Year B Easter Vigil 2024 At Home

Year B Easter Vigil, 30 March 2024
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“At Home”


Mark 16:1-8
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you." So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.


When I was in seminary, one of my favorite professors was Glenn Hinson. Still working to this day in his 90s, he was and is a force to be reckoned with. He single-handedly took on what was the largest protestant denomination in the United States, and almost won. One of the things that struck me most under his tutoring was his response to encountering God.

He would say, when one encounters the living God the only response can be, [drop mouth open and stand in awe].

Tonight, as we see the dream of God fulfilled, our response says much of how we see God, and how we see ourselves.

We started tonight with Creation, of which we are only a part. A special part. An honored part. A broken part. We are the part of Creation which chose to step away from all that we had been given.

God’s hopes for us, for all of us, you and me, and all the generations of ancestors between then and now have not been fulfilled. Yet. But in Jesus, and the whole Christ event, they have been enabled. And the story that we tell of Creation to Christ is the preamble to the main story of God making God’s home with God’s people. We are in the midst of that stream of history right now.

But God’s fingerprints are all over the events that brought us to where we are. We went through a highlight reel of key turning points tonight, sitting in the dark and awaiting enlightenment.

In the Flood, God provided a way out. When sin had become so prevalent, God found a righteous remnant so that his dream could stay alive. Even in Judgement, God extends Grace.

When Abraham believes he hears the call of God he believes he is to sacrifice his son. God in his Providence stays his hand, and even then, Jehovah Jireh, the God who Provides, gives him another way out. God wants our devotion not our blood. God wants our heart not our sacrifice. And the dream stayed alive.

When God’s Children were enslaved in Egypt, he called them home. And when all sane hope is lost, they walk through the sea! After the nightmares of the plagues, this miraculous deliverance is beyond belief. When they walk through the waters, they come out on the other side a new people, the nation of Israel, those who wrestle with God. And we only struggle with those things we care about. This nation, newly birthed, cared about this God who “Is.” And the hand of God was all over this as well.

The prophets called out offering Salvation, Wisdom and a Way of Life, and a New Heart and Spirit. The Spirit speaking through them reminded God’s Children of who they were and the path they were called to follow. And we see God’s fingerprints on these words.

Then we were given a vision of death springing into Life, dry bones becoming God’s living, breathing Children. A vision of what is happening to and through each and every one of us. The evidence of God being here is clear as well.

St. Paul reminded us of the baptism leading us into Christ’s death, which also led us into his Resurrection. For this was the plan from the beginning, for God to be at home with us and for us to be at home with God. As Scripture promises repeatedly:

Ezekiel 37:27
My dwelling place shall be over them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

John 14:23
Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

Revelation 21:1-7
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them and be their God;

he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away.”

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.


From the prophets, from Jesus himself, from John’s vision of what is to be, God’s dream is to make our home with God. And God took it upon Godself to take away any barriers or burdens or hindrances that might keep that from happening. We sit in darkness awaiting the light, the light that is our homelight burning. That homelight that is God “keeping the lights on for us” as we wind our way home.

[Singing]

Come home, come home,

Ye who are weary, come home.

Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling,

Calling, O sinner, come home.

Amen

Year B Holy Saturday 2024 It's The Hope That Kills You

Year B Holy Saturday 2024. 30 March 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“It Is The Hope That Kills You”

Collect: O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Matthew 27:57-66

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, `After three days I will rise again.' Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people,`He has been raised from the dead,' and the last deception would be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can." So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

This is the in-between time. When you wrestle with reality. Mixed into the stages of grief somewhere between denial and anger on one side, and depression and acceptance on the other, sits bargaining. In my mind's eye I always seem to see the disciples hidden away sitting there making deals with God.

I hear that in Thomas’ voice when we see him in next Sunday’s readings, when Thomas is bargaining. “I will believe it if I see the nail prints in his hands, and put my hand in his side.” That is a bargain. He is not saying it is impossible. He is saying that it would take extreme  measures to get him there.

We are in the midst of Holy Week, but in our country one could argue that more are paying attention to March Madness with all of its highs and lows. In any sports season, there is hope and grief. Some teams have more one than the other. But that is what we watch sports for, these encapsulations of the life, the highs, the lows, the crapshoot as to how it will all end.

