Year C Ash Wednesday 2022 The Tell of our Hearts

 Year C Ash Wednesday, 2 March 2022

St. James the Less Epsicopal, Ashland, VA

“The Tells Of Our Hearts”

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.

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."

In a suspense story, if someone mentions something hidden, like when a bad guy breaks in and tries to get people to tell where the thing they want is, it is human nature to glance in that direction. The “good guys'' give it away, in a vain attempt to check on its safety. I remember when I had opportunity to travel to Europe and see the beautiful cathedrals, some of them used to have signs out saying, “Beware of pickpockets.” What people did is pat their wallet to see if they were okay, and inevitably the pickpockets would notice and know right where to go when they pickpocket you. We have tells, giveaways to others, of what we truly treasure.

We all have tells, a term from poker that transmits to those who pay attention to what you have, or a revealing gesture, expression, etc. My wedding ring is a tell that I am married. My collar is a tell that I am a priest. You may have a lapel pin that proclaims a club, a fraternity or sorority, or political party or stance. It could be your national flag. At the State of the Union address last night, I was surprised to see Ukrainian flag pins instead of the usually ubiquitous American flag pins. Surprised, and pleased.

Tonight we have some warnings from Jesus. He tells us to beware of our tells. He warns us not to give away our secret devotions. I have Lenten devotions every year, and sometimes people ask what I give up. I tend not to say these, because of the spirit of Jesus teachings. My devotion is my business with God.

So whether I give money away, or I pray, or I fast, I try to keep that between me and God. It is not that it is a secret, but there are intimacies that we share with those closest to us. I share things with God, and I do things for God. No one else needs to share in that. Same is true for my wife, my kids, and other members of my family.

Tonight, though we have another tell, for those of us who chose to receive the imposition of ashes. We take on the sign of the Cross along with members of the Church around the world, as a reminder to us and to the world that “we are dust, and to dust we shall return.” Like my wedding ring, and my collar, I take on this public declaration to boldly claim my part in the Kingdom of God as well as my sonship in the family of humanity. I am the son of a father and a mother. They gave me life, through the Grace of God, and I also will claim my spot in that family in death.

We are all born. We all die. On our grave is our birth date and our death date. And that hyphen in the middle, that all too short hyphen in the middle, is where all our thoughts and feelings, all our loves and hates, all our weeping and victories, are contained in that hyphen.

While I was over in England, I was talking with a friend. He heard me mention that our death gives us purpose and it is a driver and our motivator. He did not let me finish, and began to argue that love is our driver and our motivator not a fear of death. He was not in a mood to argue, and I did not want to get into it in that context in which we were. It is not a fear of death, at least not for me, that motivates me. As you may have heard me say, one of my favorite quotes is “We are put on earth but a little space to learn to bear the beams of love.” Knowing that this space, this all too small hyphen, is a knowledge that we only get one ride on this merry-go-round so we make the most of this time which we are given. Death could arrive for us, at any day, at any hour. Live your life in such a way that if you are claimed today you would have no regrets. 

As a Christian, death is not a fear. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. I believe that in the core of my being. Fear of death is not a motivator, but knowing that I am dust and to dust I shall return gives a fire in my belly to get on with it. Do not put off to tomorrow what we can accomplish today. Or as we say in a favorite blessing of many of us, “Life is short, and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us. So be swift to love, and make haste to be kind.” (Henri Frederick Amiel)

Our expiration date is what gives us some gumption, and LOVE, Love is the means to do what we have to do.

We love what we love. We love who we love. We are beloved of God, each and every one of us.

As we make our way in this life, we have free will. We have the choice to decide “this day whom we will serve.”

In the same way, we find what we look for. As Father Richard Rohr says on this, and our point of view, “It’s heaven all the way to heaven. And it's hell all the way to hell. Not later, but now.” [Everything Belongs, p. 165]

Later he says, “...when we fall in love, we risk pain and we will always suffer for it. The cross is not the price that Jesus had to pay to talk God into loving us. It is simply where love will lead us. Jesus names the agenda. If we love, if we give ourselves to feel the pain of the world, it will crucify us.” [p. 169]

If you think that you can love and not have it weigh on your soul, you may never have been in love. It is the highest height and deepest depth, and it makes life, this space in the hyphen, worth living.

And when we love, truly love, we do not count the costs. A story is told…

An eight-year-old boy had a younger sister who was dying of leukemia, and he was told that without a blood transfusion she would die. His parents explained to him that his blood was probably compatible with hers, and if so, he could be the blood donor. They asked him if they could test his blood. He said sure. So they did and it was a good match. Then they asked if he would give his sister a pint of blood, that it could be her only chance of living. He said he would have to think about it overnight.

