Hope's Sermons

Last Epiphany

2010-02-21T09:03:00.001-08:00

The Rev. Martha Frances

Yr. C, Last Epiphany

14 February 2010

Text: Luke 9: 28-36 [37-43]

Other Readings: Exodus 34: 29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

Thank you all so much for worshipping with us today. As we celebrate the culmination of my ministry here at Hope, & both Hope parish & I look forward to the new chapter in each of our ministries, all here at the end of the season of enlightenment at Epiphany, stories about journeys to the mountaintops & re-visioning of life & ministry are quite appropriate. I invite you to open your eyes & hearts to what new vision God has for you at this time in your life which you might carry into your Lenten meditation & worship for the next 6 weeks so Christ's glory might be fully revealed in your life in the miracle of Easter.

How many of you have ever experienced what you would classify as a mountaintop experience? (Pause) And how many of you have wished you didn't have to come down from the mountain, thinking you'd rather just freeze-frame that awesome feeling & not have to face real life again, at least not soon? (Pause)

Well, you've probably heard sermons on these scriptures many times, so it's likely you've been told the Transfiguration is all about dealing with a mountaintop experience. Right? Though the Transfiguration might warn us, along with Simon Peter, not to linger on the mountaintop, that's not ALL this scripture is about, so we're going delve into these transformational scriptures..

Often when we look at a scene from scripture, we try to relate to it, to see how our lives are LIKE whatever is going on in the passage. In the case of the Transfiguration, however, we experience, just as Peter, John, & James do, an event which is really UNLIKE any we've ever had. The thing about Jesus' appearance with Moses & Elijah & his face & clothing's becoming dazzling white is that this is a one-of-a-kind appearance. Surely, it reminds us of other earlier epiphanies like Moses at the burning bush or his face showing dazzling white when he came down the mountain, another story we read this morning. Surely, Elijah encountered God at the mountain cave not in earthquake, wind, or fire but in a still small voice. Jesus' transfiguration appearance with Moses & Elijah affirms him as the last in a whole line of prophets harkening back for centuries.

We're certainly reminded of Jesus' baptism when God declares, "This is my son, the Beloved." Others whom John baptized didn't have a dove descend accompanied by a voice from heaven, did they? Indeed, we're getting closer to the uniqueness of Jesus' transfiguration when we examine his baptism inaugurating his public ministry. By the time of the transfiguration scene, Jesus has had a successful public teaching, preaching, & healing career in Galilee & has just recently turned his face toward Jerusalem which he knows will mean his crucifixion. His attention is now focused on training his closest followers for the costs of discipleship.

Immediately before today's lesson, Jesus has made his first passion prediction, & the disciples have only just begun to recognize a messiah very different from the one predicted by centuries of Jewish prophecy. What better time for God to reassure Jesus publicly that he is following the path God intends than with an open declaration out of the cloud: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him." Indeed, it is the awesome uniqueness of this ultimate Epiphany appearance which is most compelling to the disciples, & to us today. We're told unequivocally that this experience IS unique, for Jesus is God's special chosen one to whom we best pay heed.

The disciples must still be in shock from Jesus' prediction that he must suffer persecution & death before he returns in glory. Hey, why have they been following this itinerant preacher & healer if all he's gonna do is go to Jerusalem where he's likely to get himself—& possibly some of them—killed dead as doornails? Have they been mistaken in throwing in their chips with him? He certainly seems to know what he's talking about? The healings & miracles are certainly real enough. "So what's up?" the disciples might be saying while ascending the mountain for another of Jesus' long periods of prayer.

That's one point which Luke continually makes & we should notice, especially just three days away from Ash Wednesday and then Lent. Every significant event in Jesus' life arises out of a period of prayer. Jesus models a life of disciplined prayer, & it seems to me if Jesus needed that much time for communication with his Father, we can assume we need to pray regularly, intentionally & with fervor. It's clear that the disciples, weighed down with sleep as they were, almost missed the miracle of the transfiguration. How often do we miss miracles because we're not paying attention or we put expectations upon how we think things are supposed to turn out?

What's really up is that, though Jesus' ministry won't end with the success for which his disciples had hoped, he is nonetheless the messiah. Jesus' destiny is to go to Jerusalem to face certain death, but all is not lost; his death is actually a modern-day exodus. The people of the original exodus didn't really become Yhwh's chosen until after 40 years in the wilderness. They formed a new covenant with God & a new identity with each other. Later, Jesus' exodus from earthly life was necessary for the resurrection to establish life after death, & to birth the new Israel, the new Christian community.

Of course, the three disciples couldn't have explained all this to each other, much less to the larger group of disciples. Perhaps that's why they were terrified & kept silent, telling no one what they had seen. Miraculous things like the transfiguration happen at certain times in our lives, & we are seldom able to explain them. The preacher Barbara Brown Taylor calls such events as the transfiguration "thin places." In such experiences, heaven & earth meet in ways we simply cannot explain. Who among us would like to have been present at the transfiguration? And who would not have been terrified? At times like these, logic cannot explain what's happening, yet it is enough for us to be open to what God wants for our lives rather than what we thought would be good.

We read the Transfiguration story on this last Sunday of Epiphany as a bridge between the outward focus of Jesus' teaching & healing of Epiphany—for his is truly the greatest Epiphany—to the inward retrospection of Lent. In order to be prepared to share the Good News of Christ during the Easter season, we must undergo the work of staying honest with God & ourselves we practice during Lent.

Ash Wednesday begins the 40 days of Lent. In the next few days, we can consider what God asks of us during this holy season. You might give up booze or cigarettes or sugar or lunch every other day because that's what you always do during Lent? I invite you to consider what God calls you to focus on, both for yourself & for Hope. I can't determine for you what your Lenten discipline should be, but I'll offer some suggestions which might be helpful.

First: prayer time. Spending regular quality time with God will open you up to God's transformation in your life. There are many excellent ways to stretch yourself in prayer during this time. Perhaps you'll find a new way to pray which truly suits you. 6 weeks is enough time to find out if a new prayer style works for you.

Secondly, read a book. Choose something you wouldn't ordinarily read, & discipline yourself to read & think about it through Lent. You might covenant with a friend or two to read & then discuss an enlightening book. Bookstores & Amazon highlight good Lenten meditations.

In addition, inventory your life to see whether the goals you have set for yourself are still applicable. Some wise sage said that if you don't know where you're going, it'll be hard for you to know if & when you get there. At this hinge time in Hope's communal life, evaluating mission & vision for the future is crucial. A spiritual director can be an invaluable help.

Certainly, though Lent is more introspective than other times of the year, we should reach out to our neighbors at this time. At Diocesan Council yesterday, we celebrated a new companion partnership with Southern Malawi, watching Bp. Doyle & the Malawan bishop James Tengotengo signing the covenant of partnership. In this time of economic downturn, the Diocese of Texas puts feet to our hopes in beginning a new outreach with Malawi. We are incredibly wealthy here in Texas in comparison to our partners in Southern Malawi. How can Hope reach out to others in a mutual relationship of give & take? How can your own stewardship covenant for 2010 be fleshed out during Lent for you to give sacramentally of yourself.

The Diocesan Council just completed yesterday marked a new beginning in the life of the Diocese. +Bp. Andy asked us to reach beyond "playing it safe" in our spiritual lives & pray the prayer Sir Francis Drake prayed which began "Disturb us Lord. . ." with various ways we can grow beyond the status quo. Council passed a resolution of Unity within the Diversity we find in our Diocese which was crafted by a coalition of some of the most liberal leaders in the Diocese alongside others who are most conservative. +Bp. Andy asks that 2010 be a year of prayer regarding the Anglican Covenant with a task force to design a method for study of our different stances on sexuality and biblical interpretation so that we may effectively focus on growing the church with a missionary spirit for sharing the Good News of God in Christ. Hope will have a regular opportunity to be aware of & connected to the activities of the Diocese since our own Elizabeth Dowell has been elected to the Executive Board. Let's celebrate Elizabeth's new position, but we also give thanks to Cornelius Perry who was also willing to run for Executive Board. Please thank Elizabeth & Cornelius for their giving of themselves.

I can't tell you what Christ is calling you to do this Lent, but I know that the Transfiguration challenges us to look beyond who & where we are to see how God is inviting us to new life. At those thin places where God can speak to us more easily, God has a word for you as God has for me. There are opportunities during Lent to balance introspection and caring for our world in sacramental ways.

I would remind you of Martin Luther King's last speech as he strengthened those who supported the sanitation workers in Memphis the night before his death. He shared, "Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Mountaintops may be exhilarating, but God calls us to look at the dailyness of our lives & give them up to God. May you & I be open to God's call to us this Lent.

Epiphany V

2010-02-08T14:26:00.001-08:00

By The Rev. Martha Frances+

Year C Epiphany V

6 February 2010

Text: Luke 5: 1-11

Other Readings: Isaiah 6: 1-8 [9-13]; Psalm 138; I Corinthians 15: 1-11

All our scripture readings today are call stories—moments when God calls people to ministry. Especially at this time in the life of Hope, each parishioner has a call to ministry; ministry is not limited to those of us who wear clerical collars. Listen carefully to these lessons, for God is calling you too!

What a spectacular setting for God's call to Isaiah! God is on the throne &, even before God gets a chance to speak, Isaiah is already back-peddling: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, & I live among a people of unclean lips;" he replies when the angels/God appears. God's seraph touches his mouth with a live coal, forgives his sins, & commissions him to become God's ambassador. Isaiah responds in 5 of the most significant words in scripture: "Here am I; send me!" Hmmm, seems like I've sung that somewhere before.

Likewise, Paul's call from God follows the same pattern as the call to Isaiah. Paul's call comes after many appearances the resurrected Christ has made to the disciples & finally to Paul himself. Listen to Paul's objections: he is unworthy—as one untimely born, the least of the apostles—because he persecuted the Church.

Christ obviously doesn't take no for an answer from Paul, & it is by God's grace that he is equipped for the great missionary work ahead of him. His response—". . .by the grace of God I am what I am"—echoes Moses' conversation with God on Mt. Sinai. Paul's frenetic activity for the spread of Christ's kin-dom speaks for itself. Paul's proclamation has resulted in the Corinthians'—& many other new churches—coming to believe.

Finally, we come to Jesus' call to his first disciples—the 3 fishermen—beside Gennesaret Lake, better known as the Sea of Galilee. Jesus' popularity has caused him to resort to extraordinary measures to reach the crowds. He borrows Simon's boat, & they put out from shore so he can better speak to the crowd. Then he tells Simon to launch his boat into deep waters once more & to let down his nets. How does Simon Peter react? He argues with Jesus, telling him that they have already been working fruitlessly all night. Nevertheless, he agrees to do as Jesus has asked & indeed puts out the nets. What a miracle: so many fish that they fill both his boat & that of his partners James & John!

At this point, we encounter Simon's self-centeredness. Does he thank Jesus for this amazing catch of fish? No, he responds by moaning about how sinful he is & pleads with Jesus to disappear! Of course, Peter always over-reacts, & here is Jesus' first encounter with Peter in Luke's gospel. Peter might have wallowed in his self-pity, yet Jesus does not allow that. Jesus calls Peter out of himself to do the work of netting people, hauling them in to build up the Christian community, & really to lead that community, all with the help of his brother Andrew, his partners James & John, & the other folks Jesus calls to discipleship.

Notice they leave everything in order to follow Jesus. In the group-oriented culture around the Mediterranean Sea, people don't see themselves as independent individuals but rather rely on the social unit of the extended family & community for their livelihood & indeed for their identity. We independent Americans may have a hard time relating to the drastic steps these disciples take to haul off & follow Jesus, but their departure leaves serious gaps in the interdependent family structures. Jesus' band of disciples becomes a non-traditional family for each other.

But we get ahead of ourselves. When Peter steps out & follows Jesus, he has no clue as to what will follow. Peter steps out in faith only after Jesus reassures him with the now-familiar, "Do not be afraid" & then promises "from now on you will be catching people" or, as one translation says, "you will net people." Notice that Peter's not dangling a fishline out to catch an individual fish; no, he's hauling in schools of fish with a net—a whole community of fish!

With Isaiah, Paul, & Simon Peter's calls to action, a pattern emerges: First, God initiates the action. God does the choosing. God chooses according to God's qualifications, not according to those whom we humans consider worthy. Even if you've never heard that call before, I want to assure you God is calling you right here, today. Listen up! Second, the person God chooses obviously doesn't consider him or herself worthy & gives God excuses as to God's poor judgment in choosing him or her. In modern-day language, we call this whining, or sitting on our pity pots. Are you familiar with such a response? Third, God doesn't take "no" for an answer; God goes right ahead with God's plans & urges the person to respond positively. We often say that God doesn't choose the equipped but equips the chosen. That applies to each of you too, not just to the preacher! Finally, the chosen one responds & then acts on God's calling her or him out. What ministry is God calling you to today? Keep listening!

Now, all 3 of these examples are of men, but this same pattern applies to women. Remember God's call to Mary that we usually call the "annunciation"? The angel appears &, after telling Mary not to be afraid, initiates the call for her to bear a son. Mary is astonished & tells the angel he must have knocked on the wrong door; she can't have a baby as she is still a virgin. Gabriel replies that God can accomplish more than we humans can ask or imagine. Mary responds "then let it be to me according to your Word." And she brings forth the Savior of the World. God's call is not limited to one type person or group, & we're often surprised at those God chooses for a particular task. One prayer I encourage for you is for you to be as open to God's calls to your neighbors as God is; you all need each other.

As we ponder Christ's call to each of us, I think it is comforting to realize that this is an ongoing call to conversion, not just a one-time deal. Paul alludes to the ongoing progression of conversion & growth in faith in the last line of the Corinthian reading for today when he says, ". . .and so you have come to believe." You may remember a man who comes to Jesus for his child's healing. He says, "Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief." Conversion & response are not once over & done with, you see. Openness to the transformation of parts of ourselves which are unbelieving leads to a lifetime of spiritual adventures & gradual maturing in the faith.

I hope you haven't sat back & thought smugly during this sermon, "Well, I've already accepted Jesus as my Lord & Savior, so these call stories don't apply to me." Just as Jesus' call is not to a select few but to ALL, so is Jesus' call to a lifetime of growth in faith & in ways to act out our faith. Each time we respond in love & obedience to Christ's call to us, we're strengthened for the next call to be faithful. It is when we get comfortable with our faith walk that we are most likely to stumble. Christ calls us over & over to turn again & follow him.

Also, I want to make it perfectly clear that these call stories are examples not of the call of special extra-talented people to be professional Christians. My brothers & sisters, this call to conversion & to living life with Christ & in a Christian community is to ALL of us. Some days I know we all want to say with Peter, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" If Simon Peter could say that & then become the leader of the apostles, the one who holds the keys to God's realm, then not one of you is so sinful or untalented that you are exempted from the call to discipleship. We're all in this together, you all. We're ALL, every one of us, invited—actually urged—to a lifetime of conversion & new life in Christ.

As you enter a time of discernment & new beginnings for Hope Church, I'll recommend 3 ways you can respond to God's call to you which will strengthen you for service & also build up the body of Christ. These might be good Lenten disciplines. The writer I'm borrowing from calls them the 3 Gs:

First, go to church! There's no better time in the church year to establish the habit of church attendance than Lent. You need each other, & you need to pray and celebrate Eucharist together. There will be Lenten supper & prayers on Wednesdays & Stations of the Cross on Fridays in addition to Sunday's services, & each of these worship times gives you the opportunity to pray for Hope & for each other. This is certainly not the time to hide out at home & watch to see what happens at the church. Come & participate!

Secondly, give significantly & generously. Last Sunday was Covenant Sunday, & many of you brought your 2010 Covenant & placed it in the Ark here on the altar. Those covenant prayer letters ask you to evaluate what you have to give to your church community, open your heart & your mind to give generously, commit to that on the Covenant which is for God's eyes only, then place your Covenant with the others in the Ark here on the altar, & make sure to ask God to help you keep your Covenant during the year. In so doing, with the others who are led to do the same, Hope can blossom with a generosity of Spirit as never before.

Closely allied with that generosity of Spirit is the 3^rd G: give up grudges. That many churches have become grudge-filled, resentment-infested places on earth is scandalous. Jesus himself gave his life for our salvation, & many Christians have lost theirs also over the centuries of Christian history. No church is ever going to be perfect; it's made up of imperfect people! Your ability to contribute what you can & accept what you cannot change is one sign of a mature Christian. Rumors are deadly to a small community like Hope, & no matter how transparent I've tried to be as I'm transitioning out as your rector, some amazing rumors have bubbled up like flotsam & jetsam on top of the waters. Don't participate in that childish behavior. St. Paul reminded us last week that when we become adults, we're to give up our childish ways. Now is the time to be filled with the love of God & the discernment of the Holy Spirit. Your Senior Warden, after the vestry retreat & a visit from the Canon to the Ordinary this past week, has affirmed that you will be just fine. Believe that the Spirit will lead you to new life.

And don't think that you've got all the time in the world. Christ is incredibly patient, but why not begin to live abundantly right now? What's more important than abundant life? Whatever holds you back from conversion to new life today, shed it, let go of it, & let God fill that void in your life. Epiphany is the time of year when we explore all the many places & persons God calls us to engage with in enlarging & strengthening God's reign on earth. Soon, we will enter the season of Lent in which we are made ready once again to respond as an Easter people, "Here I am, send me!" What is holding you back? Can you give it up to God?

Epiphany IV

2010-02-02T07:23:00.001-08:00

By The Rev. Martha Frances+

Year C Epiphany IV

31 January 20010

Text: Luke 4: 21-30

Other Readings: Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; I Corinthians 13: 1-13

This morning's readings give us a wealth of material to apply to our lives today, & the readings have a lot in common. So we'll look primarily at the Gospel to explore what God presents to us today, but we'll also take a look or two at the other lessons.

Several points stand out as I've meditated this week. First, God takes the initiative in reaching out to us with the Good News, desiring to share with us & hoping we will respond. Secondly, God's intention is that all of humanity be included in God's reign even when we humans try to limit God's blessings to our own group or at least those with which we are comfortable. Finally, God's abundant gifts to us are intended not just for our own edification & comfort but for the whole community which ultimately means the global village. Let's look at each of these premises in our scriptures.

Although we can certainly say that Jesus, God's Son, reaches out to his neighbors in Nazareth as he reads & interprets the Isaiah passage in the synagogue (the passage we read last week), our most obvious example of God's making the first move toward us is in God's call of Jeremiah to the prophetic vocation. Not only does God commission the boy Jeremiah, but God has had intentions for Jeremiah's future from before he was born.

God tells Jeremiah that to be a prophet to the nations (we'll get back to that part in a few minutes), & God doesn't take "no" for an answer. Can't you just hear Jeremiah whining, "Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy"? God responds that Jeremiah is to go where God sends him, to whatever people are there, & God will tell Jeremiah what to say. Just to make sure Jeremiah gets the point, God touches his mouth & then sends him on his way to all nations & kingdoms. God definitely reaches out & chooses whom God wills, equipping the saints for ministry. Jeremiah goes on to be a great prophet & gets himself in a lot of trouble, even getting dropped down into a well, all in response to God's commissioning him. Further, God's call is not just to those of us who wear our collars backwards; God reaches out to each Christian, so I encourage you to recognize your own call to be an epiphany of God; we're each to be a manifestation of the divine.

Secondly, God has us reach out way beyond our comfort zone to people we wouldn't even give the time of day to if we had our say in the matter. God really doesn't discriminate as we tend to do as followers are chosen; God accepts everyone.

Last week we were saw at first the crowds were very impressed with Jesus? His neighbors in Nazareth had heard good things about him, & today's gospel tells us all spoke well of him, amazed at what he had to say. Almost immediately, however, the crowd begins to ask questions: "Isn't this Joseph's son? Who does he think he is?" And a little later, the crowd flies into a rage & drives him out of town, intending to hurl him off a cliff. This rejection by his own friends in Nazareth is his first taste of crucifixion. How do we explain this change of attitude of people who had known Jesus all his life?

Well, there are privileges to being the hometown boy, but there are also obligations. Jesus is supposed to give preference to his family & village—you've heard of family discounts—yet he's been preaching & performing miracles over in Capernaum & goodness knows where else. Capernaum is in Galilee & probably has more Gentiles than Jews. Jesus' Jewish family & neighbors certainly don't like the idea of Jesus' doing for Gentiles what he hasn't done first for them. After all, they've known all their lives that they are God's special people.

Further, Jesus points out God's inclusion of all with 2 stories from their own Hebrew scriptures, both of which show God's healing touch upon Gentiles, not Jews. Elijah could certainly have healed any number of Jewish children while providing for them & their mothers' welfare, but instead, Elijah was led to the widow at Zarephath in Sidon to take care of her & heal her son. Likewise, Elisha didn't cure any Jewish people who had leprosy but rather Naaman the Syrian. Now it is downright rude for Jesus to suggest that God offers healing & wholeness to foreigners before even the Jews are healed.

Does this sound anything like churches & other groups in today's world? We know to whom God offers love, healing, forgiveness, & the right hand of fellowship to become part of our community. We want to make sure it's folks like us who are the privileged. We at Hope are eager to attract younger people to the community, but they are supposed to believe & behave just like us; we are nervous about being challenged with new ideas. Jesus comes along & emphasizes our responsibility to the poor, the hungry, the dispossessed, the captives---indeed all those people mentioned in the Isaiah passage last week. Just in case you think it's only in fancy big churches where parishioners want to keep other folks out, I hear it more often than I like to admit here at Hope.

All through the gospels, Jesus includes people we'd just as soon leave out. Jesus wipes away all that judgmentalism & tells & shows us that salvation is available to all. It's a lesson we must always keep in mind, especially when we are tempted to exclude other people. Who are the people whom we demonize in our own society & beyond? Remember, those people are just as precious in God's sight as you or I are. We must constantly be on the watch when those prejudices arise in our own hearts.

Finally, God doesn't feed the hungry or clothe the naked just for their own sakes, & God certainly doesn't give people spiritual gifts so they can feel better about themselves & believe they are better than everyone else. Jesus is pretty clear in last Sunday's & today's gospel that we're all in this together, & we're supposed to take care of each other. Getting along together & affirming each other's gifts are not any easier to do in a church community than anywhere else, & that was obviously true in the early church, too. Paul & other epistle writers have to admonish the young Christian churches repeatedly to use their spiritual gifts to strengthen the whole community, not just to act like super Christians themselves. In the Love Chapter which we read today in 1^st Corinthians, the pinnacle of Paul's letter to this most challenging young community, he tells us that it is appropriate for a child to speak, think, & reason like a child, but we adults must be willing to give up selfish childish ways & celebrate the gifts of our differences as adults.

We're all learning, one day at a time, to live together in love & care & to reach out to share Christ's love with others. God has already offered it, so we're just cooperating with God's plan to go into the streets & nooks & crannies of Houston to invite others to come & see a Christian community in action. It's important when others come, of course, that we are a Christian community in action & that we truly open ourselves to welcome others. God offers unconditional love to all, even those we'd just as soon not be in relationship with, so we might as well start loving them instead of trying to set them apart from us. This going into all the world—even the parts of it that our lives touch most closely—is pretty exhausting, but we're not asked to do it alone. In fact, that's one reason why we're supposed to be building up the church, not going it alone. As you begin this new phase of your life together after I begin my medical leave, this can be an exciting time of learning better to live out of the qualities of love which Paul describes in his "Love" chapter we read today. The Greek word for the self-giving love Paul describes is "agape." This is not the romantic love which is turned inward connecting two people but rather an unselfish love which can indeed bear, believe, hope, & endure all things for it begins with God, & we can return it to God through other people, sort of like paying it forward. With such love, we can begin to see others as God sees them, the beloved.

During this time of Epiphany, may we show forth Christ's light to the nations, or at least to all whom we meet. Please join me in a prayer which our Diocesan Bishop +Andy Doyle includes in his meditation upon today's scriptures:

"God of the prophets, your love reaches far beyond the boundaries of covenant and command. Redeemed by a love so patient and king, may we offer that same love to others & so proclaim you to the world by the witness of our lives. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever & ever. Amen."

Epiphany III

2010-02-02T07:21:00.001-08:00

By The Rev. Martha Frances+

Year C Epiphany III

24 January 2010

Text: Luke 4: 14-21

Other Readings: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Last week we revisited Jesus' first miracle at the wedding at Cana in Galilee, & today we continue with Luke's version of Jesus' inaugural teaching in his hometown of Nazareth. As we listen to Jesus' important "firsts" during the Epiphany season, the "showings forth" or "manifestations" of Jesus' wisdom & action can guide us to recognizing epiphanies in our own lives. When we see Jesus touching our lives in new ways, just maybe we will also learn ways to share Jesus' love & manner of life with others, heeding Jesus' call at Epiphany to let our light shine before others, even to the ends of the earth.

Immediately before this passage in Luke's Gospel, Jesus has been baptized, received the Holy Spirit, & then undergone temptations in the wilderness. We're assured that Jesus is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit upon returning to Galilee, specifically to his hometown of Nazareth. Jesus has been praised early on for his teaching in the synagogues, & don't you imagine he's excited & just a bit apprehensive when he enters the synagogue where as a youth, he first sat at of other rabbis' feet to learn the Law & the Prophets, the lore of the Jewish holy men?

Jesus went to the synagogue, as was his custom, the text says, because it was Sabbath, &, as a good Jewish man, he participated in worship & study. In one synagogue visit, Jesus affirms 3 of the most important Jewish traditions: Sabbath observance, the centrality of Scripture, & the importance of Synagogue worship. As a visiting adult male, he would normally have been invited to read & elaborate on the Prophets, so there's nothing unusual about this day's actions. Still, I'll bet the hometown rabbis recalled what a good student he had been.

Notice that he stands up to read, just as we do in worship, & the people would have stood in reverence & affirmation for the scripture reading. At least when you stand for the Gospel reading & when Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah, the people didn't have to stand all morning long like when Nehemiah read in our first lesson for today! Jesus reads one of the Servant Songs from Isaiah, one you're probably familiar with, that which we [sang & then] read today. This passage celebrates the hope of Israel for a Messiah they had anticipated for centuries, yet note how Jesus emphasizes that it applies to him, that they are seeing & listening to the fulfillment of their hopes & dreams for a Messiah, a Christ. Just in case they don't snap to his self-description as he reads Isaiah's prophecy, he ends the reading by stating clearly, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." You'll have to return next week to find out how the people responded to his proclamation, or perhaps you'll want to read the passages during the week.

However, we have much to encourage us today in seeing how this servant song describes Jesus so aptly & also how the same actions of Jesus described in Isaiah relate to us today. Looking back upon Jesus' life, death, & resurrection, we can say, "Of course, the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus. Jesus was God's son." But we can also appreciate how his old neighbors might say, "Who does he think he is? I remember when he used to work in his father's carpenter shop. He was a good kid, but going off to Lord-knows-where has certainly made him think a lot of himself."

We miss the next part unless we remember that the word "anointed" means either "Messiah" or "Christ," so Jesus is telling them right here who he is. They don't "get it," at least not yet, but Jesus has declared he is the one set apart & anointed for his role as Savior but also he calls not only Israel but all the world to a new relationship with God. He doesn't come to wipe Israel's enemies off the face of the earth as many had hoped a Messiah would do, but he comes to challenge the way things are in society & to call everyone to live a more giving life. In fact, we can read all the rest of Luke & Acts in light of Jesus' self-revelation here. In reciting Isaiah's words, he sets forth his own mission statement—what his intentions are in his ministry. Might they also be an effective mission statement for us?

Jesus says he has come to bring good news to the poor, & for countless poor in the following centuries, Jesus' Gospel, the word that means good news, has lifted up millions of people who are poor in lots of ways. "The poor" includes not only all on the bottom economically—including the impoverished & homeless—but also those outcast for any reason: race, gender, physical or mental limitations, color of skin or slant of eyes, degree of education, sexual orientation, cleanliness or manner of dress. We humans are amazing in the ways in which we can separate ourselves from others & set ourselves above or below other categories of people. Jesus doesn't set those barriers; he is convinced his purpose is to extend the Gospel to ALL. That's enough to make nervous anyone who believed the Messiah was to come to save only the Jews. We need to be very careful when we think we're smart enough to figure out who belongs in God's kingdom & who doesn't. No wonder Jesus told us that God is the judge & we aren't.

When Jesus says God sent him to proclaim release to the captives, his word for "sent" means he has a commission from someone else, in this case God, to free people from whatever keeps them captive. "Release" originally meant the forgiveness of debts. Many people then & certainly now find themselves trapped in a web of debt & accompanying hopelessness with no chance to get out of debt. In today's economic downturn, debt is at crisis proportions. A Jewish concept called Jubilee may have actually happened from time to time. The idea was that people should be released from debt every 7 years so that they could start from zero instead of constantly trying to pull out of a hole. Some times in my life, the idea of "Jubilee" would have given me very-needed hope. Right now, think about what keeps you captive from which you would like release. Perhaps it is debt, or perhaps cigarettes or fatty foods, scratch-off Lotto tickets or alcohol, addictive relationships or hopelessness which keeps you from believing you can accomplish anything better. What are you captive to? Are you willing to let Jesus release you from it?

Who is blind in our society? Perhaps I ought to ask you who is NOT blind, at least about some things, in our society? Recovery of sight for many of us means the ability to break through the denial of our addictions. Someone once said Denial is not a river in Egypt. We can ignore character defects for a long time before they destroy enough of our lives that we must face them head on. Education doesn't solve all our society's blindness, but it certainly helps us see things we haven't paid attention to before. We can all benefit from Jesus' removing the blinders from our eyes. In studying the Word of God & other good literature, layers of denial can peel away from our eyes. What have you been trying to ignore or avoid that you finally need to face squarely & look at in your life? What person or group can aid you in doing that?

Who in this congregation has ever felt oppressed? Oppression is sometimes only in our minds, but breaking through that oppression to the offer of new life which Jesus makes is part of what we are about in the Christian community. When we think about what oppresses us, we need to ask what part of that do we have some control over, & then begin to work on that. Sometimes the only thing we have some control over is the way we think about a difficult situation in our lives, but a change in our attitude can make all the difference. We open ourselves to an attitude shift in the Serenity Prayer that many of us say regularly: "God, grant me the serenity to accept those things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, & the wisdom to know the difference." What we can often change but resist doing is our attitude about it. Seeing something as an opportunity to grow instead of something which oppresses us may make all the difference in the world. The ability to figure that out & act on it is wisdom!

Finally, Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favor! The passage begins & ends with proclamation, & anything which Jesus proclaims is surely Good News, don't you think? Remember the concept of Jubilee is a time each 7 years when things go back to their rightful owners & debts are cleared so people start over, even-steven as my kids used to say. It's like starting a new game & forgetting who won the last one. Everyone starts from square one! This concept of Jubilee was never practiced as much in Hebrew society as it was preached. But it is such a strong & healthy idea that we still talk in terms of Jubilee when we think of Jesus' desire for everyone to belong in society & all to live life abundantly.

