Year A Easter Sunday 2020 Tucked Away

Year A Easter Sunday, 12 April 2020
Video from St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“Tucked Away”

Collect: Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Colossians 3:1-4
If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Matthew 28:1-10
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”


When I was a child, my dad had built me a little indoor slide, basically a box, with a ladder on one side and a slide coming off the other. As much as I loved that, just as much if not more so, there was a round hole that let me climb into the box. I would crawl in, curl up, and just sit. Tucked away in there I felt safe. I am not sure what I was afraid of, but tucked up in there, I felt nothing can get to me. It was my hiding place.

In the many summers I spent at camp, there is a praise song based off of Psalm 32:7. Sitting around a campfire, singing this, gave me such a sense of peace.

You are a hiding place for me;    you preserve me from trouble;    you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.     Selah

Even King David, who wrote the Psalm, cherished that felling of being tucked away.

A lot of us feel tucked away right now. Hidden. Some feel safe. Some feel isolated. Some are flaunting going out. We have a range of emotions all over the map. Jesus was tucked away as well.

The officials thought that they had rid themselves of a dangerous nuisance.

The disciples thought that this man that they had devoted their lives to for three years was gone for good.

The women who went to care for his remains, expected there to be a body, a body of someone they adored beginning the slow decay of mortal remains.

But while they thought Jesus being tucked away was a finality, for him and for us it was the Beginning. From those three days of silence and sorrow, the greatest event in human history transpired. The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I miss you. I really do. I miss seeing you, especially on this day of all days. This is a day to dress up. This is a day for candy and laughter. This is a day for kids looking for eggs in long grass. This is a day for community.

Alleluia! The Lord is Risen!
The Lord is Risen indeed!

I miss hearing you respond back. This place should be echoing in the joyous exuberance of THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED!

But it is not. It cannot. It is what it is. We are apart because we love and live for the Least of These. We are all doing what we can to care for those for whom this would be a death sentence.

Just like Jesus. As we sang in the beautiful hymn:

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!What wondrous love is this, O my soul!What wondrous love is this,That caused the Lord of bliss,To bear the dreadful curse,For my soul, for my soul,To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

Think of what Jesus did for us, out of love. And you can tuck that away.

Speaking of tucked away, that is where I want to spend the rest of my time this morning. We revel in the Resurrection this morning. This is the lynchpin of our faith. And from that EVERYTHING else emerges.

That is what can lead St. Paul to say what we read in our New Testament reading, Colossians 3:1-3:

If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Sisters and brothers, we are the Children of the Resurrection. That is what brings us together in the family of God. Through faith in his Son, we have been adopted into the line of Faith that goes back to Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekkah, Jacob and Rachel. That lineage of faith, through Christ, continues in us, and through us.

In these days of either dismissal or fear, we need not run to either extreme that our cultural divide drives us to go toward. For if we are in Christ, we seek that which is above. Some of you have heard me say it this way, Jesus invites to reframe and step up. We look at what is, not from our narrow biased or partisan perspectives, but from God’s point of view, all-seeing, all-knowing, all-loving. And with that we can rise above the situation we find ourselves in and raise to a higher level of existence.

Again, “If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above...” In a world that is going crazy: stir-crazy, fear-crazy, enraged-crazy, whatever, we need to rise above the level of these problems. We set our minds on the things above, and in that and because of that we need not fear. Come what may, we are confident that this world is not our home. “Our life is hidden with Christ in God…” What is most real, what is most our home, is our life hidden in Christ.

In these days of hiding from, I am inviting you to reframe and step up. We are not quarantining and self-isolating to save ourselves. Our lives, if we are in Christ, are not our own. We are in Christ, and so we need not fear. We are in Christ, claimed in his Resurrection. Promised Rebirth through his Resurrection. We could view our predicament as dire, or dreaded. But I claim the Resurrection.

While I am tucked away here and now, I know something far greater than anything we face, come what may. I may be tucked away in isolation, but this is for but a season. I am tucked away with Christ in God FOREVER.

I am tucked away with Christ in God. Nothing can take that away. Nothing will ever take that away. The Cross could not take that away. Pilate, Herod, the Sanhedrin could not take that away. Hell itself, when Jesus descended to the dead, could not take that away. Friends, we are tucked away in the very hand of God and nothing or no one can ever snatch us out.

We do not know what tomorrow may bring, but the Resurrection promises to all of us we are safe and secure when we shall find ourselves home. Our lives, our true lives with Christ, have already begun. Tuck that away. It is more sure than the sun coming up in the morning. Amen

The Liturgical Name For What We Are Going Through

A Liturgical Name For What We Are Going Through
By The Rev. Rock Higgins

This year many of us are fearful and grieving our way through Lent. My children joked with me that they never knew that we were giving up church for Lent. As a priest, the loss is deep. For many of us, clergy or not, it is profoundly felt. My greatest vocational joys are leading God’s people to connect personally and collectively with the Almighty. Now, though, we are seeking ways to do that without direct connection, without the spontaneous feedback of body language, dialogue, touch. I grieve the loss of our community, in its gatherings anyway. Added to that, I am an extrovert, and topping off my energy levels is another aspect of this time which is tangible and missed. We have the loss of joint liturgy. I can say the words, “The Lord be with you!” over Facebook Live, but the words ring hollow with the lack of any heard response. The different responses of each parishioner when I place the bread in their hand during the Eucharist . An intimacy develops between priest and parishioner that is unspoken, unknown to anyone else, each person unique. These things help establish a sense of normality in our lives. They are gone. The grief is great.

