Year B Ash Wednesday 2021 Boiling Off the Excess

 Year B Ash Wednesday, 17 February 2021

Video from St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Boiling Off the Excess”

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

We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,

"At an acceptable time I have listened to you,

and on a day of salvation I have helped you."

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. 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.

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."

The other day in this bleak midwinter I made a crockpot of chili. It had been cooking for a few hours. After a good stirring, I left the lid off. One of the kids came through and thought they were helping me out, and that dad had “just forgot” and left the lid off. They put it back on. I said, “Whoa, I was letting was letting it boil down, letting it cook some of the water off.”

As we come to Lent, maybe we can think on that. We enter into a time of life where we boil off some of the excess off. We simmer down to what is essential. We concentrate till we are consecrated.

It feels like we have been in Lent a year. It has been a year of doing without, a year of fasting from. We were in week 2 of Lent when we stopped gathering due to the pandemic. That seems like a decade ago. And the thought of deprivation is hard, even for your priest. Instead of letting go, or giving up for Lent, maybe we can focus, simmer down, concentrate.

In his book, Eager to Love, Father Richard Rohr describes the heavenward call this way:

What you seek is what you are. The search for God and the search for the True Self (capital T capital S) is the same search. [p.8]

Our searching for the divine always ends in the interior. Father Rohr said, “What you seek is what you are.” Jesus said the same thing, just phrased it this way: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

St. Francis, in what was called his “all night” prayer, prayed thus:

Who are you, O God, and who am I? [p. 8]

Friends, I will keep it simple, as I believe we are called to be in this season. If you give alms, just give them. No fanfare. If you pray, do it so only God knows. If you fast, same thing. Store up your treasures in heaven not in gaining attention down here. 

I always found it a bit of a paradox that before we mark ourselves outwardly for all the world to see our piety on this day, that we read a passage on keeping our piety to ourselves.

But I mark myself with ashes this day, for me. For me to mark this season. For me to be intentional. For me to remember that when all is said and done, “I am put on earth but a little space to learn to bear the beams of love.” We are all terminal cases. Not a one of us make it out of here alive. We know this, and this knowledge can be a curse or an inspiration.

As the poet Mary Oliver penned in her poem The Summer Day, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Forty days, plus Sundays, is an eighth of a year. An eighth of our year to boil off some of the excess off. An eighth of our year to simmer down to what is essential. An eighth of our year to dedicate and concentrate so that we can be consecrated.

Blessings this year, this year of all years, and may we truly receive God’s attention as we devote ourselves to becoming and being our Truest Selves. To God’s honor and glory, and it the name of Christ. Amen

Year B 5th Epiphany WED 2021 Coronary Softening

 Year B 5th Sunday after Epiphany WEDNESDAY, 10 February 2021

Video Service from St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Coronary Softening”

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.

Mark 10:1-16

He left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan. And crowds again gathered around him; and, as was his custom, he again taught them.

Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ They said, ‘Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and female.” “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’

Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

This morning I am going to keep it simple. No need to do otherwise. 

I will not be speaking about divorce, not directly anyway. It comes up because that is the question that is brought to Jesus, not for an answer but to be a “Gotcha!” which we have talked about before. 

Jesus answers if divorce is legal, and he says yes. But then he says this, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you.”

And that is where I want to spend my time today. If hearts were hardened in Moses’ day, if hearts were hardened in Jesus’ day, what would be said of the hearts of our day?

Hardened does not even begin to describe it.

In all of our conflict, in all of our disagreements, in all of our divisions, the issues are not the issue. The hardness of our hearts is the issue. And Jesus’ followers need to NOT have hardened, jaded, embittered, calcified, obstinate hearts.

Jesus’ followers need to have supple, pliable, humble, approachable, teachable, inquisitive hearts. They need hearts like children. And that is included in our passage, too. As Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”

We are called to be like children so that we might not have hardened hearts. We have divorce, and divisions of all kinds because we do not have the open hearts God calls us to have.

We are called to seek reconciliation, so our hearts can be like Jesus’.

We are called to seek unity, so our hearts can be like Jesus’.

We are called to live blamelessly, so our hearts can be like Jesus’.

We are called to forgive, so that our hearts can be like Jesus’.

