The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year B (Advent 3) - December 14, 2008
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Psalm 126
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28
John the baptizer is an interesting character. We heard about John last week, he was in the wilderness crying out, “prepare the way of the Lord… Repent and turn to God.” And as I said last week, he is there to get us ready, to get us to move over and make room… to lay aside the encumbrances of this life, and allow God a place to dwell among us.
In this process he shakes things up. John the Baptist's words are urgent and disturbing that the Judaean priests and Levites come out to him and demand: "Who do you think you are?"
This morning, that is what the Gospel message is all about. And John’s answer is even more alarming. He is already shaking up things as they are; he is baptizing for the forgiveness of sins. But John is not the Christ, nor is he Elijah, nor is he the prophet Isaiah. He is just a voice a voice announcing that God is near, he is pleading with us to wake up, be baptized and wash away our sin, and prepare ourselves for the One who will liberate us.
John the Baptist is a witness to God's coming in the midst of that isolated and confined world that we call "our life"… a confinement formed by our self-deceiving thoughts that we are, perhaps, self-governing, advantaged, knowledgeable, or even economically stable.
I bid you last week to sit still and be silent… so you that you could listen carefully… listen for that prophetic voice of God that talks to us though unlikely messengers and invites us to the in-between spaces… listen and heed their warnings, so that when the time comes, we could be fully prepared!
Whether it's a "still small voice" or an impassioned prophetic cry, God's presence in our isolated lives often makes us uncomfortable. We think our lives are private, and want nothing to upset the stability, and the familiarity. So the slightest sound that may be from God, or any sense of a “small” voice that upsets our organized life, are unwelcome disturbances to us! They don't fit into that carefully created pattern of living…
The Priests and Levites who came out to confront John the Baptizer would understand this patter of thought. They wanted nothing to upset their stability, the familiarity of their lives organized around their traditional temple worship. They were deeply invested in their traditions, but evidently a great deal more invested in themselves rather than God. That's why John and his message was so threatening to them.
If John were really from God, if he really were a prophetic voice, then things as they knew it were going to change, they had too! But, they didn't want anything to change; they wanted things to stay exactly as they were. This changelessness, however, is not what God is about.
Like the Priests and the Levites, and like most human beings, people like things to stay just as they are – Change in things makes us “comfortable” - we like the safety and captivity of the lives we have made for ourselves.
We hear the words of the Prophet Isaiah about rejoicing in Jerusalem, and being clothed with garments of salvation, and a robe of righteousness. We hear that our labors shall not be in vain, that the captives will be free, and they will have the oil of gladness and a mantel of praise. These are comfortable words, and comforting promises. But the promises are only fulfilled by the passing away of what once was and the coming into being of that new order that God is creating.
We don't like hearing those words of the repentant turning and change (greek: metanoia) that we must do, so we end up closing our ears, and we don't hear anything… as a result we really don’t hear God.
John’s prophetic voice invites us to live outside our own confining lives and calls us to be different from the established order around us. Paul's call to the church at Thessalonica very much holds them to the Baptist's call, also: Help the weak, do not repay evil for evil, seek to do good to all, hold fast to what is good.
If we have made our place and are firmly “dug-in” to the way it has always been done before, if we are secure in our captivity, in our isolation, than we can understand the world and the fears of the Thessalonians. We learn to be comfortable with the familiar. And in our cozy comfort, we fear anything that is different.
But a voice calls out, calls out to our spirits, souls, and bodies to be kept sound and blameless at the coming of God. The Baptist's cry as we heard it last week and this morning is so cold, urgent, and disturbing. He is a voice announcing that God is near, inviting us to wake up, cleanse away our sin, and prepare ourselves for the One who will liberate us from our isolated unchanging lives… An isolation formed by our self-deceiving thoughts that we are independent, privileged, educated, politically correct, or economically stable.
When we are on the edge of life – when we know that we are alone, without property or privilege when we know first hand the scripture's words of assurance to the least of God's people, because we have started to recognize ourselves as the least of God's people, then our self-deceptions start to fall away.
There are countless ways this can happen. Often it happens under conditions that seem to disrupt our life like progress, and growth – a sickness, a death, a layoff. Crises like these, crises of our personal and professional and political lives, are the points at which our Christian life begins, or maybe begins again.
We were called last week to be still and listen to the cry of John so that we could be prepared… But the most important step that we can take this morning is to respond in action to that voice that calls us out of our own complacency… it's a step that takes us out of the comfort zone of our lives. It’s a realization that we are dependent, that we share the same limitations as all other human beings. It’s knowing that our need for God is greater than any fear we have of God's demands on us.
The things that we are afraid of are all likely to occur, but they are nothing to be afraid of. As I said a few weeks ago, we are all witnesses of God in this world. The Christian life invites us to accept this mission with all its hazards and all its burdens. It’s tough work, it’s a crisis, but for us Christians the word crisis is morphed into “formation” or positive change for us…
Consider the lives of the saints. Consider Paul and John the Baptist. They were all engaged in God's plan – fearfully, no doubt, but they had enough courage, initiative, and endurance to love God more than fear God.
They knew themselves to be finite and dependent on a power far greater than themselves and they let themselves be formed by God and took their place in the great army, rescuing souls that are isolated from God.
So… Learn from them… Hear the cry and respond daringly. And if we let God… God will come to us and inform and transform our lives… God will release the captives.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
RCL Year B (Advent 2) - December 7, 2008
The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year B – (2 Advent) - December 7, 2008
Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8
If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it… Does it still make a sound? I suspect that some of you would immediately answer… yes, of course it does! and then some of you would say… there goes Ken with those silly questions again...
And then I would say, “how do you know?” You weren't there to hear it…
Well, you say, I have been there at other times, and when I was there and the tree fell, I heard this great crashing sound as it hit the ground… so, I know for sure that this “in fact” happens.
Ok. So, you've experienced this happening first-hand, you saw and heard, you are an actual witness to this truth, so you know without a doubt that this does occur… But, what about those of you who, perhaps, have never been in the woods when a tree fell?
Some of you are saying, yes, it does make a sound, even though you have never actually been present to hear the tree for yourselves... Because you know others who have, and by faith in their testimony, you have come to believe that this is a "true" and "real" thing.
This leaves some of the rest of us… those who've neither been in the presence of a falling tree, nor can we take it on faith... from the witness of others who claim to have been present when the tree fell, and heard the noise.
So let me rephrase the question for you… If a prophet 2000 years ago cries out in the wilderness, “repent and be baptized… prepare the way of the Lord… make a straight way to God” and you weren’t there to hear him, do you still believe it? Do you still listen to his message?
I am sure that some of you, especially the ones growing up in Cleveland, have been lost in the woods before? I mean really really lost in the deep woods? I know that I have, and I also know that it can be a very scary experience.
You have heard me talk about wilderness before… The Israelites traveled in the wilderness for 40 years after they left Egypt. God used the wilderness to deliver them from slavery in Egypt and lead them to the promised land…
But the wilderness is a scary place… In the ancient world, traveling anywhere was dangerous… especially travel through in the wilderness. You only would travel to or through the wilderness places for specific reasons… The wilderness and the desert were considered those “in-between” spaces between the lush valleys and the mountains, the places of the unknown where evil dwelled.
Traveling to the wilderness as a destination was absolutely unheard of… the wild woods were considered the haunt of demons and a very unusual place for anyone to go. Now, do you think it was easy to follow a guy as different as John into the woods… That would NOT be a very comfortable feeling... And it probably shouldn’t be!
You have got to admit… John the Baptizer is a bit of a strange character, and a very unlikely messenger… I am not just talking about the way he acted… but also the way he dressed in his camels hair and leather belt not to mention his diet of locust and wild honey.
What would you think if you came up on this character today?… Would you follow him into the wilderness to hear his prophetic message? I don’t think so.
But folks paid attention to this unlikely character… they came from all over the Judean countryside and followed him to the in-between space of the wilderness... and heard his message.. “Repent, and be baptized – prepare yourself.”
What could he possibly be talking about? I am sure that they were all fascinated… John wasn’t giving them just any old message. He was telling them to get ready for something. He is there to shake them up and get them ready – and his prophetic message lingers to shake us up and get us ready.
The folks back then knew the ancient writings of Isaiah… the ones we just heard and they knew what it said about a prophetic voice crying out “in the wilderness – prepare the way of the Lord, make strait in the desert, a highway for our God.” They wanted to know more… so they followed John.
Followed John to that pace in-between the valleys and the mountains… a place, so unlikely, so riddled with mystery and the unknown… a place considered by some to be where evil dwells, a place that God will use to save us.
Last Sunday, we learned that Advent was a time of preparation and anticipation, because the Son of Man is coming in all his power and glory. Those themes continue this week with today’s text – And John is here to help us prepare the way… and shake us up a bit.
In Advent we are called to search down deep… Deep down into the wilderness places of our lives… Deep into that emptiness, where demons dwell… Places that we don’t like to go… Places that are strange and different to us… Those unlikely places that are in-between this life and our life to come…
We go to these places to prepare and examine ourselves to repent and to worship our God. John takes us on that journey, and the strange and different John gives us a message… The message of hope that something great is coming… The narrative that we are given today in the first chapter of Mark, identifies the one who is coming…. it is Jesus Christ, the Son of God…
And we are called by the text to prepare, and repent, and make our paths straight and ready for God… We all know that Christ is coming, and we don’t know the hour or even the day… But we need to be ready and God will unfold the story in due time ALL will be reviled in God’s time…
All we can do today is to sit still and be silent so we can listen carefully… listen… to listen and see if we can hear the sound of John crying out in the wilderness… listen for that prophetic voice of God that talks to us though unlikely messengers and invites us to those in-between spaces… listen and heed their warnings, so that when the time comes, we can be fully prepared!
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year B – (2 Advent) - December 7, 2008
Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8
If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it… Does it still make a sound? I suspect that some of you would immediately answer… yes, of course it does! and then some of you would say… there goes Ken with those silly questions again...
And then I would say, “how do you know?” You weren't there to hear it…
Well, you say, I have been there at other times, and when I was there and the tree fell, I heard this great crashing sound as it hit the ground… so, I know for sure that this “in fact” happens.
Ok. So, you've experienced this happening first-hand, you saw and heard, you are an actual witness to this truth, so you know without a doubt that this does occur… But, what about those of you who, perhaps, have never been in the woods when a tree fell?
Some of you are saying, yes, it does make a sound, even though you have never actually been present to hear the tree for yourselves... Because you know others who have, and by faith in their testimony, you have come to believe that this is a "true" and "real" thing.
This leaves some of the rest of us… those who've neither been in the presence of a falling tree, nor can we take it on faith... from the witness of others who claim to have been present when the tree fell, and heard the noise.
So let me rephrase the question for you… If a prophet 2000 years ago cries out in the wilderness, “repent and be baptized… prepare the way of the Lord… make a straight way to God” and you weren’t there to hear him, do you still believe it? Do you still listen to his message?
I am sure that some of you, especially the ones growing up in Cleveland, have been lost in the woods before? I mean really really lost in the deep woods? I know that I have, and I also know that it can be a very scary experience.
You have heard me talk about wilderness before… The Israelites traveled in the wilderness for 40 years after they left Egypt. God used the wilderness to deliver them from slavery in Egypt and lead them to the promised land…
But the wilderness is a scary place… In the ancient world, traveling anywhere was dangerous… especially travel through in the wilderness. You only would travel to or through the wilderness places for specific reasons… The wilderness and the desert were considered those “in-between” spaces between the lush valleys and the mountains, the places of the unknown where evil dwelled.
Traveling to the wilderness as a destination was absolutely unheard of… the wild woods were considered the haunt of demons and a very unusual place for anyone to go. Now, do you think it was easy to follow a guy as different as John into the woods… That would NOT be a very comfortable feeling... And it probably shouldn’t be!
You have got to admit… John the Baptizer is a bit of a strange character, and a very unlikely messenger… I am not just talking about the way he acted… but also the way he dressed in his camels hair and leather belt not to mention his diet of locust and wild honey.
What would you think if you came up on this character today?… Would you follow him into the wilderness to hear his prophetic message? I don’t think so.
But folks paid attention to this unlikely character… they came from all over the Judean countryside and followed him to the in-between space of the wilderness... and heard his message.. “Repent, and be baptized – prepare yourself.”
What could he possibly be talking about? I am sure that they were all fascinated… John wasn’t giving them just any old message. He was telling them to get ready for something. He is there to shake them up and get them ready – and his prophetic message lingers to shake us up and get us ready.
The folks back then knew the ancient writings of Isaiah… the ones we just heard and they knew what it said about a prophetic voice crying out “in the wilderness – prepare the way of the Lord, make strait in the desert, a highway for our God.” They wanted to know more… so they followed John.
Followed John to that pace in-between the valleys and the mountains… a place, so unlikely, so riddled with mystery and the unknown… a place considered by some to be where evil dwells, a place that God will use to save us.
Last Sunday, we learned that Advent was a time of preparation and anticipation, because the Son of Man is coming in all his power and glory. Those themes continue this week with today’s text – And John is here to help us prepare the way… and shake us up a bit.
In Advent we are called to search down deep… Deep down into the wilderness places of our lives… Deep into that emptiness, where demons dwell… Places that we don’t like to go… Places that are strange and different to us… Those unlikely places that are in-between this life and our life to come…
We go to these places to prepare and examine ourselves to repent and to worship our God. John takes us on that journey, and the strange and different John gives us a message… The message of hope that something great is coming… The narrative that we are given today in the first chapter of Mark, identifies the one who is coming…. it is Jesus Christ, the Son of God…
And we are called by the text to prepare, and repent, and make our paths straight and ready for God… We all know that Christ is coming, and we don’t know the hour or even the day… But we need to be ready and God will unfold the story in due time ALL will be reviled in God’s time…
All we can do today is to sit still and be silent so we can listen carefully… listen… to listen and see if we can hear the sound of John crying out in the wilderness… listen for that prophetic voice of God that talks to us though unlikely messengers and invites us to those in-between spaces… listen and heed their warnings, so that when the time comes, we can be fully prepared!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
RCL Year B (Advent 1) - November 30, 2008
The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year B (Advent 1) - November 30, 2008
Isaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:24-37
People always are in a hurry... especially this time of the year! Even so much that it caused a young man in New York to loose his life this week. On “black” Friday, he was merely doing his job by unlocking the doors to the Wal-Mart and he was overrun by thousands of people, just so they could shop during the wee hours of the morning. People always seem to be in a hurry, especially this time of year. In a hurry to rush to the store and spend money, in a hurry to put up the tree and bring out the decorations, and in a hurry to send cards and well wishes to folks they haven’t seen or heard from in years.
The stores are putting up the decorations earlier and earlier, wanting to create that rush toward Christmas. Wanting people to buy, buy, buy and make their financial woes go away. It almost seams the stores feel that if they put the decorations up earlier, that it will make people think Christmas will come earlier…
But what are folks really looking for?… are they looking for that “feeling” of Christmas to come – by putting candles in the window, tinsel on the evergreen, and mistletoe in the doorframe. Do they really want to spend all that money on all that stuff that they don’t really need?
What are folks wanting to happen? Are they wanting Christmas to come sooner… and then when it finally comes, why do they only celebrate for a day.
The saddest thing that I have ever saw was someone who put their Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving, and then tossed it out on the street on the 26th of December. They had it up so long that it was all dry by the time the actual holiday started… the holiday that lasts a whole 12 days!
That’s where we are today. Right here in the midst of all that social chaos that the commercial world has created twirling around us. We are here right here! Right here starting the new year.
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the first Sunday of the Christian year. This is the Sunday when we begin to re-tell the story, our story... the Christian story once again. And our story starts out as chaotic as the world around us. With the exhortation from Jesus to wait! Wait for his coming again... When the Son of Man will come with great power and glory, and the elect will be gathered from the four corners of the earth!
But know one knows when this will happen, so we are to keep alert, keep awake and watch! So advent for us is a season of waiting, and watching, and being alert. This may seem a bit strange for those that are in a hurry to get to the birth of Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem. That is such a sweet story, why in the world would we start out the year by being fussed at to stay awake, and make ourselves ready for Jesus’ coming again?
Well, the two kind of go hand in hand. Today, we are like the ones back then who awaited the birth of the Messiah. We know not the day, nor the hour when he will appear, so we must continuously watch and wait. The difference is, we know who we are waiting for. We live in the anticipation that Jesus will return like he said he would.
