Sunday, January 26, 2014
Epiphany 3 and Annual Mtg 2014 8:30 service
Today was a grand day at Redeemer. The Rt. Rev. G. Porter Taylor came to our principal service at 10:30 and Confirmed, Received, Reaffirmed 13 new Episcopalians! As our bishop was prevented from arriving in time for our 8:30 service, our rector preached extemporaneously. The audio of her sermon is provided here. Bishop Taylor's sermon from our 10:30 service is also posted.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Epiphany 2, 2014: God's garden
Lectionary: Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-12; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42
Preacher: The Rev Dr Valori Mulvey Sherer, Rector
En el nombre del Dios, Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo. Amen.
Today’s reading from Isaiah is the second of the four Servant Songs, and this one defines the Servant’s mission: “The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's womb he named me… And he said to me, "You are my servant… in whom I will be glorified."
It’s a bit odd for most of us to consider that God had a plan for us from before we were born – and that God continually forms us for that purpose - but it’s true. Who we are, when we live, where we live, even the gifts and weaknesses we possess reflect an intentional action by God.
Everything about us, how we look, how we perceive the world, what motivates or demotivates us… all of it is intentional. And everything about us fits together with everything about everyone else for the accomplishing of God’s will on the earth.
God leads us into the presence of people who will affirm us or challenge us to grow. The situations of our lives, even those times when we sin or when someone sins against us, cause us to grow and mature spiritually and otherwise. They cause us to remember the continuing presence and power of the redeeming love of God as they call us to use our gifts, which you’ll remember, God gave us for a purpose God from before we were born.
Last summer our congregation enjoyed a workshop on the Enneagram offered by Gus Boone, a retired priest in our diocese and an Enneagram expert. The Enneagram workshop was great fun and we learned so much about ourselves and one another, and how to notice and value the gifts of the other while remembering things that would challenge them (and us) as we interact so that we can maintain harmony and peaceful unity within our diversity. Over and over again we would hear someone in the room say, “Ohhhhh! Now I understand….”
For those of you unfamiliar with the Enneagram, it’s a kind of personality assessment tool that identifies what motivates a person. The Enneagram has it roots in antiquity. It is said to have been developed by Pythagorus and employed by Plato.
Here’s how Gus Boone describes it: “The Enneagram is a helpful tool of universal insight into human nature which offers us a means for deepening our awareness as having been made in God’s image! It helps us better understand ourselves as spiritual presences in the world. Often our personalities mask the essential qualities God gives us for living and serving in the world. [The Enneagram] enables us to identify the things standing in our way, to truly know our spiritual gifts and to develop patterns of awareness for growth and transformation from self-deception to real self-knowledge. It provides us with an important framework for lifelong learning of what it means to be blessed and for living more compassionately with those who differ from us … like a spouse, children, grandchildren, siblings, co-workers, others at church, even our best friends!”
There are nine motivational descriptors in the Enneagram system. I’m an 8 (also known as The Challenger). Deacon Pam is a 9 (also known as The Peacemaker). My husband is a 1 (also known as The Perfectionist). Together, our differences provide a wholeness in our lives we couldn’t know alone.
At the workshop we learned that while each of us is motivated differently, together we can form ourselves into an amazing faith community because our differing strengths and weaknesses will complete and balance one another.
Some of you have heard me mention an African bishop from Uganda I worked with years ago. He is dear to my heart and in the short time we spent together, he affected how I perceive the world. The bishop and I come from vastly different cultural experiences and perspectives, but we worship the same God, pray from the same Prayer Book, and serve God’s people with the same commitment and passion.
One day as we ate breakfast together the bishop’s wife remarked - with no small amount of shock – how the food on her plate alone would have fed a family of seven at home, and she marveled at the variety of food on our breakfast table: eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, toast, fresh fruit… She informed me that in their part of Africa they ate only what was in season and available, so one would have the same food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for months at a time.
Breakfast never looked the same to me after that – and I give thanks to God for it. The bishop and his wife learned from their time in the US about the abundance that is real, even though it is out of reach for them. He told me it gave him hope, anticipating the day when the world’s resources would be shared equally among all people.
When he preached at our service of Holy Eucharist at my church (part of a fund raiser we were doing for African missions) the bishop spoke of humanity in terms of God’s garden. I heard this sermon seven years ago but the image remains powerfully present with me.
Here’s how this seed the bishop planted has grown in me: there are roses and violets, dandelions and tulips – all flowers, all beautiful in their own way, but very different; each flower having its own purpose for being and gift to offer. When the world judges one flower to be more beautiful or valuable than another, it just isn’t true.
The dandelion, for example, is considered by many to be a weed, a nuisance – but God made the dandelion, which makes it beautiful and valuable, and it has an honorable purpose. The dandelion has a long history as a medicinal herb used for stomach, kidney, liver, and gall bladder issues and many people enjoy dandelion tea, dandelion wine, and even dandelion beer!
Imagine a garden that had only one kind of flower. What a boring garden that would be!
What if daisies were judged to be the only worthy flower and all other flowers were destroyed? Imagine how that would affect bees, birds, and insects. The whole balance of nature would be affected.
And what about the colors? We would lose the passionate redness of the rose and the gentle paleness of the lilac.
The same is true of the people in God’s garden. Each of us is made by God with gifts and weaknesses, passion and gentleness, and a purpose that is honorable and important in the plan of God. Those the world judges as worthless or a nuisance are not judged so by God and should not be judged so by us.
That’s why being a part of the body of Christ is so important. It takes all of our gifts, strengths, and weaknesses combined to make us whole – to make us holy – and able to do our part in God’s plan of salvation for the whole world.
And our part is this, as described by the prophet Isaiah: "I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." …because… the LORD, who is faithful… has chosen you."
