Year A Ash Wednesday 2020 Embracing Life

Year A Ash Wednesday, 26 February 2020
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“Embracing Life”

Collect: Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 (closing verses mentioned)

Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
Jesus said, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

We have two hands. We can only grasp, at most, two things at a time. We have one brain, and though some may attempt to convince us that multi-tasking is doable, we can only focus on one thing at time. Well, anyway. Lent is a time of stripping down to the reality, that to embrace that which we hold most dear, we must let get of the things that are not that. We do not hate them, or reject them. To choose the Best, we often have to let go of things, even some things that are Good. The job is Discernment is not choosing between the Good and the Bad. That is called Common Sense. Discernment is the Gift of Choice between where we are and where we hear God calling us to be. Lent is the gift to focus. 

This season of Lent started as a period of profound preparation, extreme fasting, and deep prayer for those who would be baptized at the Easter celebrations, usually at dawn on Easter Sunday. These 40 days, a number of completion, are still a time of focused discipleship and prayer, an intentional period to set our time at a different pace. Psychologically, this period is enough to start a new habit, a good one or a bad one, so let us pray it is good. Maybe this Lent can be a lasting change. Maybe this Lent can help us unbury a treasure.

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” Jesus says.  

We set this time aside to embrace our treasure. I had someone come over to my house. They walked in our den. The words that came out were, “Wow. You really like movies.” Guilty. I do. I have far too many. They have a prominent place, well-organized, and structured so that within seconds I have access to all my movies. Catalogued, alphabetized, and cross-referenced. You do not have to question that I treasure my movies. It comes out in what I do, what I talk about, what I seek out.

I would give up my movies tomorrow, though, for my true treasure. One is a hobby. One is my love. 

And that is why I love Lent. I truly do. I love it because it changes our days, our times, our self-understanding. We take the time to do a reboot. We sacrifice to EMBRACE LIFE, not to renounce it. We do it to run to what we hold most dear.

And that is a seeming contradiction, renouncing or letting things go to embrace our life. And that is not new. Paul said it in our reading today: 

We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known;
as dying, and see-- we are alive;
as punished, and yet not killed;
as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;
as poor, yet making many rich;
as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

The way we are treated is not the reality. Who we are is not who we appear to be.

It is a repeated motif in Scripture and in stories of all kinds. You probably have had someone even say to you at some point, “OH! So you are…” and then they go on to tell you that you were more than they thought. You were more than you seemed. We all are. We are made in the image of God, with all the implications of that. And yet, we treat ourselves and each other with things that are less than that far too often.

Think of how this season might change you if you wrote on your mirror “You are Beloved of God.” As you shake hands, say in your mind, “They are the Beloved of God.” What a blessed season this would be.

As I started today, we have two hands and can only grasp, at most two things. We have one mind, we can only grasp one thing at a time. Lent is a recognition of our limits. Lent is a recognition that every so often we need to pause, reset, reboot ourselves so we can run our best lives, be our best selves.

We are reminded that “we are put on earth but a little space.” Our days are numbered. In a moment we will go through a rite, where we are reminded of that mortality. But this is not morbidity.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reminds us, though, that we are spiritual beings having a physical experience. From the beginning of A Psalm for Life:

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
   Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
   And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
   And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
   Was not spoken of the soul.

Lent is our time of honing our minds, our hearts, our bodies, for the expanding of our soul. It is embracing our first love. It is a gift from God so we can focus on God. It is a season because that is the way we are wired. Change takes time. Take the time. Be blessed. Amen

Year A Last Epiphany Transfiguration 2020 Outward and Inward

Year A Last Sunday of Epiphany (Transfiguration Sunday), 23 February 2020

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Outward and Inward”

Collect: O God, who before the passion of your only begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Matthew 17:1-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Good morning. It is good to be back. For those of you who are unaware, I had an outpatient surgery last week, and things are healing up very well. Thank you for your prayers!

One reason things are going as well as they are is that I did what the doctor told me to do. Put on the ointment three times a day. Take your medicine. Sit still and upright, and sleep that way with your head elevated the first few nights. For the first two days, put ice on it for 20 minutes every hour while you are awake. And because of that most of you would never know I had surgery had I not told you, instead of looking like a raccoon which is what I was told to expect. 

