The Rev. Peter M. Carey Christmas Eve Sermon 25 December 2017

The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Christmas Eve Sermon

24 December 2017

May Almighty God, who sent his Son to take our nature upon him, bless you in this holy season, scatter the darkness of sin, and brighten your heart with the light of his holiness. Amen.

May God, who sent his angels to proclaim the glad news of the Savior’s birth, fill you with joy, and make you heralds of the Gospel. Amen.

May God, who in the Word made flesh joined heaven to earth and earth to heaven, give you his peace and favor. Amen.

The scene painted in our minds eye depicted by St. Luke is a powerful one.  The scene we have imagined many times on this blessed evening as we recount the story of Jesus birth.  In the midst of an occupied land, with the threat of Imperial power, a mother and a father bring a baby into the world, a vulnerable trio in the midst of this place.  Not in an Inn, but rather out in the manger, the shed, the barn, instead of nurses or doctors or midwives or doulas, they are surrounded by animals.  Of course the visitors who arrive are equally unlikely, shepherds from the fields with their sheep, and a retinue of the heavenly host of angels, and finally, most improbably they receive visitors from the East.  An incredible and shocking scene.  The hope for the world swaddled in bands of cloth in a barn, in the midst of the troubles and challenges of the world - in the midst of this place - JOY -  in the midst of this time - HOPE - in the midst of these visitors - LOVE.  

The first creche was created by St. Francis of Assisi, who thought that this would be a wonderful way to retell the story of the Birth of Jesus, and also help people to see and experience the story in a real and tangible way.  The goal was not to highlight mere sentimentality, but rather to make clear the reality of the Incarnation, the real way that God became human, and that this incarnation was not a one-time moment, but because of the nativity of Jesus, and his presence among us, the incarnation is a present reality for all time.  

We sing, “Love came down at Christmas”, and this love was not merely for those who witnessed the birth of Jesus those two thousand years ago, but also for us here today, and everyday.  God’s love was so full, so powerful, so overflowing that the love poured out here among us.  While Francis is often solely remembered for his love of animals, he was deeply orthodox and grounded in his understanding of the incarnation, of Emmanuel, “God with us.”

As we consider the Incarnation on this rich and holy night, we might also adopt the mind of Mary, who “pondered these things in her heart.”  These profound and wonderful words give us a model of response to the events surrounding Jesus birth.  Ponder them, consider them, pray on them, hold them gently, allow your heart to enter into the overflowing love of God, sit with this moment, and ponder it.  

The first creche must have been an amazing thing to experience, can you imagine the good folks of Assisi happening upon this birth scene of Jesus, and not merely as a painting on a church wall, but in tangible, three-dimensional form.  Happening upon the nativity scene in the crowded streets of Assisi must have been shocking and surprising, not unlike the birth of Jesus itself.  

If you have ever visited a life-size nativity scene, or if you have ever played a role in a Christmas Pageant, you might have experienced the powerful sense of this story.  I, myself, have played several roles in Christmas Pageants over the years.  Beginning as a donkey with a smelly papier-mache mask over my head, I was terrified that I would make a mistake - and, I believe it was my first time being up in front of people in church.  Through the years, I was a shepherd, a magi, Joseph, and finally a narrator, the voice of Luke, telling the story from the lectern as it came to life in that church nave.  How about you, where do you imagine yourself in the scene?

Not merely seeing the scene on a screen or on the wall of a church, but experiencing the scene in such a way that there might be a place for you in the manger.  Where might you be standing?  Perhaps a lowly animal, though humble, still very nearby the baby.  There is room for you there.  

Perhaps a visiting shepherd, straight from work, dirty, hungry, smelly, and yet, there is room for you as well.  

Perhaps a guest at the inn, leaving the inn for a walk, and hearing noises, you walk around back where you see a most amazing sight, animals, shepherds, a man, a woman, a baby in a manger.  What is this?  There is room for you, too.  

