Sermons | Grace Episcopal Church (Sheldon, VT)

Ash Wednesday March 5, 2014

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Beth Crane

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Psalm 103:8-14
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6; 16-21

Our first reading for this Ash Wednesday comes from the Book of Joel, one of the so-called minor prophets, such as Amos and Hosea, whose books are grouped at the end of the old Testament, or Hebrew Scriptures. Scholars tell us that Joel lived in the Southern Kingdom of Judah from 539 to 331 B. C. His ministry took place from about 400 to 350 B. C. This was during the time after the exiles had returned home from Babylon.

Scholars tell us that Judah is being invaded by a huge army of locusts, so many that they make the sky turn dark. This is a major disaster, something like Hurricane Katrina or Tropical Storm Irene in our own times. An enormous amount of damage is going to be done. The invasion of insects is compared to a military attack by an enemy.

In the face of this disaster, Joel, who is a prophet associated with the temple in Jerusalem, is calling the people to turn to God in worship. He is calling people of all ages, from babies who are still nursing to elderly people. He is calling people in all circumstances, even brides and bridegrooms. And he is calling us to “rend our hearts and not our garments,” in other words, to enter into sincere repentance, to turn our entire beings to focus on God and on God’s will for us, not merely to engage in external, rote worship. This is in complete harmony with the gospel for this day.

In our epistle for today, Paul is calling the Corinthians and us to “be reconciled to God.” This is a wonderful theme for Lent. We are called to seek God’s help in growing closer to God during these forty days.

Our gospel gives us so much good food for thought. Back in Jesus’ time there were some folks who would fast and pray and give alms in order to appear virtuous or to draw attention to themselves. Our Lord tells that our spiritual life is something very private, something that is between us and God. Jesus says that, when we fast and pray, we should not show any outward signs of this discipline, but we should anoint ourselves with oil and wash or face. In other words, as someone has said, “It’s an inside job.” We are called to do our spiritual work. We are called to do what we need to do in order to grow closer to God. But Jesus calls us not to make a show of our spiritual discipline. Our motive for praying and fasting and following our Lenten discipline is not to make a public display, but to engage in rigorous self-examination, acknowledge our sins to God, and receive God’s forgiveness.

And then our Lord calls us not to store up treasure on earth, but in heaven. Jesus is reminding us not to place our trust in material things, but to put our trust in him. It is so easy to lapse into materialism. It is so easy to begin to trust in the things of this world. But we are called to trust in God.

What a profound statement we have in this gospel: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We are called to consider our faith in God and our relationship with God as a great treasure in our lives.

Lent comes from the root word for spring, and Lent is a time of spiritual growth. It is a time when we follow a spiritual discipline, maybe giving up some things or taking on some things. All in order to grow closer to God. It is a process of metanoia, conversion, transformation. What we give up or take on is between each of us and God. Each of us has prayed and asked God’s guidance as we prepare to walk the way of the Cross.

We have seen our Lord transfigured on the mountain, and we want to grow into the persons God calls us to be. So we follow our Lenten discipline to allow that to happen. The ashes on our foreheads today were made from the palms strewn in his path on Palm Sunday. We are marked as Christ’s own forever. So we will walk with him and he will walk with us. And our journey will lead to a garden and a mock trial and a horrible death and then new life.

Lord Jesus, give us grace to walk the Way of the Cross faithfully with you. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: 2 Corinthians, Ash Wednesday, Joel 2, Matthew 6, Psalm 103 | Leave a comment »

Last Sunday after the Epiphany March 2, 2014

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Beth Crane

Exodus 24:12-18

Psalm 99

2 Peter 1:16-21

Matthew 17:1-9

Our first lesson takes us back three thousand years. The people of God have arrived at Mount Sinai. God has called Moses to go to the top of the mountain to receive the tablets of the law. Herbert O’Driscoll reminds us that back in those days, people thought that gods lived on mountains because mountains are elevated, reaching to the heavens. He tells us that at that time Mount Sinai was an active volcano, so when we read of fire and smoke coming from the mountain, we have to imagine the active volcanoes we have seen in pictures or perhaps experienced.(O’Driscoll, The Word Today, Year A, Vol. 1, p. 120.)

Back in those days, people truly believed that you could not look on the face of God and live, You could not get close to God and live through it. What courage Moses shows in going to the top of the mountain to meet with God! The elders go part way up. He tells them to stay and wait. Then Moses and Joshua go to the top of the mountain. They stay for forty days and forty nights.

What a different experience we have of God because of Jesus coming to be with us.

Six days after Peter says that Jesus is the Savior, Jesus takes Peter and James and John and they go up the mountain. Scholars tell us that it was probably Mt. Hermon, near Caesarea Philippi. Jesus is transfigured. He becomes who he really is. Moses and Elijah are there, showing that Jesus is a great leader along with the spiritual giants of his people.

