These writings are designed for preaching on the Sundays that correlate to the scripture listed in the Lectionary of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. As of Advent 2010, these are no longer the texts selected for use in most Episcopal Churches. But mine does.
Each sermon links to the scripture that influence it.
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Planting the Good Seed
A sermon for Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, July 22-23, 2023.
Someone that inspires me to be a better person and a better Christian is the Lutheran Pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber. She writes and preaches a lot about grace, faith, the idiosyncrasies of humans, as well as her own recovery from addiction, and her personal failings.
In a recent sermon (found here), she reflected on preaching over the years at St John’s Cathedral in Denver, and the irony of living across the street from the church 30 years earlier with a deep feeling of disdain for church bells. Because then, on any given Sunday at 8am, you would have likely found her [quote] “unspeakably hungover or still intoxicated from the night before”.
Gospel reading and sermon begins at 16:05 Her sermon compared her path (of addiction to ordination), to Jesus’ parable of the frustrated man who wanted to cut down his fig tree in Luke’s Gospel (13:6-9) because it didn’t bear fruit for three years. Knowing her own journey and how many years it took, she felt this “poor tree hadn’t even been given its full chance”. Thus, her sermon was about how we perceive time differently from God, and how God is infinitely patient with all of us, and when we listen, God is “saying to us [about ourselves] …some things take time. And I [God] have all the time in the world.”
Doesn’t that _feel_ good? ___ Knowing God has all the time in the world to be infinitely patient with us while we continue to walk and still stumble, to continue to have faith and still doubt, to continue to love but still mistakenly judge.
When I reflected on today’s Gospel, I was drawn back to Nadia’s sermon, but I also thought about … dandelions. Dandelions_ the invasive plant species damaging crops with deep roots and spreading seeds over long distances. Their reputation makes them a perfect example of the type of weed you would use to ruin the crop of your enemy.
But dandelions are known to be highly edible, and nutritious for humans and other living creatures. They can help bring nutrients to shallow-rooting plants. They assist pollinating insects. They are a possible source for creating rubber (according to Wikipedia). And when they dry up, they become a source of fun to blow apart.
Overall, dandelions are a great example of encountering something in life in which we take the good with the bad.
In today’s Gospel, the farmer was obviously wise to not let his enemy’s weed destroy his wheat. The farmer’s plan was to let the weed grow and dispose of it at harvest time. And the explanation that Jesus gives of the parable is “the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil”. So when we reach the end of days, the weeds are collected and burned and the good seed though will prevail to the kingdom of the Father.
So _ we take the good with the bad during this life, and at the end of this mortal coil the good will prevail.
But wait, there’s more.
The last sentence of Jesus’ explanation is “Let anyone with ears listen!” This statement could just be a perfunctory end to the lesson. Instead, it feels like a third part of the Gospel-Reading whereas the first part is the parable, and the second part is the explanation.
This third part is instruction.
But what do these instructions mean? What are we to listen for? The explanation makes it seems as if it’s predestined; you’re either sowed as a good seed or a bad seed. But _ listening means to pay attention _ to the choice. It’s still a choice for man to listen to the call of the one planting the good seed or the one planting the bad seed.
The farmer listens. He does not instruct his workers to seek revenge on his enemy. He lets the weeds grow and he wisely plans and waits. He does not fret.
Now we don’t have any sense that the weeds in this parable were dandelions. But it could have been something similar, and the farmer after the harvest may have been able to make something good out of the bad seed. For example, a nice dandelion salad for lunch.
And isn’t that life after all? You can take the good with the bad. We make good choices; we make bad choices. We listen to good advice; we listen to bad advice. And we watch others do the same.
But God is with us through all of that. And Jesus’ parables, as this one does, helps us with seeking, hearing, and growing toward God. Fortunately, unlike dandelions we have free will to choose if we are the crop, or the weed. And for those around us _ in our families and communities _ we can help them to choose.
Whether it’s ourselves or those we know, God is infinitely patient and has all the time in the world. Unfortunately, our time on this earth is more limited. So best to pay attention and use that time wisely.
