"All In"

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD

January 1, 2023

The Feast of the Holy Name

Numbers 6:22-27

Psalm 8

Philippians 2:5-11

Luke 2:15-21

“All In” 

Happy New Year!

And Merry Christmas!

Thanks to the hard work of lots of dedicated people, and despite bitterly cold temperatures and power outages – man, it was so cold – we had a wonderfully joyful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day here at St. Thomas’.

Christmas was great but, like a lot of us, I bet, I appreciate the slower and quieter days after the holiday, when there might be a little time to catch our breath and maybe even some moments of reflection as an old year draws to a close and a new year is about to begin.  

So, after the Christmas excitement of last weekend quieted down, and after warming temperatures finally thawed us out, I spent some time looking back at what God has been up to here at St. Thomas’ during the past year.

As I reflected on our busy year of renewal, I couldn’t help but think of the name we gave to our stewardship campaign: “More than Enough.”

That name riffs on one of Jesus’ greatest miracles: the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Despite the uncertainty and even doubt of the disciples – they’re convinced that there is nowhere near enough bread and fish to feed the large crowd of people – despite a real sense of scarcity – Jesus’ friends and all those hungry people who had gathered in the field that day learned that when Jesus is around there is abundance – there are leftovers - there is more than enough.

So, looking back on last year, I think about how so many people have returned to our church after being away for one reason or another, and how newcomers have continued to walk through our doors, with some of them getting involved practically from the start.

I think about the rehabilitation of our churchyard and the unveiling of our fabulous new website, and how our amazing preschool is pretty much at capacity.

I think about the Pentecost Picnic and all those Thanksgiving bags and the return of the Christmas Extravaganza.

I think about our bold step of welcoming our new friends from Afghanistan, and all the many ways that our parishioners have given of themselves to Hizbullah and Abdul: driving lessons, resume editing, navigating government bureaucracy, dinner invitations and fun times at the driving range and the bowling alley.

I think about the ongoing renewal of our programs for children and youth: Sunday School classes in our beautiful new classroom, and the truly remarkable rebirth of our youth acolyte program, led by the patient and generous John Lang. There have been some services where we’ve had so many acolytes that we needed overflow seating! 

I mean, who would have thought it, right?

I think of the Christmas wreath sale – especially so many wreaths placed on the graves of people no longer remembered by anyone alive – and Roz’ Christmas quilt fundraiser, and on and on.

And, yes, I think of our stewardship campaign – giving thanks for the people who give generously year after year, the people who haven’t pledged for a while but are now back, and the new people who have said, yes, we want to support our new spiritual home.

When Jesus is around there is abundance – there is more than enough.

So, I really like the theme “More Than Enough,” but, actually, it’s not my all-time favorite stewardship slogan.

That would be the one that we used a few years ago at my parish in Jersey City, when we aimed for everyone to get involved, hoped for everyone make a pledge, when we insisted that in our church there should be no bystanders. We called that campaign:

“All In.”

I like that one best because going “all in” is God’s way.

God loves us so much that God goes “all in” with and for us.

Christmas is about God going “all in.”

Our whole faith is about God going “all in.”

You know, in the early church, there were lots of heated debates about the nature – or natures – of Jesus. Some thought that Jesus was really, really, holy – even the holiest person who ever lived – but not quite God. And others thought that Jesus just seemed to be human. That he was, in fact, all God.

But, in the end, the church held fast to the most challenging and, frankly, hardest to believe, position - the truth that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine, like us in every way except sin.

So, Christmas is the story of God going “all in” with us, coming among us as a completely helpless child, born to a couple of “nobodies” in the humblest circumstances, a child dependent on other people for absolutely everything, a child who no doubt could be frustrated and cranky and who needed lots of sleep, a child who, like all other Jewish boys, will be circumcised on the eighth day, a child who will be named like we are all named. 

The story of Christmas – and the entire life and death of Jesus – is the story of God going “all in” with and for us – holding nothing back – hunted from the start by Herod and the other powers that be who will eventually catch him and kill him. 

In and through Jesus, God goes “all in” to the cross and the tomb and, finally, to that first shockingly joyous Easter morning.

And so, as Paul wrote long ago to the church in Philippi, probably quoting an even earlier Christian hymn:

“…at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

And what does our “all in” God ask of us in return?

That we go “all in” with and for God.

That we go “all in” with and for God’s people.

And, when I look back at the past year at St. Thomas’, that’s exactly what I see happening all the time, all over the place.

We are living out those baptismal promises that I talked about all year. 

More and more of us are going “all in” – sharing and studying and stretching and serving – and, most of all, loving – loving the people we’ve known for years, loving the people we only just met, loving people we’ll never know and who will never be able to thank us for our love, and loving two young guys from far away who turned to us for safety and a new start.

So, my new year’s prayer is a prayer of gratitude.

Thank you, God, for the loving and generous people of St. Thomas’ Church.

Thank you for giving us “more than enough.”

Thank you for going “all in” with and for us, for coming among us in and through Jesus, in whose holy name we pray. Amen.

And, P.S., during the year ahead, help us to go “all in.” 

Happy New Year!

The Holy Name of Jesus at the Top of Our Page

The Church of St. Paul and Incarnation, Jersey City NJ

January 1, 2021

The Feast of the Holy Name

Numbers 6:22-27

Psalm 8

Philippians 2:5-11

Luke 2:15-21

The Holy Name of Jesus at the Top of Our Page

Those of you who attended Catholic school may remember the practice of writing the letters “JMJ” at the top of homework assignments and tests.

“JMJ” stands for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Now, I don’t know how mindful most students were about this practice – they may have been just doing what the teacher said they had to do, but the idea is beautiful and important:

We should begin our work - begin all that we do - with a prayer.

We should ask God to bless our efforts.

And, we should strive to do our best, knowing that we glorify God when we use the talents and ingenuity that God has given us.

And, finally, “JMJ” is also a reminder of the power of holy names – Mary and Joseph, yes, but, most of all, the Holy Name of Jesus.

Today is the eighth day of Christmas.

It’s New Year’s Day.

And it’s the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.

In today’s gospel lesson, we heard the conclusion of the Christmas story according to Luke.

The shepherds depart, and Mary, who by now must be exhausted, excited, relieved, and frightened, ponders in her heart all that she has seen and heard.

Of course, since Mary and Joseph are faithful Jews, they follow the practice of their people by having Jesus circumcised on the eighth day. Jesus receives the physical sign of the covenant between God and God’s people.

And, Mary and Joseph name the child, giving him the name of Jesus – or, actually, in Hebrew, Joshua.

Which means, “God saves.”

Or, “God will save.”

Although they knew the promises of the angel, and had already seen some of those promises fulfilled, Mary and Joseph could have scarcely imagined just how the holy child would live up to his name.

God saves.

Just a few decades after Jesus’ earthly lifetime, Christians were already singing hymns about the Holy Name of Jesus. Paul quotes an early hymn in his Letter to the Philippians:

…at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

New Year’s Day is a good time to look back at the year just past and to make plans for the year that’s now just a few hours old. 

After what we’ve been through we might not want to look back at 2020, but, although it was a hard and sometimes terrible year, it seems to me that this was the year that we put the name of Jesus back at the top of our page, back at the center of our lives.

In the midst of the pandemic, and economic collapse, and political instability, we prayed like maybe we’ve never prayed before.

You know I have to mention “Church By Phone,” which has been such a source of strength and comfort for many of us, including me.

And there’s also the fact that way more people have attended our Sunday services than when we were gathering in person. Many of our own parishioners have been here more often, and we’ve welcomed back people who’ve moved away, plus neighbors, and strangers.

We’ve even welcomed a couple of new parishioners, including one who still has never stepped foot in our church!

During a time of much fear and loss, we followed the example of Jesus by serving others.

We checked on each other.

We gave money and gifts.

We shared food. 

Yes, in many ways it was a terrible year, but it was also the year that we put the name of Jesus back at the top of the page.

And now, while we dare to have high hopes for this new year, we also know that we’re not yet out of the woods with the virus and the political upheaval and our own personal challenges.

We know that each year brings a mix of joy and sadness, hellos and farewells. There are always surprises, both welcome and not so much.

So, my prayer today and in the days ahead, is that we’ll remember we learned during the old year, carrying those lessons into whatever the future holds.

Let’s remember that, in and through Jesus, God saves and God will save.

So, no matter what happens, let’s keep the Holy Name of Jesus at the top of our page.

Amen.

A New Understanding of Holiness

The Church of St. Paul & Incarnation, Jersey City NJ

January 1, 2020

The Feast of the Holy Name

Numbers

Psalm 8

Philippians 2:5-11

Luke 2:15-21

A New Understanding of Holiness

            Happy New Year!

            If you’re like me, you probably use words all the time that you understand what they mean but if someone were to ask you to define it, you might struggle a little bit.

