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    • Sunday service - Holy Communion April 2, 2023 at 9:30 am – 11:00 am Grace Church 215 Pleasant Street, Sheldon, VT Website: www.gracechurchsheldon.orgTime:  09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)        Every week on Sun.Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83929911344?pwd=alZQTWZMN0ZkWFFPS1hmNjNkZkU2UT09Meeting ID: 839 2991 1344Password: Call for detailsOne tap mobile+13126266799,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (Chicago)+19294362866,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (New York)Dial by your location        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)        +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)Meeting ID:…
    • Sunday service - Holy Communion April 9, 2023 at 9:30 am – 11:00 am Grace Church 215 Pleasant Street, Sheldon, VT Website: www.gracechurchsheldon.orgTime:  09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)        Every week on Sun.Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83929911344?pwd=alZQTWZMN0ZkWFFPS1hmNjNkZkU2UT09Meeting ID: 839 2991 1344Password: Call for detailsOne tap mobile+13126266799,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (Chicago)+19294362866,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (New York)Dial by your location        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)        +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)Meeting ID:…
    • Sunday service - Holy Communion April 16, 2023 at 9:30 am – 11:00 am Grace Church 215 Pleasant Street, Sheldon, VT Website: www.gracechurchsheldon.orgTime:  09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)        Every week on Sun.Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83929911344?pwd=alZQTWZMN0ZkWFFPS1hmNjNkZkU2UT09Meeting ID: 839 2991 1344Password: Call for detailsOne tap mobile+13126266799,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (Chicago)+19294362866,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (New York)Dial by your location        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)        +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)Meeting ID:…

Easter 3A April 26, 2020

Posted on April 26, 2020 by Beth Crane

Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17
1 Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35

Our opening reading today is a continuation of Peter’s sermon on Pentecost. Peter shares the good news abut Jesus in such a powerful way that three thousand people are baptized.

Our second reading is from the First Letter of Peter. This letter was written to followers of Jesus who were being persecuted. Peter calls them to “live in reverent fear during the time of your exile.” The word “fear” in this passage can be described as awe at God’s ability to carry us though difficult experiences, indeed God’s ability to bring life out of death. (Beverly Gaventa, Texts for Preaching Year B, p. 278.) 

As we have noted previously, and as Bishop Shannon has said, we who are living in this era of Covid 19, can feel as though we are in exile. We can identify with God’s people who were exiled in Babylon and we can also identify with the followers of Jesus who had to hide from the Roman authorities during times of persecution. Peter tells them and us, “Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew…..”

Our gospel for today is one of the most beloved inspiring, and moving passages in the Bible, the account of the journey of two followers of Jesus on the road to Emmaus. It is later in the day on the first Easter. Two followers of our Lord are walking on the road, talking about everything that has happened. They are sad and confused.

Suddenly, there is someone walking with them. They do not recognize him. They go on talking intensely, trying to figure out what has happened. They know that Jesus has died. There are rumors of something else, but they are not sure what to make of them. The stranger walks with them. Finally he asks them what they are talking about. They stop walking, and the profound sadness and grief shows on their faces. They can’t believe that this man is asking them what they are discussing.

Finally, Cleopas says, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He is a follower of Jesus and he is calling Jesus a stranger. We see this in all the accounts of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. Jesus somehow looks different. People do not recognize him.

Jesus asks, “What things?” Cleopas answers and gives Jesus a summary of the whole story. Then he goes to the root of the issue. “Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.” And Cleopas reports that some of the others went to the tomb, but they did not see Jesus.

Then Jesus, still not revealing his identity, recounts the whole teaching of the prophets abut the messiah. They still do not realize who he is.

They come near to their home and he begins to walk ahead as if to continue his journey, but they urge him to come in. They still do not recognize him, but they are extending hospitality to this stranger.

When they are finally sitting at the table and he takes the bread and blesses it, they finally realize who he is. Then they become aware that, as he taught them, their hearts burned within them. For those who had seen the horror of the cross, it was so difficult to recognize the risen Jesus when he appeared to them. 

