Sermon: C Palm Sunday 24 March 2013

Is 50:4-9a; Ps 31:9-16; Ph 2:5-11; LUKE 22:14-23:56

Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of Christ’s suffering and also share in his resurrection. AMEN.

“Let the mountains and all the hills,

Break out into great rejoicing at the mercy of God.

And let the trees of the forest clap their hands.

Give praise to Christ, all nations,

Magnify him, all peoples, crying:

Glory to thy power, O Lord.

Seated in heaven upon thy throne

And on earth upon a foal, O Christ our God,

Thou hast accepted the praise of the angels

And the songs of the children who cried out to thee:

Blessed art thou that comest to call back Adam.” (From an Orthodox Hymn for Palm Sunday.)

Sermon: C Baptism of Our Lord 13 January 2013

Is 43: 1-7; Ps 29 1-11; Acts 8:14-17; LUKE 3: 15-17, 21-22

Gracious G*d, grant that those baptized into your Name may keep the covenant they have made. AMEN.

This morning we celebrate three distinct occasions, all connected through the presence and revelation of Jesus Christ, and also each connected to us in the here and now. First it’s the season of Epiphany, the season of light, when each week someone or some group understands that this baby, this particular person, is, in some way, in such close relationship with G*d that he made and makes real, an experience of G*d, with G*d, to those who are in these weekly stories. Second, the Sunday after the Epiphany is always the baptism of Jesus, and so we’ve heard that account. Since it’s Epiphany Season and the Baptism of Jesus, the Church has selected this as one of the liturgical dates appropriate for baptisms in the church. We are honored and blessed to be baptizing two children Theo Gray and Arthur Patrick Watson to welcome them into the church, this congregation of St. John the Evangelist, this parish of the Episcopal Church, the larger Anglican communion, and the whole Christian community—and with the human family reaching towards a connection with the eternal and Holy.

Sermon: C The Epiphany Sunday 6 January 2013

Is 60:1-6; Ps 72:1-7, 10-14; Eph 3:1-12; MT 2:1-12

Lead us to your presence, O God, where we may see your glory face to face. 

AMEN.

“Those magic men, the Magi,

Some people call them wise

Or Oriental, even kings

Well anyway, those guys

They visited with Jesus

They sure enjoyed their stay

Then, warned in a dream of King Herod’s scheme

They went home by another way” Timothy Mayer and James Taylor’s freely adapted today’s Gospel here, while we also hear, “Arise, shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”

meditation for the Epiphany “Arise, shine, your light has come.”

A couple of my neighbors plaster over their entire houses each Christmas with so many lights and  blinking Santas and glowing nativities that it’s like having a little bit of Vegas on my way home each night. Others have just a string of colored lights around their porch, or electric candle decorations in their windows.

All these thousands of years later, even in the form of all this cheap plastic and LED spectacle, I find profound hope knowing that humans have not lost their instinct for following the light. The wise men found the Christ by no magic or special knowledge other than this: the entirely primitive, entirely human fascination with lights in the sky. We share this instinct with almost every other living creature on earth, including plants and algae. We find God by doing what life does: looking for the light, and growing toward it. And behold, in awe, along with the Magi: the source of all light, shining in the darkness, is here. Arise, shine, your light has come.

Leonart Bramer: Journey of the Three Magi to Bethlehem. Credit: Wiki Commons. Click on the image to enlarge.

Sermon: C Christmas 1 30 December 2012

Is 61:10-62:3; Ps 147; Gal 3:23-25, 4:4-7; JOHN 1:1-18

The Word was made flesh & dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. AMEN.

Annie Dillard wrote in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek: “If creation had been left up to me, I’m sure I wouldn’t have had the imagination or courage to do more than shape a single reasonably sized atom, smooth as a snowball, and let it go at that.” “Tempting,” according to the Synthesis Commentary I often read, “So, when we come to John 1, it is tempting simply to read the verses aloud and let them evoke the proper awe in what they say—since we certainly can’t match them.”

