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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Jesus Said What?

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 20 (Year C)

Amos 8.4-7; Luke 16.1-13

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

What is Jesus thinking? He tells a parable about a dishonest manager who, when he is fired by his master, has the master’s debtors falsify their bills, reducing the amounts they owe. Surprisingly, upon finding out what the manager did, the master is not particularly upset. In fact, he “commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly” (Lk 16.8a). And not only that, Jesus himself then says, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth, so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes” (Lk 16.9). What? Did Jesus just commend the dishonest manager and lift him up as a model for his disciples to emulate? Well, yes. Yes he did. And I have just one thing to say. Who are you and what have you done with Jesus?

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Lost and Found

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 19 (Year C)

Exodus 32.7-14; 1 Timothy 1.12-17; Luke 15.1-10

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

We can all probably relate to the parables that Jesus tells to the Pharisees and scribes in today’s Gospel reading. Okay, it’s not likely that many of you have lost any sheep. But no matter how organized you are, at one time or another, you’ve likely lost something. Your car keys. Your cell phone. Your wallet. An important piece of paper. And of course, we never notice that something is lost or missing when we have free time to look for it. No, we generally notice something is lost at the worst possible moment. As we’re getting ready to walk out the door to go to work or to an important appointment. So, now, not only is the item lost, but you are also forced to lose even more—valuable time and energy, not to mention your sanity—as you put the rest of life on hold to look for the lost item. The experience can be maddening. The feelings of frustration and irritation—possibly even anger at self—as you seek that which is lost. Yet, out of necessity, there is that determination to continue to search.

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Choices

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 18 (Year C)

Deuteronomy 30.15-20; Philemon 1-21; Luke 14.25-33

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Choices. We always have choices. But sometimes those choices aren’t always so easy. Or are they?

I recall a conversation I had with my boss—no, not the Bishop, and not God. This was my boss in my “previous life” when I informed him that I would be leaving LSA, the environmental consulting firm we worked for, to go to seminary to become a priest. Lloyd knew I had been in the discernment process, so it did not come as a complete surprise. He knew it was not an easy decision for me. He knew that I loved my job at LSA and that there was a part of me that wanted to continue my work as a transportation planner. But he also knew that I felt I was being called to the priesthood—a call that had reached the point that I could no longer deny it. After I told him that I had made it through “the process” and had been cleared to go to seminary, Lloyd said to me: “It’s not very often in this life that we have a choice between two truly good things.” What Lloyd was getting at was that he understood the difficulty in making my choice between two things I loved. And affirming that ultimately, where I would find true life, true fulfillment, would be not as a transportation planner but as a priest.

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Feasting on Humility

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 17 (Year C)

Luke 14.1, 7-14

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Luke’s Gospel contains more references to eating, banquets, and being “at table” than any other Gospel. The table is a principal site for fellowship and discourse for the Lukan Jesus. The dining table seems to be one of Jesus’ preferred locations for teaching, encountering the marginalized, and even reprimanding. Today’s Gospel account incorporates nearly every aspect of what Jesus does at table. In this one lesson, he teaches, he reprimands—twice—and, at least figuratively through his second reprimand, illustrates what it means to engage those who are marginalized. Or to be more precise, he challenges his host and all present to engage with the marginalized.

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