• Content

  • Pages

  • Upcoming Events

    • Sunday service - Holy Communion December 28, 2025 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 - Morning Prayer January 4, 2026 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 January 11, 2026 at 9:30 am – 11:00 am Grace Church 215 Pleasant Street, Sheldon, VT As of January 16, 2022 our service online only (via Zoom). Website: www.gracechurchsheldon.orgTime:  09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)        Every week on Sun.Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83929911344?pwd=alZQTWZMN0ZkWFFPS1hmNjNkZkU2UT09Meeting ID: 839 2991 1344Password: Call for detailsOne tap mobile+13126266799,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (Chicago)+19294362866,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (New York)Dial by your location        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) …

Pentecost 21 Proper 25A October 25, 2020

Posted on October 25, 2020 by Beth Crane

Deuteronomy  34:1-12
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46

In our opening reading today, we have the opportunity to share a special moment in the life of Moses and the life of God’s people. God takes Moses to the summit of Mount Pisgah and shows Moses the promised land— the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees. The land is beautiful. We can imagine all the feelings rising in the heart of Moses as he looks out on this amazing gift from God. We can imagine that Moses felt enormous gratitude that God had led them all this way and taken care of them, given them food when they were hungry and water when the were thirsty. God has given Moses and Aaron the wisdom, strength and sheer perseverance to stay with the people and lead them when their knees were feeling weak, their hearts were faint, and their courage waning. Moses could think to himself, “We made it, against all odds.” This was a great accomplishment.

God allows Moses the gift of seeing the land that God has given the people, but Moses will not cross into that land. Moses will die in that place. He dies at the height of his powers. His vision is still good and he remains strong. But he will not enter the promised land. Moses is one of the great leaders of God’s people, and God has provided an excellent leader to follow Moses: Joshua, the son of Nun. Moses has laid his hands on this new leader. The Spirit is within Joshua. But the passage clearly states, “Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt….and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.”

Our second reading is from Paul’s letter to his beloved Thessalonians. Thessalonica was a Roman city in Macedonia, a city where the authorities could keep an eye on what was happening with the new faith in Jesus. Paul has come there after being imprisoned in Philippi. There are many competing teachers in Thessalonica, and some of them are wrongly accusing Paul of all  kinds of things Paul is not doing. Paul emphasizes that his ministry is not based on deceit or tricks but on the truth that he has received from God and from knowing our Lord. We remember that he met the risen Lord on the road to Damascus and his life was transformed. He is sharing the power of that transformation with everyone he meets, and it comes from deep in his heart.

Paul tries to make it clear that he is not trying to impress human beings; he is trying to please God. He does not flatter people. He does not want their money. He tells them that he has been gentle among them, as a nurse gently cares for children. He tells the people how much he loves them and how deeply he wants to share himself with them.

Paul is completely sincere. All he wants to do is to share the love of Jesus with these people whom he loves. As he shares his thoughts and feelings, he makes himself vulnerable to the people. And this reminds us of a great truth, that the love God has shared with us, we share with each other. We become vulnerable with each other. We share our stories. We share our challenges. We pray for each other. And as we do that, we come to love each other more and more deeply.

Paul’s ministry is a ministry of honesty, openness, and caring, He is not trying to fool anyone. He has been filled with the love of Christ, and all he wants to do is share that love.

In today’s gospel, Jesus has silenced the Sadducees, and now the Pharisees step up to try to test him. They ask him which commandment is the greatest, He gives the summary of the law found in Deuteronomy and Leviticus. “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Then Jesus asks them, “What do you think pf the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They cannot see who Jesus is.

Paul was able to see who Jesus is. He met our Lord while he was fuming with anger and going to Damascus to persecute followers of our LordS. And the risen Lord came to him and asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Paul was blinded by the light streaming from our Lord. He had to be led by the hand. 

But he felt the love radiating from our Lord. And that love changed him from someone who was trying to put Jesus’ followers into prison, someone who watched as people stoned Stephen, the first Christian martyr to death, into someone who devoted his life to sharing the love of our Lord with everyone he met. He planted churches the way Johnny Appleseed planted apple trees. And in our reading today, we see his gentleness and his vulnerability. just as we see the gentleness and vulnerability of our Lord on the cross.

Love is what it’s all about. Our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, talks about and lives the Way of Love. All of us are called to live that Way. Love is what will heal our world. Love is what will make us one. Love calls us to look at what we have in common and work together. Love is what calls us to free each other from those things that imprison us. As Moses led the people from slavery into freedom and as our Lord frees us from all bonds.

