Put Your Money Where Your Faith Is

21^st Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22B)

Mark 10.17-31

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 24:20)

 

Last week was the start of our annual stewardship campaign, with the theme of “Walk in Love.” Over a seven-week period we will explore, through reflections by parishioners, what it means for us to Walk in Love—with God and with our neighbors. We will explore what part St. Gregory’s plays in that walk of love. Or we could make it easy, reduce the stewardship campaign to one day by simply following Jesus’ directions to the rich young man: “sell what you own, and give the money to the poor.” Or in this case, give the money to the church. Let us take care of distributing it to the poor. After all, that is one of the primary ministries of the church.

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Models for the Kingdom of God

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22B)

Mark 10.2-16

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 25:25)

 

Once again, the Pharisees are testing Jesus, trying to trick him into saying something blasphemous, something they could use as evidence of heresy. And once again, Jesus sidesteps the trap and, in the process, turns the tables on the Pharisees, presenting a masterful, albeit subtle condemnation of the religious authorities. This time, the subject of discussion is marriage and divorce. While Jesus ultimately succeeds in making marriage and divorce a metaphor for relationship with God, before we go there, we need to take a look at some of the nuances of marriage and divorce as viewed in Jesus’ time.

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Not Us and Them, Only Us

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21B)

Mark 9.38-50

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 22:35)

 

Today’s Gospel is a continuation of last week’s reading, in which the disciples, on a journey to Capernaum, argue among themselves about who is the greatest. As you may recall, Jesus attempted to settle the argument by telling them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all” (Mk 9.35). One of Jesus’ quintessential statements about the nature of his ministry, about what it means to be his followers. That his purpose—their purpose, our purpose—is not about seeking to be served, but rather to serve. It is not about seeking glory and exaltation, but rather about seeking to humble ourselves in service so that others may be glorified and exalted.

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Invited Into Spirit and Life

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 16B)

John 6.56-69

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 22:00)

 

For the last three weeks we have talked about Jesus’ “Bread of Life Discourse.” The overall discourse spans a total of 38 verses. A pretty hefty chunk of scripture. Certainly more than can really be digested at one time—particularly considering that it is the Gospel according to John, which is, in general, very dense theologically. Wisely, the framers of our lectionary chose to divide it up into bite-sized chunks. Each section containing valuable insights into who Jesus is. Each week we have gone deeper and deeper, with Jesus revealing himself first as the Son of Man, then as the bread of life, then as the living bread that came down from heaven, then as the one who gives eternal life.

 

While we have had the luxury of taking the bread of life imagery in more manageable portions, Jesus’ original audience did not have that option. They had it thrown at them all at once. Like drinking from a firehose. No wonder then, that today, following Jesus’ wrap-up of the “Bread of Life Discourse,” we hear his audiences’ response as being “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” Not, “Good job, Jesus. Great explanation. You really nailed it! Now we totally understand who you are and why you were sent by God.” Instead, it is more along the lines of, “What? What are you talking about? We don’t get it.”

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“Those Who Eat My Flesh and Drink My Blood Abide in Me, and I in Them”

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 15B)

John 6.51-58

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 21:05)

 

Throughout the “Bread of Life Discourse” which we have been examining the last couple of weeks, Jesus’ comments become increasingly provocative, to say the least:

 

“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (Jn 6.27).

 

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (Jn 6.35).

 

“I am the bread that came down from heaven” (Jn 6.41).

 

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (Jn 6.51).

 

This last statement being the bridge between last week’s Gospel reading and today’s. A statement that certainly causes a great deal of consternation, if not revulsion, on the part of his original audience, who by now are pretty agitated. And rightly so because of the cannibalistic implications of the most recent pronouncements. As if that is not enough, as if he couldn’t get any more provocative, Jesus takes it to a whole other level: “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” The idea of eating human flesh was disgusting enough. But adding to that the idea of “drinking his blood” was beyond the pale. The idea of consuming blood—the blood of any animal—was a transgression of the most fundamental taboos in Jewish dietary laws. Laws given by God himself. So not only is the very notion just so unthinkable and repulsive, to have such words uttered by a man claiming to be sent by God, to have come down from heaven, was just over-the-top. And yet, he keeps going from there. “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” Further explaining. And undoubtedly, further upsetting his audience.

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The Bread That Came Down from Heaven—Literally

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 14B)

John 6.35, 41-51

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 22:00)

 

Something my sister and I enjoy doing is identifying and picking apart abuses in the English language, particularly what we consider egregious violations of the rules of grammar. I suppose this comes from a number of sources. Our father was an extremely well-read man and tended to be precise in his choice of words. In addition, during high school, both Lisa and I had the same teacher for Composition and Advance Composition—Murray Mossman, of blessed memory. Ms. Mossman was meticulous in her teaching of grammar, in theory as well as in practical application, particularly in the writing of essays. I think Lisa would agree with me that we learned from the best. Then in college, Lisa majored in English. As for me, both my careers have included writing as a central part of my work: preparing technical reports as a transportation planner and preparing sermons and other pieces of writing as a priest. So, the proper use of English is deeply ingrained in both of us.

