Mark 13 | Grace Episcopal Church (Sheldon, VT)

Advent 1 Year B November 29. 2020

Posted on November 29, 2020 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:24-37

In our opening reading from Isaiah, we are with Isaiah and God’s people at a crucial moment in their history. They are returning from exile in Babylon. They have been in exile for some fifty years, studying the scriptures, praying, keeping the community together and hoping for the day when they would be able to return. They have thought it would be a time of great joy.

When they arrive, they find that the temple has been destroyed. The city walls have been torn down. Foreign people are living as squatters in the ruins of the temple. For decades, they had hoped and prayed that they would be able to return. That was the hope that kept them together. But now that they are in Jerusalem and, seeing that their beloved temple and city are little more than a huge pile of rubble, they are realizing the enormity of the task that lies before them.

In the face of the enormity of the task, Isaiah and the people are overwhelmed. They are at the point of despair. How will they begin the mammoth task of rebuilding? Where will they begin? Isaiah calls out to God, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence…”

Isaiah is recalling the time centuries before when God came down from heaven at Mount Sinai to give the people the law and lead them out of slavery. God was with them every step of the way. It seems to Isaiah that God has withdrawn from the people, and so they have sinned. Isaiah confesses on behalf of all the people and then he tells God, “You are our Father and we are your people.”

All these centuries later, we are not being called to rebuild Jerusalem, but we are facing a very difficult task. We are facing a time that is usually full of joy—Thanksgiving and Christmas—a time when we love to be with our families. This year, we cannot do that. Our own governor’s staff has predicted that if we aren’t careful, we could have 3,800 people come down with Covid and 40 to 50 people in the hospital, These figures are staggering, far higher than we have experienced at any time during this wilderness journey, this exile from our church building, this long fast from the Eucharist.

In his press briefing this past Tuesday, Governor Scott said that he knows he can’t make us do the things that will defeat the virus—have Thanksgiving dinner only with the people who live under our roof, don’t travel, and continue to do the things we have been doing—six foot spaces, masks on faces, avoid crowded places—but he is asking us to do these things. Our Presiding Bishop is calling us to walk the Way of Love—doing all of these things out of love for each other so everyone can be safe. And our governor says often that he knows this is hard. We all have Pandemic Fatigue. We’re tired of this and we just want to go back to normal. Experts tell us that we’re experiencing quite a bit of depression and anxiety these days.

We might pray, “O, loving God, please come down here and help us. This virus is getting ahead of us.” Rather similar to Isaiah’s prayer.

But then we stop and think. God has come to be with us. That was the first Advent. A little baby was born in Bethlehem, a little, out of the way place like Sheldon or Montgomery or Fletcher or Fairfield or Franklin. Why did God come among us? Because God loves us more than we could possibly understand or imagine.

Jesus lived a human life, grew up helping his foster father in his carpenter shop, and then he called twelve people together and went all around healing, forgiving, and teaching people about God’s kingdom of love and peace, God’s shalom. And he invited everyone to be a part of his family—a very big family—and to help him build his shalom.

We have all answered his call to follow him and help him build his kingdom, his shalom. Right now, people are really hurting with this pandemic, and we are feeding them at our food shelf. And we are trying to do all we can to help our brothers and sisters because he has told us that if we help them, we are helping him. The more peace and love and compassion we can share, the closer his kingdom comes. So he doesn’t have to tear down the heavens and come down. He is already here in our midst. What our governor and all good leaders are calling us to do, our risen and present Lord is leading and guiding us to do.

He has told us he will come again to complete his kingdom, to bring in fully his shalom of peace, compassion, and justice. We do not know exactly when that is going to happen. And in many parts of the gospel he tells us not to try to figure that out. Only God knows when that will happen.

In today’s gospel, He says, “Keep awake.” This does not mean that we have to stay up all night. He wants us to be healthy, especially in these stressful times, so we need to get at least seven hours of sleep a night. But he wants us to be ready to receive his kingdom. He wants us to be prepared for his kingdom. When he comes, he wants us to be ready to meet him, welcome him with great joy, and help him complete his work of creation.

And he wants us to live like kingdom people, to feed the hungry and give clothing to those who need it and love people and help people as if they were Christ himself. We are in that in-between time between his first coming as a baby and his second coming as our King, and he wants us to be about the work of building his shalom now.

Like God’s people coming home from the exile, we are facing a major challenge. We are called to do what is necessary to beat this virus, and we are called to build, not a temple, but the shalom of God.

