Perfect Freedom

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

June 30, 2013

Year C, Proper 8: The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

2 Kings 2:1-2,6-14

Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20

Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Luke 9:51-62

Perfect Freedom

            By now, many of you have figured out that I’m a big fan of weekday worship. I don’t know, maybe some of you are getting sick of hearing me talk about it.

            There are lots of reasons for why I think weekday worship is so important. First, as I’ve mentioned before, a whole lot of money and effort go into maintaining this building. So, just to be practical and to be good stewards of what God has given us, we should use this holy, beautiful and, yes, expensive place more than just a couple of hours during on Sunday.

            But, way more important than that, weekday worship has a powerful spiritual effect on all of us, whether we’re regulars during the week or if we’re never able to come to a weekday service. As the rector of my previous parish likes to say, all of our services in some mysterious way bathe this place in prayer. And all of that praying – all of that bathing in prayer – has powerful spiritual effects on us all.

            Weekday worship also allows us to preserve, and benefit from, a rich part of our Anglican tradition – the beautiful collects, canticles and prayers found in Morning and Evening Prayer, right there near the front of the prayer book.

            Finally, weekday worship is also an important reminder – weekday worship is a powerful symbol. Weekday worship is a reminder and symbol that the Christian way of life is not something we do just for an hour or so here on Sunday. No, as we heard in today’s hard gospel lesson, much more is demanded of us if we want to follow Jesus.

            One of those beautiful collects from Morning Prayer that I mentioned came to mind when I was thinking about today’s hard gospel lesson. It’s called “A Collect for Peace,” and it starts with these words:

            “O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom.”

            “To serve you is perfect freedom.”

            To serve God is perfect freedom.

            Stop and think about that for a moment. We could – and probably should – ponder that for the rest of our lives.

            “To serve God is perfect freedom” is the truth at the heart of today’s gospel lesson.

             Luke writes, “When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”

            There’s a lot packed into just that one sentence. We know that, in Jerusalem, Jesus will be “taken up” when he is nailed to the cross. Jesus will be “taken up” when is raised on third day. And, Jesus will be “taken up” forty days later when he ascends into heaven, vanishing from the disciples’ sight.

            Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Jesus made his choice. Jesus chose what Jesus chose all along. Throughout his earthly life, Jesus chose the costly way of love and sacrifice. Jesus chose to serve.

            Jesus made his choice. And, as we heard in today’s gospel lesson, Jesus insists that following him means making the same choice. Following Jesus means choosing the costly way of love and sacrifice.

            Now, let’s be honest, for most of us most of the time, we’re not so good at choosing the costly way of love and sacrifice.

            As a priest, I’m sort of a “professional Christian,” and I’ll admit that most of the time it’s hard for me to follow Jesus and I fall short all the time.

            Most of us most of the time choose to live like the rest of the world. We choose to be concerned mostly with ourselves, and the people closest to us. We choose to be concerned mostly with money or things. We choose to be concerned with what people think of us. We choose to mock or exclude or condemn people who are different from us. We choose to treat people like things for our use, convenience or pleasure. We choose to not treat people as who they really are: beloved children of God.

            It’s hard to choose to follow Jesus instead of the values of the world.

            But, Jesus asks – Jesus demands - more of us even than that.

            Jesus demands that we put following him first in our lives, over our most important responsibilities. Jesus demands that we choose following him over earning a living. Jesus demands that we choose following him over those dearest to us. Jesus demands that we choose following him even over burying our beloved dead.
            And what does choosing to follow Jesus look like?

            Choosing to follow Jesus means modeling our lives after his.

            And Jesus’ earthly life was all about serving God. Which brings us back full circle to that collect I mentioned: Jesus’ life was all about serving God. And serving God is perfect freedom.

            St. Paul lays it out very clearly for us to today’s reading from his Letter to the Galatians.