This is where we start our story. With the joyful anticipation, with the expectation that we will see the Christ face to face. But waiting is not a comfortable thing for most of us to do. In fact, it makes us worried and anxious... the longer we wait, the more anxious we get, and the more jittery and fearfully excited about the unknown.
So most of us choose not to wait at all. Or we make waiting a passive thing that we just routinely do. Instead of something we actively do. We may passively wait like we wait to be next in line at the grocery store, or for a bus to arrive. But active waiting is much different. It’s intentional, it’s deliberate, and it requires preparation.
I learned last year that the parade in Cleveland is a big affair, people line the streets and wait, wanting to get a good seat and a good view. They prepare most of the morning, and the little children are excited. Excited about what candy they will get thrown to them or what old cars or fire trucks they will see. We only know that the parade has started because of the sound of horns or drums. The excitement starts to build as each sight and sound goes bye. The excitement was expected, but there was some mystery surrounding the whole event. That’s the kind of waiting I am talking about...
The people of old waited to be delivered by a messiah, who the prophets told them would be born. So they lived in a continual state of readiness because they did not know the day or hour of his arrival. We wait today, at the beginning of Advent, in the very same way. But, we are not waiting for a baby to be born in a barn, that has already happened, and it is a wonderful story... and there will be twelve whole days to celebrate!
But today, we are called to wait, to prepare, to be pregnant with expectation and excitement, and to be actively watchful. We are called to take some time out and be still and listen for the Christ who will come when we least expect it.
Taking time out in this time of year for us is counter-cultural there is so much expected of us… go here, go there, do this, do that, buy this, buy that… We have gotten tied all up in these expectations of what we need to do and where we need to go that it has become our tradition, and our way of dealing with the season.
We have done it so long, that we don’t know any different. Kind of like the people that have lived by the train tracks for so long that they no longer hear the sound of the train. We get accustomed to the “noise” of Advent so much that we no longer notice it. Or if we do, it doesn’t jolt us awake as it once did.
I would like to invite you to the observance of a Holy Advent. Don’t be in a rush to put up the decorations, but wait, and let the anxiety build, be watchful, and expect something holy to happen.
As children, we used advent calendars that we opened each day of advent, counting down the days until the birth of Christ. We were innocently filled with anticipation as we waited to see what would be behind the next little door, and what story would it tell us.
Some use the advent wreath in the home, like the one we have here, to help us mark the time until our savior comes again. Each Sunday, lighting one more candle, until all the candles are lit. And we realize that God is getting nearer and nearer to us.
We are called today to keep a Holy Advent, a special place between the birth of a baby and the coming of Christ in glory. A place between the “already” and the “not yet.” As we strive to live in the middle of this paradox, we not only get to know better the One that has already come into the world, who lived as one of us, who died, and was raised again… But, we start to prepare ourselves to live in the realm that God has promised us. And then we can start to experience, even now, some of what that life might be like.
So keep alert, watch, and wait. For Jesus is near. Come Lord Jesus, Come.
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year B (Advent 1) - November 30, 2008
Isaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:24-37
People always are in a hurry... especially this time of the year! Even so much that it caused a young man in New York to loose his life this week. On “black” Friday, he was merely doing his job by unlocking the doors to the Wal-Mart and he was overrun by thousands of people, just so they could shop during the wee hours of the morning. People always seem to be in a hurry, especially this time of year. In a hurry to rush to the store and spend money, in a hurry to put up the tree and bring out the decorations, and in a hurry to send cards and well wishes to folks they haven’t seen or heard from in years.
The stores are putting up the decorations earlier and earlier, wanting to create that rush toward Christmas. Wanting people to buy, buy, buy and make their financial woes go away. It almost seams the stores feel that if they put the decorations up earlier, that it will make people think Christmas will come earlier…
But what are folks really looking for?… are they looking for that “feeling” of Christmas to come – by putting candles in the window, tinsel on the evergreen, and mistletoe in the doorframe. Do they really want to spend all that money on all that stuff that they don’t really need?
What are folks wanting to happen? Are they wanting Christmas to come sooner… and then when it finally comes, why do they only celebrate for a day.
The saddest thing that I have ever saw was someone who put their Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving, and then tossed it out on the street on the 26th of December. They had it up so long that it was all dry by the time the actual holiday started… the holiday that lasts a whole 12 days!
That’s where we are today. Right here in the midst of all that social chaos that the commercial world has created twirling around us. We are here right here! Right here starting the new year.
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the first Sunday of the Christian year. This is the Sunday when we begin to re-tell the story, our story... the Christian story once again. And our story starts out as chaotic as the world around us. With the exhortation from Jesus to wait! Wait for his coming again... When the Son of Man will come with great power and glory, and the elect will be gathered from the four corners of the earth!
But know one knows when this will happen, so we are to keep alert, keep awake and watch! So advent for us is a season of waiting, and watching, and being alert. This may seem a bit strange for those that are in a hurry to get to the birth of Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem. That is such a sweet story, why in the world would we start out the year by being fussed at to stay awake, and make ourselves ready for Jesus’ coming again?
Well, the two kind of go hand in hand. Today, we are like the ones back then who awaited the birth of the Messiah. We know not the day, nor the hour when he will appear, so we must continuously watch and wait. The difference is, we know who we are waiting for. We live in the anticipation that Jesus will return like he said he would.
This is where we start our story. With the joyful anticipation, with the expectation that we will see the Christ face to face. But waiting is not a comfortable thing for most of us to do. In fact, it makes us worried and anxious... the longer we wait, the more anxious we get, and the more jittery and fearfully excited about the unknown.
So most of us choose not to wait at all. Or we make waiting a passive thing that we just routinely do. Instead of something we actively do. We may passively wait like we wait to be next in line at the grocery store, or for a bus to arrive. But active waiting is much different. It’s intentional, it’s deliberate, and it requires preparation.
I learned last year that the parade in Cleveland is a big affair, people line the streets and wait, wanting to get a good seat and a good view. They prepare most of the morning, and the little children are excited. Excited about what candy they will get thrown to them or what old cars or fire trucks they will see. We only know that the parade has started because of the sound of horns or drums. The excitement starts to build as each sight and sound goes bye. The excitement was expected, but there was some mystery surrounding the whole event. That’s the kind of waiting I am talking about...
The people of old waited to be delivered by a messiah, who the prophets told them would be born. So they lived in a continual state of readiness because they did not know the day or hour of his arrival. We wait today, at the beginning of Advent, in the very same way. But, we are not waiting for a baby to be born in a barn, that has already happened, and it is a wonderful story... and there will be twelve whole days to celebrate!
But today, we are called to wait, to prepare, to be pregnant with expectation and excitement, and to be actively watchful. We are called to take some time out and be still and listen for the Christ who will come when we least expect it.
Taking time out in this time of year for us is counter-cultural there is so much expected of us… go here, go there, do this, do that, buy this, buy that… We have gotten tied all up in these expectations of what we need to do and where we need to go that it has become our tradition, and our way of dealing with the season.
We have done it so long, that we don’t know any different. Kind of like the people that have lived by the train tracks for so long that they no longer hear the sound of the train. We get accustomed to the “noise” of Advent so much that we no longer notice it. Or if we do, it doesn’t jolt us awake as it once did.
I would like to invite you to the observance of a Holy Advent. Don’t be in a rush to put up the decorations, but wait, and let the anxiety build, be watchful, and expect something holy to happen.
As children, we used advent calendars that we opened each day of advent, counting down the days until the birth of Christ. We were innocently filled with anticipation as we waited to see what would be behind the next little door, and what story would it tell us.
Some use the advent wreath in the home, like the one we have here, to help us mark the time until our savior comes again. Each Sunday, lighting one more candle, until all the candles are lit. And we realize that God is getting nearer and nearer to us.
We are called today to keep a Holy Advent, a special place between the birth of a baby and the coming of Christ in glory. A place between the “already” and the “not yet.” As we strive to live in the middle of this paradox, we not only get to know better the One that has already come into the world, who lived as one of us, who died, and was raised again… But, we start to prepare ourselves to live in the realm that God has promised us. And then we can start to experience, even now, some of what that life might be like.
So keep alert, watch, and wait. For Jesus is near. Come Lord Jesus, Come.
Monday, November 24, 2008
RCL Year A (Proper 29) - November 23, 2008
The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 29) - November 23, 2009
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Psalm 100
Ephesians 1:15-23
Matthew 25:31-46
This is it! This is what the whole year has been building up to. Today we acclaim Jesus Christ as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! But the idea of King isn’t exactly the best image for us Americans. When we think of King, we remember our country’s history, and us declaring independence from any sort of “king” in England or anywhere else for that matter. When we think of Kings, we think of tyrant rulers or monarchs claiming some sort of “divine” right to lead a nation. It’s just not a comfortable image of us…
So why do we say, Christ is King! And where might be his kingdom?
An elementary answer for us might be to say that Christ is King and he is seated on the throne in his heavenly kingdom. We have all heard Jesus himself acclaim, when asked at his trial, that his kingdom is not of this world.
The diocese of North Carolina has just launched an adult teaching and reflection series on “the kingdom of God.” It starts out by looking at the various stories in the scripture that describe the kingdom of God. It is called a reflection series, because the persons that participate in the class are to take the reading and reflect on “the kingdom of God” and what it might look like to them.
The “Kingdom of God” has been described throughout the scriptures during this whole season that ends with this day… The feast of Christ the King.
If you have paid any attention throughout this long season, you have heard a lot about The kingdom of God…
The Kingdom of God is compared to a person who sowed good seed on fertile ground that grows up and is ripe for the harvest.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant or a pearl of great value, or yeast, or a buried treasure in a field…
The Kingdom of God can be compared to a king who wished to settle his accounts and forgives a great debt…
The Kingdom of God is like a landowner who hires laborers for his vineyard…
The Kingdom of God is like a landowner who had a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country; only to have his only son killed trying to claim rights to the vineyard.
The Kingdom of God is like a King who gave a wedding banquet for his son and had the one guest that wasn’t wearing the robe cast out into the street...
The Kingdom of God is like Ten Bridesmaids with lamps, 5 were prepared and went into the feast, and 5 were unprepared and were unable to get in…
The Kingdom of God is like a Man Going on a Journey who gives his three slaves talents, only to return to find that one didn’t do anything with the talent he was given…
So, after all of the teaching about the Kingdom of God over the past 5 months, what is the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven like to you? And what does it mean for you to say that Christ is King?
We have all heard the stories – some of them over and over again. I have used the images in sermons, and offered my own reflections throughout this season of growth for you to have an idea of the Kingdom.
We each, everyone in this room this morning, has his or her own idea of what the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven is like. So take a minute and picture it in your head.
It is through this lens (though our own ideas of kingship) that we look at today’s readings.
Jesus says, “All the nations will be gathered before the Son of Man and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
It is easy for us to assume here that the sheep are good, and the goats are bad. But that’s not the case. There can be good goats and bad sheep. The audience that Jesus is talking to would immediately recognize that it’s not that the sheep and goats are good and bad… The relationship that Jesus was pointing out was more about their personalities, and the types of animals they are.
Sheep are gentle creatures that will be led. The shepherd calls them by name and they follow. They know the shepherd and the shepherd knows them. They trust the shepherd to lead them to green pastures and clean water. They depend on the shepherd for safety in times of trouble. The shepherd for the sheep is most often the difference between the sheep’s life and the sheep’s death.
Goats however, are different… They are stubborn animals, they have to be herded and rounded up. They are not good followers… they don’t listen, and they don’t respond well to any authority. They make their own decisions and most often depend on their own instincts to guide them. They have horns, so they think that they don’t need any shepherd to protect them. They think that they can protect themselves.
But remember, Jesus isn’t talking about sheep or goats here, he says that he “will separate people – one from another.” He is talking about divine judgment; when we who are on this earth will get the opportunity to stand before God and be separated…
Those who have desired to follow the Good Shepherd, those who have trusted and depended on God to guide them, they will spend eternity with God.
And they will be divided from those who have followed the devices and desires of their own hearts - those who have depended on themselves and not trusted in God. Those will spend eternity separated from God, because they chose in this life to separate themselves from God.
But you know what’s strange about this passage. It’s that Jesus isn’t the judge in the passage at all. He is simply the one that divvies up the creation that has already divided itself - He re-claiming what is already his and unites with God that which wants to be re- united. And he separates that which doesn’t want to be united with God.
Jesus then goes on in the passage to explain how you can tell the difference. And the difference between sheep and goats, between eternity with God or without God, all has to do with hospitality.
I’m not talking about whether or not we set out the correct forks or matching napkins for a place setting, or if we offered to refresh our friends cocktail, or help someone move into a new apartment.
I am talking about true, deep, meaningful, engagement of the “other” in this world. The forgotten and neglected of society. The hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, and the confined. That is where true hospitality starts - with the radical engagement and assistance of our true neighbors. The ones in this world, who the world has forgotten.
It involves laying aside our personal prejudices and judgments – and going out of the realm of worldly thought, or even our own personal thoughts of whether or not we think that they deserve it.
Jesus tells us very clearly that one day all the people of the earth will be divided. One day we all will be separated and we will have to be accountable for our actions or lack thereof.
Jesus Christ is king and his kingdom is not of this world. It is of another world called the Kingdom of God. A kingdom with no other king. A kingdom with no other kind of authority. So what does it mean for you to say that Christ is King?
Are you willing to help Christ build up his kingdom? Are you willing to have Jesus take on the role as Lord of your life? Do you let him lead you, and mold you? Do you trust him fully and allow him to protect you, teach you and guide you on your journey through life?
Are you willing to and do you engage the other, the forgotten of the world, and treat them as if they were Christ? Do you help them and heal them? Do you extend to them an arm of hospitality, seeking to serve the Christ in them?
Or do you keep doing what we have always done, going where you have always gone? And do you keep trusting your own self righteousness to save you?
These are very tough and challenging questions for us to hear, but the answers are simple.
Either the answer is yes or the answer is no…
It is how we choose to answer these questions that determines if we end up like the sheep…
or like the goats…
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 29) - November 23, 2009
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Psalm 100
Ephesians 1:15-23
Matthew 25:31-46
This is it! This is what the whole year has been building up to. Today we acclaim Jesus Christ as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! But the idea of King isn’t exactly the best image for us Americans. When we think of King, we remember our country’s history, and us declaring independence from any sort of “king” in England or anywhere else for that matter. When we think of Kings, we think of tyrant rulers or monarchs claiming some sort of “divine” right to lead a nation. It’s just not a comfortable image of us…
So why do we say, Christ is King! And where might be his kingdom?
An elementary answer for us might be to say that Christ is King and he is seated on the throne in his heavenly kingdom. We have all heard Jesus himself acclaim, when asked at his trial, that his kingdom is not of this world.
The diocese of North Carolina has just launched an adult teaching and reflection series on “the kingdom of God.” It starts out by looking at the various stories in the scripture that describe the kingdom of God. It is called a reflection series, because the persons that participate in the class are to take the reading and reflect on “the kingdom of God” and what it might look like to them.
The “Kingdom of God” has been described throughout the scriptures during this whole season that ends with this day… The feast of Christ the King.
If you have paid any attention throughout this long season, you have heard a lot about The kingdom of God…
The Kingdom of God is compared to a person who sowed good seed on fertile ground that grows up and is ripe for the harvest.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant or a pearl of great value, or yeast, or a buried treasure in a field…
The Kingdom of God can be compared to a king who wished to settle his accounts and forgives a great debt…
The Kingdom of God is like a landowner who hires laborers for his vineyard…
The Kingdom of God is like a landowner who had a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country; only to have his only son killed trying to claim rights to the vineyard.
The Kingdom of God is like a King who gave a wedding banquet for his son and had the one guest that wasn’t wearing the robe cast out into the street...
The Kingdom of God is like Ten Bridesmaids with lamps, 5 were prepared and went into the feast, and 5 were unprepared and were unable to get in…
The Kingdom of God is like a Man Going on a Journey who gives his three slaves talents, only to return to find that one didn’t do anything with the talent he was given…
So, after all of the teaching about the Kingdom of God over the past 5 months, what is the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven like to you? And what does it mean for you to say that Christ is King?
We have all heard the stories – some of them over and over again. I have used the images in sermons, and offered my own reflections throughout this season of growth for you to have an idea of the Kingdom.
We each, everyone in this room this morning, has his or her own idea of what the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven is like. So take a minute and picture it in your head.
It is through this lens (though our own ideas of kingship) that we look at today’s readings.
