Year A - 3 Easter - April 26, 2020

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN

Year A - 3 Easter - April 26, 2020

• Acts 2:14a,36-41
• 1 Peter 1:17-23
• Luke 24:13-35
• Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17

Have you ever noticed that many of the post-resurrection stories… those “post-easter” stories about the risen Jesus are centered around meals? We know from today’s lesson that the disciples didn’t think it was the Lord Jesus until after sitting down at the table with him in their home at Emmaus.

Jesus comes among the disciples on the road, but they don’t recognize him. 

I always appreciate when the gospel writers allow a space where you can insert yourself into the story. Luke only names one of the disciples, Cleopas, and leaves the other disciple walking with Cleopas unnamed.

Do you remember what I said on Easter Sunday about the unnamed disciple that outruns Peter and gets to the tomb first? I said that any of us could be this unnamed beloved disciple. So today, we are put into the story in a different context. We are walking with Jesus on the road to Emmaus, but we don’t recognize him.

I wonder why? Maybe it’s that we know his teachings from someone else. Perhaps it’s that we never met him in person. We watched him die, we watched as he was placed in the tomb, we are sad and are probably moping down the road between Jerusalem and Emmaus, and are disappointed because Jesus and his ministry didn’t quite measure up...  Measure up to the expectations that everyone had for him.

He wasn’t the savior of the world that was hoped for. He wasn’t the messiah that they thought rode into Jerusalem on a colt just a week prior. He wasn’t the one expected to free Israel from Rome. They felt that he was taken and crucified before he could make a difference…

You can feel almost feel the disappointment in the story… And then Jesus reveals everything that was spoken about him by the prophets... but… we still don’t know it’s him – we don’t recognize him... they don’t recognize him…

They get to Emmaus, and it’s quickly becoming evening… So, in the act of hospitality and welcome, that is so common in that region of the world, they invite this total stranger into their home to share some dinner and a bed. They didn’t recognize that it is Jesus. To them, this man walking along the road was just a stranger... a stranger that has somehow revealed the prophetic scriptures to them.

They don’t recognize Jesus until he takes, blesses, breaks, and gives the bread to them like he has done so many times before. It is not a mistake – Meals are very much a central part of Jesus’ ministry. And we know that some of the dinners that he has with folks get him into all kinds of trouble… Like when he eats with “sinners” and tax collectors and harlots and those outside both the social circle and the circle of faith.

Other meals shared with Jesus feed the multitudes... like when Jesus feeds the five thousand by taking what is available and blesses it, breaks, and distributes it until ALL are fed... Providing enough for everyone and having enough left over to fill 12 baskets. 

On his last evening with his followers, Jesus shared a meal with them, and during that meal, he offered his whole self… At his last supper with his friends, Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and shares it – and tells them, this is my body - and he takes the cup of wine and blesses it and shares it and says that this is my blood…

This offering of his WHOLE self, became the act - which becomes for us the most magnificent celebration and expression of thanksgiving and sacrifice to God… The celebration which would sustain them and continues to sustain us and feed us / nourish us / after he is gone.

Our eating together is always a sign of celebration… It is a celebration of our relationships being lived out. It doesn’t matter if we are feeding or being fed. Most church communities, like St. James, enjoy having meals together. And we long for the day that we will once again be able to share a meal.  

We enjoy having meals together because we like being with each other, and we love eating and sharing good food. It is a necessary act, but it’s also an intimate act when we are together.

Most young couples, when they go out together usually, go out for a meal together. It’s practically part of a dating ritual. You will also see this in many families. Those families that gather at key times of the year… Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or any other bright occasion on the calendar that may allow them the opportunity to share a meal.

But I want us to think for a minute about the many sacred and holy things that underlie a meal that we share together. Or better yet, the meals that we may share with strangers who aren’t family...

In communities of faith, these meals are sacramental for us… they become outward and visible signs of the risen Christ here with us and among us. They become meals that bring us all to a common table, to be in right relationship with God and with each other.

That is why, from the very beginning of times when Christians began to worship in their homes and in the catacombs… the sacred meal of bread and wine became the central act of our Christian life. It is a meal of nourishment for our Christian journey together. Feeding us for the journey of faith that we are all on.

