sermonoats

Lectionary Themes, February - June 2012

2012-02-02T15:30:00.000-08:00

Feb. 5 - Proclaiming the Message Mark 1:29-39
Feb. 12 - Spreading the Word Mark 1:40-45
Feb. 19 - The Transfiguration Mark 9:2-9
Feb. 22 - Ash Wednesday: Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
Feb. 26 - Jesus calls us to repent and believe in the good news Mark 1:9-15

Mar. 4 - Jesus invites us to take up the cross Mark 8:31-38
Mar. 11 - Jesus calls us to true worship John 2:13-22
Mar. 18 - Jesus is lifted up for our salvation John 3:14-21
Mar. 25 - Jesus invites us to follow and serve John 12:20-33

April 1 - Palm Sunday: Mark 11:1-11 & Mark 14:1-15:47
April 5 - Maundy Thursday: John 13:1-17, 31b-35
April 6 - Good Friday: John 18:1-19:42
April 8 - Easter Day: Mark 16:1-8
April 15 - Jesus and Thomas John 20:19-31
April 22 - Jesus Appears to His Disciples Luke 24:36b-48
April 29 - ‘I am the Good Shepherd’ John 10:11-18

May 6 -‘I am the True Vine’ John 15:1-8
May 13 - ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ John 15:9-17
May 20 - The Ascension of Jesus Luke 24:44-53
May 27 - The Coming of the Holy Spirit John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

June 3 - Trinity Sunday: John 3:1-17
June 10 - The True Kindred of Jesus Mark 3:20-35
June 17 - The Mustard Seed Mark 4:26-34
June 24 - Feast of Saint Alban, First Martyr of Britain Matthew 10:34-42

JRL+

Marked for Life

2012-02-01T11:17:00.000-08:00

Marked on the forehead. That is what we see Ash Wednesday on fellow parishioners – and some people on the street. They are marked with a cross, made of ashes, drawn with a thumb, by a priest or minister. As they were marked they heard words like these:

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

The imposition of ashes serves as a reminder of mortality – and a reminder of eternal life, for at death, to God’s faithful people, life is changed, not ended.

How can this be?

In Baptism you are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own for ever.

You are marked as Christ’s own forever. You are no longer your own; you are bought with a price. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)

The life we live now we live no longer for our selves or of our selves, but we live in Christ, for Christ, as Christ’s own people, as the ones of his own fold whom he protects – and whom he guides – and whom he calls.

And he calls us not only into safety and refuge but also into a life that is fully alive – with threats, joys, sorrows, sheer boredom, hard days and soft hours, excitement and pain, and ultimate delight. For ultimately we delight in him and we are his own, brought into his company and welcomed home.

This home is ours – not at the end of time but now, ours from the moment of our baptism. At baptism we are welcomed into the home of faith, received into the household of God.

This household is God’s domain, the Kingdom of Christ. How to see it? How to live it? How to carry it out among ourselves? How to carry it out and make it real in our lives – and the lives of our neighbors?

Who is my neighbor? (Just checking.)

Hmm… maybe a demographic profile of my community will help. Maybe… a parable? (Substitute some stereotype unsavory and challenging for “Samaritan.”)

Or it may be that we encounter our neighbor when we find ourselves helping someone in need, or rejoice with someone in celebration, or simply share a meal.

And it may be that in encountering our neighbors we encounter something of ourselves. It may be something familiar and comfortable – or something familiar and uncomfortable!

And yet somehow Jesus welcomes us all – so that, at the last, and in the first instance, Jesus is able to say to us, with conviction, you are my own, singled out, marked for life.

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For the Gospel Grapevine (February 2012), newsletter of Saint Alban's Parish, Edmonds, Wash. http://stalbansedmonds.org

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Presentation 2012

2012-01-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

Jesus isthe Light of the World – and today, the feast of the Presentation, we celebratehim – the light of the nations, and the glory of his people.

This is the lastfeast in the series that anticipates and celebrates the birth of the ChristChild, from the joyful expectations of Advent, the feast of the Nativity –Christmas itself, to the feast of the Holy Name eight days later on January 1^st,the visit of the Magi who proclaim him King of the Jews and present him withgifts, to this feast 40 days after Christmas, when we remember that Mary andJoseph presented him, the first-born son, in the Temple.

Jesus isthe Light of the World – and Simeon the righteous and Anna the prophetess arethere in the Temple to tell them so.

He is theOne all Israel has been waiting for; indeed, the whole world has been waitingfor him.

For he isthe hope of the world, the One who brings light that is life to all people.

As theGospel of John says in its very first chapter,

What hascome into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

Thosewere dark days for Israel and any glimmer of hope would have been welcome. Buthere was more than a glimmer – here was the source of light and life itselfcome into the world.

The Wordthat was from the beginning became flesh and lived among us, and we have seenhis glory.

This isthe glory for his people. This is the light for the world. This One who came intothe world: Jesus, the Christ Child whom Simeon embraced:

At last!At last! Now I can go in peace, knowing God is fulfilling the promise:

Thepromise of Salvation – healing, wholeness, help and hope, and liberation fromthe bondage of sin, the ultimate oppressor;

Thepromise of Redemption – no longer will God’s people live under the unbearableburden of sin;

Thepromise of Atonement – for God has reconciled all to himself in this One, thispromised Child.

The childof the promise –

whom youhave prepared for all the world to see, a light to enlighten the nations, and the glory – the shining forth inpraise of God – of the people of God.

(The Lordis our light; whom then shall we fear?)

Thischild, Simeon goes on to say, will see the rise of some and the fall of others– and those who will fall will not be happy. Even in this moment of joy thereis a warning:

Jesus isRedeemer and he is Judge.

He isJudge – that is, the bringer of Justice – the one who establishes righteousnessin the realm of God – and

the roadto justice,

the roadto freedom,

the roadto righteousness and peace,

is not aneasy road –

it willlead to the Cross,

andbeyond, beyond Death, to victory even over Death,

to thefinal reconciliation of all people to God in his Son.

ThroughChrist, through this Child, the world will be judged and made right in thereckoning, and it will be led to freedom.

Annaprophesies that the redemption of Jerusalem, the renewal of God’s city, willcome through this same infant.

40 daysold! and already a legend – no, more than that: a living promise, a word offulfillment.

The nightis past and day is dawning – the new day illuminated by the light of Christ.

He is thelight of the world, and he calls us, come and follow me!

Come and follow me! How thenshall we follow him?

How shall we bear forth that light that is life?

How shallwe let the light of Christ shine forth –

from us,from this place, this gathering of God’s people?

How shallwe let the light shine – the light for the world?

We beginto look at what Jesus said of his own ministry, his own work in the world, thathe calls us to follow him in doing.

As he says:

TheSpirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news tothe poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery ofsight to those who are blind, to set free the oppressed and to proclaim theyear of the Lord’s jubilee.

And thisScripture, from the book of the prophet Isaiah, began to be fulfilled even inthe reading.

The dayof the Lord is dawning. The light has come into the world. How shall we showhim shining –

- inour lives?

- inour hearts?

- inour ways, of doing, and being, in the world?

That is the challenge that we face today.

Let us becarriers of his light.

Let useach take up that illumination that lasts forever, and is not quenched,

that thelight of Christ may shine forth from us,

forall people.

Amen.

Malachi 3:1-4
Psalm 84

Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40

Feast of the Presentation
2012

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the promise of peace

2012-01-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

God is with us & we with him: that is peace.

It is accomplished through the work of Christ, in his birth, in his death, in his resurrection, in his ascension, and in his sending of the Spirit.

It is accomplished in his birth as he entered the world, took on flesh and dwelled among us.

It is accomplished as he took on mortality, and in his death witnessed to the truth and atoned for the sins of all people.

The peace of God is accomplished in his resurrection, as Christ rose again on Easter, victorious over death, bestowing life on all.

It is accomplished in his ascension, as he ascended to the seat of power at the right hand of the Father.

It is accomplished as he breathed holy Spirit on his disciples, that we might bear witness to the truth and become the messengers of the good news.

All nations, all peoples, will share in the covenant promise. The way to life is through trust in God and in Christ. That is where Thelma is: secure and at peace - in the presence of the living God, the One in whom she put her trust, the one in whom we put our hope.

God has promised us: he says, I will be your God and you will be my people. I will give you the water of life from its source: and I will provide for you as from a font of living water, eternal life, of the new creation, beyond the reach of death.

He invites us to live life in the Spirit – to life continuously flowing from its source in God, like a never-ending spring flowing forth from the heart of God.

All are welcome at this spring. All are welcome in the heart of God. All people will share in the covenant-promise of God. All will be at peace. All will be under the mercy, in the presence of the Lord.

The invitation is there before us.

In faith we can take hold of hope, live into the promise, and know that God himself welcomes us as his own beloved children, as he welcomes Thelma.

So let us now with bold confidence in Christ, offer our prayers to God, addressing him as Christ himself taught us, as Our Father…

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JRL+

Memorial Service for Thelma de Long (1911-2011).

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2012-01-22T10:46:00.000-08:00

It's a walk of nine hours and a quarter from Nazareth to Capernaum: do you think Jesus walked it before that day he called the fishermen?

Mark 1:16-20

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lake-side; He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same word: ‘Follow thou me!’ and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is.

Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus (New York: MacMillan, 1956), p. 403.

Luke 5:1-11

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Walking directions from Nazareth to Capernaum

Donald Hall on old age

2012-01-20T19:41:00.000-08:00

However alert we are, however much think we know what will happen, antiquity remains an unknown, unanticipated galaxy. It is alien, and old people are a separate form of life.... They can be pleasant, they can be annoying -- in the supermarket, these old ladies won't get out of my way -- but most important they are permanently other.

Donald Hall, "Out the Window", Personal History, The New Yorker, January 23, 2012, 40.

http://http://www.newyorker.com/

Disturber (a poem by Kate McIlhagga)

2012-01-20T19:37:00.001-08:00

Disturbing stranger,
you call and we follow.
You call, and we leave behind
the nets of our past lives;
the things that bound and held us;
our old selves and our regrets.

For calling and disturbing,
for surprising and making new,
for moving us toward wholeness,
we thank you Lord.

Kate McIlhagga

from Around a Thin Place: An Iona Pilgrimage Guide, Jane Bentley & Neil Paynter, eds.

http://www.iona.org.uk

Themes for Sundays and Holy Days

2012-01-17T15:27:00.000-08:00

Lectionary Themes, Epiphany –Trinity 2012

Jan.1 The HolyName: Luke 2:15-21

Jan. 8 Epiphany:TheVisit of the Wise MenMatthew 2:1-12

Jan.15 JesusCalls Philip and Nathanael John 1:43-51

Jan.22 TheCall to Discipleship Mark 1:14-20

Jan.29 Presentation: JesusIs Presented in the Temple Luke 2:22-40

Feb.5 Proclaiming the Message Mark 1:29-39

Feb.12 Spreading the Word Mark 1:40-45

Feb.19 The Transfiguration Mark 9:2-9

Feb. 22 Ash Wednesday: Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

Feb.26 The Baptism of Jesus & The Temptation of Jesus Mark 1:9-15

Mar.4 The Cost of Discipleship Mark 8:31-38

Mar. 11 ‘My Father’s House’ John 2:13-22

Mar.18 ‘For God so loved the world…’ John 3:14-21

Mar.25 ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ John 12:20-33

April1 PalmSunday: Mark 11:1-11 & Mark 14:1-15:47

April5 Maundy Thursday: John 13:1-17, 31b-35

April6 Good Friday: John 18:1-19:42

April8 EasterDay: Mark 16:1-8

April15 Jesusand Thomas John 20:19-31

April22 JesusAppears to His Disciples Luke 24:36b-48

April29 ‘I am the Good Shepherd’ John 10:11-18

May6 ‘I am the True Vine’ John 15:1-8

May13 ‘Love one another as I have lovedyou.’ John 15:9-17

May20 The Ascension of Jesus Luke 24:44-53

May27 The Coming of the Holy Spirit John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

June3 TrinitySunday:John 3:1-17

June10 The True Kindred of Jesus Mark 3:20-35

June17 TheMustard Seed Mark 4:26-34

June24 Feastof Saint Alban, First Martyr of Britain Matthew 10:34-42

JRL+

January 17, 2012

MLK

2012-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

First of all I’d like to thank you for coming out to thecelebration today. The weathermen predicted an inch of slushy snow. So thankyou for making the effort.

Thirty-one years ago today it was snowing in Washington,D.C. It was a light snow falling gently through a gray sky. A colleague and Iwere walking across the Mall at lunch time and past the Washington Monument wecame upon a small gathering – small by National Mall standards.

There were thirty or forty thousand people standing in thesnow, listening to Elihu Harris and other representatives from Congress, tocelebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and to remind us what hemeant to our nation and the world.

Stevie Wonder was there and sang a new song, Happy Birthdayto Martin, written for the occasion. We can still sing the song – and now wehave a holiday – Martin Luther King Day.

But why talk about Martin on a snowy day in Edmonds,Washington, thirty-one years later?

The gospel reading after all is about the calling of Jesus’first disciples … and that is why!

Nathanael was the quietly faithful one – we next hear hisname in the accounts of the Resurrection. Philip is the one who broke the newsof the Messiah to the nations, by teaching the Ethiopian eunuch, the vizier ofthe kingdom of Meroe, all about Jesus, and baptizing him then and there. Forall we know that Ethiopian, who went on his way rejoicing, was the first tobring the gospel to Africa. Well done, Philip. Good and faithful, Nathanael.

What does this have to do with Martin – and me?

Well, in 1955 Martin was a fairly successful person, who hadrecently taken a pretty good job at a nice church in Montgomery, Alabama. Maybe the disciples Philip and Nathanael had pretty good lives too. But theyseemed to be searching for something – or someone – more. So – “we have foundthe one – the one we have been searching for.”

I suspect Martin was searching for something too. And itfound him!

Rosa Parks in 1955 was a nice churchgoing lady who rode thebus to work, and home again at the end of the day. If you have ever beensitting on a crowded bus late in the evening, ready to go home, when one ofthese ladies comes down the aisle looking for a place to rest her feet, youknow what tired looks like.

But back then, in Montgomery, Alabama, you had to move tothe rear of the bus unless you were white. And if you weren’t white, and awhite person wanted your seat, you had to get up and give it to them.

But this time, in December 1955, something happened.

Mrs. Parks sat down. She sat down in the front part of thebus. Even though she was black.

The driver told her to move. A white person wanted her seat.She did not get up.

Soon it was all over town.

“Every body can sit any where on the bus – or we won’t be onit at all.”

This caused some consternation – throughout the community.

And Martin Luther King, as a respected local pastor, wasasked to speak – to say why. Why justice needs to roll down like a river justas much as buses need to roll down the street.

Since that day things began to change – for Martin, who wascalled to something more than Sunday-morning piety, more than success, topreach good news to the poor and justice to the mistreated.

And things began to change – for the people of Alabama – andfor us, too.

What had happened? Martin had stood in his pulpit in frontof the church facing his congregation. But now he and his church were facingoutward – toward the world, where they were needed, where their witness wasneeded: their hearts, their hands, their faith, their prayers, their walk withthe Lord hand in hand with the people of their city.

Like Philip and Nathanael, we seek something more, we arecalled to something more, than simply to be “Israelites” of no guile.

Like Martin we are called to something greater than our own success.

Even – like Rosa we are called to put aside our own quietlife – and join something larger. We call it the Kingdom of God.

What is the Kingdom of God to look like here? How will weseek it?

a feast of light

2012-01-10T03:02:00.000-08:00

Candlemas, if you look it up, has lots of traditions and celebrations tied to it. For one, if you got the prize in the Epiphany cake, you get to bring the tamales and menudo to the feast on Candlemas (Candelaria). Another custom is to take down the last of the Christmas holiday decorations the night before. And the last of the Christmas revels cease. It's a quarter of the way to summer already. But it all comes back to Jesus. Our Lord, presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph, is greeted by the prophet Anna and the righteous, devout Simeon. At last! At last! they say. The light that lightens all the world is come among us at last. Now I can rest my soul and go in peace. And so Candlemas, the feast of the blessing of the lights, is the feast of the Presentation, a major feast, a feast of our Lord. It is more than the end. It is the last feast of the great season begun the first Sunday of Advent, with its highest feast the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas). It is more than the end; it is a turning point. It is the beginning of something new, the beginnings of the dawning in our minds and hearts and lives in, yes, ordinary time, of just what that great season means: the light has come and lives among us. It is the light of all. Hallelujah! Now we go forth into the world, sent forward with the light shining before us on our path.

Illumine our way, O Lord: may your Word be a lamp to our feet and light on the way. Amen.

We celebrate the feast of the Presentation, Candlemas, this year (with the bishop's permission) on the last Sunday in January.

Epiphany 2012

2012-01-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

I am so glad that we can celebrate this feast today - the glory of God revealed. Arise! Shine! For your light has come... and the Magi show us that the light is for us - we outsiders - outside Israel, outside the campfire, strangers, marginal people, Gentiles, foreigners.... No one is "Stranger" to God. We are all included, all invited, all welcome, into the glory that is the Light of God. Jesus was the epiphany, the manifestation, the showing-forth, the revelation of God's glory, light, and love. You and I are the epiphany - the ones who show God's love - today. What kind of epiphany are we? What kind of God do we make manifest? How do we show the love of God - and share the love of God - and celebrate?

In this place, in this time, here and now, how is God leading us? How is God calling us, forth from our familiar places, to the brave new world that shines with God's glory?

The Magi were strangers, traveling from far away, seeking the One born King of the Jews - seeking the Good News, the good news for all people: Christ our Savior is born, the Messiah is come, the redeeming of the nations and revealing of glory to his people.

How shall we make manifest God's glory in our lives? How shall we seek and follow God's leading as individuals, as a church, as a nation, as people of prayer who are first and last God's beloved children?

As we go forth from this place, sent by God's grace into the world, to love and serve him, in the Christ we meet on the road, let us seek to see God at work in the world, to see Jesus our Lord in the light of sunset, in the face of the unknown who is not a stranger but truly our brother.

Let the Light shine in us, through us, for the glory of God. Amen.

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JRL+

Sources include: Robert D. Fuller, Homilies from the Heart, Year B (KAN, 2010) http://www.cabrinitucson.org/Homily_Books-Sale.html

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Saint Alban's Vestry

2012-01-05T06:55:00.000-08:00

Saint Alban's Vestry sets policies and allocates resources to support the mission and ministries of the church. When we set an item on the agenda for discussion and action we undertake to identify what action to take, who will take the lead on making it happen, and when they will report back to the vestry. If additional resources or assistance are needed we can seek to supply them.

For 2011 the vestry agreed on three mutual ministry objectives with the rector: stewardship of finances - address the budget deficit, stewardship of facilities - develop and begin to implement a comprehensive maintenance and renovation plan for our buildings and grounds, and stewardship of people (human resources) - ready a team to send to the diocesan College for Congregational Development.

In 2012 we will need to carry forward these goals and work under the guidance of the Spirit to bring into being in our community the Kingdom which is the Reign of God. We will need to identify Saint Alban's charism, its gifts and mission, as it seeks to become the good news to the people in our town. We will need to identify what policies and resources we will need to bring to bear - to assist in the work that God is calling us to do, here and now, where we are, as his disciples and as God's beloved children.

We pride ourselves on our welcome and on how well we take care of our own - now it is time to claim as our own, as God's own, not only our selves (our souls and bodies, our livelihoods and professions and gifts for ministry) but our neighborhood, our community, our towns, our state and nation and world.

What is going to happen as we seek to fulfill God's purpose in our lives?

Do Not Worry

‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin,yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?”For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God^* and his^* righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

(Matthew 6:25-34)

Saint Alban's People

2012-01-05T06:39:00.000-08:00

Saint Alban's People seek to live out the vows of their Baptismal Covenant by bringing forth into the world around them the evidence of the Good News of Jesus the Christ. The vows of the covenant read:

The Baptismal Covenant

Celebrant     Do you believe in God the Father?
People         I believe in God, the Father almighty,
                creator of heaven and earth.

Celebrant     Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
People         I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son,our Lord.
                   He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
                       and born of the Virgin Mary.
                   He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
                       was crucified, died, and was buried.
                   He descended to the dead.
                   On the third day he rose again.
                   He ascended into heaven,
                       and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
                   He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Celebrant     Do you believein God the Holy Spirit?
People         I believe in the Holy Spirit,
                   the holy catholic Church,
                   the communion of saints,
                   the forgiveness of sins,
                   the resurrection of the body,
                   and the life everlasting.

Celebrant     Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and
                fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the
                prayers?
People         I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant     Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever
                you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
People         I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant     Will you proclaim by word and example theGood
                News of God in Christ?
People         I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant     Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving
                your neighbor as yourself?
People         I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant     Will you strive for justice and peace among all
                people, and respect the dignity of every human
                being?
People         I will, with God’s help.

(The Book of Common Prayer, 1979, 304-305)

Saint Alban’s Church seeks to be a welcoming, Christ-centered community committed to sharing Christ’s love, empowering people to grow spiritually, deepening our relationship with Christ and living out our faith in our community and the world.

