Year B Proper 9 WED 2021 Eurekas and Epiphanies

 Year B Proper 9, 7 July 2021

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA- Live and Live-Streamed

“Eurekas and Epiphanies”

Collect: O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

New Testament: Acts 10:1-16

In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. One afternoon at about three o’clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius.” He stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” He answered, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside.” When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, and after telling them everything, he sent them to Joppa.

About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. Then he heard a voice saying, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.” The voice said to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.

Gospel: Luke 24:12-35 (Emmaus Road Story)

The readings for today include three different stories of what appears to be God changing God’s mind. Samuel is led to anoint a new lineage, a new king because Saul had lost God’s favor and the runt of Jesse’s litter who Jesse did not even expect was the chosen one of God. (Yesterday’s readings spoke of how God regretted Saul being made King.)

Acts speaks of Peter working with a Roman centurion and being told that those who were rejected are now acceptable. Three times God had to say it. I used to think Peter was hard-headed, but when something is a deeply ingrained religious matter, one drilled in since birth, it is so hard to let go. I am amazed it only took three times for Peter to catch it. 

The Gospel reading is that of the Resurrected Jesus walking with two followers to Emmaus. If you look up how long that was, the answers will give you a headache as there are many possible sites, and different manuscripts give different distances.. It was long enough to have a really in depth conversation. When Jesus breaks the bread, he is revealed and the followers run back to tell the disciples.

In all three, it seems from the outside that God is changing the plan midstream. But I think that maybe God has been waiting for us to see what has been there all along. Have you ever walked into a room, and someone is there but you do not notice them? But then once you see them, you jump because you thought you were alone? So often I think God is waiting for us to catch up, or wake up, or clue in. And so often we can think that this is a new revelation, when really we have only figured out where God has been moving all along.

On Sunday I spoke about the Holy Spirit guiding and directing us to new and unexpected places. I believe that is still happening, and I believe that God is still speaking. Will we have eyes to see and ears to hear?

Our church has made some strong stands, stands that split the Episcopal Church and are having ripple effects throughout the Anglican Communion. We believe that some long held assumptions are wrong. We believe that issues of gender roles and sexuality are not as clear cut as biblical literalists would try and make them.

Growing up in a conservative evangelical environment, I had to let go of so many assumptions that had been handed on as Gospel truth. In fact, it was the skills I learned in college and seminary that sent me to the Scripture that convinced me that there had to be a better way. And God sent me and my family to the Episcopal Church, thanks be to God! Did God change God’s mind? No. But I grew up. I changed. I saw through Reason, Scripture, and Tradition that there were alternatives that spoke to me in a better way and resonated with my new understandings, like it did with Samuel, St. Peter, and the disciples on the road to Emmaus. I joked with Baptist folks, fellow pastors who reached out to me, that because the Baptists had taught me to truly read Scripture I could no longer stay Baptist.

Does God change? Or does God respond to our choices where we have latitude? Great questions we can explore. Some see the future fatalistically, that we have little to no say or free will. I would lean more to the side that God loves and empowers us to do the right thing, and occasionally and rarely intervenes. One favorite thinker of mine describes the end of time as the Omega Point where God is drawing all things and all will work together for good. The destination is clear, but God is open to the route.

That’s a lot to chew on before breakfast. But Eurekas and Epiphanies still happen, if we remain open to see them. Thanks be to God! Amen

Year B Independence Day 2021 A Better Country

 Year B Independence Day, 4 July 2021

St. James the Less Epsicopal, Ashland, VA

“A Better Country”

Collect: Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 11:8-16

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old-- and Sarah herself was barren-- because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Good morning. Today I want to explicitly state that I love my country. I want to explicitly state that I am in agreement with the Founders that I strive for a more perfect Union. I have been blessed to travel much of the world, especially someone from my background, and I thank God that this is the country of my birth and that this is my home. I am especially thankful to be a Virginian. But to quote the author of Hebrews in today’s reading, I “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” Therefore, I must explicitly state, we, as a nation, still have a long way to go. The story of our nation is still being written. The story of our nation can be summed up in the words chiseled into the stone on the National Archives, “What Is Past Is Prologue.” (Echoing William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act II, Scene 1, by the way.)