Meditation for 30 December: “light and life and love”

John 1: 1 – 14 is the Prologue to the Gospel of John, which is often called the most spiritual Gospel. It is about Light and Life: “I am the Light of the World; whosoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” 8:12)…and “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life” (14:6) and “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (10:9.) It is the Gospel which most emphasizes the divinity of Jesus, in his mission of bringing life into the world, in creation and in eternal life, and in enlightening humanity.

Why do we read the Gospel of John and especially the Prologue at Christmas time? Because the Word “dwelt among us,” “full of grace and truth,”stressing the salvation message and the new command of the Incarnation: love of God, of Jesus, and of each other.  “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (13:35). Like the star, the true light “shines in the darkness”…”in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” 

At Christmastime, we celebrate not only the birth of Jesus Christ, but especially his embodiment of light and life and love. 

Painting is St. John the Evangelist by El Greco. Image, courtesy of Wiki Commons.

Sermon: C Christmas Day 25 December 2012

Is 62: 6-12; Ps 97; Ti 3: 4-7; LUKE 2: 1-20

Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place. AMEN.

Merry Christmas and welcome here this happy morning.

Sometimes I wonder about swapping seasonal hymns—wouldn’t “Welcome happy morning, age to age shall say” suit this day as would many other Easter hymns, although there are often stanzas and verses about the crucifixion which would suit less well, because that’s looking too far ahead. This morning, we’re only at “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.” Christmas hymns are allowed sweet sentiments, and even sentimental images, and yet they need not to stop there. The risk is of seeing an image of Mother and Child, and stopping at that ordinary, gentle, and familiar scene, and forgetting the complex reality of that seemingly recognizable family picture.

C Christmas Eve 24 December 2012 Go Tell it on the Mountain: Jesus Christ is born today

Is 9: 2-7; Ps 96; Ti 2:11-14; LUKE 2: 1-20

“Fear not, for lo, I bring you good tidings of great joy! For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.  AMEN.

Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and yours! On this joyful occasion, welcome to St. John’s, and Merry Christmas.

The angel said to them, (and to us I’d opine,) “Do not be afraid; for see— I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Think of what there was and is to be afraid of. Make your list briefly—guns; money—macroeconomics/personal finances; health, unmet hopes/expectations/needs; and so much more. The personal list is there too, things done and left undone, whether sins of omission or commission, and an uneasiness of not being/doing/aiming for more—on whatever level, but especially the personal. Why didn’t I… When will I ever get to…Can’t I be better at…

Sermon: C 4 Advent 23 December 2012

Mi 5: 2-5a; Cant 15 (LK 1: 46-55;) He 10: 5-10; LUKE 1:39-55

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Savior, Come and save us, O Lord our God. AMEN.

This antiphon or short sentence preceded and followed the day’s psalm or canticle historically. This is the 7^th of the O Antiphons, the one written for the 23^rd of Dec. Since we sang The Magnificat instead of the Psalm, and we sang two hymn versions of this canticle, we omitted either a regular chosen antiphon or this ancient one from these O Antiphons, those written for the seven days leading to Christmas Eve. We know them best from “O come, O come Emmanuel.” We ask the Lord, rex et legifer noster, our king and lawgiver, law bearer, to save us. This antiphon names Jesus, calls out to him: “God with us,” to come to save us.

Magnificat

My soul doth magnify the Lord,
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
And his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations.

He hath shewed strength with his arm.
He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat
and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things.
And the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel
as he promised to our forefathers Abraham, and his seed forever.
Amen. 

Johann Sebastian Bach: Magnificat BWV 243, directed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

Duccio:  The Madonna and Child with Angels, courtesy of Wiki Commons

Sermon: C Advent 3 December 16, 2012

Zeph 3: 14-20; Cant 9 (Is 12: 2-6); Phi 4:4-7; LUKE 3: 7-18

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say Rejoice. AMEN.