The next day he went to his parents and said he was willing to donate the blood. So they took him to the hospital where he was put on a gurney beside his six-year-old sister. Both of them were hooked up to IVs. A nurse withdrew a pint of blood from the boy, which was then put in the girl’s IV. The boy lay on his gurney in silence while the blood dripped into his sister, until the doctor came over to see how he was doing. Then the boy opened his eyes and asked, “How soon until I start to die?”

Friends, that is love. Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. The boy loved, and he determined it was worth the price, even when he thought the cost was all he had. And he gave it freely, no strings attached, but curious when the final cost would come.

Loving has a price. Loving is the cross. 

“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?” Matthew 16:24-26

In claiming our cross, we embrace our love. In claiming our love, we tell what we truly treasure. And Jesus says it best of all…

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 

We come today to begin this holy Lent, admitting to ourselves and declaring to the world, our first love, what we truly treasure. Amen.

Year C Last Sunday after the Epiphany 2022 "Secret Glory"

Year C Last Sunday after the Epiphany, 27 February 2022

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Secret Glory”

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

Luke 9:28-36

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”--not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

The Truth will out, as Shakespeare intoned in the Merchant of Venice.

We look at this event, the Transfiguration, and we, after 2,000 years, see the glorification of Jesus. That is why it was included in all three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke here), and St. Peter refers to it in 2nd Peter. And as followers of this humble carpenter Jesus, we do right to glorify him. His name is above all names, and:

so that at the name of Jesus

    every knee should bend,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

    that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father. [Philippians 2:10-11]

But today I want to look at it from another perspective. The Epiphany. The Unveiling of what was right before the select apostles’ eyes. Peter, James, and John, Jesus’ closest confidantes, were invited to go up the mountain and pray.

In this prayer time, the Holy Spirit is doing some moving. Jesus is so in tune with the Father that an occurrence happens. Jesus is so moved, so filled with the Spirit, that Luke here says that he began to shine, to glow. The power and energy and glory of God were flowing out of his very being. “His face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.” Living in the age of movies, we can all see it in our mind’s eye. Hollywood special effects can do this readily, but this was no special effect. This was a Holy Moment.

But then, we have two arrivals, our gut tells us from where, but the passage does not.

Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Moses and Elijah. The embodiment of the Law, Moses the Law-Giver, who delivered God’s people from bondage and met with God to receive the 10 Commandments which we still have inscribed on our walls! And then we have the embodiment of the Prophets, Elijah, wild and furious, calling down fire from heaven on Mt. Carmel against the prophets of Baal and delivering God’s word to a wayward people.

Peter, James, and John were pretty blown away. They were thinking, “WOW! Moses and Elijah showed up! This is huge! Jesus, you are so lucky!” 

Or “Jesus, you are so holy you deserve special treatment!”

Perspective is so important. The disciples were impressed by who showed up. Peter was so blown away that he wanted to memorialize it. 

Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said.

Too often I am like Peter, speaking before thinking, not knowing what I say. Peter, like me, must be an external processor.

Peter wanted to mark the time and the place, that this was the pinnacle. But there was another point of view. Here in Luke we get an insight that is missing in Matthew and Mark’s accounts of this same event. Matthew and Mark said that Jesus “talked” with them. Luke goes a bit further.

Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

The chosen apostles witnessed this, and thought “Wow, Jesus is something, isn’t he? He deserves Moses and Elijah!” We need to make a shrine!

But look at what Moses and Elijah spoke on. His “departure.” I say this so often, and I get fixated on words. I know. I know. The etymology and original languages, but if I trade out the word translated for the word departure in Greek, you will see what a big deal their conversation was.

Departure in the original Greek is the word Exodos. Departure for me connotes leaving. And Jesus did that in Jerusalem. But Exodus conveys, to me, deliverance with divine intervention and care. Moses and Elijah came to talk to Jesus to discuss his Exodus. The “guy who led the physical exodus of God’s people” and the “guy who fought the false prophets to return God’s people to the Lord” are discussing with Jesus the True Deliverance, the true Exodus, that he was about to bring about.

The apostles were thinking, “Wow! Jesus gets Moses and Elijah!”

I think Moses and Elijah were thinking “Wow! We get to meet the Messiah, God’s Anointed!”

Pray breaks down so many walls. And one of those walls is time. Stories are told of missionaries in dire need of medicine to combat an outbreak, and fervently pray for divine help, and the next day a package arrives that was mailed weeks before with exactly what they needed. Prayer breaks through the linear flow of time and space. God can start stacking the dominos wherever, and therefore whenever God chooses. God is not trapped in this river we call time that we are, and God can get out of the flow. 

