their experience? All of the male disciples had fled into the countryside and these women alone where to be the ones who would witness the empty tomb. I think that what the author of this Gospel account may be trying to emphasise is that no one was left blameless in the events of the crucifixion, death and resurrection of the Messiah. It has become quite the de rigour to hold up the women who witness the resurrection story; and even they have failed in the long run – fear has crippled their response and the charge goes unfulfilled in the narrative. It is almost as if the Author is saying to those of us who read and hear the story. “The responsibility now lies with you – all have deserted Jesus and none are left to tell the good news – none but you who read and hear of these events.” That leaves the responsibility of evangelism – literally the telling of good news or gospel – directly in the hands and hearts of those whom the writer addresses. That would be you folks – and that would be me. It is up to us to assure that hope triumphs over fear. South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu (who, in a shameless plug will be lecturing in Portland next month) says that “we are a people who are prisoners of hope.” We are the only ones left at the empty tomb. We are the witnesses of resurrection charged by the Risen One to spread the good news of that hope – to proclaim to all the world that we will see in Galilee just as was promised – Christ who is Risen, Christ who is Risen indeed.

Alleluia.

Amen.

Holy Saturday

I did not preach the Great Vigil of Easter on Holy Saturday. One of my Associate Clergy (Rev. Palmer Pardington) blessed me with one sermon less for Holy Week.

Good Friday

Good Friday 2009 – Year B (RCL)
Isaiah 52: 13 – 53: 12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 4: 14 – 16; 5: 7 – 9; John 18: 1 – 19: 42
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish, Portland, OR
Friday, April 10, 2009

DAY OF DEATH AND HOPE DENIED

Let us pray: O God we feel so alone. In the reality of our sinfulness, we have destroyed that which we loved the most. When we turn to you in hope, we are faced with the despair of the crucifixion and death of your Holy One. In our hearts and our lives the promise lies buried in a tomb. Show us that the ways of our failings and foibles injure our relationships with each other and with you. Be with us, creator God, as we mourn the loss of hope on this day. As we wait in expectation for your salvation; show us how we might be comfort for each other in the journey from death to life. Amen.

(SUNG) O SACRED HEAD SURROUNDED, BY CROWN OF PIERCING
THORN.
O BLEEDING HEAD SORE WOUNDED, REVILED AND PUT TO
SCORN.
DEATH’S PALOR HUE COMES O’RE THEE – THE GLOW OF LIFE
DECAYS.
YET ANGEL HOSTS ADORE THEE, AND TREMBLE AS THEY
GAZE.

This is the most difficult of days for me. In my devotion to and understanding of the paschal mystery of the Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of Jesus the Christ.I find this day of death most difficult. Incorporating the reality of the Triduum of Holy Week, we observe the Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week as our most venerated and solemn of liturgical expressions. In my youth at St. Lawrence the Martyr; I could bury my sadness and disapointments in the beauty of the Roman Liturgy which for the first thirteen years of my life was spoken in a language that I did not understand, and was technically “dead” in that in no human communication between people was it used. Somehow the “deadness” of that language spoke to my heart on this death of death and descent among the dead.

In order to enhance what the Liturgy of this day wants us to resonate with, I’d like to share with you an old Russian story entitled “How Death Became Life.” The story helps to give focus to these last days of Lent and goes like this:

Death was born on a flaming day; at least that was the way she remembered it. And when she came forth full grown into this world, it was alight with all the colors afire. The light seemed to come from a sword which an innense angel held aloft guarding a door to she knew not where.

At first, death felt like a stranger. She wandered kind of lost, then one day she saw a beautiful bird with gorgeous white plumage. Gently she walked up to it and stretched out her hand to feel the softness of the feathers which shone like the sun on the bird’s back. But no sooner had her fingers touched it than the bird fell at her feet, cold and still. Death picked it up and wondered why it had stopped singing and stopped living. And that was how she discovered her dreaded power. And that is how she understood why she had been born on a flaming day.

Well, slowly the years flowed into eternity where all time goes, and death traveled through them all touching now this animal and that bird, and this fish or that flower. By then she knew the earth very well, and she had noticed that a certain kind of creature, human beings, dwelt in it, who still held in their faces a strange reflection of God. It was as though they had been made in the image of God.