But no matter who we are or where our journeys take us towards being the bountiful crop (and not the weed) _ it’s good to know the instructions on which way to go are always there for us _ it’s good to know that the church bells will continue to ring at 8am, despite the condition that we may be in_ and that God never gives up on our journeys.
He knows with time we can all get there.
Amen.
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Sheep In the Midst of Wolves
A sermon for Matthew 10:16-33 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, June 24-25, 2023.
Last Sunday’s Gospel from Matthew tells us that Jesus reached a point in his ministry in which he needs to begin delegating. So Jesus gives his twelve apostles instructions to spread the Good News that the kingdom of heaven has come near, and that they should go to nearby villages to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons.
There is no mention that the apostles were at all bothered by this request. At least no one captured on record any apostle saying, “Wait _ what?.” “Uhmm, yeah, I’m just a fisherman.” or “Yeah, and I’m just a tax collector.” or “Yeah, I don’t know how to do any of those things.”
Any discomfort the apostles had was probably not worth recording. But I think it’s easy to believe that Jesus had prepared them for this day. I’m sure he knew their respective strengths and weaknesses, and since the beginning of his ministry, they all experienced being welcomed by some and despised by others.
In the verses between last week’s and today’s Gospel Jesus says to them, “I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves.” So he knows what they are up against and so today’s Gospel is a bit of a pep talk, an encouragement, that no matter what happens _ to stay steadfast in their mission.
Gospel reading and sermon begins at 9:38 Part of Jesus’ pep talk is don’t be afraid. Where you will go and who you will meet, can only kill your body. They cannot kill your soul. To make them feel assured of this Jesus says, even a sparrow worth half-a-penny on earth is valued by God, and you _ are more valued than that.
So go forth and “proclaim from the rooftops!” Jesus instructs. Speak openly, not as if it was a secret, or something we should only talk about in certain circles.
The second thing Jesus says is don’t get any lofty ideas about your status in this world just because I’m bestowing upon you a lot of power that you didn’t have before. I say “a lot” even though in the modern world we can cure the sick including lepers. But casting out demons is best done by someone ordained. And outside of George Romero, HBO, and countless other filmmakers, raising the dead is definitely still beyond the realm of modern possibilities.
Still, if you could do all of these things, or even one of them, the message is to not to get too full of yourself. As Jesus says, “A disciple is not above the teacher.”
So, where does that lead us? Perhaps it’s the same message _ to stay steadfast.
One could say it’s hard being steadfast in these modern times. It can be hard in certain circles to spread the Good News, to talk openly about our faith. And it can be hard to keep oneself in check to not judge others for their lack of faith, and to not feel superior to those who lack faith.
As human beings with emotional cores, and busy schedules, and never-ending-to-do lists, and distractions and stress and obligations galore, it requires steadfastness to maintain balance.
A couple of months ago King Charles III was coronated. Even though there was an enormous amount of hoopla around the pageantry and celebration of a man becoming king of the British Empire, it was still an Anglican Church service designating this man as the ultimate defender of the faith for the Church of England _ a defender of Christian faith _ a defender of Episcopalian faith.
To me, receiving such a calling is quite a tall order which is probably why he looked about as nervous as you can get. But he held it together pretty well and evidently understands, as he stated several times, that he is “to serve”.
Thus, now that the Coronation service and party is over, Charles has a job to do. And that job requires him to stay steadfast _ not to let his ego get out of control and act superior, OR be afraid of what he’s called to do, or be afraid of those who will try to make him feel inferior because of his faith.
Which brings us back to today’s Gospel reading. Jesus is not just talking to his apostles. He’s speaking to all of us and encouraging everyone who believes in the Good News to go forth _ and to tell others about it, and remember just because you know the Good News, this does not make you better than anyone else.
Like most of you, I spend a lot of my time in the secular world, and I wish talking about this Good News could be a little more fluid in that world. I wish we could talk about it more_ like we talk about our favorite sports team, or music band, or movie, or recipe. I would like it more if we could discuss our religious beliefs as quickly, readily, and easily, as we do with these other lesser things.