Perhaps you are from far away, and you are a person of science, of facts, not faith, of observation, not imagination.  But here you are, incredibly.   There is room for you.  There is room for all of us, and, amazingly, even though there is room for us, there is room for us to welcome more.  We each have a front seat in the theater, a courtside seat to see the event, there is a prime seat for you, and there are seats for us all.  We sit, we experience the Joy, the Hope, the Love, which has come alive.  There is room for all to sit and ponder.  There are no turf wars while pondering.  There is no resentment over who sits where.  There is no jealousy but only welcome and hospitality.  We may pray, “Where two or three are gathered in his name, he will be in the midst of us,” but in the midst of the Lord, there is room for all.   As we ponder, as we worship, we are one with one another.  In the light of the Love of God we are enlivened by one another, we are made whole through one another while Christ is among us, and within us.  

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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 29 October 2017

The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Sermon

29 October 2017

Listen to the audio track HERE

“increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity”

“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”

“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Cut to the chase

At the end of the day

The bottom line is

The final score

I hear that there are people who like to read the final page of a book before they begin the book.  They want to know what happened, and want no surprises along the way.  They want to know “who-done-it” before the mystery begins and likely are the kind of folks who might ask you to “cut to the chase” when you speak with them.

I don’t think I have ever picked up a book and read the last page first, I would rather enjoy the book, and I am one who is interested in the process, interested in the narrative, character development and the descriptions so carefully presented by the author along the way.

However much I enjoy the story and the developing narrative or argument of a writer or speaker, there are times, when I appreciate having a clear “takeaway” from a talk, lecture, book or essay.  What about you, are you more of a “enjoy the narrative process” sort of person, or are you someone who want a message you can memorize or put on a notecard?  I think, no matter how much we love the story, at times, we are looking for a “lunchpail message” which we can reflect upon over our peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity”

Pour into us, increase in us, fill us with gifts.  There is a deep recognition that we are gifted with our very lives, with all that we are, and all that we have.  Here we ask God to build us up with faith, hope and love.  Where we may falter in faith, God will provide faith.  When we may falter and enter fearfulness and have hopelessness, God will increase our hope.  Where we may falter and fear, God will increase our love and charity - caritas.  Just as we have these gifts increased in us, we also steward and care for all the blessings that God has given us, and we offer these gifts to others.  We offer our time, our treasure and our talent back to God.  “All things come of thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee.”

“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”

Blessed.  Set aside.  Having a holy purpose - not unlike the frontal, the chalice, the paten.  You shall be holy.  Not merely here as crude matter, not merely as automotons, not merely as random beings in the world.  We are called, and empowered to be holy, to be set aside as blessed beings for God’s mission in the world.  We are empowered to be disciples, to follow God, to enter the Way of Jesus.

“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Cut to the chase.  Here, the lawyers, pharisees, sadducees are finally trying to trick Jesus again, but here the question is not unlike our own.  Fine, Jesus, many parables later, many healings, exorcisms, miracles and all that.  But, really, Jesus, what are we to do, what is the one most important commandment?  Here, Jesus breaks it down.  Here, Jesus cuts to the chase.  Here, Jesus gives us all the bottom line.  “Love the Lord your God will all your heart, and with all our soul, and with all your mind - (and) You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

So get to it.  Go do it. Every single bit.  That’s it.

The Rev. Peter M. Carey Sermon ~ 22 October 2017 ~ “Give it back to God”

The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Sermon - 22 October 2017

“Give it back to God” ~ “Of thine own have we given thee”

Listen to the audio HERE

Earlier in the gospel of Matthew, which we heard just a few weeks ago, when Jesus was teaching in the Temple, Jewish officials questioned his authority to do “these things”.  Jesus declined to answer the question, for the answer could only be understood by those with faith.  Just before our gospel today, we find the parable of the Wedding Feast, which the Pharisees saw as an attack on them.

Now followers of the “Pharisees” and “Herodians”– who all wanted to get Jesus arrested  – speak to him. They appear to respect him, but speak with irony. And then the question, the subject of great debate in Jewish circles: should we pay the annual poll tax to Rome?

