Closer Than Ever

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD

June 15, 2025

Year C: The First Sunday after Pentecost – Trinity Sunday

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Psalm 8

Romans 5:1-5

John 16:12-15

Closer Than Ever 

Well, last Sunday we had a Pentecost celebration that I doubt any of us who were here will ever forget.

So, let’s see, where to begin?

        Bishop Carrie made her first official visit with us, confirming six of our young people at the 10:00 service.

        It was Rev. Amelia’s first Sunday as a priest, and Bishop Carrie very graciously invited her to give the blessing at the 8:00 service and preside at the altar at 10:00. 

        Celebrating your first Eucharist with the bishop beside you! No pressure!

        And then there was the choir. 

        Just when I think they can’t outdo themselves, they outdo themselves. They sounded absolutely amazing. And Nick Corasiniti’s trumpet-playing on Sweet, Sweet Spirit was the sweet Spirit-filled icing on the Pentecost cake.

        Oh, and yes, there was literal cake during fellowship - two of them, actually!

        And lots of people were here, with many of you remembering to wear red.

        Thanks to the faithfulness, talent, generosity, and hard work of many, it really was an extraordinary celebration.

        And now today, as we do every year on the First Sunday after Pentecost, we are invited to reflect on the inner life of God.

        Today we’re invited to reflect on our understanding of God the Holy Trinity - One in Three Persons – Unity in Diversity.

        Now, the great temptation for anyone tasked with preaching today is to try to somehow explain the Trinity. Just how is it possible for God to be both One and Three?

        Fortunately, I’m not going to fall for that temptation.

        Because the Trinity is not a puzzle to be worked over and solved.

        No, the Trinity is a mystery to be pondered and celebrated.

        So, rather than offer some half-baked explanation, here’s what I will say:

        Our understanding of God the Holy Trinity reveals to us that God is a Community of Love.

        This is what God is.

        God is a Community of Love – the perfect Community of Love – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – the perfect Community of Love – Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.

        And I assume that God the Community of Love could have gone it alone forever and ever – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – a perfect circle of love for all eternity.

        But, you know, the thing about love is that it’s not really love unless it’s shared. 

        Love must be shared. 

        Maybe even for God, love must be shared.

        And so, God the Perfect Community of Love creates all of us.

        And, most amazing of all, God invites all of us to join the party, invites all of us to be part of the holy and eternal Community of Love.

        And yes, you guessed it, it’s in the water of baptism that we Christians begin to accept God’s invitation to be part of the Community of Love.

        And, with God’s help, we go right on accepting God’s invitation when we keep our baptismal promises – when we keep gathering here to pray and to sing and to serve. 

        We go right on accepting God’s invitation, when we ask forgiveness for our sins, and offer forgiveness when we’ve been wronged.

        With God’s help, we go right on accepting God’s invitation when we share the joy we experience here, last week, today, next week. 

        We go right on accepting God’s invitation when we try to see Jesus in every person we meet, even the people we don’t like at all, and when we work for peace among all people, even the people we don’t trust one bit.

        And when we try to do these things, with God’s help, we move ever deeper into the Community of Love, ever closer to God.

        Now, even if you are only vaguely aware of the news, you know that it seems that our country and much of the world is moving in the opposite direction, moving away from the Community of Love, away from God.

        Hatred and violence are on the rise.

        With so many wars and threats of war, countries are spending even more precious resources on weapons, taking food out of hungry stomachs, fighting over scraps on our degraded and depleted planet.

        But it’s not so among us.

        Here, we accept God’s invitation to the Community of Love by welcoming absolutely everybody, by caring for children who are not our own and yet are our own.

        Here, we accept God’s invitation to the Community of Love by creating and, just this morning, blessing a new home for people who have traveled far from their war-ravaged land, desperately seeking refuge and peace.

        We’re not perfect, of course, but here at St. Thomas’, we accept God’s invitation to the Community of Love.

        Together, we are moving in the right direction, journeying ever deeper into the Community of Love, closer than ever to God.

        Yes, because love must be shared, God the Perfect Community of Love creates all of us – invites all of us to join the party, invites all of us – all of us - to be part of this holy and eternal Community of Love.

        And one last thing:

        In the Community of Love, the living and the dead are spiritually united.

        I have been here with you for just about four years now, which is a little hard to believe.

        And in that time, several parishioners I’ve been especially close with have died.

        And yet, because we are part of God’s holy and eternal Community of Love, and because their prayers still bathe these old walls, I can still feel Jim Piper and Donna Gribble and I can still feel Beaumont and Sandy Martin here with us – so much so, in fact, that occasionally I catch myself forgetting that they have died.

        I’m sure you’ve had that experience with people you’ve loved.

        Someone else who, to me, doesn’t feel dead at all, is my friend and mentor Dave Hamilton.

        I’ve mentioned him to you many times now. He was the priest who welcomed us to our church in Jersey City.

        His outstretched hand changed Sue’s and my life forever. 

        It was through Dave’s friendship and example that God invited me to a very different kind of life, beginning a journey that led to ordination, a journey that eventually led Sue and me here.

        Dave lived long enough to know about St. Thomas’ and some of what was happening here – and he loved hearing about it all.

        He was so happy and proud that I had landed in such a great church.

        One thing that he didn’t know, however, is that someone he had baptized would become a parishioner – a very active parishioner – here at St. Thomas’.

        Leslie Steele was baptized by my friend Dave Hamilton.

        I’ve known that for a while now – but it still kind of blows my mind.

        And now this morning, I’ll have the great joy of baptizing Leslie and Mark’s son Brendan, who has also become a much-loved member of our community.

        With all of us gathered around him, Brendan will accept God’s invitation to the Community of Love.

        And so today on Trinity Sunday, watched over by a great cloud of witnesses, Brendan and all of us here will accept the most holy invitation.

        Together, we will journey ever deeper into the Community of Love.

        Closer than ever to one another.

        Closer than ever to God.

        Amen.

Unity and Liberation

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD

June 1, 2025

Year C: The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Acts 16:16-34

Psalm 97

Revelation 22:12-014, 16-17, 20-21

John 17:20-26

Unity and Liberation

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Well, today is the Seventh Sunday of Easter.

Yes, it is still Easter!

But, in today’s gospel lesson, we once again back up to before Easter, back to before the Resurrection, back to the Last Supper.

In today’s lesson from the Gospel of John, read for us by Deacon Amelia - I won’t get to say that for much longer! - in today’s gospel lesson, Jesus prays for his disciples and for all his disciples to follow, very much including us here today.

Jesus prays most of all for our unity, that we may be one just as Jesus and the Father are one.

Jesus prays that we might all be united in love.

Now, if you know even just a little bit of church history, you know that over the centuries and even in our own time, we have often fallen far short of Jesus’ great hope for us.

All too often, the Church has been disunited, fighting over all sorts of stuff, and I guess that all those controversies seemed important at the time – sometimes even worth dying for, perhaps – and yet, looking back, it’s often hard to understand what all the trouble was about.

Some of you have been around long enough to remember the battles in the Episcopal Church over ordaining women, which was a big change, a big step, for sure.

My friend and mentor Dave Hamilton, whom I’ve mentioned to you many times, was a young priest back in the early 1970’s when the church was bitterly divided by that issue.

Dave was absolutely opposed to women’s ordination – so opposed that at a church meeting, he got up and said something like, “May my right hand wither if I ever participate in the ordination of a woman!”

Strong statement!

Well, a few years later, after Dave had had a change of heart, he did indeed participate in the ordination of a woman, placing his right hand on the ordinand, just as all of us priests will do for Amelia on Saturday.

Well, after the ordination was over, the bishop turned to Dave and asked him, “How’s your hand?”

Now, a few decades later, our church is so much richer because of ordained women – this community has been so blessed by extraordinary women clergy, very much including Ann Copp and Caroline Stewart, and now our Assistant Rector, Amelia Bello.

Now, I’m not saying that there aren’t some important principles worth fighting for.

Of course there are.

But I am saying that we need to be very careful about the battles we choose because we know that Jesus’ great desire for us is unity.

And unity is so important because if we’re fighting among ourselves, then we just won’t have the energy, or even the credibility, to do the work that God calls us to do.

And that work is liberation.

God is the God of liberation.

And Easter is God’s supreme act of liberation, freeing Jesus from the tomb, revealing to us that sin and death are defeated, revealing to us that love and life have won.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

And with God’s help, God’s work of liberation continues in and through the Church.

And we certainly hear that work of liberation loud and clear in today’s first lesson, from the Acts of the Apostles.

We pick up right where we left off last week. We don’t hear anything more about Lydia, but Paul and the other disciples are still in the Greek city of Philippi.

