Sermons | Grace Episcopal Church (Sheldon, VT)

Easter 5C RCL April 24, 2016

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Beth Crane

Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 148
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35

There are certain events which change the course of history. This is true of the story we read today in our opening lesson. Peter is a faithful Jew. He has followed the Law every day of his life. He has never eaten anything that the Law declares to be unclean.

One day, he goes up to the roof to pray. He is hungry and a meal is being prepared. He has a vision. A large sheet comes down from heaven. On it there are all kinds of foods, some of them forbidden by the dietary laws. A voice, which he takes to be the voice of God, tells him to “Kill and eat.” Three times he refuses, saying that nothing unclean has ever entered his mouth. This happens three times, and Peter refuses three times. But then God tells him that all these foods have been made clean. The sheet is pulled up into heaven.

Then three men come from Caesarea. They have been sent by an angel to go to Joppa, get Peter, and bring him to the home of Cornelius, a Roman citizen and an officer in the Roman army, a centurion, who is a man of faith, not Jewish, but a supporter of the synagogue in his city and a compassionate person who cares about his neighbors.

Cornelius had been praying and an angel came to him and told him to send to Joppa and have Peter come to his house, so Cornelius has sent messengers to fetch Peter. As Peter is finishing his time of prayer, and has just had this vision, the messengers arrive from Cornelius. Meanwhile, Cornelius has gathered all the members of his household, plus many neighbors, to hear Peter’s message.

The next day, Peter and his ministry team go with the messengers to Cornelius’ house. Peter begins to speak about his vision and how he has realized that God shows no partiality. God loves everyone. As he is preaching and teaching, the Holy Spirit falls on these Gentiles. They begin speaking in tongues and praising God, and they are baptized.

The news that these Gentiles have accepted Jesus, have received the Holy Spirit, and have been baptized, reaches the apostles and the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem.

The followers of Jesus up to this point have always assumed that they would continue to be a part of the Jewish faith. They would follow the law and all the observances of their faith but they would also be following Jesus. They assumed that this new faith was open only to Jews.

But now the Holy Spirit has filled these Gentiles and they have been baptized. The apostles and followers of Jesus in Jerusalem want to know how this could have happened. So, Peter is telling the story of how God opened the horizons of his faith. Peter is sharing how God has convinced him that God loves everyone and that faith in God is for everyone. And he says,”If God gave then the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” And the Jerusalem community responds, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

A couple of chapters ago, in Chapter Nine of the Book of Acts, we have the story of Saul, meeting the risen Lord on the road to Damascus. He gets a new name, Paul, and a new identity. From persecuting the followers of Jesus, he is called to preach the Good News to the Gentiles.

God spoke to Peter and to Saul, and expanded their vision. If they had not responded as they did, the course of history would have been very different.

In our gospel for today, Judas has just left the room to go and betray Jesus. This is a tragic moment in history. Jesus must have had many feelings as he contemplated Judas going to the authorities and promising to lead them to our Lord. Jesus knows that he is going to the cross. What a horrible reality to face. And yet, he uses this moment to give the apostles and us the great commandment, that we love one another as he has loved us.

The encounters that Peter and Saul had with the Lord called them to love everyone as Jesus has loved us, and they responded faithfully to that call.

Herbert O’Driscoll writes, “For us, moving year by year into an increasingly multi-racial and multi-cultural society, this passage is eloquent. I would suggest that it asks us to live in this society as a Christian but to remain open to the ability of the Holy Spirit to work through men and women who do not share this tradition with us.”

God loves everyone. God showers gifts of the Spirit on everyone. When Pope Francis took several Muslim families home with him to the Vatican to embark on a new life, he was expressing that love.

May we do the same. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: Acts 11, Caeserea, Cornelius, Easter 5, Herbert O'Driscoll, John 13, Pope Francis, Psalm148, Revelation 21 | Leave a comment »

Easter 4C RCL April 17, 2016

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Beth Crane

Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30

In our readings for the Easter season, the apostles are freed from prison to share the Good News, Jesus appears to his followers to assure them that he has conquered death of all kinds and is truly alive, many people are healed and forgiven; many decide to follow Jesus, and the new faith spreads far and wide.

