Love Others into Taking God Seriously
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
May 5, 2024
Sermon by Father William Forrest
Acts 10:44-48 1 John 5:1-61 John 15:9-17
"In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.
An individual I was speaking with recently said, "Everything in the country is changing and nothing is the same anymore. It's unsettling and I'm not sure what to do." The word "change" is defined as making a difference. "Unsettled" is defined as lacking stability. This person's comments reflect the attitude of many people in our society. In a world rife with economic stress, political instability, geopolitical tensions, and major wars in Ukraine, the Middle East, Sudan, and Ethiopia, the words "changing" and "unsettling" perfectly describe the conditions in which we live.
Bob Dylan's song from the mid-1960s, "The Times They Are a-Changin," echoes this sentiment: "Come gather 'round people wherever you roam, and admit that the waters around you have grown. Accept it soon, or you'll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you is worth savin', you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone, for the times they are a-changin'."
A new rector will be called to St. Albans in the foreseeable future. St. Albans has experienced changes over the past year and will continue to change when the new rector comes. The former Bishop of Arizona, Joe Easton, once told me, "Bill, change is the only permanent thing in life. Get used to it."
The world is scary. Change is scary. And many people in our society are feeling unsettled.
Churches that grow and thrive through these times of stress and anxiety recognize these conditions are very real and give people the opportunity to receive what they cannot find anywhere else. What can't they find anywhere else? In this morning's Gospel, Jesus says, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love." This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you. Love one another as I have loved you. The best way to deal with stress and anxiety is to love others as Jesus loves us.
Now, it's interesting, isn't it? People want love from the time they're born to the time they die. Infants, toddlers, teenagers, young adults, middle-aged adults, and senior citizens need love each and every day of their lives. Sometimes we do strange things when we don't receive it. We all need it and crave it regardless of our age.
Does anyone disagree with that? Raise your hand high. Excellent. Now, the next question is, what is it? Define what we need each and every day of our lives. Anybody want to take a shot? Love, but define love. What is it? Caring, empathy, communication—all of that. And it's the giving of yourself to the well-being of another, which involves all these things, with the expectation of nothing in return.
Love is the commitment of yourself to the well-being of another, with the expectation of nothing in return. Love is an action word.
Regardless of world and economic conditions, Jesus gives a commandment—not a suggestion—to love others as he loved us. This applies to those who are different from us and to those who don't vote the same way we do. There are no "yes, buts" in our response.
What is the best way we can love others as Jesus commands? In changing and unsettling times, all of us at St. Albans must recognize that many people are here for the first time, and they're looking for the affirmation of a loving encounter. Most are looking for friends, community, relationships, and respite from the stress and confusion in their lives and in the world around them. According to Donald Coggan, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, healthy churches love people into taking God seriously.
Remember, love always seeks the well-being of others. We give it with the expectation of nothing in return. That kind of love attracts people like a magnet. A lack of love drives people far away.
There is no method, program, behavior, or technology that can make up for a lack of love for people.
"The Times They Are A-Changin." The daily news is stressful and upsetting, and how would Jesus have us respond? Again, in his words, "Love others as I have loved you." Invite someone to church. Welcome new people. Befriend them. Connect them to the church's worship service and fellowship, remembering that we, the church, exist to extend Jesus' love to others.
You be the person who does that. Don't wait for someone else. You do that.
Jesus calls his followers friends. Reach out and be a friend for Christ. By the way, do you know what a friend is? A friend is someone who knows all about you and likes you anyway.
Love others into taking God seriously. Be a good listener. Forgive everyone who has offended you. Again, don't leave it to someone else. You do it. Because you may be the only image of Jesus another person will ever see.
When the new rector comes, may they see your contagious enthusiasm for Jesus, his church, and his service. Send a message that St. Albans is alive, united, and positively focused on the future. I encourage you to stay positive, work hard, and make it happen.
Amen.