When our Bishop rightly made the call to cease public worship, my first thought was for Holy Week. My favorite liturgies in the whole year are the Triduum. Each and every liturgy, beautiful and haunting in its own right. All four. Yes, all four.

As I have been thinking through these emotions particularly towards Holy Week, though, I have gone through the liturgies and collects in my head, and it struck me that we actually do have a rite that speaks to where we are. We often ignore it. For me, since I started as the Rector in my current parish, it became my practice to include it. A faithful eight or so actually join with me. It is so overshadowed by its counterparts that it is ignored at best, unknown to most.

Slipped in between the horror of Good Friday and the eventual joy of Easter Vigil is a quiet service that sits with our grief and our fear; it recognizes it and honors it. It is the liturgy of Holy Saturday.

Think of the feelings that the disciples shared as given in Scripture. They were between the known, which was horrific, and the fearful unknown, that ended up being far greater than they could hope for or imagine, but they sat in ignorance of what was to come. We have heard with great trepidation what we have heard about Wuhan or Italy or emerging hot spots here in the States. It is on its way, if not already here. Those looming feelings of dread so closely mirror the disciples’. What might that tell us? In our liturgies we have the gift of Holy Saturday.

In the Book of Common Prayer, it sits on pages 283. That is all. A single page. A collect with 6 readings, 2 of those optional. It speaks to the isolation, the fear of the unknown, the potential death waiting outside our door.

The Collect speaks to the historical events, while conveying the emotions that are all to applicable to our times:

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

We are in this In-Between Time. Death is lurking at our door. For the Disciples it was the authorities, religious and Roman. If they could do it to Jesus, it could happen to them. For us, we may have the virus and not even realize it. We isolate. We quarantine. We await the coming of resurrection. But will that resurrection from our self-entombment be for us?

Just as we skip this service, USAmerican culture does not deal with sorrow, grief, or fear well. We ignore it. If we do not recognize it, like some fantasy-filled child in their imaginings, it is not there. Holy Saturday demands us to see and know that death has come, and it could come for us, we just do not know. And that unknowing is the rub. The reason that Governor Cuomo of New York said in a press conference on March 22 this: “The goal for me: be socially distanced, but spiritually connected. How do you achieve [being] socially distanced, but spiritually connected.”[Source] That is where the Church’s call is today, and giving this season a name is a way to begin the response.

We do have a name if we choose to use it, and a liturgy that reminds us that resurrection is coming. But it is not just a day or a single liturgy; we find ourselves in an unintended Season of Holy Saturday. And for many of us recognizing and dealing with these fears and the associated feelings is something entirely new.

This year we will not have the distractions of coloring eggs, or preparing outfits on Holy Saturday. We have no details to fuss over about a huge family dinner. We are sitting in the unknown, awaiting the unknown. So many variables, many terribly negative, only up the anxiety. But as we sit here, we can be the hope of others that can help get them through.

Our liturgies’ strength is through their disciplines. The daily readings in Lent work well for us. They point to Lent’s focus on self-discipline, repentance, and mending of ways. And they direct us to making that connection to God throughout the good times and the bad. One of the readings from Holy Saturday ends with this, which could not be more appropriate:
The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. I Peter 4:8
Focus on your prayers. Maintain your love of one another. Socially distanced. Spiritually connected.

We can lead people to embrace what is, recognize the realities of their worries and their worries’ cause, and guide the people to look forward in hope to the Easter that is to come.

One caution though, we are not spiritualizing our self-distancing as a retreat or spiritual time-out. I have seen much of that online. This undesired time to turn into spiritual retreat is a privilege many of our most fearful elderly and newly unemployed will not be able to see. That is why this shift to a Holy Saturday approach is so important. NOBODY chose this. NO ONE wanted this. But it is here. And as we sit in that reality, as we process those emotions, Holy Saturday gives us words, and meaning, and hope.

Another part of our liturgy is that EVERY Sunday is considered a little Easter. In that spirit, whenever we gather again, and it may be months from now, we will have an Easter celebration with greater meaning, purpose, and joy. I so look forward to that day.

Lastly, in the Holy Saturday liturgy, we are instructed to pray the spoken anthem from our Burial rites. As the Holy Saturday liturgy directs, I close with it here as well.

In the midst of life we are in death;
from whom can we seek help?
From you alone, O Lord,
who by our sins are justly angered.

Holy God, Holy and Mighty,
Holy and merciful Savior,
deliver us not into the bitterness of eternal death.

Lord, you know the secrets of our hearts;
shut not your ears to our prayers,
but spare us, O Lord.

Holy God, Holy and Mighty,
Holy and merciful Savior,
deliver us not into the bitterness of eternal death.

O worthy and eternal Judge,
do not let the pains of death
turn us away from you at our last hour.

