The Good News!

Welcome! I am the Rev. Ken Saunders. I serve as the rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Greeneville, Tennessee (since May 2018). These sermons here were delivered in the context of worship at the various places I have served.

[NOTE: Sermons (or Homilies) are commentaries that follow the scripture lessons, and are specifically designed to be heard. They are "written for the ear" and may contain sentence fragments and be difficult to read. They are NOT intended to be academic papers.]

Sunday, March 21, 2010

RCL Year C (Lent 5) - March 21, 2010

The Rev’d Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC

RCL Year C (Lent 5) – March 21, 2010
Writen also for the "Opponents of Christ" series

Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:4b-14
John 12:1-8

Jesus is well on his way to Jerusalem. His entry, and the actions that will take place afterward, will be celebrated next Sunday (week) with a reenactment and a dramatic reading.

But today, we aren’t there yet. But we are well on our way.

Jesus and the 12 have stopped off in the village of Bethany, just west of Jerusalem, about 6 km. Our gospel story from John says that they stop off at the home of Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha.

We remember it is Lazarus that Jesus raises from the dead in the 11th Chapter of John after he had already been in the tomb 4 days. And today, on their way to Jerusalem, Jesus and the 12 stop by for dinner…

And after reclining at the table, preparing for supper, Mary takes a bottle of pure nard – a expensive imported perfume mixture made of an herb that grows in the foothills of the Himalayas… and anoints Jesus’ feet… and then, in an extremely informal and intimate act of care and compassion, she dries Jesus’ feet with her hair.

A women letting down her hair in public, especially in front of several men, was just not done in these times… But Jesus’ feet were anointed and the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Then Judas Iscariot perks up, and rebukes her… He says to Jesus, “Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and the money given to the poor?” This is almost a whole years wages for a working man… Now, I want to know how Judas knew the value of this extravagant imported perfume… how was he familiar with such things?

We are told that Judas Iscariot is the son of Simon Iscariot, who according to the Gospel of John, was a leper that was healed by Jesus and also Pharisee. It is unknown if this Simon (Simon Iscariot) is the same Simon as Simon the Zealot, who is referred to in the other gospels… But it would seem that John is making this inference…

If Judas Iscariot was in fact a Zealot (who was a zealous Pharisee – someone who had status and wealth in society – who later started a movement against the roman government)… If Judas was a Zealot, then he would probably have some knowledge about such an extravagant item, but the scriptures don’t say exactly.

None the less, Judas is verbally upset at Mary, who is anointing Jesus’ feet… Saying that it could have been sold and the money given to the poor… Then the gospel writer goes on, and makes sure that we know Judas is the opponent here – the one that will betray Jesus… and John calls Judas a thief and says that steals from the common purse…

Jesus is quick to set Judas straight, and in the process, teach us something about hospitality and discipleship… and teach us something about ourselves. In Mary’s act of anointing Jesus’ feet, she offers him an unequalled service of hospitality and generosity not worrying what she will get out of it.

And Jesus says to Judas, “leave her alone! She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.” Some say Mary did this act because she was so happy that Jesus raised her brother Lazarus from the dead… She repaid Jesus with the act of anointing his feet with an expensive perfume.

Whatever the reason, Judas rebukes her. And, in Jesus’ comment to Judas, Jesus prophecies his own death and burial… Something that will happen sooner than any of them sitting at the table could possibly imagine.

I have spoke many times from the pulpit about using our wealth to build up the kingdom of God, and to further the work of Christ in the world. It has been the practice for centuries that the place of worship represents the house of God.

By giving God our FIRST and our BEST, we erect a building for our worshipping community to represent a certain awe and wonder… a certain majesty, that surrounds our view of who God is, and how God works in our lives.

Like Mary, we are all called to this type of extravagant discipleship – it represents the BEST of who we are… the best of the community, and its value is unequalled. Like Mary’s use of the costly perfume, we use elaborate metalwork and expensive cloth appointments, and have nice facilities to represent to the world who we know our God to be. To give God the best of our best, and then we set it aside for worship and for the work of the kingdom.

When we don’t act like this – when our buildings are falling down around us, or our facilities are not in order… Or if anything that we have here at our place of worship, is inferior to anything that we have in our own homes, it says that we don’t value giving God our best.

Mary gave God her best, and perhaps unknowingly – out of an act of gratitude, nointed his feet with the most costly of perfumes made of pure nard – and Judas called her down for it…

Judas seemed to have his own agenda of forcing Jesus hand to make a move, and start a rebellion against the Roman oppression something a Zealot would do. And in this process, (possibly driven by greed,) Judas Iscariot sells Jesus out and becomes the opponent of Christ today.

