Jesus invites us into a story

 

“Jesus invites us into a story that is bigger than ourselves, bigger than our culture, bigger even than our imaginations, and yet we get to tell that story with the scandalous particularity of our particular moment and place in time. We are storytelling creatures because we are fashioned in the image of a storytelling God. May we never neglect the gift of that. May we never lose our love for telling the tale.”

–Rachel Held Evans, Inspired, p. 164

Knock

Knock, & the door will be opened. -Luke 11.9

The Rev. Peter M. Carey 4th Advent - Sermon 24 December 2017

The Rev. Peter M. Carey

4th Advent - Sermon

24 December 2017

St. Augustine begins his “Confessions” with the important notion that we are restless until we find rest in God.  

'Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord,

and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.'

~Augustine of Hippo

To be at home, to be at rest is a theme that echoes throughout the Hebrew scriptures.  On the seventh day of the creation of the universe, even God rested, and in so doing, God blessed the Sabbath, and blessed us with the real gift of being at home, at rest.  Later, when God speaks to David about establishing a house and a home, the Lord hints at three meanings, at least.  

• The meaning is about a literal “place” where God may abide,
• but also the establishment of a home for his chosen people,
• and also an establishment of the “house and lineage” of David.

Of course, even the casual reader may note the juxtaposition of the house of the Lord, the Temple, which was built by David and Solomon but then God’s own son, Jesus being born into a place that was no house at all.

The house of the Lord built by David and Solomon was heavily stratified, there were many many doors, many thresholds to cross.  Many many requirements for followers of Yahweh.

Then we have the story of Jesus from the first chapter of John.  Followers of John the Baptist ask Jesus: “Where are you staying, where to you abide?”  Jesus responds with a deeper answer than merely where he was staying the night, instead, he answers with the verb which signifies a deeper sense of abide - that is, where will they find Jesus, where will they experience the depth of his being, where will the encounter the living God.  He answers, “Come and See”. Jesus is the master inviter who tells these followers to, “come and see” where I abide.  Come and see!

“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.”

The place where Jesus abides is a place open to us.  Of course, the word abide is very similar to the word abode – home, household, a place of rest, refreshment, welcome, safety, hospitality, gratitude, thanksgiving, and repentance and conversion.

To abide is to be present, to really “be” in a place, not to just pass through, but to really stay there.   To abide in a place means that we also need to abide with the folks around us.  To abide with someone is to really be with them.  When we are given the present of another’s presence we feel the blessing of that person, but also, through them, we can feel Christ’s presence in our lives.

Of course, to be fully present with another when they are in pain, suffering, or heartache can be quite a challenge.   So, the word abide signals a timeless quality of place – where Jesus abides is that timeless and eternal place where we might “come and see” the blessing that God has given us. Abiding in a place can point to the abode where God lives – the place that is open to us, if we cultivate the awareness of God’s presence.  The word points to a sense of timeless presence, the gift of abiding alongside someone; the gift of presence to those in need, those in heartache, those in suffering.

As we eat follow Jesus’ command to “eat my flesh and drink my blood” we do “abide in him, and he in us.”  Christ has given us the gift of the real presence of him in our lives.  We partake of the “bread that came down from heaven” and “the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

We pray today, “Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself.”

We abide in Christ and Christ abides in us.  We are given “rest for our souls.”  Through the gift of the Eucharist we are offered the gift of God’s presence in our lives.  We are made one with God, and he is one with us.  We are made one with God, we are also made one with one another.  We also offer each other the gift of invitation, the gift of hospitality to others.  And, so we offer others the gift of presence, of healing, of caregiving, for we are one in the Spirit with God, and one in the Spirit with one another.

'Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord,

and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.'

~Augustine of Hippo

The Rev. Peter M. Carey ~ Sermon ~ 1 October 2017

The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Sermon

St. Mary's Church, Cathedral Road, Philadelphia

1 October 2017

When we read snippets of the scriptures here in church every week, we are at risk of not really knowing the full story.  Or, perhaps the preacher decides to preach one week on the Hebrew Scriptures (as this preacher did last week), and then the next week dip into the gospel.  This may be like turning into your favorite television series one week after missing a week or two, or for those of us who read to our our children at bedtime, you may be working through a beloved book, but your spouse did the bedtime reading the last two nights, and you are dipping into the story lacking the previous two chapters.

So, here we are today with Jesus who enters the temple.  What an image, Jesus enters the Temple, where he teaches, where he preaches, where he opens the scrolls and expounds on the scripture he finds there. And then the elders get on his case, and argue against his interpretation:

“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

You see, I could then preach an entire sermon about biblical interpretation, about the elders’ approach, and Jesus’ approach.  However, I would be missing important context.  What just happened before Matthew 21: 23?

What just happened?  What do you think?

Thankfully, like most Episcopal Churches, we have removed the Bibles from the pews.  So the question remains, what is going on in Matthew 21?

If I told you that Matthew only has 28 chapters, what might you guess about chapter 21?

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

“They brought the donkey and the cot, and put their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them...other cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road….and were shouting: Hosannah to the Son of David, Blessed be thh One who comes in the name of the Lord.  - This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

“Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of thsoe who sold doves.  “It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you are making it a den of robbers”

He healed the Blind and the lame

He curses the fig tree

“If you have faith and do not doubt, …. You will say to this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea” it will be done….whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”

To sum up…

He enters the city as a conquering hero, in the same style as the worldly powers such as the emperor.