Holy God, Holy and Mighty,
Holy and merciful Savior,
deliver us not into the bitterness of eternal death.

During this imposed season, may we look to the one who is with us always, even in pandemic.

Year A Maundy Thursday 2020 Sacramental

Year A Maundy Thursday, 9 April 2020 
Video service from St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“Sacramental”

Collect: Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

"Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Tonight we are in some strange times, and in a strange place. We are a sacramental church. We believe in Two Sacraments, and 5 more sacramental practices or spiritual markers that shape our path.

Our Anglican tradition recognizes sacraments as “outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace.” (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 857) Holy Baptism and the Eucharist (or Holy Communion) are the two great sacraments given by Christ to his Church.
In the case of Baptism, the outward and visible sign is water, in which the person is baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; the inward and spiritual grace is union with Christ in his death and resurrection, birth into God’s family the Church, forgiveness of sins, and new life in the Holy Spirit. In the case of the Eucharist, the outward and visible sign is bread and wine, given and received according to Christ’s command. The inward and spiritual grace is the Body and Blood of Christ given to his people, and received by faith.
In addition to these two, there are other spiritual markers in our journey of faith that can serve as means of grace. These include:
Confirmation: the adult affirmation of our baptismal vows
Reconciliation of a Penitent: private confession
Matrimony: Christian marriage
Orders: ordination to the diaconate, priesthood, or episcopacy
Unction: anointing those who are sick or dying with holy oil 

(From the Episopal Church webpage: https://episcopalchurch.org/sacraments)

We enact the actions of the church. Now in our approach, we step into the Scripture and enact the stories. Then is Now. We see ourselves in the story by doing what they said they did. During the liturgy, you may see me, or Becky+, or Harrison, bowing when we say or hear Jesus. “At the name of Jesus every head shall bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord.” (Philippians 2:10) We do it in faith that it is true, was true, and will be true.

Tonight we have two embodiments that we are missing.

We have been offered to bathe one another’s feet. Physically. Literally. Water, towels, loving and intimate. We are vulnerable and exposed. If you are like me, very ticklish, too. We do it because Jesus did it to show us how to treat one another. We become “like Christ” to one another. That is what Christian means, “little Christs.” We become the one being like Christ, AS WELL AS receiving directly from Christ.

The other one, that we do far more than once a year, is the Eucharist, when we take simple bread and simple wine, and we use it to commune with Christ and with one another. We come to receive the bread, for we see it as Christ’s body. We take the cup, for we see the wine as Christ’s blood. He told us to do it, and when we do he meets us there. I so miss sharing this with all of you. It is the most humble and awe-inspiring thing I do. Weekly I pray for my ego to go away, and for those brief moments with each of you I pray that Jesus work through me in the sharing of the bread. You all receive it differently. Some bow their heads. Some say thank you. Some look me in the eye. Some stroke my thumb, or rather the thumb of the one sharing the bread. Christ, that is. It is not me.

Tonight, we do not get to do either of these. Out of love and reason we have foregone the normal sacramental so that we can protect others and ourselves.

But in our liturgies every Sunday we have have two parts, the Liturgy of the Word, and the Liturgy of the Table. The Word is not the Scripture. The Word is not the preaching. The Word, the pre-incarnate Word, is Jesus. Read John 1. The liturgy points us to Jesus, and Jesus meets us there. The Table is the same, but for now we are removed from that, but WE ARE NOT REMOVED FROM JESUS!

The word Sacrament that we use makes more sense when you see where the word comes from. I know, I know, etymology again, but it makes so much clear.

Sacrament is: Middle English: from Old French sacrement, from Latin sacramentum ‘solemn oath’ (from sacrare ‘to hallow’, from sacer ‘sacred’), used in Christian Latin as a translation of Greek mustērion ‘mystery’.

Even in our time tonight, the mystery is here.  Pause now. Take off your shoes if you want. Picture Jesus now, kneeling before you, and taking the warm water and bathing the stains of the world off your feet. Picture him getting between your toes. Then he takes the meager towel wrapped around his waist. In humility he dries your feet, getting the last drip from between those squeaky clean toes. The mystery remains. The Sacrament is here. Whether done physically, or in our mind, Christ is present. He is, was, and always will be.

When we think of bread and wine, next time you are fed, think of Jesus sitting down with you. Eating, breaking bread with you, laughing and sharing stories with you. He is present whether you see him or not. One of my favorite slogans is “Bidden or unbidden, God is Present.” [VOCATUS ATQUE NON VOCATUS DEUS ADERIT] Carl Jung made it famous, but it is from Erasmus. When we stop and give thanks next, pause, and let that Spiritual Communion be real. See Jesus there with you. Maybe even set a place. That can be Sacramental, too. It is all mystery. As is life, especially these days. Tonight as we contemplate these sacraments, we find that we can find God anywhere and everywhere. The Psalmist promises us this:

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
    if I make my bed in Sheol [hell], you are there. (Psalm 139:8)

And as St. Paul affirms for us in Romans (8:38-39):

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Friends, being apart, know that Christ is not at the Church. Christ is in you, with you, and working through you. Christ is bigger than our troubled times. Christ is bigger than this pandemic. Christ is with us, even in this, especially in this. And soon we will be together again, embracing the sacraments, embracing each other. Thanks be to God! Amen