I can’t help but think of our favorite super heroes. Mild mannered Clark Kent ducks into a phone booth and emerges as Superman. Jesus has shared meals with the disciples, taught them, encouraged them, loved them. He has been one of them. He has been and is a fellow human being. Now they see that he is something much more than human. They see what they and we can become as spiritual beings.

Peter wants to capture the moment. Oh, how we want to save these mountaintop experiences for all time! But we can’t. Nor can we live at that level of heightened excitement all the time. We would die of heart attacks.

They see who he really is—the Son of God—and the voice of God confirms the fact. They are terrified. They still believe that you cannot be near God and live. But Jesus touches them and reassures them, He tells them not to be afraid. Everything has changed because of Jesus. We can now walk with God, We do not have to be afraid.

This is the scene we see on this last Sunday before the beginning of Lent. As we prepare to walk the way of the Cross, we see Jesus in his glory. This reminds us that, with Jesus, there is always light in the midst of darkness, wholeness in the midst of brokenness, life in the midst of death. It also reminds us that we are on a journey of transformation.

Our epistle from Peter talks about something very powerful. Think what it was for people to hear about Jesus from someone who had gone up the mountain with our Lord. Think what it must have been like to hear about Jesus from one of the people who had spent all that time with our Lord, someone who had walked and talked with Jesus, someone who knew Jesus as friend, mentor and teacher, someone who had seen Jesus transfigured on that day.

This is someone who can convey the very presence of Jesus to us, someone who can bring us into the presence of Jesus. By the time this letter was written, the Church was undergoing persecution. Peter writes, “You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

The reality of Jesus, his love and his grace, his presence walking with us through the challenges of life, is a powerful thing. He is the light in the darkness. He brings a new day of hope, and faith rises again in our hearts.

This Wednesday we will gather to begin Lent. We will have ashes on our foreheads, which will remind us of our mortality and our frail humanity. We will begin to walk the Way of the Cross.

As we prepare for Lent, let us think about these two mountaintop experiences. In the first one, Moses and Joshua went up the mountain, and it was terrifying. God’s power was something to be feared. In the second experience, with Jesus and James and John, yes it was awe- inspiring and scary to hear the voice of God, but, when it was all over, Jesus was there alone before them. Yes, he is the Savior, and he walks down the mountain with us and keeps on walking with us just as he had before.

Jesus is one of us. Yet he is God walking the face of the earth. He is fully human and fully divine. And we are going to walk the Way of the Cross with him. And he is going to face the worst of what warped human power can do. And it is going to be awful. But, through it all, there is going to be that light shining in the very darkest places. The day will dawn, and the morning star will rise in our hearts.

Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: 2 Peter, Exodus, Herbert O'Driscoll, Matthew 17, Mt. Hermon, Psalm 99, Transfiguration | Leave a comment »

Epiphany 7A RCL February 23, 2014

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Beth Crane

Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
Psalm 119:33-40
1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Matthew 5: 38-48

Our opening reading today is from the Book of Leviticus, a book of laws which, together with the Book of Deuteronomy, provides guidelines for how to live together in community. We are called to be holy. Holiness has to do with the way we lead our lives. Here in this reading, we have some very clear values which we can use to shape our behavior.

When we are harvesting, we are to leave some of the crop for the poor and the alien. God’s law always carries a concern for those who are vulnerable. If some of the crop is left, they will have something to eat.

We are not to steal. We are to be honest. We are to treat the disabled with respect. We are called to deal justly with others. We do not slander people. We are not to hate our neighbor, If we have a problem with someone, we are called to go and try to resolve the issue with our neighbor, not to let hatred fester until it boils up into something much worse. In sum, we are called to love our neighbor. These are amazing thoughts when we realize that they date back thousands of years.

If we were to summarize these laws, we could say that they call us to have concern for the vulnerable, to be honest and fair, to respect others, to seek reconciliation and understanding, and to love our neighbors as God loves us. These laws, written thousands of years ago, are good advice for us today.

In our epistle for today, Paul is switching his metaphors. Last week he was describing himself as a gardener or a farmer. Paul planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the growth. Now he is describing himself as a master builder. But the foundation must always be our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wisely counsels us not to boast about human leaders, whether Peter or Paul or Apollos. We are all one in Christ, and we all belong to Christ.

We can only imagine what might have happened if the people in Corinth who thought they were so wise had gotten on their knees and asked God for guidance. If they had listened, God would have led them to enter into a process of reconciliation with their brothers and sisters and to treat them with respect.

In today’s gospel, we are continuing with the Beatitudes.