In our office, we are not huge in talking about sports, most of us not having the time to follow any particular teams. But we did follow Ted Lasso, a show about Premiere League Football, aka Soccer, in the UK. In that show, very true to the Football culture, they kept repeating a phrase that seemed to hit home.

It’s the Hope that will kill you.

It is the Hope that’ll kill you. So cynical. So very British. While philosophically not there, I do see how someone could succumb to the idea behind it. If you have low expectations one is easily pleased and easily surprised positively. If you are hopeful by nature, think Linus sitting and waiting for the Great Pumpkin, then the shattering hope is almost more painful than the event of loss itself. The death of hope is the painful part. We grieve what we believe the future would be.

It happens when we have a break-up or a divorce. It happens when our team, as mentioned, is defeated.  It happens when the reality does not live up to the hype or the hope.

The disciples had full faith in Jesus to be the Messiah, and the Messiah was there to establish a restored Israel on the world stage? Right? He was there to kick out the Romans and live up to the promises made to King David. Right?

But Jesus died. Not just that, he was viciously squashed by the powers that be, to silence him and all his followers once and for all! They posted guards on his tomb so that all the prophecies he had made about resurrection could be proven they never happened. 

If “It’s the Hope that kills ya!”, then the world and its master is out to give us hope in things that are not worthy, or to strip us of the hope we should have in the right things. Jesus gave us hope then and gives us hope now. The difference between the disciples and now is that we have the rest of the story. We have a reason to have Hope. It no longer is the Hope that will kill us. It is the Hope that gives us life and breath.

Grace is filled with Hope. Hope that things can change. Hope that nobody is irredeemable. Hope that there is something awaiting us beyond the horizon of death. All the fears of the dark nights of existence can be washed away in Jesus. 

That  is, IF we have Hope. It may kill us if it does not ring true. But I would rather be hopeful and disappointed than hopeless and living my life in that despair.

This swirl of emotions is what the disciples were experiencing between Friday and Sunday. And so we sit. We wait. We might even dare Hope despite every rational reason not to do so.  

As we pause between tragedy and glory, ponder how you live your life. In Hope? In Cynicism? Somewhere else? The Christian character is bound up in being Hope-filled, and may God deliver us from being jaded, especially in a time so readily going there. Amen

Year B Passion Sunday WEDNESDAY 2024 And Judas, Too

 Year B Passion Sunday WEDNESDAY, 27 March 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“And Judas, Too”

Collect: Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 13:21-32

At supper with his friends, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, "Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples-- the one whom Jesus loved-- was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do." Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the festival"; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once."

So we are here already. Lent is almost over. We are on the cusp of the Triduum, the morning of Wednesday in Holy Week, and we have the reading of Jesus with his disciples having their Last Supper together. We have come to the end, where Jesus is sending out the one to betray him and hand him over to the Jewish authorities.

I have spoken in years past about the dipping of the matzah into the dish Jesus mentions. The final dish of the meal could very well be the Maror, the bitter herb. Often in the States we use the biggest chunk of horseradish. The taste was to remind us of the bitterness of slavery, often eaten with parsley or romaine lettuce. Was this what was on Judas’ tongue as he was sent out? Or did Jesus use the Charoset, the mixture of apples and wine, the sweet taste of freedom, even then offering and extending Grace to his betrayer?

When I hear people saying that God hates anybody, I remember this moment.

When I hear people talk about who should be excluded from the church or from the altar of Christ, I remember the moment.

When I hear people do anything other than extend enthusiastic welcome to God’s Children, I think of this moment.

I cannot reconcile these thoughts in my mind. If Jesus welcomed, washed, fed, and loved Judas, who are we to take the privilege of excluding anybody?

If Jesus can wash Judas’ feet, who should we exclude? Who is more despicable?

If Jesus can serve the meal to him, who is not welcome? Ever?

We come to receive Grace not to celebrate our Grace.

We come to get a taste of Freedom, this meal being a foretaste and promise of the True Freedom we will one day receive.

That Judas was able to remain with the 12, without shame or scorn or rejection by Christ says so much about who he was and how we should be, too.

Jesus’ sending Judas out with the words, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” haunts me. It haunts me because Jesus and Judas were resolved to go to the point of no return. And even knowing what he was about to do, Jesus welcomed, washed, fed, and loved Judas.