There, they encounter an enslaved girl with “a spirit of divination,” an ability to tell fortunes, which was very profitable for her owners.

Well, just as the demons always knew Jesus, this “spirit of divination” knows Jesus’ followers, so the enslaved girl cries out, “These men are the slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.”

We’re told that she went on this way for days, which very much “annoyed” Paul, though we’re not told why.

Finally, in the name of Jesus, Paul casts out this demon from the girl, which lands Paul and the others in jail, at least until God engineers yet another liberation.

God’s work of liberation continues in and through the Church.

But I want to reflect a little more on the enslaved girl.

Because, unfortunately, we don’t know what happened to her next.

Deprived of her money-making skill, maybe her owners released her. Maybe, like Lydia and other women in Philippi, she became a follower of Jesus, too. 

Maybe, but probably not.

More likely, her owners found a new and even worse way to exploit her, which is very sad and troubling to consider.

But I think this episode is a good reminder for us that God’s liberation – the liberation that we are called to do - is much deeper, much more challenging than just an easy fix.

Think of the Israelites on their long exodus, out in the wilderness for forty years.

Liberation - doing God’s liberating work - requires commitment, community, and confidence, over the long haul.

So, last week, I met with Bishop Carrie to prepare for her visit next Sunday.

I brought next week’s draft bulletins, last week’s announcements, and a copy of the 2024 Annual Report, all to give her a better sense of what we are about here at St. Thomas’.

I could’ve talked about this place for a long time – and I may have gone on a little too long - but one thing I emphasized is our unity.

We’re a pretty diverse group so, yes, of course, we disagree about all sorts of things, from politics to current events to how the Orioles can salvage this season.

         But, for the most part, we stick together, we pray together, serve together, love one another.

        And it’s that God-given unity that gives us the strength and courage to do the holy work of liberation.

        And this work of liberation isn’t just swooping in with a kind of spiritual band-aid.

        No, it’s deep work of listening and learning, getting to know the people in our community, building relationships, with all the risks and challenges that come with any real relationship.

        It’s because of our unity that we’ve had the strength and courage to walk beside our Afghan friends, not seeing them as a problem to be solved, but as beloved brothers and sisters.

        It’s because of our unity that we’ve had the strength and courage to walk beside the children and teachers at Owings Mills Elementary School, not seeing them as a problem in need of an easy fix, but as beloved sisters and brothers.

        Yes, the forces of division are very powerful, especially these days, but with God’s help, we can be an answer to Jesus’ great prayer for unity.

        With God’s help, we can be one – and as one, united church we can continue God’s holy and challenging work of liberation.

        And if we do this work, then the best news of all time will continue to echo off these old walls – the best news of all time will continue to ring out in Owings Mills and beyond:

        Alleluia! Christ is risen!

        The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! 

        Amen.

Hearts Open to the Holy Spirit

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD

May 25, 2025

Year C: The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 16:9-15

Psalm 67

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

John 145:23-29

Hearts Open to the Holy Spirit

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Today is the Sixth Sunday of Easter.

It is still Easter!

And just like the past couple of Sundays, in today’s gospel lesson we back up to before Easter, back to before the Resurrection, back to the Last Supper.

Especially in John’s account of the Last Supper, Jesus has a lot to say to his friends.          He commands them - and us - to love one another. He teaches them - and us - that we should serve one another, just as Jesus did when he washed the feet of his friends.

But, of course, there was an air of sadness and grief over the Last Supper, as the disciples realized that their time with Jesus was drawing to a close, and they were facing an uncertain and frightening future.

So, gathered around the table one last time, Jesus tries to reassure his friends – he reassures them as best he could by saying that we will all be reunited someday.

And, as we heard today, Jesus reassures his friends by promising that God will send the Holy Spirit – the Holy Spirit - God’s ongoing Presence, teaching us, guiding us, giving us true peace, the peace that the world cannot give.

So, yes, it is still Easter, but today we begin to turn our attention to the next great Christian feast, coming up in just two weeks: Pentecost

Pentecost: the day when we especially celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of God’s ongoing Presence with us.

So, I confess that I love Pentecost, almost as much as I love Baptism.

And you all know that this year Pentecost is going to be extra-Spirit-filled here at St. Thomas’, with Bishop Carrie making her first official visitation with us.

She’ll confirm our six young people who are ready to say before God, before the bishop and before all of us that, yes, they want to continue as disciples of Jesus that, yes, with God’s help, they will keep the baptismal promises that were made on their behalf when they were children.