We are not trapped by what has come before, but neither are we allowed to let the demons that have haunted us to remain. If we are here amongst the nations of the world to actually create that More Perfect Union, then we have work to do, AND ALWAYS WILL. We will never attain perfection, but day by day, step by step, we can move closer to that first stated purpose of striving for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The uniqueness and strength of our country is that it was founded on an idea. Not by blood, family or nation or tribe of origin, and with the premise that you are enabled and empowered to the best for yourself that you can do. There are a lot of parallels to our faith, in that we began a missionary faith with an idea that all can belong and all are welcome. That is something that our foundings had in common.

If what I have said is true, if what the National Archives states is true, then how then do we write the Future by what we do now?

“Thy Kingdom come, On earth as it is in heaven,” many of us pray weekly, if not daily. What type of nation, what type of people would glorify God in their national discourse? We all have answers to that, and some of them may differ.

I strive always to create light, not heat, and as I share I hope you hear that from my heart. Chewing on that this week, the thought came to mind of John the Baptizer in prison in his final days sending a message to Jesus asking if he was truly the Messiah, or not. Jesus’ answer was seemingly cryptic, but not if you were a normal member of that culture.

Reading here from Matthew 11 (vv. 2-6):

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

Jesus is quoting the prophet Isaiah here, saying to John he was the fulfillment of that. (Isaiah 35:4-6; Isaiah 61:1) And if that is what the Messiah was to be about, then how might we be followers of the Messiah, if we are not about these things as well?

What does it look like in our times for the Blind to see, the Lame to walk, the Lepers to be cleansed, the Deaf hear, and the Dead raised? What does it look like for the Poor to receive the Good News? If you are Poor what might be Good News be to you? Your next meal? A better life for your children? A peaceful night’s sleep? Another day on earth? And what does it look like for us to not be offended by Jesus, not as WE define him, but as he defines himself.

A preacher can fill a church if you proclaim that God wants you Rich, Comfortable, and Happy. So many do that. But start preaching that God wants us to care for the Least of these, that God wants us to lift up the Broken-Hearted, that God wants us to be about transforming the World so that it was more like Heaven than what we have now, then Preachers can get in trouble.

In seminary they reminded us, “Whenever there is Change there is Conflict, and Whenever there is Conflict, there is Change.” We have lived through both over this last year. We, and I am speaking of We the People here in the USA, not this local church, we were forced into Change because of a Global pandemic, and we were in Conflict over many things. We are witnessing Revolutions, and whenever one is being overthrown, one finds the Revolutionaries revolting. Both the verb revolting, and the adjective revolting.

The last year can be viewed through poles. Black Lives Matter and the protests that began in earnest last summer, and the January 6th Incident. Even in writing this, I did not know what word to use. If I called it a riot, or a revolt, or an insurrection, any of those choices would pit me against someone depending on how that was viewed. And if we look at Jesus’ life and ministry, especially those signs of the Messiah I mentioned, what would Jesus have done in our times? Who would Jesus stand with? Who would Jesus offend? (Remember the last thing he said to John, “Blessed is the one who takes no offense in me.”)

The Jesus portrayed too often has little to nothing in common with the Jesus that was. Would our Founders have been in support of where our country is and where we are going? I would say to supporters of either of the poles I mentioned, that I doubt that the Founders could have even comprehended our nation today. We have evolved. We have grown BECAUSE of the Ideals that they upheld and that they fought a War to make the Law of this Land. I do not think they would be in support, necessarily, of either side. They were not part of the path between then and now. But they are the beginning of the journey coming where we are, as we are part of the journey of where our nation will go.

I hope and pray that Ashland, and Hanover, and Virginia, and all the States are more and more like Heaven each and every day. I dream of that world. Now do not hear me saying that I want everyone to be like me. When God draws, God uses all the crayons in the big 64 box of Crayola. Not the one favorite, or the little 8 pack. God made the world diverse, and different, and beautiful. God made a world where penguins, platypus, and pachyderms all belong. If you think God does not celebrate all of his Creation I remind you that at the end of every day mentioned in Genesis 1, God finds all that God made Good. Why do we not do the same?