Becoming Easter People
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
May 5, 2024
Sermon by Father Richard Mallory
Acts 10:34-43 Corinthians 15:1-11 John 20:1-18
March 31, 2024
I'm telling you, that last hymn was dancing music. Now, don't you go and tell my Baptist forefathers and foremothers that I'm talking about dancing in the pulpit. You know, at one time, there was a Baptist college where a boy and a girl were walking along the campus holding hands. A Baptist professor came up and said, "Don't be holding hands. You know what that can lead to? Dancing."
Thank you for indulging my Baptist stories; they are very near and dear to my heart. At the same time, I discovered the Episcopal Church when I went to seminary and was drawn to it for many reasons. That was a marvelous discovery. I went into seminary as a Baptist and came out as an Episcopalian. I think of seminary as an oven experience, and sometimes life is like that for all of us. We feel like we're in an oven, getting overheated and hard-pressed.
Just off the cuff, spring can be a hard time for people, especially for those who struggle with depression. In a group of people this large, there has to be someone who is struggling with depression, and it's very real. I've been there. I was unable to finish my work in my second year of seminary because I was so depressed. I had other episodes of depression, but I got good help, psychotherapy, and medication. So if you're dealing with depression, please take care of yourself. Please reach out to people who are ready to help you because we are blessed in this city with many skilled people who can help you struggle with your darkness.
Well, one Easter morning, a preacher climbed into his pulpit without saying a word. He took out his razor, a beautiful marble bowl for his shaving cream, and an old-fashioned shaving brush with a beautiful handle. He began to lather up, took his razor, and proceeded to shave—without saying anything. Then he put it down and said to the congregation, "When you go out of here and tell people what you saw, they will not believe you." And that's how it was with the resurrection.
So the question comes: What makes the resurrection so difficult to accept? Let's let that question just hang in the air for a moment.
Even though it was still dark, she came to the tomb and realized that the stone was missing. The entrance to the tomb was open. She was startled and confused and ran to find Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved. She blurts out her understanding in the moment: "He's not in the tomb. His body is missing." Peter and the unnamed disciple took off for the tomb without missing a beat. They got competitive, and the one who was loved by Jesus especially got there first. He peeked in and saw the clothes that had been on the body. Then Peter, being impetuous as he was, rushed right in without pausing and looked around. Seeing Peter didn't suffer any harm, the other disciple went in too. Even though the narrator tells us that they believed, neither of them is really connecting the dots at this point. The two men finished there and went back home.
The male disciples exit, and our focus shifts to Mary Magdalene. At some point, she returns to the tomb to grieve. She cannot find the body, so she goes to the place where it was last seen. She continues to cry and mourn, each tear expressing her love and devotion to the one who meant so much to her. She had already expressed her loyalty by situating herself at the foot of the cross. She musters her courage and looks into the tomb. Then she sees two angels, one at where the head would have been and one at where the feet would have been.
Now, unlike the majority of angel sightings in the Bible, these angels don't say the usual comment, "Fear not." For some reason, they assess her as not needing reassurance. This woman of unusual courage is abruptly confronted with the question, "Why are you weeping?" That's where I want to intervene and jump into the story myself: "Now look here, you angel, you'd be crying too if your most beloved teacher had just died and been murdered." People in shock and loss have their own timetable to work through their grief. In times past, in small European villages, there was a custom whereby a mourner would wear an armband to signal to citizens that they were in the stage of grief and mourning. The person wore it for a year, which can be just the very beginning of working through traumatic loss.
But in this story, things move quickly. Mary answers the question as best she can. Raw in her emotion, she says, "It's not just the Lord who is missing, it's my Lord who is gone." She doesn't know where they have laid him. Then she breaks off from further conversation, turns away, and doesn't want to be grilled or justify her tears.
Turning, she sees Jesus but doesn't know it is him. We, the reader and the listeners, know, but Mary does not. He asks her the same question and adds another: "Why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She cannot accurately see or perceive at this point. She assumes he's the gardener and grows impatient, as if to say, "Will someone please tell me where Jesus' body is? Where is the body?" She accuses the gardener of being a grave robber.
