Advent 1 CELTIC 2025 Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

 Advent 1, 30 November 2025

St George’s Episcopal. Fredericksburg, VA

“Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”

Collect: Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Matthew 24:36-44

Jesus said to the disciples, “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

And so we begin, again. Today we start the liturgical year with the first Sunday of Advent. This is Year A where most of our Gospel readings come from the Gospel of Matthew, for those of you keeping track.

Advent means the “Arrival,” or the “Coming.” We wait for Jesus to arrive the first time, retelling the Christmas anticipatory stories, and we also look ahead waiting for Jesus to arrive again. It is a season of both/and, Jesus is long awaited, and look busy, Jesus is coming back.

Tonight’s reading covers that well. Jesus warns his followers that we must be ready AND that it could happen at any time. Being ready is our side of things. I was a Boy Scout, and our motto said the same thing, “Be prepared.” But the other side is just as important, it could happen at any time. You may remember just a few weeks ago there were many who believed that the rapture was coming and they spread their mania that it was imminent, and even named a day for it back in September. But here lies the problem, Jesus says in tonight’s reading NO ONE KNOWS THE DAY OR HOUR, NOT EVEN JESUS!

I am not sure how this is news to anyone, Moses was not expecting God when he encountered the Burning Bush where he heard God’s call. St Paul, when he was blinded by the light on the Road to Damascus definitely did not expect Jesus to correct him and redirect the rest of his life. God breaks through when God breaks through. That is why we are always to be ready. It could happen at any time.

Our Advent is about our waiting. Sometimes we see the waiting tied to the matriarchs/patriarchs, and sometimes we hear the cry of the prophets to change our ways. But both sat in wait, they sat in hope, and they sat in anticipation. They were looking ahead. Because if God is the way they thought God would be, then God would find and provide a way out of the mess we find ourselves in, or more often, the mess we put ourselves in.

One time, when my daughter was three, no more than four years old, we were shopping at Target. It was the whole family. And somehow, Sojo, our youngest, just disappeared! She was there and all of a sudden, she was gone. Not taking any chances, I told my wife to stay with our other kid and search, thinking maybe she was in a clothes rack playing hide-n-seek, or something. Meanwhile, I would run to the door so that she would not get past us or no one would get out with her. As a parent, there are few things so scary as having a lost child.

It was only a couple of minutes, and sure enough, I saw her down the first aisle hoofing it for the front door as fast as her stubby little legs could carry her. She was alone, but going full blast for the exit.

I went towards her and when she saw me, her eyes lit up and she smiled and said, “I knew you’d find me!”

I could have wrung her neck, but the comfort of having her safe and sound outweighed everything. Now I had a talk with her about where she was headed. She thought she would just meet us at the car. Talk about scary. But I let her know that the next time she got lost to stay where she is, and look for us. To head for an aisle and not to move, and definitely do not leave the store to go to the car.

While funny now, my love for her drove my worry and fear. But her words are the most apt description of Advent. “I knew you’d find me!” The cry of the matriarchs and patriarchs was to be found. The call of the prophets was to get ready, to REPENT because we were waiting for the Chosen One of God who would come, and the Chosen One could come at any time. And maybe that is where your heart is tonight. In hope, maybe you came here tonight, hoping to find and be found by God.

I know I did. As Charles Wesley wrote in his celebrated hymn:

Come, thou long expected Jesus,

born to set thy people free;

from our fears and sins release us,

let us find our rest in thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

hope of all the earth thou art;

dear desire of every nation,

joy of every longing heart.