Your vestry will be on retreat this Friday evening and during the day on Saturday, making plans for the ministries of Hope for 2010, & I urge you to commit to praying for them at least 30 minutes during that time, trusting they will use Jesus' mission statement in this gospel to focus their decision-making. In addition, all of the parishioners of Hope can note the passage from I Corinthians reminding us that our spiritual gifts are many & varied but are given us in order that we might accept & celebrate our diversity while recognizing the essential nature of our being unified in fulfilling our mission. Please keep the vestry in your prayers this week. Also, consider faithfully & generously what of your time, talent & treasure you are willing to covenant with God for 2010 and fill out your covenant letter, seal it with the "For God's Eyes Only" golden seal, & return with it next week to place it in the ark on this altar as your solemn promise to God of your intentions toward God and toward this congregation. Bless you in your holy prayer and meditation time this week.

Epiphany II

2010-02-02T07:20:00.001-08:00

By The Rev. Martha Frances+

Year C Epiphany II

17 January 2010

Text: John 2: 1-11; I Corinthians 12: 1-11

Other Readings: Isaiah 62: 1-5; Psalm 36: 5-10

The story of the wedding feast at Cana is a favorite of mine, partially because the mother of Jesus is the character who activates the action. She is at the wedding, & we're told Jesus & the disciples have also been invited. Why does Mary, a guest at the wedding feast, become aware that the wine has run out, even though the chief steward doesn't even know it. She's curious enough, or trusted enough, to have learned there is no more wine. Mary is concerned that the family giving the wedding feast will be embarrassed not to have enough wine. So she turns to Jesus.

When Mary explains the dilemma to Jesus, we're surprised at his harsh response: "Woman, what concern is that to you & to me? My hour has not yet come." Now I have sons about Jesus' present age, & if they addressed me as "Woman," I would not be happy! Yet, Jesus seems to mean no disrespect or harm to his mother as he tries to keep a low profile. He's not ready to come out & show his power publicly. He's "off duty" at this function, anyway, so he may just want to relax & enjoy some down time with his buddies.

Jesus is not unlike other leaders called to step out of their comfort zone & risk. Do you remember Moses' response to God at the burning bush? He tells God he's not much of a speaker & doesn't think he's equipped to lead the whole nation of Israel out of bondage. God doesn't put up with such excuses but sends Moses back to Egypt to begin the Exodus. And then there's Jeremiah, none too pleased that God calls him to the thankless job of prophet to misfits who weren't even important enough to get hauled off to Babylon. Jeremiah says to God, "You must have gotten me mixed up with someone much more experienced. I am only a boy!" God isn't impressed with that excuse either. So off goes Jeremiah to straighten out a group of 2^nd classed citizens who got left behind when the beautiful people moved to Babylon.

Why, even Martin Luther King, whose birthday we celebrate tomorrow, was none too eager to get mixed up in the civil rights movement. He was a young Baptist minister, just called to his first church after serving as his dad's associate, & he had no intention of getting involved with a movement which would detract him from his new position & eventually lead to jail time, threats on his family, & eventually death by an assassin's bullet. Dr. King was called out of his comfort zone to greater & greater leadership & developed his belief in & practice of non-violent resistance while among the protestors & through countless sleepless nights.

Jesus doesn't think he is ready to come out in public either, but his mother has been watching & waiting for all his life now. Remember his presentation in the temple at Jerusalem when he was an infant & then last week's gospel, when he was 12 years old, Mary & Joseph returned to find him speaking with the elders at the Jerusalem temple? Both stories end by saying that Mary kept all these events, pondering them in her heart. Jesus' mother has had a lot of time to ponder by the time he is 30, & SHE knows, even if Jesus doesn't, that it's high time for his public ministry to commence. Even though Jesus tries to quieten his mother, she tells the servants to follow Jesus' instructions. Sometimes when I am on the brink of doing something new & risky, I need the unconditional confidence of a friend who believes in me. Sometimes, someone has to say, "Martha, just do it!" Jesus' mother did that for him.

Now we come to the miracle itself. The evangelist John provides much detail about these huge stone water jars filled to the brim which Jesus very simply changes from water into wine. John goes to great length to impress us with the extravagance of this miracle. Not only are there suddenly copious amounts of wine to continue the celebration, but the steward assures us this is the best quality wine served all day. If we're but willing to trust Jesus in the risky areas of our lives, the gifts given us are greater than we could ask or imagine. Jesus takes the common old stone water jars & transforms the water into more flavorful new wine than the whole crowd could have dreamt.

That's how God works in us if we but take the risk to trust. Just because there are more roadblocks than we had anticipated doesn't mean that God isn't at work in an enterprise. Hope Church had a difficult year in 2009 as did most churches. Nearly 5 years ago, we stepped out in faith to grow together in love, & Jesus has worked mightily in the people & community called Hope. Just look around at the people you treasure in your spiritual life whom you didn't even know 5 years ago.

Now our 5 years of life together hasn't always been easy, & Jesus' transformation of water into new wine didn't happen effortlessly. Mary, Jesus & the servants all had their parts to play in the miracle's happening, & Hope wouldn't be here today had many people not stepped forward to accomplish the practical tasks of coming together. A much larger group has prayed faithfully for our community throughout the beginnings of Hope. When we pray for a miracle, it is best to be willing to do what God needs us to do so that miracle can come about.

St. John tells us this miracle was the first sign that Jesus performed. The transformation Jesus caused to occur in the wine certainly revealed Jesus' glory only fully accomplished when he was crucified, buried, & resurrected. Sadly, many people tend to quit before the miracle happens. We're often so sure what Christ's miracles will look like in our own lives that we miss the real miracles when they occur.

Fortunately, as John says "the disciples believed in him." Part of the outcome of this first of Jesus' miracles is that the disciples saw what amazing things could happen if they but believed. I'm put in mind of 2 things related to the disciples' belief. First, the disciples had to believe in Jesus before they could experience what power God could work in each of them. Our selection in the epistle to the Corinthians today reminds us that we all have spiritual gifts that we need to discover & offer up to God's glory. Paul tells us all the gifts are given by the same Spirit, the Holy Spirit, & the gifts are given for the common good. Other places, he says that each gift we have is meant for the building up of the body of Christ, not just for our own gratification. In looking at what we do well that the larger community needs, let's not sell ourselves short. All of us have talents which we've not explored. Paul offers quite a list in our scripture today: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, & discernment of spirits as well as speaking in tongues & interpreting them. If we listen to our hearts, to God's call, to where we're encouraged to venture out of our usual ruts, we may find extraordinary gifts we've previously ignored. No fair saying we don't have gifts. Paul says clearly we all have gifts & the Spirit activates them. Let's give God a chance to work in us to develop those gifts.

Why? So we can be super Christians? Nope, Paul says so that we can build up the body of Christ, to reach out to others & help them know the love we've received. Just think; that small band of apostles spread the gospel of Good News throughout the known world. We're called to do our part, too. Part of what we celebrate during this Epiphany season is Christ's light which we hope others can see through us because the Spirit dwells within us. We can't keep the light shining alone, though. We're called to do this in community.

As another year begins at Hope parish, I challenge you to open yourself up to how God wants you to use your gifts for the up-building of this community. At the end of the month, the vestry will go on retreat to explore in & beyond our community where God wants us to focus our efforts. I invite each of you to do the work of discernment that ALL may benefit. Please pray for your vestry as they discern how to move forward in Hope.

There you have it. I'm urging you to step out of your comfort zone & discover what Christ may be calling you to do with the gifts which are yours. I'm suggesting that, if you believe that Jesus Christ can make all things new, you give Christ a chance to do just that in your life. For Hope to fulfill God's call this year, you must think & act outside the box. Each day, open yourself up to learn what new opportunities Christ is offering you to grow in faith & love & to share with the world.

Christmas II

2010-02-02T07:19:00.001-08:00

By The Rev. Martha Frances+

Year C Christmas II

3 January 2010

Text: Luke 2: 41-52

Other Readings: Jeremiah 31: 7-14; Psalm 84; Ephesians 1: 3-6, 15-19a

Merry Christmas! That's right; this is the 3^rd of January, & there are still 3 more of the 12 days of Christmas. Unlike the marketing world which has moved on to advertising Valentine's Day, we Christians are still in the Christmas season until Wednesday when we celebrate the ancient holiday of Epiphany. In fact, Epiphany has been celebrated longer even than Christmas itself, & we will observe the Feast of Epiphany at 6:30 on Wednesday evening here in our chapel. So for those of you who wonder what happened to the Magi following the star from the East, come to our service on Wednesday where we'll relate that story again.

Today's gospel takes up the story of Jesus when he is 12 years old, traveling to Jerusalem for the festival of Passover, an obligatory pilgrimage for Jewish men. Since Jewish males take on adult religious responsibilities when they are 13, Jesus is just on the cusp of being considered a grown-up. After a week-long celebration, the crowd from Nazareth begins its journey home & travels one full day before Mary & Joseph discover that Jesus is not among the neighbors.

Can't you imagine the apprehension with which they return to Jerusalem to begin their search for him which ultimately takes 3 days? Three days is forever when a child is missing, & of course, this is an allusion to the later story of Jesus' 3 days in the tomb after his crucifixion. As a mother & grandmother, I am astonished at Mary's restraint as she comes upon Jesus conversing with the teachers in the temple! She questions him in terms of what his absence has meant to his father & her—how worried they have been. Jesus doesn't even apologize before responding that they should know where he would have been—in his Father's house or about his Father's business.

How must Joseph have felt, knowing Jesus spoke of a Heavenly Father? Yet, even at 12 years old, Jesus is aware he has conflicting loyalties to God & to his family, & he is choosing to distance himself from his earthly family already. Luke softens the edginess on his response by telling the reader that Jesus returned with Joseph & Mary to Nazareth where he was obedient to them. And once again, we learn that Mary treasures these memories in her heart as Jesus continues to grow into maturity.

The overall atmosphere of today's readings is celebratory, & we now turn our attention to today's Hebrew scripture. It takes place centuries earlier in Jeremiah's celebration song to God for the Hebrew people's release after Babylonian captivity. Look at the joyful tone of praise & the gratitude of the people for God's saving the remnant of Israel, those who have stayed faithful even when they were shipped off as slaves to Babylon. It's certainly not by their own might that they are able to return. Jeremiah reminds the people that the blind & the lame, those nursing children & even those preparing to birth them are among the remnant. These are the poor & the weak, those who could not save themselves. Their salvation is all God's doing, not by their own strength.

Nor does God abandon them in their travel. Just like a father, Jeremiah says, God leads them next to fresh water supplies & smoothes their paths so that they are able to return to the land of milk & honey. God cares for the remnant of Israel like the loving shepherd of a flock. Notice that Jeremiah uses verbs which are later attributed to Jesus himself: God has ransomed the chosen people & has redeemed them from those who are stronger than they are.

Today's psalm is a song of joy & praise for God & for those sacred places where God can be worshipped, especially the temple to which they return after their captivity. It is the same Jerusalem temple where Jesus is found later grappling with scripture & the intricacies of Jewish law. The journey to freedom in the psalm echoes Jeremiah's words as the desolate valley becomes a place of springs with pools of water.

Celebration is truly what Christmas is about, & I'm glad that the church calendar allows us 12 days to do so. But why all this celebration? Because one child was born in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago? Well, yes, on one level, that's why we celebrate Jesus' birth. But actually, we're reminded of the reason this birth is so important to us in our opening collect for the day which you'll find on the front page of your pew bulletin. Let's look at it again: "O God, who wonderfully created, & yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; . . . ."

We celebrate God's gift of Jesus the Son today because Jesus' creation & birth in the form of a human baby affirmed more than any other act could have done God's belief that God's creation so many centuries before—& especially that of human beings—was indeed "very good." God cast the divine lot with humans unreservedly when God chose to make God's own child, part of Godself, human. Jesus' birth, by a human mother, with a caring human father who adopted him as his own & reared him as a good Jew, was the capstone of God's creation.

However, even more, Jesus' life, death, & resurrection were the continuation of the story, & through Jesus' saving action of being crucified for us & being raised from the dead, humans were indeed given a dignity which they had not previously had. At Christmas time, we celebrate the whole of the story of Jesus' saving grace. The collect tells us why Jesus humbled himself to share our humanity. Why is that? So that we can share the divine life with him. God made Jesus to live like us so that we can learn to live more like God.

You might say to me, "Yeah, right! I know very little about the divine life & I darn sure can't live it." Well, we can all learn a lot about the divine life by observing the way Jesus lived his own life here on earth & working toward emulating Jesus' life. That's the miracle of the gift of Jesus as a human. And you're right that you can't live a divine life, at least not on your own steam. Nor are you supposed to do so. That's also why Jesus was born a human baby in a stable: so, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can learn to be more like him.

You might ask how the heck that can happen. Well, as is often true, I like to turn to the 2^nd lesson, the epistle, for answers to practical questions like that. After all, an epistle is a letter to one or more of the early Christian churches, encouraging them along the way to be more faithful Christians. We at Hope can learn much from observing the issues these first Christians grappled with & listening to the missionaries' answers.

We see that the writer to the Ephesians starts by praising God who has given us the spiritual blessings we need to grow in love & faith. God acted first, we are reminded, & chose us before the foundations of the world to adopt as children. That adoption was accomplished through Jesus Christ who also had an adoptive father, & it was God's pleasure to adopt us. Have you ever known a couple who have desperately wanted children & finally got to adopt one? What joy they have in finally having a child in their family! So much more must God's joy be to adopt us as children. Don't you ever forget that!

In the 2^nd part of the epistle reading, the writer encourages the Christian community by bragging on their reputation for faith in Jesus & love toward the rest of the community. When I'm told what a great job I'm doing at something, I surely want to keep doing a good job. Don't you? Then we're told that the writer is praying for them to have the wisdom & revelation to come to know Jesus. He prays that the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened so that they might fulfill God's call to them as individuals & as a community.

What a wonderful phrase, that the "eyes of your heart" may be enlightened! Much of what we learn is through what we see with our eyes, but for the eyes of our heart to be enlightened, our heart must be open to learn new things. We at Hope must be open to new ways of being church if we are to grow & especially if we are to be attractive to younger seekers. The kind of learning that the writer speaks of here anticipates that the learner act on what he or she learns. If we are enlightened, we respond in faith by doing whatever we're called to do. Is your heart open to be enlightened? Are you ready to respond to God's call to behave in new ways, to learn how to participate in Jesus' divine life?

Whatever way God is calling you to stretch your faith at this Christmas season, don't let this opportunity go by to have your heart become more enlightened so that you may participate more fully in Christ's divine life. Jesus came to free us all from our sins, to teach us by his humanness how to be more divine. Don't miss the opportunity this year to grow in Christ's love & faith. All of us at Hope can benefit from such enlightenment. Amen.

Christmas II

2010-01-05T18:43:00.001-08:00

By The Rev. Martha Frances+

Year C Christmas II

3 January 2010

Text: Luke 2: 41-52

Other Readings: Jeremiah 31: 7-14; Psalm 84; Ephesians 1: 3-6, 15-19a

Christmas Eve

2009-12-26T13:39:00.001-08:00

By The Rev. Martha Frances+

Christmas Eve (Christmas Day 1)

The Nativity of our Lord

24 December 2009

Text: Luke 2: 1-14 [15-20]

Others: Psalm 96; Titus 2: 11-14; Isaiah 9: 2-7

Where were you that first Christmas, the night when the Christ Child was born into the world in that cave in Bethlehem? My question may at first sound silly & naïve since the birth we celebrate tonight happened 2 millennia ago, yet each year as we set out our own nativity sets, dress children as Mary & Joseph & the heavenly host of angels for the live nativity at Joys of Christmas, listen to the beauty of those carols which tell the whole story, & come to Midnight Mass to celebrate this love feast with our community of faith, we're called to enter imaginatively into the story which is so terribly familiar that we may let it pass us by if we don't become part of it once again. So come with me, will you, as we make the story ours here in 2009, the end of the first decade of the 21^st Century?

First I ask, how will we get to Bethlehem? In Luke, we have no star as Matthew's magi do, nor do most of us have the knowledge to travel by the stars even were we able to find "the" Christmas star this year. Mary & Joseph arrived in Bethlehem as a new family going about the business of life, in this case, registering for the census which we will do again in the U.S. next year. The shepherds, unlikely guests at the stable, to be sure, were guided by the heavenly revelation of a host of angels. Even if you recognize your guardian angel occasionally in your life, it's unlikely the host of heaven will lead you to Bethlehem as the shepherds were led. You may have been faithful in your Advent preparations this year, attending worship each of the 4 Sundays & perhaps during the week, reading daily scriptures & perhaps an Advent meditation book, & enjoying one of the many Christmas stories on TV, all of which have led you to Bethlehem in due course. Or perhaps family or circumstances or exhaustion from shopping or an unusual spiritual experience has propelled you into the pew tonight, bringing you to pay attention to this child in Bethlehem. No matter which road you took to get here, the story & the storyteller Luke invite us all to Bethlehem tonight to take part in the mystery & wonderment of God come to earth as a helpless baby to enter totally into human life as only one who has lived it can know it.

Now that we are here, let us briefly consider the scandal of the whole story. After all, it's quite a scandal that when God chose to come into the world as a baby, completely helpless, he was laid in a feed trough. Jesus didn't come in splendor or luxury in a world capital but slipped into a backwater country far from the seat of earthly power with unwed parents to care for him & no extended family readily available to counsel this teenage mother. Further, God was born on the road, for his parents were traveling on business, & their reservations at the Bethlehem Hilton weren't even honored. From the beginning, God identified with the powerless, the oppressed, the poor & the homeless. Perhaps only those humble enough to be in need could fully enter into God's way of seeing & behaving in the world. Each one of us probably feels that we try to do God's will in our lives, yet what do we hold back? What would we have to let go of to relate totally to the God who might actually be born in us anew tonight?

Finally, the Christmas story tells of the birth of a new king. Tho there are still kings & queens in the world, we Americans proud of our democratic government scoff a bit at the quaintness of a kingdom. We must enter into Jesus' world to appreciate the symbolism of Jesus' being given the throne of his forefather David. Altho Caesar Augustus was considered the bringer of peace, true peace would only be experienced through the sovereignty of this child born in Bethlehem.

For many of us, the change of governmental leadership a year ago gave us new hope that at least some of the troubles of our society & economy would turn around, & many have been disappointed that a new world order has not been accomplished since this past January. Worldly leadership is definitely important, & we should all participate in the democratic process, not only at election time but also by letting our opinions be known to officials as they go about the process of representing us, yet the new world order which Jesus embodies is that of God's design for the redemption of all peoples, not only those with whom we agree, but everyone. The hope of the shepherds, those who are outside the centers of power, even those in a little struggling parish in northwest Houston, is the hopes & dreams of all the years which are met in Jesus tonight.

Christmas is all about hope, & we do well to pay attention to those to whom Jesus' birth & ministry made a difference. Those who were notified of Jesus' birth & his importance were the seediest in society, & later, it was with the common people that he gathered, from the ranks of everyday folks he chose his disciples, & about the leveling out of the economic order so that all would receive what they needed to live lives of dignity that he preached. Jesus hung out with folks like those of us who are at Hope, & Jesus continues to call us to be faithful, putting the next foot forward in hope, accepting humbly that Jesus must be in charge of our lives & when he is so, Jesus' love & care will be enough. Listen to the stories of the Christmas carols this year. Really listen. We not only hear what happened in Bethlehem centuries ago, but we are encouraged with what Jesus can & will do in our lives today when we get out of our own way to make room for Jesus to dwell fully among us. Christmas offers great encouragement to us at Hope this & every year. Pope John Paul II put the multiple importance of Jesus' birth in perspective when he said: "To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously." Let us welcome this Jesus into our lives tonight & always.

Advent III

2009-12-15T20:45:00.001-08:00

By The Rev. Martha Frances+

Year C Advent III

13 December 2009

Text: Luke 3: 7-18

Others: Zephaniah 3:14-20; Canticle 9 (Isaiah 12:2-6); Philippians 4:4-7

"You brood of vipers!" This is the greeting our old friend John the Baptist gives to his followers who have come out into the desert for him to baptize them. I would imagine he adds insult to injury by shaking his fist a bit, don't you? He's warning his followers that they must not only go through the ritual of cleansing in baptism but that their actions (the fruits) must match the intentions they show when they have John baptize them. John goes on to say that just because they are bonified Jewish folk—children of Abraham—doesn't mean that's going to allow them to behave in unrepentant ways. John doesn't beat around the bush about people's walking the walk & not just talking the talk, does he? He calls them to behave so that the experience of their baptism makes a difference in their lives every day, not just on the Sabbath or when they are at temple or synagogue.

The crowds are rather quick on the uptake. They ask, "What then should we do?" The tax collectors also ask, "Teacher, what should we do?" Then the soldiers ask, "And we, what should we do?" At this time of year, many of us also ask, "What should we do?" It's not that we don't have enough to do, & everything we do involves traffic & crowds & hassle—right? So it's a good idea for me, & perhaps for you, to stop short & ask, "What should I do?" as we prepare for Christ's birth again this year.

Before we get too much into the specifics of the Gospel today, let's remember that it's Advent. As we begin a new liturgical year, we look inside ourselves, preparing to greet Jesus as enters the world as a human being, born like us to a human mother & father in that far-off city of Bethlehem yet also born into our community again this year as Savior & Lord.

After all, in preparing for Jesus' coming, we are out of sync with the rest of society who thinks Christmas is already here. Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving lead to piped in Christmas carols. For most folks, there's much frenetic activity crammed between Thanksgiving's gluttony & New Year's bubbly. Each year, I hear people reach Christmas Eve just wishing the whole celebration were over. How often I've seen folks spend the actual holiday moaning about whatever they've not accomplished that would make the holiday perfect instead of enjoying what is already the gift of the day because of what God has done. One of the best piece of advice I've ever been given, especially at holiday time, is to let enough be enough.

Advent encourages Christians to apply brakes to the frantic rush, to take time out to slow down to consider why all the mania. I know you've heard me say this before, but it bears repeating: Advent calls us to take time to breathe, to truly stop, look, & listen to stories of the Christ child's arrival in a manger, to prepare the way for Christ to come into our lives. We don't sing Christmas carols yet in church; our songs are those of anticipation & expectation, calling to God-with-us to come into our hearts as Christ enters the world anew.

This is Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, Latin for the Epistle today: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." Today's mood is one of urgent expectation. "Let's get on with this Advent, this Coming." The apostle Paul today tells us "the Lord is near" & encourages us not to worry, to keep on doing the things that we have learned & received, for the God of peace is coming soon. In fact, "the Lord is near" is also a reminder that we are ever in God's presence, that God holds us in the palm of the holy hand.

So we Christians ask John the Baptist, along with the crowds, the tax collectors, & the soldiers, "What should we do?" Here's old John, Jesus' cousin, a strange man born in his parents' old age, dedicated to a strict sect which doesn't shave or touch alcoholic beverages. He comes out of the desert, dressed in peculiar clothes, eating a weird diet of locusts & wild honey, calling people to prepare for the Lord's coming by repenting & being baptized.

Now repentance doesn't just mean saying you're sorry. Repentance digs much deeper than that. Repentance means changing things in your life, turning around & going a different way, one hundred eighty degrees different. Repentance means putting things right in relationship to others. John tells those who have come to be baptized that they should bear fruit worthy of repentance. John tells them their baptism should make a difference in the way they live their lives.

John tells those who come to hear him & be baptized by him that they can't depend upon the fact that they are the children of Abraham in order to be saved. Who their people are or what their ancestors could claim won't cut it. They are called upon to repent & get right with God themselves. We might say, "You mean it doesn't matter that we're Episcopalians or that our mamas took us to church all the time when we were growing up? That doesn't make us automatically the 'in' group?" Nope, John says, you have to take personal responsibility to repent, to behave differently.

And those who come to be baptized said, "What should we do?" You know what? John didn't say, "Come, live like me! Get rid of your fancy clothes & cars & eat locusts & wild honey & grow your hair long." John didn't expect everyone to use him as a model. John customized his response to each group who came to him. He seemed to know what the particular temptations were of each group who was asking. The way the tax system was set up, it was expected that the tax collectors would overcharge. John told them to charge only what their taxes were, no extra for themselves.

The soldiers also asked, "And we, what should we do?" They worked for the Romans just as the tax collectors did. Their job was to keep peace in this occupied country, & they often did so by strong-arming, pushing their weight around. I think today we would call it police brutality, & we see that behavior on TV even if we haven't experienced it directly. John tells law enforcement officers not to take money which doesn't belong to them & not to threaten people or accuse them falsely. John tells the soldiers not to flaunt their authority, not to bully people—all temptations for the soldiers.

The crowds ask, "What then should we do?" Here perhaps John is talking to us. He says to be generous & share with the poor—those who have no clothing or food. John tells them not to be greedy. John tailors his responses to the temptations of each group who asks him "What should I do?" What temptation would he recognize in you? What behavior are you called to change in order to go forth & bear fruit? What about us as a community, as Hope Church? What needs changing in order for us to bear more fruit?

Today I ask, "What should I do?" Would you like to ask John, "What should I do to prepare for the coming of the Christ child? What should I do to be ready for Christ who comes to judge the world?" John's first response to each of us is that we should repent. John says this Advent season is a time to examine our lives & see what doesn't work in them—what is unloving or what takes unfair advantage of others or what is greedy. What is your "game," your wall that keeps Christ & others out? What keeps us so occupied with "doing" that we forget that we are human "beings?"

John tells us to make room in our lives & hearts for Jesus to come in. John tells us when we repent, we will bear fruit. His advice is very radical. He tells us that we are to share our possessions generously & to turn from ourselves to concern for others. How can we be sure those others deserve our generosity? We can't always, & that's not our job. He asks US to repent & to reach out to others with love & generosity.

Our gospel tells us that the people were filled with expectation—what Advent is all about. Expectation is desire under girded by faith & prayer. And John reminds us that he comes only to help us prepare the way for our Savior. God sent John because God's desire comes first. God desires us to desire God. So God reaches out to us expectantly in the person of John.

John reminds us that he baptizes only with water but Jesus comes after to baptize with the Holy Spirit & fire. The Holy Spirit, or wind, & fire are symbols of judgment, & judgment is certainly part of this passage. He tells the people that the axe is lying at the root of trees which do not bear good fruit, & then he tells us that the Spirit's winnowing fork is at hand to separate the chaff from the wheat so that the chaff will burn away. Even if we live in the city, we can imagine the heavy grain falling to the ground & the lighter outer covering, the chaff, blowing away in the wind.

And we need to remember today that John's message is indeed good news. The message of judgment comes with the offer of repentance & forgiveness available—& we need it throughout our lives, not just once or twice. John tells us that the Messiah is coming soon, that we have the time we need to prepare our hearts for his coming. Paul has words of wisdom & hope for the Philippians but also for us as people of Hope. He calls us to be gentle, not to worry about anything, to couch our prayer & even our supplication in a spirit of thanksgiving for God wants to know what we desire. Paul tells us that we will be guarded by a peace which we can't even understand when we allow Christ to lead our lives.

As we continue our Advent journey this year, we turn once again to ask, "What should I do to bear fruit worthy of repentance?" I urge you to take time to ask Christ that question this week? "What should I do?" And then listen for a response. Hopefully, you will sense the urgency of Advent, and continue to call to the Christ child, "Come, Lord Jesus. Quickly come!"

Last Pentecost

2009-11-22T12:26:00.001-08:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Last Pentecost, Proper 29

Christ the King

22 November 2009

Text: John 18: 33-37

Other Readings: 2 Samuel 23: 1-7; Psalm 132: 1-13; Revelation 1: 4b-8

Once again today I return to the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Emperor's New Clothes" because it reveals so much of the encounter between Pilate & Jesus we just read. In this story, the emperor is a clothes horse. This king of a distant land really likes to dress for success. He can choose from several outfits each day, kept ready for his wearing by a whole team of palace servants. This emperor has a closet for every day of the week, but he's not satisfied; he likes to stimulate the economy with new additions to his wardrobe.

Along come 2 "tailors", they call themselves. They've heard of the emperor's clothes' fetish, & they have a scam they figure he'll fall for. They talk their way through the palace security system & tell the king they can fashion him a wardrobe addition that will not only be stunning, but to those who are foolish & aren't fit for their office, the clothes will be invisible. "What a deal!" figures the king. He can feed his clothes' fetish & uncover those attendants who are incompetent, all at the same time. He sets the tailors up in a corner room near his private quarters, & they go to work. None but the king's closest aides are allowed to see the progress of the wardrobe, & they don't dare reveal that, up on the large loom the tailors are using, not one of them sees a blessed stitch of cloth.

Time comes for the king to model the clothing, whereupon he'll lead a parade through the streets in his new outfit. As he dresses, even his wife is stunned to realize that she must not be fit as queen. Amazed silence greets the king as he appears on the palace steps & descends to his open-air coach, standing in it as it moves slowly through the streets lined with parade aficionados, all eager to spy the king's new threads. Well, they certainly glimpse more than they have anticipated. All fear they are unworthy until an innocent child cries out, above the clamor of horses, "Look! The emperor has no clothes on!"

Indeed, the emperor appears naked to his whole kingdom, his desire to look good & appear clever & brilliant uncovered, & his shallowness obvious to all who spy his naked self. This ruler who judged the world for its earthly values reveales, in the end, his own lack of truth.

In contrast, we turn to Jesus in his simple though seamless garment standing before Pilate in the Praetorium. Pilate, the puppet king of Judea, taunts Jesus as he asks, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answers Pilate's attempt to entrap him: "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Jesus includes 3^rd persons in the conversation for of course, others' opinions matter greatly to Pilate. Pilate is trying to find middle ground in dealing with this Jesus who seems harmless to the State yet is deemed dangerous by the pesky Jewish leaders.

Pilate continues to quiz him as if he were, indeed, a king, taunting him that it is the chief priests & the Jewish people who have accused him. Ever calm & collected, Jesus responds that he does, truly, have a kingdom but it is not of this world. Jesus doesn't mean, by the way, that his kingdom is other-worldly, but rather that, in the Kingdom of God, values other than those of this world hold sway. Jesus reminds us that no amount of clothes or position or posturing to accept accolades such as the emperor or even some present-day politicians would do can remove Jesus himself from the kingdom over which he reigns.

Pilate tries again. "So you are a king?" Jesus still does not flaunt his position as ruler but answers vaguely, turning the focus from himself to the truth. Those who listen to Jesus' voice belong to the truth, he says, & Jesus does not need to dress himself up in fancy clothes or titles to be the truth who comes from God, indeed is God enfleshed.