And for those of you who know me well, sitting still and quiet for a week is not my first choice. I like to be out and about. I like to do. And in this time of forced reflection and stillness, it struck me that there could not be a better way to prepare for Lent. And here was the paradox, for me to be up and about I had to be still and quiet. As it has been penned, I “[do] not hate the Winter now, for [I know] it is but the Spring asleep.” (Wilde, The Selfish Giant)

Today is Transfiguration Sunday, when we see the turning point for Jesus. Before this he was expanding his ministry, sharing his light, giving people “epiphanies” of who he was. The Wise Men. The crowds. He was outwardly focused, and in this moment we see a change. We see Jesus taking what could have drawn a lot of people to him and to his ministry.

But Jesus was not about a magic show, glowing like Moses did after he had had his private connection time with God receiving the 10 Commandments. Jesus took his closest intimates, and they were allowed to witness this moment of charism, this joy of the Father revelling with the Son wrapped up in the aura of the Spirit. The Trinity before them fully realized. Even more, we see the embodiment of the Law, Moses, coming to see Jesus, and the epitome of the prophets, Elijah, coming as well. The Law and the Prophets both coming to glory in the embodiment of the only thing that trumps both, Grace.

Jesus’ outward focus, this shining of the light into a darkened world, is the first half of Christian mission. Peter was in that mode. He was focused on getting the word out, focused on making a splash. This splendiferous event, where Moses and Elijah both showed up to be present to Jesus, was a singular moment, an unparalleled gathering. Let it be known! Let it be solemnized! Let it be monumented! 

But no.

Just no. 

Jesus knew that this was a singular moment, this was when things changed. He knew that he turning outward time was now complete. His turning was towards Jerusalem. His turning to death began an inward journey that would lead to Golgotha, to the grave, to Hell... and Back. If that does not make you turn inward I cannot imagine what would. And this dear friends, is the other half of Christian mission. It is often the harder one. It is the mission to the Self.

Both/And. Not Either/Or. I have met many who have espoused being at work in the world, who missed this component entirely. Martin Luther said once, “I have so much to do today that I’m going to spend three hours in prayer in order to get it all done.” 

On the other extreme, I have seen people with their eyes so fixed on heaven that they are no earthly good.

Jesus, knew that his time had come. He was secure in who he was (“This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”) and he was secure in what was expected of him and his followers (“Get up and do not be afraid.”) This was a moment, not a monument. This was a cruxpoint, not a cairn. 

Jesus turns his mind to Jerusalem, and setting up the confrontation that will enable the prophecies to come true. With that resolute focus of his mind, his steps take his body with equal resolve.

In the journeys of our lives, we must do the same thing. Seemingly contradictory, they are part of the dance of discipleship. 

Remember the swings on the playground? When we were tiny, we had to be pushed. We had someone behind us who would stand at the apogee point, and give a gentle shove to keep us going. But then when we matured, we started to do it for ourselves. We would push back to get off the ground, and then we would swing our legs back to send us back, and swing our legs forward to go forward. And many would stop with that for the swinging of the swings.

But I always wanted more. I wanted to go higher. I wanted to see how high I might possibly go. And then I had to embody a seeming contradiction. To go as high as possible, when my legs swung forward I had to kick my body back. And then when my legs swung back, my body leaned in. It added momentum. It gave me a greater force. I had to do two things at once. Forward legs with a lean back of my body, then back with my legs with a lean forward with my body. Both back and forth to get the most out of it. My spiritual walk is much the same way.

For me to be outward facing in my faith, declaring, celebrating, encouraging, and proclaiming, I have to turn inward and feed my soul. I have to take the time to cultivate and prune the garden of my heart. And to have the richness of my inner life, I have to share what I have found. It could be through service. It could be through sharing. But it cannot be about me. We are blessed to be a blessing, not for our betterment. Vegetables are not made to be looked at, they are made to be eaten. Cultivating them just to be pretty might get you a blue ribbon at a Fair, but it ceases to be what the thing was made to do.

To go out I must go in. To go in I must turn out. 

Jesus told his disciples to NOT speak of this moment until the main thing was accomplished. “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” This is called the Messianic Secret by scholars, Jesus urging folks to not share, yet. To keep it secret, to keep him safe. He knew what his main thing was. He knew what he needed to do to accomplish it.

In our following of him, we need to also be this focused. We need to also do the seemingly contradictory thing. It is how the thing gets done.

