Distractions: a sermon Proper 8 2016

“Distractions” 6th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 8

June 26, 2016

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Richmond, VA

Some weeks you know what you will preach the moment you read the text. Other weeks, you read the text, looking for Jesus to speak, for the Good News to jump out. And some weeks, thankfully very rarely, you read and reread and re-reread and go to commentaries and still nothing comes. It is hard for God to speak when we are distracted, which is why I think Jesus so often went off to a lonely place to get free of distractions and tune in on God.

Another aspect of trying to get up here and give something worth hearing is wrangling with a text. The lectionary is wonderful that way, making Susan, Frank and I preach sometimes from texts that are not our friends. I will confess I would be more likely to kiss a moose than to pick today’s Gospel as the foundational Scripture for a sermon. I could have gone the easy route, and jumped into Galatians and done the fruit of the Flesh vs. the fruit of the Spirit. But after heading off to a lonely place, I felt the need to listen some more, to wrestle some more and see what God might be willing to teach me here.

So, like Elisha chasing after Elijah to see if the mantle might fall on him, let us chase after Jesus and see what good news might be hiding in Luke 9 for us.

In reading it, there is the commonality of Jesus being headed to Jerusalem, followed by 5 ways in missing the point. So maybe today’s lesson is a cautionary tale. DO NOT DO THIS. Let’s see.

When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

I find it fascinating that Luke describes the motivating factor in Jesus going to Jerusalem as his ascension, the ending of Luke and also the beginning of Luke’s book of the Acts of the Apostles. The Ascension is the pivotal factor here, and to do that Jesus has to go through Jerusalem, both the place and all the horrific events that took place there for Jesus. He is focusing on Jesus being glorified, not crucified, and I think that makes a profound difference.

“He set his face,” he was bound and determined. I remember when the girls were young and whatever it was was VERY important to them, them would take my face in both their hands and made sure I was listening. They set my face. Well, Jesus did the same for himself. He was bound and determined to get to and go through Jerusalem. This is the key point that underlies all that we are about to look at. Without that, some of these just do not make sense. So as we go through these next 5 DON’T DO THESE, remember, Jesus is a man of singular focus as of now.

And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

Now, admission clear here, some of these stories will require some filling in the gaps or interpretation. By this point, Jesus and his throng were becoming sizable. He needed advance staff going ahead of him. It is the equivalent of a bus driver calling ahead to a restaurant to say, “We have a bus full of hungry teenagers stopping in 3 hours. Get cooking.” Jesus’ party is no different. His messengers let the Samaritan village know that they were on route, but also, that they would not be staying. “They did not receive him, because his face was set for Jerusalem.” I read this to mean that they wanted the Teacher to come and stay with them. They wanted time with Jesus, something more than a lunch break. If that is all you want Jesus, do not bother stopping, they seem to be saying.

What was the Samaritan village’s distraction this day? Not getting what they wanted. How many times do we do the same thing? How often do we get derailed by things not being what we expected. We can be as petulant as they were, it seems. When we get into this situation, when we get focused on what we want instead of what is offered it can break our relationship to God. There is a huge element of trust, God is God and I am not, and maybe God knows better what is needed, or at least the bigger picture. My petty wants cannot even be taken into the consideration of things. I think this is the boat that village was in. We want a long visit, or nothing at all. But James and John’s response was just as bad.

When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.

James and John, the sons of Thunder, were calling for fire from heaven to smite this belligerent village. They wanted Jesus honored, and here he is rejected. They had no idea what was coming. Yet, when these Elijah wanna-bes asked Jesus if they should smite them with heavenly fire, Jesus rebuked them. Thank you, Jesus.

Now think about it. What is the distraction here? Jesus is single-minded. The village being petulant is no worse than his disciples seeking revenge. NEITHER one was something he wanted to do nor had time to deal with in that moment. The distraction of seeking revenge, or if we need to clean it up “putting people in their place” is just as bad. In our spiritual life, thinking ourselves superior, or being the judge and jury are both not what we are to be about. Jesus wants us focused on following, not smiting. Not our job, but we all know the church is too often seen as doing that. What next?

