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    • Sunday service - Holy Communion April 2, 2023 at 9:30 am – 11:00 am Grace Church 215 Pleasant Street, Sheldon, VT 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)        +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)Meeting ID:…
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Pentecost 6 Proper 11C July 21, 2019

Posted on July 21, 2019 by Beth Crane

Amos 8:1-12
Psalm 52
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42

In our first reading today, we have another passage from the prophet Amos. Last Sunday, God held God’s plumb line up to the Northern Kingdom, and we learned that, under the rule of King Jeroboam II, the rich and powerful were gaining in wealth and power, but most of the other people were struggling just to survive.

This week, God shows Amos a vision of a basket of summer fruit. Herbert O’Driscoll writes, “Amos wants his listeners to imagine vividly what happens to a basket of summer fruit, especially in the heat of that land. It rots. Its beauty has gone, its delicious taste has become repulsive. This is precisely how he wishes to portray his society.” (O’Driscoll, The Word Among Us, Year C, Vol. 3, p. 55.

To portray the level of corruption and dishonesty, Amos describes merchants resenting the sabbath and other holy days because they can’t sell wheat or grain. He says that they “make the ephah small and the shekel great.” The ephah is a unit of weight or quantity, and the shekel is the currency. The merchants are rigging the scales so that the buyer gets less than the correct weight, but pays more money for it. This is causing great hardship to the poor.

The level of corruption in the society is so profound that there seems to be no hope. God is going to send a famine, but it is not a famine of food or water, but  “a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.” When we humans fail to treat each other with compassion and justice, our hearts can be so hardened that we can no longer hear God calling to us.

Our gospel for today is the wonderful and familiar story of Mary and Martha. We know that these two sisters and their brother, Lazarus, are among Jesus’ closest friends and that he would stop by their home in Bethany whenever he could.

Scholars tell us that Martha is functioning as the head of the house. She welcomes Jesus. In sitting at the feet of Jesus, Mary is acting as a formal disciple.

Jesus says that Mary has chosen “the better part.” Does that mean that he thinks Martha’s preparing the meal is an inferior role?  The text says that Martha is distracted by “many tasks.” The phrase “Many tasks” is translated from the Greek diakonia, servanthood. Jesus told his disciples and us, “I am among you as one who serves,” and he called his disciples and us to be servants. Would he then criticize the role of a servant? No.

In the past, some folks have felt that, in saying that Mary has chosen “the better part,” Jesus us telling us that contemplatives are superior to activists.  Most scholars would disagree with that interpretation. Then, what is our Lord saying?

Biblical scholar Charles Cousar suggests that we remember the parable that appears directly before this encounter with Mary and Martha—the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Cousar says that the Samaritan “…is a model for loving one’s neighbor (as well as identifying who the neighbor is.” (Cousar, Texts for Preaching Year C,  p. 437.

Cousar continues, “…Discipleship has to do not only with love of neighbor but also with love of God, not only with active service but also with a silent and patient waiting upon [Jesus]. The Samaritan and Mary belong together.”

Where did the Samaritan get the strong faith and the vibrant grace to go over to this half-dead stranger, and save his life? Probably from an understanding of God gained from spending time with God. We see him engaged in active and life-saving ministry but we don’t see all the time he has spent in the presence of God.

On the other hand, we are seeing Mary making the choice to place herself in the presence of Jesus and to absorb everything she can. Cousar writes that Mary is “a learner of Jesus.” This reminds me of our diocesan mission statement, that we are called to “pray the prayer of Christ, learn the mind of Christ, and do the deeds of Christ.” We have to spend time with God, Jesus, and the Spirit to get the guidance and grace that we need to do ministry.

Is Jesus putting Martha down? I don’t think so for a minute. The text says that the disciples were with Jesus, so Martha is probably faced with 12 guests. They have to be fed and perhaps housed. Somebody has to take care of all those details. We know that our Lord valued the ministry of hospitality. He was constantly feeding and welcoming people.

Jesus loves and respects both Mary and Martha.With their brother, Lazarus, they are his closest friends. Coming just after the story of the helpful Samaritan, this story is reminding us of how important it is to spend time with Jesus. I think, also, that our Lord is saying that he would like to have some quiet time with both Mary and Martha.