Matthew 28:16-20

The Commissioning of the Disciples

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Matthew 22:36-40

The Great Commandment

‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’He said to him, ‘ “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 neighbour as yourself.”On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

John 13:34-35

The New Commandment

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.’

A question for Twelfth Night

2012-01-05T06:34:00.000-08:00

A question for Twelfth Night: What is God bringing into being tonight? What is God bringing into being where you and I live? What is striving toward Edmonds, waiting to be born? How is the holy Spirit at work, blowing where it will, filling and inspiriting - and blowing over - so that the new can be born in the midst of old trials, temptations, fears, desires, hurts, failings, diseases, triumphs, joy?

What can we do to help?

What were they seeking, those Wise Men, those Magi, from the East?

In the East we saw his star and we have come to pay him homage.
Where is the one born king of the Jews?

Soon we will sing our Nunc Dimitis - shall we go gladly into that good night, saying that now we can depart in peace, having seen the coming of our savior, the one born to bring to the people of God a sense of his glory - and to all the nations, showing forth the glory and the revelation of God's loving presence among us?

"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,: according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,: which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles: and for glory to your people Israel."; (Luke 22:29-32)

my Christmas prayer

2011-12-24T14:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve 2011

Dearly Beloved, we aregathered tonight to share in the greatest of wonders: the birth of Christ onearth. We look not on his awesome majesty, his mighty Divinity, and hisimpenetrable Holiness: We look on his humanity, his innocence. For he came tous in innocence – as a baby born as babies are, to a mother. But what a mother:a young woman who had given her self, her own body, to be the home of God.

For the Holy One took onflesh and dwelt among us, not flaunting equality with God or shielding himselffrom the troubles of the world.

He came among us, as a Baby.

And he calls us to come tohim, not as a Judge, called to account for our deeds and omissions, but to cometo him as Savior, Messiah — come both to comfort and to challenge us, callingus to come home to him.

And when we come home, whenwe come to his Table, we are to come as ones made free — free from sin or theburden of conscience, guilt, and self-assigned un-forgive-able-ness — as we confess our faults and receive his grace.

As you approach this hisTable, for the first time or the thousandth time,

Hear again the invitation:

Lay aside the burden of sinor guilt or fear—

For he did not come into theworld to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him; andhe said, Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give yourest.

Lay aside that burden, leaveit at the foot of the altar, and

Take on new birth, new life,in Christ.

May the Christ Child born inBethlehem be born anew in your heart.

Take Jesus in— take him inand let him dwell within you; changing you, filling you with hope. That hisgrace and his gift of life be yours: that is my Christmas prayer. AMEN.

one night

2011-12-24T14:12:00.001-08:00

If you would be aChristian, be as the Shepherds were;

following their callingfaithfully,

until called to a higherpurpose

one night

they became apostles,prophets, saints, martyrs,

witnesses to the wonder ofthe coming of the One true God,

maker of all things,

come to dwell among us,men and women and girl and boy:

for us and for oursalvation,

that the life we live now,

we live not by our ownlights,

but by him who is Light—

the light of the world,

and through living in Him,

shepherd or saints or bothat once,

we might bring that lightto our corner of the world

and glory to God in thehighest heaven.

The Annunciation

2011-12-18T05:44:00.000-08:00

"The Annunciation" by Henry Ossawa Tanner (1898)

"But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse and from its roots a bud shall blossom." (Isaiah 11:1, New American Bible)

“When you thinkyou're at the very end, the rotten stump, in decay, something grows. You keeptending to the thing that seems dead or not working, and, with your tending,something new and beautiful sprouts up.”—Father Rick Frechette, in"Children's Champion", FinancialTimes, House & Home,December 17/December 18 2011, p.2. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/a5aadbee-226c-11e1-923d-00144feabdc0.html##axzz1gr9MuKu1

"Then a shoot shall grow from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall spring [Heb., bear fruit] from his roots." (Isaiah 11:1, New English Bible)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us... (John 1:14)

Th' angel went awei mid than/Al ut of hire sighte;/Hire womb arise gan/Thurw th'Oligastes mighte./In hir wes Crist bilok anon,/Sooth God, sooth man in fles and bon,/And of hir fles/Ibore wes/At time,/Warthurw us kam good won;/He bout us ut of pine,/And let him for us slon.

With that, the angel went away, out of her sight; her womb began to swell through the power of the Holy Ghost. In her Christ was straightway enclosed, true God and true man in flesh and bone, and of her flesh was born in due time, whereby good hope came to us: he redeemed us from pain [of hell] and allowed himself to be slain for us.

Angelus ad virgenum, 13th C. Arundel ms. English version. (tr. E. J. Dobson, adapted). In Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott, eds., The Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford, 1993) 7.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. (John 1:14)

See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them. (Revelation 21:3)

There is a stump out back,

behind the Sunday School

by the Boy Scout shed.

A tree was cut down lastspring,

rotten in the core of it,

so down it came – and nowlook!

Go look! New growth is springingup

like crazy, like weeds, allover the place.

You never know with life,with God.

There was an old country thathad been around too long,

said some. It had the heart

rotted out of it, nothingleft to say,

nothing left to give—haul itaway!

But somehow a stump gavebirth to something new.

And emerging from that oldruin came new growth.

Out of the stump of Jessesprang

a branch, bearing fruit—

(As the prophet Isaiah says,in chapter 11, verse 1:

Then a shoot shall growthfrom the stock of Jesse,

and a branch shall bearfruit from his roots.)

The old tree was Israel andthe stump its old ways

of doing things— so when theprophet came,

bearing news of new growth,it was good news.

And when the angel came toMary

centuries later, and said,

Hello! Favored one of God,

something new is happening.

Can you bear it?

Can you bring forth— givebirth to—

the Son of God?

God plans for you to do it,

to be the bearer of God,

of new Grace

shone upon the world.

It’s up to you— will you bearit?

Will you bring forth the goodnews?

Mary was incredulous.

How can this be? A son?!

I’m only 15 years old—

and not married yet.

Oh, Mary, said the Angel.

With God anything ispossible.

Your cousin Elizabeth, likeHannah

who bore Samuel in her oldage,

you own cousin Elizabeth ispregnant,

with a son to be borne 3months from now.

She’s six months along!

And so— will You bear theChild,

the One who will redeem

his people? And she said Yes.

An impossible answer to an

impossible request. Yes.

To all that will be, Yes.

And that is how it began.

With that the angel wentaway—

Withthat, the angel went away, out of her sight;

herwomb began to swell

throughthe power of the Holy Ghost.

In herChrist was straightway enclosed,

trueGod and true man in flesh and bone,

and ofher flesh was born in due time,

wherebygood hope came to us:

heredeemed us from pain

andallowed himself to be slain for us.

This one, this child, was theeternal Word,

and in the flesh incarnate,come to dwell among us—

come to ‘pitch his tent’ withus—

to use the literal meaning ofthe word.

He came among us as of old

he walked alongside thecaravans

of the people fleeing Egypt.

He walked among the trees of

the primordial Garden.

But here he is walking withus

as one of us! for the first time

taking on our poverty,setting his

wealth aside, not counting

his godhood a thing

to be grasped—

and

In this poor peasant girl

the richest of kings

God himself

found a home.

He’d promised he would

make a home for the

Son of David,

and establish his houseforever,

his dominion,

But did he say he would

live in it himself?

Somehow now the Son of God

became Son of Man

and that is where our hopelives

as we live in him

and he in us

so that we too in turn are

becoming the home of Jesus.

Learn to welcome him

in the stranger;

to make him room,

and when we find himhomeless,

TAKE JESUS IN

even as we need to make home

for his kin— the poor ones ofHaiti

lost homes in the earthquake—

in them we see the face ofJesus

— and the need for shelter.

So too through all theprojects

of good work through WorldConcern

(thanks for all the fish!)

ERD and others,

we seek to serve Christ inall persons

as our Baptismal Vows call usto do—

we seek to see in thehomeless

and the forgotten

the One who made his homewith us

the One whom Mary made homefor,

in her womb,

THEOTOKOS

bearer of God,

she bore him

who welcomes us home

whenever we stray from God

calling us to find our homein him.

May we open our eyes to seehim.

May we open our homes towelcome him.

May we open our minds to knowhim.

May we open our lives to bearhim.

May we open our hearts to behis home:

Jesus, Christ our Lord. Amen.

read up! books on worship

2011-12-16T18:10:00.000-08:00

The Bible (we read from the New Revised Standard Version Bible in worship)

The Book of Common Prayer (1549, 1552, 1559, ... 1979...)

Saliers, Don E. Worship Come to Its Senses. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.

Galli, Mark. Beyond Smells and Bells: The Wonder and Power of Christian Liturgy. Paraclete Press, 2008.

Gray-Reeves, Mary, and Michael Perham. The Hospitality of God: Emerging Worship for a Missional Church. New York: Seabury Books, 2011.

Morris, Clayton L. Holy Hospitality: Worship and the Baptismal Covenant. New York: Church Publishing, 2005.

Pierson, Mark. The Art of Curating Worship: Reshaping the Role of Worship Leader. Minneapolis: sparkhouse press, 2010.

Baker, Jonny. Curating Worship. London: SPCK, 2010.

The Iona Community. Iona Abbey Worship Book. Glasgow: Wild Goose, 2001.

Gelpi, Donald L. Charism and Sacrament: A Theology of Christian Conversion. New York: Paulist Press, 1976.

Hatchett, Marion J. Commentary on the American Prayer Book. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1995.

Saliers, Don E. Worship and Theology: Foretaste of Glory Divine. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994.

Lathrop, Gordon W. Holy Things: A Liturgical Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993.

Plantinga, Cornelius, Jr., and Sue A. Rozeboom. Discerning the Spirits: A Guide to Thinking About Christian Worship Today. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2003.

Van Dyk, Leanne, ed. A More Profound Alleluia: Theology and Worship in Harmony. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2005.

Wren, Brian. Praying Twice: The Music and Words of Congregational Song. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000.

Wainwright, Geoffrey. Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine, and Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.

Start at the top! and work your way down through the list.

The top two books were recommended by the Rev. Janet Campbell, Canon for Liturgy, for our discussions at St. Alban's. Mark Pierson is a friend of Christine Sine and Mustard Seed Associates. The others include books by friends and teachers of my own, including Clayton L. Morris, Donald L. Gelpi, S.J., and Susan Marie Smith, and a gift from the people of St. John's, Lakeport, Calif. -Fr. J.

good news for everybody

2011-12-15T06:07:00.000-08:00

An image –an icon – of the Mother Mary and the Child Jesus – may seem simply art,displayed in a museum, floating in a strange context of white walls, spotlighting, hushed voices … and the occasional photographer’s snap. A lot more isgoing on, though – even in museums. For icons are images that function aswindows to the sacred, entryways into the eternal. And so they depict figuresand scenes most likely to help us move out of the time and space we currentlyoccupy and deeper in and further on into the domain of God.

And yetthese very windows turn us back – into the world where the eternal Word took onflesh and dwelled among us. And this is good news - the good news – the news that humanityand creation are so beloved by the Holy One that his only Son came to us inhuman form to bring us into full, right, and loving relationship with God. AndMary, blessed Mother, was there to receive him and give him birth, nurture him,and mourn him – and to greet him anew in resurrected Life.

Mary’sstory begins with a visit from the angel – the messenger of God – who brings tothis young woman unexpected news. Good news! Says the Angel. And as heraldproclaims the arrival of a greater power than any imperial herald could everannounce.

You (whohave never known a man) are to conceive and bear a son – and he will be namedafter Joshua, the deliverer of his people. This child will be more than mortal witness can bear – forhe will carry upon his back the burden of all our faults, our frailties, ourbetrayals, our false confidences, our little tricks and major crimes, our sins.

He willsave us from the powers that be – great or small – that conceive of themselvesas the rightful organizers and commanders of this world’s chaos. He will cometo us, some day, in great power. But that will be the sequel. The victory ishere: in the birth of a baby, the walk of a man among people of village and town,the teaching of a rabbi in Temple and synagogue, the stooped stumble of acondemned prisoner, the last breath given over to a prayer of forgiveness, andthen – but that is another story of Mary.

Today, thismonth, this season of Christmas, from the Eve of pageant and carol, the quietmorning of the breaking-in of the New Day, through the days leading to theEpiphany of the magi and on to the presentation of our Lord in the Temple(Candlemas), we gather to celebrate the arrival of the great good news – God iswith us.

Shepherds,marginal people, dwellers on the edge of society, are drawn into town. They arethe ones who bring Mary the revelation of her child’s meaning and purpose. Itis not an ordinary child: God is with us – incarnate in this infant boy. Whattentative, quiet beginning is this, the Messiah arriving among us, swaddled andlain in a manger.

Later other‘greater’ visitors will arrive – from beyond the borders of empire. They toowill herald the mystery – and yet the mystery is right in front of us: a child.

So the goodnews is embodied and revealed: God is with us. God loves us - so much as tosend his own Son. Not to take us out of the world to some fleshless place, someeternity of disembodied intellect. To take us where we are and bring us intohis kingdom here and now. The new order of the ages now begins – and it beginswith a child.

And this isGlory to God in the highest – and Peace on Earth.

It’s goodnews for everybody. God does bless us, every one.

—Fr. John

Christmas 2011

Come joinus at St. Alban’s in the celebrations of the season.

ChristmasEve 4:00 p.m., Family Eucharist – Children’s Pageant

ChristmasEve 10:00 p.m., Festive Eucharist – Lessons & Carols

ChristmasDay 10:30 a.m., Carols & Communion

Sundays inJanuary 2012 - 8:00 & 10:30 a.m., Holy Eucharist

Sunday,January 1 –The Feast of the Holy Name

Sunday,January 8 – Epiphany Sunday (The Visit of the Magi)

Sunday,January 29 – The Feast of the Presentation (Candlemas)

Almighty God, whose Son our SaviorJesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined byyour Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, thathe may be known, worshipped, and glorified to the ends of the earth. Amen.

St. Alban's Episcopal Church, 21405 - 82nd Place West, Edmonds, WA 98026

Telephone: (425) 778-0371 Email: StAlbansEdmonds@gmail.com Website: http://stalbansedmonds.org

Lift your heart and raise your voice - faithful people, come rejoice!

2011-12-13T13:11:00.001-08:00

Lift your heart and raise your voice, faithful people, come rejoice:

When I was sweeping out the Gaithersburg Post Office in my first job after high school, I’d hear the letter carriers listening to oldies radio: “Do you remember when this song was a hit – in 1952?” (Well, no! Though it seems to me we’ve sung that song before.)

The church is full of discovery – of fresh expressions of faith, new opportunities for witness and service, and unexpected gifts of prayer and celebration, alongside well-worn ways of worship that reveal new dimensions every time we return to them. Together with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs beloved of old, we find new songs to sing to the Lord.

One of our discoveries in the weeks leading up to Christmas was a new contemporary worship songbook, “Sing Praise: Hymns and Songs for Refreshing Worship” published in London last fall by Hymns Ancient & Modern and the Royal School of Church Music. With that provenance, you’d expect it to have some tradition to it – and it does.

Sing Praise provides songs for all occasions of the church year, from Advent to All Saints - including Candlemas and Ascension as well as other major feasts and events of parish life. What is something of a surprise is that it includes many of the new worship songs we have sung in the past three years, by John L. Bell and Graham Maule from the Iona Community, Kathryn Galloway, Keith and Kristyn Getty, Michael Perry, Brian Wren, the Taizé Community, Bernadette Farrell, Christopher Idle, and Graham Kendrick, as well as others from the worldwide Anglican Communion and our sister churches.

Once and future hits include: “Lift your heart”, “Jesus, come! For we invite you”, “O Christ, the light who came to us on earth”, “Jesus is risen, Alleluia!” and “You are my salvation; I trust in you.”

The Vestry authorized purchase of these new songbooks with undesignated Memorial Funds. First, though, the singers and musicians will be trying them out. And the songs – many of which will resonate as familiar in message and music – will be printed in upcoming worship service bulletins. Then what we would like to do is invite people to make donations (Memorial if you like) to provide copies for everybody to use. We will all be singing from the same songbooks but the words and music will be modern.

Would you like to come to a potluck and sing-along of Sing Praise songs? Stay tuned!

—Fr. John and the worship and music people

a new year's greeting

2011-12-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

Open house on New Year’s Day is an old New-York custom. One New Year’s Day in Brooklyn, our fellow parishioners opened their homes to friends and neighbors. You came, greeted and were greeted, shared holiday cheer, and went on to the rest of your day – and year.

Open house during the holidays – giving and receiving visits and holiday greetings and good wishes for the New Year – is an older and wider custom. On the Sea Islands of the Carolinas, as I recall J. Herman Blake telling the story, people travel from house to house offering greetings and good wishes.

Wiser than simply sitting on the couch, listening to the forced-air heat, watching the football games and parades, and surfeiting on sliced ham, the custom of holiday open-house reminds us of the giving and receiving we do among each other in all the parts of our lives and all the days of the year.

And then we remember: all we have and all we give comes from God. As David prayed, “all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.” (1 Chronicles 29:14b)

This New Year begins a little differently than most: the Feast of the Holy Name (January 1) falls on a Sunday and so takes precedence over the usual readings. We remember the giving of the name of Jesus to our Lord. It was a giving to him – and a gift to us – for what it means is: God saves! The meaning of the holy Child’s birth, and his purpose in life, is announced in his very name.

Joshua, the Hebrew form of the name, gives us a hint and an expectation. God delivers! This is the one who will deliver his people. But of course the Savior who arrives is not always the Savior we expect. He has come to deliver his people not merely from human oppressors but from their sins. The good news is that he does – and that we are included among his people.

Jesus leads us, his people, into a new reign of freedom. In his name we move forward into a New Year, rejoicing in God’s grace and goodness, bestowed on us in the darkest nights of the year, and renewed on the brightest of days.

God – through Jesus – does more than save us from – he welcomes us to: he not only gets us out of the traps of our own old ways of doing things, he invites us into a new way of life, a new community, a new family of humankind, where all are welcome at his Table.

So holy hospitality – radical welcome – is in the Church’s DNA. When we extend a welcome to others – when we share the hospitality of the holy table – when we greet the friend and the sojourner among us – and when we seek out and invite others to share in the hospitality of our fellowship – we are following an old custom, not merely of the New Year, but of the New Testament.

Let’s rejoice! And be of good cheer. In this New Year, let’s extend a welcome to all in the name of Jesus.—Fr. J.

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For the Gospel Grapevine, parish newsletter of Saint Alban's Episcopal Church, Edmonds, Washington (January 2012).

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the hope of ages

2011-12-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning in Yakima it looked like Narnia – when it was always winter but never Christmas, in C. S. Lewis’ children’s story, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Frost hung in all the trees, gathered there overnight from the frosty breath of the sky, as the cold ground fog crystallized into wintry shapes along all the twigs and branches. Among them were some frost-gilt leaves left from last summer, hanging like Christmas ornaments among the snowy branches.

As I walked along under mighty oaks I found a handful of acorns. Squirrel munchies – or a future forest? And on the branches of some of the trees you could see the buds already in place, sheltering within them the start of fresh new leaves awaiting next Spring’s word: Arise! Shine! For your light has come.

Winter looks like the end - and it is the end of the old year – but it is also, underneath, the beginning of new life. The buds of next year’s green growth, already forming, are a promise of something new growing even as the old passes away.

This is what John proclaims – as the harvest came into abundance so he reaped a ‘crop’ of souls as he baptized them in the Jordan, proclaiming repentance for forgiveness of sin.

He was the greatest and the last of the prophets of the Old Covenant, the old way of God and humankind in relation to each other. He was the culmination and fulfillment of a long line. At the Jordan – in camels’ hair – he called to mind all the old prophets of Israel. And yet he did not hold himself highly: he humbly pointed beyond himself and ahead.

You have been asking the wrong question, he said, for the question to ask me is not “Who are you?” Ask rather “Who is coming?”

There is one standing among you whose sandal-string I am not worthy to untie.

Something new and wonderful is coming into being – borne into life by Mary, nurtured by Joseph, anointed by the Holy Spirit – the fulfillment of hope of ages is upon us.

The day of the Lord is coming – the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

What is old is passing away; something new is come.

And so it is with the church year. We are in the top of a season, the end of a cycle. One year is passing away. Our season of Advent looks back, and it looks forward too. Advent began with psalms of abject penitence then awakening hope and gradually moving toward the realization that a new source of joy is just about to spring into being.

And so it is with the life of the church. Every year, every season of the life of a church, includes an ending and a beginning. And in between we often find a muddle! This is how our own lives can be as well. As we progress through phases of life and growth in Christ we confront new issues and leave old ones behind, leaving them to God to integrate into a new season’s paradigm of meaning and purpose.

A church begins and grows, reaches maturity, and takes a characteristic shape of its own, and then, begins – quite often, not inevitably – a gradual decline or slump. There may be reforms or redevelopment efforts that take the church back to a state of new growth.

