Sermon for: Easter Day_March 23, 2008_A_RCL
Brian McHugh, priest & vicar
[Ezk 37: 1-14][Ps 130][Romans 8: 6-11][John 11: 1-45]
This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love:
the more they give, the more they possess.
Words of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke.
It seems illogical. It seems counterintuitive. Human logic would say that the more you give, the less you possess.
But I know, in my spirit, however faulty my or our love may be, that Rilke’s words are true. Those who love, and give, discover the truth. Jesus is recorded as saying that, in following Him, we would know the truth and the truth would set us free. I am convinced that is not some theological doctrinal “truth” that makes us “right” that He wanted us to know. What Jesus means us to discover is a way of Life: Rilke has spoken it: “This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love: the more [you] give, the more [you] possess.”
This paradox - that for those who really love, the more they give the more they possess - I know and passionately believe is at the heart of the Mystery of God, of the Christ, of the Gospel, and of our humanity. We ponder the hints of our holy writings. We listen to longings and hopes that rise up in our hearts and minds. From these, we have imagined a God who pours out unconditional love endlessly. In my view, no other God is worth knowing. No other God can lead us to a mature and authentic humanity.
As “church”, we spend year after year in our worship. We walk with Jesus. We recognize a true child of the God of Love. We listen to His Good News, His teaching about Life. In the week before this day of His rising from the dead, we see His unswerving love of His God; His compassion for God’s oppressed people; His firm clear loving servanthood in washing feet; His mystical gift of Himself in bread and wine; His refusal to compromise God’s integrity in willingly accepting suffering and death.
However and at whatever level we grasp it, Christ’s death and resurrection is a sign to us about the great Mystery of being alive. It is about the mundane miracle of Love. This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love: the more they give, the more they possess. We will not grasp this truth by reading the tortuous sentences of the Letter to the Hebrews. We will not grasp it by comprehending intellectually Paul’s or Aquinas’s doctrine of salvation. We will only grasp it by embracing Christ’s commandment to “love one another as I have loved you”. This is what it means to “take up his cross and follow me”. It is why the cross is the core symbol of the Christian faith. It is why our primary “work” is exploring what Love is.
Paul the apostle tells us what happens if we love: He wrote in his second letter to the faithful in Corinth:
People are watching us as we stay at our post … working … in gentleness, holiness, and honest love ….. terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; 10 immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, (yet) possessing all. [1]
Jesus had set the standard for authentic discipleship and authentic humanity, as recorded in John’s Gospel: “See how they love one another”. And Jesus has requested, putting aside as secondary the whole Law of Moses, only one thing: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Hanging on the cross, Jesus looked as if His love brought Him nothing, took away everything, including His life. But on the morning of the third day, the angel says to the women, “Why are you seeking the living among the dead?”
Here is the pattern for our life, yours and mine. Paul understood it when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” The Christ lives in each of us, and to live we must become One with that Christ. It might seem that pouring ourselves out in love will bring us nothing. But Jesus and His Gospel and His Cross and Resurrection says, with Rilke, “This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love: the more they give, the more they possess.
The invitation this Easter morning, my friends in Christ, is the same as always: Really love; the more we give, the more we possess of what gives meaning to our lives. It is Love that broke open the tomb in which the dead Christ was buried. It is Love that breaks open the tombs we so often are buried in and gives us Life. It is love that liberates the Christ Who lives within the heart of each of us.
The Rich Young Ruler asked Jesus what he must do to have Eternal Life. The answer he was not ready to hear was, “Really love” – and though you give up all the worldly goods you have, you will possess everything. “
On this Easter morning, may we take one step further on the path of Love. It is our calling as the Body of Christ and as the Beloved of God. The more we give, the more we will possess. And the World will be transformed.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen. Let us be raised with Him!
[1] 2 Cor 6: 4-10 [MSG]
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Sermon for: March 9, 2008_Lent V_A_RCL
Brian McHugh, priest & vicar
[Ezk 37: 1-14][Ps 130][Romans 8: 6-11][John 11: 1-45]
Dry Bones! It’s a great story isn’t it. Sunday School kids my age remember it, aided by the popular song - “The ankle bone’s connected to the shin bone / the shin bone’s connected to the thigh bone / the thigh bones’ connected to the hip bone ….. Hear the Word of the Lord”. “Can these bones live?”, God asks Ezekiel. It’s almost as if God is looking for a little reassurance. God spends centuries nourishing, guiding, protecting His people Israel for Life, and what is the state of affairs as God chats with Ezekiel? Israel is like a huge field of completely dry, bleached, clattering, dead bones.
I can hear God’s thoughts: “Is anything ever going to bring these people to Life! Will they ever become the people I created them to be?” But, God never seems to get discouraged. God answers his own question: “I'll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live. Then I'll lead you straight back to your land and you'll realize that I am God. I've said it and I'll do it.'" God’s problem, of course, is that however generous God is, however forgiving, however faithful in love, we human beings have to cooperate – and there’s the problem.
As far as Life goes, the critical phrase is, “I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live.” This is where Life flows from, says the Bible. We are given Life, made human, by the breath or spirit of God breathed into us. “Life” doesn’t just mean biologically alive. It means far more. The Biblical Creation story says that, after making humanity from the dirt, God breathed Spirit into Adam, and humans became living beings. This morning, the question we are prompted to ask is: What does it mean for me to be truly, fully alive? Maybe it doesn’t grab you, but, as a Christian, it grabs me - a lot.
Even more dramatically we are confronted with the same question by the reading from the Gospel today. What a sight that 4-day-dead Lazarus, wrapped in grave-clothes, must have been to Mary and Martha, their friends, and the disciples, as he emerged from the tomb and later sat with them at dinner! I believe that many were drawn to Jesus because they felt a whole new possibility for their life coming from Him. For the same reason Jesus threatened the religious authorities. They knew deep within them that they were supposed to be leading the people to the Life God wanted them to have. But they had rejected their calling, more interested in prestige and power. Jesus gave new Life to people, by His words, His actions, His teachings. He touched their souls. That’s where these marvelous stories of raising even the physically dead come from. They are a dramatic symbol of how God can yank people from the brink of death experiences to a fuller sense of how we can live, what Life is all about.
“Can these bones live?” That is the question that God asks Ezekiel. It is a very pertinent question as we head for the liturgical celebration of Christ’s Resurrection from the dead in two weeks. This is the core Christian Feast. It affirms and celebrates Life’s power over death in all its aspects. On Easter morning, what will God see in you and in me? Will God see a people - us - risen to new life, flesh breathed into Life by divine Spirit, unafraid, confident, living fully and enthusiastically, full of enjoyment of the Creation, generous in Love, merciful, compassionate, just, full of humility, ? Or will God see yet again a field scattered with bleached dry clattering bones, and asking with a deep sigh, “Can these bones possibly live?!”
Of course we here are not in general unkind or thoughtless or uncaring people. We do what we can to help those who need help, especially amongst our family and friends. But look around at the World, especially at our own country. We are the largest consumers of drugs and alcohol in the world. One out of every hundred of us is in jail – 30 million people! A huge percentage of us are afflicted with clinical depression, including the young, and are on meds to help us manage. Our suicide rate is high, especially amongst the young and the elderly. We are not a happy people – nor is much of the World.
Every year at Easter, God’s words spoken to the prophet Ezekiel are heard again: "I'll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live. I've said it and I'll do it". And God did it, in raising Jesus from the dead. God hopes that we will hear the message deep within our souls, hear what Her messengers and Her Son taught, and see the path that leads to fullness of Life. We as the Body of Christ are meant to know it for ourselves. But even more so that we can be a light to the World. God want us to know in Christ what Life fully is, and to do as the hymn says – “Lay hold on Life, and it shall be / thy joy and crown eternally”.