Jesus says, “All the nations will be gathered before the Son of Man and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
It is easy for us to assume here that the sheep are good, and the goats are bad. But that’s not the case. There can be good goats and bad sheep. The audience that Jesus is talking to would immediately recognize that it’s not that the sheep and goats are good and bad… The relationship that Jesus was pointing out was more about their personalities, and the types of animals they are.
Sheep are gentle creatures that will be led. The shepherd calls them by name and they follow. They know the shepherd and the shepherd knows them. They trust the shepherd to lead them to green pastures and clean water. They depend on the shepherd for safety in times of trouble. The shepherd for the sheep is most often the difference between the sheep’s life and the sheep’s death.
Goats however, are different… They are stubborn animals, they have to be herded and rounded up. They are not good followers… they don’t listen, and they don’t respond well to any authority. They make their own decisions and most often depend on their own instincts to guide them. They have horns, so they think that they don’t need any shepherd to protect them. They think that they can protect themselves.
But remember, Jesus isn’t talking about sheep or goats here, he says that he “will separate people – one from another.” He is talking about divine judgment; when we who are on this earth will get the opportunity to stand before God and be separated…
Those who have desired to follow the Good Shepherd, those who have trusted and depended on God to guide them, they will spend eternity with God.
And they will be divided from those who have followed the devices and desires of their own hearts - those who have depended on themselves and not trusted in God. Those will spend eternity separated from God, because they chose in this life to separate themselves from God.
But you know what’s strange about this passage. It’s that Jesus isn’t the judge in the passage at all. He is simply the one that divvies up the creation that has already divided itself - He re-claiming what is already his and unites with God that which wants to be re- united. And he separates that which doesn’t want to be united with God.
Jesus then goes on in the passage to explain how you can tell the difference. And the difference between sheep and goats, between eternity with God or without God, all has to do with hospitality.
I’m not talking about whether or not we set out the correct forks or matching napkins for a place setting, or if we offered to refresh our friends cocktail, or help someone move into a new apartment.
I am talking about true, deep, meaningful, engagement of the “other” in this world. The forgotten and neglected of society. The hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, and the confined. That is where true hospitality starts - with the radical engagement and assistance of our true neighbors. The ones in this world, who the world has forgotten.
It involves laying aside our personal prejudices and judgments – and going out of the realm of worldly thought, or even our own personal thoughts of whether or not we think that they deserve it.
Jesus tells us very clearly that one day all the people of the earth will be divided. One day we all will be separated and we will have to be accountable for our actions or lack thereof.
Jesus Christ is king and his kingdom is not of this world. It is of another world called the Kingdom of God. A kingdom with no other king. A kingdom with no other kind of authority. So what does it mean for you to say that Christ is King?
Are you willing to help Christ build up his kingdom? Are you willing to have Jesus take on the role as Lord of your life? Do you let him lead you, and mold you? Do you trust him fully and allow him to protect you, teach you and guide you on your journey through life?
Are you willing to and do you engage the other, the forgotten of the world, and treat them as if they were Christ? Do you help them and heal them? Do you extend to them an arm of hospitality, seeking to serve the Christ in them?
Or do you keep doing what we have always done, going where you have always gone? And do you keep trusting your own self righteousness to save you?
These are very tough and challenging questions for us to hear, but the answers are simple.
Either the answer is yes or the answer is no…
It is how we choose to answer these questions that determines if we end up like the sheep…
or like the goats…
Sunday, November 2, 2008
RCL Year A (All Saints' Sunday) - November 2, 2008
The Rev’d Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (All Saints’ Sunday) – November 2, 2008
Revelation 7:9-17
Psalm 34:1-10, 22
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12
Happy All Hallows’!
This is one of those special days toward the of the liturgical calendar where we pause for a minute and remember all the holy ones (All Hallows’)… the Saints that are part of our life as Christians… the saints that have gone on before us, the saints that are here today and the saints that will come after us… all part of that great communion or gathering of saints.
Most of you You know that the Episcopal Church celebrates a liturgical calendar with “saints” days on it. Those celebrations are contained in a book called Lesser Feasts and Fasts. They mark days that commemorate special folk that have been martyrs, strong witnesses to the faith, or great theologians.
Folks like Joseph of Arimathaea, the man in scripture who was a secret disciple and gave his new tomb for Jesus to be buried in… His life was filled with lore and stories about him bringing the Holy Grail (the cup of the last supper) back to England. His feast day on August 1st.
Or – folks like Richard Hooker… who was a priest in the church in 1600, and probably the greatest Anglican Theologian that ever lived. He gave us his masterpiece The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, in which he brings about the foundation of church being grounded in Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. His day is Tomorrow – November 3rd.
Or Justin, the Martyr at Rome in 167, who started a school in 150 to teach Christianity. He started to defend Christianity in the Hellenistic world that surrounded him and wrote what are called apologies (spiritual defenses) and got into public debates with the Greek philosophers. He was arrested with his companions because of these arguments, under the accusations of ignorance and his teaching of immortality… After being given a chance to renounce his faith – of which he didn’t – he was put to death. His day is June 1st.
But you know, as much as I love to learning about the great witnesses that have gone before us… I want you all to know most of the Saints’ that I know were not great witnesses to the faith, nor will they be martyrs, or great confessors, or not even great theologians. But they are Saints none the less… And that includes us. We are all saints…
There was once a wise priest who, was once asked, “How many people were at the early celebration of the Eucharist last Wednesday morning?” He replied, “There were three old ladies and the janitor… several thousand archangels, a large number of seraphim, along with several million of the triumphant saints of God.”
He had a grasp of what it meant to be celebrating communion with the great ‘cloud of witnesses’ or the communion of saints at every Eucharistic feast. It is actions like this that become the answer to our deep human urge to be part of something larger, to not just stand alone… It gives our simple individual lives meaning.
It has been said that “one drop of water, when left alone, evaporates very quickly. But one drop of water in the immense sea endures.”
We are connected to something larger… we are very much a part of that great communion of saints. We are as St. Paul said, “Children of God.” We hold that divine seed of Christ within us, because we have been created by the one true living God! We are Holy – All Hallow – We are blessed! We are Saints! That’s what we are! Because everyone who claims Christ as Lord and Savior, and has been baptized into Christ’s life, death, and resurrection has been purified and made holy, and made saints to dwell in the fellowship of the communion of saints. And this is our feast day!
This is our day to celebrate the everlasting life that we have as a result of our faith in Christ and our adoption as Children of God. That’s a lot to take in…
We have a special day on the calendar that is ours… I don’t know if any of us realized that... But not only do we have a special day, we share it with all the other great ones that don’t have another day specifically assigned on the liturgical calendar…
You can probably sit for a second and think of who those great ones are… You could name all the saints in your life… it could be your husband or wife, your sister, brother, cousin, child, nephew, grandparent… the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the peacemakers… anyone in whom you have been able to recognize that Christ within…
That Christ that is the light… the light of the world…
The Rev. Elizabeth Canham was our guest preacher last year on this great feast of All Saints’… she reminded us that a saint is like a stained glass window… it lets the light of Christ shine through. I like the metaphor that Samuel Coleridge uses that says… “a Christian is like a keyhole, though which other folk see God... All of the Christians in our lives are saints; it is just that some of them have day jobs and most of them will never have a feast day named for them.
The challenge this morning is for us to be that stained glass… to be that keyhole…
To be that person on the day job that lets the light of Christ shine through us… Allowing others to see that Christ within us because we live with that unquestionable faith in the God who created us, redeemed us, and is sustaining us…
It has been a long season of learning… learning how to live a life of discipleship… Learning of how to be the church and love one another, growing and learning about how to reach out to others and show others the kingdom of God… Learning how to build up God’s kingdom using our earthly treasures and talents. Letting the Christ that we believe in, whom we emulate… who is known by us, and who knows us – be known to the world.
And when it gets rough, that is when it is most important… That’s when we reach down deep, into our innermost selves, and trust that God in Christ within us will help us. It is our training to become saints…
Have you ever noticed the baptismal covenant promises, that we will say in a few minutes when we renew our baptismal vows, never says that we can do it all by ourselves… It never says that we have been shown, therefore we are on our own… It always says, with God’s help…
It is with God’s help that we are able to resist evil, and proclaim the Good News of God in Jesus Christ… It is with God’s help that we continue to learn about our faith in the apostles’ teaching, and continue to love “the other” our neighbor as our self. It is an ongoing process… with God’s help… so as assured as our sainthood may be, it is up to us to continually strive to become the best saints we can be – with God’s help…
Mother Teresa, a true saint in her own rite, did everything that she did with God’s help. She sheds some wisdom for us on “sainthood” when she says that we need to always keep in mind that a Christian community is not composed of those who are already saints… But of those who are striving to become saints. Therefore, she reminds us that we are to continue to love on another as Christ loved us, and become extremely patient with each other's human faults and failures.
As we stand in a few minutes and recite and renew our baptismal vows, we will once again get the chance to own these for ourselves, we get the chance to be refreshed, and transformed, as we seek to be formed in the image of Christ…
My prayer for us is that we all pay attention to the words as we own them once again… and seek to do the things that we promise to do together as followers of Christ… and then live a life worthy of the sainthood that we have all been given.
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (All Saints’ Sunday) – November 2, 2008
Revelation 7:9-17
Psalm 34:1-10, 22
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12
Happy All Hallows’!
This is one of those special days toward the of the liturgical calendar where we pause for a minute and remember all the holy ones (All Hallows’)… the Saints that are part of our life as Christians… the saints that have gone on before us, the saints that are here today and the saints that will come after us… all part of that great communion or gathering of saints.
Most of you You know that the Episcopal Church celebrates a liturgical calendar with “saints” days on it. Those celebrations are contained in a book called Lesser Feasts and Fasts. They mark days that commemorate special folk that have been martyrs, strong witnesses to the faith, or great theologians.
Folks like Joseph of Arimathaea, the man in scripture who was a secret disciple and gave his new tomb for Jesus to be buried in… His life was filled with lore and stories about him bringing the Holy Grail (the cup of the last supper) back to England. His feast day on August 1st.
Or – folks like Richard Hooker… who was a priest in the church in 1600, and probably the greatest Anglican Theologian that ever lived. He gave us his masterpiece The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, in which he brings about the foundation of church being grounded in Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. His day is Tomorrow – November 3rd.
Or Justin, the Martyr at Rome in 167, who started a school in 150 to teach Christianity. He started to defend Christianity in the Hellenistic world that surrounded him and wrote what are called apologies (spiritual defenses) and got into public debates with the Greek philosophers. He was arrested with his companions because of these arguments, under the accusations of ignorance and his teaching of immortality… After being given a chance to renounce his faith – of which he didn’t – he was put to death. His day is June 1st.
But you know, as much as I love to learning about the great witnesses that have gone before us… I want you all to know most of the Saints’ that I know were not great witnesses to the faith, nor will they be martyrs, or great confessors, or not even great theologians. But they are Saints none the less… And that includes us. We are all saints…
There was once a wise priest who, was once asked, “How many people were at the early celebration of the Eucharist last Wednesday morning?” He replied, “There were three old ladies and the janitor… several thousand archangels, a large number of seraphim, along with several million of the triumphant saints of God.”
He had a grasp of what it meant to be celebrating communion with the great ‘cloud of witnesses’ or the communion of saints at every Eucharistic feast. It is actions like this that become the answer to our deep human urge to be part of something larger, to not just stand alone… It gives our simple individual lives meaning.
It has been said that “one drop of water, when left alone, evaporates very quickly. But one drop of water in the immense sea endures.”
We are connected to something larger… we are very much a part of that great communion of saints. We are as St. Paul said, “Children of God.” We hold that divine seed of Christ within us, because we have been created by the one true living God! We are Holy – All Hallow – We are blessed! We are Saints! That’s what we are! Because everyone who claims Christ as Lord and Savior, and has been baptized into Christ’s life, death, and resurrection has been purified and made holy, and made saints to dwell in the fellowship of the communion of saints. And this is our feast day!
This is our day to celebrate the everlasting life that we have as a result of our faith in Christ and our adoption as Children of God. That’s a lot to take in…
We have a special day on the calendar that is ours… I don’t know if any of us realized that... But not only do we have a special day, we share it with all the other great ones that don’t have another day specifically assigned on the liturgical calendar…
You can probably sit for a second and think of who those great ones are… You could name all the saints in your life… it could be your husband or wife, your sister, brother, cousin, child, nephew, grandparent… the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the peacemakers… anyone in whom you have been able to recognize that Christ within…
That Christ that is the light… the light of the world…
The Rev. Elizabeth Canham was our guest preacher last year on this great feast of All Saints’… she reminded us that a saint is like a stained glass window… it lets the light of Christ shine through. I like the metaphor that Samuel Coleridge uses that says… “a Christian is like a keyhole, though which other folk see God... All of the Christians in our lives are saints; it is just that some of them have day jobs and most of them will never have a feast day named for them.
The challenge this morning is for us to be that stained glass… to be that keyhole…
To be that person on the day job that lets the light of Christ shine through us… Allowing others to see that Christ within us because we live with that unquestionable faith in the God who created us, redeemed us, and is sustaining us…
It has been a long season of learning… learning how to live a life of discipleship… Learning of how to be the church and love one another, growing and learning about how to reach out to others and show others the kingdom of God… Learning how to build up God’s kingdom using our earthly treasures and talents. Letting the Christ that we believe in, whom we emulate… who is known by us, and who knows us – be known to the world.
And when it gets rough, that is when it is most important… That’s when we reach down deep, into our innermost selves, and trust that God in Christ within us will help us. It is our training to become saints…
Have you ever noticed the baptismal covenant promises, that we will say in a few minutes when we renew our baptismal vows, never says that we can do it all by ourselves… It never says that we have been shown, therefore we are on our own… It always says, with God’s help…
It is with God’s help that we are able to resist evil, and proclaim the Good News of God in Jesus Christ… It is with God’s help that we continue to learn about our faith in the apostles’ teaching, and continue to love “the other” our neighbor as our self. It is an ongoing process… with God’s help… so as assured as our sainthood may be, it is up to us to continually strive to become the best saints we can be – with God’s help…
Mother Teresa, a true saint in her own rite, did everything that she did with God’s help. She sheds some wisdom for us on “sainthood” when she says that we need to always keep in mind that a Christian community is not composed of those who are already saints… But of those who are striving to become saints. Therefore, she reminds us that we are to continue to love on another as Christ loved us, and become extremely patient with each other's human faults and failures.
As we stand in a few minutes and recite and renew our baptismal vows, we will once again get the chance to own these for ourselves, we get the chance to be refreshed, and transformed, as we seek to be formed in the image of Christ…
My prayer for us is that we all pay attention to the words as we own them once again… and seek to do the things that we promise to do together as followers of Christ… and then live a life worthy of the sainthood that we have all been given.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
RCL Year A (Proper 25) - October 26, 2008
The Rev’d Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 25) – October 26, 2008
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46
It’s on Sundays like today that bring back memories of when I was little… and the priest would stand up and say what is called the “The Summary of the Law.”
Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith… “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.” This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it, “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” On these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets…
Some of you can probably remember…
This summary of the law was recited at every communion service, right after the 10 commandments… In fact, it is still done as part of the Rite I liturgy or as part of the penitential order that can precede Rite II… and it can be wonderful thing for us to profess together this unswerving call to total love…
But, so often it becomes just another part of the liturgy and it is so mundane that it is more like going through the motions. We all stand there and kind of reel it off together and drone on - without letting it permeate, challenge, or transform us.
Then we go through the rest of the service, and out the door to our nice cars, off to our beautiful homes, and to our comfortable American lifestyles.
But I would like us to stop… and take a minute this morning and let the reality of what Jesus is saying seep in just a bit… Seep in long enough to become part of our being…
Please take notice that the word used in this text is “commandment.”
It is an imperative! It is not a choice. Thou shalt! Commandments are requirements that are not meant to be ignored. Some of you that have been in the military, or have been around the military enough to know that a command is an order. It is something that you must follow, or you or someone else gets hurt and could possibly die, or even worse.
In our everyday lives, the 10 commandments have been getting lots of press. Some of you have probably seen or heard about the plethora of signs with the Ten Commandments along our streets or on private property, especially here in the south, all in reaction to the banning of the Ten Commandments from being posted in public places.
