Trinity + St. Philip’s Cathedral, Newark NJ
May 30, 2010
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
“The Mad Logic of the Trinity”
Most of us here today can remember a time when life moved at a slower pace. We can remember the days before the Internet and email, before cell phones, before hundreds of channels on TV – although, of course, there’s still nothing to watch!
We can remember a time when life moved at a slower pace, when we had more time to think and reflect. When I was growing up in the 1970s I had several pen pals in different countries around the world. We would exchange letters, telling each other what was going on in our lives. I remember taking a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to write to these far-off friends who lived in places like Iceland, Germany, Tanzania and India.
When it was time to mail my letters I would imagine the journey they would take to reach their destinations. And then weeks or even months would go by before I’d get the reply, in envelopes usually covered with colorful stamps and postmarks.
Nowadays thanks to instantaneous email, the idea of writing letters to pen pals in other countries sounds like something out of the 1870s rather than just a few decades ago.
We live in a fast-paced time which has little room or patience for reflection. I’d like to say that the church is a place where we can still slow down and reflect. But, the truth is, for many of us – for many of you – the church is another busy, hurried place. There’s so much to be done – and I know it seems like it’s always the same people doing most of the work. There’s just not much time for reflection.
I imagine that the earliest followers of Jesus didn’t have too much time for reflection, either. Imagine how amazing it must have been to hear and see Jesus. It must have been nearly overwhelming to follow Jesus around, to see his miracles and to try to make sense of his parables. And we know how often the disciples didn’t quite get it right – how often they didn’t understand what Jesus meant or who Jesus was.
And then in quick succession there were the events of Holy Week – the betrayal, the arrest, the crucifixion, the resurrection. And then, according to Luke, fifty days later there was Pentecost - the disciples received the Holy Spirit and went out proclaiming the Good News to the whole world.
And for sure it’s at this point that those first Christians had to take some time to reflect – to reflect on the meaning of the Good News they were proclaiming. Imagine those early disciples arriving in a new place and telling people – maybe both Jews and Gentiles – about Jesus – his life, death and resurrection. Imagine the disciples saying Jesus is the messiah – not exactly the kind of messiah that was expected, though. Imagine the first disciples shocking some people by using language like “Lord” and “Son of God” for Jesus.
Well, you can imagine the questions, right? We can imagine some people trying to understand, saying, “So, OK, I think I get it. Jesus was a god pretending to be human right? I can believe that, in our religion we have lots of gods and we’re always happy to learn about another.” And the disciples might respond, “No, that’s not quite right. Jesus really was a human being, but God was really present in Jesus in a way that we’ve never seen before but he wasn’t another god, like one of your gods.”
Or maybe some said, “Let me get this straight, Jesus was a prophet, right? Well, there have been lots of prophets so why shouldn’t there be another?” And the disciples might respond, “No, sorry, that’s not quite right. Yes, Jesus was a prophet, but not like any other prophet. He was a prophet but much more than a prophet.”
Or imagine the disciples trying to explain how although they no longer saw Jesus in the flesh, they still experienced his love and his presence and his power in a very real way. Imagine them trying to explain how in some mysterious and very real way they still experienced the love and power they had felt in Jesus. Imagine the first disciples trying to explain the presence of the Holy Spirit – the power of the breath of God – in their lives!
All of this called for a lot of reflection. Who is Jesus? What is his relationship to God? Who or what is the power that we still feel present in our lives?
One of the people who must have spent a lot of time reflecting on all of this was St. Paul who after his conversion spent his life telling people about Jesus. This morning we heard a little piece from his letter to the Romans – a letter written probably later in his life – a letter that is clearly a product of many years of reflection.
Paul understands that through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, Jesus has bridged the gap between God and humanity. Paul writes, “…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand.” Jesus has bridged the gap between God and humanity.
After, I’m sure, much reflection and experience Paul also understands that we continue to experience God’s love and grace. He writes, “…hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
Paul wrote those words probably in the mid-50s of the First Century – twenty years or so after Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. It took several more centuries of reflection, controversy, debate and even, sadly, bloodshed, before the Church settled on the doctrine we celebrate today – the doctrine of the Trinity.
It wasn’t until the 300s that church councils crafted the Nicene Creed that we say each Sunday in church – the creed that affirms that God is one in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It took all that time of reflection for the church to finally figure out that God is a perfect relationship of love. And through Jesus and the Holy Spirit you and I are invited to be part of that divine love.
This is the awesome truth – the ultimate Good News – that we celebrate today. But, let’s be honest, even after all these centuries, the doctrine of the Trinity – one God in three Persons - is still hard for us to grasp.