 

One of our favorite things to criticize and make jokes about is the use—or rather, the misuse—of the word “literally.” “Literally” is defined as the literal sense or manner, to be exact or to be completely accurate. Although, in more recent times, “literally” has come to be used as an exaggerated way to emphasize a statement or description that is not literally, not actually, true or possible. Such as when someone says, “I literally died laughing,” as a way of indicating that something was so incredibly funny. Of course, the person did not actually die while laughing. If they did, they would not be here to tell the story. So, when Lisa and I hear such a comment, we will invariably turn to each other and say, almost as one, with emphasis, “literally.” Our way of sarcastically pointing out the absurdity of the comment.

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The Bread That Gives Life to the World

 Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 13B)

John 6.24-35

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 24:40)

 

In today’s Gospel, we heard the beginning of what is sometimes referred to as the “Bread of Life Discourse.” This discourse spans the better part of the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, which we will hear over the next four weeks. Yes, four weeks of “I am the bread of life.” The fact that Jesus spends so much time on this one image tells us, at least in John’s Christology—his theology on the nature and work of Jesus—that Jesus as “bread of life” is significant. This one image provides a key teaching on who Jesus really is and what he means for those of us who follow him. Today’s portion of that discourse, immediately following the feeding of the five thousand (which we discussed last week), sets the stage for the real teachings which follow. In a way, the portion we heard today is Jesus’ attempt to try to get those who come to him on the same page, so he can jump into the meat of the discourse. Right now, they are stuck on one thing and one thing only—bread. The bread he provided them the day before. They are not seeing that Jesus is about so much more than just someone who will give them bread on demand. You certainly see this played out in what transpires today.

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Miracles

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 12B)

John 6.1-21

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 21:05)

 

We just heard one of the most well-known miracle stories in all the Gospels. In fact, as virtually every commentary on this story points out, the feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle Jesus performed that is recorded in all four Gospels, giving this story particular weight in the canon of miracle stories. Particularly when you consider three critical facts about the Gospels. First, that none of the Gospels were written by people who were actual witnesses to the events described (with the possible exception of John, and even that is highly debated). As such, the authors of each of the Gospels relied on accounts conveyed to them by other people—meaning what was written was based on second or third hand accounts at best. Second, the earliest of the Gospels, Mark, was written about 30 to 40 years after Jesus’ death, and John was written something like 60 to 80 years after Jesus’ death. So, the accounts presented were a distant memory for those conveying the stories to the Gospel writers. And third, that each of the Gospels was written to a very particular audience for a very particular purpose. Yet, despite all of this, each of the Gospels contains this common story. Telling us that this particular miracle is incredibly important in demonstrating the ministry of Jesus Christ, and that it has something critical to say about who we are as his followers.

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Come Away and Rest a While

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11B)

Mark 6.30-34, 53-56

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 22:10)

 

Some of my fondest memories as a child were of the time our family spent together on weekends. During the week, we were all busy with our own lives and activities. My father worked Monday through Friday. My sister and I were in school during the week. And Mom was a stay-at-home mother and housewife, so was busy throughout the week with keeping a household of four (five counting the family dog) running smoothly. But all that came to a screeching halt on the weekends when we shifted gears into a more relaxed routine. Of course, there was a certain amount of “work” that needed to be done on the weekends. My sister and I had homework—although I generally tried to get it done on Friday afternoon so that I could have the weekend free. And depending on the time of the year, there was yard work, which involved all members of the family with their appointed tasks. And even though it was work, we were together.

 

When there was not the obligatory yard work or other errands that had to be done, we would go on Saturday outings. Generally, this entailed day trips to various historic sites or other places of particular interest. Since we moved around a lot, there were always new places to explore; and once we found our favorites, places to return to. And quite often, Mom would fix a big picnic lunch, complete with fried chicken or pimento cheese sandwiches, potato salad or assorted chips, home-baked cookies, and other family favorites. I think sometimes we looked forward to the picnic lunch more than visiting the sights. We always had a wonderful time seeing new or even old favorite places, learning new things, eating good food, spending time together, and making family memories. And then, of course, Sunday was devoted to church in the morning, a family brunch afterwards, with the rest of the day relaxing at home. All in preparation for the regular round of work, housework, and school that loomed ahead in the week to come.

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Living the Gospel in the Public Arena

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10B)

2 Samuel 6.1-5, 12b-19; Mark 6.14-29

St. Thomas of Canterbury, Long Beach

Live Streamed on St. Thomas’ Parish Facebook page (beginning at 19:10)

 

Today’s Gospel reading, the well-known story of the beheading of John the Baptist, is unique in Mark’s Gospel. Not the story itself—it is told not only in Mark, but also in Matthew and Luke. It is unique because it is the only story in Mark in which Jesus is neither the main character nor the main subject of the story. And despite Jesus not appearing in the story at all, the account of the beheading of John the Baptist is, in many ways, a character study in what it means to live the Gospel.

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