I love that I can enjoy Thai food, and Sushi. I love Italian, and Mexican. I like biscuits and gravy and okra, and I like lox and bagels and matza ball soup. I like and am fascinated by all God’s Children in all their uniqueness, and quirkiness, and contradictions.

I love how the early Church wrestled with the mission Jesus gave them, and within months and just a few years they were confronted with whether they would be a reform movement in Judaism, or a revolution of the whole world. (Jesus sent them in to the whole world, by the way, if you needed that reminder.)

Our faith needs to echo that diversity and that mission. The Diversity God created, and the Mission Christ mandated. And let us not forget the role of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is at work in this world, drawing all people to where God would have us be. And like the wind, we cannot control it. I blows where it will, as does the Spirit. She is wild and beautiful and cannot be tamed.

Friends, I am challenged by what I have just said, and I hope you are, too. I am challenged because I know that I am not the person God would have me be. Or better, I am not the person God would have me be... yet. We are not the people God would have us be, yet. God would be cheapened and cheated if we settled for being Rich, or Comfortable, or Happy. God calls us to Abundance and Freedom, and all the responsibilities that belong to both of those. 

Jesus: “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.” John 10:10b

St. Paul: “For freedom Christ has set us free.” Galatians 5:1

That Abundance and that Freedom are blessings, given that we might be a blessing to others. The prices paid by our Founders, the prices paid by our national forces defending our freedoms, the prices paid by those whose names have been lost to history is great. Freedom is not Free. But it is our role to step up and take this nation to the next step, to take this nation to ideal that its founders set us toward in their time.

As we celebrate this day when the Continental Congress released the mighty Declaration of Independence, mostly penned by our fellow Virginian, one of the greatest documents in the annals of history, we are given another year to improve, grow, and learn. To do so we need to look not to our roots, but to our branches. If we focus on our roots, we begin to worship dead revolutionaries. But if we follow in the path they marked out for us, it is necessary to leave them behind to go where the could on dream of going. We remember our roots, but look to the branches of the tree they planted. Where are we going? Where are we growing. Friends, I believe that is the call of our Church, as it is the call of our Nation.  

If you go to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, you see it arranged just like it was for the Continental Congress. General George Washington chaired the Convention. And during those three months he sat in what came to be known as the Rising Sun Chair. Benjamin Franklin, at the close of the Convention, said of it:

“I have often in the course of the session looked at that ‘sun’ behind the President without being able to tell if it is rising or setting: but now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun.” (As quoted by James Madison in the federal record.)

We look to  the horizon because that is the choice we have. Time only goes one way. You will spend the rest of your life in the future. We may as well make the best of it, as well as making it the best we can be. God Bless You, and God Bless America. May we be blessed to be a blessing. Happy Birthday to all of us. Amen

 

Year B Proper 8 2021 "What do you hear?"

 Year B Proper 8 WEDNESDAY, 30 June 2021

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA (Live and Online)

“What do you hear?”

Collect: Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Acts 8:14-25

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God's gift with money! You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness." Simon answered, "Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may happen to me." Now after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans.

Luke 23:1-12

Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate. They began to accuse him, saying, "We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king." Then Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" He answered, "You say so." Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no basis for an accusation against this man." But they were insistent and said, "He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place." When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that he was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign. He questioned him at some length, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him, and sent him back to Pilate. That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies.

We hear what we want to hear, not necessarily what is said. One big challenge in communication is expressing things in multiple ways, yet consistently, so that the message can be received and what you want said to be heard.

Today’s New Testament and Gospel readings create an interesting dichotomy on people receiving and not receiving the message.

We see in the Acts reading, there is now a burgeoning community of believers in Samaria, the mixed blood region that most good Israelites ignored, distrusted, and rejected. But they were hearing and receiving the Gospel. They wanted to hear the Good News, and they did! And Peter and John went to lay hands on them so they could fully enter the faith by receiving the Holy Spirit. That was the proof in the pudding for the early church. The change was so impressive, the charlatan Simon thought it was a gimmick or trick that he could obtain. He offered to pay Peter and John for the gnosis, the hidden knowledge, so he could do this stunt, too! What a money maker that would be. But they rebuked him, so much so that he requested their prayers for deliverance from the curse they had made. He not only heard the message, he wanted it in his life fully, we have to hope.