Maybe I’m the only one who feels something's missing. But I think we are all called, like Lazarus, like the people of Israel, to become as Christ. Live the Gospel. Help transform the World around us. Two weeks before Easter, and as we prepare to follow Jesus through the journey of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, we are reminded that, like Jesus, we too are meant to rise daily from the dead places we often inhabit and claim the Life God prepared for us. As always, God is ready to help us.
+++
I sent around on Saturday by email a question: As a follower of Jesus, what (in a few words) is something you strive for, or do, or believe, that makes you a fully-alive human being?
Would anyone like to share (in a few words) your answer?
Brian McHugh, priest & vicar
[Ezk 37: 1-14][Ps 130][Romans 8: 6-11][John 11: 1-45]
Dry Bones! It’s a great story isn’t it. Sunday School kids my age remember it, aided by the popular song - “The ankle bone’s connected to the shin bone / the shin bone’s connected to the thigh bone / the thigh bones’ connected to the hip bone ….. Hear the Word of the Lord”. “Can these bones live?”, God asks Ezekiel. It’s almost as if God is looking for a little reassurance. God spends centuries nourishing, guiding, protecting His people Israel for Life, and what is the state of affairs as God chats with Ezekiel? Israel is like a huge field of completely dry, bleached, clattering, dead bones.
I can hear God’s thoughts: “Is anything ever going to bring these people to Life! Will they ever become the people I created them to be?” But, God never seems to get discouraged. God answers his own question: “I'll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live. Then I'll lead you straight back to your land and you'll realize that I am God. I've said it and I'll do it.'" God’s problem, of course, is that however generous God is, however forgiving, however faithful in love, we human beings have to cooperate – and there’s the problem.
As far as Life goes, the critical phrase is, “I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live.” This is where Life flows from, says the Bible. We are given Life, made human, by the breath or spirit of God breathed into us. “Life” doesn’t just mean biologically alive. It means far more. The Biblical Creation story says that, after making humanity from the dirt, God breathed Spirit into Adam, and humans became living beings. This morning, the question we are prompted to ask is: What does it mean for me to be truly, fully alive? Maybe it doesn’t grab you, but, as a Christian, it grabs me - a lot.
Even more dramatically we are confronted with the same question by the reading from the Gospel today. What a sight that 4-day-dead Lazarus, wrapped in grave-clothes, must have been to Mary and Martha, their friends, and the disciples, as he emerged from the tomb and later sat with them at dinner! I believe that many were drawn to Jesus because they felt a whole new possibility for their life coming from Him. For the same reason Jesus threatened the religious authorities. They knew deep within them that they were supposed to be leading the people to the Life God wanted them to have. But they had rejected their calling, more interested in prestige and power. Jesus gave new Life to people, by His words, His actions, His teachings. He touched their souls. That’s where these marvelous stories of raising even the physically dead come from. They are a dramatic symbol of how God can yank people from the brink of death experiences to a fuller sense of how we can live, what Life is all about.
“Can these bones live?” That is the question that God asks Ezekiel. It is a very pertinent question as we head for the liturgical celebration of Christ’s Resurrection from the dead in two weeks. This is the core Christian Feast. It affirms and celebrates Life’s power over death in all its aspects. On Easter morning, what will God see in you and in me? Will God see a people - us - risen to new life, flesh breathed into Life by divine Spirit, unafraid, confident, living fully and enthusiastically, full of enjoyment of the Creation, generous in Love, merciful, compassionate, just, full of humility, ? Or will God see yet again a field scattered with bleached dry clattering bones, and asking with a deep sigh, “Can these bones possibly live?!”
Of course we here are not in general unkind or thoughtless or uncaring people. We do what we can to help those who need help, especially amongst our family and friends. But look around at the World, especially at our own country. We are the largest consumers of drugs and alcohol in the world. One out of every hundred of us is in jail – 30 million people! A huge percentage of us are afflicted with clinical depression, including the young, and are on meds to help us manage. Our suicide rate is high, especially amongst the young and the elderly. We are not a happy people – nor is much of the World.