            Paul wrote this letter to a non-Jewish Christian community that he had started. But, now he’s found out that other teachers have been teaching the Galatians a different gospel – a gospel that involved following the Jewish law. Paul isn’t happy at all about this turn of events.

            So, Paul writes to the Galatians reminding them of the basics. And, for Paul, the basic thing is that Christ has set us free.

            Paul writes, “For freedom Christ has set us free.”           

            And, Paul says, we are to use that freedom not for our own pleasure or gain but through love to become slaves to one another. We are to use that freedom to fulfill what the Jewish law is all about: to love our neighbors as ourselves.

            To serve God is perfect freedom.

            Serving God is perfect freedom because that’s what we’re made for. We are made to serve God. We are made to serve God by loving God and loving one another.

            This is who we are really meant to be.

            This is who we really are.

            So, whenever we choose the world’s values we choose to be slaves – slaves to money, to our stuff, to our desires, to our prejudices.

            But, whenever we choose Jesus’ way – whenever we choose the costly way of love and service - whenever we choose to live the Christian life not just on Sunday morning but all week - whenever we choose to care not only about ourselves and the people closest to us but also the suffering people around the corner and around the world - whenever we remember what’s more important than money or things  - whenever we stop worrying what people think of us – whenever we welcome absolutely everybody - whenever we choose to treat people like the beloved children of God they and we are – whenever we choose Jesus’ way – whenever we choose the costly way of love and sacrifice – then we are truly free.

            The costly way of love and sacrifice isn’t easy. A life of service isn’t easy. It wasn’t easy for Jesus and for Paul and for faithful Christians throughout the ages. But, it’s the only way for us to be truly free.

            Today, we once again heard the story of Jesus making his choice, setting his face to go to Jerusalem and all the horror and glory that awaited him there.

            Jesus made his choice. Throughout his earthly life, Jesus chose the costly way of love and sacrifice.

            And now it’s our turn to choose.

            Do we choose the way of the world?

            Or do we choose the perfect freedom of loving and serving God and loving and serving our neighbors?

Proclaiming Throughout the City

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

June 23, 2013

Year C: Proper 7 – The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

1 Kings 19:1-15a

Psalm 42 and 43

Galatians 3:23-29

Luke 8:26-39

Proclaiming Throughout the City

            It’s been very interesting to move back to Jersey City after having been away for five or six years. I love walking the streets among so many people – and so many different kinds of people. And as I’ve walked around, I’ve noticed lots of changes, but lots of things are still pretty much the same.

            I have to say, though, that I’ve been very sorry to see Journal Square in such bad shape. As most of you know, there’s a big empty lot right in the middle of the Square where stores and restaurants used to be. Lately there’s been talk that new high rises will finally go up there, but we’ve all heard about those kinds of plans before.

            And as you walk through the Square you can’t help but notice the large number of seemingly homeless people hanging around the dried up fountain. I’m sure a lot of you know who and what I’m talking about. It’s a sad and desolate scene. I’ve actually recognized some of the faces. So, at least some of them have been wasting away their days at the Square for years.

            Obviously a good number of these “men and women of the city” suffer from some combination of mental illness and substance abuse. It must be a terrible and often terrifying life.

            I thought about those lost souls of the city when I first began reflecting on today’s gospel lesson.

            In the lesson I just read from the Gospel of Luke, we heard a story of God’s power manifested in and through Jesus.

            Luke tells us that Jesus is on foreign soil, “in the country of the Gerasenes,” which was across the River Jordan from Jesus’ home base of Galilee.

            And it’s there that Jesus encounters a truly pathetic and horrifying figure, “a man of the city” who we’re told was possessed by demons, a man of the city who for a long time had worn no clothes, who didn’t live in a house but lived in the tombs. We’re told this man of the city was kept under guard, but the demons inside him were so powerful that he would break out of the chains and shackles.

            Now, Jesus’ disciples usually have a hard time figuring out who Jesus is, right? But, somehow the demons know exactly who he is: “Jesus, Son of the Most High God.”