This is one of the reasons I said it’s hard being steadfast in these modern times. But still _ let’s be steadfast. Let’s be _ not afraid. Let’s be_ not the King of England, or the ultimate defender of the faith. But let’s be_ wise in our own lives, and for our families, and be the defenders of the faith in our community. And let’s not forget we are still here to serve.
Just like the apostles, I believe Jesus has equipped us and prepared us to do exactly that. As we have faith in Him, he has faith in us.
Amen
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The Way of Love
A sermon for John 15:1-8 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, May, 13-14, 2023.
On the Episcopal Church’s website, there is a truly inspiring video from Michael Curry, our Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, in which he discusses the Way of Love. Curry states in the introduction that, “In the first century Jesus of Nazareth inspired a movement. A community of people whose lives were centered on Jesus Christ and committed to living the way of God’s unconditional, unselfish, sacrificial, and redemptive love. Before they were called “church” or “Christian,” this Jesus Movement was simply called “the way.””
The “Way of Love” as Bishop Curry states is a pattern of seven practices: Turn. Learn. Pray. Worship. Bless. Go. Rest. I’m curious_How many people have seen or have at least heard of this 4-minute video?
In short,
To TURN _ Pause, listen, and choose to follow Jesus
To LEARN _ Reflect on Scripture each day, especially Jesus’ life and teachings
To PRAY _ Dwell intentionally with God each day
To WORSHIP _ Gather in community weekly to thank, praise, and draw near God
To BLESS _ Share faith and unselfishly give and serve
To GO _ Cross boundaries, listen deeply, and live like Jesus
To REST _ Receive the gift of God’s grace, peace, and restoration <which also means sleep>
Gospel reading and sermon begins at 5:02 For me, the video is a testament to the Episcopal Church’s commitment to following Jesus’ words and what makes worshiping in a Episcopal tradition so special.
The word “Way” in this context is a method _ a way to do something. But the word ‘way’ is also a direction and can describe a series of connections _ for instance a high-way.
Today, Jesus talks about a Way _ about being the vine and that we are the branches. “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” Now anyone with a basic knowledge of plants and trees can understand that this would be the result. The internal mechanism of all living things is a series of connections _ say_the original superhighway. Without these ways, or without these connections, we don’t grow, we don’t develop, we don’t bear fruit…..That’s what happens when we don’t have a connection.
But the same can be true if we don’t have a Way of doing something. Without a way, we wander aimlessly, arbitrarily or without purpose.
For example
Imagine coming to Church _ and there was no Book of Common Prayer, or Hymnal, or even a Bulletin. Imagine instead of colorful vestments, Father Matt was wearing a hoodie, and sweatshorts, and sneakers. Imagine if instead of reading the Gospel, Father Matt read “The Great Gatsby” out loud in its entirety. Imagine if there was just milk and cookies instead of bread and wine. And imagine that when you come back next week, none of that stuff happens, and Father Matt says, “and-now-for-something_completely different”.
Of course that doesn’t happen. The Episcopal Church one could say is_ set in its ways. If you’ve been attending service for any length of time, you know that. And if you’re new then I’m sure you’ll catch on quickly to these liturgical rituals.
And they are rituals and they are rituals with a purpose. The Sunday Eucharist service is a series of deliberate acts of proclamations and responses that work all of our senses.
For our eyes, it’s the beautiful colors, icons and flowers that adorn the altar. It’s the physical space of the church.
For our ears, it’s hearing the scripture read aloud, along with a sermon to not so much tell you what the scripture means, but to start a dialogue. And it’s hearing the beautiful voices of our choir.
For our nose, it’s the incense from the thurible.
For our taste, it’s wine and bread.
For our touch, it’s the aerobics during service of sit down-stand up-sit down-kneel-stand-up _ and the handshake, fistbump or hug during Peace.
