The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: True Hospitality

June 29, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by the Rev. Carole Horton-Howe

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

—Matthew 10:40-42

This is the end of a portion of Matthew’s gospel that talks about mission. We’ve heard stories about disciples being sent out, about healing and teaching. And today in this very brief passage, Jesus takes all those instructions about mission and wraps them up in a sort of crowning concept: whatever we do, wherever the work is, it must be given and received with hospitality. Where there is compassionate welcome given and received, Christ considers that he, too, has been welcomed.

Chris Rice and Emmanuel Katongole tell a story in Called to Community: The Life Jesus Wants for his People. They attended a conference a few years ago and participated in a group discussion on mission, specifically what was the future of mission to the world. They were part of a group of 12 faith leaders that was charged with coming up with ideas and directives to share with the larger gathering. The group they met with included an Israeli, a Palestinian, Christians from different traditions, men and women, black and white, Hutu and Tutsi and Asian. They met over several days. It wasn’t easy. Feelings were hurt, communication was difficult so there were misunderstandings. People would storm out of the meeting space. And then come back. At the end of the week they had a report to present.

They had just a few minutes to do this. And they were prepared with a speech and a PowerPoint. There were several committees presenting as well. But this particular group at the last minute decided to go in a very different direction. So when their turn came they went into the middle of the convention hall with basins, pitchers of water and towels. They took off each other’s shoes and socks and sandals. And they washed each other’s feet. There was silence in the hall.

On reflection they said, the mission of the church is to point beyond conflict, beyond divisions to way of living together that is ordained by God, demonstrated to us by Jesus Christ and articulated in the gospels. So the real value of what they did was in the interruption. The flow of various reports of all the committees given in a traditional way -- speeches and PowerPoints – was interrupted by a glimpse of what the church is called to be – a community willing to be vulnerable, to sink to its knees, washing feet across divisions, pointing its followers to a life that transcends the divisions of race, tribe, nation and denomination. This is what true welcome looks like.

You might wonder if this is even realistic. If you’re feeling there’s a real culture of “us versus them” in our world right now you’re not alone. There doesn’t seem to be a topic too small or insignificant that you won’t find divisive dialog about it. Much less the critical issues that are on our very doorsteps.

We are asked to think first and foremost in terms of genuine welcome to each other. God’s culture, the culture that we are called to, has no such divisions. God’s culture is what we hear in the gospel today. God’s culture is one of welcome and hospitality. We are charged with quite a lot by our faith. Compassionate welcome with hospitality encourages us to trust, to be open, to share, to avoid manipulating others and living beyond personal gain. For everyone, every time.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Hospitality is not always our default setting. We could get so used to the idea that we are a spiritual enclave where all we need is life with like-minded individuals. But that’s not who Jesus is talking about. He’s talking about strangers whose needs and wants interrupt our lives calling on us to set aside what is comfortable and consider whether we are willing to be discomforted for the sake of God’s love.

Here’s a hard truth that may be painful to hear: A real commitment to the radical, compassionate welcome of Jesus Christ may require each of us to be vulnerable, to look at ways in which we have fallen short, when we did not respond with welcome, when we held back thinking that someone else would step up in our place, when we decided to stay comfortable and safe, when we let an opportunity for self-sacrificial welcome get away from us. To welcome only those who are like us or agree with us is not welcome.

True welcome is risky. True welcome is given without expectation of being returned. It is realistic enough to know that not everything we offer in love will be met with love. Sometimes love is returned with indifference, sometimes love is returned with hostility; and sometimes it’s returned with crucifixion. It is sacrificial.

Photo by Sohel Patel from Pexels — Photo by **Sohel Patel** from **Pexels**

When Jesus specifies a cup of cold water he’s telling us something about the nature of true hospitality – that it involves sacrifice on our part. In Jesus day, to offer cold water required drawing water from a deep well and often carrying in a heavy jar to a family home. Compared to room temperature water, cold water was special. Giving a cup of cold water showed that the host was willing to go out of the way for the extraordinary because the ordinary wasn’t enough especially for the little ones - the poorest, the sickest, the most vulnerable, the most oppressed. And Jesus lets us know that in God’s economy, no act of service goes unnoticed or unrewarded.

I think the great joy of this gospel today is two-fold: first that we have it in us to be Christ to each other, to work miracles of love as well as to have them worked upon us. Our acts of welcome to others are transformative and uplifting for us. A friend of mine says that her mother would encourage her to receive what was offered to her with kindness: In order for there to be a generous giver there must a grateful recipient. As we extend hospitality to others we may well find that we experience new insights and hear new stories of faith that inform our own ideas about God and the work of the spirit. Our own acts of welcoming hospitality draw us in closer relationship with God.

In the gospel of Luke there is a woman who comes into the home of a Pharisee where Jesus is having a meal. She interrupts the evening and washes his feet with perfume and dries them with her hair. She offers the best she has while Simon the Pharisee looks on with distain. But not Jesus. They are very different – man and woman, an invited guest and a party crasher, a highly sought after rabbi and a woman who is supposed to be a notorious sinner. He receives her hospitality. A generous giver and grateful recipient growing close to the heart and mind of God. Welcoming others makes real the intimate relationship that we each have with God. This is the reward we will not lose.

A last story of hospitality extended and received: Steven Brown tells about a trip he made to India to see Mother Teresa. Steven and his church were moved by the work that she and her community did with the sick and dying in Calcutta. They did some fundraising and raised a significant amount of money to donate to her work.

Eventually Steven was asked to fly to Calcutta and present Mother Teresa with the funds raised and gifts for the orphanage and tell her how she had inspired them to create a center serving the poor in their own community. He arrived on the doorstep of the Sisters of Charity. He knocked and expected to be met by one of the nuns or perhaps a volunteer who would then usher him into Mother Teresa’s presence.

To his surprise, the future saint answered the door herself. She was standing right in front of him holding a tiny infant in her arms. He managed to stammer out a few words before she interrupted him. Thrusting the infant in his arms she said to him “Here. This child is dying. You hold it so that the last thing it experiences on earth is love.” So he did. He dropped his bags containing the donation and gifts and sat in a corner of the hospice cradling the baby until it died.

In a moment interrupted, preconceived ideas banished, a cold cup of water of compassionate hospitality given and received. God is present. Christ is welcomed. Amen.

The Second Sunday after Pentecost: Called to Heal

June 15, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by the Rev. Carole Horton-Howe

Peter Heals a Lame Beggar - Matthias Gerung (Public Domain)

Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.

—Matthew 9:35-10:8

There is a young man named Hector in El Salvador who leads a busy life. He’s a son and a brother to several siblings. He’s a plumber when he can get work. And he is a dedicated servant of God. He’s involved in the worship or his church and welcoming visitors. His vocation is helping the poor in their struggle to obtain basic necessities like clean water and decent homes. Hector is a busy man. There is a lot to do there. Hector, like Jesus, feels deep compassion for those in need of healing through the love of God. He feels called to work the harvest.

It’s no secret that El Salvador is a place where it’s easy to run into a dangerous situation. Many times as Hector is walking or riding his bike home as he must do, he is confronted by gang members looking for to injure him for no reason other than Hector’s presence in their neighborhood.

They’re often angry and looking for a fight. And he would like to talk to them about God. He would like to assure them of God’s love for them. He would like to offer assistance to them. But he says he doesn’t because they are not in a place to hear him. They are saturated in the violence of their lifestyle and cannot take in the gospel message. Unless they are healed of all that tears at them they cannot hear him. And so a man on his bike just tries to get away from the violence, so he can continue to work the harvest elsewhere.

Of all the tasks that Jesus could have given his disciples, we hear today about something very specific. Jesus comes on a group of people whose suffering brings on a well of compassion within him. And in response he calls the disciples to prayer and to mission: he sends them out to heal people. It’s not a mission of teaching or feeding or addressing any of their other needs – and I’m certain there were many just as there are today. It was first of all healing. And so I wonder if Jesus sends the disciples on a mission of healing because it is the first step, it is the foundation of all other missions. If the experience of healing is what opens us up to the gospel message demonstrating God’s love for us in real and tangible ways.

The stories preceding this gospel are familiar ones – Jesus bringing healing to men who are blind, a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years and a child who has fallen asleep. Jesus brings them to a place where they are whole, free from any ailment. He restores them. And now the disciples are authorized to do the same. They are to do what they have just witnessed Jesus doing.

We may not get very far into this passage before we wonder if anyone other than Jesus is really up for this task of healing. Curing the sick? Cleansing lepers? Raising the dead? Few will feel confident going into those assignments.

When we look at what we’ve heard Jesus do and what the disciples are being sent to do, we anticipate that they will fall short. Remember who Jesus was talking to – a tax collector, a rabble-rouser, some fishermen, an accountant, men who were tradesmen or like Jesus were trained to work with their hands. Average people. Not particularly engaged in healing or even helping professions. No practitioners of the curing arts among them. And yet they were all calls them and strengthens them to be healers.

If we place ourselves among the disciples, we might feel that we would fall short. And perhaps more comfortable among those who were like sheep without a shepherd.

But I think that Jesus helps us out with this task. We have a formula to follow: Compassion with Faith and Action lead to Healing.

To be equipped for healing doesn’t mean that you need to go out and get a medical degree or enroll in nursing school. If you feel called to heal in that way, God bless you and love you through that process.

But just as the disciples were sent out to towns in ancient Israel, we who follow Jesus today continue to be challenged to do this work with little more than the strength of our faith and the deep well of compassion within us. Fortunately, that’s enough. Compassion with Faith and Action lead to Healing.

Have you ever noticed that outside of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus doesn’t often tell his followers what to pray for. In the gospel today he does: ask God to send workers into the fields to bring in the harvest. And as they pray the prayer, the answer becomes all too apparent: it’s them. They are the answer to their own prayers.

What about us? How are we authorized to be healers? I think the answer lies in our faith as expressed in the baptismal covenant.

We haven’t been able to have a baptism lately. That’s truly a sacramental act to be done in community. We hope to have baptisms soon. And when we do the candidates for baptism and their parents will be asked to articulate what they believe. These are powerful and empowering words:

Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God? The answer is I renounce them.

Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God? I renounce them.

Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God? I renounce them.

Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior? I do.

Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love? I do.

Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord? I do.

Throughout history amazing things – seemingly impossible things - have been done and continue to be done through ordinary members of the church going to people and places bringing healing that opens the way to God for those who are healed. The magnificent, undeniable love of God held tight in faith flows through their action to being healing to the rest of the world.

These are usually big flashy instances that make the news. But for each of these there are thousands that don’t. You’ll never hear about a Soup Hour guest who receives a letter, a pair of socks or a meal and yet they are healed. You’ll never hear about someone who spends the night at the Cold Weather Shelter in a bed with a blanket when it’s raining and cold but they are healed. You’ll never hear about those times at home or school or work when an adult tells a struggling child “I believe in you. I’m proud of you.” But God’s healing presence is surely there.

I’ll finish my story about Hector. He got to know villagers who made four trips a day carrying ten gallon jugs up and down a mountain just to get water that wouldn’t make them sick. He helped them file petitions with government agencies and stayed with them through the ups and downs of the process over several years. He celebrated with them when the first valve was turned on their street and fresh, clean water began to flow. For him and for them this was the healing they needed, this was God bringing healing to their world.

You are the answer to someone’s prayer. Who in your life needs healing today? How does the suffering around you move you to compassion today? How is the God of the harvest calling you? Amen.

The First Sunday after Pentecost: Remembering Who We Are and Whose We Are

June 7, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

—Matthew 28:16-20

The Great Commission, at the Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick in El PasoPhoto by Lyricmac at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) — The Great Commission, at the Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick in El Paso
Photo by Lyricmac at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)

I want to talk about our own self-understanding this morning. After all it is Trinity Sunday and what day could be better to attempt to figure it out? Who are we? What does it mean to be who we are?

But first before we get too serious, I want to relate to you a funny regarding the Trinity I haven’t told in a few years. You remember, I am sure, when Jesus asked the apostles who the crowds were saying he was and then asked them who the apostles themselves said he was. Well here is another version of that same conversation with the Trinity in mind. We begin.

Jesus said, “Who do men say that I am?”

And his disciples answered and said, “Some say you are John the Baptist returned from the dead; others say Elijah, and others say one of the prophets within the Hebrew Scriptures.

And Jesus answered and said, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation, but only on the fact that Scripture speaks of a Father, and a Son, and a Holy Spirit, each member of the Trinity being coequal with every other member, with each acting inseparably, interpenetrating every other member, with an economic subordination within God, but causing no division which would make the substance no longer simple.”

And Jesus answering, said, “What?”

Ok, let’s take a about a twenty-five-hundred-year trip through time to the sixth century BCE. We find ourselves in Judea, the southern portion of what had been Israel before the Northern Kingdom was carried into captivity, never to be heard from again.

The leaders in Judah were getting nervous because some of their neighboring countries were becoming more and more powerful and aggressive. They were afraid that the fate of Judah was going to match that of the Northern Kingdom. They became convinced that their problems related to their loss of relationship with God, and if they fixed that relationship, they might protect themselves from danger.

Unfortunately they were wrong. They were conquered by the Babylonians and carried into captivity over a ten-year time span around 590 BCE. They were taken hostage to Babylon. Let’s listen to a portion of Psalm 137 which expresses their pain.

By the rivers of Babylon—
   there we sat down and there we wept
   when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there
   we hung up our harps.
For there our captors
   asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
   ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’

How could we sing the Lord’s song
   in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
   let my right hand wither!
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
   if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
   above my highest joy.

Their priests were beset with a problem. What could they do in this strange land, among these strange people, to ensure that the people of Judah remember who and whose they were? So, they came up with a plan to help them. Celebrating the Sabbath had fallen into disuse and the priests encouraged that it be reinstituted in every home. Kosher eating had also fallen to the wayside and the priests insisted that the people reemphasize it in their daily lives. Interestingly our Hebrew Scriptures lesson, the story about the creation of the world which was read a little bit ago, was reimagined during this time to emphasize the six-day pattern of creation and the seventh day of rest, the Sabbath. The priests stressed to every Judean the importance of ritual behavior in life, remaining together as a chosen people to help them remember who and whose they were.