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

So this would be follower, approaches Jesus very enthusiastic. “I will follow you wherever you go,” Then Jesus goes and gets all Jesus-y. Why do you bring up foxes’ dens? Why mention birds’ nests? Why say you have neither? For me, it all comes down to Jesus’ motivation and this follower’s motivation. What are a fox’s den and a bird’s nest? Security. They are home, that place where we can let down our guard and be ourselves. Home can be a distraction, too. This follower was seeking security. This follower wanted to be safe. Jesus let the person know, you cannot be safe following me. I have no security. Jesus had turned his face to Jerusalem. He knew the outcome, and it definitely was not secure. When we follow where Christ will lead we cannot see over the brow of the hill. Where he leads we have no clue. I love that our two seminarians are both back today, serving at the altar. There is much uncertainty in what will come next for them. None of us, if we are truly following Jesus are secure in the way the world wants us to be secure.

Caveat here, we are secure in Christ. That is different. I think Jesus is saying to this would be follower, you are not going to get what you are seeking here, my friend. This will not happen. It was actually very loving of Jesus to nip it in the bud. The myth of control that we all seek gets in the way. Jesus calls us to follow, not steer. Our drive to security is a distraction when Jesus has set his face to Jerusalem.

To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

This one is a hard one to hear, because Jesus sounds so mean. When we read it, we assume that this man’s dad just died. If so, Jesus was not hearing the obligation a Jewish son would have had to take care of his father, especially his funeral. Remember how Jesus worried about his mother even from the cross, looking at Mary and the disciple he loved?  And even Jesus had the disciple step in and take care of his obligation?

Now, because we would mention a funeral only when it was time for one does not mean that they would. It could, be sure you hear me say that, it could not does mean that. But what I hear in the man’s excuse is, “Let me take care of my familial obligations, and then I will do what the Kingdom needs.” He is saying, “I want to follow you, Jesus, but…” The distraction here is obligations. What do we choose to entangle our lives with? Jesus loved his friends and family. He was not heartless. I hear a deeper story, when one’s understood obligations get in the way of our following of Christ. Jesus is singularly focused and asks that of those following him.

Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Another hard statement here, another excuse. “Let me go say goodbye.” I think Jesus knew, if you go back home you are not going to follow. Sometimes those strings of attachment keep us from following Christ. We are shackled by what we embrace. The idea of looking back, like Lot’s wife, might be the death of us, or of our faith. Our focused Jesus says, “No one who puts hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Hard words. Jesus wants us focused as he is focused. Also, using his metaphor to the full, if you look back while you are plowing, you are going to be crooked. We need to look ahead.

One night, Stephanie and I were on a sailing trip in the Florida keys with friends, and we were trying to come into a harbor late. The reefs made it tricky. We had to line them up just right to make it in. If they were aligned you could make a straight shot between the reefs. I could not look around, or be distracted by the sunset. My focus had to be the lights and they would guide us safely home. Jesus’ advice to the follower was the same. Stay focused. Even our loved ones can be a distraction from committing ourselves to the Kingdom.

So, in all of these excuses and distractions Jesus gives us a model to follow, himself. We need to let go of our wants, our need to be on top, the myth of control, our obligations, and our clinging entanglements, and focus on one thing. That one thing, as Jesus put it, is the Kingdom of God. None of these things were necessarily bad, except maybe smiting villages with fire from heaven, but they were all distractions. And the distractions we can let go of.

As Paul closed the reading for today from Galatians, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.” We are not in this alone, we are still following someone, and he loves us even when we get in our own way with all these distractions. Maybe my wandering this week, without that needed focus, is exactly the same problem all these early followers had, if so,  Lord, please forgive. Thank you, Jesus, set our face, and may it always be focused on you. Amen.

Forgiveness Always Comes First: a sermon

“Forgiveness Always Comes First”

Proper 6 Year C 2016, June 12, 2016

St. Thomas’ Episcopal, Richmond

It is always a curious thing, which comes first. The chicken or the egg? The thought or the feeling? Coke or Pepsi? Or how about soccer or football?

We ponder these things. And yet, most of the time it is moot. However, sometimes, what we assume to be new is already true.

I remember when I was in my teenage years, I came back from camp, very serious, and asked my mom if we could talk. We sat down together, and I delicately told her that I thought that God was calling me to be a minister. She responded with, “Of course you are. That is all you ever talk about.” What was news to me, and new to me (or so I thought), was already a done deal, signed and delivered in her mind. What moved me about how she responded was that she already had arrived at the destination I had just perceived. After the initial surprise, it struck me funny at the time. What was a big and ominous life decision for me, to her was my following my natural inclinations and interests. Funny how we see things.

In today’s Gospel, we see the woman who anoints Jesus’ feet, and in his unpacking of what she has done for him gives us a unique view into the nature of Grace and the character of God.