What a contrast between the Gospel story for Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the Christian year, & the fairy tale about a pompous but foolish emperor! That emperor thought he could show his importance by the clothing he put on his body & a magic trick to determine the ability of his staff, yet he was stripped bare & revealed as foolish & pitiful, a mere shell of a man. Jesus, the King of Kings & Lord of Lords [about whom we sang a few minutes ago], makes few claims for himself, pointing only toward the consequences of his living as God's faithful son on earth: being stripped bare & hanged on a cross, deprived of all this world considers essential for success yet exalted even as he is raised on the cross & goes to his death. We know the rest of the story, don't we? We are witnesses to his resurrection.

Jesus Christ & his kingdom still stand over against the values of this world, & sometimes we forget this very basic tenet of our faith. We declare as if we believe it that God's ways are not our ways, but then we question God in our pain upon losing a friend or relative in an untimely death or when our lives don't go our way. It's easier to blame God than to evaluate our own actions leading to the natural consequences of our irresponsible behavior. Sometimes circumstances happen which can't be blamed on our actions but rather are consequences of free will in the world. Further, we cannot, of our own accord, get ourselves out of the scrapes we get into. At those times, we must rely upon the God who died for us yet also rose. Hopefully, we learn to depend on the will of God who redeems us from all the foolishness we get ourselves into.

That's the point of our celebration today as we acknowledge Jesus as Lord of our lives. Each year, at the end of Pentecost season through which we have studied the words & work of Jesus, as we prepare for the coming of Christmas about a month from now, we pause to celebrate Jesus who shows us the Way, the Truth, & the Life. As we move into the new Christian year next Sunday, Christ the King poses important questions for each of us: What attitudes & behaviors will you have to modify or give up in order to welcome Jesus the Christ into your life anew, in order to let the Jesus who comes again at Christmastime enter your heart & mind once again & lead you to the peace which the world cannot give? Which false emperors have you been worshipping instead of the true King of kings?

In just a few moments, as I set the table for the Kingdom feast which we offer each Sunday at this altar, we will honor the power of Jesus' name & praise God for crowning Jesus the Lord of all. Yet in today's world, Christian triumphalism makes me very uneasy. If we're not careful, we give Jesus the crown yet keep the power for ourselves. As many of us tighten our belts to anticipate a more conservative holiday season, it is natural for us to try to hang onto whatever illusion of control we think we have in our lives. It's very hard for us to remember that the kingdom over which Jesus reigns has values which he has turned upside down from what is important in this world. Jesus refuses to entertain a military solution to save his own skin, &, in fact, his being raised up as king consists of his reigning from the cross, & we are called to share his cross with him.

Last week I shared a bit of the revelation which has come to me as I have bemoaned the severity of our financial crisis this year. Once again, we have a tendency to believe that our own personal & our church community's success or at least faithfulness is up to us. Although we need everyone to participate fully at Hope by giving sacrificially of time & talent as well as money, we are called to recognize that our well-being is up to God who loves us dearly & wants the very best for us. As I suggested last week, each of us has a mandate to pray frequently for the ongoing ministry of Hope & to put feet to our prayers by contributing of ourselves, returning a portion of God's gifts to God through the support of our parish. Jesus showed his disciples just hours before the Bible story we heard from the Gospel today that his way to manifest his kingliness led directly to his death. We can truly pray today that we learn to emulate Jesus in his willingness to give of himself in grateful response to God's gift of life itself.

We at Hope are at a crossroads in our mission & ministry. Now that we have been together for nearly 5 years, we must ask ourselves what our priorities are for Hope to reach out to each other & to the wider community. Who we are in the future will be determined to a large extent by the commitment you & I are willing to make to Hope Episcopal Church as we finish out this year & begin 2010. We are not alone, however. Our gospel today reminds us that God has made an everlasting covenant with us, evidence of which we see in the lessons from the 2 Samuel passage as well as from the psalms. God has cast God's lot in with us & has no alternate plan. How have you done in praying for Hope this week? Will you do so again this next week, making sure to include our church community in your Thanksgiving prayers? For starters, I'd like you to turn back to the Collect for the Day on the front page of your pew bulletin, & let us pray this prayer aloud again with special intentions for this congregation & for you & your neighbors as we move into a new year of Hope:

Almighty & everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings & Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided & enslaved by sing, may be freed & brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives & reigns with you & the Holy Spirit, one God, now & for ever. Amen.

Pentecost 24

2009-11-15T19:50:00.001-08:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 24, Proper 28

15 November 2009

Text: I Samuel 1: 4-20; Response: 1 Samuel 2: 1-10

Other Readings: Mark 13: 1-8; Hebrews 10: 11-14 [15-18] 19-25

There's probably not a collect of the day that I cherish so much as I do today's: calling us to hear, read, mark, learn, & inwardly digest the scriptures so that we may embrace & hold fast to them. If you've been around me very long, you know I consider Bible study a keystone to growing as disciples of Christ. Today once again we turn to a story from the Hebrew scripture which may be familiar to many of you. The story which begins the first book of Samuel is fascinating in itself because we glimpse much of the familial & ritual practices of Israel at a pivotal time for the Hebrew people but also because it has much to inform us here at Hope about hope for the future.

Elkanah is a faithful Hebrew man living at a time of upheaval & decline in Israel. Regularly, he makes a personal pilgrimage to Shiloh from Ramah to sacrifice at the temple. Elkanah has 2 wives, so he must be fairly well-to-do. Elkanah tries to be fair to his whole clan by dividing out the portions of the sacrifice to each wife & child, but perhaps to ease Hannah's pain at being childless, he provides her an extra share. Despite Elkanah's assurance of his love for her, Hannah is brought to tears & will not eat, for she knows that her worth as a woman is determined by her ability to bear children. Peninnah, Elkanah's other wife, taunts Hannah about her barrenness which makes the annual trips to Shiloh even more difficult for Hannah to bear.

Hannah is not a woman to sit back & complain, doing nothing constructive. After the obligatory festive meal, she enters the temple where sacrifices are made & opens herself up to God. Her pain is simply too great to bear alone, & clearly her husband does not understand the severity of her frustration & longing, so she boldly turns to God in prayer. At this time most prayer was uttered aloud, yet Hannah has no voice at present, so she prays silently though her lips are moving. Hannah wants a male child so badly that she vows to God that, if God grants her request for a son, she will return him to God, offering him as a servant at the temple, & sealing her vow by placing the hoped-for son under a Nazirite vow throughout his life—forbidding him to drink intoxicants or to cut his hair.

Eli, the priest, sits at the entrance of the temple observing her, presuming that her silent moving lips indicate that she is drunk. He reprimands her for entering the temple & praying drunk but she vindicates herself, explaining that she is deeply troubled & is laying her heart open to God. How remarkable for this woman who has been called worthless to begin to find her voice by correcting the priest, the power figure. And her protestation finds acceptance, for Eli doesn't even learn what she is asking of God before he assures Hannah that God will answer her petition.

Clearly, Eli is not the only one who hears her, for she goes on her way a transformed woman, & when she & Elkanah have sexual relations, we're told that God remembers her & she conceives & bears a son whom she calls "Samuel" which means one who has been asked for. Although the later story is not included in today's reading, you may remember that after he is weaned, Hannah indeed brings Samuel to this very same temple at Shiloh & presents him to Jhwh to be cared for & trained by Eli. Samuel grows up to be the first prophet of the Davidic dynasty, anointing both Saul & David as kings of Israel & acting as counsel to both of them.

Not only is this a powerful story of God's grace being poured out on this barren woman & through trust in God was made fruitful, not only did her son Samuel grow up to advise Israel's greatest king, but Hannah's personal story becomes a microcosm for the regeneration of Israel, the story of a people who have perpetually been the underdogs as they move from a scattered group of tribes to a unified realm led by a series of kings including David, considered the epitome of an ancient leader. Hannah's story models the larger story of Hannah's people with this Yhwh, the God who remembers a person & by extension a people & responds when asked to the heart's desire of those who trust in Yhwh.

Of course, the story of a barren woman's being granted the blessing of a male child when God hears her plea is not confined to Hannah's story, but hers becomes the backdrop for this theme of God's presence & response to women who otherwise might be considered worthless in a society which prizes male offspring. Eventually, this motif plays out with Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, & then a variation with the Mother of God's son Jesus. All the symbolism of rebirth & regeneration of those who have been neglected & considered no-count are highlighted in Hannah's story.

Our liturgical response today is the response known as Hannah's song, a prayer of thanksgiving to God who makes such reversals possible. Hannah bursts forth in praise, worshipping the God who creates & recreates, who responds when asked. Hannah's song is actually the background for the song of Mary which we call the Magnificat, that glorious affirmation of God's gift of grace to Mary & to us all as her cousin Elizabeth recognizes the child in Mary's womb to be God as Savior & Redeemer come to earth as a human so that we may become more God-like. This morning we began our worship with a hymn version of the Magnificat when we sang "Tell out my soul the greatness of the Lord." You may want to compare Hannah's celebratory prayer to the Magnificat in the Morning Prayer service in the Book of Common Prayer but also with today's opening hymn. What gifts to the church are these prayer hymns of praise to Yhwh who hears our pleas!

This wonderful story, these wonderful passages assigned as readings for us near the end of the church year are particular good news—gospel—for Hope Episcopal Church at this time in our parish life, it seems to me. Samuel's birth & the promise of a new life as a nation under the leadership of a king are all claims on a new future Yhwh makes possible as we see today. God remembers Hannah & will remember Israel, our scriptures tell us today.

And today I declare that God remembers Hope, our church community, as we go through a particularly difficult time, at least financially. In the great scheme of things, even things Episcopal in the Diocese of Texas, Hope Church doesn't stand out much, do we? We came together from 2 different congregations over 4 years ago out of need for survival, really, but also because we deliberately chose to form a multicultural parish, a sign of the kind of world we are becoming & an affirmation that we need each other in our differences as well as similarities to fulfill God's promises in this place at this time in our lives.

We have struggled with our identity & with how to respond best to God's call to us to show forth God's love in our community & beyond it. Now, at this time, we are suffering economically as much of our society is doing, having gone through many of the growing pains that other churches suffer intensified by our new search for identity & commitment. Hannah's story & the story of Israel growing into who God called it to be under King David can teach us several things.

First, it is important to express our needs before God, recognizing that Hannah couldn't do it on her own or even with her husband Elkanah. They needed the intervention & grace of God to fulfill their destiny. We at Hope need to pray diligently for our church community & for our future, letting God know our needs as a community & asking for God to fulfill them so that we may fulfill God's intention for us in the next little while. Do you pray for Hope daily? Will you commit to doing that? Will you ask God faithfully what God would have you do to strengthen Hope's witness in our neighborhood & larger world? We have asked Bob Biehl, our Diocesan treasurer, to visit with our vestry next Saturday, & we hope to glean some help from him, but in the long run, we must place our trust in God to lead us to be the congregation God wants us to be here in this place. Please join me in that daily prayer!

Secondly, & as an extension of the first point, we must be as persistent in our prayer as Hannah was in hers. Hannah's name means "woman of stubborn spirit," & she reminds me of the Syrophoenician woman who begged Jesus to heal her daughter even tho they were not Jewish. Hannah pestered God until God's attention & intention were focused on her & on Israel. Let us commit to being just as persistent in our petition to God as was Hannah. Remember, however, that Hannah's prayer was first of all a prayer of gratitude & thanksgiving for the amazing grace God had bestowed on her. God creates new possibilities of grace, & we can call on God to remember us again. Please join me in persistent petition to God for our parish which flows out of our trust in what God has already done for us at Hope as well as what God has in store for us.

Finally, just as Hannah turned the grace God gave to her around & dedicated Samuel to minister in God's name throughout his life, the proper response we have to God's gift of grace is to give it back, to be willing to give our all to God who gives so generously to us. If we hold onto our possessions, our gifts, keeping them to ourselves, we lose them, or sometimes our possessions begin to possess us. This year we are not having a regular pledge drive for we feel the good people of Hope will prayerfully consider what we have to give to God & give it faithfully, generously, recognizing that we would have nothing were it not for God's gracious generosity. However, we are not just talking about financial obligations here, as crucial as they are for our keeping the doors of Hope open & reaching out to others though our own unique congregation. Each of us needs to ask God faithfully what God would have us give of our time & talent for the mission & ministry of our parish. It is only through our willingness to be faithful in attendance at worship, to pray & work for our parish regularly, to commit our very selves to spreading God's love to others here but also beyond these doors that Hope can truly be hope for the future. Some dismissals at the end of our Eucharist state it well: "our worship is over; the service has just begun." When God's grace brings new life in our midst, we must make a conscious decision to give back to God. Hannah's story is the story of God's faithfulness to Israel as well as to her as an individual. It is also an invitation to us to pray fervently for Hope as we open our hearts to what glories God has in store for us. Please join me & your fellow parishioners in such prayer, praise, & commitment. Now is the acceptable time; now is the hour. Come, Holy Spirit!

Pentecost 23

2009-11-08T12:33:00.001-08:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 23, Proper 27

8 November 2009

Text: Ruth 3: 1-5, 4: 13-17; Mark 12: 38-44

Other Readings: Psalm 127; Hebrews 9: 24-28

This morning we encounter 3 widows, two in the story of Ruth, & the other as observed by Jesus at the door of the Jerusalem temple. Widows did not have right of inheritance, so they were dependent on family or community for their very survival. Jews were expected to provide for the least, the last, & the lost, & widows & orphans represented some of those must vulnerable in society.

We know little about the widow whom Jesus watches make her contribution to the temple except that she is a widow, which tells his listeners that she is needy. His emphasis is upon her willingness to give sacrificially to the glory of God's house & work in comparison to those in charge in society who ostentatiously garner honor & wealth & give out of their plenty. Although scribes are often mentioned along with Pharisees & other temple leaders who try to entrap Jesus with their questions, Jesus doesn't condemn all scribes. A couple of chapters back, he affirms one who rightly recognizes that love of God & love of neighbor sum up all the other Jewish laws. Here, however, he lays bare the motives of those who are all about putting themselves & their positions first.

As you know, we at Hope are dealing with a deficit in our income for 2009, & though many in our congregation are struggling with their own financial woes in this economy, others are able to return to God through giving to Hope more generously than you had intended to do. We're all called to consider faithfully how much our parish & its ministries mean to us, musing perhaps on what it would be like were Hope not here.

I'm put in mind of another widow at a former parish, a woman who is aunt to one of our parishioners here at Hope. The parish budget was already tight when a storm revealed some roof leaks which couldn't be patched adequately, so we were asked to stretch to give to a roof fund for the re-roofing. I'll never forget what she shared with me. She said, "I didn't see how I could give more of my income, but then I decided if I gave up my weekly beauty shop appointment, I could contribute that money to the roof fund." Now, perhaps only the women of the parish can fully appreciate how much a sacrifice was my friend's level of giving! This fall we've been talking about the fulfilling of covenant commitments, & it is my prayer that each of us take our Baptismal Covenant which we renewed last Sunday seriously for the ongoing health & ministry of Hope.

The other 2 widows who appear in today's readings are 2 of my favorites: Naomi & Ruth. We're probably familiar with their story, but we may not be fully aware of what makes it so compelling. When Naomi tries to send Ruth back to Moab, she is aware that a Moabite woman will be accepted in Israel about as well as an undocumented worker is in our country today. While Naomi may be flattered that Ruth wants to make her home with her mother-in-law, she also recognizes the difficulties 2 widows will have when she returns home accompanied by a foreigner. Of course, in Ruth's case, she may have had no family to go back to in Moab, so her decision to accompany Naomi may have been for survival as much as for affection. Would that this story were limited to the ancient past. However, I have had several women come to me recently with similar stories of dislocation & desperation. The unemployment figures released this week assure us that we as a faith community will be called upon to provide for widows & orphans & other vulnerable persons in our society at an even greater level in the near future.

Naomi & Ruth settle back in Israel, & Naomi is resourceful in sending Ruth into her cousin Boaz's fields to garner the leavings of the barley harvest. However, harvest time is nearly over, so Naomi comes up with a longer-term plan for her own survival as well as Ruth's. The first section we have recorded in today's reading is filled with euphemisms, sort of like the "G" version of an "R"-rated movie, but early hearers would pick up the societal & sexual innuendos of Naomi's plan. Boaz, as the well-to-do male relative, has an obligation to marry the eligible widow of his deceased kinsman, yet his attention has flagged, perhaps because Ruth is a Moabitess. Therefore, Naomi's scheme encourages him to fulfill the familial obligation to care for Ruth &, incidentally, for Naomi herself.

The women's plan is successful, & Boaz indeed marries Ruth. At this point, even Naomi's well-laid plans need some heavenly intervention, & our account tells us that God made Ruth conceive & bear a son. The women of Bethlehem act as a Greek chorus of sorts, commenting on God's action in response to the value in which male children are held in the community. Even though the baby Obed is born to Ruth, the women celebrate God's gift of an heir to Naomi, the Jewess, so the barrenness of the loss of her husband & sons has been transformed with the birth of Obed. In fact, the imagery of fullness & fecundity is emphasized in that Naomi becomes his wet-nurse. Ruth drops out of the picture, & it is the townswomen who name him Obed. Clearly, part of the importance of this story is that Obed becomes the father of Jesse who becomes the father of David, the greatest King of Israel & an ancestor of Jesus. Ruth therefore joins Tamar & Rahab as the women—all of questionable reputation—who are mentioned in Jesus' genealogy.

Scholars differ on the time of this story, but most presume it was told in the time of Ezra & Nehemiah, at least partly as a corrective to the super-nationalism which led to their forbidding mixed marriages, marriages between Israelites & pagan citizens of neighboring areas. In fact, Ezra & Nehemiah wanted to cast such foreigners out of the covenant community. It seems, however, that foreigners who join themselves to God's interaction with humanity are an essential part of God's plan for Israel's redemption.

When former Presiding Bishop Edmund Browning was consecrated, he declared that, in the Episcopal Church, there would be no outcasts. Whether in the spiritual or political realm, God's acceptance of people is much broader than many people those in charge in a society are often comfortable with. As the rhetoric builds surrounding the religion & ethnicity of the psychiatrist who shot so many people in the massacre at Ft. Hood heats up, may we be voices of reason & tolerance in not vilifying all Muslims for what this one man has done. The horrors of last week's mass murder in Ft. Hood as well as the shooting spree in Orlando, Florida, have stunned all of us, & all involved need our prayers & support. May we stand firm in recognition of God's love for all & not let these tragedies further splinter our society.

Our readings today show us God's blessings upon 3 widows who contribute to the good of the larger community & who help us visualize God's gifts showered upon us, God's often doing for us more than we can ask or imagine. Please join me in praying for Hope parish that we continue to find ways to return to God & God's work in the world resources necessary to fulfill our commitment to share God's Good News with all we encounter.

All Saints

2009-11-03T13:57:00.001-08:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, All Saints' Day

1 November 2009

Text: John 11: 32-44

Other Readings: Wisdom of Solomon 3: 1-9; Psalm 24; Revelation 21: 1-6a

We have the privilege this year of celebrating All Saints' on the actual feast day, the 1^st of Nov., in addition to the joy of baptizing several young ones, publicly welcoming them into the household of faith with the same initiation rite Jesus underwent as he began his ministry. One of his final instructions to his disciples was for them to go out into the world & baptize in his name. On All Saints' Day, new saints are initiated into the Church universal by baptism. Did you know that a saint's day is determined by their death day, if we know it, for at their death they are baptized into the nearer presence of God?

All Saints' Day is not the time we remember those saints who don't get a day of their own in the church calendar but rather a recognition that many faithful people have gone before us, both famous ones & also those who are known only to those around them—families & friends—but whose faith was a witness to others in their lives. Asked to name the biggest spiritual influence in their lives, it is remarkable how many people mention a grandparent who began his or her day in a rocking chair, Bible in hand, giving both day & concerns over to God's care. Who might that person have been in your life? Perhaps you are that person for someone close to you. Saints aren't only those well-known folks who show up in stained glass windows but are also those otherwise anonymous persons through whose life others can glimpse God's work.

Our children will lead us to the baptismal font today representing one of those more famous saints, some of whom are mentioned in the hymn we'll sing, "I sing a song of the saints of God." Saintly characteristics the song mentions are patience, bravery, truth, & a love of God whose love for them gave them the strength to toil & fight & live & die in Jesus' name. They did not rely on their own abilities but upon God's guidance & fortitude to live lives worthy of sainthood. The third verse is quaint but essential, for it reminds us that saints are not just folks who lived in the past but are still among us, that we can meet them just about anywhere, & that we, too, can aspire to be saints. I pray this song always reminds us that we Christians are in the process of putting on sainthood as we live lives of integrity &, thank God, joy!

God is the primary actor in the drama which we enact at the font today. We are "God with skin on" as we baptize & name & anoint each of these children, marking them as Christ's own for ever, as the baptismal rite says. Parents & godparents & other family members promise to be the primary teachers in rearing their children as God-lovers, but we in the larger community vow to be the second line of support, forming a fellowship in which it is safe for them to try out who it is Christ is calling them to be, practicing their Christian vocation to which we're all called. Notice that we're all called to renew the Baptismal Covenant, the sacred promises to continue to grow in belief & to pass those beliefs on to others, especially the youth in our community.

The covenant begins with our joint recognition of the Apostles' Creed which includes our belief in the holy catholic or universal Church & in the communion of saints. Then we make five promises with the phrase "I will, with God's help." We agree to continue to worship & fellowship & study & pray with one another, & that vow is a description of how the early church grew. We recognize that all of us sin & fall short of the glory of God, & even our most revered saints were rascals who did vile things at times, so we promise that when we fall into sin, we will repent & return to God. Sometimes we need each other even to recognize the sin, much less to have the courage to admit it, ask for forgiveness, & continue in the process toward sainthood. In fact, our third vow is to show by the way we live our lives as well as by what we say the Good News Christ brought us. One of our best- known & loved saints, St. Francis, instructed us to "Preach the Gospel at all times; when necessary, use words."

The last two promises are those which perhaps separate the saints from the riff-raff, so to speak, for we promise to actually seek out those we can serve, recognizing that Christ is in them as well as in ourselves. They are our neighbors, & whether we like them or not, we are to love them, to treat them as if we were welcoming Christ into our midst. Another early saint, St. Augustine of Hippo, tells us that each of us has a God-shaped space in our hearts & that our souls are restless until we find God. When such love seems impossible, we can recall that we have responded to these vows with, "I will, with God's help." I have to tell you that sometimes I just have to get the me out of the way & let God love that annoying other person. Perhaps I am the annoying person to someone else.

Finally, we are called to pray & work for justice & peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being. Now I know that some people don't behave in a dignified way, & sometimes it's difficult to respect them when they don't appear to respect themselves. However, this is Christ's call to us, & once again, we don't get to pick & choose which of these vows are comfortable or convenient. We must, with God's help. This vow is often lived out in the public arena: caring for others by contributing to causes we believe in, volunteering with organizations we support, making meaningful financial commitments to our faith community & fulfilling them, voting for those candidates who will hold the public good as more important than their own partisan well-being, & holding elected & appointed officials accountable for the decisions they make for the whole constituency. If you have not already voted, you are vowing in a few minutes to do so thoughtfully, prayerfully, & knowledgeably.

Our Baptismal Covenant is the bedrock of how we live & grow lifelong as Christians but also how we bring up our young ones in the Christian faith. These children are our children, & we celebrate the privilege of forming their primary faith community. Alleluia!

Pentecost 21

2009-10-26T12:02:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 21, Proper 25

25 October 2009

Text: Mark 10: 46-52

Other Readings: Job 42: 1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34: 1-8 (19-22); Hebrews 7: 23-28

Jesus asked the blind beggar Bartimaeus, "What do you want me to do for you?" Last week, Jesus used the same words as he asked James & John, "What do you want me to do for you? In today's Gospel, Jesus encounters a blind man, & we would think he would know what Bartimaeus needs from him, yet he doesn't presume. He asks. Jesus acknowledges Bartimaeus' dignity as an adult human being to speak for himself.

Many of you know my opera buddy Ronnie who is also blind. We've been going to the opera together for many years. He travels across town alone by bus to the VA Hospital where he has worked ever since college. He has visited Brazil & skied in Colorado. He once found my car in the Astrodome parking lot when I was hopelessly lost—he has a memory like a steel trap. Yet when we go to dinner, the server invariably asks me what Ronnie wants to eat. How should I know? Ronnie is quite capable of ordering his own dinner.

Jesus respects our capability by entering our lives like a gentleman—by invitation, asking to be received. In this encounter, he sees Bartimaeus as a man with a disability & doesn't dismiss him as the disability. This morning, at the end of October 2009, Jesus is asking you & me, "What do you want me to do for you?" What is your answer today to Jesus' question?

This healing story is Mark's last story before he begins relating Jesus' passion. Indeed, Jesus & his disciples are already on their way to Jerusalem. "On his way to Jerusalem" is Mark's shorthand for Jesus' journey to death on a cross. Jesus is well-known by now, having preached & taught & performed miracles for 3 years. He has collected quite a following—not only his disciples but also a large crowd. He's popular, & he's busy.

When Bartimaeus cries out to Jesus, the crowd tries to silence him—Jesus is far too important for this no-count beggar. But Bartimaeus is persistent: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, can see what the other followers are too blind to see: he calls Jesus "Son of David." Not even the disciples have eyes to see that Jesus is Messiah. Last week James & John thought they would have special positions in Jesus' kingdom. They were also too blind to see what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah.

Bartimaeus doesn't ask for a special position. He only asks that Jesus have mercy, have compassion on him. He trusts that Jesus has the power to heal him. Bartimaeus knows that he has nothing to bring to Jesus except his brokenness, his blindness. He calls out, & Jesus stands still & calls the blind man to him. Bartimaeus throws off the cloak which has protected him & springs forward to Jesus for healing.

Remember other stories of Jesus' calling of the disciples? This is not just a healing story but also another call story. Jesus stops in his tracks & says, "Call him here." The crowd then rushes to cooperate with Jesus. "Hurry up, Bartimaeus; don't keep the master waiting!" He jumps up, throws off his cloak, & hurries to Jesus. Bartimaeus throws off that which holds him back—his cloak which is also his protection, because he trusts Jesus.

We here in the church sometimes assume that others know what we want or need. I sometimes find out after-the-fact that a parishioner has been in the hospital. I count it a privilege to be able to pray with someone before surgery or when a person is hospitalized. Further, my presence at the time of someone's death or soon after allows me to accompany the family through the confusing hours & days afterward. None of us wants to be beholden or a bother, yet our acceptance of help is often a gift to the other person.

Several weeks ago, we heard about the rich young man who said he wanted eternal life, but when Jesus told him to get rid of what held him back, he went away sorrowful. The rich young man couldn't let go of his cloak—his protection, his wealth—could he?

Bartimaeus, on the other hand, comes to Jesus eagerly & answers, "Let me see again." Bartimaeus doesn't hesitate. He knows that Jesus can heal him. Bartimaeus can already see better than many who are not blind. Jesus declares that Bartimaeus' own faith has healed him. He regains his sight "immediately." Do you hear the urgency in this story? When he can see again, what does he do? He doesn't hesitate to follow Jesus, "on the way." "The Way" was the first name given to the Christian movement after Jesus' death, long before his followers were called Christians.

Where are you in this story? Perhaps Jesus is asking you this morning, "What do you want me to do for you today?" No matter how long you have followed Jesus "on the way," this journey with Jesus requires repetitive letting go as we continue to respond to Jesus' call to discipleship. Bartimaeus apparently became a disciple known to Mark's church. His life changed radically as a result of Jesus' healing him; of that we can be sure.

But there are many reasons why Bartimaeus might have been hesitant for Jesus' healing to change his life so radically. First, a seeing man was expected to earn his own way, to take on responsibilities not expected of a blind man. Because of his keen insight, he likely became a leader in the Christian community. It was dangerous to be a designated leader of Jesus' followers. Tradition says all of Jesus' 12 closest disciples save John the beloved were martyred for their faith. How many more died violently on "the way" they had chosen with Jesus? We don't know if Bartimaeus was also a martyr, but his life as a disciple was radically different & surely more dangerous.

What cloak of protection do you still wear in your journey with Jesus? I like the image of shedding a cape because most of us have layers of protection we have to shed one at a time. What have you been too blind to see thus far in your life? Are you too comfortable in your blindness to reach out for healing for Jesus to open your eyes to areas you haven't had faith to follow him? No one can answer that question for you, but a hint might be whatever it is that comes to your mind but you try to dismiss quickly. May you mull over the question this week.

Remember, the question is not what we can do on our own; the question is what we want Jesus to do for us. How are we willing for Jesus to strengthen us & prepare us for service? Our question applies corporately to Hope Episcopal also. Where has our parish been blind, been too entrenched in the way church has always been to be willing to do some things in new ways? There's a saying that doing the same things over & over again & expecting different results is a good working definition for insanity.

Our vestry has chosen to embark on a whole new approach to stewardship this year. We are fully aware that the economic situation for many people is frightening & is requiring us to make difficult choices. The old system of asking for pledges & then measuring your giving against your stated intentions has created frustration & guilt for some people & has not provided us with a true guide for church budget planning. This year we are following the baptismal promise to respect the dignity of every human being & are asking that you prayerfully consider the very best you & God can determine as what you can thankfully return to God in 2010. Your commitment will be a covenant between you & God, & we will provide a sealable envelope for you to lay on the altar in our covenant box on Covenant Sunday with your promise which God alone will see. Like Jesus' respect of Bartimaeus, we believe that you are a whole person, more than your economic situation, & you & God will determine how you can support Hope this next year in our fulfillment of our mission to each other & to the larger community in 2010. Our financial situation has never been so strained, yet we believe that God will guide us all to give out of a spirit of thanksgiving & it will be enough. What can each of us give is the question & is much broader than how much we can give.

Jesus doesn't expect us to operate alone. Jesus doesn't say, "What do you want to do?" Jesus asks, "What do you want me to do for you?" May the people of Hope respond ever more joyfully & faithfully to Jesus' overture.

Pentecost 19

2009-10-21T21:09:00.001-07:00

By the Rev. Martha Frances+

Year B, Pentecost 19, Proper 24

18 October 2009

Text: Mark 10: 35-45

Others: Job 38: 1-7, (34-41); Psalm 104: 1-9, 25, 37c; Hebrews 5: 1-10

James & John are two of Jesus' closest disciples. They & Simon Peter make up the trio whom Jesus takes with him up the mountain to view the Transfiguration & to the Garden to pray after the Last Supper. So James & John are used to being the chosen ones of the disciples. Is it any surprise that they ask Jesus—as they realize things are changing in Jesus' life & their own—to reserve a place for them at the banquet table? He's continually described the reign of God as a banquet, & James & John figure they might as well get the best seats for eternity.

