Guests at the Inn

Christmas Eve

Isaiah 9.2-7; Luke 2.1-20

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

We know the story. Of course, we just heard it read for the umpteenth time. But even so, we know it so well most of us could pretty much recite it from memory. At the very least, we would get all the major points right.

We know the place. The city of David called Bethlehem. And more specifically, a manger in a stable associated with one of the inns in Bethlehem.

And we know the cast of characters. Mary and Joseph, arriving in Bethlehem for the census. Shepherds living in the fields outside Bethlehem, tending their flocks. Angelic messengers sent from Heaven to proclaim the birth of “a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” And, of course, the baby Jesus, who is born into the midst of this place under the adoring eyes of this cast of characters.

But there’s one place that only receives a passing mention and a cast of characters that receives no mention at all—although their presence is implied. That place is an inn. One of many in Bethlehem. And the other characters are the guests of that crowded inn and others that are nearby.

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Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Third Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Isaiah 35.1-10; James 5.7-10; Matthew 11.2-11

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

The season of Advent is about anticipating and preparing for the coming of Jesus, both at his birth in Bethlehem and at some unknown date in the future, at what we refer to as the Second Coming. And while this season is focused on the coming of Jesus, the “icon” for this season is most certainly John the Baptist, who epitomizes what it means to “prepare the way of the Lord.” In fact, John is featured on two of the four Sundays of Advent; and in two of the three years of our lectionary cycle, he even is featured in utero on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, leaping for joy in his mother’s womb at the arrival of Mary who is pregnant with Jesus.

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Invitation to Prepare the Way of the Lord

Second Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Isaiah 11.1-10; Romans 15.4-13; Matthew 3.1-12

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

There’s something I find puzzling, even unsettling, about today’s Gospel reading. No, it’s not crazy old John the Baptist, wearing clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, eating locusts and wild honey. It’s not John hanging out in the wilderness of Judea, which was—and still is even today—a pretty desolate place, literally in the middle of nowhere, ranting and raving “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!” It’s not even the fact that there were actually people who came out to see what John was all about. That I can actually see, in a weird kind of way. After all, I guess if you happened to live in the middle of nowhere, you had to get your excitement wherever you could find it, even if it was from someone who appears to have gone off his meds. No, what I find unsettling, what I don’t quite get, is the fact that “many Pharisees and Sadducees” were going out to see John, to hear his message of repentance.

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The Restlessness of Advent

First Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Isaiah 2.1-5; Romans 13.11-14; Matthew 24.36-44

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Today is the first day of Advent—the beginning of a new year, liturgically speaking. For me, this day, this season, carries the same weight as does the beginning of the new year that we celebrate every January 1^st. It is a time of reflection about where I have been, what I have accomplished, in the previous year. And a time to acknowledge what I have not accomplished and to either let go of those hopes as being not that important or to resolve anew to make those things happen if they are indeed still that important to me.

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True Allegiance

Christ the King (Year C)

Jeremiah 23.1-6; Colossians 1.11-20; Luke 23.33-43

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. While Christians have always recognized and used the language of Christ as King, this is, surprisingly, a fairly new commemoration in the Christian liturgical calendar. For 19 centuries, the “civilized world” (i.e. Europe) was comprised of Christian nations. Their rulers—monarchs all—were generally viewed as being anointed by God. And in the case of our own mother country, England, the monarch even bore the title of “Defender of the Faith.” But all that began to change in the years after World War I. In the post-war years, the political map, particularly of Europe, began to change. And the nature of governments likewise changed. The modern world and its governments were becoming increasingly secular and non-Christian. The Church was losing its influence and, as a result, there was an increase in anti-clericalism.

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"It's a Trap!"

Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 27 (Year C)

2 Thessalonians 2.1-5, 13-17; Luke 20.27-38

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

To quote Admiral Ackbar in the 1983 Star Wars movie, Return of the Jedi, “It’s a trap!” While this simple line became one of the most famous and beloved lines from the original Star Wars trilogy, and one of the more humorous, it speaks volumes when applied to the Gospel reading for today. But then again, for Jesus, “It’s a trap!” may be stating the obvious.