And, of course, Pentecost will also be Amelia’s first full day as a priest.

But, even without all our many special things this year, I love Pentecost because, unlike Christmas and Easter, which recall one-time historical events, Pentecost happens all the time.

Pentecost happens all the time.

God continues to pour out the Holy Spirit upon us., right here, right now

And, since Pentecost happens all the time, and since it’ll be Bishop Carrie and not me preaching on Pentecost, I just can’t resist giving a Pentecost sermon today, two weeks early.

So, here’s the thing:

The Holy Spirit is powerful, powerful enough to transform our lives, just as the Holy Spirit transformed the lives of the disciples long ago.

The Holy Spirit is powerful, but the Holy Spirit is never coercive.

So, for us to receive the Holy Spirit, our hearts must be open – our hearts must be open, even just a little bit.

And we get a glimpse of a beautifully open heart in today’s first lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, where we meet Lydia.

These few verses tell us all we know about Lydia.

It’s not much, but it’s enough.

Lydia was from Asia Minor, what’s Turkey today, but Paul and the others encounter her in the Greek city of Philippi.

We’re told that she is a businesswoman, a dealer in purple cloth, which was expensive and prized in the ancient world.

There’s no mention of a husband or any man. Perhaps Lydia was a widow, we just don’t know.

Lydia was probably what was known as a God-fearer, a Gentile, a non-Jew, who was drawn to the God of Israel.

So, on the sabbath in Philippi, there’s Lydia and other women gathered for prayer.

Her heart and the hearts of the other women were already open, at least a little bit, when Paul arrives with the best news of all time:

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

With their open hearts, Lydia and the other women can hear this Good News and, yes, are baptized, immediately, it seems.

And with her open heart, Lydia offers hospitality, inviting Paul and the others to stay at her home.

And I love the last verse, “And she prevailed upon us.”

I imagine Lydia using the same persuasiveness that served her so well in business, to convince Paul and the other disciples to stay for a while.

Lydia’s heart was open to the Holy Spirit.

Today, whatever our political point of view, I think that we can all agree that we are living in a very closed-hearted time.

As we see just about every day in the news, hate, cruelty, and violence are on the loose, both in our own country and around the world.

And open hearts of compassion and mercy seem to be in short supply.

Like the long-ago disciples around the table at the Last Supper, perhaps we are gripped by fear and dread.

But Pentecost happens all the time.

God continues to pour out the Holy Spirit upon us, right here, right now.

With God’s help, all we need to do is open our hearts even just a little, making room for the Holy Spirit’s good gifts of grace, love, and courage.

And openhearted Lydia shows us how to open our hearts, shows us how it’s done:

Sticking together, gathering each week to pray with and for one another.

Keeping our eyes and ears open for how God may at work around us.

And opening our doors in hospitality, inviting people, all sorts of people, to stay a while.

Lydia shows us how to open our hearts.

        But, of course, even in a closed-hearted time like ours, you and I don’t have to look back two thousand years to find open-hearted people.

Just flip through the announcements.

Just look around you.

Pentecost happens all the time.

God continues to pour out the Holy Spirit upon us, right here, right now

With God’s help, may our hearts continue to be open to the Holy Spirit.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.

An Ever-Widening Circle of Love

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD

May 18, 2025

Year C: The Fifth Sunday of Easter

Acts 11:1-18

Psalm 148

Revelation 21:1-6

John 13:31-35

An Ever-Widening Circle of Love

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Yes, it is still Easter.

And today, on the Fifth Sunday of Easter, in our Gospel lesson we back up to before the Resurrection, back to the Last Supper.

Judas has just departed to set in motion the plot that will lead to Jesus’s arrest and execution.

And Jesus, knowing that time is growing short, teaches another most important lesson:

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

“Love one another,” Jesus says to his friends.

We’re not told how the disciples reacted to this “new commandment.” 

Since they had been with Jesus and had heard his teachings and witnessed his healings, surely, they weren’t surprised by this command to love one another, right?

Then again, let’s not forget that we’re talking about the disciples here, who so often missed the point, just like us.

We don’t know if the disciples were surprised by this new commandment, but there were certainly some big surprises ahead.

The first surprise was the Resurrection itself.

Although the gospels report that Jesus had predicted that he would rise on the third day, the disciples just didn’t seem to understand or believe that.

And really, who could blame them?

And the second big surprise was that Gentiles, non-Jews, were drawn to the message of Jesus.