Our reading begins with Jesus saying, “You have heard it said, ‘an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth,” Jesus is referring to what is called the law of “retaliation in kind” as described in the books of Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Leviticus, which were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Until these laws were written, if someone took out your eye, you would gather a group of people and go and kill the person and perhaps members of his family. The law of an eye for an eye was designed to reduce the amount of violence. So, if someone took out your eye, you could not simply go over and kill him. You could go to the judge and he would give a sentence allowing equal retribution.

Jesus’ call to love our enemies goes far beyond the law of retaliation in kind and far beyond out usual concepts of justice. One note of caution: we need to keep in mind that this passage of scripture is not intended to deal with situations of abuse as we know them today. Jesus would never tell a battered woman to turn the other cheek. This passage does not apply to any situation of abuse. In those situations, our priority is to get the victim to a safe place and to make sure the perpetrator can no longer do harm to anyone.

Jesus calls us to be perfect. But we need to define the word accurately. The Greek is teleios. Bishop Fred Borsch says, that teleios means “to come to the goal or purpose, that is, to become what one was created for, to reach full growth, potential, maturity. It is incredibly difficult to love our enemies, but this is what God made us to do. Bishop Borsch reminds us that Archbishop Desmond Tutu told white South African leader P. W. Botha that they are brothers and members of the same human family. To be able to think and act in that way when one has been subjected to something like apartheid—that is what God is calling us to do.

Borsch writes, “Jesus tells of a different will of God and so a different way of life for those who would be children of this God and reflect their parent’s character.” (Proclamation 4, p. 52.)

The values reflected in our readings today are embodied in the promises we make in our baptismal vows. “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” This is what we were made for. This is what Christ’s kingdom is all about. So these are the values of kingdom communities, of shalom communities. These are ways of living together which open the way to God’s shalom.

With God’s help, we try to live these promises. When we fail, we ask forgiveness and begin again. Why do we do this? Because this blueprint for life, these Beatitudes, are the only thing that makes sense to us. The new life in Christ means that we are becoming one with him and that we are called to become more and more like him. And slowly, slowly, it is happening. We are being transformed.

We gather, we pray together, we study the word together, we share Eucharist, we are fed by him, our faith is nurtured. and we are becoming one with him and with each other.

That’s the kind of community Paul is talking about. Thanks be to God, we are being given the gift of that community. We are becoming what we were created for, not through any effort of our own, but by God’s grace. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: 1 Corinthians, Epiphany, Leviticus 19, Matthew 5, Psalm 119 | Leave a comment »

Epiphany 6 February 16, 2014

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Beth Crane

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm 119:1-8
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Matthew 5:21-37

In our first reading, Moses has led God’s people to the border of the promised land. He is not going to be able to go with them. The year is around 1200 B. C., over three thousand years ago. The people have been journeying through the wilderness for forty years, and now they are about to enter this new phase of their life together. This is the end of a long speech by Moses. He is trying to get across to the people everything that they will need to know in order to lead their lives, as individuals and as a community, in the way God wants them to live.

Moses says a dramatic thing. He says, “I have set before you today, life and prosperity, death and adversity, Choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God….” In the preceding chapters, Moses has outlined the framework within which God’s people are called to live. Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann lists the main values involved in loving God and our neighbors, values which have been discussed in Moses’ speech to the people: “sharing feasts with the hungry (Deut. 14:27-29; canceling debts that the poor cannot pay (15:1-11); organizing government to guard against excessive wealth ((17:14-20); sharing hospitality with runaway slaves (23:156-16); not charging interest in loans in the covenant community (23:19-20); paying hired hands promptly what they earn (24:14-15); leaving the residue of harvest for the disadvantaged (24:19-22); and limiting punishment in order to protect human dignity (25:1-3).” I list these because they make clear that Moses and God are clearly spelling out how we are called to behave when we set out to love God and our neighbor.

When God promises life and prosperity to those who love God and neighbor, God is not talking about material prosperity and the accumulation of wealth, power, and possessions. God is talking about the spiritual prosperity of a community life based on compassion and concern for others and rooted in our awareness and experience of God’s love for us.

In our epistle, we continue with a reading of Paul’s letter to the strife-torn congregation in Corinth. As we recall, some of the members of the community are extremely arrogant, saying that they have special knowledge that no one else has. Paul speaks to them as a nursing mother, telling them that he fed them with milk because they were not mature enough for solid food. This must have been a shock to them. I think he said this in order to puncture the balloon of their arrogance.

Various factions are saying that they belong to Paul or to Apollos. But Paul weaves all of this divisiveness into a beautiful tapestry of faith and wisdom when he offers a metaphor of growth. Paul planted the seed, Apollos watered it, and God gave the growth. We all have a common purpose, Paul says, but it is God who gives the growth.

