Humility and Hospitality

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 17C)

Luke 14.1, 7-14

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

I’m sure Emily Post is rolling in her grave. “What do you mean people are just sitting wherever they want at a wedding reception? That’s madness! Utter chaos! That’s why you use place cards. Tastefully done with hand calligraphy, of course.” And by the way, it should come as no surprise that Emily Post was an Episcopalian. Everything in proper order, just as God intended.

 

Yes, Emily Post, Miss Manners, and all the self-proclaimed experts on proper social etiquette would have a field day with the scene we witness in today’s Gospel. Jesus is attending a wedding banquet hosted by a leader of the local Pharisees. While everything is ready for the banquet, there are no place cards nor publicly displayed seating charts to indicate where guests are to sit. That is not to say there is not a seating plan at such events. The problem was, that schema was pretty subjective. This was an “honor and shame” culture—in which identity and social standing are tied to the family and community; where one’s actions are perceived as bringing honor or shame not only upon themselves but also upon their entire group, be it family or community. In such cultures, one’s social standing was incredibly important. And in many situations, including social situations, one’s standing dictated such things as where one sat at banquets. There was enough subjectivity involved in the identification of standing and honor that, at times, there could be conflicting perceptions among attendees. And certainly, in a situation such as a banquet, it was understood that the host had the ultimate say in who he viewed as having greater honor in his own home. Or at least, in that particular situation. Those of higher honor were seated closer to the host and the head table. Really, not unlike in many of our own banquet situations. But at least we generally have place cards to guide us.

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Formed, Called, and Consecrated

 Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 16C)

Jeremiah 1.4-10

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

Sometimes I get the feeling God is messing with me. Not in a mean-spirited way, but in a playful way. That was certainly the feeling I got when I first read the Old Testament passage from the Prophet Jeremiah earlier this week. The opening words of today’s reading have long held special meaning for me in my own spiritual journey:

 

            “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

            And before you were born I consecrated you”

 

But it was not just these words that made me feel like God was toying with me. It was reading these words in light of my sermon from last week. As I’m sure you all recall in vivid detail, last Sunday I quoted another passage from Jeremiah as an example of how fire is used as an image for passion—passion for ministry—in the Scriptures:

 

“Within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot” (Jer 20.9)

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Bringing Fire to the Earth

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 15C)

Isaiah 5.1-7; Hebrews 11.29—12.2; Luke 12.49-56

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

“Jesus said, ‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! . . . Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!’”

 

Great! I come back from Sabbatical and am immediately confronted with having to preach on some of Jesus’ more controversial words. To preach on a message that is completely contrary to who we view Jesus to be. Who we profess Jesus to be. Who we know Jesus to be. It’s enough to make me want to head back out the door and back to Sabbatical. To go back to a more peaceful and comfortable time where I did not have to deal with controversy, with difficult Gospel messages, with the challenges they present.

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In-Between Times

Second Sunday of Easter

John 20.19-31

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

With this being the last Sunday I will be with you for 111 days—but who’s counting?—I find that I view today’s Gospel reading in a new light. We hear this particular story every year on the Sunday after Easter Day. The story that has come to bear the erroneous and unfortunate monicker of “Doubting Thomas.” How many times can one preach on and seek to debunk the implication that Thomas lacked faith? I state emphatically, he did not. On this particular day, which by my reckoning is about the 17^th or 18^th time I have preached this Gospel, I welcome viewing this story through the lens of my—of our—impending Sabbatical. Hopefully giving new insight into what was going on with Thomas and the remaining disciples during those early days following Christ’s Resurrection. And, in so doing, offering a perspective with which we might view this time of Sabbatical we begin as of tomorrow.

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A Tale of Two Resurrections

Easter Day

John 20.1-20

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page

 

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

We have just heard John’s account of what happened on Easter morning. While there are differences in specific details, each of the Gospels tell basically the same story. How on Easter morning, women go to Jesus’ tomb and find it empty. Each account unfolding to reveal something about the resurrection and about the Risen Lord. John’s account, while also accomplishing this, goes one step further. This account takes a deeper dive into the responses the disciples have upon finding the tomb empty and the resulting effect of the resurrection on those closest to Jesus. Thereby providing a means by which we might view our own responses to the resurrection and its effect on us and our lives of faith.

 

While the Gospel account we just heard is most definitely a unified whole, in some ways, it is actually two stories. Each with its own response to the resurrection. Responses and reactions which are very different from each other, and yet are held in tension with one another; one flowing from the other. The juxtaposition of the two informing how we ourselves might view and relate to such a mysterious and unexplainable event. Explaining how such a mysterious and unexplainable event as the resurrection is, nonetheless, the centerpiece of our religion, of our collective and individual lives of faith.