This week, may we meditate on Moses’ leadership which freed the people. May we meditate on Paul’s gentleness and honesty and vulnerability and sheer love for the people he served. What a great model of leadership. And may we meditate on our Lord, who calls us to love God and each other, who washes the feet of his disciples and calls us to serve each other and all our brothers and sisters. Love is the greatest power on earth. Stronger than hate, stronger than fear and division. This week, let us renew our commitment to live the Way of Love.  Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Pentecost  20 Proper 25A RCL October 26, 2014

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Beth Crane

Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46

Our first reading this morning gives us the privilege of being present at an extraordinary moment in history and in the life of God’s people. Moses, the leader who has brought the people out of slavery in Egypt and has led them though so many challenges, is now gazing upon the promised land, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees.

The land stretches as far as the eye can see, and it is a beautiful sight, We can imagine how Moses must feel. Perhaps he gives an inward sigh of relief. Whew! We made it. This may seem quite a miracle, given all the complaints along the way. Why did you bring us out here to die of hunger, or of thirst? It was just wonderful back there in Egypt, with all the good food. Now we are going to die. But the people did not die, Here they are on the verge of moving into their new home.

But it is a bittersweet moment because Moses is not going to cross over into the new land with them. He is going to die. After all, he is 120 years old. This is sad, and indeed the people mourn for thirty days. But the text makes it clear that Moses died at the top of his form. The scripture tells us that “his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated.”

After the period of mourning, Joshua, who is full of the Spirit because Moses has laid his hands upon him, takes over the leadership role. But the text makes it clear that Moses is the greatest leader the people of God have ever seen.

In our gospel, the Pharisees are gathering to pounce and trap Jesus. They ask him which commandment is the greatest, and he responds by quoting the rabbis, who have given us the summary of the law from Deuteronomy and Leviticus: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it. ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Then Jesus asks them what they think of the messiah. Whose son is he? And they say he is the son of David. But Jesus answers by giving a hint as to his true identity, by emphasizing that the messiah is the son of God and that he is that messiah.

In our epistle, Paul is continuing his letter to the Thessalonians. Thessalonica was a major city in  Macedonia and a key city in the Roman Empire. There was a strong Roman influence in the city, and that was in direct opposition to the new faith, so there were many stresses on the growing congregation and on new converts. There were also people who questioned Paul’s motives, and there were competing teachers. Paul is making it clear that he does not have any mixed motives. His purpose is to serve our Lord. Paul touches a deeply personal note. He tells the people how much he loves them and he compares himself to a mother caring tenderly for her own children. He writes, “So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but our own selves.”

If we can stop for a moment and imagine Paul’s ministry. Paul was a person of high status in his society, He was a Pharisee and he was a Roman citizen. But that did not protect him from being put into prison several times. In fact, he and Silas had been thrown into prison in  Philippi just before they came to Thessalonica. Paul and his assistants were courageous, They suffered all kinds of hardships—not only imprisonment, but beatings, shipwrecks, and constant harassment by other teachers who were trying to get control of the congregations he had started.

Unlike other leaders, Paul did not ask for contributions from the congregations he served. He was a tentmaker, and that is how he earned his living. This meant that he would spend time each day in the marketplace with other craftspeople and workers. He was right on the grassroots level, He got to know people in the towns where he nurtured churches.

And he was not distant from the people in the faith community. He made it clear that he loved them. He nurtured them. He shared his personal journey with them, and this encouraged them to share their journeys with him.

In our reading for today, Paul is offering us a wonderful gem of truth about our life together and our ministry in Christ, and that is that we are called to share, not only the good news in Christ, but also our own selves. Not just our intellectual insights. but our hearts, our feelings, our struggles, and the high and low points of our journeys in Christ.

When we do this, we create a safe space, a safe community in which anyone can share struggles and triumphs and know that he or she will be safe and will be treated with respect. Years ago, a friend of Jean’s and mine came to Grace. We had our usual coffee hour sharing and some of us were having some struggles and talked about them and got encouragement and wisdom from our brothers and sisters. This friend said—and he is a devout Episcopalian— “You guys are a support group.” Well, we are, and I think that is what Paul is talking about today.

But we are not just a support group on our own. We are a supportive, safe community rooted in faith in Christ. That’s where the power and the healing and the guidance come from. Grace is a healing place to be and to grow. We not only share the good news. We share ourselves, and we share our faith in Christ.

We know that this is not our doing. We have received a gift. We have received many gifts from our Lord—the gift to know that he is the savior, the gift to be able to accept his love for us and to share that love with others.

So, because of the presence and power of Jesus, we grow close to each other and we grow close to our Lord, and that is a great gift. May we always cherish that gift.    Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »