Friday, March 15, 2024

We wish to see Jesus!

If you ever have the chance to go on retreat and don’t mind the travel, I like to go to the Holy Cross Monastery in Hyde Park, NY, which overlooks the Hudson River about an hour and a half north of New York City. In their chapel hangs a huge icon. It’s a crucifix modeled on the icon known as the San Damiano Cross. The San Damiano Cross is the one St. Francis was praying before when he had a vision from God to rebuild the Church. The original cross presently hangs in Santa Chiarra (St. Clare) Church in Assisi, Italy. All Franciscans cherish his cross as the symbol of their mission from God. 

When Francis had his vision, he was praying in a church that was quite literally falling down into a heap of rubble. He started to rebuild the church building brick by brick, but in the middle of the project he realized that what Jesus was calling him to do was not to restore a building but to rebuild all of God’s church…all of us…not just a structure!

When I contemplate that icon, I became aware of what Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel.  Today’s story from John starts out when some Greeks come looking for Jesus. These were religious and curious Gentiles who were attracted to Judaism but turned aside from conversion by the requirement for circumcision. They’ve heard about Jesus and his message and so come to Philip and then to Andrew, asking about him.

Remember Philip and Andrew? They were the ones who saw Jesus and followed him and took the news to their brothers, Nathaniel and Simon Peter.  Now John’s Gospel tells us that some people from outside Judaism are looking to see Jesus just as Philip and Andrew had once searched for him themselves.

It is only when these two people from outside of Judaism come calling that Jesus says out loud that his time has arrived: the time for him to be glorified. 

Well and good, except that Jesus’ idea of “glory” and ours are radically different! When we think of glory, we think of fame and fortune.  We think of power, influence and our name up in lights. Not Jesus. He is thinking of the cross.

For Jesus, glory means embracing the cross, the epitome of suffering. As the Gospel says:

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. … Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say – ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. … And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Jesus is not for a small group of insiders. Jesus is for everyone. And for that, the Gospel tells us, Jesus is glorified on the cross.

It will be on the cross where God will destroy the division between God and humanity. It will be on the cross where God renews creation.  We tend to think of the cross as a failure and a futility that God miraculously turns into something new with the resurrection. Don’t worry, we are in good company—the apostles thought that, too! It’s all over popular culture! But the cross is not a defeat, it is the  completion of what Jesus came to do, and it is the place where he is glorified.

When Andrew took Peter to see Jesus and when Philip brought Nathaniel to see Jesus, they saw him face to face. The Greeks wanted to see Jesus, but they will see him on and through the cross.  And that is where most of us will see Jesus… on and through the cross.

Today, those coming to seek Jesus have one more place to look. And that is to us.

Phillips Brooks, author of the Christmas carol “O little town of Bethlehem,” was Bishop of Massachusetts and instrumental in building the magnificent Trinity Church in Boston’s Copley Square. One feature of Brooks’ design is visible only to those who preach in Trinity church. Brooks had these words carved on the inside of Trinity’s pulpit: “Sir, we would see Jesus.”

Episcopal priest, the Rev. Dr. Barry Vaughn writes:

Phillips Brooks knew that everyone who steps into a pulpit and presumes to preach the gospel needs to think about those words, because the great temptation of preaching is to give our hearers something other than Jesus….

But it is not only preachers who do this. All around us are people who want to see Jesus. Do they see him in us? Do they see the Servant-Lord who washed the feet of his friends? Do they see the prophet who cleansed the Temple? Do they see the healer who made the blind to see? If we are to let people see Jesus in us, then we must go ourselves and sit at his feet, let him heal us, feed upon his body broken for us, and above all stand at the cross and wonder as the Word that spoke out of the void lapses into silence and death.

As we approach the end of Lent: with Passion Sunday, Holy Week and the Great Three Days coming up, we are at once like those Greeks looking for Jesus who came to Philip and Andrew, and we are like Philip and Andrew who show Jesus to others.

 We want to see Jesus. We are not alone. Many people seek Jesus. They could be at work, or in a faraway place or they could be as close as home.  And we, the baptized, are the ones who show off Jesus. We show in our faithfulness, in our attitude towards others, and in our care for those in need that Jesus reigns, and he reigns from the cross.

When Francis went into that broken-down, dark neglected church and prayed before this icon of Jesus crucified, he had a vision of Jesus looking at him and saying, “rebuild my Church.” Francis started with the building-- with the Chapel of St. Damiano. He used his own money and his own bare hands to repair it.  That was a good place to start. Definitely good practice. But it was not enough.

He realized that the Church that Jesus sent him to rebuild was the people of God: people who needed a space and a method to pray, people who need purpose and hope. People who follow Jesus need a mission. The heart of Francis’ call was to show people the very same thing he had been shown. He showed them Jesus. The savior who walked and lived among us is glorified on the cross, where we see God’s love is so great that not even death can stop it.

All the time people come to us and ask of us “we would see Jesus.”  Maybe not in those words, but in their need, their hope, and their curiosity. And in everything we do, as a parish family and in our daily lives, we are called to show them Jesus. And every time we show them Jesus, we are rebuilding his church.