This is a possibility I have pondered for years. But WHAT IF, Moses may have been praying on the Mountain and Elijah and Jesus showed up. And WHAT IF, Elijah may have been praying in the cave, listening to that “still, small voice” and Moses and Jesus show up. That vision of what is to come may have been a holy gift that these heroes of the faith may have received. I love to think that, but admittedly I may be wrong.

We do know that Jesus was praying on the mountaintop, and that the Spirit of God was so palpable that the disciples were overwhelmed to the point of passing out. I repeat from our reading: 

Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

They caught a glimpse of the walls of time and space collapsing. Science fiction has nothing on this. But these two giants of the faith see the fulfillment of what they fought their lives to move toward. They could see into the promised land, even though they knew they would not get there themselves. This is whether they came back from heaven, or from the place of the dead, Sheol, or from their own timelines. We are told they showed up. That we do know.

After Peter’s faux pas of wanting to set up a shrine, we hear a word from heaven. Jesus’ ministry began this way at his baptism, and he ends moving toward his Exodus in the same way.

While [Peter] was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. 

God declares that Jesus is the One. His Chosen. The actual word there is The Beloved, the Agapetos. We love who we love. And Jesus’ was The Beloved. Jesus trusted these three enough to share something rare, and precious, and beautiful. It was so delicate, and intimate, and holy that they were moved to silence. As it says:

And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

Too many of us are under the impression that God is not still at work in the world. We have these encounters. We have these moments. We have these inside jokes or serendipities with the Almighty or one of our dear departed loved ones. We don’t talk about it because we are cautious, or don’t want to appear crazy, or because we are proper Episcopalians. (There is a reason why we are sometimes half jokingly/half mockingly called the Frozen Chosen!) 

Last week I was fortunate to help lead the Discernment Retreat for the Diocese. There was a wonderful gathering of people who had felt the call to be priests or deacons. One reason why I love doing these weekends is because for many folks this is the first time they have been in a room with absolute strangers or at best acquaintances and are given an safe and encouraging place to talk about things they kept quiet or secret or only shared with their priest or spouse, and even then in hushed tones. One person summed up the feelings by saying, “Why don’t we talk about this stuff more often!?!? What a difference it would make!”

Like Billy Joel sings, we tend to “Leave a Tender Moment Alone.” We do not speak of such things, but maybe we should. Eventually Peter would confess to the other apostles and in sermons and in his writings that such a stupendous, miraculous, and rare thing occurred. One reason why I believe that this story is true, Peter would have to confess to his lapse of judgment to tell the tale. Someone stretching the truth would probably not go there.

Maybe we need to be a little more risky, a little more open, a little more courageous. I hope you will take those FaithPoints of your journey, where the divine broke through and you caught a glimpse of a reality greater than what our senses perceive or beyond the everyday rational. I am not asking us to be irrational, but maybe to take the risk to be honest to our experience.

The Truth will out. Eventually the Transfiguration of the Christ, the Chosen One, the Beloved became known amongst the believers. Who needs to hear the stories of when God broke through in your life, when in your ordinary existence a burning bush stopped you in your tracks, or a sign from a loved one crossed your path, or a deep calm took over when everything was going to hell in a handbasket?

We, like Jesus’ confidantes, are often given glimpses of God breaking through, and we can share our Epiphanies, and in so doing we can maybe allow people to have their own or a safe space to talk about the Glory of God. Maybe we, too, can be transfigured.

Glory be to the Agapetos, the Beloved. And Glory be to God! Be brave, and Fear Not. To be in on the secret that this world is grace-filled and that God is Love is something that needs to be repeated to each and every one of us as much as it can be. Share your moments of Grace with someone today. Amen.

 

Year C 7th Epiphany 2022 In Abundance Love Them All

Year C 7th Sunday of Epiphany, 20 February 2022

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“In Abundance, Love Them All”

Collect: O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50

Someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.

What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Luke 6:27-38

Jesus said, "I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

Good morning, friends. It is good to be home, and many thanks to Becky+ who was able to lead us so ably while I was away.

As we move into the end of the season of Epiphany, we hear some teachings that will take the rest of our lives to move into. Epiphany is God’s glory is revealed. In these teachings, this is shown, but Jesus’ teaching here is hard. It goes against our natural tendencies. 

The order of this world is summed up in the lines of Sean Connery’s character Malone in the movie The Untouchables: 

They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.

That is why in the Hebraic laws there was a limit on retaliation. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. What was done to you is the limit of what you can do back. Seeking payback is the reflex in a world ruled by tooth and claw. But Jesus in his normal fashion takes an issue, reframes the problem, and invites us into it and to raise our consciousness. Reframe and Step Up is how I sum up his approach to things.