When we are not the people we should be, Jesus does the same for us. Welcomed, washed, fed, and loved, we are called home however far we roam, however deep into sin we have delved.

Jesus is all about transformation. Satan is about corruption. Satan working in Judas takes a kiss, a sign of intimacy and love, and transforms it into betrayal. Corruption at its utmost. Jesus takes a sign of death, the cross, and transforms it into the way of Life. Could it be any more clear? As Rachel Held Evans reminded us: “The apostles remembered what many modern Christians tend to forget– that what makes the gospel offensive isn’t who it keeps out but who it lets in.”

When you are feeling down on yourself, or on something you have done, that is not the voice of Christ. Walk away from that voice. Listen for the one who gives life and loves you. If you are not feeling God with you, pray for awareness. God has not, will not, will never leave you. As Jesus promised, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. 

Year B Passion Sunday 2024 Extravagance

 Year B Passion Sunday, 24 March 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Extravagance”

Collect: Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Mark 14:1-15:47

It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; for they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”

While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”

While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters; for it is written,

‘I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep will be scattered.’

But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though all become deserters, I will not.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said vehemently, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the same.

We have stopped the narrative of the day. It has become a tradition around here, halting before Gethsemane. We start with the readings for the Passion Week, but we are still in the story. We stop it because this is where we are in our service today. Somewhere between preaching/learning, and remembering Jesus’ last supper.

Do not worry, before we go out this day we will finish the readings from Mark that go through Golgotha. We do that as we go out into the week that was, our week that will be…

We embrace the details of this most holy week each and every year. And every year we see them differently, because, I trust, you are different. Water has gone under the bridge. You are older. Are you better? Am I? We will see. And as we have changed the view of these very familiar events change as well.

This year, the thought of Extravagance was what kept echoing in my brain. Over and over again, extravagance is given.

The woman, in Mark unnamed, performs an act of unswerving beauty and unimagined extravagance. Her bottle of perfume, in today’s hourly minimum wage is looking at about $36,000 for a few moments of unimagined Grace.

I like to think that no matter how horrible the events are that come about the rest of this week, Jesus did have this one thing lingering with him. The scent of this gift showered on him would not go away. Even in the cell at Caiaphas’ house, the perfume would remain. A gift amidst so much horror.

We also see the Seder meal that celebrated that night, where Jesus takes the simple elements of reminding God’s people of redemption, and transforms them to symbols of Salvation and Grace.

Jesus taught the disciples, and us, this:

While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”

Friends, we may not be able to comprehend the meaning, purposes, or outcomes of these elements on us and for our lives, but we cannot argue this. If Jesus is who we say he is, and the bread is his body, and the wine his blood, metaphorically, symbolically, or literally, could there be anything more Extravagant than that?

That the Son of God, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, says that this is his body and blood, taken, broken, blessed, and given for each and every one of us, what could be more extravagant than that? I cannot think of a thing.

When we come to the Altar, Christ’s table for all of us, think on that. The simple bread, the sip of wine, is costly, and precious, and good. This extravagance would be for you if you were the only person who ever lived. Sometimes with the children, who are often confused by the body and blood language, and maybe even scared, I sometimes say, “This is just for you.” That’s Gospel. That’s Extravagance. That’s Grace.

But not all the extravagances of that night were of any value. Jesus made a prediction of what was to come in the wee hours of that night. He was forthright. But the disciples with Peter as the Ring Leader said ‘“Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the same.’ Extravagant promises, promises unfulfilled. They all walked away. They all let it happen.

Jesus knew it would. He knew they would let him stand alone. He does not condemn them for it. He says it plainly and matter-of-fact-ly. Their extravagance came to mean nothing. But even then, EVEN THEN, his forgiveness and grace extended to them even at this lowest moment of his life. Alone. Scared. Forlorn. And still his loved flowed. 

There is a reason why we call this the Passion. Only love could do this. Only Jesus could do this. For God so loved the world that God gave his only Son that whoever of us believes in him won’t be condemned but shall live forever. Jesus came into this world, not to condemn us, but that each and every one of us could be saved in him, through him, and for him.

Extravagance, friends. From Gethsemane to Golgotha, from Canterbury to 815(hq for the Episcopal Church), from St. James the Less to your Home. The love flows out. While shrouded in heartbreak and bad intentions, God’s love will win out. It always has, and it always will.