In the coming week we turn our faces, with Jesus, to Jerusalem. It is a serious time. It is a time of preparation. We mark ourselves as followers of this Son, the Beloved of God. And we not only follow his steps, but his lead. As he takes up his cross, we take up ours. Knowingly. Unreservedly. Devoutly.

On Wednesday I will say these words:

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and

meditating on God's holy Word.

On Wednesday, I too will have a season of turning inward and turning outward. We are all encouraged and invited on this sacred path. The Season of turning outward is complete, this Season of turning inward begins. And the outcome for Jesus? It was so that he might be “high and lifted up” and so that “all peoples might be drawn unto him.”

What shape will your Season take? Prepare now. Pray about it even. What might draw you closer to God by giving it up? What might draw you closer to God by taking it on?  It is both, my friends. It is both. Amen.

Year A 5th Epiphany WED 2020 Censorship through Noise

Year A 5th Sunday of the Epiphany WEDNESDAY 12 February 2020
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“Censorship Through Noise”

Collect: Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Romans 12:1-8
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

John 8:12-20 (Today’s Gospel, read but not focused upon)

Stay with me here, this is about Jesus, and loving Jesus more. But I need to do a little background. I was listening to a radio interview yesterday with the writer McKay Coppins on his new article in The Atlantic. They were talking about the current political climate, and how this year the idea of truth and logic have already been thrown out the window. We are witnessing where one need not counter the opposition, but rather drown them out with such a stream of other (whether factual, or logical, or not) that any opposing voice is drowned out. I got chills as he was describing it.

This is from his article discussing his research on this tactic used by authoritarians around the world:

What I was seeing was a strategy that has been deployed by illiberal political leaders around the world. Rather than shutting down dissenting voices, these leaders have learned to harness the democratizing power of social media for their own purposes—jamming the signals, sowing confusion. They no longer need to silence the dissident shouting in the streets; they can use a megaphone to drown him out. Scholars have a name for this: censorship through noise.

(Here is a link to the article from the March 2020 edition.)

We no longer need a better argument, or facts, just a better sound system. Now, before anyone gets up and leaves, this is almost the exact attack that Uncle Screwtape instructed his nephew Wormwood to do to keep a new follower of Jesus from growing in his faith in C.S. Lewis’s classic The Screwtape Letters.

“When this, or any other distraction, crosses his mind you ought to encourage him to thrust it away by sheer will power and to try to continue the normal prayer as if nothing had happened; once he accepts the distraction as his present problem and lays that before the Enemy and makes it the main theme of his prayers and his endeavours, then, so far from doing good, you have done harm.”

Remember that The Screwtape Letters are written from demons pulling a sinner away from “the Enemy,” a.k.a. God, so distracting us, in our prayers, in our service, in our devotions, and having us think that distraction, whatever it is, is the main thing, then they have won. Censorship through noise.

This year there will be screaming, finger-pointing, and hate. Love, patience, joy will be the only things that will win the day. D-Day was long before the end of World War II, but after that Germany’s fate was sealed. At Calvary, our Enemy, our true Enemy was defeated for eternity. Right now we are just having skirmishes with a terrified and defeated foe, some as big or bigger than the Battle of the Bulge.

That is why Paul can encourage us to put all our chips on Jesus. It is, as he would say, the only winning hand. The Romans passage encourages us to be all in, each and every day. When the distractions pull us away, we can center, asking God for help as we need to do so, so that we can be who we were born to be in Christ. My favorite translation of this passage comes from Eugene Peterson’s The Message. I have probably read this before. I should probably read it to myself daily. These are just the first two verses from today’s passage.

Romans 8:1-2 from Eugene Peterson’s The Message.
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

The Call of Christ is calling us to our best selves, always has been, always will. Uncle Screwtape will distort, distract, and disarm us in whatever way he can. “Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.” May we keep the main thing the main thing. Amen

Year A 5th Epiphany 2020 Living Into Abundance & Middle School Skit

Year A 5th Sunday After Epiphany, 9 February 2020
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“Living into Abundance”

Collect: Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Matthew 5:13-20
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.” 

[Note from Rock+: This sermon was a short homily to coincide with our Annual Meeting and our Middle School Sunday. At the bottom I included the skit I co-wrote with my middle school daughter.]