The other 10 disciples are really ticked at James & John, probably because James & John have beaten them to the draw. Why didn't they think to ask for places of honor first? Further, would we behave any differently? We don't trust change any more than the disciples did. When we're nervous about things changing, we try to carve out our own niche in the new order.

Jesus shows patience with these closest disciples, these brothers who come to him like children. Reminds me of my boys. "Do me a favor! Do me a favor! Huh, will ya? Huh, huh?" they would plead to me, all-powerful person in their eyes. I would have said, "Yeah, right! You've got to be kidding!" I could already see an unreasonable request coming. When they were little, it was, "Tell Ken he can't ride the bicycle; it's mine for today." Or, when they were older, "Michael can't use the car tonight; I have a date. I have to have the car. It's important!" Jesus asks James & John, "What is it you want me to do for you?" And their request is just as childish. They want to sit at his right & left hand when he becomes king.

Here they are, walking along on the road to Jerusalem on which we've been accompanying them the past few weeks. Jesus has just predicted his death for the 3^rd time; he knows death awaits him in Jerusalem. He's given them every opportunity to see he is not to conquer the city militarily but rather to be put to death. Some of the disciples think finally Jesus is going to quit just teaching & healing & stuff, shift into action, & establish his reign on earth. And they want to have the places of honor.

It's easy for us to make fun of James & John, to laugh or cry at how little they understand what Jesus' victory is all about. But then, we know the rest of the story. We look back at this scene through the lens of the crucifixion & resurrection. We know that Jesus did go to Jerusalem, that Jesus did rise after his crucifixion to reign in glory. We know that James & John actually fled when Jesus was captured, & their faithfulness was certainly in question during those horrible days of Jesus' passion. But we also know that James & John became pillars of the early church, James martyred early in the Christian era, & John living to a ripe old age & establishing one of the earliest Christian communities.

However, neither James nor John nor any of the disciples knew then what we know now. And Mark again points out that the disciples just don't get it. They don't have a clue what Jesus is telling them about the cost of discipleship. It's easy to make fun of James & John & their childish request. But I have to confess that I might not have behaved any better. At times like when Bill was becoming weaker, it was tempting to try to bargain with God for Bill not to have to suffer as much. Have you ever been similarly tempted?

Jesus tells James & John that they don't know what they're asking. Jesus asks if they're able to drink the cup & be baptized in the baptism that he's going through. Here Jesus uses the language of the primary sacraments of the Church—baptism & communion—to express the price which the disciples must pay to sit at his right & left hand.

Remember, we enter the Christian community through baptism. In Mark's Gospel, it is clear that Jesus' disciples must sacrifice for their faith just as Jesus did, & Jesus warns James & John they might have to give their lives. Baptism means laying our lives on the line for Christ, one aspect of the baptisms we will celebrate week after next on All Saints' Day. New life in Christ grows out of the symbolic death at the baptismal font, & we participate in that death & rebirth each time we join others in renewing our baptismal covenant.

Jesus also reminds James & John that their commitment to him is strengthened & sustained by drinking of his blood in what we call the sacrament of communion, or the Holy Eucharist. We celebrate the sacrament of the Lord's Supper as a family of faith at almost every service in the Episcopal Church. We are invited to the table to receive Christ's body & blood so that we may grow in our discipleship. Each of us is welcome at this Holy Table to receive the food Jesus gives us for our journey as disciples. And, as in all celebratory meals, we join our community for we are not Christians by ourselves.

Jesus continues to teach his disciples about their calling as his ambassadors to the world as they walk toward Jerusalem. He reminds them that his brand of leadership is very different from the rulers they know; Jesus' way is counter-cultural. Jesus tells them whoever wants to be great must be a servant & whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all. Mark doesn't tell us how the disciples reacted to Jesus' announcement. I can imagine, though. I can hear ole Peter say, "Wait a minute. I left my job as a fisherman to do what? To be a servant? You've gotta be kidding! I don't even ask directions!" Perhaps we don't hear the disciples' response because they are speechless. They simply can't believe that Jesus' idea of leadership is so different from theirs. James & John are the sons of Zebedee, the boat owner; they are the boss's sons, by golly! This servant stuff doesn't sound so great after all.

How many of you grew up looking forward to being a servant when you were an adult? Not on my top ten list of ways to spend my adulthood, I'll tell you for sure! Darn it; Jesus' standards are just plain different from the values of the rest of the world. Yet Jesus' actions throughout his ministry modeled his commitment to serving others, culminating his washing the disciples' feet the night before he was crucified.

When Myrna & I serve on Kairos Prison Ministry teams, we prepare for several months & then spend a long weekend in service to the women in white who are doing time in medium or maximum security units. As we work as a team, having developed a community over several team meetings, God's love pours from us to them. Then, I'm always moved by the fact that, once their weekend is over, they want to come back 6 months later to join the free-world team to act as servants for the next group of people who attend Kairos. One group of inmates serves another in a prison where no one does anything for anyone without an ulterior motive! It's pretty amazing what our awesome God can do to the hearts of even the most callous person through someone's being a servant to them.

God's power for love never ceases to amaze me. Many of you remember our late Suffragan Bishop, Leo Alard. Bp. Leo told of his first experience serving on a Kairos team in Florida before he came to Texas. The first day of the weekend, as the team & the inmates introduced themselves to each other, he realized that the man at his right hand at their table family was Ted Bundy, a rather famous murderer. Leo's difficulty was not Mr. Bundy's fame but rather that one of the women he had murdered was in the youth group in Leo's own church. He had watched her grow up, suffered through her death with her parents, & officiated at her funeral. Now he was seated next to her killer, & part of his job for the weekend was to help this killer accept God's love & forgiveness. Bp. Leo at first thought he would ask to be moved to another table, but that night he prayed about this situation. The message he received was that God loved Mr. Bundy & that Leo was to let God's love be enough. Leo chose to let God's love flow through him that weekend, & both he & Mr. Bundy learned the boundlessness of God's healing love on that Kairos weekend. God's ways are definitely not our ways, are they?

Jesus completed this teaching by saying "the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, & to give his life a ransom for many." "Ransom" is only used here in the New Testament. "Ransom" is money paid to redeem a slave or a captured relative or to reclaim a firstborn who has been given in service to God. Jesus predicts his own behavior when he explains that we will be free because he buys our redemption with his own life. If someone is redeemed, that means that person is freed from bondage. How many of you received Green Stamps with groceries or gas, licked them & put them in redemption books &, when we had enough, took them to a redemption center to trade for items we wanted. Jesus says he is trading himself in exchange for our freedom. Do we have to earn Jesus' love so he will pay the ransom? No, Jesus' love is a gift; it's already been given for us; we don't have to do anything to earn that love.

Jesus does tell us, however, what we need to do if we want to be disciples. Jesus says we need to find ways to be servants.

As we consider what financial offering we can make to God through the ministry at Hope to help Hope fulfill our financial obligations through the rest of 2009 as well as what we will commit to for 2010, I urge you to look for opportunities to offer your time & talent to our church community so that you may strengthen your own discipleship. Need some ideas? Please see me or a member of the vestry. Perhaps you will be willing to serve on the vestry for next year. Or periodically provide coffee hour refreshments after the 10:30 service. Perhaps you will volunteer to chaperone a youth activity & actually give their parents a break.

All of us get chances to be servants in our daily lives. Sometimes we ignore those chances & hope they go away. Perhaps this week you'll open yourself & respond to Christ's gift of love & freedom by choosing to behave as a servant. As we travel toward Jerusalem with Jesus & his disciples, we can choose to practice being disciples. What will we get out of it? We've already received it; we've received Christ's love. All we give, we give in gratitude for what Christ has already given us. Thanks be to God for that undeserved love.

Pentecost 19

2009-10-16T22:37:00.001-07:00

By the Rev. Martha Frances+

Year B, Pentecost 19, Proper 23

11 October 2009

Text: Mark 10: 17-31

Other Readings: Job 23: 1-9, 16-17; Psalm 22: 1-15; Hebrews 4: 12-16

Jesus & his disciples are headed toward Jerusalem, which means Jesus is heading toward the cross. Jesus knows it & has predicted his death twice to his disciples. We also know they don't "get it" yet. They're still in denial.

As they walk along, a man approaches them, & they can tell he is wealthy by the Armani suit, polished shoes, the briefcase, the strut of self-assurance; this man has it made. He IS somebody. He respects Jesus as an important rabbi, calling him "good teacher." Jesus doesn't fall for the flattery; he reminds this man only God deserves to be called "good."

The rich man asks Jesus a question most of us have wondered at times: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" I guess it's typical for this rich man to think in terms of an inheritance; perhaps that's how he got his money. At any rate, don't we all want to know how we can get to heaven? What's the key to the Kingdom, we might say? How good do I have to be to get saved? What's it gonna cost me?

Jesus answers him first out of his own faith tradition. He's a Jew, so Jesus lists some of the 10 Commandments—the ones that apply to relationships within the community. The rich man assures Jesus he's lived his whole life according to these laws. No problem there, he says. I've aced the 10 big ones!

I might be exasperated with the young man by now, but Jesus is patient. In fact, Mark says Jesus looks on him & loves him. Jesus is fond of this young man. Only here in all the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, & Luke are we told Jesus loves an individual human being. This "love" isn't the mushy kind of emotional love we might expect but rather "agape" which is Greek for loving concern for another person without regard for that person's merits or worthiness. Jesus loves him—& us—whether or not he or we deserve it. Jesus wants a relationship with this young man & invites him into relationship. Jesus offers a call to this rich man just as he has called other disciples. Further, this is the only time recorded in the gospels where the personal call of Jesus is rejected.

What are the verbs Jesus uses in his response to the young man. Jesus issues 5 commands to the rich man in one sentence: go, sell, give, come, & follow. The rich man doesn't have to do anything to earn Jesus' love; he already has that. Jesus already loves each of us, no matter what we've done or not done. Jesus wants relationship with us & invites us to discipleship yet leaves us free to respond. Jesus tells this rich man that, in order to respond fully to the invitation to discipleship, he has to make some choices in his life. That's where the 5 action verbs come in.

First, Jesus tells the young man to go & sell. The young man must get free of his possessions—not just some of them but all of them—whatever he owns. For this man, eternal life—which he's asking Jesus for—is just one more possession, & he figures he can buy it just like he's bought things he wanted all his life. In fact, because we see that the rich man goes away shocked & grieving, we know that he doesn't just possess his possessions; his possessions own HIM.

This reminds me of how dependent I've become on my computer. It wouldn't print my sermon last night, & furthermore, some of the icons for italics & bold print & such disappeared, so I got really crazy about it. I finally had to e-mail a copy to the church computer, & I forgot several things I had intended to say. It was as if I couldn't do my job without the computer. How crazy! I've spent most of my adult life doing just fine without a computer, but I have to have mine working now.

What possessions do you have which own you, which run at least part of your life? About a year ago, after Hurricane Ike, many folks had to function for an extended time without air conditioning or lights or the ability to cook meals. But even those inconveniences were nothing like those in Galveston who lost their houses & offices & schools. However, your loss might not even be a physical possession. It might be an image you have of yourself which you can't let go of. You simply can't believe that you've lost your job. Or physical ailments hamper your ability to do things you took for granted in the past. Possessions aren't always things we hold in our hands. What possesses you?

Jesus' second order to the rich man is to give the money to the poor. The disciples are astounded that Jesus asks the young man to relinquish his wealth since it was a common assumption that riches were indication of God's favor. Do we also sometimes believe that those who have ample resources are more loved by God? Not so. We are equally precious in God's eyes.

Jesus tells the young man to give whatever it is that's standing between him & discipleship to someone who needs it worse than he. Does this mean that we ought to become impoverished in order to follow Jesus? For most of us, Jesus would call us to evaluate sincerely where we can be more frugal in our lifestyle in order to share more of our resources with those who have little. Jesus is helping us see we always have something to give & there's always someone who needs it worse than we do.

As the long, hot summer reminded us, we all have responsibility to care for our earth, & "going green" is no longer an option for those who are tree-huggers; it's a necessity for all who want our children & grandchildren to have a fruitful, healthy environment. Each of us needs to participate in being a good steward of our resources, giving back a generous portion to God. Participating in the ongoing stewardship of Hope so we can meet our obligations through 2009 is one way we can give as Jesus challenged the young man to do. For the rich man, he needed to give sacrificially. Otherwise, he wasn't really opening himself up to God's being first in his life. Are you & I doing so?

The last two commands Jesus gives to the rich man are come and follow me. Remember, this is a "call" story. Jesus wants relationship with the rich man, & to have that relationship, the man has to lay aside that which has been his god & get off his duff & become a follower, a disciple. He's got to act. He can't sit around & give 1000 excuses why he can't go. Neither can we!

Mark's gospel emphasizes that Jesus expects his disciples to renounce the old life & get on with life in the Christian community. When a person is baptized in the Episcopal Church, we are asked to renounce 3 things: (1)Satan & all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God, (2)the evil powers of this world which corrupt & destroy the creatures of God, & (3)all sinful desires that draw us from the love of God. On All Saints' Day, the first of November, we'll have several children presented for baptism, & we will all renew our baptismal vows. Please plan to be here to affirm once again the covenant of baptism & to support these children we agree to help their parents to rear in the Christian faith & community.

The next question is "Do you turn to Jesus Christ & accept him as your Savior?" Throughout our lives, we must recommit to this turning around, this change of direction & orientation of life, which Jesus asks of the rich man. Can you answer "I do," & show it in your subsequent actions?

We must regularly evaluate our own lives & make these questions personal. What in your life is the Satan, the spiritual forces of wickedness which keeps you captive? What spirit of rebellion have you not yet let go of? What evil powers in this world corrupt & destroy you? What sinful desires draw you from the love of God? This covenant is found on pages 304 & 305 of the Book of Common Prayer.

Jesus is telling this man—& later tells his disciples—that entrance into the Kingdom of God demands our best obedience, yet the best we ourselves can do is not enough to achieve the abundant life we seek. No, we can't earn it; we can't DO anything. It's not any more possible than it is possible for a camel to go through a needle's eye. Don't believe the folks who tell you Jesus' comparison here is about a camel having to unburden himself to go through a small door in the wall in Jerusalem. That makes a nice story, but there's not one shred of evidence that such a door existed in Jesus' time. The whole point is that it is really impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Frederick Buechner updates the image: "for a rich man to get to Heaven is about as easy as for a Cadillac to get through a revolving door." It's impossible for us to work hard enough to earn our place in God's Kingdom either. This isn't about our earning anything. It's about God's gift to us. As Jesus says, "for with God all things are possible."

Then what's all this about renouncing the old life & being open to the new? Isn't it to earn eternal life? Nope. It's not about being worthy of anything. It's about responding to the grace & mercy God has already offered us by letting go of whatever gets in the way of our receiving that agape love Jesus holds out to us. The real tragedy of this story is that the rich man goes away shocked & grieving, unable to accept the gift of love which Jesus offers in God's name. It's right there. Jesus holds it out to him. If this were a movie, we'd all be cheering at this point like the folks do to encourage the kid running for home plate at a Little League game. But the rich man can't let loose of those possessions in order to accept the life abundant that Jesus offers. How incredibly sad!

Jesus' disciples ask in exasperation, "Then who can be saved?" And Jesus says, "All of you. Anyone willing to let go of those things that keep him or her burdened down & unable to come & follow me. Come on. You can do it! All of you can do it! The offer stands, & I've already made the sacrifice. Come join the community & we can travel together."

Jesus is still saying, "Come; follow me!" We don't have a separate altar call in the Episcopal Church. But we're all called to come forward to share in the community meal of Eucharist. Then we're invited to participate fully in the joys & responsibilities of the Christian community, continuing in worship, study, fellowship, & spreading the good news of Christ to all we encounter. None of us needs to go away sorrowful like the rich young man. We can pray for the courage to let go & let God lead us to more abundant life, right here & now.

Pentecost 18

2009-10-07T12:25:00.001-07:00

By The Rev. Martha Frances+

Year B, Pentecost 18, Proper 22

4 October 2009

Text: Mark 10: 2-16

Other Readings: Job 1: 1; 2: 1-10; Psalm 26; Hebrews 1: 1-4; 2: 5-12

Jesus said, ". . . from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male & female'. . . .'For this reason, a man shall leave his father & mother & be joined to his wife, & the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." The Pharisees had come to test Jesus with a question about divorce, but Jesus reframed the conversation & introduced God's purpose in creation. God intended for humans to be in relationship with one another including partnerships so close that a husband & wife become as one.

Jesus is pretty clear that God's intention is that couples be in such a close relationship that divorce is unthinkable. When Jesus is asked about the limit of the law about divorce, he responds not about what people are allowed to get away with but how God intended us to live together in harmony & equality.

Some of you may be in such a union with your first spouse, & your marriage mirrors God's intention as Jesus describes it. Or you & your spouse may be working on making a marriage more effective & more loving, more a gift from God. If so, that is wonderful, & we in the church promise to affirm that relationship & uphold it every way we can. Do you remember that promise we make at every wedding: "Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?" That's a sacred vow we in the Christian community make for couples in our midst. One reason I liked both the books we read in groups this year, The Shack and same kind of different As Me, is that neither marriage was perfect, but both couples chose to stay in them & work on them so they would more closely resemble God's intention in marriage.

However, as I look around this congregation today, I'm aware that many of us have not found ourselves in such a fruitful lifelong marriage. Some of you will probably relate to my own experience. When I have heard Jesus' saying regarding divorce, I cringe, reminded that I wasn't able to make one marriage work, no matter how hard I tried.

Many years ago, I remarried too soon after having been widowed. I was alone & pregnant, fearful of how my baby & I would manage by ourselves. A charming young man reappeared, someone whom my first husband & I had known. He made me feel young, loved & played with my son, & promised to share life with us. What a deal! Fast forward 3 years, our 2^nd son just 11 months old, when that same young man came to me, saying he wanted a divorce. By then, we were ½ way round the world in Munich, Germany, & even our return to this country to try to put the marriage back together didn't work. Determined he wanted a divorce, he took off cross country before the decree was final.

Perhaps my story sounds familiar to some of you? I was devastated, my parents were torn up since this was the first divorce in our family, & so began several years of my boys growing up with a single working mother who barely made enough money to keep the boys in day care. Life was pretty bleak in those days, & passages like today's scripture made me feel defeated & guilty that we hadn't made our marriage work. I was furious at my husband who obviously had caused this terrible thing to happen, & I'll have to tell you it was years & many AlAnon & AA meetings later before I could forgive myself or him & accept God's forgiveness for this divorce.

Notice that today's Gospel states clearly the Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. They weren't nearly as interested in the divorce issue as they were in seeing Jesus trip himself up. After all, this incident occurred soon after John the Baptist lost his head for criticizing Herod's marriage to Herodias, his brother's ex-wife. The Pharisees wanted Jesus to state under what conditions a man could divorce his wife. Remember that Jewish women had no right to divorce, so from the get-go, the law was unequal to women. A man could divorce his wife for her serving him a meal which displeased him. Even today there are those wanting to test how close to the line they can come without breaking a law.

Jesus will not waste time on such questioning. He immediately tries to help people focus on God's purpose for marriage so that their lives might be fuller & richer. Jesus returns to God's intentions in Genesis when God gave man the privilege to name the animals & eventually made woman to be an equal partner to man. Since none of the other creatures could fulfill this role, woman was created. They were to cling to each other & make a life together for themselves & their children.

When I was single, I was trying hard to produce food on the table for 2 hungry, growing boys. Furthermore, my boys weren't paragons of virtue politely sitting around our table. They were more like mortal enemies as they pitched cereal bowls at each other. I would scream at them to hurry up & get dressed & eat their breakfast so I could get them to school before going to work myself. Chicken pox & lunch boxes, studying for graduate school while boys wanted to go to the park or for a swim! Those years were a challenge, & I soon learned why God intended for each kid to have 2 parents.

Then I remarried, this time to Bill whom most of you remember. He had 2 boys of his own. We bought a big International Harvester Scout, so now the boys fought over who got to sit by the windows, & now the 4 vying for attention were saying, "You can't tell me what to do. You're not my real father! Or mother!" On holidays, one or both of us drove 55 miles to pick up or return kids who only got ½ the day with each parent.

Now, don't get me wrong. There were many glorious times, too. I'm only mentioning some of the more chaotic moments of single motherhood & life in a blended family. But they serve to remind us of why God intended us to live in families with 2 parents encouraging each other & rearing the kids together. We all know that the beauty of God's creation of man & woman has been marred by human short-comings ever since.

Jesus states the God-given intention for God's creatures, & our learning to live together in harmony goes far beyond what the law does or does not allow. Jesus calls us to reach for the ideal in committed relationships where each one of the couple & also the children have the opportunity to grow into the self-reliant, productive people God created them for.

We all know, however, that we fall short of being God's own images & stewards of creation. Many marriages fall apart, & children & adults alike have to live through the dysfunction. In addition, some people don't learn from their first mistakes & repeat them with new partners until the circle of hurt & betrayal broadens. Is this the life which God intended for us? Is this the healthiest way to rear children in the world? None of us would prefer some of the distortions of God's creation we sometimes find ourselves in yet don't know how to get out of the chaos.

Jesus says, "Come to me all who are heavy-burdened, & I will give you rest." Mark says Jesus began his ministry by inviting us to repent & believe the good news! In the recovery program of Alcoholics Anonymous, we learn that, no matter what a mess our lives have become, & for whatever reason, we can turn our will & our lives over to the care of a loving God who can then guide us to healthier living. We work the 12 steps in the presence of a supportive, non-judgmental community, opening ourselves to God's healing & love. Here at Hope, the very structure of our worship walks us through the steps to new life if we just let it. We're able to experience Eucharist on Sundays & now again most Wednesdays, helping us come closer to the ideal Jesus calls us to & created us for.

Our worship & fellowship in community can help our lives become more Christ-centered all the time. Yesterday's BBQ & Blessing of the Animals is a wonderful example of how we can grow in community & reach out to others in our neighborhood. The hard work of many hands & hearts allowed us to have a blessed event, grow in grace, & share God's love with others in our area, all the while raising some badly-needed funds for church & school.

Isn't it interesting that our Gospel lesson this morning ends with Jesus' acceptance of little children whom the disciples try to turn away? Certainly, Jesus' concern for children would include the children of divorce, & we are thankful that Jesus cares for those children at their most vulnerable times when their parents are rebuilding their lives. But in addition, as we have considered in recent scriptures, Jesus' love of & care for children is not only a radical affirmation of people in his society who were considered no count but in broader meaning, shows Jesus' concern for all those in our community who are vulnerable—certainly widows & orphans, but also our elders & those who live alone, folks who are affected especially hard by economic difficulties, those who have physical or mental infirmities, & really all of us at difficult times in our lives. May we be willing to reach out as individuals & church family to all whom Jesus would take in his arms, lay hands on, & bless.

Pentecost 16

2009-09-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

The Rev. Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 16, Proper 20

20 September 2009

Text: Mark 9: 30-37

Other Readings: Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1; James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

Jesus & his disciples continue the journey toward Jerusalem that we talked about last week. Jesus doesn’t waste time on the road, for he teaches those who will carry on his ministry as they walk along. Last Sunday they were in Gentile territory, but this week they are in his home neighborhood & indeed headed toward Capernaum, his adult home. Perhaps he decides the best place to hunker down for some concentrated training of the disciples is in the privacy of his own home.

As they travel along the road, Jesus once again predicts his own passion—his death & resurrection—to his closest companions. He must feel a sense of urgency as he tells them that the Son of Man—he himself—will be betrayed to humans who will kill him but then he will rise again. I would imagine that Jesus is trying to say, “Listen up! I’m not going to be around much longer, & I have a lot to tell you before I go. Let’s not waste a minute of time.”

Throughout the gospel of Mark, we see that the disciples are incredibly dense & miss the points Jesus makes for them. But here, I wonder if they aren’t sort of figuring out what he’s telling him about his death at least. Why do I say that? When they finally get to his house & he asks them what they were arguing about on the way, they are embarrassed to tell him. They’ve been arguing about who is greatest. You’d think they would be in deep conversation about how to save Jesus from his seemingly inevitable death. But no, they’re avoiding the whole subject altogether. I think we call this avoidance “denial.” If we deny it, it will surely go away. Right?

You would think that by now Jesus would be pretty frustrated with the disciples’ denseness & avoidance, but instead, he accepts their argument as a teaching moment. By now he’s pretty clear. He knows the disciples’ expectations of what kind of Messiah he is supposed to be don’t fit reality, so he tells them that if they want to rank first, they’ll have to learn how to be servants. “What good is that kind of Messiah?” they might say. “We need a military leader who will send these Romans back where they came from & straighten out the government that’s left so we can get on with our lives as the chosen people of God.” Jesus knows he’s got to do something drastic to help them understand what it means to be a servant.

His response to them is amazing, & we 21^st Century Americans don’t really get it, at least not at first. He reaches over & scoops up a child in his arms & embraces him or her. This isn’t an unusual action in our child-centered society. Yesterday at a birthday party, the toddler was the life of the party, being passed from one adult to another, all of whom wanted to entertain her.

But in Jesus’ time, children were really non-persons until they were old enough to help the family economically. Children were socially invisible & treated like servants. This child shouldn’t even have been in the public room with the men but should have been back in the kitchen with the women & other children.

Jesus embraces this child whom society would consider last, a no-count. Jesus acts out how those whom society discounts should be treated. Jesus pays special attention to a person who matters no more in his society than the poor & the homeless do in ours. Furthermore, he says a couple of incredible things to these disciples. He tells them that they should treat the children & other disenfranchised people in society the same way. It’s their job to treat people that others try to ignore or avoid as if they were the most important people around.

Jesus’ care for this child reminds me of Clara at a cafe with her mother & aunt. When their waiter asked Clara what she wanted for lunch, her mother answered for her. Patiently, the waiter turned again to Clara & asked her what she wanted to eat. This time, her aunt tried to order for Clara. When the waiter addressed Clara the 3^rd time, Clara turned to her mother & aunt & said, “Hey, this man thinks I’m a real person!” Sometimes, our treatment of children is not so different from Jesus’ time.

Jesus doesn’t just tell us that we need to treat children like real people, but that we are to welcome the little ones. We’re to be hospitable to those who are most vulnerable. You see, Jesus was using a little child to represent all those who are discounted in society whether they be young or foreign or poor or ragged, or if they speak a different language or have strange customs. We’re to welcome them, to treat them as honored guests, not to try to get rid of them as quickly as possible. We have a special responsibility to those who can’t care for themselves.

Our current controversy concerning health care in this country calls us to consider those who cannot care for themselves. There seems to be little argument about the need for reform of some kind. How that reform is configured & who must pay for it as well as how much it will cost has stirred people in our nation to a fever pitch. In a democracy, citizens have a responsibility to let our elected officials know our positions & to influence our representatives’ votes. My prayer is that we can express our heart-felt opinions with the courtesy which recognizes those officials & our fellow citizens as God’s beloved whom God loves as much as God loves us. Criteria for Christians must include recognition that we are our brothers’ & sisters’ keepers & that none of us is an island but our lives are intertwined with each other. As we make our considered opinions known to our legislators, may we always remember that our baptismal vows include promises to seek & serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves, & that our striving for justice & peace among all people is accomplished only when we respect the dignity of every human being.

In Jesus’ object lesson of treating the little child like he or she matters in the world, Jesus teaches his disciples—& us—how we are to behave toward others, even those whom the world tries to ignore. Jesus begins his discipleship training by helping the disciples see how important we all are & how respectfully we must treat one another, especially the most vulnerable of our society.

As we look back at the gospel reading for today, we see that Jesus goes further than simply telling us those who welcome a little child are welcoming Jesus himself, but also, our kindness & caring toward the least of our brothers & sisters is actually welcoming God. Our care for others really is representative of our love of God. Each of us can fulfill both of the great commandments for, when we show love to our neighbors, we truly are loving God with our heart & mind & strength. May we remember that God’s unconditional love includes all people, not just those society deems worthy. Amen.

Pentecost 15

2009-09-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 15, Proper 19

13 September 2009

Text: Mark 8: 27-38

Other Readings: Proverbs 1: 20-33; Psalm 19; James 3: 1-12

Jesus moves with his disciples through the villages of Caesarea Philippi. They’re walking along the road, talking as they go. Jesus’ ministry up until now has been quite successful. He has attracted great crowds as he has preached & taught, healed & performed miracles. The common people have been greatly enchanted by this young rabbi who has dared to challenge the religious authorities & to include even the Gentiles in his itinerant mission work. He’s curious & asks the disciples what the current buzz is on the gossip circuit. “Who do people say that I am?” A safe enough question—he only asks the disciples to report what they’ve heard. Their answers fit the expectations of the Jewish community of their day: John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets. This conversation is sort of a recap of their travels with Jesus. Still on safe grounds.

Then Jesus hits the disciples with a question certainly neither expected nor as safe. He says, “But who do you say that I am?” Can’t you just imagine each disciple shuffling his feet & trying not to look at Jesus in case he catches his eye & expects a straight answer? It’s as if he’s saying, “Ok, guys & gals, you’ve been my traveling companions for awhile. You’ve seen what I’ve done & heard what I’ve said. So what? Why keep traveling with me? What’s all this to you anyway?” After all, Mark has just spent the whole first half of his Gospel identifying who Jesus is.

Now Jesus has asked the question that is the turning point of his whole ministry. “Who do you say that I am?” Just leave it to Peter to rescue the rest of the disciples. Can’t you just hear them breathing a sigh of relief when Peter jumps in with his answer? He says, “You are the Messiah.” Such a simple answer: 4 words. The rest of the disciples must think, “Well, there you have it. Peter’s spoken the truth & we don’t even have to be vulnerable. Anyway, what’s this I hear? Jesus is telling us to keep quiet, not to tell anyone about what we’ve seen & heard. Suits us fine, we say. Don’t want to get mixed up in this identification game anyway. Glad that’s all settled. Everyone knows how this long-awaited messiah is supposed to act, & it’s about time he got here & started straightening things out with the Romans, isn’t it?”

But Jesus doesn’t follow any preconceived ideas about messiahship either. Just look what he says next. He doesn’t encourage them about the success lying before them as he takes over with a strong military victory, putting those Romans back in their places. After all, Jesus could appoint his closest followers to positions of responsibility, & they could run this country the way it was meant to be. The disciples are off on their own fantasy trips about what’s in it for each of them. But then, Jesus shocks them all.

“What’s this we hear that Jesus must undergo suffering & rejection, be killed, and rise after three days? What kind of a Messiah is that? Doesn’t he know he’s supposed to hold the upper hand? We’ve given up 3 years of our lives with this man because we believed in him, & now what do we hear? He’s giving up the opportunity he has to be of influence for his people? He’s missing a golden opportunity.”