Judas wanted Jesus to step up and be the Messiah that he expected, not the messiah that Jesus came to be. In Judas’ eyes, the Messiah was supposed to be a freedom fighter and deliver Israel from oppression… but that’s not why Jesus came. Jesus came to heal, and restore, and to bring peace, in his own way, by teaching us to love and care for each other not by wielding a sword and leading a rebellion.

This is the last opponent that we will find in the Gospel stories as we travel through this season of Lent. Next week, Jesus will continue on his journey and enter Jerusalem in a display of majesty and be honored as a king… but today, he’s not there yet.

He stopped over and ate dinner at a friends house, and was treated with honor and respect, and much love…

Oh that we could love as much…

Sunday, March 14, 2010

RCL Year C (Lent 4) - March 14, 2010

The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC 27013

RCL Year C (Lent 4) - March 14, 2010
Written also for the "Opponents of Christ" series

Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm 32
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Have you ever taken notice at community dinners, or school, or even picnics… whenever food is involved... who it is that we eat with? Is it the same people, family, or close friends?? or is it people that you feel safe eating with? People that you want to get to know?

Have you ever been the “outsider” at a meal, or not welcomed at a table because you were different?

You can really see it in schools… It is most visible in High School the great social microcosm… where you are identified by who you eat with… it defines who you are…

It’s really quite comical… if you allowed to eat lunch with the cool people, then you are accepted by the cool people… If you are allowed to eat with the geeks…you are accepted by the geeks and made fun of by the cool people… If you are allowed to eat with the jocks… then you accepted by the jocks…

This mode of eating with and acceptance isn’t a new thing… it is precisely what the Pharisees are worried about. The Pharisees are lay people; the pious, religious elite… (the snobs) they are concerned with keeping up appearances… They walk around “holier than thou” boasting about keeping the letter of the law.

They are afraid… they are afraid that they will be caught eating with the wrong people… therefore compromising their religious purity. And their snobbery has pushed them to a new level today as they attack Jesus… criticizing whom he chooses to eat with…

The Pharisees were trying to test Jesus and trip him up… almost accusing him of some sort of ritual impurity… But, as always, Jesus is ready for them… wanting them to understand acceptance and equity… ready to teach them about God’s wonderful abundant grace.

And Jesus tells them a parable… a parable that is one of the most familiar stories in Scripture… The parable of the Prodigal Son… It is sometimes called the Parable of the Lost Son, even though the word “prodigal” doesn’t mean lost at all. In fact, the word “Prodigal” actually has a pretty complex meaning rolling the concepts of wastefulness, extravagance, and recklessness into one term…

Most of us have heard the story told and retold, over and over again – about how the younger son wants his inheritance early, gets it, goes off, squanders it, lives in the gutter for a while and then realizing that his life was much better at home comes crawling back to be reunited to his father by doing this, he majorly irritates the older son… so there we have it… the story in a nut shell…

Some of us may identify with the “renegade” the one wanting it all, then after getting it, going off and blowing it… being wasteful, extravagant, and reckless (being prodigal)… ending up living in filth with pigs – And only after that happening – realizing that may not have been quite the right path to be on…

Or when we look at ourselves, we see the older son, that even though he also received his portion of the father’s inheritance early seems loyal, and wiser – wanting to “win points” by doing what he thought to be responsible by hanging around and taking care of dad… Only then to get upset and angry when the younger one that didn’t work as hard seems to gets all of the preferential treatment…

The most obvious characters in the story are the two sons… they are folks that we can easily identify with. Both of them are just as troubled, and together offer us a two sided mirror view of our own lives that are sometimes overindulgent, angry and complicated…

But we must not forget that the most central character of the whole story isn’t either of the sons at all… The actual focus of the story is the loving and accepting Father… The story even starts out, “There was a man that had two sons…” He is introduced to us right away, but doesn’t say anything until about the middle of the story… He divides his livelihood between the two sons… Then we think his actions are pretty simple… When the younger son returns, the father runs out to accept him in a loving embrace… and then gets him the “best robe, a ring, and some sandals.”

To us the father seems to be loving and forgiving enough and we may think it is just nice that he goes to great measures to restore the son that went astray… But in ancient times, the father’s actions in the context of the story, would be viewed by others as extremely unexpected and perhaps completely scandalous!

It is at this point that… We must remember that the younger son asked for his share of the inheritance early while his father was still alive, as if he said, “I wish you were dead…” By doing this the younger son dishonors the family and the village, and then squanders all that he had been given…

When the younger son returns home after loosing it all, the father’s actions are suspect again… He doesn’t wait for the younger son to come to him, nor does he walk out to him in a dignified manner, as was expected in those days… The father girds up his tunic and RUNS out to greet him…

Upon seeing his father, The son repents… like he had practiced so many times before… Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you… I am no longer fit to be called your son… Dad, I lost all that you gave me, even though I didn’t deserve it in the first place… I squandered it on foolish living and cheep thrills…

The father quickly accepts him back into the fold clothes him in a robe, but not just any robe, the “best” robe that was usually set aside and worn by the father for ceremonial occasions… the robe, the ring, and the sandals were all signs that the father accepted the younger son again as a FULL member of the household… and not just as a servant...

Then the father takes further action and sends his servants to kill the fatted calf, so that everyone can celebrate the return of his lost son with a large feast, (yes – they eat together!) with music, and with dancing…

Today in Jesus’ story, the father throws a party… a feast and celebration for the return of his prodigal son, who was lost. Jesus uses this loving Father to teach the hearer of the story something about more about God’s love and acceptance, God’s restoring power, unequaled generosity, and unending grace…

And it is also interesting that Jesus tells this story while he is sitting and eating meals with outcasts, tax collectors, and sinners… Folks that are just like us…

We have all been lost… but as Paul reminds us in his letter to the Church in Corinth, “In Christ we have become a new creation… everything old has passed away and it all has become new!” In Christ, God is reconciling the world to himself, continually calling us back into right relationship with our God… As believers in Christ Jesus – as Christians… We know that even though we may be lost, we can turn in my confession and be restored to a right relationship with God in Christ…

The Episcopal Church is a confessional church… We believe in both private and public confession to God… And Upon our confession, we have the burdens of our sin lifted, as the priest reminds us of our forgiveness by pronouncing God’s absolution… Like the son who was lost… We will have a chance in a few minutes to humble ourselves, and get on our knees and confess our sins against God and against our neighbor in a corporate confession…

Then, like the father who fully accepted his prodigal son, and wished for his son to be re-united, we will accepted and united with our brothers and sisters in Christ when we share the peace of God with each other… Then and only then will we have the chance to approach the table restored & accepted, forgiven, and renewed and be united with God and with each other in the great celebration – the feast of a holy communion…

In life, we unfairly judge people, or classify them by who they care to dine with but by doing that, we are no better than the Pharisees, who with their snobbery, become an opponent of Christ.

But, when we repent of that, and realize that God is the only judge and we truly confess our sins against God and our neighbor; God forgives us and accepts us unconditionally… and restores us - each and every one of us and makes us a new creation in his Son Jesus Christ our Lord…

So, be united with your brothers and sisters in Christ and enjoy the celebration – it doesn’t matter who you eat with… it’s the fact that you are eating together, united and accepted by God as one, holy, catholic and apostolic church and the feast that you are eating is a foretaste of the fathers heavenly banquet.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

RCL Year C (Lent 3) - March 7, 2010

The Rev’d Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC

RCL Year C (Lent 3) – March 7, 2010
Also written for the Opponents of Christ Series

Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 63:1-8
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Luke 13:1-9

Why must we have a reasons for everything that happens???

In August of 2005 a category 4 hurricane, Katrina, hit the gulf coast of the united states and the New Orleans, LA levy system broke. The city flooded and Approximately 1800 people lost their lives and thousands lost everything else.

On January 12, 2010 at 4:53 p.m. an earthquake – 7.0 on the Richter scale – occurred in Haiti. An estimated 230,000 were killed, but the total is still unsure as they continue to dig through the rubble. The major quake caused 33 aftershocks that ranged from 4.2 to 5.9... and 3 million of Haiti’s 9 million people were in immediate need of aid. A major portion of the buildings collapsed and left millions homeless.

In our need to put a reason on these horrible natural disasters, the first thing that we so often do is ball up our fist and scream at the sky… Blaming God for causing this to happen… or yelling at God for not preventing this tragedy.

Some have even gone so far as to issue half baked, non-theological reasons why God would have done such things, stating that all that “evil living” must have caused this to happen.

I think that the worst thing I have ever heard anyone say when something bad happens… is that “It must be God’s will.” It just makes me cringe to think that people believe God is causing bad things to happen…

Putting God in a position of some sort of divine puppet master, pulling our strings... making us dance or that we are in some giant ant farm for God’s amusement and that God has some sort of giant magnifying glass, displaying a cruelty toward us… God’s living creatures.

No, I don’t believe that it is God’s will to hurt us, or cause us harm… but in our lack of answers it’s the only “answer” we sometimes have. Our need to have an answer gets the best of us, and we blame God and turn from God instead of letting God lead us through it… Instead of letting God help us deal with the tragedy, allowing our faith guide us and God to heal us.

By blaming God, we let God take on an image of divine smite and cruelty, instead of the loving, sustaining, healing, redeeming, and restoring creator that we know God to be.

This kind of divine blame isn’t a new thing… humans have been blaming God since the beginning of time. The old testament is full of it... Every time that something bad happens in the old testament, God is accused of some cruel, harsh, vengeful reaction toward humanity – and it was often seen as a result of some sin. Sin – or atrocity that they had committed

Sin… sin is people doing wrong… not God doing wrong… people doing wrong to other people.. people doing wrong to each other, to themselves, to the earth and to God. And this sin… this wrong doing causes cruelty and evil to breed and exist in this world. We have all experienced or been witness to the horrible cruelty that people can do…

And today, we hear the story of Jesus learning about a group of Galileans that where killed at the temple while they were making their sacrifices. A horrible atrocity committed against the Galileans by Pontus Pilate.