Jesus reframes the issue of revenge, and instead of setting limits on the retaliation, he says to be bigger than the situation. DO NOT RETALIATE AT ALL. Beyond that, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. And when we do that, they are no longer enemies, or at least they begin to transform in our understanding and in our response to them.

I fail miserably at this all too often. I wrestle with my desiring to live fully into this. When our blood is up in the heat of the moment, for me at least, my inclinations need to be tempered by my desire to live the way Christ calls me to live. 

The Passion shows us how much he meant what he said. When Peter tried to defend him with the sword in the Garden of Gethsemane, he healed the wounded servant. When lies were thrown at him in the illegal trial of the Sannhedrin, he stayed silent. When he was hanging on the cross, he prayed forgiveness on the soldiers. Jesus meant what he said. And he means it for us as well.

He calls us to see the world with his eyes. A world of Abundance ruled by a loving Father who wants us all, the Good, the Bad, the Sick, the Poor, the Rich, the Powerful, ALL OF US, to succeed and live into the fullness of the Kingdom made real, right here, right now. This is a tall order. But it encapsulates so much.  

Love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful… A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.

Abundance is the key to our being able to see beyond the immediate deficits. 

When we are insulted and cursed, we don’t curse back because our worth comes from the Abundance of Grace and Worth we have found from God.

When we are struck on the cheek, we show that we are above the wounds given for our concern is not of this world, for we have been given a world much greater than any power or grandeur that might be before our eyes. And also, when someone is reduced to violence they show how little they are and they are inviting you to their level of pettiness. It shows how small they see themselves. To stand in the face of the violent with peace and blessing even, they cannot understand. It may be dismissed as weakness, but actually it is the true and overcoming power that comes from God above.

There is a powerful scene in the movie Gandhi where the Mahatma organizes a protest at a factory. The unjust practices are hurting the poor in the area. The gate to the factory is lined with soldiers and the protesters go up to confront the horrible practices and are struck. Then the next row of protesters steps up to receive the blows and not strike back. It was horrific. And even the British perpetrators saw what they were doing to Gandhi’s followers as horrific. And in giving the blows, they learned of their own injustice and eventually, as the movie shows, they gave India back to the Indians with home rule. As Gandhi said, “You will leave, and you surely will. And when you do, we want you to leave as friends.” He pointed these teachings of his to the teachings of Jesus we read today.

We cannot fight battles without tragedies happening. But the greatest tragedy is when we say we follow the Lord of Love and seek revenge, or mach tit-for-tat. We show that we do not know him at all. Jesus reframes the issues of this world, and invites us to step up to his view and way of life.

The story of Joseph and his brothers from our Genesis reading today is the end of a long, hard story of woe, but that in the end God uses for good. We missed the part where his jealous brothers fake his death and sell him into slavery, lying to their father that his favorite son is dead. We won’t get into the issue of parents playing favorites, but don’t do it. We miss him doing well with Potipher, until his wife tries to seduce him and he rejects her and is falsely accused of attempted rape. We miss him interpreting dreams for Pharaoh's imprisoned servants, and their forgetting to put in a good word for him. But then when one remembers after some nightmares of Pharaoh, Joseph is raised to the highest level of authority in Egypt. And then after years of famine his brothers arrive to beg of this one who they have no idea is their long-lost brother. And Joseph has a choice. With a word they could all be jailed or killed and no one would care a wit. But that is not what he does. What they meant for ill, God took, transformed, blessed, and sanctified. In Joseph’s own words:

God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God.

Now please do not read into this, I certainly do not, that God makes bad things happen. That is a theologically terrifying and slippery slope. The rules established in this Universe to give us the gift of Free Will, means that in our Autonomy things can happen and do that are by their very nature Bad. We have to have them so as to respond and choose this day, and every day, whom we will serve. But even given the broken shards of our lives, when we give that over to God they can be transformed. God takes the Broken, and gives it back sanctified.

That is the reframing and stepping up we are talking about. Beggars and thieves, violent oppressors and cursing belittlers, they are nothing in comparison to boundless love of God. Both in this life and in the life to come. With God at our back, we are bigger than anything we face. Our enemies. Our own Goliaths. Or even our own worst selves.

The brokenness that happens in this life is what is buried, like a seed in the ground. What is raised up is eternal. This is the summation of our First Corinthians readings. A seed must die to itself for the plant to emerge. The death of the caterpillar is the beginning of the butterfly. Living a life of love to all, especially our enemies, may seem a death to the ego, and it seems that way from those outside the faith in God. But as we die to Self, and give that up to God it is transformed. As St. Paul wrote: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

We give up the passing to gain the eternal. That is a deal that we cannot refuse.