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Here are the Scripture Lessons for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 17, 2024

Here is a video of the Sermon at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida on March 17, 2024.

Here is a video of the Liturgy at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida on March 17, 2024

Saturday, March 02, 2024

Prefering Christ One Bite at a Time!


‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 3:7-8a

Lent teaches us many things. One thing it teaches us is that there is often great truth children’s riddles. Like this one:

“How do you eat an elephant?”

“One bite at a time!”

Life is complicated and we yearn to make things simpler. But life still happens! All the things that life requires… from paying bills to getting a good night’s sleep, from work to relationships, from shopping to keeping up with family… don’t go away just because we are busy.

The modern drive towards being “productive” is nice but only takes one so far. In modern parlance, they became more “productive” …doing more in the same time slot… doesn’t always afford us more time to do the things we love. Instead we fill the time with more things…period. And so we feel tired, stressed and frazzled.

So what to do?

The starting place, for me, begins with an axiom that comes from the Rule of St. Benedict, in which he says to “prefer nothing to Christ.” Benedict’s instruction comes from the writings of Cyprian, third century bishop in North Africa, who followed the statement with these words: “for he has preferred nothing to us.”

The Rev. Jane Tomaine writes in her book The Benedictine Toolbox:

What a stunning truth—that Jesus has preferred nothing, that’s nothing, to each of us, unworthy though we are. Jesus revealed this in his Farewell Discourse when he said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16a). Perhaps preferring Christ above all else is the only way that you and I can begin to fulfill the Gospel directive to love one another. In the Gospel of John Jesus tells us that those who love him will keep his word, and he and his Father will come and make a home with each of us (John 14:23). When we are a part of such a household we can turn outward and walk on the path of healing and reconciliation as did Jesus.

So, what does “preferring Christ” actually look like? Well, I am learning as I go here, but here is what I’ve observed so far:

First things first. Do the things that care for your health and your soul first. The first thing that tends to go out the window when we are busy is our time for prayer, however we structure it. The start of the day is a chance to align one’s thoughts, heart and body towards God. Maybe setting up a little prayer at the night table that we’ll see first thing on waking up or maybe on the door to the fridge or the bathroom mirror…some place where you already look might help. The same is true for exercise. Taking a little time to be in motion is also a great time to center your thoughts and pray. I have also learned (a little bit anyway) that the little moments that might make me feel impatient, like standing in line at a grocery store or being on hold or sitting in traffic, can become free moments of unplanned solitude; a moment to breathe a little, pray a little, look around a little.

Go gently. Don’t be so hard on yourself. In our society today, no matter how productive we might be there is always someone telling us to do more! Do what you do well. For me, this also means don’t over-promise, which manages to avoid disappointment from others and frustration with myself. One of the great joys of doing this work is that I don’t have to do it alone. I am learning once again for the first time how to share responsibilities in way that both relieves my load and, much more importantly, expands our capacity to minister. When I forget something or make a mistake, I learn from it, pray over it, listen to what it is teaching me and then move on.

Take yourself lightly. A few years ago, I went to my town’s local amphitheater to see four comedians perform at a community street fair. As I was sitting in the crowd, the mayor, who was emceeing the event, spotted me from the stage and said “Oh, hi Pastor!” My goose was cooked! I was fair game for three of the next four comics who performed! This was a useful lesson: don’t take yourself too seriously because if you can’t laugh at yourself then others surely will.

One bite at a time! This is where the child’s riddle comes in. My mother used to tell me, in an attempt to get me stop wolfing down my food at the table, to never try to gulp down anything bigger than your head. Segmenting problems into bite-sized chunks helps us not be overwhelmed by the size of the project or the number of obstacles.

Be Present. There’s an old Bill Mauldin cartoon from World War II where three muddy soldiers are marching along a road. Willy tells Joe, as they march behind the third soldier, “Poke ‘em will ya? He’s snoring!” When life is overwhelming it is easy to just fall into a rut and just put one foot in front of the other and lose consciousness. As Orthodox Archbishop and spiritual writer Anthony Bloom says, “If you cannot find God in this moment, you will never find him at all!”

Practice, practice, practice! 

There’s another old joke with great wisdom, about the tourist visiting New York who asks a musician “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The musician replies, “Practice! Practice! Practice!” 

It may surprise you to learn that from the time I was small, I have had this tendency to expect myself to be perfect at something on the very first attempt. Well, the only thing that teaches is how to give up!

For many years, I have been taking voice lessons, and my vocal coach has taught me not only about good practice, but about how to be present to myself. After doing an exercise or singing a piece, she will ask me “How does that feel?” Good practice increases self-awareness in a useful way.

I have learned that practice is about training, learning how something feels, and learning the steps towards a good performance. It is also about learning when and how to ask for help. Getting useful feedback and talking together about how something might work not only makes for a better performance but also builds community, confidence and collegiality.

None of this is particularly new. It shows up in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in the Rule of St. Benedict, and all through the Psalms and in Proverbs. Both Buddhist stories and the Hassidic Tales from Judaism are filled with these lessons, too. What I am learning again is how to practically and usefully prefer Christ in all things.