In his novel Things Fall Apart, the author Chinua Achebe tells the story of the arrival of the British in what is today Nigeria during the late 1800s. Among other things, the British bring Christianity and manage to convert some of the people to the new faith. One of the converts is a young man named Nwoye, the son of a local strong man.
Here’s how Achebe describes Nwoye’s attraction to Christianity. “It was not the mad logic of the Trinity that captivated him…It was the poetry of the new religion, something felt in the marrow.”
If we try to apply human logic to the Trinity we’ll never get anywhere. Three and yet one at the same time – that really is mad logic! But the Trinity isn’t logic – it’s poetry - it’s poetry that we feel in our marrow, in our bones, in our heart.
The doctrine of the Trinity reveals to us that God is a perfect relationship of love. This three-in-one God of perfection could have spent eternity alone but the nature of God is to share God’s love. So God created all of us – God created this beautiful planet, this vast universe, God created all of it to share God’s love with us.
Over and over, the Bible tells the story of God reaching out to us, wanting to be in relationship with us. Finally, in Jesus, God reaches out in an ultimate way by in some mysterious way becoming one of us, living among us, saying to us, “Look, this is who I really am.” In Jesus, God reaches out to us in an ultimate way, stretching out his arms on the cross, forgiving us, right to the end inviting us to be part of this relationship of love – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – and us.
It’s mad logic, but when we’re open we feel its truth in our bones and in our hearts. When we gather at the Lord’s Table to receive Christ’s Body and Blood we know that we are part of the divine relationship of love.
When we’re open to it and paying attention, we can really see that we are all – all of us - invited to share in the divine relationship of love. And the Holy Spirit inspires us to follow God’s example by reaching out and inviting others to be in relationship with us and to join in the divine relationship of love – Father, Son, Holy Spirit and us.
And standing here this morning, like Nwoye in Things Fall Apart, I feel that truth and power of that invitation in my bones, in my heart. Some of you know that I’m privileged to serve on the Cathedral Chapter. And almost exactly three years ago I was ordained a deacon right over there. Both are very important to me, but I feel a special relationship with this cathedral family for a deeper reason.
Today in our diocesan cycle of prayer, we are praying for the Rev. Canon Dr. David H. Hamilton. More than ten years ago, you welcomed David Hamilton as your interim dean. So, many of you know his story – a story of great loss and also a powerful story of resurrection and renewal. It’s a story in which you played a crucial part.
After he left here, he became rector of St. Paul’s in Jersey City. And a few months after that, my wife and I stumbled into St. Paul’s looking for a spiritual home, looking for God. That first Sunday, during the peace Fr. Hamilton came down the aisle, reached out his hand and said, “I’m Dave Hamilton. Welcome to St. Paul’s.”
That day, that moment, is etched on my heart. Through David Hamilton, I felt God’s invitation to be part of the divine relationship of love. Over time, Dave and I became good friends and I began the process to become a priest.
A few times I was here in this cathedral with him and the bonds of love between you and him were beautiful and obvious. I used to tease him that being here with him felt like being with a celebrity. But it was clear to me that you and he were sharing – and continue to share - in the divine relationship of love. It’s not something I’ll ever forget. Dave’s example and your example of sharing God’s love have shaped my priesthood and assured this congregation a special place in my heart.
So, it’s Trinity Sunday and it’s good to celebrate the mad logic of the Trinity here at Trinity + St. Philip’s Cathedral. Let us ask God who is Three in One for the quiet time to reflect on the good gifts we have been given – the gift of life itself, our families and friends, the Church, our Cathedral, this beautiful planet, and most of all the invitation to share forever in the divine relationship of love – Father, Son, Holy Spirit and us.
Amen.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
"You Cannot Imprison the Word of the Lord"
Grace Episcopal Church, Madison NJ
May 16, 2010
Year C: The Seventh Sunday of Easter
Acts 16:16-34
Psalm 97
John 17:20-26
“You Cannot Imprison the Word of the Lord”
So, I have a deep theological question: what happened to the first half of May? Here in church, it seems like we just had our big Easter celebrations, but the Easter season is already drawing to a close. Today is the seventh Sunday of Easter – and next Sunday we’ll be celebrating the great feast of Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Lauren has mentioned in her sermons that around here we try our best to hold on to the joy and excitement of Easter – but, let’s be honest, it’s pretty easy to slip into business as usual and live like everybody else. After all, today is the seventh Sunday of Easter, the Easter lilies are long gone and maybe even our alleluias wilting. The Lord is risen indeed…Alleluia.
For the first few Sundays of Easter we heard stories from the Gospel of John – vivid and memorable stories of Jesus’ resurrection appearances to his disciples.