Year A 5th Lent WED 2020 Truth Will Set Us Free

**Apologies, accidentally forgot to post last week. We are all extra-distracted these days. Blessings during this time.**

Year A 5th Lent WEDNESDAY, 1 April 2020
Virtual Morning Worship from St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“Truth will set us Free”

Collect: Almighty God our heavenly Father, renew in us the gifts of your mercy; increase our faith, strengthen our hope, enlighten our understanding, widen our charity, and make us ready to serve you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 8:31–42
Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”
They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are indeed doing what your father does.” They said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”
“You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

People use that phrase all the time. Many, if not most, these days are unaware that this phrase comes from Jesus. In these days of relative truth (my truth and your truth as opposed to “The Truth”) it may be hard for us to imagine that the Truth will set us free.

One of the deeply disturbing things from recent years has been the arguments over what is basic truth. It is hard to find common ground when we cannot agree on what is the ground.

Jesus found himself in a similar position. The religious authorities of his day were offended, not that he had a truth that was counter to theirs, but that he alluded to the idea that they were not free. It was like they were saying, “Why be born again when we were born right the first time?”

They found their freedom in their birth and lineage, being descendants of Abraham. Jesus was looking at a greater bondage, one to sin which brings death. He urges them to find the truth, his truth, which was not about lineage, but obedience.

In the Old Testament reading, Hananiah, Misha'el, and Azariah obeyed God. That is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego if you use their false Babylonian names.  Drives our Jewish brothers and sisters crazy when we do that. Hananiah, Misha'el, and Azariah mean respectively, "God is gracious," "Who is like God?", and "God has helped." They stayed true to God, and the disciplines that they had learned in their youth. It was not without a price. They were thrown in a fiery furnace. And in their midst appeared one like unto a God. They were delivered unharmed.

You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

By staying to the truth, they were delivered. They knew the risk, and that God might not let them go. That did not matter. Staying true to the truth they had found was what was most important.

In these days, we have a lot of worries and anxieties. But most of us know the truth. We know what we have been taught, and what we should do. We know that there will be a tomorrow, and on Easter or much later there will be a resurrection. We will emerge from tombs of self-exile, and walk amongst the land of the living again. Or we will not. Either way we reside in the truth that we have found. And in that truth we find our true freedom. We may not know what tomorrow may bring. But we reside in the truth that forever will bring.

Morning Prayer puts the Collect later, so you have not heard today’s yet. It is so appropriate for these times.

Almighty God our heavenly Father, renew in us the gifts of your mercy; increase our faith, strengthen our hope, enlighten our understanding, widen our charity, and make us ready to serve you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
We need not fear. We need plan. We need prepare. We need care for our sisters and brothers, especially the most vulnerable by staying apart. But we need not fear. And that truth can set us free. Amen.

Year A Holy Week Wednesday 2020 Bitter Herbs

Year A Holy Week WEDNESDAY, 9 April 2020
Video Service from St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“Bitter Herbs”

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

John 13:21-32
At supper with his friends, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, "Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples-- the one whom Jesus loved-- was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do." Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the festival"; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once."

We are in the final day before the Triduum, our three holy days. And we are given a glimpse of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. Now many would argue whether what we see in the Scriptures during what we call the Last Supper and  the foundation for our Eucharist is a Passover Meal or not. What we have alludes to that, whether it is describing it or not. I will leave that debate to others.

A few times in my life I have been blessed to participate in a Seder. If you go back and look at the book of Exodus (12:8) and Numbers (9:11), the Hebrew children are given very clear instructions on how to eat this memorial meal, recollecting their deliverance from slavery.

Now part of that meal is the dipping of the unleavened bread, the matzoh, into the Bitter Herbs, the maror. It is also dipped in salt water as well. This happens earlier in the meal.

But the dipping of the bread into the maror is significant. It is to put on the tongue the bitterness of slavery. It even says, as the tradition continued and was established, that you had to eat at least as much as the size of an olive, a big one. And you could not just swallow it. It was to sit on the tongue, so the bitterness could be felt.

And remember the part of the story:
[The disciple Jesus loved] asked him, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do." ...So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. 

We know from John’s Gospel that the plot to kill Jesus began after the anointing of Jesus’ feet. Judas may have felt put down over complaining of the waste. Maybe he just wanted the money to skim off the top. Whatever the reason, some bitterness had sprung up in his heart. And it came to fruition. Jesus knew it. “Do quickly what you are going to do…”

Judas may have betrayed Jesus, but Jesus was able to make a point. The bread, I believe, carried that sting of maror, the bitter herb, when Judas put it to his lips. That taste of slavery. That taste of resentment. It was already there, but in making this point, Jesus took this instructed requirement (if it was a Passover) and dramatically escalated its meaning. That slavery in Egypt was one thing. But there is a slavery that entraps so many of us still.

Anger, resentment, unforgiveness. And it is bitter. Resentment is a poison that we take, thinking it will kill another. Forgiveness is about wholeness. Wholeness for me. Wholeness for relationship. Wholeness of community. The person I am forgiving could receive it, or not. But it is not about them. It is about letting nothing hinder my following of Jesus. And Resentment ALWAYS gets in the way when it is present.