And it has worked incredibly well. Over the next 2500 years as others sought to destroy them those ritual habits became the reason for their continued survival as the chosen people of God. One of my favorite theologians, Karl Barth, said in the nineteen forties that the Jewish people’s continued existence might be God’s greatest miracle. I personally have had two Jewish people close to me in my life. They brought into our friendship their history and their people’s history. I give thanks for them every day as I celebrate the joy and insights, they have given me, and how they have impacted my understanding of the world.

And so here we are, 2500 years later. I would submit to you we are faced daily with the same issue. Who am I and who are we as a people of God? How do we remember who we are in these turbulent times?

For me, and I hope for the Christian people, I turn to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. I don’t do so in order to be like him. I know that is not possible and God created me to Bill not Jesus. How does the life of Jesus inform my own life? I recognize my own is a work in process.

Jesus was a man of compassion. He felt deeply for those around him. He even forgave those that took his life. He went where he was invited, even to the homes of those generally rejected by society. He healed the sick. He fed the hungry. He told us that when we aid someone in need, we are helping him.

He was a man of common sense. Famously he asked the question, and I paraphrase it now. Is the Sabbath created for humankind or was humankind created for the Sabbath? Which is more important, the rules or the people? He asked those in power in that day to think about that.

He prayed and took time to be alone with God. He knew he needed refreshment and companionship with God. He encouraged those around him to do the same.

He knew who he was and what he stood for. In the words of another Jewish thinker and therapist, Dr. Edwin Friedman, he was a non-anxious presence. The winds of fear, stress, and the need to conform to other’s wishes were not factors in his life. He was immune to the gasoline of anxiety that so often surrounds us.

These are some of the attributes of the historical Jesus. I am grateful for the gift of eternal life, but I am equally grateful for the roadmap he laid out for us to follow. No, we can’t be him, but we can learn from him as individuals and adopt his truths as best we are able.

For the church Jesus was completely clear in his hopes for us. Ours is to tell his story to everyone that will listen. Ours is to reach out and help when we are called on to do so. Ours is to teach and to baptize all people, not just a special few who may or may not be like us. Ours is to worship and in our worship recount and memorize the things that make us who we are. We are to teach our children about God and the nature of God. Ours is to be in community. We, like our Jewish brothers and sisters, are people of the book. We open it. We read it.

So, our invitation this morning is to remember who we are as individuals and whose we are as a church. St. Matthias is an address for the Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ is our savior and our guide. We are not perfect and we are not going to be perfect. But we know who each of us are and we know whose we are as a people. We will do the will of God as we best we understand it as witnessed in the life of Jesus Christ.

Pentecost: Making Space for the Holy Spirit

May 31, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by the Rev. Carole Horton-Howe

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

—John 20:19-23

It’s Pentecost! Today we continue talking about the Holy Spirit and hear about the Spirit’s call to Jesus’ followers, startling them and then energizing them to do the work of being the church in the world.

The good news of Easter that we leave behind today was not just about assurance that God had conquered death. It was always also a about mission. Jesus’ resurrection implicated the disciples and us in building the King of God on earth. It draws us into the realm of God’s love for the world and empowers us by the Spirit to love each other as God loves the world.

Bishop Mary Glasspool once told me something important about the Holy Spirit in the context of ministry. Remember, she said, that the Holy Spirit is always at work – always moving, stirring us up, always revealing opportunities for us to participate in God’s dream of creating. The job of ministry, she said, is to go into a place and figure out what the Holy Spirit is already doing there. So your job is to discern what the Holy Spirit is doing. And then figure out what you can do to help the Holy Spirit along.

Her advice isn’t just for clergy and not just for tasks we think of as “ministry,” it’s for all of us all the time.

It’s about living our lives expecting and looking for how the Holy Spirit is moving in the world.

This is where this particular gospel is so important: we are reminded that we do not stand alone in our attempts to follow Jesus. We, too, are given the Holy Spirit that transformed the disciples from a motley collection of followers into an energized and committed troop of missionaries that transformed the world.

Jesus links the coming of the Holy Spirit to forgiveness of sins. Of all the things Jesus could have talked about in this most powerful moment, why forgiveness?

Remember who he’s talking to—his closest friends who have witnessed the trauma of his death. So in telling them to forgive, he wants them to make space in the hearts for the spirit to work in them and through them. Jesus knows the hard emotional work that is ahead of them. How can they do this hard work of building up the kingdom of God on earth with hearts full of pain, blocked with thoughts of anger, anxiety and revenge?

Jesus on the cross asked God to forgive those responsible for his murder. Now Jesus wants his disciples to let go, to make space in their hearts to receive the Holy Spirit and let her guide them. Be strong, be fearless. Be unencumbered to build God’s Kingdom in the World. Allow God to be the forgiver of sins – both our sins and those of others. Our responsibility is not to judge but to let them go into the realm of God. So that we can focus on the work that we have to do.

What did they experience? John’s description of the coming of the Holy Spirit is limited. It’s actually Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians that describes what the experience for us.

Remember that Paul was a contemporary of the disciples, that he spent time with them after his conversion. It’s easy to imagine that he heard from those who were in the room when Jesus appeared and heard them describe the experience of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Paul says:

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”

Paul goes on to talk about gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, performing miracles, prophecy.

The experience of the disciples and their sharing that experience is important for us. Theologians can talk endlessly about God, postulate various ideas about God’s role in the universe. There is just as much conversation about interpreting Jesus’ his words and actions trying to understand as best we can what they meant. These heartfelt attempts are all fine.

But I believe the Holy Spirit is different – the Holy Spirit is personal and intimate for each of us. We are given gifts as Paul said “individually just as the Spirit chooses.”

I think we know if we’re doing that, I think we can discern the presence of the Holy Spirit if we see the Fruits of the Holy Spirit that Paul talks about later. He describes the qualities we experience as the Holy Spirit is working in and through us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Holy Spirit works in us in big, spectacular ways that bring on those Ah-Ha! moments. And also in quiet ways, that rescue us, comfort us, nudging us along.

Whenever I’m a little short on Joy, as happens sometimes these days, I remember the day this photo was taken. It was my ordination day. I’m surrounded by so many of you on the steps of St. John’s cathedral. During the ordination service, I clearly heard the Holy Spirit speaking to me that day as I lay prostrate on the floor. “You have done everything that was asked of you,” she said. “Your fears, your anxieties about the future – leave them on the floor. I’ll sweep them away. Make space in your heart for me. Get up.” And I have this photo to remind me of the joy generated by the Spirit that day. I keep in it my office at home and look at it everyday.

Saint Matthias Group Photo at Rev. Carole’s Ordination - Photo by Bob Howe

Rev. Carole’s Ordination Service - Photo by Bob Howe

If we take this call to follow Jesus seriously it quickly becomes clear that we as mere humans are not capable of doing so on our own. The powers of sin arrayed against us are too great. We need the Holy Spirit and we need each other.

The events going on around our country that have unfold in the last few days that led to the death of one man and the response of thousands to it are disturbing. The reasons for it are complex and deeply rooted in generations of behavior that clearly never had even a passing acquaintance with God’s dream for the world, with the teachings of Jesus or the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

As followers of Jesus Christ, our call today is to figure out what the Holy Spirit is stirring up in our lives, and to live out that call in lives saturated with those qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control so that they may pass through us to others. Make space for the Holy Spirit. And get up. This is our Holy work. Amen.

The Seventh Sunday in Easter: Looking forward to the Coming of the Holy Spirit

May 28, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

One of the things I do each week, early in the week, is send a little something about the scriptures for the coming Sunday to the Sunday school teachers to help them in their lesson planning. I looked at the scriptures for today and honestly none of them appealed to me as the subject for today’s sermon or the subject of Sunday school. And then I began to think about next Sunday, Pentecost, and the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit. And I thought, what if we thought about the nature of the Holy Spirit?

We are familiar with the theological concept of God we call the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We think a lot about God and Jesus Christ, but not so much about the Holy Spirit. I think many of us do not have terribly well-developed notions about the Spirit. So, I want to share some of my personal thoughts with you today on the subject.

But first here is a funny, one I don’t believe I have told in this forum for a few years. It’s about being an “advocate,” one of the names Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit. And this little story is about a terrific advocate.

During a game of little league baseball, Coach Rogers called aside little Jimmy and asked him this question. “Tell me Jimmy, do you understand the words co-operation and teamwork?” Jimmy nodded in the affirmative.

The coach asked again. “Do you agree that what matters is whether we win or lose together as a team?” Jimmy nodded in agreement.

Coach Rogers continued, “Then I am sure you would agree that when a batter is called out on strikes, we shouldn't shout at or argue with the umpire, or call him names. Do you agree to that?” Little Jimmy nodded in the affirmative again.

Coach Rogers went on, “And when I take you out of the game so another player gets a chance to play too, it's not good sportsmanship to call your coach a moron or lunatic is it?” Jimmy shook his head “No.”

“Good”, said coach Rogers, “Now could you go over there and explain all that to your grandmother?”

Now one thing we don’t need to worry about is whose side the grandmother is on do we? I imagine Jimmy knew full well how much his grandmother loved and supported him.

As we begin our study of the Holy Spirit, it would be wise to recognize a couple of things. The Holy Spirit is just that, spirit. We cannot see the Holy Spirit. Just like the wind we can only see the impact of her actions. The wind moves the branches in the tree and blows away your hat invisibly. The Holy Spirit involves herself in our lives the same way.

And let me also explain to you my own most basic way of understanding the Holy Spirit. I see the Spirit as feminine. I am not alone in this viewpoint, but I respect your own viewpoint if you cannot see the Holy Spirit in this way. I do this because Wisdom in the Old Testament is presented as feminine and I see Wisdom and the Spirit as the same. I also see her in this way because it balances the books of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Spirit. But please, if this raises your hackles, I respect that. Think of her as you will. When I say she, referring to the Spirit, during the rest of our time on the subject today insert your own preferred word if you like.

So, let’s use some metaphors to describe and understand her. Jesus said “advocate.” We might think of attorney, but I think even more than that. The Holy Spirit is in our corner. Perhaps not like the young man we discussed a bit ago, but she is on our side. In fact, think about Jesus and how he had compassion for people and prayed to God on the behalf of people. He said the Holy Spirit was coming. He wasn’t going to leave the people as orphans. To me this means the Holy Spirit represents us to God, converses with God about us, just like Jesus did. The Holy Spirit cares about us and advocates on our behalf.

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I think of the Holy Spirit as “Comforter,” a term Jesus also used. When things are hard, when we find ourselves in physical or psychic pain, the Holy Spirit is right there with us. That feeling of warmth that suddenly comes on us out of nowhere is her seeking to comfort us. Think back over your lifetime and I am sure you will find times when during the worst of times suddenly you unexpectedly felt better, comforted.

I also think of the Holy Spirit as friend, a companion if you will. We are never alone. This is one of the things I tell folks before a baptism. We receive the Holy Spirit and no matter what happens in our lives, no matter how alone we might feel, we are never by ourselves. Being aware of our companion, the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference, every day, but especially when we need a friend.

Another way I experience the Holy Spirit is as a playmate. When times are great the Holy Spirit celebrates with us. When we are happy the Holy Spirit shares in our happiness. When we are experiencing joy in our lives the Holy Spirit is joyful with and for us. It’s like being out having a great time with your best friend, which in essence you are.

And this is going to sound a little weird, but I experience the Holy Spirit as the first search engine. Think Google. There is nothing in all the cosmos that God does not know. The creator knows everything. I mean literally everything. So, when we have decisions to make, or are trying to understand an issue, the Holy Spirit, if allowed, will lead us to the truth. It may not be the truth we expected, but we almost immediately get a glimmering of the reality of a situation the moment we ask for help for help from her.

I am sure we could come up with many more metaphors for the Holy Spirit if we sat down and began to list them. A couple of times I have led groups who were attempting to describe the attributes of Jesus. We came up with over one hundred key terms on each occasion. I have no doubt the Holy Spirit would lead us down the same path if we went there and we would list just as many. She is after all the third part of the Trinity, that impossibly difficult concept of God. Martin Luther said that attempting to understand the Trinity could make a person insane. So, I think it is enough just to say that She is God, is one third of the Godhead, and leave it at that.

So here is our invitation today as we get ready for Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Think about her. What does she mean to you? Do you know her as your advocate, your companion, and your friend? Do you feel that your relationship with her could be enlarged? Would that be a good thing? Would you like to know her better? Some things to ponder – relax and enjoy the possibilities.

The Sixth Sunday in Easter: Loving God, Loving Others

May 18, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

—John 14:15-21

We just heard a relatively short but meaningful gospel. It takes place towards the end of Jesus’ last evening with his friends. Judas has gone out to betray him. Jesus has told Peter that he will deny his friend three times before the cock crows. The Passover candles are burning low. Jesus is reaching out to them for one last time. He talks about the Holy Spirit, the advocate, who will be coming to comfort and be with them in his absence. But more than that he talks about love, love for each other. This is the direction we will be heading this morning. But first a couple of funnies about love. First up here is a letter to a lady’s husband.

Dear Herbie, I know it was our joint decision for you to go off to the army for the year, but it’s so hard not having you here. We are married. Doesn’t it make sense that we should be together? I’m so miserable without you. It’s almost like you are still here. Love, Anne

Now a story about what not to do when the love of your life is mad at you.

Bob was in trouble. He had forgotten his wedding anniversary. His wife was angry. She warned him. “Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE!"

The next morning, he got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway and brought the box back in the house. She opened it and found a brand-new bathroom scale. Bob has been missing since Friday.

Ok, time to get serious.

Love is a central theme in the New Testament. It is a central theme in the theology of Christianity. It often is thought of as the primary answer to every question.

I, along with a great many members of the Episcopal Church, listened to our Presiding Bishop speak about love a week or so ago. This is a man I have the highest respect and regard for. He has appeared on the national news many times and is one of the leaders sought out on matters of national interest. In fact, I relatively recently saw him interviewed regarding churches that were choosing not to follow distancing and rules relative to the size of groups meeting. He handled himself well as he always does. I am quite proud of him as a spokesperson for the church.

Anyway, those of us in attendance recently listened to him talk about the importance of love. He said that every decision to be made in life would best be made if run through the lens of love first. And I think he is right. I just don’t know how to do it with any kind of consistency. Do you?