I even saw one in Salisbury the other day on someone’s front lawn. Many of us drive past these signs every day. I always wonder what some folks are thinking… It seems to me that some folks look at these biblical “commandments” as some kind of laundry list of God’s “rules” that we must follow… Forcing us to live by some sort of “purity code”… Others claim it is the foundation of our countries greatness… our wonderful (self – perceived) “Christian” legal system to be forced on everyone.
I feel that Jesus is teaching us today in this reading that it goes much deeper than that. Doesn’t it?… it goes deep down into the fabric of our lives, and penetrates our soul, and our very source of life… Love God with all… Everything… Love God with ALL your heart, ALL your soul and ALL your mind… Everything! Everything that we are… everything that we think… and with every breath we take… Love God with your everything… all your heart, soul and mind….
And then Love your neighbor as yourself… The other that has been created by the one you love. The one you love with everything that you are… To love the ones bound to you in this common life… the ones that may or may not look like you or talk like you, but all most certainly bleed like you....
So the big 10, the 10 commandments, the LAW of God brought to the Israelites by Moses is summarized into what it really means for us to be in a right relationship. How we truly should live in order to be in right relationship with God and with one another.
How profound - What would it mean if we really tried to do that?
What affect would it have on our lives or on even our community of faith right here at Christ Church? If we were to examine our lives right here, right now, what changes would we have to make? How would we live our lives differently? I have a feeling that if it were a test we would all fail miserably.
What does loving with all your heart, soul, and mind mean? How do we love with every ounce of our being: Let’s break that down see what it entails.
Let’s start with the heart. If we are talking about loving with the Heart we are talking about the way we love. The scripture says, “Where your treasure is, there is your heart will be also.” So what are your treasures?
Here is a definition of “treasure” I would like us to wrestle with: when your mind is empty, daydreaming, when you are sitting at a stoplight, standing at the kitchen sink, or even the last thing before falling asleep, where does your mind go? That is your treasure! It is the thing that fills up your heart with worry, concern, joy, or satisfaction. It is your first priority, your interest, it is the center of your energy and attention.
Would your love of God and the strangers called “neighbors” be on top of that list? On the top of your list? So -- Where DOES your heart turn most of the time?
Soul. Otherwise called our Psyche, or Spirit. The soul is probably the most difficult to define, but it is usually seen as the deepest part of a human being – the core, the intangible, eternal essence of a human. The soul of a person cannot truly be known by another; it is always in a state of being discovered. What is at the deepest core of your being, the part no one else really knows about, but the part that holds your most profound sacred and valued essence – your divinity? Is that God within you? Does that very, very deep core essence of yourself, love God beyond all things, totally, insatiably, constantly, and fully?
And Mind. Our mind is our rational, logical self… it is the key to understanding and reason. Some argue it is the part that makes us human. It is the way we think things through, our external value system, the scale upon which we weigh life. Saint Paul speaks of “putting on the mind of Christ.” To love God with our minds means that we do not see the world around us with the eyes of culture but we see it with the eyes of God.
Our mind is not faith, but our mind seeks to grasp our faith with understanding. If we love God with all our minds, our value system is not based on materialism… And things that, as Jesus reminds us, “moth and rust consume and thieves break in and steal.” It is total abandonment of power, possession, and popularity. The mind of God places its treasures in the Kingdom of God.
And, ah, yes: the neighbor. To love our neighbor as ourselves. So, “Who is your neighbor?” asks Jesus. Our neighbor is anyone who stands beside us on this small planet, our island home. Distance is no obstacle to neighbors. A neighbor is any other human being with whom we share the image of God, which is to say, ALL human beings.
A neighbor is not based on worth, on quality of life, on intelligence or beauty, on health or sickness, on moral development or religion, on race on color or sexuality or even geography. We are ALL neighbors to one another. So what does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself?
Do we want to have enough food and shelter for basic human survival? Do we want medical care? Do we want an education? Do we want our children to flourish safely and develop into all they can be?
To love our neighbor as ourselves usually requires two things in our culture: a pocketbook and a suspension of judgment. If you own a house much larger than you need, and you know there are people being evicted in your hometown… What does that mean in terms of loving your neighbor as yourself?
If your closet is full of coats, hats, and shoes, and you know there are children in town without warm clothing, what does that mean in terms loving your neighbor?
If you buy a new car when the old one is still in fair working condition and there are others who can't even buy gas… What does that mean in terms of your total love of God?
If you eat steak and or dine out in restaurants, and you know a third of the world is starving to death, what does that mean in terms of loving your neighbor?
This is a list can go on and on and on. And we, brothers and sisters, fall extremely short.
The two great commandments that Jesus presents to us are simple, but they have teeth: they are tough and costly. Basically, we don’t comply and perhaps we weren’t meant to. That is one of the beauties of God’s call to us to love; it always stretches us, forming and transforming us… pulling us from wherever we are to be more and more.
It is like the horizon, always beckoning, but never reachable. The secret is our want to live out the commandments in our lives no matter how poorly we actually do it. The secret is in our heart’s desiring. Do we really desire to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and souls and minds and to love our neighbor as ourselves? Truth be told, many – some right here in this room - may say no. We don't mind loving God or our neighbor, but forget we forget that it takes our total commitment.
If we, in our own lives, want to make a choice, a decision, to love God and our neighbor as God asks us, what changes would that require of us? The answer for us may lie the word “hang.” “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” This is the word that usually gets overlooked in the text. “Hang” can mean the way we put our clothes in the closet, as we hang up our clothes, or it could mean what we do with our hat, as a peg we hang our hat on.
But in this text, the word “hang” is the same one used for “Jesus, whom you slew and hanged upon the cross.” That one little word shifts the entire meaning of the Great Commandment, doesn’t it? To love the Lord with all our hearts and souls and minds, and to love our neighbor as ourselves is a sacrifice. It is a crucifixion. It means to completely die to ourselves.
It means to come though our baptismal waters – and be reborn to life anew... Ready to love with a love that costs us everything. Everything… It is the Great Kenosis: a total emptying. God asks no less of us. God asks for everything. God asks for all… All that we are, all that we have, all the time.
Do we even dare? Do we dare to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind… and love our neighbor as our self… And what might life on this planet look like if we did?
(some of the images in this sermon taken from a sermon by the Rev. Sister Judith Schenck)
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 25) – October 26, 2008
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46
It’s on Sundays like today that bring back memories of when I was little… and the priest would stand up and say what is called the “The Summary of the Law.”
Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith… “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.” This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it, “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” On these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets…
Some of you can probably remember…
This summary of the law was recited at every communion service, right after the 10 commandments… In fact, it is still done as part of the Rite I liturgy or as part of the penitential order that can precede Rite II… and it can be wonderful thing for us to profess together this unswerving call to total love…
But, so often it becomes just another part of the liturgy and it is so mundane that it is more like going through the motions. We all stand there and kind of reel it off together and drone on - without letting it permeate, challenge, or transform us.
Then we go through the rest of the service, and out the door to our nice cars, off to our beautiful homes, and to our comfortable American lifestyles.
But I would like us to stop… and take a minute this morning and let the reality of what Jesus is saying seep in just a bit… Seep in long enough to become part of our being…
Please take notice that the word used in this text is “commandment.”
It is an imperative! It is not a choice. Thou shalt! Commandments are requirements that are not meant to be ignored. Some of you that have been in the military, or have been around the military enough to know that a command is an order. It is something that you must follow, or you or someone else gets hurt and could possibly die, or even worse.
In our everyday lives, the 10 commandments have been getting lots of press. Some of you have probably seen or heard about the plethora of signs with the Ten Commandments along our streets or on private property, especially here in the south, all in reaction to the banning of the Ten Commandments from being posted in public places.
I even saw one in Salisbury the other day on someone’s front lawn. Many of us drive past these signs every day. I always wonder what some folks are thinking… It seems to me that some folks look at these biblical “commandments” as some kind of laundry list of God’s “rules” that we must follow… Forcing us to live by some sort of “purity code”… Others claim it is the foundation of our countries greatness… our wonderful (self – perceived) “Christian” legal system to be forced on everyone.
I feel that Jesus is teaching us today in this reading that it goes much deeper than that. Doesn’t it?… it goes deep down into the fabric of our lives, and penetrates our soul, and our very source of life… Love God with all… Everything… Love God with ALL your heart, ALL your soul and ALL your mind… Everything! Everything that we are… everything that we think… and with every breath we take… Love God with your everything… all your heart, soul and mind….
And then Love your neighbor as yourself… The other that has been created by the one you love. The one you love with everything that you are… To love the ones bound to you in this common life… the ones that may or may not look like you or talk like you, but all most certainly bleed like you....
So the big 10, the 10 commandments, the LAW of God brought to the Israelites by Moses is summarized into what it really means for us to be in a right relationship. How we truly should live in order to be in right relationship with God and with one another.
How profound - What would it mean if we really tried to do that?
What affect would it have on our lives or on even our community of faith right here at Christ Church? If we were to examine our lives right here, right now, what changes would we have to make? How would we live our lives differently? I have a feeling that if it were a test we would all fail miserably.
What does loving with all your heart, soul, and mind mean? How do we love with every ounce of our being: Let’s break that down see what it entails.
Let’s start with the heart. If we are talking about loving with the Heart we are talking about the way we love. The scripture says, “Where your treasure is, there is your heart will be also.” So what are your treasures?
Here is a definition of “treasure” I would like us to wrestle with: when your mind is empty, daydreaming, when you are sitting at a stoplight, standing at the kitchen sink, or even the last thing before falling asleep, where does your mind go? That is your treasure! It is the thing that fills up your heart with worry, concern, joy, or satisfaction. It is your first priority, your interest, it is the center of your energy and attention.
Would your love of God and the strangers called “neighbors” be on top of that list? On the top of your list? So -- Where DOES your heart turn most of the time?
Soul. Otherwise called our Psyche, or Spirit. The soul is probably the most difficult to define, but it is usually seen as the deepest part of a human being – the core, the intangible, eternal essence of a human. The soul of a person cannot truly be known by another; it is always in a state of being discovered. What is at the deepest core of your being, the part no one else really knows about, but the part that holds your most profound sacred and valued essence – your divinity? Is that God within you? Does that very, very deep core essence of yourself, love God beyond all things, totally, insatiably, constantly, and fully?
And Mind. Our mind is our rational, logical self… it is the key to understanding and reason. Some argue it is the part that makes us human. It is the way we think things through, our external value system, the scale upon which we weigh life. Saint Paul speaks of “putting on the mind of Christ.” To love God with our minds means that we do not see the world around us with the eyes of culture but we see it with the eyes of God.
Our mind is not faith, but our mind seeks to grasp our faith with understanding. If we love God with all our minds, our value system is not based on materialism… And things that, as Jesus reminds us, “moth and rust consume and thieves break in and steal.” It is total abandonment of power, possession, and popularity. The mind of God places its treasures in the Kingdom of God.
And, ah, yes: the neighbor. To love our neighbor as ourselves. So, “Who is your neighbor?” asks Jesus. Our neighbor is anyone who stands beside us on this small planet, our island home. Distance is no obstacle to neighbors. A neighbor is any other human being with whom we share the image of God, which is to say, ALL human beings.
A neighbor is not based on worth, on quality of life, on intelligence or beauty, on health or sickness, on moral development or religion, on race on color or sexuality or even geography. We are ALL neighbors to one another. So what does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself?
Do we want to have enough food and shelter for basic human survival? Do we want medical care? Do we want an education? Do we want our children to flourish safely and develop into all they can be?
To love our neighbor as ourselves usually requires two things in our culture: a pocketbook and a suspension of judgment. If you own a house much larger than you need, and you know there are people being evicted in your hometown… What does that mean in terms of loving your neighbor as yourself?
If your closet is full of coats, hats, and shoes, and you know there are children in town without warm clothing, what does that mean in terms loving your neighbor?
If you buy a new car when the old one is still in fair working condition and there are others who can't even buy gas… What does that mean in terms of your total love of God?
If you eat steak and or dine out in restaurants, and you know a third of the world is starving to death, what does that mean in terms of loving your neighbor?
This is a list can go on and on and on. And we, brothers and sisters, fall extremely short.
The two great commandments that Jesus presents to us are simple, but they have teeth: they are tough and costly. Basically, we don’t comply and perhaps we weren’t meant to. That is one of the beauties of God’s call to us to love; it always stretches us, forming and transforming us… pulling us from wherever we are to be more and more.
It is like the horizon, always beckoning, but never reachable. The secret is our want to live out the commandments in our lives no matter how poorly we actually do it. The secret is in our heart’s desiring. Do we really desire to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and souls and minds and to love our neighbor as ourselves? Truth be told, many – some right here in this room - may say no. We don't mind loving God or our neighbor, but forget we forget that it takes our total commitment.
If we, in our own lives, want to make a choice, a decision, to love God and our neighbor as God asks us, what changes would that require of us? The answer for us may lie the word “hang.” “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” This is the word that usually gets overlooked in the text. “Hang” can mean the way we put our clothes in the closet, as we hang up our clothes, or it could mean what we do with our hat, as a peg we hang our hat on.
But in this text, the word “hang” is the same one used for “Jesus, whom you slew and hanged upon the cross.” That one little word shifts the entire meaning of the Great Commandment, doesn’t it? To love the Lord with all our hearts and souls and minds, and to love our neighbor as ourselves is a sacrifice. It is a crucifixion. It means to completely die to ourselves.
It means to come though our baptismal waters – and be reborn to life anew... Ready to love with a love that costs us everything. Everything… It is the Great Kenosis: a total emptying. God asks no less of us. God asks for everything. God asks for all… All that we are, all that we have, all the time.
Do we even dare? Do we dare to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind… and love our neighbor as our self… And what might life on this planet look like if we did?
(some of the images in this sermon taken from a sermon by the Rev. Sister Judith Schenck)
Sunday, October 19, 2008
RCL Year A (Proper 24) - October 19, 2008
The Rev’d Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A – Proper 24 – October 19, 2008
Exodus 33:12-23
Psalm 99
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22
[note: this is a transcription of a dialogue sermon that was given with the children of the parish (and the adults… some of the answers were the children’s, some were the adults]
(showing the children and congregation a quarter)
What have I got here…
A: a coin…
what is this?
A: A coin, a quarter…
Is it a quarter? Can we all agree that this is a quarter?
A: Yes…
Who’s is it? Is it mine? Who does this belong to??
Is it mine? It came out of my pocket… but, is it mine (gives to another)
A: yes
Is it yours? Who does it belong to???…
A: it belongs to God… [child’s answer]
It does? How? Tell me how it belongs to God?
A: God made it… God made the world and the world made that… ([child’s answer] I like children’s theology – they are in the right thinking, they really are…)
This is a quarter… It’s made now of nickel… (probably out of silver at one point in our lives) we pulled the silver out of the mine, right?... and we made it into a quarter, and we use it for what? And we use it to do what? What do we use money for?
A: To pay for stuff…
To pay for stuff! So, what do we use a quarter for?... (not a lot now a days) What do we use money for?
A: We buy toys and candy and stuff…
A: We buy stuff that we need
Pay for stuff… What do we use a quarter for??? (other than to buy bubble gum?)
A: Pay for things… toys, food, bills… etc…
What did we use before we had money…
A: We bartered for stuff… we traded [adult’s answer]
We bartered and traded, right? So this is what happened before we had coins, we bartered and traded for stuff… instead of exchanging money for stuff.
When Jesus was in the temple, right, that is where Jesus was teaching today, he was in the temple… what happened? Do you remember what happened in the story I just read? What happened???
The Pharisees, in the temple now, I might add… The Pharisees presented Jesus with Roman Coin, a denarius (show picture) A Roman Coin… what does that look like?… What is this??
A: A coin…
What does that have on it???
A: persons head and words…
A persons head? And words? It has a persons head and words… the head… that’s Caesar, that was the Roman Emperor, and it the Latin words said, “Caesar the Divine”
And this was in the Jewish temple… ooooo…
Do you think that things like this were allowed in the Jewish temple?
A: NO!
No way! Not a chance! Why is that?
A: Don’t know.
Caesar on the front to the coin (a man’s image on it) and with words on it “Caesar the Divine” – that was considered what? That’s idolatry – idolatry, pure and simple, claiming something else or someone else had some divine power other than God.
So, they had money changers that sat on the outside of the temple…
Do you remember the story about Jesus and the money changers sitting outside of the temple? Jesus was upset at the money changers sitting on the outside of the temple, but He wasn’t upset because they were doing their job and changing money… Jesus, he was upset because they were taking a cut for themselves and lining their pockets…
They had money changers that changed the Roman coins, the denarius that people received for doing their job (a denarius was a days wage)… into this… (show picture of Jewish Shekel) this is what they changed it into…
This is what they changed it into… what is that? Is that another coin??