When you see the sprig of Resentment growing in your heart, nip it in the bud. Life is too short. Like one of my favorite blessings states: “Life is short and we have too little time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us. So, be swift to love and make haste to be kind… and the blessing of God Almighty: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen (Henri-Frédéric Amiel) Friends, in these uncertain times, if there is someone with whom you have withheld forgiveness or who holds a grudge against you, know this is a season where some good, solid, Christ-filled bridge building can take place. Do not leave with the bitter herb on your tongue. Amen

Year A 5th Lent 2020 We are in Death

Year A 5th Sunday in Lent, 29 March 2020
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“We are in Death”

The Collect
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

John 11:1-45
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.


The readings this morning obviously have a single focus. Death. As a preacher, I could do a lot of things. I could spiritualize it, and talk about resurrection. And that is certainly there. But where we are I think that is ignoring the elephant in the room, and diverting or changing the subject.

I could pump up the fear, and urge people to make emotional decisions that are not long lasting or sincere. There are too many that are already doing that.

Some might even politicize this and say that we are all over exaggerating, but science and integrity prevent me from going there.

So how do I read these texts today? I recognize them for what they are, and I recognize where we are. They are speaking to people that either do not know what is to come, or already know the rest of the story. We, like the characters in these Bible stories, are in the midst of horror and tragedy. Are we like New York? No. Thanks be to God. Will we be? Hopefully not as we practice Social, or as I prefer to say, Physical Distancing. (We are all still socially connected, thanks to technology for those of us who have it. Pray for those who do not, please.)

On Ash Wednesday, we make a point of our mortality with our liturgy and in our words, but for me our rite is more about contrition than the immediacy and the certainty of death.

The composer/singer Randy Newman (known for “Short People Got No Reason” and movie scores like the Toy Story series) composed a Rock Opera based on the story of Faust. It has many elements which mirror the story of Job, more than Faust. It gave him the chance to do some fantastic work on some profound theology, especially on the problem of evil, hypocrisy of religion, and death. In one of the songs, Satan is singing, laughing at humanity. He berates God for, “The invention of an animal who knows he’s gonna die…”

I have been giving a lot of thought to this lately. As many of you have heard me say, the three greatest days of liturgy in the Church are the Triduum: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, with the capstone of Easter Vigil Saturday night. On Maundy Thursday we revel in the intimacy and sacrifice for love sake that Jesus was to do. On Good Friday, we hold our breath in the horror of what happened to Love Incarnate. Most of us then jump to Easter Vigil, if you come to any of these special services. Not everyone does. But tucked away, often ignored by most, is the quiet and barely attended rite of Holy Saturday. It is often me and the Altar Guild who are setting up for Sunday and a handful more.

In the Book of Common Prayer, it sits on pages 283. That is all. A single page. A collect with 6 readings, 2 of those optional, and then a closing prayer. It speaks to the isolation, the fear of the unknown, the potential death waiting outside our door.

The Collect speaks to the historical events, while conveying the emotions that are all to applicable to our times:

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

We are in this In-Between Time. Death is lurking at our door. For the Disciples it was the authorities, religious and Roman. If they could murder Jesus, they could murder them. For us, we may have the virus and not even realize it. We isolate. We quarantine. We Physically Distance. We await the coming of a resurrection. But will that resurrection from our self-entombment be for us?

Instead of a season of self-quarantine, I see the season that we have moved into as the Season of Holy Saturday.

Just as most of us skip this rite of Holy Saturday, USAmerican culture does not deal with sorrow, grief, or fear well. We ignore it. If we do not recognize it, like some fantasy-filled child in their imaginings, it is not there. Like a child, we cover our eyes. Holy Saturday demands us to see and know that death has come, and it could come for us, we just do not know. And that unknowing is the rub. The reason that Governor Cuomo of New York said in a press conference on March 22 this: “The goal for me: be socially distanced, but spiritually connected. How do you achieve [being] socially distanced, but spiritually connected?”[Source] That is where the Church’s call is today, and giving this season a name is a way to begin the response.

We do have a name if we choose to use it, and a liturgy that reminds us that resurrection is coming. But it is not just a day or a single liturgy; we find ourselves in an unintended Season of Holy Saturday. And for many of us recognizing and dealing with these fears and the associated feelings is something entirely new.

While Jesus gave Lazurus four days, we have been given weeks if not months, planted between horror and the unknown. Like the dry bones in Ezekiel, resurrection did come, eventually. I live in the hope of that, but for this season I sit in the reality of my mortality. Each day is precious. My family is dear. Our church family is dear. We stay apart in love of those we hold most dear.

In the Holy Saturday liturgy, we are instructed to pray the spoken anthem from our Burial rites. As the Holy Saturday liturgy directs, I close with it here as well.

In the midst of life we are in death;
from whom can we seek help?
From you alone, O Lord,
who by our sins are justly angered.

Holy God, Holy and Mighty,
Holy and merciful Savior,
deliver us not into the bitterness of eternal death.

