Sermon: C Good Friday 29 March 2013

Is 52:13-53.12; Ps 22; Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9; JN 18:1-19:42

“It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. AMEN.

Again we hear the long, difficult narrative of Jesus’s death on a cross. Again we want to squirm away from it, and rush to celebrate what comes next. We need to make meaning, though, of this: Jesus died on a cross. He didn’t choose to die or die this way then, and yet he did. That in no way means he agreed or chose in a suicidal way to die. He kept on keeping on making the cross into an offer, and an act of solidarity.

Sermon: C 3 Lent 3 March 2013

O G*d, you are my G*d, eagerly I seek you; for you have been my helper, and under the shadow of your wings I will rejoice. AMEN.

Ex 3:1-15; Ps 63: 1-8; 1 Cor 10: 1-13; LUKE 13: 1-9

Good Morning and it is indeed a splendid morning, or as we used to say always at Fischer’s Cove, “it’s a beautiful day at Fischer’s Cove,” and it’s wonderful to be back and most generous of Canon Okunsanya to allow me to be here with you this morning. His theme for the week is reconciliation,” in the context of these Lent 3 readings.

C Last Epiphany 10 February 2013

Ex 34: 29-35; Ps 99; 2 Cor 3: 12-4: 2; LUKE 9: 28-36

All of us, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. AMEN.

The final Sunday of Epiphany ends with the sight of the Transfiguration. “While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him.’” The secret is out and known; everyone, one way or another, had been shown who Jesus is. From his baptism in the Jordan, to the wedding at Cana, and throughout the various scenes of recognition, it became clear to many people that Jesus was more than the carpenter’s son, more than an itinerant preacher, and more than just beloved of G*d. The baptism and this scene both include G*d’s speaking to Jesus. “This is my Son, my beloved. This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him.”

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 October 28: “Oh Taste and See”- But How?

Google “Blind Bartimeaus, son of Timeaus, a blind beggar…sitting by the roadside” yelling at Jesus and at least 40,000 entries will pop up. Mark’s account of the event and Jesus’s response — “Go; your faith has made you well” heals the sin-sick soul and yet we know not to expect dramatic acts like this.

Or should we? How? The Psalmist has an answer: “Taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are they who trust in him!” (34:8). I remember the first time I heard the hymn “Taste and See” (LEVAS). I heard it sung vigorously, bodies in motion, in a cathedral on the island of St. Thomas, a cathedral built for the Anglican Church by freed slaves. It sets my soul in motion — still.

Sermon: B 18 Pentecost 21 Proper 30 September 2012

Esth 7:1-6,9-10;9:20-22; Ps 124; Jms 5: 13:13-20; MK 9: 38-50

Our help is in the Name of the Lord, the maker of Heaven and Earth. AMEN.

Today we include Michaelmas in our observance and thinking. It’s odd though to have the story of Esther on the same day as Michaelmas, the first being the Purim narrative, a Jewish celebration usually observed in March—and its attendant cookies available at the picnic—and September 29, yesterday, was St Michael and all the Angels. It’s jarring to have asparagus-spring-fertility matched together with and pumpkins-autumn-fruition together, and nearly St. Francis (to come next week and here.) Maybe, seasonal constants don’t shape your day, but they do underlie the Church’s wheel of time, nature’s time, and light patterns in which we live and grow. Also, it’s election time, and elections cross both nature’s wheel of time and our church and personal commitments to decency. Today’s lections each have a structuring, almost echoing, commitment to some sense of decency.

Meditation for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost: “…less listening to internal tradition and more attention to the Word…”

Song of Solomon 2:8-13

Psalm 45:1-2, 7-10

James 1:17-27

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

We spring through the Hebrew Bible reading and psalm, smelling the blossoming vines and scented robes of a royal wedding. Then we hear James discuss pure and undefiled religion. This provides a perfect lead-in to Jesus’ retort to the Pharisees who had accused his disciples of eating with defiled hands: “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Jesus explains further that it’s what comes from within that can defile a person. As church communities, we tend to cling on to internal tradition that inhibits our care for those in distress. We lose our fragrance and become stale, or worse. We forget why we are Church, like those who “look at themselves, and, on going away (from the mirror), immediately forget what they were like.” Pray that in the days ahead we can look less to internal tradition and more to the Word, Jesus Christ, our Beloved.

Meditation for 2 Samuel 11: 1 – 15 and John 6: 1 – 21

Today’s readings ruffled my feathers. I found it hard not to see similarities to those killed to cover-up David’s having impregnated Bathsheba. How like the peccadillos and cover-ups of modern-day politicians. Today’s gospel shows us Jesus doing what he did present in the reading from Samuel: David orders Uriah into battle, where he will be best, taking care of the poor and hungry. It’s odd these days, when our politics are dominated by so-called Christians, that the poor and hungry are forgotten. Instead of the hungry being fed, the wealthy benefit with tax cuts while programs that might help the poor and hungry are cut. The same politicians who proclaim their superiority as Christians conveniently forget that Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves, to feed the hungry. What happened to "Go and do likewise” or even WWJD?

Sermon B 5 Lent, 25 March 2012

In the name of God who creates, welcomes & loves us now & always. AMEN.

14 days to go. Are we more ready for Easter than last Sunday? How will we do this week to become more of the person we want to be to welcome the newly risen Lord then? In earlier church times, the 5th Sun. after Ash Wed., 2 weeks before Easter, was called Passion Sunday & the next Palm Sunday, because Lent was designed in 4 Sundays and 2 Sundays of the Passion to set the stage for the crucifixion with Jesus’ predictions and understandings and his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. The readings paint the mood, actions, and complexities for us and Jesus.