God has chosen each of us, formed us in our mother’s wombs, continues to form us every moment, every day; gifted us differently, and birthed us in the time and place God has chosen for us to accomplish our purpose in the divine plan. It is my prayer that together, as a family of faith, we trust God and God’s plan and honor the diversity and dignity of every flower in God’s garden.
I close with a portion of a prayer from medieval mystic, Mechthild of Magdeburg. The prayer is called: God Speaks to the Soul:
“And God said to the soul:
I desired you before the world began.
I desire you now
As you desire me.
And when the desires of two come together
There love is perfected.”
Amen.
Preacher: The Rev Dr Valori Mulvey Sherer, Rector
En el nombre del Dios, Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo. Amen.
Today’s reading from Isaiah is the second of the four Servant Songs, and this one defines the Servant’s mission: “The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's womb he named me… And he said to me, "You are my servant… in whom I will be glorified."
Everything about us, how we look, how we perceive the world, what motivates or demotivates us… all of it is intentional. And everything about us fits together with everything about everyone else for the accomplishing of God’s will on the earth.
God leads us into the presence of people who will affirm us or challenge us to grow. The situations of our lives, even those times when we sin or when someone sins against us, cause us to grow and mature spiritually and otherwise. They cause us to remember the continuing presence and power of the redeeming love of God as they call us to use our gifts, which you’ll remember, God gave us for a purpose God from before we were born.
Last summer our congregation enjoyed a workshop on the Enneagram offered by Gus Boone, a retired priest in our diocese and an Enneagram expert. The Enneagram workshop was great fun and we learned so much about ourselves and one another, and how to notice and value the gifts of the other while remembering things that would challenge them (and us) as we interact so that we can maintain harmony and peaceful unity within our diversity. Over and over again we would hear someone in the room say, “Ohhhhh! Now I understand….”
For those of you unfamiliar with the Enneagram, it’s a kind of personality assessment tool that identifies what motivates a person. The Enneagram has it roots in antiquity. It is said to have been developed by Pythagorus and employed by Plato.
Here’s how Gus Boone describes it: “The Enneagram is a helpful tool of universal insight into human nature which offers us a means for deepening our awareness as having been made in God’s image! It helps us better understand ourselves as spiritual presences in the world. Often our personalities mask the essential qualities God gives us for living and serving in the world. [The Enneagram] enables us to identify the things standing in our way, to truly know our spiritual gifts and to develop patterns of awareness for growth and transformation from self-deception to real self-knowledge. It provides us with an important framework for lifelong learning of what it means to be blessed and for living more compassionately with those who differ from us … like a spouse, children, grandchildren, siblings, co-workers, others at church, even our best friends!”
There are nine motivational descriptors in the Enneagram system. I’m an 8 (also known as The Challenger). Deacon Pam is a 9 (also known as The Peacemaker). My husband is a 1 (also known as The Perfectionist). Together, our differences provide a wholeness in our lives we couldn’t know alone.
At the workshop we learned that while each of us is motivated differently, together we can form ourselves into an amazing faith community because our differing strengths and weaknesses will complete and balance one another.
Some of you have heard me mention an African bishop from Uganda I worked with years ago. He is dear to my heart and in the short time we spent together, he affected how I perceive the world. The bishop and I come from vastly different cultural experiences and perspectives, but we worship the same God, pray from the same Prayer Book, and serve God’s people with the same commitment and passion.
One day as we ate breakfast together the bishop’s wife remarked - with no small amount of shock – how the food on her plate alone would have fed a family of seven at home, and she marveled at the variety of food on our breakfast table: eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, toast, fresh fruit… She informed me that in their part of Africa they ate only what was in season and available, so one would have the same food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for months at a time.
Breakfast never looked the same to me after that – and I give thanks to God for it. The bishop and his wife learned from their time in the US about the abundance that is real, even though it is out of reach for them. He told me it gave him hope, anticipating the day when the world’s resources would be shared equally among all people.
When he preached at our service of Holy Eucharist at my church (part of a fund raiser we were doing for African missions) the bishop spoke of humanity in terms of God’s garden. I heard this sermon seven years ago but the image remains powerfully present with me.
Here’s how this seed the bishop planted has grown in me: there are roses and violets, dandelions and tulips – all flowers, all beautiful in their own way, but very different; each flower having its own purpose for being and gift to offer. When the world judges one flower to be more beautiful or valuable than another, it just isn’t true.
The dandelion, for example, is considered by many to be a weed, a nuisance – but God made the dandelion, which makes it beautiful and valuable, and it has an honorable purpose. The dandelion has a long history as a medicinal herb used for stomach, kidney, liver, and gall bladder issues and many people enjoy dandelion tea, dandelion wine, and even dandelion beer!
Imagine a garden that had only one kind of flower. What a boring garden that would be!
What if daisies were judged to be the only worthy flower and all other flowers were destroyed? Imagine how that would affect bees, birds, and insects. The whole balance of nature would be affected.
And what about the colors? We would lose the passionate redness of the rose and the gentle paleness of the lilac.
The same is true of the people in God’s garden. Each of us is made by God with gifts and weaknesses, passion and gentleness, and a purpose that is honorable and important in the plan of God. Those the world judges as worthless or a nuisance are not judged so by God and should not be judged so by us.
That’s why being a part of the body of Christ is so important. It takes all of our gifts, strengths, and weaknesses combined to make us whole – to make us holy – and able to do our part in God’s plan of salvation for the whole world.
And our part is this, as described by the prophet Isaiah: "I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." …because… the LORD, who is faithful… has chosen you."
God has chosen each of us, formed us in our mother’s wombs, continues to form us every moment, every day; gifted us differently, and birthed us in the time and place God has chosen for us to accomplish our purpose in the divine plan. It is my prayer that together, as a family of faith, we trust God and God’s plan and honor the diversity and dignity of every flower in God’s garden.