Now you might think I exaggerate, or I am using a rhetorical device here,  but in looking at the Gospel this week it struck me how I have never heard anyone speak to this, much less preach on it in all the Sundays I have been in Church. If they did, I must have missed it. Maybe that explains my initial surprise and then delight.

A woman hears that Jesus is dining in her town, and goes and finds a way in to bathe Jesus’ feet with her tears and a precious jar of ointment. You heard me preach on another version of this not too long ago. After the host grumbles that no real prophet would let a sinner like her touch him, Jesus addresses the host’s inaction and compares it to her actions.

Jesus begins, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

Jesus uses his anointing as a teachable moment, a time and place where he can point to this woman and let them see the difference between where they are and where she is.

They were still in a model and understanding where there was an exchange. You do this for me, I will do that for you. When Jesus came into this home, he was still being checked out by the host. “Let’s see if this guy is the real deal or not.” You see, he was important enough to invite home, but not good enough to pull out the good china and silver. All the customary observances of an honored guest were ignored, and Jesus was polite enough to not mention it… until...

Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

Now how we would probably say this is “Who does this guy think that he is? I mean really, he thinks he can forgive sins?”

In a little while, after our Prayers of the People, we will have the Prayer of Confession and at the end of that I will do one of the few things that takes an ordained priest to do, or a consecrated bishop, and that thing is to pronounce pardon. But even there, it is a funny thing. As a priest, I am not doing what Jesus is doing here. I am pronouncing the pardon of God for all our sins, and in my priestly capacity I declare it. This is much the same as in a wedding when I declare, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” Once it is said it is recognized and real. It is a change in condition, from one status to another. In pronouncing pardon I am declaring it done that God has forgiven our sins. But Jesus took it further.

Jesus declared this woman forgiven and saved. He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Now I want us to look closely at the line that already came.

In so many of our relationships things are tit for tat, you do this and I will do that. We turn so much of our lives into transactions. Too often with our loved ones, even.

But Jesus is very clear, this woman came in under the condition of being forgiven and saved. What she did for Jesus did not allow enable or begin ANYTHING. We too often read it this way because of the way we THINK. Our bias shows.

“I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

The pivotal word here is “hence.” Her sins, which were many have been forgiven, HENCE she has shown great love. The forgiveness came first.

With God, the forgiveness always comes first.

I think in my life all the times where I did not immediately forgive, or I waited till I got an apology. Contrition makes us feel better. Contrition helps us see that we are right, or even that the offending party deserves our forgiveness. (Or, even worse, the opposite, I will withhold my forgiveness till I see that they are sorry.) And maybe that is why we get this whole Grace concept all wrong.

For too many of us, we see God the way we see the world. We fit God into our worldview instead of fitting our worldview into the vantage point of the God revealed in Christ.

In so many ways God is patient and kind, repeating over and over as author Brennan Manning points out, “There is nothing you can do that will make God love you any more and nothing you can do that will make God love you any less.”

This woman, whose sins were many, found Grace, and it poured out of her, in her actions, in her tears, in her precious ointment all over Jesus’ road-weary feet. She just heard that Jesus was in town, go back and look, and she arrived and would not let anything keep her from responding with her love.

In Luke’s account, this story is not just before Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem before his crucifixion like in the other Gospels. Luke sets it apart, to emphasis the Grace of the story, I think. His whole Gospel is about Jesus the welcomer, the one inviting in. Zaccheus. Blind Bartimaeus. The hemorrhaging woman who caught the hem of his garment. All those excluded are welcomed in. And even this outsider, this sinner scorned by the host, is uplifted over the one who had the rank and privilege to host the dinner party. In Luke Jesus invites into the party all those who no one else would have considered. That is Jesus. And by definition, that is Grace.

The “hence” of Jesus’ statement throws out the transaction. We might hear it as, “Wow, this lady spent a lot on this huge gift to me, so yeah, I think I will forgive her.” THIS COULD NOT BE FURTHER FROM WHAT TOOK PLACE.

Walking through the host’s door, she was forgiven. Before that, walking out of her house with the ointment, she was forgiven. Even before that, doing whatever she did to “gain” the reputation she had, she was forgiven. She was loved and forgiven before she was even born. And the good news today is, so are we.

