Tag Archives: homily

Homily – 1 Timothy 4.6-16, Cooper and Wright, February 28, 2013

14 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Today we celebrate Anna Julia Haywood Cooper and Elizabeth Evelyn Wright.  Cooper was born in 1859 to an enslaved woman and a white man.  She went on to study at St. Augustine’s, and Oberlin College, and eventually became the fourth African-American woman to receive a doctorate.  She was a teacher who insisted on equal education for African-Americans.  She even served as a college president.  Wright was born in 1872 to an African-American father and a mother of Cherokee descent.  She studied at Tuskegee and worked to form schools for rural black children.  Though she faced much opposition, including arson, she started a college for African-American young people that eventually became Voorhees College.  Both of these women were privileged to receive an education when they did.  But they did not keep this gift to themselves – they worked hard to ensure they brought others with them.

One could imagine that both Cooper and Wright, women highly influenced by the Episcopal Church, might have read the epistle lesson we heard today.  “Do not neglect the gift that is in you … put these things into practice, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching: Continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

Many of us may not have been teachers, professionally, but we have at times neglected the gifts that are in us.  For quite some time, I avoided my call.  I avoided.  I tried substituting other things.  I tried doing good work, just not the work I was given to do.  We all do this from time to time; we neglect the gifts God has given us, because we are afraid of where they will take us or how hard the road will be.  But our epistle reminds us that living into a call is not just for us; it’s for others as well.

Cooper and Wright knew this to be true.  Their work was for others, but their work also fed themselves.  Though we may not be teachers like Cooper and Wright, we learn from them and our epistle that we are all teaching others.  When we neglect the gift in ourselves, others notice.  We have to only think of our most admired friends and saints to know that passion inspires passion.  Just by living into our gifts and vocation, we bless others without even realizing it.  God sees the gifts in you.  Your work is to nurture that gift and live into that gift fully before others.  Amen.

Homily – 1 John 4.13-21, John Henry Newman, February 21, 2013

14 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Today we celebrate the life of John Henry Newman.  Newman was ordained a priest in the Church of England in the 1820s.  He was one of the founders of the Oxford Movement, that movement in the Church of England that sought to get us back to some of our more Roman liturgical heritage.  They were the ones who started what we would call the Anglo-Catholic or High Church movement.  Newman produced many tracts and was an avid scholar, but eventually the church infighting got to him and he left the Church of England to become a Roman Catholic priest and eventually a Cardinal. 

What is interesting is that we get this epistle lesson today about love appointed for Newman’s day: “God is love … we love because he first loved us.  Those who say ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers and sisters, are liars.”  We often like to focus on the God of love – we say, “it’s all about love.”  But so rarely do we act like it is all about love.  Like the Church of England in the 1800s, we still have denominational infighting.  We have seen how tense things still are in the conversations about a new Pope.  The last couple of weeks, I have heard more trash talk between Romans and Anglicans than I like to admit.

The challenge that Newman and our epistle lesson give us is the challenge to love one another.  The collect for this day says, “God of all wisdom, we thank you for John Henry Newman, whose eloquence bore witness that your church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic …”  We confess this in our profession of faith, but I am not sure we always believe it.  Whatever denomination life has landed us in, Newman and our epistle remind us of the centrality of love.  This is most important in our conversations, our actions, our prayers, and our witness.  The world is not only watching the Roman Catholic Church in this new election of a Pope – the world is watching how all Christians behave, especially toward one another during this process.  For as our epistle says, “those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”  Our invitation today is to be a church of love.  Amen.

Homily – Luke 4.40-44, Samuel Shoemaker, January 31, 2013

14 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

In our gospel lesson today, Jesus experienced the first of many attempts to contain Jesus and his ministry.  After healing many, Jesus goes to a deserted place, to rejuvenate, most likely, but the crowds follow, begging him to stay.  They want to keep Jesus Christ to themselves, to use him as they need.  But Jesus will not stay: “I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to other cities also …”  Jesus must keep moving, sharing the Good News beyond one particular place.