I close with a portion of a prayer from medieval mystic, Mechthild of Magdeburg. The prayer is called: God Speaks to the Soul:
“And God said to the soul:
I desired you before the world began.
I desire you now
As you desire me.
And when the desires of two come together
There love is perfected.”
Amen.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Epiphany 1, 2014: Formed as servants
Lectionary: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17
Preacher: The Rev Dr Valori Mulvey Sherer, Rector
En el nombre del Dios: Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo. Amen.
Our reading this morning from Isaiah is the first of four Servant Songs: poems depicting how God chooses a servant and gives them a purpose. The song tells us that the servant is then abused by the world for doing the will of God, but ultimately, is rewarded by God. Most Jewish scholars
interpret the servant in these poems as the Jewish people. Some Jewish and many Christian scholars also interpret them as referring to the Messiah to come.
In this first Servant Song, the people of Israel have been scattered along the coastlands of the Mediterranean, so God is sending someone to help them:
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
This time, however, God is doing a new thing through this servant who will answer God’s call to re-establish righteousness but will go about it very differently:
"He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice."
Answering this call from God will not be easy for the servant. God makes plain that the chosen servant will confront enough difficulty to lead to discouragement, but God promises to uphold the servant as he does God’s will:
He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
The prophet then reminds the listener who it is calling the servant: it is Almighty God
"who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it"
Knowing that this call and the way God seeks it to be answered is new and a bit disorienting, God speaks these words of assurance:
"I have called you in righteousness
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;"
“Kept” in this case translates as: FORMED and is the same word used in Genesis where God “formed” ádam/humankind/Adam from the dust.
God, the Creator, promises to be with the servant, guiding him and gifting him, as he answers God’s call to serve. Clarifying was the servant is called to be and do, God says:
"I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness."
Listen carefully to what a servant is called to be and to do. God says, “I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, and take out – set free from the prisons all who sit in darkness.
I say listen carefully because this is the calling Jesus claimed for himself when he opened and read the scroll of Isaiah in the temple. It is also the calling he gave to us.
We who are servants of God, we who have been anointed and chosen… we are the covenant God gives to the people. We are the bearers of the light of the truth of salvation in Jesus Christ to the world; and all who hear this truth are set free from the prisons of darkness that hold them bound.
This is what Jesus demonstrated at his own baptism, where the Spirit of God descended upon him and a voice from heaven affirmed this union of heaven and earth in the flesh and bone body of the Savior, saying, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
Did you know that it is from this Scripture story, found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, that our understanding of God as Trinity is derived? The Trinity is not mentioned in the Bible. It’s derived from this story.
The Incarnate Word invites the Holy Spirit into his flesh and the Creator affirms that it is right and good. The three persons of God. In this moment, in Jesus, God and humankind are united in a whole new way and the truth prophesied in Isaiah became the truth realized on earth – from that time forth forevermore.
We have been blessed here at Redeemer to have baptized new children of God these last couple of weeks and months: Anna, Georgia and Sarah. Our experience of these unions of Spirit and flesh is fresh in our minds.
In the Episcopal Church, when we baptize a new family member into the body of Christ, we all renew our Baptismal Covenant. We will do this again today, remembering Jesus’s baptism, only today we do this as a new body, with a new calling. We will recommit to keeping our eyes fixed on God, who is within us and among us, who takes us by the hand, forms us, and shows us the way to go.
We know that for Peter, that meant going to the Gentiles - which was against the law for him. For John, it meant Baptizing the one who needed no repentance - which didn’t make sense to him. For us, it means trusting that God is still leading us in the way we should go. It also means living as the children of God we are. As one commentator said, “Jesus is unique as God’s chosen messenger and savior; but God’s baptismal pronouncement on Jesus as God’s beloved child applies to everyone. Christ’s salvific word has as one of its aims the awakening of everyone to God’s call in their lives.” (Source: Dr. Bruce Epperly. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure/2014/01/the-adventurous-lectionary-the-baptism-of-jesus-january-12-2014/)
That’s where we come in. God has anointed and chosen us to facilitate that awakening, to be restorers of righteousness, bearers of the light of Christ to all who are in darkness, that they might be set free from the many prisons that hold them bound.
Answering this call from God will demand much from us as it did Peter, John the Baptist, Mother Mary, and all the other children of God in our Scripture stories. Knowing the challenges they would face after he was gone from them, Jesus fulfilled the promise of God found in Isaiah and formed them, and to the best of their ability, Jesus’ followers received their formation.
I have much I’d like to say about our responsibility to ours and our children’s continuing spiritual formation, but suffice it to say that we need it, every one of us and all of us together, because without it, we might as well be trying to run a marathon while being malnourished and physically unconditioned. Our muscles would cramp, our energy would wane, and our bones might even crack and break. We probably wouldn’t be able to finish the race, and we certainly couldn’t invite anyone to go with us.
In this season of Epiphany we seek to learn the new thing God is doing in us as individuals and as a community. As we do, we must commit to building our spiritual muscles and share consistently in the spiritual nourishment of Word and Sacrament offered at our Sunday worship.
We must also offer the same to our children.
Only then can we, the servants of God, hear and answer the call of God and keep the covenant of our Baptism. Amen.
Preacher: The Rev Dr Valori Mulvey Sherer, Rector
En el nombre del Dios: Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo. Amen.
Our reading this morning from Isaiah is the first of four Servant Songs: poems depicting how God chooses a servant and gives them a purpose. The song tells us that the servant is then abused by the world for doing the will of God, but ultimately, is rewarded by God. Most Jewish scholars
In this first Servant Song, the people of Israel have been scattered along the coastlands of the Mediterranean, so God is sending someone to help them:
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
This time, however, God is doing a new thing through this servant who will answer God’s call to re-establish righteousness but will go about it very differently:
"He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice."