Mother Tomaine sums it up this way:

When we prefer Christ we do anti-world things like loving one another for Christ’s sake. We “cut some slack” with one another, being patient and forgiving, recognizing that we also have growing edges. We ease up on being judgmental, we accept our sisters and brothers in the faith and beyond our faith, acknowledging our oneness in creation. We try to choose his way and not the way that may burn within us. 

As Joan Chittister says, “Benedictine spirituality is about caring for the people you live with and loving the people you don’t and loving God more than yourself.”

When we prefer Christ we choose him over another. We choose his way over other ways even when—especially when!—life is crazy busy! I am coming to learn that “preferring nothing but Christ” is looking for the holy in this moment; it is seeking Christ’s face in the people God sends us every day and to seek God’s presence in the ordinary things all around us. And, as Benedict says, “Always we begin again.”

How do we go about “preferring nothing to Christ?” Live one bite at a time!

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Wrong Savior Syndrome

Do you want to know what my problem is? My problem is that I keep trying to follow the wrong savior. I keep getting my messiahs mixed up. My bad!

You see, I keep wishing that Jesus will come and take away all my troubles as if he were one of those great designer drugs they advertise on TV. You know the ones I mean, right?  The ones where everyone is happily riding bikes or rowing boats or hiking mountain trails while the announcer quickly reads off all the possible side effects in a very low voice. These ads do remind us that prescription drugs are serious things and that talk to our doctors; but my emotions say “hmm… bike!” or "ooh… vacation!”

I like my Savior the same way. Yeah, sure, I hear all about taking up my cross and following him. But what I really want is for God to fix everything, and a savior who will solve all my problems, so life won’t seem so hard.

Oops!  Wrong savior! 

If you have ever suffered from wrong-savior syndrome, you are not alone! Peter had the exact same problem! Even after he confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, he cannot bear to hear the truth that this same Jesus, this same Messiah, would have to be arrested, handed over to his persecutors, tortured, killed and then on the third day rise from the dead, so he blurts out: “God forbid!”

If ever there was a case of wrong savior syndrome, this is it!

Jesus knew that Peter and the others were just a little mixed up about this. But look at where he decides to clarify this! Mark says all this happens, not in Jerusalem or in a local synagogue but in a Roman garrison city called Caesarea Philippi, a city specially built as the local expression of Roman power in an occupied land. This was where their troops were stationed and supplied. From here they could monitor and even, if necessary, shut down the sliver of land between the sea and the mountains that connected Africa, Asia Minor, and Europe. And here the Roman gods could be worshipped out of sight of the local religionists.

Mark’s Gospel tells us that Jesus chose this center of Roman imperial power to start telling his followers about what it means to follow him. 

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.  (Mark 8:34-35)

Jesus tells his disciples that following him is like carrying your own cross—in the very place where they make, store, and deploy crosses by the truckload!

For those of us prone to wrong-savior syndrome, it feels like a cup of ice water thrown in the face! He is telling us to “snap out of it!” so we don’t get our saviors mixed up.

Peter and the rest know by heart the original covenant promise to Abraham that we heard this morning was for many fruitful descendants, all of whom would be loved and protected by God. It was a covenant promising a future of life.

Now Jesus is renewing and reviving that covenant of life– but it looks a very different from what we’ve grown to expect. Jesus promises life to us if we have the courage to face death.

Looking at it that way, I kind of think that Peter’s urge to take Jesus aside and rebuke him starts to make a lot of sense.

At least to me!

Our lesson from Romans tells us what we need to enter into this covenant when Paul says that “it depends on faith….” Paul reminds us of Abraham and Sarah who, hoping against hope, [Abraham] believed that he would become ‘the father of many nations.’ … He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead. … No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”

Many of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world, may pay that cost of discipleship with their literal, physical lives, but the truth is that most of us won’t go out in a blaze of martyred glory. Most of us will carry our crosses one small step at a time, one spiritual discipline at a time, one act of generosity, sacrifice, or love at a time.

How ever we end up carrying our crosses, following Jesus will cost us one thing: change!

When Abram and Sarai committed to God’s covenant with them, they were changed at such a fundamental level that they got brand-new names, Abraham and Sarah, that echoed their former selves but with brand new identities.

When we sign on to Jesus’ covenant of life, we start a journey through our own deserts and wildernesses, and we emerge on the other side deeply changed. We can finally let go of our urge to rebuke Jesus, to remake him in our image, because he will remake us to be like him.

Instead of Jesus taking away all our problems, he gives us the strength, the grace, and the courage to take on our problems—to carry our cross.

Following Jesus makes a difference because he makes the life of faithfulness possible.  Jesus blazes the trail for us to follow.  He creates a truly human life possible, lived under the mercy of God.

This is the cure for wrong-savior-syndrome. Jesus’ cross helps us carry our crosses every day. When we choose to be open and honest about our faith in a way that tells the truth without being obnoxious, then we discover what is means to not only carry our cross but also how to follow Jesus.

