RCL Year B (Proper 25) - October 25, 2009

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

RCL Year B (Proper 25) – October 25, 2009

Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)
Hebrews 7:23-28
Mark 10:46-52

There once was a young man that found an old tarnished brass lamp. He began to polish it to clean it up a bit and all of a sudden… POOF! - out popped a genie! “I will give you three wishes,” said the genie. You may have anything you like.”

So the guy thinks for a minute and says, “I would like a billion dollars." (10% of which I will give to the church) "You shall have it," and the genie grants him the wish. "Anything else?"

The guy thinks for a while. "I would like a brand new red 2010 Mustang GT, maxed out! With a big engine and a booming stereo system." "Your wish is my command,” said the genie. And the Mustang magically appeared.

What is your last wish? "Hmmm. I think I'll save my last wish for later." "OK, suit yourself," says the genie. So the guy gets in his new Mustang and goes for a drive to show off to all his friends. He turns on his booming stereo system…

But there's a very familiar commercial on… and the guy starts singing along to it: "I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener." The moral to that story is… Be careful what you wish for…

These past few weeks we have heard the stories from scripture of the disciples wishing for positions of power; of one wanting to be exalted over the other to some kind of important position within the kingdom of God…

When two of the disciples, James and John came to Jesus… Jesus asked them, “what is it that you want me to do for you?”

What is it that you wish for?

Today we hear the story of the blind beggar, who is identified to us as the son of Timaeus. Bartimaeus… We are told that Bartimaeus is sitting on the side of the road begging… Positioned carefully by the side of the road, with his cloak probably spread out to receive any alms that may be pitched his way…

Doing the only thing he knows how to do… living within the shame of his condition… And along comes Jesus and his caravan of followers, making their way toward Jerusalem… Now, Bartimaeus cannot see, but he can surely hear the crowd, as they must be causing a large commotion… Among the buzz of the crowd, Bartimaeus figures out that Jesus must be with them… So, He cries out loudly… “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!!!”… Addressing Jesus by his royal lineage, focusing on Jesus… and forgetting about his begging for a minute… Bartimeaus cries out… Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!!!...

And after being told to be quiet… He cries out again, even louder… Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!!!... Jesus stood still…

Again, Bartimeaus cried… Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!!!... Over the noise of the crowd, Jesus heard the voice of the blind beggar… Then Jesus tells the crowd, “Call him here…” Bartimeaus springs up and goes to Jesus… Jesus asks him… What do you want me to do for you?...

What is it that you wish for???

And very affectionately, and very simply, Bartimeaus replied, “Teacher, let me see again.” Then, without smoke and mirrors, and no drama… with no spitting on the ground to make a mud cake… or any other mysterious physical act, Jesus simply says, “go, your faith has made you well. ”

What is it that you wish for???

Bartimeaus is the son of Timeaus. His name, literally translated, means: “bar” (son of) and “Timao” (honor). Bartimeaus wasn’t just a blind beggar. A son of honor was sitting by the roadside begging for his next meal. And he goes to Jesus when Jesus calls him…

By his faith, Bartimeaus regained his sight. Jesus restored his “place of honor” in society from the shame of his condition. After he was healed, Bartimeaus abandons the security of his roadside vocation and follows Jesus and the caravan to Jerusalem…

What is it that you wish for?

Bartimeaus doesn’t seek power. He doesn’t hope for a high office. He doesn’t crave being special, or anything “flashy.” He doesn’t want to do something and be seen… All he wants to do is see.

He wants to be ordinary, and see the beauty of the world and God’s creation around him. This is the only transformation that Bartimeaus desires. And in that transformation Bartimeaus moves from blindness to sight. It is not a matter of medicine or magic It is only a matter of faith that opens his eyes.

Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” and we grope along sometimes like the blind… along a wall groping along like those who have no eyes, and Jesus wants to know what we wish for… Do we want to be seen like James and John, one seated on the right hand and one on the left… Or do we just want to see, like Bartimeaus?

What is it that we wish for???…

Do we wish to be seen in positions of power, ready to impress our friends? Or do we wish to just see, and then follow Jesus along the way, down the road to Jerusalem?

Following Jesus down the road to Jerusalem, where he will be beaten, hanged on a cross and die a traitor’s death. We know that faith alone in Jesus made Bartimeaus well, and like Bartimeaus, even in our blindness and most broken moments, we can recognize the presence of God in Jesus Christ.

And we cry out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on us… And we know that it’s Jesus that hears us, and by our faith, He makes us well. So, what is it that we wish for???