But then, shades of non-awareness disappear, and recognition dawns. It was all in his tone of voice when he said her name. She turns toward him and exclaims, "Rabboni! Teacher!" She's open to continued learning in this moment of celebration. If there are tears now, they are tears of joy. She touches him. Whether she grabs him in a full-body embrace or takes both hands into hers, we know he experiences her as holding on, clinging. It's understandable that she wants to keep him around, but he is on a journey back to his Father. Mary needs to prepare herself for a new relationship with Jesus that will be through the Spirit, Advocate, Protector, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus commissions her to go tell his brothers—assumed to be the disciples who were at the Last Supper and had just been called friends for the first time by their teacher. Now Jesus is saying, "Tell my brothers, tell my siblings." This is confirmation for you and many that we are the friends of Jesus. He sees us that way. We are the siblings; he is our brother. The implication of gospel love is immense as we are invited into fellowship.
She goes and finds these men who mostly fled and hid when things got scary on Friday. She told them simply, "I have seen the Lord." They did not see Christ themselves until that night when Christ found them behind locked doors in a room because they were scared.
For all time, the news of the resurrection is brought to the community by the word of a woman: Mary of Magdala, the first apostle of the risen Christ.
Back to that question: What makes it so difficult to believe in the resurrection? I think there's a great deal of cynicism that flows through our society, suggesting everything is false and untrustworthy. Let's just go through the motions, keep our heads down, and play the game. Underneath this cynicism is fear, fear that beats us down.
In the Acts passage, it is said how Jesus went around healing those who had been beaten down. No, I don't think it's the devil that beats us down; I think it's you and me in our dark moments and dark times. And there's something even pleasurable about beating ourselves down, as if we know better.
The heritage we have of belonging and being saved by a risen Christ and by a God whose mercy and love exceeds every imaginable possibility can be overwhelming. So we creep back into our little tombs and administer punishment to ourselves. This sort of thing can happen without our awareness.
God doesn't want this for us. The antidote to fear is connection, being known and seen, like Mary being called by her name with care and respect. We do this for one another in community. And from this glorious gospel, we are reminded that we are branches connected to the source, the whole vine.
The fourth gospel is especially aware of God's presence that creates beloved community. I know of an Episcopal Church in Maine where two men are going to undergo surgery on Tuesday. One is donating his kidney to his friend. He's giving his kidney to his fellow Christian, his brother. The light of Christ will be strong in that Maine hospital on Tuesday. The light of Christ will shine much further than the city of Portland, Maine, because of that act.
He's not laying down his life for his friend, as Jesus once held up as the epitome of love, but he is making a big sacrifice. Why would a person do that? What gives him the means to do it? Did he hear a message from God? Or was it something deep within himself that told him, "I have to do that. I can do it, and I'm going to do it."
A Roman Catholic sister talks about this passage when she says that in a world that otherwise would have every reason for paralyzing cynicism, pessimism, and despair, believes in a risen Lord, and they become an Easter people of hope who make a difference in our world.
Most of us would not blame Mary Magdalene for wanting to remain in Jesus' embrace, wanting to believe that those last days of horror were just a great nightmare and wanting to feel assured that now all would be well again.
Yet reveling in the experience of the risen Lord while any of our brothers and sisters are locked in an upper room in fear, bondage, anxiety, depression, and without hope is not an option for a loving disciple. Anyone who has seen the Lord, sensed the Lord, or been called by the Lord feels an urgency that all people should know the good news of God's saving love and victory over sin and death. Everyone must know that the lost have been found, that there is a new creation.
I would add that the lost parts of ourselves are found and known and brought back to life, or perhaps brought to life for the first time. We are an Easter people, and that makes all the difference in our lives. We are commissioned and empowered to share the news of reconciliation with our fragmented and lost world that needs the message so very much.
Living out that truth gives meaning to life, hope, peace, and joy. As we live out the high calling of life within the light of Christ Jesus, he will always and forever have the final word.