Death took a long itme to touch humankind, but one day she did, and she saw them shudder. They cried out and became as cold and still as that first bird with the white plumage that she touched. And on that day death tasted the fulness of her awesome power, but on that day, also, she know loneliness to the very last drop.

From then on, as the centuries turned into thousands of years and thousands of years into millions, death claimed all living things for her own. Yet there was in her a hunger that grew. In her silent kingdom nothing remained. All living things crumbled and turned into dust at her touch. She was always left with loneliness. There were days, years even, when death almost went mad with loneliness, with the desire to have and to hold something that would last, someone or something that she could call her own.

It was now a great time of plagues and storms and floods, and with tears flowing down her emaciated cheeks, death crisscrossed the whole earth with the swiftness born of frenzied hunger. Throwing herself at the children of hukman beings, she embraced them passionately, hoping against hope that she might see a smile or hear a word that would lift the pall of her loneliness that isolated her from all living things and held her tighter and tighter.

But she learned that human beings feared her above all things. They shrank from her approach. They invented thousands of legends about her trying to pretend that she was really incapabble of harming them. They even began to imagine a life after death that was somehow a continuation of the eartly life that they knew here. Slowly the legends that they made up grew into religious beliefs and centered on ways and means of escaping death. Their attempts left a wide trail of artifacts scattered over the earth, and other humnas would dig in the bowels of the earth to trace this trail.

Death kept walking the earth. At times she smiled at human being’s subtle fear of her, and she enjoyed her power over them. At other itmes she wept bitterly, not only because she was lonely, but because she sensed that there was always some part of each hunan being that seemed to escape her. One day, the story goes, tired and weary, she sat on a hill beneath three crosses on which three men were being executed. She did not feel like looking at or touching any one of these. She was too tired, and she was too lonely, and she was too disconsolate. So she just sat there, her weary head in her hands, and she wept slow, huge tears, bemoaning her loneliness.

Suddenly above her she heard a voice say, “I thirst.” She looked up. Her gaze met two fathomless eyes. From their depths flowed a brilliant, warm, blue light, the like of which she had never expereinced before, Instantly she stood up, rigid, erect, tall, and thin. A few paces away this man hung between two others. She somhow did not dare to look at thim though she wanted, more than she had ever wanted, to touch him, and to touch him with love and respect. Yet very selfconsciously she put her hands behind her back and stared at this bleeding, disfigured face, as if she could never see enough.

She heard him speak some short sentences. Each word she locked into her heart. She relished them. The very echo of the voice weak with pain and hunger moved her deeply. Then he was silent, but his eyes called to her in a wordless message. She did not know how it happened, but gently, ever so gently, she touched his cheek. He seemed for an instant to smile for her alone. Then like all the others before him, he closed his eyes and became lifeless and cold.

She could not believe it. Somehow she knew without knowing that he was different from all the others. So she lingered awhile. She saw him taken down from the cross. She saw his mother hold his lifeless body in her arms and cradle the ashen face against her bosom. She saw him being carried into a grave in the hollow of a cave. She saw some soldiers roll the stone to the entrance of the cave in order to seal it. Then, fleet on foot and noiseless as only death can be, she entered the cave just before the stone was put in place.

What pased between him and death no hunam being will ever know. But one thing is certain. On the following Sunday, two days after he had been taken dwon from his cross, some women came to the tomb and it was empty. Death was not there. And since that Sunday morning, all who look upon death with the eyes of faith see it differently. They know that love is life, and death is naught but the gate to eternal life.

That’s an old Russian legend that talks about the same thing the scriptures talk about. As a poet put it:

Is there a leaf upon the tree
The father does not see?
Leaves fall, so do we all
Return to earth, to sod.
Sparrows and kings
And all manner of things
Fall, fall into the hands
Of the living God.

So again Christ waits high on the cross, to take away that death. And for those who know other kinds of death – physical or moral or mental – again, in this last week, to to the Christ in prayer, go and turn over those things to God, and say: “Here I am. Only you have this power. Only your love is stronger than the strongest thing on earth.”

And so death herself found out that in Jesus she was powerless. And death’s loneliness found fulfillment in Christ; and the message is that so can ours. The message is that on this day of death which is so difficult – the message will carry us through this day and into a new day; when death yeilds to a power greater then herself.

Amen.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday, 2006 - Year B (RCL)
Exodus 12:1–4, 11 – 14; Psalm 116:1, 10-17; 1 Cor 11:23 – 26; John 13:1 – 17, 31b – 35
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish, Portland, OR
Thursday, April 9, 2009

FEET AND FOOD

Let us pray: Gentle and giving Saviour, on this night we recall the gift which you have left for all of your followers in the sacrament of your Body and Blood. May we, who gather to re-member your body; be always grateful for this gift. As you served us, may we also serve each other in humility and love. Your New Commandment remains deep in our hearts – may it be made manifest deep into our world; that we may love one another as you have loved us. Amen.

(SUNG) A NEW COMMANDMENT I GIVE TO YOU,
THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.

Here, once again, we gather on Holy or “maundy” Thursday to commemorate the paschal supper which Jesus shared with the disciples on the last full day of earthly ministry before the events surrounding the Jewish Sanhedrin and Roman govenor’s Court would catch them all up in the destiny of crucifixion and resurrection. Now, as you all are probably aware, I am a good Irish Catholic boy and in my tradtion this day was always referred to as “Holy” Thursday. When I “crossed to the other side” and became an Episcopalian, I took on the tradtion of referring to this day as Maundy Thursday. So what is this “maundy” thing anyway, inquiring minds want to know.

“Maundy” is a middle English word – used specifically in this context – and derived from the latin mandatum novum do vobis. Translated as “A new mandate (or commandment) to you”. Early in the Church’s history in England Maundy Thursday was observed by the reigning monarch and his or her bishop’s with the washing of feet. In that tradition senior clergy would wash the feet of the lower clergy, it is noted that King Edward II, was the first English monarch to have been recorded as actively taking part in the ceremony. Tradition further developed in the reign of King John who is said to have taken part in a ceremony in 1210 CE donating small silver coins to the poor. Edward III washed feet and gave gifts including money to the poor. The practice continued regulary with the participation of the monarch until 1698. The tradition of the washing of feet among the clergy ended in 1736. That tradition was re-instated in the ceremony of 2003 by the newly appointed Archbishop of Cantebury, Dr. Rowan Williams. The tradition of maundy money continued without the direct participation of the crown, when a selection of people were given silver coin totaling in pence the current age of the Monarch. By the beginning of Elizabeth II’s reign in 1953, it had once again become normative practice for the Monarch to personally distribute the maundy money; a practice which continues to this day when in her 80th year, Elizabeth delivered 80 pence to 80 women and 80 men. Isn’t it amazing what we learn when we come to Church on a Thursday night?

(SUNG) A NEW COMMANDMENT I GIVE TO YOU,
THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.

I don’t have silver pence to distribute to you this evening – but then neither am I a monarch. What I do have to share with you this evening; like so many other times when we gather in Jesus’ name; are gifts of bread and wine which we as community in some mysterious and un-explainable way will take, and break and give as the body and blood of our saviour Jesus Christ. That is one of the events which we memorialize this evening; this “maundy” or “holy” Thursday. Jesus, having gathered the 12 (and possibly many more) in the upper room for the Passover feast; begins with heartfelt passion to offer all that he has – his very body and blood for the salvation of the world. Yet this is not the story which the Author of John’s Gospel tells this evening. The “last supper” account in the Johanine Gospel is very different from the accounts we have in the synoptic Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. First we have Judas introduced as the one who will betray Jesus – this is the only Gospel that actually names the betrayer(unless we want to take into account the recently discovered Gnostic Gospel of Judas – but lets save that for another time). Judas is the only one who is mentioned as eating anything at this “last supper”– and there is no mention of the sharing of Bread and Wine as the memorial, which Jesus would leave for the disciples, and us as gifts in Body and Blood. In fact the Author has dealt with that subject in much greater detail than the synoptics back in the 6th Chapter of this Gospel. At the Last Supper account in the Gospel of John – the focus then will be on the ‘new commandment’, the mandatum novum. After stripping himself of his garments, washing the disciples feet and instructing them to do the same for each other – Jesus then gives them “a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” This commandment is not “new” because it has never been heard before – in fact in the Hebrew Scriptures from the Book of Leviticus the 19th Chapter the 18th verse we hear in the Holiness Code “you shall love your neighbors yourself.” What is new is the example that Jesus provides, giving definitive shape to that command – “just as I have loved you,” that is, “to the end.” Jesus will exemplify this commandment in “the laying down of his life”.