We do this 2,000 years later.  Though we say we want to grow, we like our small, close-knit community.  We like what Jesus is doing now, and we are not sure how much change we actually want.  Besides, if we are going to grow, we would like people to come to us, not us need to keep moving outside these walls, bringing people in.  Of course, this is not simply a St. Margaret’s problem.  The entire Episcopal Church is in decline because we really struggle with that whole “evangelism” thing.

Samuel Shoemaker, who we honor today, would not have liked our guarded, protective ways – even if we are in good company.  Shoemaker, born in 1893 in Baltimore, was influenced by many evangelical thinkers.  He learned the power of personal evangelism, and during his 16-year tenure in New York City at Calvary Episcopal Church, his church grew exponentially.  He knew the power of personal evangelism and giving authentic witness to one’s faith.  Eventually, Shoemaker started movements of sharing faith in the workplace and ministering to alcoholics through AA.  Shoemaker kept making the “box” of church wider, keeping that same pace of Jesus, who could not be kept by one town or community.

The good news with Jesus and even Shoemaker is that they push us in good ways with results more bountiful than we could imagine.  Yes, Jesus could have stayed in one town forever, and healed and cared for all.  But Jesus Christ also knew he could do more.  Shoemaker could have ministered to those inside the church and not worried about who wasn’t there.  But because he did, the good news and ministries became whole movements in the church.

Our invitation today is to think bigger.  We can make tweaks here and there, but maybe we can think bigger about our ministry and witness here in Plainview.  Who knows which risks will pay off and what changes will lead us to boisterous new life?  We may not know what that will look like in the years to come.  But our invitation is to stay open, to keep moving and to boldly go out into the world with Jesus.  Amen.

Homily – Acts 26.9-21, Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, January 24, 2013

14 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Today we celebrate the conversion of St. Paul the Apostle.  Paul’s story is fresh in many of our minds.  Having read through Acts this fall, we heard his conversion story hundreds of times.  Saul, a brutal persecutor of Christians, has a profound experience with Jesus, and he changes his entire life.  This man who watched Christians be martyred eventually himself becomes martyred for Christ.  His change is dramatic; he totally devotes his life to Christ, especially advocating for the conversion of Gentiles.  That conversion experience for Paul becomes a rock – a story not only that he shares over and over, but that he uses as fuel for his journey.

Now as modern Episcopalians, Paul’s conversion story is intriguing, but not exactly relatable.  Few of us have a story of being converted.  In fact, few of us even have a story of being “saved,” as our Baptist brothers and sisters might call it.  And if we are truly honest, few of us even like to tell our faith story at all, at least not to anyone outside these walls.  Yet this is what Jesus calls us to do in the Gospel lesson today.  Jesus says we will be sent out like sheep among wolves, flogged and dragged before governors because of Jesus.  When we are to speak we are not to worry, because the Holy Spirit will give us the words.  For a people who feel uncomfortable even talking about our faith to others, these are not exactly emboldening words.  And Paul’s talk is not much encouragement!

So where can we find encouragement?  I find encouragement with Paul.  If you remember, Paul had a lot of support.  His Jewish and Roman identity opened a lot of doors and saved him many times.  Also, God gave Paul a story; he did not have to make up a new story every time.  He just told his story – the story he knew best – over and over again.  What Paul did was indeed scary, and we know the many scary moments he faces, but he did those things with some real support from the Holy Spirit.

This is why we can trust Jesus when he says, “Do not worry.”  Our story today is a lot less scary; we may face discomfort talking to others, but not flogging and death.  And we know our story; we have lived a great journey with Jesus.  Maybe we are still figuring it all out, but sometimes honestly sharing that ambiguity will open more people to Christ than certainty will.  So Jesus and Paul encourage us today.  They encourage us to let go of fear and to just start telling our story.  “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”  Amen.

Homily – Matthew 16.13-19, Confession of St. Peter the Apostle, January 17, 2013

14 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

I got a little behind posting my homilies from our Thursday Eucharists.  The next few entries will catch us up!