In this meal that we share, we experience the risen Christ as a community in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup we then receive that spiritual nourishment of Christ’s whole self… and it’s just what we need to sustain us in our Christian lives on our journey of faith…

At the center of the story of the resurrection of Jesus is this meal shared at Emmaus: the bread taken, blessed, broken, and given, and the risen Jesus is recognized. Christians understand all meals in relation to the Eucharistic feast… Haven’t you ever wondered why we pray and give thanks to God before we eat? The Holy Communion, and in fact all meals are for us, is a foretaste of that heavenly banquet that we will ALL one day share as we feast with Jesus in paradise.

The disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the breaking of the bread… May the risen Christ be known to us today, wherever and whenever you are at the table as the bread is broken and the meal is shared.

Year A - 2 Easter - April 19, 2020

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN

Year A - 2 Easter - April 19, 2020

• Acts 2:14a,22-32
• 1 Peter 1:3-9
• John 20:19-31
• Psalm 16

I’ve always appreciated people who ask questions… much more than those who claim to have all the answers. Asking questions allows the chance for discovery and dialogue… It enables a chance to learn… asking questions helps us cultivate a genuine curiosity that leads us to a culture of mature engagement…

It starts with the 150,000 questions that we asked our parents as children… and possibly continues into our adolescence and adulthood and hopefully continues on today… Asking questions is one of the most healthy things that we can do both for our education and for our spiritual life. But, beyond just “asking” questions, I think being able to live with the questions is helpful also…

As you know, there isn’t an answer to every question that we have… but that doesn’t stop us from asking… of trying to understand… of struggling and learning to live by faith. Someone who really wrestles with the questions of faith has a lot more in common with the apostles and a lot more in common with you and with me.

In the Gospel lesson this morning, Thomas didn't get to see the resurrected Jesus at first. He didn't have a newfound faith, based on the first-hand experience of the risen Christ that the other disciples had after they saw Jesus. Thomas was somewhere else. And regardless of how much the others that were gathered in that upper room testified to Thomas that they had seen the risen Christ, Thomas still had his reservations.

Thomas said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I WILL NOT BELIEVE! It is important for us to notice in the story that the text doesn’t say that Thomas doubted anything. He just wanted to see for himself... so it would be improper to call him "Doubting Thomas"… it might be more appropriate to call him questioning Thomas…

He came forth, He asked to be able to see. He wanted to believe for himself! He wanted a personal experience with the risen Christ. He already believed in Jesus the person… he traveled with him and learned from him. He even saw him die on the cross just outside of Jerusalem. But his struggle was to believe… Believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead. 

A week later the risen Jesus appears to the disciples again: This time Thomas is there with them! Jesus tells Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, reach out your hand and put it in my side, Do not doubt that it is me… but see, and believe!” And don't we want to believe like that? Of course, we do! Even on those days when the story of the resurrection seems a bit beyond our grasp... We want to believe. We want to come forth; We want to ask to be able to see the wounds; And… We want to invest our lives and our souls in something real and tangible. We want our own personal experience with the risen Jesus… We want to be able the make that proclamation that Thomas made, “My Lord and My God! 

Then Jesus throws a twist in Thomas’ assurance that is based on his own personal experience. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” We have not seen… yet we believe… we may question sometimes… but we are here… and we believe…

For centuries, this Sunday (The Second Sunday of Easter) has been called “Low Sunday…” This is done mainly to point out that sharp contrast between this Sunday and all of the “High Holy” festivities surrounding Easter Sunday the previous week. In fact, I think that the folks who make an effort to worship on Sunday after Easter understand this lesson better than anyone else.

You are here because you understand that the resurrection of Jesus and Easter is not just a pleasant springtime tradition to observe with chocolate rabbits, colored eggs, marshmallow chicks, and hiding candy for the children to find. You are here because the risen Christ has invited you into the fellowship of believers…

The risen Jesus has invited you to participate in the mystery of himself and to ask questions that engage and challenge your faith. Us gathering here today (however we're doing it) is acting out the faith that has been handed down through witnesses of the faith like it has been done for 2 millennia. Witnesses like those in the lesson from the Acts of the Apostles who were willing to take action and proclaim the resurrection amid persecution and ridicule.

We are all called as Christians to live into our faith to act it out and let it be a driving force in our lives (last Sunday, I called it living into the resurrection…) so that we can continue the witness (to tell the story) to others. To tell the story of God’s salvation… The salvation that comes to us in Jesus the risen Christ. The action of living into our faith strengthens our faith asking questions is part of it… it’s our way understanding and coming to terms with what we have been told and what we experience.