Answering this call from God will not be easy for the servant. God makes plain that the chosen servant will confront enough difficulty to lead to discouragement, but God promises to uphold the servant as he does God’s will:
He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
The prophet then reminds the listener who it is calling the servant: it is Almighty God
"who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it"
Knowing that this call and the way God seeks it to be answered is new and a bit disorienting, God speaks these words of assurance:
"I have called you in righteousness
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;"
“Kept” in this case translates as: FORMED and is the same word used in Genesis where God “formed” ádam/humankind/Adam from the dust.
God, the Creator, promises to be with the servant, guiding him and gifting him, as he answers God’s call to serve. Clarifying was the servant is called to be and do, God says:
"I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness."
Listen carefully to what a servant is called to be and to do. God says, “I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, and take out – set free from the prisons all who sit in darkness.
I say listen carefully because this is the calling Jesus claimed for himself when he opened and read the scroll of Isaiah in the temple. It is also the calling he gave to us.
We who are servants of God, we who have been anointed and chosen… we are the covenant God gives to the people. We are the bearers of the light of the truth of salvation in Jesus Christ to the world; and all who hear this truth are set free from the prisons of darkness that hold them bound.
This is what Jesus demonstrated at his own baptism, where the Spirit of God descended upon him and a voice from heaven affirmed this union of heaven and earth in the flesh and bone body of the Savior, saying, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
Did you know that it is from this Scripture story, found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, that our understanding of God as Trinity is derived? The Trinity is not mentioned in the Bible. It’s derived from this story.
The Incarnate Word invites the Holy Spirit into his flesh and the Creator affirms that it is right and good. The three persons of God. In this moment, in Jesus, God and humankind are united in a whole new way and the truth prophesied in Isaiah became the truth realized on earth – from that time forth forevermore.
We have been blessed here at Redeemer to have baptized new children of God these last couple of weeks and months: Anna, Georgia and Sarah. Our experience of these unions of Spirit and flesh is fresh in our minds.
In the Episcopal Church, when we baptize a new family member into the body of Christ, we all renew our Baptismal Covenant. We will do this again today, remembering Jesus’s baptism, only today we do this as a new body, with a new calling. We will recommit to keeping our eyes fixed on God, who is within us and among us, who takes us by the hand, forms us, and shows us the way to go.
We know that for Peter, that meant going to the Gentiles - which was against the law for him. For John, it meant Baptizing the one who needed no repentance - which didn’t make sense to him. For us, it means trusting that God is still leading us in the way we should go. It also means living as the children of God we are. As one commentator said, “Jesus is unique as God’s chosen messenger and savior; but God’s baptismal pronouncement on Jesus as God’s beloved child applies to everyone. Christ’s salvific word has as one of its aims the awakening of everyone to God’s call in their lives.” (Source: Dr. Bruce Epperly. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure/2014/01/the-adventurous-lectionary-the-baptism-of-jesus-january-12-2014/)
That’s where we come in. God has anointed and chosen us to facilitate that awakening, to be restorers of righteousness, bearers of the light of Christ to all who are in darkness, that they might be set free from the many prisons that hold them bound.
Answering this call from God will demand much from us as it did Peter, John the Baptist, Mother Mary, and all the other children of God in our Scripture stories. Knowing the challenges they would face after he was gone from them, Jesus fulfilled the promise of God found in Isaiah and formed them, and to the best of their ability, Jesus’ followers received their formation.
I have much I’d like to say about our responsibility to ours and our children’s continuing spiritual formation, but suffice it to say that we need it, every one of us and all of us together, because without it, we might as well be trying to run a marathon while being malnourished and physically unconditioned. Our muscles would cramp, our energy would wane, and our bones might even crack and break. We probably wouldn’t be able to finish the race, and we certainly couldn’t invite anyone to go with us.
In this season of Epiphany we seek to learn the new thing God is doing in us as individuals and as a community. As we do, we must commit to building our spiritual muscles and share consistently in the spiritual nourishment of Word and Sacrament offered at our Sunday worship.
We must also offer the same to our children.
Only then can we, the servants of God, hear and answer the call of God and keep the covenant of our Baptism. Amen.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Xmas 1, 2013: God within and without
Lectionary: Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 147:13-21; Galatians 3:23-25;4:4-7; John 1:1-18
Preacher: The Very Rev Dr Valori Mulvey Sherer, Rector
Happy Christmastide! Still working on the dead computer issue, so the sermon is available in audio only again this week. Enjoy!
Preacher: The Very Rev Dr Valori Mulvey Sherer, Rector
Happy Christmastide! Still working on the dead computer issue, so the sermon is available in audio only again this week. Enjoy!
Friday, December 27, 2013
Christmas Eve, 2013: Midnight Mass sermon: A Christmas challenge
We enjoyed a glorious celebration of the Feast of the Incarnation. Mother Valori's sermon is available in audio only (due to a dead computer).
Lectionary: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14(15-20)
Lectionary: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14(15-20)
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Advent 4A, 2013: Freedom as big as God
Lectionary: Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25
Preacher: The Very Rev Dr Valori Mulvey Sherer, Rector
En el nombre del Dios: Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo. Amen.
Last week Deacon Pam talked about the Advent task we all have: recognizing and letting go our expectations of God so that we can be in relationship with the God who is, not the God we create. This is no small task, but it is a very important one. Remember the second Commandment given to Moses: “You shall not make for yourself any idol.”
When we create a concept of God for ourselves, we create an idol. Our Scripture stories tell us of idols that are carved statues or statues cast in gold. Our idols today aren’t like that. Instead, we create idols of our
expectations about God, which are as false as those statues, even though we know that God acts in ways we can’t ask or imagine.