Today we honor the Confession of St. Peter the Apostle:  that moment when Peter declares that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.  Peter is one of my favorite characters in the New Testament, mostly because he is always messing up.  He is the rock on which Jesus will build his Church – he even renamed Peter for this reason.  But Peter is always messing up, sinking in the sea, offering to build tabernacles at the Transfiguration, and denying Jesus Christ three times.

I don’t love that Peter messes up because I am superior to Peter.  I love that Peter messes up because I mess up so much too.  I am always doubting God.  I am always misunderstanding what God is doing.  I am always denying my Lord – in small and big ways.  Somehow, if Peter can do all these things and still be loved by Jesus, maybe there is hope for me.  What I love about today’s feast day, though, is that today celebrates a day when Peter gets it right – no beating up Peter; no making excuses.  Today is a day that Peter gets it, and we the church rejoice.

What is even more redeeming to me is that Jesus declares how Peter achieves this moment of clarity.  “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven.”  Peter does not achieve this clarity or earn it or do it on his own – only through God can he be this clear-headed rock of the Church, declaring, “You are the Messiah.”

This is how we, too, follow the life of Christ and our call in that life.  Only through God, who alone can make us all clear-headed, impassioned lovers of Jesus Christ.  We will continue to mess up, just like Peter, but we will have our moments.  Moments we make God proud, maybe even moments that make the church want to celebrate these proud moments.  Because not only do we celebrate our victories, we celebrate the One who makes those victories possible.  Amen.

Homily – Luke 2.15-21, Holy Name, January 1, 2012

06 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Names are very important to us.  I know when we were choosing Simone’s name, we argued for months about her name.  We knew how important a name could be:  a name could bring back memories of someone who was mean to us, of someone who was beautiful, or of someone who was relentlessly teased.  Our daughter was already going to be saddled with another fate about names – our family’s hyphenated last name.  And so back and forth we went, worrying about what kind of person our child would grow to become, and whether the name we chose would fit.  Names mean a lot to us – they are ways of honoring the past and anticipating the future.  We see that evidenced in the ways that certain nicknames stick with us in certain points of our lives.

Today we celebrate the Holy Name of Our Lord.  Eight days after the birth of Jesus, like any good Jewish family, Jesus is circumcised and given the name “Jesus.”  The importance of this momentous event is given just one verse in Holy Scripture  But the EC gives this one verse the attention of entire feast day.  Why is Jesus’ name so important?  Jesus name is important because his name tells us something about him.  His name, derived from the Hebrew, means Savior.  His name is given to Joseph by the Angel Gabriel.  Not only does Jesus’ name signal obedience by his parents, his name proclaims him to be the Savior.  Or as we heard from Isaiah this Christmas:  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Jesus’ name is important to us because Jesus’ name says something about whom we understand Jesus to be to us.

Naming is important throughout Holy Scripture.  Abram is renamed Abraham – the Father of a multitude of nations.  Isaac, the son of old, barren Sarah was named to remind her of the laughter that slipped from her mouth when God told her she would bear a son.  Simon was renamed Peter – for he would be the rock that the Church would be built upon.  Names have a power in Holy Scripture that mean something, that change something, that mark significance.

Fifty years ago, our parish was given a name too:  The Episcopal Church of St. Margaret.  Of course, for some reason we chose the oddest of the Margaret’s – St. Margaret of Antioch, who is famous for being swallowed by a dragon, and then slaying the dragon through the use of the cross in her hand.  But, like any child, this is the name we are given, whether we like our name or not.  The truth is, like any child, the name both defines us and is redefined by us.  At one point in our history, our name signified new life and growth – a place of excitement in a community without an Episcopal presence.  At another point, our name was associated with strife and struggle.  To some our name has been associated with “that cute little church with the red doors.”

And 50 years later, our name is being redefined once again.  We are that church who expresses radical hospitality, welcoming all seekers on the faith journey.  We are that church who expresses radical love, serving our neighbors here in Plainview.  We are that church expresses radical witness, sharing the good news of Christ.  In this 50th year, we have much to look forward to as we live into our name, and as we continue to redefine our identity in this time and in this place.  Amen.