See, faith is not some obscure mental act. It is not something we have to fabricate in our heads nor is it something that we can understand completely. Faith is the state of being… It’s a state of knowing that we are chosen as the beloved of God. And we act on it by telling others, so that they, too, can enter into that state of knowing that they are loved by God. And the best part is, we don’t need to understand God to know that we are loved by God.

The well-known spiritual writer, Henry Nouwen, writes in his short book, Life of the Beloved: “To be chosen as the Beloved of God is something radically different. Instead of excluding others, it includes others. Instead of rejecting others as less valuable, it accepts others in their own uniqueness. It is not a competitive, but a compassionate choice. Our minds have great difficulty in coming to grips with such a reality. Maybe our minds will never understand it.”

I think Nouwen was on to something… You see, sometimes we try and try to understand, but once we know we are beloved by God we can rest in the absence of the answers to all our questions. We can rest in the love of God. This is what I believe… Questions are a good thing… I also believe that questions don’t always need answers.

So I have a few questions for you this morning…

Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ (the anointed one of God)? 

Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? 

Do you believe in life everlasting? 

Let us be able to say without seeing – Yes! Jesus is My Lord and My God! 

Let us say yes, and Gracefully accept our gift of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ that is so freely and generously given to us. And then we can gracefully live into that gift of everlasting life with our God. And, when we are like the beloved Apostle, St. Thomas… and we are filled with questions wanting our own personal experience with Jesus…  Let us ask for God to fill us with the power that we need to boldly profess our faith.  So, while we are strengthening our own faith, we are also passing it on.

Year A - Easter Sunday - April 12, 2020

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN

Year A - Easter Sunday - April 12, 2020

• Acts 10:34-43
• Colossians 3:1-4
• John 20:1-18
• Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Alleluia, Christ is risen! The Lord has risen indeed, Alleluia… From where ever you are, I hope you heard the bells this morning at 7:00 a.m. as the churches of downtown Greeneville rang in the resurrection at Sunrise.

At this point… I’m usually a little nuts - running on pure adrenaline. On Easter Sunday, I typically go romping up and down the center aisle… encouraging you to get louder in your proclamation! I shout ALLELUIA, CHRIST IS RISEN! And hope you reply with a resounding - The Lord has risen indeed, Alleluia! And I usually continue that till an acceptable volume is achieved…

Because, indeed, the resurrection of Jesus is something to get excited about! As we participate in the story of the stone being rolled away, and the tomb being found empty! Jesus has been risen, just like he said would happen.  

We get the story this morning from John’s Gospel. John’s Gospel story is interlaced with all kinds of intricate details and meaning, but the basic message is the same, “Christ is risen, he is not here! 

The story opens up with two disciples running toward the tomb, trying to outrun each other. There are Peter and the unnamed disciple, the one the scriptures say whom Jesus loved. We are never actually told who this disciple is… Who is that disciple?  The disciple whom Jesus loved…  The disciple that outruns Peter on the way to the tomb. You can see them both in your head, running together, trying to get there…  full of excitement… full of wonder and awe… Who is that disciple? That unnamed disciple… This beloved disciple? 

Henri Nouwen writes, "But what I would like to say is that the spiritual life is a life in which you gradually learn to listen to a voice that says something else, that says, "You are the beloved and on you, my favor rests."... I want you to hear that voice. It is not a very loud voice because it is an intimate voice. It comes from a very deep place. It is soft and gentle. I want you to gradually hear that voice. We both have to hear that voice and to claim for ourselves that that voice speaks the truth, our truth. It tells us who we are. That is where the spiritual life starts - by claiming the voice that calls us the beloved."

I want to suggest for a minute that you are that disciple… You or me, or any that believe in our Lord Jesus... Any of us is that beloved disciple. That beloved disciple that outruns Peter to the tomb… He gets there first but is scared. So scared that he just peaks in,  to see only the darkness of the tomb.  

And when Peter gets there, and Peter goes in first. And we believe today because Peter believed, and saw that the tomb was empty. We have the message today because Peter and the Church passed down that message to us in the scriptures. 