Lord Jesus, thank you for being in our midst. Thank you for calling us to help you build your kingdom. Give us the grace to follow you, to walk the Way of Love, and to be ready to follow where you lead us. In your holy Name. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: 1 Corinthians 1, Babylonian Exile, COVID-19, Governor Phil Scott, Isaiah 64, Mark 13, Mount Sinai, Psalm 80, Shalom, The Way of Love | Leave a comment »

Pentecost 26 Proper 28B November 18, 2018

Posted on November 18, 2018 by Beth Crane

1 Samuel 1:4-20
1 Samuel 2:1-8 Hannah’s Song
Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18)19-25
Mark 13:1-8

One theme for today’s readings might be beginnings and endings. God creates new beginnings.

In our first reading, we meet Hannah, one of the great heroines of the faith. She lived in an age when women were judged on their ability to produce large numbers of children, and she felt terrible about the fact that she couldn’t even give birth to one child. Her husband, Elkanah, loved her very much and tried to console her about this.

When they went to the temple to worship, Hannah asked God for help with this problem. Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk, and she had to reassure him that wasn’t the case. Eli realized that he had been mistaken, gave Hannah a blessing, and asked God to grant Hannah’s request. She promised that, if God gave her a son, she would offer that son in God’s service. She and Elkanah went home, made love, and nine months later, one of God’s great priests and prophets, Samuel, was born. Hannah’s Song, which we read today as our psalm, is a wonderful song of praise and thanksgiving which bears many similarities to the Song of Mary, the Magnificat.

In our reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, the writer tells us that the animal sacrifices offered in the temple “can never take away sins.” By his offering of himself, our Lord brings us very close to God and to God’s love. In that love, we are called to gather together, strengthen each other’s faith, and encourage one another on the journey.

In our gospel, Jesus and his followers are coming out of the temple in Jerusalem. One of the disciples is commenting on how large and impressive the temple is, and indeed it was huge. Jesus tells them the temple will be destroyed, and indeed it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.

Later on, Jesus and the disciples are sitting on the Mount of Olives, opposite the temple. Peter, James, John, and Andrew ask him privately when this destruction will take place and what the signs will be that this is going to happen.

Jesus answers, “Beware that no one leads you astray.” He tells them and us that people will actually come and pretend to be Jesus, or say that they come in his name. He tells us that when we hear of wars and rumors of wars, when we see or hear of conflict, we should not be alarmed. We should stay grounded in him and in our faith. And he says that all of this is part of the birth pangs of his kingdom, his shalom.

Herbert O’Driscoll writes, “I think that our Lord is not so much describing any one particular time in history, as offering his people in any age an approach, an attitude, for living through great upheaval and change. Ours is such a time. Our lord is saying that we must see in the turmoil the possibility that God is bringing new realities to birth.” (O’Driscoll, The Word Among Us Year B, Vol, 3, p. 157.)

The kingdom of God is growing even now. We can see many signs of upheaval in our world, and our Lord is reminding us that, as his shalom grows, there will be turmoil, but we should always go out into the world, look for the places where God is at work, and do all we can to support that work. Wherever the fruits of the Spirit are present-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, wherever God’s love and compassion are being shared, God’s shalom is growing.

Hannah’s song is full of praise and thanksgiving to God, and this is a season of thanksgiving and praise for us as well.

This is the month when we make our outreach contributions to groups who are sharing God’s caring and compassion. These include Martha’s Kitchen, Samaritan House, Abenaki CIrcle of Courage, Sheldon Methodist Church Food Shelf, Rock Point School, Oglala Lakota College, and Brookhaven Treatment Center.

During this month of thanksgiving, we also give our contributions to the United Thank Offering, and we will be doing this for the next two Sundays. The Church Women’s Auxiliary evolved into the United Thank Offering, and thus we continue all kinds of ministries both in the United States and all over the world. As you know, the Women’s Auxiliary of Grace Church had a very strong ministry.

Finally, at this time of year, we prayerfully make our pledges for the following year. We make these pledges in gratitude for God’s love and care for us, for our families, and for all people. We will never be able to grasp the depth and breadth of God’s love. It is beyond our imagining, but we can sense it. We can sense God’s loving presence every moment of our lives and God’s guidance as we take each step of our journey. We will have the pledge cards out on the table next Sunday, and I would ask that you try to make your pledge by December 9.

Thanksgiving is coming up this Thursday, and we have so much for which to be thankful—family, friends, many blessings, this beautiful place in which we live, and, most of all, our loving God who has come to be one of us, our God who is leading and guiding us, our God who is bringing new things to birth. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: 1 Samuel 1, 1 Samuel 2 Hannah's Song, Abenaki Circle of Courage, Brookhaven Treatment Center, Eli, Elkanah, Hannah, Hebrews 10, Herbert O'Driscoll, Magnificat, Mark 13, Martha's Kitchen, Oglala Lakota College, Rock Point School, Samaritan House, Sheldon Methodist Church Food Shelf, The Word Among Use Year B Vol 3, United Thank Offering | Leave a comment »

Advent 1B RCL December 3, 2017

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:24-37

Advent is here. This is the New Year’s season of the Church. We change from Lectionary A to B. For Morning and Evening Prayer, we change from Lectionary 1 to 2. From the green of the Pentecost season and the white for Christ the King this past Sunday, we move to purple, symbolizing penitence and also the royalty of Christ our King.