Right away, these two followers of Jesus rush back to Jerusalem as fast as their legs can carry them. They go to the house where the apostles are staying. When they go into the room, they hear the others saying that Jesus is alive and he has appeared to Peter. They tell the others about their encounter with the risen Lord. He is appearing to folks here and there. The word is spreading. Jesus is alive! He has been through the worst that anyone could have to endure, and he has come out the other side. He has defeated death in all its forms. 

This powerful encounter of two faithful and devastated followers of Jesus with their risen Lord gives us hope. Have you ever been walking along your journey, perhaps in a time of great defeat, disappointment, and sadness, and felt Jesus silently falling into step with you and helping you along the way? Have you ever felt the presence of Jesus when you were struggling with a problem that seemed too complicated to solve? I think many of us have felt his presence in many different kinds of moments. His loving presence, leading and guiding us.

There is a bittersweet side to this beautiful gospel story for us in this time of social distancing. The way he gave us to call him into our midst, the way we have to celebrate his presence with us most clearly and powerfully is the Eucharist, meaning Thanksgiving. And we cannot gather and celebrate Holy Eucharist at this time.

Here, in the midst of the Great Fifty Days of Easter, this is a sad fact that we have to deal with. When we get back to Grace Church and share our first Eucharist, that will be a happy day indeed. 

Meanwhile, we need to remember that, although the Holy Eucharist is a wonderful and special way to celebrate the presence of Jesus among us, it is by no means the only way. We must remember that he said, “When two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them.” He is with us now. He is with each of us in every moment of our lives.

Like the faithful people whom Peter was addressing in his letter, we are called to “love one another deeply from the heart.” We are also called to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Let us continue to follow the science. Let us work and pray for accurate and widely distributed testing for both they disease and the antibodies. Let us also pray for continuing development of contact tracing, effective treatments and vaccines. In the words of our collect, let us pray “that we may behold [our Lord] in all his redeeming work,” especially in the work of our medical folks, scientists, essential workers, first responders, food shelf volunteers, and all who are showing forth his love in this time when his love is so profoundly needed. Amen.

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Easter 2A April 19, 2020

Posted on April 19, 2020 by Beth Crane

Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 16
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31

This is the Second Sunday of Easter. The Easter season goes from Easter Sunday until the Day of Pentecost. We often call this period the Great Fifty Days of Easter, to remind ourselves that this is a long season full of joy and culminating in the coming of the Holy Spirit.

During the Easter season, all  of our readings are from the Greek Scriptures, the New Testament. This is another way to remind ourselves that we are an Easter people. And we say Alleluia! often during this season.

Our first reading today is Peter’s sermon on the first Pentecost. Peter proclaims the Good News of Jesus to the crowd which has just witnessed the flames dancing over the heads of the apostles as they share the love of Jesus in all the known languages of the world. Our  second reading, from the First Letter of Peter, is a song of praise to God, “who has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Peter writes, “Although you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him.”

And then we have our gospel. Every year, on the Second Sunday of Easter, we read this wonderful lesson from the gospel of John. The disciples have not yet left for Galilee. They are in the room where they had been staying. Only Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” have actually seen Jesus. Peter and John have gone to the empty tomb, but they have not seen the risen Lord.

It is the evening of that first Easter. They have locked the doors for fear of the authorities. We can understand why they have done this, They are terrified. They remember the rigged trial, the whipping, the crown of thorns, the taunts, the mob yelling for him to be crucified, and the horror of the crucifixion itself. Only Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” have actually seen the risen Jesus. The disciples know what the Roman Empire can do, They know what the religious authorities can do. They have heard that Jesus is risen, but only two of them have actually seen him. There is every reason to fear.

Suddenly, silently, he is in their midst. He walks through the walls and locks that fear has put in place. “Peace be with you,” he says. He brings them his shalom, the peace of his kingdom. He shows them his wounds. Jesus lovingly moves through all the barriers we humans create. Now he appears in this room filled with terrified disciples and fills the space with his peace, his love, his healing, his forgiveness. And he gives his followers the ministry of reconciliation. Peace, shalom, he says, and calls us to build his kingdom of love and harmony. He fills their hearts and minds with his presence, Now they realize what has happened. He is alive!