But I have to tell you, I still get my saviors mixed up. Whenever I am tired or overworked or feeling pressed upon by a world changing faster than I can handle, then I go for the fake savior…the one who will knock heads and take names, or the one who agrees with all my opinions, or the one who judges everyone else but not me. Or at least the one who is comfy and cozy and never challenges me to grow.

The good news is that there are things we can do to help us get back to the Real Jesus, to follow our Real Savior: a good place to start is to go back to our baptisms, and to go back to the broken bread and poured out wine of the Sacrament, to look to our Christian companions. When we go back and confess Jesus as messiah and savior and, without shame or fear, orient our lives towards him, then we discover that God has given us everything we need to follow him.

And the best part of all, even though we are prone to wrong savior syndrome, Jesus, our real savior has never, ever forgotten us. 

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Here are the Scripture Lessons for the Second Sunday in Lent, February 25, 2024

Here is a video of the Sermon at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida on February 25, 2024.

Here is a video of the Liturgy at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida on February 25, 2024

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Telling the truth and living the truth

Once people learn that you are even the least bit intentional about following Jesus, you are done. Finito. You can’t win. You can give up trying to manage how other people see you. It is a lost cause.

When you try to do as the prophet Joel proclaims—to proclaim a fast, to get people to drop everything and turn their hearts to God—you will be seen as some kind of fanatic.

If you do the right thing today and come to church (and you’re here, aren’t you?) and choose to carry even a small sign of your mortality and penitence around with you on your forehead, then someone, somewhere will say “Ha! You have your reward!”

Even if someone at work or in the store or in your household doesn’t remind you that Jesus just told us not to do this in public, I will bet that there is inside of you a little, chiding voice that is just waiting to rub it in and make you feel small.

We want to live right, in the way God wants; and to live well, in a way that has dignity and purpose. And yet as soon as we begin to get serious about being faithful we end either feeling guilty or being misunderstood. Or both.

Even Paul reminds us that Christians are a universally and consistently misunderstood lot. Look at his list: we Christians are treated as imposters (liars!), as unknown (as ones without celebrity!). We are seen as punished—beat up by others! — and as a sorry, sorry lot. We have nothing to give and treated worse than the poor.

It should be no surprise that Christians are misunderstood. I mean, we spend so much time trying to straighten each other out, it’s no wonder than the culture at large does not know what to make of us.

So Jesus is right. Beware of practicing our piety before others — it is dangerous and uncontrollable!

When Jesus warns us not to be smug in our spiritual practices, does that mean that we should not practice them? Of course not. He is saying to be careful.

Here is the truth. We cannot help but practice our piety before others! What we do and who we are is there for all the world—and God-- to see. The challenge is for whom we show it. It is to make others think better of us? Or does what we do somehow show off the truth of who and whose we are?

A good place to start is to get the relationship between our outer world (what might be called our treasure) and our inner world (our heart) lined up. Make sure that one flows out of the other.

Our treasure and our heart are attracted to each other like iron filings are attracted to magnets. Jesus says we have a choice. We can leave our hearts in a stuck place beholden to the outside stuff; or we can put our heart where we want to come out and organize everything else around it.

Jesus’ remedy for those of us who might be addicted to some degree of public approval when we do the right thing is to make sure we start by putting our heart it belongs.

So we have a choice. On the one hand, we can stay mired in the everyday and the hum-drum, reacting to one crisis after another, we can fret and worry about how much money we wish we had; we can let all these things dictate our actions and choices.

We can live out of our scarcity and let our fear run us—but put on a good game face. That’s one choice. But that’s the kind of person Jesus is warning us not to be: the person who makes the biggest fuss over their gift, the biggest show of their prayer. Why? Because for some people, all that show is hiding something; the loud and bright presentation is meant distract us (and even themselves!) from the truth.

The other choice is to admit who and whose we are, and to put our heart where we and God wants it to be. To say out loud that right now, in this moment, I will give my heart to God and put my heart where God wants and I will let everything, my treasure, my priorities, my self go to it.

It is really simpler—and harder—than it sounds. The first step is to tell the truth. The second step is to experiment with living with that truth, even for a short time. Tell the truth and live the truth.

Say the truth: “I don’t have my act together. But I want to pray more.” Then just for a moment, live the truth: in this moment, pray as much as you are able.

Say the truth: “I don’t have my priorities straight all the time.” Then just for a moment, live the truth: right now, right here, I will do this one right thing.

Say the truth: “There are days when I live out of fear and reactivity, but I want to be present to God, my neighbor, and creation.” Then live the truth: right now, just for a moment do something as simple as a deep cleansing breath that pushes out all that old stale air you didn’t even know you had down there and breathe in as deeply as you have ever breathed. For just this moment, know what that feels like to be here, in this place, in this body, in this community.

Say the truth: “I define my life by all the stuff I have and all the stuff I wish I had.” Then, right now, in this moment, live the truth: give something out of our incomparable abundance so that someone else might have a meal, or a roof, or a book or a companion that they did not otherwise have.

Say the truth: “I am wretched and broken and I am not the person God made me to be.” And then live the truth: know that you are forgiven; that you are an adopted member of God’s family, Christ’s body, the Church and know that you are blessed. Right now. Right here.