Advent is that paradoxical time of penitence, preparation, and joy. We look back to the first coming of our Lord as a baby, and at the same time we look forward to his coming again to complete the work of creation and bring in his kingdom of peace, harmony, and wholeness.

His kingdom has begun but it is not yet complete. As we look around our world, we can see clear evidence of that sad fact. Walter Brueggemann writes, “Contrary to the manner in which it is often celebrated in the churches, Advent begins not on a note of joy, but of despair. Humankind has reached the end of its rope. All our schemes for self-improvement, for extricating ourselves from the traps we have set for ourselves, have come to nothing. We have now realized at the deepest level of our being that we cannot save ourselves and that, apart from the intervention of God, we are totally and irretrievably lost.” (Texts for Preaching Year A, p. 1.)

Our opening reading from Isaiah sounds that note of despair. How often do we wish that God would come down from the heavens and help us set things right, clean up the messes we make. Scholars tell us that this passage was probably written when Isaiah and the other exiles returned from Babylon. They had prayed for the coming of this day. Yet, when they arrived home and found the temple completely destroyed and so much work to do, they began to lose hope.

At this low point, Isaiah wishes that God would tear open the heavens and come down to earth. Isaiah praises God for all the ways in which God has guided and helped the people. Then he confesses that he and all God’s people have sinned. They felt God was hiding from them when the Babylonian Empire conquered Jerusalem, and they drifted farther and farther away from God. In fact, some of the people felt that the military conquest by Babylon was a punishment for their lack of faith.

It is important to note that many of the people kept the faith during the Exile. They studied the scriptures; they increased their sense of worship and community. Isaiah is one of those people, and he is addressing God as a member of that community of the faithful.

Following the confession, Isaiah prays to God as the father of the people. He says that we humans are the clay and God is the potter. He asks God to have mercy on the people. Following this process of acknowledging God’s care for the people, then confessing his and their sinfulness, Isaiah is able to realize that God still cares and that God is a God of mercy.

Most of us have had low points like this in life. There just seem to be too many challenges. We feel as though God is far away. But we know that we really need God’s help. As we look around our world and see all the brokenness, the wholeness of God’s shalom seems impossibly far away. This makes us doubly aware that we need to turn to God.

As someone once said, when we fall far away from God, we need to ask, who moved? Not God. God has been right here all the time. Back in the time of Isaiah, the people realized that God was faithful, God had never left them. They began the mammoth task of rebuilding, but they also focused on rebuilding their sense of community and deepening their faith.

In our epistle for today, Paul thanks God for the life of the congregation in Corinth. God has given them many gifts, and they will be exercising those gifts as they wait for Christ to come again.

In our gospel, Jesus is describing the day of judgment as it is pictured by some of the prophets. But his main message is, “Stay awake. Be ready.”

Walter Brueggemann’s comments strike a wonderful Advent note. As we proceed with self-examination, we come to a screeching halt and realize that indeed, as he puts it, “all our schemes for self improvement… have come to nothing.” Without the intervention of God, all is lost.

Isaiah wanted God to “open the heavens and come down.” As Christians we know that God has done exactly that. God has come to be with us. After his baptism in the River Jordan, Jesus began building his Kingdom. We see it in every event in his ministry. He showed us how to do it. Love God and love people.

During Advent, we are called especially to make room for Jesus in our hearts and lives. This is a season for giving generously to organizations such as UTO and ERD, and other groups which help people in so many ways. It is also a time to take stock of our spiritual lives, to make or update wills, to set things in order.

But, most of all, it is a season to make even more room for Jesus. For each of us that may look different. For some of us, it means taking more quiet time. For others of us, it might mean more time with family and friends. For many of us, it is a both-and.

God did respond to Isaiah, and the rebuilding happened. How blessed and fortunate we are that God has come to be with us. We can walk with the risen Christ. How blessed that we can go and visit him in the manger. How blessed that we can be with him here and every day because he is among us. God has come to be with us, and God’s kingdom is growing even now. And God invites us every day and every moment to help to build that kingdom, that shalom. And he calls us to be ready to meet him again when he comes to complete the creation. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: "Texts for Preaching Year A", 1Corinthians 1, Babylonian Exite, Isaiah 64, Mark 13, Psalm 80, Walter Brueggemann | Leave a comment »

Pentecost 25 Proper 28 B RCL November 18, 2012

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Beth Crane

1 Samuel 1:4-20

Canticle—The Song of Hannah 1 Samuel 2:1-10

Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25

Mark 13:1-8

This is one of those Sundays when the readings work together to help us understand what God may be telling us.