One of the things in life I am convinced of is that God loves us. In fact, God is crazy about each one of us. We are after all God’s creation and God has proven over and over again the incredible love God has for us. It abounds in the pages of the Hebrew Scriptures, and it is the primary point in the Christian Scriptures. Just two weeks ago we talked about the 23rd Psalm as a metaphor for God’s love for us. And the words of John say it all. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.” That’s a pretty awesome gift, even more so than something that goes from zero to two hundred in six seconds.

And God did even more than that in the person of Jesus Christ. He gave us a blueprint for living. He taught us about the importance of compassion, of common sense, of relationship with God and one’s neighbors, about servant leadership, and most of all about love. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” And Jesus even left us a commandment about love. We are to love each other as he has loved us. In this way others would know we are his disciples he said.

Now I will confess to you I often feel a great burden of guilt over all of this. I know my life and the life of those around me would be greatly enhanced if I could follow his commandment as he did. But so far in my life here on earth I have come up short on a continuing basis. I guess that’s one of the reasons we have saints. They don’t seem to fail at loving others as much as the rest of us seem to do.

What saves me is my recognition that I am not Jesus Christ. I am not fully human and fully divine. Jesus is and I am not. I cannot do this alone with any kind of consistency. I need help. And that is where the Holy Spirit, the advocate, comes into play. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would be here to help us and if we are willing to acknowledge the spirit’s presence, we can begin to make some progress in the “loving others” area. Note please I said progress, not completion. We must reconcile ourselves to a lifelong struggle in this area.

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So here is my suggestion. Loving is easier with people we like or already love. But even with them loving can become an impossible chore at times. People we don’t love, like, or know is just that much more difficult. The Holy Spirit can help us. For me I try to make a triangle out of this loving issue. Me on one side, them on another, and the Holy Spirit on the other. Things change when God is truly involved. God is crazy about this person and crazy about me. With that in mind all things become possible. God can intervene and help us.

And this brings me to the most important issue of the day. Do we love ourselves? I don’t know that loving others is even possible very often unless we do.

Now I am not a psychologist. But I am going to posit that self-regard is incredibly important to the formation of a well-integrated person. So many of us, in fact I imagine most of us, struggle with our own self-image to one degree or another. Dealing with that is just as important as learning to love others as Jesus loved us.

In 2008 during the economic debacle of that time I was involved with a group of folks attempting to find a new job after having lost their last one due to the economy. We talked a lot about the interview process. I used a metaphor that seemed to hit home with them. We talked about asking another person if they would like to go out on a date with you. I gave two examples. In the first the asker said something like this. “If you have nothing to do Friday night, and you probably do, but if you don’t what would you think about going to dinner or something with me? I mean I hope I am not offending you in any way so please feel free to say no if you don’t want to but I thought I would ask.”

Now here is the second example. “Hi. I have to tell you that I am completely taken with you and find you one of the most intriguing people I have ever met. I really would like to get to know you better. Would you like to get together Friday night? I think we would have a great time together.

I think the answer to which is the better approach is pretty obvious don’t you? Today we have a different context we are dealing with but the metaphor still applies. Today I want to tell you that second example is God contacting each of us. God is constantly in contact with each of us asking us for a date.

Let me continue. See if you can wrap your head around this truth, one you have heard several times before but probably could use a booster shot about. God loves us, each of us, in ways we can’t even imagine. Think of how you feel about a brand-new baby, an important baby to you, one that makes your heart feel like it might burst. The love you feel is a drop in the ocean compared to how much God loves you. And if God is that crazy about you doesn’t that mean something? Doesn’t that mean something important?

God is the creator of the cosmos and the creator of each of us. We are the apple of God’s eye. Can’t we understand God sees something we don’t? Perhaps it’s just that we are, that we exist, that God thought it worthwhile to create us and thinks we are pretty cool. If God feels that way about us perhaps it would be a good idea to reconsider our self-image. And if we do that, then working with the Holy Spirit we might have a chance to fulfill the commandment of Jesus, loving others as he loved us. Hmmmm. What do you think?

The Fifth Sunday in Easter: Jesus Reassures His Followers

May 12, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by the Rev. Carole Horton-Howe

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Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”

—John 14:1-14 (NRSV)

Our gospel today is a flashback. It takes us back to Holy Week and the night before Jesus’ arrest when he is at table with his closest friends. He getting ready to leave them. He doesn’t have much time. And he chooses to spend it by reassuring them of his continued presence with them.

Just for a minute let’s imagine together another flashback, a scenario that might bring up something from your childhood or your more recently your own experience as a mom or dad. Imagine that you’re a little kid sitting in the backseat of your family’s car. Your dad is driving, your mom is there too. You’ve left home not long ago. You know you’re on a long trip – maybe to visit your grandparents or maybe it’s a summer vacation. Whatever it is you don’t have a choice. You’re on this trip whether you want to be or not.

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And it’s not too long before the scenery is pretty much the same. You’ve got books or games or videos but it’s pretty much the same too. You’re bored. You’re tired of it. And there’s a pressing concern, a serious question you really want to know, so you ask your dad, “Is it much further?” “Are we there yet?”

Now dads are experts at things having to do with driving and being on the road. And dad is likely to tell you the number of miles or how many hours there are to go or the next rest stop coming up. Whatever the answer, as a little kid it doesn’t make it better. It doesn’t make sense. It’s certainly not what you’re longing to hear. What you want to hear is, “We’re almost there. Five more minutes. Which for a little kid is about 4 minutes and 50 seconds too long. But dad never says even that.

Now what does your mom do? She senses your restlessness. And offers a distraction. “Take out one of your books,” she says. Or offers to play a game of “I Spy” with you. Even so, the trip goes on. And you might be distracted for a short while. But you’re still confined in the car. And you can’t see the end.

This is the best metaphor I can think of for where we are right now. We’re kind of like kids on a long car trip, powerless to do anything but go along for the ride. We’re wondering, we’re praying, “Are we there yet?” and “How much further?” We are so longing to return to the lives we had. We are eager to get back to January 2020. What I’m hearing from people that I talk with and that I’m feeling myself it that we’re all just over it. For those who are in despair about their health, about lost income and mounting expenses it’s serious business.

For a child, the offer of that distraction that minimizes the discomfort is a reasonable way to go. But for those of us who are a all grown up on this journey of isolation and deprivation, in a place of anxiety about the future and longing for what has been, praying for a return to our normal lives, distractions that try to minimize our discomfort won’t benefit us any more than they would have helped Thomas or Philip. Jesus provided them and us with a way to cope with and navigate through the transitions in our lives. Jesus invited them to follow and believe in entirely new and uncomfortable ways.

So instead of searching for and retreating into places of familiar safety, what can we do in this time to help us grow closer to the heart of God?

I wonder if we do so by taking purposeful steps into our discomfort. This is counterintuitive for most of us. Why in the world would we embrace discomfort? Because I believe that if we do, we will meet Jesus there and know the fullness of his care for us just as he describes it to the apostles. Resurrection only came after Jesus died on the cross. Life came out of death. New life – what you may have heard called “a new normal.”

The practice of Ignatian Spirituality has something to offer us. It allows us to see the sacred in the ordinary. Our daily lives become the text and context for our prayers revealing what is life-giving. You don’t have to be an expert. Its beauty is in its simplicity.

In the prayers called the Examen, we are asked to spend quiet time focused on God’s presence, to review our day with gratitude and pay attention to our emotional responses to the events of the day. Where did we experience joy? Where was our faith bolstered? What happened that drew us closer to God? These are the evidences of Jesus continued love and concern for us and of God creating opportunities for us. This is what we keep. These are the things that give us life.

The opposite also reveals truth. We are asked to pay attention to times we felt self-pity, despondency and other negative emotions. We are asked to discern what happened in our day that pushed us away from God. And this is what we let go of, what we let die.

I think this type of discernment will guide us along this journey and help us recognize what we can do to come out of this energized and prepared to move into the future in closer relationship to God and one another.

Ironically, this gospel is the one we frequently hear in our funeral liturgies. In this 14th chapter of John, Jesus provides assurance that the disciples will have an on-going relationship with him not severed by death even though they cannot follow him now. Jesus encourages them to believe in God and in him not just after our death but right now. And its effect now is the same as it is in those difficult times: Jesus loves us, advocates for us, champions our cause no matter what.

When our body dies, we say that life has changed not ended. In times of transition such as the days that stretch out before us, the same is true. Life is changed. Not ended. Visions of who we are and who we are becoming will emerge if we allow them to even as a previous sense of ourself changes and disappears.

Jesus tells them and us: Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in me.

Believe in all we have seen as followers of Jesus – God’s compassion, healing, mercy and love;

Believe in the power of resurrection in which God continues to create new life in us and around us;

Believe that our relationship with God through Jesus Christ will continue to thrive even as it changes;

Believe that we are not forgotten and never alone.

Amen.

The Fourth Sunday in Easter: The Good Shepherd

May 4, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

Stained glass: Alfred Handel, d. 1946[2], photo:Toby Hudson / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

—John 10:1-10

It’s Good Shepherd Sunday. Today we are going to talk about the relationship between a shepherd and the sheep under his care in order to better understand the 23rd Psalm and the Gospel just read. Part of that understanding is that the sheep recognize the shepherd’s voice. And in that light I thought I would tell a quick funny about hearing voices.

The time is right after this pandemic and a popular donut store is reopening. On each table is a nice table cloth and some donut holes as a special gesture to the customers. Towards the end of the day a fellow came in and sat down after getting a cup of coffee. Mulling over his day, he heard a high-pitched voice say, “That shirt looks great on you!”

The man looked around, doesn’t see anything, and returns to his coffee thinking nothing more of it. But then, a moment later, the voice returns, this time offering, “You seem like a really cool guy!”

Again, the man looks around, sees nothing, and returns to his cup of coffee, meanwhile wondering if he should get checked out by a professional. Finally, when his nerves have settled and he believes the voice is gone, he hears, “I bet your parents are really proud of you!”

He slams down his cup and looks around wildly. Frustrated and finding no possible source of the voice, he calls over to the clerk saying, “Hey lady! What’s that voice I keep hearing?”

“Oh, those are the donut holes,” she replied, “They’re complimentary.”

It occurs to me that perhaps it was time to think again about what a good shepherd is all about. It is knowledge that would have been common place in ancient times, but today most of us our removed from tending sheep.

Let’s take a look at a couple of the lines in the Twenty Third Psalm you may find interesting. As we think about this psalm it is also important to remember that Jesus would have read it often too and he was undoubtedly completely familiar to him with its cadence and meanings. It might even have inspired him to use the metaphor of the shepherd as often as he did. The thought of that fascinates me.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures.” The good shepherd takes his flock out early and begins their day feeding on forage that is the most difficult for them to eat, knowing that in time the sheep will need to rest as the day progresses. As it gets warmer and later in the day, the shepherd will guide his flock to the best grass, the green grass, and rest his flock in the shade as they contently lie down and chew on the most nutritious of meal for them.

“He leads me beside still waters.” The good shepherd knows that his sheep will not eat from water that is bubbling, or running too swiftly. They will become afraid. So he finds quiet waters where his sheep are comfortable and will drink. He cares about their welfare.

“You have anointed my head with oil and my cup is running over.” The good shepherd is attentive to each sheep. At the end of the day as they enter the sheepfold, which we will talk about in a minute, they are closely inspected by the shepherd. He will lay his crook over the top of the gate and if he sees a sheep with a cut he will pull him to the side. He will take some oil and put it on the cut. Then from a stone jar containing water to keep it cold the shepherd will fill a cup to overflowing and allow the sheep to drink from it till she is satisfied.

I just love this metaphor of sheep and shepherd. It tells us so much about God and God’s love for us. And so Jesus continues with it in his metaphor of the sheepfold we find in today’s gospel.

As many of you know the sheepfold is an enclosure made of stone or wood in which the sheep are kept at night to keep them safe from harm. More than one herd may be placed inside the sheepfold. There is only one way in and one way out. Usually the shepherd sleeps in the opening to safeguard the sheep during the night.

There are no identifying marks on the sheep to tell one herd from another. None are needed. The sheep know the shepherds voice. The shepherd knows each sheep as an individual. The sheep will follow only their shepherd, no one else.

In the gospel today Jesus says he is the gate. Through his death and resurrection he has opened the way into the sheepfold for each of us. It is a place of safety. With our shepherd close we can rest comfortably, and be unafraid of those things that assail us in our daily lives, those other voices that compete for our attention, suggesting to us that our shepherd is not the right leader for each of us.

I think this morning we miss our sheepfold don’t we, our church home? There we are consciously close to God. We can easily hear God’s voice. We have each other. We have the Eucharist. We hear the voice of God in the scriptures and so many other ways. Our paths are made clear as they are not in any other place. We understand our lives there as we can only understand them in the presence of the Good Shepherd.

But then again we do eventually have to leave. We can’t stay there forever. This is one of our longer absences from our place of security for sure. We find ourselves out in the loudly dangerous world outside the gate of our sheepfold, with all the voices that will once again compete with the Good Shepherd for our attention. And the question becomes how can we pick out the voice of the Good Shepherd amidst all the competition?

I remember as a kid waking up in the morning on the farm. The window right beside my head would be open with only a screen between me and the outside. There was a special quiet. I would hear the rooster’s crow. Maybe a dog would jog by. The slightest breeze could be heard as it brushed through the grass and the flowers beside the house. Maybe a flying insect would go by and I could hear that distinctive hum. I could feel the warmth of the sun as it came through the window heating the day. I might hear my grandmother softly walking in the kitchen, already well into her day. And then the stillest, smallest sound of all, the voice of God within me not really saying much at all, just being there with me, agreeing with me that everything was ok, that all was right with the world.

God speaks with us all the time if we will but be aware and listen. We are not alone in the world existing within a cacophony of bad advice. God speaks with us in our prayers for sure, but God also speaks with us in other ways too.

Where did that idle thought come from that gave you an insight into a thorny situation? Why did your friend choose just this moment to say what she did, or choose this moment to give you a hug when you needed it the most? Why did the sign up ahead just take on new meaning when you have seen it for years in another way? Why did that word in scripture or the passage in the book or the character in the movie seem as if they were speaking directly to you? Why, when you were sitting alone did it suddenly feel that you were no longer alone, but that in fact you suddenly just feel great about your world and your life and the loneliness has left?

Every day we encounter God in the everyday. We need only be aware. This is the voice of our shepherd we are hearing. This is the true source of our advice as we attempt to make our daily decisions and live our daily lives.