This was an unexpected development and created a big challenge for Jesus’ first disciples, who were all Jews, and had all understood Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

How exactly could Gentiles be included in Jesus’ community of love?

What would that look like?

Most of the disciples thought that the Gentiles who wanted to follow Jesus would have to become Jews first, would have to follow the Jewish Law – the men would have to be circumcised, everybody would have to follow the Jewish dietary laws.

Some disciples, especially Paul, strongly disagreed.

This question of what to do about the Gentiles was the first big dispute in the history of the Church.

And we hear some of that controversy in today’s first lesson, from the Acts of the Apostles.

The word gets around that Peter has been eating with the Gentiles, presumably eating food that was not kosher. 

Peter explains himself by describing a vision he had, in which God declares all foods clean,

And then Peter says that the Spirit told him to make no distinction between Jews and Gentiles.

So, a big surprise for the early Church: God calls Peter and the first disciples to broaden the community, to widen the circle of love.

That all happened a long tine ago, of course, but I wonder if we are still surprised that God continues to call us to broaden the community, to widen the circle of love.

The Episcopal Church isn’t perfect, of course, but one thing we have going for us that we are very transparent when it comes to facts and figures.

Each year, every Episcopal congregation submits what’s called the Parochial Report.

It’s a total pain in the neck to put together, but it requires us to gather our financial information and to compile statistics about church membership and church attendance (that’s why the ushers count how many people are here).

I’m always most interested in attendance since I think that says a lot about the health of our church – if people are not here, if they’re voting with their feet out the door, then something has gone wrong.

But church attendance is only part of the story.

When a former bishop of mine visited congregations, he used to ask them if their church were to close, what, if anything would people out in the community miss?

To answer that very good question, in recent years, the Parochial Report has asked us to consider how many lives we touch beyond our congregation, outside of our church walls.

The church asks us if we are broadening our community.

Are we widening the circle of love?

Would anyone out there miss us if we were gone?

Of course, unlike Sunday attendance, it’s impossible to come up with a precise number of lives out there who are touched by St. Thomas’, but it sure is fun and inspiring to try.

There are the St. Thomas’ Preschool families, most of whom are not parishioners, but they are blessed with an outstanding school in a beautiful setting where the children learn most important lessons about love and kindness and generosity and creativity.

There are the children over at Owings Mills Elementary School who are being blessed by Owls First, and also their parents, and their teachers and the school administrators.

And there are the students from Owings Mills High School who have been serving as tutors in the program.

And then there are the guests at the Community Crisis Center, lined up along Reisterstown Road, hoping to receive food and toiletries and cleaning supplies, some donated by us.

There are the guests down at Paul’s Place, fed by the hundreds of sandwiches prepared every couple of weeks by our loyal band of volunteers.

There are our friends from Afghanistan who have received a warm and loving welcome from us, who have been cared for in countless ways, from help dealing with bureaucracy, rides to and from appointments, and invitations to dinner and fun outings, and very soon we’ll be offering them a home.

There are the people who haven’t been part of our church for a long time or who have no church of their own, who call us when a loved one has died, asking if they can have the funeral here and they receive the same kind of loving care that we would offer one of our own.

There are the people who watch and hear our live-streamed services – some people we know, like my parents back in Jersey City who are faithfully attentive viewers – and others we have no idea about and will probably never meet – people who are fed by our reverent worship and gorgeous music.

And there are the people who are simply comforted by this old building and the surrounding grounds, inspired by its beauty, reassured by our longevity, somehow touched by the prayers that have been offered in this place since 1742.

And if you think I’m just making this up, listen to a letter that we recently received:

        “My son has been playing lacrosse games at Stevenson during the Mustang Classic for the past four years, and I found your church a few years ago. I enjoyed praying outside and had a great feeling while there. Since he won’t be playing there again, I wanted to send in this donation to show my appreciation. Your church seems to be a wonderful place, and I always found peace there and many prayers were answered.”

        Amazing, right?

When time was running out, Jesus gave his friends, gave us, a new commandment, that we should love one another.

And down through the centuries, God has continued to surprise and challenge us, calling us to broaden the community, to widen the circle of love.

With each baptism, with each surprise, during the Easter Season and always, may St. Thomas’ continue to be an ever-widening circle of love.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.