Today I want to speak about a word, a single word. And it is not even in our Gospel, but it is in our Collect for the day. But without this word, and the attitude and that it represents then everything in the Gospel cannot be true.

Last week we looked at our Belovedness, and how I believe that the Beatitudes express that all are Beloved to God and thus can be happy in God, through God, and with God no matter the instance we find ourselves in. And coupled with that concept of Belovedness is what that means for us.

One of the joys of being married, is that in almost in situation I know that Stephanie will have my back. We are a team. We are together through it all. We have been. And I trust, as long as there is breath in our lungs, we will be. She and I can and will face anything that comes, together. So it is with God, too.

God plus you is bigger than anything! And with that comes our word of the day. Abundance. From our collect: Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ… You see with God we have all we need. God gives us not just a sense, but a reality of Abundance. We have all we need. We will have all we need.

This last Wednesday morning we spoke of the time when the Hebrew children wandered in the desert, living on the sustenance provided by God, the Manna that came down from heaven. Learning to fully rely on God is hard. It takes faith. For forty years, the people of God were taught to rely fully on God. We are living in the most productive and prosperous nation on earth, and arguably in the history of the world. That felt need of fully relying on God left us a long time ago.

Now do not hear me saying that we get what we want, that is the bailiwick of the Prosperity Gospel heresy. I am not saying that. I never will. We are not talking about luxury, desire, or comfort. We are talking about need.

And as we live into sharing what we have, and in living more and more into who Christ would have us be, then God entrusts us with more and more. We are blessed to be a blessing. And like I was talking about with someone last Sunday at coffee hour, we give and then we find that God blesses us with more so we can give more, bless more. Thanks be to God.

From that Abundance, Jesus can say, “You are the salt of the earth.” And remember, when Jesus was saying this it was a precious substance that took labor and effort to make, and it was a precious thing. In the arid land where he was, Salt was Life. To be a precious commodity requires a shift in our understanding. But we do not make ourselves precious, we are precious for whose we are, not who we are.

From that Abundance, Jesus can say, “You are the light of the world.” We are not expected to shine our light, but like the moon, we reflect the light of the Sun (Son?). God is the source of our Light, not given for our benefit, but we are blessed to be a blessing. We acknowledge the Abundance of an Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent God. And we can reside in that Abundance.

Now are there those among us who have needs? Of course. But WE have all we need. Our hesitancy to live lives of Abundance is a faith issue amongst us. When I share with you, I receive the blessing of knowing I have helped a sister or brother, in knowing that God has provided enough for me to be generous, in knowing that the way I have seen God provide before will still be true tomorrow.

Do we have the faith to be the Light of the World, the Salt of the Earth? Let’s even scale it back. Do we even have the faith to be the Light of Ashland? The Salt of Hanover?

It is not that we have a shortage of anything, except maybe faith. Like the man said who asked Jesus for a healing for his son, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” Lord, we believe. Help our faith live into your Abundance. Amen.

MIDDLE SCHOOL SUNDAY SKIT
Year A 5th Epiphany, 9 February 2020
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
Middle School Sunday Skit Sermon

Matthew 5:13-20
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.”

ALL PARTS

Scripture A
Uno
Dos
Girl
News Reporter
Waitress
Victim
Car (non-speaking)
Ambulance (could be 2-5)
Billy Bob
Scripture B

Scripture A: When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. I Corinthians 2:1 We, the Middle School Youth of St. James the Less can say the same thing. No Lofty Words, but maybe some wisdom. You be the judge.

Narrator Uno: Once upon a time, there was girl…
Narrator Dos: A girl?
Narrator Uno: Yes, a girl. And she had a horrible dream one night.

Girl: Ahh. What a great day! It feels fantastic already. I wonder what is going on in the world.
News Reporter: Good morning! We hope you are having a super-duper day. In breaking news, we have nothing. Nothing is happening. Everyone is filled with love and happiness. There is no news, because this is the 437th day of nothing. I think I’ll just sit here and hum lullabies until I drift to sleep. MMM-mm-MMM-mm-MMM-mm.
Girl: Huh? Wait! What?!? That can’t be right!
News Reporter: This just in. What I just said is right. Nada. Zip. Everything is peachy.
[Girl turns off TV.]
Girl: Maybe I need to get going. [Leaves.] I know, I will go and get breakfast.