Our reaction to this may be like the host, we have not had much forgiven so we do not love as much. Or like the older brother in the story of the Prodigal Son parable, we did not run away and we did everything right and it is not “fair.” That transactional thinking is rearing its ugly head again. We want God to bless the Good, the Righteous, and scorn the Bad, the Sinners, the Others-Out-There-Weeping-In-The-

Darkness. But God is not like we are, God loves us just like we are. Nothing more, and nothing less than that. We receive UNCONDITIONAL, NON-TRANSACTIONAL LOVE. And that my sisters and brothers is what we call Grace.

And that is why we call Grace amazing. God is not transactional about forgiveness. God’s forgiveness reaches beyond time and space, it predates our best days, and it predates our worst. As Manning said, “There is nothing we can do that would make God love us any more, and there is nothing we can do that would make God love us any less.” THANKS BE TO GOD.

We want to put things first, like getting our act together, or making ourselves worthy of God’s love. God laughs at that naivete, but in a loving way. We put the cart before the horse. God’s love pulls us into relationship; our worthiness does not, and could not, pull God into loving us. Forgiveness comes first, and Grace always wins.

The Apostle Paul in today’s reading shows the wrestling match here, and entirely dismisses the way he was raised. He throws out the rule-keeping and the crossing-of-Tees and dotting-of-Eyes. He rejects those who are in Christ’s church and still try to keep accounts of rights and wrongs, both theirs, and probably more often the case, those of others. He begs the Galatians and us as well to reside in the Grace of God, and let go of the rule-keeping approach to trying to appease God. We cannot. We just cannot. And the best part is, WE DO NOT HAVE TO EVEN TRY.

Let me let Paul speak for himself, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.”

This week, try and look with new eyes. Turn off the judgment. I understand, it is so very hard. We have been programmed to do it since our earliest days. And in its place, let us ask for God to open our eyes and begin to see with the eyes of Christ, both others and ourselves. Let us make a solemn vow to not “nullify the Grace of God.” And slowly the world will turn until it comes out right.

Thank you, God, that you are not finished with any of us yet. Amen.

"Signs of Your Presence" Pentecost Year C 2016

“Signs of Your Presence”

Year C Pentecost 2016

St. Thomas’ Episcopal, Richmond, VA

A Prayer for Mission

“O God, you manifest in your servants the signs of your presence: Send forth upon us the Spirit of love, that in companionship with one another your abounding grace may increase among us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (From the Book of Common Prayer, Evening Prayer, Rite II, p. 125)

Apples do not fall far from the tree, or so the phrase goes. Walking around with my daughters, one is told that she looks like her mom, the other one is told she looks like me. It is a comfort and a joy. Sometimes when I look at them, I will see an inkling of my parents in them, too. A glance, the eyes, a cock of the head. It is miraculous and wonder-filled. The same could be said of the Holy Spirit. If God the Father is the Holy Other, Creator and God in Heaven, and Jesus is God the Son, God Incarnate, Immanuel- God-with-us, then the Holy Spirit is God-in-us, the Advocate, the Comforter. Better than Jiminy Cricket I mentioned a few weeks ago, and just like that recognition of me or my parents in my children, the Spirit makes her presence known, in what we say and how we say it, in what we do and our attitude around it.

As we look at the wondrous story of Pentecost and our parallel Gospel reading in which what was to come was promised, we see a few things that are signs of maybe what the church can be, and maybe what the church should be.  Like in the prayer that we just read, we need to “manifest in [God’s] servants,” US, “the signs of [the Spirit’s] presence.”

What are some ways that can happen? Looking at Acts 2, I think there are some easy take-aways.

The Holy Spirit in us enables and encourages us to speak so we can be heard.  In Acts, that was about differing languages to observant Jews and believers from all over the known world. But what about now? It can be language. One of the formative pieces of solidifying language usage and spelling was the consistency of King James’ Bible, the Authorized edition in English and Luther’s translation in German. Speaking a language that can be heard and understood is a Holy Spirit thing. But that is not all, culture and approach both play huge roles. Even though some people may have a common tongue between them, how one uses that speech and attitude with which one shares makes a huge difference. It has always been this way. The Apostle Paul said, “I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.” I Corinthians 9:22b