Lord, you know the secrets of our hearts;
shut not your ears to our prayers,
but spare us, O Lord.

Holy God, Holy and Mighty,
Holy and merciful Savior,
deliver us not into the bitterness of eternal death. 

O worthy and eternal Judge,
do not let the pains of death
turn us away from you at our last hour.

Holy God, Holy and Mighty,
Holy and merciful Savior,
deliver us not into the bitterness of eternal death.

During this imposed season, a Season of a prolonged Holy Saturday, may we look to the one who is with us always, even in pandemic. Amen

Year A 4th Lent WED ANNUNCIATION 2020 Saying Yes

Year A 4th Lent WEDNESDAY Annunciation, 25 March 2020
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“Saying Yes”

The Collect
Pour your grace into our hearts, O Lord, that we who have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ, announced by an angel to the Virgin Mary, may by his cross and passion be brought to the glory of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Canticle 15
The Song of Mary Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55)
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Today I will be short. But it is a simple message.

Today is the Annunciation of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Why today? It is nine months before Christmas. Let that sink in. Both for yourself, and for Mary. Once the Church set the Feast Day of the Christ Mass, they did the math. We could get nit-picky about what day it is, but far more important than the when is the what and the why.

Mary was chosen. She was the one selected to bear the Messiah, the Anointed One. As is said in the prayer, “Blessed art thou among women, and the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” But her response could have been the monkeywrench in the gears. She could have said, “No.” Thanks be to God that she didn’t.

In my discernment retreats with the Diocese, one of the first things we talk about is God’s Call on our lives. We all have the chance to say yes to God. There are general calls to be obedient, devout, and upstanding people. But we also have specific calls. The people on the retreats I guide are asking if God is calling them to the ministry in the Episcopal Church. It could be something as simple as when we see someone and a little voice in our head prompts us to a kindness that may not make sense to us, but it makes sense to God, and the Holy Spirit gives us a nudge.

When we hear those calls, it behooves us to say yes. YES, YES, YES, YES, YES. Can we say no? Of course. But I think on the times I threw up excuses, or walked away. Those, looking back, are some of my deepest regrets. Hindsight is 20/20 they say. I know that to be true.

So, like the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is so necessary to say yes with our words and deeds. Like Mary we can proclaim, “My soul proclaims the Greatness of the Lord!”

Two more sidenotes. Tucked away in Gabriel’s message is a word for all of us, especially in these days. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Claim that one, especially in these days. Today many Christians around the world are praying with Pope Francis the prayer Jesus taught us, the Our Father. Will it make a difference? Anytime a billion or more people focus their energies, how could it not? We will see.

Lastly, when I say Yes to God, there is a flip side. God has said Yes to me. God sees the person that God created and sees a need I am uniquely qualified to fulfill. Like with Mary, God says Yes to Us. In closing, I read this beautiful poem, “Annunciation” by Marie Howe.

Even if I don’t see it again—nor ever feel itI know it is—and that if once it hailed meit ever does—And so it is myself I want to turn in that directionnot as towards a place, but it was a tiltingwithin myself,as one turns a mirror to flash the light to whereit isn’t—I was blinded like that—and swamin what shone at meonly able to endure it by being no one and sospecifically myself I thought I’d diefrom being loved like that.

[Close with Sting’s Gabriel’s Message]

Year A 4th Lent 2020 The Inner Light by the Rev. Becky McDaniel

WE HAVE A GUEST PREACHER THIS WEEK. THE REV. BECKY MCDANIEL! WELCOME BECKY+!

The Inner Light

A Reflection on John 9:1-41, The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

The disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

The story from John’s gospel about Jesus giving sight to the blind man speaks to us strongly at this moment in time: “Who sinned?” “Why is this happening?” “Who do we blame?”  These are questions that we are tempted to ask when faced with unexplained suffering.  A dear student sent me a Biblical passage from Second Chronicles wondering about the description of a plague during the time of King Solomon and how it might relate to our current situation.  As you may know, in Jesus’ day there was a common belief that God delivered punishment upon sinners and even visited the sins of the parents onto their offspring.  Some of the great Jewish prophets disagreed with this perspective, and so does Jesus, as we see when he answers “neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”

God’s works being revealed in and through the blind man always brings to my mind the amazing story of Jacques Lusseyran, the blind French activist who during World War II overcame many of the limitations of physical blindness by tuning into the light within him. His faith in the inner light led to a deeper understanding of outer events, and he became a resistance leader who brought safety to those who were fleeing German occupiers, until he eventually entered and survived the Nazi camp at Buchenwald.  If you have read the Pulitzer prize-winning novel All the Light We Cannot See, set in France and Germany during World War II, then you know of the blind girl Marie Laure and her spiritual gift of inner seeing.  The author of All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr, acknowledges that he owes a great debt to Jacques Lusseyran’s memoir, And There Was Light.  In his memoir, Lusseyran describes the inner light:

“Light is an element that we carry inside us and which can grow there with as much abundance, variety, and intensity as it can outside of us…I could light myself…that is, I could create a light inside of me so alive, so large, and so near that my eyes, my physical eyes, or what remained of them, vibrated, almost to the point of hurting… God is there under a form that has the good luck to be neither religious, not intellectual, nor sentimental, but quite simply alive.”