But for the past couple of Sundays, we’ve continued to hear excerpts from the Gospel of John, but no more resurrection stories. Although it’s still the Easter season, the gospel has taken us back to before Easter. Last week we heard part of what’s called the “final discourse,” what the Gospel of John records as Jesus’ final teaching at the Last Supper. And today, we heard what John records as Jesus’ final prayer before his arrest and all that follows.
The Gospel of John was the last of the four gospels to be written, sometime around the end of the First Century.
Inspired by God, this gospel is a product of several generations of Christian reflection on who Jesus is and reflection on the meaning of his life, death and resurrection. This gospel is also the product of several generations of Christians trying to figure out how to survive in a world hostile to the Christian message. And it’s also the product of several generations of Christians trying to live together – and often having a lot of trouble getting along with one another.
The first disciples followed Jesus because they recognized that God was present in Jesus in a new and unique way. They realized that in the Messiah they saw what God was really like. They knew that when they heard Jesus they were hearing the word of the Lord.
But, after several generations of reflection and experience the author of the Gospel of John recognizes an even greater and deeper truth. When we hear Jesus not only do we hear the word of the Lord, but in some mysterious way Jesus is the Word of the Lord.
The author of the gospel makes a bold claim: in some mysterious way, God the Father and Jesus the Son are one. There is an unbreakable bond between God the Father and Jesus the Son. And in the Gospel of John, Jesus’ final prayer is that his followers – you and I – may be one also - one with each other and also one with Jesus. Listen to Jesus’ prayer to God the Father again,
“The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me…”
“I in them and you in me.” The author of the Gospel of John understands that Jesus’ prayer, hope and promise for us is unity – an unbreakable bond – with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and with one another.
This is why we say that the bond which God establishes with us in baptism is indissoluble – it can never be dissolved or broken.
In Jesus we hear the word of the Lord. In Jesus we see the Word of the Lord come to live among us. And in the unbreakable bond we now have with God, the Word of the Lord lives in our hearts.
It’s mid-May, it’s the seventh Sunday of Easter, and, yes, maybe our alleluias are starting to wilt, but the truth of our unbreakable bond with God, the truth that the Word of the Lord is alive in our hearts, should make us shout “alleluia!” with joy, hope and confidence.
Maybe no one understood the bond of love between God and us better than St. Paul, who in his letter to the Romans wrote that he was convinced that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Of course, as Paul and so many others have found out, over and over the forces of the world will try to separate us from the love of God. Over and over the world tries to break the bond between God and us. Over and over the world tries to imprison the Word of the Lord.
We heard about one of those attempts in today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
We pick up right where we left off last Sunday. You may remember that Paul and his companions arrived in the city of Philippi in Macedonia in southeastern Europe. There they encountered Lydia who was baptized and who immediately offered hospitality to Paul and the others.
Now, Paul and his fellow disciple Silas are still in the Roman colony of Philippi and they encounter a gentile slave girl who has a kind of spiritual power that is a money-maker for her owners. I imagine her situation as like being enslaved and forced to work forever as a fortune-teller on the boardwalk at the Shore. She recognizes who Paul and his companions are. She follows them around, crying out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” We’re told that Paul was “very much annoyed” by this.
Anyway, the Word of the Lord was alive in Paul and so just like Jesus he was able to cast out the spirit. We’re not told how the girl felt about this but naturally her owners were angry about losing a revenue source. They brought Paul and Silas before the authorities and accused them of illegally trying to convert Romans – gentiles – to their faith.
Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into jail.
In Leonard Bernstein’s Mass there’s a piece called “The Word of the Lord.” Here’s just part of the text:
“You can lock up your bold men and women. Go and lock up your bold men and women. And hold them in tow. You can stifle all adventure for a century or so. Smother hope before it’s risen. Watch it wizen like a gourd. But you cannot imprison the Word of the Lord.”
“No, you cannot imprison the Word of the Lord.”
Actually, I’d revise that a little. “No, you cannot imprison the Word of the Lord, unless we allow it.
For me, the most amazing part of the story of Paul and Silas in Philippi is how they behave in prison. They’ve been hauled before the court, attacked by the crowd, beaten with rods, given a severe flogging and now they’re jailed with their feet in the stocks. And what do they do?
The author of Acts tells us, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”
Knowing that in Jesus they had an unbreakable bond with God, knowing that nothing could separate them from the love of God, Paul and Silas pray and sing.
“You can lock up your bold men and women. But you cannot imprison the Word of the Lord.”
The author of Acts goes on to tell us about the miraculous earthquake and how the amazed jailer put his faith in Jesus and how just like Lydia, he immediately offered hospitality to Paul and the others.