By telling the truth and then, even just for a moment, even experimentally, even gracefully, living the truth we put our heart where it belongs—where God wants it to be—and then right now, in this moment we let everything organize itself around that.

But be careful. This is not simply an act of the will. It is a response to grace. When we tell the truth and then live the truth, we are in fact listening to the Holy Spirit who goes before us, and prepares us and makes us ready to receive God. We don’t do this to impress. We do this because it is true.

And be prepared to be misunderstood. Once we give our hearts to God; once we tell the truth and put our heart there, and once we live the truth and begin to organize our stuff, our relationships, and our priorities around where your heart actually belongs, people will not understand.

Heck, we might not understand! But we will be changed. We will experience God’s transforming love and power.

The Apostle Paul says that “We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see-- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”

There are only a few liturgies in our Episcopal tradition that requires us to come to the altar more than once in a single liturgy. Today is one of them. We come forward to receive ashes; and we come twice for Maundy Thursday (footwashing) and we come forward during a public service of healing. I believe this action of coming to the altar twice suggests that the action telling the truth and living the truth. That telling the truth and living the truth is necessary for real repentance, real service and real healing.

Telling the truth and living the truth is also the action of coming to the cross. There is hope in meeting the truth of Christ’s suffering. It is on the cross that all of our hard, often unpleasant truths are crucified and given back to us in the truth of new life unfolding right here, right now.

This Lent, this forty days, this tithe of our year, we are called once again to experiment in telling the truth to ourselves and to God and then, with God’s grace, living the truth.

The truth is that we can’t tell the truth alone. The truth is that we cannot live the truth alone either. But God has not left us alone. Jesus walks this path with us. We have the very breath of God, the Holy Spirit, praying in us and with us, even when we can’t find the words. We will encounter God’s truth and ours in scripture and in worship and in community.

One thing for sure: once you give your heart to God, and even for one moment organize your life around that, nothing will be the same. Once we tell the truth and live the truth, even for a little bit, we cannot go back. Today is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to tell the truth. Today is the day to live the truth.

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Bulletin for Worship for Ash Wednesday, February 14, 2024 at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida.

Here are the Scripture Lessons for Ash WednesdayFebruary 14, 2024

Here is a video of the Sermon at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida on February 14, 2024.

Here is a video of the Liturgy at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida on February 14, 2024

Saturday, February 10, 2024

The adventure of a lifetime!

Imagine the disciples of Jesus. They’ve been following Jesus all around Palestine for about a year and a half. They’ve watched his mission grow from a miracle at a family wedding into one that lavishly feeds four or five thousand people at a sitting.

In all the miles they’ve walked with Jesus, they’ve seen sick people healed, the hungry miraculously fed, witnessed personal encounters with all kinds of people, and seem large crowds come out to hear him. They’ve also seen plenty of controversy and asked plenty of questions.

They’ve heard Jesus praised by everyone from peasants to Roman soldiers, and they’ve heard him criticized—even to the point of threats—by both the rulers of occupied Israel and the religious leaders of the day.

And yet, for all that, this small band of apostles and disciples was not yet a movement, even though people were pretty excited whenever Jesus came to town.

For those first followers of Jesus it was the adventure of a lifetime!

Well, as they say in show biz, “they ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” Because when Jesus invites three of his friends to go with him up on a mountain to pray, they are totally unprepared for what happens next!

On that mountaintop, they see Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus! And then they hear a voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!”

Astonished and afraid, they scramble to do something, anything, to mark the moment! But there is only one thing they have to do: listen to Jesus!

The Transfiguration that we celebrate today is God’s affirmation of Jesus’ humanity and his divinity. And if you want to know and follow Jesus: listen!

It’s natural to want to remember the moment. We have baby books, cherished mementos, and as a sacramental people we know that outward and visible signs points us to inward and spiritual grace… but … listen.

The end of the Epiphany season is marked by the Transfiguration because it’s the ultimate showing of who Jesus is and what he’s up to. We see all of Jesus’ humanity and all of his divinity in the very same person, undiluted, just as it was at his birth, his baptism, all the miracles, healing encounters, and teaching, and in his death and resurrection. The Reign of God has entered the world in the person of Jesus, and we are called to witness to that Good News and invite people to come along!

The Transfiguration and Resurrection both gave the disciples the will to persevere, something bestowed on all of us in our Baptisms. The same God who presides at the Transfiguration of Jesus and tells us to listen to him also promises us that one day we will be transformed into his likeness. As baptized people, that happens every day as we learn and do the work of Jesus.

In baptizing Owen, we are initiating him into the Church, into the Company of Christ’s people, and he will immediately become a full part of the whole Church … not just his family and friends but the whole household of Christ’s people in all time and in every place.

Today we are making a commitment that we… all of us, family, friends, the community of the faithful… will do everything we can to help him come to know God in Jesus so that he will take his place as a follower of Jesus and become a disciple… a friend and apprentice of Jesus Christ!

And that’s why we baptize babies like Owen because we know that Christian people are raised up in Christian households all the time!