Communicating in a way to be heard, with cultural and attitudinal differences appeased, there is more. Your faith should bring you joy.  Exuberance and joy at that. Now exuberance can take the form of running around with hands in the air, but that is not me or how I show my exuberance. Have you ever been telling a story and you get excited, leaning into your hearers and your pace picks up and your voice gets filled with energy? That can be exuberance, too. The apostles and followers that day were accused of being drunk at 9 o’clock in the morning, “filled with new wine” Acts says. Their exuberance was so great that people were mistaken. Andre the Giant, the humongous wrestler and actor, so loved new wine, the Nouveau Beaujolais, that he had cases flown in while filming The Princess Bride and proceeded to drink several of them, yes, cases, one night and passed out on the lobby floor of the hotel where the cast and crew were staying. They put a rope fence around him because he was too big to move. But when we are filled with the Spirit, not the spirits like Andre the Giant, we do not pass out. We are exuberant and joy-filled. Our beloved deacon Frank always reminds us, if you are not in joy about what you are doing, God wants you to do something else. Joy is a sign of the Presence of the Spirit.

Prophecies, Visions, and Dreams are promised as well. Now prophecies are when God speaks to us. It can come from a person, a newspaper article, and from a still small voice prompting us to do something different. It probably is not about the future. Too often we hear Prophecy and we think it is about what is to come. It can. But it probably isn’t. Prophecy is about living out our faith in the here and now. And the Spirit is all about showing up in those daily nudges to be more on God’s team than our ego’s.

Lastly, speaking of attitude, from the Romans passage, St. Paul encouraged us to have a spirit of Adoption, not slavery. Adoption here is an unbelievably empowering act. According to the Roman law that St. Paul knew so well as a citizen of the Empire, adoption was an intentional choice. It was a forever act; you could disown a kid you birthed, but someone you adopted was yours forever. A sign of the Spirit at work in us is acting like we belong, in our skin, in this world, and in the places God sends us. As God said in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, that is canonical, right? God said,  “Stop your snivelling!” Too often we forget whose we are. We are not made to be timid. Humble, yes. Timid, no. We are co-heirs with Christ, chosen and enabled to be in God’s family, forever. A more biblical way of saying it, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”Romans 8:31 When I have to walk into an intensive care unit, I have to remind myself, “I am as needed here as that nurse or that doctor. I have an important job to do.” Too often I do not feel that way, but God is there before me and I am needed to shine a light pointing out God, even in those dark scary places so that God can be seen there, too.

Jesus said in John 14:12 “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater work than these, because I am going to the Father.”

The signs of the Presence of the Spirit in our lives take a unique form and shape in each of us. But people know it when they see it. A relative of one of our families came up to Bishop Shannon and me during his visit a few weeks ago and said, “I am not Episcopalian, but I definitely felt the Spirit here today.” Bishop Shannon was very kind and said, “And you would feel it here most Sundays. This is a good church with a loving community.” The relative smiled and nodded. Those signs of the Presence of the Spirit are active, and vibrant, and beautiful. And most of all, they are here. May it always be so. Amen.

"For the Best" Year C Easter 6

“For the Best”

Year C Easter 6, May 1, 2016

St. Thomas’ Episcopal, Richmond, VA

John 14:23-29
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. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.”

As a father, some of the hardest things I have ever had to do is share what will be bad news with my kids, these little ones that I love and who love me so much. In those times, when I had to say that something bad was coming are the worst. And no, we cannot change it. And yes, everything will be okay. I assured them that they are loved and that they will be cared for. I assured them that it might be scary, but in the end it will probably be for the best. I had to let them know, as much as I could, that the future was secure. If I had to do this, and it was so hard for me over something minor, relatively speaking, I cannot imagine what it was like for Jesus to entrust the Kingdom of God to this room of confused and worried disciples.

As Susan reminded us last week, this is a flashback here on the 6th Sunday of Easter. We flash back to Jesus’ final words to his followers after Judas slinked out to set up his betrayal. To those that were still in his fold, Jesus gave these instructions.

“If you love me, do what I said.” So simple, and yet my office is filled with books on on how to do that, supposedly.

And I see us every week, wrestling with these words that Jesus said. His approach to loving and serving others, his approach to putting God above all else. And how do we do that? By loving and serving others first. Circular, yes, but those were his instructions.

When a guest comes into our house, often times we use the phrase, “Make yourself at home.” Sometimes they do. We had a friend come over once, who proceeded to take off his shoes and ask for macaroni and cheese. And he wasn’t kidding. But when we have someone come over, especially a dear friend, we want them to feel at ease and comfortable, like they would at their own home.  When Jesus is saying, "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.” This phrasing is not conditional. Jesus is not saying, “If you do what I say, God will love you and we will make our home with you.” We so readily hear it and read it as conditional. But look, Jesus is making a declarative statement. "Those who love me will keep my word…” It is not an if. Those who love the Lord are not those who say it. Those who love the Lord are those who show it, in their words and deeds. And God will just love them, just love’em up. “...and we will come to them and make our home with them.”  In our lives and loves, we have to ask ourselves, would God feel at home?