It’s a great story, but, the core of the story is the faith of Paul and Silas. They offer a great example of faith as trust. The Word of the Lord was alive in their hearts. Despite a very bleak and painful situation, Paul and Silas place their trust in the unbreakable bond they share with God – a bond infinitely stronger than their prison chains. The world takes its best shot, but the world couldn’t imprison the Word of the Lord - because Paul and Silas wouldn’t allow it.
No, the forces of the world cannot imprison the Word of the Lord, unless we allow it. You cannot imprison the Word of the Lord unless we – we, who have an unbreakable bond with God – allow it.
So, what about us?
Well, for sure the world still takes its best shot at imprisoning the Word of the Lord. In some parts of the world, Christians are discriminated against or tortured or even killed for their faith. Around the world there are an estimated 120 million so-called crypto-Christians – people who are forced to live out their faith in secret.
Around here we don’t risk our lives when we practice our faith. But, here in green, beautiful, comfortable Morris County, the world’s attempts to imprison the Word of the Lord are more subtle, maybe more dangerous, and if we allow it, maybe more effective.
The Word of the Lord is alive in our hearts and alive among us, but if when we leave this place we live out there pretty much like everyone else, then we allow the world to imprison the Word of the Lord.
If we believe the Golden Rule is “The one with the gold, rules” then we allow the world to imprison the Word of the Lord. If in our real lives we put more faith in money and our stuff than in God then we allow the world to imprison the Word of the Lord.
If we turn away the person in need; if we mock the one who is different; if like the owners of the slave girl in Philippi we use people for our own profit, then we allow the world to imprison the Word of the Lord.
If we demonize our opponents and hate our enemies, then we allow the world to imprison the Word of Lord.
If out there in the world we live pretty much like everyone else, then we allow the world to imprison the Word of the Lord.
I know that sounds like a heavy responsibility and challenge. Yet, the Good News that Paul and John and so many others have understood is that it’s not all on us – in fact, just the opposite.
As the author of the Gospel of John understood, in Jesus the Word of the Lord has come and lived among us. In our baptism, God makes an unbreakable bond with us – a bond infinitely stronger than the world’s best shot. The Word of the Lord is alive within all of us. And each time we pray, each time we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, each time we serve another, the bond of love between God and us and the bond of love among all of us, grows stronger and stronger.
The story of Paul and Silas shows us that the bond between God and us is so strong that, unless we allow it, the world cannot imprison the Word of the Lord.
So, since it’s already mid-May and the seventh Sunday of Easter we’d better freshen up those alleluias.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Amen.
May 16, 2010
Year C: The Seventh Sunday of Easter
Acts 16:16-34
Psalm 97
John 17:20-26
“You Cannot Imprison the Word of the Lord”
So, I have a deep theological question: what happened to the first half of May? Here in church, it seems like we just had our big Easter celebrations, but the Easter season is already drawing to a close. Today is the seventh Sunday of Easter – and next Sunday we’ll be celebrating the great feast of Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Lauren has mentioned in her sermons that around here we try our best to hold on to the joy and excitement of Easter – but, let’s be honest, it’s pretty easy to slip into business as usual and live like everybody else. After all, today is the seventh Sunday of Easter, the Easter lilies are long gone and maybe even our alleluias wilting. The Lord is risen indeed…Alleluia.
For the first few Sundays of Easter we heard stories from the Gospel of John – vivid and memorable stories of Jesus’ resurrection appearances to his disciples.
But for the past couple of Sundays, we’ve continued to hear excerpts from the Gospel of John, but no more resurrection stories. Although it’s still the Easter season, the gospel has taken us back to before Easter. Last week we heard part of what’s called the “final discourse,” what the Gospel of John records as Jesus’ final teaching at the Last Supper. And today, we heard what John records as Jesus’ final prayer before his arrest and all that follows.
The Gospel of John was the last of the four gospels to be written, sometime around the end of the First Century.
Inspired by God, this gospel is a product of several generations of Christian reflection on who Jesus is and reflection on the meaning of his life, death and resurrection. This gospel is also the product of several generations of Christians trying to figure out how to survive in a world hostile to the Christian message. And it’s also the product of several generations of Christians trying to live together – and often having a lot of trouble getting along with one another.
The first disciples followed Jesus because they recognized that God was present in Jesus in a new and unique way. They realized that in the Messiah they saw what God was really like. They knew that when they heard Jesus they were hearing the word of the Lord.
But, after several generations of reflection and experience the author of the Gospel of John recognizes an even greater and deeper truth. When we hear Jesus not only do we hear the word of the Lord, but in some mysterious way Jesus is the Word of the Lord.