Jesus, son of David, have mercy on us!! Be careful what you wish for…

RCL Year B (Proper 24) - October 18, 2009

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

RCL Year B – 20 Pentecost (Proper 24) – October 18, 2009

Job 38:1-7, (34-41)

Psalm 104:1-9, 25, 37b

Hebrews 5:1-10

Mark 10:35-45

It's a really nice thing to be around a polite person. Most of you know that I was at my son’s graduation from Air Force Basic Training last weekend. It was amazing to see the person that my son has transformed into, but what I think amazed me the most is how he treated others.

When he was out on his town pass and on base liberty, he was extremely polite to everyone, even those in his own flight. It was beyond the simple yes sir, no sir, yes mam, no mam… It was genuine and sincere, and it had become part of who he is. He was always a polite kid, but this time it was extremely noticeable… Even the way he treated the new recruits that were just starting their training…as he passed them, he whispered words of encouragement telling them that it would only get better.

It caused me to take notice immediately about the way I respond to others. I have always tried to be a polite person, using those “good” words that I learned as a child… such as please and thank you. After all, it’s the right way to be, but every once in awhile I forget.

Instead, I find myself reverting back the barking… you know, those times when we make requests of others that sound much more like military commands, rather than respectful requests. Such as, “While you’re up, get me something to drink” or “make me a sandwich.” Does it sound familiar?

Sometimes the way we come across to others is so much a part of who we are, that we don’t even realize how harsh it sounds. It makes others want to come back with that horrible question, “What do I look like, your slave?”

Or sometimes it's just that "look" that will burn a hole right through you. I have had that said to me… I know that probably some of you have too… Whenever someone says that to me, I feel extremely bad… I regret that I did not choose a kinder way to ask. And the word “slave” itself generates a very negative and guttural feeling in me…

Having the word “slave” thrown into a conversation makes many people uncomfortable and nervous. Sometimes I am on the receiving end of that word, but sometimes I’m the one directing that word in another direction. Many of you may think it’s not a big issue, but that’s not the issue that I want to debate here this morning.

Rather, It’s just a description of how I personally feel when I hear the word. I think we can all agree that our words matter. Words have great impact, power, and a lasting presence. And we need to take a minute and realize that they can hurt people as much as they can heal.

That’s why it’s so hard to listen to today’s Gospel lesson from Mark. Jesus says, “whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” Slave of all... what in the world does that mean?

We hear the word “slave” and immediately we conjure up images of mistreatment, abuse, degradation, despair, hardship, and sometimes even death. And when Jesus says that slavery is something we need to embrace and model ourselves after, it gets more than a little confusing. In what ways are we to be slaves? What exactly does God expect of us?

It’s important to remember that all language has limitations… Our words, phrases, analogies, metaphors, and even stories themselves (such as parables) are never perfect representations of the meaning behind them. And so, in this case, we must understand that Jesus is affirming SOME aspects of being a slave FOR others, but there are probably other aspects of slavery that Jesus would not and could not support, nor would he ask us to condone or embrace.

So, what aspect of being a slave is Jesus asking us to live out as his disciples? Well, we’ll probably never know exactly. But I’d like us to take a look at one aspect of slavery which might be helpful to us as we walk our journey of faith.

We often think of slaves as simply taking orders from others, doing whatever the task-master asks. However, it was so much more than that. In many ways, the slave did not live separate lives from that of the household they served. Their life was not their own. Rather, their life was fully immersed in and completely overlapped with that of the family they served. The family’s concerns were their concerns. Their well-being was that of the family’s. The family’s needs were their needs. And whatever the family requested, the slave provided if he or she was able --- with no questions and no conditions.

This sort of overlapping of lives is something many of us just don’t do. We like to keep our distance. We have this bubble around us that we like to live in. We like to pick and choose when, where, and how we will love. We help others and care for them only when it’s convenient, or give only when we have something to gain. And if we just don’t feel like it, well, you know what happens. We just sit on the sidelines, detached, leaving others to fend for themselves.

My guess is that when Jesus encourages us to be a “slave” for others, in part, he is asking us to resist the temptation to stay uninvolved and unconcerned. Rather, he’s asking us to enter into --- in a very real way --- the lives of those around us.

In today’s Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews we heard, “Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”

Jesus entered into our world… God became one of us, and knows what we’re going through. If only we could do the same --- enter the world of others --- and share in their struggles and joys, their hopes, their fears, and their dreams. Truly serving others requires that we carry some of their burdens, take on some of their pain, and help them work through some of their difficulties and struggles. Imagine if we all truly acted that way.