In our opening reading, we meet Tabitha, a faithful disciple who sews clothing for widows, who were often very poor in those days. Her ministry has expanded to a group of widows who also make clothes for others and support them in many ways. Tabitha has died, and the community of faith calls Peter to come right away.

Peter goes to the upstairs room where Tabitha is lying on the bed with all her fellow ministers weeping around her. Peter asks them to leave, not because he is trying to be unkind but because he wants to have quiet to let the Holy Spirit work.

He kneels down and prays. By this time, Peter has learned the power of healing that comes from the risen Lord and from the power of the Holy Spirit. He says, “Tabitha, get up.” She opens her eyes and gets up. Peter calls the members of the community to come and see that Tabitha is alive.

Even today, our Lord rescues us from many kinds of death. I have been privileged to see situations which physicians have called “miracles.” Someone with kidney failure is prayed over and recovers. A tumor is there but it fades away on a subsequent cat scan or X ray. Millions of people have recovered from various kinds of addictions, and they consider that they have been saved from certain death and are walking miracles.

In our reading from the Book of Revelation, we have a vision of heaven, where people “Will hunger no more, and thirst no more,” and the “Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

In our gospel, the religious authorities are asking Jesus whether he is the messiah. Jesus has just been talking about how he is the Good Shepherd, that he knows his sheep and they know him and they follow his voice. But these people are trying to find out whether Jesus fits their definition of the messiah.

And our Lord says, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Jesus is speaking of a relationship between himself and us. This is not an intellectual concept or something to be defined. It is a close relationship which is based on his infinite love for us.

Each of us hears his voice, that loving voice calling us to follow him, to do the caring thing, to be people of compassion, to do what is ethical, to be honest, to work for the growth of his shalom.

Each of us has been called by him. Each of us knows him. Each of us has been led to the green pastures and the still waters where we can eat and drink and be renewed.

Each of us has been saved from deaths of various kinds and from dangerous thickets that could have caught us. Each of us has been rescued from following paths that would not have been right for us. We know his voice. We know him. We trust him.

He is always with us, even in the valley of the shadow of death. In situations that terrify us, in circumstances where we become lost and confused, he leads us.

When we are surrounded by those who would do us harm, he sets up a safe space and a banquet table. He anoints our heads with oil. He extends hospitality to us and he gives his healing to us. He protects us. He gives us abundance beyond measure.

He is the true bread from heaven. He is the way and the truth and the life. He is the vine and we are the branches. He is the living water.

But most of all, on this Good Shepherd Sunday, he is our Good Shepherd. If we listen to his voice, he will lead us. If we ask for his help, he is right beside us lending a hand.

There is no way to put him into a category. Our relationship with him goes beyond logic, beyond categories. He is our God who cares so much for us that he has come among us and he has triumphed over all the things that we fear most.

He is our Savior. He is our brother. He is our Good Shepherd. May we listen to his voice and follow him into newness of life. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: Acts 9, Easter 4, Good Shepherd Sunday, John 10, Psalm 23, Revelation 7, Tabitha | Leave a comment »

Easter 3C RCL April 10, 2016

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Beth Crane

Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
Psalm 30
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19

During the fifty days of the Easter season, all of our readings are from the New Testament, or Greek Scriptures. This morning, our readings tell powerful stories of how God works with us human beings. God can see in us potential that we don’t always see in ourselves.

In our opening reading from the Book of Acts, we meet Saul of Tarsus, a devout Pharisee and Roman citizen who is totally consumed with the idea of killing followers of the Way. The beginning of the passage describes Saul as “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.” He has gone to the high priest to get permission to go to Damascus and capture and tie up any followers of Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished. He has already witnessed the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr.

But on the way to Damascus, something happens which transforms Saul. A light from heaven flashes around him and he falls to the ground. Jesus asks him that haunting question, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Jesus tells Saul to go into the city and he will receive further instructions. The men who are with Saul have heard the voice but they could not see Jesus. Saul gets up. His eyes are open but he cannot see. So they lead him by the hand into Damascus. What an image—this man who is destined to be a great saint being led by the hand into Damascus. There are times when we need to be led by the hand, too, times when we need the help of God and others to find the way.