Pontus Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea, known for his cruel acts up to and including crucifixion. Pilate used his position of power to take advantage of others and inflict violence and cruelty as a means of governance…

The noted Jewish historian Josephus, wrote about an account that mentions Pontus Pilate: I’d like to read you from Josephus’ writing… “On another occasion [Pilate] caused a riot by spending the sacred treasure from the temple, without permission, on the construction of an aqueduct which brought water into the city from a distance of seventy kilometers away. Mad with rage at this proceeding, the crowd formed a ring around the tribunal of Pilate, who was visiting Jerusalem at the time, and attacked him with a violent outburst. Pilate, foreseeing a revolt beforehand, had dispatched among the crowd a troop of his soldiers, disguised as civilians but armed, with orders not to use their swords but to beat any rioter who got out of hand. At the proper time he motioned to his men. The Jews perished in large numbers, some from the blows which they had received, while others were trampled to death by the crowds who were trying to flee from the beatings. Frightened by the sight of the victims, the multitude grew silent.”

It is argued that this could be the account that Jesus is being told about in this section of Luke… and we know that the first thing the people did was blame God… after all… it occurred at the temple, where they were gathered, making sacrifice… The scripture doesn’t say, but we can be assured that they thought God was somehow the cause of the Galileans death, because they must have committed some horrible sin…

then Jesus’ answer is clear and concise… Jesus says, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will perish as they did.”

Pilate was the cruel catalyst of the Galileans death… and we know that Jesus would also suffer and die at the hand of Pilate… but it’s not God that causes these horrible things to happen… it was the cruelty of humanity…

And like so many other times, Jesus uses this horrible situation to teach us. To teach us about repentance… (the Greek word used here is metanoia…) a change of heart and mind… a rebirth… a new direction…

That all must repent and turn to God, or we will fall into the horrible violent demise such as the one dished out by Pilate. Not that God is going to cause the death, but that WE are going to cause it if we keep sinning against each other and living in these cruel a sinful ways. We will become victims of our own circumstance.

And Jesus goes on to use another example of a tower falling on 18 people… and again Jesus says no, calling the people to repentance. Repentance, and conversion… a true change of life and turning to God so that they are living for God, and are fully dependant on God to guide them, and to strengthen them, instead of blaming God for everything bad that happens, they are called to look at themselves in the mirror and see themselves for who they truly are (images of their creator) and repent.

Then, in order to explain how this works, he tells the parable of the fig tree… about the owner who comes looking for the fruit and not finding any… and about the gardener who begs the owner not to give up on the tree, explaining that it is capable of bearing fruit, to be patient while he tends it, and nourishes it…

The owner, God, looking for the good in this world in Gods followers who are bearing the good fruit... The Gardner, Jesus, who intercedes for us, and nourishes us, and tends to us… and us, the fig tree, responsible for using the nourishment that Jesus gives us to bear good fruit…

In Lent, we are called to repentance as we seek to be reconciled to God, but remember that God's reconciling work in us doesn't happen in an instant. Reconciliation is often a long, sometimes painful, process as we learn and grow and turn as we look within and strive to do the things that God wants us to do. And along the way, on this journey, we count on Jesus to nourish us and unite us together in a bond of love as we live and worship together… And Jesus feeds us with the sacrament of his body and blood that sustains us on this journey…

I don’t know why hurricanes or earthquakes happen, or why those or other natural disasters kill or hurt people… but, I am surely not going to blame God for those tragedies. I am going to depend on God to guide us to do the right things that we need to do to help those affected see the grace of God in us.

There are horrible evils in this world that are spread about by people… People who hurt other people with violent and non violent acts of cruelty… ugliness, prejudice, bigotry, and ignorance… but it’s not God causing these things to happen… It is God there who has given this cruel world a second chance… a chance to change… a chance to turn to God… A chance to repent of our sins and start living for God instead of blaming God…

And God even goes a step further and helps us along the way, by giving us the spiritual nourishment that we need to stay focused and strong and continue the journey… God’s way is not a way of sin and death, it’s not of violence and cruelty, and it’s not of hate and disaster… But God way is a way of forgiveness and resurrection, of new life and equality, and of love, re-creation, and redemption...

As we continue our journey through this Holy Season of Lent, we will continue to examine those place in our lives that need repentance… that need metanoia… and as we find them, we get a chance to confess them, we repent of them, and can turn to God

And then in turn, God forgives us and restores us to that right relationship and nourishes us so that we can bear good fruit.