Or maybe our prayer is even simpler—maybe it’s Sojo’s words: “I knew you’d find me.” Amen

Christ the King Sunday 2025 Youth Sunday

 Christ the King , 23 November 2025

St George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA

Youth Sunday

Collect: Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Colossians 1:11-20

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers-- all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Luke 23:33-43

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots to divide his clothing. The people stood by, watching Jesus on the cross; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

Good morning! It is a joy to be here this morning on this day when our Children and Youth are leading us in worship [at our 11:15 service]. Today is the final Sunday in our liturgical year, Christ the King Sunday. We start in anticipation with Advent, and then the Eternal becomes Flesh at Christmas, followed by the unveiling of who Jesus is at Epiphany, then a short time between which we call Ordinary Time, then we prepare for Easter during Lent, and Holy Week leads to Good Friday but more importantly Resurrection Sunday called Easter. We have Easter season, then Pentecost, and half a year of Ordinary Time which concludes with today, Christ the King. It is important for us to end in this acknowledgement, that the humble woodworker from Nazareth was more than he appeared to be. He is a King, a descendant of King David, and in our faith we can also say he is the Son of God.

This Sunday is the exclamation point on the end of the sentence, or the cherry atop the Sundae. However you see it, as long as you see Jesus is Lord it is okay.

Our readings for this day look at it in many ways, Jeremiah prophesies of a Good Shepherd to come as opposed to the many bad ones we know far too well. He brings up that holy lineage and that rootedness in the line of the Chosen.

Our statement that Jesus is Lord might seem so simple, but it was a riotous act when the first believers said it. Caesar was Lord was the point of the Roman Empire. None other could claim that title. But when the first believers claimed that as a statement of faith their rebellion was far more than religious. It was a statement which was far-reaching and intentional, it was all-encompassing and so deeply personal. It was a dangerous thing to say that “Jesus is Lord” back then. It still is today, if we really mean it.

This morning one of our youth will share her thoughts on our Colossians reading looking at Jesus’ role for those who believe. [The next section is from Sandi D., a youth at St George’s.]

Good morning! Today, in Colossians, we hear Paul speak about finding strength through God saying:

“May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father…”

When I’m stressed—whether it’s homework or an audition—I often try to handle it on my own instead of turning to God, even though I know His strength can carry me through. It's just like our phones: we use them all day, every day, and eventually their battery runs out. A phone can’t work on its own. Once it’s charged, it can do everything it's supposed to. That’s exactly what it’s like with God. When I try to do things on my own, I slowly lose charge. But when I turn to God, I’m recharged—I can power through because His strength is with me.

There are two big truths in what Paul says about God‘s strength. First, it’s God’s strength—not mine. I might try to tough things out, but God’s power will always be there, even when I choose not to see it. When I feel empty, He gives me the energy to keep going.

Second, God’s strength brings patience and joy. Strength isn’t just about surviving; it’s about enduring hard times with patience and knowing God is with you. I’ve met people whose lives radiate God’s love. Last winter, I was part of an organization that called themselves Christian, but didn’t always act in Christian like ways. During that time, my friends and I turned fully to God. We prayed together and reminded each other of His strength. Some of my closest friendships are with people I can talk about faith with, because I truly see God in them and can tell they know God’s always with them. When I lay my problems before God, He gives me the strength to get through—and I know He walks with me always. When I remember that, I can shine with His love and compassion.

God strengthens me because I belong to Him. I am His child—I am never alone.  I am forgiven, loved, and brought into His light. His redemption gives me security and hope. When I remember that I’ve been brought into the light, it changes how I face challenges. I can endure everything with joy because I know I’m not alone. This strength comes from knowing God would do anything for me because He loves me. He has a plan for me, and I trust that plan because He died on the cross for me.

Amen, Sandi! And as she finished, we turn to that. Our Gospel reading from Luke is filled with irony. We call Christ King, and yet he is being executed like a criminal. We call Jesus Lord, and yet he is mocked and derided.

For me, I sense the irony, but Jesus is above it all. Even at the worst, when all seems lost, he is the compassionate savior we know and love. They taunt him saying if he is who people claim, then let him take that authority. To people who do not see right and wrong or only power, they do not understand when we act out of love or are motivated by love.

In the 80s movie WarGames, you may remember how a defense department computer with artificial intelligence wants to play a game. The terrifying premise is that the game the computer chose to play is thermonuclear war. The computer comes very close, but through learning the computer finally figures out that the only way to win the game is not to play at all.

The ones taunting and belittling Jesus were the very ones who were inviting him down to their level to be a part of games that were beneath him, power and violence. He chose to win by not even starting.