Jesus calls a disciple named Ananias to go and lay hands upon Saul to help him regain his sight and to receive the Holy Spirit. Saul has been blinded by the light of Christ. When Ananias lays hands upon him, the text says that “something like scales fell from his eyes.” Saul is baptized. He stays and studies with the disciples in Damascus, and then he goes on his mission to the Gentiles. Later his name becomes Paul.

Some lines from “Amazing Grace” fit this situation. “I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see.” Jesus took someone who hated him and was trying to kill his disciples and made him into a great theologian and evangelist. So often we see, but we do not see. Jesus can give us vision to see and understand things that we did not see before.

In our gospel for today, Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two others go fishing. They catch nothing. Just before daybreak, Jesus is standing on the shore, but they do not recognize him. He asks if they have caught any fish. They have caught nothing. So he tells them to cast the net to the right side of the boat, and there are so many fish they can hardly haul in the net. That’s how our Lord is, Just when we think there is no hope, he comes along and shows us the way.

Suddenly, John says that it is Jesus on the shore. Peter quickly puts on some clothes, jumps into the water, and swims to shore. He can’t get there fast enough. The rest of them row the boat, laden with fish. Jesus gives them a breakfast of bread and fish.

Then comes the amazing scene of forgiveness and healing. Peter has denied Jesus three times. The number three is a symbol of completeness. Peter has denied Jesus completely. This is terrible. But Jesus asks him, “Peter, do you love me more than these?”And Peter answers, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus says to him, “Feed my lambs.” Jesus asks a second time, and Peter answers that he loves the Lord. And Jesus says, “Tend my sheep.” Jesus asks a third time, and Peter is hurt, He says, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” And Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.” Peter has done a complete denial of Jesus. But now, Jesus is granting Peter complete forgiveness and commissioning him to go out into the world and feed his people. Peter, who denied Jesus three time, becomes the leader of the apostles.

When we have done things we should not have done or not done things we should have done. In other words, when we have sinned, we usually feel terrible about it. But our Lord is calling us to accept his forgiveness and to do the ministries he calls us to do. Peter was well aware that he had denied Jesus at a crucial moment because he was afraid. He felt awful about this failure on his part. I think Peter confessed this to God in many times of prayer following the crucifixion, and I am sure that Jesus was well aware of Peter’s sincere regret and his determination to be as faithful a disciple as he could possibly be. This is how our Lord is with us. After this powerful dialogue and exchange of love and forgiveness, Jesus says to Peter and to us, “Follow me.”

As our psalm so beautifully reminds us, “Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning.”

At the center of our lessons is our reading from the Book of Revelation, the prayer of adoration to our Lord, who reigns in heaven. God takes the most unlikely people and calls them to ministry. Because of the experience he had in his own life, Paul could share the powerful story of how he had met Christ and how the risen Lord showed him that he needed to change his whole attitude and purpose in life. Peter was heartbroken about his denial of Jesus. But when he realized that it was the risen Lord standing on the beach preparing breakfast for them, he jumped into the water and swam ashore, so eager was he to clasp Jesus in a bear hug full of love, faith, true repentance, and courage to do whatever he was called to do in order to serve Christ.

Jesus has the power to give us courage we didn’t know we had. Jesus has the power to help us to see the world and other people in new ways. Jesus has the power to show us gifts we never knew we had. Jesus has the power to transform us so that we can transform the world.

Alleluia! The Lord is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: Acts 9, Easter 3, John 21, Paul, Psalm 30, Revelation 5, Saul of Tarsus | Leave a comment »

Easter 2 Year CRCL April 3, 2016

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Beth Crane

Acts 5:27-32
Psalm 150
Revelation 1:4-8
John 20:19-31

Our readings today tell us a powerful story about the early Church. Chronologically, the gospel comes first, and it begins with a sense of fear. The doors are shut for fear of the authorities. The women have gone to the tomb and have found it empty. The angel has told them that Jesus has risen. They have gone back and told Peter. He has gone to look for himself.

They gather in the upper room. They are afraid. After what happened to Jesus, who wouldn’t be afraid? They think the same thing might happen to them.