So my invitation to all of us who miss the sheepfold is this. Enjoy the memories of being there where we knew we were safe and loved and cared for. We have followed our Good Shepherd out through the gate into the world knowing the Good Shepherd is leading and caring for us as only the Good Shepherd can. We are never alone. We will never be alone no matter what. We can hear the voice of God every day in the everyday.

The Third Sunday in Easter: Recognizing Jesus

April 27, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

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Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

Now on that same day two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

—Luke 24:13-35 (NRSV)

“The Pilgrims of Emmaus on the Road” - James Tissot (Public Domain)

The gospel today is well known to anybody who has spent any time in church. Please bear with me as I quickly summarize it. A couple guys were walking down the road away from Jerusalem. They met a stranger which turned out to be Jesus walking along who apparently hadn’t heard the big news of the day. They told him it was widely rumored that Jesus of Nazareth had been resurrected from the dead. After telling this stranger the news the stranger who we know to be Jesus used scripture to let them know that this event had been preordained. Then as it came to be late in the day they invited Jesus to have supper with them which he did. During supper he took bread and blessed it before breaking it. It was then they recognized the stranger as Jesus and went back to Jerusalem to tell everyone they had seen him.

The story asks some important questions. Here are a few. Why didn’t these men recognize Jesus since they apparently knew him on some level? Do we find Jesus or does Jesus find us? How important was it that they invited Jesus to have supper with them? What part does Eucharist play in the story?

Let me address the last three first. In scripture Jesus appears to always accept an invitation to someone’s home. On a couple of occasions he invited himself, but generally Jesus is a true gentleman. He usually only goes where he is invited. That’s a key for us. Jesus has “found” these men on the road and they had the good sense or manners to invite him in. We can do the same. These men found Jesus through simple hospitality and friendship. That is where we will find him too.

And then the reference to these men recognizing Jesus the moment he breaks the bread is important too. This is an obvious reference to Eucharist, our breaking of bread during the celebration of communion. This is where we can discover Jesus again and again in the breaking of bread and sharing of the cup.

Then there is the first and most obvious question. Why didn’t these men recognize Jesus, especially since they had known him on some level? Why didn’t they recognize him? I am going to tell you a story I last told six years ago that I think addresses the question. I hope you find some meaning in it.

Belen, New Mexico is a sleepy little town of about seven thousand people just south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It’s primarily a bedroom community. Most people live in Belen and work in Albuquerque, making the short drive of just a few miles back and forth. The only business in Belen from a quick glance out the window as you pass through at seventy five miles per hour is the church business. You can see several spires from the freeway.

One of those churches is St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church, an easy two blocks off the freeway. St. Joseph’s is a pretty impressive white stone structure with a capacity of about one hundred sixty people in its beautiful old sanctuary. Like most churches, attendance has fallen off from the hay days of the sixties, but for its’ two services at eight and ten the combined Sunday attendance is probably in the neighborhood of one hundred twenty people, not too bad in these days of shrinking churches. For Christmas and Easter they often push two hundred.

St. Joseph’s is famous for its outreach. They have a number of groups that meet there regularly like AA and the Boy Scouts, the sort of worthwhile groups most Episcopal Churches host. In addition, they have a food program providing canned goods during the week and sack lunches every Saturday. There is even a small amount of money available to help the homeless out with funds for bus rides and, once in a while, an overnight stay in a local motel.

St. Joseph’s is known throughout the area as an exemplary House of God, living out its Christian principles. Every place the Bishop goes she brags about St. Joseph’s and often suggests to other churches that they emulate some of the things being done there. And this is where our story begins.

On the third Sunday in September, Homecoming Sunday in fact, there were a couple new faces scattered about in the congregation. As most visitors do, they arrived without a lot of fanfare a few minutes before the beginning of the ten o’clock service and quietly found a place to sit. They even managed not to displace any regular members who, although there was no sign indicating so, seemed to believe that they owned a certain seat in the pews.

After the service the visitors were invited to that famous Episcopal tradition, the coffee hour, and some of them went. One visitor, a Latino fellow with a certain quiet confidence about himself, chatted with several of the longtime members, who later seemed to clearly remember him and the manner in which he spoke and carried himself. The Rector and his associate both chatted with him too and, though they would never admit it to anyone else, found him to be a little intimidating in some way they just couldn’t quite put their fingers on. Maybe it was the fact his name was Jesus, but then why would that have bothered them? Lots of Latino men are named Jesus.

As time passed Jesus kept coming to church and became more and more well known in the congregation. Both men and women were drawn to him and his welcoming personality. He was invited to any number events, many of which he attended. He especially seemed to like the pot lucks and he was a regular at Bible study.

He did have one character flaw though. He almost immediately started bringing unsavory people with him to church. This made everybody a little uncomfortable, especially at coffee hour. Some of them looked like they hadn’t changed clothes in a while. A few others weren’t always as quiet as you might expect a person to be in church. A couple of times he brought known community outcasts with him, people who were known trouble makers or had a bad reputation of one kind or another. Many of the congregants urged the rector to speak with Jesus about this issue but the timing never seemed right. Besides, Jesus was such a great guy and his friends never seemed to be a problem while they were at church with him. So the rector figured no harm no foul and left Jesus alone about this one issue for the most part. Ok he did ask Jesus a couple of times why he was associating with these people but it never went too far beyond that.

Here is where some of the real trouble probably began. You see Jesus knew his scriptures. It was almost eerie how well he did. It was much like he had been there for the actual events the stories were retelling. He pointed out things that were not in the center of the story, little things on the edges of the passage that turned the meaning just slightly and somehow made the scripture more personally meaningful to everyone in the room. If you didn’t know better you could almost sense that the Rector was becoming angry with Jesus, or maybe jealous with what he thought of as Jesus’ know-it-all attitude. He suddenly seemed a little stiff, and sometimes his words became a little sharp and snippy.

But it just couldn’t be true that this wonderful and popular rector was having problems dealing with his feelings about Jesus. He was just too nice a guy and being a Rector is a pretty serious and stressful business and that was probably the root of the issue. After all who could ever get mad at Jesus?

It all seemed to come to a head one Sunday, the third week in November, during the second service. A real pillar of the church was reading the second lesson in his normal, wonderfully schooled, baritone voice when he suddenly looked around wildly, made some strange strangling noises as he grabbed at his chest, and fell backwards from the lectern, to the horror of the entire congregation who looked on the events happening right in front of them in open mouthed wonder.

For a moment the place was frozen and time almost stood still, and then out of that silence, several people came back to reality and rushed to his aid. One of those was Jesus, who appeared to take charge of the situation, put his hands on Tom’s chest closed his own eyes as if praying, and then told Tom he was ok.

I kid you not. That’s what he said. “Tom you are ok.” And then he was. Tom sat up and glanced around with the strangest look on his face. He would swear later to anyone who would listen that he had been dead. He claimed he had died instantly of a heart attack, seemed to be traveling serenely toward the most beautiful light he had ever seen in the distance, and then suddenly found himself jerked back to St. Joseph’s and the lectern where the excitement had begun.

Jesus, for his part, asked people not to talk about what had happened and what they had seen. This, of course, did no good at all and the stories about him began to spread like wildfire throughout Belen and into Albuquerque.

From that moment people began to see Jesus in another way. Just who was this man who did the things he did and acted the way he acted? People were split. Some believed him to be really special, maybe someone sent by God. Others thought of him as perhaps some sort of magician. Others said he was talented, a really nice guy, but come on, he was nothing extra special. Everything would eventually be explained and the world would move on to the next attention grabbing sound bite. And yet his fame continued to grow.

One thing for sure was that folks in the area were lining up on one side in support of Jesus or the other thinking him to be some sort of a menace. The local clergy in Belen became upset as folks left their churches and started going to St. Joseph’s hoping to meet this fellow Jesus. Local businesses, on the other hand, were happy to welcome the new visitors to Belen because it meant new income streams for them. There were even street venders selling little trinkets commemorating all the excitement that was building.

Jesus however seemed pretty unfazed by the whole thing. All the questions he was being asked seemed to amuse him more than anything else. Even when the bishop of the Diocese of the Rio Grande, and some of her cronies, came to see him and grill him on his interpretations of scripture he just kept on keeping on. When the Bishop seemed to get a little miffed with him and stormed back to Albuquerque he took it all in stride.

And then one day he just up and left town. He didn’t say goodbye. His parting words to his closest friends were just asking that they love one another, and remember him once in a while when they sat down to have a meal. Perhaps he would return one day.

And so the story ends. They are still telling it in and around town. Just exactly who was that guy? Isn’t it incredible they never really figured it out?

The Second Sunday in Easter: Doubting Thomas

April 19, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by the Rev. Carole Horton-Howe

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

Doubting Thomas, Giovanni Serodine (Public Domain) — *Doubting Thomas*, Giovanni Serodine (Public Domain)

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

—John 20:19-31 (NRSV)

We are one week after Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday. The day we celebrate God’s gift to us of eternal life through the resurrection of God’s son Jesus Christ. It’s the ultimate good news of the gospel. And what do we have today? We have another story of witness to the resurrection. It’s quieter and intimate but startling and it is relate-able. We get to hear the story of Thomas, someone who puts some significant parameters around his acceptance of the resurrection.

This is where our own experience might overlap with Thomas and what makes him so relate-able. As much as we have celebrated the resurrection, we want to accept fully, we want to believe with every bit of our heart and mind, it’s so overwhelming that we too can fall into a place of having doubts. This too is good news. The freedom to doubt and wrestle with ideas about God and our relationship with God are important to our own formation just like it was for Thomas.

We are creatures who crave certainty. We search for order to make sense of things, to understand the world, to organize all the data that comes to our awareness. We want a logical explanation to solve the problems that we encounter.

Faith defies that process. Faith is a mystery of the heart that the mind wants to solve. Still, we want faith to be shored up by certain evidences so that the leap of faith is a manageable one.

In Easter season we celebrate the biggest mystery of faith: that Jesus died for the sins of the world and that he rose from the grave. This last fact is the hardest one for us to grasp even compared with all the other stories we know about Jesus healing miracles, walking on water, evading danger from those out to trap him – the resurrection is the hardest thing for our minds to take in. Nothing in life is more certain than death. Or more permanent. For Jesus to be raised from the dead bogles the mind. It just can’t happen. This is where Thomas is coming from.

History has not treated this disciple kindly. Thomas is routinely thought of as a spiritual ne’er do well because he placed conditions around belief. But that’s not giving him a serious look.

Earlier in the gospel of John, we read of Thomas at his best. In John Chapter 11, Jesus’ desire was to return to Judea to raise Lazarus from the dead. But the apostles were afraid for Him to go back, because that would likely mean His death — and their death. However, it’s not Peter, James or John who rallies the troops. It’s Thomas: “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Loyal and courageous Thomas would rather risk death with his Teacher than live without him.

And Thomas is the one we most often hear from in our burial liturgies. When Jesus tells the disciples on their last evening together that he is going to prepare a place for them he says “you know where I am going and you know the way.” How many of us have heard those words and thought “what does he mean? What way?” I wonder if the other disciples that night sat by quietly and wondered the same thing. Thomas had the courage to speak up and say “what do you mean? We don’t know the way.” Jesus answers him. I am the way, Jesus says, and the truth and the life. To know me is to know God.

What we see in Thomas are acts of sacrifice and commitment. Is this is the same Thomas we’ve come to know as “doubting Thomas”? It is. He didn’t always have the answers. He wasn’t afraid to voice his doubt. But Thomas was a great servant. A better moniker for him might be Demanding Thomas, Defiant Thomas or Spiritually Ambitious Thomas. What he wants here is a first-hand experience of Jesus’ presence and he describes that experience as both visual and tactile.

If we think of Thomas as a model for a certain way of believing then he is a follower who craves intimacy with Jesus.

And how did Jesus respond? Jesus’ invitation was to touch, not just look and certainly not to belittle Thomas or deny him that intimacy that Thomas craved. Jesus sets for the disciples and for us the example of generosity by his offer of touch. And Jesus’ offer to come and touch made real for Thomas the resurrection of Jesus and the reality of eternal life. This is the resurrection story that we hear today.

Physical touch is often taken for granted, but scientists are finding it plays a vital role in healing. For some, physical touch is a welcomed gift. Hugs are a great way of offering hope and reassurance. It's a way of connecting without saying a word. Physical touch can communicate, "I feel your pain. I see you. I understand what you're going through."

I love Frederick Beuchner’s description of touch: “I hear your words. I see your face. I smell the rain in your hair, the coffee on your breath. I experience you within myself just as you within yourself experience me. But we don’t entirely meet until something else happens. We shake hands perhaps. We pat each other on the back. At parting or greeting, we may even go so far as to give each other a hug. And now it has happened. We discover each other to be flesh and bone, 3-dimensional, solid creatures of reality. Through simply touching, more directly than in any other way, we can transmit to each other something of the power of the life we have inside us. It is no wonder that just the touch of another human being at a dark time can be enough to save the day.”

There have been many studies performed on the healing power of touch. Doctors have found, through laboratory tests such as MRIs, that there are evident changes in the patterns of brain activity during touch. Certain types of endorphins are released resulting in a sense of relaxation and peace.

It occurs to me as I was reading this in this time when we are together electronically that we are in a position of imagining touch and connection and connectivity with one another in a new way. And that many of us are grieving that lack of ability to physically touch. There’s no doubt that God made some of us huggers and the huggers are especially grieving right now.

Part of grieving is the process of finding a new normal. Those of you who have been through loss understand this. It’s finding what in you is essential and feeding and supporting that essential part of you.

Bishop Jake Owensby had some interesting thoughts on this. He pointed out that each individual life consists of habits. Habits of thinking, feeling, and acting. It’s our normal. And some of that normal—even good and beloved parts of it—must be left behind to allow something more to emerge. An old self must die so that a truer, more loving self can emerge.

Followers of Jesus are resurrection people. We’ve staked our lives on the promise that, as Paul puts it, those who are in Christ are a New Creation. And to be a new creation means that we not only accept but look for a new normal.

The Apostle Thomas understood that Jesus was talking about a new normal. Thomas saw that the new normal meant that he would have to let go of the comforts of the old normal. Thomas, it seems, wanted reassurance from Jesus himself before he let go of the old normal. Reassurance that letting go is the way to the new normal.