This sensory information that we experience is first sent to the emotional center of our brains, connecting how we feel about what is happening. A short period follows and the information is sent to the cognitive center of our brains, connecting how we think about what is happening.
And that sensory information is memorized, and when repeatedly experienced, it becomes a ritual, a pattern, and it’s a pattern that we practice each week. And we treat it like practice, because the more we do it the better we become at it.
But what we’re getting better at, when we come to Church, might be knowing when to “sit-stand-sit-kneel-stand” or knowing the words of the prayers. But what’s really happening is that we’re practicing to become a person before God, that enacts the higher values that are bestowed to us, and to take those teachings and go out into the world and enact those values.
And the cool thing about this is you don’t have to do it alone. As a Christian, as Jesus said today, you can’t do it alone. You have to be connected. That is the way.
Anna Julia Haywood Cooper, esteemed Episcopalian and author wrote, <quote>“… religion (ought to be if it isn’t) a great deal more than mere gratification of the instinct for worship linked with the straight-teaching of irreproachable credos. Religion must be life made true; and life is action, growth, development–begun now and ending never.”<unquote>
For us, we must stay connected as branches to the vine. We must grow and develop. We must stay active and practice the Way of Love. When we do, we will bear fruit “now and ending never.”
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Blind Eye
A sermon for John 9:1-38 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, March 18 & 19, 2023.
I was at the Pittsburgh Airport many years ago, waiting at a gate for my plane when I noticed Ray Charles (the renowned singer who lost his eyesight at the age of 7) at the adjoining gate. Even though he had an entourage of folks surrounding him, I was staring at him amazed at how well he walked around with minimal help. As I continued to stare, I was not looking as I went to sit down. And instead of landing on a cushy seat, I landed my tailbone on the hard metal armrest of the airport bench _ and it hurt. A lot.
Clearly, my guardian angel was going to let this opportunity pass, and not nudge me into the right spot this time.
And I learned two lessons that day. One, my mother was right _ do not stare at people. And two, just because the person that you’re staring at- can’t see you staring back at them, does not negate rule number one.
When I think about today’s Gospel, I’m reminded of that day in the airport and I wonder, who’s really the blind person in my story?
Gospel reading and sermon begins at 18:33
Which is why I think I have a fondness for today’s Gospel. I like these stories in the Bible about Jesus healing the blind and those with afflictions or handicaps. They are stories of goodness and kindness, and they illustrate a moral attitude that we should follow.
And even though we don’t know the blind man’s name_ or much about the man in today’s Gospel_ there’s more personal detail in this story of this man’s curing than most stories in the Gospels and this gives us a chance to understand how this man might feel. To see what I mean, think about how this story sounds when told in the first person, it might sound a little like this…
“I’m a man who was blind at birth and I was begging in the street one day.
Strangers passing by were talking about me openly and questioning amongst themselves whether my blindness made me a sinner or not.
Then I heard someone spit and someone rubbed mud on my eyes and told me to wash in the pool of Siloam.
Which I did and my sight was restored.
So, I started telling others that I was the blind beggar that they knew from the street, and they didn’t believe me.
They brought me to the temple to recount my story and they didn’t believe me.
The leaders then went to my mother, and she refused to answer their question about whether or not I was blind before, because she was afraid that they would throw her out of the church.
Then the leaders questioned me again. When they didn’t like the answer I gave them about Jesus they were nasty and dismissive, saying you can’t teach us anything because you were born in sin and then they kicked me out.
And then I ran into Jesus again, and I felt so relieved.”
So, as you might imagine, and heard, there are a lot of layers to this story. But for the sake of time, let’s back up to the part where he said strangers were openly talking about him. This of course was Jesus’ disciples asking Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Let’s focus on THAT question AND Jesus’ answer of “Neither”. Because there is a notion at this time that those who are handicapped or afflicted were considered sinners.
It’s not a surprise that people thought that way. In the Old Testament, there are many teachings that folks heard that establish that sin will be punished by blindness. Also during the time of this story, diseases of the eyes had been acknowledged for a long time, but we were still a long way from modern medicine’s understanding of blindness.