My preaching guide, the one I so often use, oddly titles this Rose Sunday “A Call for Repentance.” Many of us are far closer to that feeling this morning, despite the Zephaniah and Philippians readings and Isaiah’s Canticle, which we just sang—“Surely it is God who saves me; I will trust and not be afraid.” Even after today’s Gospel begins with John the Baptist’s naming the crowd, “You brood of vipers,” it ends with the observation that, “So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.”

Meditation for the 3rd Sunday in Advent: gaudete!

even now the axe is at the root of the trees:
gaudete! dare we rejoice?
flee! says the prophet:
still we cling to all that cheered us,
moth fretted securities, corroded treasures,
narrow rooms and meaner habits.
gaudete! dare we rejoice:
we vipers who live on usury?
flee! says the prophet:
g-d has shown what is required of you.
do justice, love mercy, walk humbly:
bring fruit worthy of repentance.
gaudete! the apostle answers:
let your gentleness be known to all. the lord is near.
leave the narrow land, divest yourself of extra coats:
and in the wide wilderness the peace of christ will
establish your hearts.
even now the axe is at the root of the trees:
gaudete! dare we rejoice?

Sermon: B 25 Pentecost 28 Proper 18 November 2012

1 Sm1:4-20; Cnt. Sg Hh; Heb10:11-13[14-18]19-25; MK13:1-8

Grant us so to so hear, read, learn, mark, and inwardly digest all holy Scriptures that we may ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life.

This favorite and most effective of all collects was written for Reformation Sunday celebrating, encouraging, and urging the reading and studying all holy Scriptures, especially in English. However, today’s Markan last two sentences: “For nation will rise against nations, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.” are not ones we’d like to do any of those five kinds of analytic work on. Our choice would be to omit them totally, brushing them off as hyperbole, exotic extremism, or just silliness.

Sermon: B 24 Pentecost 27 Proper 11 November 2012

Ruth 3: 1-5, 4: 13-17; Ps 127; Heb 9: 24-28; MARK 12: 38-44

On this Remembrance Day, For those who were killed in battle,

For those who gave up their lives to save others

For those who fought because they were forced to,

For those who died standing up for a just cause

For those who said war was wrong,

For those who tried to make the peace

For those who prayed when others had no time to pray

For those creatures who needlessly die

For those trees that needlessly are slaughtered

For all of mankind Let us quietly pray:

May [your] God hold them in peace/ May Love flow over the Earth and cleanse us all/ This day and for always. AMEN.

This is Marianne Griffin’s poem for Remembrance Day. I’ve been in England around this time several times recently, and in buying and wearing a poppy, I’ve mused about Remembrance, Armistice, or Veterans’ Day, our anti-war climate, and our virtual ignoring the 11th, whatever it’s called. This year, its observance gives many people a welcome recovery from politics, however we as individuals, a state, or nation, felt about the results. In having tomorrow off, not as a day off for voting, but to observe this occasion we’d rather omit, we also see the darkening chilling of our days. We also hear about the widow’s mite, her giving two coins, all she had, and know too stewardship is in the wind.

Prayer for the victims of Hurricane Sandy

Let us pray for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, as well as for those who have died in war, famine, and other disasters.

Let us also do God's work, not only in prayer, but in service by volunteering, as well as by donating to organizations, such as the Red Cross.

Song for Athene

Alleluia. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Alleluia. Remember me, o Lord, when you come into your kingdom.

Alleluia. Give rest, o Lord, to your handmaid who has fallen asleep.

Alleluia. The Choir of Saints have found the well-spring of life and door of paradise.

Alleluia. Life : a shadow and a dream.

Alleluia. Weeping at the grave creates the song: Alleluia.

Alleluia. Come, enjoy the rewards and crowns I have prepared for you.