If we do what Jesus said, God would feel at home. God does feel at home. When you walk around St. Thomas’, where do you see God getting comfy? Where do you God snuggling in? Think of it.

When we care for the Least of These, we are doing it not just for God. Jesus told us, we are doing it to him. “Whenever you have done it unto the Least of These, you have done it unto me.” This is the closing line in Jesus’ parable about the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25. Who are the Least of These here? Every day of the week that answer is different, and every day we care for the Least of These differently. I am fortunate. I get to see it here daily.

What about where you work? Where is God made comfy and at home? Who are the Least of These where you spend your days? For many of us, the focus of our faith actions is here at St. Thomas’, but think of how big our sphere of influence is if we expand it to every home and workplace and gym and school and playground and store and grocery that we frequent. God’s home can be there, too. I know that because God’s Least of These are in every one of those spots.

Every one of the Least of These is coming from a different spot. They each have different needs. Some need a drink, and others food. Some need a safe place to stay, and others a safe place to play. As we meet the actual or felt need of those we meet, we do it for them and we do it for Christ.

But the question is how? How do we keep Jesus in mind when we don’t see Jesus here? The disciples may have wondered that question, too. And that is when Jesus promises a gift so great that we still receive it today, and it is still wonderful. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” The Holy Spirit, the Advocate, also called the Counselor, and the Comforter, is the one at our side who does for us what needs to be done.

We just watched the miniseries “The People vs. O.J.” Continually I was struck by the lengths the lawyers of O.J. went to in taking care of their client. Bringing laundry, letting him stay at their house, lying or bending the truth, whatever he needed, they did. The Holy Spirit, in a MUCH MORE POSITIVE WAY, does the same. The Spirit steps into our lives, into our very hearts and souls, and does for us what needs to be done. The Spirit speaks to us, giving us courage and strength in our worries and fears. The Spirit convicts us better than Jiminy Cricket when we go down the wrong path. Sometimes we get promptings to do things that are outside of who we normally are, say things we would never be able to say on our own, to be Godly in ways far beyond ourselves or our abilities. Sometimes the Spirit whispers in our dreams, and at other times the Spirit screams against the injustice in the world. The Holy Spirit allows us to make our ways and our lives comfy and homey for God, and in doing so, we are transforming the world into the Kingdom of God. We pray it all the time, and somewhere around the world someone every second of every day is reciting, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.”  The Spirit is with us to help us make it so.

This may seem very Pollyana-ish, or wishful thinking. But Jesus said there is an outcome to this. A point in the following his teachings, in the Advocate working with us. The outcome is his peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”  The sense of completeness, wholeness, living fulfilled and purposed lives is the point of all this. Jesus came to show us the way, and sent us the Spirit to enable our way so that we might “have life and have it more abundantly” as he promised in John 10:10.

Peace is the point. Our peace. The world’s peace. Peace, not in the sense of absence of war. Peace in the sense that we have no locks on the doors, no walls around the city, all manner of things are well, and all manner of things will be well. We are describing here the peace of the Kingdom of God. That is what Jesus wants for us, and calls us to share.

There are times and places that stick in our memories, not because they are important, but because they speak to a truth. When I was ten, my father was working out in his workshop on some cabinetry or something he was making for his woodworking business, a side job to his being an electrical engineer at the Shipyard down in Newport News. One Saturday I wheeled in my bike, with an underinflated tire hoping for a little help.

Like a good dad, he stopped what he was doing, got out the air compressor, turned it on and pumped up my tire. I was appreciative, and in an offhand comment after I said thanks, I said, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” I remember the moment not because of what I said, but the look on my father’s face across the workshop.  A quiet man, not one for words, I was surprised when he looked back up from his work, turned and faced me, and said, “Oh, you’ll get by. You’ll get by.” He was so serious. It stuck with me. His tone. His expression. His sense of my abilities and my temperament.  I still wonder if he knew that day that he was not doing well. You see, a few weeks later he was gone.  