Uno: But once she left the house, the weirdness just got weirder.
Dos: What do you mean?
Uno: I better just show you, you won’t believe any more than she did.

Waitress: Hey, welcome to Dottie’s Diner! Have a seat.
Girl: Thanks! I’m starved.
Waitress: Sorry to hear that.
Girl: Well, don’t worry. That’s why I came here.
Waitress: For what?
Girl: For breakfast.
Waitress: Well, why did you come here?
Girl: This is a restaurant, a diner. A place to get food!
Waitress: Oh hunny! You’re silly. We don’t serve food!
Girl: Uh, what?!?
Waitress: This is a diner. Why would you think that we would serve food. You sure are a funny one!
Girl: Uh, okay, maybe I’ll just move on.
Waitress: You just got here! Oh, well. Suit yourself.

Dos: That is weird.
Uno: What did I tell you? News with no News.
Dos: A Diner with no Dining.
Uno: Well, that is nothing. Wait, it gets worse…

Girl: Oh hey, there is my friend. Hey, ________.
Victim: Oh hey, ____________.
Girl: Be careful crossing the street!
[Victim gets struck by car and lies injured in the road.]
Girl: Oh, no! I better call the Ambulance! [Dials] Ambulance, ambulance, help! Help!!!
[Group “Ambulance” shows up.]
Ambulance: Don’t worry. What seems to be the problem?
Girl: My friend, __________, got hit by a car.
Ambulance: Well don’t worry! We are here to stop his suffering!
Girl: Thank goodness!
[Ambulance crew then begins to stomp on Victim.]
Girl: Wait! What are you doing?
Ambulance: Duh! Ending his suffering!

Dos: Ahh! That is crazy.
Uno: I know, right?
Dos: Oh look, she is getting rid of the ambulance.
Uno: Well that seems to be the right thing to do.
Dos: What is going on in this place? Is this dream about Crazyville?!?!?
Uno: Wait, there’s more.

Girl: Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas any more. __________, come on, let me see if I can get you some help.
Billy Bob: Hey there, welcome to Billy Bob’s Big Boutique. What can I help you with?
Girl: Finally. My friend needs some assistance. I need to buy some stuff.
Billy Bob: Great! I got stuff. What are you looking for?
Girl: First Aid Supplies.
Billy Bob: Great. I have something like that.
Girl: Bandages? Antiseptic Ointment?
Billy Bob: I got some things like that. How about some used tissues for those bandages, and maybe some of this here lemon juice for those open wounds?
Girl: What? Are you trying to kill him?
Billy Bob: Just telling you what we got, mam.
Girl: Don’t you have anything normal?
Billy Bob: We got salt.
Girl: Salt. That is actually something they used to use for wounds.
Billy Bob: Well, see, that’ll work. Now that there is some of our special Billy Bob Special Salt. It is the “sweeeeeetest” salt you ever did see.
Girl: Sweet Salt?
Billy Bob: Billy Bob’s Special Salt. Sweet as can be!
Girl: That’s not SALT! That’s sugar.
Billy Bob: Well aren’t you getting picky! How ‘bout you try one of these here Billy Bob Flashlights. 100% Guaranteed to not work, GUARANTEED! 100% unlightable flashlight. Almost as special as that salt.
Girl: AHHHHH! Get me outta here!

Dos: Finally someone making some sense.
Uno: Nothing is the way it should be.
Dos: Nothing makes sense.
Uno: Salt with no Saltiness.
Dos: Lights with no Light.
Uno: That is not how things are supposed to be.
Dos: We are supposed to do things the way they are supposed to be done. God’s way.
Waitress: Diners should be for Dining.
Victim: Helpers should be for Helping.
Billy Bob: Salt should be Salty.
Girl: And Light should be Lighting up the world. Light was not made to be hidden.

Scripture B: Jesus put it this way. “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.”
Victim: Hey, I got trampled under foot.
Ambulance:  Yes, you were A-SALTed. Get it? A-SALTed?!?!?

Scripture B: [Shaking head.] Back to Jesus. “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.

Girl: Now go…
ALL: And do likewise!