We will memorialize also this night, Jesus’ actions of service and humility in the washing of feet. In an effort to leave one more teaching example with the followers, Jesus in effect got up and said “watch this”. Now Jesus was not in that society a member of the cerlical or priestly caste (though, in fact Jesus becomes the great High Priest offering the ultimate sacrifice to God) so the holy garment or “vestment” which Jesus puts on was a towel. Next, Jesus takes a pitcher and basin of water and begins to wash the disciples feet. When Jesus reaches Peter; as only Peter could do – a protest is registered. This was because Peter, being the leader and likely the sharpest of the disciples, saw the implications. Peter reacted much like we also would have reacted and do react. We instinctivley shrink from this sort of thing. I mean, we can be humble before God, but not the other way around. Think of the embarassment of having – say your boss come to your house for dinner. They ask to use the bathroom and while there they see a spot on the floor and you discover them on their knees cleaning your bathroom floor. Never mind that you cleaned the bathroom floor for them, but that they should do it for you – it’s too much, too overwhelmingly embarassing.

Immediately after these remarks the altar party will set up with a basin and pitcher and towels to memorialize also this washing of feet. This most humble of actions for those worship the humble savior of the world who bent down to wash the feet of those whom he loved is carried out in the furtherance of the new commandment given this night as it is given every other night. We invite those of you who are comfortable – and even those of you who are not – to join in this ancient ritual that the Church has reclaimed in her Maundy Thursday liturgy. As you approach the sanctuary you may seat yourselves at the front pews and remove your shoes and socks so that you may have your feet washed. When everyone who would like to has participated in this part of our liturgy we will continue with the prayers of the people and the confession of and absolution from our sins and then share the peace of God that passes all understanding.

The author of John’s Gospel focuses on an interpretation of what the eucharist means through the secene included of the washing of the feet. Both using simple bread and washing feet become interchangeable symbols of what Jesus was about, and again, once more, the implications were there. We want God in all God’s glory, goodness and greatness. We want God in all God’s majestry, power and transcendence. We can handle that – God’s remoteness. But for God to wash our feet, to put on a towel rather than a royal robe, to be simple bread, to be that close is embarassing – and frightening.

Frightening for two reasons. First, we are confronted with the question which all Jesus’ actions forced. Is God like that? Not in heaven, but on this earth washing dirty feet? Second, this is frightening because when it was all done with, this dreadful and mortifying act, Jesus gives a mandate – on this maundy Thursday – the day the mandate was given to serve, to break bread, and therefore to reveal the presence of the Christ. No wonder Peter blanched and protested the implications! No wonder we do. Every time we meet to break the one bread and share the one cup, the mandatum, the mandate is there.

(SUNG) A NEW COMMANDMENT I GIVE TO YOU,
THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.

This, very simply then, is what our eucharist is about, our giving of thanks, our celebration. The presence of the almighty in basic bread and the mandate to be bread to others. To break open the word of scripture, the Word made flesh; to consecrate bread and wine and so bring Christ among us becomes both our comfort and our challenge.

This is what we celebrate on Maundy, Holy Thursday. The Gifts of God, but what a God! The gift of God who gives flesh and blood and with no apology leaves us with a mandate to do the same.

Amen.

Sunday of the Passion - Palm Sunday

Sunday of the Passion – Year B (RCL) 2009
Isaiah 50: 4 – 9a; Psalm 22: 1 – 11; Philippians 2: 5 – 11; Mark 15: 1 – 47
St. Stephen’s Epicsopal Parish, Portland, OR
Sunday, April 5, 2009

WHITE SMOKE – WE HAVE A KING

Let us pray: Suffering Jesus, as you entered Jerusalem, you did not look like the Messiah that we expected, bouncing on the back of a donkey. Saviour Jesus, when you stood before Pilate and the Roman inquisition, you did not sound like the Lord of Lords, as you hung on the hard wood of the cross you did not look like the King of Kings, promised of Isaiah. Sanctified Jesus, help us to see you, even when you do not look like the God we thought we wanted. Give us the ability to see you as the God you are, rather than the God we would have you be. Amen.