It was also easy to look down on this blind man. His lack of sight most likely was the reason he had to beg in the streets. He was most likely not able to sustain a standard of living that others could. He was also probably avoided…folks probably didn’t make eye contact, which is probably why he wasn’t even recognized when he stopped begging. And they probably feared him. This blind man was considered a sinner _ and who knows what would’ve happened if you associated with him.
But Jesus was clear in his answer to his disciples that this blind man was “born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him”. His blindness had nothing to do with his lack of faith in God. It had nothing to do with his trespasses or transgressions. This man’s story of blindness was a lesson for all of us that even those born in darkness have the ability to live in the light. And when linked with the other stories of Jesus’ healings, it tells us that no matter what our affliction is, we are not different from each other. We are all God’s children, and we can all see the light.
So, as we consider this fourth Sunday in the season of Lent, we think about what God wants us to learn about yourselves. Think about it as a light He’s shining on us. In turn, it’s a light we can then shine onto to others to help them see. And that light is grace. And when we share grace, and treat each other with grace, we see and hear each other more clearly _ and understand each other better. Through God’s light, this is how we can truly accomplish the act of treating everyone without disparity and prejudice, and instead as fellow human beings. And that does not require eyesight to do.
But as a society we’re still dodging the afflicted and handicapped. We bar them from jobs and participating in activities. We avoid eye contact and don’t always take more time to listen. Some of that is fear because deep down we know that out of all the minorities in this world, being handicapped is the only one that we could all possibly become. And that’s a scary thought being seen as less-than.
But being handicapped as God has shown us does not mean that the handicapped are less-than in any way. If anything, our handicaps are the things that reveal God’s good works. It shows us a way toward humility. It shows us that we can be brave in the face of adversity. It’s also an opportunity to show that we care about our fellow human beings on this earth. And _ if you happen to be disrespectful, for example stare a little too long, your guardian angel just might look the other way on occasion.
Not that guardian angels are cruel. But sometimes not nudging us into the comfortable seat is a little reminder of how it feels bad to be treated less-than. And a chance reminder that we can be better, to walk the way Jesus wants us to walk (good, right and true, as Saint Paul said), and to continue to walk in God’s light.
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Forget Balance and Embrace Grace*
The events from the past two months have been remarkably out of the ordinary. Before Thanksgiving, I got COVID (after dodging any cold or flu for 2 and a half years). After Thanksgiving, my spouse got COVID. A week later, he gets another respiratory virus. Our Christmas schedule was overly busy. Right before the New Year, my mother-in-law passes away and we have to quickly make arrangements for travel and cat sitting. Then my family has an unexpected quick and weird reunion of sorts after many years of estrangement.
Frankly, I need respite. And this weekend, we’re finally back to our regularly scheduled program, which includes writing all this down.
The other thing worth mentioning is that throughout this time, I experienced and noticed a lot of genuine kindness from neighbors, relatives, colleagues, health workers, hotel workers, and random strangers along the way.
I say notice because (and don’t cry for me Argentina) I don’t pick up on easily when kindness comes my way. I pray and spend most of my day, believing that there are very few truly bad people in the world, just bad actions. But at some point in time in life, it was baked into me a sense that there’s a line around the block of folks just waiting to commit an act of unkindness toward me. People have certainly done their share. And let’s face it, in the great history book of my life, I have too.
A relative used to say to me all the time, “I forgive. But I never forget.” One, when I still talk to them these days, I don’t get the sense that they forgive anyone. Two, I wonder can you really forgive but not forget?
I forgot a lot of things. But when I recount the stories that I remember of bad things done and said to me, it doesn’t feel like I’m forgiving. It’s not a sense of revenge, or wanting retribution, or that I want to inflict the same pain back. Sometimes, it would be nice to have had an acknowledgement, some empathy or an apology.
But mostly I feel a need to have justice. But I don’t know what having that sense means. So I looked up the etymology of the word justice and found that it comes from the Latin, iustitia which means “righteousness or equity”.