It’s definitely a learn-as-you-go process, but Christian formation is not a do-it-yourself project. Raising up a Christian kid requires Christian community in addition to a faithful household. So, just as you will trust teachers to teach, and coaches to coach, and doctors and nurses to do their thing, you will also take part in a Christian community who will accompany you, support you, guide you, and show you the practical nuts and bolts of how to be a follower of Jesus.

So, I say to Owen, what I said to his sister when it was her turn at the baptismal font… welcome to the Jesus Movement! To paraphrase our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, Welcome to the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement!

Welcome to the Movement that saw in Jesus the fullness of God and humanity in the same person and who listened and followed him and shared the Good News of Jesus with people who were far off and those who were near.

Owen, today is your first trip to the mountaintop with Jesus, the start of an amazing journey of faith that will require time, attention, and intention.

And I also say to Mom and Dad, grands and cousins, sponsors and siblings, help him along the way: take the time to pray with Owen, from grace at the table to nighttime prayers. Share the stories of faith, not only from the Bible or a book of saints, but also from your own journeys (including those pesky questions) and stories of the people you admire. Teach him to hang in there, even when things get rough, confusing, or are not going according to plan.

And as you teach Owen about respect, reliability, doing his chores, good manners, showing up for practice, doing his scales, and all the rest, don’t forget to show him also the rituals of the life of faith, and how to look for God in the everyday and in the people he will meet.

The good news is that you won’t have or need all the answers, because, by God’s grace, you’ll be learning and doing the work of Jesus right there alongside Owen. You’ll be developing with him those seven-fold gifts of the Spirit that we will soon be praying for. So don’t be afraid to show him your own inquiring and discerning heart; show him the courage to will and to persevere; take the time to share the gift of joy and wonder in all God’s works, especially as you see it unfold in this little human whom you present today for baptism.

The Transfiguration is like every mountain top experience… we might like to remain there, but our real task—Owen’s and ours! – is to continue the journey as we go learning and doing the work of Jesus every day.


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Here are the Scripture Lessons for the Last Sunday after EpiphanyFebruary 11, 2024

Here is a video of the Sermon at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida on February 11, 2024.

Here is a video of the Liturgy at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida on February 11, 2024

Saturday, February 03, 2024

Loving Service Helps Us Learn and Do the Work of Jesus

You call this “good news?” Simon Peter’s mother-in-law is ill, and then Jesus and his merry band show up, probably unannounced, but here she is...as sick as a dog. 

So what happens? Jesus heals her. He takes her by the hand and lifted her up, the Gospel says, and the fever left her.

Terrific...! She’s all better! And.... then she serves them dinner.

One minute, she’s lying in bed with a fever, the next minute, she’s fetching drinks and dishing out food, hoping she’s got enough for all these hungry followers of Jesus who just showed up!

Where is the “good news” for Simon’s mother-in-law?

This does seem awkward to us… but look closely at the passage and we find something else going on. The word Mark’s Gospel uses for “serve” is the Greek word diakonos, which means “to wait tables.” Okay. So?

Everyone in Mark’s church and in the churches who share his Gospel who heard this story, when they heard the Greek word for “service”—diakonos – their ears would have perked up and they would have looked at each other with a knowing look. Because the word diakonos was an important word among those early Christians. Diakonos gives us the name for the Sacred Order of Deacons.

(“Hi, Kevin! How ya doin’?”)

To “deacon” for others meant much more than waiting tables, even if that was included. (Notice how Deacon Kevin sets the table for us at the offertory before Holy Communion!) Mark’s description of serving another opens up what is meant by "deacon." Way back in the first chapter of the gospel, Mark used the same word to describe the way the angels ministered to Jesus after his forty days of prayer, fasting (and temptation!) in the wilderness. And Jesus uses the word “diakonos” to describe his ministry when he says: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Jesus described his own life and ministry on earth as service -- diakonos. Jesus told his disciples that were not going to big shots on top of the heavenly heap, but that they were to be deacons for God. Their work for God would be menial. The disciples’ service to others would be difficult. Yet, the life of service Jesus described as a life of diakonos, a life of being a servant minister, is at the heart of Jesus’ ministry, the disciple’s ministry, and ours as well.

Which puts what happened in Mark’s Gospel in a whole new light. Simon’s mother-in-law had a life-changing encounter with the Messiah. Jesus came into her house and touched her. In Jesus’ life-changing touch, Simon Peter’s mother-in-law was healed, made whole, and returned—reconciled!—with her family and community, and out of a loving response to a loving God who loved her first, she took up the life of service.

Way before her son-in-law would be handed the keys to the kingdom, she taught him what it means to learn and do the work of Jesus… through diakonia… through service.

You know, way before there were priests in the church, there were deacons. And even before the Apostles would learn how to be apostles, there were people doing diaconal service.

For those of us who have felt the touch of Jesus in our lives, we find ourselves alongside Simon’s mother-in-law in this story. Mark describes Jesus going to her, touching her, and healing her in the past tense. Jesus took her by the hand and lifted her up and the fever left her. These are all described as actions that are over and done with.

But Mark said that Simon’s mother-in-law served them using a different verb tense—the imperfect tense. This imperfect tense means that she began “deaconing,” has continued to deacon, and, as far as we know, is out there “deaconing” still.

