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    • Sunday service - Holy Communion June 11, 2023 at 9:30 am – 11:00 am Grace Church 215 Pleasant Street, Sheldon, VT Website: www.gracechurchsheldon.comTime:  09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)        Every week on Sun.Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83929911344?pwd=alZQTWZMN0ZkWFFPS1hmNjNkZkU2UT09Meeting ID: 839 2991 1344Password: Call for detailsOne tap mobile+13126266799,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (Chicago)+19294362866,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (New York)Dial by your location        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)        +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)Meeting ID:…
    • Sunday service - Holy Communion June 18, 2023 at 9:30 am – 11:00 am Grace Church 215 Pleasant Street, Sheldon, VT Website: www.gracechurchsheldon.comTime:  09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)        Every week on Sun.Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83929911344?pwd=alZQTWZMN0ZkWFFPS1hmNjNkZkU2UT09Meeting ID: 839 2991 1344Password: Call for detailsOne tap mobile+13126266799,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (Chicago)+19294362866,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (New York)Dial by your location        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)        +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)Meeting ID:…
    • Sunday service - Holy Communion June 25, 2023 at 9:30 am – 11:00 am Grace Church 215 Pleasant Street, Sheldon, VT Website: www.gracechurchsheldon.comTime:  09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)        Every week on Sun.Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83929911344?pwd=alZQTWZMN0ZkWFFPS1hmNjNkZkU2UT09Meeting ID: 839 2991 1344Password: Call for detailsOne tap mobile+13126266799,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (Chicago)+19294362866,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (New York)Dial by your location        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)        +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)Meeting ID:…

All Saints Sunday Year C November 3, 2019

Posted on November 3, 2019 by Beth Crane

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Psalm 149
Ephesians 1:11-23
Luke 6:20-31

Our opening reading today is from the Book of Daniel. This book was written to inspire God’s people during a time when they were being persecuted by an extremely cruel tyrant called Antiochus IV. The book purports to be taking place at the time of the Exile from 586 to 538 B.C.E., but it was actually written during the time of Antiochus. Using information in the book, scholars can actually date it to 167-164 B.C.E. (Gene M. Tucker, Preaching through the Christian Year C, p. 482.)

We remember Daniel as the great hero who won the battle against the lions in that famous den. Our passage today describes a vision. The four winds of heaven stir up the great sea, and four great beasts come up out of the sea. The actual descriptions of the four beasts are omitted, but they represent four empires—the Babylonians, the Medes, the Persians, and the Greeks.

Earthly empires rise and fall, but the holy ones of God will receive and possess God’s kingdom forever. This was a beacon of hope and inspiration to God’s people struggling under the cruelty of a tyrant who was persecuting them.

In our reading from the Letter to the Ephesians, we read of the precious inheritance we have received. Like all the saints who came before us, we have set our hope on Christ. We read these stirring words. “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know the hope to which he has called you.” There is that word again—hope. We are a people of hope.

We have received such a great gift. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, all the saints who have gone before us, those who are here now, and those who will follow, and they are all cheering us on as we run the race, following our Lord Jesus. As Sister Rachel Hosmer of the Order of Saint Helena used to say, “Christ has won the victory. We are part of the mopping up operation.”

As we celebrate All Saints Sunday and think of all those who have gone before us—Laura, Hoddie, Charlotte, Harriet, Gertrude, Geraldine, A. J., Theresa, Gwen, Ruth, Frederika, Kate, Arthur, Eva, Albert, Sue, Alvin, Nat and so many more, we contemplate our gospel for today, Luke’s account of the Sermon on the Plain.

Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount is easier. It has all blessings and no woes. It is placed more on a spiritual level—“Blessed are the poor in spirit” rather than simply “Blessed are the poor.” In Luke’s gospel, our Lord says, blessed are the poor, the hungry, those who weep, those who are hated, excluded, reviled, and defamed on account of our Lord. Woe to those who are rich, full, laughing. Woe to you when people speak well of you. As many have observed, it is a huge reversal. 