In last week’s lectionary, we heard Mary say “for nothing will be impossible with God,” yet we continue to limit the work of God in ourselves and in the world according to our small expectations of God. We aren’t alone though. This has been the way of human relationship with God all along. Our forebears were expecting another King David who would deliver them from Roman occupation. They wanted freedom, but the freedom they wanted was so small – it was political freedom from a particular enemy, in a particular time in history.
What they got, what we all got, was God’s freedom and it was much bigger than anyone expected. We got Jesus. Jesus is our Savior. It’s a basic truth for us. In fact, it’s THE basic truth. We confess that in Jesus we have been reconciled to God, made one again with the Creator of all that was and is and is to come. That was Jesus’ purpose and he fulfilled it, once for all. There is nothing more we need to or can do to accomplish what has already been accomplished by him.
Over and over again Jesus told us that he was delivering us from the power of sin and death. He told us that that in him we have eternal life in God (because remember he is God). And as St. Paul said a little later in his letter to the Romans, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ.
Nothing. Not sin. Not death. Not even our idols or our small expectations.
Neither can we be tricked or distracted away from the salvation Jesus gave us. That is the freedom Jesus brought – sin has no power anymore. We are free and this freedom is big as only God can do.
Look at what Matthew tells us in his gospel account of Jesus’ birth – the only gospel, by the way, that tells the story from Joseph’s point of view. Notice that the story of the coming of the Messiah is so big
it took multiple writers offering multiple perspectives to provide the story even some of the dimensionality it contains.
So, Matthew’s gospel begins with Jesus’ genealogy showing Joseph to be a descendant of David. By claiming Jesus as his son and naming him, Joseph establishes Jesus as a descendant of David.
This was important because Matthew wrote his gospel to a Jewish audience who knew the words of the prophets and the law of Moses. They knew the many stories of God’s deliverance as told in Scripture. They knew that the promised Messiah of God would come from the line of David and would deliver God’s people from their sins.
But they couldn’t have known how very big this deliverance would be. No one could have.
Matthew’s gospel tells us that Mary is pregnant, and Joseph knew it couldn’t be his child. The Jewish audience hearing this story knew that Mary’s betrothal to Joseph was legally binding. Betrothals could only be ended by divorce, that’s why they called Joseph her husband.
Under the circumstances, Joseph would have certainly been justified in seeking a divorce, but he also could have publicly accused Mary of adultery which would have guaranteed her being stoned to death
according to their law.
We can imagine how hurt and disappointed Joseph must have been. Many of us know how it feels to be cheated on by our partner in love. Matthew describes Joseph as a righteous man a man in right relationship with God, and Joseph moves pretty quickly from hurt and disappointment to mercy, deciding to divorce Mary without public accusation so that she will not be stoned to death. She will, however, be destined to a life of shame because the reason for Joseph’s divorce would be evident before long.
I wonder how many people today, given the power Joseph had over the one who hurt him, would make a similar choice? People today seem to go straight from “you hurt me” to “I’ll hurt you worse” or even “I’ll kill you.”
Matthew tells us that just as Joseph had decided to divorce Mary, God spoke to him in a dream, through an angel. Let’s stop here for a moment and ponder this. God spoke to Joseph in a dream. Really? Do we believe that?
Does the God you worship speak to you in your dreams? Are you sure? The reason I ask is, it’s one of the most common ways God has related to God’s people – according to our Scripture. Oh yeah, we believe that.
Unfortunately, the allowable concept of God we have created for our time doesn’t speak to us in dreams much anymore – really at all. We have shrunk God down according to our concepts about God and limited what we will allow God to do in our time, and that’s a sin: the sin of idolatry.
So God spoke to Joseph in his dream and what God said was pretty impossible: ‘Oh yeah, she has a baby, but don’t worry – it’s mine.’
And yet, Joseph knew it was God, and did as God asked him to do, even though, it meant living in dishonor. Gossip was the same then as it is now. Mary was pregnant, they weren’t married yet, and the baby wasn’t Joseph’s. Joseph had been humiliated. Even taking Mary and her baby in wouldn’t quell the gossip, which probably lingered around them their whole lives.
But Joseph knew his purpose. He had heard it from the voice of God in his dream, and he fulfilled it. Joseph obeyed the word of God. He even named his son as God directed. The name, Jesus, "is the Greek form of the Hebrew Yehosua, which means 'YHWH is salvation' " (Bergant, 27). As the gospel writer says, this is his name because "…it is he who shall save his people from their sins." (21b). (Source: lectionary.org)
The expectation, however, was that the Messiah would save them from their oppressors. As one commentator says, “Jesus would [have been] far more popular if [he’d focused] on relieving the people of Roman oppression instead of delivering them from their sins.” (Source: lectionary.org)
I think the same is true today. Our view of God and God’s deliverance remains very small. Thankfully, God is not limited by our consistently small expectations. God is God. Thanks be to God.
Like Joseph, we’re called to hear the voice of God which still speaks our purpose to us: individually and as a community. Like Joseph, we’re called to obey and follow where God leads the way no matter how impossible it seems. Doing so is likely to lead us to bear dishonor, as it did Joseph, but it’s a small sacrifice to make, considering how big is the work we’re called to share: reconciling the whole world to God.
I close with an adaptation of our wreath-lighting prayer. Let us pray:
Loving God, set us free from the constriction of our small imaginations and light our lives with your imagination. Show us the creative power our hope in you unleashes on the world. Teach us trust that you are God and you will lead us only by love and in love, and magnify your love within us. Fill us with your joy which is so big it cannot be contained, but must be shared. Prepare our hearts, on this last Sunday in Advent, to be transformed by you at Christmas that we may always walk shining the light of Christ in our world. Amen.
Preacher: The Very Rev Dr Valori Mulvey Sherer, Rector
En el nombre del Dios: Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo. Amen.