Thomas is not there that first time. The disciples tell him, “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas needs to see the risen Lord for himself. As Herbert O’Driscoll points out, Thomas has given his heart and life to Jesus, and now all he knows is that Jesus is dead. 

A week later, Jesus comes a second time to convince Thomas of the truth. Thomas does not even have to touch our Lord’s wounds. He bursts out in a hymn of praise, “My Lord and my God!”

Now, over two thousand years later, we are gathered, not in a room or a church building, but in our own homes and on Zoom. Last Sunday, Andy rang the bell at Grace Church, and Deb Peloubet let us know that indeed the bell had rung to proclaim our Easter joy. Now, we have gathered again. As the old song says, “We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord.”

During this pandemic, we are no strangers to fear. Fear is all around us. Death and disease are all around us. In a profound way, this pandemic is almost more scary than the Roman Empire. It has moved across the earth in only a few months, infected 2.25 million people and killed 158,000 people.

It would not take much for us to be filled with fear in the way that Jesus’ followers were as they locked themselves in that room. We can understand Thomas. He wanted the facts. So do we. We want to follow the science. We want to be sure to develop adequate testing both for the presence of this powerful virus and for the antibodies which it leaves once a person recovers. And we want to find treatments. And we want to discover a vaccine that will protect people against this New Corona Virus, Covid 19. We are very much like Thomas.

We know we cannot give way to fear. We also know that we cannot take this virus lightly. We have seen too many people congregate on the beaches during Spring Break and carry the virus all over the country. We have seen what happens in states that wait too long to “Stay Home, Stay Safe.” So, we respect this virus. 

And we grieve. We grieve over the deaths of courageous and dedicated doctors, nurses, and other health workers who have given their lives to save others. And we grieve over the deaths of elderly folks in nursing homes and senior housing facilities where the virus has spread so quickly and taken so many lives. We grieve for all who have lost their lives in this pandemic.

We remember the angel who told Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, “Do not be afraid.” And we remember that Jesus told them, “Do not be afraid.” And we look at the risen Jesus through the eyes of Thomas, who would not believe it from others but had to see for himself, and we say, “My Lord and my God!” 

And we remember the words of Peter, the leader of the apostles, the man Jesus named as the rock on whom he would build his Church, the faithful follower of Christ who wrote a letter to inspire the followers of our Lord in the midst of persecution: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Although you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him.”

And finally, we remember the words of our Lord, “Peace be with you.”

A peace so deep and so strong that it goes to the roots of our souls and draws up his living water to sustain us and to make the world new. For the peace which he is giving us is his shalom, his kingdom, his reign of love and wholeness and harmony over the whole wide earth. His kingdom will come. And we are helping him to build that kingdom. Amen.

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Easter Day  April 12, 2020

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Beth Crane

Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1=2. 14-24
Colossians 3:1-4
Matthew 28:11-10

It is dawn. We are going to the tomb together. We have to make sure to get his body to a safe place. It is always better to do these hard things together. 

Suddenly there is a great earthquake. An angel of the Lord catapults from heaven and rolls away that huge stone. We were wondering how we would ever move it. The angel pulsates with light and power. We are terrified.

The first thing he does is to tell us not to be afraid. And then he tells us that Jesus has risen and is going ahead of us to Galilee. We start to run back to tell the others. Never have I felt such fear and yet such deep joy.

Suddenly, right in front of us there he is! Of all things, he says, “Greetings!” as if we had met him on a Sunday stroll in the park. We hug him and tell him how much we love him.

And then he says the same thing the angel said, “Do not be afraid.” Then he tells us to go and tell the others to go to Galilee and we will see him

As we run to tell the others, we’re babbling away, “He’s alive! He was dead. We saw it. But now he is truly alive! We’re going to see him again in Galilee!” We keep saying it over and over until we get to the others. Then we tell them. And then we head to Galilee.