Fred Craddock reminds us of the time when our Lord read the prophecy of Isaiah in the synagogue. When he finished, he said, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled.’ (Luke 4:21.) Craddock writes, “The today that Jesus declared in Nazareth still prevails. The messiah who will come has come, and the prophecy of Isaiah  (Isaiah 61:1-2) concerning the poor, the diseased, the imprisoned, and the oppressed is no longer a hope but is an agenda for the followers of Jesus.” (Craddock, Interpretation: Luke, p.88.)

In this sermon on the plain, on the level, Jesus is calling us to take the poor and hungry as seriously as we do the rich and those who have plenty of food. This is just another way of saying that this gospel is calling us to honor our baptismal covenant to “respect the dignity of every human being.”

The last portion of this reading is even more challenging to us. Our Lord calls us to love our enemies and to pray for those who abuse us. Craddock writes, “This unit… lays down the general principle that Jesus’ followers do not reciprocate, do not retaliate, and do not draw their behavior patterns from those who would victimize them.” (Craddock, p. 89.) At the same time we need to say that, if someone is being abused, they have every right to seek help. healing, and justice. 

And then he sums it up with what we know as the Golden Rule. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Every major religion in the world has this rule or something like it. As we all know, if all of us followed the rule, God’s kingdom would come to the earth.

As we meditate on these readings, I thank God that you and I are not in this moment living in fear of being killed by someone like Antiochus IV, but there are many people who are facing such persecution in one way or another, and I hope we will pray for them and pray and work for the day when there will be peace on earth, when everyone will have enough to eat, water to drink, clothing  and safe shelter and medical care and good work to do.

As I think of these beatitudes, I think of our interfaith food shelf. People are welcomed with hospitality and respect. No one is turned away.  Our two main upstairs greeters who welcome folks and keep our records for the United Way and other agencies know almost all of our clients by name. I have seen them deal with folks who feel ashamed to have to ask for food. I have seen our volunteers extend God’s love to these people. I think that is what our Lord is talking about in this gospel.

As we celebrate with joy this great feast of All Saints, I hope we will feel the energy and love of that great cloud of witnesses cheering us on. May we continue to build God’s kingdom of peace, harmony, and wholeness  Amen.

 

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All Saints Sunday November 6, 2016

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Beth Crane

Daniel 7:1-3. 15-18
Psalm 149
Ephesians 1:11-23
Luke 6: 20-31

Today, we celebrate All Saints Sunday. This sermon will be short so that we can hear from our Convention delegates.

All Saints is a wonderful feast. Our  Collect reminds us that we are all members of the Body of Christ. We are knit together in one fellowship which spans all time. We are part of the Communion of Saints going back into the time of Peter and Paul and Martha and Mary Magdalene and going forward into eternity.

We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, saints, people just like you and me who loved our Lord and followed him. And, as part of this faithful multitude, we gain strength from their presence so that we can run the race that is set before us.

We are not alone. We do not have to run the race alone. We have help, very strong and good help. We are never alone. Together with the capital S saints such as the folks I mentioned earlier, we have our wonderful small s saints. And here at Grace, as we celebrate the bicentennial of this amazing parish, we can feel them cheering us on—Albert Hopson Bailey, Kate Whittemore, Hoddie, Charlotte, Laura, Harriet, Geraldine, Ruth, Gertrude, Arthur, Gwen, A. J. and Theresa, and all the people who have made Grace Church the faithful, loving, hopeful, and resilient community that it is.

We are not alone. They are all with us, helping us to be faithful to our Lord’s call to love and serve others, here and around the world.

Thanks be to God for this cloud of witnesses! Amen.

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All Saints Sunday Year C RCL November 3, 2013

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Beth Crane

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Psalm 149
Ephesians 1: 11-23
Luke 6: 20-31

Our opening reading today is from the Book of Daniel. This book is supposedly set in the sixth century B. C. at the time of the Babylonian Exile, but it was actually written during the persecution of the Jews under the notorious tyrant Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the second century B. C.