Unarrested decline can continue and the congregation may find its old form disappearing altogether. At that stage what happens is – the nurturing of new growth, the beginning of hope in a new form. The old way of being, the old way of doing things, no longer lives; but the word of God abides forever. It finds fresh expression. What was once the main growth may begin to function like a nurse log in the rain forest; providing the foundation, the host, and the nutrition for the beginning of new life. Or the old can become a ‘nesting congregation’ – home to some new entity getting ready to strike out on its own. Or what was is transformed in the mysterious work of the Spirit into a new way of being itself.

And so we find ourselves in a state of transition. Gradually what we have known is transformed – and we find ourselves in a renewed and hopeful new phase of life.

For God is steadfast; his loyalty is a rock; his faithfulness is forever. He knows the plans he has for us, plans for our welfare and not for harm, to provide for us a future with hope.

This is his Church. It is the house of God. We live in it; we care for it; we celebrate in it. We welcome others into it – and bring them with us deeper in and further on in the life of faith. From it we go forth to love and serve the Lord. And at the last we pass along what we have received, that others may take up the tasks and receive the joys of his Kingdom.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, 28)

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For the Episcopal Church of Saint Alban, Edmonds, Washington.

JL

The Jerusalem we must build

2011-12-04T05:18:00.000-08:00

Writing about the Old Testament lesson for next Sunday, Herbert O’Driscoll wrote: “What does need to be said again and again is that God is with us whatever the situation. We possess everything that any former age possessed. We possess the word of God, the sacramental food and drink of God, the presence of the Holy Spirit of God, and the presence of the risen Christ. The Jerusalem we must build will not be the same as the Jerusalem we remember, but the point is that we should build it.”— The Word Today, Year B, Vol. 1 (Toronto: Anglican Book Centre, 2001) 19.

Sources and Resources - Year B

2011-12-03T16:11:00.000-08:00

David Adam,
Clouds and Glory: Prayers for the Church Year: Year A (London: SPCK, 1998)
Traces of Glory: Prayers for the Church Year: Year B (London: SPCK, 1999)
Glimpses of Glory: Prayers for the Church Year: Year C (SPCK, 2000)

John Barton,
Oxford Bible Commentary (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)

Richard A. Burridge,
John, The People’s Bible Commentary (Abingdon, OX, UK: The Bible Reading Fellowship, 1998, 2008)

Fred B. Craddock, John H. Hayes, Carl R. Holladay, Gene M. Tucker,
Preaching Through the Christian Year: Year B (Harrisburg, Pa.: Trinity Press International)

Christopher Irvine,
The Pilgrims' Manual (Glasgow: Wild Goose, 1997)

Scott M. Lewis,
The Gospel According to John and the Johannine Letters, New Collegeville Bible Commentary (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2005)

David B. Lott, ed.,
New Proclamation, Year B, 2009 (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008)

Lesslie Newbigin,
The Light Has Come (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1982)

Herbert O'Driscoll,
The Word Today: Reflections on the Readings of the Revised Common Lectionary, Year B (Toronto: Anglican Book Centre, 2001)

Marie Noonan Sabin,
The Gospel According to Mark, New Collegeville Bible Commentary (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2006)

Scott Gambrill Sinclair,
The Past from God’s Perspective (North Richland Hills, TX: BIBAL Press, 2004)

Wade, Susan, Ricci Kilmer, and Christine Sine, eds.,
Waiting for the Light: An Advent Devotional / Daily Reflections for Advent and Christmas
(Seattle: Mustard Seed Associates, 2011)

Nicholas Thomas (Tom) Wright,
Mark for Everyone, (London: SPCK)
John for Everyone (London: SPCK)

The Lectionary Page
http://www.lectionarypage.net/

The (Online) Book of Common Prayer
http://www.bcponline.org/

Oremus Bible Browser
http://bible.oremus.org/

New Revised Standard Version Bible, 1989.

Michael D. Coogan, ed.,
The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Third Edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)

M. Jack Suggs, Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, James R. Mueller,
Oxford Study Bible: Revised English Bible, with the Apocrypha (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992)

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Leave the Cake, Take the Tamales

2011-12-03T13:58:00.001-08:00

Candlemas, if you look it up, has lots of traditions and celebrations tied to it. For one, if you got the prize in the Epiphany cake, you get to bring the tamales and chili to the feast on Candlemas (Candelaria). Another custom is to take down the last of the Christmas holiday decorations the night before. And the last of the Christmas revels cease. It's a quarter of the way to summer already. But it all comes back to Jesus. Our Lord, presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph, is greeted by the prophet Anna and the righteous, devout Simeon. At last! At last! they say. The light that lightens all the world is come among us at last. Now I can rest my soul and go in peace. And so Candlemas, the feast of the blessing of the lights, is the feast of the Presentation, a major feast, a feast of our Lord. It is more than the end. It is the last feast of the great season begun the first Sunday of Advent, with its highest feast the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas). It is more than the end; it is a turning point. It is the beginning of something new, the beginnings of the dawning in our minds and hearts and lives in, yes, ordinary time, of just what that great season means: the light has come and lives among us. It is the light of all. Hallelujah! Now we go forth into the world, sent forward with the light shining before us on our path. Illumine our way, O Lord: may your Word be a lamp to our feet and light on the way. Amen.

We celebrate the feast of the Presentation, Candlemas, this year (with the bishop's permission) on the last Sunday in January.

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For St Alban's Episcopal Church, Edmonds, Washington.

Fr. J.

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Getting Ready for the Baby

2011-11-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

This is the season of Advent – a season of joyful preparation and solemn anticipation. We know that the Child will come – but the season begins with portents of the end of time.

We know that at the end of all things, when the constructions of the last empire are down for good and all creation groans for redemption, our savior comes. He comes to judge and he comes to redeem.

He comes, not on our timetable, not when or where we want him to come, nor how. He does not come riding to our rescue in the last reel of the movie. Much as we want him to.

He comes to us, first, not in power and might, but in mystery and quiet.

He comes to us, he is already here.

Here, in our hearts – if we follow the one true God, adoring and worshipping him who created all things.

Here, in our hearts – if we ask him to come.

If we are ready.

On my mother’s kitchen bulletin board is a snapshot of a mother with three children, one standing and looking toward the camera, one squirming out of her lap, and another holding in his hand a cowboy hat on top of a stick. Why?

Because this is to be a photograph of my mother with all her children – and the one with the hat knows a fourth child is coming. So he represents the fourth child with a cowboy hat. He does not know much else about the coming child – he just knows that the child is coming and that the family is getting ready for the baby.

The family with the snapshot (you can see Dad’s shadow from behind the camera) knows they want their new member to be safe, and they want to get the stuff together they will need to welcome the baby. They are getting excited.

Maybe they will paint the baby’s room – not sure whether to paint it pink or blue they might paint it yellow or green. They are going to be getting gifts – things they will need to take care of the baby, things that will be fun or silly, toys for the baby to play with, or objects that it will admire.

They will want to nurture the baby. And they will be thinking about names.

Mary and Joseph had a slightly different situation. They knew some things about the baby that was on the way. In fact, a lot, if they had been reading the Hebrew Scriptures.

They had already received a suggestion of what to name the baby – Emmanuel, “God with us.” They probably counted on a boy. They certainly wondered if the baby would be safe. And if they had any ambitions about painting the baby’s room first they would need to know where that room would be.

They were soon to be amazed with an array of gifts. Gifts were coming that would tell them a lot about their baby – or confirm for them what they already suspected.

Strangers would deliver the gifts they were going to receive: first came shepherds and angels, and then Magi, wise people from the East who had “seen his star.” (Other visitors would come but they would come too late – and miss the baby.)

This baby was bound to cause excitement. All babies do. And each baby is special. This one had some extra excitement to generate.

The wise people came to adore him. They greeted him as King of the Jews.

Nobody else would call him that for a long time. And when anybody did again, it would be – a sign that he was not safe, and confirmation that his name really mattered and that he really was King.

But for now – there is a baby on the way.

A baby – not very royal looking at all. A baby – defenseless, quiet or crying, in need of nurture and safety and warmth, and in need of love.

A baby – in whom the hopes of all humanity are raised.

A baby…

The One who will come in power, the one who will bring with him the consummation of time – the Alpha and the Omega – first comes to us like this.

He comes to us, quiet, mysterious, in longing for us just as we are longing for him.

How shall we get ready for the baby?

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tveucharist.org for broadcast the first Sunday in Advent 2011

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Where have you seen the King?

2011-11-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Where have you seen the King?

Where have you seen the King this week?

How did you recognize him? How did you expect to find him?

Did you see him in royal robes, riding on a chariot of clouds, heralded by angels?

Did you see him down and out, hungry, thirsty, naked or ill-clothed, sick, or in prison?

How did you greet him? Like any other person? Is that good or bad?

Did you greet him when you greeted the stranger, the lonely, the forgotten, the ill-favored?

Did you greet him when you greeted your mother, your brother, your sister, your least-favorite aunt or cousin?

Did you greet him at the bank or the bar? Was he the barista or the cashier?

How did you treat him?

We do not expect this Jesus. We do not expect the Messiah to appear to us like this. We expect something a little more… royal.

And yet we are told, in this vision of the Apocalypse, of the consummation of time, that this is what a king looks like – this is what the King looks like.

He looks like us.

He looks like us because in him God became one of us. The eternal Word took on human flesh and became a man.

He walked among us, he laughed and suffered, he spoke Greek or Aramaic or Hebrew, he listened to the wise old men by the village well. He helped his father in the shop. When he was young he drew water for the kitchen. He went on a journey. His cousin John baptized him – and then he went into the desert wilderness.

And then he gathered some friends together and he went on a longer journey, a harder journey. At first they seemed just to be wandering around Galilee and the country east of the Jordan, causing trouble for local officials and pig keepers, drinking at a wedding feast, telling some stories. And then it changed.

If you want to follow me, you must take up your cross. You must come with me to Jerusalem. To the great festival of Passover. But I myself will be the Lamb. I will be the offering. And sins will be forgiven.

The people will be released – they will be free to love God. Because they will know God has been willing to pay the price, to bring them home to him.

I will be treated like the least of God’s creatures. I will be hungry, and thirsty, and naked, and sick, and in prison. I will be tortured. I will be crucified.

It is the way of Glory.

Mockingly they will hail me, “King of the Jews.” And they will be right.

I will be their King and they will be my people.

I will be their shepherd and they will be the sheep of my hand, my own people.

I will gather them to me. And at the last day, I will bring them home.

Knowing now that you did - that as you treated the least of his children you were treating him the same - are you glad?

Will you be looking at people differently this week?

When Jesus comes, we say, when the Messiah comes, everything will be different.

He will change things. He will make them new.

Or: He will restore Israel. He will make all things well again.

Won't he?

That is what the Messiah is expected to do - that is what he is expected for - to set things right, to make them the way they should be, or were... or we wish they were.

We cannot have back what we used to have. We cannot have Eden before the Fall, Israel before the Exile, Jerusalem before the Temple came down.......

The Messiah - isn't he the One who would rebuild the Temple?

But Jesus did not do any of those things.

He did not come in power on clouds of glory, electrifying might blasting from his fingertips. He did not come and sweep Caesar aside. He did not cleanse the Temple as the Maccabees did; he -

He called for something more. He called for us to prepare our hearts - to make him room. He called for us to pray Messiah down - right into our own lives. He asked us to transform our lives, from the inside out. The domain of God begins -

The reign of God starts - not with a great military victory but with a change in the human heart. "Change your minds", Jesus said - change the way you think and act and move. Change your way of being in the world.

Then we can talk about the consequences.

What we do now - we cannot hide it - is our preparation for the victory of our God. How we act now - we cannot avoid it - is our proclamation of the reign of God.

We could dress up and show off like some of the people Jesus denounced. We could go through the motions. We could look pious, or righteous, or holy. But who cares? Too many could see through us.

What you cannot fake is this: to treat your neighbor as you would yourself - or God.

Love your neighbor as yourself. Love your neighbor, Jesus says, as if it were me.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength, and love God through your neighbor.

That will be the beginning of the kingdom of heaven, right there in your life and mine.

God the Father,
help us to hear the call of Christ the King
and to follow in his service,
whose kingdom has no end;
for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, one glory.
Amen.

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Notes for sermon given on the feast of Christ the King, St Alban's Church, Edmonds WA.

In addition to the Sources & Resources Year B (listed in a separate post) there are two unexpected influences on this sermon:

John Fisher, "Have you seen Jesus my Lord?" song (1970)

God-sighting testimonials - from Bill Talen (http://www.revbilly.com/)

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All Saints Sunday 2011

2011-11-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

When I think nowadays of what I am thankful for it turns into a list of saints – living ones included. Saints include people around us who draw us deeper into holiness ourselves, even as they themselves appear as a kind of sign or symbol of God’s presence in the world. Saints – believers – are sanctified people – people set apart for a holy purpose.

Some of them would gladly tell you that they do not deserve the label of “holy person.”

They might say, “Oh, yes! Make me a saint – but not yet.”

Or they might say, “I just don’t deserve this” – meaning they don’t deserve to be put through the training program they figure sainthood would imply. It is too hard, they would say, for human beings to bear.

Nevertheless I find myself making a list of unknowing saints. These are people in whom God is at work for visible or invisible holiness to take place.

As Jesus began to teach on the mountain, he enumerated for his disciples some of the kinds of people whom God makes saints – whom God blesses. They are people like the Psalmist knew – the humble and meek, who are called to rejoice; the afflicted – who will be heard and are vindicated; the hungry or thirsty or poor – who will receive fullness.

The Lord is their Shepherd; they shall lack nothing.

Those who trust in him – those who believe in him with their whole hearts – will not be punished, but saved.

To whom does salvation belong? From whom does it come?

Salvation, the multitude cries, belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb, to the One who judge, the One who redeems.

Those who have suffered hunger or thirst, sunstroke or heatstroke, they will be guided by the good shepherd to a place of wellbeing and comfort.

So saints are those whom God redeems. Sanctity is not a reward for meritorious service. God saves: the saints are justified by faith not by works. There is no boasting save in the Cross of Christ, the paradoxical victory that looks so like defeat – that pulls us beyond the end of the world, beyond death itself, onto new and holy ground. Holy ground – where we already stand, if we only knew…

We are God’s children, now – already – and we have hope in him, the One who will be revealed to all as God’s son and our Lord.

This is the vision of Revelation.

Sometimes seekers of holiness have their own great cloud of witnesses about them – assembled as friends of the heart or companions on the way.

When I would go visit a professor of mine in college, Donald Nicholl, I could see that in his office he had assembled around his desk photographs and portraits of “friends” – as he called them – people whom he wanted around him as witnesses or encouragers. And decades later his widow Dorothy showed me the room where he spent his last days, still surrounded by a cloud of witnesses as he laid on his daybed and composed himself for eternity. Dorothy kept her own cloud of witnesses about her into her final years.

The “saints” on their walls might be different from yours or mine. Some were familiar faces, some were notable people they introduced me to, and some were unknown. All bore witness to the reality of God and of our presence in God, and God’s presence in us.

They became as windows or lights, letting some of the eternal brightness shine into our lives, and our worlds. They do not have to be famous or extraordinary to give us a vision of effulgence – the brilliant radiance of the people of God. In fact it may help some time if they are not, if they are just regular people.

One day in 1959 a monk was waiting for a ride home to the monastery. He had been to the dentist. He was standing on a downtown corner in Louisville, Kentucky.

And this is what he wrote, in his book, "Conjectures of A Guilty Bystander":

In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream ...

This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud. And I suppose my happiness could have taken form in the words: “Thank God, thank God that I am like other men, that I am only a man among others.”

It is a glorious destiny to be a member of the human race, though it is a race dedicated to many absurdities and one which makes many terrible mistakes: yet, with all that, God Himself gloried in becoming a member of the human race. A member of the human race! To think that such a commonplace realization should suddenly seem like news that one holds the winning ticket in a cosmic sweepstake.

I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.

Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed… I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other. But this cannot be seen, only believed and “understood” by a peculiar gift.

The monk, Thomas Merton, was seeing his fellow human beings “in aspiration” as Donald Nicholl would put it – he was seeing them “in the Spirit” as they were made to be, as they were called to become – as people who could blossom into the fullness of life as God intended them to experience it.

Robert Ellsberg makes this point in his essay on the feast of All Saints, in his book of the same name:

Since the early centuries of the church the liturgical calendar has reserved one day to honor, collectively, all the saints, both those officially recognized and those known only to God. Thus we are reminded that the true company of saints is far more numerous than the list of those who have been formally canonized. There are many anonymous saints who nevertheless form part of the great “cloud of witnesses,” surrounding us with their faith and courage and so participating in the communion between the living and the dead.

This collective feast, All Saints, is also an occasion to acknowledge the varieties of holiness. Though they share a certain family resemblance, the saints are not formed in any particular mold. Some are renowned for contemplation and others for action; some played a public role while others spent their lives in quiet obscurity. Some demonstrated the vitality of ancient traditions while others were pioneers, charting new possibilities in the spiritual life. Some received recognition and honor within their lifetimes, while others were scorned or even persecuted.

The feast of All Saints does not honor a company of “immortals,” far removed from the realm of ordinary human existence. The saints were not “super” human beings but those who realized the vocation for which all human beings were created and to which we are ultimately called. No one is called to be another St. Francis or St. Teresa. But there is a path to holiness that lies within our individual circumstances, that engages our own talents and temperaments, that contends with our own strengths and weaknesses, that responds to the needs of our own neighbors and our particular moment in history. The feast of All Saints strengthens and encourages us to create that path by walking it.

We are called – all of us – into the fullness of the joy of being God’s children, of being set apart for a holy purpose: to become what we are called to be, to become saints. And so,

“There is only one sorrow – not to be a saint.”—Léon Bloy

And in the end there is one joy, to be shared by all: to greet one another, in the Spirit, as the people God has created and called us to be, as his own beloved children, as Saints.

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

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Ellsberg, Robert, "All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time," New York: Crossroad, 1997, 475-476.

Merton, Thomas, "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander" (1966).

From the Shorter OED:

fullness: 1. The condition of containing something in abundance. b. In biblical language, all that is contained in the world. [J Wesley: The Earth and all her Fullness owns Jehovah for her sovereign Lord!] c. Abundance, plenty. 2. Completeness, perfection. [G. Priestland: Christianity … hasn’t yet been tried … What right have we to expect its fullness in our time?]

in the fullness of time – at the destined time; eventually.

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Are all saints scary?

2011-10-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

On the eve of All Saints you might well ask, are all saints scary?

Saints certainly are full of awe – and many of them are full of flaws – but are they scary?

What might make us frightened of saints is not Halloween terrors but something more challenging. They remind us of something beyond fear, even beyond death. They remind us of God’s awesome might and absolute holiness. It is enough, if you think about it, to bring you to your knees. And it is enough to bring you to your feet. In darkest night, in coldest dawning, in brightest day, saints remain witness that love is stronger than death. Hope and faith and love, these three abide; and it is saints who testify to that truth.

Could we be saints?

Do we think of ourselves as saints or sinners? For surely, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) but is that the final answer?

We “are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Roman 3:24). But do we think of ourselves that way? When the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Rome he did not greet them as sinners. He addressed them as “God’s beloved … who are called to be saints”. And he said, “Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7) That’s more like it. But wait.

Did you see that? He said, “…who are called to be saints!” What are we getting into?

Who can possibly be a saint?

Nobody – and everyone.

Who are saints?

They are people called by God. The Torah, the Law of Moses, says: “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2) Is that even possible?

Paul also calls the church the people "who are sanctified (made holy) in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, ... who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 1:2) Becoming holy is not our doing – it is God who gives the gift of grace.

What is a saint like?

Saints are people full of joy – through darkness and light they live under the mercy of God. “Their delight is in the law of the Lord and they meditate on his law day and night. They are like trees planted by the water that will bring forth their fruit in due season.” (Psalm 1:2-3)

What do they do?

Saints are people who show their faith in their lives. They are messengers of the good news, “approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel,” not to please other people or show off, but to please God who knows our hearts. (1 Thessalonians 1:1)

God calls for his people to be impartial and just in judgment, to speak healing words, and not to trade in rumors or speak ill of others. Saints do not hoard hatred in their hearts; they do not bear grudges or take comfort in revenge. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus 19: 18)

Saints are people who are given a gift – the gift of the joy of knowing God’s grace – and a task: to share the good news of God with the people around them and to take delight in the sharing. To show, in word and deed, here and now, in the place and at the time God has given us, the love and mercy and grace and peace that we know as God’s beloved.

Saints are people – well, as the song says, “just like you and me.”

Maybe it is a foolish thing to do, to try to be a saint; but to accept as a gift God’s love and mercy – that makes total sense. We are God’s beloved people, who are called to be saints.

Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their testimony to your power and mercy. Make us your holy people, called according to your purpose. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with us all. Amen.

For the Gospel Grapevine, parish newsletter of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, November 2011.

JRL+

the greatest among you

2011-10-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

AProper26 2011
Pentecost XX

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

Micah 3:5-12

Micah denounces rofessional prophets that tell people who pay them what they want to hear. They shall find themselves to be without vision, without revelation: with no answer from God. Micah himself, on the other hand, is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, the Ruach, the breath of God, and with justice and might: and he is empowered for a purpose – to declare to Israel its sin, its injustice, its inequity. Judges, priests, and prophets are on the take. And so the city shall fall: a ruined house, a desolate ruin, and a wilderness. And so it was – and the people were carried into Exile.