I appreciate the fact that the evangelist, John, gives us the tools to put ourselves in the story. So, put yourself in the story!  That’s what we all need to do. We need to take ourselves out of our mundane lives, out of our day to day, 9 to 5, 7 to 3, or whatever it is. Take ourselves out of our lives and put ourselves in the story. Live the Gospel and the message of the resurrection. Be the first one to the tomb and dare to go in.  

We live out this life day to day, week to week, hour to hour, minute to minute, and we can only cope with what’s going on out there in the world…  we can only cope with that because we do what we do and what we have learned to do here... This makes that livable. It is something to be excited about. It is something to share with our friends, our neighbors, and our families. It is something that supercharges us from the inside out. 

It’s the expressions of the resurrection that we live in our day to day lives, not just on Sunday… not just from 9:00 to 9:45 on Sunday (or 10:00 depending on how long this goes). Not just on Sunday, but in our day to day everyday lives…  I want you to ask yourself, “how do you live out the resurrection in your life?”  “How do you show others the Christ-light that burns within you?”

That’s what this great candle represents for us… the Christ-light… The Christ-light that burns and will burn the whole 50 days of the Great season of Easter. It was lit at your baptism, and it will be lit when you are laid to rest. We are part of the story of God redeeming the world! When you were baptized,  you were made a part of the story. The story of our God who redeems recreates and renews God’s people over and over, and over again.  

The Holy Scriptures give us a foretaste of that story, and in our baptism, we attached ourselves to the story… we have become part of the story and the mission of Jesus in the world… we have become that beloved disciple that is unnamed in the Gospel according to John. That disciple that outruns Peter to the tomb. But that’s not the end of the story… that’s not the end of OUR story.  

The Gospel continues... It says that Mary Magdalene was crying outside of the tomb, after the other disciples left and had gone away. She was crying outside the tomb because she assumed they had taken away the body of Jesus. She was upset and in mourning because she didn’t remember what Jesus told her.  So, she wanted to know where they had taken him. Mary’s vision must have been obscured by her tears… and her grief must have been so great that she didn’t recognize Jesus when he appeared to her.

She doesn’t know who he is until of course, Jesus calls her by name, Mary! And then she turns and acknowledges him, Rabbouni! (my teacher) I think that she didn’t recognize him because she didn’t expect him to be alive… It was just Friday, when she watched him die… She saw him wrapped and laid in the tomb… She cried for him then, and her grief now is still raw. She has come to the tomb, to tend to the body… because she was prevented from doing it on the Sabbath… and she didn’t recognize him because thought he was the gardener.

I think sometimes, we don’t recognize Jesus because we are not looking for him in the right places. We often look for Jesus in successes of our day to day lives measured by our world's measuring stick. Some sort of scorecard we call a paycheck or the stock market… It drives me crazy when we say that we are so blessed because we measure success by what kind of car we drive, or how big our house is.  But all of these ways fail!

The primary way we can see Jesus is by connecting ourselves to the body of Christ, Christian to Christian, looking at each other in the eye, and seeing that Christ-light in each other. Seeing the light of Christ that was given to us at baptism, lived out in our resurrection experiences with each other in Christian community.

Right now, in the midst of this horrible virus, that is keeping hospitals full, businesses closed and churches from gathering and the economy tanking… We ask ourselves, "where is Jesus?" We look for Jesus, but where do we find him...

We see Jesus in the healthcare givers standing over the bed of a sick patient, helping them get better the best way they can.

We see Jesus in the folks who are using their resources and networking skills to help others in the community that are at risk get the things that they need to live, like food or medicine.

We see Jesus in the actions of those individuals who continue to strive for those things that we promise at our baptism… the ones who advocate for justice freedom and peace among all people, and strive for the dignity of every human being.

And personally, I hope you see Jesus in the Pastors and Priests, that are trying to keep our communities connected but are making the responsible decisions and using good judgment and loving our neighbor enough to not gather physically.

As I’ve said before, Christianity is a communal thing. When we gather together as a community of faith... When we fellowship… Anytime we worship together, when we are ingrained and involved with one another, then we have a chance to experience the risen Christ. And that includes our efforts to stay connected in this community even though we are apart. 

There is a Christ-light that burns in each and every one of us. Our challenge is do we run away from the tomb? Are we scared to death that someone is going to call us foolish? Or that someone is going to make fun of us – or call us Jesus freaks? Or something silly like that? 

Or... do we live out the resurrection in our lives? Do we show forth the love for our neighbors that Jesus commanded us to have? Do we love God more than anything else this world could ever show us? Because God loved us that much! 