In our gospel, Jesus is continuing the Beatitudes. He is calling us to follow the spirit of the law rather than the letter. It’s safe to say that none of us has murdered anyone literally. But have we spoken harshly or sarcastically? Have we gotten to the end of our rope and said things we wish we could take back? Have we looked on others with contempt or called someone a fool? These are not literal murder, but we all know the damage that words can do. That old saw, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” is simply not true.

Jesus calls us to be reconcilers. If we have a problem with someone, we need to go and try to work it out with them.

Then Jesus tackles the issue of adultery. But, once again, he goes to the spirit of the thing. If we look on other people as objects for our gratification, that is as bad as committing adultery. We are called to be completely and utterly faithful to our marriage commitments. We are called to treat each other with profound respect and caring.

We need to take Jesus’ words on divorce within the context of his culture. In Jesus’ time, a man could divorce his wife for a trivial reason, for example, if he did not like her cooking. He could write up a certificate of divorce and she would be out in the street. Women and children in Jesus’ time were considered as property, possessions, like a chair. The technical word for this is chattel. Women and children were things. So, if a man divorced a woman, and she was left alone to fend for herself, she had no means of support and no social status. She would have to go back to her family in disgrace and try to live under the protection of a male relative. If she could not do that, she would often have to resort to prostitution, a profession which is totally dependent on the objectification of persons.

Jesus says here that the only justification for divorce is adultery, but he is speaking here to men who commonly would divorce their wives for trivial reasons. In Jesus’ culture, there was no awareness of such a thing as domestic violence or emotionally abusive behavior. Abuse tears the fabric of a relationship. It destroys marriages.

Jesus is calling us to a higher level of commitment and behavior. He is calling us to the highest levels of compassion. He says that if our right eye causes us to sin, we should tear it out. This is one of those comments that we need to take in a spiritual sense. Jesus is not advising us to perform self-mutilation. But he is saying that, if there is something that gets in the way of our being compassionate, we need to deal with it. We need to ask God’s help and probably get professional help to work our way over it or through it so that it does not get in the way of our spiritual growth. We have to do whatever it takes to live lives of compassion, to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

In all of our readings for today, we are being called to high standards of thought and behavior. The Beatitudes are a blueprint for personal and cultural transformation. It’s hard work!

And it is a journey filled with joy and meaning. Thank God that we are not alone on this journey. We have our loving God, and we have each other and the entire Communion of Saints. May God lead us and guide us. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: 1 Corinthians, Deauteronommy, Epiphany, Matthew 5, Psalm 119 | Leave a comment »

Epiphany 3 RCL January 26, 2014

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Beth Crane

Annual Meeting

Isaiah 9:1-4
Psalm 27:1, 5-13
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Matthew 4: 12-23

What inspiring reading we have for this Sunday of Annual Meeting.

Our opening lesson from Isaiah is one of the readings appointed for Christmas. Scholars tell us that this passage is announcing the birth of a king from David’s line and that it may refer to King Hezekiah of Judah. For us as Christians, it refers to our Lord Jesus Christ. He brings us out of darkness into light. He frees us from all that oppresses us. What a wonderful reading this is for the week in which we have celebrated Martin Luther King’s legacy.

In our epistle, Paul is addressing the serious problems of division in the congregation in Corinth. This is a community which Paul had founded and shepherded for eighteen months. Now they are dividing into factions and being mean to each other. We can tell how anguished Paul is over these behaviors. We can hear it in his voice as he asks, “Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you?” Paul calls us to be one in Christ and to be loving and respectful toward each other and to all who come to be with us.

In our gospel, Jesus hears that John the Baptist has been arrested. This is not good. Now John is in the awful prison of Herod Antipas, a ruthless ruler who will stop at nothing. Jesus has been in the south near Jerusalem, dangerous territory. He moves from Nazareth to Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee., the “land of Zebulon, land of Naphtali” mentioned in our first lesson.

Jesus is now going to move forward with his ministry. He is going to form a community. We can imagine him getting to know these strong, sturdy, hardworking fishermen. He calls people to repent, to turn to God and let God transform their lives. And he calls Peter and Andrew, James and John. He tells them and us, “I will make you fish for people.”

Capernaum was much like Sheldon. It was a small town where people worked hard. Jesus chose these people to form the core of his community.

Today, as we gather for our Annual Meeting, we can celebrate many gifts that we have received. Jesus is the light of our lives. We are no longer stumbling around in the darkness. He leads us and guides us. All we have to do is ask for his direction.

We are not divided into factions who follow Apollos or Paul or Cephas. We are all one in Christ. We are a community built on mutual love and respect. These are precious gifts which our Lord has given us.