Sermon: B The Sunday after All Saints’ 4 November 2012

Wis 3:1-9; Ps 24; Rev 21: 1- 6a; JOHN 11:32-44

I sing a song of the saints of God, I mean, God helping, to be one too. AMEN

We celebrate All Saints’ Day today, even after All Saints’, and so we think about All Souls’ as well. All Hallows Eve was part of the observance of feast days, by starting the feast at sunset the previous Eve, as we do on Christmas Eve and Easter Eve, which we call a Vigil. Calling that lead-in service Eve, it’d be, Christme’en or would it be Christmaseen or Eastereen—nope, yet we do mark these three major church Holy Days the night before. All Saints in our world is far less observed than its Evening beginning, Hallowe’en, as Christmas is less celebrated liturgically than its Eve. All Souls for us is an extended prayer observance for people, unlike the ones remembered on All Saints, who according to Wikipedia “have attained the beatific vision in Heaven.” Since all Christians are understood to be saints of God, it’s odd that we almost divide people on these two days between famous and common. The church’s distinction is between those in Heaven and those not yet in, but since we don’t hold to a concept of Purgatory or other sort of holding cell or pit, that difference doesn’t make much theological sense.

As a Southwestern transplant, I’ve never liked the darkness of Boston winters. I’ve learned, however, that with the fading light comes a wonderful surprise. When it starts getting dark earlier, I look up at the evening sky. Instead of focusing on the encroaching darkness, I lose myself in the beautiful ombré of twilight. Where one week deep turquoise slides into teal then into pale blue, the next may bring navy fading into cobalt into peacock and finally into the yellow-white that marks where the sun slipped below the horizon. The Epistle says ‘I saw a new heaven.’  Raised in big sky country, the autumnal evening sky is a new heaven. Just as God makes all things new, so the evening light returns, first brightening the morning, then the evening again, in an endless cycle of beginnings and endings, of Alpha and Omega.

Meditation for Oct. 21: -- “Who would be a servant leader?”

Who would chose to accept Jesus’ description of a new kind of leader – servant leader and follow that pattern for their life? Can we give up control and practice authority? Are we willing to stop putting “women in binders,” and share authority? God appears to Job in a whirlwind and speaks with authority. The Psalmist uses similar a similar image in Psalm 104:4 declaring: * “You make the winds your messengers and flames of fire your servants.” The collect for Sunday offers a pattern for servant leadership as well, praying that we  …may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name…

Theologian Frederick Buechner offers a 21st century version of today’s calls to servant leadership: “The place God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” That shifts our thinking and begs this question, can our faith inform not so much what we do, but who we are.

Sermon: B 20 Pentecost 23 Proper 14 October 2012

Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Ps 22: 1-15; Heb 4: 12-16; MK 10: 17-31

Loving God, grant that your grace may always precede and follow us. Amen.

The days are getting shorter, the nights longer, and the readings minatory (again.) There is a tone of increasing desperation and self-accusation. “But as for me, I am a worm and no man, scorned by all and despised by the people. All who see me laugh me to scorn; they curl their lips and wag their heads, saying, ‘He trusted in the Lord’ let him deliver him; let him rescue him, if he delights in him.’” Perhaps this seems more comforting, “The Almighty has terrified me; if only I could banish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face.” Maybe, since this is less personal, not in the first person, this sounds less frightening: “The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” None of this is comforting, and none sounds particularly hopeful, and there’s the Mark reading to come.

Meditation for Proper 23 - October 14th: “Who can be saved?”

Who among us has not, at least once, like Job, railed to God about the unfairness of life, complained about an apparently undeserved trouble, as if our own good deed ought to exempt us from difficulty or entitle us to an uninterrupted stream of obvious blessings?

Mark’s follower of all the rules, recipient of many of those obvious blessings, was also so seduced by and reliant on possessions that he could not forfeit them even to secure eternal life.

    

Who can be saved?

    

All. For with God all things are possible – mercy and grace for all who but ask -- demonstrated through Christ’s presence among us, acquainted with our need, ready to heal even the blindness of the 1% crying, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” into the void created by their own abandonment of trust in the Lord.