Sharing Joy

The Church of the Redeemer, Baltimore MD

May 17, 2025

The Funeral of Kingsley Moore Mooney

Wisdom 3:1-5, 9

Psalm 23

Matthew 11:28-30

John 5:24-27

Sharing Joy

I want to begin by offering my condolences to all of you, to Kingsley’s family and her friends.

I know that so many people loved Kingsley, treasured her friendship, and are now still in shock and missing her dearly.

I also want to say thank you to the Rev. David Ware and to Bert Landman and everyone at Church of the Redeemer for their hospitality, kindness, and help.

This morning, it is good for us to be together here in this holy - and rather large - place.

A holy place large enough to welcome many of the people who are grieving, but nowhere near large enough to contain the love and support being showered upon Tom, the love and support being shared with this beautiful family.

Being at Redeemer, I’m also mindful that, it was next door in the chapel where Tom and Kingsley made some big promises to each other, nearly 35 years ago.

It was here, that they promised to have and to hold each other, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in heath, to love and cherish each other, forever.

And Tom and Kingsley spent the rest of their lives together embodying those promises, fulfilling those promises, in good times and not so good.

I’m guessing that most of you have at least attended an Episcopal wedding service.

So, you may remember that near the start of the service, the officiant reads to everyone the purposes of marriage: Marriage is intended by God for “mutual joy, for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God’s will, the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord.”

Beautiful, right?

        But I think we often overlook the very first item on that list, the very first purpose of marriage:

“Mutual joy.”

Mutual joy.

For married people, joy – sharing joy with one another – that’s our first and most important task.

And sharing joy is not only the job of married people.

        We are made for joy and so sharing joy with one another is a most important task for all of us.

Sharing joy.

And isn’t that exactly what Kingsley did throughout her life?

Sharing joy.

Joy, of course is much deeper, much richer, than just happiness, which sort of comes and goes.

Joy is contentment, confidence, and hope.

And joy requires effort, takes some hard work – like creating and offering beautiful holidays with family and friends, year after year, with a menu filled with all the dishes everyone has come to love and expect.

Joy requires effort, hard work – like giving countless hours, and deep commitment, and wise expertise to so many worthy causes, very much including our own preschool up at St. Thomas’.

Joy requires effort, hard work – like all those hours out in the garden, creating something beautiful for so many to enjoy, sharing the glory and hope of new and abundant life.

Joy requires effort, hard work – like raising a family built on the unshakeable foundations of love and trust and being a loyal and faithful friend to so many.

Sharing joy was a most important task for Kingsley, hard work that she made look so easy, hard work that she did so well for so many.

Sharing joy.

And now, Kingsley’s earthly journey of joy has come to an end.

And although her family and her many friends are still shocked and heartbroken, just beginning to figure out life without her, we trust that she has arrived at the perfect garden and the most abundant feast, experiencing joy forever with the God who dreamed her up in the first place and loved and sustained her throughout her life.

God will never let go of Kingsley.

And God will never let go of any of us, no matter what.

But for us, our journey continues.

So, maybe today, here in this holy place, we can make our own promise.

        Following Kingsley’s example, maybe we can vow, each in our own way, to share joy, to share joy with family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and strangers.

        Maybe we can promise to share joy, every day.

        Amen.

The Duty of the Moment

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD

May 11, 2025

Year C: The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Acts 9:36-43

Psalm 23

Revelation 7:9-17

John 10:22-30

The Duty of the Moment

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter – we’re now deep into the Easter Season, but I don’t sense that our Easter joy is fading one bit!

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Yes, it’s still Easter, but today is also “Good Shepherd Sunday,” the day when we focus on a particularly beautiful and powerful image of Jesus:

        Jesus the Good Shepherd.

        Jesus the Good Shepherd who calls us each by name.

In today’s lesson from the Gospel of John, we back up before Easter, back to Jesus’ earthly lifetime.

And we hear a familiar and troubling theme, the conflict between Jesus and the group of people John simply calls “the Jews.”

Now, many of you have heard me say this before, but it bears repeating that just about everyone in the gospel - very much including Jesus and his first disciples - they were all Jews.

Later on, although we both grew out of the same root, there will be a split between Judaism and Christianity. 

And because of that split, Christians will hear and read passages like what we heard today as a battle between Jews and Christians.

Not so.

And, tragically, this misunderstanding, this historical amnesia, has had horrific consequences for our Jewish elder siblings in faith.

The other thing about this kind of misreading of the gospel is that it conveniently lets us off the hook.