            The possessed man tells Jesus that his name is “Legion.” A legion was a company of about 5000 Roman soldiers. So, this poor man was possessed by many, many demons.

            It must have been a huge relief for this poor man when Jesus frees him from the demons.

            And, naturally enough, the man who has been freed from this horrible possession – the man who has been brought from death to new life - wants to be with Jesus. But, instead, Jesus says to him, “return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.”

            Finally, we’re told that the liberated man went away, “proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.”

            No question, it’s a powerful story. But, what does it have to do with us here today?

            Well, first, I think at one time or another we’ve all been like that poor man of the city possessed by a legion of demons. I’m not saying that we’ve been demonically possessed exactly, but for all of us there have been times when we’ve been lost. For all of us there have been times without hope. For all of us there have been times of death.

            And, yet, here we are. Through the grace of God and with the help of those who love us we come through those times – lost but now found – despairing but now hopeful – dead but now alive.

            A few weeks ago, the vestries of the three Episcopal churches in Jersey City met here at St. Paul’s. It was part of our effort to get to know each other better, to build relationships, and to work together to build the kingdom of God right here and right now.

            As part of our Bible study, the Rev. Laurie Wurm from Grace Van Vorst invited all of us to reflect on times when we moved from death into new life.

            People shared their stories. For some moving from death to new life meant battling substance abuse; for others it meant facing a life-threatening illness; for others it was a near-death experience; for others it was a job or a dream that seemed to have ended in a dead end.

            And as I was listening to these amazing stories, I thought, we should tell our stories more often.

            We should, like Jesus says to the man who had been possessed by demons, declare how much God has done for us.

            Like the man who had been possessed by demons we should proclaim throughout the city how much Jesus has done for us.

            And I know that’s hard for most of us.

            Most of us tend to be private people. We think of our religion, our faith, as a private matter between God and us.

            But, we are the Body of Christ on earth. And we can’t really be the Body of Christ on earth if we keep our story – if we keep our stories – to ourselves.

            We can’t really be the Body of Christ if we keep our story of moving from death to life to ourselves.

            So, on one level we’re like the man who was possessed by demons.

            But, on another level, we’re called to be like Jesus. We’re called to go out beyond the walls of our church. We’re called to head into foreign lands – into places like McGinley Square, Bergen Avenue, and, yes, Journal Square. We’re called to go to places like Journal Square and, in our own way, offer hope, healing and freedom.

            Maybe we do that by sharing our own stories of moving from death into new life – by declaring how much God has done for us.

            Maybe we do that by every week filling our food bin in the back of church to overflowing.

            Maybe we do that by getting involved, volunteering with organizations helping the poorest and weakest among us.

            Maybe we do that by praying, by asking God to open all our hearts, to expel what possesses us and what possesses those poor people wasting away their days sitting around the dried up and desolate fountain at the Square.

            So, this story of God’s power working in and through Jesus has a lot to say to us here today.

            The story reminds us that we’re called to be the Body of Christ in the world – to be the Body of Christ right here in Jersey City. Like Jesus, we’re called to offer healing and freedom to the men and women possessed by the demons of today.

            And the story reminds us that at one time or another we’ve all been like that poor man of the city possessed by the legion of demons.

            Yet through the grace of God and with the help of those who love us we come through those times – lost but now found – despairing but now hopeful – dead but now alive.

            Like he told that healed and liberated man long ago, Jesus tells us to tell our stories, to declare how much God has done for us.

            And, like that healed and liberated man long ago, we’re called to proclaim throughout the city, to proclaim in word and action, how much Jesus has done for us.

            Amen.

            

Tending the Garden of Our Heart

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

June 16, 2013

Year C: The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 6

1 Kings 21:1-21a

Psalm 5:1-8

Galatians 2:15-21

Luke 7:36-8:3

Tending the Garden of Our Heart

            One day about a month and half ago when I was beginning to move some of our things into the rectory, I spotted one of our parishioners watering the straw that’s lined up outside the church.