(SUNG) NOW WILL YOU TRY AND TELL US, YOU BEEN TOO LONG AT
SCHOOL, THAT KNOWLEDGE IS NOT NEEDED, THAT POWER
DOES NOT RULE. THAT WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER, THAT
YOUNG MEN SHOULD NOT DIE? SIT DOWN YOUNG STRANGER,

I WAIT FOR YOUR REPLY.
THE ANSWER IS NOT EASY FOR SOULS ARE NOT REBORN
TO WEAR THE CROWN OF PEACE, YOU MUST WEAR THE
CROWN OF THORNS. IF JESUS HAD A REASON, I'M SURE HE
WOULD NOT TELL, WE TREATED HIM SO BADLY, HOW COULD
HE WISH US WELL?

So, we reach once again the Sunday of the Palm and the Passion. There is a dichotomy in our liturgical celebration on this Sunday which marks the beginning of our Holy Week. We start with shouts of adoration and acclamation – our “hosanna’s”. Palm Sunday will always be marked for me as the start of that truly special week in our Christian journey as we recall to our minds and hearts the stories and events in the life of Jesus of Nazareth and God’s incarnational presnece among all of humanity that has been created in that God’s image and likeness. The memory of Jesus’ triumphal ride into Jerusalem is inextricably linked to the memory of our place in God’s Kindom where the Gospel of the crucified suffering servant is lived out in ministry, mission and faithfullness. After those shouts of “hosanna” and “blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” – come the shouts which we as a community recalled in the Author of Mark’s retelling of the final days in Jesus’ ministry – the shouts of “crucify him”; the demand from the maddening crowd that the saviour of the world be nailed to hardwood of the cross.

Our faith then is a faith of dichotomies. We struggle to understand the ministry and message of this Jesus of Nazareth who refused to be molded into the image that God’s chosen people demanded their Messiah be. As we recall the events of these last days of Jesus’ ministry we are faced, once again, with the vision of our God come among us – who refuses to act as the God we envision; and that can be downright frustrating. We have so many things that we would like this Jesus to do. We have so many agendas that we would like this Jesus to live out. We have so many “sides” that we would like this Jesus to be on. Simply and silently the suffering servant lives out the will of God, without question or complaint – without agenda or label – Jesus takes on all of our pain, all of our guilt and all of our fear and hands them back to God in the ultimate act of sacrifice which changed the nature of Creation.

We are in a world which wonders, as it has for centuries I’m sure, why God would choose to suffer. If our God is great and good – then why are we given the example of the God come among us who was forced or accepted torture, pain and death? In our feeble human attempts to know the mind of God, we demand a God that thinks and acts and feels as we do. We are given just that God in the person of Jesus the Christ and then we want to question why God would choose suffering and death as the path to freedom from pain and eternal life! Yes, we want our cake and we want to be able to feast at the desert table.

(SUNG) THE ANSWER IS NOT EASY FOR SOULS ARE NOT REBORN
TO WEAR THE CROWN OF PEACE, YOU MUST WEAR THE
CROWN OF THORNS. IF JESUS HAD A REASON, I'M SURE HE
WOULD NOT TELL, WE TREATED HIM SO BADLY, HOW COULD
HE WISH US WELL?

Here we have this Jesus whom the crowds would love to proclaim as their King, and who instead insists that his Kindom is not of this world. This is the Jesus who so frustrates the authorities both religious and political of that time that they feel no other choice is available to them but crucifixion and death. The only way to silence this madman who speaks of love and forgiveness in the face of hate and judgement is to resort to the violence which the mob and its leaders demand. The often difficult part for me in this story is that I am the mob – I am the voice of crowd which demands the death of the prince of Peace whose birth and promise seems so short a time ago. This is the dichotomy of this day. This is the juxtaposition of palm and passion, of hosanna and hanging on a cross. This is the journey from Lent through to Easter the drama of which begins to unfold in earnest at the beginning of this Holy Week.