Vermont is a lot like Galilee. Out of the way. Small. Of little account. Away from the centers of power. Sensible. Independent. A place where good ideas can flourish. A place where people take care of each other as our food shelf volunteers are doing so faithfully.

Jesus’ ministry began in Galilee. Galilee was a relatively safe place for Jesus. And that is where he gathered his faithful followers after he had risen. He had a fish fry with them on the beach. He appeared to them here and there until they realized he had conquered death and every kind of brokenness, and that he was alive. He is alive. He called them and he calls us to be his living body here on earth. He calls us to share his love with everyone—his love, his hope, his forgiveness, his healing.

We’re still doing our social distancing and all the other things that our wise leaders and scientists are telling us to do. It’s the only way we can beat this pandemic. When people ask me how I feel in the midst of this, the only word that comes to me is that it is weird. I would love to be with you all and hug each and every one of you. I imagine each of you is feeling the same way.

That can’t happen today. It may take a long while before that can happen. We need to trust the science. Once again, I thank God for Governor Scott and Dr. Levine.

In spite of the pandemic, and social distancing, we are together. Beth and jan have taught us to Zoom, which has been a great help. Even without Zoom or Face Time, we are bound together by his love and his life. We are alive in him. He is alive in us. Nothing can get in the way of his love. Nothing can get in the way of the new life which he gives us every day. 

There are at least two major messages from our gospel today. The first one is, “Do not be afraid.” Both the angel and our Lord remind us of this crucial message. Faith is the other side of fear. Faith is fear that has said its prayers. Our Lord is calling us not to be afraid and to have faith. And the other message is the power of Easter, Nothing can or will ever change the meaning of Easter.  Our Lord has conquered death itself. We are following him We are an Easter people.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia. Amen.

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Good Friday  4/10/2020

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Beth Crane

Good Friday  4/10/2020

Here we are, standing at the foot of the cross with Mary and John and some of the others. It is finished. We are standing here in the midst of a pandemic, what in earlier times would have been called a plague, a plague that is covering the earth with disease and death.

And he has died. He was our great hope, and he has died. Before he gave up his spirit, he turned to John and Mary. To John he said, “This is your mother,” and to Mary he said, “This is your son.”

He formed a new family. And, in our Collect for today we pray, “Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

It is over. He has died a horrible death, the death reserved for the lowest of the low, hardened criminals. He was hardly one of those. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, courageous but hitherto secret disciples, take his body away to give it a loving and reverent burial.

It is over. All hope is gone. Or is it? In her book God in Pain, Barbara Brown Taylor writes concerning the cross, “He took the man-made wreckage of the world inside himself and labored with it—a long labor, almost three days—and he did not let go of it until he could transform it and return it to us as life.”

On Holy Saturday we remember that he descended into hell, descended to the dead, so that every part of the creation, every creature would have the promise, the possibility, of new life in him.

For almost three days he wrestled with it all, the human grasping for power and then abusing that power, the very thing that had killed him; the human wish for power that drives us to conquer each other, to lord it over each other, to kill each other, to torture each other, to sort each other out by race and class so that somebody always ends up on the bottom and we always end up on top.  Every sin, every form of brokenness that kills and destroys all that is good. He takes it all into himself, and, as Taylor says so eloquently and so truthfully, he wrestles with it in the crucible of his love and healing and transforms it into life.

He is doing this while Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus risk their lives asking Pilate for permission to take his cherished body and place it in Joseph’s new tomb. He is doing this while he is lying in that tomb.

As we walk through the rest of the journey to Easter, through the remainder of Good Friday and then Holy Saturday, may we be aware, not only of the horrific death which he endured, but of the power of his love, which is able to labor with every misuse of power, every brokenness which human sin can create, to labor with all of that and transform it into life.  Amen.

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Maundy Thursday—April 9, 2020

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Beth Crane

Maundy Thursday comes from the Latin Mandatum novum, meaning “new commandment.” Jesus said, “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.”