Psalms 42-43

These two psalms together form a three-part lament with refrain, lamenting the past, bewailing persecution in the present, and then – in the midst of the pain – looking toward a future with hope.

“Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me,” the Psalmist pleas. “Bring me to your holy hill” – to that Zion which will be – and to your dwelling and your altar – and I will give thanks to the God of joy and gladness.

The day will come when God will send his savior to his people.

The day will come when they repent and return to the way of truth, the way of righteous behavior, of justice and mercy and peace, the way of the Lord.

Matthew 23:1-12

The prophets in the OT passage, denounced by Micah, were on the take. They did not even say what God was doing; they just told the people – the people who paid them – what they wanted to hear. Jesus is up against something closer to home. The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat – that is, they teach with institutional official authority – and their words are not wrong. Their deeds are. What they say is fine and good and right; what they do is not. They lay burdens on others that they will not bear themselves – they are hypocrites, two-faced. They display their religiosity publicly – making themselves look good in the eyes of the crowd. Sure they wear the phylacteries and the tassels of those seeking holiness; but they just want the look. So their reward is sure; it is on earth. That’s it. They love showing off. But we should not despise them; we should not envy them; we should learn from them. We know better.

We know better also than to seek the titles of teachers of the Law, for we have one teacher – Jesus, we have one father – the one in heaven, and we have one instructor – the Messiah.

Teaching authority – any kind of personal power – comes from God. And Jesus says it – all he has comes from the Father.

The greatest among us, it is he: he who could claim the Name above all Names. And he has come before us as a servant.

Flattery and hierarchical thinking and hypocrisy and ostentatious display, self-exaltation and seeking after titles, will not get us there.

We are already there.

Through the work of Christ God has redeemed us – and God has called us to be his people.

There is no higher title than this: we are children of God, his Beloved ones.

We should therefore be humble. Let us honor each other with all due humility – because we are all equal before God.

Let us be obedient to the word of the Lord. God has called us according to his purpose – to be his servants in the world, bringing his message of salvation to the world. The Reign of God is coming into being, and we are called to belong to it.

This good news is an achievement of parity, is it not? But it is not a leveling – it is not a cutting down to size, not a belittling of others. It is a building up – a bringing up to full stature in the knowledge of the glory of Christ. We can claim true self- esteem; we are God’s children. Does not that make us special?

Yes. It does not make us unique, or better. It is humbling.

We are ones that know the truth – that God made us, all of us, and we need him – not only as creator, but also as redeemer.

We are called to be holy but we can do nothing without the Spirit. With the Spirit, in the Spirit, walking in the way of God, that is a different matter.

It is different from the way we would walk to look good in the eyes of the world. “The greatest among you will be your servant.”

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

What does it look like to be a servant? Paul writing to the church of the Thessalonians gives us an idea of what it means.

First he greets them: Grace to you and peace. That is the context. And then – in today’s lesson – he goes on to talk about what he has done to come among them as servant and as messenger of the Gospel. He worked day and night, as he proclaimed the good news of God. His conduct was pure, upright, and blameless. – Do you see the contrast to the people Jesus denounced, with their place seeking and their love of show? - And like a father, loving his children, he urged and encouraged and offered witness to them. – What a contrast to the prophets-for-pay that Micah denounced! – He gives thanks that they have taken in to their hearts the Word of God, and that it is at work in them.

He urges them to lead a life worthy of God and of his Calling: to live, to walk in the way of the Lord, to take on the identity of God’s beloved children; to begin to know themselves and conduct themselves as people called into God’s kingdom and glory.

There is no higher calling than this.

There is no greater glory - that does not belong to Jesus Christ himself or his heavenly Father. And indeed, our calling is to glorify God and to bring to being in this world his Kingdom.

How do we go about that? How do we go about being his servants, his messenger people, here and now where we are?

We know that God is at work; God is at work in this place and time. The question is: How will we be part of that joyous kingdom building? How do we get with the program? How do we bring good news?

Look about you – at this place, at these people around you; look beyond the doors of this building, into the neighborhood. How can we the people of God be of service to them? Look even farther – how can we bring the Good News of God’s love to the city, the country, and the world?

This is what we are called to be and to do as God’s people. Anything less is falling short of our high and holy calling.

Outreach must be both personal and corporate, both giving and doing. We become corporate leaders of our community as we engage in acts of service for them, to them, and with them. Corporate doing – not just market survey – as well as focused giving in relationship with those we wish to serve, will reach those we wish to invite into partnership or common ministry, into fellowship, and into the celebration of the Kingdom.

And as individuals, working in the world as transforming agents of Christ, in how we live, in doing our ordinary work as work done for the Lord, in our interacting with others, we become witnesses to the truth of God’s love.

Shall we begin here and now, by being transformed in the renewal of our minds, in the refreshment of our souls, in the good news taken in as our daily bread? Let us claim the identity of servants of Jesus Christ for ourselves, to affirm that through our Baptism and renewed in the Eucharist, we are One in the Spirit; we are One in Christ. We are God’s Beloved, and we have Good News to share with the world! Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

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For St Alban's Episcopal Church, Edmonds, WA
October 30, 2011.

JRL+

thin places

2011-10-27T09:20:00.001-07:00

Bill Lewellis, a friend of mine, once explained that in the Celtic way of looking at things there is such a thing as a 'thin place', a place where the veil between this world and the next, the earthly realm and the heavenly, is thin and easily passed through. It is as if there were a membrane between the everyday and the eternal, and it is permeable somewhere, sometimes.

Then Bill went on to explain that the 'thin place' is really anywhere we are open to the Spirit, and anytime our hearts are open to Christ. That is where the eternal breaks through to the everyday, and transforms it: where our hearts are open and when we are present to the abundance of grace.

This place, where you and I are now, can be a thin place – a place of God’s abiding.

Celtic Spirituality reading list

2011-10-26T19:17:00.001-07:00

Some possible choices for background reading.

Thomas Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe (Doubleday, 1995)

A very good read – gives you a good idea of early Christian Irish culture.

Edward C. Sellner, The Wisdom of the Celtic Saints (Bog Walk Press, 2006)

Its introduction (about forty pages) is the best way of getting aboard Celtic Christianity in a very short time.

Esther de Waal, The Celtic Way of Prayer: The Recovery of the Religious Imagination (Doubleday, 1997)

This book takes you into the spirituality of the Celtic centuries.

Daniel Taylor, In Search of Sacred Places: Looking for Wisdom on Celtic Holy Islands (Bog Walk Press, 2005)

A humorous and self-deprecating introduction to the way of pilgrimage.

Oliver Davies, ed., Celtic Spirituality (Paulist Press, 1995)

Compendium of the classic sources of early Celtic Christian spirituality.

David Adam, The Rhythm of Life: Celtic Daily Prayer (SPCK, 2007)

Prayer is what it is all about.

Comments by Herbert O’Driscoll, Marcus Losack, and John Leech. 2011 10/26

For St Andrew's, Tacoma, celtic fair 30 october 2011.

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image

2011-10-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

Whose image is this (coin)? And whose image is this (person holding coin)?

And this? And this? And this? (Other people in the gathering)

And whose image is on all the people of Earth?

So we give to God what is God’s – ourselves.

And we respect the image of God in one another, remembering that
in the beginning God made human beings in the image of God (Gen 1.26f),
in his own image, his own likeness,
male and female he created them.

So we see to respond reverently,
with respect for dignity and
with charity for the needs, of others,
for in doing so we offer thanks –
a gift of gratitude –
to the Original in whose image
they are made:
the true living God
who created all of us.

God’s glory is revealed among the nations, all the peoples of the earth,
in Christ who becomes present to us as we the body of Christ
go to work
in the world,
acting in concert with his works of mercy.

God has chosen us and called us to be his saints –
imitators of the Lord and examples to all the believers –
like the people of Thessalonica,
who turned from false images of God,
we turn from our own false idols
to serve the living and true God,
and our hope is in his son Jesus Christ.

This is what it takes to declare God’s glory among the nations
and his wonders among the peoples:
to go out and share your faith,
not resting on past achievements –
or simply maintaining what we have received;
not hoarding it like a pile of old coins –
but building up the kingdom.

The kingdom of heaven,
the reign of God,
the promise of peace,
begins to come into being,
as we ourselves live and work
and act as its people.

As citizens of God’s kingdom,
we are sanctified – set apart for a holy purpose –
as God’s beloved people,
who are called to be saints.

We are the salt of the earth. We are the light of the world.

As we take in the Bread of the Table,
the Bread from Heaven,
it transforms us,
and we become Bread for the World.

So we take in the holy Bread and wine,
of the Sacrament of the Table,
not for our nourishment alone,
but as visible images of the living God,
representatives of the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus,
and in the Spirit, witnesses to his Truth,
the truth that in all things God’s mercy
can be active, God’s compassion at work.

We witness to the truth that through all things Christ’s light can shine, and that
in Christ God’s glory is revealed to all.

Be witness, then, by word and deed,
by your gifts of gratitude and works of charity,
by your everyday labor and extraordinary kindnesses,
as witnesses to the truth,
and the grace and mercy and peace of God be with you all,
that you, who are called to be saints,
may be made holy people, made in the image of the living and true God.

BREAD FOR THE WORLD

Today is World Food Day, and Bread for the World Sunday. This is the second year we have taken up a collection for Bread for the World. You may know about its founder, Art Simon, or a local member of its board, Rick Steves (who mentions it on channel 9).

Art Simon began Bread for the World when he was pastor of a church that served a poor neighborhood in New York City on the lower East Side of Manhattan. His parish had a soup kitchen and a food bank and a clothes closet, and they were doing good work together in those ministries. But then they looked up and thought, what causes this? Are there public policies that affect this problem? Could they be improved? And as citizens they began to speak up on behalf of the poor, the hungry, and those in need – the people that Jesus particularly reached out to in his ministry along the roads of Galilee and in the streets of Jerusalem.

And they found that indeed, they had a voice, and could make it heart. Government responded and began to adopt policies that attack at the root the causes of poverty and hunger. This is an ongoing work. It is not over, not by any means. Just how government can help (or at first, do no harm) is sometimes debated – but some things are clear. Bread for the World does its homework, so that as policy is made, citizens are heard – Christian citizens speaking up with no partisan agenda. This is one way we can be Bread for the World – taking our faith actively into action in word, deed, and gift – to God’s glory.

As we look about us, we see God’s image in each other. As we look across the world, we see God’s image in complete strangers, far away. And yet they are, like us, God’s beloved children.

We are in the midst of a season of gratitude, of giving, of thanksgiving. We reflect upon the abundance of the grace of God, and the providence of his blessing.

May God who gives grace to us,
give us grace to give others;
may God who is merciful to us, and kind,
bring kindness and generosity into our lives,
that we may share the abundant love
of Christ with those around us.

May we, seeking to do your will,
find it in serving you; in seeking
you to serve you; & find you in the
face of others, friend and stranger.

May we, serving you in
others, find ourselves at home; and
find our home in you.

Amen.

JRL+

Bread for the World, by Arthur Simon (New York: Paulist Press, 1975)

Grace at the Table: Ending Hunger in God’s World, by David Beckmann & Arthur Simon (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1999)

Rediscovering the Lord’s Prayer, by Art Simon (Minneapolis: Augsburg Books, 2005)

The Rising of Bread for the World: An Outcry of Citizens Against Hunger, by Arthur Simon (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2009)

Some years ago on the Lower East Side of Manhattan a congregation got involved in helping its hungrier neighbors. At first they offered direct assistance: food bank, soup kitchen. But after awhile they came to realize that that was not enough. They needed to get to the root of the problem – of why people were going hungry in the first place. And so they began to look into government policies and how they affected the availability of food that people could afford. They found that government had a lot to do with it – and some times policies were not working toward the goal. But they found that they could speak up on behalf of the poor. They could make a difference. They could influence public policy so that it worked to the benefit of hungry people, people who needed good food. And so they began what became Bread for the World.

Bread for the World is an advocacy group, an organized effort by Christian people to influence public policy on behalf of the poor and hungry, in this country and around the globe. By working with the people who make decisions on public policy, and by helping citizens to have their voices heard, they have a solid record of achievement. Over the years they have helped bring forward legislation and funding that help toward the goal of putting hunger behind us.

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To the Table Everyone!

2011-10-09T05:56:00.000-07:00

What wonderful images of the kingdom of heaven the Scriptures give us today.

In the book of the prophet Isaiah we receive the gift of the vision of the ultimate banquet. There is a table spread before all peoples, as at the end of time. The people gather. God provides a rich abundance of food and drink.

The food is rich; the wine is clear and well aged.

What is more: the people are free of fear. God has vanquished the ruthless. God destroys death forever. No one need ever again live in fear.

And all are welcome at the table of the Lord.

It is a picture of Paradise; it is a picture of the kingdom of heaven; it is a picture of the world in peace.

War will be no more; not simply because hostilities have ceased; this is not a mere truce.

It is a picture of peace that is more than the absence of evident conflict. It is a positive peace, a peace of justice and reconciliation.

There is no war and no fear and no hunger. God reigns and the people rejoice.

We know this prophecy from many funerals; we may also know it from weddings or baptisms or any kind of celebration of the resurrection. It is a vision of life in God, rightly lived, and brought to fulfillment.

The visions of peace and paradise, of God protecting, providing, and guiding, continue in the responsorial psalm. It is psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my king, my provider, my protector, my leader and my guide. The Lord is the host at the banquet table. He provides my needs.

God loves me. God gives me peace. The abundant mercy and grace of God overflow like wine from a cup, like cool water over the brim of a spring. His generosity and his goodness will pursue me forever.

That is the feast we are welcomed to – today. That is the feast we celebrate.

At the Lord’s Table we will celebrate together the feast of Thanks Giving – the Eucharist.

It is the feast that everybody is called to. Not just us; everybody. All the people around us, on the highways of our county and the back streets of our towns, are welcome – they are invited – to come in and join us at the Table.

We open our doors.

But the gospel of Matthew gives us pause. It is not open season on the bar.

It is not all-you-can-eat night at the sushi place.

God is Judge as well as provider. Many are called but few are chosen.

You need to dress appropriately if you are going to attend the feast.

Or better not to come.

You need to be ready.

So – how do we dress for this banquet? How do we prepare for this feast?

Paul gives us the answer, in his letters to young churches, to the saints at Philippi – as we heard today – and in his letter to God’s people at Colossae.

Put on Christ. Put on the mind of Christ.

Put on, then, garments that suit God’s chosen and beloved people:

• compassion,
• kindness,
• humility,
• gentleness,
• patience.

How should we act, as guest at this banquet? How should we act, now, to get into the swing of things?

• Be tolerant with one another and forgiving, if any of you have cause for complaint: you must forgive as the Lord forgave you.

• Finally, to bind everything together and complete the whole, there must be love.

• Let Christ’s peace be arbiter in your decisions, the peace to which you were called as members of a single body – the body of Christ.

• Always be thankful.

• Let the gospel of Christ dwell among you in all its richness; teach and instruct one another with all the wisdom that good news gives to you.

• With psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, sing from the heart in gratitude to God.

• Let every word and action, every thing you do, be in the name of the Lord Jesus, and give thanks through him to God the Father.

Put on Christ.

Allow your selves to be made over into the image of the living God, the loving God.

Love reveals its face – in the face of Christ.

Let us become that face to our people and to our community.

How do we do that?

We begin by – positive things. We begin by focusing our minds on the good news of God, that we might become that good news to the people around us.

We allow our minds to dwell on these things:

• whatever is true,
• whatever is honorable,
• whatever is just,
• whatever is pure,
• whatever is pleasing,
• whatever is commendable,
• any excellence and
• anything worthy of praise,

These are the pastures we rest in – this is where we begin to celebrate life.

We can do this – we can do this – only if we let the Spirit in; only if we put on the mind of Christ.

If we call on the Lord, he will answer.

• Do not worry about anything.

• In everything, by prayer and supplication, and with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.

And when he comes, he comes with life abundant in his hand.

Let your gentleness be known to everyone.

Let the gift of God’s loving-kindness be known to all through your love for one another and for the world Christ gave life.

The Lord is near. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN.

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Stewardship Letters we have yet to receive:

2011-09-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

October 4, 2011

Dear Friends in Christ:

One of the most revered saints in the Christian calendar is Francis of Assisi. We celebrate his feast every October. We remember his generosity, his gratitude, and his desire to follow and imitate Jesus Christ. Early in the thirteenth century he gathered together the “little brothers” (Friars Minor) who followed a simple rule of life. They prayed, preached – and begged. They were “mendicant” friars, which meant that every day they sought donations for charity and for their own needs.

One of the most beloved of the early friars was Brother Juniper. Brother Juniper was patient and kind and humble. He knew Brother Francis tried to imitate Christ and to follow in His footsteps. But Brother Juniper thought himself too lowly to follow Christ directly. So he tried to follow Francis as Francis followed Christ, and he did it step by step. Francis moved his right foot, Juniper moved his right foot, Francis moved his left foot…

Another time, when Brother Juniper was visiting a small priory, all the other friars had to go out for some good reason and left him to prepare the evening meal for their return. “It’s too bad,” he said to himself, “that every day somebody has to go out and collect donations and cook when this is all a distraction from their prayers. I can take care of this need for the next two weeks.” So he went out and begged up a storm – into pots he had collected he poured water and into the water went whole chickens (un-plucked) and fresh eggs (un-shelled). When the friars got home there was Brother Juniper dancing around from pot to pot stirring his amazing concoction. And then he served up his feast…

The Brothers could not be angry, not for long. They rejoiced in their brother’s simple good will and generosity. And of course they dined out on the story for many a year.

Reflecting on his brother’s example of extreme gratitude, radical hospitality, and wild simplicity, Saint Francis exclaimed, “O! That we had a forest of such Junipers.”

We are not nearly so simple or systematic as the humble Brother Juniper. But we can rejoice and celebrate God’s abundance in our own way and feast on gratitude for God’s care and love for us. Whether we are giving for the feast in thanks or receiving from it with grateful hearts, we know that all we have is from God. And for that we rejoice.

Would you like to share in the feast? Would you make a gift toward our feast of gratitude this year? We promise not to cook it all at once … but we do plan to stir something up!

St. Alban’s Church seeks to be a welcoming, Christ-centered community committed to sharing Christ’s love, empowering people to grow spiritually, deepening our relationship with Christ and living out our faith in our community and the world.

The Rev. John Leech, Priest and Rector

St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
21405 82nd Place West
Edmonds, WA 98026
Phone: 425-778-0371
info@stalbansedmonds.org

(Stories from the life of brother Juniper as told by his little brothers, and retold in English by Raphael Brown.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Oh, what the heck. It sounds simple enough to me! Throw this in the pot:

God willing
my/our intention is to make a financial contribution to St Alban’s Episcopal
Church as an offering of thanks to God for all he has given.

My/our prayerful commitment to a giving plan for 2012:
__$............................. per week
__$............................. per month
__$............................. per year
Name: ……………………………………………………………………………………
Address: ………………………………...……………..…………….…………….……..
City, State, Zip: …………………………………………………………….…………….
Telephone: …………………………………………………...…………………………..
Email: ……………………………………………….……………………………………
How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things he has done for me?
Psalm 116:10 (Book of Common Prayer)
__I/we prefer not to have envelopes for my/our weekly offering.
__I/we would like to include St Alban’s in my/our estate planning.

Please respond by November 6, 2011 (our celebration of All Saints and blessing of offerings)
Let us join in giving thanks for God's abundance.
St Alban’s Episcopal Church, 21405 82nd Place West, Edmonds WA 98026
(425) 778-0371 info@stalbanedmonds.org
StAlbansEdmonds.org

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I LIKE IKE

2011-09-21T06:32:00.000-07:00

Some time when I was a kid I found in our garden near the orange tree in the back yard a rusty old button that said, "I like Ike even better."

My dad was there, gardening, and he explained to me what it was.

Besides starting a long project of collecting campaign memorabilia, up through the evening of the California primary in 1968, it stuck in my mind as an image.

Now it seems to have another meaning.

We have long lived with an Eisenhower-era model of the church.

We cannot last the course much longer if we just try to string it out - to maintain the legacy as it were in a time capsule (remember those?) - we have to have a living church with a living future.

We draw deep on roots of the past. We just cannot live there.

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Extreme Gratitude

2011-09-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Eight hundred and thirty years ago in a small hillside town in Italy a woman named Pica Bernardone gave birth to a son and had him baptized Giovanni. When his father got home, from a long business trip into France, he announced that the boy was going to be called Francesco – “the little Frenchman.” We call him Francis, of Assisi.

His father had big plans for Francis. He made him a fashion plate, a walking billboard for his business of selling imported fabrics from France. He sent his son to the best schools so that he would mix with the elite of the town and of his generation. And sure enough Francis, a personable sort, made friends among the nobles’ sons and made his father’s fabrics fashionable. He led his friends through the town on celebratory excursions, leading them in singing the popular Provencal troubadour songs.