This morning, Jesus is calling each of us and all of us together to follow him. He is calling us to spread the good news of his love and healing. Just as he called Peter and Andrew, just as he called James and John, so he is calling us to live as a community which shows forth his vision of transformation for the world.

May we answer his call. May we be one in him. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: 1 Corinthians, Epiphany, Isaiah 9, Matthew 4, Psalm 27 | Leave a comment »

Epiphany 2 Year A RCL January 19, 2014

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 40:1-12
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
John 1:29-42

Our first reading this morning is from the Second Servant Song of Isaiah. God has called God’s servant Israel since the time the servant was in his mother’s womb. This is very similar to the prophet Jeremiah’s story. God has called us from the beginning of time and God will love us for all eternity.

The Servant is to call God’s people home from exile. But God gives the Servant a much larger mission—to call all of God’s people, to be a light to all nations.

As the people of God, we are called to welcome all people into what Archbishop Desmond Tutu calls “God’s big family.”

Paul is writing to the congregation he founded in Corinth. This faith community is having some serious problems. There are factions in the church. Some members are claiming to have superior knowledge and special spiritual gifts. There is even sexual immorality.

Paul reminds the congregation of their identity as children of God and followers of Jesus and reminds them that, no matter how many challenges they may face, God will give them the strength to meet those challenges.

In our reading from John’s gospel, John the Baptist is standing with two of his disciples. Jesus walks toward them. John identifies Jesus as the Messiah. John makes it clear that Jesus is one who is greater than he, the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit

The next day, John is again with standing with two of his disciples. Jesus walks by. Again, John says that Jesus is the Lamb of God. So the two disciples follow Jesus. Jesus asks them, “What are you looking for?”

These are two disciples of John the Baptist. John has a huge following. At this point, he is far better known than Jesus. Thousands of people are flocking to him to be baptized because they see the need for repentance, transformation in their lives, a shift that will bring them closer to God.

But now John is telling these disciples of his that Jesus is the messiah. They are probably overwhelmed and confused. They want to learn more about Jesus. Maybe they think they can quietly tag along and hang out with Jesus and learn what he has to say. But now Jesus is asking them this question, “What are you looking for?” And they are thinking, “Our teacher, John, says this is the messiah. The messiah has just asked us a question.” How could we possibly have conversation with the Savior of the world? They are nervous, probably even scared. They are in awe of Jesus.

They address him as “Rabbi,” meaning “Teacher,” a term of great respect, but this is the messiah. How do you address the messiah, the Savior? They don’t know what to say, so they ask, “Where are you staying?” They are drawn to Jesus. They want to be with him.

And he says, “Come and see.” They spend the day with him. Imagine what that must have been like, sitting at his feet and absorbing his presence, his love, his healing, and his teaching. Now we find out that one of the two is Andrew, Simon’s brother. It is four o’clock. The evening is drawing near. Andrew goes and finds Peter and tells him, “We have found the messiah!” Think what this must have meant to Peter and Andrew.

Andrew brings Peter to Jesus, and Jesus says, “You are Simon, son of John, You are to be called Cephas, Peter.”

God calls all people to come to the light, God calls all people to be a part of God’s big family. Like John the Baptist and Andrew, we are called to bring people to Jesus. We are called to help people to meet and experience Jesus. How do we do this?

We can bring friends to church. We can tell people how we get strength from the presence of Jesus in our faith community. We can share our experiences of how Jesus has led us through the thickets of life and gotten us to the still waters of peace and love. We can sit and listen, just listen, not even say anything. We can share the gifts of faith and love and listening and healing, and by doing those things, we are helping folks to be in the presence of our Lord.

John the Baptist and Andrew had the gift of connecting people with Jesus. These are powerful examples for us.

We are all here because we want to follow Jesus. It’s a wonderful journey.

Our journey is similar to that of the Servant in our first lesson. The Servant, embodying the people of God, is called to lead all people to God and to God’s shalom. We are called to lead all people to Jesus, the light of the world, We are called to welcome all people into God’s kingdom, God’s shalom of peace and harmony.

Blessedly, we do not have any of the problems which were plaguing the congregation in Corinth. Nobody here is claiming to have superior knowledge. No one is on a power trip. No one is trying to lord it over others or bully others. We know we are far from perfect, but our morals and ethics are strong. We have much to be thankful for.

May we follow the example of John the Baptist and Andrew. May we lead others to Jesus. May we share his light and love. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: 1 Corinthians, Epiphany, Isaiah 49, John 1, Psalm 40 | Leave a comment »

Epiphany 1 The Baptism of Our Lord

Posted on January 12, 2014 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:13-17

Our first reading today is the First Servant Song from the prophet Isaiah. This passage dates back to a special and joyful time. The exiles are going home from Babylon.