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Boldness

Good Friday

Isaiah 52.13—53.12; Hebrews 4.14-16, 5.7-9; John 18.1—19.42

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page

 

Our liturgical commemorations for Holy Week are bracketed with an extended reading of the Passion Narrative. On Palm Sunday, also known as Passion Sunday, we hear the Passion Narrative from one of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, or Luke, depending on the year). This year it was Luke. Then, on Good Friday, we always hear the Passion Narrative from the Gospel according to John. While the substantial facts of the narratives are the same, there are differences (aside from the timeframe reported). I specifically refer to differences in how the actual Passion is portrayed: Jesus’ arrest, the trials before temple authorities and Pontius Pilate, and his crucifixion.

 

Comparing the Synoptic accounts (primarily Luke) with John’s version of the Passion reveals some stark differences. Not so much in the chain of events and details surrounding those events. After all, these are reported by different people viewing events from different perspectives; and even then, based on second-, third-, or fourth-hand accounts. So differences in reported details are understandable. And generally speaking, they are all consistent. With one significant exception. That is in how Jesus comports himself throughout his Passion. How he behaves and particularly how he responds, throughout. That difference is telling.

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Circling the Wagons

Fifth Sunday in Lent (Year C)

John 12.1-8

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 14:35)

 

Sometimes being a loving, caring community takes its toll. On those charged with the leadership and care of the community, as well as on the individual members comprising that community. This is something we are currently experiencing here at St. Gregory’s. In the space of 26 days—not even a whole month—we have experienced the loss of five beloved members of our community. Two of those occurring just this past week, on Wednesday and Thursday. This in a week in which we also had the funeral service for David Feit-Pretzer, our previous, long-time organist and music director, and the first of those to die just four weeks ago. Even though some of these dearly departed may not have been known to many of you, the collective loss experienced by those who did know them, and the resulting collective loss experienced by the parish community, is numbing. Each subsequent death adding to the cumulative numbness. Each subsequent death subtracting from the vitality of the community. I feel it acutely. And I know a number of you do, as well. Questioning, what is happening here? Not that there is any real answer. And yet, in times like this, in times of even one loss, let alone so many, we seek something to help us cope. Something to help us get through the grief, the sorrow, the sense of being diminished as a body, and the resulting sense of numbness and disbelief.

 

Today’s Gospel reading just happens to provide some insight, some guidance. A healing balm, not unlike the perfume Mary uses to anoint Jesus’ feet.

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Opportunity for Repentance

Third Sunday in Lent (Year C)

Luke 13.1-9

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 27:40)

 

Why do bad things happen? Such a broad and complex topic. Of course, the answer—if there even is a correct answer—depends on perspective. Depends on the lens through which one chooses to evaluate the particular circumstances of any given situation. As our understanding of the universe has increased, the range of possible answers seem to broaden rather than narrow. The whole notion of quantum physics alone throws such a monkey wrench into the works that an absolute answer may never be found.

 

For the ancients, with a much simpler worldview—and even for many in our own day—the answer is clear. Bad things happen because the gods—or, in our case, the One God—was angry. Bad things happen because of God’s wrath. Suffering was often viewed as punishment for sin. Even when bad things happened to those who were apparently good and righteous, there must have been some hidden sin, some unknown transgression, that was being punished. And in some cases, if there was no actual transgression, the punishment must have been for a sin committed by a parent or ancestor or other relative. Right in Exodus, when God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses, God specifically says, “I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquities of parents, to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me” (Ex 20.5b). Although, this is also countered elsewhere in Scripture. And yet, this perspective continued—and continues—in a generalized form, of suffering being the wages for sin.

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Lenten Exam

First Sunday in Lent (Year C)

Luke 4.1-13

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 33:10)

 

This is the first Sunday in our annual Lenten journey. The forty-day duration is meant to call to mind two other significant “forties” in Scripture. The first is the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted and tested by the devil—the account of which we just heard in our Gospel reading. A period which, itself, is meant to call to mind the second of the “forties”: the forty years the Hebrews wandered in the wilderness following their liberation from slavery in Egypt, as they made their way to the Promised Land.

 

There are two common themes—maybe more, but we will focus on two—between Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness and the Hebrews’ forty years in the wilderness. The first is the commonality of the duration: forty—be it days or years. In ancient scripture, forty was a shorthand way of indicating a long time. Generally, a long period that was meant to be transitional, even transformational. A time in preparation for something new.

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Do Our Faces Shine?