Young men in Italy then were in the midst of interesting times – full of the romance of the Crusades and rumors of more local wars. Francis began to have aspirations to adventure and to knighthood. His father decked him out in fine armor and sent him off to join the army of a famous warrior. But this was the first time he was to incur his father’s displeasure. Francis saw a poor knight, too poor to afford his own armor and horse, and Francis – with Quixotic generosity – gave him his. He traveled home – to an uncertain reception.

Later Francis had a vision of a small nearby church, San Damiano. The open-eyed figure on the Crucifix above the altar of the decrepit sanctuary seemed to be gazing directly at him, and calling to him, “Rebuild my church, which as you see is falling down.”

Francis went to his father’s warehouse, loaded a fine horse with fine fabrics, rode to the next town, sold both goods and horse, and walked back with the proceeds of the sale. He tried to give the money to the priest at San Damiano, who, suspecting trouble ahead refused it. Francis threw the money in a corner.

When his father got home … wrath! The old man went looking for Francis to visit his vengeance upon him. When he caught up with him he had him hauled in front of the town, the bishop and God and all, and demanded Francis return to him everything he had received from him. Francis complied.

Completely. He removed all his clothes, and piled them at his father’s feet. At that point the bishop intervened, wrapping his cope around Francis and leading him off. Later Francis found in a corner of the garden a discarded cloak – perhaps he mistook it for the gardener’s – and, chalking a rude cross on the back, wore it with joy.

His career was launched. And so was the rebuilding of the church in Italy. Francis rebuilt the church not only of rocks and mortar but of the living stones of his brothers and sisters, including some of those very same fashionable young men who had joined him on robust adventures in the past. Now he and they became troubadours for God. And they sang of joy for the goodness of God’s creation, and gave back – with extreme gratitude – all they had received from the Father from whom all things come.

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory,
and the honor and all blessing.
To You alone, Most High, do they belong
and no human is worthy
to mention Your name.
Praised be you, my Lord,
with all Your creatures.

Thanks to the Rev. Lance Ousley, Canon for Stewardship and Development of the Diocese of Olympia, for the good conversation on Holy Cross Day about Francis of Assisi and stewardship. We celebrate the feast of Saint Francis on October 9th this year.

(“The Canticle of Creatures” by Francis of Assisi)
http://www.ofm.org/ofm/?page_id=122&lang=en
September 14, 2011.

For the Gospel Grapevine, parish newsletter of Saint Alban's Episcopal Church, Edmonds, Washington, October 2011.

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Stewardship at St. Alban's

2011-09-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

Stewardship at St. Alban’s Church

As Christians, we are called to be good stewards of the gifts that God has entrusted to our care. Part of this calling involves putting those gifts to work to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can do that through our stewardship and planned gifts to Our church.

While stewardship does indeed involve giving away money, it is more than philanthropy. Just as Christians are called to worship in community, participate in Eucharist, serve the poor and needy in the wider world, and share the Gospel with others, we are called to be good stewards, to thank God by giving back a portion of what God has given to us.

Stewardship teaches that all that we have and all that we are is a gift from God. We are, therefore, stewards of God's gifts during our lifetime. Discerning and carrying out God's purpose is the primary purpose of our lives. The gifts we have been given are to be used for that purpose. The primary role of the church is to guide individuals in development of their vocation as Christian persons, to discern the mission of their lives and the use of their resources in accomplishing it.

Ways to be Grateful, Glad and Giving

At St. Alban’s, there are many ways to be grateful for the many gifts we receive from God, glad for the many blessing in our lives, and giving of our love, our work, our prayer, and our good fortune.

Community Outreach

On the first Sunday of each month we take up a special collection to benefit area food banks, in Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, and north Seattle. On the third Sunday of each month we take up a special collection for outreach, offering support to an organization that benefits the local, global or church community in some way. On the second Sunday of each month, the undesignated (“loose”) offering goes into the rector’s Discretionary Fund.

The Hands-on Committee invites everyone to join them in working directly to benefit the needy in our communities, through volunteer opportunities for direct service in various community organizations.

Annual Stewardship Campaign

In the fall we host our annual stewardship campaign where we ask for pledges of financial support for the upcoming year. This year our campaign will begin with the Bishop’s visit, Sunday, September 25th, when we all celebrate the Eucharist together in one combined service at 9:00 a.m. After coffee he will lead us in a congregational meeting on stewardship.

The month of October will feature many ways to pledge support for St. Alban’s Church and ensure you are grateful, glad and giving. Our fall campaign will conclude on Sunday, November 7th, with an ingathering and blessing of pledges.

As you can see there are many ways to give to the church and through the church to help the church continue to serve the needs of our community and create apostles in Christ. If you would like to serve on the stewardship campaign team or give to the church in another way please contact senior warden Kären Ford or any member of the stewardship committee. You may also contact our church office for more details.

How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things he has done for me?
Psalm 116:10 (Book of Common Prayer)

—Your Stewardship Committee: Kären Ford (Chair), Karen Cresse, Eric Hanson, Susie Nichols, Morrie Tugby.

Saint Alban's Episcopal Church, 21405 82nd Place West, Edmonds, WA 98026 (425) 778-0371 stalbansedmonds.org

Ten Years After

2011-09-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

09/11/11

What do we feed our hearts? What do we feast on?

Do we feast on freedom – or fear?

What is on the menu for today? What are we consuming?

What are we taking in to ourselves?

What do we seek for sustenance?

Do we feed on fear, anger, revenge – or peace and reconciliation?

What is on offer today, here, is the same as always –
and that is good news.

Peace and reconciliation, through bread and wine, the body and blood.

Ten years ago we woke to an unhappy morning.
It was 5:46 AM Local Time.

We rose in
shock and disbelief
witnessing events we could not control,
that seemed doomed to loop through our minds endlessly,
repeated as if present not past,
images indelibling themselves onto our minds.
Planes crashing, towers falling.

And then maybe after a few days
another possibility offered to us,
after trauma’s initial stages:
we could weep with grief,
we could grind with anger,
we could resolve on revenge –

or on some succor to the victims and families,
to reach out in compassion and try to understand –

not only how this evil could be
but how good could be found in those far from us,
different or the same.

Ten years after, now – do we feed on memory hardened and fermented into vinegary bitterness?

Do we try to forget?

Do we try to live?

Do we feast with gratitude for the gift of God’s merciful love? For Christ in the Eucharist, for the love shown in his gift of himself, in life and death and life again?

Bread and wine are not what it means –
they are how its meaning,
that life offered and given, that death and that resurrected life –
is conveyed to us.

To give us sustenance: that we may feed on him in our hearts
with faith and with thanksgiving.

Do we welcome the Christ hidden in the other? –
in those of whom Jesus said:

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
‘Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
‘Blessed are the merciful,
for they will receive mercy.
‘Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.

(Matthew 5.3-10), The Beatitudes

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a place of your abiding

2011-09-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

What is it that we have to pass on? What is it that really matters? What is it that will last beyond ourselves into the future of the promise of God?

On vacation last summer, as Sarah and I were resting by the riverside, we saw coming up the river a young woman in a large-brimmed straw hat, standing in the middle of a canoe, with a pole in her hand. It was our cousin Mary and she was poling her canoe upriver. She looked, Sarah said, like a picture that could have been out of the 19th century - had she been wearing a long dress instead of a more modern boating costume.

And it was true; Mary was poling up the river just as she had been taught by her grandmother, whose own mother had indeed, pole in hand, in long tweed skirt, a Liberty print blouse with a Peter Pan collar, and a cardigan sweater - and pearls, traveled up that same river, standing in a canoe, propelling herself with a pole.

The skill was taught them by an Ojibwe river guide and canoe builder named Laroque. Great grandmother learned, then grandmother learned; then Grammy taught her daughters and grand daughters. And the knowledge of the river and the skill of the pole were passed along, a living tradition, from generation to generation.

A living tradition is something we pass along, something that gives strength, something that gives skill and even power, to those coming along.

The first disciples, the witnesses to the life and death and resurrection and ascension of our Lord, passed along what they had seen and what they had heard, what they had touched with their hands and embraced in their arms, to those who came along after them. And what they received they also passed on. To you.

What we have received we must also pass along. And we must decide what matters, what matters most, and that is what we must make sure to share with the new generations that are coming along.

What is it that matters most to us? What is it that will last?

Herbert O’Driscoll spoke to us about this in the middle of winter last year: What we know, what we have received, as church, as the family of God, always sustains us –through these several elements: the sacred Word, the story of the love of God for humankind; the water of Baptism, in which we receive a sign of new life in Christ; the wine and the bread, transformed for us and, received in faith, transforming us into the body of Christ; and then the gift of each other, that Body of which we are all members; and - the Holy Spirit, in which all this lives and moves and has its being.

These are things that we have received, that we live by, that we pass on to the next generation. These things are all gifts given us to give others, to share with them the grace and peace of God.

What we have to pass on is a living faith in a living God. It is renewal, it is new, it is life itself: it is life in Christ, not the old way of law and sin and death, but the way forward into life in Christ, into the kingdom of God that begins now, that indeed is all around us.

Bill Lewellis, a friend of mine, once explained that in the Celtic way of looking at things there is such a thing as a 'thin place', a place where the veil between this world and the next, the earthly realm and the heavenly, is thin and easily passed through. It is as if there were a membrane between the everyday and the eternal, and it is permeable somewhere, sometimes.

Then Bill went on to explain that the 'thin place' is really anywhere we are open to the Spirit, and anytime our hearts are open to Christ. That is where the eternal breaks through to the everyday, and transforms it: where our hearts are open and when we are present to the abundance of grace.

This place, where you and I are now, can be a thin place – a place of God’s abiding.

So is it we have to pass on?

Something that lasts. Something that abides.

We have a pretty good idea, of what lasts: the things we have spoken of, the word, the sacraments, the fellowship, are things that bring us closer to God and carry us forward together in God's mission and God's purpose.

All of these things come to us in the gift of the Spirit. And it is the abiding promise and presence of God that shows us what really lasts, what really gives life meaning. Some things will pass away, good things as they are, for when the time for them is over, they will fade away.

We know that; we look for the things that last, that are our greatest gifts to pass on to those coming along in our midst and coming after us.

What are these lasting gifts?

And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:13)

May we live by faith, walk in hope and be renewed in love,
and if it is your will,
grant that this place of your abiding
continue to be a sanctuary and a light.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Through Jesus Christ.
Amen

JRL+

http://stalbansedmonds.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Herbert_ODriscoll_20100131.mp3

For the Gospel Grapevine, parish newsletter of Saint Alban's Church, 21405 82nd Place West, Edmonds, Washington, 98026 (425) 778-0371 stalbansedmonds.org

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e-Sabbath

2011-08-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

e-Sabbath (n.) - a day in the week with electronics (mobile, net, laptop) off.

For me it's Fridays - the cellphones don't ring and the internet is off - ah.

Sabbath - a weekly day of rest - comes really early in the Bible. God takes a day off. Then he tells people - the human beings that he made in his own image - to do it too.

It must be a good idea. Not just the law.

What I like about taking an e-Sabbath is that for one day I remember that the most important communications are not mediated by electronic devices. They are face to face. Soul to soul.

Or in the ultimate case, Spirit to spirit.

JRL+

two dogs

2011-07-31T03:21:00.000-07:00

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Not anymore.

Two dogs got away with it.

Bummer and Lazarus lived in Old San Francisco, before the Great Earthquake and Fire.

Lazarus got hit by a freight truck but he lived to wag his tail. Bummer - was the king of the moochers. He was always bumming a meal. And his friend Lazarus tagged along.

They went from bar to bar in the old Barbary Coast. And there was a free lunch.

The idea of the barkeepers was to lay out a spread - or maybe pickled eggs and franks - so that folks would come in and buy a drink. Mostly it worked.

Unless you were a dog - and a teetotaller.

* * *

Isaiah says, come and eat. Come and get it. Your money isn’t good here. There is no price. Come and eat and drink to your heart’s content. Receive the fullness of God’s grace.

His mercy is without limit or fee. You cannot pay for it. You could not afford it.

* * *

Jesus went off by himself for a while. Seeking a little peace, perhaps. He went to a deserted place. But the people followed him. Moved with compassion he went among them, healing. They were a hungry crowd, hungry for grace, hungry – for dinner. And they were in a deserted place.

His disciples saw a lack of resources. Send them away – so they can fend for themselves. They can go buy something in a village somewhere.

They don’t need to go away, Jesus responds. You give them something. Here.

You have something to give.

And it will be enough for them. It will more than satisfy. It will be an abundance of good food, the stuff of life.

But we only have this here, here in the desert, enough for ourselves.

Nonsense. Bring them here, here to me, in God’s presence.

Here and now.

What Jesus gave them was an experience of the bountiful goodness of God.

When have we been like the crowd? Hungering, in need of compassion? Thirsting for what only God can give?

When have we been like the disciples when they were lost in a sense of their own limitation and need?

When have we been like the disciples when they take the bread and give it to the people?

May we take the bread from heaven and make it bread for the world.

* * *

Jesus gave them an experience of the bountiful good ness of God.

He did not shame them, or say, “What! That’s all you got?? What good is that to me?”

No – he took the offering, and he gave thanks to God.

One true God who created all things: blessed are you – your reign is eternal. You bring forth bread from the earth.

He broke it and shared it out.

The bread they offered, the bread that came from God, bread from heaven, became bread for the world.

All are welcome at the Lord’s Table, and receive abundance there.

For his grace takes what we offer, and makes of it a miracle, a sign of God’s everlasting faithfulness and steadfast love.

The staff of life, in the hands of the source of life, is made a gift that transforms those who give it.

Once small in faith and doubting they now in faith step forward and take the bread and give it out.

Growing in confidence, they see God’s hand at work in the world through them! Through the gift they had made – from five loaves and two fishes.

All they had, they gave. God shows, in this moment, that his love is more than enough.

Humankind lives not by bread alone but by the Word of God. The Word of God – he who is before them, honoring them in the Gift.

What they gave is not wasted. It is gathered up in its abundance.

When have we been hungry, seeking, reaching out for healing and compassion?

Surely at first this was the disciples’ state too. We all need that comfort, that compassion, and that love.

When have we been like the disciples, uncertain of our offering, of its adequacy?

When have we been like the disciples, astounded by what God does with what we bring to the table?

And perhaps, rejoicing by now, we take the transformed offering and share it out.

Bread from heaven indeed – now bread for the world.

* * *

May we take the bread from heaven, the manna in the wilderness, that is the true word of true God, from whom all things depend, and make of it a gift, of holy sustenance, bread for the world.

May we not stint, but share it out in confidence, knowing that he is faithful who called us to the task. He is loving, who gave his own life that we might live. He is the foundation of our hope. He who was raised and is glorified and remembered, may we remember him, every time in the breaking of the bread. Amen.

APentecost7, Proper 13, Isaiah 55:1-5, Psalm 145: 8-9, 15-22, Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14:13-21

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ask me anything

2011-07-24T07:45:00.001-07:00

Go ahead. Ask me anything. Ask me for anything. Wisdom. Wise boy. Good choice. I am pleased. So I’ll give you the other stuff. The stuff you didn’t ask for. That should please you. And maybe— you’ll get the wisdom inside you in time. If not— I do not fear for my people. I’ll give you the wisdom on the outside too, on “spec” as it were, so you make some right decisions to start you off in style. But the rules haven’t changed. Wisdom must be sought – with diligence. Are you up to that?

Centuries pass. Another folk tale appears. A merchant seeks out pearls— and learns of one of great value. Too good to pass up. Too pricey not to ruin him— for ordinary things. Everything he has goes into the effort— all in, into the pot. It’s worth it – he says. This is the one. The one worth living for – and dying for?

Another man is in a field – ploughing for a neighbor or hired. He finds a hidden treasure. He doesn’t say a word about it, does he, to the owner of the field? No, he’s shrewd – and goes and buys the field for himself. Now he’s secure, the treasure is his – for what it’s worth.

Are these things worth all other things?

Purity of heart is to will one thing.

The one thing shrewd peasant wisdom wins – is that what Jesus was talking about? No – but we understand it.

We know how we’d feel if such an opportunity came into our hands.

And so, he says, it has—

Only it is invisible, hidden, and secret. It is still forming. It is small in appearance, even lowly. Humble. But its effects!

The leaven in the lump – of 50 pounds of flour! Enough for a divine feast – once the bread rises.

A seed – an ordinary, forgotten seed, mostly, perhaps, sewn by accident – here a man plants it expecting a few flowers – and he gets a shrub large enough for birds to nest in.

Not enough to match the grandeur of Solomon – but still: an outsized result, like an answer to prayer.

What could be more hidden than victory in and through the Cross?

What could be a greater boon than the love of God?

Spirit, fill us, so that we may ask.
Spirit, speak for us, when we cannot.
Spirit; inspire us to ask not for ourselves only but for your people and your world. Amen.

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“Purity of heart is to will one thing.”
– Søren Kierkegaard

the anticipation of things not seen

2011-07-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

When our nephew was four years old, his parents announced the family was going to Disneyland during spring break. One night, in the middle of the night, about three o’clock in the morning, his mother awoke to the sound of little feet in footie pajamas padding lightly down the hall to the kitchen.

What are you doing?

I want to see the b’wochure about Dizzlieland!

He was so excited he could not wait until morning.

That is what hope does for us. It is the anticipation of things not seen, not know. For hope in what is seen is not hope – we hope for what we do not see.

And with faith growing in us we wait for it with patience.

With patience: because we trust in the Lord, we are able to wait – though we get all excited about it.

We wait for what is emerging – for that which is coming into being – which we do not yet see.

That is what “emergent” means – something that is becoming real, coming into our lives, that cannot be altogether explained by what we already know

We have to wait for it – and see. That is where trust comes in – and conquers fear.

Trust in God; do not be afraid. That is the message of the angel so many times when God’s messenger announces that something new is coming into being in the world.

And we can respond not only with trust, with hope, but without fear.

Remember the angel that appeared to Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, before John was born. Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son and he will bring to Israel the good news of the coming of the Messiah.

And remember Mary – hail to thee, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, the Angel proclaimed. Something new is coming, some One new is coming into being – and you are called to be the bearer, the God-bearer indeed, mother of the Anointed, God’s only begotten Son: Jesus.

Be with me as you say, Mary replies, in obedience and faithful response. And so a new order of the ages begins, with the Word, the Son of God, come into the world.

May it be with me as you say…

Paul in the Epistle to the Romans that we hear this morning continues the proclamation.

All who are led by the Spirit of God are his children. We did not receive a spirit of slavery – we are not automatons bound to obey a remorseless will. We have been adopted as sons and daughters, freely embraced and freely embracing God as loving parent. We are children, heirs; joint heirs with Christ.

And the whole of creation leans into this promise, groans with birth pangs, as it were, to bring forth the glory of God in this world.

Birth pangs: for the glory does not come without suffering. Jesus himself suffered as he waited in the garden anticipating death – but he trusted, and obeyed, and received the gift he now shares with us: the resurrection hope, the freedom from bondage to decay – the completion of life that is beyond death – because we know in the hope of the resurrection that Christ is alive – eternally present to the Father and we will be caught up in that glory as well.

Death does not get the final word. And even now coming into being in this world God’s kingdom comes – with our own hands, our feet, our hearts, our voices.

Working in us is the hope of glory – know that what is emerging in this world is not an emergency to panic us or make us fearful. We may not know what it will look like, what the future will hold for us – but we know that, as God reassures us through the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans for your good and not for evil, that you may have a future with hope.”

That you, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, will show in your lives the hope that you have.

That all may be well, that trusting in God, who is faithful and steadfast to love us, we shall see faith fulfilled in love, and hope completed in glory, and we in our lives will show that we are free to worship him without fear, witnessing with our words and our deeds to the glory of the presence of the Lord.

Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; knit my heart to you that I may hold your name in awe and wonder. I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart and glorify your name forever more.

Amen.

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Isaiah 44:6-8
Psalm 86:11-17

Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

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3 strangers

2011-06-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

Three strangers came to the tent. Abraham and Sarah had journeyed far – from northern Iraq, across Syria and down through Canaan and on into Egypt (where they had many adventures) and then back to Canaan.

Here they were: their flocks and herds around them. They pitched their tent under the oak trees. Strangers came – and were welcomed.

Stay with us Lord and rest your feet. Sit in the shade under this tree. Let me bring you something to drink. Quick! Prepare a meal, a fine feast

The guests, receiving hospitality, now offer their hosts a gift: a promise of a future with hope. You will have a son.

Sarah cannot believe it – she laughs to herself behind the flap of the tent – and she is afraid when they catch her out: “O but you did laugh.”

When the promise comes true, how does she feel?

It was a happy meeting. They name the child Isaac (Laughter).

Remembering and celebrating a promise fulfilled, the beginning of a hopeful future – with descendants that would outnumber the stars – all God’s doing – but God can raise up sons to Abraham from these stones.

It was faith that singled Abraham out. In faith he received the promise – and his true legacy is faith.