When we harden our hearts we move away from Christ. As we begin a week from today to move toward Jerusalem and identify with Jesus and his death and his Easter, we need to focus on softening our heart, decalcifying our coronaries. We need to come like children, simple, honest, and pure. Amen

How to SEE these sermons preached...

Greetings! This is the blog for all of my sermons going back years. Currently I am the Rector of St. James the Less Episcopal, in Ashland, Virginia. I put all my sermons here for an archive for anyone who might be interested. I use it myself, to check that I am not repeating stories or main ideas at times. I hope these can and will be a blessing!

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Year B 5th Sunday after Epiphany 2021 Playing Catch

 Year B 5th Sunday after Epiphany, 7 February 2021

Video Service from St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Playing Catch”

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.

Mark 1:29-39

After Jesus and his disciples left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

There is going to be a lot of people more focused on football today than any of the sermons preached, at least in the this country. Can Tom Brady do it? Or rather, can Tom Brady do it again? His record is beyond compare. An odd combination to be that good and that despised all in one. But I digress.

Gearing up, there will be a lot of kids and parents tossing around a pigskin before the abundance of snacks roll out. It is a fun, national diversion, number Fifty-five. All this fun has a price, though. Gambling goes up. Spousal abuse goes up. Calling in to work sick goes up. That is the price we pay for the fun. But I digress again.

Growing up, playing catch with my dad was a favorite way to spend the time. Now we were more apt to throw a baseball than a football, but play catch we did. And we would just be together, tossing the ball back and forth, back and forth. I can smell the grass, feel the leather of the glove and the ball. Smile remembering my dad.

Playing catch was a joy. Later in life I played first base, and all those times playing catch paid off. I never knew where the ball was going to come in from when someone wildly threw it to get the runner out. I was training myself, when a ball is thrown, my job was to catch it.

That was one of the big things I had to later unlearn in life. Saying no is a spiritual discipline. Let me put it to you bluntly: 

Just because someone throws a ball, it doesn’t mean you have to catch it.

In today’s Gospel reading, I see such an important action by Jesus that so many of us miss in the reading. We read of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law getting healed, and then the whole town streaming to be cured of their infirmities, and Jesus sneaking out early to get his devotional time in before the day. But people will not let up. It says:

And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 

His disciples were HUNTING for him. Do not let that slip by. Beyond looking, searching, or seeking, they were determined and intentional to bag Jesus and get him back to where they wanted him. They had their minds set, and wanted Jesus to be about their agenda of getting Capernaum healed! But Jesus says this:

He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”

Did he do what they wanted him to do? NO! He knew how easy it would be to get sidetracked and bogged down staying in Capernaum. He did not come to establish his Kingdom in that region of Galilee, his sights were set higher. He came to set the Kingdom of God that continues to this day. And to do that, he had to say NO to this. I remind you of today’s premise:

Just because someone throws a ball, it doesn’t mean you have to catch it.

Jesus did not play catch. We do not have to either.

I remember when this analogy first came to me. I had a church member upset. I have made a promise that someone else could do a task. The 1st member was perfectly capable of doing it, and I acknowledged that. But I said also that I had to keep my word. The 1st member got upset. And I said, “You can get as upset as you want, and you can toss all kinds of balls at me, but I will not catch them, and I will just let them go by. This is not about you. It is about my keeping my word. I am not giving this any more energy.” 

Now to their credit, they heard this. Pondered it for a bit, and even said they were sorry that they just had not seen it that way. It made sense after I explained it.

Sometimes NOT playing catch draws us even closer than getting pulled in and catching all those balls being thrown at us. Spiritual maturity dictates that we stay on the task at hand. Spiritual maturity requires discernment on our part. Spiritual maturity necessitates our saying NO even to some very fine things that might distract us and pull us off our intended course.

Saying NO is a big part of growing up. There are many things we say no to as we mature. And saying NO, is why God gave us so many “Thou Shalt Nots.” When we are first starting out we say NO out of fear. I don’t play with snakes because I might get bit. I do not play with fire because I might get burnt. I do not play ball with you, because you do not play in a game I want to be involved with.