The author of the gospel makes a bold claim: in some mysterious way, God the Father and Jesus the Son are one. There is an unbreakable bond between God the Father and Jesus the Son. And in the Gospel of John, Jesus’ final prayer is that his followers – you and I – may be one also - one with each other and also one with Jesus. Listen to Jesus’ prayer to God the Father again,
“The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me…”
“I in them and you in me.” The author of the Gospel of John understands that Jesus’ prayer, hope and promise for us is unity – an unbreakable bond – with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and with one another.
This is why we say that the bond which God establishes with us in baptism is indissoluble – it can never be dissolved or broken.
In Jesus we hear the word of the Lord. In Jesus we see the Word of the Lord come to live among us. And in the unbreakable bond we now have with God, the Word of the Lord lives in our hearts.
It’s mid-May, it’s the seventh Sunday of Easter, and, yes, maybe our alleluias are starting to wilt, but the truth of our unbreakable bond with God, the truth that the Word of the Lord is alive in our hearts, should make us shout “alleluia!” with joy, hope and confidence.
Maybe no one understood the bond of love between God and us better than St. Paul, who in his letter to the Romans wrote that he was convinced that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Of course, as Paul and so many others have found out, over and over the forces of the world will try to separate us from the love of God. Over and over the world tries to break the bond between God and us. Over and over the world tries to imprison the Word of the Lord.
We heard about one of those attempts in today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
We pick up right where we left off last Sunday. You may remember that Paul and his companions arrived in the city of Philippi in Macedonia in southeastern Europe. There they encountered Lydia who was baptized and who immediately offered hospitality to Paul and the others.
Now, Paul and his fellow disciple Silas are still in the Roman colony of Philippi and they encounter a gentile slave girl who has a kind of spiritual power that is a money-maker for her owners. I imagine her situation as like being enslaved and forced to work forever as a fortune-teller on the boardwalk at the Shore. She recognizes who Paul and his companions are. She follows them around, crying out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” We’re told that Paul was “very much annoyed” by this.
Anyway, the Word of the Lord was alive in Paul and so just like Jesus he was able to cast out the spirit. We’re not told how the girl felt about this but naturally her owners were angry about losing a revenue source. They brought Paul and Silas before the authorities and accused them of illegally trying to convert Romans – gentiles – to their faith.
Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into jail.
In Leonard Bernstein’s Mass there’s a piece called “The Word of the Lord.” Here’s just part of the text:
“You can lock up your bold men and women. Go and lock up your bold men and women. And hold them in tow. You can stifle all adventure for a century or so. Smother hope before it’s risen. Watch it wizen like a gourd. But you cannot imprison the Word of the Lord.”
“No, you cannot imprison the Word of the Lord.”
Actually, I’d revise that a little. “No, you cannot imprison the Word of the Lord, unless we allow it.
For me, the most amazing part of the story of Paul and Silas in Philippi is how they behave in prison. They’ve been hauled before the court, attacked by the crowd, beaten with rods, given a severe flogging and now they’re jailed with their feet in the stocks. And what do they do?
The author of Acts tells us, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”
Knowing that in Jesus they had an unbreakable bond with God, knowing that nothing could separate them from the love of God, Paul and Silas pray and sing.
“You can lock up your bold men and women. But you cannot imprison the Word of the Lord.”
The author of Acts goes on to tell us about the miraculous earthquake and how the amazed jailer put his faith in Jesus and how just like Lydia, he immediately offered hospitality to Paul and the others.
It’s a great story, but, the core of the story is the faith of Paul and Silas. They offer a great example of faith as trust. The Word of the Lord was alive in their hearts. Despite a very bleak and painful situation, Paul and Silas place their trust in the unbreakable bond they share with God – a bond infinitely stronger than their prison chains. The world takes its best shot, but the world couldn’t imprison the Word of the Lord - because Paul and Silas wouldn’t allow it.
No, the forces of the world cannot imprison the Word of the Lord, unless we allow it. You cannot imprison the Word of the Lord unless we – we, who have an unbreakable bond with God – allow it.
So, what about us?
Well, for sure the world still takes its best shot at imprisoning the Word of the Lord. In some parts of the world, Christians are discriminated against or tortured or even killed for their faith. Around the world there are an estimated 120 million so-called crypto-Christians – people who are forced to live out their faith in secret.
Around here we don’t risk our lives when we practice our faith. But, here in green, beautiful, comfortable Morris County, the world’s attempts to imprison the Word of the Lord are more subtle, maybe more dangerous, and if we allow it, maybe more effective.
The Word of the Lord is alive in our hearts and alive among us, but if when we leave this place we live out there pretty much like everyone else, then we allow the world to imprison the Word of the Lord.
If we believe the Golden Rule is “The one with the gold, rules” then we allow the world to imprison the Word of the Lord. If in our real lives we put more faith in money and our stuff than in God then we allow the world to imprison the Word of the Lord.