I’ve spent some time the last few weeks talking to people at St. Matthias. And almost everyone is staying in contact with at least one or two others. People are attending worship, Bible study, just simply calling their friends who they miss seeing and talking to. Checking to see if they need anything. You’re doing amazing ministry with each other. You are finding a new normal – new ways to touch one another. You are making resurrection. Resurrection is a daily celebration over fear; our most powerful enemy. Fear of tomorrow, fear of what shall become of us in these unprecedented crazy times. Resurrection replaces fear with touching in new ways of love.

This story is a great witness to us and for us. We couldn’t be there in the room when the risen Jesus appeared to the disciples. But someone much like us was. Thomas with all his questions and conditions and needs to touch found resurrection that he could hold onto. My Lord and My God. May fearless, joyous resurrection today be every bit as real and compelling for each of you. Amen.

Easter Sunday

April 19, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

—Matthew 28:1-10 (NRSV)

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

We proclaim this every year at Easter and then we get together with family and friends and have a celebration. Here is a cute little story about a grandfather and his granddaughter at an Easter get together.

The little girl was sitting on her grandfather’s lap. She loved doing that and he loved having her there. After a bit she began to gently touch his face. She followed the outline of some of the lines on his face and forehead. And then she asked a question.

“Grandpa did God make you?”

“Yes, sweetheart he did”, he replied.

“Did God make me too?”

“Yes God did”, he said.

She thought about it for a minute then said, “God is getting a lot better at it isn’t he?”

I have told that joke before. It’s one of my favorites.

Christ is Risen! Every Easter we make a new commitment to ourselves and God. Each year we decide we will do a better job of keeping our eyes on Jesus. And every year the cares of the world take over don’t they? Our commitment is drowned in daily living. You know what these issues are as well as I do.

This year we are especially challenged. We not only have the usual culprits that assail us, we are dealing with a pandemic. We are confined to home. We are afraid of catching the virus. People are sick and dying. We can’t go to the places we are accustomed and unbelievably we can’t go to church this Easter. What a mess.

And yet we know we will go on. We always do in spite of everything going on around us.

Those in the Holy Land at the time of the life of Jesus have a similar story. They spent time with him. They grew to love him. Their expectations of him were immense. He was their way out from under the thumb of the Roman Empire, or so it was commonly thought.

And then their hopes were dashed. Jesus was crucified. Everything had come to an end. Their sadness was deep and painful. Their sense of loss was overwhelming. For two days the world was dark and meaningless. But then God did something incredible, something unheard of. Jesus was resurrected from the dead. He was with them for several weeks afterwards.

And then he was gone again, returning to eternity.

Those that had known him closely or peripherally had a choice to make. They could choose faith, hope, and love, or turn to disbelief. They chose to believe. They chose faith, hope, and love. Why, we wonder?

They made that choice because it was true. Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. They were certain of that fact. They understood by that event everything had changed in an incredible way.

The foundation of my personal understanding of the resurrection is found in the writings of St. Paul. This is because they are historical documents, never meant to be part of some holy tome. They were letters written to communities he had founded speaking to certain issues that had arisen. We were never meant to see or hear them. And it is this fact that allows us to look through the window of history into the first century with great certainty.

My personal faith cornerstone is the First Letter from Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 3 through 8. I quote it now.

“For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

Cephas, by the way, was Peter’s nickname and James was Jesus’ brother. This passage is a very clear statement of fact. Jesus had risen from the dead and a lot of people experienced that fact. If you hadn’t seen him yourself you knew someone who had. It’s clear and concise. Jesus rose from the dead. The case is closed and the prosecution rests.

Life today is currently tough. This pandemic is taking a toll in so many ways. People are sick and dying. We are stuck at home and don’t know when we will be able to get out. People are going broke, as are businesses. Life is a mess. I won’t sugarcoat it. We don’t know what the future looks like. We can guess, but we only know a few things for sure.

But here is one of thing we do know. Easter will keep showing up. Babies will be born for us to love. Music will fill the air and we will be touched by it. People will laugh and be relieved for a little. Old love will flourish and new love will blossom. The sun will shine. The stars will come out. Plants will grow and flowers will come forth from them. New life will be evident once again. And all these will be Easter moments, evidence that God is still here, the author of all beauty and life. God will continue to love us, and be there right alongside us no matter what we encounter.

And for each of us worshiping today we will continue to discover Jesus. We will find him in scripture. We will feel his presence in worship. We will see his face in each other’s countenances.

And whatever faith you have will be enough. Don’t beat yourself up over the doubts that all of us carry. No matter if it is only the faith of a mustard seed. God will use it and nourish it. God loves us too much to lose any of us.

And finally today I have a personal Easter story. It began on Good Friday during the seven pm service. Now Good Friday is miserable for me. Experiencing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is horrible. Nothing could be darker. But at exactly nine minutes after seven I got a text from my daughter. Please forgive me for having looked at it. Had I been in church I would not have.

You see she was texting to tell me about an Easter event that had just happened in the middle of the darkness. The event’s name is Andrew, a seven pound, five ounce baby boy. Our family has a new member. My first great-grandson, had just been born.

God had caused light to shine in the darkness once again. Alleluia! He is Risen!

The Second Sunday in Lent: On Rules

March 8, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

Jesus and Nicodemus, Providence Lithograph Company, 1904

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

—John 3:1-17

We are going to spend some time studying this morning and perhaps for some of us learning some new things, so I thought I would start off with a Sunday school funny.

One morning a Sunday school teacher decided to try to encourage her young preschool students, who might be a little confused about Jesus Christ, to think a little bit more about him. So she decided to ask them some questions about Jesus. Her first question was, “Where is Jesus today?"

Steven raised his hand and said, “He's in heaven." Mary was called on and answered, “He's in my heart." Johnny, waving his hand furiously, blurted out, “I know, I know! He's in our bathroom!!!"

The whole class got very quiet, looked at the teacher, and waited for a response. The teacher was completely at a loss for a few very long seconds. Finally, she gathered her wits and asked Johnny how he knew this.

He answered, “Well... every morning, my father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door, and yells, “Good Lord, are you still in there?!"

I took a class a couple of years ago about spirituality. There were a few of us there from St. Matthias. Carole Horton-Howe was one of them. In fact, this is the class in which we met for the first time. Anyway, I was introduced to a concept for the first time in one of the books we read. I am sorry to say I cannot give the author credit. I wish I could.

Here is that concept in a nutshell. When we study the life of Jesus it is as if he has his back to us. On the other side of Jesus are people facing him, and facing us at the same time. These are people who knew him. They are the ones that speak to us. We hear about him from them. We have nothing that comes directly from him, no writing and no first hand words. Everything we know we learn from those that encountered him.

So as we think about those that report his life we are reminded of the New Testament writers. We hear about him from the gospel writers, from Paul, and from other writers who fill out the books of the New Testament. There are few sources outside of the New Testament for information about Jesus.

Today I would like to present a new viewing angle into our understanding of Jesus and see where it takes us. I want to consider the viewpoint of the Pharisees. How did they see Jesus? What did they think of him? What can we learn from their experience of him? Why were they interested in him?

Now I recognize that some may think me nuts for doing this. I have been accused by the folks in Bible study of having a bromance with the Pharisees. I keep refusing to accept the box within which most people place them, the polemic about them if you will. But let’s try this viewpoint out and see where it leads.

In today’s gospel we are introduced to Nicodemus, an important Pharisee. At least that’s what the gospel says about him. It says he was one of the leaders. The story says he went to see Jesus at night. Why we wonder?

Let’s talk about Pharisees in general before we go on. In first century Judaism there were three main sects. One was the Essenes, the famous writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls. They had removed themselves from society so we don’t really need to consider them. Then there were the Sadducees. These folks were important leaders and associated with the Temple and the life of the Temple. They read their scripture literally, what it says is what it means, and did not believe in eternal life. They were sad you see. (Note the joke?) Anyway if it said you should die for an offense in scripture they thought that death should be your fate.

The Pharisees were different. They did believe in eternal life and they were far more liberal in their interpretation of scripture than the other groups. They read some scripture as metaphorical rather than literal and thought punishment as an example should fit the crime. Born from their theological thinking was the Mishnah, the first writings and theology concerning scripture found in the Talmud.

The idea of the Oral Torah was born. Torah in a close definition is the first five books of the Bible. The Oral Torah is the interpretation of those books in ways that are not literal in nature. Torah is the law for living. The Oral Torah helps to make sense of the law in ways that literal understandings cannot.

As an example we think about the Sabbath. What does it mean not to work on the Sabbath? The Pharisees attempted to answer that question specifically. What was work? What was acceptable to do on the Sabbath and what was not? They constructed a list of do’s and don’ts as a result.

The Pharisees took Judaism out of the Temple and brought it to the Jewish people. Their goal was to infuse scriptural truth into every home so that people would and could live according to God’s laws on a daily basis. They asked the people to be responsible for their lives.

We think there were about 6000 Pharisees at the time of Jesus, a relatively small percentage of the population. They were made up primarily of Scribes and Sages, those immersed in scripture, often knowing every word and many interpretations. They kicked the ball forward through argument. Different teachers would advance their own understandings of specific scriptures as would others doing the same. Understandings would coalesce over time. This was the beginnings of Rabbinic Judaism.

And so along comes Jesus. What would the Pharisees have known about him? First of all Jesus was smart. He could read and write, something only about 10 % of the population could do. He was also extremely well educated in the scriptures, certainly as well versed as any Pharisee.

He was also famous for having radically different interpretations for many of the most important scriptures. It would have similar to Einstein coming along and debunking the physics of Newton. Einstein showed Newton was wrong. Jesus was in the process of upsetting the apple cart of first century scriptural understanding in the same way.

Let’s take Sabbath observance once again as an example. The Pharisees believed one shouldn’t work on the Sabbath and had arrived at many rules about Sabbath observance as a result. Jesus openly violated their Sabbath rules and asked a most important question. “Was the Sabbath created for humankind or was humankind created for the Sabbath?” Oh my goodness. One question undermined everything they thought to be true.

And so Nicodemus went to see Jesus. I have no doubt he had great respect for Jesus and his intellect. He wanted to understand where Jesus was coming from. He wanted to understand the teachings of Jesus. He wanted to compare his own understanding of scripture to that of Jesus. He wanted to kick the ball down the road if you will. Note that in the conversation Jesus even calls Nicodemus a teacher of scripture. This was a conversation between one who had the standard understandings and another who had broken through into an entirely new and more correct understanding of Torah, the laws for living one’s life.

Now let’s spring forward a couple thousand years. Have things changed all that much? Don’t we today have lists of things that are acceptable or not for every conceivable circumstance? Aren’t we especially that way when it comes to church and our ways of being in relationship with God and each other? I would submit to you that we are a lot like those Pharisees of ancient times.

They had the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Essenes along with some other groups I am sure. We have the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox and the Liturgical worshipers along with the Evangelicals. And each of us is pretty sure we are right in our understanding of scripture and worship and everybody else is wrong.

Don’t you wonder what Jesus thinks about our current mores of life with God?

And so I have a suggestion. What if we mimic Jesus when we make our determinations of right and wrong action or thinking? Why don’t we ask a question to flesh a controversy out? Was this, whatever it may be, created for us or were we created for it? Another way to put it might be this. Is this, whatever it might be, here for our benefit or are we here just to follow a rule?

Think about it. What might we ponder first?

The First Sunday in Lent: The Voices of Temptation

March 4, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by the Rev. Carol Horton-Howe

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

Fresco, Stiftskirche, Waldhausen, Austria - Photo by BSonne from Wikimedia

Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Matthew 4:1-11 (NRSV)

When I told a long-time friend that I was serving at St. Matthias, she surprised me by responding “Oh, Matthias! He’s the one that stumped us!” She went on to explain an early memory of Sunday school when they played a game called Shield. The teacher would ask all the children to sit in a circle with their Bibles in hand. She would say “Everyone hold up your Shield!” And all the children, would grasp their Bible in both hands and hold them out in front of them. Then the teacher would call out the name of a someone in the Bible, or a story or parable or verse. All the children would get busy looking for it. The first to find it was rewarded with the chance to stand in the circle and read to the rest of the class. Matthias is only mentioned in a couple verses in the Book of Acts so my friend had had a hard time finding him. That memory of Shield was still with her. This idea of the Bible as our shield would be an interesting idea to hold onto today as we look a little deeper at the gospel.

We are in the first Sunday of Lent. Lent always begins with Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus has just been baptized by John and is immediately led into the desert. The euphoria of the voice of God may still be ringing in his ears – “This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” The lush riverbank is a memory, the vast expanse of desolation stretches out before him. Is Jesus wondering what exactly this means for him? He had been ordained by God in the river, but his ministry had not yet begun. And now we watch to see how God’s beloved will react to harsh extremes. Will it be like we as humans would? Or in some divine way beyond our understanding? How does Jesus deal with starvation and thirst both physical and spiritual? And what can we take from this for our own wilderness experience?

There’s something about the desert that can suck all the self-confidence right out of us. So empty and quiet, you can’t help notice how small you are. If you find yourself there, a life that seemed so certain just a short while ago is now just a big question mark. You feel so alone, wishing you had someone who understood you that you could talk to about it. Have you ever felt this? Has it gone on so long that you started to question God’s care for you and about you? That in spite of what you’ve always believed about God loving you and caring for you, you question why God doesn’t just fix everything and make the pain go away as God most assuredly is able to do.

Survivors of 9/11 suffering the effects of their injuries long after the day of the attacks were interviewed years later and expressed feelings of abandonment by God – where was God, they asked? “I’ve looked for Jesus. I’ve longed for Jesus since that day just like I’ve longed for air.” One man said. “And I’ve struggled with anger. I’d like a little of that Old Testament God right about now – punishing the evildoers, destroying their cities, their towers.”

Whether you’ve experienced a high level of trauma as he had or not, I know you’ve had your wilderness too. And a longing for God to just send a rescue team. Why doesn’t God just fix all our problems for us? I wonder if this what Jesus experienced. Notice that all the temptations that the devil offers Jesus are along the same theme – that Jesus deserves better than what God is giving him. Why should God’s beloved go hungry?