Jesus comes into their midst, past the locked doors and the walls of fear. He gives them his peace, his vision of shalom. He takes all their terror and confusion and gives them faith and clarity and hope. He breathes the Spirit into them and gives them the ministry of healing and reconciliation.

Thomas is not with them. When they tell him that the risen Lord has come to them, he says that he just has to see for himself. Thomas just has to touch Jesus’ wounds.

A week later, Jesus comes among them once more. Again, he gives them his peace, that calm faith that is like bedrock, that serene spirit that remains steady under all kinds of pressure, and that vision of shalom. This time, Thomas is with them. Jesus has come especially to make it possible for Thomas to know that he is truly alive. Jesus invites Thomas to touch his wounds, but Thomas does not even have to do that. He bursts forth in a prayer of adoration: “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus says to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Our reading from the Book of Acts happens a short time after Pentecost. The apostles have overcome their fear. They are out in Jerusalem teaching and preaching and healing. Their message is so powerful that people simply lay their loved ones out on mats or cots so that Peter’s shadow can fall on them and make them well.

More and more people are following the new faith, and the authorities are not pleased. They are trying to control this new faith. They have put Peter and the apostles in prison, but an angel has let them out and the Spirit has told them to go right back where they were and continue their ministry.

They are now being questioned by the high priest. They have been told to stop what they were doing, but Peter and the apostles answer, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” This is a far cry from their original fear. They are almost fearless now. The Spirit is with them, and they feel compelled to carry out their ministry. Nothing is going to stop them.

Our middle reading is from the Book of Revelation. This was written some fifty years after that first Easter. This book is a series of letters to seven Christian communities in what we would now call Turkey. Herbert O’Driscoll points out that, in this short period of time, there are now seven churches one thousand miles from Jerusalem in a time when the major means of transportation was walking. This is a huge amount of growth.

These communities are suffering persecution under the Roman Emperor Domitian, who had commanded that everyone address him as “Lord and God.” Christians refused to do that, and they were either killed or exiled. These letters were written to strengthen their faith during this time of persecution and to let them know that, no matter what the Roman Empire might do, Christ is our King, and he far surpasses any earthly ruler.

In our readings for today, we see that the new community of faith began with a group of very scared people who had gathered behind locked doors. They knew what could happen to them.

And yet, a short time later, we see Peter and the apostles healing people and preaching the good news and gaining more and more followers. No human rulers were going to stop them from doing this. Then, fifty years later, John was writing letters to encourage seven communities a thousand miles away.

We were not there in that upper room. We have not literally seen the risen Christ. We have not touched his wounds. But, because of the faith and courage of the apostles and all the saints during the past two thousand years, we have been in his presence and we have experienced his healing and forgiveness.

From that fearful beginning, our risen Lord gave the apostles the courage and the faith to share his presence, his love and healing, with everyone they met, and the new faith grew and grew.

Here we are, two thousand years later, and we are about to celebrate Grace’s two hundredth birthday. Christ is alive in us and we in him.

May we continue to share his peace his healing, and his forgiveness.

Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: Acts 5, Early Church, Easter 2, Herbert O'Driscoll, Psalm 150, Revelation 1:4-8, Thomas | Leave a comment »

Easter Day March 27, 2016

Posted on March 27, 2016 by Beth Crane

Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
Luke 24:1-12

When the women walked to the tomb early on that first Easter morning, they had just witnessed one of the most horrifying events one could imagine. They had spent three years with Jesus, and, as they watched him and listened to him, they realized that he was different from anyone they had ever met.

They followed him, and the group of followers became larger and larger. He brought healing and hope to everyone he met. He would touch people and they would rise up from their mats where they had lain crippled for years, or he would make a poultice from mud and spit and put it on their eyes and they would see after a lifetime of blindness. He fed thousands at one time.

But what he really wanted to do was to give them and us another way to live, a way based entirely on love and service. He made this clear when he washed their feet at that last Passover and when he said that in this simple meal of bread and wine he would be with us forever.

As they walked to that tomb, their feet dragging with fatigue and dashed hopes, those women may have thought that his vision for the world, his vision for our lives and our life together, had died.

Have you ever really believed in something or given your all to something or someone, and then realized it was over? Maybe that someone was not who they professed to be. Maybe the vision had some fatal flaws which had not been apparent at the outset. Most of us have had experiences like this. Someone or something we felt passionately about—a person or a dream or a project or a vision comes to an and, falls apart, dies.