            This is probably especially true with religious language.

            Since today is the Feast of the Holy Name, let’s take for example the word “holy.”

            We all understand what it means, right?

            And, we could all come up with some synonyms like “sacred” or “blessed.”

            But, what does “holy” actually mean?

            Well, on the most ancient level “holy” means to be set apart from the ordinary and the everyday.

            Probably all ancient people had a holy river or a holy spring or a holy mountain, places that were seen as having a special spiritual quality and were not like all of the other ordinary rivers, springs, or mountains.

            Judaism had and has a strong sense of holiness.

            The Jerusalem Temple was constructed to emphasize holiness: the outer court was open to everybody but as one moved closer to the center the access became more restricted until finally at the very center of the Temple was the “Holy of Holies” the holiest of all places, hidden behind a large veil, where only the High Priest was allowed to enter, and only just once a year, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.

            But it’s not just the Temple.

            There’s the Sabbath, a holy day set apart and quite different from the other six days of the week.

            There are the various rituals, especially circumcision, which all Jewish males were and are expected to undergo, including, as we just heard, Jesus of Nazareth.

            Like other religious people, we Christians have our own sense of holiness, though I’d argue that it has faded a lot in recent decades and today most people who claim to be Christians live pretty much like everybody else. Certainly, Sunday is seen much more as the second day of the weekend instead of a particularly holy day.

            (Which is an amazing change when you consider that within my own lifetime blue laws were still on the books here in Hudson County, meaning that on a Sunday you could go down to Two Guys on 440 and buy a loaf of bread but you could not buy a pair of pants. Why? Because it was Sunday, a holy day, a day unlike all of the others. Buy your pants some other day!)

            But here’s the thing: in and through Jesus, God offers us a new understanding of holiness.

            When Jesus died on the cross, we’re told us that the veil in the Holy of Holies was torn in two – symbolizing that our sins have been forgiven and the separation between God and us has been overcome.

            In and through Jesus, the holiest of holiness – God – has come among us as a living, breathing, and loving human being.

            As Paul writes in his Letter to the Philippians, probably quoting a very early Christian hymn, Christ Jesus was equal to God but he humbled himself to become one of us, even allowing us to do our worst to him – and then God raised him from the dead and so every knee should bend at the holy name of Jesus.

            A new understanding of holiness: it’s not about separation anymore.

Just the opposite.

Since God became one of us then humanity itself is holy.

And, if that’s true, then we should treat one another as holy ones.

            Imagine if we really gave that a shot, with God’s help.

            Imagine if we really tried to see the people around us, the people we love, yes, but especially the people who get on our nerves, the people who mess up all the time and seem to be just terrible failures, the people we don’t like at all, even the people we fear like those guys dealing drugs in Triangle Park, imagine if we tried to see them as holy ones – as people so special and so valuable – so blessed - that God came among us and lived and died and rose again - for them.

            If we really gave that a try, it would be the best New Year’s resolution ever.

            Happy New Year, everyone!

            Amen.

We Matter

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen & Church of the Incarnation, Jersey City

January 1, 2019

The Feast of the Holy Name

Numbers 6:22-27

Psalm 8

Galatians 4:4-7

Luke 2:15-21

We Matter

            Happy New Year, everyone!

            It’s no secret that I like living in the city – that, in fact, I like living in this city.

            I’m sure part of why I like living here so much is because it’s where I’ve lived most of my life – these are the streets and neighborhoods I know so well.

            But setting aside my lifelong familiarity, I also like that I can walk so many places – that I don’t really have to drive very much, unless I’m toting groceries or giving someone a lift.

            I love to walk the streets (usually) and see all of the different people – all different kinds of people going about their business.

            I love to see all the different stores and restaurants and the old buildings and the new buildings.

            To be honest, I even love just walking up or down our little stretch of Duncan Avenue, where I almost always run into a parishioner or a neighbor.

            It might be Diane taking her little dog Phoebe out for a walk or Walter or Laura or Bob or Doug or Jim, hanging out in front of their building – or it might be a quick hello to the firefighters taking a smoke break outside the house or getting ready for a shift change.

            Or it might be Vanessa hard at work at her other job across the street.

            You know, when I make my way up or down our beautiful street, I often think that this doesn’t feel like a big, impersonal city at all.

 No, if we’re open to it, our little neighborhood feels more like a kind and caring village.

Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t have our problems.

Of course, there’s the hassle of finding a parking spot and the crummy public transportation that often makes getting around – including getting to church – so difficult.