Jesus stayed above it all, forgiving them because they had no idea what they were doing. They stripped him naked and gambled for his garment, a single robe. When a condemned man asks to be remembered, just goes beyond a mere remembrance with a promise of admission into his Kingdom that very day. “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” 

How funny that must have seemed to those who heard it, unless it was that condemned man who was given Hope beyond his wildest imaginings. Jesus acted like a King, giving hope, extending charity, claiming authority. The Romans may have killed his body, but nothing could change who Jesus was. The Good Shepherd. “The Lord is our Righteousness.” The Promised Messiah. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. One of the meanings of the term Messiah is the “Chosen One.” The taunting Roman soldiers even said as much. They could not understand or comprehend that the Chosen One was being executed. Little did they realize that the Chosen One was chosen for exactly this. And for me that is the most important thing of all.

He was Chosen by God before time to do what had to be done. But every morning when I wake up, and every moment throughout my day, I have to choose. Is Jesus my Lord, or not?

Will I follow him, or not? Will I act in Grace, or not? As Sandy preached, will we plug into God’s strength to give us what we need, or not? This Sunday is Christ the King if I choose to make it so, or not. Will I choose the Chosen One. Will Christ be my King, or not?

Friends, it is up to you individually and then all of us collectively to make it so. Will we? Amen

Year C Proper 28 WED 2025 Fear Not

Year C, Proper 28 WEDNESDAY, 18 & 19 November 2025

Chancellors Village and St George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA

“Fear Not”

Collect

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Luke 21:5-19

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."

They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, `I am he!' and, `The time is near!' Do not go after them.

"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls."

In our Gospel reading, Jesus warns us. He warns of many things, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, and plagues. Not to mention portents and signs in the heavens.

It  was clear, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Some people see that as a negative, but I find great comfort when a leader is forthright and honest about where things stand. Jesus let us know, “Life will be hard.” It is hard to keep doing the right and good when nobody else is. In our reading from 2 Thessalonians St Paul urges us, “Do not be weary in doing what is right.”

Jesus was clear with us that in following him, in choosing his way of living life and loving God and one another that it sets us against the way of the world. Looking out for number one, taking care of ourselves first and foremost.

But he did not stop there. There are times when we think that the world must be coming to an end, but he says to that, “Nope.” He tells us to hold on, to wait and have faith even when things seem so bad. “Do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.”

Fear not, repeated again and again in Scripture is our reminder here. Supposedly in the Hebrew and Christian writings we call scripture, there are 365 occurrences of the admonition to Fear Not. An admonition for each and every day of the year. Pretty appropriate. I know when I am having a rough time watching the news, whether local, national, or global, I need to be reminded that God is God and I am not, and that all will be well, in the long run anyway.

We do not have the perspective that God has. We do not see the forces of good that are at work in ways we cannot see or perceive. 

Lastly, Jesus gets down to the personal. Sometimes we will have things happen, not out there, but to us. It could get personal. I was talking about this passage with our teens and they really hit on this one. One kid said that Jesus contradicts himself. The teen said, “Jesus said we might be killed, and then said not a hair on our heads would perish. Which is it?”

Which is it indeed! Our bodies may be the price we pay as we live out lives of faith and share and spread the Good News of God in Christ, BUT we are to be afraid. This body is not the end. Hold onto this. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience, not the other way around. Our home is in God and with God. This body is a shell that holds our true selves. And Jesus, in his being transparent and honest with us reminds us that we will go on, even though this form may be asked of us.

Life is what it is, friends. No matter who says it. Jesus warns us. And playwright Tennessee Williams put it this way: “The world is violent and mercurial— it will have its way with you. We are saved only by love - love for each other and the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share: being a parent; being a writer; being a painter; being a friend. We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love.”

Keep on keeping on. While you have breath, you have hope. And when you no longer are breathing, you have your home in God. We are called to maintain and share God’s love which we have received abundantly, come what may. And Jesus modeled that for us, and walks with us especially in the dark and hard days. Jesus closes with this, and I will, too. “By your endurance you will gain your souls.” Amen

Proper 27 2025 Celtic Service- Moot

Proper 27, 9 November 2025

St. George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA

Celtic Service: “Moot”

Luke 20:27-38 NRSV

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."

Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."

First Nations Version

Then some of the Upright Ones (Sadducees), who say there is no rising again from death, came to Creator Sets Free (Jesus) to question him also. "Wisdom-keeper," they said, "in the law Drawn from the Water (Moses) gave us these instructions: If a Tribal Member should die before having children, then his brother should marry his widow and give her children. This way the man will have descendants: In a family of seven brothers, the oldest took a wife, but died without children. The next brother married her, but he also died with no children. A third brother married her, and, like his other brothers, he died with no children. The same happened to all seven of them, and, last of all, the woman also crossed over to death. When they all come back to life in the new world, whose wife would she be, since all seven men married her?” 

“Marriage belongs to this present world and to the ones who live in it,” he answered. “The ones who are chosen to rise to life in that world will not marry, for they will be like the spirit-messengers. They will never die, for they are the children of the Great Spirit who raises them again to new life.” And then he said, “As to the dead rising again, listen to what the Sacred Teachings tell us that Drawn from the Water (Moses) said when he saw the burning bush. He calls Creator the 'Great Spirit of Father of Many Nations (Abraham), He Made Us Laugh (Isaac), and Heel Grabber (Jacob): "He is not the Great Spirit of the dead, but of the living. To him all are alive.”

Good evening.

Tonight’s lesson is from an odd little question posed by some members of the Sadducees, a religious party in the Jewish faith that did not believe in a resurrection of the dead, physically or spiritually. When you are dead, you’re dead, they thought. So the question that they raise with Jesus is obviously one of the Gotcha variety. They knew that whatever Jesus said was going to upset somebody. This is just like the time people asked if they should pay taxes to Caesar or not. No way to win here.

They did not care what Jesus responded, just that it would put him in a pickle. He calls them on their fallacy, stating no one is married in heaven. There it will no longer be an issue. And even more, he calls them on their hypocrisy stating that Moses said that God was God of the living, not the dead. So therefore, we continue to live even when this current body no longer binds us.

It is hard to maintain healthy boundaries when people are out to get you. Over and over again the Pharisees and Sadducees tried to put Jesus over a barrel. And Jesus, with patience, and I would dare say love, does not respond at the level with which they come at him. Albert Einstein said, “Problems cannot be solved with the same level of thinking that created them.” And if you look at how Jesus responds in his ministry, over and over he reframes what is and invites people to step up to a higher way, out of the level of thinking that they brought to him. When the woman was caught in adultery, they threw her at Jesus feet and wanted him to follow to the letter what Moses said to do which was stone her. He did not deny Moses teaching, but invited those with a stone in their hand to think on this, “You who are without sin cast the first stone.” What was a Gotcha became another moment of amazing Grace.

In tonight’s lesson, he asks the Sadducees to stop playing games. Their hypothetical situation is moot. Their underlying belief in no afterlife is moot. He invites them into a deeper and stronger relationship instead of dictating to God and everyone else the way it should be.

In our reading given in the First Nations Translation you will see that the name Sadducees means “The Upright Ones.” Which also shows how they viewed everyone else. When it comes to our faith, may we not play games, either. May we reframe and raise the level of our dialogues to where God would have them be. And may we have faith in the one who loved us from our start, adores us now, and will embrace us when it is time for us to come home forever. Amen

Proper 26 WED 2025 4 Times Over

Proper 26 WEDNESDAY 5 November 2025

St George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA

“4 Times Over”

Collect

Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

When I was a child I loved this story. Being a small child I could envision Zacchaeus. I felt close to him. Mostly because it was a song I loved to sing. 

Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he.

He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see.

And as the savior came that way he looked up in the tree, and he said…

Zacchaeus, you come down, for I’m going to your house today.

For I’m going to your house today.

This story is about redemption.

Growing, I learned to see the story differently, and I love it all the more.