Year A 4th Epiphany WED 2020 True Bread from Heaven

Year A 4th Sunday of Epiphany WEDNESDAY, 9 February 2020
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“The True Bread From Heaven”

Collect: Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Genesis 22:1-18 (The Binding of Isaac)
Hebrews 11:23-31 (The Faith of Moses)
John 6:52-59
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

We have had quite the readings today, with the Binding of Isaac as our Jewish sisters and brothers call this passage, Hebrews looking at the faith of Moses, and Jesus claiming to be the perfect “Manna.” We are looking at things that are substituting for the perfect what is imperfect. Just before this, we see Abraham sending off Hagar and Ishmael for the promised heir, Isaac. In Hebrews we see the adopted son of Pharaoh being seen for a true child of God (the true King), the leader who will redeem his people, passing through the waters by faith. And Jesus, offering up himself as the true “manna” from heaven, superior to the bread that lasted a day, or two (if it was the Sabbath).

And the highly technical argument that Jesus is making, makes me ponder the nature of the Eucharist, the nature of “manna,” and the what is most real.

On the Eucahrist, I have to agree with Queen Elizabeth, who epitomized the “middle way” thinking which was the foundation of the Anglican Church. If you have not heard it, her poem: This is my Body… (or in Latin)...

Hoc est corpus meum‘Twas Christ the Word that spake it, The same took bread and break it,And as the Word did make it, So I believe and take it.

And yet, in this apparent mystery, we see the underlying paradox of our faith. Jesus is the Word, Jesus is the Bread of Life, Jesus is What We Need (Whatever That May Be). We believe that this will work. We trust. We trust because of what we have been taught, what we have seen at work in the world, and what we hope to be true.

What is now, we hope for something better. We see in a mirror dimly, as Paul says to the Corinthians, but then we shall see face to face.

But that Jesus would compare himself to one of the most curious of details in our faith heritage, the 40 years of sustenance that the Hebrew Children ate while they were wandering for a lifetime in the desert on the way to the Promised Land. The name itself is like unto the Mystery of the Eucharist, with the Hebrew word Manna translating more clearly to “What is it?” We each would have a different answer if we were asked to explain who Jesus is to us, what the Eucharist is to each of us. The growing prominence of the Sacraments was a huge part, probably the biggest, in my coming into the Episcopal Church and all the side implications of a sacramental theology.

And the last thought for the day, the nature of what is most real. Both of these quotes came to mind from our reading of The Little Prince, which our Book Club read last spring. (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince)

• And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
• The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.

And both of these, for me, point to Jesus Christ. I know that my life has the better story with him in it. I know that he makes no rational sense, but my life only makes sense with Jesus in it. I know that in the bread and wine I find and feel a Truth beyond my ability to describe. I will let Jesus speak to it, for he cannot be surpassed. “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ...the one who eats this bread will live forever.” Amen

Year A 4th Epiphany 2020 We Are All Blessed

Year A 4th Sunday of the Epiphany, 2 February 2020
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“We Are All Blessed”

Collect: Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Micah 6:8
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice,
and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
I Corinthians 1:18-31
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
    and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Matthew 5:1-12
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Today’s date, numerically at least, is a palindrome. It is the same, backwards and forwards. 02/02/2020. Reverse it. 02/02/2020. The same. And today when I look at our Gospel, that is what it is. The Great Reversal. Jesus, in his teachings and actions, came to make and show the Great Reversal. “The Last shall be First. The First shall be Last.” “If any among you want to great, let him or her be servant of all.” “Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.”

And here we have the beginning of his greatest encapsulation of his teachings on how to reside in the Kingdom of God, recorded together in the Gospel of Matthew in Chapters 5, 6, and 7. I encourage you to read them together, in one sitting. The subtleties and nuances flow into each other, and his argument for following God in a way of grace and being at peace with all is seen very clearly. I encourage you to read Dallas Willard’s book, The Divine Conspiracy, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship, if you would like to explore it more.

Our reading from the New Testament reminds us that even WE are a great reversal!

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

And looking at rhetoric, one of the key things to grabbing a reader’s or listener’s attention is to start with something that grabs them. A story. A joke. An unexpected direction. In writing it is often called the Lead. And looking at Jesus, who is a Master of appraising the human condition, I truly believe, that we are invited in from an unexpected direction. The people who had wandered out to hear this new preacher were hopeful but doubting, and he needed to start things off with a bang.

But the surprise is taken away for us. Our ears our numb to the scandalous after 2,000 years. 