The Gospel reading, though, is a painful exercise in missing the point. The Sannhedrin’s accusation against Jesus had them drag him to Pontius Pilate, the 5th Roman Governor of the province of Judea. Appeasing the crowd he heard them out, questioned Jesus, and found no grounds for their displeasure. But when he heard that he was from Galilee, he could pass the buck to Herod, so he would not have to continue with this. If he is Galilean, let Herod deal with it. That is his province, not mine. Herod was actually pleased. He had heard of Jesus, and was looking forward to the show. He may even be able to see a sign, like he had heard tell of. Jesus said nothing, so Herod played to the crowd and gave them what they wanted. His soldiers mocked and beat Jesus, and then sent him back to Pilate. Luke even says that this situation made them friends again, in seeing how they dealt with this problematic preacher.

The Roman officials spoke in power, using and abusing it. They expected a similar response. The Samaritans wanted Good News, and found that. Even Simon, mishearing the message eventually did, we can assume.

I try so very hard to hear what is being said, not hearing what I want to hear. But that is so hard. I am like most people, putting people in categories and assuming the actions and statements they will make. It is so hard to break free from that. It means I have to assume that people are being honest, and that I need to give them the benefit of the doubt. It means I have to listen without biases or pre-draw any conclusions.

Listen to how you listen. Observe what you are observing. Kick in that meta-cognitive, and look harder at yourself as a listener than the one trying to communicate with you. Think how the story would have been different if Pilate had taken the time to listen to Jesus. 

[Pause]

Now think of the situations we face. Centuries long systemic racism. A country divided against itself, almost at a 50/50 split with the way our system works. A world driven by fear still in the grips of COVID-19. Even more fear piled on with the Delta variant. We need to listen with God-blessed ears more than ever. We need to live God-blessed lives so that we can expand a God-blessed kingdom for the health and security of all God’s children. Amen.

Year B Proper 8 2021 Tangible

 Year B Proper 8, 27 June 2021

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA, Live and Online

“Tangible”

Collect: Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Mark 5:21-43

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

What’s the point of touching something? What’s the point of feeling it with our own hands? Mentally it may not be much. We tell children in museums, “Don’t Touch!” or better yet, “We touch only with our eyes.” But even from our earliest days, we touch things to make them more real. Just to be sure. We snuggle into our moms on their lap. We hold our grandparents’ hands. We kiss. We hug. It is much more than a physical thing, it is spiritual, too.

I am always fascinated by this story from today’s Gospel and its dichotomies. A rich family who is “deserving” of a healing for their rapidly declining daughter urges Jesus to come as fast as he can, and he is delayed by a woman, a destitute, unclean woman at that, who does not even want his attention, just contact with this healer. A young girl versus a woman who has been ritually unclean up to the age of accountability, 12 years.

If you asked the woman what’s in a touch, she would say everything. And it was. Ask Jairus before Jesus arrived and his daughter has just died, he would say the same thing. Rich and Poor, Young or Old, we all need to touch and be touched. We touch just like we breathe. We touch because we are alive.

If you have ever touched a dead body, the coldness tells you something is wrong, but it also clearly shows that the life has gone out of them.

The Gospel used words about touch. Jairus: “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” The hemorrhaging woman: “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” The touch is what makes it real.

When I have had the wonderful opportunity of travel, I am always fascinated by the evidence of touch. Statues, especially religious ones, with shiny tones while the rest of it is patinated, the copper made green over time. The steps of a cathedral curved into a dip through a millennium of pilgrims’ feet.

I remember standing just below the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The old ramp to go up to the Temple long since bricked over. But the bedrock stone that led to the door would have once born the feet of Jesus. It was the only spot in Israel that we knew for sure Jesus would have walked upon. One cannot replace or remove the bedrock. It felt different. It felt holy. Jesus had touched it most certainly as he went up to the Temple, and I have stood, and walked, and touched there, too. That common touch gave me a connection that I cannot describe.