Imagine if every “I need you to . . .” was followed by, “Let me know how I can help.” Imagine if every expression of sorrow was followed by an offer to listen and an attempt to understand. Imagine if every admission of guilt was followed by, “I forgive you.” And imagine if not one person had to journey through this life feeling alone or abandoned.

This is the sort of “slavery” and service that our Lord calls us to. And the good that we do for each other is a good thing in and of itself. Of that we can be assured.

But it is more than that. When we are truly present to one another… the bonds between us grow a little stronger, our understanding of one another becomes a little clearer, and the walls between us begin to be torn down. Mistrust turns to appreciation, suspicion turns into hope, and indifference turns into to true caring.

All of that can be a reality. But, staying in the tiny world, this bubble, that we create for ourselves is not enough. It is beneath who we are as children of God… God entered our world in the person of Jesus Christ, and the world was changed forever. If we are willing to step into the world of another… step in all the way… who knows what might happen?

Parts of this sermon were derived from the musings of the Rev. Deacon Mark Arnold, Sacred Heart Church, Jim Falls, WI – thank you for your words of wisdom, my colleague and friend in Christ!

RCL Year B (Proper 22) - October 4, 2009

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

RCL Year B – 18 Pentecost (Proper 22) - October 4, 2009

Job 1:1; 2:1-10
Psalm 26
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16

What does it mean to live in “right relationship” with God and with each other? Are we doing it? Are we even trying to do it? If we were ALL striving to live in “right relationship,” would we do anything different than what we are doing?

I want to go out on a limb here a bit, and suggest that our only purpose in this life is to practice living in “right relationship.” Right relationship with God and with each other! If you think about it for a minute, our entire life is surrounded by relationships… of course there is the obvious relationships – our relationships to our spouses or significant others, our family and extended family, our brothers and sisters, our parents and our kids, our friends and our enemies, our church, our teachers and our students, our co-workers… and the list goes on and on and on – with just the “people” in our lives!…

Then there is the not so obvious relationships – our relationship with our surroundings (the created order around us…) the plant and animals, our pets, trees, the environment, or even the relationships with our possessions or the stuff that clutters our lives… money, houses, furniture, cars, jobs, hobbies, or our passions... and THAT list goes on and on and on…

Anything and everything and everyone that comes in contact with our lives is a sort of relationship… and if we stop to think about it, we know that relationships are powerful things – good or bad, they form, inform, and transform our very lives…

The very Bible, the book of Holy Scripture… is a book about relationships. Relationships between God and us and our relationships with each other… of how good, bad, or ugly it could possibly be…

In the Hebrew Scriptures or the Old Testament, we learn about God’s relationship with Israel, (God’s chosen people)… In the Old Testament, Israel learns to rely on God’s faithfulness… God’s faithfulness that continually redeems and restores them back into “right” relationship. And in that relationship, we know of some who learn to be faithful… Faithful in following and accepting God’s presence in their lives.

In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us about relationships, both, relationships with God and with each other. In today’s lesson from Mark’s Gospel, Jesus continues the teaching that we heard about. You remember the difficult stories in latter part of the ninth chapter of Mark that the bishop taught us about last week? The stories about cutting off that which keeps you from having a “right” relationship with God. I, for one, am glad we understand the amputations that Jesus speaks about more as metaphors that are used to represent other things – I don’t think Jesus was into literal body mutations.

In our story this morning, Jesus and the disciples have traveled down the road a bit and they have reached the edge of the wilderness in Judea near the river Jordan… hmmm… doesn’t this sound familiar? We knew a man who preached there in the wilderness - John the Baptist! So, Jesus is now in back in John’s old venue and he starting to get noticed and attract attention.

A large crowd was starting to form around him and – as was his custom – Jesus begins to teach them… But the Pharisees have different ideas – The scripture says that they were going to test, and we can assume that they want to embarrass and defame Jesus…

We already know that Jesus has upset the social order in order to set “right” the relationships that had run amiss… so the Pharisees decide to test Jesus by asking him about the legalities of divorce. Jesus teaches and argues with them about the intent of the law… He explains that the only reason that the law allowing divorce was given is because Humans are “hard hearted.” That God’s intent, as He quotes Genesis, was for us to become one flesh – the “new creation” that we speak of in our marriage liturgy.