Last week Deacon Pam talked about the Advent task we all have: recognizing and letting go our expectations of God so that we can be in relationship with the God who is, not the God we create. This is no small task, but it is a very important one. Remember the second Commandment given to Moses: “You shall not make for yourself any idol.”
When we create a concept of God for ourselves, we create an idol. Our Scripture stories tell us of idols that are carved statues or statues cast in gold. Our idols today aren’t like that. Instead, we create idols of our
In last week’s lectionary, we heard Mary say “for nothing will be impossible with God,” yet we continue to limit the work of God in ourselves and in the world according to our small expectations of God. We aren’t alone though. This has been the way of human relationship with God all along. Our forebears were expecting another King David who would deliver them from Roman occupation. They wanted freedom, but the freedom they wanted was so small – it was political freedom from a particular enemy, in a particular time in history.
What they got, what we all got, was God’s freedom and it was much bigger than anyone expected. We got Jesus. Jesus is our Savior. It’s a basic truth for us. In fact, it’s THE basic truth. We confess that in Jesus we have been reconciled to God, made one again with the Creator of all that was and is and is to come. That was Jesus’ purpose and he fulfilled it, once for all. There is nothing more we need to or can do to accomplish what has already been accomplished by him.
Over and over again Jesus told us that he was delivering us from the power of sin and death. He told us that that in him we have eternal life in God (because remember he is God). And as St. Paul said a little later in his letter to the Romans, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ.
Nothing. Not sin. Not death. Not even our idols or our small expectations.
Neither can we be tricked or distracted away from the salvation Jesus gave us. That is the freedom Jesus brought – sin has no power anymore. We are free and this freedom is big as only God can do.
Look at what Matthew tells us in his gospel account of Jesus’ birth – the only gospel, by the way, that tells the story from Joseph’s point of view. Notice that the story of the coming of the Messiah is so big
it took multiple writers offering multiple perspectives to provide the story even some of the dimensionality it contains.
So, Matthew’s gospel begins with Jesus’ genealogy showing Joseph to be a descendant of David. By claiming Jesus as his son and naming him, Joseph establishes Jesus as a descendant of David.
This was important because Matthew wrote his gospel to a Jewish audience who knew the words of the prophets and the law of Moses. They knew the many stories of God’s deliverance as told in Scripture. They knew that the promised Messiah of God would come from the line of David and would deliver God’s people from their sins.
But they couldn’t have known how very big this deliverance would be. No one could have.
Matthew’s gospel tells us that Mary is pregnant, and Joseph knew it couldn’t be his child. The Jewish audience hearing this story knew that Mary’s betrothal to Joseph was legally binding. Betrothals could only be ended by divorce, that’s why they called Joseph her husband.
Under the circumstances, Joseph would have certainly been justified in seeking a divorce, but he also could have publicly accused Mary of adultery which would have guaranteed her being stoned to death
according to their law.
We can imagine how hurt and disappointed Joseph must have been. Many of us know how it feels to be cheated on by our partner in love. Matthew describes Joseph as a righteous man a man in right relationship with God, and Joseph moves pretty quickly from hurt and disappointment to mercy, deciding to divorce Mary without public accusation so that she will not be stoned to death. She will, however, be destined to a life of shame because the reason for Joseph’s divorce would be evident before long.
I wonder how many people today, given the power Joseph had over the one who hurt him, would make a similar choice? People today seem to go straight from “you hurt me” to “I’ll hurt you worse” or even “I’ll kill you.”
Matthew tells us that just as Joseph had decided to divorce Mary, God spoke to him in a dream, through an angel. Let’s stop here for a moment and ponder this. God spoke to Joseph in a dream. Really? Do we believe that?
Does the God you worship speak to you in your dreams? Are you sure? The reason I ask is, it’s one of the most common ways God has related to God’s people – according to our Scripture. Oh yeah, we believe that.
Unfortunately, the allowable concept of God we have created for our time doesn’t speak to us in dreams much anymore – really at all. We have shrunk God down according to our concepts about God and limited what we will allow God to do in our time, and that’s a sin: the sin of idolatry.
So God spoke to Joseph in his dream and what God said was pretty impossible: ‘Oh yeah, she has a baby, but don’t worry – it’s mine.’
And yet, Joseph knew it was God, and did as God asked him to do, even though, it meant living in dishonor. Gossip was the same then as it is now. Mary was pregnant, they weren’t married yet, and the baby wasn’t Joseph’s. Joseph had been humiliated. Even taking Mary and her baby in wouldn’t quell the gossip, which probably lingered around them their whole lives.
But Joseph knew his purpose. He had heard it from the voice of God in his dream, and he fulfilled it. Joseph obeyed the word of God. He even named his son as God directed. The name, Jesus, "is the Greek form of the Hebrew Yehosua, which means 'YHWH is salvation' " (Bergant, 27). As the gospel writer says, this is his name because "…it is he who shall save his people from their sins." (21b). (Source: lectionary.org)
The expectation, however, was that the Messiah would save them from their oppressors. As one commentator says, “Jesus would [have been] far more popular if [he’d focused] on relieving the people of Roman oppression instead of delivering them from their sins.” (Source: lectionary.org)
I think the same is true today. Our view of God and God’s deliverance remains very small. Thankfully, God is not limited by our consistently small expectations. God is God. Thanks be to God.
Like Joseph, we’re called to hear the voice of God which still speaks our purpose to us: individually and as a community. Like Joseph, we’re called to obey and follow where God leads the way no matter how impossible it seems. Doing so is likely to lead us to bear dishonor, as it did Joseph, but it’s a small sacrifice to make, considering how big is the work we’re called to share: reconciling the whole world to God.