He loved us so much that He became one of us. He became one of us to live a life like ours, yet without sin.  He lived the life that we live, day to day, week by week, hour by hour… And when he was here, he spoke the truth. He spoke truth to power… He lived for freedom and peace. He restored order and connection, and taught that our human relationships and our relationships to God are more important than our stuff or our money. He challenged authority and he loved more deeply than any human ever could…

And our answer – the human answer was to convict him unjustly and hang him on a cross to die. But today we know that isn’t the end of the story… Jesus has been raised from death, defeating death by resurrection.

Resurrection life is not a resuscitated life…  It is actually life after life after death. I know that's hard to get our heads around, but that’s what it is. It is not some bodily resuscitation (or zombie Jesus), but it is a resurrection! Living into the resurrection is a life lived anew for the Glory of God! We are the beloved of God, Believers in Jesus the Christ. We are a Resurrection People, Easter people, living life anew, living into and building up the kingdom of God.  

The tomb is empty, and Jesus has risen indeed! And it is our job to go forward from wherever we are and live into that resurrection life, doing the good work in the world that our living God has given us to do!

ALLELUIA, CHRIST IS RISEN! THE LORD HAS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!

Year A - Good Friday - April 10, 2020

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN

Year A - Good Friday - April 10, 2020

• Isaiah 52:13-53:12
• Hebrews 10:16-25
• John 18:1-19:42
• Psalm 22

I have been Contemplating all week what to say on Good Friday. 

I reminded folks last night that it was important to share the story… Share the story… Share the story of the mighty acts of love displayed by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today we enter the story after the events of the previous night… after the last meal with Jesus disciples, he was arrested in the garden and brought before the authorities.

We just read the passion narrative according to John… and now we get to sit at the foot of the cross... sit at the foot of the cross and wonder… Wonder why Jesus had to die… Wonder why, when things seemed to just be getting fired up and the mission just beginning, he was taken away.

Wonder why, even though he didn’t do anything wrong, was treated like a criminal… and accursed – and hung on a tree. Wonder why I or we deserve such love, such grace, such favor.

There is a tendency in modern Christian culture to race toward Easter, where we get to revel in the joy… where we get to be filled with the excitement of the glorious resurrection. But in order to get to the other side of the grave, we need to get to the grave…

It’s interesting that this day is filled with all the emotions, joy, sorrow, guilt, fear, and the greatest love that we could ever imagine. The passion of Jesus (his suffering and death) has been a point of contemplation and reflection since the event itself.

The English mystic, known as Dame Julian of Norwich, reflects on the passion of Jesus on the cross in her illness (on her deathbed). In her "showings" or "revelations of divine love", she wrote: “For we are so preciously loved by God that we cannot even comprehend it. No created being can ever know how much and how sweetly and tenderly God loves them. It is only with the help of his grace that we are able to persevere in spiritual contemplation with endless wonder at his high, surpassing, immeasurable love which our Lord in his goodness has for us.”

“But Jesus, who in this Vision informed me of all that is necessary for me answered and said: It was necessary that there should be sin, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

People through the centuries have asked the question of why… over and over again. Over and over again… WE wrestle with the question so we can make sense of this tragic display of horror.

Crucifixion has been a bit romanticized over the centuries. We get the image from art… with the body of Jesus hanging on a cross… and a small trickle of blood, maybe coming out of the head, hands, feet, and side that were pierced. all of it very squelched and sterilized.

I feel that it was done this way in order to make the horror palatable. But, crucifixion was a public display of blood and gore, it was more of the thing that horror movies are made of... done by the Romans to inflict fear in the people… Fear of rising up and challenging the power… Fear of calling out the authoritarian structure.

Jesus, with his teaching of love and relationship and connection to God, and he was considered a political threat to the powers that be. The people with the power were fearful of his message, and people being liberated from their oppression and being freed from tyranny.

So, he was publicly executed after a mockery of a trial and a people calling for Barabbas, a person that had been arrested for a violent display against the Roman government... A person who they thought would lead them in an insurrection.

But that’s not how it worked out… So we’re left with an innocent man hanging on a Roman Cross. But we know the end of the story… we know the end of the story, but we're not there yet. We know that in the end all shall be made well.

But we are called today to linger a bit at the foot of the cross and contemplate the mighty act of Love that Jesus displayed for us and for the world.