His true descendants and heirs are those who are heirs through hope – of the promise of God – and that hope is found in Jesus Christ.

It is through him, through Christ, that the basis of faith, of hope, and of love is revealed.

The gospel from Matthew today is the conclusion of his last chapter, a chapter that began with women going to the tomb of Jesus about the break of day.

“He has been raised,” they were told, “from the dead and is going on before you into Galilee; there you will see him.” They got the message and spread the news.

And the disciples did go to Galilee – they made their way to a mountain and Jesus met them there. They greet him, believers and doubters alike, shoulder to shoulder; they greet him as the holy one of God: they worship him. And now in a few quick words the risen Lord Jesus say so much.

“All authority has been given me on heaven and on earth.” He is the only Son of the Father, the one true living God who created all things. There is no other.

And this Jesus, now risen Lord, has a message for his disciples. A big task lies ahead. His earthly mission has ended.

The mission of the church now begins. So – he commissions them, and he empowers them.

He sends them forth to build his church, to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, and to bring its reality into the midst of the earth and all its peoples.

“Make all people my disciples; baptize them everywhere in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; teach them to do all I have commanded you to do.”

As you have learned from me so go and teach. As I have made you disciples, disciple them. From here on the legacy now passes from one to another, from generation to generation. What I have given you – all that you have received, you must now pass on.

You will not be alone. For Emmanuel, God-with-us, says: I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Past, present, and future come together in this moment at the foundation of the Church.

On this mountain Jesus brings forth something beyond what Moses received on Sinai. He brings forth the living presence of God to accompany his messengers throughout the earth.

Worship, go, evangelize – and remember. Remember the promise given to Abraham and Sarah. Remember that their true descendants are the people of faith.

And remember Alban’s testimony to the one true living God who created all things.

Alban was living in a Roman town north of London when he found faith – or it found him. It came to his door in the person of a priest, fugitive in a time of persecution.

He sheltered the priest, welcomed him, gave him hospitality and safety, learned from him about ‘the one true living God who made all things’, and came to believe – so that he stood in the place of the priest and gave his life.

Hospitality, courage, and faith.

For his witness, for his faithfulness, he was executed, and won a crown in glory.

His faith we count as righteousness. It was his steadfast trust and witness that brought home to the people of the town the truth of the faith of the one true God.

What Alban did, living in his place in his time, was create a legacy of lasting witness.

People go there still, to the place where he was martyred, on pilgrimage, to the place so many now have gone before, where Alban simply stood the test of faith.

We may not be called to die by the sword but we may be called to simple witness to the truth of Christ, the promise of God, the faithful future, as heirs of hope that we like sons of Abraham may be raised up, may growth as heirs of hope and forebears of faith.

Courage, compassion, generosity, and hospitality – these gifts of faith are Alban’s legacy.

Fearless in the face of danger, Alban would not give up his faith. He testified to God’s truth.

Courage, compassion, and generosity; hospitality, bold truth telling, and unswerving faith, Alban in simple words led the way, a way so many pilgrims follow.

He followed the way of Christ through the Cross to Resurrection, through acceptance of Jesus’ gift on their behalf – and yes, its necessity – to a new life, a new way of living.

His allegiance was no longer to the gods of Rome, the gods of empire, the gods of greed, wealth, envy, instant gratification, the flash beauty of surface appearance, power, or hate.

Jesus calls all people to himself through all his people

All authority on earth and in heaven has been given to me; go – spread the good news.

Spread it to all nations and all generations – let this be your legacy, the living truth of the living God. He is Lord indeed.

O God, our Father, who gave to your servant Alban the gifts of faith, hospitality, compassion, generosity and courage, and sent people forth across the world to carry the word of your gospel to every creature, grant, we pray, a like spirit to your church, even at this present time. Further in all things the purpose of our community, that hidden things may be revealed to us, and new ways found to touch the hearts of all. May we preserve with each other sincere charity and peace, and, if it be your holy will, grant that this church, a place of your abiding, continue still to be a sanctuary and a light. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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changes

2011-06-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

"Things change. Some of them disappear from our lives. Sometimes we see it coming and sometimes we don't. Sometimes we cause the change ourselves and sometimes it is visited upon us. Some change is temporary and some is permanent ... All the changes we see, those we welcome and those we resist with everything in us, are earthly..."

The Geranium Farm - Barbara Cawthorne Crafton
www.geraniumfarm.org

(from today's eMo)

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memories...

2011-06-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

"To the extent that we are psychologically healthy, our identities will consist largely in our free responses to our memories, not just in the memories themselves. Moreover, are we not also what we hope for in the future? It is true, the past can rob us of the future, just as it can rob us of the present. But here again the psychologically healthy persons' dreams for the future cannot be mere forward projections of her memories, for then she would be cemented in her past, of which her future would be only the boring and oppressive extension. A person with a healthy sense of identity living in freedom and security will let the future draw her out of the past and the prsent and will play with new possibilities and embark on new paths."

--Miroslav Volf, The End of Memory (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2006) 25.

http://divinity.yale.edu/volf

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Pentecost 2011

2011-06-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

The lessons on Pentecost all encourage new openness, openness to the spirit and to ways of being the church, the people of God in the world.

There are many ways of being church. As there are many gifts but one spirit, for individuals, so for congregations, there is one spirit expressed through many collective gifts or charisms - ways of being church, of manifesting the grace of God in the ministry of the church.

Diana Butler Bass, in her book, Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith (Harper San Francisco, September 2006) described her research into the many ways local churches manifest the work of the spirit.

Hospitality, discernment, healing, contemplation, testimony, diversity, justice, worship, reflection, beauty: these are aspects or charisms of ten particular neighborhood churches - Lutheran, Episcopal, and others - that have found in finding and celebrating the gifts God has given them, new ways to be transformed in the renewing of their minds and the refreshing of their faith.

Congregations find ways of being church that are theirs - and yet are gifts to the neighborhoods around them. All the different ways of doing church have a similarity. They are ways of being church in openness to the Spirit and in obedience to the word of God.

Make disciples among all the peoples of the earth, our Lord commanded: baptize them and teach them all Jesus taught the disciples, and remember him - remember him in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers. Be open to God’s leading, leading into new life.

What we find in the lessons of Pentecost, the lessons for today, are invitations, exhortations, and examples, of how to be open to the Spirit.

Open your selves to the spirit’s presence.

Open your self to the experience of God to be had in welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick or the prisoner, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving water to those who thirst.

Open your selves to the continuing work of the Creator, doing a new thing now in the midst of the earth.

Open your hearts to receive God’s love.
Open your hands to give that love on to others.

Open your lips and proclaim God’s praise.

Open the shades and let light stream in.
Open the windows and let the Spirit blow through stale corridors.
Open the doors and go forth to love and serve the Lord.

***

The breath of God that moved across the face of the waters on the first day of creation is still moving, moving where it will. Through the open doors of our souls and churches a fresh breeze is blowing - it is the Spirit, enlivening us, enlightening us, and filling us with the light of Christ.

In the first lesson we hear today Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. Moses, tell them to stop! Joshua says. But Moses says: Are you jealous on my account? Would that all God’s people would prophesy.

When a portion of the spirit that had been given to Moses was taken and distributed to seventy, the gift was not diminished. It is not a limited quantity. There is no scarcity of the grace of God; there is no limit to the power of God.

The gift of the Spirit is a gift that grows in the giving; it is a flame that grows as it touches on each of us.

It grows in blessing God’s people.

And the people of God, gathered all in one place on the day of Pentecost, awaited the coming of the Spirit. All began speaking one message, with many voices, in many languages - so it was for those who heard the word of God, the proclamation of God’s mighty deeds.

Each heard the good news in the language of their own heart. That is the real miracle. Each of them heard the word in the way that reached them, that touched their souls.

The people of God were proclaiming God’s sovereignty, the coming of the reign of God, and to all people. For, as Joel said, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

This is the birth of the Church, in the experience of the Spirit, a gift that grows in the giving.

What it tells us is that we live in a world ruled by a generous God, a life-giving, hope-renewing, boundless God. And the gifts of the spirit are all given for one reason: mission.

The gifts of the Spirit are not an end in themselves, and certainly not an excuse for wallowing in self-importance.

(You are significant, for one and the same reason: you are precious in the sight of God, the God who made you, the God who redeems you in the death and life and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the God who loves you. You are significant because you are God’s child and his Beloved ones.)

The gifts of the Spirit are not a privilege for a select few, but a gift that grows in the giving. They are gifts for the whole church, and for the whole world.

Even in the Gospel story, when wind and fire are hushed and quiet, Jesus comes into the room where they are all gathered and says, Peace. Peace be among you. And receive holy Breath.

He sends them into mission - and he gives the Spirit to carry out the mission.

They were gathered, locked together in fear, but they became open to a new possibility - the new possibility that the continuing presence of Christ brings.

Receive holy breath. Open your souls to the holy One, the one who, through wind and flame, and peaceful presence, comes to you, empowers you, and sends you forth, renewed, to spread the good news - to be the good news - and to bring others into the celebration.

In the spirit’s power. Amen.

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Joyous transparency, or: God illumines my aunt

2011-06-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

One day at work some years ago my friend Lydia leaned over to me and whispered, “Do you know what this means?” She pointed to the motto on our corporate logo. (Our company, Oxford University Press, used the university coat of arms in its logo.)

I looked at it and read it as, DOMINUS ILLUMINA TIO MEA.

Giving it half a thought I said, “God illumines my aunt.” Lydia laughed.

Of course DOMINUS ILLUMINATIO MEA is not a fractured mixture of Latin and Spanish. It is a perfectly good Latin motto: “The Lord is my light.” The motto is drawn from Psalm 27, which begins:

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear?
the Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom then shall I be afraid?

What this psalm reminds us, truly, is that as believers in God, as Christ’s church, we are called to a joyous transparency, with light shining in and light shining forth from us.

Let the light shine in – illuminating us – and let the light shine forth from us – as a beacon proclaiming to the world God’s peaceful sovereignty.

The light of Christ – we open ourselves to it; it lightens our hearts.

The light of Christ – we open the shuttered windows of our souls and let it shine out to bring the good news of salvation to those around us.

The light of Christ – we receive it as a gift at Baptism.

The light of Christ – we celebrate it at Easter and regularly in the Holy Eucharist.

The light of Christ – we carry it with us from birth to death, through the darkest tunnels and on the brightest hillsides.

The light of Christ – which reveals God’s glory and banishes the shadows of sin.

This is the light that came into the world in the person of Jesus. This is the same light that was in the beginning (FIAT LUX) and at the fulfillment of creation.

This is the light of which Jesus spoke when he said:

“I AM the light of the world” (John 8:12) and “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).

And – you do not put a lamp under a basket but put it on a lamp-stand to illuminate the whole house. You build a beacon bonfire not in a pit but on the highest hill around. You want to get the word out! You want that light to shine afar: the good news – Christ is risen! – And he is Lord indeed.

The breath of God that moved across the face of the deep on the first day still is moving, moving where it will. Through the open doors of our lives and churches a fresh breeze is blowing: it is the Spirit, enlivening us, and filling us – filling us with the light of Christ.

The light of Christ illuminates us – you and me, and, yes, my illumined aunt – and we in turn let our light shine before all people, that they too may rejoice in the power of the Spirit, and join in the work of God, Love’s redeeming work, begun in Christ and carried forth by his people.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’ (John 8:12)

‘You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.’ (Matthew 5:14, 16)

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For the Gospel Grapevine (July/August 2011), parish newsletter of St Alban’s Episcopal Church, Edmonds, Washington.

JRL+

Ascension

2011-06-02T00:33:00.000-07:00

George Packard on Ascension Day: "On a purely functional basis, the Church had to move Jesus and His risen appearance out of the moment so Pentecost could occur. How can the Spirit come down if Jesus is appearing at every garage sale? The Kingdom of God is at hand when we're awakened to the Christ in each other."

Eric Lax, Faith, Interrupted: A Spiritual Journey, (Alfred A. Knopf, 2010) p. 249

Religious Studies exam

2011-05-29T06:07:00.000-07:00

In the name of God, merciful Father, compassionate Son, Spirit of wisdom. Amen.

Recently I had a Facebook exchange with a cousin, who has been taking exams in religious studies. I always wondered, what kind of questions you would put on a multiple-choice exam in this subject. “How many gods are there?”

A. One
B. An infinite number.
C. …?

What would you say?

The Athenians played it safe: “I’m thinking of a number between zero and infinity.”

This is the town Paul walked into, that day he stood in front of the public meeting place called the Areopagus – Mars Hill.

“Men of Athens,” Paul said, addressing the crowd in front of Mars Hill, “I see how extremely religious you are in every way.” He had gone about the city observing the many shrines and the deities worshipped – and, just to be on the safe side, or perhaps exhibiting an excess of piety or zeal, the altar inscribed “to an unknown god.”

What kind of town is this? A town full of philosophers, where they were as common as sports fans in a brewpub, a town of seekers, who covered every base and then an extra for good measure.

So Paul played to their strengths – and greeted them with congratulations on their perspicacity. Then he went on:

“What you have worshipped as unknown, I now reveal to you. My name is Paul, and I worship the true and living God who created all things.” - or words to that effect. (In fact these particular words are the confession of St Alban, patron saint of our parish church.)

God the Creator of all things does not need you to make him a shrine with your hands; he will not live in it. God the Source of all being does not need you to provide him with anything, for all things that exist come to be through him. Life and breath and all good things, we praise him for and we bless him; he does not need us to give them to him.

All human beings are one in origin, too, and he has set the borders of our world. He did this indeed so that we might seek after him, and, groping, perhaps find him. In him we live and move and have our being.

Then Paul takes things a bit farther:

Now, however, says Paul, he has done more than this, done more than show his hand in the making of our world. He has sent into the world a man whom he has appointed, to judge all in righteousness, and he assures of this by raising that man from the dead.

God has called us into being by making room for us. In himself he was perfect, his life was complete; but he created a dwelling-place for us, in which we may enjoy life and creation, and even more. In Christ God has called us into relationship with himself.

How does God make room for us to exist, to abide in him, in Christ?

How does Jesus make a dwelling place ready for us to dwell with him?

How do we make room for Jesus to abide in us, to dwell in us?

Abide in me, says Jesus to us; take up residence in this dwelling-place God has made for you in the world, and in his heart. Live there – live in your place in his kingdom.

Keep my commandments, and my commandments are love.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Love one another. Love God; love your neighbor.

These are his commandments – to love.

Jesus our advocate, comforter, guide, Jesus the presence of God with us in the world, was leaving the disciples. But he did not leave them comfortless, for he promised them another advocate, the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit who is the presence of God as we experience him now.

How do we experience God? In loving God, one another, neighbor.

What Jesus commands us to do is to love. The law of God is a law of love.

It is not like ‘housekeeping rules’ – if it’s messy eat it over the sink, remember to run the disposal before you set the dishwasher, eat your vegetables.

It is not like the ‘pirate code’ – which after all, is really more like guidelines.

The law of God is an invitation into relationship: love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Love one another as I have loved you.

Make room for one another in your hearts – and make room for the stranger, the sojourner, the newcomer in your midst.

Go tell the world the good news – proclaim the coming of the reign of God in the world; in him all things will be brought into harmony.

For the law of love – in reality – is a harsh and dreadful thing. It leads to the Cross – and only then and thereafter to the Resurrection.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

If you love me, you will abide in my love.

My love will become a dwelling-place for you; your true home will be hidden in me.

All other habitations will be temporary residences; you will find your rest in my love.

All other allegiances will be contingent; our ultimate faith and hope will be in God.

If we abide in God and God is in us, we are already in the fullness of that life which is eternal. (David Adam)

When God made the world he made room – he created space in which relationships could occur between himself and the creatures of his making. We are those creatures and he invites us into a living relationship with him.

In the Father’s house are many dwelling places, places where we can find our true home; but our hearts are restless, until they rest in God.

What does it mean? How do we live this out?

We live it out – and we learn what it means – as we seek to live the law of love.

Objectives and techniques will serve us, on one level; but truly to know and serve the Lord will require more than technical fixes or strategic planning. It will require prayer and spiritual nurture and growth. Our welcome of one another and of the new comer to our fellowship will be tested in its genuineness by one criterion: showing the love of God.

We think of the gifts people give us as memorials – things to remember them by: a watch, a ring, a plaque or a book. They leave behind photographs or letters, memorabilia. Or they leave us a legacy – or perhaps some good advice, or a sharp, piercing memory.

We carry these things around with us long after the person is gone. They remind us.

If we are blessed, they empower us, make us able to be better people somehow, free us for more abundant living.

(If we are blessed. Sometimes they don’t.)

Jesus offers us simpler things, to remember him: a story to tell, a meal to share, water for baptism, bread and wine for communion.

Through these simple things, and accompanying them all, he leaves us two more gifts: each other – and the Holy Spirit.

He leaves us with what he left the first disciples with: he leaves us with the commissioning – go into the world – and he leaves us with the empowerment – his abiding presence with us in the Spirit – in order that we might keep his commandments, and complete his work in the world as members of his own body.

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http://www.stalbanscathedral.org/history/story-of-st-alban ("the true and living God who created all things")

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“What do we do now?”

2011-05-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

You can imagine them saying it.

The disciples of Jesus have witnessed everything – he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he died and was buried, he was raised again on the third day, and, now, he has been raised to the right hand of power. Before their eyes, he was carried into heaven.

So – the question is before the disciples of Jesus: what do we do now?

And how? How are we going to accomplish that purpose, God-struck as it is? Is it possible?

We, his disciples today, find ourselves facing a daunting task – and a daunting series of questions.

How are we to carry on the work Christ has begun in his earthly ministry?

How are we to carry forward the work he has called us to? How shall we embody the hope of the resurrection and the joy of everlasting life?

How are we to stand in the world and witness to all we his people have seen in the life of Jesus, and all we have experienced of his presence in our own lives?

How are we to proclaim in his name to all nations the forgiveness of sins – and the coming of his kingdom?

In ourselves, it is not possible; in Christ and through the Spirit it is inevitable.

He promises, on the day of his Ascension, that he will not leave us comfortless. And so we call upon the Breath of Jesus, the Spirit of truth:

Come, Creator Spirit, Father of the poor. Come, light of our hearts. Come, source of all life. You are our only comforter. Come! Give us your peace.

Guide our steps with your light.

When in stress you support us, in trials you give us strength, consolation in the midst of grief.

Eternal light, visit the hearts you have created and fill our innermost being.

Heal our wounds and renew our strength, quench our deepest thirst. Fill us with your grace.

Come! Fill us with your gifts. Give us comfort. Give us life. Give us joy that never ends.

Come! Come! Come Holy Spirit! Alleluia. Alleluia. Amen.

(Veni Creator Spiritus, Taizé)

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For the Gospel Grapevine, parish newsletter of Saint Alban's Episcopal Church, Edmonds, WA

JRL+

Last Days' Discount

2011-05-22T04:24:00.000-07:00

Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In the name of God, source of all being: the Life;
Eternal Word: the Truth;
and Holy Spirit: the Way.

When I worked for publishers I would sometimes represent them at conferences and trade exhibits. Once I was sent to a meeting of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature joint annual meeting, in Chicago, with the reminder that on the last day of the show there would be a flood of people coming to the booth who would want a "Last Day's Discount". However I was given the authority to set discounts for the show, and announce them as they chose. So I set a fairly (by industry standards) generous discount at the beginning of the show, and (to the publisher's delight) when people would ask me what my "Last Day's Discount" would be, I'd reply, "These are The Last Days. This is the Last Days' Discount."

All is indeed moving toward completion, perfection, fulfillment, since the Resurrection.

Stephen bore witness to this – he was able because he had set aside malice and embraced the kingdom of God.

The crowd was still stuck in anger and deceit, slander and envy— all the tools of false security, the weapons for victory over perceived enemies—

At peace, Stephen was able to pray with confidence, drawing on a deep well of freedom, truth and faith. He knew he was in God’s hands.

Standing before the crowd in Jerusalem, Stephen testified to what he was seeing: the glory of God – and Jesus standing at God’s right hand.

Stephen saw beyond the skies what the crowd could not see – the faithful presence of God even in this eventuality.

Stephen witnessed to a new way of being in the world – not as victim or as hero – but as witness to the truth.

And so even in his death he pointed to Christ – commending his spirit to God, asking forgiveness for his killers – becoming a living stone set deep into the foundation of the spiritual house which is the Church.

With faith in Christ, and without regard to the consequences to his own body, Stephen proclaimed Jesus the way, the truth, the life – and came home to the Father rejoicing in the Spirit through that same Jesus Christ.

Just so we witness and pray, as we too cast aside the false armor of self-protection (the cheating tricks of soul’s cowardice). Confident in God’s care and love, we proclaim his kingdom and act to live into it.

Peter exhorts new Christians to grow in faith, to understand that Baptism is just the beginning of the path of salvation – that we should seek God’s word to nurture us, from our earliest days – receiving with humility as if infant children the sustenance of the Word. He adjures us to put away sin and evil of all sorts, so that we may offer ourselves to be built together into a Temple – a living temple – to the praise and glory of God.

