You Have Made Them Equal to Us

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20A)

Matthew 20.1-16

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

Lately, I have been thinking about the subject of “original sin,” as one does in one’s free time. In Christian theology, original sin is the condition of human sinfulness and guilt that we all inherit from the first humans, Adam and Eve, due to their disobedience in the Garden of Eden. That disobedience being their going against the single command God gave them that they are not to eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Which, as we know from Genesis Chapter 3, Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent, who told them that if they did eat of the fruit, “your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Gen 3.5). And we all know what happened. They ate the forbidden fruit. And things just went downhill from there.

 

Now, admittedly, the doctrine of original sin is not without controversy, particularly in many expressions of Protestant Christianity. Without going into all the gory theological details, I think it is fairly safe, at least for our purposes here, to boil the idea of original sin down to its basics and to recognize that humans, by nature, are imperfect creatures and are subject to sin. As defined in the catechism in our own Book of Common Prayer, “Sin is the seeking of our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship with God, with other people, and with all creation” (BCP, 848).

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Servants of the Servants of God

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Welcome Home Sunday and Patronal Feast Day

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

Today we are trying something new. At least, new for us. At least, new for us in the time that I have been here as Rector. We are celebrating our Patronal Feast Day—commemorating our patron, St. Gregory the Great. While many, if not most, Episcopal congregations celebrate their patron saint on a Sunday near the feast day for said saint, we have not traditionally done that. Not because we are ashamed of St. Gregory or feel he is not worthy of celebrating. As we shall see, he most certainly is worthy. But rather, our lack of celebration was not so much an oversight as it was an unfortunate circumstance of calendar. The traditional feast day for Gregory the Great is March 12, the anniversary of his death in 604. Which always falls during Lent. And the Book of Common Prayer explicitly states, “The feast of the Dedication of a Church, and the feast of its patron or title, may be observed on, or be transferred to, a Sunday, except in the seasons of Advent, Lent, and Easter” (BCP, 16). Which kind of leaves us out of luck.

 

But! Fortunately for us, Gregory has an alternative feast day. September 3, which is the anniversary of the beginning of his papacy in 590. Established by Pope Paul VI precisely because Gregory’s feast day falls in Lent. While we really should have celebrated last Sunday, we chose to move our celebration to today to avoid the Labor Day weekend.

 

While a parish’s patronal feast day by and large focuses on the life and example of the saint for which the parish is named, I think, to the extent possible, the celebration should also focus on the parish itself. And, as we shall see, this is particularly appropriate for St. Gregory’s—the patron saint and our particular parish.

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Conflict Mediation

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18A)

Matthew 15.10-28

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

I’m beginning to think I should just not go on vacation. The last couple of years, it seems like every time I return from time away, be it sabbatical or vacation, I am immediately confronted with having to preach on challenging readings. Or rather, readings that address challenging issues. But I do need an occasional vacation, so maybe I just need to do a better job of scheduling it around the Gospel readings—stick the supply priest with the difficult passages. Although, I suppose Fr. Gary had his share of challenges while I was gone—particularly last week’s conflict between Jesus and Peter, with the famous “Get behind me, Satan!” comment (Mt 16.23), followed by the command that “any [who] want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mt 16.24).

 

The reality is, the Scriptures should challenge us, precisely because the Scriptures reflect the truth of everyday life. And, I think we would all agree that life can, at times, be challenging. And while some Scripture passages may seem challenging, it is often these very passages that provide us with the guidance we need to navigate the challenges of everyday life—both individually and communally.

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