Well, it’s just too much for Peter to bear. He’ll just get to Jesus & explain how the disciples are counting on him to make their lives & the lives of the common folks better. Peter takes quite a superior attitude as he rebukes Jesus. He pulls Jesus aside & tells him that he’s got to sound like the leader that they expect. No more of this suffering & death stuff. Who wants to follow a leader who’s gonna die?

Then, Jesus says to his disciple Peter who just a moment ago passed the pop quiz, “You don’t have a clue. You need to wash your mouth out with soap. Don’t tempt me to take the softer, easier way. Get behind me, Mr. Temptation. This is hard enough without your acting like you know it all. You’re not in charge. Get on board & join me in doing God’s will & not your own. Let me tell you about what kind of Messiah I am.” This is the first of Jesus’ 3 passion predictions in Mark, none of which the disciples “get.”

So begins the 2^nd half of the gospel of Mark, & from this time on, Jesus heads toward Jerusalem. Jesus warns the disciples what it will be like to continue to follow him. Jesus has to unteach his disciples because they have their own pre-conceived notions about Jesus’ messiahship.

How many of us secretly think we who truly believe in Jesus should have nothing else bad happen in our lives? We’ve had more than our share of bad luck & sorrow, haven’t we? Are we attracted to the conviction that when we join Jesus’ army, we should always triumph & our lives move from one victory to the next, all in Jesus’ name, of course? How much we want to believe these things are true! Religious society today tells us God is on our side and will reward us for good behavior or correct belief. That’s the whole premise of such literature as the Book of Jabez.

In contrast, let’s look at what Jesus says lies before us if we put our mind on divine things & seriously follow Jesus. Let’s wrap our minds around what we have in store if we commit to growing as Jesus’ disciples. First, Jesus says that to be disciples, we have to let go of the idea that we’re in charge of our own lives, that we know what’s best for us & those around us. We have to give up the control to God. We must be willing to turn our will & our lives over to the care of God who loves us more than we can love ourselves & who knows what is best for us. We’ve got to be willing to give up whatever gods keep us from obedience to Jesus: alcohol, success, the lure of money or security for our family. What god do you bow to which you must deny or at least put in proper perspective? For me, it has sometimes been that my own best thinking would get me where I needed to be. Giving up & asking God to guide me has been excruciatingly difficult until I’ve done it & realized that God knew better all along.

Jesus says we must take up our crosses to follow him. One false god I’ve had to give up is that I’m supposed to be fiercely independent. It’s part of being a Texan, right? But as a Christian, I can’t just strike out, looking out for number one & to heck with everybody else. When I had young children, I sometimes had to give up what I wanted for myself in order to care adequately for them. The toughest cross for me to bear at times is that I’m no longer as young as I used to be, & I can’t go as long or as hard as I could when I was in my 20s or 30s. I have to make allowances so I won’t get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. Those are set-ups for me to try to take back the life that I’ve turned over to God. I have to pace myself, depending on others as I delegate tasks. Not a bad thing at all, actually. What a rude awakening to this middle-aged woman! What are the crosses which you must bear in order to be Jesus’ disciple?

Next, Jesus says if we want to save our life, we must lose it, & then he says only if we let go of our life to God’s care & guidance will we save it. How many times have we seen someone work really long hours, to give his or her spouse & children all the good things in life, but then the children get in trouble with drugs or the law to get the parent’s attention? As women have neared equal status in the job market, we are also equaling men in stress-related diseases like heart trouble & stroke. There’s got to be a better way for both women & men to practice self-care so we can all live more healthily.

Jesus’ next statement is particularly tricky for some of us. He says when we are ashamed of him & of his words, he will be ashamed of us in the next life. Ouch! How many times have we said pious, God-fearing things in church & then told someone a lie in order to get something we want or need? Have you ever spoken kindly to someone’s face & then talked ugly when that person’s back is turned? When we decide that our way of doing things is more important than God’s way, we behave as though we are ashamed of God. Do you play such games in your own life?

Here in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus challenges his followers to evaluate their own lives & see if they can live up to the term disciple. From now until the time of his arrest & passion, he focuses upon teaching the disciples, knowing he must leave his Gospel to them to absorb & then go & tell others when he is no longer with them in the flesh. Furthermore, Jesus shows them that discipleship may mean they have to give their lives in his service. We don’t often have to put our physical lives on the line for Jesus’ sake, yet today’s world is as much a sinful & adulterous generation as was Jesus’.

What area of your life is Jesus calling you to put on the line for the Gospel? What would God have you place on the altar today. Each Sunday, we say the general confession, a perfect opportunity for you to give to God whatever behaviors you want to put behind you in order to take up Jesus’ cross & follow him. I then offer God’s absolution in assurance that God forgives you & expects you to move past that behavior to something healthier & more wholesome.

As you place your money offering into the collection plate today, I encourage you to place all your old behavior, that stinkin’ thinkin’ that keeps you stuck in unhealthy habits right in the collection plate also. Trust God that God can redeem all that old stuff & grow instead in you seeds of health & wholeness you’ve never even dreamt of. Then we pray the Eucharistic prayer together, offer thanks for Christ’s body & blood, & come forward to share communion with Christ & our neighbors. The sacrament of communion can strengthen you to fulfill the covenant you make or renew to make Christ the center of your life.

Does it all happen that quickly? Yes, & no. In our Eucharist, we act out the ritual which represents our hearts’ desires for our whole lives, gaining the nourishment needed to become a more committed disciple of Jesus Christ day by day. It doesn’t happen over night; it takes a lifetime. Do you have anything better to do with the rest of your life? Contemplate for a few moments what you are willing to forfeit in order to gain the whole world.

Pentecost 13

2009-08-31T20:11:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 13, Proper 17

30 August 2009

Text: Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Others: Song of Solomon 2: 8-13; Psalm 45: 1-2, 7-10; James 1: 17-27

When I first studied the lessons for today, I was delighted to find the passage from the Song of Solomon which has only become part of the Sunday lectionary with the new Revised Common Lectionary. Preaching was the first class I took in seminary, & my first sermon was to preach a wedding sermon. Since my son was engaged at the time, I chose to write a sermon as if it were for their wedding, based on this scripture, & when they heard the sermon, they asked me to preach it at the wedding, so it became my first public sermon.

The poem quoted here is the bride's voice describing her groom's arrival as he woos her, both full of first unbridled love as the springtime bursts forth with the ripeness of new life. The Israelites saw the Song of Songs describing God's joy in a loving relationship with the Hebrew people who were beloved & cherished. This allegorical interpretation allowed this unabashed love poetry to be acceptable as Holy Scripture, & early Christian commentators believed the overflowing expressions of love represented Christ's love for the Church, yet the abundant joy of this poetry also celebrates human love at its onset with the accompanying anticipation of a full, rich married life.

Psalm 45 follows along these same lines as early court singers celebrate a royal wedding, singing to the groom, "You are the fairest of me; grace flows from your lips, because God has blessed you for ever." How appropriate it is for us at the beginning of our school year, the day of the Ministry Fair, to praise God's faithfulness & eternal love for God's people, the utter joy of new beginnings. I pray we join in this celebratory spirit as we move into our fall schedule & begin again with new & renewed commitments in our parish life!

The other 2 lessons for today help us recognize again Jesus' encouragement to focus on the two great commandments: love of God & love of neighbor. One of the skills we develop as we grow in discipleship is our ability to relate our own story to The Story, the Gospel Story which defines us as Christians. I think back to my own childhood as I hear of Jesus' encounter with the Pharisees & scribes.

As a young girl, I liked to play outside, & that meant I got very dirty. Mother would make me wash my feet & knees before dinner after I had dug in the dirt & gone barefoot. Even as a teen, I had a hard time keeping my fingernails clean, & I can remember looking down at my hands in horror more than once at the dinner table because my nails were black underneath. If my father noticed, he was likely to fly into a rage, causing the whole suppertime to be unpleasant. I would sit with my hands curled in a ball like this (*), hoping he wouldn't notice. Now it's not easy to hold silverware with your hands like this (*). So my father almost always noticed, & I was in for a stern lecture or worse.

Now my father's rage was uncalled for, but he had a point about sanitation. Expecting his daughter to wash her hands before a meal so her fingernails were clean wasn't unreasonable in itself; it was a matter of good health. But in today's passage from Mark, the issue is not one of sanitation but of ritual defilement. The Jewish law required the priests to go through an elaborate ceremony of handwashing before meals, & the Pharisees extended that law to lay people. They called it "a fence around the law," going beyond the Law itself just to make sure to show they were holy enough. It was sort of like thinking if one aspirin is good for you, two must be better. Such ritual washing had become a burden which had nothing to do with how clean people were.

The Pharisees were anxious to discredit Jesus & his disciples by showing they weren't good Jews because they didn't keep all the ritual laws. Jesus was clear throughout the Gospels that he & his disciples observed laws which guided people to love God & each other with all their heart, mind, soul, & strength, but they didn't feel bound by those laws which created problems for the common people.

Who made the decisions? Jesus did, & that's what infuriated the Pharisees. Jesus quoted Isaiah in reminding the Pharisees & scribes that God wants the people to worship & honor God in their hearts & not just in their outward actions. Jesus made the same distinction that Isaiah had: God's commandments often got neglected in order for people to follow all the traditions the elders had developed as a "fence around the law." The danger, Jesus said, is when people separate religious observance from the rest of life. Jesus' emphasis is on how people treat each other.

Jesus continues by saying people aren't going to be made unholy by germs which come in on unclean hands. They may get sick from the germs, but that's not going to make them unholy. We can't use the old excuse of "the devil made me do it," for whatever inappropriate behavior we're trying to justify. For what comes out of ourselves, we have to take personal responsibility. Certainly if people drink too much alcohol or do too many drugs, it's going to mess up their lives, but Jesus' emphasis is on the evil thoughts & actions that come out of a person which create the problems. Now I deal very well with some of this list because I haven't murdered anyone & I'm pretty straightforward so I'm not deceitful. But I can be pretty envious of others' good fortune, & I can really get off on telling you about someone whose actions I don't like, especially if that person has treated me or others unkindly. Yet who am I to judge them? Which of the evil thoughts or actions listed in the Gospel defile you?

Remember, I told you my father had quite a temper? Even when he wasn't drinking, he could blow up without warning, & I lived in fear most of my childhood & teen years that I wouldn't do things just right & then he would explode. You know what? I could never do everything just right, because the problem wasn't about my behavior. It was about those things within him that he hated & couldn't deal with, so he would blow up at others. I hated him when I was a teenager, & I felt ashamed because I knew I was supposed to honor my father yet I was scared to death of him. He was a preacher, too, so I couldn't figure out how God could let him be so frightening at home yet be so honored & loved by the church members out in public.

It took me a lot of years & work with my spiritual director & sponsors to forgive my father, to understand what a troubled, sick man he was, to realize he had been treated just as abusively as a child as he treated us. By that time, I had passed on some of that sick, abusive behavior to my own children. But I was luckier than my father. I learned a different way of living while my children were still fairly young, & I was able to make amends to them. Part of the way I continue to make living amends is to treat them today with the dignity they deserve. Another way is to pass that love & grace I have received on to others. I've learned there are spiritual disciplines that help me live a moral life, to love & honor myself as well as my neighbors.

The epistle reading today is from James, a book that urges us to continual conversion throughout our Christian lives, behaving as Easter people, redeemed human beings. Notice that the passage begins by reminding us that all we have & all we are comes from God, the God of lights, from whom we receive the truth that allows us to bear first fruits of the Spirit. When we talk about Christian stewardship, we speak of returning to God a portion of the abundance God has lavished on us. It is just such stewardship of life which James encourages us to honor God by passing on to others.

James gives guidelines for people who live in community, very important for us as we deepen our community life at Hope. He tells everyone to be quick to listen, slow to speak, & slow to anger. It is not by accident that we are created with 2 ears & only one mouth. Not only do we grow from what we can learn from others, but we also honor the dignity of others when we truly listen to them. James recognizes that we will feel anger, yet if we are slow to express our anger, it can be balanced by our being made in the image of God. Thus, it is God's word implanted in us which allows our anger to energize us to work for justice & peace for all God's people.

James urges all of us to move from being hearers of God's word to behaving as Christ would have us act. The most famous line in the book admonishes us to "be doers of the word, & not merely hearers who deceive themselves." As we all know from experience, we learn how to behave as Christians by acting as redeemed Easter people. James encourages us to care for ourselves & each other: watching after the orphans & widows—those who are most vulnerable in society—as well as keeping ourselves unstained by the world. As part of the faith community at Hope, I join James in encouraging you to attend the Ministry Fair today, prayerfully considering how you will help strengthen Hope parish in the next several months as we continue in hope to grow in mission & ministry this year. Hope needs each of us; we need each other to respond to the generous gifts which God has given us. God who has provided abundant life also gives us the strength & joy of returning some of that abundance to God, in many cases by passing it on to others. How will you be a doer of the word this year?

Pentecost 12

2009-08-26T21:06:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 12, Proper 16

23 August 2009

Text: John 6: 56-69

Others: I Kings 8: (1, 6, 10-11) 22-30, 41-43; Psalm 84; Ephesians 6: 10-20

David had wanted to build a temple to worship God & for housing the Ark of the Covenant, but God made it clear that the temple was not to be built by David but rather by Solomon, his son. Now, in today's reading, Solomon has completed the temple, & as he stands before God's altar, he prays that God will keep the covenant made with David to continue to have members of David's family rule Israel.

Solomon's wisdom shows itself as he realizes that God is greater than this temple just built, yet he asks that God bless this place of worship & be present to those who worship here. Our psalm for today celebrates the temple & the joy of having a place to worship, perhaps coming from this historical period. In addition, Solomon is open to foreigners' worshipping at the temple as he envisions all the peoples of the earth worshipping God here. Solomon characterizes God's promises as covenant, & even today, we are called to respond to God's offer of covenant.

A covenant is a solemn binding agreement freely entered into by 2 or more parties, typically including terms, oaths, & some sort of ritual such as a sacrifice, a meal, an exchange of tokens, or even a handshake. Throughout Judeo-Christian history, God has initiated covenants which we humans have responded to in varying degrees, & we also make covenants with each other. We all know, however, how difficult it can be for us to fulfill what is required of us. Remember when we renew the Baptismal Covenant, we declare that we WILL fulfill each of the vows, but we add, ". . . with God's help."

Such a dilemma confronted the disciples—& confronts us—in today's gospel. Last week, we explored Jesus' command that the disciples must eat his flesh & drink his blood if they want eternal life. Jesus makes a strong case for being part of a community who share the Lord's Supper together as the surest sign of our unity with him. Last week we talked about Jesus' urging us to both form & strengthen community by coming frequently to the communion table & receiving the body & blood of Jesus. However, Jesus doesn't tell us that all our problems will be magically solved by our taking communion each week. If that were true, we wouldn't be able to fit all the communicants into this nave.

The hard saying that Jesus hears the disciples grumbling about is his insistence that he is the life-giving revelation from God & will return to God's right hand. The Jewish people are unhinged when Jesus claims to be the Son of God for they consider that arrogant. Much like the Hebrews from old, many of the 1^st century Jewish people can't get past their unbending tradition & their own insistence that God cannot appear in human form, providing the salvation for which they yearn. They have been looking for a prophet, but Jesus comes as Messiah, the Son of God. They have been looking for a military rescuer, but he comes as the Prince of Peace. For many, this is simply too great a challenge to their long-held beliefs.

Jesus has offered them a choice, a turning point in their lives, sort of like the covenant which God had continually offered the children of Israel. Jesus wants to covenant with them, & the ritual to affirm that commitment is eating his body & drinking his blood. Many turn away because they cannot trust this new way of believing. Jesus' ministry has been very popular up until now, & crowds have come to him to see & receive his sign & wonders, but now many think he's just asking too much. Furthermore, he's not behaving the way they expect the Messiah to act.

Jesus tells them that the Son of Man must ascend to God & that the Spirit who comes gives life. The Greek word for the life the Spirit offers is "zoe." Zoe doesn't mean life's duration like just living a long time but means joyful & abundant life, life that matters enough that you want to live it. Jesus offers a quality of life through the Spirit which surpasses just putting in more than average years.

Can you imagine the despair & disappointment Jesus feels when he asks the 12, "Do you also wish to go away?" By this time, many have turned away from the Covenant that God grants them through Jesus. So many have refused to believe all they must do is love God with all their heart, soul, & mind & love their neighbor as themselves.

Peter, who often answers for all the disciples, responds, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe & know that you are the Holy One of God." This isn't one of Peter's most enthusiastic responses, for he actually says, "Where else do we have to turn, Jesus? We've thrown in our lot with you, & we don't have a Plan B." But you know what? That's enough. Peter has accepted the condition for belief that the New Covenant requires. And he has spoken for the 12.

Jesus calls us to believe also, & to continue to grow in that belief. We talk of this as continual conversion, & we never grow too old for it. Jesus asks us to make a choice, to turn around, to love God with all our heart & soul & mind. How do we show that love? We worship God on a regular basis, support our worship community, & love our neighbors as ourselves. We fulfill our part of the bargain, not alone, but in the Christian community. What is the ritual, the process we go through?

Most Christians become part of the faith community through the sacrament of baptism. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptizer, & ever since Jesus initiated the rite, it has been the way we become Christians. We will have baptisms again on All Saints' Day, 1 November, in case you want to be included or to have your child baptized. Please check with me soon so we can schedule the baptismal preparation class.

Those who have already been baptized, even as infants, don't need to be baptized again. Regardless of what you thought about baptism then or what you've done since, God did it just right the first time. If you are now ready to respond to the gift & grace of baptism which Christ offers you, the way to become a member of the Episcopal Church is by the sacramental rite of Confirmation. Confirmation is the mature sacrament by which you accept your baptismal responsibility of living as an adult Christian. Bishop High will come to Hope for Confirmation in December which is a great opportunity for you to be confirmed or received or simply to reaffirm your baptismal vows. Please sign up for our class at the Ministry Fair next week for we will begin Discovery Class soon. Anyone who wants to learn more about the Episcopal Church is welcome to join our classes. Of course, those who have already been confirmed may ask us to request your membership be transferred to this parish.

How do we continue to grow in our walk with Christ? Well, that's why we have a Christian community? Think about it: if God needed the community of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit, then it makes sense that we need a community, too. We aren't created to live alone. We're supposed to develop our faith in a Christian community where we can praise God together & learn from & strengthen each other. We have the awesome & amazing opportunity to break the bread & drink the wine, being strengthened by Christ's own flesh & blood. The Holy Eucharist is the ritual through which we renew our covenant with God through Christ often. By pouring over God's Word & taking his body & blood into us, we learn in the community to fashion our lives after the life & mind of Christ.

Next week, we have the opportunity to continue to God in Christ's love within the Christian community. We will be able to choose what groups & ministries we will commit to this year at the Ministry Fair. Please pray this week for God's guidance as you covenant with your church community for this next academic year.

Pentecost 11

2009-08-17T21:55:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances
Year B, Pentecost 11, Proper 15
16 August 2009

Text: John 6: 51-59
Other Readings: I Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14; Psalm 111; Ephesians 5: 15-20

When I was a young child, my family traveled from wherever we lived to my mother's family home for Thanksgiving. Leaving after school on Wednesday, we drove until far into the night, but upon leaving Ft. Worth, my sister & I began to watch ahead on the eastern skyline for the illuminated figure of Pegasus atop the Magnolia building in downtown "Big D." We each wanted to be first to see Dallas, & Dad was always relieved that we quit asking him "How much further?"

The next day came the Thanksgiving feast. As you might guess, the women in my family have always been good cooks. They left nothing off the menu for Thanksgiving: turkey & cornbread dressing, candied yams & green beans & those little crabapples, & more desserts than could go on one table. As the oldest grandchild, I was the first of my generation allowed to eat at the "big people table" in the dining room, taking great pleasure in bragging to my cousins. Various relatives came from afar; I'll never forget the year the St. Louis aunts graced our table. Family stories were almost as exciting as the food at holiday meals. At that table, I first heard my great-grandmother recall the train ride from Missouri with my own grandmother & great aunt when she was befriended by the famous train robber Frank James!

We all have memories & tales of special meals, don't we? Perhaps your favorite was your 5th birthday, or like another of mine, my granddaughter Amelia's first one. One of the lynchpins of our ministry at Lord of the Streets was the Sunday morning breakfast following the Eucharist—a hot breakfast for 250 or so homeless people served to them at table while they fellowship with one another. For many homeless, Sunday breakfast is their one meal they don't have to stand in line for—festive in itself.

Hospitality is a basic Jewish as well as Christian value. Remember that Abraham killed the fatted calf to provide for the strangers at his tent. Sharing a festive meal is at the heart of developing community. None of us should be surprised that the primary repeatable sacrament of the Christian Church is a sacred meal. Each Sunday we make Eucharist together around the altar table, preparing & offering the bread & wine of Holy Communion for all to receive.

        The 6th chapter of John—our gospel text for the past several weeks—shows Jesus personalizing the celebratory meal, shocking the Jewish community by emphasizing that when they consume the Eucharist, they actually eat his flesh & drink his blood. The Jewish people to whom Jesus spoke must have been scandalized when he said, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man & drink his blood, you have no life in you." After all, ever since Moses, they had drained the blood from their meat before cooking it. That they were actually to drink the wine Jesus claimed was his blood must have been hard to swallow, literally!

        But our eating of the body & drinking the blood of Christ in a sacred meal is exactly the point, Jesus is saying. The power of Jesus' incarnation is that Jesus came to earth as a human being, fully human as well as fully divine, to live among us earthlings, to invite us to fulfill our lives as God created us to do, as God's children—brothers & sisters of each other as well as of Jesus. Jesus says here that his flesh is true food & his blood is true drink, so those who consume this sacred meal abide in him.

        What does it mean to "abide" with Jesus? To abide is to trust without wavering, not having to have reassurance. And the marvelous gift which Jesus offers is that he abides with those of us who eat & drink at this table. Jesus Christ, the ruler of the universe, lives within those of us who commune with him & each other. How extraordinary! How enriching, once we wrap our minds around that wonderful gift which Jesus offers.

        How long has it been since you have really meditated on the idea that Jesus wants to hang out with us, even though we aren't bigwigs in the world? Who did Jesus hang out with during his earthly lifetime? Yes, he got to know some important people like Nicodemus & Joseph of Aramathea, but most of the time, he hung with fishermen & tax collectors & people whom he healed from paralysis & leprosy & other diseases which made the "nice" people avoid them. Jesus told those who criticized the quality of his friends that those who are well have no need of a doctor. Jesus sat down & told stories with common folk like you & me.

        You know what else? Jesus still wants to hang out with us. Jesus told his disciples, near the end of his life according to John's gospel again, that one reason he had to die was so the comforter, the Holy Spirit, could come & be with them but also be with those precious to Jesus far beyond his earthly lifetime. And because we are physical human beings who need to see & hear & touch & taste, Jesus provided an astounding ritual which is at the same time very ordinary, & he told us to perform this ritual every time we could. So we come to this altar table every Sunday in this beautiful worship space to commune with Jesus & with each other. And we're all invited—Jesus wants us all!

Of course, I respect the wishes of parents who want their children to wait until they are older to receive the Eucharist. I prefer, however, that children never remember a time when they were not fed at Jesus' table. Just as they do not have to understand the digestive system to be fed earthly food, there is also true grace in their being nurtured spiritually as soon as they are baptized. Baptism is full initiation into the body of Christ for all of us, no exceptions. After we baptized the 2 little ones a couple of weeks ago, I made sure they received a little piece of the bread for their first communion.

        The ordinariness is that we're eating a meal together, a festive meal just like the Thanksgivings I remember from my childhood. What's absolutely amazing is that somehow, in ways none of us fully understand, Jesus is present in this meal, so present that we can taste & see Christ's goodness as we eat the bread & drink the wine. In the Episcopal Church, we don't have to explain HOW Jesus gets into the bread & wine. We call the method a mystery, content with believing that since Jesus tells us whoever eats him abides in him, we don't have to explain the mystery.

        Jesus' Jewish ancestors had presented fruit & vegetable & animal sacrifices to God in their worship, but Jesus' sacrifice on the cross effectively fulfilled the sacrificial system. Christians have always believed that Jesus made the one holy & living sacrifice & we are called to make only a sacrifice of praise & thanksgiving here at the altar in order to intermingle with Jesus & have Christ live in us. We're called to eat & drink with Jesus so we may go forth from here transformed people to live as new creations in the world & to invite others to this marvelous feast & the way of life it typifies.

        Some have misused this scripture to indicate that Jesus separates us into the saved & unsaved, but Jesus performed the ultimate sacrifice for ALL of us & invites us ALL to the table. We may choose to respond to the invitation or not to respond, but Jesus hasn't left any of us behind; God's love doesn't have limits. A lot is made in some circles of the importance of each person's accepting Jesus Christ as his or her personal Lord and Savior.   Some individuals & churches are pretty intent on giving us the formula for that salvation event & then they hint or proclaim outright that their chosen method is the only way. What arrogance to limit the God of the Universe to only one set formula or experience!

        Barbara Crafton in her on-line meditation recently helped me in verbalizing the short-sightedness of such an approach. She says, "I may engage a personal shopper or a personal trainer or a personal assistant, but I don't have a personal savior. I have the same one everyone else has, & I have him by virtue of having been created through him. My salvation is my return to him, from the midst of the worst muck-ups into which I can stumble. It is not my reward for good behavior or for having the right answer when someone asked me a question about him."

Certainly, our ever-growing & maturing relationship with God through Jesus Christ is a life-long journey we travel in concert with a community of faith, & our personal prayer & meditation time allows us access to the on-going process of sanctification, but Jesus offers & even urges us all to respond to an inclusive invitation. Brother Roger, the founder of the Ecumenical Religious Community of Taize which Ladelle & I visited in France this past May, remarked, "I think that I have never lost the intuition that community life could be a sign that God is love and love alone." Here at Hope our building & living in community can be that sign of God's love to the wider world.

        How many of us, at some time in our lives at least, hold back our response because we're scared of what kind of new creation Jesus expects us to be? What would it mean if you really let go & gave yourself fully to Christ? How would your life have to change, not in order to earn Christ's salvation—that's already been won for you. All you have to do is accept it, nourish yourself with Christ's gift of body & blood, & ACT redeemed. Further, what would Hope Church look like if we were fully living as a Christlike community? Perhaps we're just a little afraid of who we'll become if we get fully infected with this Jesus bug. Many avoid growing into maturity as Christians so they don't have to take responsibility for living as grown-up Christians.

        Grown-ups need regular nourishment, & this sacramental table offers us the best—Jesus' body & blood. When we come to the banquet table, we risk continual conversion, for that is what it is. Those of us who have thrown in our lot with Jesus must be vulnerable enough to listen in our hearts to what Christ would have us do with our lives. Regardless of where you are on this Christian journey, as you receive Christ's Holy Communion this day & from now on, may you experience the deep & abiding love Jesus has for you, just the way you are. May you also hear Jesus' call to take a chance on him, to commit to grow into the person Jesus created you to be. May we all risk becoming the community which fulfills God's hope for us.

Pentecost 10

2009-08-10T20:47:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances
Year B, Pentecost 10, Proper 14
9 August 2009

Text: John 6: 35, 41-51; Ephesians 4: 25-5: 2;
Others: 2 Samuel 18: 5-9, 15, 31-33; Psalm 130

Last week we ended our Gospel lesson where we begin this week, with
Jesus' first great "I am" statement in John: "I am the bread of
life." Throughout the 6th chapter of John, Jesus talks with his
disciples about what it means for Jesus to be the bread for the world.
As is usual in John's gospel, multi layers of meaning intertwine, &
Jesus uses several expressions to remind us that bread is a very basic
building block of a healthy diet. For example, when we say we're
going to break bread together, we know we're going to have a meal, not
simply bread.
Today, Jesus continues his conversation about bread & about being the
Bread of Life. Jesus' focus on the first part of this scripture,
however, is on his close relationship with God & God's acceptance of
all those who believe in him. He says those who come to him will
never be hungry or thirsty. Jesus continues that he came to do God's
will. Now I think we all want to do God's will, at least on our good
days. But the closeness with which Jesus lived with his Father had to
have been awesome. I find it equally amazing to hear Jesus say it is
God's will that all who believe in God will have eternal life.
Now I don't know exactly what eternal life is, at least the part that
comes after our death, & I don't believe any of us on this earth know
eternal life in its fullness, but notice that Jesus isn't talking
about the future here as much as the present. Jesus says all who see
the Son (notice the present tense—right now), all who believe in
God—right in the here & now, may have eternal life. Eternal life
begins when we begin to believe.
Do you remember the man who asked Jesus to heal his daughter? Jesus
told him all he had to do was believe. The man answered, "Yes, Lord,
I believe. Help my unbelief." He told Jesus he already believed yet
also realized his belief wasn't completely formed. He knew he had
some growing in faith to do. His daughter was healed, not because of
her own belief, but because of her father's incomplete belief. How
many of you think you believe as much as is possible for you? Hmmmm.
There don't seem to be any hands up. Remember that Christian
formation is a lifelong proposition. We start with a kernel of
belief, & it grows to deeper faith if we nourish it. This fall we
will be offering several opportunities for you to grow in your
Christian faith, & you'll learn about them at the Ministry Fair on the
30th of August. I hope all of you are here that day to join others in
our faith community who are likewise living out eternal life in the
present.
Back to the gospel passage: Are the Nazareth folks happy to see that
a hometown boy made good? Absolutely not. We're told that
familiarity breeds contempt, & these folks figure they've known Jesus
all his life, so they figure that's just ole Jesus. We knew his dad,
& his mom is around town much of the time when she isn't off with this
small band of Jesus' followers. Perhaps we've even said ourselves
that his dad didn't amount to much & neither will he. Well, some
authorities around Jesus said the same thing. They were complaining,
this text says, but the better translation is that they were
"grumbling." They couldn't believe what Jesus was telling them about
being the bread that came down from heaven because, after all, they
knew he was just old Joseph's son, the carpenter's son, & who could he
be that amounted to much? They grumbled about Jesus, even after he
had fed over 5000 men & who knows how many women & children with bread
that was miraculously multiplied, because he was too familiar to them.
Do you remember the Israelites who grumbled in the wilderness whom
God humbled by letting them be hungry & then fed them manna? Then,
even after they received the God-given manna, they grumbled that there
wasn't more variety. Isn't it true that we'll find something to
grumble about if we don't already have something? We humans are
pretty ungrateful if we're not careful, aren't we?
Jesus tells us no one can come to him unless the God who sent him
also sends others to him. Jesus tells us straight out that God takes
the first action. God reaches out to us first & earnestly hopes for a
response from each of us. God can't do all the reaching, though. We
have a responsibility to respond & to act on the belief that we begin
to develop in Jesus.
And Jesus is clear in the last paragraph of our gospel today that he,
the Bread of Life who comes down from heaven is not just like ordinary
bread & isn't even like the manna the Israelites ate in the desert,
but is what he calls living bread. This bread feeds people who need a
renewal in their own personal lives, but we'll we're told he also
gives his flesh as bread for the world. Once more, Jesus reminds us
this precious bread which he must give is not just for one person or
even for a small group of people but is for the whole world, that the
whole world will live life more abundantly. We're all called to
support & uplift the community just as Christ did. (family beyond our
community??)
There are hints in this passage of Jesus' life being a sacrifice, &
that is spelled out in the reading from Ephesians today, Christ loving
us so much that he gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering & a
sacrifice to God. And what are we to do? We're told we're to be
imitators of God as beloved children. We're to live in love, to
experience Christ's love & then pass that same love on to others.
Watch small children as they play dress up. They're being imitators
of their parents or the other adults around them. Kids learn more
from what we do than what we say, of which we're all reminded when we
see a small child put a cigarette in her or his mouth just like the
adult members of the family. But we have all seen the adoration with
which small children mimic adults around them. That's before the kids
get to be 12 or 13 & all of a sudden the adults become the stupidest
people in the world. We are to imitate Christ with just that same
intensity. And is that in order to build ourselves up? No, not at
all. We're to build up the body of Christ & make the members
together stronger.
This part of the 6th chapter of John wanders around the subject of
the Eucharist, but Jesus guides us back to it at the end of this
passage. Jesus says, "Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; &
the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
Today you have the opportunity to share in the precious meal of the
body & blood of Jesus Christ right here at this communion table.
Jesus invites you. In fact, Jesus summons you & tells us all to do
this in remembrance of him. All are welcome. Come to be fortified
for the journey. After all, this is our altar call in the Episcopal
Church, & all are welcome to respond to that call which God puts to us
through Jesus Christ.
What about the children? Last week we baptized 2, & they both
received from Christ's body & blood because I never want these
children to remember a time when they were not welcome at Christ's
table. We don't make them memorize the whole digestive track before
we feed them a meal. Neither does our belief have to be firmly in
place & settled in order for us to be nourished by Jesus' body &
blood. We are in the process of growing in belief, & Jesus calls us
to take a leap of faith & receive his own bread for the journey.
How do our actions change because we are practicing Christians?
There's a rather amazing story with which I'll close. It was April of
1940, & German tanks rumbled across the borders of the peaceful
country of Denmark. The Nazis already possessed control of Austria,
Czechoslovakia, & Poland, & soon other countries fell to the Germans:
Norway, Holland, Belgium & France.
The Germans announced that every Dane of Jewish origin would be
required to wear a yellow Star of David just as they'd done in
Germany. Any Jew who failed to comply would be put to death. The
Star of David, proud symbol of the Jewish faith & culture, would be
used to mark them as undesirable—to rob them of possessions & dignity
& even their lives.
The Danish government & its people were in no position to do battle
against the powerful Germans, but their leader, King Christian the
10th, made a bold move. He called for all of his country's citizens
to wear the Star of David, for every Danish household to stand as
partners with their Jewish neighbors.
Tremendous fear must have gripped the hearts of those first Gentile
citizens as they ventured from their homes the next day. Would they
be the only ones who had heeded the call? Or would they be singled
out? Would they be executed with the Jews? What they saw was nothing
short of a miracle. There were Stars of David everywhere. The Jews
among them wept when they saw the people's love & support. And
because the people stood together, the Nazis' full plan of persecution
against the Jews was never carried out in that country. May we find
just such courage to stand for what we believe.