Year A - Maundy Thursday - April 9, 2020

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN

Year A - Maundy Thursday - April 9, 2020

• Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
• 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
• John 13:1-17, 31b-35
• Psalm 116:1, 10-17

Today is Maundy Thursday… Maundy from the word “Mandate” - A name given to the night that we remember Jesus having his last meal with his friends. When Jesus said a prayer and took and broke the loaf of bread… and said, “this is my body,” then took the cup of wine and said, “this is my blood.”

He told his followers that night that when they gathered together they should do this (break the bread and share the cup) to remember him. And when they did that, he would be in the midst of them. They were to remember his teaching and his purpose… remember what his life among them meant. They were to remember Jesus in every way… remember the mission that he was on, to restore the people of God to the right relationship… A right relationship with God and with each other. To gather and to remember…

So we, as followers, continue to gather and remember… To gather and to remember the one who came among us, and continues to come among us when we gather together. We believe that the bread and wine that we share is a sacrament... Outward and visible signs of God’s abundant grace… the love and favor God has for us.

They are vehicles if you will... vehicles by which God bestows that grace to us as we take them, as we take Jesus himself into our bodies, and become part of him who loved us and died for us… When we do this, we not only become part of him… but he becomes part of us.

When we celebrate that thing every Sunday that we call Eucharist (which in Greek means “thanksgiving”), the ritual brings us around the table, gathered with Jesus there among us. Then we offer our simple gifts of bread and wine, and we ask God to make these common elements for us the body and blood of Jesus for us.

One bread is broken… One cup is shared… One God, the creator, redeemer, and sustainer of all that is – and of all that ever was and ever will be is celebrated and feasted upon.

We understand that our participation, that our act of faith and thanksgiving in this celebration,  depends on us being together – physically being gathered with each other. So, tonight we are stuck... We are stuck between our desire to gather and celebrate the mysteries of God in that sacred meal... and our desire to love our neighbor and keep ourselves and each other well and safe during these strange pandemic times.

Tonight, we are forced into exile by a deadly virus… Tonight, we gather and remember differently. The scriptures tell us that when Jesus gathered with his disciples in the upper room so long ago, they were there to celebrate the Passover meal (or Seder).

The Passover, a ritual feast consisting of matzo, bitter herbs,  crushed fruit, wine, raw vegetables dipped in vinegar, lamb, and a hard-boiled egg. The Passover Seder (which means order or arrangement) is the meal that marks the beginning of the Jewish festival. The whole ritual was intended to be a way of remembering… Remembering how they were delivered by God from bondage in Egypt… Remembering God’s abundant grace shown as they were led through the desert. Remember God giving them the law (or Torah) on Mt. Sinai and remember them being delivered into the promised land. Gathered around the table, they wash their hands and say prayers and distribute the food in a specific order… All to remember those mighty acts done so long ago.

The Seder, for the Jewish people, is a carefully prescribed meal, very different from any other. For each participant, gathered there at the family table, the Seder is an occasion to relive the Exodus as a personal spiritual event. To help them remember…

To help them remember... to help them keep and perpetuate the faith, the youngest child asks four questions... 

“Why does this night differ from all other nights? For on all other nights we eat either leavened or unleavened bread; why on this night only unleavened bread?”

“On all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs; why on this night only bitter herbs?”

“On all other nights we need not dip our herbs even once; why on this night must we dip them twice?”

and the last “On all other nights we eat either sitting up or reclining; why on this night do we all recline?”

The answers to these questions are recited in unison by everyone at the table – and the story starts to unfold… These customs keep alive the sacred story… It is an anamnesis – a calling forward and remembering a previous time… it is their way of participating in the story... and it is done in the home around the table.

Friends, this night that we celebrate Jesus’ mandate that we break the bread and share the cup… we are called to remember differently. We are unable to gather as in our custom, so we must resort to our connections with the living God be done through family… Through those with whom we are sequestered...

We are unable to gather together around the table. So, it’s not appropriate for us to have our Eucharistic feast without everyone being able to receive it. If we were to break bread here, we would not be able to share it with you there… If we were to drink from the cup here, we would not be able to offer it to you there…

I know that we have prevision to take the bread and wine from this table to those who are confined because of illness or infirmity. But we are even prevented from doing that. So, in these strange times, we need to understand and trust our theology of the Eucharist.