            I had been wondering why the straw was there and now I was curious why it was being watered.

            So I went over and introduced myself and asked what was going on.

            To my surprise, he explained that seeds had been planted in the straw. So, when he was watering the straw he was, in fact, tending this unusual garden.

            Who knew?

            Well, over these past few weeks it’s been fun and amazing to see the straw garden sprout plants and also to see the little garden in front of church grow. Of course that health and growth hasn’t happened by accident. All the rain has helped but also the care that many of our parishioners have taken to tend the garden.

            They’ve spent long hours digging, and fertilizing and mulching and removing branches and pulling out weeds. They’ve tended the garden to remove what’s unhealthy or dead and to promote health and well-being. And, now, we can see the beautiful results outside.

            Well, what’s true for our garden is even truer for our heart.

            We need to tend the garden of our heart – to remove what’s spiritually unhealthy or dead. We need to tend the garden of our heart to promote spiritual health and well-being. We need to tend the garden of our heart to grow a beautiful, blooming soul inside of us.

            And, the way we live our lives reflects how well – or not so well – we tend the garden of our heart.

            For example, take a look at some of the characters in today’s lessons.

            In the lesson from Hebrew Scripture we heard an ugly tale of greed, dishonesty and brutality.

            Despite military success during his rule in the 9^th Century BC, King Ahab of Samaria is presented very negatively in the First Book of Kings.

            In the story we heard today, King Ahab wants to buy the vineyard next door to his palace. As it turns out, Ahab wants to buy the vineyard to transform it into…a garden. Now, there’s nothing particularly wrong with that. But, when Naboth, the vineyard’s owner, refuses the king’s offer, when Ahab doesn’t get his way, the king pouts like a child, lying on his bed with his face turned away and refusing to eat.

            And then there’s Ahab’s wife, the famous Jezebel. She was a gentile, a non-Jew, from Phoenicia, a land north of Israel. She not only worshipped the pagan god Baal who we heard about a couple of weeks ago, but she encouraged others to worship Baal instead of the God of Israel.

            As you can imagine, the Bible has absolutely nothing nice to say about Jezebel!

            In today’s story, while Ahab is presented as childish and passive, Jezebel is cunning and ruthless. She arranges for false charges to be brought against Naboth the vineyard owner. Those false charges lead to Naboth’s execution and King Ahab is able to take possession of his precious vineyard.

            But, Ahab learns that he’ll pay a very high price for what he and Jezebel have done. The Prophet Elijah announces to the king, “Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, I will bring disaster on you.”

            Now, all of this happened a long time ago in a faraway place. And at first glance the story of Ahab and Jezebel would seem to be pretty alien to our experience. But, then again, how often do we put our needs and wants front and center? How do we react when we don’t get our way? How well do we take “no” for an answer? How often do we treat other people as things for our own pleasure or use, forgetting that they have their own hopes and dreams – forgetting that God treasures them as much as God treasures us?

            The story of Ahab and Jezebel reminds us to tend the garden of our heart.

            We need to dig out the selfishness in us. And we need to strengthen our roots to withstand set-backs – even if that set-back is simply rejection, just taking “no” for an answer.

            Now, let’s take a look at the characters in today’s gospel lesson.

            Today we heard Luke’s powerful story of Jesus eating at the home of Simon the Pharisee. There, an unnamed sinful woman bathes Jesus’ feet with her tears, dries his feet with her hair, kisses his feet and anoints his feet with oil.

            This was a very unusual scene to say the least – that kind of public contact between a man and a woman would have been scandalous no matter who they were but even more so for a man who some claimed was a prophet and a woman who was known to be a sinner.

            No surprise. Simon the Pharisee is shocked, but he keeps his thoughts to himself.