First, we have a reading from the First Book of Samuel. There is a man named Elkanah. He has two wives. This was not unusual in those days. Peninnah has given birth to many children. Hannah has no children. Peninnah never lets Hannah forget this. Back in those days, over a thousand years before the birth of Christ, a woman’s worth was based on how many children she could have. Even though Hannah is unable to bear children, Elkanah loves her very much.

Hannah and Elkanah go to the temple to worship. Hannah prays with great emotion to God. If God will give her a son, she will place that son in God’s service. Eli, the priest, thinks Hanna is drunk, She assures him she is not, Eli finally believes her and gives her a blessing.

Hannah and Elkanah go home and make love. God blesses them. A son, Samuel, is born. He becomes one of the great leaders of God’s people. Our canticle for today is Hannah’s song to God after the birth of her son. It foreshadows Mary’s wonderful song, the Magnificat.

Our reading from the Letter to the Hebrews talks about how human beings gradually realized that sacrificing animals to God does nothing to transform human beings. In Jesus, God showed us the way to become new people and live a new life, The letter calls us to come to worship God with our hearts and minds free of anything negative so that we can focus completely on hope and faith in God so that we can encourage each other to channel God’s gifts of faith, hope, and love, into great deeds of caring for God’s children.

In our gospel, one of the disciples exclaims at the massive size of the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus says that it’s all going to be torn down. Indeed, the temple was destroyed in 70 A. D. But that is not what Jesus is talking about. He tells the disciples that there are going to be times of upheaval. He is not referring to any particular time, but to the process of bringing God’s shalom to birth.

Herbert O’Driscoll writes, “Our God is saying that we must see in the turmoil the possibility that God is bringing new realities to birth.”

A baby is born—Samuel, who will become a great prophet and priest. People move from sacrificing animals to seeking inner transformation by God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us that a new kingdom is coming to birth.

People who write about the emerging church are telling us that we can be a part of that new birth, that new expressions of faith are coming to birth all around us.

Jesus had no patience with religious leaders who took advantage of vulnerable people or of religious institutions which did not convey the justice and mercy of God. He had no patience with religious legalism which made it impossible for people to be in touch with God or to grow spiritually, He called us to be honest, genuine, simple, straightforward followers of God’s ways. He summed it up for us—love God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

When Jesus talks about the temple being destroyed, he is speaking again in metaphors. The old gives way to the new. We are given the gift of being able to meet God face to face as we sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to his teachings, as we walk with him and share with him and eat with him and watch how he treats people. We are given the gift of being able to follow him and become a part of him. We are given the gift of a birth in Bethlehem and a new birth in our own lives and in the life of the human family, God’s family. We are given the gift of God’s love and of God’s infinite care for us and for all people and the whole creation. God comes to be among us, to lead us and guide us.

We are indeed blessed as Hannah was blessed. We are moving into that time when we make our pledges for the coming year, and the basis for our pledge is our gratitude to God for everything God gives us.

Today we are invited to gather at Frank and Priscilla’s home for a wild game dinner. This will be our Grace Church Thanksgiving dinner. We have so much to be thankful for. I am so thankful to have the privilege of being here among you. Your love and faithfulness never cease to amaze me.

Out of gratitude to God for all of God’s gifts to us, we prayerfully return a worthy portion to God. This includes time, talent, and treasure. Most of you devote a large portion of your time and talent helping other people. You work in vocations of service to others. Even those of you who are retired naturally engage in ministry to others every day of your lives.

I ask that you prayerfully consider your pledge of treasure and that you fill out your pledge cards either this Sunday or next. The amount of your pledge is between you and God. Please consider carefully all the gifts God has given you and is giving you and make your pledge in thanksgiving to God.

May our hearts be full of thanks for all of God’s gifts. Amen.

Filed under: Reverend Janet Brown, Sermons | Tagged: 1 Samuel, entecost 25, Hebrews 10, Mark 13, The Song of Hannah | Leave a comment »

Grace Episcopal Church (Sheldon, VT)

Content

Pages

Upcoming Events

Advent 1 Year B November 29. 2020

Pentecost 26 Proper 28B November 18, 2018

Advent 1B RCL December 3, 2017

Pentecost 25 Proper 28 B RCL November 18, 2012

Calendar

Blogroll

Links