He died quickly and unexpectedly. Later in the grieving process I remembered about the tire and the help he gave me. I remembered the trite phrase I used and his singular response. Did he know his days were numbered? Was he not feeling well but did not tell us? We will never know.  But I do remember at times when I miss him, when I would give anything in the world for one more hug, for one more minute with him, I remember how he looked at me more like a man than a ten year old kid deserved,  and with love said to me, “Oh, you’ll get by. You’ll get by.” Those parting words are the ones we cling to when days are dark and our fears get the better of us. Which is why Jesus was so clear with his disciples and with us that awful night. He clearly spelled out that things would be bad, but that it was all for the best.

Jesus says to us: “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.  Amen.

"Speak with the Owner" Year C Easter 3 2016

“Speak with the Owner”

Year C Easter 3, April 10, 2016

St. Thomas’ Episcopal, Richmond, VA

So this week I was sitting in my office, when the church’s phone rang. I picked it up with my usual, “St. Thomas’ Church, this is Rock. How may I help you?” The response was quick and to the point. “I want to speak with the owner, please.” Perplexed, I said, “Excuse me?” Then, slowly and deliberately, as if I were slow, “I would like to speak with the owner please.” Obviously this was a business call from some Phone Bank, with no clue as to what we were. Trying not to laugh, I said “Uhh, this is a Church.” “Oh, well…” was the response, and then there was a clear click with the line closing. The funny thing was that I was trying to get hold of the Owner, too. You see I had been in the middle of my prayers when they had phoned in.

The question that came to my mind after being hung up on, is “Forget getting hold of the Owner, am I listening when the Owner is trying to get hold of me?”

We are looking at three versions of that story today. At first glance they may not seem the same, but in each instance, Jesus breaks through. The Risen Lord meets people where they are, and in their needs he loves them to where they need to be.

Saul was about the LORD’s work, or so he thought. In his zeal for Orthodoxy he missed something. He had equated the Institution with the Faith. While aligned, hopefully, they are not the same. He chose to kill and terrorize these upstart followers of the Way, as it was coming to be called, an offshoot of the faith of the Temple following some leader, Jesus of Nazareth. If Saul’s stonings would not destroy the Way, the fear of them would drive the Way-people into hiding and hopefully silence. With orders from the religious council, he set off to the Jewish community in Damascus, over in Syria. There were followers of the Way over there, and he was tasked to share his religious justice to these heretics.

This week the new Star Wars came out on DVD. Being the geek that I am, we have watched it already. In the Bonus Features with the movie, the actor portraying the bad guy, Kylo Ren, talked about something that reminded me of Saul on his way to Damascus. The actor said, paraphrased, “We are all the hero in our own story. We do not set out to be evil. We are good or justified in our own mind.” That was Kylo Ren, and it also was Saul. He thought he was following God. He thought he was doing the Right Thing.

On the road to Damascus, Jesus broke through in the only way that he could. Saul in his zealous love for God would not listen to anyone’s arguments or see the connections from the prophecies about the Messiah. Saul would have known them backwards and forwards. We know from his writing that he was a Pharisee. He would have been steeped in Scripture from his earliest days. But he was so focused in on the letter of the Scriptures, he missed the intent and Spirit of the Scriptures. The only way for him to hear would have been from God himself. And that is what happened. He was not without faith, his deep zealotry was only misguided. What he needed was some direction.

9:3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
9:4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
9:5 He asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
9:6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

Saul, soon to be Paul, knew God when he saw him, and listened. He took days to see again, and years in Arabia to let it soak in, but listen he did when God broke through. I wish we had time today to get into Ananias and his faithfulness despite what common sense told him to do.

But Jesus meets Peter where he was as well. Jesus lovingly called Peter in much the same way.

I love Peter. He is so real. He acts first and thinks later. He is an all or nothing kind of guy. Remember when he refused Jesus washing his feet? “You won’t wash my feet, Jesus.” But then Jesus said if he doesn’t then Peter has no part of him, and the Peter demands Jesus wash all of him. All or nothing, that is Peter. One of the main reason I believe the Gospels are so accurate, is that no one would allow themselves to be portrayed as such morons unless it were true. The disciples led the Church in its infancy, and yet the Gospels shows them to be all too human, all too flawed, all too much like all of us.

When Jesus died, Peter was left with the shame and guilt of his denials. Jesus even told him it was going to happen. And when he did it, and even then was surprised that he had done it, he broke down and wept. On Easter morning when Peter heard from the women that the tomb was empty he ran to see for himself. His mixed feelings, so desperate for hope, but so dreading the encounter. Not knowing what else to do, he went back to his old life, his old habits, his old ways. Obviously a natural leader, when he suggested that they all go fishing back in Galilee, his fellow disciples went with him.