But as we mature, saying NO to things, even relatively good things, is so that we can EMBRACE the YES. I say no to playing catch with this person over here, so I can play catch with God. 

I say no to my Snooze Button, so I can say YES to my devotional time with God.

I say no to a temptation, so I can say YES to a discipline.

I say no to people pulling at me asking for more, so that I can refill my cup. That is what Jesus did. He snuck off alone in the morning to pray. And his disciples hunted him down. When they threw him the ball of people needing him, he said NO so he could say YES to the thousands more who needed to hear from him, to be healed by him.

Know who you choose to play ball with. That YES, or that NO, will determine so much in how we shape our days. Father Richard Rohr puts it like this: “Make room for the new by letting go of that which is tired and empty.” We can only play catch one ball at a time.

Tonight, as you see some amazing football, think on that. What are you receiving, and from whom? Is this game worth your while. If the game is no good, it could be the best commercial you have ever seen, but who is pitching to you? And what is the cost? They paid millions for your eyeballs for those thirty seconds. Can you be bought for so little?

I say it again because I know I need to hear it daily.

Just because someone throws a ball, it doesn’t mean you have to catch it. Amen.

Year B 4th Epiphany WED 2021 Unclear

 Year B 4th Sunday after Epiphany WEDNESDAY, 3 February 2021

Video Service from St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Unclear”

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.

Mark 8:11-26

The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.’ And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.

Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, ‘Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ They said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ They said to him, ‘Twelve.’ ‘And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ And they said to him, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’

They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ And the man looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’

We have three stories, pericopes is the fancy word for little Bible stories, that show what is all too often the case. In all three pericopes, those who are encountering Jesus are experiencing raving cases of Missing-the-Point-itis. They could not, for the life of them, see what was right in front of them. 

In the first story, people are demanding a sign. They want the magic-on-demand. Jesus, when he does perform miracles, responds to the faith of those in his midst. His is not an act, but a response to faith. They missed the point, looking for something more. They missed the point with the Mind. And because they could not conceive it, they could not see it.

The disciples, they saw such mighty things. And Jesus makes a metaphor about the “yeast of the Pharisees.” They take it literally, or apply it to something altogether other. Though there, right in Jesus’ presence, they cannot see what is plainly before them. And Jesus let’s them know it. They missed the point with their hearts.

And then there are sometimes external factors. In the blind man healed, the first time around he says people look like trees. 

(This one has always bothered me. If he was born blind, how would he know what trees look like? So probably, he was not born blind. My 2 cents.)

And when Jesus continues to work with him, the man “looks intently” and then he sees clearly. Of all the pericopes in today’s lesson, we finally get to someone who keeps at it and does not stop where they are stuck. He missed the point, but did not stay there. He would not settle for his delusions. Neither should we.

These days, when we live in a country where half of us believe the other half live in delusions, I pray for clarity. I pray for deliverance from delusions. I pray for all of us. 

I had a preacher friend go on a rant about socialism and racism and insanity. I was ashast. He is my friend. He has helped me greatly in the past. I know he knows better than what he spouted.

But we get like those that want more, more, more, when right before us is exactly what we have already received. And that is right before us.

We may start majoring in the minors, like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or what blasphemes the Holy Spirit, or which Collect or Lectionary reading is most appropriate. So many ways can miss the point by zooming in, or having our hearts in someplace other than asking, “Lord, show me what you would have me see.”

And when we miss the point, and this is so hard, hear that from me, THIS IS SO HARD, we need to approach things with an air of humility that we could be wrong. When we are blind to what is real, when we ride our assumptions, when we barge ahead despite the evidence all around us, then we need to stop and go back to Jesus, and ask for deliverance. This is humiliating for many. Especially wise and learned folks. Especially for people who sees themselves as having arrived. Especially for people who believe themselves to be exceptional. Especially for people like me, and maybe you.

We all can be blind. We all need healing. In closing today, I am reminded of an old hymn that was a favorite of my childhood. Just the first verse this morning...

Open my eyes that I may see

Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;

Place in my hands the wonderful key

That shall unclasp and set me free.

  Silently now I wait for Thee,

Ready, my God, Thy will to see;

Open my eyes, illumine me,

Spirit Divine!

Amen!