What does this look like? Instead of envy, slander, malice, and deceit (v. 1), practice love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness and forbearance.

How can this be? Through the Spirit.

We are called to testify to what we have seen and heard, and what we have experienced, in our lives, of Jesus’ work. We are witness to how God provides, guides, and reshapes our lives.

We are called in faith to take a stand, to bear witness, and to express belief in action.

This call may be subtle; it may be loud. It may be joyous; it may be painful. Responding to it may lose us friends.

Living into the forgiveness and mercy of God is a new way of Being.

Like Stephen we know that forgiveness is not an act of individual heroism – it is an act of God at work in the world through his people.

Forgiveness in itself is a vision of the peaceable kingdom, the reconciliation of all things in Christ, which is the true consummation of time, the real victory.

So these are the last days – for Christ is already at work in the world – reconciling all things to himself. God is faithfully present to us as we are called to join in this work.

Lord, as you have called us to walk in your way, make us the people that you would have us be, that we may reveal your truth, and lead others to the fullness of life; that we may be a chosen people, a royal priesthood; that we may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. Lord, lead us in the ways of peace. Guide us in the path of life.

--David Adam, Clouds and Glory (SPCK, 2000) 68.

Come my way – Spirit; my truth – Word; my life – Creator.

Source of all being: you call us into life, you sustain us, and you provide for all our needs. Eternal word: your truth is a light to our path and we come to the Father only through you. Holy Spirit: you illumine us, guiding us as we seek to follow Jesus.

You are peace, Lord: you are the way. You are love: you are the life. You are justice: you reveal the truth in your righteous mercy.

What we face in our lives as Christians, your faithful people, we do not face alone. You are with us – through the Spirit we experience your presence and your power. Your gift of love, your sustenance of faith, and your light of hope: [these] accompany us through all our days.

Help us now to realize your triumph over death and sin, the ultimate adversary. Move us to proclaim and embody that victory in the world.

Empower us – fill us with hope – embolden us with faith – so that we your people may be as your own hands and feet and voice, advocating the love of your creation that fulfills your word.

May love’s redeeming work be evident (manifest) in all we do and in all you accomplish, in us and through us, for the glory of God.

Lord, guide us that we may walk in your Way, rejoice in your Truth, and be kept for ever in the Life which you give, which is eternal; through him who lived and died and rose again for us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, live in our hearts – forever!

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The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A
Acts 7:55-60
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
1 Peter 2:2-10
John 14:1-14

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fullness, abundance

2011-05-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

"Somewhere, in some activity, or condition, lies a fullness, a richness; that is, in that place (activity or condition), life is fuller, richer, more worth while, more admirable, more what it should be. This is perhaps a place of power: we often experience this as deeply moving, as inspiring. Perhaps this sense of fullness is something we just catch glimpses of from afar off; we have the powerful intuition of what fullness would be, were we to be in that condition, e.g., of peace or wholeness; or able to act on that level, of integrity or generosity or abandonment or self-forgetfulness. But sometimes there will be moments of experienced fullness, of joy and fulfillment, where we feel ourselves there."--Charles Taylor, A Secular Age (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 2007) 9.

http://www.mcgill.ca/philosophy/faculty/taylor

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The Perfect Stranger

2011-05-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

Who do you break bread with?
Who do you invite to stay with you?
Who is the perfect stranger?
How will you know him?

It was a long time ago – it was earlier today. On the Emmaus road two of us were walking – and a third man came alongside. Who was the third man? They did not think to ask. They were preoccupied, overwhelmed, with troubles of their own.

Our news, the good news, was hidden in a maelstrom of fear and anxiety – even terror: for it was an act of terror that set their feet on the road, drove them from Jerusalem. Jesus of Nazareth was crucified under Pontius Pilate. And then, on top of that, the truly incredible news the women were telling: the tomb was empty. He was not there. Angels spoke to them.

When the disciples set out down the road to Emmaus they did not know where they were going. Sure, they knew where the road led – but they did not know what adventures the future held. They were talking with each other about what had happened, trying to sort out what was really going on. What did it mean?

The third man approached, and walked along with them. They did not recognize him. And at his inquiry they rehearsed for him the events of those days, almost like a creed, beginning with the words and deeds of Jesus, a prophet mighty before God and the people. They spoke of his betrayal and death, the empty tomb, and the angels’ message. But they didn’t get it – they did not know what it meant.

The disciples did not see him – had not seen him – not yet.

O you foolish Emmæans! How slow you are to grasp it – this is what the prophets were talking about – that the Messiah must suffer, must pass through passion and death and resurrection, before he can reach his glory.

The passion, the death, the resurrection – these are all part of God’s plan, and now Jesus can enter into glory.

As they reached the village he made as if to go on. But they stopped him, offering hospitality.

Stay with us, for evening is at hand, and the day nearly spent.

So he went in—

“But let me tell you, that to approach the stranger
Is to invite the unexpected, release a new force,
Or let the genie out of the bottle.
It is to start a train of events
Beyond your control. So let me continue.”

[“The Cocktail Party” by T. S. Eliot, The Complete Poems and Plays 1909-1950 (Harcourt, Brace & World, 1952) p.306]

And there in that place the guest became host. He became host, as he must always do, when we invite him in. When we take Jesus in, as guest, as host, we are transformed, we are enlightened.

For now the stranger – for it was he – took, blessed, broke, shared the bread; and they knew: this is his Body, and we are in his Kingdom, now. We are at his Table, fellowshipping with him.

And he is the Bread; he is the Life.

As he left them, they were no longer afraid. They turned to each other and said,

Our hearts warmed
as he taught us
on the road, opening
to Word to us
to our understanding.

Word and Table –
in these they knew him –
in these we know him—
as we break the bread
and tell the tale,

of the marvelous events of Jesus, Lord, God with us.

They returned immediately to the City and to their company, to tell their friends, to share the news, the good news, that all the world soon should know, that Christ is risen from the dead, Alleluia! That he arose, that he is made know to us in the breaking of the bread.

And so we ask— how is Christ known among us?

Who do you break bread with? Who is it that you see at the table? Is Jesus there? Jesus, who told us, I will be with you. Jesus, who said, when I was hungry you fed me. Jesus, who said, I am the bread.

Is he there at the table?

Yes— for whenever we bless the bread and break it and share it, whenever we take the cup of wine and share it, we remember his death until he comes. And we know that he is risen— that he is alive and among us— that in this action he becomes known to us.

Do we walk with him on the way? Do we welcome the stranger? Share our table fellowship? With whom do we, now, break the bread? Do we know, in them, friend or stranger, the fellowship of Christ? Do we hear him teaching, are our eyes opened, do we see him, as we study the Scriptures?

Open our eyes to your presence,
open our hearts to your love,
that we, openhearted, open-eyed, open-handed,
may share the bread and tell the story,
that you may be present
in the midst of us,
and that we might share
that good news with all those we meet on the way.

Travel with us, Lord, show us the truth;
stay with us, Lord, show us your love;
send us, Lord, forth from this place,
newly strengthened by Word and fellowship
with the knowledge of your love,
and full of news, good news,
to share, in word and deed, with the world.

Elusive God, companion on the way,
you walk behind, beside, beyond:
you catch us unawares.

Break through the clouds of doubt,
the disillusionment and despair,
that obscure our vision,

that
wide-eyed with wonder
open-mouthed with awe
we may find our way
and journey on
as messengers
of your good news.

Amen.

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Easter Day 2011

2011-04-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

The Mousetrap – a play by Agatha Christie – has been running in a London theatre since, well, since this church was founded. Over the years, Herb O’Driscoll tells us, the actors change roles. They come in as ingénue or child actor, mature and take on adult roles, then as they age gradually move to the characters in their middle and later years. Same players, different roles: but all the world’s a stage, and all the people players. Over the years our roles change, and we take on new ones, leaving earlier ones to new people. We change; but the show does –

- Go on.

Thanks, I will.

The show goes on. It is the eternal drama that we are in – the story of the love of God for humankind – and it does not end in tragedy. It is a comedy. It ends in glory – and in joy.

The story began – at the beginning, when Jesus already was, present, as the Word of God, and into the silence spoke “Light” and there was light. It continued through the days of the patriarchs and matriarchs, the prophets, and on down to the days of Joseph and Mary. They raised a son; they called Jesus. And he came to set the people free.

They were oppressed, under Herod, and under Pilate, and under sin even more. He freed them. By his death, his resurrection, and his glorious ascension, he brought home people to their home in God. We take this good news forward with us through time – we are this good news to the people around us – and as we carry the gospel with us we take on roles, to help us give dramatic life to the good-news story, and we pass those roles on to others.

The roles change, the story continues.

There is another show to tell you about – a good one, too. CATS. It was playing on Broadway when I lived in New York. I went to church with a lot of theater people. One of them remarked to me that the producers of that show had decided to start over with a whole new cast. Same show, same roles, different cast. A fresh start, I said, that’s good.

But, he said, a lot of people were counting on that income. They bought houses.

They had counted on things staying the same. But they didn’t. Not any more than things stayed the same for Caiaphas and Annas and the Temple priests and the scribes, and Pilate the procurator of Judea. Things changed, big time. There was a fresh new cast, ready to bring the story to life again – it had gone really, really stale. To be nice about it.

Cast changed, and the story that was told, that had been lost amongst overbearing production values, came to life, once more, in a new and fresh way.

Imagine a traveling troupe of players who toured out of town, three years in the provinces, then at last heading to the capital. Coming into town was a real triumph – a victory parade, premature, but full of life and hope. Then: disaster struck.

The rehearsal dinner, the night before the big opening, ends – badly.

Opening cancelled.

Or – is it?

Three days later the players get a message. The women bring it. They saw him. The player-manager, the one they thought they would never see on stage again, they saw him. And he said, tell them to go ahead of me into the Galilee country.

The real show begins now. That – that was all rehearsal.

Remember what I taught you; remember what you learned. Remember what I showed you, remember what I did – and remember what we did together. You will be doing greater things. For now you must be the good news. Act it out, it’s real. It’s the best story – and the truest – that ever was or shall be.

And whenever you get together, remember me – and proclaim.

Gather, proclaim, celebrate, be transformed, and then go – for I am sending you into the world, to work, to bring life and light and love and leaven, to bring the kingdom of God.

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Good Friday 2011: God’s plan for our salvation

2011-04-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus waits with his disciples – Judas, who will betray him, and Peter, who will deny him, are in the scene. Judas brought the soldiers and the police.

In a little while, we will be in a garden again. Jesus will be surrounded by friends, not enemies. Joseph obtains the body; Nicodemus brings spices. They will lay his body to rest in a garden tomb. In between— in between is a long time.

The interrogation by the religious authorities,
the interrogation by the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate,
the public execution at the Place of the Skull, Golgotha, where they crucified him.

It is hard to see a plan for salvation in this: the suffering of Jesus, the servant of God.

Yet it is in this moment of darkness that Jesus triumphs over death.

It is finished. It is complete. It is accomplished.

God has completed his plan of salvation in Jesus at this moment. There is the glory. There is the triumph.

God has turned the world’s violence against itself, has used it to bring about the world’s salvation.

Trampling down death by death, Jesus has achieved his victory.

It is not defeat. It is the end – but it is the beginning of life for us.

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A Garden (John 18:1-12)
The Courtyard of the High Priest (18:13-27)
Pilate's Headquarters (18:28-19:16)
The Place of the Skull (19:17-30)
A Garden (19:31-42)

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Maundy Thursday 2011

2011-04-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight we celebrate the Last Supper – the Lord’s Supper.

We celebrate the last meal Jesus took with his disciples, on the night before he was betrayed.

Imagine how strange that was – to celebrate Passover – the freedom from bondage of the people of God – knowing that he would himself soon be led as a lamb to the slaughterhouse – and like a sheep dumb before its shearer – knowing that silence was the best course to take – until at last, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

You have said so.

Before that, at the same meal when he blessed the bread and broke it, took the cup and shared it, he welcomed his friends as guests, as a servant would: he washed their feet.

It was a practical act, a gesture of hospitality – and a symbolic act, revealing his priesthood, and the role of the servant of all believers he invites us to share.

We celebrate and remember – thinking, we look after ourselves, and each other – we care – we act like family for each other, both good and bad.

In a spirit of kindness we convey, you matter, you are significant, you are welcome here – not on our own do we say this, we say it in Christ’s love shown for us.

That love is shown us, as an example, that we also should do as he has done – by serving each other and the world.

Tonight he gives us a new commandment – a mandate – hence the word ‘Maundy’ and the action holy – that we listen and heed and carry out his mandate – love one another.

Love one another just in this way: as he has loved us. And what is this way?

What but to come as servants? How we serve the world, how we serve Christ in each other and the world, is how we respond to Christ’s command.

Love one another – for sometimes love is all there is. Hope goes; faith fades; love remains.

When at the end of the meal the table is cleared, the lamp lowered and the candles snuffed, the last of the bread carried away, and the people dispersed, love remains.

Love abides in the Darkness – and soon will kindle new Light.

We leave tonight in solemnity – a procession with the host goes forth; some remain in silent contemplation, remembering – the meal and the man. Remembering his death and giving him glory.

Today I talked with people who know: every day of life is a gift. The gift of light and life and love – from the One who gave All for us – the light of the world, the love of God incarnate – in a human person, who, in these holy mysteries, of bread and wine made for us his body and blood – the One who gave us the gift of life and the promise of eternity – even in his very death. He truly died that we might truly live. Come let us adore him.

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Songs that are not Alleluia

2011-04-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

We are not ready. There is too much. There is too much going on. There is too much going on here. We are finishing up Lent, managing palm fronds and crosses. We are getting ready for a change of season. And we are trying desperately not to say Alleluia.

Songs that are not Alleluia are required of us today. Close – Hosannas – but not yet Alleluia. So don’t say it – don’t say that word. Not yet.

What sun comes up today is not the sunrise of Easter. It is preliminary, a foretaste of things to come, a hint of what has to happen. For this is the story: that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified, died, and was buried – but it is not the end of the story.

For Jesus it was the end but it was the beginning of new life – for us, for him, for all people. For what he gave to us, in dying, was a place in his kingdom.

In dying he gave us life; he set us free. Like Barabbas we were under condemnation – bound to die. But Jesus stood there and took it. He took on himself our burdens and sins.

Quite how he did it we try to explain – we are full of theories; we call it Atonement. What we know is that through his life and death – his sacrifice of himself – we were made at one with God – reconciled – made right. In ourselves we feel unworthy; we are made worthy in him, through him, and with him to approach the throne of grace.

The throne where we find, seated at the right hand of the father, a friend.

He gave us the dignity of human persons, once lost, now set right before God – and therefore free. No human constraint, no ruler nor principality nor power of this world, can come between us and our God – and the place Jesus won for us and gives us, undeserved free gift, in heaven.

His kingdom is coming, and now is, as we take hold of the awesome fact – God gave his Son that all who believe in him, who trust in him, will find in him, as they dwell in him, everlasting life.

This is redeemed life that begins now – that does not wait – but is already present.

This day of all days as we move from the triumphant procession of the people – waving palms and singing, Hosanna, Son of David, at last he is here, come to set his people free,

This day that continues through plots and scheming, confusion and frustration, betrayal and sorrow, warnings and celebrations,

This day that we come at last to the Cross – and the Tomb;

This day there is too much going on.

How could we be ready? How could we be ready – to open our hearts, to receive the savior, to turn to him who is life?

How could we be ready for what happens?

The one who is our hope, the one who brings us life – must first encounter death – in obedience surrender himself to the guards, endure interrogation and torture, and at the last through wood and nails, suffer execution by the cruel engine of crucifixion.

Only then, after that, through that, not avoiding it is new life won.

It does not look like it now, as the stone is rolled against the tomb, and the soldiers’ guard is set, and the women watch – and wait.

And so we sing songs that are not Alleluia.

Not yet.

[But something new is on the way … Something new is coming: how can we be ready to receive it?]

Lord, you give us life, you give us love, you give us yourself: help us to give our lives, our love, our selves to you; through Jesus Christ who died and rose again for us and who lives with you and the Holy Spirit in everlasting light. Amen.

[Jesus is like Moses in that way: leading the people of Israel, soldiers on their heels, to the edge of the red sea; something held those soldiers back. And in Jesus plunged, passing through the midst of the waters, immersed as in baptism, not going back, not back to the old life of bondage to sin, but through and on to the further shore – and he guides us across the flood tide of life’s fortunes and failings, to our own liberation.]

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To Tara Ward I owe the phrase "songs that are not 'Alleluia'" - and I look forward to seeing her use it in a quite different context.

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A Thin Place

2011-04-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

A long time ago driving down the California coast I found myself looking at a long stretch of sand, rocks, waves, and mountains. And I said: I could look at this all day. A year later I was doing just that – a mile up the hill, at a monastic retreat house. It was an opportunity for rest and renewal, for silence, solitude, and contemplation.

It was there I found a ‘thin place’ – a place where the membrane was perceptibly permeable between the world of sensory input and the world of the Spirit. You could say, I was in a place where I was able to become aware of that thin veil.

The thin place I found there is before an altar – with a great skylight above it pouring down illumination on us as we gathered for Eucharist. And as we sat in meditation, the silence was vibrant.

The air was filtered with light. We could stay there as long as we liked.

At night the space was silent and dark, lit only by an altar lamp and a candle burning by an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

You could sing good-night to her, after Compline. Follow the monks as they singled out, and sing.

At midnight on New Year’s Eve we rang in the new year with the rosary. I built a fire in my cell, in the big patent stove. As the flames roared, old journals seemed ready to burn, old memories ready to become incense.

Something stirred there that was becoming, coming into being more fully, with each moment of prayer.

I go back to that thin place periodically, on retreat. I like to stop on the way and touch bases at other places that speak to me – an old general store with a pot-bellied stove, a rocky outreach into the ocean, and a place of pines and quiet.

But of course we cannot always go back – we never really do go back – but we can visit the sacred again in new places, or old.

One of the most prominent and convenient places to visit the sacred is in the Eucharist. Eucharist is a thin place we make for each other in the intention and the quiet, the prayer and the movement and the stillness, as we come together to hear the Word and remember the gift – and share it, and be still, and know our God is present.

This is the blessing – God is here. God is here.

And we go forth transformed – from thin place and Eucharist. Gradually we learn – the thin place is everywhere. Everywhere the heart is open and God can come. And he will dwell in us; and we in him.

Be peaceful. Be at home. Find the place in your heart where Spirit can breathe, Word can speak, and Creator make new.

Be blessed in the bread and in the stillness. Carry that peace with you – know it is always there, waiting for you. If only behind a veil, God is here.

Peace.

JRL+

The Raising of Lazarus

2011-04-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

After the raising of Lazarus Jesus was clearly a dangerous man.

As Bishop Sutton put it, when dead people don’t stay dead the world is unstable. Anything is possible. I may have responsibility to create new possibility.

After Lazarus Jesus is clearly a dangerous man.

But surely he cannot raise himself! The Sanhedrin met late into the night.

What then to do about Jesus of Nazareth?

He is calling us to repent – to change the direction in which we search for happiness.

We may be comfortable with the rulers of the world. We may have worked hard for an accommodation. This will make it impossible to continue!

Caiaphas said unto them, Ye know nothing at all. Do you not see that it is expedient that one man die for the nation rather than the whole nation should perish?

These were priestly words, prophetic words. Soon enough they were to be proved true, just not in the way Caiaphas had meant them. The Temple would be torn down, and all would be swept away of the Sanhedrin and its rule. And someday, Rome too would go.

They were faced with a problem. And they began to see their way to a total solution.

Others since have faced the dilemma of death and resurrection. Over the years of the war and even in the decades preceding it, a pastor in Nazi Germany struggled with the question. What should I do – what should we do – what should the church become – in the face of massive, industrial, institutional evil?

He thought resistance would be enough – nonviolence would be enough. He organized a community, along the lines of an Anglican monastery or (more fancifully) Gandhi’s ashram – a community of believers whose life together was a beacon of peace and a training ground for the future church. But that future would not be a future in which his church could fit. Not as it was. He came to see that. And so – he accepted the change.

What happens?

The raising of Lazarus prefigures the death and resurrection of Christ. It is a sign that points to the working of God’s power in the world. The miracles of Jesus, these wonders he works in the world, are signs pointing to God’s promise of eternal life realized now. Not far away or long, long ago but here and now, among us: God is with us. Eternal life – everlasting life – begins. A new order of the ages now begins – with us. Today, if you like – and yesterday and today and for ever.

That is because repentance, turning toward Christ, a change in direction as we seek for happiness, is to be raised up with Christ – not just once, one day, in a lifetime, but every day, every hour, every minute, every decade. Each moment can be a moment of decision, of discernment. What is God’s call for me now? In this how am I called to be a Christian? How are we called to be Church? How are we called to be the people of God here, now?

Repentance – the essence of Lent, the pre-requisite for reconciliation, the stuff of new birth – means re-orienting from the world darkness to the light of the world, to Christ.

It happens every day. Are we part of it? That is our call and our challenge.