And we feel as though it’s all over for us.

What’s the use of trying to go on, we wonder. There’s nothing to live for. These women walking to the tomb were suffering deep grief because they had lost a person whom they loved deeply, a person who had changed their lives and given them hope and a purpose in life. Jesus had died, and they may well have felt that all their hopes had died with him.

When they got to that tomb and found the stone rolled away, and went in, and found no body, they began to wonder. And then, when the two angels reminded them of what Jesus had said and told them that he had risen—they couldn’t get back to the others fast enough to tell them this good news.

Most of us have had experiences of profound loss and disappointment, something that has made our world fall apart, something that has made us lose hope. That is how those women felt, That is how all of Jesus’ close followers felt.

Most of us have also had our own experiences of Good Friday. Our Lord has wrestled with the forces of death and has lost the battle. We go back to the upper room and pray and wonder, what next?

But we have to go and prepare the body for burial. The Sabbath is over and we just have to give him a decent burial. And when we get there, the landscape of our lives is completely transformed.

He told us there was a different way to go about things. He told us there was a different way to live. And he has just proved that that way leads to new life. It leads to his kingdom his shalom of peace, harmony, and wholeness.

Most of us have had our Good Fridays and most of us have had our Easter mornings. We go to the tomb to prepare the body and it is not there. He is risen.

Yes, the world is full of violence. There has been a terrorist attack in Brussels. Refugees are streaming out of Syria and Afghanistan trying to save their children from the ravages of war. There is violence in our own country as well. Here, and all over the world, people are hungry. They need shelter; they need clothing; they need medical care; they need hope.

We can look around us and think there is no hope. that we can do nothing. But that is not what our Lord is doing. He is risen. He is calling us to follow the commandment he gave us at the Last Supper—to love and serve others as he loves and serves us.

On this Easter morning, March 27, 2016, we are deeply aware that there is much brokenness and violence in this world. At the same time, we must remember that he is risen and he is in our midst. He has a vision, and he is calling us to help him bring in his shalom.

I quote our Presiding Bishop retired, Katherine Jeffers Schori: “The word ‘shalom’ is usually translated as ‘peace,’ but it’s a far richer and deeper understanding of peace than we usually recognize. It’s not just a 1970s era hippie holding up two fingers to greet a friend—‘Peace, bro.’ It isn’t just telling two arguers to get over their differences. Shalom is a vision of the city of God on earth, a community where people are at peace with each other because each one has enough to eat, adequate shelter, medical care, and meaningful work. Shalom is a city where justice is the rule of the day, where prejudice has vanished, where the diverse gifts with which we have been so abundantly blessed are equally valued.

“…Building the reign of God is a great and bold adventure, and it is the only route to being fully alive. If we don’t set out to change the world, who will?” (Jefferts Schori, A Wing and A Prayer, pp. 33 and 35.)

Christ is risen. Christ is alive. He lives in us and we in him. Let us help him build his kingdom, his shalom. Amen.

Filed under: Sermons, Summer Music | Tagged: 1 Corinthians 15, Acts 10:34-43, Feast of the Resurrection, Katherine Jeffers Schori, Luke 24, Psalm 118 | Leave a comment »

Good Friday March 25, 2016

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Beth Crane

On Palm Sunday, as we prepared to read the Passion Gospel, we were commenting on how much we wish this story could be edited, could turn out another way.

But it cannot be edited. As T. S. Eliot wrote, “In spite of that, we call this Friday Good.” God loves us so much that God comes among us, shares his love and healing with everyone he meets, treats everyone with the kind of profound respect that can come only from unconditional love, and threatens the power and privilege of both the religious and secular authorities—simply from showing genuine love.

Judas betrays him, probably because Judas is a Zealot, part of a group that wants the messiah to gather an army to overthrow the Roman occupiers and free the people. But that is not God’s vision for this world.

So Jesus endures the mock trial, the taunts and spitting, the crown of thorns digging into his flesh, and then he hangs on the Cross, an instrument of torture and slow death reserved for the worst criminals. He takes all the hate and the anger and all the violent machinations to preserve power and privilege. He absorbs all of it. Love takes all this darkness into himself.