Lusseyran recognizes that God is in this light and that God is deeper than religion, intellect, and emotions; God is the inner aliveness that allows us to see from the heart.  Jesus says of the blind man, “he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”  God’s works were certainly revealed in Jacques Lusseryan, just as they were in the blind man of John’s gospel.  And interestingly, the blind man in the gospel story recognizes Jesus as Lord, while most of the others do not, as they are more focused on the outer world rather than the inner light. 

So how do we, in this time of confusion and uncertainty, connect with this inner light?  When we find ourselves wondering “who sinned?” “why is this happening” “who is to blame” it will serve us well to shift our focus to the light of God within us, to deepen our prayer life, and to see in such a way that we may be fully present to those who are suffering, to those who are facing limitations or sickness, or are losing hope. 

Our faith in God does not call us to avoid suffering or to blame others for it.  Our faith in God calls us to enter into suffering, to accompany each other through it, to not turn away, but to hold one another through the darkness as together we begin to tune into the inner light.  We see in Jesus Christ that God does not turn away from human suffering, but enters wholly into it and transforms us all through his suffering on the cross.  As Christians, then, we are called not to turn away from the hurt of the world, but rather to enter into it on God’s path of transformation.  As we go forward, may our transformation be guided by the true light within ourselves and each other, as we walk this strange new day together, through the difficulties, through the darker hours, through the season of Lent, towards a light that is not far off, but rather closer than our own breath.

Let us pray.

God, in you there is no darkness; your way is the way of light and truth.  Give us faith in your light to shine hope into our lives this day.  Help us to journey to the depths of our hearts where your light shines most brightly, illuminating the darkness of our uncertain times.  Amen.

Year A 3rd Lent WED 2020 Faith & Law

Year A 3rd Sunday of Lent WEDNESDAY, 18 March 2020
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
(Online Morning Prayer)
“Faith and Law”

Collect: Give ear to our prayers, O Lord, and direct the way of your servants in safety under your protection, that, amid all the changes of our earthly pilgrimage, we may be guarded by your mighty aid; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Deuteronomy 4:1–2,5–9
Moses said: So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God with which I am charging you.

See, just as the Lord my God has charged me, I now teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!" For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?

But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children's children.

Matthew 5:17–19
Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Today’s lessons are on keeping the Law, obeying the rules, doing what we are supposed to do. When we do that, things will go well, it says to us. When we teach others to obey, it will go well for us. We live in a nation built not on blood, but on concepts and principles, we live in a nation founded on the idea that there are unwritten but unarguable laws of the universe that were granted unto us by God. From those inalienable rights that our founders agreed to be the case, we based our constitution and all the laws derived therefrom. We have faith in that. We have faith in our laws as a country.

The other HUGE part of that is that we have to have faith that EVERYBODY will also follow the laws along with us. Think of it as people driving down the highway at breakneck speeds. We trust everyone to stay in their lane, driving to care for themselves and everybody else. When people do not do that, it creates havoc and is dangerous.

Many of us were raised to respect and honor the 10 Commandments, believing that those laws also came from God. And from that our ethics and morality stem. We have faith in those religious laws, too.

Faith in the Rule of Law is one of the cornerstones of our culture. And slowly over the almost 250 years since our declaring our independence we have continued to work to establish the “more perfect Union” that we dreamt of at our founding. It has never been perfect, not yet, but I trust that with each new generation that we can get closer and closer to that bright shining city on a hill dreamt of so long ago.

Now what they were working for and toward was unseen, untested, and unknown to the founders (or anyone else in history), and yet they risked fighting and dying for it. They had faith in it.

Right now, I hope you are maintaining your diligence in social distancing. Once again, we are facing something unseen, untested, and unknown. Most of us are upturning our lives in response to these ideas that we have to take on faith. At the end of all this, many people will say we took these drastic measures, and for what? Friends, that is where our faith comes into play. I have faith from my friends overseas that things are very bad there. I have faith in the reports coming out that the virus is already here, and we are attempting to flatten the curve and drastically reduce the outcomes that could have been. As of this morning there are over 6,000 KNOWN cases, and it is in all 50 states. The trendlines are disturbing, and we are all working together to accomplish something that we have to take on faith. And in so doing, I trust that the reward is a big, fat nothing. No more cases in Hanover, no funerals that I will have to do, no friends or loved ones with diminished breathing capacity. The hope for a total non-event has already passed, so we can only continue and pray that there is more nothing than something. I pray that that Nothing is our reward for doing Something. If we keep the Law of “Social Distancing” it can be. But it will take us all. And from it we will all be rewarded. Please Lord, may it be so.