That’s a Jewish coin.
This is a Jewish coin… called a shekel. A shekel was a unit of weight, before they made coins… because they used it in the barter system… they traded items back and forth and a shekel was originally a unit of weight.. so they made a coin in order to represent a shekel… and then a shekel became what something costs, instead of trading…
Look at this and tell me what’s on that?
A: a hat
No, it’s not a hat…
A: a cup…
A cup? Ever seen one of those in here – in the church? Have y’all ever seen something like that in here??? A cup?
(showed the communion chalice) What is that?
That’s a cup! Isn’t that what we put the wine in? And the other side of the coin, what’s on that, wheat? That’s wheat…. And what do we use wheat for??? To make bread…
So they took the Roman coin at the temple and converted it into the Jewish shekel that didn’t have the image of a person on it… and made it acceptable for use in the temple, because the shekel didn’t claim divinity for something else other than God. So, this is the coin they used in the temple…
But guess what… we’re not Jewish, are we?… So, when we give to God, what do we do…
A: we pray…
A: we are giving God our money…
Are you giving God “your” money? Is it “our” money? Are we giving God our money or giving something that already belongs to God??
But you know what, God knows that we need to live in this world… So God only expects us to give back 10% of what God gives us, and some folks consider that a lot... But we know it’s only a small amount considering the multitude of blessings that God provides for us in our lives.
So, how do we convert this quarter, something that we receive for doing our job, something that is used to pay our taxes, (to the adults) something that is used sometimes as a score card, or a weapon in our lives…. into something that is acceptable to God…
How do we convert this quarter into something that’s acceptable?
A: we keep it…
Do we keep it?
A: we give it away and then they give it to someone else…
I am going to take this image here, this quarter with the image of this dead president’s head… because if we ever take time to look at it, all the money in the U.S. has a dead president’s head on it… Whether it is 10 dollar bill or 100 dollar bill it all has a president’s head… and put it in here.
What have I got here? Is this an envelope? What does it say? Offering? (puts the quarter in the offering envelope) We take that and put it in the collection plate when it comes around… Then what are we doing with it?
A: We are helping other people…
What are! How is that our responsibility as Christians? How do we use it to help other people?… A: Because when we give to help other people we are helping them because they don’t have any money…
A: We helping other people see God…
When we give to the church… we are, in fact, helping others... we are helping other people see God or experience God! It is spreading the kingdom of God… So, why is it that when give to the church, we so often fall into the same mindset that Moses had in the Old Testament lesson?… when he was so bold with God, and said, "God show me your glory!" He commanded God to show him His glory.
So often when we give to the church we are saying, God, show me your glory! We want to see the immediate results of our almighty dollar being worked out…
Instead, when we give money, we should trust that we are building up the kingdom of God. Nothing else… nothing more… nothing less… We are to trust that the money that we give is used to build up the kingdom of God…
So that’s why when we, as a church, make a decision to give money to the diocese, we are spreading the kingdom of God… And when the Diocese gives to the national church, we are spreading the kingdom of God….
And then the us and the diocese and national Church can use our resources to help other people. Sometimes they combine what we give with other offerings to fund its various programs… (for Episcopal Relief and Development, and the United Thank Offering (Presiding Bishop’s Fund)), We are spreading the kingdom of God…
So – when we give money to the church… we are helping to spread the kingdom of God!
Thanks be to God! Amen!
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A – Proper 24 – October 19, 2008
Exodus 33:12-23
Psalm 99
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22
[note: this is a transcription of a dialogue sermon that was given with the children of the parish (and the adults… some of the answers were the children’s, some were the adults]
(showing the children and congregation a quarter)
What have I got here…
A: a coin…
what is this?
A: A coin, a quarter…
Is it a quarter? Can we all agree that this is a quarter?
A: Yes…
Who’s is it? Is it mine? Who does this belong to??
Is it mine? It came out of my pocket… but, is it mine (gives to another)
A: yes
Is it yours? Who does it belong to???…
A: it belongs to God… [child’s answer]
It does? How? Tell me how it belongs to God?
A: God made it… God made the world and the world made that… ([child’s answer] I like children’s theology – they are in the right thinking, they really are…)
This is a quarter… It’s made now of nickel… (probably out of silver at one point in our lives) we pulled the silver out of the mine, right?... and we made it into a quarter, and we use it for what? And we use it to do what? What do we use money for?
A: To pay for stuff…
To pay for stuff! So, what do we use a quarter for?... (not a lot now a days) What do we use money for?
A: We buy toys and candy and stuff…
A: We buy stuff that we need
Pay for stuff… What do we use a quarter for??? (other than to buy bubble gum?)
A: Pay for things… toys, food, bills… etc…
What did we use before we had money…
A: We bartered for stuff… we traded [adult’s answer]
We bartered and traded, right? So this is what happened before we had coins, we bartered and traded for stuff… instead of exchanging money for stuff.
When Jesus was in the temple, right, that is where Jesus was teaching today, he was in the temple… what happened? Do you remember what happened in the story I just read? What happened???
The Pharisees, in the temple now, I might add… The Pharisees presented Jesus with Roman Coin, a denarius (show picture) A Roman Coin… what does that look like?… What is this??
A: A coin…
What does that have on it???
A: persons head and words…
A persons head? And words? It has a persons head and words… the head… that’s Caesar, that was the Roman Emperor, and it the Latin words said, “Caesar the Divine”
And this was in the Jewish temple… ooooo…
Do you think that things like this were allowed in the Jewish temple?
A: NO!
No way! Not a chance! Why is that?
A: Don’t know.
Caesar on the front to the coin (a man’s image on it) and with words on it “Caesar the Divine” – that was considered what? That’s idolatry – idolatry, pure and simple, claiming something else or someone else had some divine power other than God.
So, they had money changers that sat on the outside of the temple…
Do you remember the story about Jesus and the money changers sitting outside of the temple? Jesus was upset at the money changers sitting on the outside of the temple, but He wasn’t upset because they were doing their job and changing money… Jesus, he was upset because they were taking a cut for themselves and lining their pockets…
They had money changers that changed the Roman coins, the denarius that people received for doing their job (a denarius was a days wage)… into this… (show picture of Jewish Shekel) this is what they changed it into…
This is what they changed it into… what is that? Is that another coin??
That’s a Jewish coin.
This is a Jewish coin… called a shekel. A shekel was a unit of weight, before they made coins… because they used it in the barter system… they traded items back and forth and a shekel was originally a unit of weight.. so they made a coin in order to represent a shekel… and then a shekel became what something costs, instead of trading…
Look at this and tell me what’s on that?
A: a hat
No, it’s not a hat…
A: a cup…
A cup? Ever seen one of those in here – in the church? Have y’all ever seen something like that in here??? A cup?
(showed the communion chalice) What is that?
That’s a cup! Isn’t that what we put the wine in? And the other side of the coin, what’s on that, wheat? That’s wheat…. And what do we use wheat for??? To make bread…
So they took the Roman coin at the temple and converted it into the Jewish shekel that didn’t have the image of a person on it… and made it acceptable for use in the temple, because the shekel didn’t claim divinity for something else other than God. So, this is the coin they used in the temple…
But guess what… we’re not Jewish, are we?… So, when we give to God, what do we do…
A: we pray…
A: we are giving God our money…
Are you giving God “your” money? Is it “our” money? Are we giving God our money or giving something that already belongs to God??
But you know what, God knows that we need to live in this world… So God only expects us to give back 10% of what God gives us, and some folks consider that a lot... But we know it’s only a small amount considering the multitude of blessings that God provides for us in our lives.
So, how do we convert this quarter, something that we receive for doing our job, something that is used to pay our taxes, (to the adults) something that is used sometimes as a score card, or a weapon in our lives…. into something that is acceptable to God…
How do we convert this quarter into something that’s acceptable?
A: we keep it…
Do we keep it?
A: we give it away and then they give it to someone else…
I am going to take this image here, this quarter with the image of this dead president’s head… because if we ever take time to look at it, all the money in the U.S. has a dead president’s head on it… Whether it is 10 dollar bill or 100 dollar bill it all has a president’s head… and put it in here.
What have I got here? Is this an envelope? What does it say? Offering? (puts the quarter in the offering envelope) We take that and put it in the collection plate when it comes around… Then what are we doing with it?
A: We are helping other people…
What are! How is that our responsibility as Christians? How do we use it to help other people?… A: Because when we give to help other people we are helping them because they don’t have any money…
A: We helping other people see God…
When we give to the church… we are, in fact, helping others... we are helping other people see God or experience God! It is spreading the kingdom of God… So, why is it that when give to the church, we so often fall into the same mindset that Moses had in the Old Testament lesson?… when he was so bold with God, and said, "God show me your glory!" He commanded God to show him His glory.
So often when we give to the church we are saying, God, show me your glory! We want to see the immediate results of our almighty dollar being worked out…
Instead, when we give money, we should trust that we are building up the kingdom of God. Nothing else… nothing more… nothing less… We are to trust that the money that we give is used to build up the kingdom of God…
So that’s why when we, as a church, make a decision to give money to the diocese, we are spreading the kingdom of God… And when the Diocese gives to the national church, we are spreading the kingdom of God….
And then the us and the diocese and national Church can use our resources to help other people. Sometimes they combine what we give with other offerings to fund its various programs… (for Episcopal Relief and Development, and the United Thank Offering (Presiding Bishop’s Fund)), We are spreading the kingdom of God…
So – when we give money to the church… we are helping to spread the kingdom of God!
Thanks be to God! Amen!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
RCL Year A (Proper 22) - October 12, 2008
The Rev’d Kenneth H Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 23) – October 12, 2008
Exodus 32:1-14
Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14
I heard a story a few years back about a small parish that had just called a new priest to lead them. They were so happy to have the young and educated pastor to help them grow and do the Lord's work in their community.
The first week the pastor gave a fantastic sermon and everyone was so pleased. After Church they greeted each other and they told the priest how pleased they were that he accepted the call to serve their small parish.
The second week the pastor delivered the same sermon. (you know they say, that all great preachers only have one sermon…) The people were still happy that they had the new priest and they didn't mind too much that he repeated the same sermon from the previous week.
Again, on third Sunday the pastor gave the same sermon. The parish was now wondering if this guy was a complete dud, after all he delivered the same sermon three Sunday's in a row.
So, the vestry decided to talk with the priest about his lack of performance in the pulpit. On the fourth week right after the service, and after hearing the sermon four times in a row the vestry met with the priest.
They told him how wonderful it was to have him there and how they enjoyed him and his family and were so pleased that he had accepted to come to their community. However, they also said that they were a little upset… Upset that he had delivered the same sermon now four weeks in a row.
While smiling he looked at them and said, "I'll change my sermon when you start listening!"
During the past few weeks we have heard some powerful and inspiring lessons from the gospel of Matthew. And they all point towards our response to the Lord’s invitation. Through the gospel lessons we learned that we are called to be the Church and live a life of faith and obedience… We are called to react, to forgive, and to witness to others what we believe. This has been the theme that has been repeated over and over and over again during these past few Sundays.
Today we were presented with Jesus telling us the parable story of a wedding banquet which a king gave for his guests. In scripture, a wedding banquet is often used as a metaphor for the great messianic feast, the kingdom of heaven, that we all have an opportunity to be a part of.
In the Revelation of St. John the divine, we are told that at the end of times... after all the wars, tribulation, destruction, and rebellion takes place... The Lamb of God, who is Jesus the Christ, will come down from heaven, and be seated on his throne with all his angels in all his power and all his might. He will be dressed like a beautiful bridegroom who is awaiting his bride. His bride, the Church.
The bride of Christ is the Church, which is adorned in all her beauty and splendor, just like a bride is dressed on her wedding day. And that is why the Church is decorated with elegance… with beautiful vestments and sometimes gold and silver, revealing the Lord's beauty. And then the marriage feast of the Lamb will take place, the feast of feasts, and all will be invited to the supper.
However, we have to make sure that we have our wedding garment. It is our baptismal garment that becomes our wedding garment, our ticket into the kingdom of God… If we don’t have the wedding garment we will not be able to join the party. As we heard in the lesson this morning; a man that had been invited did not put on the wedding garment that had been provided and was thrown out of the banquet into the street.
At baptism we were baptized into Christ's death and then raised with him (re-born in him) in order to walk in new life. We were sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit through the anointing with Holy Chrism. In most churches we are given a white robe which is our wedding garment, and we are given a candle which is the light of Christ and a cross to remind us to follow him.
We are walked down the isle, and make our first procession into the Church as a memeber of the body of Christ, as we were welcomed into the household of God. And then we were invited to the Lord's Table to feast on the bread and wine, that spiritual nourishment for our journey which is his body and blood.
This invitation didn't just go out one time but continually goes out week after week after week, as the Lord wants us to share his hospitality. Whether we respond or not is our responsibility.
I said a few weeks ago, that what we do in response to God’s grace in our lives is up to us… God has given us a grand opportunity, to be part of a community that worships, learns, and fellowships together… But it takes more then us just showing up to the feast… It takes action… action to honor our great host by donning the wedding gown of salvation… because the wedding garment doesn't do us any good, if we don’t put it on…
I am not talking about what you wear, or don’t wear to church, I am talking about what you do in response to the invitation that you are so freely given…
Do you accept the salvation (the wedding garment) that you are offered?
And when you do, what do you do in response, Do you put it on?
Our Lord expects us to continually answer the invitation, and come an visit God at God’s house, after all, isn't the Church God's house? At God’s house we receive a foretaste of that heavenly banquet which God has prepared for us… We know that God’s house is our house and that we are always welcome! - Because we are invited back week after week after week... and the Lord means what he says when he said that he would be with us.
He wants us to come and sit at his table and feast on the food of eternal life, the food that nourishes our immortal souls… mainly his Word and His body and blood. The Lord offer us an open invitation which was given to us at baptism, and he continually invites us to come to worship, to learn, to our share faith and fellowship with one another. But, as I said, it goes further than us just showing up for the feast…
We have to be willing to put on the wedding garment, the garment of salvation… and live our lives in response to God’s love for us. We do this by witnessing to his love in the world… by living our lives in a way that testifies to his love…
St. Francis, as I talked about last Sunday afternoon at the Blessing of the Animals, said a lot of things in his ministry, but I think one of the most profound things he said was… Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ at all times… when necessary, use words…
It is not about going out and babbling scripture at other folks… expecting them to understand and to be “converted” or “saved” from hellfire and damnation. It is about living your life in such a way, that others realize that you have something special going on... You have that something so special that it radiates forth from you... and they are interested, and they ask you about it… Then you have the open opportunity to share with them the invitation that you have received, and invite them…
It is all in how we respond… It’s all in how we live… Some people respond to this invitation and others don’t… However, as we heard in the gospel reading from Matthew, if we don't respond, God will invite other people who will respond... who "want" to respond.
Perhaps our gospel lessons for the past few weeks have been a bit repetitive on purpose. Perhaps we are not listening to what Matthew is telling us. Sometimes when we hear the scriptures read in church or anywhere else, we tend to hear what we want to hear and then forget or ignore the rest. We like to pick and choose bits and pieces of the gospel, rather than listening, hearing, and accepting the whole gospel.
Today we are once again invited to hear the gospel's call to faith, and to be the church in the world - living out our baptismal covenant by loving God, loving one another and witnessing to the truth…
Let us be constantly striving to don our baptismal garment, to live out our response to the salvation so freely given to us…
So that on that day… we will be prepared to sit at the table of the Lord, and be partakers of that heavenly banquet...
The Great Wedding feast that has been prepared for us!
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 23) – October 12, 2008
Exodus 32:1-14
Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14
I heard a story a few years back about a small parish that had just called a new priest to lead them. They were so happy to have the young and educated pastor to help them grow and do the Lord's work in their community.
The first week the pastor gave a fantastic sermon and everyone was so pleased. After Church they greeted each other and they told the priest how pleased they were that he accepted the call to serve their small parish.
The second week the pastor delivered the same sermon. (you know they say, that all great preachers only have one sermon…) The people were still happy that they had the new priest and they didn't mind too much that he repeated the same sermon from the previous week.
Again, on third Sunday the pastor gave the same sermon. The parish was now wondering if this guy was a complete dud, after all he delivered the same sermon three Sunday's in a row.