And he works with this darkness. As Barbara Brown Taylor says, he labors with the darkness. He descends to hell. He brings his love to every part of the creation. He labors with the darkness.

And we wait. Here at the foot of the Cross.

He has shared his vision with us. We are here because he lives in us and we live in him. His vision lives in us. His shalom. Our hearts are broken, and our hope is hanging in shreds. But there is one thing we can do, and that is to try, with his grace, to live into that vision. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: Barbara Brown Taylor, Passion Gospel, Passiontide, T.S. Eliot | Leave a comment »

Maundy Thursday March 24, 2016

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Beth Crane

Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
Psalm 116:1, 10-17
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Maundy Thursday. The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum—Mandatum novum—a new commandment. Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

Our King washes our feet. Our Savior washes our feet just as a servant would do. Kings don’t wash people’s feet. Kings don’t take off their formal garments, grab a towel, kneel on the floor and wash the feet of travelers and pilgrims on the journey.

Peter is scandalized. “Lord, you shouldn’t be doing this.” But Jesus tells him and us that we can’t have a share in him—we can’t be in the close relationship that we want and need to have with him if we don’t let him serve us. That’s when Peter asks our Lord to wash his hands and his head, too.

Our King washes our feet. This tells us how far his kingdom is from the usual order of things. He calls us to a kingdom in which love and service are the highest ideals. We can’t be in fellowship with him unless we let him serve us. We can’t participate fully in his life unless we love and serve others.

How far this is from a world where terrorists attack innocent people in Brussels. How far this is from the idea that might makes right.

Our King washes our feet. May we let him cleanse us. May we let him come into our hearts and make us whole. May we let him lead us into a ministry of love and servanthood. May we follow him as he leads us into his kingdom. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: 1 Corinthians 11, Exodus 12, John 13, Maundy Thursday, Passiontide, Psalm 116 | Leave a comment »

Palm Sunday Year C RCL March 20, 2016

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:5-11
Luke 22:14-23:56

Palm Sunday is one of those days in the Church year which we moderns might call “intense.” We welcome Jesus as our Savior and our King, and then we walk with him through all he endures, and we stand at the foot of the Cross feeling helpless as he suffers for us.

This is a day full of paradoxes. Were are so happy to welcome him as our K ing. Then we plunge to the depths of despair as he dies on the Cross. And, as we walk with him, we hope that we would not deny him, as even Peter did. We hope that we would see him as who he really is. We hope that we would not join in the mob mentality and yell, “Crucify him!” at the top of our lungs.

Even Pilate, the great Roman governor, can see no guilt in our Lord.

The soldiers and the priests mock him. One of the criminals admits his own sin but says clearly that Jesus has done nothing wrong and asks our Lord to remember him when Jesus comes into his kingdom. And Jesus tells him, from the Cross, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”

The Centurion has the last word. Here is an officer in the Roman army who commands one hundred men. he is disciplined; he knows the chain of command; he serves in the legions of the powerful emperor. And yet, he has the courage and the insight to say, “Certainly this man was innocent.”

Jesus, our King, our savior, “set[s] his face like flint,”goes to Jerusalem, empties himself, gives his life for us so that we can realize, at last, that he loves us and that he will lead us into new life. May we follow him. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: Isaiah 50:4-9a, Luke 22:14-23:56, Palm Sunday, Philippians 2:5-11, Pilate, Psalm 31:9-16 | Leave a comment »

Lent 5C RCL March 13, 2016

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 43: 16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:4b-14
John 12:1-8

Our first reading today is addressed to the people of God exiled in Babylon. They have been there for about fifty years. Elders have died, babies have been born. Hope is almost gone. The prophet we call the Second Isaiah speaks the word of God to the people and to us.

The opening portion of the text is reminding us of how God’s people escaped slavery in Egypt. God parted the waters; the people ran with all their might; the chariots of their captors tried to follow but sank in the mud. The people escaped. And God is saying that God is going to do a new thing that is even greater than freeing the people from that slavery.

God is going to make rivers in the desert. God is going to make a path in the desert for the people to follow. There will be plenty of water and the desert will bloom. The people are going home.