As with any good question, the possible responses varied:

If Jesus says yes, Zealots and other Jews hostile to Rome will turn against him; if he says no, he will risk arrest for inciting rebellion against Rome. We know his answer, as translated, but “Give” can be give back or repay.   

So he says, “Give back to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God, give back the things that are God’s.”

“All things come of thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee”

2 Chronicles, chapter 29, verse 14

Pharisees try to entrap Jesus, and he uses some rhetorical brilliance to get out of a jam.

But is there more than that?

Is there more to say here.

Of course.

Look at the end.

Look to the very end, the part that Jesus adds to his answer to the Pharisees.

“And to God, render the things that is God’s”

And so, we should consider what is God’s, after all.

After all, you have made the time to be here in this glorious place.

God’s

Everything is God’s

The emperor - that’s fine...give him a bit…

Fees

Taxes

DMV

Electricity

But, to God, give to God what is God’s.  Jesus was not playing around with these petty entrapment kind of questions.  He knew the truth of God’s gift.  He knew what Thomas Merton later wrote:

If you want a spiritual life, you must unify your life. A life is either all spiritual or not at all.

And, what have we received from God, that we might give back to show our gratitude, our Thankfulness?  What might we “give back” to God?

Time

Love

God’s People

Money to the church

Time to the church

Effort

Good will

Intelligence

Good-nature

Loving-kindness

Shrewdness

Wise as serpents, and innocent as doves.

Intelligence

Creativity

But to God, render what is God’s.

“All things come of thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee.”

And so, if we were thinking that this was merely a debate about a coin, whose head was on a coin...let’s remember that Jesus knew his Bible.  And his Bible was the Jewish Scriptures.  And he knew his prayer book.  And his prayer book were the Psalms.

In today’s psalms...ALL creation sings to the Lord.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;

let the sea thunder and all that is in it; *

let the field be joyful and all that is therein.

12 Then shall all the trees of the wood shout for joy

before the Lord when he comes, *

when he comes to judge the earth.

Of course it does.

Every instant

Every moment

Every love

Every pain

Every pleasure

Every suffering

Every fellowship

Every loneliness

Every cup of coffee

Every slice of bread

Every sip of wine

God is in it

It is God’s

And so, this is the state of mind of Jesus when he is asked about giving money to the Emperor, giving back the money which was minted by the Roman Empire.  Jesus says fine - give back to the Emperor.  BUT, give BACK to God the things which are God’s - which is all.  Jesus’s life was unified, and he was deep in Holy Week when he answers their question with this great truth.  

“All things come of thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee.”

The Rev. Peter M. Carey ~ Sermon ~ 15 October 2017 ~ Matthew 22: 1-14

The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Sermon

15 October 2017

Matthew 22: 1-14

Listen to the audio HERE

"The parables of Christ, even the innocent, pastoral, tender, innocuous-seeming ones, conceal just below the surface a whiplash, a shock, a charge of dynamite. The stories set conventional expectations, whether concerning God, religion, politics, vocation, status and class, utterly off kilter."   ~ Daniel Berrigan

My interpretive lens, “The Wedding Banquet”

Chorus:

I cannot come to the banquet, I cannot come to the banquet,

don't trouble me now.

I have married a wife; I have bought me a cow.

I have fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum.

Pray, hold me excused, I cannot come.

A certain man held a feast on his fine estate in town.

He laid a festive table and wore a wedding gown.

He sent invitations to his neighbours far and wide

but when the meal was ready, each of them replied:

The master rose up in anger, called his servant by name,

said: "Go into the town, fetch the blind and the lame,

fetch the peasant and the pauper, for this I have willed,

my banquet seem so crowded, and my table must be filled.

When all the poor had assembled, there was still room to spare,

so the master demanded: "Go search every where,

to the highways and the byways and force them to come in.

My table must be filled before the banquet can begin.

Now God has written a lesson for the rest of the mankind;

If we're slow a responding, he may leave us behind.