I close with an adaptation of our wreath-lighting prayer. Let us pray:
Loving God, set us free from the constriction of our small imaginations and light our lives with your imagination. Show us the creative power our hope in you unleashes on the world. Teach us trust that you are God and you will lead us only by love and in love, and magnify your love within us. Fill us with your joy which is so big it cannot be contained, but must be shared. Prepare our hearts, on this last Sunday in Advent, to be transformed by you at Christmas that we may always walk shining the light of Christ in our world. Amen.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Advent 1A, 2013: Advent "nesting"
Lectionary: Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
Preacher: The Very Rev Dr Valori Mulvey Sherer, Rector
En el nombre del Dios: Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo. Amen.
Happy New Year! Happy new liturgical year! Advent 1 marks the beginning of our liturgical year and we begin it by lighting the candle of hope. As we move into a new year, we are called to prepare ourselves for the new thing about to happen in us individually, in our community, and through us in the world.
The Scripture for today speaks about hope and renewal of life, not the end of life as many would have us think. When Jesus used apocalyptic language, as he does in today’s gospel teaching, he’s talks about a new beginning, one he himself is inaugurating.
The topic of “the rapture” has come up in conversations I’ve been having on several occasions lately, so I thought it might be time again to share again a teaching I did a few years ago on this. How many of you have heard of “the rapture”? How many of you have read the “Left Behind” book series?
Let me be clear: the rapture is a modern doctrine that is NOT supported by the Episcopal Church or the Anglican Communion. “The rapture” was a teaching developed by John Nelson Darby, a 19th century Irish lawyer who became an Anglican preacher, then later left the Anglican Church and started the Plymouth Brethren. Darby is considered the founder of dispensationalism, a theological approach described as “an oddity of Church history.”
This approach breaks Scripture down into compartments or "dispensations” which mark the end of the world. The dispensations begin, according to Darby, with the rapture, the moment when all faithful believers are taken up to heaven all at once. This will happen so suddenly, they say, that in a flash, all that will be left of those ‘raptured up into heaven’ will be a pile of their empty clothes and the shocked looks on the faces of those who watched it happen.
The unfaithful and believers who lived in sin will be left behind to suffer unspeakable horrors during the next dispensation called the Great Tribulation, a period of seven years of chaos and persecution. Next will be the dispensation called the battle of Armageddon. After that will be a thousand years (a millennium) of justice and righteousness on the earth.
Following that will be the final dispensation: the Last Judgment, when Christ will send anyone who has ever lived either to eternal bliss or eternal damnation. This, they believe, will bring to a close the story of human history begun in the Garden of Eden.
Another famous dispensationalist was Cyrus I. Scofied, who authored the Scofied Bible, often called the handbook of fundamentalism. Published in 1909, Scofield’s Bible is still much used in the church today. It was published just before the start of WWI, and became popular as people tried to cope with what looked to them like the end of the world happening all around them.
Although dispsensational millenialists tend to focus primarily on the Book of Revelation, today’s Gospel from Matthew is a favorite because they believe that in it Jesus prophesies the rapture.
So let’s look at our Gospel reading and see. It begins with a statement by Jesus that no one, not even Jesus himself, knows when the Day of the Lord will be. So the Scofield Bible and all of those supermarket tabloids that predict a date for the end of the world, find no support in Scripture.
Next Jesus references the story of Noah found in the book of Genesis saying, “For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. People were doing what they usually did, eating, drinking, and marrying, until the day Noah entered the ark, …they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too [Jesus said]will be the coming of the Son of Man.” According to Jesus, those left behind after the flood were Noah and his family who were chosen by God to stay on the earth in order to restore it.
So Scripture shows us that the doctrine of the rapture has it backwards. Those left behind in the story of Noah, did not suffer tribulation. They lived in a covenanted relationship with God – a covenant promising mercy, forgiveness, and salvation.
Let’s continue…
Jesus continues, “Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.” Please note that the word ‘behind’ in is not in the Scriptural text – not in the Greek and not in the English.
The text also does not indicate which one might be a bad outcome and which one might be the good. But Jesus does by connecting his teaching to the story of Noah. Remember that in that story, the ones taken off the face of the earth were not the faithful ones. The faithful ones were “left behind” (as it were).
The understanding that is faithful to our Scripture, then, is that being left on the earth is not a punishment, but a call from God to be partners in the work of the reconciliation and the restoration of the world.
Let’s continue… Jesus says, “Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” It isn’t clear whether Jesus is referring to our personal end (our death) or our collective end (the end of the world as we know it).
And that’s the point - it doesn’t matter. Our focus as Christians isn’t on the end of the world but on its renewal. Like the family of Noah, we have been chosen BY God to be partners WITH God in the reconciliation of the world TO God.
There are people suffering right in front of us, here in Shelby, and around the world. People who are hungry for food, for friendship, and for hope. During his earthly ministry, Jesus healed the sick, connected with the excluded, and loved even those who executed him. In our ministries, we are to do likewise, and this is something which takes preparation – intentional, prayerful, continuing preparation – which is what we are called to do during the season of Advent.
All around us the cultural Christmas is already in high gear. Holiday decorations are up, Christmas carols are playing everywhere we turn, and the much-needed shot in our economic arm is being carefully measured by those people who measure those things.
For Christians, however, it isn’t Christmas. It’s Advent.
In the same way that we can’t skip the third trimester of a pregnancy and jump straight to the baby, we can’t skip over Advent and run right to Christmas. But why would we? What fun is that?
During the last trimester of a pregnancy, the mother begins to “nest,” that is, to make ready the home that will welcome the new life within her. The parents decorate the nursery and gather up all the necessary accoutrements: the layette, diapers, car seats, strollers, itty bitty socks.
Then… they wait. And anyone who has waited for a baby that came past its due date, knows how very hard it is to wait, especially for the mother.