Some scholars suggest that the servant described is the entire people of Israel, the people of God. Others state that this and other similar passages describe the messiah who will bring in a reign of justice for all people. For us, this passage describes the qualities of a ministering community.

As Christians, we see the figure and ministry of Jesus in this description. He is quiet. He does not make a lot of noise. He is gentle. He does not break a bruised reed or quench a flickering flame. He is persistent and courageous. He will not stop until justice prevails over the whole earth.

We are called by God in love to open the eyes that are blind, to free people from all that imprisons them, to bring light to those in darkness. The revered scholar Herbert O’Driscoll points out that nowadays, in our secular age, we do not think of a whole nation as reflecting this kind of spiritual character. (The Word Today, Year A, pp. 63-64), but he suggests that we as Christians can imagine and work toward creating this vision for our nation. What would it mean if a whole country were dedicating to healing and freeing people?

Our second reading is from the Book of Acts, Peter has just had his vision of the sheet of all kinds of meat and has heard the voice of God saying, “Kill and eat.” God is telling Peter that the dietary laws no longer apply. Christ has fulfilled the law. The gospel is for everyone. This is one of the great themes of the Epiphany season, that the good news is for all people and that God loves all people.

Peter is now called to the home of Cornelius, the Centurion. Cornelius is a faithful person, a seeker, but he is not a Jew. Cornelius has been guided by an angel to call on Peter to come to his home and has gathered his friends and family to hear Peter speak. When Peter finishes his sermon on God’s inclusiveness, the Holy Spirit falls on all the people gathered. This simply emphasizes the fact that God wants everyone to be a part of God’s family. So Peter and his helpers baptize all these people, and then they stay with them for several days. This is how the early Church grew and grew.

Our gospel for today is the baptism of Jesus. We know very little about Jesus’ life up to this point. We read in the gospels that the family made a trip at the time of the Passover to the Temple in Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve, and that they started home only to discover that he was no longer with them. They went back to the Temple and found him there, and he said, “Didn’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?” Together with the journey into Egypt to escape King Herod’s murder of the innocents, this is the only event we find in the gospels between Jesus birth and his baptism.

We can picture Jesus growing up in Nazareth. His earthly father, Joseph, was a carpenter. We can imagine Jesus working in the shop and learning the carpenter’s trade from Joseph.

Many scholars think that Jesus and his cousin John the Baptist studied with the Essenes, a religious sect of that time. From the way Jesus conducted himself, I believe he studied the scriptures and knew and understood the law.

But now he is called to go to the banks of the Jordan River and allow John to baptize him. This will fulfill what has been written by the prophets. It will also be the beginning of Jesus’ formal ministry. He is about twenty-nine or thirty years old at this point.

Probably Joseph was dead by this time. He had been quite a bit older than Mary when they were married. But what did Mary think when Jesus said, “Well, I’m going off to the River Jordan to be baptized?” Among the many things she had to ponder in her heart was the moment when he would leave to go out into the world and begin his ministry. Knowing him as she did, I think she had some idea of how it would all turn out. Some of us are reading Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly. The brutality and violence of the world under the Roman Empire are hard to exaggerate. They were diametrically opposed to Jesus’ shalom. There was going to be a clash.

Jesus walks into the river and is immersed in the waters of the Jordan. Baptism comes from the Greek word for drowning. Our old identity is drowned. A new person is born. We receive a new identity. We are children of God and inheritors of the kingdom, the shalom, of God.

Each of us is called to live out the meaning of our baptism in our own lives, using the gifts and grace God gives to us. But all of us together are called to be that servant people, the People of God—gentle, caring, courageous. We are called to heal people, to free people. We are called to bring justice for everyone.

Just as the voice of God spoke to Jesus and said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased,” so God speaks to each of us: “You are my own beloved child.” And God calls us to share in the servant ministry of Jesus. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: Acts 10, Baptism, Ephiphany 1, Isaiah 42, Matthew 3, Psalm 29 | Leave a comment »

Christmas 2 January 5, 2014

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Beth Crane

Jeremiah 31: 7-14
Psalm 84:1-8
Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a
Matthew 2:1-12

Our opening reading for today is a beautiful and powerful passage about the return of all the exiles from the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. They had been conquered by the Assyrians and then by the Babylonians, and the people had been deported to foreign lands.

They had spent years studying the law and deepening their commitment to God and their faith. They had also learned in this time of desolation to cherish their homeland. Now they will be returning.

God is going to gather them from the ends of the earth–the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor. The text says, “Their life shall become like a watered garden.” The people will live in peace and abundance. This is the vision of God’s shalom.

Psalm 84 expresses the joy of being in God’s house, the joy of returning home after a long exile. Even though we have not been in exile in Babylon or elsewhere, we can still identify with this feeling of joy at being in God’s house and being in God’s presence.