Time together is a precious gift.  Time with family and friends, time with our faith community, and time with God. I thank God for our time together today.  Amen.

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Pentecost 9 Proper 11C RCL July 17, 2016

Posted on July 17, 2016 by Beth Crane

Amos 8:1-12
Psalm 52
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42

In our opening reading, we continue to follow the ministry of Amos, the prophet who is called away from his work as a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees to go to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and hold up God’s standards to their society.

Last week Amos’s vision of God’s plumb line showed that the society was not measuring up to God’s ethical standards. This morning, he sees a vision of summer fruit which in a very short time is going to rot. This is an image of the society. It is rotten to the core. People can’t wait until the sabbath is over so that they can go out and cheat their neighbors. They rig the scales so that they show a pound when the weight is less than a pound, and they cheat people out of their hard-earned money. The rulers live in luxury while the common people barely survive.

God says that there will be consequences, and indeed there are always consequences when we humans fail to treat each other with respect, honesty, and fairness. There is going to be a famine, but it is even worse than a lack of food and water. It is a famine for the word of the Lord. People will search high and low to hear the voice of God, but they will not find it. Their lives will be going on without the guidance of God. What a horrible thought.

Our gospel for today is the beloved story of Mary and Martha. Martha is clearly the head of the household, which was an unusual role for a woman in those times. She welcomes Jesus into the house. We can assume that she is preparing a meal, which the customs of hospitality would demand. Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus in the classic posture of a disciple, listening to our Lord and absorbing the healing and loving and reconciling energy of his presence.

Martha complains to Jesus that Mary is not helping her with the preparations. Jesus defends Mary’s right to spend time with him and, in fact, to become a disciple.

Is Jesus criticizing those who take action and take care of others? I don’t think so. We need to remember that this story follows right after the parable of the Good Samaritan, in which Jesus praises the Samaritan’s caring for the man who had been beaten by the robbers.

This episode from the life of Mary and Martha and Jesus reminds us that spending time with our Lord is as important as helping others. The two go together, prayer and action. Many wise people tell us that we cannot be people of prayer without being spurred on to action, and I think that is true. Prayer leads us to caring action, and action leads us back to the need for prayer.

I think that probably each of us has a Mary part and a Martha part. Some of us may be more deeply called to action; others may be called more to prayer, but both are essential. Our prayers inform and guide our action.

In the end, I think Jesus would have liked to spend time with both Martha and Mary, and then have all three of them get the meal ready, enjoy the meal together and then wash the dishes together.

Scholars tell us that our reading from the Letter to the Colossians is adapted from an ancient hymn. It is a powerful and beautiful statement about the nature of Christ. “Jesus is the image of the invisible God,” Paul writes, “…for in him all things were created.” Christ is the eternal Word, who called the creation into being. Paul goes on to remind us that our Lord is the head of the Church and that he has reconciled us and all things to himself.

Paul continues, “In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven.” Through the cross of Christ, the whole creation and everything in it is made one with God.

This is something we need to remember as we continue to pray for those who died and were injured in Dallas, St. Paul, Baton Rouge,  Nice, and Istanbul, for their families and friends and all who mourn. I ask your prayers for our country and our world, which is so plagued by violence of all kinds.

A wise spiritual guide, Sr. Rachel Hosmer, OSH, once said, “Christ has won the victory. We are just part of the mopping up operation.” Our Lord has reconciled the world to himself. We are called to bring that reality into being here on earth in his kingdom his shalom of peace and harmony and wholeness for all people and for the whole creation.

In today’s epistle, Paul also writes about “this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Christ is in each of us, and because of that, we can be people of hope. We can share in new life in him.

During the interfaith memorial service for the five police officers who were killed in Dallas, President George W. Bush quoted a passage from St. Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy. That passage reads, in the King James version, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

At the interfaith memorial service in Dallas, President Obama, quoting from Romans 5:3-5, said that Scripture tells us that “Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

I found it deeply inspiring to hear these words of faith from our two most recent Presidents.

May we move forward in faith and hope and love. May we, with God’s grace, work to bring in God’s shalom of peace, harmony, and reconciliation.  Amen.