Our gospel for today is also found in the three other gospel accounts. In Matthew and Mark, the woman who anoints Jesus’ feet is not named. In Luke, she is described as a sinner, and, in one of the greatest misinterpretations of Scripture that has ever occurred, an ancient writer said that this sinner was Mary Magdalene. Nowhere does the text say that.

In John’s gospel, the woman is one we know well—Mary, the sister of Martha. Mary is the one who sits at the feet of Jesus to learn from him. She thus becomes one of the disciples.

It is six days before the Passover. Jesus comes to the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in Bethany, just a little way outside Jerusalem. Some time ago ago, he had raised Lazarus from the dead. This home in Bethany is one of the few places where Jesus can feel safe. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are good friends and staunch supporters. He can talk with them and seek advice from them. He can relax with them.

After dinner, Mary brings a pound of pure nard, very expensive because it comes from the Himalayan Mountains. She anoints Jesus’ feet just as he will soon wash the feet of his disciples. She wipes his feet with her hair. Judas raises a point about the expense. Couldn’t that money have been used for the poor? This is the height of hypocrisy on his part. We know that he took money from their common purse. He was an embezzler in addition to being a traitor.

Jesus defends this faithful woman disciple. Mary is actually anointing Jesus for burial. She knows the price that he is going to pay, and she honors him with her love and loyalty. She will be there until the end.

In our passage from his Letter to the Philippians, St. Paul says so much. He has many reasons to be confident according to the world’s values. He holds a very high status. He is a Pharisee and a Roman citizen. But it is as nothing to him. He calls it “rubbish.” All his former prestige is worthless to him. It’s actually a loss on his books because of the “surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,” he writes.

Because of Jesus, Paul is now in right relationship with God, and he says that he wants to get to know our Lord more and more and he wants to become like our Lord in his death so that he can know the power of his resurrection. In other words, we have to give up all the old worldly stuff as Jesus gave up everything. We have to give up the idea of our power and prestige and empty ourselves of all that so that we can live in Christ and he can live in us.

And then Paul says something that gives us great hope, He says that he has not fully arrived. He has not reached the goal, but “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Here on the fifth Sunday in Lent, we are looking forward to one week from now, Palm Sunday, when we will be witnesses at the crucifixion of our Lord. We know that we are not 100 percent living in Christ and allowing him to live in us. We are on the road, but we are not fully there. What a comfort it is to hear that Paul is not fully there either. But then he gives us a powerful example. We are runners in a race. We are spiritual athletes.

There is a great deal of the past that we need to forget. Yes, learn from it and remember those learnings so that we do not make the same mistakes again, but then let it go. Let it go because our Lord has taken care of it. We are forgiven. And then put our energies into living in Christ and letting him live in us. No, we are not fully there, but let us let go of the pain and failure of the past, ask our Lord for help, and move firmly, one step at a time, into the future with him.

We are partners with Christ in this journey. We are called to do our part. He has made a great sacrifice. He did it out of love for us. But he can’t run the race for us. We have to do it in partnership with him. That is what Paul is talking about today.

When Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with that priceless nard, she was giving all she had to honor our Lord. We are being called to follow her example. Will we commit ourselves to walking with him? Will we press on toward the goal, counting on his grace but also giving it all we have?

May we follow him with all our heart and soul and mind and strength that we may live in him and he in us. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: Babylonian Exite, Isaiah 43:16-21, John 12:1-8, Lent, Paul, Philippians 3:4b-14, Psalm 126 | Leave a comment »

Lent 4C RCL March 6, 2016

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Beth Crane

Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm 32
2 Corinthians 5: 16-21
Luke 15:1-3; 11b-32

In our opening reading today, Moses has died and God has called Joshua to lead God’s people. They have crossed the River Jordan and have reached the promised land. They celebrate their first Passover in their new home. They have escaped their slavery in Egypt and they are now free. They will no longer need the heavenly manna that has sustained them, for they will be enjoying the produce of their new land. In this lesson, we hear the important themes of freedom from slavery, new beginnings, and, of course, God’s generosity and guidance and love for all of us.