But we have to see the Abundance beyond our senses. We have to see a Kingdom that is better and bigger and bolder than the distractions and devices and deviances of this world. We have to trust the promises of this humble teacher who at the end had not a possession to his name, and only a handful of loved ones even acknowledging him at all.

Our prayer today: O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you.

Friends, the only way for us to live the way Jesus said we need to live is to make Love the foundation of all we think and say and do. We do this out of necessity. We do this to be who we were born to be. We were not created for the mundane and the mortal. We were designed to thrive in the Abundance of God and do so throughout eternity. And  it all begins with Love. 

Love. Love them all. 

Love them all to death.

Wife Abuser. 

Child molester.

Midnight Cruiser.

Stock Investor.

Honored marine.

Associate dean.

Chain smoker.

Flunkie.

Hash toker.

Junkie.

Redneck man 

in Ku Klux Klan.

Congressional page.

Victim of AIDS.

COVID denier.

Convicted liar.

Beggar.

Thief.

Saint.

Or, Chief.

Love them. Love them all. 

Love them all to death, even your own. 

(Much of this poem is from Matt Tullos’s script “All Souls Come Clean” adapted)

God bless your loving. God bless your dying to self. God bless you. Amen

Year C 6th Epiphany WED 2022 Good Shepherd

Year C 6th Sunday of Epiphany WEDNESDAY, 16 February 2022

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Good Shepherd”

Collect: O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 10:1-18

1Jesus said: ‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ 6Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7 So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

11 ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes* it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’

Good morning, friends! It is good to be home. It would be impossible to keep the pace we have kept the last week for much longer. The official reason for our trip was to say goodbye and Thank You to our sponsoring Bishop of the Triangle of Hope ministry, the Right Reverend Paul Bayes lately of Liverpool. Bishop Paul has been a friend and a dear supporter of our work, and of me personally, and he will be sorely missed. The most moving portion of his Farewell Service was at the very end when he goes to the high altar and lays down his diocesan crozier (on the altar itself), is stripped of his ceremonial gear, and he walks from the cathedral in a simple alb and the doors close (they really slammed these 15 foot doors) behind him.

The whole crowd jumped when the doors slammed shut, first one, then the other. It reverberated throughout the cathedral, and echoed through this largest of Anglican Cathedrals in Europe.

But the Crozier, that symbol of Episcopal authority, comes directly from this chapter. While I am the pastor of this flock, the Bishop, literally from the word for overseer, is the Shepherd of the Diocese. But every Bishop lays down their Crozier in retirement or death. Every single one, even +Paul, and very soon our own +Susan will lay down her Crozier.

Thankfully, though, the Good Shepherd does not lay anything down, except his life when required, for his sheep. This idea of a Good Shepherd is so powerful even when we are so far removed from the pastoral profession in our lives today. 

Jesus very clearly says that he is the Gate and the Good Shepherd. And he states the actions which make him the Good Shepherd. They were true then, and they are true today.

• He knows our name, and he calls us by name. That very thought, that someone knows me by name. As Bishop Paul was walking to the Altar to lay down his staff, he made eye contact with me. I placed my hand on my heart and gave him a nod. He said aloud, “Thank you, Rock!” In that moment I felt such a connection and appreciation for this man I respect so much. And on top of that he knows me. He called me by name. And Jesus loves us even more than that moment I just shared.

• He leads us. He does not leave us wandering or clueless. He gives us direction and purpose. He sets our agenda and our pace. 

• He goes before us. He not only leads us where we are to go, but he goes out ahead to direct us and watch out for obstacles and hazards along the way. The most comforting thing is that he knows exactly what we are going through. He walks with us every step of the way.

• He provides for us life, and more than that, Abundance. It is the difference between surviving and thriving. We can live on bread and water, but a sumptuous feast is what we are given. Abundance needs to be our mindset, and humility is our attitude. We are sheep in this metaphor, not the one the shepherd works for, the Lord. We do not deserve our abundance, it is not a privilege. Our abundance is a gift, and that is the very definition of grace.

• He lays down his life for us. This is how much he loves us. He loves us to death, literally. If we ever questioned that, this proves it. He is the Ultimate Shepherd, and good to boot.

• He knows us and lets us know him, too. This is beyond a trite statement. Scripture promises that he numbers the hair on our heads. He knows us better than we know ourselves. This is love, love beyond measure. This is the love of the Good Shepherd. Thanks be to God!

Today, remember that. Feel the love, and let us be like him in our Following. Amen.