Extravagance! Amen 

Year B Lent 4 WED 2024 Wherever He Goes

 Year B Lent 4 WEDNESDAY, 13 March 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Wherever He Goes”

Collect: O Lord our God, you sustained your ancient people in the wilderness with bread from heaven: Feed now your pilgrim flock with the food that endures to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 5:19–29

Jesus said to the Jews, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. 

“Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

I saw a cute little collection of videos the other day. It was toddlers mimicking older folks getting out of chairs and other things where the aches and pains require a response. And the toddlers did as they saw. Monkey see, monkey do. It was rather cute.

Jesus is saying that he is following God’s lead. As the Father, so the Son. 

So often we want to think there was the age of miracle and prophecy. God never stopped being at work in the world. Ever. Then and now.

We all hear rumors that the Church is dead, or the Episcopal Church is doomed. There will never be none. Some of us are just too stubborn to go anywhere else. Or for me, it took me so long and we went so far to find what we found in the Episcopal Church that I cannot imagine ever not being here.

I came because I heard the call of God and the insistence of God. I had thought about it two serious times before, but it was not worth the price. But when we were really ready, it came quickly and joyfully. When people ask why we came into the Episcopal Church there are reasons, many of them. But the “Why?” is that God called us.

God is still at work, and the best thing that we can do is to be open and ready, and when we hear God call “Jump!”, we do.

The old phrase rings so true. The Most Important Things In Life We Cannot See. That Bread of Heaven is still what feeds my soul. Eucharist, God’s Word, those still quiet moments in the Daily Office. This is when and how God feeds me. He does not feed me for ONLY my nourishment, I have been fed so I can feed. I have been blessed to be a blessing. If I am following God I cannot go wrong. 

When Jesus goes on to speak of the Dead hearing his voice, it can get confusing. Are these the dead here? Or these the Dead waiting in Sheol or Hades, the waiting place of the souls of the departed.

We tend to explore this more on Holy Saturday, we often can get bogged down focusing too much on the metaphysics. So I will spend my energies on the things I can know. 

God is at work.

He invites each and every one of us to follow his lead, and be at the work at hand, just like Jesus did.

He gives us life after this life so that life, and our service of God, does not end.

The adventure of what comes next is not something that we as God’s Children need fear. From life to life. From love to love. From Now to Then, seamless and beautiful. 

Amen

Year B Lent 3 2024 Things Real and Unreal

 Year B Lent 3, 3 March 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Things Real and Unreal”

Collect: Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 2:13-22

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The[ Jewish Leaders] then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The [ Jewish Leaders]  then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

“You cannot serve God and mammon.” That is how you may have first learned this idea. It is the King James Version, and its old sounding words were intentional when it came out. The New Revised Standard Version, the version we use here in church, puts the whole verse this way:

‘No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’ Matthew 6:24

This is Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Wealth and money are a tool, but they are not the end, the “be all, end all.” Far from it.

While this verse is not in today’s readings, it does set up Jesus’ view of money, and money is one of the topics that Jesus talked about most. This construct we have is even one step removed from the money used in Jesus’ day. At least then the coins had the value of the metal used. Our paper money is a construct of a construct. 

And for us to get these constructs straight, you may be asking yourself, “Rock, what do you mean by construct?”

It is when we give something power or meaning beyond what it has on its own, and we mutually agree that this construct, which we made up, we will treat as if it is real. 

Imagine this: If I started pulling out $100 bills and lighting them on fire, one of you would run up here and stop me. Maybe because I should not be lighting fires in the church, but more so because I they are $100 bills. While printed on nice linen paper, it is still paper which we have together agreed has value. I can trade that piece of paper and several of us could go and have a meal together. What I can do with this thing is real, while the construct is not. National borders are the same way. We agree that there is a line where there is no actual, physical, visible line. People fight and die over those constructs. While make-believe, they are treated as real.

For many, God is a construct. They have not been introduced to a God that made sense to them or they have not had a profoundly personal interaction with the Almighty. I have said this before, when someone says around me that they are an atheist they often look to see if I react. I don’t. That is theirs and their experience. If I am able and they seem open I do ask them to describe the God they do not believe in. The times when people have taken me up on it, their construct of what “God” is supposed to be is a monster. Cruel. Harsh. Judgmental. Vindictive. I have always been able to say that I would not and do not believe in that God either. Really, it is their construct of a God that I could not fathom. But this is the one that someone, somewhere presented to them, and they rejected it. I would have as well.

And so that is where Jesus comes in, presenting a loving, relational, personal God. A God of Grace. A God of Forgiveness. A God like the Prodigal Son’s Dad. A God who weeps with us and welcomes us home.

With this in mind, we need to hear what Jesus is saying. ‘You cannot serve God and wealth.’

Don’t trade God who you know for some unknowable construct. Don’t trade love for power. Don’t give up things eternal for things whose meaning can disappear in a snap.

For Jesus, it is all about relationship, with God, with one another. At the end of the day, our relationships are the only things that are real. Some are new. Some are life-long. Some are hurting. Some are blooming.

This story about Jesus seems out of character, unless you filter it through that idea. That idea that relationships for Jesus are the be-all, end-all.

In recent years a joke has been made about this story. We all have probably seen the WWJD bracelets, and hats, and t-shirts, etc. 30 years ago they were everywhere. Since memes have become so huge on social media, I have heard “Next time you are asked, ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ Remind them that flipping over tables and chasing people with a whip is within the realm of possibilities.” While funny, he was making a huge point.

Jesus’ rage over the activities going on in the Temple was understandable. Prayer. Prayer was the reason for the Temple, not commerce. The booths were established for a reason, but then they became a means to an end.

The Temple put up with it because it got its cut. Dirty Roman money with a graven image on it, Caesar’s head, could not be used to pay the Temple tax. Good Jewish money with a menorah or other Jewish symbol on it could be used. So the moneychangers were there to exchange foreign currencies to the one and only place where it could be used, here at the Temple.

The sheep and cattle being sold were for sacrifices. Pure, unblemished. If bought there you did not have to bring one from far away over so many miles. While astronomically expensive, for many it saved so much headache and they were guaranteed to be taken as acceptable. It was worth the cost if you could afford it.

For Jesus, the commerce taking place had ceased to be a practical or even honoring thing. It was all being done for money. Money had become the reason for the Temple to be there instead of prayer.

Slight pause here, Prayer is the foundation of our relationship with God. Scripture is another. But the Temple was to be a house of Prayer first and foremost, so it was to be a place of relating to and with God. The stench of the animal pens that one had to go through to worship seemed out of place, and rightly so.

There are some tables we need to flip over in our lives, and maybe in our church. When we put outcomes and bottom lines above relationships and our faithfulness, yeah, we need to flip the tables. If someone took our building away, our church would still be here. If someone took Ashland away, we would still have a mission to spread God’s relationships and grow in ours with God. When this world is taken away, the one thing remaining will be your relationship with God. Alpha, Omega, Beginning, and End.

Today we gather(ed) for our Annual Meeting as a parish. We were able to see what took place in the previous year. We are in a time of high anxiety, and whenever we go through a period like the one we find ourselves in, people are cautious with the money. It is only natural. Because of that, we have had to have several monetary conversations. Every time we do I am reminded of today’s readings. 

Being reflective, I have to ask, are we gathering, or sending out this letter, or mentioning money in a sermon to further relationships or to be transparent in relationships? Or am I like the Temple leadership who were happy to take their cut of the marketplace’s income? We are very cautious around these topics.

But like you all, the church has bills. We have a wonderful space with which we are very generous. We have been and we aim to be in the future. We have these facilities to sponsor ministries or to further relationships. Like the money needed to keep them up, the facilities as nice as they are are merely a tool for the work God has given us to do.

We gather at the Annual Meeting to remind ourselves, no matter how often we attend, no matter which service we go to, no matter how long we have called this fellowship our spiritual home, we remind ourselves that we are the Church Family of St. James the Less. 

As a family we learn and grow from these truths.

Don’t trade God who you know for some unknowable construct. Don’t trade love for power. Don’t give up things eternal for things whose meaning can disappear in a snap.

We are a twig on the diocesan limb of the Episcopal branch of the Jesus movement. As we care for our family on each of these levels, God will be glorified and make Godself at home with us. As Revelation closes we hear God speak these words:

“See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them and be their God. (21:3) 

That is the relationship God wants with us and for us. Everything else is nothing. Amen