The voices of temptation don’t sound like a serpent hissing or a harsh demonic bullying. When they come, they will sound like the perfect thing to seduce you personally. They’ll appeal to your greatest strengths and seduce you in moments of profound weakness.

Temptation speaks to us in a language that is natural, that we understand, that is us. I hear temptation in “Carole-speak.” You hear it in your own language. If you are a linear person you will hear it as a series of building arguments. If you are a left brain person you will hear it as a logical, analytical thought process. If you are a right brained person you will hear it as creative thought that will tug hard at your heart strings. And it will sound oh so perfect.

So how can we test these messages? How do we figure out if they are life giving? The only true test is how it effects our relationship with God. If these ideas are based on love and draw us closer to God they are to be trusted. But if they put distance between us and God, if they have no basis in the words and teaching of Jesus, if they do not encourage us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength they are not of God and will destroy us.

This is where we see what being children of God truly means. The temptations we face day by day and at critical moments of decision and vocation in our lives may be very different from those of Jesus but they have exactly the same point. They are not simply trying to entice us to commit one sin or another. They are actually trying to get us to turn away from God and the path of servanthood.

God’s word will uphold us. That is the best defense that we have. When we come face to face with temptation, we go to the word that empowers us, that gives us grace. We go to God who created us and gives our lives meaning.

Just last week, a few of us finished meeting together in a group called “Traveling with God.” We showed photos and memorabilia from our travels and told stories of adventures. In all the stories I noticed that what we found was usually not what we expected. And that was the best part. Without actually naming it, we were describing for each other the experience of pilgrimage.

Tourists go from place to place, sight to sight finding satisfaction in collecting those sights until they reach a final destination or a concluding sight. They have some firm expectations and what they’ll see.

Photo by FAICAL Zaramod from Pexels — Photo by **FAICAL Zaramod** from **Pexels**

But a pilgrimage is different. It’s more than a standard trip or journey. While some go on pilgrimage with a sense of adventure, it almost always begins with a sense of call or a deep yearning, sometimes even a great urgency to get up and go. Often the pilgrim is called to undertake physical travel although for some pilgrimage is about traveling inward on a journey of the heart. All call on us to be willing to try, to fail and try again. No two pilgrims have the exact same experience. But all pilgrimages call on us to be open to moving out of our comfort zone.

You may have a certain Lenten practice in mind or maybe you’ve already committed to a certain regimen. If that resonates with you, embrace it. But if along the way life happens or it loses its appeal, I hope you will be gentle with yourself. I promise you will not be the only one on Palm Sunday with a journal half completed or a book of devotions partially read. They’ll still be there for you when you’re able to pick them up again. But please be a pilgrim. Those life interruptions are precious chances to find God at work in ways that might transform you. They are chances to ask ourselves what God is inviting us to do, how we might lean on the word of God to respond to the startling and the mundane.

We know our destination with Jesus. In little more than 40 days from today it is Jerusalem, arrest, suffering, death on the cross and the resurrection that will change the world and everyone in it forever. Integral to pilgrimage is the journey home and the pilgrims’ need to integrate the life they have lived with the new insights gained as they return as changed persons.

The survivor of 9/11 put it this way: “Ultimately I want a safer world. I want a more competent God. Then I remember that God's power is not a controlling but a redeeming power and the red blood of belief begins to return to my veins. I have faith. I lose faith. I find faith again, or faith finds me, but throughout it all I am confronted with the certainty that I am in good hands; love girds the universe; God will have the last word and that word is “love” in the form of his son Jesus.”

Allow God to speak tenderly to you, lead you, reveal God’s self to you. Remember you are called to bring God’s light into the world. Hold on to your shield. And say a firm “no” to the voices that want to lure you out of the light and into darkness.

Amen.

The Sixth Sunday in Epiphany: Jesus Interprets the Law

February 18, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Rev. Carole Horton-Howe

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”

—Matthew 5:21-37 (NRSV)

UCLA School of Law Library Tower - Photo by Coolcaesar at the English language Wikipedia

The Law School at UCLA has an extensive library. It’s three stories tall with a basement and takes up about a city block. It’s impressive and overwhelming. It contains, according to their website, 600,000 print volumes and over 35,000 electronic titles. I’m going to estimate that maybe 10% of these are books that law out the law whatever it might be -- laws of the state of California and Federal law but all specialties of civil law: local regulations, criminal law, maritime, insurance, real estate, education, non-profits, absolutely everything. And everywhere in the world. And the rest, the other 90%, are court cases with decisions and opinions about the application of those laws. From lower courts up through the Supreme Court. Some saying to lower courts you got this right or you got this wrong or partly right or partly wrong.

Every word of every sentence of every document is focused on one thing and one thing only: the answer to the question – how are we to live together?

The legal system is filled with passionate, well-meaning people, highly skilled at what they do. There seems to be a natural pull towards figuring this out, a yearning for truth and justice. The problem is this: they are trying to answer the question of how are we to live together without application of the teachings of Jesus. But there is no provision in the laws of the land for the stirrings of the heart.

In the gospel today, Jesus addresses some of the laws given through Moses, possibly the ones that were of greatest concern in the lives of those listening to him. And almost 2,000 years later we struggle with them as well. In last week’s gospel, Jesus sets the stage for what he’s about to say, for the epiphany that ah-ha! moment that can only come from him.

In the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us a description of the character of disciples fit for the Kingdom: those who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who are merciful, who are pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who are persecuted so that virtue, integrity and uprightness win the day.

It’s important to understand that in each of these teachings Jesus is not contradicting the earlier statement. Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Jesus came to call and form disciples in a community devoted to the higher righteousness. He’s not instructing anyone to set aside the law. What he is doing is clarifying its true meaning.

Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said to those in ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment.”

Jesus isn’t contradicting the commandment against murder, he is opening it up for us. He knows that even if we keep the commandment not to kill, we can still hate and despise others. We can follow the law, we can walk away from the actual act of ending another person’s life but if our hearts have not changed we still kill our relationships, still treat people as if they were dead to us.

The prospect of committing murder is pretty remote for most of us. But anger is not. Anger is something we fall into more often that we would like. Or if we look back at some of our relationships with others we recall the intensity of being angry.

Jesus tells us that following this commandant against murder means we stop hanging onto the anger that also kills. 1 John 3:14-15 says “we know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death.”

To nurse anger is to kill divine love. To kill love is to kill our human capacity to love. When our hearts are clenched in anger they are shut tight against God and the healing God provides. The fulfillment of the commandment not to kill is the formation of our hearts and minds so that we look at others not with anger, but rather with love.

And even more is asked of us than that: the commandment is given not just so that we won’t kill each other, but so that we will be the type of people who will seek out someone who has wronged us and work to be reconciled with them. This is not just a passive attempt to let anger go, it’s an affirmative decision that we make to be in love. Even when they are our enemies. Even when there is no chance that our love will be returned.

Let’s look at what Jesus says about adultery: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Again, Jesus isn’t contradicting the commandment, he is opening up for us. He knows that even if we keep the commandment not to commit adultery, we can still demean and belittle others. The lustful glance, the undressing with the eye, treating others as objects and taking advantage of the fragility of another person, even if it’s done at a distance. The true fulfillment of this commandment is a faithful heart that cherishes our partners and respects everyone we come into contact with.

Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no.’”

Jesus isn’t contradicting the commandment against swearing falsely, he is breaking it open for us. Jesus knows that even if we can keep from those overt and not to overt tall tales, we can still manipulate others with our words. We can make frivolous oaths in the name of heaven and belittle God’s holy name.

The command is not just about following the rule, but it is also about the formation of an honest character. The rule is followed not just for the sake of following it, but because by repeated attempts to follow the rule in our ever-changing circumstances, we become people who are disposed to act honestly.

Jesus shows us that the fulfillment of the law is not just to refrain from saying things we know are not true, but that the things we do say ought to be so reliable and honest. The better choice is to say “yes” and mean “yes” or to say “no” and mean “no.” Speak whatever you mean in truth and in love.

God gave us the commandments as guides and exhortations for the formation of our character, so that we might become people who are pure in heart and apply our hearts to all that we say and all that we do; so that we might love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind, and that we might love our neighbor as ourselves.

I spent 15 years as a paralegal. I went to the paralegal program at UCLA Law School which is where I got acquainted with the library. I, too, had that pull towards finding truth and searching for justice. And as a paralegal, I found that there is a lot to be had from the legal system, but there just isn’t much overlap between the legal system and justice. The only true justice we’ll ever get is from God. That’s not to say we should throw out all those thousands of volumes of laws. Not at all! We need those to keep a well ordered society. But it can’t end there. We can’t be satisfied with that. The letter of the law will never get us to the heart of God, will never shape our own hearts or offer the life that God desires for us.

A loving parent would say to a child “I love and cherish you. Every good gift that I know how to give is yours. I promise that nothing will ever change my devotion to you. Now go out into the rough and tumble of the world and live out your life with the knowledge of this love.” This is the Epiphany light that Jesus gives us – making plain that the good gifts that come from loving God are a life where anger has no place and destructive human relationships cannot endure. And then he says “Now, go out into the world and live this truth of love about me and about you.”

Amen.

The Fifth Sunday in Epiphany: Our Relationship with God and the World

February 9, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

—Matthew 5:13-20 (NRSV)

Do you ever wonder why we love other people? I want to talk about that today if you don’t mind. We may have a number of reasons that come to mind as we answer the question inwardly but I wonder if what we are thinking is entirely accurate. Let’s find out together.

I want to start off with a story from my childhood if you don’t mind. I hope you will find it entertaining. I haven’t told it for a few years so maybe if you remember it you will enjoy it again.

Have any of you ever been fishing for catfish? More specifically have you ever been limb-lining at night for catfish? We used to do this all the time whenever I went back to Oklahoma. It’s not for the faint of heart. Let me describe the process for you.

Limb-lining is just what it says. You tie fishing lines to limbs and brush sticking out of the water or off the bank, put a hook on the end of the line, and put some bait for catfish on the hook which ends up a couple of feet below the surface of the water. You need a boat, a white sheet, fishing line, a bright light, some pretty large hooks, and some bait, along with all the other normal stuff you need to go fishing such as insect repellent.

You need to get to the fishing spot before sundown because this type of fishing is done on a river, or where a river empties into a lake, and there are a lot of old trees and brush in the water. Normally about thirty to fifty hooks are put out and this needs to be done while it’s still light.

Now anywhere you put a line with a hook on it you need to put a “flag” so you can find it after dark. This is what the sheet is for. You tear strips of sheet so that you can find the lines after dark when a strong light is shined on it from the boat as it cruises along.

Now let’s think about insect repellent. I have seen grown men lose their minds because of mosquitoes. I mean lose their minds. First they begin to beat at themselves, then they begin to dance around, and finally they begin to holler and curse and run up the bank if they are not in a boat. The mosquitoes come in swarms and they begin to look huge, sort of like buzzards. There is an old story about two mosquitoes talking to one another. “Should we eat him here or take him home?” Going limb lining without insect repellant is not a good idea.

So at this point you are getting the idea. This is not like other things you do in life. And it all comes down to the bait. What are the catfish in the mood for tonight? Everyone has a favorite and most folks will insist it is the best. Some like stink bait. This is just awful stuff. Some like minnows. Some like crawdads. There are all kinds of favorite baits.

Well one afternoon we were getting ready to go and my uncle was insisting on minnows. He was positive they were the best. I like minnows too. I hate stink bait although some swear by it. Sherry said, “How about some frozen shrimp?” Both my uncle and I looked at her as if she had lost her mind. We didn’t even bother to discuss it with her. Whoever heard of such a thing? Frozen shrimp indeed! Well we bought a bunch of minnows and Sherry bought a package of frozen shrimp.

And off we went. Well you already guessed the end of the story. We tried minnows for hours and caught nothing. Finally, desperate for our luck to change we tried the shrimp. The catfish loved them. We could have used a couple more boxes. My uncle and I had egg all over our faces. We were both a lot more ready to listen to suggestions in the future will tell you.

Now I went limb-lining with both my uncles, my dad, and a couple times with Sherry. Sometimes we caught fish. Sometimes we didn’t catch any or very many. One time my uncle lost the catch by dropping it in the water. But whether we caught a lot or none at all we always had a great time. Our success or lack of success had nothing to do with whether we had fun or not. What mattered was that we were together. We enjoyed being together whatever we were doing. Why? Because we loved each other and the reason was just because we did. Our love was not earned because somebody did something. Our love for each other didn’t need to be earned. It just was because we were, we existed.

If you were listening to the gospel read by Kay a few minutes ago you heard some diverse passages. I want to address the first two. Jesus said we were the salt of the earth and Jesus said we were like light. These are great images.

Salt in the first century was used for a number of things. It made a fire brighter. It was in some places used as money. It was used to season food. I am sure there were other uses. We still use it today.

But Jesus didn’t say we were like it. Jesus said we were it. There’s a difference. In one way of thinking, salt as a metaphor, we are being asked to become something, to be useful. When we recognize we already are the salt of the earth we see that we are already the seasoning of the planet, we only need continue to do what we already are.

Jesus also said to let our line shine. Nobody covers up a light with a basket, you let it shine. Jesus is telling us we are already a shining light. We don’t need to become anything other than what we already are. Just let it shine. Don’t cover it up. Be who you are. Be who you have been created to be.

We listen to so many voices shouting at us in our lives, telling us how we should function. The voices come at us from every direction. We all hear them. It seems to me they boil down to telling us what to want, what to have, and what to do. They are giving us instructions about living from the outside-in and asking us to internalize these instructions as our belief structure.

There’s a huge problem with outside-in thinking. It doesn’t take into account who we are, our individuality, our very being. Inside each and every one of us exists our very being. Down below everything else is that person we have always been and always will be, our very essence created by God and in partnership with God.

When our interaction with the world begins from inside-out, things change in a dramatic way. What emerges is who we are, the salt of the world, the light that should never be hidden under a basket. That doesn’t happen outside-in.

And so I think our invitation is to recognize that the joy we find in loving others is to recognize that we see their light shining no matter whether we catch any fish or we don’t. We love them for who they are, not what the world would have them be. We love their very being. Isn’t it time once again for each of us to seriously consider our being, the essence of who we are that is in partnership with God?

And recognize once again that we are the salt of the earth. Let the light shine. Uncover it. Just let it go what is already there.