The opposite can also be true. We can be in spaces where the pain and sorrow and hate can be tangible. I have stood in Dachau where God’s children were gassed and burned. I have stood in the Cape Coast Slave Castle dungeons where God’s Children lost their freedom and so many their lives. One feels the oppression and heartbreak still.   

What’s in a touch? To love and be loved. To affirm our existence, and to affirm it in others. We are without a doubt, social creatures. I have told you my proof of that before, you cannot tickle yourself. We are born for relationship and interaction, to touch and be touched. To have our existence affirmed, and to let others know we are there for them.

In the modern age we dismiss the importance of touch, and it is to our detriment. Again, the more hi-tech we become, the more hi-touch we must be. Think of it, there are 2 Sacraments of the Episcopal Church (Eucharist and Baptism) and the 5 Sacramental Acts (Confirmation, Reconciliation of the Penitent, Anointing of the sick and dying, Marriage, Holy Orders). Each of these involve touch. 

Feel the bread in your hand before you taste it on your tongue. Feel the water on your head dripping down. Feel the hands of the bishop on your head as you become a full member of the Church. Most of us have experienced those if you are a regular participant. And the others are the same. Hands of blessing assuring forgiveness and restoration. Oil applied to the forehead. The binding of hands with the priest’s stole in blessing after marriage vows. The laying on of hands in ordination and consecration. Amazing. Simple. Real. Made more real in the touch.

The Sacraments are described as “outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace.” (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 857) They are the touchstones of what is going on inside. Even notice our language. Touchstones.

Friends, as we gather back inside, we rub the grain of the pew. We shake the hand or hug the neck of a friend. We feel the bass of the organ reverberating in our chest. We touch. We make sure it is real. We touch out of love. We touch because we are made to do so. Skin to skin is really heart to heart. One of the first acts on this earth is to take a newborn and place it on the mother’s chest, and the bonding begins.

How we touch the person of others is how we touch the lives of others. I have had a few people this week stop in at church, and before they left they asked for a hug. Ministry made real. Ministry made real in the touch.

As the Gospel of Jesus Christ spread into the Mediterranean world, it left the home of its birth. An odd, monotheistic faith of a backward and misunderstood minor people in the corner of the Roman Empire. Philosophically, they understood the Body and what we think of as the Soul as united. They were inseparable while living. They even had parties who would argue that there is no afterlife without a body, and others the opposite. (Pharisees = Afterlife, Sadducees = Nothing After) But as the faith ventured out amongst those heavily influenced by Greek philosophy where they separated the Body from the Mind or Spirit or Soul, those ideas began to creep in. And we see that competition throughout the New Testament. Notice the language especially around the idea of heaven being populated with Resurrected Bodies. Physical Bodies being restored to go along with the Spiritual Reality, whatever that may be. That is why it was so important that Jesus ate fish with the disciples along the seashore, why he broke bread with the two on the road to Emmaus, why he urged Thomas to touch the holes in his hands and place his hand in Jesus’ side. He was physically resurrected. And most had to touch him to know he was real.

After COVID, we find ourselves in a world that is once again waiting for Resurrection. We find ourselves in a world touching things to make sure they are real. We find ourselves shaking and holding hands a little bit longer. That is okay. It is natural.

There are many who are not yet at the point of letting things be tangible. They are not ready to touch. That is okay. It is hard to throw things in reverse after 16 months of doing the opposite.

How can we make our ministry tangible? How can we show our love of God and all God’s children in physical, tangible ways? The Free Clinic downstairs has been accomplishing that coming on fifteen years. The new Food Pantry that Flory built is a tangible way that those in need can get what they need. If you want to contribute, just drop it off at the church. The Food Pantry ministry and the backpacks are all tangible ministries showing our love, of God and neighbor. Our children's’ ministries, our youth group, our 4th Quarter, as we get all these resumed and back off the ground, they show our touch. We are calling folks who can touch lives in this way to help us now. All of these ministries show our love.