            Jesus, however, knows his thoughts and challenges him. And Jesus reminds Simon that he has failed to show hospitality to Jesus – not greeting him with a kiss, not anointing his head with oil.

            It would seem that Simon the Pharisee has some more work to do tending the garden of his heart – to dig out what ever makes him judgmental to uproot whatever prevents him from being hospitable to strangers and to guests.

            And then there’s the unnamed sinful woman.

            Here we finally have an example of someone who has done the hard work of tending the garden of her heart. She has recognized her own sinfulness, has begged for God’s mercy, and has received and felt God’s forgiveness.

            And how does she respond to God’s mercy and forgiveness?

            She responds with overflowing love and generosity – not caring what judgmental people like Simon the Pharisee think – crossing all sorts of cultural and religious boundaries – bathing Jesus’ feet with profound devotion and gratitude.

            So, all of the characters in today’s lessons – greedy and childish Ahab, cunning and ruthless Jezebel, judgmental and inhospitable Simon and the loving and generous woman remind us to tend the garden of our heart.

            And, what would that look like? How exactly do we tend the garden of our heart.

            Well, the answer will be a little different for each of us.

            But, certainly, tending the garden of our heart begins by being here week after week – hearing the old stories, singing the hymns, asking God’s forgiveness, extending our hands in love and friendship to one another, taking the Body and Blood of Christ into our bodies and into our hearts, and finally, going out into the world determined to love and serve the Lord.

            Tending the garden of our heart includes setting aside even just a few minutes to pray, to take stock of how we and God are doing, to give God a little opening to get through all the noise and busyness of our lives.

            Tending the garden of our heart includes asking forgiveness from those we’ve wronged and offering mercy to those who’ve wronged us.

            Tending the garden of our heart includes giving away our lives in loving service to God by taking care of one another, bathing Jesus’ feet by providing food for the poor, drying Jesus’ feet by reaching out to people who are different from us or who we really don’t like, anointing Jesus’ feet by sitting with people who are frightened, sick, alone, or dying.

            This is hard work. But, of course, it’s God who gives us the strength and will to do the hard work of tending the garden of our hearts.

            But, I think any gardener will tell you, the end result of a beautiful, blooming garden makes all the hard work worthwhile.

            And the powerful example of the sinful, forgiven and much-loved woman bathing Jesus’ feet with her tears, reminds us that the end result of a beautiful, blooming soul makes all the hard work worthwhile.

            May we all tend the garden of our heart.

            Amen.

           

           

           

             

            

Healing Miracles

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

June 9, 2013

Year C: Proper 5 – The Third Sunday after Pentecost

1 Kings 17:8-24

Psalm 146

Galatians 1:11-24

Luke 7:11-17

Healing Miracles

            For the second Sunday in a row we’ve heard a powerful story of a healing miracle performed by Jesus. In fact, today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke picks up right where we left off last Sunday.

            If you were here, you may remember that we heard the story of Jesus healing the centurion’s slave. We’re told that when the centurion, a gentile who was friendly with the local Jewish people, heard about Jesus he sent a delegation to ask Jesus to come and heal his highly valued slave.

            The centurion, a soldier who would have had 100 men under his authority, has not only great faith in Jesus, but is also very humble. He says,

            “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof…But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.”

            Amazed by the centurion’s faith and without saying a word or even going to the centurion’s house, Jesus heals the slave, returning him to good health.

            And then Luke immediately follows the story of the centurion’s slave with an even greater healing miracle, one unique to the Gospel of Luke and that echoes what we heard in today’s Old Testament lesson: Jesus resuscitates the son of the widow of Nain.

            Luke mentions that this was the widow’s only son. He doesn’t have to mention that his death was a disaster for her. Not only had she lost her only son but she had also lost what was probably her only financial and material support. Her future must have looked bleak indeed. I’m sure for more than one reason she wished that she were the one dead and being carried out of town.

            Notice that, unlike the centurion, the widow doesn’t ask for Jesus’ help – doesn’t even seem to see Jesus or know who he is. Instead, we’re told Jesus simply “had compassion for her” and said, “Do not weep.”

            And then Jesus performs one of his greatest healing miracles, saying to the dead man, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” Death was turned to life when Jesus gave the reborn man back to his mother.

            In this story we see divine power and compassion working in and through Jesus.

            I wonder how we feel when we hear these stories of healing miracles.

            They raise one of the big most difficult questions for people of faith – why does God choose to heal some and not others? Surely there were lots of sick slaves back in the First Century, yet Jesus chose to heal the centurion’s slave and not the others.

            And surely the widow of Nain wasn’t the only widow back in the First Century who lost her only son, yet Jesus chose to bring him and not the others back to life.

            And today we often pray for healing for others and for our selves. Sometimes health improves but often it doesn’t.

            Many times as a priest I’ve been called upon to offer prayers for healing and to anoint people with holy oil. It’s a great privilege - one of the most important and moving things I get to do. And because I want to be careful in my prayer, I always say pretty much the same thing – a healing prayer taken right from the book – the same prayer I’ll say at our healing Eucharist starting on Wednesday

            “I lay my hand upon you and anoint you with oil in the Name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, beseeching him to uphold you and fill you with grace, so you may know the healing power of his love.”

            “The healing power of his love.”

            There have been many times when I’ve said that prayer over the same person day after day – good, faithful people who were loved and prayed for by many. I wish I could tell you that they always or even usually sat up and returned to good health and their old lives. But that’s not true. Often their physical decline continued and soon enough there I was participating in their funeral.

            It’s hard. And the only way I’ve managed to continue is by realizing is that healing miracles are not really about physical healing. Yes, that’s a real blessing when it happens. But, the physical healing isn’t what’s most important.

            Think about it. Yes, Jesus healed the centurion’s slave, but, like all of us, I’m sure he continued to face pain and suffering. And, eventually, the day came when the slave died.

            And, Jesus resuscitated the widow’s only son, but, like all of us, I’m sure he continued to face pain and suffering. And, eventually, the day came when the widow’s son died.

            And even if we’ve experienced a healing miracle, we’ll still face pain and suffering in our lives. And, eventually, some day death will come for us, too.

            So I’m convinced the healing miracles aren’t really about the physical healing. Instead, the healing miracles are signs – signs of God’s kingdom. The healing miracles are glimpses of what God has in mind for all of us – what ultimately God offers all of us.

            The healing miracles give us sneak preview of God’s kingdom - the time and the place when and where our tears are wiped away, what’s broken is repaired, our mourning is turned into dancing, and death is transformed into life.

            In and through Christ – and in and through us today, the Body of Christ on earth - God continues to offer all of us healing miracles – God continues to offer us the healing power of God’s love.

            Healing miracle: two adult sons stood on either side of their beloved mother’s hospital bed as she gently gasped her last breaths, drifting off into death. Somehow, instead of weeping they were able to tell story after story of their growing up. So, the last sounds that woman heard were her two boys laughing as they remembered good times taking long rides in the family station wagon.

            Healing miracle: after a long and painful illness, a lovely and talented woman succumbed to cancer far too young. At her packed funeral in church, at the start of the service, her teenage daughter somehow found the strength to stand up all by herself and flawlessly sing a beautiful piece of music, offering one last gift to her mom and an unforgettable gift to all of us there that day.           

            Healing miracle: I sat for a long while in a hospital room with an old and dying woman in great discomfort because of a feeding tube up her nose. Most of the time she mumbled and said things that made no sense. And then, suddenly, she turned to me, her eyes as clear as could be and said, “I never knew I could love my children so much.”

            Healing miracle: I visited many times with a woman about my age whose body was filled with cancer. One day she said to me, “When I first got sick I asked God, ‘Why me?’ But now after having been in the hospital so much and having seen so many sick people, I ask, ‘Why not me?’”

            Healing miracle: one day I was sitting beside my grandmother in the hospital during the last days of her life. She assured me she wasn’t afraid. And then, whether she knew it or not, she quoted Jesus in the Gospel of John, (8:14): “I know where I have come from and where I am going.”

            I’ve seen that kind of healing miracle – the healing power of God’s love – over and over.

            For the past two Sundays we’ve heard stories of Jesus’ healing miracles – the healing of the centurion’s slave and the resuscitation of the widow’s son. In these stories we see God’s power and compassion working in and through Jesus.

            But, the healing miracles aren’t so much about the physical healing. Instead, the healing miracles are signs of God’s kingdom – they are glimpses of what God has in mind for all of us – what God offers all of us.

            The healing miracles are sneak previews of God’s kingdom - the time and the place when and where our tears are wiped away, what’s broken is repaired, our mourning is turned into dancing, and when death is transformed into life.

            And, if we keep our eyes and ears open we realize that in and through Christ – and in and through us today, the Body of Christ on earth - God continues to offer all of us healing miracles.

            May Christ uphold us and fill us with grace, so we may know the healing power of his love.

            Amen.

           

            

Choosing God, Choosing Love

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

June 2, 2013

Year C: Proper 4 – The Second Sunday after Pentecost

1 Kings 18:20-39

Psalm 96

Galatians 1:1-12

Luke 7:1-10

Choosing God, Choosing Love

            I’m not sure why, exactly, but I’ve only officiated at a few weddings in the six years since I was ordained a priest.

            As it happens, though, lately I’ve been on a little bit of a wedding streak! I officiated at one wedding last Sunday afternoon and I have another one later today.

            I didn’t know either couple when we began our pre-marital counseling sessions. In one case the groom is the son of parishioners at my former parish and in the other case the couple found me after being turned away by the local Roman Catholic parish.

            I spent a lot of time offering pre-marital counseling to both couples – encouraging them to look hard at their relationships, remember what brought them together, admit the things they don’t really like about each other, face up to mistakes they’ve made, and share their hopes and plans for the future.

            Like most of us, both couples carry a good bit of baggage: failed relationships, poor decisions, complicated family dynamics, and anxiety and fear about the future.

            But despite all that baggage, despite past mistakes, despite concerns about what tomorrow might bring, despite the option of not committing to each other till death do they part, both couples have made a choice. They’ve chosen love – not just romantic love but deep, self-giving, self-sacrificing love. And since God is love, whether they fully realize it or not, they’ve chosen God.

            Choices.

            We Americans have more choices than any people who have ever lived.

            In the first years that Sue and I lived on Highland Avenue, there was a little corner grocery store on West Side Avenue that was run by an elderly man and his two sisters. Maybe some of you remember it. Walking in there was like entering a time warp. There was fresh produce, but only what was in season. There were a few small aisles containing canned goods and household products.

            You could find pretty much all the essentials but there wasn’t much selection – there was little choice – Dawn, but no Joy – Chef Boyardee, but no Franco-American…you get the idea.

            Not too long ago that’s what life was like.

            Now, we go to Shop Rite and are faced with an incredible number of choices –just in the salad dressing aisle alone!

            Most of us remember when we had just a handful of TV channels. Maybe because it was a hassle to get up and change the channel, lots of us just stayed tuned to the same channel most of the time. There were “CBS families” or “Channel 7 families,” and so on.

            Choices.

            And it’s not just at the supermarket or on TV that we face way more choices than people before us. We also have many more choices when it comes to religion.

            A generation or two ago, it was very unusual – and usually downright scandalous – for someone to switch Christian denominations, let alone adopt a different religion, or, God forbid, to give up on religion altogether.

            But today, according to the writer Diana Butler Bass, “roughly 44 percent of Americans have left their childhood faith in favor of another denomination or religion or by dropping any religious affiliation at all.” And that last group – the people who don’t belong to any religious group is the fastest growing, especially among young people.