Friends, we are on the front end of this, wherever it may go. Unprecedented times, uncharted waters. But you are not alone. In the coming days we will be able to set up places for us to have interactive, virtual coffee hours and other ways for us to communicate and connect. We are social creatures. God designed us that way. You cannot tickle yourself. Let me hear from you. What are your needs or wants during this time? Should we do noon prayers or compline daily? Those things can happen. We are already planning and shaping the services for the days to come, however long this needs to last. We are praying for you. Pray for all of us during this season. Obey the Law. Keep the Faith. And Wash your Hands! Amen

Year A 3rd Lent 2020 Fear is a Disease

Year A 3rd Sunday of Lent, 15 March 2020
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA 
(online because of Coronavirus closing)
“Fear is a Disease” 
(This title is taken from Howard Thurman's Jesus & the Disinherited)

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

John 4:5-42
Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

Good morning. This is coming at a strange time in our lives. Last Tuesday for our Lenten Study we looked at a chapter from our book that was entitled simply “Fear.” And Fear is something we all have in our lives, whether we avoid it, ignore it, or get sucked right in. Someone sent me a fortune cookie slogan they received one time, “Fear is the darkroom where negatives are exposed.” For those who grew up in the digital camera age, you may not get the joke. 

But fear is, has been, and always will be with us. Especially in days like these. Even today, there is a famous line from Shakespeare, “Beware the Ides of March!” Here it is, the Ides of March, and we have fear aplenty.

The woman who came to the well was fearful. We can see that from a couple of things. Why is she coming at the heat of the day to do hard, sweaty work? Many speculate that she was a pariah, someone looked down on, shamed. Shame is a fear of the judgment of others. She avoided shame by not having to deal with anybody, alone, at noon, she comes to fetch her water.

I see her fear coming out in her cynicism. She is almost snotty with Jesus in her early responses. George Carlin said, “Inside every cynical person is a disappointed idealist.” Young, naive, hopeful, life became something that used this woman here at the well. She went from relationship to relationship looking for whatever it was that was missing. Security. Love. Survival. We do not know. We cannot. And most likely, the decision was not hers, but the abusive men in her life. But Fear is there, fear from shame, fear from dashed dreams. It is there.

And Jesus meets her where she is, and reframes her situation and in doing so redeems her life. This fearful cynic becomes the first Samaritan evangelist that we hear of. She found Living Water, and offered to all that she knew this hope she found. Thanks be to God.

I have hope from a lot of things. I have hope in the leadership that our Diocese has taken to love the most vulnerable during this time of fear. They recognize that it will get worse before it gets better. That is the nature of epidemics. Which is why waiting was the most dangerous choice. Leaders, true leaders do what needs to be done, no matter how hard it is. I am thankful for the clergy of Ashland. We are working with one another. We have had several conference calls to make sure that TOGETHER we are working toward the health and safety of our JOINT PARISH. Ashland is our parish in the Episcopal sense, but from the God’s Eye view, we collectively are the Body of Christ in this part of Hanover County. This is OUR PARISH. And I have never seen such a healthy and positive approach to ministry as I am finding as we work together. Again, thanks be to God! I have hope that we can drastically SLOW the spread, and we can isolate those that have come into contact with the virus so that our dearly beloved vulnerable brothers and sisters can be protected.

Like many of you, I have been reading a lot online about what to do, and what not to do. One piece of advice stood out, and made it simple. Act as if you were infected, and behave like you did not want to infect anybody else. Easiest rule of thumb on how to know what to do.

Life will bring us all kinds of things that bring and cause fear. This is just another one. But as FDR said at his first inauguration: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Fear is the enemy. I find it no accident that the first thing out of most angelic mouths is, “Fear Not!” Jesus even started that way a few times when he did something extra-miraculous.

One of the best responses to fear is do something. Do anything. Go for a walk. Pray. Call a friend. Check on a neighbor (from a distance). Sitting and fretting is the breeding ground of the Disease of Fear. And as our reading in our Lenten Study showed us, to me pretty definitively, Fear is a Disease. Just as viral as the Coronavirus, if not more so.

God’s timing is amazing. The lectionary is a gift. Today’s collect could not be more appropriate for our times. We prayed, and maybe we should keep praying this prayer during this pause in our societal dealings. I remind you of the Collect:

Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul.

Like Jesus taught us, the inner life and the outer life are BOTH imperatives. And these days we are, and should be, more focused for a time on the outer, our physical selves. But we are also in the season of Lent. This is where we focused on the deep and important soul work to prepare ourselves for the Easter celebrations. I joked with my kids when the Bishop instructed us to cease from public gatherings and worship that the Bishop just told us to give up Church for Lent. It was the joke of a moment. But maybe this is God’s way of commissioning us to do the work in the world. Perhaps by email, phone, or text, but we have been taken out of our normal routines so we can share Christ’s Love when the whole world seems to be coming down around us. It is not, and if we are feeling that way, God’s Love trumps those feelings. And as you go out, spend time feeding your soul. Read your Bible. Do Morning, Noon, or Evening Prayer. If you don’t know how, the instructions are in the small italicized print, the rubrics. If you do not have a prayer book, bcponline.org has it all right there. dailyoffice.app is another great resource that does all the page-flipping for me. I use it nearly every day. 

Friends, we are still the Body of Christ. St. James the Less is the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement in the parish of Ashland, and we band with our Presbyterian, Church of Christ, Methodist, Baptist, and Catholic brothers and sisters to do the work of Christ here in our part of the world, to the glory of God. So STAY OUT to Love and Serve the Lord. Be safe. Fear not. And pray and care for those who need it most. Amen.