Every year at Easter, God’s words spoken to the prophet Ezekiel are heard again: "I'll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live. I've said it and I'll do it". And God did it, in raising Jesus from the dead. God hopes that we will hear the message deep within our souls, hear what Her messengers and Her Son taught, and see the path that leads to fullness of Life. We as the Body of Christ are meant to know it for ourselves. But even more so that we can be a light to the World. God want us to know in Christ what Life fully is, and to do as the hymn says – “Lay hold on Life, and it shall be / thy joy and crown eternally”.
Maybe I’m the only one who feels something's missing. But I think we are all called, like Lazarus, like the people of Israel, to become as Christ. Live the Gospel. Help transform the World around us. Two weeks before Easter, and as we prepare to follow Jesus through the journey of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, we are reminded that, like Jesus, we too are meant to rise daily from the dead places we often inhabit and claim the Life God prepared for us. As always, God is ready to help us.
+++
I sent around on Saturday by email a question: As a follower of Jesus, what (in a few words) is something you strive for, or do, or believe, that makes you a fully-alive human being?
Would anyone like to share (in a few words) your answer?
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Sermon for: March 2, 2008_Lent IV_A_RCL Brian McHugh, priest & vicar
[1 Sam 16: 1-13][Ps 23][Eph 5: 8-14 ][John 9: 1-41]
Well, I am going to be a little “dark” this morning.
I think I have always had a love-hate relationship with the Church. But then again, I think I’ve had a kind of love-hate relationship with mostly everything, including myself. I was raised under Scottish Presbyterianism, which had a strong message of striving for perfection. There was little room, at least theoretically, for human weakness or foibles. It rubbed off while I was singing in the choir and trying to ignore the “dour” approach to life I heard from the pulpit. It is my nature to enjoy Life. A religion of strict limitations has never appealed to me – and I have avoided them. But, a certain guilt at not being perfect still lurks. Part of me longs to live the ideals of the Christian Gospel and the Kingdom of God and personal holiness and charity, and wants to help others to too. Alas, I’ve had to accept minimal success, on my part, and from the church at large. Well, that’s a big ongoing topic.
These days I’m particularly disenchanted with religions and religious leaders, who say they want justice and compassion and peace but seem to foment the opposite. I’ve read several eloquent books recently by atheists. They haven’t so much advocated atheism for atheism’s sake, but reject religion’s shocking failures to live up to it’s principles.
Presumably it has always been so. I admire God’s great optimism, and His ability to find our weaknesses charming. God simply seems to understand the human condition, and is eternally, lovingly patient, hoping we will embrace the way of compassion and find peace, and ready to give us all the help we need.
In the reading today from Samuel, God, having given Saul to the people of Israel as their first king, has rejected him. He brusquely tells his prophet Samuel to “get over it” and stop moping. Saul has disappointed God, and not been a faithful, caring shepherd for His people. He sends Samuel to anoint a new king, a good-looking shepherd-boy. David finally fights his way to the throne, but turns out badly, an adulterer and a murderer. But Davis at least repents and, as always, God is forgiving. It’s the same old story: God has high hopes for human beings, but they mostly disappoint him and reject Her ways.
Perhaps most regular folk behave properly. I’d like to think this is true. On the whole, regular religious folk just get on with caring and helping and being decent human beings. The major problem seems to be the leaders who rise to the top by whatever means. Those are the people Jesus confronted regularly in his ministry, for their legalism, their hard-heartedness, their hypocrisy. In today’s reading it is the Pharisees He’s after, those in Judaism thought to be the most religious and pious. He has healed a blind man on what happened to be the Sabbath. Are the Pharisees thrilled and delighted and amazed by what could only be God’s work through this man, or happy for the man healed? No. They are only legalistically concerned that Jesus was doing something forbidden on the Sabbath – though of course this was just an excuse to cover up their fear and anger at Jesus, whom they saw as undermining their authority. Hypocrites and “whited sepulchers” Jesus called them – looking good on the outside and full of rottenness inside. They called the blind man’s whole identity and integrity into question, and his parents were so intimidated that they knew better than to defend their son. The Pharisees were so intent on discrediting Jesus that they simply refused to acknowledge the amazing healing, and focused only on His “rule-breaking”. Sad. But this is very often what having power and needing to preserve it will do. No wonder God wanted a shepherd-king for His people. And Jesus tried with all His might to teach His followers that true greatness comes through servanthood. Few have learned it, in my opinion.