He still had conflicted feelings that day in the boat. When he figured out that Jesus was on the shore, Peter grabbed his clothes and jumped in the water to beat the boat there, so wanting to be with Jesus. But when he got to shore nothing is said about what he did and said. It does say when the boat got there, he was the one that went back out to drag in the net. Was he possibly avoiding Jesus? I think he probably was. But then Jesus instructs them to bring over some of the big fish they had just caught. And while Jesus is heading up the first Church Fish Fry, he talks with Peter in the only way he would have heard.

Jesus did not confront him on his denials. He did not need to do so. Peter was beating himself up already. But Jesus set the stage in ways that were psychologically profound. That night of the denials, the charcoal fires were burning and Peter was by them warming himself, the Gospel of John tells us. We all know that unmistakable aroma of a charcoal fire. For us it is the smell of summer and of cookouts. For Peter, I am guessing, it was the smell of failure and shame and guilt. It is no mistake that the ONLY OTHER TIME that the words “charcoal fire” are used in the New Testament are when Peter ate breakfast with Jesus that morning.

Psychologists have proven the strong ties between scent and memory, especially emotional memory. The other day we were out to eat and my daughter tried her grandpa’s peach cobbler. “It tastes like Christmas,” she said. Immediately I knew she was talking about the cinnamon. She had tied that taste and scent to her memories and feelings of Christmas. I smell chestnuts roasting and immediately I am on a street corner in New York next to a hot dog stand in the cold. Peter would have been swimming in the memories of that night, that dreaded night when he denied the Lord.

So after he had served them, Jesus asked the question that he already knew the answer to, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” And he does it three times. Three denials, three questions. No accidents. Repeatedly Peter claims that he loves Jesus. Jesus already knew that. But Peter, being the hard-headed lug that he was needed to hear it come out of his own mouth. “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!”

After each confession of love, Jesus gives him something to do. Peter, remember, acts first, thinks later. He was definitely a doer. Love me? Yes! Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. Three actions. If you love me, show me. That day Jesus gave Peter a moment of grace. Jesus was not done with him yet.

I used this quote last week at the Bluegrass Mass, but it is too good not to use again. From author Frederick Buechner, “Resurrection means the worst thing is never the last thing.” Jesus showed Peter by not bringing up his denials but giving him a task to do that his worst moment was not the end of the story. Jesus had plans, and Peter was pivotal in making them happen. He met him where he was and got him to where he needed him to be.

The last confrontation might seem a surprise, but it is from the Revelation text. Through John of Patmos, we see a vision of heaven. While I do not see the need to take this literally, I do believe in the Truth with a capital T of the vision. The persecuted church who were the first recipients of this text needed a reminder of who they were and what they were to be about.

In today’s text, all the Elders, often seen as the 12 apostles and the 12 prophets, are around the throne with the four living creatures, portrayed on our Gospel book and often taken for the Gospel writers, with all of creatures in heaven, on the earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, and they sing out, "To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"

You have heard the phrase God is in his heaven and all's right with the world. The persecuted church heard the same message that day. God is on his throne. However, what is the image of Jesus? A mighty conqueror? No. A lamb. A slain lamb at that. One that is meek and weak. One that is wounded and sore. One that is worthy of all honor and praise. This is what we look to, this is what we are given. This is a reminder that all will be okay, but also it gives us our marching orders.

We follow a Jesus who rides in on a donkey, not a stallion. We follow a Jesus who washes his disciples’ feet, not one who demands his way. We follow a Jesus who loves us to death. Literally. In the vision from Revelation we are shown that the humble way of unrelenting love is at the center of all that is. The Risen Lord as the Lamb that was Slain painted for the persecuted Church a stark difference to the Emperor who conquered by fear and intimidation. It paints for us the same.

Stop worrying about trying to get hold of the Owner. The Owner is trying to get through to us. Will we take the call? Jesus’s last words to Peter on that morning over breakfast speak to us today as well. We have nothing to fear. We do not need to use fear and intimidation to demand orthodoxy, like Saul. We do not need to let our worst thing keep us from following Jesus, like Peter. No matter where we are, no matter what we have done, Jesus calls us, like he did Peter that day. After the three questions and three commands, the story ends with Jesus giving Peter two simple words. Jesus’ final words to Peter stay with us, because they are for us, too.

Jesus said, and says to us, “Follow me.” Amen.