Zaccheus was a chief tax collector, and he was rich, the scripture says. Now to get a tax collector job for the Roman Empire, people had to bid for the position. If the Romans wanted 10,000 bodkins, the bid might be 2,000 bodkins to get the job. So the tax collector had to tax the people the 10 thousand required, the 2,000 pay off, and then they had to add profit to make it all worthwhile. So the people being taxed were being robbed by a local for foreign colonialism. Insult to injury. So, Zacchaeus was despised. He was a traitor, and a thief. And he was a wee little man! Short people! Let’s hate him for all the things.

He was probably feeling the hate when he did not bunch up with the crowd to see Jesus, which probably contributed to him being up that tree. And did I mention he was short?

So the wee hated little man climbed up that tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus.

He probably thought he could go incognito, but Jesus stopped, pointed him out, and invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house. The people were disgusted. 

“Doesn’t he know he is a sinner!” they whispered in contempt.

In response to Jesus’s surprise actions, Zacchaeus spontaneously erupted in response, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”

And Jesus was pleased. “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

It might seem like a really sweet deal, spiritually speaking. That by choosing Zacchaeus, where he knew he would get a good meal, Jesus got a little transformation, too. But please, I urge you, do not see it that way. It is easy to read it like that, with a little cosmic tit-for-tat. But if the spiritual life were like that, it no longer is Grace. Grace is not an economic enterprise.

Grace is a gift, freely given to those God loves, not for those who “earn it.” As Brennan Manning reminded us in The Ragamuffin Gospel, “There is nothing you can do that would make God love you any more, and there is nothing you can do that would make God love you any less.” Grace is a gift.

Zacchaeus, in seeing Jesus pick him, felt that Grace and the love behind it. He freely gave his gift of half of his stuff, and returning anything he stole four times over. This is not tit-for-tat, but rather, for me, a grace-filled response for the Grace he received.

As we receive that Grace, may we abide in that Grace and live fully in our responses to it. And maybe like Zacchaeus, Salvation can come to our house, too! Amen

All Saints Day 2025 The Democracy of the Dead

 All Saints Day (Observed) 2 November 2025

St George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA

“The Democracy of the Dead”

Collect: Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Daniel 7:1-3,15-18

In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream: I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.

As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: "As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever—for ever and ever."

Luke 6:20-31

Jesus looked up at his disciples and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God.

“Blessed are you who are hungry now,

for you will be filled.

“Blessed are you who weep now,

for you will laugh.

“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets."

"But woe to you who are rich,

for you have received your consolation.

"Woe to you who are full now,

for you will be hungry.

"Woe to you who are laughing now,

for you will mourn and weep.

"Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

"But 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.”

All Hallow’s Eve. All Saints. All Souls. Friends, we are in the midst of “thin days.” Days when those once living closer to the earth and seasons felt that this world and the one to come came a tad closer and the layers of separation were thinner, what seemed more distant is lessened to veils.

The days were getting darker and most of the crops were stored away for the winter that was coming on. For us, you probably changed the thermostat in the last few days. I know we did. But for millennia, it was so much more than turning up the heat. People have paused and pondered what was, and is, and is to come. The changing of the seasons and the dying of summer made people think of their own journey to what is to come.

In the church, we connect ourselves to the past in looking at the saints. Those exemplars of the faith who provide not a model for us to follow, but a spirit which we can mimic. In the Apostles’ Creed we confess to believing in the “communion of saints.” They are still a part of what we do.

As followers in the Anglican tradition, note that last word there, we are part of the holy apostolic and catholic church, while being birthed in the hotbed of the Protestant Reformation. We sought a middle way, a via media, where we maintained the structure of archbishops, bishops, priests, and deacons, while embracing reason and the reading and interpreting scripture for ourselves. So we held onto those three strands, tradition, reason, and scripture. We wove them inseparably together. They became the legs of the stool upon which we rest our teachings and practices.

Scripture became the rallying cry of most of the protestant revolts. And Reason the driving force of the Enlightenment thinkers and times. The Roman Catholic Church leaned heavily on what had been calcified over the centuries that they could not respond when the winds of change arrived.