But as humans we mess up relationships, we mess up relationships because we live far from the created balance and order that God intends us to live into…

After Jesus answers the Pharisees, they go into a house… And as usual, the disciples still don’t quite understand what Jesus was teaching… So, Jesus enters a deeper conversation with His band of closest followers and teaches them about some of the consequences of divorce and human separation.

Then the unthinkable happens… little children are brought to Jesus for a blessing, but the disciples rebuke them… and think the children are disruptive. (You want to know why I am an advocate of children being in the liturgy? Read this chapter closely!)… Jesus stops the disciples and takes the opportunity to use the situation to teach them about the greatest relationship of all.

Jesus speaks to them of the restoration of the world to “right” relationship… The Kingdom of God, being one in which people have humility, openness, and the relational gift of being childlike... Childlike - where the complex issues in relationships that we all seem to get messed up in, confused about and stressed out over, all become simple, faithful, and earnest…

So, what does it mean for us to be in “right” relationship? I would like to suggest, it takes a divine balance… A divine balance that is that is sincere uncomplicated and unprofaned. A relationship where we actually seek to serve God in Christ and all do our part to help reconcile this broken world to get it back into right relationship with God…

We all made promises in our baptism (and reaffirmed them last week) to be good stewards of ALL Creation – because everything was created by God and BELONGS to God… and is put in our care… We also promised to seek to serve Christ in ALL persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves… If we just follow through with those two promises and live out our baptismal covenant, then we will start to know what it means to live into “right” relationships.

If it is - in fact - our purpose in life to practice living in “right” relationships, then we are here this morning in this community of faith, to learn how… we are here to worship and learn, and we are called to have our hearts and souls as open vessels to receive the word and the body and blood… so that through our worship and learning, we are formed and transformed… So we learn how to nurture and nourish each other and learn that it is God who nurtures and nourishes us…

God wants a “right” relationship with each and every one of us… and part of that “right” relationship with God… is living in “right” relationship with each other… here at Christ Church and in the world.

RCL Year B (Proper 20) - September 20, 2009

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

RCL Year B (Proper 20) - September 20, 2009

Proverbs 31:10-31

Psalm 1
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

Mark 9:30-37

Be Somebody!
Just do IT!
Life is short!

Let’s party all night long and take in our fill… we ALL deserve it! You have to MAKE it to the top in life to be successful! I am stronger than YOU are!

Don’t let your co-worker stop you… just use them as a stepping stone!

Go ahead and get to the Top… that way you will look good! So… take on that extra responsibility! If offered the chance, move into that corner office with a view!

It doesn’t matter what peon you had to step on to get there. Make more money, get a bigger house (with a bigger mortgage)! Buy a new car! Get that extra credit card! Or better yet… Just “claw your way to the top”

At this point, you are saying to yourselves… Wait a minute Ken…

But, I am here to tell you… That yesterday, today and tomorrow… That imagery in our society is REAL…. And it’s scary! There is so much pressure in this world to do just that! And it causes us ALL anxiety!

So… This morning - the question is… What ARE the disputes among YOU? Where do they come from? Family?, Work?, Church?, Money?, Power?… You want something and cannot have it… You covet something and cannot obtain it…

Our modern society puts so much emphasis on obtaining positions of false power and authority…

I even heard a young mother just the other day saying to her young child, “when you grow up, one day you aught to be president!” I even think that MY mom used that one on… That may be ok for a kindergartener, but what happens if that level of aspiration is forced?

You’ve got to BE a Doctor… BE a Lawyer… Be Somebody!… Don’t get me wrong… There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with having a successful life, or aspirations for success accomplished with hard work, but too many folks see it as a “zero sum game.” Where there is a “winner”… there must be a “loser.”

Therefore, we do everything that we can to “Claw” our way to that top position of power sometimes at the expense of others… and as the peak of the Mountain gets smaller and smaller on the way to the top there is less and less room for us to stand, but one finally emerges… victorious! What anxiety that produces… It is no wonder that one in ten young people in the United States today have a diagnosed anxiety disorder.

This isn’t completely unlike what is going on in our readings today. We were very carefully warned at the beginning of the service, as the collect so plainly tells us… “not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly!” Anxious? – about earthly things? – Who us???

NOW… that statement even makes me anxious! Anxious about being anxious!

Anxiety and Society are friends… And our Society LOVES Anxiety!!! And anxiety is created in all types of situations… How will I get that job and a corner office with a view??? I have been a faithful employee for YEARS!... I deserve more responsibility – AND – MORE MONEY! Will I be accepted????