Pentecost 9

2009-08-10T20:46:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 9, Proper 13

2 August 2009

Text: John 6: 24-35; Ephesians 4: 1-16;

Others: 2 Samuel 11: 26-12: 13a; Psalm 51: 1-13

Today we are celebrating the baptism of 2 young children. Levi's & Zoe's parents have brought their little ones to our community because, at the very least, they understand it takes a village to rear a child, & indeed we are all participating in the rite of initiation practiced by most of the Christian community in some form. Baptism is one of the two dominical sacraments in the Episcopal Church; that is, the 2 sacraments Jesus commanded us to continue were Baptism & Eucharist. Today, we celebrate both of these ancient rites &, in so doing, make some pretty radical promises on behalf of these children as well as continuing ancient traditions which we believe are part of our responsibility in building the Reign of God. We welcome these two children into the Christian Church as commitment to their present as well as hope for the future.

The lessons for the day were not specifically designated for baptism, yet the baptismal service began this morning with a salutation taken directly from the Ephesians passage today: "There is one body & one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one, faith, one baptism, one God & Father of all. . . ." The book of Ephesians is called a letter yet was probably written as a manual for baptismal training in the 2^nd generation after Jesus' death & resurrection.

Notice that this writer is urging the Christian communities to "lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called. . . bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Even the earliest Christians needed encouragement to continue to make the main thing the main thing & to maintain unity, loving one another. All of us are called by our baptism to build Christ's realm in our world just as these Christians were to use their various gifts—talents & abilities—toward the building up of the whole community. We're often told that the Holy Spirit doesn't choose the equipped but rather equips those who are chosen, & with baptism, we affirm the beginning of such a call to ministry which for most is lay ministry—no less vital & often more effective than ordained ministry.

As a priest & member of the Hope community, I tingle with joy & anticipation yet also tremble with sense of responsibility for the upbringing of these young folks. The parents & godparents who present Zoe & Levi dare to be bold enough to invite us to support them as they are the primary religious educators of their children, yet all of us are part of the teaching staff for our youngsters as well as for each other as we continue to be lifelong learners. We speak of Christian "formation" because we are called to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit who will transform our lives if we but trust God's process. Baptism recognizes publicly God's enfolding us as beloved which began with Levi & Zoe—& indeed with each of us—as we were knit together in our mother's womb.

Several times a year, even when we don't have baptisms, I invite you to stand & renew the baptismal covenant which is our manual of discipleship for how to increase in wisdom as well as stature in favor with God & with our neighbors. This is an open book lesson, so please open the Book of Common Prayer in front of you to page 304-305 now. You'll need this in a minute anyway.

First, a covenant is not a contract. A covenant is a promise, a solemn commitment God & humans make between each other, & it's not between 2 equals at all. There's no fine print with God, & even when the covenant is broken, the covenant remains. We renew the Baptismal Covenant fairly often because we not only promise to uphold & support the parents & godparents of our young people in their living out these vows but also because we need reminding what we've promised for our own lives.

The Covenant is a dialogue because we are community in conversation with one another, so the first 3 paragraphs state our basic Trinitarian beliefs in the Apostles' Creed. Next, we have 5 questions which we get to answer, "I will, with God's help," knowing we can't fulfill them alone.

The first states the elements necessary for developing & maintaining a Christian church family—committing to lifelong learning of the apostles' teachings but also in celebrating through our fellowship with each other, our regular participation in Holy Eucharist, & by our personal & corporate prayer. Which of these have you gotten slack about lately, family? Today is a good time to recommit.

We promise to resist evil, knowing that we will fall into sin, but that's not the last word. Because God's love is never-failing, we always have the opportunity to repent, & the sooner we do so, the less pain we endure. Returning to God & to God's community allows us to continue to be made a disciple & to make more disciples.

The next vow is tricky because we Episcopalians don't really like to talk about Jesus; we'd prefer you just guess that we must be Christians cuz we're such nice people. We promise in our baptismal covenant to witness to what God is doing in our lives & to behave like our relationship with Christ is the most important one we have. St. Francis was fond of saying, "Preach the Gospel; when necessary, use words." Word & example—both are necessary.

Remember Jesus' 2^nd great commandment? He said to love our neighbors as ourselves, & then he wouldn't let his followers eliminate even one's avowed enemies from the neighbors' list. Here's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. Here's where we realize just how much we are dependent on the Holy Spirit to fulfill our promises. I don't know about you, but there are some people whom I just can't love without God's help. Ain't gonna happen! It's helpful, though, to remember that each of us is made in God's image so we can serve the Christ in others & even seek them out. And we get to depend on God's help.

Finally, we recognize that there are institutions & organizations through which we can & must care for one another, & for those to be just & peaceful, we must commit to justice & peace in our own lives. If we respect the dignity of every human being, how can we use or abuse those persons or allow the larger structures of society to strip away their dignity either? Such a task often requires that we become activists & agents of change in our community, & that takes prayer, study, organization, & action.

Whew! These 5 promises in the Baptismal Covenant touch pretty much every crack & cranny of a person's life, don't they? Hmmm. Do you reckon there might be a reason we need each other in developing as disciples so we can make disciples? And we need to reaffirm our commitment to these vows frequently.

The gift to the gathered community which strengthens us for ministry most frequently is sharing a meal with our sisters & brothers in Christ around this altar. In today's Gospel, (bet you thought I'd forgotten it, didn't you?), we find the precursor to our Eucharistic meal, the sacrament we will celebrate later in our worship. Jesus reminds the people that even when they are miraculously & bountifully fed with bread & fish, it is only his gift of himself which brings eternal life. Just as God set the seal upon Jesus, the Son of Man, so I will pass that oil of Chrism—Christ's oil—on to those we baptize today in God's name. And we, the Body of Christ on earth in this holy place today, are privileged to stand with Zoe's & Levi's parents, godparents, & family to affirm that we will do our part in rearing them to be vital parts of Christ's Holy People—we will, with God's help!

Pentecost 7

2009-07-25T00:18:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances
Year B, Pentecost 7, Proper 11
19 July 2009

Text: Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56; Ephesians 2: 11-22
Other Readings: II Samuel 7: 1-14a; Psalm 89: 20-37

For the past 4 weeks, two groups here at Hope have been reading & discussing the book same kind of different As Me, a true story of two men from different backgrounds who are drawn together by God's care for them & by their love & admiration for a woman who dared to obey God's call to her. Neither feels that he fits into the environment he finds himself in, yet they find that they are really not too different from one another. Their journey to that discovery makes a fascinating story.

Have you ever felt like the outsider? The one left out when your friends were invited to a party? The one who, for whatever reason, did not fit into the group? I know I have. My family moved quite frequently when I was a child, & it seemed I was always having to make new friends, find my niche, learn who I could trust & whom to avoid. Even as an extrovert & of the majority race almost everywhere I've lived, starting over again was never easy. The pain of being different still washes over me when I enter a new environment.

THE BIG ISSUE in the early church was that of inclusion, & the author of the Ephesians is dealing with just such an issue in the epistle for today. The earliest Christians were Jewish, & it was only after the apostles were confronted in visions such as Peter's dream of unclean animals offered for him to eat combined with experiences like Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch that Jesus' disciples began to focus much of their missionary work on the Gentile community. By the time Ephesians was written, the churches were still sorting out how Jewish Christians & Gentile Christians were to live together in unity, how they were to "fit."

The author of Ephesians, actually not Paul but one of Paul's disciples, we believe, reminds those new Christian groups that, because of Jesus, those who were far off have now been brought near, that Christ has broken down the dividing line—the hostility—between the two groups. Of course, this writer wouldn't have had to speak thus had all been going smoothly within the nascent Christian communities. Notice the many ways the writer reminds the Christians that they are to be united in Christ:

he has made both groups into one,

broken down the dividing wall, the hostility between us,

created in himself one new humanity in place of the two,

reconciled both groups to God in one body through the cross,

they are no longer strangers & aliens but citizens with the saints & members of the household of God.

        Most in this congregation remember when Black Episcopalians worshiped on one side of town & Anglos on the other. Further, no one thought Hispanic Christians might choose another denomination than Roman Catholic until the Pentecostals made such inroads in Hispanic communities, whereupon we from mainline denominations woke up & began to scramble to learn Spanish & figure out what Hispanic ministry might entail. Our churches are much more integrated than when I was a child or young adult, but with our intentional multicultural family, Hope is still in the minority. By & large, Sunday morning is still the most segregated time in the US.

        At Lord of the Streets, I worked with those who are still the outcast, the "different ones," due to economic inequity as much as racial bias. As former vicar & executive director there, I listen to today's readings with different ears than previously. Although Jesus regularly reminds us that the last shall be first & the first last, that we must remember the widows & orphans, & that those who care for society's least actually care for him, we church people are often reluctant to take seriously Christ's admonitions to care for those most vulnerable in society.

"Charity" has long been part of our ethos, but many folks still cringe at the thought of having "those people" in our own back yards, so to speak. As we look across the street to Black Middle School, we know that many underserved & struggling young people attend there. Our outreach coordinator Dorothy Miller has heeded the suggestions of experts to develop local outreach projects in a new initiative to provide school supplies for our neighbors at Black. This is a ministry we can all participate in at some level.

        Our gospel reading today is one of the few places in Mark's gospel where Jesus uses the word "apostles." Jesus sent disciples out on a mission with no purse & only sandals & one cloak, but now they have returned as apostles, having fulfilled their first mission. Apostle means "one who is sent." Apostle emphasizes the direct connection between the one sent & Jesus who sends him or her. We're sent in Jesus' name out of our comfortable church into the city to feed the hungry with spiritual as well as physical food.

        Now the apostles have returned, excited about what they have accomplished, & Jesus gives them an invitation which we all do well to heed. He says "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves & rest a while." Throughout the Gospels we see glimpses of Jesus' own need for balance between his very public life & his need for refreshment & regeneration. What balance he models for us, he also urges for his apostles. After all, God rested on the Sabbath, the 7th day after having created the world & all its inhabitants. Jesus knew the apostles needed regular Sabbath times in their lives as do present day apostles. This week I will be on retreat until Saturday so that I can "rest awhile" & listen for God's voice in my life, not only for me but for this community. I would treasure your prayers for my retreat as well as for the continued development of our church family. My making regular retreat is not about my being a priest. I learned long before my priesthood that my spiritual life requires time away in silence in order for me to hear God in my life. My week of Sabbath on retreat reinforces the Sabbath day I take each Monday during the rest of the year. I would encourage all of you to schedule retreat time & would be glad to help you find the place & type of retreat which would best suit you.

        Two other images of note are prominent in our lessons for today. Jesus' time in a deserted place is limited because he has compassion on the great crowds who gather to hear him teach & heal, & Jesus saw that they were like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus becomes their good shepherd & cares for their needs. In so doing, he uses a metaphor deeply rooted in the Jewish tradition. In our first reading today, when God speaks to Nathan the prophet about David's desire to build a house—a temple—in which God can dwell, God reminds Nathan that God has faithfully provided shepherds for the people & God chose David to shepherd the people of Israel. The king is to watch after the people with the firm but gentle care that God provides. But God makes clear David is not to build a temple to house God; God will care for the Israelites by establishing the Davidic dynasty which is another translation for the word which has previously been translated house and temple. David's descendents will enjoy God's care & protection. Although David has tried to domesticate God, God makes it clear that God is in charge & will provide for David's people. No matter how we try to understand & limit God to a being whom we can manage & who will do our every bidding, God is free to act as God will. When we are in God's will, God will sometimes lead us into untamed places in order that we may grow in faith & trust, but God will not abandon us. Each of the scripture readings for today assure us that God is caring for us & we can trust God to accompany us as we venture out of our coziness into unfamiliar places to witness & minister to others. Sisters & brothers, as we continue to grow in God's grace here at Hope, may we trust God enough to accompany God into whatever place—deserted or overcrowded—that God sends us as apostles. God grants us protection; God sends us out as apostles; God promises to guide us always. Our response is "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening."

Pentecost 5

2009-07-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 5, Proper 9

5 July 2009

Text: Mark 6: 1-13

Other Readings: 2 Samuel 5: 1-5, 9-10; Psalm 48; 2 Corinthians 12: 2-10

In the church or in the business community, if the leadership wants the community to buy into a new idea, a common strategy is to invite an expert in to present it. Who is an expert? An expert is someone from at least 50 miles away who carries a briefcase—& these days gives a power point presentation!

When Jesus returned home to the small town of Nazareth, he was asked to speak in the synagogue. For once, the issue was not his healing on the Sabbath but rather a matter of his very identity. In Nazareth, everyone knew him. Here was Jesus, the hometown carpenter boy who had gone off as an itinerant preacher, back home again sounding like a rabbi, like an expert. But they all knew this was just Jesus who had worked in the carpenter's shop making a living for his mother, brothers, & sisters after Joseph died. This was Jesus, Mary's son, who had made tables & door frames & windows for their homes & yokes for their oxen. Who did he think he was, coming back home & teaching like he'd gone off to Jerusalem University & gotten a degree or something? Sure, he sounded wise, but he'd been showing off ever since he was 12. This was just Jesus. They all knew him.

And with this story, we see human nature & group psychology in all its glory. We're reminded first of Jesus' humanity. Jesus is the carpenter, the son of Mary, brother of James & Joses, Judas & Simon & at least 2 sisters. Remember how he was left behind in Jerusalem the year he was 12? How he worried his mother that time!

Second, we see the natural tendency of the townspeople. They disbelieve that this common working man from their own home town could possibly be anyone special. He isn't even from one of the best families. How could one of theirs know so much about the things of the Spirit? Why, he's only a layman! Many of those who hear him are astounded. In fact, they "took offense" which means they are scandalized—his being a hometown boy was a stumbling block for them.

And in the end, Jesus himself is amazed at their disbelief. Not only is he amazed; their disbelief actually becomes a stumbling block to his effectiveness to minister there in Nazareth. Mark has been describing Jesus' many miraculous deeds in the previous several chapters: calming the storm, healing the woman who had had a hemorrhage for 12 years, & raising Jairus' daughter from the dead. Pretty amazing actions, don't you agree? Here, in contrast, Mark says Jesus can do no work of power, except for healing a few sick people. This rejection by his own people restricts his ministry causing him to move on, his work ended in Nazareth. One commentary calls this an "unmiracle story."

For some of you, my coming among you as priest might have been like Jesus coming home to Nazareth. I had known a few of you long before I was ordained & then more of you when I was supplying both at Incarnation & St. Michael's. While I considered that familiarity an advantage when we began our journey together 4 years ago, perhaps the familiarity has similarly affected our ability to move forward as much as we would like. Regardless, we have worked hard together to meld this community into one & after 4 years are coming to a familiarity & comfort with one another which hopefully allows us to grow deeper spiritually together & to reach out to do mission in the larger world, both in our neighborhood & beyond.

Jesus tells those in Nazareth that prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, & among their own kin, & in their own house. Diane Bergant said about this passage that prophets are not those who look into the future, but those who have insight into the present. Hope's leadership is working hard to discern how God is calling us to ministry & mission in these challenging times, & I invite & encourage all of us to daily prayer for this parish & its leadership. We must never forget, however, that each one of us is called to be a disciple by our baptism, & we are all called to gain the skills & momentum to venture forward as a revived community of faith.

Leadership is a tricky & sometimes lonely position as Paul tells the Corinthians in the epistle passage today. For inspiration, he remembers his own mystical experience of a call to proclaim Jesus as the Christ rather than to persecute the Christians. At this point in Paul's ministry, he is facing some opposition in his leadership role, & he reminds this sometimes-difficult community that any boasting he might do about his ministry is really affirming God's grace & empowering, not his own doing. Further, Paul explains that he is not perfect, that he is afflicted with what he calls a thorn in the flesh—we're never told what that is. Paul explains that he has prayed that it be removed but the answer he has received is that he is to rely upon God who is stronger than any detriment we're afflicted with. In fact, Paul realizes that the thorn keeps him aware that he must rely totally upon God, not upon his own gifts & virtues. Can we not all affirm the need to rely upon God who can work through our shortcomings to build up God's community of faith.

Jesus doesn't just sit around moping about his homefolks' lack of belief in him, however. The 2^nd half of our Gospel passage today contains his commissioning the disciples to go out into the world to share the Good News with others. Jesus' marching orders to the 12 are worthy of our attention, for they apply to us today. He didn't expect them to go alone; he sent them out 2 by 2. We Americans are celebrating our independence this weekend, yet Christians are called to interdependence, working together & supporting each other. When our Eucharistic visitors take communion to the homebound, they go out in pairs. They form a small community to represent this worshiping community as they include those who can't be here physically to join us in worship spiritually. We uphold them here in the gathered community as we pray for them in the prayers of the people. You have the list in your pew bulletin so you can continue that intercessory prayer at home. That's just one example of our interdependence as well as our reliance upon God for our strength & guidance.

Jesus is clear that the disciples are not to rely upon their own brilliance or their being properly equipped as they preach & teach & heal. They're not to take food or money or even extra clothes—only a walking stick to hold them up when they're weary. They're to rely upon God to provide. Further, they're not to shop around for the best deal in lodging. They're to be grateful to whichever hosts invite them in. What kind of a witness would they be in a community if they stayed with one host & then rejected that hospitality for a better deal? Further, it's not their job to be people-pleasers. They're to preach the gospel that Jesus has taught which we know is often counter-intuitive & challenges the status quo. If they are rejected, they are to disassociate from that rejection (shaking the dust from their sandals) & move on to where people are ready to hear the Good News of God according to Jesus. Laity as well as clergy sometimes focus so much upon winning one person or group that they may turn the targeted audience off but also be too discouraged to continue the work which Jesus gives us to do. God is the judge of our effectiveness, & we're called to be faithful, not necessarily successful. In fact, Jesus often reminds us that our version of success may be vastly different from God's. Certainly the downfall of "successful" people in our society recently—both with inappropriate financial & moral dealings—should help us remember that God's ways are often now our ways. Regular prayer, Bible study, & accountability with a small group of other Christians can keep us grounded & focused on God's will.

What are the guidelines for living Christian lives & sharing them with others? Today's collect which we prayed together at the beginning of the service sums up Jesus' expectations: loving God & our neighbor. How can we be devoted to God with our whole heart & united to one another with pure affection, sharing that affection with all those we encounter? That's our homework for this week----and for the rest of our lives. So, my friends, travel light! God go with you each day.

Pentecost 4

2009-07-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

Sermon for Messiah Lutheran Church

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 4, Proper 8

28 June 2009

Text: Mark 5: 21-43

Other Readings: 2 Samuel 1: 1, 17-27; Psalm 130; 2 Corinthians 8: 7-15

Thank you so much for welcoming me to Messiah this morning as your preacher. Pastor Liz is preaching & celebrating today at Hope Episcopal in Oak Forest where I am the rector. As you may know, we belong to a group which encourages learning, mutual respect & sharing among religious communities, & I feel privileged today to worship with you.

Today, we explore 2 stories about women whom Jesus restores to life & health. I am very grateful our revised common lectionary includes both these stories for the first time; Mark wrote them together, Jesus may have even performed these miracles together, & we have much to learn from considering them side by side. Mark often embeds one story in another in his Gospel with each event teaching us about the other.

The first verse tells us Jesus has again crossed the lake to the other side, so we are back in Jewish territory. A synagogue leader named Jairus approaches Jesus in desperation because his 12-year-old daughter is ill to the point of death. Having heard of this healer Jesus, having perhaps heard him speak in the synagogue or out in the countryside, Jairus must know Jesus is controversial to the Jewish establishment, but he is frantic. He doesn't care about his reputation as long as his daughter is saved. So he approaches Jesus, falls at his feet, & begs Jesus to come heal his daughter. Jesus agrees to accompany Jairus & starts immediately. As happens wherever Jesus travels, a large crowd accompanies them. Their urgency is like an ambulance traveling with sirens & lights, full speed ahead, so we are not prepared when Jesus stops to ask who has touched him.

Who, indeed, has touched Jesus? The disciples think his question ridiculous. Jesus draws a crowd wherever he goes, & dozens have brushed up against him, so why does he ask who in particular has touched him? This woman at the opposite end of the social spectrum from Jairus, she whom one writer has called "audacious" but whose name we never know, has been bleeding for 12 years, the whole length of Jairus' daughter's life. She must have been a woman of means, for she has spent her fortune on doctors trying to staunch the flow of blood.

Now any woman in today's world who has bled for 12 years would be pretty desperate to get adequate medical help, but to the Jews of Jesus' time, the problem was even more serious. Their taboo regarding blood made a person ritually unclean. Thus, this woman could not participate in synagogue worship, not even in the segregated women's section, & she was further separated from society. If a Jew touched the woman, he or she would also become unclean & therefore unfit for worship or for normal sexual relations. So clearly, this woman had been cut off from even familial contact for a dozen years—virtually an outcast. This woman, this nobody, is so desperate that she dares to reach out & touch Jesus' garment. In so doing, she makes the Jewish rabbi unclean also. She breaks the taboo.

And he catches her! She thinks her actions can be anonymous, that she'll just quietly reach out & touch his garment, be healed quietly, & go on her way. Her plan is going just as she had hoped, & miracle of miracles, when she touches Jesus' robe, her bleeding stops. But Jesus halts in the middle of the road to say, "Who touched my clothes?" No wonder the disciples think he's lost his mind! Can't you just imagine what Jairus is doing right now? Jairus probably says, "Who CARES who touched you? That's not important. What's crucial is that you get to my house in time to use your miraculous skills to heal my daughter!"

Jesus insists, over the objections of both Jairus & his disciples. He has felt power go out from himself, & he is interested in persons. He wants to know who needs him. Can't you just imagine this poor woman's terror as she comes forward, the Scripture says in fear & trembling, & falls to her knees just as Jairus had done previously? She's been found out! What will they do to her?

Jesus' remarkable response to her is worth pondering, though I'm sure Jairus doesn't think so. Jesus affectionately calls her "Daughter" & tells her 3 things: "your faith has made you well," "go in peace," & "be healed of your disease." Don't you know Jairus is fit-to-be-tied by now? But Jesus has as much time as it takes to treat this woman as a person of worth. He tells her that it is because she's had the nerve to reach out & touch him, because she's believed in him, that she is healed. Her faith has saved her. He assures her future in society when he bids her go in peace. Can't you just imagine the true peace she will have now that she is healed? After 12 years, she can be a productive part of the community again. Finally, he declares this is not just a temporary cure. She is healed permanently. The constant bleeding is over; it's a thing of the past!

I've often wondered what happened to that gutsy woman. Did she become one of the women of means who provided food & clothing for Jesus & his disciples as he continued his itinerant ministry? Did she become a leader in the religious community, or was she still rejected because those in power were afraid of Jesus' powers? But we must catch up with Jairus.

Surely he's standing a few feet farther along the road, urging Jesus & his companions forward toward his house, frightened at what is happening with his daughter. Then he gets the devastating word: while Jesus has been dealing this pesky woman, messengers come to tell Jairus his little girl is dead. Jesus overhears the report & interrupts with "Do not fear; only believe." There's that believe word again. Jesus tells Jairus he only has to believe. What on earth does this mean to a man whose daughter has just died? "Believe in what?" he might say. The suspense continues to heighten as they continue to Jairus' house. We're told that Jesus chooses only his 3 closest companions to accompany him—Peter, James, & John. He bypasses the professional mourners who must be really carrying on as they are paid to do, & rebuking them as he goes. Then he really draws a laugh when he insists the little girl is not dead but only sleeping. "Yeah, RIGHT!" they say.

Jesus, the 3 disciples, & the girl's parents enter her room. Jesus confronts another Jewish taboo when he touches the dead girl, making himself ritually unclean. He takes her by the hand & calls to her, "Talitha cum." Lo & behold, the girl gets up & walks about immediately.

Immediately is one of Mark's favorite words, & here it certainly contrasts with the interruptions Jesus has undergone thus far. The people who declared her dead are overcome with amazement. Jesus tells them not to tell anyone about what has happened. Then he has a very practical suggestion: "Give her something to eat." This young girl has had a trauma, & Jesus knows she needs nourishment. He looks after our down-to-earth physical human needs as well as our spiritual ones. At several of Jesus' resurrection appearances, he eats with his disciples. Eating is a sign of resurrection, a sign the body is fully human. Jesus doesn't just expect us to believe in him & let it go at that. He expects us to be of service to our neighbors, to reach out & touch someone ourselves. The Christian action we do is part of our praising God.

Now we know that death awaits us all, some sooner & others later. Both of these people have been healed of their physical infirmities & can make their way back into society. Jesus has restored both of these women to life that they may be life-givers.

Jesus tells them both that their faith (or the faith of the girl's father) is what has made them whole. Faith is a gift from God. Our desire for faith is important, but we cannot ourselves create faith. Mark uses the word "immediately" quite often, even here in this story, but faith doesn't spring full blown into our hearts. The development of faith is a process that grows in our hearts, first by seeing its necessity & desiring it. As we pray for others, we can also pray for the gift of faith to grow & develop within ourselves. Corporate prayer is undoubtedly important to you or you would not be here today. And how do we develop our personal prayer? We just DO it! The writer Jean Gill says to pray as you can, not as you can't, & my observation is that our prayer lives would expand greatly if we spent our energy praying instead of talking so much about it. The regular spiritual exercises of Holy Communion & study & fellowship with our community helps us develop our faith just as physical exercise strengthens our bodies. When we act on the faith we already have, especially as we use the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our reaching out to others, our faith expands & deepens. During the summer months, our gospel readings provide ample opportunities for us to review Jesus' words & actions to those surrounding him. May our faith be strengthened as we explore the gift of faith Jesus grants us.

Pentecost 3

2009-06-21T20:52:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 3, Proper 7

21 June 2009

Text: Mark 4:35-41

Others: 1 Samuel 17: 32-49; Psalm 9: 9-20; 2 Corinthians 6: 1-13

My introduction to many stories from Hebrew scripture came in the form of a small record player my sister & I received one Christmas & a group of 78 rpm records with accompanying booklets. We spent endless summer hours listening to Joseph with his nasty brothers, Daniel who was rescued from the lion's den, & my favorite, David & his encounter with the giant Goliath.

We drop into the middle of this familiar story today as the shepherd boy David is acting as messenger between his father Jesse & his older brothers in Saul's army. He arrives at the front lines in the midst of Goliath's challenge to the Israelite army to send a warrior for single combat. Such challenges were fairly common in the ancient world though they were usually not issued by a giant—by some reckonings over 9 feet tall—nor did they usually settle the dispute. Rather, a full battle most often followed the single combat anyway.

David sees the lack of Israel's response to Goliath as shameful, since Goliath's offense is against Yhwh, the living God of the Hebrews, so he volunteers, as our reading opens today, to fight Goliath himself. Saul's & our introduction reveals David as ordinary & unremarkable, & David the boy can surely not stand up to Goliath the giant man. David recites his credentials for Saul, indicating his courage in protecting his flock of sheep from the lion & bear & incidentally characterizes Goliath likewise as an animal.

Clearly, Saul sees no option so tries to protect David with his own armor which he—ironically—does not offer to take up himself, but David quickly realizes Saul's armor hinders rather than helps him. He will fight Goliath as he has fought other wild animals, with slingshot & stones from the wadi, their version of a bayou.