We will gather several more times in this week to live out the story of our Saviour who took upon God’s nature the fraility of our human expereince. We will journey with this Jesus who will gather in an upper room to share with those who are called to follow the passover feast which will feed forever. We will hear the cries of the crowd go from praise and adoration to death and destruction. As we once again take the journey from the gates of the Holy city to the place of the skull (called Golgotha) we ponder the folly of the cross which leads to our Easter celebration. The Church in her liturgy and ritual has mapped this way for us to live more deeply and fully into the events of the life, death and ressurection of Jesus the Christ, and I invite each of us to use this time to ponder in our own hearts the reality of the paschal mystery. What does the reliving of these events which happened some two thousand years ago mean for those of us who believe and for those of us who doubt? Thousands upon thousands of words on paper have been written to help explain the mysteries of this week. Several of us have been meeting in the weeks of Lent to explore those last days in the context of Marcus Borg and Dom Crossen’s insights about the powerful religious and political forces which pulled upon Jesus and the disciples during the events from the triumphal entry on the back of a simple beast of burden. The passion of the non-violent preacher of peace facing the reality of the violent Roman power of the time portrays a dichotomy which Jesus lived out in a profound and prophetic way. Those of us who would follow the example that this Jesus calls us to; struggle anew to understand the events of this week which speak to our minds and our hearts of the utlimate love of God for the creation and the created.

We hear the passion story retold this year in the account from the Author of Mark’s gospel, or good news. Most scholars believe that this is the first of the Gospel retellings of the final week in Jesus’ public life and ministry. The author’s of the subsequent Gospel retellings will rely on this version to inform their interpretations, and so it is with particular interest and enthusiasim that we listen and relive what Mark’s community lived and heard of the struggles and betrayals which marked the final days of the Messiah’s journey from Jerusalem to Calvary. In these stories and events we have found the hope and healing which Jesus offers by accepting the will of God and living out the destiny of humanity which would change death and destruciton to hope and resurrection.

(SUNG) THE ANSWER IS NOT EASY FOR SOULS ARE NOT REBORN
TO WEAR THE CROWN OF PEACE, YOU MUST WEAR THE
CROWN OF THORNS. IF JESUS HAD A REASON, I'M SURE HE
WOULD NOT TELL, WE TREATED HIM SO BADLY, HOW COULD
HE WISH US WELL?

The “passion” in Passion Sunday is understood to be taken from its Roman Catholic or perhaps more broad Christian understanding its latin root from the noun “passio” which means suffering. On this “suffering” Sunday, we can perhaps look deeper into the meaning of passion and see that it is this Sunday when we as a community of faith examine the “passion” of Jesus in terms of its suffering yes, but also in terms of its driving force for justice and righteousness which we also understand to be a meaning for “passion”. Jesus’ passion in the final week of public ministry and witness continued to be this total focus upon love and non violence in the face of hatred and institutional violence directed at him. If that is the lesson which we are able to discern and follow as disciples then evil is turned to good and pain is turned to passion.

We wanted Jesus to come on a war horse – and instead we got a donkey. We wanted Jesus to go up to the captiol and fix the political problems, and instead we get the model of going into the desert to reflect and repent. We wanted this Jesus to get organized, get the forces mobilized and get the revolution going; and instead this Jesus gathered in an upper room with friends and broke bread and shared a common cup and told us to do the same in remembrance. We wanted this Jesus to use the power of prophetic voice to shout down the powers of injustice and oppression and instead we got three hours of hanging silence on a cross…and the final words “forgive them for they know not what they do”, and “into your hands I commend my spirit.” This is the dichotomy of the Passion and the Palm of this Sunday. As we wave our branches in praise we wave our fists in anger and this God loves us all the same; for “God so loved the world.”

Amen.

Fourth and Fifth Sundays in Lent

Can't figure out what I did with my sermon for Fourth Sunday in Lent.....I was away (at a Church meeting in Cedar Rapids, IA) for the 5th Sunday in Lent and so did not preach.

Sorry for the very long delay in posting and keeping this blog up-to-date. It is not usually untill someone asks me about a specific sermon that I remember that I'm supposed to update this site!

Blessings!

Dennis j.+