And, whenever you bring so many people and so many different kinds of people together, we are inevitably going to occasionally bump into each other, misunderstand each other, get on each other’s nerves.

There’s the real fear of getting priced out of our beautiful neighborhood.

There are the so-called “porch pirates,” thieves brazenly walking up to our doors and stealing our parcels.

And, there’s something else that you might not think about unless you’ve spent a lot of time out in the country: because of all the light pollution around here, we are not really able to see very many stars in the night sky.

Oh, we can see some of the brightest stars and some of the planets and the moon, of course, but we can’t really do what people have been doing on clear nights since there have been people – gaze at night sky filled with stars and marvel and wonder about the vastness of it all.

That’s definitely a loss, but thanks to modern technology and the space program, we are able to see farther and clearer into space than any ancient person could have ever imagined.

I’m sure we’ve all seen some of the amazing pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope – and, in fact, just last night an American spacecraft called New Horizons visited a small world on the outskirts of the solar system, four billion miles from earth – the farthest place we’ve ever been.

But, out of all the amazing discoveries and images, the one that I find most moving is the one called “Earthrise,” a photo taken fifty years ago, a photo taken by an astronaut on the moon, a photo of the earth as it rose on the lunar horizon.

There’s our beautiful blue earth with its swirling clouds, just a small orb of life sailing in the vastness of space.

The famous picture made us appreciate the beauty of our world in a way that we hadn’t before - and it also gave us a sense of our place in the size and time of the universe.

We are so small, and our lives are so brief, that, really, we barely exist at all, right?

But, here we are, just for the briefest moment – here we are, able to greet one another on the street – here we are, able to enjoy good food and drink – here we are, able to make music and tell stories and build spaceships – here we are, able to hold the hand of another – here we are, able to open our hearts and our doors to those in need.

Here we are.

And, we matter.

We matter.

And, the best news of all – and even after all this time the still surprising and sometimes hard to believe news, the heart of our faith and our tradition is that - despite our tininess and the shortness of our lives - we matter to God.

As the psalmist asked God, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, what is man that you should be mindful of him?”

The psalmist asked that question, knowing the amazing answer – knowing that somehow, despite our tininess and the shortness of our lives, despite all the ways we fall short, despite everything, we matter to God.

We matter.

And, we matter so much that over and over God has reached out to us, revealing God’s Self as much as we could handle, until finally, God joined us on this tiny blue orb in space – in some sense limiting God’s Self to a human body and soul – becoming totally vulnerable, placing total trust in a Jewish peasant girl and her fiancée.

God took on a human name – and even submitted to human rituals like circumcision.

Why?

Because, we matter.

And, we matter so much that even when we did our worst to Jesus of Nazareth – even when we do our worst to each other – even when we do our worst to ourselves – even when we do our worst to our beautiful planet – even after all of that God still doesn’t give up on us – instead, God does what God always does, out of death bring new life.

We matter.

You know, today is a day when we often take stock of the past and look ahead to the future – a time for resolutions.

So, I’d like to make a suggestion:

Remember that this little ball of life – this little neighborhood where we live together – it matters.

And, whatever we’ve done or haven’t done, despite all of our problems and challenges, we matter.

We all matter to God.

And, we should all matter to one another.

I hope we all have a wonderful new year together.

Amen.

The Ultimate Name Tag

Grace Episcopal Church, Madison NJ
January 1, 2012

The Feast of the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Numbers 6:22-27
Psalm 8
Luke 2:15-21

The Ultimate Name tag

Today is the Feast of the Holy Name – a principal feast of the Church - but I’m sure most of us are more focused on turning the page from 2011 to 2012. It’s a time when we look back on the year that’s drawing to a close. And for many of us 2011 was a year we’re happy to see come an end. It was a rough year for the world with much bloodshed, political upheaval, continued economic weakness and horrific natural and man-made disasters.

For many of us here it was a rough year, too. Although for Sue and me the year finished joyfully with our return to Grace Church, for us it was mostly a year that had more than its share of loneliness, anxiety, disappointment, and uncertainty.

For some of us, it was a year when some of our relationships got broken.

It was a year when some of us lost jobs or worried about losing work.

It was a year when some of us faced a serious illness or injury.

It was a year when people close to us died – some of us lost spouses, parents, grandparents, siblings, neighbors, and friends.

And it was a year when Grace Church suffered some especially painful losses. I really feel the absence Joe Adamczyk, John Cassidy, Bill Foster, Larry Taber and Phyllis Hendry. All of them - each in their own way - contributed so much to our life together and are so dearly missed.

