It’s Radical

Lent 5, Yr. B, March 25, 2012

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12; Hebrews 5:5-10; John12:20-33

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

            If you read the Herald a week or so ago, you will remember that I wrote about reading a book called Radical Amazement.[1]  It’s a book that talks about the “new cosmology”, our latest understanding of the universe and how that effects our thinking about God and spirituality.  You might wonder why that is even a concern to people of faith, and that is a good question.  But we’re in a period that I think resembles the scientific revolution of the 16^th & 17^th centuries, a time of great change in the religious world.

Before people like Galileo and Copernicus and Newton came along we believed that the earth was flat … that our planet was the center of the universe … that heaven really was above the earth.  The creation stories were taken at their word, and we believed that the earth was created by God in six days … beginning with light.  We believed that God commanded the movement of the planets and God’s whim controlled every act of nature.  We prayed to God to control those things we didn’t understand, or over which we had no control.  We imagined God as the master controller, the one holding the joystick that ran the world from his thorne in the stars. 

But Copernicus suggested that the Earth turned on its own axis and that it revolved around the sun.   And Galileo built a telescope that looked deeper into space.  He told us that the planets weren’t heavenly bodies that housed angels.  Instead they were made of matter, and were in fact much more like our planet earth than we ever imagined.  Newton discovered natural laws that explained the motion of the planets, and the behavior of many earthly phenomenon.  The world was more predictable than we thought, and through observation and experimentation we could pretty accurately explain what was previously unexplainable.  All this science made religion look like a lie.  

Jesus is the Serpent

Lent 4, Yr. B, March 18, 2012

Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

            You may have heard me say this before, but just in case … let me say it again.  This Old Testament story about the serpents is one of my favorites.  Whenever I read it, I enjoy the twists and turns it takes.  I enjoy the way it reveals our humanity. 

            “From its beginning, the narrative of the wilderness wandering of the escaped Hebrews is rife with reports of trouble and suffering, accompanied by constant complaining (KJV: “murmuring”) of the people against Moses and Aaron.  The people did not like the bitter water of Marah (Exod. 15:22-25), so the Lord showed Moses how to sweeten it.  They complained about the lack of foor (Exod. 16:2-3), so the Lord gave them manna.  They complained that they were thirsty (Exod. 17:3).  Moses struck the rock at the Lord’s command, and water gushed forth (see also Num. 20:1-13).  When the march resumed after Sinai, they were back at it again, asking for meat to eat (Num. 11:4-6).  A wind from the Lord brought quails.”[1]

Obstacles

Lent 3, Yr. B, March 11, 2012

Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

So Jesus comes into the temple and he throws a fit.  It's a humdinger of a fit too.  It's as bad as any tamper tantrum a toddler might throw in the middle of the grocery store.  He enters the temple and "found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables".  We might be tempted to think that this is something unusual, Jesus "finding" a little public market set up inside the temple.  Seems like a strange place to try to make a buck, or rather ... a denari or two.  Doesn't it?

Carrying the Cross

Second Sunday of Lent, Yr. B; March 4, 2012

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Psalm 22:23-30; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38

Sermon Preached at The Church of St. Luke & St. Simon Cyrene

            Abraham didn’t expect to be the father of a nation.  He didn’t ask for it.  Peter didn’t expect to be a peddler of love and forgiveness.  He didn’t ask for that either.  But Abram was faithful and God transformed him and Sarai.  Simon was faithful, and God transformed him too.  So now we know them as Abraham, Sarah and Peter, their names reflecting the work God has done in them. 

            I doubt that their transformations were easy ones. Abram traveled a long way before God reiterated the promise and FINALLY gave him a son by Sarah.  Abram had left his homeland and traveled through a few unfriendly lands.  He had gone to Egypt, survived a famine, and nearly lost his wife to a foreign king. Sarah had become desperate for the fulfillment of God’s promise.  So Abraham fathered a son by Haggar, and now his son, Ishmael, is a teenager!

            Peter has left his family and his nets to follow Jesus, a decision that has likely made him quite unpopular at home.  He has traveled with Jesus, staying in all kinds of place, learning at his feet with the other disciples.  Simon was perhaps the most ardent mistake maker of the bunch … walking toward Jesus on the water, and ending up taking a bath in the sea.  Recognizing Jesus as the Messiah and then being rebuked in front of the other disciples.  But to be transformed we have to allow ourselves to be broken open by God, to risk looking at ourselves and the world a little differently. 

"Get the Man Right"

First Sunday of Lent, Yr. B; February 26, 2012

Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15

Sermon Preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

                        At the last meeting of families with young children, we spent some time with the Noah story.  We actually told the story of Noah building the ark and gathering the animals.  We used the Beulah Land felt board and all the animals from the creation story.  As we talked about Noah putting them on two by two, the kids helped me pick up the felt pieces and put them on the felt ark.  There were three large water droplets for the rain, and we talked about how very long it rained, and how the waters filled the earth and how the animals were likely as sea sick as the humans on the ark.  Then we found the little white dove that Noah sent out, and the little green sprig that the dove finally brought back as the waters receded.  At the end, in toddler chaos the animals came out of the ark and the big rainbow went up on the top of the felt board. 

Becoming Blinding Light

Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Yr. B; February 19, 2012

2 Kings 2:1-12; Psalm 50:1-6; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9

Sermon Preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

Last night I watched the movie Pete’s Dragon for the first time.  It’s a story about a little boy and his pet dragon.  Elliot, isn’t a pet, exactly.  He doesn’t depend on Pete to care for him.  In fact, it’s more like Elliot takes care of Pete.  Most people think that Elliot is Pete’s “imaginary friend”, something Pete has concocted to cope with a difficult and loveless life.  Pete says, “Elliot comes to those who need him.”  Pete really needs him.  But as it turns out, Elliot is a REAL dragon.  When people see him for the first time, they are terrified … even though he is quite a nice, helpful dragon.  Seeing a real live dragon is just a little too much to take in.   The few who do manage to see Elliot, run off screaming in fright.

So we don’t have to wonder why the disciples with Jesus are a bit confused when they witness the transfiguration.  It’s a little more than they can wrap their minds around.  And it’s not surprising to hear Jesus tell them not to tell anyone. I’m sure it’s something he has to spend a little time processing too.

A History of Healing

 6^th Sunday after the Epiphany/Absalom Jones, Yr. B; February 12, 2012

2 Kings 5:1-14; Psalm 30; Galatians ?:??-??; Mark 1:40-45
Sermon Preached at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
Annual Meeting Sunday

            Over the last year or so I’ve been diagnosed with arthritis in various joints.  At first it was just bothersome on occasion, but when it became a constant nag, I decided it was time to go to the doctor.  She sent me to a Physical Therapist.  I would have preferred a pill to make it all go away … but the therapist was pretty sure that regular stretching would do the trick.  I’ve been pretty active all my life … pretty athletic.  I’m used to making my body work and expecting to sweat a little.  I actually enjoy physical work, so I was ready to tackle this stretching with a vengeance.  She handed me a skinny little book about posture and the back, and then she taught me two simple stretches.  “You should do these several times a day.  Don’t sit for more than an hour at a time.  Then get up and move around, and do your stretches.  Come back in a week.”  Really?  I thought.  Stretch?  “Oh, and read the book”, she said.