Our epistle, from the Letter to the Ephesians, once again emphasizes that God has made us heirs of God’s kingdom. God has come close to us. God has adopted us, made us sons and daughters of God. We are able to call God Daddy or Mom. Paul gives thanks for the people of God and prays that we may receive a “spirit of wisdom as we come to know [God], so that, with the eyes of [our] hearts enlightened, we may know what is the hope to which he has called us, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.”

What does this mean? First, we have had “the eyes of our hearts enlightened” because the light of the world, Jesus, has come to live in our world, in our hearts, and in our lives. We are not alone. He is always with us. He is constantly bringing light into our hearts and minds, constantly leading us into new truths and teaching us new things. And the most important thing is how deeply he loves us.

Therefore, we have a deep hope, no matter how many challenges we may face, no matter how many tragedies we may hear about on the news, no matter how much suffering we may see around us and within our own lives and families at times. Christ is with us and with all people. Wholeness will come out of brokenness. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

So, we believe in the power of God to bring light out of darkness and to make wholeness out of brokenness. We have the gift of faith, and it is a great gift indeed.

In our gospel for today, we read again the story of the Wise Men. They were highly respected, probably Zoroastrian priests, a combination of scientists, scholars, and spiritual leaders. They had noticed that something important was happening in the solar system. There was a star, and they had to follow it. They felt that a new king was going to be born. So they packed up gifts, made ready for a long journey and set out to follow that star.

Following the highest diplomatic protocols, they met with King Herod, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he did not want their report on the new king for good purposes. They went on to Bethlehem, and when they got there, finding this little baby who was going to be the greatest king the world has ever known, but not in earthly terms, they fell on their knees and worshipped him. Many a scientist has done the same thing. We try to plumb the mysteries of creation and are led to the ultimate mystery of the Creator of all things. They gave him gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

A dream confirmed that it would be a big mistake to go back and visit King Herod. So they went home by another way.

Many people have been inspired by the story of the wise men. T. S. Eliot wrote about what a life changing experience it was for these journeyers to meet Jesus. Life was never the same after that. All of the old points of reference were gone. A new landscape, a new world, had come.

James Taylor wrote a song called “Home by Another Way “ which explores the corrupting nature of Herod’s power and tells us to “keep a weather eye on the chart on high and go home another way.”

We have spent this Advent and Christmas moving closer and closer to the stable in Bethlehem and finally meeting our Lord Jesus as a tiny baby. We will grow with him as he matures and carries out his ministry.

We have met Jesus and he has changed our lives forever, and is continuing to change and transform us.

May we always follow that star. May we always follow him.

Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: Advent, Ephesians 1, Jeremiah 31, Matthew 2, Psalm 84 | Leave a comment »

Christmas 1 2013

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Psalm 147 or 147:13-31
Galatians 3: 23-25, 4:4-7
John 1:1-18

“Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word….” That is how our collect for this First Sunday After Christmas begins.

St. Paul tells us that, because Jesus has come among us, we are now on intimate terms with our God, We can call God Abba, meaning “Daddy” or “Mom.” God is no longer far away from us. God is no longer light years away. God is with us. Emmanuel, God with us.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” God has come among us. God has gone through the process of gestation, the adventure of being born into this world which God has made. God has undergone every human experience.

God was not born into a palace or a castle. God was not born into a place of power. As Pope Francis has said, God came into the world as a homeless person. There was no room for them at the inn. God was not born in Jerusalem, the seat of religious and secular power in the Holy Land. God was not born in Rome, the seat of the major empire of the time. God was born in a stable, to a young woman named Mary and a carpenter named Joseph, not to an earthly king and queen or emperor and empress.

John says, “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.” At the darkest time of the year, the time when we are yearning for the days to become longer, the light comes into the world. That light, that love, will never be overcome by darkness.

John says that the Word made the world. He was and is the eternal Word who called the creation into being, yet when he came to his own people, they did not know him and they did not accept him. But some did, and those people he made children of God. Actually, he has made all of us children of God. He has brought all of us into close relationship with God. We can be grateful because we realize that he has done this. And we can share his love with others.

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us….” Incarnation means “enfleshment.” God becomes human, “Full of grace and truth.” God becomes one of us so that we can look at the life of God in Jesus and see how to live our lives as our Lord would want us to. And there, we see “grace upon grace.”

We can imagine Jesus in Joseph’s shop, playing with the curls of wood from the carpenter’s plane, later learning Joseph’s trade. The hymn “Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,” has one verse that says, “Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith, whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe, be there at our labors and give us, we pray, your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.”

God came to be with us in all our humanness. God knows what it is like to face every challenge, every joy. God walks with us through every moment.