If we turn away the person in need; if we mock the one who is different; if like the owners of the slave girl in Philippi we use people for our own profit, then we allow the world to imprison the Word of the Lord.
If we demonize our opponents and hate our enemies, then we allow the world to imprison the Word of Lord.
If out there in the world we live pretty much like everyone else, then we allow the world to imprison the Word of the Lord.
I know that sounds like a heavy responsibility and challenge. Yet, the Good News that Paul and John and so many others have understood is that it’s not all on us – in fact, just the opposite.
As the author of the Gospel of John understood, in Jesus the Word of the Lord has come and lived among us. In our baptism, God makes an unbreakable bond with us – a bond infinitely stronger than the world’s best shot. The Word of the Lord is alive within all of us. And each time we pray, each time we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, each time we serve another, the bond of love between God and us and the bond of love among all of us, grows stronger and stronger.
The story of Paul and Silas shows us that the bond between God and us is so strong that, unless we allow it, the world cannot imprison the Word of the Lord.
So, since it’s already mid-May and the seventh Sunday of Easter we’d better freshen up those alleluias.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Amen.
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Hospitality
Grace Episcopal Church, Madison NJ
May 9, 2010
Year C: The Sixth Sunday of Easter
Acts 16:9-15
Psalm 67
John 14:23-29
Hospitality
Well, there’s a whole lot going on today. First and foremost, like every Sunday, today is a Feast of our Lord, and so we gather here in church to hear the Word of God, to offer our prayers and thanksgivings, to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, and then to go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
That’s more than enough for one day, but wait, there’s more. Here at Grace we’re marking today as Rogation Sunday. Some of our children made these wonderful vestments and hangings. Having special prayers or services on Rogation days – from the Latin word meaning “to ask” – is a very ancient custom with its roots in the desire to ask God’s blessing on this year’s crops. In more modern times, the understanding of rogation has expanded to asking God’s blessing on all of creation – the gift of this beautiful planet and vast universe, the gift of life itself.
And finally – maybe you thought I’d forget – today is Mother’s Day. Today’s the day beloved by greeting card companies and florists that we give special thanks for the great gift of our mothers – those who are with us and also those who have died.
So there’s a whole lot going on today – and one theme that ties together the different aspects of today is the very important, central Christian theme of hospitality.
At its heart, hospitality is how we receive and share life.
Hospitality was extremely important in the ancient world and its value is emphasized throughout the Bible. Just to give one important and timely example from the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy there’s this: “You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” That’s both a law and a pointed reminder from God about how we are treat foreigners.
That kind of hospitality isn’t necessarily easy.
Hospitality is also an important theme in the New Testament. Jesus is often depicted as a guest and is also remembered as inviting the unlikeliest people to eat with him.
Hospitality must have been crucial for the first disciples who carried the Good News out into the world. Paul writes to the church in Rome, “Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers” (12:13). And there’s this beautiful verse from the Letter to the Hebrews: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (13:2)
In the Bible and in everyday life hospitality is how we receive and share life.
Unfortunately, in our own society, many of us neglect even the relatively easy parts of hospitality. Forget about strangers, how often do we share our lives with our friends? I know Sue and I very rarely make time to have people over or even just go out to eat with friends. Without even that minimal effort we run the risk of reverse hospitality turning friends into strangers. In a column called “If I Had My Life to Live Over Again,” Erma Bombeck wrote, “I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.”
Hospitality is how we receive and share life.
If you stop and think about it, hospitality is a very important part of who God is. For God, creation is hospitality. I’m getting into dangerous theological ground here, but while I wouldn’t say God needed to create anything or anyone, it seems like because of who God is, it was almost inevitable that God would want to share life. God chooses to share life with all of us and everything that is alive, has been alive and will be alive.
The Bible tells the story of God over and over offering hospitality to human beings, wanting to transform us from strangers into friends.
In Jesus, we see the ultimate example of this hospitality, of God taking the risk of reaching out to us, of sharing God’s life with us. In Jesus, God says, look this is who I really am. In Jesus, God says, I want us to be friends and not strangers. In Jesus, God says I want us to live together forever.
And in return we’re invited to offer hospitality to God. In today’s gospel, Jesus is quoted in the farewell discourse as saying, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
“We will come to them and make our home with them.” Hospitality is how we receive and share life.
If we look around, we see God’s hospitality all around us in this beautiful planet. And on this Rogation Sunday we give special thanks for God’s hospitality. At the same time, we remember that God expects us to show this same kind of hospitality to all of the other living creatures with whom we share this planet. And unfortunately we don’t have to look far to see how we have failed miserably in that kind of hospitality. The sad images of fish and birds killed by the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico should make all of us reflect on how we live our lives and our general lack of hospitality toward God’s creation.