So, the vestry decided to talk with the priest about his lack of performance in the pulpit. On the fourth week right after the service, and after hearing the sermon four times in a row the vestry met with the priest.
They told him how wonderful it was to have him there and how they enjoyed him and his family and were so pleased that he had accepted to come to their community. However, they also said that they were a little upset… Upset that he had delivered the same sermon now four weeks in a row.
While smiling he looked at them and said, "I'll change my sermon when you start listening!"
During the past few weeks we have heard some powerful and inspiring lessons from the gospel of Matthew. And they all point towards our response to the Lord’s invitation. Through the gospel lessons we learned that we are called to be the Church and live a life of faith and obedience… We are called to react, to forgive, and to witness to others what we believe. This has been the theme that has been repeated over and over and over again during these past few Sundays.
Today we were presented with Jesus telling us the parable story of a wedding banquet which a king gave for his guests. In scripture, a wedding banquet is often used as a metaphor for the great messianic feast, the kingdom of heaven, that we all have an opportunity to be a part of.
In the Revelation of St. John the divine, we are told that at the end of times... after all the wars, tribulation, destruction, and rebellion takes place... The Lamb of God, who is Jesus the Christ, will come down from heaven, and be seated on his throne with all his angels in all his power and all his might. He will be dressed like a beautiful bridegroom who is awaiting his bride. His bride, the Church.
The bride of Christ is the Church, which is adorned in all her beauty and splendor, just like a bride is dressed on her wedding day. And that is why the Church is decorated with elegance… with beautiful vestments and sometimes gold and silver, revealing the Lord's beauty. And then the marriage feast of the Lamb will take place, the feast of feasts, and all will be invited to the supper.
However, we have to make sure that we have our wedding garment. It is our baptismal garment that becomes our wedding garment, our ticket into the kingdom of God… If we don’t have the wedding garment we will not be able to join the party. As we heard in the lesson this morning; a man that had been invited did not put on the wedding garment that had been provided and was thrown out of the banquet into the street.
At baptism we were baptized into Christ's death and then raised with him (re-born in him) in order to walk in new life. We were sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit through the anointing with Holy Chrism. In most churches we are given a white robe which is our wedding garment, and we are given a candle which is the light of Christ and a cross to remind us to follow him.
We are walked down the isle, and make our first procession into the Church as a memeber of the body of Christ, as we were welcomed into the household of God. And then we were invited to the Lord's Table to feast on the bread and wine, that spiritual nourishment for our journey which is his body and blood.
This invitation didn't just go out one time but continually goes out week after week after week, as the Lord wants us to share his hospitality. Whether we respond or not is our responsibility.
I said a few weeks ago, that what we do in response to God’s grace in our lives is up to us… God has given us a grand opportunity, to be part of a community that worships, learns, and fellowships together… But it takes more then us just showing up to the feast… It takes action… action to honor our great host by donning the wedding gown of salvation… because the wedding garment doesn't do us any good, if we don’t put it on…
I am not talking about what you wear, or don’t wear to church, I am talking about what you do in response to the invitation that you are so freely given…
Do you accept the salvation (the wedding garment) that you are offered?
And when you do, what do you do in response, Do you put it on?
Our Lord expects us to continually answer the invitation, and come an visit God at God’s house, after all, isn't the Church God's house? At God’s house we receive a foretaste of that heavenly banquet which God has prepared for us… We know that God’s house is our house and that we are always welcome! - Because we are invited back week after week after week... and the Lord means what he says when he said that he would be with us.
He wants us to come and sit at his table and feast on the food of eternal life, the food that nourishes our immortal souls… mainly his Word and His body and blood. The Lord offer us an open invitation which was given to us at baptism, and he continually invites us to come to worship, to learn, to our share faith and fellowship with one another. But, as I said, it goes further than us just showing up for the feast…
We have to be willing to put on the wedding garment, the garment of salvation… and live our lives in response to God’s love for us. We do this by witnessing to his love in the world… by living our lives in a way that testifies to his love…
St. Francis, as I talked about last Sunday afternoon at the Blessing of the Animals, said a lot of things in his ministry, but I think one of the most profound things he said was… Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ at all times… when necessary, use words…
It is not about going out and babbling scripture at other folks… expecting them to understand and to be “converted” or “saved” from hellfire and damnation. It is about living your life in such a way, that others realize that you have something special going on... You have that something so special that it radiates forth from you... and they are interested, and they ask you about it… Then you have the open opportunity to share with them the invitation that you have received, and invite them…
It is all in how we respond… It’s all in how we live… Some people respond to this invitation and others don’t… However, as we heard in the gospel reading from Matthew, if we don't respond, God will invite other people who will respond... who "want" to respond.
Perhaps our gospel lessons for the past few weeks have been a bit repetitive on purpose. Perhaps we are not listening to what Matthew is telling us. Sometimes when we hear the scriptures read in church or anywhere else, we tend to hear what we want to hear and then forget or ignore the rest. We like to pick and choose bits and pieces of the gospel, rather than listening, hearing, and accepting the whole gospel.
Today we are once again invited to hear the gospel's call to faith, and to be the church in the world - living out our baptismal covenant by loving God, loving one another and witnessing to the truth…
Let us be constantly striving to don our baptismal garment, to live out our response to the salvation so freely given to us…
So that on that day… we will be prepared to sit at the table of the Lord, and be partakers of that heavenly banquet...
The Great Wedding feast that has been prepared for us!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
RCL Year A (Proper 20) - September 21, 2008
The Rev’d Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 20) - September 21, 2008
Exodus 16:2-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45
Philippians 1:21-30
Matthew 20:1-16
The church has been grumbling for at least 7000 years… and we haven’t stopped yet… We seem to think sometimes that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence… That another way of life is better…
We sometimes act like little children and say, he or she got something that I didn’t get… they got more to eat than I did… or they got the toy they wanted and I didn’t get anything. Or worse yet… they got to do what they wanted and I didn’t get my way… or – they won’t cooperate and play the way we want them to play, so I am going to take my to take my toys and go home…
Have you ever had a job and it seemed your rate of pay was ok, until you found out what someone else was making?… If they were making more… we say, “how dare they think that they are doing as good a job or better than we are”… And if they are making less… we say, “why am I put to work side by side with such worthless people”…
Some of you may be able to identify with this… When I was a technician, I got lots of overtime for the extra hours that I worked… Each minute was accounted for as the clock was punched… but when I moved into management, and became a “professional” employee I caught myself working all the time, not punching a clock, I made a decent wage, but I always worked more hours than I was paid for... It didn’t seem fair… grumble, grumble, grumble…
And look at look at the way we live our materialistic lives… we have always got to have the best toys, the best clothes, the best homes, and the best cars… There is a popular saying that started out with a comic strip early in the 20th century, “Keeping up with the Joneses” – where one is expected to have or maintain a certain standard of living… I personally haven’t figured out who the Joneses are or why in the world we would want to keep up with them.” But for some reason, in our society we want to be considered as good as they are, and we envy what they have… And if we don’t get it, we grumble about what we don’t have. Then when we get it and we have it, we grumble about what a burden it is in our life…
What part of “thou shall not covet” don’t we understand? Don’t we realize that “he who dies with the most toys is still dead?” We grumble about what we should have gotten, or we grumble about the decisions that we should have or could have made…
Today’s lessons are about grumbling… grumbling about the should a, could a, would a’s in our lives…
The Israelites were fussing with Moses in the wilderness after being miraculously delivered from slavery in Egypt… They say… “If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you (Moses) have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." Grumbling about it was their answer to starving to death…
They would rather grumble than figure out how or where to get some food… and remember – when you are grumbling, be sure that you blame the leadership. Cause we all know that it is the leader’s fault… it’s always someone else’s fault… Grumble, grumble, grumble…
They seem to think that the situation they are in now is somehow worse than living as a slave in Egypt… Yes, they were walking around in the desert, and they were hungry. But they didn’t trust God… They witnessed all the miracles that got them to the point that they are, and yet they were still grumbling… Thinking that God had forgotten them – and just left them in the dessert to die. Somehow, to them, being a slave in Egypt was somehow better than being free…
Then we come to the parable that Jesus tells us about the laborers in the vineyard… We get the image of a day-labor house, where a person like a vineyard owner (or a general contractor) can go and hire others that want to work… But this isn’t the case in Jesus’ story… these peasant workers are standing idle in the marketplace… not refusing work… but not doing the honorable thing and seeking it either…
We jump right in… and we are quick to identify with the ones that have worked all day in the scorching heat… We quickly say… “whoa… wait a minute here… we have worked hard all day – and they have only been here a little while… How come they got the same pay that we did???” Because it was expected back then, as it is now, that the folks who worked longer hours get more pay…
But what if, by chance, we were to identify with the ones that had only been on the job for a couple of hours… Would we think that we had gotten away with something? Would we think that we didn’t deserve the wage that we were given? I hesitate that any of us would say… “Hey, wait a minute, I was only here a couple of hours, yet you paid me for the whole day.”
Jesus once again turns the values system of his time on its’ head. Telling them a story like this, and then telling them, “this is what the kingdom of God is like” would completely shock his peasant audience. Shocked, because they still related what Jesus was saying to material wealth. Shocked, because like you and me, they identified immediately with the workers who had worked all day in the scorching sun, only to be given an unfair wage for their labors… Shocked, because they choose to set their minds on earthly things and things passing away, and not focus on heavenly things and things that shall endure…
The past few Sundays, we have learned a lot in the lections about living in community. Of how we are to be together… as a family, on a planned focused mission… and how to act if something goes amiss… How we are to approach our brothers and sisters in Christ, hash it out, learn from each other, pray together and remain focused…
That led up to a parable that we had last week explaining how we are to forgive, without limits, showing others the kingdom of God to others through our actions of forgiveness. We learned that forgiveness is a difficult, but regardless of how difficult it is, forgiveness is a thing that we should continuously work at… letting God be the ultimate judge.
Today we get a glimpse of the generosity of God… but not monetarily… God provides manna in the wilderness, and feeds the Israelites with the manna of the wilderness… God shows grace to God’s people, providing for them, and delivering them from their hardships as they continue on the journey that God has set them on… Jesus has used our system of thinking against us, and sheds light for us again on what the kingdom of God might look like… Not monetarily… but of the generosity of God’s grace and blessing, equal for all who turn to God and focus on things heavenly…
We have a chance this morning to experience the equality and the generosity of God. When we come down the isle, and kneel at the rail, as always, we are all equal in the eyes of God, receiving the grace and blessing that God gives to us through the spiritual food provided to us to sustain us on our spiritual journey.
What we do from there with our material lives – our time, our talent and our treasure – and how we use that life to honor God is all a response to the generosity that God has provided to us…
And we all are so very very blessed in this life… so why do we grumble so much about what we think is happening or could happen?… or about what we think we should be getting in return for our labors?? or about what we think our brothers and sisters in the community should be doing???
Our focus this morning is on things eternal – those things that endure in our life now and in our life to come, Not on things of this earth – those things that pass away… Regardless of what we feel about the equities or inequities of our life, God is always there, loving us equally, providing for us, guiding us, and blessing us…
What we do in response to the generosity of God’s grace in our lives is up to us… Thanks be to God!
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 20) - September 21, 2008
Exodus 16:2-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45
Philippians 1:21-30
Matthew 20:1-16
The church has been grumbling for at least 7000 years… and we haven’t stopped yet… We seem to think sometimes that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence… That another way of life is better…
We sometimes act like little children and say, he or she got something that I didn’t get… they got more to eat than I did… or they got the toy they wanted and I didn’t get anything. Or worse yet… they got to do what they wanted and I didn’t get my way… or – they won’t cooperate and play the way we want them to play, so I am going to take my to take my toys and go home…
Have you ever had a job and it seemed your rate of pay was ok, until you found out what someone else was making?… If they were making more… we say, “how dare they think that they are doing as good a job or better than we are”… And if they are making less… we say, “why am I put to work side by side with such worthless people”…
Some of you may be able to identify with this… When I was a technician, I got lots of overtime for the extra hours that I worked… Each minute was accounted for as the clock was punched… but when I moved into management, and became a “professional” employee I caught myself working all the time, not punching a clock, I made a decent wage, but I always worked more hours than I was paid for... It didn’t seem fair… grumble, grumble, grumble…
And look at look at the way we live our materialistic lives… we have always got to have the best toys, the best clothes, the best homes, and the best cars… There is a popular saying that started out with a comic strip early in the 20th century, “Keeping up with the Joneses” – where one is expected to have or maintain a certain standard of living… I personally haven’t figured out who the Joneses are or why in the world we would want to keep up with them.” But for some reason, in our society we want to be considered as good as they are, and we envy what they have… And if we don’t get it, we grumble about what we don’t have. Then when we get it and we have it, we grumble about what a burden it is in our life…
What part of “thou shall not covet” don’t we understand? Don’t we realize that “he who dies with the most toys is still dead?” We grumble about what we should have gotten, or we grumble about the decisions that we should have or could have made…
Today’s lessons are about grumbling… grumbling about the should a, could a, would a’s in our lives…
The Israelites were fussing with Moses in the wilderness after being miraculously delivered from slavery in Egypt… They say… “If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you (Moses) have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." Grumbling about it was their answer to starving to death…
They would rather grumble than figure out how or where to get some food… and remember – when you are grumbling, be sure that you blame the leadership. Cause we all know that it is the leader’s fault… it’s always someone else’s fault… Grumble, grumble, grumble…
They seem to think that the situation they are in now is somehow worse than living as a slave in Egypt… Yes, they were walking around in the desert, and they were hungry. But they didn’t trust God… They witnessed all the miracles that got them to the point that they are, and yet they were still grumbling… Thinking that God had forgotten them – and just left them in the dessert to die. Somehow, to them, being a slave in Egypt was somehow better than being free…
Then we come to the parable that Jesus tells us about the laborers in the vineyard… We get the image of a day-labor house, where a person like a vineyard owner (or a general contractor) can go and hire others that want to work… But this isn’t the case in Jesus’ story… these peasant workers are standing idle in the marketplace… not refusing work… but not doing the honorable thing and seeking it either…
We jump right in… and we are quick to identify with the ones that have worked all day in the scorching heat… We quickly say… “whoa… wait a minute here… we have worked hard all day – and they have only been here a little while… How come they got the same pay that we did???” Because it was expected back then, as it is now, that the folks who worked longer hours get more pay…
But what if, by chance, we were to identify with the ones that had only been on the job for a couple of hours… Would we think that we had gotten away with something? Would we think that we didn’t deserve the wage that we were given? I hesitate that any of us would say… “Hey, wait a minute, I was only here a couple of hours, yet you paid me for the whole day.”
Jesus once again turns the values system of his time on its’ head. Telling them a story like this, and then telling them, “this is what the kingdom of God is like” would completely shock his peasant audience. Shocked, because they still related what Jesus was saying to material wealth. Shocked, because like you and me, they identified immediately with the workers who had worked all day in the scorching sun, only to be given an unfair wage for their labors… Shocked, because they choose to set their minds on earthly things and things passing away, and not focus on heavenly things and things that shall endure…
The past few Sundays, we have learned a lot in the lections about living in community. Of how we are to be together… as a family, on a planned focused mission… and how to act if something goes amiss… How we are to approach our brothers and sisters in Christ, hash it out, learn from each other, pray together and remain focused…
That led up to a parable that we had last week explaining how we are to forgive, without limits, showing others the kingdom of God to others through our actions of forgiveness. We learned that forgiveness is a difficult, but regardless of how difficult it is, forgiveness is a thing that we should continuously work at… letting God be the ultimate judge.
Today we get a glimpse of the generosity of God… but not monetarily… God provides manna in the wilderness, and feeds the Israelites with the manna of the wilderness… God shows grace to God’s people, providing for them, and delivering them from their hardships as they continue on the journey that God has set them on… Jesus has used our system of thinking against us, and sheds light for us again on what the kingdom of God might look like… Not monetarily… but of the generosity of God’s grace and blessing, equal for all who turn to God and focus on things heavenly…
We have a chance this morning to experience the equality and the generosity of God. When we come down the isle, and kneel at the rail, as always, we are all equal in the eyes of God, receiving the grace and blessing that God gives to us through the spiritual food provided to us to sustain us on our spiritual journey.
What we do from there with our material lives – our time, our talent and our treasure – and how we use that life to honor God is all a response to the generosity that God has provided to us…
And we all are so very very blessed in this life… so why do we grumble so much about what we think is happening or could happen?… or about what we think we should be getting in return for our labors?? or about what we think our brothers and sisters in the community should be doing???