Goliath sees the youth David as laughable as he approaches although he is once again described as ruddy & handsome. Goliath even characterizes himself as a dog, promising to feed David to the wild animals. Notice that David does not rely on his own abilities but feels confident because he knows that Yhwh will protect him due to the righteousness of his task. As David answers the challenge, the hearer is barraged by action verbs describing David's heroic action: David ran, pulled a stone from his bag, slung it, struck the Philistine on his forehead. David's actions indeed show the metal of the man, yet he gives the credit to Yhwh, the God of Israel, though neither Saul nor the Israelite army have exhibited trust in their God.

The story of David & Goliath has been seen as metaphor for the hopes of the underdog but really hopes of all when we are confronted with overwhelming & evil power. Here trust in God is not an intellectual exercise but motivates action, the hope for a way into the future where there seems no way, a chink in seemingly impregnable armor. Can the heroic confidence & action of David speak to us today?

Turning to our Gospel lesson today, the impregnable force the disciples are contending with is the sea. But first, we remember God the creator, passing over the face of the deep & speaking the separation of the earth from the seas, creating living creatures both in sea & on land. Pretty overwhelming, huh?

Some of Jesus' disciples in today's gospel story make their living catching fish. The boat & the sea are home to them. After all, Jesus has just used this same boat for his pulpit to teach a crowd of people all day. It is evening now, & this boat doesn't have battery-operated lanterns to ward off the darkness. Jesus is undoubtedly tired, so he curls up to sleep in the stern as the boat crosses to the Gentile side of the lake where he will begin a new phase of ministry.

Whirlwinds like the one which arises as Jesus sleeps were believed to be caused by demonic powers. The sea was supposedly the abode of creatures hostile to God. Certainly, it is terrifying enough that these disciples, many of whom are seasoned seamen, are scared to death. How can Jesus sleep through this torrent? It's not fair for him to sleep while they're so terrified. Is that why they wake him up? What do they expect him to do? Maybe they think he can pray better than they. His response is certainly not what they expect.

What does he do? He rebukes the wind saying, "Peace! Be still!" The Greek text is better translated, "Be quiet! Be muzzled!" Jesus treats the sea like a misbehaving animal which he can tame with his words. I'm sure we would be just as stunned as the disciples that the sea obeys him. Our translation says the wind ceased & there was a dead calm. What a contrast from the violence of the storm!

Jesus's focus turns from nature to the nature of the disciples when he says, "Why are you afraid? Are you still without faith?" Jesus must be pretty exasperated with them at this point. After all, they've been spending a lot of time with him, yet they still don't fully comprehend who he is or from where his power comes. To their credit, the disciples are filled with great awe as they say, "Who then is this, that even the wind & the sea obey him?"

We in the 21^st Century might easily criticize the dense disciples who just don't seem to get it, even when the evidence is right before their very eyes. We are apt to say, "Those dummies! If I had been there, I would certainly have understood that Jesus is the Messiah & his power is God's power. I would surely have believed in Jesus if I had seen him in the flesh."

Yet we, too, are traveling on the sea of our lives, often in boats which we didn't choose any more than the disciples chose to cross that sea when Jesus commanded it. We handle the oars or the sails pretty well when the seas are calm & the breezes gentle. Our lives might not be exactly what we want, but things are going pretty well, aren't they? In fact, we may not even acknowledge God's presence daily, or at least we don't give God credit for good weather & fair crossing. But sure, we trust God.

Then, the storms gather. Rain batters us, & the whirlwind sweeps us up in it! The world all around us is a storm, & we definitely feel alone. What do we do? We, like the lieutenant in Forrest Gump's shrimp boat, are likely to look up to the heavens, shake our fist at God, & holler, "Wake up, God! Don't you see what's going on down here? Do something! Save me!" We get pretty demanding of God when chaos reigns supreme in our lives, don't we? It is now that we utter our most fervent prayers: "God, help!"

How many of us trust God when all is going well but get pretty shaken up when the bottom falls out of our lives & God doesn't rescue us the way we expect? In my profession, I hear a lot of people complain about the bad things that happen to the good people--they themselves! We're pretty quick to judge whether occurrences in our lives are good or bad. When an alcoholic or addict hits bottom, seldom does she realize that only then is she vulnerable enough to let God intervene, perform a miracle, & start her on the road to new life. Losing a job is traumatic, & the results are often terribly frightening. Only then can a person sometimes be open to a healthier way of viewing the world & his place in it. I won't even go into how frightening & costly our health care system can be, leaving us with difficult choices. Savings & investments aren't nearly as secure as we were led to believe they were, leading us to tighten our belts & live more cautiously.

How do you react out there on the sea in the boat when the weather turns nasty, the rain batters you, & the winds blow so hard you're afraid your boat will capsize? Do you realize that Jesus is there with you? Do you turn to him & trust him completely, even in the midst of the storm? This story is about our recognizing who Jesus is, the power which Jesus can have in our lives if we let him, & how much we can let ourselves trust him. Are we ready to have our excuses which keep us from living our lives fully washed away? Can we really trust Jesus that much? God's grace is sufficient for us to trust more & more if we only accept the grace which God offers.

(Seldom do I find music for our worship which better expresses the spirit of the scriptures than we have today. At communion today, we will sing, "Jesus, Savior, pilot me." The images of the sea & the storm pour through that old hymn. In the 2nd verse, we equate Jesus' ability to still the storms of our lives with the mother who calms her child's fears. As you sing in a few minutes, rest in the arms of Jesus who can comfort you like a mother.)

David in our first story & Jesus in the 2^nd offer us a gift which we're encouraged to take: courage. We're assured that God is with us & will give us all we need to respond to the storms in our lives.

We at Hope can become pretty discouraged at times, especially when we're struggling financially & seem to lack people to carry out the mission of our church. Yesterday at the reception after Jackie Cockrell's funeral I was privileged to chat with the doctor who had cared for Jackie over the past 12 to 15 years. She assured me that she never saw Jackie that Jackie didn't tell her about this community of Hope. Dr. Anderson knew of our struggles but also the many ways we have grown as an intentional multicultural community. Jackie's prayer for us was—& I contend still is—for us to exhibit the courage to move forward to reach out to others & to care for one another in Christ's love. The doctor's words encouraged me & reminded me that we often get hung up thinking that the mission of Hope is all up to us, yet both these stories invite us to align our efforts to the hope which God can fulfill in us if we continue to live out of our trust in God. Let us claim the promise from our psalm today, "Those who know your Name will put their trust in you, for you never forsake those who seek you, O Lord." Amen.

Pentecost 2

2009-06-17T10:30:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 2, Proper 6

14 June 2009

Texts: Mark 4: 26-34; I Samuel 15: 34-16: 13

Other readings: Psalm 20; II Corinthians 5: 6-10 (11-13), 14-17

First I want to thank you all for welcoming me back from my holiday which was partly vacation & partly continuing education. I'm only sorry to see that, in my absence, you let the temperature & the price of gasoline rise far too much!

When I left here last month, we were in the season of Easter, & now we are in the season of Pentecost, the longest liturgical season which lasts from now until Christ the King Sunday which is around Thanksgiving, after which we begin a new church year with Advent once again. This season is also called Common Time or Ordinary Time which is when we spend the majority of our lives, isn't it? During the long hot days of summer & into the fall, the scriptures chosen for us to read & grapple with involve the teachings & daily activities of Jesus as he moved from place to place with his disciples.

Traditionally, the focus for this time of year has been in our own growth as disciples and the renewal of the Church. Our Collect for the Day which we said together at the beginning of worship captures our theme well. We ask God to keep God's household or family the Church growing in steadfast faith & love so that we may be bold in the proclamation of God's truth & compassionate as we minister with God's justice, all through God's grace, not by our own efforts or abilities. Our prayer acknowledges that God does the initiating, & we pattern our lives after God's will.

All our scriptures today have to do with the ways in which God works in the world for renewal, & God's call us to participate in such a call. Way back in the days of the Hebrew people, the prophet Samuel is grieving because Saul has turned out to be such a defective king of Israel, & even God regrets the choice of Saul. However, God calls Samuel to action, gives him a job to do. God takes the initiative to send Samuel to Bethlehem where God has already chosen the next king of Israel. Samuel is frightened since he knows the anointing of a new king while Saul is still king amounts to treason, so God gives him a cover, so to speak. Samuel is to make a sacrifice to God, a common part of a priest & prophet's life, & to invite Jesse & his sons to the sacrifice during which the new king will be anointed.

When Samuel goes about fulfilling God's instructions, he is surprised to find that those of Jesse's sons presumably most capable of kingship are not God's choice. God has to remind Samuel that God's criteria for leadership are not the same as we would choose. Much is made in the story about mortals' limited vision which only sees outward appearances while God looks upon the heart. Samuel rejects Jesse's 7 sons & asks if there is another, & Jesse has clearly not considered his youngest, David, a likely candidate for leadership as he is still in the fields tending the sheep.

We, too, might be surprised that it is the youngest son whom Samuel anoints, yet our Hebrew scriptures are full of younger sons whom God chooses for special leadership roles, Isaac & Joseph among them. In addition, David's first profession as shepherd foreshadows his role as King, since the image of the king as shepherd was common in Israel & throughout the ancient Near East. Further, David's family tree includes women who were unlikely vessels of God's grace: Ruth, the foreigner; Tamar, the Canaanite woman almost executed for adultery; & Rahab, another Canaanite woman known as a prostitute.

A friend with whom I went to church when Barbara Harris was elected bishop fumed about her shortcomings. She hadn't gone to a proper seminary, she was divorced, she hadn't pastored a cardinal parish. I wondered at the time whether he was truly more upset that she was female or that she was African-American. She has recently retired as the much-beloved Suffragan Bishop of Massachusetts, & General Convention will soon celebrate her becoming bishop 20 years ago. All of which puts me in mind of the verse from the Psalms that Jesus quoted about the stone that the builders rejected becoming the chief cornerstone. In our communities where power is deeply entrenched, God's word to Samuel is applicable: God does not see as mortals see; mortals look on outward appearance but God looks on the heart.

When we turn to the Gospel of Mark, we find 2 short parables about seeds which are the only 2 Mark gives us to visualize the Kingdom or the Reign of God. Both parables stress God's initiative in dealing with humans. Someone scatters seed on the ground—we're not even told it must be an expert so perhaps even I could be the sower in this parable—for then the sower does not stand over the seed to encourage it to grow or even worse, dig it up to see how far along the process has come. The rhythm of the parable even in English suggests the necessity of patience until the seeds germinate in God's time (notice the similar phrases in our offertory hymn today): the sower would sleep & rise night & day; the earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. All God's timing & maturing. Then the sower can become the harvester.

The 2^nd parable today is very familiar to us, especially those of us old enough to have worn necklaces as youth with a small mustard seen encapsulated in a plastic bead. God's reign starts out on earth (presumably just as Jesus was actually telling the parable) like a mustard seed, so small that it is almost invisible. Mark is careful to preserve the meaning when he says that it grows up to become the greatest of all shrubs. It still does not have the majesty of a cedar of Lebanon, but it has branches strong enough to house bird nests. I've often wondered if this parable is true to life & was discussing it with our parish administrator Mary the other day. She said she could certainly relate to this parable since their church has a community garden (not a bad idea, perhaps), & the mustard shrubs had to be taken out as they were overtaking the space for all the other vegetables in the garden. Indeed, that small seed does produce prodigiously.

Can you just imagine Jesus telling this parable to a crowd of people who are discouraged at the seeming lack of progress or growth in their spiritual lives or faith community? What a sign of encouragement that mustard seed could be to poor or marginalized people in the backwater area of an occupied country in the Middle East. In fact, for those of us who can get wrapped up in outward signs of success, the mustard seed can certainly speak to us today. After all, our country is in a recession, people are losing jobs, necessities are more expensive than ever, & life seems very difficult when a family member is ill or simply because the heat drains everyone of energy. Furthermore, here at Hope, our church hasn't grown the way we had hoped it would, attendance is lower in the summer than usual, pledges are down & people are slow in paying them, & it's hard to encourage more people to make & keep commitments. Aren't these the ways we judge success out in the world?

Jesus offers us the mustard seed. Jesus tells us that the growth of God's reign is God's initiation & God's grace. Our part is to do some sowing, some weeding, a lot of praying for the community & for those within it, & to align our will to God's in every way possible. God gives the growth. Yes, there are things we can do, & we should do. Thank God for the work being done by parishioners on the gardens here at Hope as well as the remodeling recently done—the new kitchen & restrooms in the parish hall, new furniture in the offices, new computers for the day school. As disciples, we are to participate in God's work in the world—growing in our own spiritual journey & sharing in the spiritual deepening in the community. Critical & destructive conversation has the opposite effect of the sort of encouragement which Jesus' mustard seed parable gives us. Imagine my surprise in returning from my time away to find that rumors have been flying that I am leaving! I certainly hope that is not true; I don't believe our ministry together here at Hope has been done yet. We all need each other, & Jesus reminds us in these parables that God's ways are not our ways, that our task is to continue to pray & give & grow as sowers & harvesters in God's field, leaving to God the growth of the mustard seed. Please join & continue in the Hope-ful community in our journey of faith.

Easter VI

2009-06-17T10:25:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Easter VI

17 May 2009

Texts: Acts 10: 44-48 & John 15: 9-17

Easter V

2009-06-17T10:19:00.001-07:00

By The Rev. Martha Frances

Year B, Easter V

10 May 2009

Text: John 15: 1-8

Other Readings: Acts 8: 26-40; Ps. 22: 24-30; I John 4: 7-21

For the past 2½ years, I've become acquainted with a new kind of gardening for me: growing things in the ground. Most of my adult life, I've lived in apartments where I had no responsibility for nor interest in making anything grow that didn't grow in a pot which I could just throw out if it began to turn brown & gnarly. Only since I bought my house have I developed interest in keeping the lawn green & adding flower beds with color. I have a gardener who does the actual work, mind you, but when the calla lilies we had grown from bulbs around my trees began blooming last week, I was thrilled. And vines & branches make much more sense to me now that I'm watching how trailers are covering the brown spots in the lawn. Jesus' metaphor now makes much more sense to me.

However, for the followers of Jesus who were fishermen & shepherds, farmers & wine-makers, this final "I am" saying in John's gospel was already familiar. Regardless, one does not need gardening skills to understand at a deep level the points Jesus makes in these last two "I am" sayings.

Jesus says, "I am the true vine, & my Father is the vinegrower." Later, he says, "I am the vine; you are the branches." These two metaphors are not placed in the same paragraph by accident. First, Jesus identifies himself in relation to God & then to his disciples. Jesus did not exist in isolation & neither do we. Jesus is the true vine, but his authenticity, his being "true," is because of his connection with the vinegrower. Jesus' very being is possible because he has been planted & is tended by God whom he calls Father. Jesus doesn't exist in isolation or just for himself. Jesus the vine is the root & the foundation for the branches, his community. Jesus gives life & connectedness to his disciples because they share the same life which originates in the vinegrower, God. In fact, it is impossible to determine where the vine ends & the branches begin. All are entangled in each other & interrelated, mutually dependent upon each other. And all are dependent upon God the vinegrower.

Pretty simple metaphor, isn't it? Not hard for even us city folk to comprehend. But we might say, "So what? What a nice image. But what does that mean in my daily life?" Let's look at this business of bearing fruit or being pruned. We're told that God removes the branches that don't bear fruit. Even the branches that bear fruit have to be pruned to make them more productive. Begins to sound painful & personal, doesn't it?

For years back when we lived in a condominium, our neighbor Jeannie took personal responsibility for the roses & other plants growing in the common areas. She spent many hours out there watering & fertilizing & pruning those roses. At pruning time, it pained me to see her cut the rose bushes back almost to the ground. How could those little stumps ever bear fruit again? Sure enough, usually near Easter time each spring, the shoots would sprout up, buds would appear, & we would walk out one morning to the wonder of a garden full of blossoming roses.

Then Jeannie moved away, & the professional gardeners who were contracted now cared for the roses in a haphazard fashion. Never were they pruned back like Jeannie had previously cut them. The paltry number of blossoms that finally bloomed could never equal those Jeannie had given her loving but seemingly severe care. Finally, I have come to appreciate the importance of pruning.

When Jesus speaks both of removing fruitless branches & of pruning fruitful ones, Jesus is speaking of his own disciples. Jesus says the whole point of being disciples is to bear fruit. Notice, all the disciples are part of the vine; all are invited to participate in preparing for the reign of God, not just certain leaders. All are expected to bear fruit.

What, then, is this fruit we are all expected to bear? In John's gospel, fruit-bearing begins with God loving the world so much God sent the Son so that all might believe. Those who don't show love in the Christian community won't be able to survive within that community. They'll actually separate themselves, most likely.

All of us require some pruning to show the kind of love Jesus models for us. The word for pruning is often translated cleansing. We all need some pruning or cleansing in order to show forth the love Jesus gives us. We need cleansing to stay in relationship with Jesus & ultimately with God.

Pruning is usually painful. Few of us like to change, to give up old habits that keep us from fully accepting the love of God & hold us back from passing that love on to others. Pruning takes various forms for us all, but here at Hope, it sometimes means reexamining assumptions we've made about doing church the way we've always done it. In fact, in order for our church to grow & to deepen, we must be open to new ways of thinking & behaving. In so doing, we might encounter the vinegrower in a new way. What pruning does God the vinegrower need to do in your life in order that you might bear much fruit? In the life of Hope Episcopal Church? I invite you to pray this next week that God will show us what stands between us & our full ability to be fruitful.

In our first reading today from Acts, Luke describes an apostle discipling the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip doesn't just happen to meet this Ethiopian eunuch because he is wandering down a wilderness road. No, an angel directs Philip to the place he will encounter the eunuch. God initiates their meeting. Philip has just completed a successful evangelistic crusade in Samaria, preaching the good news of Jesus & healing many people who respond with great joy. So it's curious that the angel rushes him away to a lonely road to nowhere & to one foreigner, & on top of that, a eunuch.

You see, eunuchs aren't even allowed entry into the Jewish temple, yet he has been to Jerusalem to worship. He is at least a God-fearer, certainly an earnest inquirer, now searching the scriptures as he returns to Ethiopia in his chariot. He's a high court official, treasurer for the Candace, which is a title like Pharoah, so he can afford a chariot & doesn't have to walk on his pilgrimage. Philip must be bold to even approach such a bigwig.

The eunuch is reading aloud, as most people did in those days, so Philip asks if he understands what he is reading. The eunuch is probably pretty relieved to see a Jew to ask about the Jewish scriptures, so he invites Philip to enlighten him. Early Christians believed Jesus was the fulfillment of the Hebrew longing for a messiah, so naturally, Philip's good news is that Jesus has fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy as God's humble servant bearing the consequences of others' sins. Philip illustrates our 3rd baptismal promise: "Will you proclaim by word & example the Good News of God in Christ?" We all respond, "I will, with God's help." Surely God's Spirit was with Philip as he explained scripture to the eunuch. If we're doing what God calls us to do, God truly abides with us.

Philip tell the eunuch the story of salvation & before long, the eunuch spots some water in this arid land & asks to be baptized. What an affirmation to Philip that he is fulfilling Jesus' great commission to go to the ends of the earth, proclaim the good news, & baptize all people! Then Philip disappears immediately after the baptism, continuing to preach the good news all the way back to Caesarea.

In this story Luke emphasizes how Jesus' Gospel breaks down geographic as well as ethnic barriers in the early Christian community. During Easter season, we remember Jesus' encounter with the disciples on the Emmaus road. Perhaps the eunuch also tells the good news to others as he returns to the Candace's service in what is now the Sudan.

I haven't seen many chariots coming down 43^rd Street lately—some art cars, but not chariots—but each of us has ample opportunity to reach out to our neighbors, not only in word & speech, as John says, but in truth & action in our daily lives. The way you live your life every day speaks volumes. Turning away from an angry person rather than reacting with bitter words is an incredibly difficult thing to do, but you're not alone, are you? Even bowing to say grace when you eat out is a true witness to the priorities in your life as is tipping the waitstaff a healthy sum since they make little else.

There was a bumper sticker a few years ago which I loved. It said, "Practice random acts of kindness." St. Francis told us to preach the Gospel wherever we went, & when necessary, use words. I'd like to challenge you today to watch this next week for opportunities to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ by your actions, whether or not the other person knows you are a Christian. Whether or not the other person is even aware of your action. What difference might your acting like a disciple make in your own life this week? What difference might it make in your neighbor's?

We need the experience of regular worship, study, & fellowship in order to be emboldened to share our lives as Christians. May we uphold each other in prayer as we build community together.

Near the end of today's Gospel passage, Jesus tells us if we abide in Jesus & Jesus abides in us, then our prayers will accord with God's will & be answered. This & similar passages have led some Christians to visualize God as the great Santa Claus who providing them with whatever their little hearts desire. However, there's a very important "if" in the sentence. "IF you abide in me," Jesus says, "and my words abide in you," THEN we can ask whatever we wish & that will be done. "Abide" is a fascinating word. It really means that we live in God's presence, we make our home with God so completely that whatever we ask will be God's will. We don't just drop in for a visit when it's convenient. We're invited in to come in the kitchen & help with the dishes.

Finally, we're told God is glorified by our asking for whatever allows us to bear much fruit; God is glorified by our desire to dwell with God & within the Christian community. We will bear fruit as we worship & study God's word & fellowship & play & strengthen our discipleship with other Christians. In so doing, we can make more of an impact on the larger neighborhood.

We Americans have felt great pride in individualism & accomplishing a lot on our own, but remember that no one can tell where the vine ends & the branches begin. Jesus' metaphor is radically egalitarian, non-hierarchical. We are called together to take his body & blood & then go forth, strengthened by his own gift of life, to bear fruit. Life in community isn't always easy, & we must be accountable to each other. But we must learn to live together & be pruned together in order to share the Gospel message with others.

Easter IV

2009-06-17T10:18:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Easter IV

3 May 2009

Texts: Psalm 23; John 10: 11-18

Other reading: Acts 4: 5-12; 1 John 3: 16-24

Someone famous once said, "These are the times that try men's souls," & certainly in these days, men's & women's souls or at least nerves are stretched to what seems like the limit. The economic outlook in our nation & indeed in the world is pretty bleak, & those of us who live on a fixed income or who are depending upon investments for our future are pretty nervous right now. To add insult to injury, we hear of guys like Stan____ and Barney Madoff who are making off with other people's money unabashedly. More folks are losing jobs weekly, & finding a new one requires time & perhaps more luck than skill. Our own & our family's health may be a bit fragile—certainly mine has been this spring. Then, the swine flu arrives, & no one seems to know how serious a danger it is. Life feels heavy & serious to many people at this time in our lives, doesn't it?

As often happens, our lectionary texts seem to be chosen especially for such times as this. For a few moments, breathe deeply and allow this most familiar of all psalms to nourish you:

(Reread the psalm).

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters.

He revives my soul and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil;

For you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me;

You have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over.

Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

What an assurance! What a radical statement of faith about God & God's care for each person as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, if not our own, then that of friends, families, & co-workers. Just this last week, we have observed anniversaries of the Branch Davidian fiasco in the Waco area, the bombing in Oklahoma City, & the Columbine High School shootings. Security we had taken for granted was pretty shattered even before 9/11.

As these events & situations have made the news this week, my mind has returned to today's psalm & to Jesus' declaration, "I am the Good Shepherd." In fact, the image of the Good Shepherd has come alive once again, the Good Shepherd whom the sheep trusted & followed because he knew them each by name.

Although we may not all know each other's names here at Hope, the Good Shepherd knows us each by name, & we all wear the name "Christian" today. David probably authored this psalm long before he was king, when he was a Palestinian shepherd boy keeping watch over his sheep. Long before Jesus told us he was the Good Shepherd, royalty through the ancient Near East used that title to designate how rulers should care for their people.

Thus, when Jesus told his followers he was the Good Shepherd, they knew what kind of leader he was to be. He didn't say he was LIKE the Good Shepherd, but he WAS the Good Shepherd. Which one? And this is what Jesus added which wasn't part of the Hebrew scriptures' description of the Good Shepherd. Jesus is the one who lays down his life for the sheep. Who are we? And WHOSE are we?

First, we shall not be in want. Some of us are more affluent than others, & I even though we're all worth less than several months ago, we're better off materially than my parishioners were at Lord of the Streets, but down there I heard time & again an attitude of gratitude for God's daily provisions, often through the ministry of the folks at LOTS. My parishioners there taught ME a lot about trusting God for the basics of my life, & most of the time, what we middle-classed folks find lacking are our wants, & not our needs.

Psalm 23 begins in peace & tranquility, & only when the psalmist mentions right pathways are we reminded that we must trust God to keep us on the right path as there are many dangerous ones out there, aren't there? In our world, we are bombarded by cunning advertisements beckoning us to seek fulfillment with material possessions & measures of success very different from Jesus' values. Our challenge is to keep listening for the Shepherd's voice & to respond to the nudge of the Shepherd's crook lest we wander off into briars & brambles which look suspiciously like the good ole American dream. You know what your briars & brambles of temptation look like, so I'll leave the details to your imagination.

In the psalm, we move quickly to the ultimate test of trust, don't we, & are reminded of our own personal valleys of the shadow of death. Because I had been both widowed & divorced back in my 20s, when my husband Bill became very ill several years ago, I thought I could handle his worsening health & then his death without too much trouble. In fact, I continued with my work pretty much as I had before. I was certainly in a lot of denial as to the level of exhaustion & grief I was experiencing until about 9 months after Bill's death. Then, as what was wrong began to dawn on me, I was overly-critical of myself because I felt I should be able to manage better—after all, I'm the priest, I've been a chaplain, I've studied the grief cycle. But those of you who have experienced similar struggles with sudden death or long-term illnesses can relate to what's taken out of you. I can encourage you to be gentle with yourselves as I now try to be.

I can encourage you to grab on with all your hearts to the promise of abundance the psalmist offers: "for you are with me; your rod & staff comfort me." Perhaps you are in a good place in your life right now, & your cup is running over, but we can all remind each other to allow the Good Shepherd to care for us.

Twice in today's gospel reading, Jesus tells us he is the Good Shepherd. He says he knows his own sheep & they—or we—also know him. In fact, he speaks about these sheep—the early Church—as a community who are all cared for by the Good Shepherd. Sheep don't do well when we're alone, do we? Remember Jesus' parable about the lost sheep? He left the 99 to go after even one. Jesus desires us to be part of a sheepfold, the community of believers.

Here at Hope, we have had varying success in growing & deepening our community of faith. Jesus calls us to cross over boundaries, recognize someone else's reality, & hear other people's stories just as many of us did in our Lenten study groups, aware that we may be changed by the experience.

After all, Jesus says in the Gospel for today that others are not of this fold. Even scholars are not sure to whom he was referring in this passage, but it's clear Jesus is asking us to stretch our level of acceptance to include people vastly different from us, helping them become part of our community. We have certainly begun that process in the past 4 years, but we continue to be challenged not just to accept others but to reach out actively to bring others into our midst. Jesus offers radical hospitality to a wide variety of people, some of them clearly those who challenge our idea of community, welcoming others as sisters & brothers.

We who are called to lead congregations are often called "pastors," another word for "shepherd," & you at Hope are the flock whom I'm called to shepherd. When Bishops High visits here in December, he will carry a large staff or crozier, a shepherd's crook, for our bishops are our chief shepherds & we their sheep in congregations throughout our diocese. Ultimately, however, all of us must turn to Jesus as the true Good Shepherd, trusting Christ to lead us where we must go with those with whom we're called to travel. Let us continue to journey together. Surely Christ's goodness & mercy will follow us all the days of our lives.

Easter III

2009-04-27T12:13:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Easter III

26 April 2009

Texts: Luke 24: 36b-48

Other readings: Acts 3: 12-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 3: 1-7

One of the gifts we have been given by those who chose the books for the Bible is 4 different Gospels. Last week, we explored John's rendition of Jesus' appearance to the disciples on Easter Sunday evening. Today, our Gospel reading is Luke's Sunday night story, & I'd like for us to enter this story similarly to what we did with John's story last week as we become "characters" in Luke's resurrection story.

It is now late Sunday night, & we have mostly stuck together since the horror of the crucifixion on Friday. Still stunned by the emotion-laden events of the past few days, we aren't sure what to do, the streets of the city are far too dangerous, so we remain together, in silence much of the time, then in 2s or 3s recounting recent occurrences, trying to make sense of the unbearable. We had thought our friend & rabbi Jesus was the Messiah for whom all we Jews have been waiting expectantly, but he allowed himself to be captured & crucified. He was preparing us the other night when we shared the Passover supper with him. What extraordinary words he had to say when he blessed & then shared the bread & wine! He called them his own body & blood. Is it all to come to nothing?

Look, out of nowhere, here he is with us once again. Jesus is among us, proclaiming "Peace be with you." Of course we're terrified! Wouldn't you be? We've never seen a ghost before. But he tells us that there's no need for fear; that we can touch his hands & feet. Now he's eating a piece of broiled fish! Ghosts can't eat, can they? Could the women have told is the truth as they returned from the tomb? Even Peter said that the tomb was empty when he went to check it out this morning. And our friends returned from Emmaus with an amazing story of encountering Jesus on the road. We thought they were suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. But, can Jesus possibly be alive? Yes, here he is, among us.

Listen! What is Jesus telling us? That his suffering & crucifixion & then this resurrection fulfill what we have been told in our scriptures. That what we've read & sung about in our psalms is really coming true in our lives. How can this be? It's happening far too fast! My head is spinning!

What's he saying now about repentance & forgiveness of sins? Preach his message to all nations? Who, me? Just because I've been a witness? What does he mean? It's far too dangerous out there. Just look what happened to him! Who does he think I am?

Right here at Hope Episcopal Church in Houston, Tx, who does Jesus think that I am? Who are you? Who are we all who call ourselves Christian? Are we witnesses to the risen Jesus? Does he mean for us to go & tell the nations? What does Jesus' resurrection appearance in Jerusalem that Easter Sunday night long ago have to do with us? That was then; this is now!

Yes, indeed, Jesus does mean us. You & me. Jesus joins us today, as we celebrate this ancient ritual of Holy Eucharist in contemporary language. Jesus joins us each time we read his Word from the Bible & stand to affirm our faith in the Creed. Jesus joins us when we pray for our sisters & brothers in the Prayers of the People, as we confess our sins & then pass Christ's peace with each other as resurrection people.

Jesus stands among us & says, "What are you going to do about those for whom you pray?" How are we to proclaim repentance & forgiveness of sins in Jesus' name to all nations? That's what we say we'll do, after all. When we gather at Christ's table to receive the bread & wine of Eucharist, sharing a meal together & being nourished in Jesus' name, what task are we nourished for? What would Jesus have us do? Who are those with whom we are supposed to preach repentance & forgiveness?