Amen.
The Main Thing is to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
Sermon by Father William Forrest
speaking from the Book of Amos, Thessalonians, and Matthew
It has been my privilege over 51 years of ordained Ministry to know many diverse and disparate people. I mean, some have been optimists; and they see the best in everything. Some are pessimists who don't see the best in everything. Some were liberal, some conservative, some were apocalyptic, and some were political. What they all had in common was their commitment to Christ and a healthy church. Over the last few years, many individuals have gotten gloomy believing something big is about to happen. One person I know calls himself a catastrophist and he believes that the economy and society are about to implode. Another person I know believes, as many people believe, that, because of climate change, serious damage will be done to the environment if action is not taken soon. Many are concerned that the war in the Middle East will get much much bigger. Many are concerned about the divided political situation in our country. Some Christians believe that the current world economic events point to the imminent Second Coming of Jesus.
Now you may be in agreement with all, or some, or none of these opinions and concerns. We may agree or disagree as to who is at fault; however, whether or not we agree or not with these opinions and concerns and whose fault it is we can all agree that the world in which we live presents challenges and opportunities for the church. The church has existed through difficult times in the past and Jesus has always led and empowered his church through these times and it's no different now.
St. Alban’s is in an interim situation and, thanks to the excellent work of the search committee, will soon be ready to receive the names of prospective applicants. Regardless of what is going on in the world around us, however good, bad, or nerve-wracking, it's important that during this interim period, and beyond, we remain focused on the health and growth of this wonderful parish. As I heard at a conference several years ago “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing” I'm going to say it one more time, “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” The main thing is our commitment to Jesus, to his church, and to his service. The Apostle Paul gives us a challenge in today's New Testament lesson from the First Thessalonians. In this passage, Paul says, ”The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them.” This passage teaches that adversity can happen suddenly. It sounds a lot like our world right now, doesn't it? In this passage, Paul urges the church to be watchful, to be sober, and to be ready for anything. He uses two very interesting words here. The word for watch is gregoreo and means, stay awake. Be in a state of spiritual readiness. Be alert. Be aware of what's happening around you. The word for sober, nepho, aside from the avoidance of intoxication, and we as episcopalians need to remember that, means self-control, sound judgment, and dependability. To be a healthy growing and dynamic church we must demonstrate self-control, sound judgment, and dependability. That is our challenge during this interim and into the future. Jesus is calling us to respond to this challenge. He's calling you and how do you know if you're called? I've said this before. It's a two-part test. Number one, is your heart beating? Second, are you breathing? If you can answer yes to both questions you are called.
During this interim time, and in a crazy world, let's all commit to the health strength and growth of St. Alban’s. We will be watchful and we will commit to self-control, sound judgment, and dependability. Remember that church growth and health depend on you. Commit to ministry. The best definition of ministry I've ever heard, a short definition, is meeting a need in Jesus' name. We have many opportunities. Be a generous giver. This is pledge time. Does your pledge represent a tithe or a tip. FYI, if each parishioner tithed 10, I'm sorry, 5% of their income to the church the average Church budget would rise 400%. Bring food regularly to the food bank, very important to do it and to keep doing it. Be the unanxious presence in the lives of those around you. Call a depressed or anxious friend. Joyously worship and receive Jesus weekly in the Eucharist. Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever.” Whether the catastrophist or other aforementioned viewpoints come to pass or not, that remains to be seen; but in all situations remember the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. The growth and health of this church, now and in the future, is critical. Make Sunday mornings at St. Albans a time of joyous worship; greeting people you don't know and connecting with people you do. Pray for self-control and sound judgment and dependability and ask Jesus what would you have me do; and when you feel that urging say yes Lord I will do it. Have no fear. I will end by saying stay positive, work hard, and make it happen. In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
Amen
Checking the Oil in the Lamps
Sermon by Father Richard Mallory
speaking from the Book of Amos, Thessalonians, and Matthew
I invite you to join me in hanging out for a while with these three readings, you have just heard, from the books of Amos, Thessalonians, and Matthew.