“That’s IT!” That makes perfect sense. When I remember bad stuff, in my mind I go back in time, and think about how to balance it out _ between today and yesterday, between right and wrong, and I think, how much more time do I want to spend on these memories? And am I really restoring any balance in my life? Or am I perpetuating a continued lack of balance?
Many moons ago, I learned several exercises from a trainer using an upside down bosu ball including while standing on it. Essentially it’s like standing on a flat surface that has a balloon attached to the bottom of it. It is not stable nor sustainable in that you cannot live all day on it.
While standing on it, you have to work very hard to stay balanced. You’re fighting against nature _ gravity, fluctuations in the air around you, the amount of oxygen and blood flowing to your muscles, and staying mentally focused. Eventually you will tip and one side will take over and throw you off balance.
And that is what life is like. No matter how strong, mentally attuned, physically coordinated, planned out you are, eventually there will be disruption to the balance that you strive so hard to maintain.
This then begs the question, is balance perhaps a great big lie. Biblically, it may be a trick by Satan and his cohorts to make us think we can control everything, and when we can’t it’s someone’s else’s fault. It’s the fault of our parents, it’s our neighbors, it’s our work colleagues, it’s our politicians, it’s maybe even ourselves. Or worse, it’s God’s fault and we think that God wants us to have miserable lives. I don’t go that far. But some folks do blame God and that’s a shame.
I could dive into that notion farther. But I think that Nadia Bolz-Weber, a pastor whose writings and sermons I admire, said it well in her Jan 6, 2023 sermon and post, “Enjoy Your Forgiveness”
“It is not God, but the devil who rummages through our garbage looking for already forgiven sins to rub our noses in to say “this is who you really are”.
But in Christ, who they [everyone you know] really are, is forgiven and who you really are is forgiven. And I’m so sorry to be the one to say it, but so is everyone you resent. Which at first sounds awful. But to know that in the kingdom of God there is pardon for you and for me and for everyone who has ever hurt us is true freedom…because we can just stop thinking an eye for an eye is going to help us, we are free to stop re-litigating decades old crimes of our siblings and our parents, we are free to stop beating ourselves and everyone else up for stuff in the past.”
Exactly.
God doesn’t want us to have miserable lives. He wants us to be free to choose. He wants us to recognize that life is complicated and always will be. And that it is complicated not just for you, but for EVERYONE. And you cannot control everything. And neither can everyone else. And your best choice is grace. Grace for yourself, and everyone.
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians spoke of grace that God has for us even in the face of our own transgressions. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (2:4-5)
And that’s how it feels after a couple of months of hardship. That God and a lot of people gave me their grace. And it took this concentrated amount of time to see there is not a line around the block of folks just waiting to commit an act of unkindness toward me. (Well, maybe a few.)
But still, it’s not my job to be their judge and jury. Conversely, it’s not my job to just give up and let people treat me poorly because they want to.
I can choose to give it the time and space in my life that it deserves, and truly forgive and forget. I can forget about achieving balance on the great upside down bosu ball of life and instead give grace.
I want to be granted grace. I want what grace offers _ space to be me, to be heard, to be understood. Grace is not a get-out-of-jail free card. Wrongful acts are wrong and they are going to happen, and we can deal with them with grace. Not resentment, not bitterness, not revenge, not an eye-for-eye.
So I want to give grace. Because when you give grace, in the same way that others and God have given you grace, the scales of justice are truly aligned. So forget balance and embrace grace.
*Inspired by Tish Harrison Warren’s NY Times article, January 1, 2023, “New Year’s habits that are good for the soul”. “Last year I asked writers, scholars and spiritual leaders to suggest resolutions that weren’t focused on sculpting a beach body or maximizing one’s earning capacity but were instead practical ways to nourish one’s soul or the “soul” of our society.” and she received this quote from Nii Addy, neuroscientist, associate professor of psychiatry at Yale University and host of the “Addy Hour” podcast.
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