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Pentecost 9 Proper 11C RCL July 21, 2013

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Beth Crane

Amos 8:1-12
Psalm 52
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42

In our opening reading, God shows Amos a vision of summer fruit. The fruit is beautiful to see and it is sweet and delicious to taste. But the fruit is going to get rotten. This is a vision of a society that is so corrupt that it is rotten to the core.  Those in power “trample on the needy and bring to ruin the poor of the land.” They find ways to rig the scales so that they can make something less than a pound look like a pound and charge more for it. They make a profit wherever they can. They do not care about their fellow human beings. Because the people are not even trying to seek or do God’s will, God says that God is going to cause a famine, not of food, but of God’s word. People will finally realize that they need to seek the will and the word of God, but, when they do, they will not be able to find it.

In our epistle, we read a beautiful poem of praise to Jesus, the eternal Word, who called the creation into being and who is also the logos, the plan, the blueprint for human life. “In him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” In him, the whole creation is reconciled. As we listen to this passage, we can visualize the creation of stars and galaxies and solar systems, our own solar system, and “this fragile earth, our island home.” We can sense the love and care of God in every aspect of creation and especially in the life and ministry of Jesus. Paul writes, “God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Christ is in us, and we are in Christ. We are his body here on earth.

In our gospel we have another beloved and familiar story. In John’s gospel, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are a brother and two sisters. Here in Luke’s gospel, Martha is the head of the household. As such, she welcomes Jesus.  In those days, it was unusual for a woman to be the head of a household.

It is traditional to offer hospitality, and Martha sets about preparing a meal. Meanwhile, Mary sits at the feet of Jesus in the traditional posture of a disciple.  Jesus fully accepts a woman, Martha, as head of the household and another woman, her sister Mary, as formal disciple.  This is revolutionary thinking and action regarding the roles of women.

But then Martha comes to Jesus and complains. She asks Jesus to get Mary to help her with the work. Jesus says that Mary has chosen the better part.

Scholars tell us that, in the past, we have made some errors in the way we interpret this story. So, the first thing we want to do is correct those mistakes.  Jesus is not saying that those who are students and contemplatives are better than those who make meals and wait on tables and do other tasks which we can call diakonia, that is, the ministry of servanthood, the ministry of deacons. We need all the gifts. Many contemplatives have said that the more we pray, the more we are compelled to take action, to realize that we have to get out there and help people.

Jesus is not scolding Martha for fixing and serving the meal. He is giving us some priceless guidance. In the words of my beloved friend, Carole Brown, Jesus is telling us, “Fret not thy gizzard. A fret gizzard incapacitates.” It’s not the cooking that’s the problem. It’s getting worried and frazzled that’s the problem.

This account of Mary and Martha is put right next to and paired with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Somehow, the Good Samaritan was so steeped in the word of God and the Spirit of God and the law of God that, when he saw that man  lying half-dead on the Jericho road, he didn’t even have to think what to do; he knew. This is my neighbor, my fellow human being. I have to take care of him, I have to treat him as I would want him to treat me.  And that’s what he did. No fretting, No wringing of the hands. No questioning. Just action. Action which expressed, as the hymn says,  “pure, unbounded love.”

When Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, she is extending the best of hospitality because she is going to bask in his presence, She is going to sop up all the love and all the wisdom and all the presence he has to offer. And then she and Jesus and Martha and the other disciples can fix the meal together.

One commentator talks about how in the Church we have bake sales and we have tag sales and this project and that project and we lose sight of what we are here for. In a word, we become frazzled. Fortunately, we do not do this at Grace. We come and we sit at the feet of Jesus in peace and quiet and love, and we absorb his presence. Nobody frets about irrelevant things. We just gather to be with Jesus and with each other, to be his Body here in this place.

When we take the time to sit at the feet of Jesus, everything else flows from that with a minimal amount of fretting and wasting of energy. That precious time spent in his presence energizes and galvanizes us to be his risen Body in this place.

Prayer is important. Learning from Jesus is important. Sweeping and vacuuming and painting and repairing things and cooking and serving and all these things are equally important. But it all starts with listening to Jesus and responding to his guidance and love.

Blessed Lord Jesus, thank you for calling us together to be with you, to sit at your feet, to learn from you. Thank you for calling us to follow you.  Thank you for giving us your peace and your love deep in our hearts. Amen.

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