The imperfect tense refers to an action that is begun but not completed. This one shift of verb tense means that she began to serve them and continued to serve them. Her service was not a one-time, over-and-done-with action, like cooking a meal. Simon’s mother-in-law began to serve Jesus and his followers. But the meaning of her actions was transformed by Jesus’ healing touch. She did not serve and minister to them because of some duty. She served out of love. Simon’s mother-in-law became as much a follower of Jesus as any of his disciples. Simon’s mother-in-law was not ordained – no one was, at this point. Yet The Gospel of Mark describes her using language that makes her the first deacon in Christianity. She was the first person to have their ordinary diakonos, or service of others, transformed into servant ministry.

Are you looking for a life-changing encounter with God? Perhaps it has been a long time since you have felt that healing touch. If so, you have come to the right place. Right now, right here, you can put your trust in Jesus to begin your own life-changing journey, as you discover the grace, mercy, and love God has for you.

And in discovering that grace, mercy, and love, you will discover the blessings of God in service.

The Early Church called persons ordained deacons to care for the physical needs of the congregation. Both men and women were ordained as deacons. This order of ministry takes the care and compassion of the church into the community and brings the needs of the community to the attention of the church. And you know, in the history of the church, there were deacons way before they invented the office of priest. And, looking at Peter’s mother-in-law, shows us that diaconal work was done way before the apostles were commissioned!

For the church to be the Body of Christ that God means it to be, we don’t just need deacons or priests and a bishop here and there—as important as our jobs might be, we aren’t the whole church. No, God needs more students, nurses, educators, engineers, scientists, plumbers, policemen, pharmacists, librarians, moms, dads, grandparents, and so on, people who are set on fire by the power of the Holy Spirit to learn and do the work of Jesus. And in God’s economy, the work of deacons and priests, and even lay ministers like the altar guild and vestry members, and sextons, administrators, and musicians, is to support and build up and encourage the ministry of all the baptized. The ministry of deacons, priests, and bishops does not let the rest of the Body of Christ sit back as passive consumers of faith. Every one of us has our own unique way to live into this call, according to the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us.

The Gospel invites us to follow the example of this early disciple, Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. After we have come to know Jesus and have experienced the forgiveness and healing he offers, we are called—motivated! -- to respond to the love God has shown us by sharing that love with those around us. And, as you share God’s love, you are living into your own vocation as a minister of the Gospel as a teacher, attorney, real estate agent, artist, musician, salesperson, mechanic, doctor, volunteer, parent, grandparent, spouse – whatever, all learning and doing the work of Jesus as baptized people of God!

And as we share the love and grace we have known in Jesus when we offer that listening ear, that kind word, and that helping hand, we experience more and more the love of God flowing through us. Far from a chore, this is diakonia, this loving service that helps us learn and do the work of Jesus every day.

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Here are the Scripture Lessons for the 5th Sunday after Epiphany, February 4, 2024

Here is a video of the Sermon at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida on February 4, 2024.

Here is a video of the Liturgy at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida on February 4, 2024

Saturday, January 27, 2024

To Fight Evil, Do the Things Evil Hates

If you could pick a super-power, any super-power, what would yours be?

I'd want mine to be able to cast out demons!

And my cool super-power would be so awesome that I wouldn’t even need to say or do anything. Demons would see me coming… and “pop…!” Out they’d come!

Wouldn’t that be cool?

That’s what happened to Jesus in today’s Gospel from Mark. Jesus is teaching in the synagogue near Capernaum. Mark says he is not just any run of the mill traveling rabbi but a person who teaches with authority. Jesus grabs your heart as well as your mind and he won’t let go!

So here he is in Capernaum, when suddenly a guy in the crowd jumps up and shouts “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God!”

Jesus engages the unclean spirit directly, silencing it and calling it out. And with convulsions and shouting, Jesus drives the unclean spirit out of the man.

And that’s what I want to do!

Imagine being able to spot something we don’t like in someone and just cast it out of them!

The problem, of course, is that we’d always be picking out the evil in the other guy, never in ourselves! We’d be the one who decides who is good and who is bad and who needs cleaning up and who doesn’t, and that’s a pretty terrible temptation, isn’t it?

I think this temptation motivates a lot of super-religious people. You know, like the ones who stand outside military funerals or gay pride events waving signs and shouting hateful, untrue, and disgusting things in God’s name to and about gay and lesbian people. I think this is also the temptation for people who join terror groups, both foreign and domestic, and kill people in the name of God. These folks think they are confronting evil…but in a way where they become evil themselves.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said in 1963, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

The lesson we are learning again by watching films like Selma and recalling the long non-violent struggle against state-sponsored racism is that minds—and hearts—were changed when people refused to be goaded into violence by violence but instead did exactly the things that evil cannot stand.

And the message of the film, A Case for Love, which many of us saw last week, was that the love of Jesus shows itself through unselfish love can overcome the political and social divides that we face today. 

So my wish to have a spiritual super-power to cast out demons may sound cool, but I think in the end it would not work. Because whenever we decide to fight evil with evil, evil always wins!