It’s depressing to think about our abuse of the planet, yet Mother’s Day reminds us that we really are capable of deeply generous hospitality. Motherhood itself is profound hospitality. Motherhood is the supreme example of sharing one’s life – and for a time one’s body – with another. Having received life, mothers (and fathers, too) then give life to another - hospitality.
We heard about a beautiful example of hospitality in today’s lesson from the Acts of the Apostles. In what might be taken from a first person account from one of Paul’s companions, we hear the story of Paul’s arrival in Philippi in Macedonia. The Good News of Jesus had now reached Europe.
It seems like Paul’s usual approach when he first arrived in a city was to find the local synagogue and connect with the Jewish community. Many scholars believe that Paul was also particularly interested in meeting gentiles who may have been attracted to the God of Israel and Jewish religious practices, but had not formally become Jews. These people are sometimes called “God-fearers.”
So in Philippi, Paul and his companions went “outside the gate by the river” where they thought there was a “place of prayer.” The synagogue may have been near the river or it might have been that the Jewish community was so small that the handful of faithful people simply gathered near the water.
Anyway, Paul begins speaking to the women who were there and particularly to a woman named Lydia. The author of Acts tells us a good bit about her. She’s described as a “worshiper of God” – maybe meaning she’s one of those gentiles already drawn but not quite committed to Judaism. She’s apparently a woman of some means since she was a dealer in expensive purple cloth and has a “household.”
Most important, after Lydia and her household put their faith in Christ and were baptized, seemingly without delay, Lydia invites Paul and his companions to stay in her home. In her baptism, Lydia received the gift of life. And her first response is to share that gift – to offer generous hospitality to strangers who were well on their way to becoming friends.
I wish we knew more about Lydia. I like that you can see a depiction of her in the St. Paul window over in our chapel. Some people speculate that Lydia founded a house church in her own home. Maybe her spirit of warm hospitality permeated this early Christian community in Philippi. Paul had a lot of trouble with many of the Christian communities he founded, but his letter to the Philippians, written from prison, is extraordinarily joyful. Maybe recalling Lydia’s hospitality, Paul wrote to the Philippians:
“I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now” (1:3-4).
Hospitality is how we receive and share life.
Yes, there’s a whole lot going on today. This Feast of Our Lord reminds us of God’s hospitality – God’s giving life to us, always reaching out to us, wanting to be friends and not strangers.
Rogation Sunday reminds us to give thanks for this beautiful home that God has given us. And Rogation Sunday also reminds us that we are expected to be hospitable to the creatures of the earth.
Mother’s Day reminds us of the gift of our mothers and the profound hospitality they showed by literally sharing their life with us.
And today we remember Lydia, who received the gift of baptism and immediately offered hospitality to others.
That’s a lot of reminders for one day. But, then again, hospitality is important for God and for us. Hospitality is how we receive and share life.
Amen.
May 9, 2010
Year C: The Sixth Sunday of Easter
Acts 16:9-15
Psalm 67
John 14:23-29
Hospitality
Well, there’s a whole lot going on today. First and foremost, like every Sunday, today is a Feast of our Lord, and so we gather here in church to hear the Word of God, to offer our prayers and thanksgivings, to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, and then to go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
That’s more than enough for one day, but wait, there’s more. Here at Grace we’re marking today as Rogation Sunday. Some of our children made these wonderful vestments and hangings. Having special prayers or services on Rogation days – from the Latin word meaning “to ask” – is a very ancient custom with its roots in the desire to ask God’s blessing on this year’s crops. In more modern times, the understanding of rogation has expanded to asking God’s blessing on all of creation – the gift of this beautiful planet and vast universe, the gift of life itself.
And finally – maybe you thought I’d forget – today is Mother’s Day. Today’s the day beloved by greeting card companies and florists that we give special thanks for the great gift of our mothers – those who are with us and also those who have died.
So there’s a whole lot going on today – and one theme that ties together the different aspects of today is the very important, central Christian theme of hospitality.
At its heart, hospitality is how we receive and share life.
Hospitality was extremely important in the ancient world and its value is emphasized throughout the Bible. Just to give one important and timely example from the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy there’s this: “You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” That’s both a law and a pointed reminder from God about how we are treat foreigners.
That kind of hospitality isn’t necessarily easy.
Hospitality is also an important theme in the New Testament. Jesus is often depicted as a guest and is also remembered as inviting the unlikeliest people to eat with him.
Hospitality must have been crucial for the first disciples who carried the Good News out into the world. Paul writes to the church in Rome, “Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers” (12:13). And there’s this beautiful verse from the Letter to the Hebrews: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (13:2)
In the Bible and in everyday life hospitality is how we receive and share life.