You know what to do. You know how to touch, safely, responsibly, and lovingly. Your ministry may be taking care of a neighbor whose need only you know. It may be writing a note or driving someone to a doctor’s appointment. It may be mowing a lawn or taking out trash. However you do it, whatever you do, make your love visible and tangible. Make your love real. Touch a life, touch a heart, touch. There is healing in a touch. Probably not a cure, and we all have scars, especially after this last season. And our healing touch is that of Jesus. We are his hands. We are his feet. We are the Body of Christ. Notice our language again. We use the Body metaphor because we are called to Touch the World, to Change the World, in the name and to the honor and glory of Christ. Thanks be to God! Amen.

Year B Proper 7 WED 2021 Eucharist Matters

Year B Proper 7 WEDNESDAY, 23 June 2021

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

"Eucharist Matters"

Luke 22:14-23

When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!" Then they began to ask one another, which one of them it could be who would do this.

After each Lesson the Reader may say

	The Word of the Lord.
People	Thanks be to God.

Homily

It is not often that the Eucharist makes headlines. And I am not going into the politics, whether President Biden’s or the Catholic Church’s Bishops, but that a statement on the President’s ability to take communion making headlines shows you just how important this it to us still. The Eucharist is the gift of Christ to his Church, an instruction, a memorial, a salve, a hope.

Even Pope Francis said, “The Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” 

A Canadian Anglican Priest, @RevDaniel, responded to the headlines this way in a tweet (on Twitter): “I don’t understand ‘withholding communion.’ It’s not a prize for the best performance. It isn’t a gold star for top marks. It’s grace, and we’re not the ones giving it. ‘But what if someone unworthy receives it?’ [you may ask] ‘Uh, that would be everybody.” (from @RevDaniel, June 19, 2021, 4:49 pm)

My take on it is usually to ask, from what we have seen of what Jesus did, what might Jesus do? So, who would Jesus serve? This is what we know…

Jesus served Judas who would betray him.

Jesus served Peter who would deny him.

Jesus served Peter, James, and John who would fall asleep when he asked them to stay up and pray.

Jesus served his closest followers, most of whom abandoned him in his final hours.

I think Jesus would serve anyone who chose to receive. Jesus loves all us sinners, no matter how worthy or not. In fact, who besides Jesus was even worthy to receive. “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future,” Oscar Wilde reminds us. And Jesus echoes that in Mark (2:17): “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

Who would Jesus serve? Jesus would serve me. Jesus would serve you. Jesus would serve all who humbly come to receive. Thanks be to God!

The Iona Community gives us this invitation to the Eucharist, and it expresses so much of where God has brought me.

This is the table, not of the church but of Jesus Christ.

It is made ready for those who love him

And who want to love him more.

So come, you who have much faith and you who have little;

You who have been here often

And you who have not been for a long time or ever before;

You who have tried to follow and you who have failed;

Come, not because the Church invites you;

It is Christ, and he invites you to meet him here.

Friends, the last 16 months has shown has hungry the world is for connection, for community, for communion. The Church can be that. Will we?

                                                                        

Our response to that says much of how we see Jesus, how we preach and live Grace, how we see ourselves. Lord be our God and our model. Amen

Year B Proper 6 2021 By Faith & Not By Sight

 Year B Proper 6, 13 June 2021

St. James the Less Episcopal Church, Ashland, VA

“By Faith & Not By Sight”

Collect: Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17

We are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord-- for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.

For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

Mark 4:26-34

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”

He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

I have shared in sermons that nothing is wasted in the economy of God. I have shared that God takes what we bring, no matter how simple or horrible, and transforms it to his honor and glory. I believe both of those things. Even the most tragic or traumatic can be taken, blessed, broken, and given in new and glorious ways. This does not make it easy or painless, but it does take our suffering and imbue it with meaning.

But today I want to explore another way of thinking on what we do here. Somewhere along the way some have taken to describing faith like it was a commodity, or some special, secret, insider information. “Psst, hey, have you found Jesus?”

But faith is not like that. In our book club this last week, Rachel Held Evans reminded us that, “Scripture does not speak of people who found God. Scripture speaks of people who walked with God.”