The Presentation of Our Lord: Trusting God’s Promises

February 3, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Rev. Carole Horton-Howe

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

Andrea Celesti, Presentación de Jesús en el Templo, 1710

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;

for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."

And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed-- and a sword will pierce your own soul too."

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

—Luke 2:22-40 (NRSV)

Today is a day of celebrations and rituals. I’m talking of course about Super Bowl Sunday which has evolved into a national celebration. Even those who don’t care for the actual game or the teams that are playing look forward to gathering to share friendship and food and marvel at the ritual of that all important first commercial break and ponder together was it really worth the millions spent on it?

For us in the church it’s also a special day. It’s Candlemas or The Feast of the Presentation. Candlemas is celebrated 40 days after Christmas Day. It recalls how Jesus was taken to Jerusalem by his parents to the Temple, the most holy of all places of his religious faith, and dedicated to God in an ancient, sacred ritual. And it’s a story of two people who have spent their entire lives waiting for the light that is the Messiah and, after years of patient devotion to God, finally seeing that light.

Maybe because it’s secular and holy feast day, the story of the Holy Family’s encounter with Simeon and Anna reminds me of a story about a young man and his experience, along with his dad, and his lesson in trust and patience. In 1958 the NFC play-off game was between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts featuring their incredible quarterback, Johnny Unitas. Stephen’s dad managed to get 4 tickets for their family but at the last minute his sister became ill and his mom stayed home with her. So they had two tickets to sell with a face value of $8 each.

So they arrive at the stadium and the place is crazy busy, packed with fans and noise and excitement. His dad gets a lot of interest about the tickets but he’s looking for just the right buyer. This goes on for a while and Stephen’s getting impatient. They can hear the band play, the announcement of the teams coming onto the field. Why doesn’t dad just sell the tickets especially when we can get a lot of money for them so they can go in? But his dad waits. Scanning the passing crowd for just the right face. Finally Dad sees just who he’s looking for – an older man, who seems by his appearance to be a working man, with a little boy at his side. Dad approaches him and asks if he’s looking to buy tickets. Yes, comes the answer, and asking how much. “Just looking to get my money back, $16 for the pair,” dad tells him. The older man reaches in his pocket, pulls out a $5, some singles and some change. They all go into the game together.

Stephen says he gained two things that day. First – a friend. The old man’s grandson became a lifelong fast friend as a result of meeting that day. And he gained appreciation for trust with patience - trusting that just who you’re looking for will be there if you have the patience to trust and, drawing strength from that trust, to persevere.

And so it is for the Holy Family in today’s Gospel passage, moving through the crowds of Jerusalem with an infant in arms and sacrifice in hand, headed to the Temple to fulfill a ritual obligation. Imagine the sights and smells of dust and splattered mud, market stalls and incense. Livestock sounds and oven smoke. Voices laughing, arguing. How different from their home in Nazareth it must have been.

Then, as they enter the temple, a man steps into their path. A stranger but with an air of trustworthiness and devotion, of wisdom and hopeful expectation. Eyes locking, Mary places her precious child into his arms as the business of the temple goes on around them. There must have been many couples with baby boys there that day and like every day. But this child and this mother were the answer to Simeon and Anna’s prayers.

Old Simeon, a regular sight at the temple, who has been waiting and waiting for this moment, is rapturous. He’s joined by another elder, Anna, equally so. Mary can tell from Simeon’s expression, though: he knows. He knows this is not just any child. He knows her son is someone truly special. She sees that he sees that her son is light.

Simeon, and Anna too, know who Jesus is not because they happen to be in the right place at the right time but because the Holy Spirit in them allowed them to see that God was at work in this family and this child. Both of them recognized that, in this moment, what Malachi promised had come to pass: “The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.” And thus, God had fulfilled God’s promise to Israel; the King of Glory had come in and redemption was at hand.

There will be pain, it’s unavoidable. Those haunting words must also be said, “a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

For Mary the pain and the gladness are interwoven so very tightly, forming a sort of textile whose pattern is not yet clear. There is only this moment, this encounter of blessing and dread, a promise of hope amid endurance, as the city goes about its business.

So we are left a little confused about the Feast of the Presentation. Is it a joyful occasion? A somber one? Can we ever fully separate those two experiences in our lives as followers of Jesus?

Ancient though this encounter might be, the scene is could still seem familiar to us, rushing as we do through the crowded marketplace of 21st-century life. Whether we live in a city or not, we know what it is like to go about our business, focusing on the task at hand. And just when we start to get lost in our own narrative, a stranger bumps into us and tells us something we need to hear -- something true, something that jolts us back into understanding that our God can be trusted to bring us the light we need. It may not be in the time and place and way we expect. But we can live confidently, hopefully that it will come. And we will be drawn into a greater story than ourselves if we look for it and allow it to become part of us.

We had a small group here at St. Matthias last year that read together Krista Tippets’ book “Becoming Wise.” And in it, she tells the story of a Detroit neighborhood that had suffered for years as the economy of the area became worse and worse. Families that were scraping by with both parents working 2 or 3 jobs found themselves devastated and wondering how they would survive when those jobs dried up. Neighborhoods were decimated. Many blocks had more homes abandoned and collapsed than occupied. So folks who were left began to plant gardens and raise their own food in vacant lots.

At first this was for their very survival. But something very tangible and holy happened: they rediscovered real food. Tippet interviewed residents Myrtle Thompson and Wayne Curtis about their experience. They talked effusively about growing three types of kale, tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, strawberries, raspberries – and herbs for seasoning like basil, cilantro and parsley. The news of corn and okra thriving there brought people from all over. A bountiful eggplant crop brought people from Indian culture into the garden and they got recipes. “Along with food we’re growing culture, we’re growing community, we’re growing things to make sure our existence is no longer threatened. Watching people come, watching the kids and seeing stuff grow,” Myrtle said “I didn’t know it would look like that.”

Wayne told her, “It’s not just a garden that gives you the warm fuzzies. When we come here we can see hope pushing up out of the ground. Our identity is no longer connected to Del Monte. We’re part of the whole ecological system that has existed since the beginning. And that changes your relationship with the earth and with another person.”

Planting, harvesting and welcoming gave them a glimpse of the holy revealing the love of God and the truth of the Gospel, that we are made to struggling together in joy and sorrow in community.

As followers of Jesus, in fact, we gain so much by pursuing these hard and surprising encounters, following the Christ Child into the temple, as it were, and seeing who we might find there to tell us about ourselves. When we do, we are placing ourselves in a vulnerable position that risks colliding with strangers and places and ideas. But we know that if we don’t, the Simeons and the Annas of the world will never find us. We will never rejoice with them; we will never see what they see; we will never understand ourselves through them.

And so, on this day, on a feast that contains both joy and sorrow, in a temple that contains both blessing and burden, we learn this:

Every so often, someone of them will stop us in our tracks and change our story forever. Let us look for Simeon; let us look for Anna – enduring the darkness in confident hope of seeing God’s promises to us fulfilled. Let us see the light in each other. It is as simple as this: two strangers in the same place, eyes lock from afar. And the world is never the same.

Amen.

The Third Sunday in Epiphany: Jesus' Call to Us

January 26, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
    on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people who sat in darkness
    have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
    light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

—Matthew 4:12-23 (NRSV)

As a reminder we are still in the season of Epiphany. It is the time of the year when we expect the unexpected, and that which was not visible becomes so. We look at things from a different angle and see things from another perspective. This week we are going to look at being ready when the moment comes. Here is one example.

The strongman at a circus squeezed the juice from a lemon between his hands. He then said to the audience, “I will offer $200 to anyone in the audience who can squeeze another drop from this lemon. A thin scholarly looking woman came forward, picked up the lemon, strained hard and managed to get a drop. The strongman was amazed. He paid the woman and asked, “What is the secret of your strength?" “Practice," the woman answered. “I was the treasurer of an Episcopal Church for thirty-two years!"

The gospel this morning is one with which we are familiar. It’s the story of Jesus beginning to call his disciples. He has returned to Galilee after his time in the desert and his baptism and is walking beside the Sea of Galilee close to his new home in Capernaum. The Sea of Galilee, by the way, hasn’t changed much in the last two thousand years. It’s the lowest fresh water lake in the world at seven hundred feet below sea level, and it is thirteen miles long and eight miles wide. In places it is a couple of hundred feet deep.

Walking along Jesus came upon two sets of fishermen working on their nets. Without any preamble he asks them to follow him. He promises to make them fishers of men. Immediately they do so. Game, set, and match; it’s the end of the story.

Well, obviously Jesus is pretty charismatic. I imagine we have a number of politicians in this country that wish they could do the same trick Jesus just accomplished. Tell people to follow them, and so they do.

Today, I want to look at this story from the fisherman’s perspective instead of the perspective of Jesus. I want to spend some time thinking about them and why they might have been so ready to jump up and follow Him.

Let’s set the stage. This is the first century and Rome is completely in charge of everything. They have their fingers in every pie. Herod, the local Hebrew King, is an awful man. He would have you executed for looking at him the wrong way. The back of the average person was breaking under the Roman yoke. To make matters worse the Temple Priests were in cahoots with the government as were some of the Jewish people who had become tax collectors. For the average person it was a matter of survival every day.

One of the tenants of prayer at that time was that if you hadn’t prayed for the messiah to come, you hadn’t prayed at all. Everyone was hoping and praying for the savior, someone to lead them out from under the weight of The Roman Empire.

And so we see these men sitting there mending their nets knowing this was their prayer too. They were simple fishermen. But please note they may not have been poor fishermen. When they left Zebedee in the boat, they left him with the hired help. You don’t hire employees if you are broke. The point is you could make a decent living as a fisherman at the time and they were probably up to date regarding the world around them.

Now let’s speed ahead into the Gospel of Luke for a moment. Do you remember when Jesus was arrested? I’m sure you will remember that Peter cut the ear off one of the Roman guards. So we know they weren’t pacifists.

Let’s think about Galilee. What sect of Judaism was based in Galilee? Well there were four sects for the most part. The Sadducees were the Temple priests in Jerusalem. The Essenes had given up on society and moved out of town to write the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Pharisees were trying to figure out how to live a Godly life correctly. That just leaves the Zealots. They lived in Galilee primarily. They were the ones that started a war with Rome that commenced thirty years after the crucifixion of Jesus. They were a wild bunch, ready to fight, impetuous, and really tired of Roman rule.

If you listen to the descriptions of Jesus’ disciples you find men who are violent, impetuous, wild, and ready to do things on the spur of the moment. I submit to you, as do many scholars, that if they weren’t Zealots.

And so when Jesus beckons them they are ready to go. Perhaps they already knew him. Personally I think they did. The point is that they think they have found their leader, the messiah who was going to throw Rome off their backs. They were ready to follow him.

You see Jesus was telling everyone that the Kingdom of God had come close. The time was here. God was in charge of the cosmos, not Rome. This was music, a war cry, to their ears. Never mind that the messiah they expected was not the messiah they got. That came later. For the moment they were ready to go to war with him.

I have heard it said that the transition of the disciples from the band when Jesus met them to the Apostles that led the early church is the final and greatest miracle of Jesus. I think there is a good case to be made for that.

Photo by Lukas from Pexels — Photo by **Lukas** from **Pexels**

We too have heard the call of Jesus, calling us to follow him, and we have chosen to do so. Perhaps our decision isn’t as dramatic as the stories of the disciples, but we have been called to follow never the less.

We ask ourselves, can a person follow Jesus without leaving everything behind as the disciples did? Should we become priests or join a holy order or work in a soup kitchen? Simply put can we be Christians in place without changing our basic lifestyle?

The answer I think is yes and no. Yes we can remain where we are, doing what we do. But we will not remain the same people from the inside out as we were before we started consciously following the example Jesus has set for us.

You see the Holy Spirit resides within each and every one of us. Where we were when Jesus called us, and where we are today are not the same place. The spirit of God within us changes us slowly into the people we are becoming, the creations God intends for us to become. This is the very best of the grace of God; God working within us as an answer to God’s call.

So I submit to you there is another miracle going on we might not be aware of. The disciples followed Jesus and became different people, the early apostles of the church. We too are just such a miracle as God changes us within as we answer God’s call and learn to live life from the inside out with the Holy Spirit rather than outside in as the world would have us believe we need to do.

The Second Sunday in Epiphany: “Come and See"

January 25, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

—John 1:29-42 (NRSV)

I want to remind you that we are in the second week of Epiphany. We are looking for what we have not seen before or perhaps examining what we have previously seen but with a new understanding. Maybe we will see things with new eyes.

On June the 3rd of 1998 I had a heart attack. Now at one time I would have told you that it was a minor heart attack. I think I used to tell myself that to make myself feel better. But the truth is there are no minor heart attacks. There are those that arrange our meeting with God and those that don’t. Some may leave us here waiting to meet God but somewhat debilitated. But however you have one there are no minor heart attacks.

For me personally I would say mine was minor since I was left to live out my life in a pretty normal state. They say it could have killed me but it didn’t. As a result of this health scare I have a stint on the artery called “the widow maker”.

After three days in the hospital I was sent home. I will never forget the drive home as long as I inhabit this mortal sphere and that’s the point of telling you this story. The world had changed in three days time. The sky was bluer. The flowers were awesome, the colors being brighter. There were birds everywhere. Clouds were sailing along in the sky. People were more important to me. I noticed everything, animals, people, signs, stoplights, the softness of my bed, everything.

I swore to myself I would never let go of this new reality I was experiencing once again. I had been given a second chance and I wasn’t going to blow it. The little things that had always bothered me were going to be ignored. The beauty in people and the world were going to be what I paid attention to.

And of course it didn’t last for me. Today I can only catch moments of this heightened awareness. I am grateful when these moments occur and wish they occurred more often.

Some people I have known seem to naturally have a more heightened awareness than the rest of us. They are a wonder to me. Yesterday we celebrated the life of John Maidlow, a man dear to the hearts of many of us. He seemed to be such a man. He saw what others did not. He was aware of color and style and beauty. His sense of humor was well developed and always on display. As a designer he did some amazing things. By his office door there is a display of a home he designed the interior of. Each room of the home was designed around a moving theme. In the entry is a ticket booth. I have seen pictures. The design and completion are just amazing.