Unfortunately, in our own society, many of us neglect even the relatively easy parts of hospitality. Forget about strangers, how often do we share our lives with our friends? I know Sue and I very rarely make time to have people over or even just go out to eat with friends. Without even that minimal effort we run the risk of reverse hospitality turning friends into strangers. In a column called “If I Had My Life to Live Over Again,” Erma Bombeck wrote, “I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.”
Hospitality is how we receive and share life.
If you stop and think about it, hospitality is a very important part of who God is. For God, creation is hospitality. I’m getting into dangerous theological ground here, but while I wouldn’t say God needed to create anything or anyone, it seems like because of who God is, it was almost inevitable that God would want to share life. God chooses to share life with all of us and everything that is alive, has been alive and will be alive.
The Bible tells the story of God over and over offering hospitality to human beings, wanting to transform us from strangers into friends.
In Jesus, we see the ultimate example of this hospitality, of God taking the risk of reaching out to us, of sharing God’s life with us. In Jesus, God says, look this is who I really am. In Jesus, God says, I want us to be friends and not strangers. In Jesus, God says I want us to live together forever.
And in return we’re invited to offer hospitality to God. In today’s gospel, Jesus is quoted in the farewell discourse as saying, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
“We will come to them and make our home with them.” Hospitality is how we receive and share life.
If we look around, we see God’s hospitality all around us in this beautiful planet. And on this Rogation Sunday we give special thanks for God’s hospitality. At the same time, we remember that God expects us to show this same kind of hospitality to all of the other living creatures with whom we share this planet. And unfortunately we don’t have to look far to see how we have failed miserably in that kind of hospitality. The sad images of fish and birds killed by the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico should make all of us reflect on how we live our lives and our general lack of hospitality toward God’s creation.
It’s depressing to think about our abuse of the planet, yet Mother’s Day reminds us that we really are capable of deeply generous hospitality. Motherhood itself is profound hospitality. Motherhood is the supreme example of sharing one’s life – and for a time one’s body – with another. Having received life, mothers (and fathers, too) then give life to another - hospitality.
We heard about a beautiful example of hospitality in today’s lesson from the Acts of the Apostles. In what might be taken from a first person account from one of Paul’s companions, we hear the story of Paul’s arrival in Philippi in Macedonia. The Good News of Jesus had now reached Europe.
It seems like Paul’s usual approach when he first arrived in a city was to find the local synagogue and connect with the Jewish community. Many scholars believe that Paul was also particularly interested in meeting gentiles who may have been attracted to the God of Israel and Jewish religious practices, but had not formally become Jews. These people are sometimes called “God-fearers.”
So in Philippi, Paul and his companions went “outside the gate by the river” where they thought there was a “place of prayer.” The synagogue may have been near the river or it might have been that the Jewish community was so small that the handful of faithful people simply gathered near the water.
Anyway, Paul begins speaking to the women who were there and particularly to a woman named Lydia. The author of Acts tells us a good bit about her. She’s described as a “worshiper of God” – maybe meaning she’s one of those gentiles already drawn but not quite committed to Judaism. She’s apparently a woman of some means since she was a dealer in expensive purple cloth and has a “household.”
Most important, after Lydia and her household put their faith in Christ and were baptized, seemingly without delay, Lydia invites Paul and his companions to stay in her home. In her baptism, Lydia received the gift of life. And her first response is to share that gift – to offer generous hospitality to strangers who were well on their way to becoming friends.
I wish we knew more about Lydia. I like that you can see a depiction of her in the St. Paul window over in our chapel. Some people speculate that Lydia founded a house church in her own home. Maybe her spirit of warm hospitality permeated this early Christian community in Philippi. Paul had a lot of trouble with many of the Christian communities he founded, but his letter to the Philippians, written from prison, is extraordinarily joyful. Maybe recalling Lydia’s hospitality, Paul wrote to the Philippians:
“I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now” (1:3-4).
Hospitality is how we receive and share life.
Yes, there’s a whole lot going on today. This Feast of Our Lord reminds us of God’s hospitality – God’s giving life to us, always reaching out to us, wanting to be friends and not strangers.
Rogation Sunday reminds us to give thanks for this beautiful home that God has given us. And Rogation Sunday also reminds us that we are expected to be hospitable to the creatures of the earth.
Mother’s Day reminds us of the gift of our mothers and the profound hospitality they showed by literally sharing their life with us.
And today we remember Lydia, who received the gift of baptism and immediately offered hospitality to others.
That’s a lot of reminders for one day. But, then again, hospitality is important for God and for us. Hospitality is how we receive and share life.
Amen.
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