So it has been in the history of the Church throughout the centuries. Popes, archbishops, bishops and clergy committing all kinds of utterly Un-Christlike things. Orthodox patriarchs siding with ethnic cleansers. Bishops hiding pedophiles. Modern dictators claiming God’s protection for their appalling oppression and cruelty. The Vatican suppressing priests who are fighting to liberate the poor. Televangelists and swamis bilking people of vast sums of money to finance their fleet of Rolls-Royces and aircraft. Various Anglican prelates attempting to destroy a Communion in order to confirm their own narrow Biblical and cultural prejudices. On and on it goes. No wonder more and more choose atheism as an expression of horror at the suffering that false religious leaders have caused. Jesus never ceased to confront them in his zeal for God’s Kingdom.
Well, I’ve painted a rather dark but I think fairly accurate picture. But there is Good News. God rejects such leaders, and eventually, by whatever means, they are replaced. In the Church. In the Islamic Umma. In the political world. The major frustration is the time it often takes.
There is a lesson here for us all. Especially those like us who get to choose our leaders. We need to make sure that we “anoint” the right leaders and support them. For our church. For our country. Leaders that are not wolves in sheep’s clothing. We have got to get our priorities straight. For us, the Gospel commands our first allegiance. Would Jesus want us to make sure that we got adequate medical coverage under plans that disadvantage or exclude the poor? Would Jesus want us to be able to drive expensive gas-guzzling cars at the expense of His Creation? Would Jesus want us to spend 1/3rd to ½ of our GDP on Weapons of Mass Destruction? Would Jesus want us to include only conditionally in His church anyone He died in love for?
We are soon to elect new leaders for our country. Will how you vote be determined by God’s hope for servant leaders who will shepherd the flock in the ways of justice, compassion and peace? St. Peter’s/St. Michael’s is about to call new priestly leadership. Will you call someone who will lead and nurture you on the Gospel path of loving service? Will you help and support your Bishop’s Committee not to be just a managerial business board (some of which they must do), but leaders who stay centered in helping St. P/M reach out to each other and to others with God’s amazing, unconditional love?
Today, we “collected” ourselves around a gathering prayer that asked God for the “true bread that gives life to the world”. As we eat the bread and drink the cup today, may we come alive with God’s amazing joy, and become a servant people who bring life to the World.
[1 Sam 16: 1-13][Ps 23][Eph 5: 8-14 ][John 9: 1-41]
Well, I am going to be a little “dark” this morning.
I think I have always had a love-hate relationship with the Church. But then again, I think I’ve had a kind of love-hate relationship with mostly everything, including myself. I was raised under Scottish Presbyterianism, which had a strong message of striving for perfection. There was little room, at least theoretically, for human weakness or foibles. It rubbed off while I was singing in the choir and trying to ignore the “dour” approach to life I heard from the pulpit. It is my nature to enjoy Life. A religion of strict limitations has never appealed to me – and I have avoided them. But, a certain guilt at not being perfect still lurks. Part of me longs to live the ideals of the Christian Gospel and the Kingdom of God and personal holiness and charity, and wants to help others to too. Alas, I’ve had to accept minimal success, on my part, and from the church at large. Well, that’s a big ongoing topic.
These days I’m particularly disenchanted with religions and religious leaders, who say they want justice and compassion and peace but seem to foment the opposite. I’ve read several eloquent books recently by atheists. They haven’t so much advocated atheism for atheism’s sake, but reject religion’s shocking failures to live up to it’s principles.
Presumably it has always been so. I admire God’s great optimism, and His ability to find our weaknesses charming. God simply seems to understand the human condition, and is eternally, lovingly patient, hoping we will embrace the way of compassion and find peace, and ready to give us all the help we need.