God is not playing hide and seek; God invites us to see Godself where we are whenever, wherever that is. Like the prayer at the beginning of our service, God is God of all times and all places. The Psalmist penned:

Where can I go from your spirit?

    Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

If I take the wings of the morning

    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

    and your right hand shall hold me fast. [Psalm 139:7-10]

So if finding God is not the problem, what image might we use for our walking with God?

We have a simple one on our campus, and there is one at Richmond Hill, and there are examples in many of our cathedrals, and in holy sites of other religions around the world. Labyrinths, I find, are one of the great spiritual metaphors for our journey. 

Solvitor ambulando is the Latin phrase meaning it is found in walking. Often when I am at a mental impasse, getting up and moving my body gives me the space I need to gain the true focus I have lost. We may yell, “Don’t just stand there, do something!” And sometimes that is exactly what we need. But walking a labyrinth is not there to arrive, walking a labyrinth is there to drive us inside, physically to the center of the labyrinth, and inside ourselves.

One thing I have always loved about the labyrinth discipline when I have used it is to ask a question as I begin. It may be something I struggle with, it may be a dilemma I am facing. But when I have gained an answer when it is Solvitor amblando, when it is solved in the walking, I have to remind myself that whatever I have received was actually already with me, or God chose to provide it when I paused and took time to ask. Labyrinths, metaphorical and physical, are there to drive us inside.

A well-designed labyrinth begins by skirting the center and then sending you out to bring you back in. Like with beginner’s luck, we are provided with a glimpse of how great it could be to arrive at our destination, and how great it will be if we keep on keeping on. The glimpse of the reward is key. Our spiritual life is often like that. In our Gospel reading we are given that as well. Some seeds spring up quickly, but they do not stay the course. Those that do come to fruition.

St. Paul reminds us that “we walk by faith, not by sight.” And that, “For the love of Christ urges us on.” The intentionality of the labyrinth is what we must trust. We will not be lost, we cannot be led astray.

Once again, from Rachel Held Evans:  “The difference between a labyrinth and a maze is that a labyrinth has no dead ends… [S]ome like to say, we make the road by walking, but I believe the journey is more labyrinth than maze. No step in faith is wasted, not by a God who makes all things new.” RHE, Searching for Sunday, p. 180.

No matter where we begin, no matter how dark the road we have trod, we must trust that God will get us where we need to go. It’s not like the old joke about the city slickers who were in a rush for an event, and saw an old farmer on his porch. In desperation they barreled down the drive and asked the farmer if he had heard of their destination. “Yessim,” he replies. “Can you tell us how to get there?” they ask, pleadingly. After a long pause, the farmer looks up, “Well, the way I reckon it, you cain’t get there from here.”

God’s path for us is not like that. Wherever you start from, “nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ.” Romans 8:39

Once, when I was working at a summer camp, we went on a night hike. We had walked up a fire trail around sunset. On the way back it was a moonless night.  I had a younger hiker walking back next to me. I was a bit notorious for not using a flashlight for walking around camp, preferring to let my vision become acclimated to the dark. My flashlight was still in my pocket for this hike as well. The camper kept asking me to use my flashlight, but I reminded him we had just walked this path in the light, and walking it now was no different, except for us seeing everything more clearly. 

We continued on, and it was pitch black. I could barely see the dirt of the fireroad. By this point the camper was getting more and more scared and asked me how I could know which way to go. And that was when I said it was easy. “When I cannot see the road, or where to put my foot, I look up.” And then he did. There was a gap in the trees, and we could see the stars and the Milky Way above us shining down. We might not see the road, but the light from above marked our way to go. The road created a gap that showed us the way, all we had to do was look up.

There are times in our lives when our way is dark, or the direction to go is unknown. I remember that night. I remember the darkness. But I remember that looking up showed me the way. 

“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” 

“We walk by faith, not by sight.” 

We can say that because we have walked this way before. It is safe. It may spin us out, but it always gets us where we want to go, where we need to be. Labyrinths are the nature of this life, especially our spiritual life. Anything we need, we already have or God will provide. And if you are fearful and not sure of where to place your next step, don’t stare into the darkness. Look up! Amen