I know that I have clergy colleagues of other denominations that are offering a sort of “drive-through” communion having the faithful pray a prayer of "spiritual communion" while you watch the priest celebrate and receive.

While I love and respect what they are trying to do… at the same time, I want to say what that silly woman in the Facebook commercial says... When she literally has ALL the pictures of her friends all over her physical wall… “That’s not how it works, that’s not how any of this works.”

Their intentions are good, but that’s not our theology… We need to be strong, and we need to be strong and trust and know that our communion is so much more than receiving the bread and wine. It’s so much more than our individual selves “driving through” to get our spiritual fix. Our communion depends on our physical togetherness. The transformation of the bread and wine takes place when the community of the faithful is gathered together…

When I say the prayers on behalf of the community, at 2 times, the prayer book instructs me to touch the elements… so even bringing out your bread and wine at home is not how it works… 

Tonight, we are gathered, but we have gathered apart through technology. So, it makes it difficult to do the things that help us receive the nourishment that we so desperately need.

But, we can take the lead from our Jewish brothers and sisters… at home, we can help the family do things to learn and engage the mysteries of God. As a gathered family, you can pray together and remember… you can be at the table together… you can share a meal and tell the story of Jesus together.

The story about how a man healed others, cast out demonic evil and brought the dead to life…About how he taught a way of love and forgiveness and connection to God that was different and challenging to the power and authority of the time.

You can tell the story about a man… who, on the night before he died washed the feet of his followers and modeled the humility in love and service that he expects us to have. About how he told them at that meal, that a loaf of ordinary bread and a cup of ordinary wine is to be received as his body and blood when they gather. About how this man, even though he was betrayed, condemned, and put to death rose from the grave on the third day… You can even let the youngest inquisitive child in the family, be the one who asks the questions and lets you tell the story.

In these strange times, we are not able to gather, but that doesn’t keep us from being Christian. it doesn’t keep us from telling the story of our salvation… The virus may keep us apart, but it doesn’t keep us from connecting to each other and to God.

This night… I commend to you the Holy Scriptures… With your family… read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them. I commend to you the Book of Common Prayer… When you are struggling for form and order, there are simple prayers for use by families (pages 136-140). We need these strange times for us to consider what is important about our faith… that we love one another, as Jesus loved us, we also should love one another…

Brothers and sisters,  Christianity is a communal religion. Jesus was not out there alone, he was often with big crowds and almost always with his 12 closest friends. So, tonight we will not be celebrating the mandate because we are not able to physically gather. But we are celebrating, nonetheless… 

We are celebrating in the exile of our homes… We are celebrating the fact that we know God loves us and is holding us up through these strange times of fear and sickness. So, together with our families, we celebrate as we share and tell the story of Jesus in new and creative ways.

Year A - Palm Sunday - April 5, 2020

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders, III
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, Tennessee

Year A - Palm Sunday - April 5, 2020

• Isaiah 50:4-9a
• Philippians 2:5-11
• Matthew 21:1-11
• Psalm 31:9-16

Have you ever had one of those moments where things just don’t feel right… Where things are so far from the norm, that it’s surreal… Well, today is one of those days… 

Today is Palm Sunday (also known as Passion Sunday). Normally, in our tradition, today would be what I like to call liturgical whiplash – beginning with the liturgy of the palms and a procession in with greens and palm branches as we reenact Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem…

We would continue on in the liturgy and in the center act out the passion narrative, with folks reading different parts… But today is different, so different that I decided to focus this morning on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem… I’ve decided to focus on that because the liturgy rarely ever focuses on the entry reading, and we will hear the passion narrative on Good Friday.

So today lets examine the scene and the situation surrounding Jesus and his (what we call) “triumphant entry” into Jerusalem. If we remember last week, during the healing of Lazarus, we learned that it was dangerous for Jesus to go back to Judea… The religious leaders and people in power were angry and looking for a way to kill Jesus… Yet, Jesus returns to Judea… but not just Judea… but to the Capitol – Jerusalem

What’s interesting is when Jesus gets there, he doesn’t go right into the city. He stops on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives near a small town on the outskirts of Jerusalem called Bethphage; about 900 meters from the city. It was there that the actions we just heard about took place… There, Jesus asked two of his followers to go into Bethphage and procure a donkey and a colt… They do this, and the prophecy from Zachariah is fulfilled... "Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey." 