We might think, “See, Jesus is talking to ‘the Jews,’ not to us. Surely, we Christians hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, right?’”

We hear and follow the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Right?

Well, unfortunately, even just a quick review of our history or a glance at the news would suggest otherwise.

This past week, I’ve been reading a book by someone who definitely heard and followed the call of the Good Shepherd: Catherine de Hueck Doherty.

Her life story is improbable, almost as unlikely as a guy from Chicago getting elected pope!

Catherine was born into Russian nobility in the late 1800’s, and through difficult and too-complicated-to-explain-here events, she ended up opening houses of hospitality for the poorest of the poor in the United States and Canada, and the movement she started has continued to spread around the world in the years since her death in 1985.

Her story is fascinating and inspiring but I’m mentioning her today because there’s something that she wrote that I want to share with you:

“The duty of the moment is what you should be doing at any given time, in whatever place God has put you.”

I’ll say that again:

“The duty of the moment is what you should be doing at any given time, in whatever place God has put you.”

The duty of the moment. I love that.

And, when we really listen for the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd, when we truly hear his voice, then we know the duty of the moment – and, with God’s help, we can fulfill the duty of the moment.

For Catherine de Hueck Doherty, hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd and fulfilling the duty of the moment required a commitment to prayer and worship.

Only when we’re deeply rooted in God, only when we allow God to take deep root in us, can we hope to do God’s will.

And, you know, one noticeable trend here at St. Thomas’ has been our increasing faithfulness to Sunday worship – and, actually, weekday worship, too. To my surprise and joy, our Wednesday service continues to grow.

And I hope and think that more and more of us gathering here each week helps us to hear the Good Shepherd’s voice, inspires us, with God’s help, to fulfill the duty of the moment.

Two examples:

Many of you know about – actually, an increasing number of you have participated in - Owls First, our afterschool enrichment program over at Owings Mills Elementary School. 

In a time when public school funding is being cut, we – you – are fulfilling the duty of the moment by freely giving care and support and knowledge and skills to these children, deepening our relationships with people right here in our community, people who are not members of our church, people we might not have otherwise ever met.

And I know it sounds strange to say because we have so much green space all around us here, but, actually, Owings Mills has little room for recreation. So, we – you – have been giving these children opportunities for fun and exercise, the chance to learn how to work together.

And we can be pretty sure that the voice of the Good Shepherd has called us to this work: Owls First is bringing forth new life, continues to grow and expand, now including students from Owings Mills High School, and exciting conversations are just beginning with others who serve our children and youth.

Hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Fulfilling the duty of the moment.

And the other example is what we’re calling Gilead House 2.

As most of you know, we’re rehabilitating a house to serve as a home for Afghan refugees.

        Our own “house of hospitality.”

In a time when the national mood does not seem very welcoming to refugees from Afghanistan or almost anywhere else, we’re hearing and following the call of the Good Shepherd to welcome the stranger.

And – and this is important – we are fulfilling the duty of the moment through real sacrifice. The church has made a significant financial commitment for the restoration of the house and some of you have also contributed and, no doubt, will continue to contribute to the effort.

And the sacrifice is not only financial – offering this kind of hospitality is ongoing and costly – it’s not just, “Here are the housekeys. Good luck in your new home!”

No, once the first family moves in, we will continue to support them, care for them, in ways big and small.

        And, yes, our sacrifice has made things a bit more challenging than they might have been for our soon-to-be Assistant Rector here, as she seeks a home as a close as possible to St. Thomas’.

        But, as we prepare for the dedication ceremony next month, we can be pretty sure that we’re hearing and following the voice of the Good Shepherd, that we’re fulfilling the duty of the moment because Gilead House 2 is bringing forth new life, it’s counter-cultural, and it’s really costing us.

        Hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Fulfilling the duty of the moment.

        So, it is still Easter.

        But no matter the season, the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd calls us, calls us to love and service, to especially love and serve the poor, the suffering, and the outcast.

        We are called the fulfill the duty of the moment.

        And as Catherine de Hueck Doherty said, the duty of the moment “must be done, because it is the duty of God.”

        The duty of the moment must be done because it is the duty of God.

        May it be so.

        Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.

The Story of Jesus and Us Continues

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD

May 4, 2025

Year C: The Third Sunday of Easter

Acts 9:1-6

Psalm 30

Revelation 5:11-14

John 21:1-19

The Story of Jesus and Us Continues

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

If you were here last week, you may remember that we heard the familiar story of “Doubting Thomas.”