Our focus this morning is on things eternal – those things that endure in our life now and in our life to come, Not on things of this earth – those things that pass away… Regardless of what we feel about the equities or inequities of our life, God is always there, loving us equally, providing for us, guiding us, and blessing us…
What we do in response to the generosity of God’s grace in our lives is up to us… Thanks be to God!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
RCL Year A (Proper 19) - September 14, 2008
The Rev’d Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 19) - September 14, 2008
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105, 1-6, 16-22, 45b
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33
Have you ever been so frustrated with someone that you just wanted to grab them by the throat and choke the life right out of them? As gratifying as it may be to any of us… we know that it doesn’t solve anything.
This kind of action solves nothing in our world, but only adds to the frustration and violence that caused the original situation in the first place. We know that violence and a physical altercation like that wouldn’t solve a thing because we are intelligent people of reason and understanding, but most importantly, we know that we have a God that has forgiven us…
Last week, Jesus taught us what to do if we felt that someone in the Church wronged us… We were to go to that person face to face and speak to them, reason with them, learn the circumstances, forgive them and pray with them…
If that didn’t work, we were to take a couple of more with us to meet with the person, letting those others help us digest the situation, reason together, learn from each other, and forgive them and pray with them…
These are all tough things to do when you are angry… I mean really angry… with an anger so deep that it becomes the acid of hate that starts to eat right through the container of your soul…
Paul understood anger, and we know that he understood forgiveness, but he comes to Jesus anyway and asks… How many times do I forgive? As many as seven?… the amount according to Hebrew custom, that was considered extremely generous… and Jesus says no… you should forgive them 77 times… which was a colloquial way to say always.
So Jesus tells us a parable to explain the teaching… The parable of the unforgiving servant… about a King wishing to settle his accounts going to the folks that owed him money and collecting…
A servant was brought to him that owed him 10,000 talents… now how much is 10,000 talents? Well, a denarii is a days wages… and talent would be 15 years of wages… so this guy owed 150,000 years of wages.
If we compare this to a person today that makes the full time minimum wage a mere $13,625 a year – He would owe about $2,043,750,000 an absolutely absurd amount in any standard of place and time…
So the king calls him forward and demands that he liquidate everything that he has, all his possessions… himself and even his wife and his children which were considered property back then… to make payment…
The servant is devastated and pleads with the King for mercy and the king has pity and releases him, and then does the unheard of and forgives him his massive amount of dept…
Wow… this guy should be thankful, happy… dancing on a cloud… he owed over 2 billion dollars and his account was completely zeroed… but what did this guy do?
Yeah… he got real bold and full of himself, and when he came upon someone that owed him money, in this case only 100 denarii, he grabs him by the throat and says “give me what you owe me!” The man pleads with the servant, just as he did with the king… but when the man couldn’t pay, the servant had him thrown in jail… Oooo… This didn’t make the king happy one bit…
When the King found out, he had the servant brought before him again, to find out why the servant had not forgiven the other as he had been forgiven. Then he handed him over to be tortured until he repaid all that he owed…
When a member of the church sins against me? How many times must I forgive them? As many as seven? Jesus says, no -“You must forgive them always…”
Sometimes the pop-Christian perspective is to say – that’s pretty easy… forgive and forget… let go and let God… this in part may be true, but the human memory can be far more durable than human will… in being lassie-fair about it all, the act doesn’t become fully erased in our minds, despite our hearts determination to be rid of it completely.
Forgiveness is difficult and our patience runs out very quickly… This causes our reactions to look like more of the servant, choking his fellow servant. The root of the difficulty to me seems to be our hardness of heart…
Jesus sets up a dichotomy of difference between the seven and seventy-seven years, the servant and the king, the 100 days and the 150,000 years… all to show us that forgiveness is not easy, even when it seems outrageously simple on paper.
As Christians, we should continuously work on accepting our forgiveness and start to let go of the things that aren’t worth holding onto… As Christians, we are to be the bearers of the message of reconciliation…
I spent some time last week defining the Church - The Church Christ centered and mission focused… The focus of its sole mission: to restore humanity to God through Jesus Christ our Lord…
We should work at being Christ to others… But that forgiveness part, that’s difficult, and it doesn’t do us any good to pretend otherwise. I am here to tell you that forgiveness is only possible, by the Grace of God! But it is hard work for us and in order to forgive… We have to work at it… to let the flakes and the layers fall off of our tough exterior shell that has become hardened and bitter by our powerful desire for vengeance.
Paul reminds us that we are not to pass judgment on others, nor or we to despise them… because God judges rightly and with an accuracy that we cannot even claim to have. God judges, but God also redeems with great generosity.
We should show others this great generosity… especially the folks that we want to choke the life out of… We need to reconcile with them to show them true forgiveness… And have them encounter in us the vision of God in Christ, the God that loves us and suffers with us to seemingly impossible degrees… only then can the love and empathy in them spring up and grow in their hearts as it does ours.
I saw an incredible movie several years ago called “Pay it Forward.” It is a story about Young Trevor McKinney who got caught up by an intriguing Social Studies assignment. The assignment was to think of something to change the world and then put it into action.
Trevor conjures the notion of paying a favor not back, but forward - repaying good deeds not with payback, but with new good deeds done to three new people. Trevor's efforts to make good on his idea bring a revolution not only in his life but that of his family, and even in those of an ever-widening circle of people completely unknown to him. In effect, he was changing the world… by “paying it forward” –
Even though this movie had no religious theme or undertone, for me it really summed up the just of our lesson this morning… Pay it forward… never letting the chain of love end with you! Whether we are the offenders, in need of great mercy or the offended in need of divine grace and patience…
We have no refuge than that of the goodness of God, made known to us in the person of Jesus Christ. And if our hearts are open to such mercy and grace, -- out of that divine mercy and grace flows true generosity and forgiveness…
We have a God that has forgiven us… all we need to do is accept it, act on it, and pay it forward… thanks be to God…
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 19) - September 14, 2008
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105, 1-6, 16-22, 45b
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33
Have you ever been so frustrated with someone that you just wanted to grab them by the throat and choke the life right out of them? As gratifying as it may be to any of us… we know that it doesn’t solve anything.
This kind of action solves nothing in our world, but only adds to the frustration and violence that caused the original situation in the first place. We know that violence and a physical altercation like that wouldn’t solve a thing because we are intelligent people of reason and understanding, but most importantly, we know that we have a God that has forgiven us…
Last week, Jesus taught us what to do if we felt that someone in the Church wronged us… We were to go to that person face to face and speak to them, reason with them, learn the circumstances, forgive them and pray with them…
If that didn’t work, we were to take a couple of more with us to meet with the person, letting those others help us digest the situation, reason together, learn from each other, and forgive them and pray with them…
These are all tough things to do when you are angry… I mean really angry… with an anger so deep that it becomes the acid of hate that starts to eat right through the container of your soul…
Paul understood anger, and we know that he understood forgiveness, but he comes to Jesus anyway and asks… How many times do I forgive? As many as seven?… the amount according to Hebrew custom, that was considered extremely generous… and Jesus says no… you should forgive them 77 times… which was a colloquial way to say always.
So Jesus tells us a parable to explain the teaching… The parable of the unforgiving servant… about a King wishing to settle his accounts going to the folks that owed him money and collecting…
A servant was brought to him that owed him 10,000 talents… now how much is 10,000 talents? Well, a denarii is a days wages… and talent would be 15 years of wages… so this guy owed 150,000 years of wages.
If we compare this to a person today that makes the full time minimum wage a mere $13,625 a year – He would owe about $2,043,750,000 an absolutely absurd amount in any standard of place and time…
So the king calls him forward and demands that he liquidate everything that he has, all his possessions… himself and even his wife and his children which were considered property back then… to make payment…
The servant is devastated and pleads with the King for mercy and the king has pity and releases him, and then does the unheard of and forgives him his massive amount of dept…
Wow… this guy should be thankful, happy… dancing on a cloud… he owed over 2 billion dollars and his account was completely zeroed… but what did this guy do?
Yeah… he got real bold and full of himself, and when he came upon someone that owed him money, in this case only 100 denarii, he grabs him by the throat and says “give me what you owe me!” The man pleads with the servant, just as he did with the king… but when the man couldn’t pay, the servant had him thrown in jail… Oooo… This didn’t make the king happy one bit…
When the King found out, he had the servant brought before him again, to find out why the servant had not forgiven the other as he had been forgiven. Then he handed him over to be tortured until he repaid all that he owed…
When a member of the church sins against me? How many times must I forgive them? As many as seven? Jesus says, no -“You must forgive them always…”
Sometimes the pop-Christian perspective is to say – that’s pretty easy… forgive and forget… let go and let God… this in part may be true, but the human memory can be far more durable than human will… in being lassie-fair about it all, the act doesn’t become fully erased in our minds, despite our hearts determination to be rid of it completely.
Forgiveness is difficult and our patience runs out very quickly… This causes our reactions to look like more of the servant, choking his fellow servant. The root of the difficulty to me seems to be our hardness of heart…
Jesus sets up a dichotomy of difference between the seven and seventy-seven years, the servant and the king, the 100 days and the 150,000 years… all to show us that forgiveness is not easy, even when it seems outrageously simple on paper.
As Christians, we should continuously work on accepting our forgiveness and start to let go of the things that aren’t worth holding onto… As Christians, we are to be the bearers of the message of reconciliation…
I spent some time last week defining the Church - The Church Christ centered and mission focused… The focus of its sole mission: to restore humanity to God through Jesus Christ our Lord…
We should work at being Christ to others… But that forgiveness part, that’s difficult, and it doesn’t do us any good to pretend otherwise. I am here to tell you that forgiveness is only possible, by the Grace of God! But it is hard work for us and in order to forgive… We have to work at it… to let the flakes and the layers fall off of our tough exterior shell that has become hardened and bitter by our powerful desire for vengeance.
Paul reminds us that we are not to pass judgment on others, nor or we to despise them… because God judges rightly and with an accuracy that we cannot even claim to have. God judges, but God also redeems with great generosity.
We should show others this great generosity… especially the folks that we want to choke the life out of… We need to reconcile with them to show them true forgiveness… And have them encounter in us the vision of God in Christ, the God that loves us and suffers with us to seemingly impossible degrees… only then can the love and empathy in them spring up and grow in their hearts as it does ours.
I saw an incredible movie several years ago called “Pay it Forward.” It is a story about Young Trevor McKinney who got caught up by an intriguing Social Studies assignment. The assignment was to think of something to change the world and then put it into action.
Trevor conjures the notion of paying a favor not back, but forward - repaying good deeds not with payback, but with new good deeds done to three new people. Trevor's efforts to make good on his idea bring a revolution not only in his life but that of his family, and even in those of an ever-widening circle of people completely unknown to him. In effect, he was changing the world… by “paying it forward” –
Even though this movie had no religious theme or undertone, for me it really summed up the just of our lesson this morning… Pay it forward… never letting the chain of love end with you! Whether we are the offenders, in need of great mercy or the offended in need of divine grace and patience…
We have no refuge than that of the goodness of God, made known to us in the person of Jesus Christ. And if our hearts are open to such mercy and grace, -- out of that divine mercy and grace flows true generosity and forgiveness…
We have a God that has forgiven us… all we need to do is accept it, act on it, and pay it forward… thanks be to God…
Sunday, August 31, 2008
RCL Year A (Proper 17) - August 31, 2008
The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders, III
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church/Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
August 31, 2008
RCL Year A – Proper 17
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church – Homecoming Service
Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28
Surrounded by the beauty and history of this holy place, it is easy to get distracted…
So this morning, I am going to try to help you out a little bit…
Several years ago, my spiritual director taught me this centering exercise, and I still use it often to reorient myself and focus, to remind me of what my purpose on this Earth is.
So I am going to pass it along to you today… and I hope you will use it on your own spiritual journey.
I want everyone to please take a deep breath and repeat after me very slowly…
“be still and know that I am God”
“be still and know that I am”
“be still and know”
“be still”
“be”
(again)
God is!! God is a form of being… God is! God was! and God always will be!
Moses knew it! The Apostles and Prophets knew it! Paul knew it! The founders of St. Andrew’s Church knew it! and We know it still today!
God is!! – sometimes we just need to be still for a moment and remember that God is...
You and I both know that this is a busy, busy world… we should sometimes just take some time out, time out to be still and remember that God is…
Moses was busy. He had been raised in Egypt in the family of Pharaoh, and been placed as a taskmaster over some of Pharaoh’s projects. But one day, he was protecting one of the Hebrew slaves who was being beaten by and Egyptian. Needless to say, Pharaoh got word of it and sought to kill Moses. So Moses left Egypt and fled to Midian, and married Zipporah, one of the seven daughters of Jethro, who was the local priest there.
This is where we pick up the story today… Moses is busy minding his father-in-law Jethro’s flock and led it beyond the wilderness… a place of danger and mystery…
in the ancient world, the wilderness was a wild place… one just didn’t go to the wilderness for fun… often when we see the word wilderness in the Bible, it is intend to make us think of a place of thirst, hunger, and deprivation, a place haunted by beasts and demons, and a place echoing with frightful noises…
We can assume that Moses had good reason to be there… but the part that sticks out, the part that we all know and love isn’t the fact that Moses was in the wilderness, tending his father-in-laws sheep… In fact we even forget about the sheep at the point that Moses encounters the flame of a fire that is coming out of a bush…
I am sure that it wasn’t strange in a dry and barren land, to see scattered brush fires here and there… but this one was a bit different… and got Moses’ attention… Moses went up to inspect… and saw that the bush was blazing, but wasn’t being consumed…
Now most of us know that there are 3 things in our physical world necessary for fire… heat, oxygen, and fuel… Moses caught on very quickly that this fire was very real but it was missing something… fuel… the bush was burning, but is wasn’t being burned…
Then in the still quiet, out of the blazing bush, God calls out “Moses, Moses…” and Moses responds “here I am”… God instructs Moses to come no closer and remove the sandals from his feet… God tells Moses… “you are on holy ground.”
Then, in an act of complete submission, Moses removes his sandals… To a shepherd, his shoes are his protection, making it possible to navigate the rough terrain of the countryside… Removing his sandals in the wilderness makes Moses completely vulnerable to his surroundings… Moses was frightened, yet listening intently to God’s every word…
God goes on to tell Moses that God has seen the torment of the Hebrews in Egypt, and has listened to their cry… God sends Moses back to Egypt to retrieve God’s people and lead them to a land promised to them… the land flowing with Milk and honey…
and God instructs Moses to bring them back to the Mountain to worship God…
God redeems God’s people… God heard them… God heard their prayers for deliverance, and their cries out for salvation… And God sent them a savior… Moses… God delivered them out of slavery in the land of Egypt and led them across the red sea to a land flowing with milk and honey… God redeems God’s people…
And God still redeems God’s people… God hasn’t stopped…
In the time of Hebrew history when the Roman government was growing strong and dominating the lands around the Mediterranean, the whole world was a mess… God heard the cries once again of a broken and battered world… and God is faithful… God redeems God’s people… But this time, God didn’t send us a Moses to lead us out of the bondage of slavery… God came to us himself in the person of Jesus Christ… his only son, the righteous man who walked on this earth and died on a cross, God became fully human being, to save us from ourselves…
God redeemed us then from the mistakes we have made, taught us by his example how to live in community and in relationship with one another, and how to love one another. All we have to do is be still long enough to listen, follow, and believe…
Jesus reminds us this morning that following him is not going to be easy… following him is not going to be the easy way… nor even the desired way caught up in the way of the world…
He tells us that in order to be focused, and do what he needs us to do, that we need to focus on divine things… not human things…
This is where we learn from Moses… in order to be focused on divine things we should be still and listen. Listen for that still small quite voice of God…
Then we should humble ourselves… we should to take off our sandals and make ourselves vulnerable to be formed into what Christ desires for us…
we should be still for a while and listen…
Moses asks What shall I say to the Israelites when I get back to Egypt???
Gods says, “Tell them that the God of your ancestors has sent me to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob….”
Then Moses asks what if they ask me “what is his name?” What do I tell them?
God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM…
Be still and know that I am God…
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know….
Be still…
Be
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church/Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
August 31, 2008
RCL Year A – Proper 17
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church – Homecoming Service
Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28
Surrounded by the beauty and history of this holy place, it is easy to get distracted…
So this morning, I am going to try to help you out a little bit…
Several years ago, my spiritual director taught me this centering exercise, and I still use it often to reorient myself and focus, to remind me of what my purpose on this Earth is.