In the reading today from Samuel, God, having given Saul to the people of Israel as their first king, has rejected him. He brusquely tells his prophet Samuel to “get over it” and stop moping. Saul has disappointed God, and not been a faithful, caring shepherd for His people. He sends Samuel to anoint a new king, a good-looking shepherd-boy. David finally fights his way to the throne, but turns out badly, an adulterer and a murderer. But Davis at least repents and, as always, God is forgiving. It’s the same old story: God has high hopes for human beings, but they mostly disappoint him and reject Her ways.
Perhaps most regular folk behave properly. I’d like to think this is true. On the whole, regular religious folk just get on with caring and helping and being decent human beings. The major problem seems to be the leaders who rise to the top by whatever means. Those are the people Jesus confronted regularly in his ministry, for their legalism, their hard-heartedness, their hypocrisy. In today’s reading it is the Pharisees He’s after, those in Judaism thought to be the most religious and pious. He has healed a blind man on what happened to be the Sabbath. Are the Pharisees thrilled and delighted and amazed by what could only be God’s work through this man, or happy for the man healed? No. They are only legalistically concerned that Jesus was doing something forbidden on the Sabbath – though of course this was just an excuse to cover up their fear and anger at Jesus, whom they saw as undermining their authority. Hypocrites and “whited sepulchers” Jesus called them – looking good on the outside and full of rottenness inside. They called the blind man’s whole identity and integrity into question, and his parents were so intimidated that they knew better than to defend their son. The Pharisees were so intent on discrediting Jesus that they simply refused to acknowledge the amazing healing, and focused only on His “rule-breaking”. Sad. But this is very often what having power and needing to preserve it will do. No wonder God wanted a shepherd-king for His people. And Jesus tried with all His might to teach His followers that true greatness comes through servanthood. Few have learned it, in my opinion.
So it has been in the history of the Church throughout the centuries. Popes, archbishops, bishops and clergy committing all kinds of utterly Un-Christlike things. Orthodox patriarchs siding with ethnic cleansers. Bishops hiding pedophiles. Modern dictators claiming God’s protection for their appalling oppression and cruelty. The Vatican suppressing priests who are fighting to liberate the poor. Televangelists and swamis bilking people of vast sums of money to finance their fleet of Rolls-Royces and aircraft. Various Anglican prelates attempting to destroy a Communion in order to confirm their own narrow Biblical and cultural prejudices. On and on it goes. No wonder more and more choose atheism as an expression of horror at the suffering that false religious leaders have caused. Jesus never ceased to confront them in his zeal for God’s Kingdom.
Well, I’ve painted a rather dark but I think fairly accurate picture. But there is Good News. God rejects such leaders, and eventually, by whatever means, they are replaced. In the Church. In the Islamic Umma. In the political world. The major frustration is the time it often takes.
There is a lesson here for us all. Especially those like us who get to choose our leaders. We need to make sure that we “anoint” the right leaders and support them. For our church. For our country. Leaders that are not wolves in sheep’s clothing. We have got to get our priorities straight. For us, the Gospel commands our first allegiance. Would Jesus want us to make sure that we got adequate medical coverage under plans that disadvantage or exclude the poor? Would Jesus want us to be able to drive expensive gas-guzzling cars at the expense of His Creation? Would Jesus want us to spend 1/3rd to ½ of our GDP on Weapons of Mass Destruction? Would Jesus want us to include only conditionally in His church anyone He died in love for?
We are soon to elect new leaders for our country. Will how you vote be determined by God’s hope for servant leaders who will shepherd the flock in the ways of justice, compassion and peace? St. Peter’s/St. Michael’s is about to call new priestly leadership. Will you call someone who will lead and nurture you on the Gospel path of loving service? Will you help and support your Bishop’s Committee not to be just a managerial business board (some of which they must do), but leaders who stay centered in helping St. P/M reach out to each other and to others with God’s amazing, unconditional love?
Today, we “collected” ourselves around a gathering prayer that asked God for the “true bread that gives life to the world”. As we eat the bread and drink the cup today, may we come alive with God’s amazing joy, and become a servant people who bring life to the World.
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