When Jesus encounters the unclean spirit he not on some spiritual search-and-destroy mission. And he is not a Gary Cooper-like lone sheriff who’s come to clean up this town. No. Instead he taught. It was his authority as a teacher that evil could not stand to be with. Jesus was doing the thing that evil hates. And that is the key.

So, if you want to cast out demons, do the thing that evil hates!

Doing the thing that evil hates is taught in Christian community. Just look at Paul’s teaching to the Christians in Corinth. In today’s epistle, Paul addresses a question sent to him about food sacrificed to idols. Corinth was a Greek city and this congregation had within it both Jews and Greeks. There were people raised in the synagogue and people raised in the religious supermarket that was Greek and Roman religion. The popular religions of the area were an array of different gods with a little deity for every possible need, and each cult had its own ritual. The meat that was sacrificed in these temples was not destroyed (as in Jewish temple practice) but turned around and sold in the marketplace.

We read in Acts (15:29) that one of the requirements placed on Gentiles who became Christians (without first becoming Jews) was that they were not to buy, serve or eat meat from animals that had been sacrificed to idols.  Some Christians in Corinth defy this rule and it was creating division. Other Corinthian Christians were unhappy about that, so they went to the apostle Paul to help straighten out this mess.

Now, the Christians who ate idol-meat had a good case. They knew that the little fake deities were nothing compared to the One God made known in Jesus Christ. These Christians knew that because of Christ’s death and resurrection we are freed from all these little godlets. They said that if Jews who follow Christ are freed from their law, so are Gentiles freed from theirs. Paul says that they are right. But being right is not the point. Caring for one another is.

He urges people to refrain from eating if it would be a scandal for others. But he also tells those who stay away from idol-meat to go ahead and eat an idol-burger if they are served one by a Christian who thinks it’s just a burger. Paul says the most important thing is that everyone is to look out for the other person’s conscience.

C.S. Lewis wrote in his little book about demons and their ways called The Screwtape Letters, that if the Church of England (and we) were to follow this rule then the Church would become a “hotbed of charity” that would be make a demon’s work nearly impossible. 

I had to learn the hard way about casting out demons. It meant learning Jesus’ new teaching and authority as well as Paul’s model of liberty tempered by charity. It all started when I was a brand-new priest. From time to time I’d end up at a Roman Catholic Mass…maybe for a friend’s wedding or a funeral or something. And I’d insist on receiving Communion. After all, I know my Episcopal orders were every bit as valid as Roman Catholic ordination. I knew we that believe the same thing about baptism and Eucharist. So I’d step up to receive communion telling myself that I was being a “prophetic witness.”

A wise spiritual director, on hearing me talk about my “courageous witness….” reminded me that the line between being prophetic and being a jerk is pretty fine. And I was being a jerk… because I was putting my brother priests in a terrible spot and causing scandal to my fellow Christians of another tradition who happened to not share my “knowledge.”

This is what Paul meant when he says knowledge puffs up but charity builds up. Maybe I’m right, but evil just loves it when my knowledge becomes another Christian’s scandal. The fact that we Episcopalians welcome all the baptized to receive communion, no matter what flavor Christian they may be, does not mean I get to dictate how other communities do things. It’s sad and painful to be denied communion in churches where we share so much. But there are times when I sit because charity demands it. I sit because it is not about me, it is about we.

So, do you want to cast out demons? Here’s how. Do the thing that evil hates!

Evil hates justice and thrives on division. Seek reconciliation.

Evil drives us to be selfish and care only for ourselves. Cast out evil with compassion.

Evil wants us to be alone and cut off. Drive evil crazy with your prayer, your trust in God, and your life in Christian community.

Evil flourishes when we hate in God’s name. If you really want to cast out demons, love.

Evil feeds on our resentment and our list of wrongs. Cast out evil: forgive.

Evil wants us to focus on scarcity. Fight evil: be generous.

Evil grows when we get caught up in anxiety. Cast out a demon: let go of needing to control every outcome.

Evil needs violence—in every form, physical and emotional—so fight evil and live peaceably.

Jesus shows us, starting with his encounter in the synagogue and ending in his journey to the cross, that he had power and authority. But he always met evil on God’s terms. By simply living and doing what he was called to do; by teaching, healing, and being a companion to the outcast, he did all the things that evil hates…he drove evil crazy! When Jesus was crucified, it looked as if evil won. But, in fact, the resurrection shows us that Christ defeated evil on that very cross. Forever.

We have that power and that authority right now. Through our baptisms, the Eucharist, and the power of the Holy Spirit in this community, everyone in this room has the power to cast out evil in wonderful, loving, and surprisingly practical ways of compassion, holiness, and calm.

It turns out that we all have a super-power that casts out demons!  We defeat evil every time we do the things that evil hates.

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Bulletin for Worship for 4th Sunday after Epiphany, January 28, 2024 at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida.

Here are the Scripture Lessons for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany, January 28, 2024

Here is a video of the Sermon at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida on January 28, 2024.

Here is a video of the Liturgy at St. John's, Clearwater, Florida on January 28, 2024