Our gospel for today is the beloved parable of the prodigal son. Some people call it the parable of the lost son because it follows the parable of the lost sheep whose shepherd left the ninety-nine other sheep and searched until he found the lost one. It also follows right after the parable of the lost coin. The housewife searched and searched until she found it. Some people call this the parable of the loving father or the generous father.

Although this story is familiar, every time we hear it we can see it in a new way. We can identify with the younger son in that we, too, have made some unwise decisions in our lives and have asked God’s forgiveness. We can also identify with the older son in situations when we feel that our loyalty has been taken for granted and we have not received enough recognition for our hard work. We can also identify with the father when we think of all that we have done for our children.

The younger son asks for his inheritance and he goes to a far country and spends it all. He ends up feeding pigs, which, for a Jewish young man is terrible because pigs are unclean and now he is considered unclean. He comes to himself. We have all had experiences like this. We go off on a tangent and make a series of bad choices, and one day we realize that this is not who we want to be. This is not our real and true self. This is not who God is calling us to be.

The younger son goes home to ask his father for forgiveness. His father is out there at the end of the driveway waiting for him with open arms. There is a feast because this son was lost and now is found. When one of us finds our way back, there is great joy in heaven.

The older son is fuming and he tells his father what is on his mind. “Here I have slaved and slaved for you and you never so much as let me have a party with my friends. Now you’re throwing a big wing ding for this son who has spent our family’s money.”

And then the father says the thing that tells us so much. “Son, I know that you have been with me always and you have worked very hard. Everything that I have is yours. This feast is for you, too. But we have to celebrate because your brother is now found.”

It’s a both-and. It’s not that the feast is just for the younger brother. It is a continuous feast for all of us in the Communion of Saints, and it is also a feast for those who have gone way off the path and have returned. It is a feast for those who have been faithful from the word go and all the rest of us who have made mistakes along the way.

Saint Paul addresses some of this when he writes, “We regard no one from a human point of view.” He knows what he is talking about because when he did regard things from a human point of view, he thought that anyone who did not follow the law and anyone who was not part of the in-group should be killed. That is why he went around persecuting the followers of Jesus.

But then he met our Lord on the road to Damascus and Jesus asked him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he saw the world in an entirely different way. He saw the world from the point of view of Christ. And that is why he can write, with stirring conviction, “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. Everything old has passed away. See, everything has become new!” Now I know that just because my father gives a feast for my brother who lost his way does not mean that I don’t get a feast, too. God is incredibly generous, loving, and inclusive.

God is reaching out to everyone in a spirit of reconciliation. and God is calling us to carry out the ministry of reconciliation.

But there is an important point to keep in mind. If Saul had not listened to Jesus, if he had continued on his destructive path, we would never have had this letter to read. If the younger son had not come to himself and repented and turned back toward God and gone home to confess his destructive behavior which affected not only his family but all the workers on his father’s land and all the folks in the surrounding area who depended on his father for their livelihoods; if we humans do not come to our true selves and acknowledge our destructive behavior, and confess it with a sincere intention to change our behavior, there is no reconciliation possible. It is a two-way street. There are people who do all kinds of destructive things to other people and have no idea of the damage they are doing. They think they are doing just fine. Their chances of true repentance and full commitment to changing their behavior are small.

Most of us in this sacred place right now are somewhere on the other end of the spectrum. We are acutely aware of our errors and are genuinely pained by our sinfulness. We sincerely confess, and we truly want to change. We know we need God’s help. The parable of the prodigal or lost son is for us. We feel so distressed and sad about our sins that it is easy for us to feel hopeless. This is why, especially during this season of self-examination and repentance and metanoia, conversion, we need to hear this parable.

God is out there at the end of the driveway waiting for us to come home—home to God, home to our best and truest self, home to the human family, home to the feast of forgiveness and new life. God is waiting to wrap us in a big hug and welcome us home to the awareness that God’s love and healing are far bigger and deeper than we could ever imagine and that we are welcome to God’s infinite and eternal feast. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: 2 corinthians 5, Joshua 5:9-12, Lent, Luke 15, parable of the prodigal son, Paul, Psalm 32, Road to Damascus, Saul | Leave a comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Grace Episcopal Church (Sheldon, VT)

Content

Pages

Upcoming Events