During Advent, we are all pregnant with new life. So we wait. And we nest, preparing ourselves for the new life we know is growing within us, the new life that is coming. The new life who is, for us, the light of the world because we have been chosen BY God to be partners WITH God in the reconciliation of the world TO God.
Amen.
Preacher: The Very Rev Dr Valori Mulvey Sherer, Rector
En el nombre del Dios: Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo. Amen.
Happy New Year! Happy new liturgical year! Advent 1 marks the beginning of our liturgical year and we begin it by lighting the candle of hope. As we move into a new year, we are called to prepare ourselves for the new thing about to happen in us individually, in our community, and through us in the world.
The Scripture for today speaks about hope and renewal of life, not the end of life as many would have us think. When Jesus used apocalyptic language, as he does in today’s gospel teaching, he’s talks about a new beginning, one he himself is inaugurating.
The topic of “the rapture” has come up in conversations I’ve been having on several occasions lately, so I thought it might be time again to share again a teaching I did a few years ago on this. How many of you have heard of “the rapture”? How many of you have read the “Left Behind” book series?
Let me be clear: the rapture is a modern doctrine that is NOT supported by the Episcopal Church or the Anglican Communion. “The rapture” was a teaching developed by John Nelson Darby, a 19th century Irish lawyer who became an Anglican preacher, then later left the Anglican Church and started the Plymouth Brethren. Darby is considered the founder of dispensationalism, a theological approach described as “an oddity of Church history.”
This approach breaks Scripture down into compartments or "dispensations” which mark the end of the world. The dispensations begin, according to Darby, with the rapture, the moment when all faithful believers are taken up to heaven all at once. This will happen so suddenly, they say, that in a flash, all that will be left of those ‘raptured up into heaven’ will be a pile of their empty clothes and the shocked looks on the faces of those who watched it happen.
The unfaithful and believers who lived in sin will be left behind to suffer unspeakable horrors during the next dispensation called the Great Tribulation, a period of seven years of chaos and persecution. Next will be the dispensation called the battle of Armageddon. After that will be a thousand years (a millennium) of justice and righteousness on the earth.
Following that will be the final dispensation: the Last Judgment, when Christ will send anyone who has ever lived either to eternal bliss or eternal damnation. This, they believe, will bring to a close the story of human history begun in the Garden of Eden.
Another famous dispensationalist was Cyrus I. Scofied, who authored the Scofied Bible, often called the handbook of fundamentalism. Published in 1909, Scofield’s Bible is still much used in the church today. It was published just before the start of WWI, and became popular as people tried to cope with what looked to them like the end of the world happening all around them.
Although dispsensational millenialists tend to focus primarily on the Book of Revelation, today’s Gospel from Matthew is a favorite because they believe that in it Jesus prophesies the rapture.
So let’s look at our Gospel reading and see. It begins with a statement by Jesus that no one, not even Jesus himself, knows when the Day of the Lord will be. So the Scofield Bible and all of those supermarket tabloids that predict a date for the end of the world, find no support in Scripture.
Next Jesus references the story of Noah found in the book of Genesis saying, “For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. People were doing what they usually did, eating, drinking, and marrying, until the day Noah entered the ark, …they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too [Jesus said]will be the coming of the Son of Man.” According to Jesus, those left behind after the flood were Noah and his family who were chosen by God to stay on the earth in order to restore it.
So Scripture shows us that the doctrine of the rapture has it backwards. Those left behind in the story of Noah, did not suffer tribulation. They lived in a covenanted relationship with God – a covenant promising mercy, forgiveness, and salvation.
Let’s continue…
Jesus continues, “Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.” Please note that the word ‘behind’ in is not in the Scriptural text – not in the Greek and not in the English.
The text also does not indicate which one might be a bad outcome and which one might be the good. But Jesus does by connecting his teaching to the story of Noah. Remember that in that story, the ones taken off the face of the earth were not the faithful ones. The faithful ones were “left behind” (as it were).
The understanding that is faithful to our Scripture, then, is that being left on the earth is not a punishment, but a call from God to be partners in the work of the reconciliation and the restoration of the world.
Let’s continue… Jesus says, “Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” It isn’t clear whether Jesus is referring to our personal end (our death) or our collective end (the end of the world as we know it).
And that’s the point - it doesn’t matter. Our focus as Christians isn’t on the end of the world but on its renewal. Like the family of Noah, we have been chosen BY God to be partners WITH God in the reconciliation of the world TO God.
There are people suffering right in front of us, here in Shelby, and around the world. People who are hungry for food, for friendship, and for hope. During his earthly ministry, Jesus healed the sick, connected with the excluded, and loved even those who executed him. In our ministries, we are to do likewise, and this is something which takes preparation – intentional, prayerful, continuing preparation – which is what we are called to do during the season of Advent.
All around us the cultural Christmas is already in high gear. Holiday decorations are up, Christmas carols are playing everywhere we turn, and the much-needed shot in our economic arm is being carefully measured by those people who measure those things.
For Christians, however, it isn’t Christmas. It’s Advent.
In the same way that we can’t skip the third trimester of a pregnancy and jump straight to the baby, we can’t skip over Advent and run right to Christmas. But why would we? What fun is that?
During the last trimester of a pregnancy, the mother begins to “nest,” that is, to make ready the home that will welcome the new life within her. The parents decorate the nursery and gather up all the necessary accoutrements: the layette, diapers, car seats, strollers, itty bitty socks.
Then… they wait. And anyone who has waited for a baby that came past its due date, knows how very hard it is to wait, especially for the mother.
During Advent, we are all pregnant with new life. So we wait. And we nest, preparing ourselves for the new life we know is growing within us, the new life that is coming. The new life who is, for us, the light of the world because we have been chosen BY God to be partners WITH God in the reconciliation of the world TO God.
Amen.
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