Last Sunday after the Epiphany (Year C)

Exodus 34.29-35; 2 Corinthians 3.12-4.2; Luke 9.28-36

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 23:25)

 

Throughout Epiphanytide—our celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany and the season that follows—we have explored the many and varied ways in which Jesus is revealed as Messiah for all people. In the process, also seeking to discern what this means for those of us who seek to follow him. Catching glimpses here and there of his glory, of God’s glory, shining in our own lives. Today we come to the end of our annual Epiphanytide journey by traveling with Jesus and his closest disciples—Peter, James, and John—up the Mount of the Transfiguration. A journey in which we witness the ultimate expression thus far of who Jesus is as Messiah. A climactic event bringing together all aspects of what it means for Jesus to be Messiah for all people. An event eclipsed only by what it foreshadows, by what we will witness at the end of the next season we are preparing to enter.

 

As this journey up that mountain begins, there is no indication of anything special. Today’s journey up the mountain appears to be just an ordinary day-in-the-life for Jesus. He often went away by himself, often to a mountaintop, to pray. To recharge and reconnect with God. But this was different. He took Peter, James, and John with him. His chief lieutenants. Jesus obviously has something important in mind. They are to be witnesses—and in the fullness of time, to bear witness—to the ultimate revelation of who he is. The symbolism of what unfolds on the Mount of the Transfiguration is so rich, bringing together so much of who Jesus is, so much of what his life is about, so much of what he will continue to accomplish beyond his earthly life. Each detail revealing more.

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A Level Place

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year C)

Luke 6.17-26

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning  at 21:00)

 

Today we hear the beginning of what is often referred to as the “Sermon on the Plain.” Not to be confused with the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew’s Gospel. Although there certainly are some similarities. And some differences. While an event is often recorded in more than one Gospel, the accounts of the same event, the details, can vary across Gospels. But in this case, the differences are significant enough that the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon the Plain are likely completely different events, but with some parallel themes. After all, it is not unreasonable to assume that, given the amount of preaching and teaching Jesus did, he may well have had a basic outline that he followed. The differences between these two famous sermons indicating that Jesus likely modified his message based on his audience or their context.

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Being Called

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year C)

Isaiah 6.1-8; 1 Corinthians 15.1-11; Luke 5.1-11

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 23:10)

 

Thus far in our Epiphanytide journey, we have been exploring the various forms Epiphany takes. The word “epiphany” meaning manifestation or revelation. For us, in this context, Epiphany being the various ways in which Jesus is revealed as Messiah to and for all people. So far, those various epiphanies have been in more public contexts: the coming of the Magi, Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan River, the changing of water into wine at the wedding at Cana, and Jesus beginning his public ministry with a sermon at the synagogue in Nazareth. All these events making a public proclamation in some form or fashion, while also revealing qualities and attributes of who Jesus is and of the nature of his ministry.

 

But in today’s Gospel, we have a revelation, an epiphany, of a more personal nature. Further revelation of who Jesus is through an encounter with an individual. Revelation of how Jesus operates through individuals. All packaged in an invitation to join him in ministry. What we commonly refer to as “being called.” The Gospel, and actually all the scripture readings we heard today, being what we commonly refer to as “call narratives.” Examination of these call narratives revealing something about who Jesus is—or in the case of the Old Testament reading, about who God is—and collectively, about how God and Christ are revealed and operate in the world. How God and Christ operate in the lives of those invited into service of the Kingdom.

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Presentation of Our Lord and of Ourselves

Presentation of Our Lord

Luke 2.22-40

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 20:15)

 

Today we have the joy of celebrating a feast day that, while occurring every year, only falls on a Sunday once every six years. An occasion when we interrupt our regular course of Epiphany readings to focus on a very special event in our communal life. Although, even then, by the sheer nature of the day and what it symbolizes, even this special day is, in itself, an Epiphany story: a story of manifestation, of revelation. Yes, today we celebrate the Feast of St. Phil of Punxsutawney. Also known as Groundhog Day.

 

Now, of course I’m being facetious—I know, such a shock. While today is Groundhog Day for secular society, in the Church February 2^nd is the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Occurring forty days after Christmas, this is the celebration of what used to be referred to as the Purification of Mary. Under Mosaic law, a woman giving birth to a male child is considered ritually unclean for a period of forty days. During this time, she is barred from touching anything holy or from entering a house of worship. On the day of her purification, she must present herself to a priest to make atonement on her behalf, offering a sacrifice of a lamb, a pair of pigeons, or a pair of turtledoves, depending on financial means. Only then shall she be considered ritually clean once more.