But, even in the rough year just behind us lots of wonderful things happened, too. Some of us got married or attended the weddings of family or friends. Some of us began new relationships filled with hope and promise. Some of us took on new jobs or reached for new opportunities. Some of us recovered from illnesses and personal setbacks. Some of us watched in wonder as our children and grandchildren continued to grow into fine young people.

Here in church there have been beautiful services filled with exceptional music and so many people doing remarkable ministry in ways large and small, known and unknown. There were weddings and lots of baptisms – 21 of them in all!

And in the last year many new people have discovered Grace Church and found a home in this wonderful place – something that I’ve realized because there are so many people who weren’t here in August 2010 whose names I don’t know and am trying to learn.

Which is why I was so grateful that last month was our first-ever name tag month. It was a huge help to match names to faces – mostly names of new parishioners, but also I have to admit also the occasional name that I had forgotten.

It was interesting watching how people responded to name tag month. Some people happily filled out their name tag, sometimes with just a first name or sometimes with first and last names.

Some people were reluctant to fill out the name tag but did it grudgingly.

Some people didn’t see the table and missed the whole name tag thing.

And some people just flat out refused to join in our celebration of name tag month.

And I can understand that, actually. I can understand not wanting everyone to know your name just by looking at you. It’s kind of a personal thing to tell someone your name, isn’t it?

Especially in the age of google and facebook we can learn a whole lot about someone once we have their name.

A couple of years ago I visited an Episcopal church in California for several services. As I was leaving I greeted the priest and introduced myself, “Hi I’m Tom Murphy. I’m a priest from the Diocese of Newark. I’m here visiting for a few days…”

The priest shook my hand, welcomed me, but didn’t tell me his name.

The next time I was there it was a different priest but the exact same thing happened.

I remember feeling irritated that I had shared something personal – I told them my name! I had shared something of my identity – and that sharing had not been reciprocated.

So, sharing our name can be a big deal. But, that’s nothing compared to the importance of names in the ancient world. Back then there was a very close connection between people and their names.

In the ancient world knowing someone’s name would provide an enormous amount of information. Today it might be like knowing someone’s Social Security number or having access to credit and medical records.

In the ancient world the name revealed a person’s identity – who they were and how they lived their lives. The name revealed a person’s place in the world – what they were all about. It’s sounds strange, but in a very real sense to know a person’s name meant really knowing that person.

And if a person’s name was so important and revealing you can imagine the great significance of God’s name.

In the Jewish and Christian tradition there is a tension in our understanding of God. On the one hand God is transcendent – God is wholly Other – God can’t be put in any category and is infinitely beyond our understanding.

But, on the other hand God is also immanent – the transcendent God is right here. God wants to be known by us here in the physical and material world.

So, since God wants to be known by us, in a sense God wears a name tag.

In the famous moment in the Book of Exodus when Moses encounters the presence of God in the burning bush, God says, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

But, Moses wants more information and bravely asks for God’s name.

God says, “I am who I am.”

Now, to us “I am who I am” sounds like a pretty weird name but for Israel God’s name revealed a whole lot about God. God’s name revealed that the God of their ancestors is also the transcendent God who is beyond time and space, perfectly free, the creator and ruler of the universe.

God wears a name tag.

But, God didn’t stop there. Wanting to be known by us, God continued to speak through the prophets and then finally in the boldest move imaginable God chose to share our human life in and through Jesus of Nazareth.

In and through Jesus, God says this is who I am.

In and through Jesus, God wears the ultimate name tag - revealing more about God than we could have ever imagined.

In and through Jesus, we discover a God who loves us enough to take the worst we have to offer and then transform death into life.

In and through Jesus, we discover a God who offers unlimited forgiveness and insists that we do the same.

In and through Jesus, we discover a God who calls us to live lives of love – love for God, love for one another, and especially love for the weakest and poorest among us.

In and through Jesus, we know God. In and through Jesus God wears the ultimate name tag. So the name Jesus itself becomes holy.

As St. Paul writes to the Philippians: “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven, and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

So, today we turn the page from 2011 to 2012. We begin a new year – a year that like every year will no doubt be filled with some mix of sadness and joy. We don’t know what 2012 will bring but we do know that the transcendent God will be really here with us through it all.

We know that God is with us because God has revealed God’s self to us, most especially in the holy name and the holy life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

We know that God is with us, no matter what, because, in and through Jesus, God wears the ultimate name tag.

Amen.