The beasts symbolize four empires that conquered Jerusalem one after another: the Babylonians, the Medes, the Persians, and the Greeks. The lesson says that “the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever.” This book was written to inspire God’s people to persevere in difficult and brutal times. Tyrants rise and fall, but the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Our gospel for today is from Luke—the Sermon on the Plain. In Matthew, it is the Sermon on the Mount, but Luke wants to make it clear that Jesus is on a level with the people, so he offers the Beatitudes from a “level place.”

Matthew has Jesus saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Blessed are those who admit their brokenness and their need for God. Luke has Jesus blessing the poor, not because Jesus thinks it is good or ennobling for people to be poor, but because he is telling us that, no matter what we are enduring, if we have faith in God, we are kingdom people who have genuine joy and hope. Matthew has Jesus blessing the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for his sake. In addition to the poor, Luke has Jesus blessing those who are hungry and those who weep.

These kingdom qualities—being poor in spirit or literally poor, being meek, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers—these are the qualities our society avoids or sneers at. But these are the qualities we are called to admire. These are the qualities of saints.

Each of the four gospels emphasizes different things about Jesus. The Rev. Al Smith of St, James, Essex Junction used to compare the writing of the gospels to eyewitness accounts of an accident at the five corners. He said that, if we had ten eyewitnesses who wrote accounts of just one accident, each one would notice different things and accentuate different aspects, but it would be the same accident.

Matthew tended to spiritualize the Beatitudes. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” This increased the latitude of the meaning. Even if we are not literally poor, if we are honest, we are all poor in spirit, We all need God’s help. Both Matthew and Luke are conveying the essential truth of Jesus’ description of kingdom people, shalom people. Many commentators point out that the Beatitudes are not commandments. Jesus is not saying, “Be like this.” Either we are like this or we are not.

Shalom people admit our brokenness and our need for God. We allow room for others. We don’t rush to the front of the line. We extend compassion to others. We try, with God’s help, to focus on God with all our hearts and minds. We try, with God’s help, to work for peace and reconciliation.

As many scholars have pointed out, the beatitudes are a complete reversal of the values of life in this world, For the most part, these qualities will not help us to climb the ladder of success or to get ahead in the world’s terms. Kingdom people think about the needs of others, opening literal and figurative doors for others. Letting people in line ahead of us. Sharing God’s abundance of love and healing and food and clothing and shelter, making room for those who may not have the kind of accessibility that we do. I see these values every day here at Grace. As Christians, we are all living into these values.

When he was here on earth, Jesus was creating a new family, a new community of love and healing and reconciliation. When people saw his vision of how the world could be, that vision strengthened their weak knees and set their hearts on fire.

The Letter to the Ephesians was a circular letter that was written to encourage the early Christians who gathered in house churches across the Roman Empire. Commentator Lance Pape writes of these small groups of the faithful centuries ago and asks, “How could they know that when the apostle spoke of the communion of saints it would include a throng of billions stretched across millennia?” (Pape, New Proclamation Year C 2013, p. 217)

We are part of the living, vibrant, Body of Christ. We have been knit together with millions of others into his Body. We are surrounded by “a great cloud of witnesses,” the Communion of Saints—those who have gone before us, those who are here now and those who will come after us, from Mary and Joseph, to Paul, to Ambrose of Milan, to Hilda of Whitby, to Teresa of Avila to Jonathan Myrick Daniels, to Pope Francis, to the people we meet in shops or at tea.

We are part of a living Body of people who are living these shalom values which Jesus gave us in his beatitudes. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism. We have had “the eyes of our hearts enlightened.” We have seen his vision of how he wants the world to be, and we are working toward creating that new world.

Loving and gracious God, thank you for the support of this great cloud of witnesses cheering us on. Thank you for your vision of a world brought to wholeness where everyone is loved and respected. Give us the grace to help you build your shalom. In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

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