Love has come to be with us, to fill us with grace upon grace.

Thanks be to God for this unspeakable gift.

Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: Christmas 1, Galatians 3, Isaiah 61, John 1, Psalm 147 | Leave a comment »

Advent 4 Year A RCL December 22, 2013

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 7: 1-16
Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19
Romans 1: 1-7
Matthew 1: 18-25

In our opening lesson, the prophet Isaiah is speaking to King Ahaz of Judah. The year is about 734 or 735 B.C. The powerful Assyrian Empire is threatening the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Syria, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Israel and Syria want King Ahaz to join with them in a coalition against the Assyrian Empire.

This is a situation in which it is easy to be completely overwhelmed by fear. Isaiah is encouraging Ahaz to remain neutral in this conflict and to trust God to lead him and the people through this crisis.

Isaiah points out a young woman. Some scholars think this woman might actually be Isaiah’s wife. The woman is pregnant. She is going to bear a son named Immanuel, God with us. Isaiah is trying to help King Ahaz see that, even among the machinations of enemies and empires, faith is the most important thing. As it turned out, Ahaz did not follow Isaiah’s guidance. He actually made an alliance with the Assyrian Empire, which was even bigger than Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the Assyrian Empire eventually invaded Jerusalem.

As Christians, we think of this passage as foretelling the birth of Jesus, our Emmanuel, God with us. What does it mean to realize that God is always with us, leading and guiding us?

In his Letter to the Romans, Paul writes that God promised through the prophets, to send God’s Son, who opens new life to us and gives us grace to minister in his Name.

And then we have Matthew’s story of the birth of Jesus. This story focuses on a most courageous and faithful and wise man, Joseph.

Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant, but he knows that the child is not his. Back in those days, women were routinely stoned to death for such offenses. We recall what Jesus told some folks who were about to do just that. He said that those who were without sin should cast the first stone, and they all walked away.

Joseph makes up his mind not to make a public spectacle of Mary. In such a situation, the law says that the proper thing is to divorce the woman, but Joseph plans to do this quietly. He wants to spare her disgrace. Even in this very awkward situation, he is very respectful toward Mary.

But then Joseph has a dream, and in that dream an angel of the Lord appears to him and tells him that the child is indeed from the Holy Spirit. The angel tells Joseph that he should name the child Jesus, and this means that Joseph is in effect adopting Jesus. Some commentators point out that, on a purely human level, Jesus was an illegitimate child. Joseph adopted him, but, until then, he did not have an earthly father. Scholars point out that there may have been talk around Nazareth about this situation, that, among the many difficult things Jesus went through was the experience of having questionable parentage. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus also experienced what it meant to be refugees when they fled into Egypt.

The text says that Joseph is a righteous man. “Righteous” means that he had a right relationship with God. Righteous does not mean holier than thou or rigid in theology. It means that Joseph was close to God, He turned to God for help and guidance and insight and inspiration. As we follow the role of Joseph in Jesus and Mary’s lives, it becomes clear that he was always open to God’s direction.

Just think for a moment: what if Joseph had not been the person he was? Anyone who knew Mary would know that she would never be unfaithful, She kept her commitments, She followed Jesus to the foot of the cross. But a lesser man might have just taken a look at the superficial appearances and made a different decision. Not Joseph. Even before he received that direct communication from God he had made the most loving decision he could have made under the law.

They made the trip to Bethlehem so that Jesus could be born in David’s city. That was a grueling journey. Always, always, Joseph was the protector. Afterward, when Herod decided to murder all the baby boys, Joseph took Mary and the baby into Egypt. Always, he was there to take care of them. Always, he was respectful toward Mary and this precious little baby. He took major risks in order to care for his adopted son. This is a wonderful role model for fathers in all ages and places.

We are now very close to that wonderful time when we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.

And so, I go back to that question: what does it mean to realize that God is with us? It means that we realize that God loves us enough to come and live among us. And when we think of God as being with us, we also remember that we need to be with God. We need to seek God’s guidance and help. We need to be more like Joseph and less like King Ahaz, who just ignored Isaiah and God and went off and did his own thing.

Joseph is someone who knew that God was as near as his breath. He turned to God. Back in those days, people often received guidance from God in their dreams. Even when Joseph was asleep he was open to God’s leading. Do we seek God’s direction? Do we, like Joseph, know that God is as close as our own breath? Would we have the courage that Joseph had? Courage that only God can give? Would we step beyond our comfort zone and into the growing kingdom of God as Joseph did? Would we assist at this birth of a new thing? A new order? A new world?

Emmanuel, God with us. May we prepare for his birth in us and in the world he made. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: Advent 4, Isaiah 7, Matthew 1, Psalm 80, Romans 1 | Leave a comment »

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