Homily – John 20.24-29, St. Thomas, December 20, 2012

23 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

In the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, I am grateful for the feast of St. Thomas.  “Doubting Thomas” is how most of us remember him.  When the disciples tell Thomas of their post-resurrection encounter with Jesus, Thomas refuses to believe unless he sees it himself – and not just sees, but touches Jesus’ wounds.  Talk about a literal, tangible faith!

Sometimes I think Thomas gets a bad rep.  Everyone likes to wag their fingers at Thomas, shaking their heads at his silly lack of faith.  Not only does this behavior disregard how utterly unimaginable Jesus’ resurrection was, this behavior also ignores the times when we too have been doubters.

Just this past week alone, in the face of unimaginable cruelty and suffering, many of us have doubted God’s presence.  Our faith took a real hit as we struggled to make sense of the tragedy.  We all struggle with doubt from time to time – even if we are embarrassed to admit it.  In fact, I think most of us are embarrassed, which is why we do not talk about doubt enough and why we finger wag at someone like Thomas instead of ourselves.

The gift of Thomas today is his permission.  Thomas’ witness is that struggling with our faith is okay.  In fact, Jesus will stay in relationship with us and will help us along the way.  I don’t think Jesus just happens to stop by the second time – he knew Thomas needed to see him.  Thomas’s life and witness encourages us to be fully human and honest in our faith journey – acknowledging those times when doubt is our overriding experience.

There is a modern cartoon floating around the Internet that recalls the story about “Footprints in the Sand.”  The man asks why there is only one set of footprints, as though Jesus left him – but Jesus clarifies that he was carrying the man then.  But in the cartoon, Jesus also says, “That long groove over there is when I dragged you for a while.”  The cartoon is meant to be funny, but I think it further highlights how infinitely accepting and patient Jesus is with our faith journey – including the doubts.  Being honest about the fullness of our faith experience is the invitation from Thomas today.  Thank you, Thomas, for encouraging us into an honest faith walk.

Homily – John 1.9-13, St. Lucy (Lucia), December 13, 2012

19 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Lucy, a martyr in the early 300’s, a particularly brutal time of early Christian persecution.  Although not much is known about the details of Lucy’s life, she was known for her purity of life and the gentleness of her spirit.  Because of her name, meaning “light,” and her feast day being on what was the shortest day of the year for centuries, Lucy became associated with light.  In Sweden, a young girl from the family dresses in pure white and wears a crown of lighted candles on her head.  She serves her family special foods and in praise of her service, she is called Lucy for the day.

In the middle of Advent, celebrating Lucy is most appropriate.  Advent is a season of dimmed lights – a vigil we hold as we await the bright light of the incarnate Christ.  We tone down our liturgies, take on a more penitential tone, and spend more time in silence before God.  At this time of year, the days shorten, dawn comes earlier every day, and we journey through John the Baptist’s message of repentance.  In the midst of this darkness, we could all use a little light today.

Advent is tricky in this way.  Advent calls us into a countercultural experience – as Christians we are to hold off on celebrating Christmas.  I grew up in the faith tradition that did not guard Advent so stringently.  When I settled in the Episcopal Church, I remember hating Advent at first.  The music was drab, the liturgies felt dull.  The rest of the world was frolicking in Christmas cheer and the Episcopal Church was closing that door for two more weeks!  I remember thinking of the Episcopal Church as the “Debbie Downer” of Christmas.

Years later I came to appreciate the church’s gift of Advent.  That focus on a modest, dimmed, quiet helps guide us in a secular world that tries to pull us from the true focus of Christmas.  So we honor the shortened period of light on the earth.  We slow down and redirect our lives, and we take on the yoke of waiting.

What Lucy does today is to encourage us on the journey with a bit of light.  She does not turn up all the lights, but her candles give us an inkling of the blinding light of Christ that is to come into the world.  Lucy gives us hope and comfort as her flickering flames light us through these last 10 days of Advent.  Like Lucy, we too can be lights in the world that lead others to Christ and share the way to the path of salvation.  Amen.