Here is Amos, the hick, from another country who came up to the northern kingdom. He couldn't bear, for one more second, the corruption and injustice he saw in the ancient Israel, of his day, eight centuries before Jesus. He sees the enormous income gap between rich and poor. He sees the superiority and disdain that the upper class has toward the lower class who are being oppressed. The courts were corrupt; bribes were commonplace.
In today's reading, Amos deconstructs the prominent belief in a Doctrine so dear to people's hearts. They believe that in the day of the Lord Yahweh would come and crush all of Israel's enemies and promote his special people to even greater privilege and Glory.
Not so fast, says Amos. Your accountability day will be the opposite of your expectations. There will be darkness, not light, and no place to run for safety. In contemporary speech, he might be saying, you're lost in your narcissism, your sociopathy, and your aggrandizement.
Jewish scholar Julian Morgenstern thinks the entire book of Amos happened in one day. Amos cuts loose in the town square as the town crier, the Street Preacher. Someone tipped off the chief priest, Amaziah, who rushed over to stop this troublemaker and end this nonsense. “The land cannot bear your words”; indeed, the chief priest most certainly could not bear his words. The status quo system was not accustomed to being questioned. Amaziah denounced Amos and told him to get out of town and go back to where he came from; so he did, and we know nothing about his life thereafter except that he, or someone, or a little group that surrounded him, wrote down his words; so we have them today.
In this reading, we have one of the most anti-religious statements in the Bible. He goes after the religious establishment hook, line, and sinker. Speaking for God, saying “I hate, I despise your festivals.” I'm not interested in the offerings of your big fat animals. I will not look upon them. I won't accept them. Take away the noise of your songs. Let Justice roll down like waters, righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. for Amos, God is the god of justice and love. Justice and love are twins, especially in the Old Testament. Clean up your act before it's too late, says the prophet, before your world implodes around you. Look in the mirror. Get real. Drop the phony stuff. Pay attention to those in need. Stop leaving them out.
There's something about Amos that is almost too hot to handle. I never heard a sermon on the Book of Amos as a child growing up. It is because of his strong stand for justice. It would have been disturbing in Alabama to start messing around with justice as an issue in the 1950s. If a preacher dared talk about justice from his pulpit on Sunday morning in the Deep South in the 1950s he would be fired Sunday afternoon.
Then we go to Thessalonians, the oldest New Testament writing. It is Paul's earliest piece of writing. Christians anticipated the return of Christ and they were worried about their loved ones who had already died. What was going to happen to them? Not to worry, says Paul, for when Christ returns (and here Paul uses metaphorical language) those who have died will go up, first, to greet the returning Christ, followed by those who are alive. This metaphor of going up into the air sheds light on the New Testament language about the future. It is a reference, or a signpost, pointing into a mist. We don't get the literal snapshots or photos of the future; rather, we get pointers in the right direction. Here's the meaning of the metaphor. In the first century, when a king or potentate from Rome arrived in a colony or province, the locals would go out to greet him beyond the city limits to accompany him back towards the town through the gate and into the Town Center. When Paul speaks of meeting the Lord in the air the point is precisely that believers would then stay with him and then come together back to the Earth where they all belong. All of this was a way of saying Jesus was Lord, not Caesar, and this is about an arrival, not a leaving. It's a coming, not a going.