Last Wed. I accompanied a parishioner to the Houston Hospice Benefit Luncheon where we were privileged to hear 2 faithful speakers. The first was a young mother whose life, & that of her family, had been blessed by the Butterfly team of the hospice who accompanies families as their children die. This courageous woman gave gratitude to Christ for the hospice nurse who walked them through the birth of a new baby just as their 6 year old daughter succumbed to a brain tumor. Such witness to Christ's work through health care professionals touched the 600 who attended deeply.

Then, news anchor Greg Hurst from Channel 11 engaged in a fascinating conversation with Paul Young, author of The Shack. As they rocked on the stage set front porch of the shack, we learned much of the "back story" of this remarkable novel which Young wrote in response to his wife's urging as a Christmas gift for his 6 children. He assured his audience that what took one weekend in the book had actually taken him 11 years to work through, & then he elaborated on his own experience of a loving, forgiving, accepting God whom he'd come to know & respond to despite a terribly abusive childhood. Fame has not tarnished this plain-spoken humble man whose desire in his future is to continue to fulfill God's vocation for him—introducing others to the God who has changed his life.

Most of us will never have the opportunity for such a wide audience, & I admit I probably wouldn't handle that attention with the grace I saw on Wed from either speaker, but we have ample opportunity to share God's amazing unconditional love with others frequently, perhaps daily. When we speak to newcomers in church & invite them to coffee in the parish hall, encourage them to join a small group or help out on a workday, remember their names next time they come, & encourage them to come again, we are all reaching out with God's love to others. Whether it be for a game night, a small book study group, the upcoming recital, an event such as the fall festival or blessing of the animals, or simply for worship, we have many opportunities to share our church community to reach into the neighborhood, & we need your participation in all of them. What about your relationships with co-workers, neighbors, workers where you shop, & your social contacts? Have you invited them to church? Has your daily behavior in their company made them desire to know you & your community? We don't share Christ with others just to get them inside our church. That may or may not be a bonus when we reach out in joy & generosity to others in Jesus' name.

Jesus says that everything written about him in the law of Moses, the prophets, & the psalms is fulfilled in his life, death & resurrection. Jesus emphasizes the need to have open minds which understand--or strive to understand--the scriptures. Jesus promises that we will be empowered to go forth, & one way to be clothed with power from on high is to immerse ourselves in disciplined study of God's word. We have a Bible study group at 9:00 each Sunday morning over in the parish hall yearning to do just that. If you'd like to start a weekday or evening Bible study, see me for such can be arranged.

Luke tells us that Jesus opened their minds, & his message was his life, his suffering & death, & his resurrection from the dead. The promise he said would come to us if we repent & return to God is forgiveness of sins. That is also the promise we proclaim to those to whom we tell the good news.

This message of forgiveness is a powerful one we sometimes miss or discount. I talked of forgiveness last week also, but the Easter season proclaims the freedom we receive & give when we take forgiveness seriously in our lives. We pray every time we say the Lord's Prayer that we may be forgiven just as we forgive others their sin. Those two actions seem to be closely connected, don't they? Indeed, in the model prayer Jesus taught his disciples, we pray we can fully receive the fruits of forgiveness only if we are willing to forgive others their wrongs against us. First, can we forgive ourselves for those things we hold deep within our hearts but which Jesus wants to forgive us for?

How can we tell that we are living into God's forgiveness of us? Our attitudes & our actions change. Oh dear, that means that we may have to change not only our thoughts but our actions! We may have to begin to see others as Christ sees them, as Christ's precious brothers & sisters, as our precious brothers & sisters. This business of our living as Easter people, as resurrection people, means that we have to accept ourselves & each other as loved children of God. When we've been forgiven, we have to start acting as forgiven people, to live lives of gratitude instead of scarcity.

The season of Easter is the perfect time for us to strengthen our bond with the Christian community so that we are better able to go forth in Christ's name. I invite you to come & see. Then I encourage you to go forth & tell the good news of Jesus to all whom you encounter. Our church community can be your grounding for your outreach to others. Ours will be a powerful witness if we learn to live out of that life of abundance regardless of how much or little we possess in this world. Let us commit to be Easter people during this season so it may spill out in abundance in all our lives.

Easter II

2009-04-19T21:20:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Second Sunday of Easter

19 April 2009

Texts: John 20: 19-31

Other readings: Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 133; 1 John 1:1-2:2

Last week I was up after the 10:00 news & heard David Letterman say, "Now that Easter is over. . . ." Immediately, I was struck by how countercultural we Christians who follow a liturgical calendar are. Monday morning retailers were busy putting Easter dresses, baskets, plastic & chocolate eggs on sale for Easter was past. We know that Easter has just begun & is the 2^nd longest season in the church year, even longer than Lent. For 50 days, from last Sunday until Pentecost on May 31 is Easter time, or the Easter season. After all, Jesus' resurrection makes us Christian, & though we recognize Jesus as fully human, we also celebrate his breaking out of the bonds of human life & death because he is also divine. This stupendous gift of God cannot be contained in one Sunday or one week but is celebrated for 7 weeks because Jesus' resurrection makes all the difference. The alleluias we buried for the 6 weeks of Lent abound during Easter season, so we lift up our voices again & again to say "Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!"

Today our Gospel reading takes us to Easter evening, "that day," the evangelist John tells us, "the first day of the week." Let's join the disciples huddled in the upper room, wondering what on earth will happen to us now. Several of us went to the tomb but found it empty. Mary Magdalene says she encountered the gardener at Gethsemane, but when he called her by name, her eyes were opened to see Jesus standing beside her. She returns to the other disciples exclaiming, "I have seen the Lord!" What do we think about these happenings? What to do about them?

As we ponder, Jesus appears in our midst. He says "Peace be with you," an interesting contrast to angels who begin their conversation with "Don't be afraid." Jesus offers peace to us. He offers his hands & his side to assure us he has actually been crucified & now comes to us in bodily form. Yet, wait a minute; the door is locked! How did he get in here?

We'd thought all was back to normal. Now Jesus proclaims that he's sending us out into the world equipped with the Holy Spirit. Jesus breathes on us; we disciples are "inspired" by the power of the Holy Spirit. We're reminded of the creation story at the beginning of time when God breathed the breath of life into humans, the Spirit which had hovered over the deep which was infused into creation by God's very own breath? Jesus now inspires us with such breath, with the power of the new or second creation. Someday, people will say this moment is Pentecost.

Jesus is pretty specific about what gift the Spirit empowers us to share with others: the gift of forgiveness. We're to go out & offer the new covenant of reconciliation, as the collect for this Sunday states: God, give us the power to show forth in our lives what we profess by our faith. Jesus calls us to share the gift of forgiveness with others. When we don't do that, what happens? Jesus says it right here: the sins which we retain—those we're unwilling to ask God's forgiveness for—will continue to haunt us. Remember, he taught us to pray "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

Some of us are plagued with unforgiveness this morning. I would wager we've all lived with the sin of unforgiveness from time to time in our lives. Right here, in Jesus' first appearance to his disciples, he tells us to ask & receive forgiveness. Perhaps it's such transforming action Jesus has been preparing us for. What are the sins that you are holding onto, which you don't believe can ever be forgiven? Who are we to hold on to sins for which Jesus so freely offers forgiveness? Why is this forgiveness of sins so important right from the get-go? Jesus is sending us, his disciples, out to the world to live a resurrected life. How can we be effective proclaimers of the Gospel if we're weighed down by the sin of unforgiveness?

We usually confess our sins to God before we come to the table for communion. Today, I urge you to offer up those sins to God & take seriously the absolution I will pronounce in God's name so that you will be equipped to be sent out as an agent of reconciliation to the world in Christ's name. Immediately after the confession & absolution, we offer communion, the body & blood of Christ, the sacred meal through which we are equipped to be Christ's disciples.

What did the original disciples do after this incredible encounter with Jesus? They discussed it among themselves enough that Thomas found out what he'd missed by not being in the upper room that Easter night. The church has labeled good ole Thomas "the Doubter" because of today's gospel story. Why is it Thomas's doubting we remember rather than his earlier courageous suggestion that they accompany Jesus to Jerusalem & to his almost certain death? Thomas' negative reputation as slow to accept the risen Jesus until the evidence is overwhelming. Where was Thomas that 1^st night that Jesus appeared? It may be he was the only disciple courageous enough to face the risks of being Jesus' disciple while the others cowered behind locked doors.

At any rate, a week later, Thomas is with the other disciples—what are they still doing holed up on the upper room anyway?—when Jesus appears again. Does Jesus belittle Thomas' doubting? No, Jesus provides Thomas with what he needs in order to believe: he offers Thomas his hands & side to examine. Jesus meets Thomas' conditions. And when Thomas gets it, he utters an affirmation as strong as Peter had at Caesarea Philippi: "My Lord & my God!" He recognizes this Jesus whom he had known in the flesh is none other than the God whom they worship.

Thomas is a testimony to all of us whose coming to faith has been more gradual. If even one of Jesus' first disciples felt he had to have proof of Jesus' resurrection, then should I feel any less a Christian because Jesus worked on me gradually? Jesus even responds to my concern lo these many centuries later: "Blessed are those who have not seen & yet have come to believe." Jesus assures us that we don't have to have known him in the flesh in order to recognize him as our Lord and God. Once again, Jesus provides us with what we need: disciples throughout the intervening centuries are likewise given what we need to express our faith in this Jesus as Christ & then to live our lives as Easter people, transformed and re-created. Our translation recognizes our growing in faith as a process: "Blessed are those who have not seen & yet have come to believe." Coming to faith is a process.

I've heard it said that faith & doubt cannot reside together. Thomas is the patron saint of those whose journey of faith is stimulated & carried forth on doubt. Thomas was honest enough to admit that he needed proof. For Thomas, doubt stimulated him to pursue answers. So what if we, like Thomas, want proof? What if faith does not come easily for us? It seems that Jesus is assuring us that we'll receive what we need for faith if we're just willing to be open. That doesn't mean that we're to be hypocrites. It simply means that, as we live faithfully, we are given faith. During this Easter season, may we be faithful in discovering what Jesus has for each of us to do to profess our faith by showing it forth in our lives.

Easter Day

2009-04-12T20:29:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Easter Day

16 April 2006

Texts: Mark 16: 1-8

Other readings: Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24; I Corinthians 15: 1-11

So the women went out & fled from the tomb, for terror & amazement had seized them, & they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. That's it! That's how our gospel reading ends today. They said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. Doesn't sound very much like the joyous Easter we affirm today, does it?

For the first time in 6 weeks, we proclaim Alleluia today. We began our service with "Alleluia. Christ is risen. The Lord is risen today. Alleluia!" We have already sung two Easter hymns which celebrate Jesus Christ risen & living & our ability to live because Jesus does. And all of this is true. All of this is right for us to celebrate, for today is the Feast of the Resurrection.

So what are we to do with this Gospel lesson for today? What are we to think of these women who have experienced evidence of Jesus' resurrection first hand at the tomb yet are so terrified at their experience that they say nothing to anyone for they are afraid?

How would you have reacted that first Easter morning had you been at the tomb with those women? They have come to anoint Jesus with spices for the proper burial for which there had not been time on Friday before the Jewish Sabbath began at sundown. The women have had to plan ahead to prepare the spices because no work could be done on the Sabbath. However, they go to the tomb only partially prepared: only on the journey do they remember that they'll have to have someone roll the stone away. After all, that's why the stone was placed there to begin with: so that no one could steal the body.

Upon arrival at the tomb, they are surprised to see that the barrier is gone; the stone has already been rolled back. Their relief at that obstacle's being overcome is short-lived, however, as, upon entering the tomb, they encounter a young man dressed in white. We can guess his identity when his first words are "Do not be alarmed." Such words in biblical literature come from an angel, don't they? Jacob was told not to fear. Zachariah, Elizabeth, Joseph, & Mary were all told not to be alarmed by the angels who appeared to them. And how do these women respond to the angel's reassuring words? They are frightened out of their wits, so to speak. He tells them that Jesus of Nazareth has been raised—is not there—has gone ahead of them to Galilee. He admonishes them to go tell his disciples & Peter the news & then to go to Galilee in order to see Jesus again.

And what do the women do? They flee from the tomb & say nothing to anyone, for they are afraid. According to Mark, neither Peter nor the rest of the disciples learn of Christ's resurrection from the women. The women are struck dumb by the reality of the situation. They are silent in the face of the greatest news ever to happen on earth.

How do we react to such fantastic news? We come to church on Easter Sunday morning where we sing familiar hymns which we've not sung since last Easter. We rejoice with Alleluias. We tell each other "Happy Easter!" & we eat the ears off a chocolate Easter bunny if we're fortunate enough to get one. We hide Easter eggs for our children & make up ridiculous stories about rabbits & eggs which fool no one. We plan a festive meal with our family or friends, & our mood on Easter morning is joyous. We're glad that we're Christians on the day when we celebrate Jesus' rising from the dead.

So what? What will Christ's resurrection mean tomorrow morning? What will we do the next day when the scales tell of our excess, when a loved one falls ill, when there is difficulty at work, if our lives begin to unravel? Even if we've had a good Lenten discipline & read the Bible or prayed or not eaten meat every day for the 40 days leading up to Easter, what difference does it make in the long run? How does Jesus' dying & rising matter when the chips are down?

I hope that during the 40 days of Lent, you really have done some interior work to so that your life is more Christlike. I hope that today Christ Jesus does live within your heart as we affirm in our alleluias as we worship. I pray your renewal of life makes a difference as you live into tomorrow & next week & next year.

It is absolutely true that Jesus Christ died and was resurrected for each of us in this room today as well as those who never darken the doors of the church. Jesus Christ really would have died for you even if you were the only person left alive, as the old time preachers have told us. However, I am in very great danger of thinking that Jesus Christ died & was risen for me, just me. It is terribly important to celebrate Christ's resurrection today together with you as a community of faith.

That's where I want to challenge us to stretch this morning. How can the Easter Alleluias we sing & say & rejoice in today be the heart of the good news of Jesus Christ unless we share with others so that we & they really believe that Jesus Christ died & rises for us all? Easter is not just one day, you know. Easter lasts for 7 weeks, even longer than Lent does, all the way to Pentecost. This year we have several celebrations during Easter season to remind us of the 50 days of Easter: an Easter egg hunt next week after the late service—planned that way even before we knew of the likelihood of rain today; Wednesday evening Eucharists with Healing Prayers on 4 Wednesdays during Easter, a talent show & karaoke evening the last Sat of April—so make sure you have chosen your talent to reveal to all of us; & even the house blessing at my house on the 3^rd of May if you choose to attend.

We also have wonderful opportunities throughout this Easter season to externalize the work we have done during Lent by proclaiming the miracle of Christ's resurrection—which is our own resurrection—in the way we live our daily lives.

In the baptismal promises which some of us renewed at the vigil yesterday evening, we promised to "proclaim by word & example the Good News of God in Christ." Proclaim by word & example: let's see how many ways we can do that in the next 7 weeks. The next 2 baptismal vows give us hints as to how to go about that proclaiming. We promise to seek & serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves. And we promise to strive for justice & peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being. We at Hope are choosing ways to live out our lives in Christ despite the downturn in the economy which of course has affected our budget. What time & talent do you have to share with the Hope community? We're moving forward with renewed vigor by the grace of God, & you are a necessary part of resurrection in this church.

We've just sung a hymn that encourages us all to full participation in God's call for Hope to live into our mission. The words include "Jesus is Lord of all the earth," & "Spread the good news o'er all the earth." As we bless & receive the body & blood of Christ in our Eucharist today, we partake of the heavenly food which strengthens us to share the gospel with others in our actions as well as in our words. We'll have many opportunities to share Christ's marvelous gift of new life through the Easter season & into our future in & of Hope. Let us join one another in making every day an Easter day in our corner of the world. Alleluia, Christ is risen!

Easter Vigil

2009-04-11T20:21:00.001-07:00

By The Rev. Martha Frances+

Easter Vigil

11 April 2009

Texts: "Creation" from God's Trombones by James Weldon Johnson

in place of Genesis 1:1-2:2

Exodus 14:10-15:1; Ezekiel 36:24-28; Ezekiel 37: 1-14

This evening we've kindled the new fire & affirmed the light of Christ has not gone out but rather has been made new. We've heard 4 scriptures from the Hebrew Bible, reminding us of the rich heritage we as well as Jesus' disciples carry with us into this Holy Night. We have among us 3 children who come for baptism on this special night, & we share with them stories & promises of our faith as we welcome them more fully into this family of God's people. Briefly, let us remember some of the gifts of our faith community.

We chose the Creation passage from God's Trombones by James Weldon Johnson who also wrote Lift Every Voice & Sing because Johnson's picture of God's need for companionship & tremendous love for us in our being made human pours out to us & is made even more real by the praise dancers. One of our baptismal promises which we will renew this night along with the children being baptized is that we will proclaim by word & example the God news of God in Christ. Johnson proclaimed in his music & words the wonder of our creation. Our praise dancers proclaim in their movement the magnitude of this gift. How many ways can you & I proclaim that God's gift of our very creation, & our re-creation each Easter, is a gift for all? How do we invite others into the celebration of such an amazing relationship with God?

The second scripture this evening celebrates God's release of the Hebrew people from their slavery in Egypt, specifically their escape through the Red or Reed Sea into the wilderness where God spent the next 40 years molding them into the nation of Israel. We share this celebration with our Jewish brothers & sisters this week as they commemorate Passover, & we ask God not only for the courage to act which Moses & the other Hebrews had but also for the perseverance to be willing to be molded into God's community. Our first baptismal promise includes essential elements in our becoming disciples: learning from the apostles' teaching (that is, the Bible) & fellowship where we learn to love one another, breaking of the bread by our regular participation in Holy Communion, & daily personal & corporate prayer. Just as the Israelites became God's chosen people in their time, we can be open to becoming disciples in our ongoing Christian formation in community.

Ezekiel tells us that all peoples & nations shall make up God's holy people as he describes the renewal of God's people after their exile in Babylon & also the re-creation which God offers to us. All of us can allow our hearts to become stone-like from the burdens of the world, God offers a cleansing which sounds much like our baptism which also softens our hearts into those of flesh, able to feel for & care for our fellow women & men & children. We promise in our baptismal vows to seek & serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves. Sounds strangely like the 2^nd great commandment which Christ gave to us, doesn't it? When you meet people in your daily lives, do you see Christ in that person? It's not easy, with some of the people we meet, is it? Do we allow others to see Christ in us? Christ offers each of us a re-created heart; how many ways can we accept the renewal of our hearts & support others in their own renewal?

How many of us have been in that valley of dry bones sometimes in our lives? I've felt a little of the valley in my illness the past 3 weeks. Although that valley can be caused by many things, I relate the dry bones today to the evil which crops up over & over in our lives & with which we have to deal. Another baptismal promise is that we will persevere in resisting evil & when we fall into sin, repent & return to God. Doesn't say if we sin, because we know we'll do so, don't we? Our children showed us earlier how awkward & mechanical it is to be reborn when we have fallen into evil, yet God promises to breathe the breath of life back into us that we might live, over & over as many times as it takes. Sometimes we need breathing lessons, & we're promising this evening to keep practicing the breathing & teaching it to our young folks so we can be filled & refilled with the Spirit of God. Evil is inevitable, yet God promises to overcome it, over & over again.

The other promise we will make in a few minutes, not only for ourselves once again but also to support this & our other young folk in their growth as disciples is to strive for justice & peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being. Jesus' love knows no boundaries, & Jesus' resurrection is for all. With all the strife in the world today, it is tempting for us to demonize "the other side," whether that be across the aisle in the Congress or people who came to this country illegally or those in other countries whose behavior doesn't fit with our expectations of civility. Yet, God calls for all of us to be brothers & sisters; Christ's love is for all humans to be treated with dignity & respect.

We are the village that it takes to rear our group of young people so they join us in living into what it means to be a disciple of this resurrected Jesus whose new life we celebrate this evening. May we enter into the next 50 days of this Easter Season celebrating God's gift of new life in Jesus the Christ as well as our own opportunity to find out anew what God has in store for this community of disciples in the near future. Let us join in celebrating the new life of these & all our children.

Maundy Thursday

2009-04-09T21:59:00.001-07:00

By the Reverend Martha Frances

Year A, Maundy Thursday

9 April 2009

Text: John 13: 1-17, 31b-35

Other Readings: Exodus 12: 1-4, [5-10], 11-14; Psalm 116: 1, 10-17;

I Corinthians 11: 23-26

Our liturgy this evening is like a toggle button as we move from the 40-day season of Lent into the 3-day Triduum, the period of time in which the Church commemorates the agony & the glory of Christ's passion: last Passover meal with his disciples, his prayers in the Gethsemane garden, the journey leading up to Jesus' crucifixion on Golgotha, his death & burial, the excruciating waiting time, & the amazing events of Easter morning. Tonight, we meditate on the first evening of the Triduum: joining the other disciples in the upper room for their last Passover meal together/their first Lord's Supper. Since liturgy means the work of the people, it is vital that we come together tonight to re-member, to experience the events again with the original disciples & invited to the table.

Tonight is named Maundy Thursday because Jesus gives three commands for the disciples, and "Maundy" comes from a Latin word meaning "commandment." Jesus doesn't say, "It'd be cool if you all do these things if you feel like it." Jesus gives us 3 commandments: to share in the ritual meal, to wash each other's feet, & to love one another as Jesus has loved us. I invite you to enter as fully as you can into the actions of tonight's liturgy, & then meditate on this work as we move through the next 3 days.

As Jesus & his disciples gather in the upper room, they, too, are re-enacting a centuries-old drama which our Hebrew scripture tonight describes. The Passover story was & is the story which best identifies the Jewish people's covenant relationship with God who freed them from Egyptian slavery & molded them into the Hebrew nation. Note that the Jewish people were admonished to celebrate this festival annually—a commandment tied to the Mosaic covenant with God. Earlier scriptures tell us that the elements of this meal were carefully prepared, so the disciples suppose this to be another yearly celebration.

Since John does not include the institution of the Holy Eucharist in his gospel, we heard the description of this ritual this evening from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. We Episcopalians are very good at fulfilling Jesus' command to perform this ritual regularly, but I would encourage us to pause as we celebrate it tonight to observe Jesus' gift of nourishment for the soul as he took the bread & wine, blessed them, broke the bread open just as his body would be broken & poured out the wine as his blood would be shed, & then offered these elements to those whom he loved & whom he commissioned to carry forward this community of love. This blood of Christ signals his new covenant just as the Mosaic covenant was sealed with the blood of the Passover Lamb. Tonight we will be invited to share the bread & wine which become, mysteriously, Jesus' body & blood for our nurturance. Let us not receive lightly but reverently, open to the incredible gift of love Jesus offers with himself at this holy table.

The second commandment Jesus gives is seldom practiced in most church communities, yet once a year, we are invited to partake in the ritual footwashing. Jesus calls us to follow his example of service in washing his disciples' feet. Just as our God comes as a servant, our basic stance toward each other & the rest of the world, is to be one of service—to give of ourselves freely. Tonight I as your pastor will begin the ritual of footwashing, inviting any who desire to come forward, first to have your feet washed, & then to wash those of another Hope brother or sister, knowing that only in our servanthood can we fulfill the other of Jesus' commandments. There's something very unsettling about this ritual, a fact that Peter represents for us in the scripture reading, for washing feet is not something we generally do except for the very young or those who are old or infirm. Peter is first repelled by the whole idea of his master washing his feet, & then, when Jesus tells him this is the only way he is to continue as disciple, Peter over-compensates & wants a full body bath. Jesus' point of humility & self-emptying is fulfilled simply by the washing of the feet as he turns the usual hierarchy upside down to forgive through his own self-giving, even to include his betrayer. Although there is certain reluctance for many of you to come forward to have your feet washed, I invite you to avail yourselves of this experience to meditate on through the weekend, realizing that Jesus can wash our soles & our souls only when we are willing to bare our selves as we bare our feet.

Notice that Jesus gives us a third commandment which we are using to guide us here at Hope: to love one another as Jesus has loved us. As we leave here tonight, we are called upon to do so in an attitude of servanthood & community as we build our parish. Many of us have participated in small Lenten study groups discussing The Shack for the past six weeks. Although I've only received a few of the written evaluation forms back yet (& it's not too late to turn them in), I've heard in the various groups & from individuals of a variety of gifts gained from the honest & heart-felt sharing, ways in which one or more of the persons of the Trinity have become real to them, & an appreciation of each other which was not possible before. At least one group has already chosen another book to begin almost immediately, & I am open to suggestions for other topics for small groups to explore. Yes, it takes time & effort to commit to several weeks of study with others; most everything worth while does, & certainly our church community deserves our intellectual & emotional effort.

We have several opportunities for community-building in the next little while, not the least of which is our Bible study held at 9:00 each Sunday morning as well as our Christian formation offerings for our children & youth, so I invite you to plan to participate more fully in building God's family here at Hope. Another way to grow in faith & community is to engage in outreach projects for those who are in great need. I hope the Lenten meditation booklets have whetted your appetite for ways to respond in thanksgiving to the great love which Jesus lavishes on us by pouring out some of that love & some of our resources on others. Dorothy Miller, our outreach coordinator, will be offering opportunities for us to reach beyond our own church community to give to others. Our offering tonight & Saturday night at the Vigil will be sent to the work of the Anglican Church in Jerusalem, & tomorrow's offering goes to MANNA, our neighborhood assistance ministry.

As we close our service tonight, we strip the altar bare, emptying all the liturgical elements from our sanctuary area in preparation for the starkness of the crucifixion on Good Friday. As we leave this evening, I invite you to watch & pray with Jesus through the night until tomorrow's service, remembering that he asked his disciples to stay with him in the garden of Gethsemane, allowing the Spirit to reach you in whatever way it may. May you be nourished by the commandments which Jesus continues to give us that we may find fulsome joy in Christ's resurrection.

Palm Sunday

2009-04-06T06:50:00.001-07:00

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Palm/Passion Sunday

5 April 2009

Text: Mark 14: 32 – 15: 47

Isaiah 50: 4-9a; Psalm 31: 6-16; Philippians 2: 5-11

Good morning to everyone! Last Sunday I was home in bed sick, the first time I've had to miss a Sunday because of illness since I was ordained, & I'm filled with a mixture of emotions as I return to you today. All week I've realized that I truly missed worship last week & I missed being with you, also. Several called or e-mailed to check on me, & a couple of folks brought me comfort food & walked my dogs. I still have the cough & my voice comes & goes, but I'm feeling ever so much better. Thank you for your prayers & concern.

Now at the beginning of Holy Week, I'm feeling a tremendous need to play catch-up, to try to get everything done that I was too ill to do last week. I'm reminded of the little girl learning to ride her bicycle. As she goes down her first hill solo, she whizzes by her mother who stands helpless watching her, & she shouts, "I can't remember how to stop pedaling!" Indeed, we all lead such busy lives that we don't remember how to stop pedaling, do we? And when illness halts us for awhile, we feel like we have to pick up & catch up, double-tasking to make sure all our important duties are completed on time.

I feel sure I'm not the only person in here who had great plans for their Lenten journey, & now it's Holy Week so the temptation is to redouble our efforts to make sure to do everything we told God on Ash Wednesday we were going to do. Perhaps we can see what Jesus did on the last Sabbath of his life. Hmmm. There's nothing in Mark about what he did the day before his entry into Jerusalem. Can't find out how he spent his time in Matthew or Luke either. Not even John, the last gospel to be written, outlines Jesus' goings-on the Sabbath before his last Holy Week. What could this mean? Wasn't his activity important enough to record? Wasn't he busy training the apostles or teaching the people? Do you mean he took a day to rest & worship? We get a hint in the 4^th chapter of Luke: "On the Sabbath day he went to the synagogue, as he always did, & stood up to read." Good gracious, if Jesus observed the Sabbath of his last week on earth in worship & rest, might we do the same? All of us have the opportunity to return to Hope this evening at 6:30 for a Taize prayer service, a meditative worship opportunity which can set the mood for the whole of our Holy Week. You do not have to have attended a Lenten study group to attend this evening; our worship is open to all.

However, you may decide that you have heard the whole of the Easter story in today's Gospel & you don't need to return to worship until next Sunday for the Easter celebration. After all, most of the people you run into shopping for Easter clothing or Easter dinner ingredients this week will be quite content to show up at church next Sunday morning. I have a few suggestions for those who want to be like most of the population & enjoy Easter as a lovely spring vacation.

#1 Be lazy. Daily scripture reading is a drag with all that talk about the terrible things that happen to Jesus. Why would we want to "read, mark, learn, & inwardly digest" the Holy Week scriptures? Instead of quiet time to immerse oneself in the sacred story that forms the very heart of the Christian faith, we can catch some really great bargains in the stores & be truly patriotic by stimulating the economy.

#2 Stick with routine as usual. Daily quiet time, prayer, & fasting hasn't worked very well through the first 5 weeks of Lent; why start now? If we go to all those extra worship services this week, people will think we're some sort of religious fanatics. Since the Good Friday service is shared with the other churches in our neighborhood, we might run into an estranged neighbor who might expect us to act like a Christian next time we see him or her.

#3 Focus on Easter as a secular holiday—or as a day for the kids. Look at all the cute chickens & rabbits & Easter clothes & decorations in the stores! We can get some great bargains, score points with our kids, pack a picnic lunch & take off for a weekend golf game or shopping trip or mini-vacation. After all, we need to make that trip to the relatives before gas goes up any higher & before the weather gets too hot. If we wait till later, we'll miss the bluebonnets.

#4 Don't make a special effort to reach out to someone who needs you. After all, we all need time for ourselves & our immediate families; those in nursing homes, sick friends, people who live alone, & folks who have little to celebrate can wait until the economy is a little more stable. We need to take care of our own. The children who are being baptized at the Easter Vigil next Saturday evening will have plenty of people here to welcome them into the Christian faith & into our community. They won't miss us if we're not here.

#5 Avoid visiting the cemetery or memorial garden of a loved one, & for goodness sake, don't think about your own mortality. The Maundy Thursday & Good Friday services as well as the Stations of the Cross include all that stuff about death, & it's depressing enough to think about what all those people did to Jesus, but it's even worse when we have to think about our own death. It's downright unseemly. We might discover some parts of our lives that need to be changed, & we're too busy these days to consider what lies ahead no matter how long or short a time we have left to life. Better to wait until next Sunday when everyone will be dressed beautifully & the children will bring flowers for the cross & we can sing "Alleluia" again.

There's a formula for a bland Easter, my friends, which doesn't get below the surface of our lives. Such plans pretty much guarantee that we'll be like the majority of our neighbors. But if you decide to accompany Jesus on his journey to the cross & beyond that, to resurrection, then you may want to keep the Calendar in your pew bulletin, join your community in worship through the week, & more fully celebrate the joys of Easter next Saturday evening & Sunday morning.