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The Communion of Saints: Past, Present, and Future

All Saints’ Sunday (Year C)

Luke 6.20-31

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

In today’s Gospel lesson, we hear the first third or so of the Sermon on the Plain—Luke’s parallel to Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount. In this sermon Jesus seeks to identify and develop a vision of a new world, and new behaviors needed to bring about that vision. This new world that Jesus envisions is grounded in the image of God as all merciful, all gracious. This new world that Jesus envisions can only be brought about through God’s children reflecting God’s graciousness in their own lives.

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Case Study in Humility

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 25 (Year C)

Luke 18.9-14

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

One of the common ways to enter into a passage of Scripture is to identify with a character in the story. Sometimes it’s pretty easy to do, such as the story of Mary and Martha. Most of us can clearly identify with one or the other. Or lacking such identification, at least experience an internal struggle between qualities of both characters. But what about in today’s passage? The choice is not so easy. Do we identify with the Pharisee, who is respectable and looked up to but who misses the point of what it means to live a righteous life; or do we identify with the tax collector, whose appearance and actions are called into question, but seems to get it when it comes to his relationship with God? Neither is portrayed in a particularly flattering light. At least not when you consider the whole package presented by each.

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Truly Living a Life of Faith

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 23 (Year C)

Luke 17.11-19

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

What does it mean to live a life of faith? Not just to have faith, but to actually live out of that faith?

Today’s Gospel reading gives us some insight into what living a life of faith truly means. We hear the story of ten lepers coming to Jesus, imploring him to have mercy on them. Just to be clear, when the Bible talks about people suffering from leprosy, it does not necessarily mean that they have Hansen’s Disease—what we commonly call leprosy. In the Bible, leprosy is used as a generic term for a number of forms of skin disease. According to Jewish law, anyone with so called “leprosy” was thought to be contagious and was considered ritually unclean. They were required by law to stay away from others, including their own family and friends. And because of being considered unclean, they were not allowed to participate in Temple worship and the rituals that were central to their faith. Because religion was so central to Jewish society, to not be able to practice their faith would have meant that these men stood completely outside the community. They were persona non grata—alone, abandoned by society, and by their faith community. It is out of a sense of desperation—desperation not only to be healed, but also to be able to return to their community and to Temple worship—that the ten dare to approach Jesus. They have faith that he will be able to heal them.

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Increase Our Faith!

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 22 (Year C)

2 Timothy 1.1-14; Luke 17.5-10

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’” (Lk 17.5). To my analytically oriented mind, that begs the question, “how does one measure faith?” After all, you need to measure something to see what you have before you can determine if it needs to be increased.

This request from the apostles comes right after Jesus delivers a lesson on what true discipleship means. That those who are true disciples need to hold one another accountable, they are to repent of their sins as soon as they are aware of them, and they are to forgive one another. But I think what the real presenting issue for the apostles seeking an increase in faith is the slowly dawning realization that the end is near. This conversation with Jesus takes place as he is traveling toward Jerusalem. Toward his death. Before setting his face toward Jerusalem, Jesus told his apostles two times what would happen—that “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Lk 9.22). And on this journey to Jerusalem, Jesus took the opportunity to teach his disciples about the inner workings of his ministry and gave 70 of his followers some hands-on practice in engaging in this ministry (Lk 10.1-16). I think all of this was bubbling under the surface, and as they get closer and closer to Jerusalem, as they reflect on where they have been and what they have seen, the reality is starting to set in. Soon, they will be left without their Master. They will be the ones responsible for carrying on his work. And that undoubtedly raises questions—and anxieties—about their readiness for such a monumental task. A task that can only be completed by acting out of faith. And compared to their Master, they realize they come up short in the faith department, and as a result, feel inadequate.

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