Or even better yet…

Lord, who will sit at your right hand in the place of honor? Lord, you said you had to die… do you think when you are gone, I can be in charge? Lord, don’t you like me better than him?

Can you imagine what the anxiety level is of the disciples? In their society, that is what they know… They lived in a world where honor and status had extreme value… Their obsession with positions of power rendered them totally incapable of understanding, or even accepting what Jesus is trying to teach them.

Even though Mark’s account of this incident says that they were silent when they hit Capernaum, (on their way to Jerusalem) Jesus knew something was going on… Jesus tried to teach them along the way, as he told them over and over - That “the Son of Man is to be betrayed, killed, and then risen in three days… But the scripture says that they continued to not understand… and they were anxious…

They were all caught up within the struggles for power of their world, arguing with one another about who was the “greatest" and who would sit at his right hand… Jesus, like so often before, uses the opportunity to try to teach them more… He tells them, “Whoever wants to be first… must be last of all and servant of all?”

I can only imagine the responses…

but Lord, I left my job and my life and followed you… I have listened to your teachings… I believe that you are the ONE that has been sent by GOD into the world… You ARE the Messiah, the Christ!

We can only imagine…

I am ready to run with the ball… Put ME in coach… I am ready to play!

The disciples were anxious… and yet they still did not understand… and at this point… they were getting more and more anxious…

So… In the midst of their anxiety and them not understanding… Jesus goes a step further… Jesus takes a little child in his arms… A little child, who was considered to be the weakest and most vulnerable member of their society… A little child, with little or no status and the least among those within the community or family… And Jesus said to his followers…


“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

In one phrase, Jesus collapses the whole power structure that his disciples were climbing and disarms their understanding of the way things work in society. They learn quickly that they need to put it back together and reassess things in their heads and in their manner of life VERY differently.

They must welcome the child… Because when they welcome the child… they welcome GOD! They must come off of their “high horse,” forget about their quest for personal greatness, and completely HUMBLE themselves... Completely Humble themselves and show a radical hospitality to even the weakest member of their society…

And this is a very difficult thing for them to put into practice… This is very difficult for ANYONE to put into practice

St. Benedict, the abbot of Monte Cassino, lived in the 6th century. He wrote a famous “rule” to govern Monastic life. Part of that rule included 10 steps of humility… After listing all the steps he says, “after ascending all these steps of humility, the monk will quickly arrive at that perfect love of God which casts out fear. Through this love, all that he once performed with dread, he will now begin to observe without effort, as though naturally, from habit…”[1]

Now - We are NOT Monks in the 6th Century. However, we must show welcome like Jesus says, but, not just to each other… We need to welcome the lowest of the low… we must cast down our personal delusions of power, and redefine in our lives what it means to be “great.” We must HUMBLE ourselves… and through our acts of personal humility and welcome, God will casts out our fears, and remove our anxieties…

In our gospel story, Jesus will not be among his disciples for very much longer… He has told them that he will die, they are scared… and they are anxious… because they don’t understand. But, we have had 2000 years to figure it out… We know the rest of the story… We can look beyond the cross to the glorious resurrection… We know that the saving act of Jesus has been done… But we are still anxious about earthly things…

So, as we approach the table this morning, let us humble ourselves… let us put aside our personal power, and our rank and status, and let us get rid of our personal feelings and realize that we are NOT better than anyone or anything that happens to kneel next to us…

Let us understand that we don’t have to be “successful” by the world’s standards to inherit the kingdom of heaven… let us not be anxious…

Don’t be anxious about earthly things, but love things heavenly…

[1] Benedict’s Rule 7.67

RCL Year B (Proper 18) - September 6, 2009

The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III

Christ Episcopal Church

Cleveland, NC 27013

RCL Year B (Proper 18) - September 6, 2009

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23

Psalm 125
James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17

Mark 7:24-37

Today we kind of get bombarded from all directions!

The scripture readings are bring us full circle, calling us to a self-awareness, generosity, good works, humility, and dignity as God’s redeemed people. The lesson from James is a sermon in itself; therefore, I am not going to preach that one again.

It is something that we should probably meditate on. It is as direct as it gets with a call to action for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

How appropriate is it to hear this lesson of a call to action on this weekend that we honor those that labor? After all, we are a redeemed people, our sins are forgiven, and in response to that forgiveness, we should desire to go out and do those good works and show the Christ that we experience to the world.