So I am going to pass it along to you today… and I hope you will use it on your own spiritual journey.
I want everyone to please take a deep breath and repeat after me very slowly…
“be still and know that I am God”
“be still and know that I am”
“be still and know”
“be still”
“be”
(again)
God is!! God is a form of being… God is! God was! and God always will be!
Moses knew it! The Apostles and Prophets knew it! Paul knew it! The founders of St. Andrew’s Church knew it! and We know it still today!
God is!! – sometimes we just need to be still for a moment and remember that God is...
You and I both know that this is a busy, busy world… we should sometimes just take some time out, time out to be still and remember that God is…
Moses was busy. He had been raised in Egypt in the family of Pharaoh, and been placed as a taskmaster over some of Pharaoh’s projects. But one day, he was protecting one of the Hebrew slaves who was being beaten by and Egyptian. Needless to say, Pharaoh got word of it and sought to kill Moses. So Moses left Egypt and fled to Midian, and married Zipporah, one of the seven daughters of Jethro, who was the local priest there.
This is where we pick up the story today… Moses is busy minding his father-in-law Jethro’s flock and led it beyond the wilderness… a place of danger and mystery…
in the ancient world, the wilderness was a wild place… one just didn’t go to the wilderness for fun… often when we see the word wilderness in the Bible, it is intend to make us think of a place of thirst, hunger, and deprivation, a place haunted by beasts and demons, and a place echoing with frightful noises…
We can assume that Moses had good reason to be there… but the part that sticks out, the part that we all know and love isn’t the fact that Moses was in the wilderness, tending his father-in-laws sheep… In fact we even forget about the sheep at the point that Moses encounters the flame of a fire that is coming out of a bush…
I am sure that it wasn’t strange in a dry and barren land, to see scattered brush fires here and there… but this one was a bit different… and got Moses’ attention… Moses went up to inspect… and saw that the bush was blazing, but wasn’t being consumed…
Now most of us know that there are 3 things in our physical world necessary for fire… heat, oxygen, and fuel… Moses caught on very quickly that this fire was very real but it was missing something… fuel… the bush was burning, but is wasn’t being burned…
Then in the still quiet, out of the blazing bush, God calls out “Moses, Moses…” and Moses responds “here I am”… God instructs Moses to come no closer and remove the sandals from his feet… God tells Moses… “you are on holy ground.”
Then, in an act of complete submission, Moses removes his sandals… To a shepherd, his shoes are his protection, making it possible to navigate the rough terrain of the countryside… Removing his sandals in the wilderness makes Moses completely vulnerable to his surroundings… Moses was frightened, yet listening intently to God’s every word…
God goes on to tell Moses that God has seen the torment of the Hebrews in Egypt, and has listened to their cry… God sends Moses back to Egypt to retrieve God’s people and lead them to a land promised to them… the land flowing with Milk and honey…
and God instructs Moses to bring them back to the Mountain to worship God…
God redeems God’s people… God heard them… God heard their prayers for deliverance, and their cries out for salvation… And God sent them a savior… Moses… God delivered them out of slavery in the land of Egypt and led them across the red sea to a land flowing with milk and honey… God redeems God’s people…
And God still redeems God’s people… God hasn’t stopped…
In the time of Hebrew history when the Roman government was growing strong and dominating the lands around the Mediterranean, the whole world was a mess… God heard the cries once again of a broken and battered world… and God is faithful… God redeems God’s people… But this time, God didn’t send us a Moses to lead us out of the bondage of slavery… God came to us himself in the person of Jesus Christ… his only son, the righteous man who walked on this earth and died on a cross, God became fully human being, to save us from ourselves…
God redeemed us then from the mistakes we have made, taught us by his example how to live in community and in relationship with one another, and how to love one another. All we have to do is be still long enough to listen, follow, and believe…
Jesus reminds us this morning that following him is not going to be easy… following him is not going to be the easy way… nor even the desired way caught up in the way of the world…
He tells us that in order to be focused, and do what he needs us to do, that we need to focus on divine things… not human things…
This is where we learn from Moses… in order to be focused on divine things we should be still and listen. Listen for that still small quite voice of God…
Then we should humble ourselves… we should to take off our sandals and make ourselves vulnerable to be formed into what Christ desires for us…
we should be still for a while and listen…
Moses asks What shall I say to the Israelites when I get back to Egypt???
Gods says, “Tell them that the God of your ancestors has sent me to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob….”
Then Moses asks what if they ask me “what is his name?” What do I tell them?
God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM…
Be still and know that I am God…
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know….
Be still…
Be
Sunday, August 17, 2008
RCL Year A (Proper 15) - August 17, 2008
The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 15)
Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
After a year of being here in the wonderful metropolis of Cleveland, NC – y’all have taught me a lot… I have learned a lot about the area, and the wonderful little towns that surround Cleveland…
Mt. Ulla (and after a year, I finally learned how to say that correctly), Woodleaf, Barber (which I have learned is now part of Cleveland), and even the greater surrounding areas… the larger cities of Mooresville, Mocksville, Salisbury, and Statesville...
Being here in the middle of everything, Cleveland is very unique and in some ways isolated or closed off. People outside of Cleveland, sometimes don’t even know where Cleveland is…
I ran into someone in Salisbury the other day – I actually had to explain where Cleveland was… Even within Cleveland, as small as it may be, there are different groups that are a bit isolated within itself.
I went to the Third Creek Presbyterian Church last Sunday for the installation of their new pastor Don McCann (did y’all know there were Presbyterians in Cleveland?)
It is so easy sometimes to draw circles in our travels so that some are inside and others are out. It may be around people of a different race or ethnic origin, different gender or gender orientation, age, educational background or abilities…
It is easy to look at that person with too many tattoos or too many body piercings, or that person who stutters or the one who didn't make it through high school and say “this person is just not like us.”
Our Gospel text for this morning speaks directly to "us" and "them."
Jesus has gone out of the land of Israel into the region of Tyre and Sidon –– he is a Jew that has just crossed into Gentile territory. Then a woman from the area comes to Jesus –– Matthew uses the word "Canaanite" rather than "Syro-Phoenician." Now, this term is loaded for Jewish people because the Canaanites were the pagans with whom the Israelites fought for centuries. The Canaanites were idol worshippers and didn’t believe in the one true God.
It was a Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus. She came alone without a man to escort her… without a husband or son or father – this was totally unheard of in her culture. And she came to Jesus shouting loudly, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David."
This woman had three strikes against her –– she was not Jewish – She was a pagan Canaanite . She was a woman –– strike two –– and she presumed to speak openly to a man without a male intermediary. And strike three –– she was a pest, whose screaming and shouting behavior would possibly bring trouble to Jesus and His followers.
So, the disciples came and urged Jesus, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting at us." They clearly draw the circle –– Jesus and the disciples and Jewish men are inside – and this bothersome, Canaanite woman is outside.
What I find interesting is how much a man of His time and place that Jesus really was. It seems at first that Jesus agreed with his followers so he tried to brush the woman off. Because his mission was to Israel only. But, she confessed him Lord and Messiah, something many of the people in Israel would not confess.
She asked him for mercy and knelt down before him in a posture of supplication and worship. And she had faith that Jesus could heal her daughter of a tormenting demon.
But what did Jesus do when she wouldn’t go away? He called her a dog.
Did you know that in the Middle East, even today, people do not keep pet dogs? But we do! We shampoo them and trim them, buy them treats, and even dress them up for holidays. Ours is a world that is definitely far away from that of the Middle East.
In Islam, dogs are considered unclean and are reduced to scavenging at the edges of the villages and towns. It was the same in Bible times. The Jews called the Gentiles "dogs" and it was NOT a term of endearment but rather of derision.
It is the term used by Jesus for this woman, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to dogs." But she turned around and used the same phrase to say to Jesus, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."
She had Him there. With that reply, she broke the circle and entered in. Salvation came to her and her possessed daughter not because she became Jewish or promised to keep the Law of Moses. Not because she became the only person in scripture to outwit Jesus.
Here in Matthew's Gospel she finds salvation through faith in Jesus alone. Jesus said to her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done to you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.
The Gospel is not just for men, for Jews, or for people who conform to our expectations of them. It actually took the Church a long time to realize this. In fact, the first great controversy in the Christian Church was whether Gentiles had to become Jews before they could become Christians. Paul the great apostle to the Gentiles even argued that Gentile men did not need to be circumcised to be baptized.
Peter had revealed to him by God that the dietary laws commanded in the Hebrew Bible were no longer required. No person was to be called common or unclean. And - At the first Council of Jerusalem (about year 50 – revealed in the book of Acts) it was agreed that Gentiles could become Christians.
Paul, writing to the Romans, declares that Jews and Gentiles are both sinners and are invited to be God's people through faith in Jesus.
We are not saved by our gender or our status, our by our race or our educational level, or our good behavior. We do not find our self worth in what others think of us – but by being children of God and heirs to God's Kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
What our Gospel text clearly says today – is we are saved by faith in Jesus alone. And in our text we see how Jesus can set aside even clear Scripture teaching for the sake of people.
In the first part of our reading from Matthew, Jesus takes on the Holiness Code of the Old Testament. He and his disciples were accused of not washing their hands before they ate. Jesus argues that it was not what went in a person that defiled but rather the evil and malice that come out of the human heart.
If the rules and regulations hurt people, they could be put aside. Remember that the Sabbath was made for humans not humans made for the Sabbath. God's Laws are made to free not oppress and even Scriptural warrant can be set aside for the greater good of loving God and others.
In the second part of the same chapter, Jesus sets aside the whole system of salvation from the Old Testament. The Hebrew Bible cared about the Gentiles, and looked for the day when all the nations would come together in Zion.
God was to accomplish God's mission in and through the Jewish people only. This is what Jesus starts to affirm –– the Gospel is for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But the text does not stop there and in this passage, we see that the Old Testament scheme is set aside.
God's good news is for all people, not just some. Christ died for all people, not just for some. Forgiveness is for all people not just for some. The only condition is faith - which is itself a gift of God.
Others may be different from ourselves and often what makes them different is something we don't like – or something that is not like us. The Church has been guilty of keeping people out rather than inviting them in.
We are just human beings and fallen, sinful ones at that. We know what we like and we like what we know. Think of the disciples, they were the same way. Remember, the disciples were not God. Remember that neither the Church nor the rector nor the vestry is God either.
God is faithful and loving even when God's servants may not be. Only God draws the circle wide enough to bring everyone in into God’s loving embrace. Never let anyone or anything try to separate you from God's love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year A (Proper 15)
Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
After a year of being here in the wonderful metropolis of Cleveland, NC – y’all have taught me a lot… I have learned a lot about the area, and the wonderful little towns that surround Cleveland…
Mt. Ulla (and after a year, I finally learned how to say that correctly), Woodleaf, Barber (which I have learned is now part of Cleveland), and even the greater surrounding areas… the larger cities of Mooresville, Mocksville, Salisbury, and Statesville...
Being here in the middle of everything, Cleveland is very unique and in some ways isolated or closed off. People outside of Cleveland, sometimes don’t even know where Cleveland is…
I ran into someone in Salisbury the other day – I actually had to explain where Cleveland was… Even within Cleveland, as small as it may be, there are different groups that are a bit isolated within itself.
I went to the Third Creek Presbyterian Church last Sunday for the installation of their new pastor Don McCann (did y’all know there were Presbyterians in Cleveland?)
It is so easy sometimes to draw circles in our travels so that some are inside and others are out. It may be around people of a different race or ethnic origin, different gender or gender orientation, age, educational background or abilities…
It is easy to look at that person with too many tattoos or too many body piercings, or that person who stutters or the one who didn't make it through high school and say “this person is just not like us.”
Our Gospel text for this morning speaks directly to "us" and "them."
Jesus has gone out of the land of Israel into the region of Tyre and Sidon –– he is a Jew that has just crossed into Gentile territory. Then a woman from the area comes to Jesus –– Matthew uses the word "Canaanite" rather than "Syro-Phoenician." Now, this term is loaded for Jewish people because the Canaanites were the pagans with whom the Israelites fought for centuries. The Canaanites were idol worshippers and didn’t believe in the one true God.
It was a Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus. She came alone without a man to escort her… without a husband or son or father – this was totally unheard of in her culture. And she came to Jesus shouting loudly, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David."
This woman had three strikes against her –– she was not Jewish – She was a pagan Canaanite . She was a woman –– strike two –– and she presumed to speak openly to a man without a male intermediary. And strike three –– she was a pest, whose screaming and shouting behavior would possibly bring trouble to Jesus and His followers.
So, the disciples came and urged Jesus, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting at us." They clearly draw the circle –– Jesus and the disciples and Jewish men are inside – and this bothersome, Canaanite woman is outside.
What I find interesting is how much a man of His time and place that Jesus really was. It seems at first that Jesus agreed with his followers so he tried to brush the woman off. Because his mission was to Israel only. But, she confessed him Lord and Messiah, something many of the people in Israel would not confess.
She asked him for mercy and knelt down before him in a posture of supplication and worship. And she had faith that Jesus could heal her daughter of a tormenting demon.
But what did Jesus do when she wouldn’t go away? He called her a dog.
Did you know that in the Middle East, even today, people do not keep pet dogs? But we do! We shampoo them and trim them, buy them treats, and even dress them up for holidays. Ours is a world that is definitely far away from that of the Middle East.
In Islam, dogs are considered unclean and are reduced to scavenging at the edges of the villages and towns. It was the same in Bible times. The Jews called the Gentiles "dogs" and it was NOT a term of endearment but rather of derision.
It is the term used by Jesus for this woman, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to dogs." But she turned around and used the same phrase to say to Jesus, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."
She had Him there. With that reply, she broke the circle and entered in. Salvation came to her and her possessed daughter not because she became Jewish or promised to keep the Law of Moses. Not because she became the only person in scripture to outwit Jesus.
Here in Matthew's Gospel she finds salvation through faith in Jesus alone. Jesus said to her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done to you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.
The Gospel is not just for men, for Jews, or for people who conform to our expectations of them. It actually took the Church a long time to realize this. In fact, the first great controversy in the Christian Church was whether Gentiles had to become Jews before they could become Christians. Paul the great apostle to the Gentiles even argued that Gentile men did not need to be circumcised to be baptized.
Peter had revealed to him by God that the dietary laws commanded in the Hebrew Bible were no longer required. No person was to be called common or unclean. And - At the first Council of Jerusalem (about year 50 – revealed in the book of Acts) it was agreed that Gentiles could become Christians.
Paul, writing to the Romans, declares that Jews and Gentiles are both sinners and are invited to be God's people through faith in Jesus.
We are not saved by our gender or our status, our by our race or our educational level, or our good behavior. We do not find our self worth in what others think of us – but by being children of God and heirs to God's Kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
What our Gospel text clearly says today – is we are saved by faith in Jesus alone. And in our text we see how Jesus can set aside even clear Scripture teaching for the sake of people.
In the first part of our reading from Matthew, Jesus takes on the Holiness Code of the Old Testament. He and his disciples were accused of not washing their hands before they ate. Jesus argues that it was not what went in a person that defiled but rather the evil and malice that come out of the human heart.
If the rules and regulations hurt people, they could be put aside. Remember that the Sabbath was made for humans not humans made for the Sabbath. God's Laws are made to free not oppress and even Scriptural warrant can be set aside for the greater good of loving God and others.
In the second part of the same chapter, Jesus sets aside the whole system of salvation from the Old Testament. The Hebrew Bible cared about the Gentiles, and looked for the day when all the nations would come together in Zion.
God was to accomplish God's mission in and through the Jewish people only. This is what Jesus starts to affirm –– the Gospel is for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But the text does not stop there and in this passage, we see that the Old Testament scheme is set aside.
God's good news is for all people, not just some. Christ died for all people, not just for some. Forgiveness is for all people not just for some. The only condition is faith - which is itself a gift of God.
Others may be different from ourselves and often what makes them different is something we don't like – or something that is not like us. The Church has been guilty of keeping people out rather than inviting them in.
We are just human beings and fallen, sinful ones at that. We know what we like and we like what we know. Think of the disciples, they were the same way. Remember, the disciples were not God. Remember that neither the Church nor the rector nor the vestry is God either.
God is faithful and loving even when God's servants may not be. Only God draws the circle wide enough to bring everyone in into God’s loving embrace. Never let anyone or anything try to separate you from God's love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
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