We all have seen videos of babies seeing a jack-in-the-box for the first time. Some with secure feelings laugh with delight, and those hesitant by nature are terrified and recoil. I saw another great video this last week, when a baby tries ice cream for the first time. The parent had waited so that it was not rock hard, and let the baby try a taste. Having never had ice cream, instead of sticking out a tongue to gain a lick, this baby fish-mouthed it. They finally got some, and their eyes widened, and before the parent could pull it away, the baby had dug both fists into the sides of the scoop and that cone was not going anywhere. The baby pulled the scoop in and starting going to town. Surprise. Delight. Yes, I believe Jesus begins this sermon with just that kind of start.

The problem, though, is us. We do not hear it that way. We do not hear it as they heard it.

The Beatitudes, this litany of the blesseds, is not some checklist of things that we can do or be so that we can be blessed. Jesus is declaring openly to all that his way of doing things, God’s way of doing things, goes directly against the powers that be and the assumptions that had been handed on for centuries.

The blessed are rich and good and respected. We still hang on to this bad theology. When things are going great, we too often say, “We are blessed.” Or, “I must be living right.” Grateful would be a much better word than blessed, and a better theology. And going against this idea is where Jesus starts. He pulls out a double-barrel of radical theology, and takes aim. Look at the list. Most of us would not sign up for any of these.

Poor-in-spirit. Mourning. Meek. Hungry. Thirsty. Merciful. Pure-in-heart. Peacemakers. Persecuted. Reviled. Slandered. 

This is not a wanna-be kind of list. Too often I have heard it taught or preached that way. This is not a checklist on how to get blessed.

So, Rock, what are you getting at? Jesus came to proclaim the Kingdom of God is at hand, so we should Repent. We have spoken on this the last two Sundays. I will not beat a dead horse, but if you need more on that, both sermons are online. (rev.rocks) And what we see is that that the old way of seeing things, the old way of doing religion was about to be shaken up.

His radical way of loving God and everybody was such a threat to the powers that be he was killed. That type of authority he brought was terrifying. The oldest rule in politics, if you cannot stop the message, attack the messenger. What was so dangerous about his message?

You can be “blessed,” even if… You see, God’s love, God’s Kingdom is open to any and all. We do not hear it as radical because we have been raised in it, steeped in it. Our ears have become numb. But this was news, Good News, Great News, when Jesus starts his sermon this way.

The word blessed is actually quite close to meaning “happy.” So Jesus is saying this…

You’re happified, even when you are Poor-in-spirit, or Mourning, or Meek. Picture Jesus walking through the crowd, and seeing someone slunking on the edge of the crowd. Or someone in sackcloth and ashes, weeping openly. Or the “loser” who would never have been picked being singled out. (Just like Zaccheus over in Luke’s Gospel.) Our condition in the moment does not override our identity in God. We are loved by God where we are, and in who we are. Our momentary does not define our belovedness.

This is the definition of Grace. There is nothing that can make God love you any more, and nothing that can make God love you any less. (Brennan Manning) And Jesus starts his sermon in this radical way, declaring that the people were never let in to the party were actually on the VIP list. And the religious authorities who were acting as God’s bouncers were stopping people at the door.

Jesus starts his sermon saying that no matter where we are, no matter what we have done, this message is for us. In God’s Kingdom we all belong. Jesus came to say it, show it, and enable it. And when this radical message was attempted to be silenced, the Powers that Be guaranteed that it would be the cruxpoint of history. From that moment the world changed.

From the age of Micah the prophet, he summed up what the Lord requires of us.  

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

That is the doing. But the doing does not change our identity. Sometimes we have to see that we belong before we can believe. And Jesus says just that. We belong. We are at home. And as we see ourselves in that reality, then we can begin the work of furthering the Kingdom by doing Justice, loving Kindness, and walking Humbly with our God. It is not getting right before we begin. My favorite hymn has this line, “If you tarry till you’re better, you will never come at all.” If we wait till we get things perfect in us, that is salvation through our work and effort, and Scripture repeatedly shows us that the Grace of God in Christ is the only thing that can accomplish that. 

We must belong first. We must see our selves as beloved. We must see ourselves as Blessed. That is why Jesus can preach this radical, life-changing message. Open up your bulletins and let’s read them together. And let’s read them like they are really good news.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Amen.