But this morning, I want to focus on the healing miracles that we just heard about in the Gospel reading.

Jesus is going (somewhat haphazardly) from town to town, trying not to be noticed too much, for fear of drawing a large crowd and too much attention to himself… at this stage he has found himself a sojourner in a strange land, depending on the hospitality of strangers in order for him and his rag-tag caravan of followers to survive.

His mission at this point, is to preach repentance and redemption to the children of Israel. They have found themselves in the region of Tyre and Sidon. This is pretty far north of their normal stomping grounds around the sea of Galilee.

This was up near Mt. Lebanon, along the sea coast of the Mediterranean. It was most definitely Gentile territory. Not a good place for a Jewish boy to roam.

Word had obviously spread in the region about all the wonderful things that Jesus was doing… the healing & the casting out of demons… He was developing quite a reputation. Jesus shows up, and all of a sudden all things are made well. He comes for a visit and suddenly the mute are speaking, the crippled are walking, and the blind are seeing.

No wonder he can’t get a moments peace! We have to remember that this is ancient Palestine... In a time when there were no hospitals, no ambulances, and no pharmaceuticals – Compared to what we are accustomed to, this is an extremely harsh world with sickness and pain and death… until Jesus shows up!

The grape vine of communication is quick, and a Syrophoenician woman immediately hears of the great healer that has come to town. She has a daughter who has an unclean spirit, so she goes to Jesus… and in an act of pure humility, this non-Jewish woman, bows down at Jesus’ feet and begs Jesus to help heal her daughter.

Not surprisingly, Jesus tried to dismiss her. He actually seems rude and insults her, calling her a dog (which was pretty commonplace for a Jew to say to a gentile – most times much worse)… Jesus’ words were, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

Ooooo… you can almost feel the tension in the air, as this woman (who should have never addressed a man in public), claims her dignity and get’s very bold. She doesn’t return the derogatory remark, but remains humble in her dignity… She answers, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Jesus acknowledges her, and tells her that because of her statement, she can go – her daughter had been made well.

It is amazing that we get the images of humility, dignity, and restoration all in the same short story of an encounter with Jesus. It almost seems that we have heard it before? Maybe we have?

One of the things I miss most about the Rite I liturgy in the Episcopal Church is the prayer that was usually said after the Agnus Dei, before the bidding to the table called the Prayer of Humble Access…

If you will indulge me for a moment and open your Prayer Books to page 337 – find that prayer at the bottom of the page and let us read it together… slowly. And, if you have never done it before, this is the time to pay attention and think about the words…

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.

Does it seem familiar? It is a prayer that is older that we can imagine… it was taken from the Old Latin Sarum Litrugy and was translated to English in by Thomas Cramner for the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549.

It is a way of approach… A way to approach Jesus, who is present with us in the bread and wine of the blessed sacrament. Suddenly, in this prayer, we are in the mindset of complete humility, putting ourselves behind the place of even the Syrophoenician woman in the Gospel lesson, by claiming that we are not even worthy even to gather up the crumbs under the table.

But the prayer also claims our dignity, the dignity that we receive in our baptism as followers of Christ, as we are admitted to the table to eat and drink the body and blood and be nourished, restored, and ready to go out and proclaim the risen Christ!

But hold on!

That’s where we need the second part of the Gospel lesson that we heard… We know how to approach Jesus, now what do we do when we get there?

A deaf man with a speech problem was brought to Jesus. Jesus takes him away from the crowd and then in the crudeness of form, puts his fingers in his ears and spits and touches his tongue and says “Be Opened” – Opening his ears and loosening his tongue… So that he can hear and speak plainly.

Jesus meets us, right where we are in the crudeness of our humanity. He is present with us and wants our ears to be open to listen to his holy word, and he wants our tongue to be loosened so that we can proclaim it to the world. We approach in humility, and we are restored to dignity then we go forward into the world and proclaim what we have heard…

These two stories of healing are very real to us in our journey of faith… we come to Jesus from different places, through different circumstances, and Jesus meet us right where we are.

We experience his real presence in our lives through the Eucharist, and then we leave in dignity, forgiven and restored, ready to proclaim the gospel to others… And we are also ready to do all those good works that James is talking about!

So take this with you this morning… humble yourself and come to the table, receive the body and blood of Christ… Take in His “real” presence in the Eucharistic elements and let your souls and your bodies be nourished. Be restored to the wholeness that only Jesus can give you and then go fourth into the world to proclaim the gospel with your life and do the good works that Jesus has given us to do… Amen!