It seems that people like John are often referred to fondly as somewhat child like. Nothing negative is meant by this. It’s a description that implies we too would like to be more like them. Their imaginations and their awareness of surroundings remain sharp much like the rest of us remember experiencing as children. For the adults in the room, do you remember using your imagination in your play and being fascinated by nature?

Every so often I encounter a song that almost always causes me to tear up. It’s Puff the Magic Dragon sung by Peter, Paul, and Mary in 1963. It’s about a little boy named Jackie Paper and an imaginary dragon named Puff that love each other and play together every day. I want to read a few lines to you now. I hope I make it through as the song tears me up every time I encounter it.

A dragon lives forever but not so little boys.

Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys.

One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more,

And Puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.

We change as we get older. We become “mature”. And I suppose we must, but along the way most of us lose something huge, the ability to be childlike, the ability to see all the magic in the world around us. And I think that is where my tears come from when I hear that song. I feel that great loss and lament its passing.

Photo by willsantt from Pexels — Photo by **willsantt** from **Pexels**

In the gospel today Jesus invited two of John’s disciples to follow him. “What are you looking for”, he asked? “Come and see.” He gave them a great invitation. Come and see what I have to show you.

When my kids were small they were constantly asking me to come and see something they thought was important or wonderful. It was an invitation to me to enter their world of magic. Come and see this huge bug. Come and watch me run or catch a ball. Come and see the picture I made in school or Sunday school. Come and see the grade I made on my paper. Come and see me play sports. Come and see the hole I dug. Come and see this big bird, or that big dog, or some wildlife in the mountains. Come and see dad! Come and see!

Jesus too invites us. Come and see! What are you looking for? Come and see!

I think we would be wise to stop and ask a question, an important question. Why did God create the cosmos? Is it a big test for us? Is it pass or fail? Do we get a grade? Bill, if you get at least a 70 you may move on to heaven, anything less and I am sorry you don’t get to go on.

Really? Is this really what it’s all about? A big test? I am sorry folks but I refuse to believe that. Jesus leads me in another direction. Come and see!

Again and again in scripture Jesus irritates those in power by breaking the rules. He is constantly breaking Sabbath rules by “working” on the Sabbath. We find him helping others again and again on the Sabbath, meanwhile driving the bean counters crazy. We find him spending time with “sinners”, again driving the bean counters out of their minds.

Was the Sabbath made for man or was man made for the Sabbath? That’s the question he asks. Is Sabbath a test and a straight jacket for conduct or is Sabbath a day of rest and refreshment? It’s a simple question with far reaching answers.

I would like to ask another. Was everything that exists created by God as a test for us or was the world created by God for its own beauty and as an Eden for us to live in?

I think you already know the answer to the question. As a big test makes no sense whatsoever does it? As a thing of beauty, including ourselves as beautiful makes a lot more sense. We and the world are beautifully made. We are already complete. God already passed the test, if one even existed, for us, on our behalf.

Our job then is not only to be mature and handle ourselves as adults, but to also free the child that exists within each of us. Jesus invites us to enter the Kingdom of God as little children, innocent, seeing magic, enjoying beauty, using our imaginations, asking questions.

Jesus asks us, “What are you looking for?” Come and see. Climb out of that rut. Open your eyes. Find your dragon you left behind. He misses you.

The First Sunday in Epiphany: Seeing with New Eyes

January 19, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

—Matthew 3:13-17

Epiphany begins today. Epiphany is when the hidden becomes evident. Something might have been in plain sight but for the first time we become aware of its presence and truly discover what it is as opposed to what we previously believed. We have an “epiphany”, if you will. Here is an example.

A honeymoon couple was in the famous Watergate Hotel in Washington. The bride was concerned about security as anyone might be in that hotel and asked, "What if the place is still bugged?"

The groom thought about and wondered about it himself. "I'll look for a bug."

He looked behind the drapes, behind the pictures, under the rug. Finally, he said, "AHA!" Under the rug was a disc with four screws. With a big smile on his face he got his Swiss army knife, unscrewed the screws, and threw them and the disc out the window.

The next morning, the hotel manager stopped by the room and asked the newlyweds, "How was your room? How was the service? How was your stay at the Watergate Hotel?"

The groom replied suspiciously, "Why are you asking me all of these questions?"

To which the hotel manager said, "Well, the couple in the room under you complained that the chandelier fell on them.”

Today we heard the story of the baptism of Jesus. He was about thirty years old when it occurred. I am sure lots of people had known him pretty well and had known him for a long time. Yet it wasn’t until the moment of his baptism that they began to get a glimpse of who he truly was. Until then he was just a carpenter, a man with brothers and sisters in the little town of Nazareth in Galilee, son of Mary and Joseph. Nazareth was no big deal and he probably wasn’t thought of as anybody extraordinary either. As Nathanial famously said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

But that day witnesses saw him baptized by John, saw the Holy Spirit light upon him somewhat like a dove, and heard the voice of God. "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

And they looked at him with new eyes. They might not have recognized him as the long awaited messiah, but they knew he was way more special than they previously were aware.

Have you ever come to know someone as more than you had previously thought? Perhaps it might have been a boss or an associate? It has happened to me and I think the most dramatic example is my maternal grandmother.

I have spoken about her a few times. I hope I am not overdoing it now, but here we go as I talk about her again. Growing up she was just my grandmother. She was a lady, and adult, that I can’t say I knew particularly well. She was always nice to me. She cooked a lot. She made cakes and candy. She lived on a farm and obviously didn’t have a lot of money. She fired up the pickup truck on Sundays and went into town to church and taught Sunday school. She took great care of my granddad, a person who appeared to be somewhat helpless without her. I remember she liked to work crossword puzzles and chat with other people. I can’t say I ever heard her raise her voice. I know I never heard her say a mean word to or about anyone.

But she was just my grandmother, nothing more and nothing less. And it stayed that way all my childhood and well into my time as an adult. I guess truthfully I didn’t have my epiphany about her until I entered seminary and started studying the life of Jesus Christ in detail.

And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. In my entire life I then realized I had never met another person like my grandmother. I recognized for the first time that she was the best example of what Jesus was probably like that I would ever encounter. I still feel that way. I have crossed paths with a number of holy people in my life as an ordained person. Not one has approached the sanctity of my grandmother.

You see the things I took for granted about her were the very things that made her special. She listened. She cared. She loved. She was not judgmental in any way. She had time if you needed it. She had sympathy and patience. She was smart. She was insightful. And I finally realized this was God’s gift to me. Her presence in my life was a seed that would grow and sprout much later. I became aware that this Jesus I was studying was a lot like my grandmother. In an important way I had already encountered Jesus. That was my epiphany. She remains a shining example of the holy for me to this day.

Now I am hopeful I can help each of you have an epiphany today just as the crowd did when Jesus was baptized or I did when I was able to see my grandmother for who she was.

I would like you to think about God and your relationship with God. And then I would like for you to recognize that you did not create God. You did not create your relationship with God. God created you and God reached out to you and that is why you have a relationship with God.

One of my favorite theologians, Karl Barth, reminds us that there is a fixed chasm between us and God. Had God not been willing to make God’s self known to us we would never have known about our creator or even of God’s existence. We only know God exists because God reached out to us.

And so I am going to suggest something perhaps a bit radical to you. God made us. We came out of the mind of God. What we are is what God created. Whatever each of us may have done, good or bad, does not change God’s love for God’s creation. Please remember what God said at the baptism of Jesus. "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

God said that about Jesus before he had done a thing. His ministry hadn’t even started yet. He was already the beloved just because he was God’s. Just as the father forgave the prodigal son before he could even as for forgiveness God loves God’s creation no matter what.

So I am going to ask us to sit quietly for a couple of minutes and think about it. God created you. God forgives you before you can even ask for forgiveness. You are God’s beloved. Just ponder that for a bit.

"This is my child, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Second Sunday in Christmas: A Lesson from the Wise Men

January 19, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Rev. Carole Horton-Howe

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

`And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

—Matthew 2:1-12 (NRSV)

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Today is the last day of the Christmas season or Christmastide. The arrival of the Magi complete the story. So many Christmas decorations and Christmas cards include images of the Magi or Wise Men that it’s easy to forget that they wandered the desert for months before arriving at the place where the star led them. So it’s appropriate that on this 12th day of Christmas we hear a story about following the light of a star and the forces of darkness that tried to smother it. Tomorrow we’ll begin the Epiphany season – shifting from rejoicing at God’s coming among us to reflecting on what it means to us and to the life of the world.

Matthew’s is the only gospel that talks about the Magi’s visit. This story gives us a level of reality that jolts us in a way that Luke does not. Luke’s gospel is full of lovely images of angels singing and shepherds with lambs kneeling before the newborn baby. Matthew’s story, though, has all the intrigue of a Hollywood blockbuster -- rampant ambition and greed, fear and lust for power. Herod, a puppet ruler of the Romans, was so insecure that he executed his mother, his wife and three sons because he feared that they were plotting to take his throne. His encounter with the Magi on their quest to find the infant king triggers Herod’s cruelty streak yet again. And so he has hundreds of baby boys murdered in a futile effort to destroy the one little boy predicted and destined to grow up and rule Israel.

The Epiphany gospel story illustrates something critically important in the development of our faith – want it means to a community united in belief as God intends us to be. This embodiment of community instead of “us” versus “them” does not come easily, however.

Christmas is a traditional time for expressions of unity. Even during world wars, combatants often stopped fighting and sang to their enemies or even walked across the battle line to share gifts with them. At the local level, Christmas is a time when we do seem to embrace the idea of peaceful community together.

But Christmas has passed. The cards and banners proclaiming “peace on earth goodwill to all” have been put away or discarded. And if we are honest, we understand that the spirit of peace that seems to come to easily in the lead up to Christmas is fading and will continue to fade with each passing day as we return to our regular routines. If we are honest, we will admit that no assessment of the current world and national culture is clearer than the realization that people everywhere seem willing to tolerate a deep ideological divide. We live in a time when compromise is often seen as weakness and party and tribal purity, the classic duality of “us” verses “them” thinking, is commonplace.

“They” constitute a threat and everything about “them” is suspect. Emotionalism, blaming and scapegoating are no longer shock us. This is a time of believing that if you do not agree with us, you must be wrong. It may go so far as a conviction that only “we” have the right answer or access to God.

This is a time when the list of “us” verses “them” seems almost endless: whites against people of color; liberals against conservatives; Westerners against Middle Easterners; Muslims against Christians; rich against poor; male against female; native against foreign. “Us” against “them.” These aren’t easy concepts to talk about or to hear. But none of us are strangers to them, to walking on eggshells around family or friends or co-workers that we know or perhaps suspect have different views than the ones we hold. Falling into “us” versus “them” is all too easy to do. And it couldn’t take us further from being the community that God wants us to be.

The good news in today’s gospel story of honoring the Christ child is that it marks the beginning of the new understanding of peace, cooperation and unity. It recognizes that God is the God of all people, a God of unity, a God who moves God’s people beyond the trap of “us” against “them.” Jesus, born in a small town in a totally Jewish environment, was visited by learned scholars from another world. These foreigners came into the midst of the chosen people to remind us once more that our task is to embrace and teach the view that no one is so different that we dare treat them with less love or less respect than we would show those whom we know as brothers and sisters.

Paul’s letter to the Galatians reminds us of this: “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” No “other” who exists beyond God’s love. It reminds us that divisiveness like we experience so often is not consistent with the values of God.

The reality of God is the unity of all people – Jew and gentile, Christian and Muslim, conservative and liberal, rich and poor, male and female, black and white and red and brown, married and single, gay and straight, young and old – “us” and “them.” Through a unifying God, we are related to all people – and not just related in a common humanity but related in a much more profound way – through the Christ honored by the wise men and acknowledged as Lord of both Jew and gentile.

These "wise men from the East" were Gentiles, who saw the star -- a sign from God -- and followed it. They followed it across deserts and mountains and across natural and national barriers -- even across their own scholarly barriers of skepticism and disdain and fear -- and came at last to the place where the newborn King lay. And when they saw him, they knelt down before him. In other words, they committed themselves to follow him. And they were welcomed.

How do we know they were welcomed? Their gifts were accepted. They were given shelter. They were given safe passage back to their homes. Their story has been told through the centuries. In fact, their gifts are prophetic symbols of the whole life of this newborn King. The gold, which represents wealth and royalty, was the sign that he would be king. The frankincense -- incense, which was burned daily in the Jerusalem temple as a holy offering to God -- was the sign that he was holy, our "Great High Priest," as the letter to the Hebrews calls him. And the myrrh, a bitter spice used to wrap the bodies of the dead, was the sign that, royal and holy though he was, he would die.

And what about us? We are the gentiles, called to be part of the covenant of love and peace, heirs of the promise of God given through the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are called to transcend all the barriers to come. Not very many of us actually have to cross vast deserts on camelback. But we do have to transcend our own barriers: our skepticism and prejudices, our self-centeredness, our pre-conceived ideas, our pride -- whatever we find in the hard work of discernment separates us from the love of God. We are called out of ourselves and into Christ, to praise and worship the one who is God’s love come to earth.

And we are not alone. There are still strangers and sojourners in our world, people seeking light and truth, the love of God and the peace of Christ. The stable door is always open to all. And those of us who have arrived earlier, are called upon to welcome the stranger and traveler to the stable, to the Eucharistic table, to our hearts, and to life in Christ.

Having worshipped at the manger, the Wise Men carried the light of Christ out into the world with them, as they returned to their homes. So we, too, are called to rise from our worship at the manger and with celebrations in our hearts move steadily into the world, bearing the light of Christ -- to the places we work, the places we study, the places we play.

At the close of Christmastide in one church, a priest tells the story of one young member who was fascinated by the crèche they kept in a side chapel. More than once he found this young child in front of the figures, gazing intently and turning them over in his hands. On the day of Epiphany he got a frantic call from the child’s mother who started by stammering an apology. “What’s the matter?” the priest asked. The mother explained that her son had asked at church the previous Sunday what would happen to the crèche and figures now that Christmas was over. His mother, trying to reassure him, said that everything would be packed away safely until Christmas Eve next year. To her surprise she found the figure of the baby Jesus on her son’s nightstand that morning. He had taken it home, he told her, because he didn’t want Jesus kept in a box. “I brought him home,” he told her. “He’ll be safe here with me.”

We are called to go from this place keeping the baby Jesus safely with us.

The Light of Christ!

Thanks be to God!

Amen.