Now on to that wedding feast in our Gospel where we have a missing bride and a very tardy groom. There were 10 bridesmaids. Five are called wise and five are foolish. We can imagine this entire wedding party as teenagers, which they were. The marriage was for people in their late teens and the wedding party would be younger teens. I cannot think of a passage that has been more widely used as a shame and blame. Five bridesmaids are wise and good. Five are foolish, ill-prepared, and bad. The wise bridesmaids get saved. The foolish are unsaved. The groom is the returning Christ coming to gather the elect. The good bridesmaids join the wedding party. The poor bridesmaids are left at the gate, out in the cold; they are destined for eternal torment. Now how's that for a horrid and abusive theology? They're teenagers for goodness sake. One commentator says he has four teenagers and “I can tell you not one of them would have remembered to take extra oil unless I reminded them six or seven times.” A second approach upholds conventional thinking, the basis of the Boy Scout motto, and that motto is “Be Prepared”. Wow, there are a lot of people who remember their scouting experience this morning. There is a deeper meaning related to time. The Greek word, kairos, is for a time that is incredibly significant, where something matters more than the ordinary flow of life. It's a moment when what is decided, what is chosen, will make all the difference in the time that flows thereafter. Kairos can be a make-or-break moment defining which path in life to take. “Do I stay or do I go,” as the song goes.
Remember that parables do not have just one meaning. They are intended to be like diamonds with many facets of meaning. Its meaning in one phase of life may have a different meaning to you as the circumstances of your life change. A teacher of mine said parables can be sneaky little devils; and, I use that in the most complimentary way. Sneaky little devils that are meant as a subversion sometimes take us to the very opposite of what the parable says literally. Sometimes a bridegroom is just a bridegroom and no more. What kind of bridegroom is so late that he finally shows up at midnight and imperiously disowns half of the wedding party shutting the door in their faces? What's going on here? What about those bridesmaids?
When asked to share some oil the so-called wise bridesmaids go coldhearted and clutch their surplus oil in selfish scarcity. Instead, they tell the others to find a dealer for more oil. Pardon me, but a dealer open, at midnight, in a village, a rural town…good luck with that. There weren’t any Circle K’s in ancient Israel; there were no city lights so, unless it was a full moon, it was very dark. The foolish ones could have been wise at this point and not taken the advice of the rejecting bridesmaids. They could have stayed put and accepted their lack of preparation. They could have been present when he came into the room. There wouldn't have been a great blaze of light since they didn't have enough oil. Better to have remained, tolerating the selfish bridesmaids, following Jesus.
The story still has a cosmic backdrop. Perhaps we are being invited to find both the wise and foolish sides of ourselves. What we deem wise may cloak feelings of superiority and “better than thou” beliefs. We might discover times when we went off half-cocked and impulsively did something harmful rather than remaining grounded and patient. While the story reminds us of time's finitude; what am I procrastinating? I'll tend to that someday. Here, the image of midnight arises. There is an ending and a beginning in an auspicious moment. So why am I procrastinating over this relationship that needs some attention? Why do I keep postponing the telephone conversation with one where I might be able to have some reconciliation. Time is limited. A pronouncement of “I do not know you” chills the bones. Could it apply to a lifetime of avoiding the knowing of oneself, one's own soul, by having chosen habits of distraction like the foolish ones who seem to choose activity over staying centered. There is no better way to snuff out the Still Small Voice than to live life with a frenetic pace. Keep the TV on in the background so you'll never get to know what's inside your soul.
This parable ends with a party. Those outside might recall Jesus’ teaching, “knock and it will be opened to you” along with that friend, at midnight, who shows up at a neighbor's house to get some bread because an unexpected visitor has arrived. These girls outside better start knocking loudly and get in there so the bridegroom can get a better look at them in the light and realize that he knows them after all. A party's going on.
The kingdom of heaven is like a party for you know not the day nor the hour. Father Robert Capon says when all is said and done, when we have scared ourselves silly with the “now or never” urgency of faith, and the once and always finality of judgment, we need to take a deep breath; and, let it out with a laugh because what we are watching for is a party and the party is not just down the street making up its mind when to come to us, it's already hiding in our basement banging on our steam pipes laughing its way up our cellar stairs. The unknown day and hour of its finally bursting into the kitchen and boisterously making its way through the whole house is not dreadful. It's all part of the Divine, of grace. God is not our mother-in-law coming to see whether her wedding present china has been chipped, but, rather a funny old relative with a salami under one arm and a bottle of wine under the other. Indeed we need to keep watch because it would be such a pity to miss out on all that fun
Amen