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Inaugural Address

 Third Sunday after the Epiphany (Year C)

Luke 4.14-21

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 25:15)

 

As we continue our journey through the season after the Epiphany, we continue to explore various ways in which Jesus is revealed as the Messiah. Up until now, we have heard the iconic stories of Epiphany, which give us a broad brush look at who Jesus is. In the visit of the Magi, we are shown that Jesus is the Messiah for all people, Jews and Gentiles alike. In the baptism of Jesus, we are shown that Jesus is in solidarity with us, no matter who we are, no matter what we have done, no matter what we might experience in our lives. And in the changing of water into wine at the wedding at Cana, we are shown that Jesus’ ministry is one of extravagance: the extravagance of his love, the extravagance of his grace, and the extravagance of his compassion. Today we move from the 30,000-foot view to ground level. We move to the practical day-to-day implications of Jesus’ public ministry. We begin to get a clearer idea of just how he will live into this role as an extravagant Messiah who is in solidarity with all people.

 

What we hear today is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry as portrayed in Luke’s Gospel—a very different start to ministry than the one we heard last week in John’s Gospel. Following his baptism in the Jordan River, in which he hears God’s commission: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Lk 3.22b), Jesus is whisked away to the wilderness, where he spends forty days being tempted and tested. A time for Jesus to figure out just what it means to be God’s Beloved and how that will influence and be manifested in his life and ministry moving forward. In what we heard today, Jesus has returned from this time in the wilderness ready to begin his public ministry. In fact, he has already begun. He had already been teaching in synagogues as he made his way to his hometown of Nazareth. This was the “soft opening” of his ministry, if you will.

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I'll Drink to That

Second Sunday after the Epiphany (Year C)

John 2.1-11

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 21:10)

 

As we have discussed over the last several week, as we celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany and then moved into Epiphanytide (the season after Epiphany) this is a time of intentionally looking at the various ways in which Jesus is revealed to the Gentiles. The most common manifestation is the visit of the Magi, which we celebrate on the Feast of the Epiphany. But there are two other stories that are equally significant as images of the Epiphany: the baptism of Jesus, which we celebrated last week, and Jesus’ first miracle of changing water into wine at the wedding at Cana, which we heard in today’s Gospel reading. While we generally commemorate both the visit of the Magi and the baptism of Jesus every year, in two out of every three years we do not hear about the changing of water into wine. Which is sad. Not just because it is a fun story. But also, because it somehow implies this story is not as important as the others in revealing who Jesus is.

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Fire and the Waters of Baptism

First Sunday after the Epiphany – Baptism of Our Lord 

(Year C)

Isaiah 43.1-7; Luke 3.15-17, 21-22

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 19:35)

 

Thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

      and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.

 

These words from our Old Testament reading from the Prophet Isaiah, first spoken in the mid sixth century BC, transcend time: extending from long before they were spoken, back to the time of the Exodus, forward to the Babylonian Exile, to the time of Jesus, to where we find ourselves today. They similarly transcend space, extending from Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea, to the Promised Land, to Babylon, to the Jordan River, to Southern California. They encompass a multitude of peoples from the Hebrews seeking liberation from slavery, to Jews both in exile in Babylon and those remaining in Israel, to those coming to the wilderness to be baptized in the Jordan River, to the people of a variety of faith traditions who call Los Angeles home. Speaking words of comfort and assurance, of hope and promise, to Jews and Christians alike, and even to those who believe in other deities or no deity at all.

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Guide Us to Thy Perfect Light

Epiphany

Matthew 2.1-12

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 25:00)

 

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. “Epiphany” meaning “showing forth,” “revealing,” “manifestation.” This feast day is dedicated to celebrating the revealing or manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles—to non-Jews, to all of us. While we commonly think of Epiphany as the arrival of the Magi following Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem, it is technically a commemoration of three different ways in which Jesus is revealed to the Gentiles: the coming of the Magi, Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, and Jesus performing his first miracle of changing water into wine at the wedding at Cana. In our liturgical readings, we don’t always hear all three of these “epiphanies.” But this is one of those years when, over the next few weeks, we do hear all three of these stories.

 

While those other “epiphanies” are important to the overall revelation of Christ to the Gentiles, we do routinely emphasize the coming of the Magi this time of year, either at the tail end of the Christmas season or in a separate celebration of Epiphany, such as we are doing today. Likely because its theme connects so closely with the birth of Jesus we have just celebrated at Christmas. To the point that the Wise Men are commonly incorporated into the birth narrative, at least in Christmas Eve pageants and images on Christmas cards and the like. But the arrival of the Magi is not a Christmas story. It is its own thing, with its own special meaning.

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