He cleanses the temple, calling out the corrupt “religious merchants” who were trying to profit off people’s religiosity.

He healed the blind and the lame - specifically forbidden by the religious powers.

When he saw a fig tree that was not producing, he cursed it...teaching them, and us, that faith like love, is an active verb, a way of life, and there should be fruits of faith that can be visible.

So, when the “elders” question his authority, they are not merely questioning his scriptural interpretation, but questioning his activity, his overturning of political and religious corruption and hypocrisy, and forcefully cleansing the temple, and dramatically inspiring those who would listen to live out their faith.  Jesus then turns the table on the questioners, and asks them “Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”  They could not answer him.  Encountering the religious hierarchy, he called into question their own authority.

So, too, St. Francis was no stranger to challenging the religious hierarchy, and was clear that his authority came from God.  Quite often, when when we see a snapshot of him blessing animals, freeing a city from a wild wolf, or of him preaching to the birds, we are missing out on the larger context.  Just as reading the gospel in snippets can leave us unaware of the larger story, the entire story of Francis is life-giving.

Francis was deeply enraptured by the Incarnation, by Christ in the World.  He saw Christ in all persons, in nature, but also in even those who were poor, those without homes, those on the run, those regarded as unclean by society.  Francis surely walked the gorgeous fields around Assisi, and certainly preached to the birds, I have no doubt at all.  Likely the birds also preached to him.  However, we must expand our thinking about Francis, not merely a concrete statue in a garden, or a latter day spiritual environmentalist.  He certainly loved creation, but because it was a visible sign of God’s love for us, of Christ’s embodiment in all things, and of the Holy Spirit all around us.  

When Francis was told to “repair the church,” he first went to a church ruin, and began literally rebuilding and repairing the church.  However, God wanted him to also repair and rebuild, and restore the Church.  By his great love for the Trinity, for God in three persons, and for God expressed in the natural world, and in all people, even the poor and neglected, Francis did repair the church.  And it still needs repairing.  

Come to me

Locusts And Wild Honey

Come to Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWiLAlLz0LM

Refrain:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy burdened, and I shall give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. And you’ll find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

1. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall never be in need. Fresh and green are the meadows where he gives me rest. Refrain

© 1971 The Benedictine Foundation of the State of Vermont, Inc.

God of Grace, I give thanks for your generous love.

From the Society of Saint John the Evangelist - "Brother Give us a Word"

Thanks

God of Grace, I give thanks for your generous love. All that I am and all that I have comes from you.

Teach me to give thanks in all circumstances, and to express my gratitude in worship and loving service, to the glory of your Name. 

Amen.

Psalm 23

Psalm 23

Dominus regit me

1 The Lord is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.

3 He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.

4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.

6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Seek the things that are above

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.

Dali's Last Supper ~ Blogging Holy Week

Streams of living water

" 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow within him.'  

John 7, v. 37-39

Feast of the Annunciation

Images by He Qi and Jan Oliver-Schultz, courtesy of Bishop Tom Ely of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont

The Annunciation

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.

Have mercy

Collect for the Second Sunday in Lent

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Run with perseverence

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ~Hebrews 12:1-2

How long, dear Savior...?

How long, dear Savior, Oh how long

Shall this bright hour delay?

Fly swift around, ye wheels of time,

And bring the promised day.

That holy, happy place,

The new Jerusalem comes down,

Adorned with shining grace.

Removes His blest abode;

Men, the dear object of His grace,

And He the loving God.

And He the loving God.

edited by William W. Reynolds

How long, dear Savior, Oh how long

From the third heav'n, where God resides,

The God of glory down to men

Men, the dear object of His grace,

And He the loving God.

Words: Early American Fuguing Tunes

edited by William W. Reynolds

In the bleak midwinter

In the bleak mid-winter

Frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron,

Water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow,

Snow on snow,

In the bleak mid-winter

Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him

Nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away

When He comes to reign:

In the bleak mid-winter

A stable-place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty,

Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim

Worship night and day,

A breastful of milk,

And a mangerful of hay;

Enough for Him, whom angels

Fall down before,

The ox and ass and camel

Which adore.

Angels and archangels

May have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim

Thronged the air -

But only His mother

In her maiden bliss

Worshipped the Beloved

With a kiss.

What can I give Him,

Poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd

I would bring a lamb;

If I were a wise man

I would do my part;

Yet what I can, I give Him -

Give my heart.

~Christina Rossetti

Cast away the works of darkness

Collect for Advent 1

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

Trust in the slow work of God

Trust in the slow work of God

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.
Your ideas mature gradually–let them grow,
Let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

Kneeling by R.S. Thomas

R.S. Thomas (1913–2000)

Kneeling

Moments of great calm,
Kneeling before an altar
Of wood in a stone church
In summer, waiting for the God
To speak; the air a staircase
For silence; the sun's light
Ringing me, as though I acted
A great role. And the audiences
Still; all that close throng
Of spirits waiting, as I,
For the message.
Prompt me, God;
But not yet. When I speak,
Though it be you who speak
Through me, something is lost.
The meaning is in the waiting.

Hold fast to those that endur

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.