We heard how, in Jerusalem on the first Easter night, Thomas was not with the other disciples hiding out in the locked room, wasn’t there when Jesus said, “Peace be with you,” wasn’t there when Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon his friends.

Thomas wasn’t there but, soon enough, he heard the good news. He heard the good news from the other disciples.

        And he did not believe a word of it.

        Thomas refused to believe until he saw Jesus for himself.

Well, as we heard, a week later, Jesus gave Thomas what he wanted, what Thomas thought he needed, appearing again, showing his wounds, inviting Thomas to go ahead, and touch. 

But seeing was enough for Thomas to know – Thomas now knew the best news of all time:

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

I didn’t talk about it in my sermon, but at the end last week’s gospel lesson we heard this:

        “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”

And with that, it would seem that the story of Jesus and his friends has come to an end.

If this were a movie, the end credits would roll, accompanied by dramatic music.

Like a lot of people, I haven’t seen a movie in a movie theater in years but when I did, I usually stayed in my seat for all the credits because, sometimes, there is more to the story, an epilogue.

        And that is what we heard today, what’s often called the epilogue to the Gospel of John.

Picking up right where we left off last week, the story of Jesus and his friends continues. 

So, Peter and the other disciples have seen the Risen Lord a couple of times.

They know the best news of all time. 

        They know that love and life defeat hate and death.

So, what do they do next?

        Well, just like us, they live their lives.

        Peter and at least some of the others were fishermen, so they go fishing!

Now, you’ll be shocked to learn that I don’t know anything about fishing, but I suppose fishing is a good metaphor for life.

        Sometimes things will go great and other times we will fall short or fail or things just won’t go our way and, yes, sometimes terrible things will happen.

We all know this.

But, no matter what, Jesus is with us, calling us to keep going, inviting us to maybe try doing things a little differently – like, how about casting the net on the right side of the boat?

        Jesus calls us to go deeper – calls us to trust that God’s abundance – God’s good gifts of love and peace and courage will be given to us.

        With his three questions to Peter, “Do you love me?” Jesus offers his friend forgiveness for denying him three times and Jesus provides Peter with a new mission to feed the lambs, to lead the church.

        And just like Peter long ago, when we mess up, as we all do, Jesus offers us forgiveness, redemption, and a new start, too.

        The story of Jesus and his friends - the story of Jesus and us - continues.

        The story of Jesus and us continues here today with one of Jesus’ newest friends, the already much-loved Ellett Andrews Worthington, who I will have the joy and privilege of baptizing in just a few minutes.

        In the water of baptism, the story of Jesus and us continues.

        In the water of baptism, God makes an indissoluble bond with us.

        God will not let go of us. No matter what.

        God’s bond with us is indissoluble, unbreakable – sort of like the net in today’s gospel lesson.

        And that indissoluble bond, God’s unbreakable net, allows us to receive and share God’s good gifts, gifts way more abundant than even 153 large fish.

        At our Vestry Retreat yesterday, I kept thinking about the image of God’s unbreakable net. 

        This year, rather than bringing in a guest speaker or an outside facilitator, we invited leaders of our many ministries and various initiatives to join us, asking them to tell us what they’re doing, what challenges they face, how the church can better support their work, what are their hopes for the future, and what would it look like to dream big?

       All I can say is, here at St. Thomas’, God’s unbreakable net is full of so much abundance.

       First, just the fact that about 25 wonderful and often very busy people generously gave up much of a beautiful Saturday in May to do this work is truly amazing and very telling.

        And all morning we heard about so much great ministry, from Acolytes to Zoom Bible Study, so much creativity, so much passion and determination, some challenges and disappointments, yes, of course, but also so many big dreams for the future – dreams of offering even more service to God and God’s people.

        In a time when, out in the world, there is so much fear, despair, hate, and cruelty, here at St. Thomas’, it’s different – here the story of Jesus and us continues.

        So, Ellett’s baptism will be our third baptism in three weeks.

        And that is a wonderful blessing for her and for all of us. 

        Because in the water of Baptism, God makes an indissoluble bond with us.

        God will not let go of us, no matter what.

        God provides us with an unbreakable net, a net that allows us to receive and share God’s abundant good gifts.

        The story of Jesus and us continues.

        So, whatever you do, don’t leave the theater, because the greatest story of them all continues for Ellett and for all of us.

        Alleluia! Christ is risen!

        The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

        Amen.