Let’s hear a bit more about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a young man, a pastor, teacher, and theologian, when the National Socialist Party took power in his native country, his beloved Germany. He gave a speech on Radio Berlin the day after Hitler became Reichschancellor, to remind the Führer – the Leader – that his power was relational, contingent, limited. For some reason the broadcast was cut off.   And eventually he came to a strange decision – that loyalty to Germany and loyalty to God required of him a profound disloyalty to the state, as then constituted. Bonhoeffer joined a conspiracy to prepare for the end of the Nazi regime - and to work for that goal. They even were involved - somewhat tangentially - in an elaborate plot to kill Hitler.

It was a difficult and controversial choice to make - one we still wonder about.

No other loyalty finally mattered before allegiance to God and all other loyalties were questioned in light of the Gospel.

For to live is Christ: to die is gain. What does that require?

What is required of you, O Mortal, but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?   To do justice to the God-news calling – but how?

Each of us in each part of our lives, and all of us in our life together, face this question.

What happened to Lazarus was a prefigurement, a foretaste, of what was to come. It was a sign of what was about to happen. It did not in itself change the world. What it did was point to what was really significant - the God-action in the world fulfilling his promise.

What was about to happen would change everything forever.

The life-giving action of God calls forth faith, in Mary and Martha, in the disciples, in us.

What was about to happen was the light of the world shining brightly - the glory of God being revealed - the life source of love pouring itself out for the redemption of the world - that all who believe in him should not die for ever but should have everlasting life.

I AM the resurrection and the life - do you believe this?

Yes, Lord, she said, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, who will carry all things to completion in the last day.

That day is here. That time is now.

And she came, and saw, and believed.

At the tomb of Lazarus death was denied for a time.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer received a sentence of death - and an offer to escape. But he realized that, take it or not, that offer was only a reprieve. Death would be denied for a time. For death to be defeated would require something more. Something essential would be torn away, would be lost forever, would be changed completely. And not by his doing either.

It would be the Cross - the Cross of Christ - carried and borne and suffered on Calvary - that would redeem and save the world - and in that death, that tomb, death defeated forever.

How are we to deny the one who died for us? How are we to accept his gift of life for us?

We are to receive, in this moment of decision, a change - a chance for life to begin anew - and it will require of us not less than everything, as God gave us not less than everything.

Those were heroic times, dangerous times. The times of Nazi Germany, the time of Jesus. But what about us? What about our time, our lives? How shall we now live?

We may seek what is expedient, convenient, useful - as Caiaphas did - we may seek a partial solution, a temporary fix - or we may seek the kingdom of God. What does it mean to us as a church to follow Jesus? To be open to change, in our lives, our hearts, our actions, our behaviors? What we give up and what we gain, by accepting Christ as Lord?

It may mean some simple things - some day to day things - for the decision to follow Jesus is one that happens any moment. It may mean discernment - choosing life - in little ways. It may mean a new attitude toward what we possess, hold dear, cling to - for life.

We may be clinging to something we need to release, let go of, in our search for Christ. Favorite behaviors, activities, choices, preferences, - little things, loved things, favorites - may gladly go by the wayside. This can happen when we follow Christ to life, for life.

For life to begin anew in our hearts may mean every thing, little or big, seems reoriented, redirected, as we change the direction in which we search for happiness: as we repent.

Repent and turn to the Lord. That is the prophets’ call to us. That is the Savior’s gift. That is the invitation of the Holy Spirit. That is redemption, and the new beginning of life.

Together we seek that new life in the name of Christ. It is not easy, it is not ‘safe’ - not in the world’s way of safety, not a contingent, part-time kind of security, but a full, forever, and total gift. The one who gave us life, the one who redeems our lives, is the one who is with us in our lives, coming with us as we journey through the wilderness of this world to the ultimate home, where we become most truly ourselves, as we live into his kingdom.

May we live in Christ, and may Jesus live in our hearts, forever.

In the name of God, source of all being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Rt. Rev. Eugene Sutton, remarks at clergy conference, Alderbrook, Union, WA: Tuesday 5 April 2011.

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Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The Beginning of Life

2011-04-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

The Beginning of Life: Dietrich Bonhoeffer (February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945)

“Hitler executed almost five thousand people after the failure of Operation Valkyrie, the July 20, 1944, assassination plot led by Claus von Stauffenberg.” (The New Yorker, March 14, 2011, p. 71)

Among them was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a gentle, patient, pious martyr to his faith. What set him apart among his fellow prisoners was his continued good cheer and faithful patience, his ongoing witness to the truth and love of Christ, and his willingness to serve.

In his last known words, he sent a message: “This is the end – for me, the beginning of life.”

At that moment of so frequent desperation he claimed for himself the promise of eternity, the hope of the resurrection. “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Even in the extremity of his last days he was calm, a prayerful pastor with a peaceful voice. That voice had not always been peaceable: he had called on his fellow Christians to live the truth of the Gospel even when it required of them the sacrifice of their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

His sacrifices included his own ideal of pacifism – for he had come to believe it was necessary for some, in that extreme crisis, to give up even that integrity of morals, for the sake of those who would be saved – and so he joined the conspirators who plotted to kill the Führer (Leader) of their own nation.

In Life Together (1939) he asked what it meant to be called into life together under the Word – the word that was in the beginning, the word that was with God, the word that is divine: Jesus, in other words. How do we live under him, under his mercy, his grace, and his sovereignty?

How do we live our lives individually, communally, socially, and globally, under that word? And what can we do, practically, to live as Jesus’ people?

Who is Christ for us today? How are we to live, now, knowing of the infinite mercy of God? Can we give up everything but life in God?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a teacher and pastor. Most of his life, except for brief sojourns in Barcelona, New York, London, he spent – spent fully – in his native Germany. He grew up in a gentle, aristocratic world, but as he reached full adulthood the political landscape in his home country changed. One would be tempted to say it changed unrecognizably – except that Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others came to see in it the face of evil. So they sought more fervently for the face of Christ.

They found it in service – and they found it in each other. Some of them found it, briefly, in the extraordinary gift of community.

In the Confessing Church seminary he led at Finkenwalde, Bonhoeffer gathered a group of dedicated young men, who prepared together, through prayer and study, for service to a beleaguered world. (Life Together was a product of that experiment in intentional community.) It was a seminary ‘on the run’. As it had to be, the seminary community was both settled into place and ready to move – the seminarian was monk and pilgrim at once.

The government shut it down in one place and it popped up in another, for awhile. (My friend and seminary neighbor Beni Witbooi taught in a similarly nomadic – and prophetic – school of theology under the apartheid regime in South Africa.)

Being a people of God on the move essentially is not a new idea.

Look at Moses, who led the children of Israel out of Egypt. A fugitive from Pharaoh, he fetched up at a well in Midian, became a shepherd, learned to find pathways and waterholes in the wilderness, and then returned to the place of danger to lead his people to a life of freedom. He went to the mountaintop and he saw the Promised Land. He did not get there with them, but he saw where it awaited them.

So it was for Bonhoeffer; so it is for many. We may be blessed to see the whole journey, the soul’s progress from exile to freedom; we may only see a part. But we know in Christ’s mercy that the Liberator, the Shepherd good and true, will at last and always, as he already has, break through the bonds of sin and lead us to grace.

May we, whatever we do together to live under that Word which is love and light and life, act in the name of Christ and dwell in the security of knowing we are know by him whose name is above all other names and who calls each of us by our true names into our true identity: Beloved, children of God.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:21)

The Lessons Appointed for Use on April 9, the Feast of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Theologian and Martyr, 1945: Proverbs 3:1-7, Psalm 119:89-96, Matthew 13:47-52

The Collect

Gracious God, the Beyond in the midst of our life, you gave grace to your servant Dietrich Bonhoeffer to know and to teach the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, and to bear the cost of following him; Grant that we, strengthened by his teaching and example, may receive your word and embrace its call with an undivided heart; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

JRL+

For the Gospel Grapevine (April 2011), parish newsletter of St Alban's Episcopal Church, Edmonds, Wash.

http://stalbansedmonds.org

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most pure water

2011-04-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

Thy word is 'a fountain of most pure water springing up unto everlasting life.' (Myles Smith, preface, King James Bible)

Spring up in me, O Jesus; that I may know you by your word, and by your work in me reveal your glory to the world.

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giving up over-scheduling for Lent

2011-04-09T08:11:00.001-07:00

What I seem to have given up for Lent is over-scheduling ... with the parish treasurer, the head of Episcopal Church Women, the parish lectionary study group, et alia, weighing in with encouragement.

We had a different kind of Lenten program this year - with lay leadership.

On Sunday mornings we have an able teacher leading group discussion based on Exodus - and "Forward to Freedom", David Adam's meditations on the 40 days (and 40 years) of the journey from bondage to freedom, exile to promise, despair to hope, sorrow to joy.

And on Wednesday evenings we have musicians and a monastic leading us in prayer a la Taizé ... following a simple soup supper potluck we gather in the church sanctuary for a candle-lit icon-rich half-hour with songs, prayers, scriptures, and silence.

What we have given up is "Too Much Information" - with cognitive overload spilling down to us from internet, cable, tube, and paper sources.... it was time to give it a rest.

And rest in silence.

And sacred space.

And ... maybe have some lasting results. Give up over-scheduling for Easter? Pentecost? ... and taking on some new discipline of silence and prayer ...

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Easter Letter 2011

2011-04-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

Alive!
He is not here;
for he has been raised.
- Matthew 28:6

The women had some terrific news — awe inspiring, terrifying, wonderful, splendid, exceedingly good news.

“So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.” (Matthew 28.8)

They ran with it - fear and awe and joy mixed in their faces. And they went to the disciples, the followers of Jesus, to give them the best news they could ever hear:

‘He has been raised from the dead!’

Alive! The one they followed, the one they loved, the one they had mourned and lost - Jesus, who was crucified, Jesus, who had died, Jesus, the one in whom all their hopes had been laid to rest - he was alive.

How could this be? Something that shook the world had happened.

God had triumphed over death. Through the very death of the one they called the Messiah, the Christ, death had been conquered.

How could this be? What does it mean for us?

That is the end of the beginning of the story — the story that begins, oh, long before Christmas, the story that carries through the life of Jesus, and through the dramatic events of Holy Week.

It is the story of the love of God for humankind, and of our response, and our call to be with God as the people of God. It is the story of the joy of life – the invitation to life in abundance, in Christ.

It is the story that continues today…

Come share with us in this celebration. Come explore the good news – and its meaning for us.

Come join with us in the great events and celebrations of Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter.

Come be welcomed — and welcome others — into the joyful abundant life we share in Christ.

For St. Alban’s people, faithfully yours,

Fr. John

The Rev. John Leech
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
21405 82nd Place West
Edmonds, Washington 98026
http://stalbansedmonds.org/
stalbansedmonds@gmail.com
425-778-0371

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the man born blind

2011-04-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

Jesus spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.

In the name of God, Father, source of all being, Son, eternal Word, and holy Spirit.

What would it be like to be blind from birth? What would it be like to know you would never know the world as others knew it?

What you knew was what you could touch and smell and taste, the feel of wind on your face or rain or sun, the smell of sweat or dung or sweet clover, the taste of - infamy. For many thought that the sins of his parents had been punished by his affliction.

Jesus would have none of it.

Jesus spit. Jesus spit in the dirt.

And he made mud. He made soil - clay - earth. Out of the dust he fashioned something new that had never been in the world.

As in Genesis when God formed a man out of the dust of the earth now something new was being created.

This man - this one - was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.

God will be glorified in this: the action that Jesus takes now.

Jesus took the mud he had made from earth and spit and smeared it across the eyes of the man born blind. Hold still.

And he told him, now go - and wash in the pool of Siloam. So the man went and washed - and he came back, seeing.

He did not see Jesus.

He saw his neighbors - who could not believe their eyes. Is it him? Sure it is. No it cannot be.

So they called in the experts.

The Pharisees.

And these Pharisees were more concerned with keeping the sabbath than with the giving of sight to the blind.

Not restoring sight, mind - giving it for the first time.

But he made something - mud - on the Sabbath. That's work! He broke the Sabbath. A ha!

What do you say about him? You are the one he made to see.

He is a prophet of God.

Get his parents.

Yes, he is our son - but how it is he can now see we do not know.

They did not want to be ostracized - shunned - thrown out of the synagogue.

And so they stuck to what they knew - only what they knew - and did not stick their necks out. Not even for their own son.

Okay, come clean with us. How did this happen? They confronted the man.

Come clean now. Tell the truth. Give glory to God.

You know he's a sinner -

- I don't know that.

One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.

What did he do? How did he do it?

He is getting a little tired of this. Why do you keep asking me these questions? Do you want to become his followers?

Now that was a little - cocky?

They dismiss him: you were born entirely in sin!

And they throw him out - out of the synagogue, out of the community.

At this point he has nothing left - nothing left of his old life. Neighbors, parents, community - all gone.

One person is left - if he knew where he was. But he has only heard his voice. He has never seen him.

Jesus seeks him out - and finds him.

Do you believe in the Son of Man?

Who is he? Tell me, that I may believe.

The one who is speaking to you now - the one you have seen already - he is the one.

Lord, I believe.

The man called Jesus, the prophet, a man sent from God, is now before him: and he knows who he is.

It is the Lord.

And he worshiped him.

His old life is gone.

His new life has begun.

Jesus explains what has happened. First he says that he has, through his actions and his being, brought judgment to the world.

Those who do not see may see; those who do see may become blind.

It certainly seems so; for the man born blind sees who Jesus is - and the experts miss it entirely. In fact they reject the truth.

And it is there before their eyes. It is Jesus.

Jesus goes on to explain:

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. They hear my voice and they follow me.

Come follow me.

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What shall we do with this invitation? We have watched as one man, born blind, lived into full recognition of the one he was dealing with. At first only a voice and a healing touch - he heard it was 'the man called Jesus' - soon his own bearing witness bears fruit in continuing recognition and growth in understanding.

He is a prophet. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.

Who is the Son of Man that I may believe in him? Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him.

We have seen this progression - and the falling away of all earthly supports as the man turned and worshipped the one who had sought him out and given him sight, sought him out again, and given him - insight, salvation, life.

In him was light and life and love - from the foundation of the world to its fulfillment, this is the one who gives those things.

And he stood before him, and then worshiped him.

What are we to do?

How are we 'born blind'?

It is not an affliction to punish us for our sins or those of our parents - so don't beat yourself up - but it is an occasion for God to reveal his glory.

What is it that we are not seeing? Is there something we are sensing, or hearing about? Is there someone seeking us out?

How shall we be ready? And do we want it?

Open our eyes, that we may see - and seeing, believe;
and believing, worship - and worshiping, follow.

Give glory to God - tell the truth. Come clean. He is the savior of the world.

And he is the good shepherd. The one who calls out to us by name, who knows us - and we know him.

And he calls us forth -

- where are we to go, if not to follow him?

Who is going to feed us, if not him? Who protect us, if not him?

Who lead us to shelter? Who provide for all our needs?

But the Lord is our shepherd.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd *
therefore can I lack nothing.
He shall feed me in a green pasture *
and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.
He shall convert my soul *
and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness, for his Name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death , I will fear no evil *
for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me.
Thou shalt prepare a table before me against them that trouble me *
thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full.
But thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life *
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

[Book of Common Prayer, 1662]

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Lord, open our eyes to your presence,
open our ears to your call,
open our hearts to your love;
that we might give ourselves to you
and walk before you as children of light;
through him who is the Light of the World,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[David Adam, Clouds and Glory (SPCK, 2000) p. 51.]

Thy word is 'a fountain of most pure water springing up unto everlasting life.' (Myles Smith, preface, King James Bible)

Spring up in me, O Jesus; that I may know you by your word, and by your work in me reveal your glory to the world.

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prayer for today

2011-04-02T21:45:00.000-07:00

May God who gives grace to us
give us grace to give others

may God who is merciful to us and kind
bring kindness and generosity into our lives
that we may share the abundant love
of Christ with those around us

May we, seeking to do your will,
find it in serving you; in seeking
you to serve you; & find you in the
face of others, friend and stranger

May we, serving you in
others, find ourselves at home; and
find our home in you.

Amen.

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the woman at the well

2011-03-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

When Sarah and I were living in Tucson I got interested in the idea of digging a well. We had city water; it was okay; we had to pay for it; everybody did. But I wondered - what if we had our own well? We could have all the water we wanted - drawn from the common aquifer, to tell the truth - without having to pay the city for delivering it. So I called a well driller - and he told me to forget about it. He knew where we lived - and knew it would be hundreds of feet through rock, busted up rock but still difficult to penetrate. He would have had to use special equipment, which he didn't even have. Just forget about it - it's not worth it.

The Samaritan woman did not have this problem. Centuries and centuries ago the land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph had a well on it - somebody had dug down, maybe 130 feet or so, to the aquifer, the place in the earth where the water always (or almost always) flowed. The water that trickled down from the mountain, feeding underground streams or seeps, would give you what you needed - if you dug down to it.

And then they had put up a little wall around it, probably, just like in the movies - or the cartoons. The well was there, ready to use, for all the people of the city of Sychar. And out from that city walked a woman of the town, at the sixth hour of the day.

All she had to do was bring a bucket, and a rope, and let the bucket down, and draw up the water she needed for the day.

It was noon, strangely enough, and she was probably expecting to be alone when she got there to the well. But there was a man there, a stranger, and he asked her to give him a drink.

What are you doing? She said. You, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan (and a woman too), for a drink?

Don't you know we have nothing to do with each other? Don't you know that you Jews consider a drinking vessel that Samaritans have touched to be unclean?

If you knew the one who was speaking to you, he replied, you would be asking him for water.

What? Do you have some source I do not know about? Some source someplace I cannot see?

For he was promising living water - the kind you get from a river or a spring - flowing water, running water, living water, not the still water you would draw from a well.

It is so different it is like the difference between a cistern and a rain shower.

You want this living water. So did she. And so she asked.

And he gave her a strange answer.

You will thirst again, however often you draw water from this well. But if you drink the cup I am offering you, you will never be thirsty again.

It will rise up in you like a fountain, a spring, flowing forth from your own heart, forever.

Give me this water! I don't want to come back here again. I never want to be thirsty again.

Reality check: Go call your husband and come back.

I have no husband, she says.

True enough - you have had five (no reason given) and the one you are with now is not your husband.

Sir I perceive that you are a prophet.

(Compliment followed by obfuscation - change the subject quick!)

We worship on this mountain (where the water for the well comes from, by the way) but you worship in Jerusalem (on the mountain of David, the height called Zion).

The place where people must worship - he sweeps it aside. Soon and even now comes the hour when you will worship neither here nor there - it won't matter.

The true worship takes place in the heart - you will worship in spirit and in truth.

For God is spirit;

and the thin places - the holy places where the membrane between this world and the next is permeable, the threshold places where you can step across from mundane reality to the realm of spirit,

those places will be everywhere, in every heart.

They always have been, you know.

Do you think it mattered where God placed the burning bush? Do you think it mattered which rock Moses struck? There in the desert were thousands and thousands of rocks.

And God stood on every one of them, if you could see.

It was faith and obedience, trust and hope, which made Moses strike the rock.

And it was God who gave the water, the living water, that quenched the thirst (and quelled the anger) of the children of Israel, of Jacob, the children of that same man who gave you, Samaritan woman, the well you are drawing from today.

It was God who gave the water - to Jacob's children, the children of Israel, then and now.

Jacob himself encountered the living God on the bank of the river Jordan - and with the man, the strange man, he wrestled until daylight.

Now this woman wants to tussle with words, with the living God. But Jesus will have none of it.

And she listens to him - and - I know the Messiah is coming, she says. And he will tell us everything. He will proclaim everything. His word will be a living word.

He responds, "I am he" - but the Greek says more than this, in fewer words.

He says, ego eimi - "I am."

I AM says Jesus - I AM as the Lord said to Moses at the burning bush, so Jesus now says to this woman: I AM the one who is sent to proclaim all things.

At that moment the disciples came and broke up the party. She slipped away, back to the city.

Go and call your husband and come back, he had said. And she had replied, I have no husband.

So now she does go - and calls the whole city to come back with her and meet this extraordinary man, this stranger who had asked her for a drink, this prophet who had told her everything she had done. Could this be the Messiah?

Could it be true? Maybe he does have water to give us so that we may never thirst again.

He is the living one, the fount of all blessing - and from the rock and from the well and from the cistern and from the river flow forth the waters of God, the waters of forgiveness, the waters of salvation.

She will never again be thirsty.

She will never again be able to hide - "what you say is true - you have no husband" - but she never wants to. Never again.

For she has found the fount of living water, flowing up from within herself, as she, in the encounter with the stranger, gave him who was thirsty water to drink.

"When I was thirsty, you gave me drink."

When did we see Jesus thirsty and give him a drink? When was he the stranger, waiting at the well in the middle of the day, tired and hungry and dry in the throat? When we saw the least of these - the least of God's children - and treated them with the mercy and hospitality of the living Christ: as if they were he and we were his people, following him, proclaiming his kingdom, come in our actions, proclaimed and made to be.

May we let the water flow

Flow in us

Living water

Refresh our souls

that we ourselves

may refresh others

with the living truth

of your love.

Amen.

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