The layout of the walled city of Jerusalem is also interesting… Jerusalem was under Roman occupation. Everything that happened there, in Jerusalem took place under the control of the Emperor, Tiberius Caesar and the Emperor’s Governor of Judea, Pontus Pilate. Several gates enter the walled city of Jerusalem… 

Most notably was the Damascus Gate on the Northern Wall this was a grand gate intended for nobility like the Emperor or the Governor. There was another Gate, one on the Eastern Wall, at the base of the Mount of Olives called the Mercy Gate. According to Jewish tradition, this was the gate that the Messiah was to enter... Through the Damascus Gate, the Roman nobility comes riding in on strong stallions... Ready and able war horses… But, through the Mercy Gate, a humble itinerate preacher, rode in on a donkey... A working animal, meant to bear and move loads…

The direct opposition between the two gates is so visible. Yet, the people are still celebrating Jesus' arrival, spreading their cloaks and branches from the nearby trees along the road that Jesus traveled into the City… The people were so happy and thankful to see this... And they were crying out… "Hosanna, Son of David!!" Hosanna – which means Save Us! Deliver Us!! Hosanna - which had become an expression of joy and the highest praise! 

"Hosanna, to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!!"

The people were hopeful that this Jesus would help deliver them from the tyranny of Rome. Rome was nervous about a possible rebellion but didn’t consider Jesus a threat. After all, what damage could a man do who rides into town on a work animal?

Things were beginning to change… The scripture tells us that when Jesus entered the City of Jerusalem was in turmoil. People who saw others making such a fuss about Jesus were asking who he was… And they were told, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.

Many during that time were on their pilgrimage journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover Festival. These were considered the High Holy Days, and you can bet that Rome was on alert. Yet they didn’t think twice as they stood watch and saw Jesus riding into town… 

I want to focus on two aspects of the story this morning in our context… 

The first is the two disciples who were sent to retrieve the donkey and the colt retrieve them because Jesus needed them… We are in a situation as we enter this holiest of weeks where some of our folks need help… they need help retrieving the things that they need to live… Folks need food and supplies because they are not able to go out so like Jesus, they depend on others to go and get what they need... Therefore, this community has come together with folks who are “healthy runners” able to retrieve basic items for the members of our community who are vulnerable and are in need. 

The second thing is that when Jesus entered the City of Jerusalem, the City was in turmoil… Our lives have been crazy and chaotic ever since we started living differently to prevent the spread of this virus… We are in turmoil, disorder, confusion, and chaos… We hope that it will end soon, but we don’t know when… 

We do know this, every time things are in disorder every time that the world is in turmoil God breaks forth… God broke forth into the world in the person of Jesus at the onset of political upheaval and chaos in the middle east and through us, God is continually breaking forth.

Breaking forth to hold one another up when we are hurting and scared… Helping us stay connected and in relationship… Assuring us that regardless of alone and apart we may feel, we are together. We are together in faith and love… we are together in relationship as we pray for and call on one another.

Our cry today is the same as it was back then. "Hosanna, Son of David, Save us!" Enable us to help bring forth your Kingdom in the work that we do. Help us be Christ to one another in this time of chaos.

Brothers and sisters, this is a Holy Week like none we have ever experienced. However, we will continue on, connecting with God and one another, offering opportunities to retell and reflect on the story... The important story of Jesus that brings hope and meaning to our lives.

Today Jesus entered Jerusalem and was greeted by a large crowd that laid cloaks and branches of palm on the road. In just a few short days we will more of the story that took place within that week…

As an Episcopalian, as an Episcopal Priest, my main struggle is that we are prevented from engaging the rites and rituals and the pageantry that we are accustomed to… Things that help us engage in and connect to the living God through our gathering together in corporate worship…

However, using the technology we have, we are trying… trying to stay engaged and connected trying to be with each other the best way we know. It is my hope that you will continue to say your prayers… It is my hope that you will continue to know you are loved… You are a beloved part of this wonderful community of faith…

God loves you so much... Continue to show that love to each other by paying it forward… Reaching out and connecting to others. A quick phone call, a short text message. A handwritten note or email. A grocery or food run... It’s so important at this time of confusion that we be there for one another – helping each other praying for each other… 

It’s so important that we be Christ to one another…

Maybe, just maybe, God will break forth into this world through us.