He's preparing a banquet for that great and glorious day

when the Lord and Master calls us, be certain not to say: I cannot come.

In today’s gospel, we are introduced to two different challenging parables which are more or less conflated together by Matthew.  The setting and context for these parables are the city of Jerusalem.  As I mentioned just a few weeks ago, Jesus is only a few days away from his crucifixion.  He is teaching amidst a great diversity of people in the melting pot stew of the religious, political, and social setting of Jerusalem.  In this context, Jesus is comparing the kingdom of heaven to a king who gives a wedding feast.  

Before we take a look at what IS going on here, I want to give a bit of a sense of what IS NOT going on in this gospel.

First, this is NOT about what we are literally required to wear to a party, not what we require people to wear at church.  This is not about Carol Palmer or Earl James or Steve Zartarian or Steve Snyder throwing anyone out of church for not wearing their Sunday best.

Second, this isn't just any banquet. It's not a backyard barbecue.  It’s not even just “any” wedding.   

Third, these parables were probably not taught by Jesus right after each other, and so it is helpful to separate the messages.

Fourth, not every part of these parables might have a direct referent.  What I mean by that, is that Jesus is painting a picture, or two pictures of what the Kingdom of God is like, and we can certainly get caught up in the details and forget the message.

Now, what IS going on here?

First, to begin with the second parable about the seemingly irrational and grouchy king who throws out a guest for not wearing a wedding robe.  The kingdom of God is like an irrational and grouchy king?  No.  This episode would be understood in the context of conversion, and of entering a new way of life.  The wedding robe in this story symbolizes a “new way of life,” which is required of those who would enter the Kingdom of God.  This “new way” is centered on love of God, love of neighbor, and love of self.  This approach, this “garment” of love is what is required of those entering the Kingdom of God.  Those who can’t live out this life of compassion, caring, and abundant love are already in the outer darkness, already weeping and gnashing their teeth.

Second, let’s talk about the wedding feast.  As I mentioned, this is no mere party, no backyard barbeque, no tailgate at an Eagles game.  This is not even *just* any old wedding.  It's the royal wedding of the king's son.  The best we can imagine is Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981. By one count, 750 million people watched it live on television.  Or, perhaps the wedding of Prince William and Kate more recently.  Jesus is making the point that you just really wouldn’t refuse this invitation Who in their right mind would refuse such an imperial invitation?

There once was a king who prepared a royal banquet for his son's wedding. After the elaborate preparations were made, he sent out the invitations.  Then comes the first shock. Some people rejected the king's invitation. Jesus says that some people "refused to come." Others "paid no attention." Another group even killed the king's messengers. Such responses, said Jesus, showed that these people "did not deserve to come" (22:8).

Would you have refused an invitation to St. Paul's Cathedral in London for the royal wedding of Charles and Diana? Not a chance. But that's what happened in this parable. The people on the king's A-list refused his extravagant generosity. They spurned an invitation to the most prestigious party in town.

To those who refused his invitation, the king "sent his army and burned their city." The king then goes out and finds people who are willing to put on the garment of God’s love, to enter into the free gift of God’s banquet.  To the highways and byways God sends out his messengers!  

Everyone without exception has received a free invitation to the Kingdom of God. It's a banquet of abundance. But some people refuse God's generosity. It's hard to believe, but experience tells us it's true.  Some others may think they can enter this banquet without putting on the “garment of God’s love” and forget that God requires us to “love God, love our neighbor, and love ourselves.”  Sneaking in the side door will not work.  Life doesn't work that way, not in the world and not in the kingdom of God.

Paradoxically, God's generosity is free for all and it doesn't come cheap. It requires us to be “all in,” and requires us to adopt an ethic of love, but the reward is beyond our imagination.  

God has written a lesson for the rest of mankind;

If we're slow a responding, he may leave us behind.

He's preparing a banquet for that great and glorious day

when the Lord and Master calls us, be certain not to say:

I cannot come to the banquet.