In the Church of England, however, set apart as an island nation’s establishment, they could embrace some change and retain some tradition while all filtered through reason and experience without too much foreign entanglement. Sloppy at times, unwieldy even, it was a system that could change and maintain, evangelize and retain order. I tend during this season to be thankful for the “great cloud of witnesses” that have come before and still have things to teach us and guide us. 

G.K. Chesterton put it this way in Orthodoxy:

• “Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.” 

• “All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death.” 

We can rebel against tradition, or mine its depths and find its riches. 

Our three legged stool asked us to hold onto a seeming paradox: Change and Tradition. Or another way to look at it is to hold onto both truths:

• The Last Seven Words of the Church is “We’ve Never Done It That Way Before.” 

• “Don’t Throw The Baby Out With The Bathwater.”

Reason is what helps us navigate between the two.

One way to look at it is to be like St Paul preaching on Mars Hill in Athens. If you are unfamiliar with the story, it shows me the radical transformation possible in Christ, embracing the path established for us and reaching out for the fresh wind that flows from the Spirit. In Acts 17, Paul sets out to preach in the public space in Athens, getting up on their equivalent of his soapbox:

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, “To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.

 

At first glance, he was just preaching to folks of pagan beliefs and meeting them where they were. But remember who Paul was, his dead name was Saul, a Pharisee and persecutor of the Church. And now he stands amongst Gentiles (Unclean! Unclean!) and points to an altar (Anthema! Anathema!) and maybe even an idolatrous stone raised and says that this idol is the God he is about to preach about. For a good Jewish boy, a Pharisee, to point to something so pagan, an IDOL!, and say that is about his foreign, wild, desert God is blasphemous or amazing! If that is not an example of the wondrous dance of Tradition, Scripture, and Reason, I do not know what is. He joins the dance of the Spirit working in these exciting and new ways, and holding onto the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Jesus, too!

The saints do not want us to be like them, but rather to love like them. They want us to give our complete devotion to God with all we have and to follow the one sent to show us the way home, Jesus the Son. And in doing that be ourselves, who God made us to be! All Saints Day is when we can see clearly how God has worked through the centuries, the “salvation history,” the Heilgeschichte, and how God is at work still.

Gracie Allen told her husband George Burns to not quit living after she died this way. “Do not put a period where God has put a comma.” God has been and will continue to be at work.

For the last few years I have done a daily prayer online, most of which are short histories (often called hagiographies) of the saints in the Anglican, Episcopal, or Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

It is a daily reminder that I am part of something that began millennia ago, and continues on to and through now, and will keep going long after I have sloughed off this mortal coil.

It is not to be morose, pondering my own demise this way. I am part of something bigger, and grander, and greater than myself. Thanks be to God!

Our reading from Daniel was written in a time of worry and concern. People had been uprooted and were far from home trying to wrap their minds around how God could let this happen to them.

Daniel receives this vision:

I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.

As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: "As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever—for ever and ever."

Daniel was troubled by what he saw, and asked how to interpret these things. These great and horrible beasts standing in for empires of evil will come, but then they also shall go.

These hard days in which we find ourselves with divisions, strife, wars, and famines, these are not to be ignored, but nor do they have the last word. They may come, but they too shall pass. The interpreter for Daniel said as much, but also added this.

But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever—for ever and ever.

Friends, when the dark clouds are overhead and the path ahead is dark, if we are with Christ and in Christ, if we reside in the Body of Christ communing with the Saints, we will not be forsaken or forgotten. The Kingdom of God is our home. To put it in the parlance of our times, our team wins.  Come what may. Come what may.

[for 10 am Joint Service: For those about to be baptized, we celebrate with you this next step in your faith journey. We stand with you and invite into this household of faith. The cloud of witnesses surrounds us this day, and will be with you in your journeys and invite you home when that time comes as well. Nothing makes me happier as a priest than to see God at work in individuals and seeing the Family grow. For the rest of us…]

This All Saints weekend, this Hallowtide, embrace what has been, seek where the Spirit leads, and do it all for God’s glory. Have hope in the dark days, that all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well. Thanks be to God! Amen