            Choices.

            In many ways, all these choices make for a new and troubling world. It’s definitely a lot harder to be church now that it’s perfectly acceptable for people to skip church and to ignore religion.

            Now, obviously, we’ve chosen to be here today. And many of us choose to be here most Sundays. Most, if not all of us, have chosen to identify as Episcopalians, as Christians, as followers of Jesus.

            But, when we’re here, that’s not such a hard choice, is it? Admit it, it’s easy to be a Christian here at St. Paul’s, right?

            But, that choice gets a lot harder when we’re out in the world. The choice gets a lot harder when it’s embarrassing to admit our faith. The choice get a lot harder when we know something’s wrong but we see people all around us doing it and getting away with it and we think, “Why not?” or “Just this one time.” The choice gets a lot harder when we have the chance to stand up for what’s right, to defend the weak, to risk something big for something good.

             It’s a pretty easy choice to be a Christian here at St. Paul’s. But, that choice gets a lot harder when we leave this place

            God who is Love has already chosen us.

            What choice do we make?

            Today’s lesson from Hebrew Scripture, from First Kings, is all about choosing – or not choosing – God.

            One of the great themes running throughout the Old Testament is the fact that God chose the people of Israel and was faithful to them but, like us, lots of times the Israelites made other choices.           

            In today’s reading from the Old Testament, it seems like at least some of the Israelites are hedging their bets – not quite abandoning their God but also choosing to worship the popular pagan god, Baal - you know, just in case. So, the Prophet Elijah calls them out - tells them to make up their minds. – to make a choice. Elijah says to the Israelites, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”

            Elijah then dramatically challenges the 450 prophets of Baal to a little game that we might call, “My God’s More Powerful Than Your God.” Sure enough, despite the best efforts of Baal’s prophets – despite calling to Baal from morning to noon, despite limping around the altar, despite cutting themselves, despite making offerings, Baal is silent, offering no answer, demonstrating no power.

            Then Elijah called upon the Lord and, we’re told, “the fire of the Lord fell” and the people then made a clear choice, saying, “The Lord is indeed God; the Lord is indeed God.”

            Choices.

            Unfortunately, our choice between the false gods of the world and the God who is Love is not as clear-cut as the choice the Israelites faced so long ago. These days God doesn’t usually send lightning strikes to display God’s power, to make our choice obvious and clear-cut.

            Then again, maybe God sends us a different kind of lightning strike.

            Isn’t love – deep, self-giving, self-sacrificing love - like a lightning strike?

            It’s like a lightning strike when we realize that somehow we love someone else – a partner, a child, a parent, a brother or sister, or a friend – more than we love ourselves.

            It’s like a lightning strike when we realize that, somehow, despite our many failures and imperfections, we are loved - loved by a partner, a child, a parent, a brother or a sister, or a friend.

            And, most of all, it’s like a lightning strike when we realize that we are loved by the Source of all love – the God who is Love.

            It’s like a lightning strike when we realize no matter how far we stray, no matter how many bad choices we make - no matter how many Baals – no matter how many false gods – we worship – God always loves us.

            As the ancient Israelites proclaimed after witnessing God’s power, “The Lord indeed is God. The Lord indeed is God.”

            We live in a time of many choices, both trivial and big – choices ranging from what salad dressing to buy to what religion, if any, to follow.

            But, we face one big choice.

            Will we be like the Israelites of long ago and hedge our bets – try to have it both ways by coming here to worship God, claiming to be Christians, but then going out into the world and choosing to worship the false gods of our time – the false gods of money, materialism, selfishness, cynicism, apathy and the rest?

            Or will we be like those two brave couples who made vows till death do they part – who despite the baggage, despite the risks, despite the fear, have chosen deep, self-giving, self-sacrificing love?

            God who is Love has already chosen us.

            What choice will we make?

            Amen.