He said the blessings over the bread and wine, “Blessed are you, O God, for you create the fruit of the vine and the fruit of the earth.” blessings they had heard many times before, and then he told them that, when they ate this meal, the bread would be his body and the wine would be his blood, that this meal would  be a special way to call him into their—our—midst.

Most shocking of all, he washed their feet. Peter simply could not stand this. “Lord, you can’t disgrace yourself like this!” But Jesus told him and us that, if we do not let him wash our feet we will have no share in him. We will not be a part of him. We will not be one with him. If we do not let him help us and serve us, we will be putting distance between him and us.

Who ever heard of a king that washes people’s feet? Who ever heard of a king who says, I am among you as one who serves?” No wonder that people in the first century looked at the followers of Jesus and said they were turning the world upside down!

When Peter finally understood, he asked Jesus to wash not only his feet but also his hands and his head. He wanted to be one with Jesus, He wanted to follow Jesus as closely as possible.

Jesus gave us Holy Eucharist as a way to call him into the midst of us, and, except for the first Sunday this Lent, we have been fasting from Holy Communion. After this sermon, we will sing Jesu, Jesu and let him wash our feet in a virtual sense. This can all be quite frustrating.

Yet, maybe, just maybe, we can know, even now, that he is among us and he is serving us and helping us. He is strengthening us. He is feeding us, nourishing us with his presence and his love.

Even in the midst of this strange and unwelcome and tragic fast, in which so many people are dying, in which so many are putting their  lives on the line to save others, will we let him wash us? Will we let him cleanse us of anything that might get in the way of his love for us? Will we let his love and healing wash over us and fill us so that we can serve others in his name? 

Will we become stronger members of his living Body, which is here on earth to share his love with everyone?

“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, that you have love for one another.” Amen.

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Palm Sunday

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 27:11-54

In our opening reading from Isaiah, God’s servant says, “The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.” This word was given to the exiles in Babylon as their hope was ebbing. As Christians, we see Jesus as that servant, who “did not hide [his] face from insult and spitting, who “set [his] face like flint,”went to the cross, and, in the words of Barbara Brown Taylor, “took the man-made wreckage of the world inside himself and labored with it—a long labor, almost three days—and he did not let go of it until he could transform it and return it to us as life.” Taylor, God in Pain, p. 118.

We, too, are in exile. We are all weary with the sickness and death of this pandemic, and we are sustained with the hope of this Good News.

Our epistle for today calls us to “Let the same mind be in [us] that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.” Jesus emptied himself of all power and privilege and became powerless. He was fully human.

This truth may speak to us on a deeper level than ever before, as we are confined to our homes, powerless to go about our daily routines. What do we need to empty ourselves of? In what ways are we always powerless? I find that I have control over very few things, even when there is no pandemic, no “Stay at home. Stay safe” order from the governor. Jesus allowed himself to sink to that human level.

He set his face like flint and went to Jerusalem, he who was and is fully divine and fully human. He was welcomed as a hero, given a ticker tape parade, and in the blink of an eye, thanks to power-hungry leaders, massive corruption, and a bloodthirsty mob, he was dead.

Our epistle calls us to “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,” in other words, to have the mind of Christ.

So, if we are to empty ourselves, maybe God is calling us to empty ourselves of the worry, the anxiety, the pall of gray doom that is hanging over us. If we are to have the mind of Christ, once we empty ourselves of some of those anxieties that weigh us down, perhaps we can let in the love, the life, the compassion, the flinty courage that we find in the mind and heart of Christ. Perhaps we can allow our Lord to begin to fill us with the hope, the healing, the wholeness that our Lord brings to us every day, every moment. Perhaps, as we follow him on the way of the cross, the new life which he gives us every moment will begin to seep into us.

He may have appeared powerless on that cross, but he wasn’t. This year, this Holy Week, we may well come to an even more profound understanding of what he has done for us. We are relatively powerless over many things, actually, most things,  but he is not. He shows us the power of faith, hope, love, and courage. We are following him, and, like the biblical shepherd, he is out in front leading us. Amen.

 

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