Episcopalians! at Harvard

2010-02-22T21:15:00.003-05:00

Sunday September 14 is the First Sunday back!

2008-09-14T08:40:00.002-05:00

O God, because without you we are not able to please you mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Exodus 14:19-31

The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. At the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the Israelites, for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt."

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers." So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the LORD tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the LORD did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the LORD and believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

Psalm 114 Page 756, BCP

In exitu Israel

1: Hallelujah!
When Israel came out of Egypt, *
the house of Jacob from a people of strange speech,
2: Judah became God's sanctuary *
and Israel his dominion.
3: The sea beheld it and fled; *
Jordan turned and went back.
4: The mountains skipped like rams, *
and the little hills like young sheep.
5: What ailed you, O sea, that you fled? *
O Jordan, that you turned back?
6: You mountains, that you skipped like rams? *
you little hills like young sheep?
7: Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, *
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8: Who turned the hard rock into a pool of water *
and flint-stone into a flowing spring.

Romans 14:1-12

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,

"As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,: and every tongue shall give praise to God."
So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Matthew 18:21-35

Peter came and said to Jesus, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

"For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, `Pay what you owe.' Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, `You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?' And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

Readings for Nov. 4, 2007

2007-10-31T10:57:00.000-05:00

Collect
Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
O LORD, how long shall I cry for help,: and you will not listen?
Or cry to you "Violence!": and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrong-doing: and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;: strife and contention arise.
So the law becomes slack: and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous--: therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

I will stand at my watchpost,: and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,: and what he will answer concerning my complaint.
Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write the vision;: make it plain on tablets,; so that a runner may read it.
For there is still a vision for the appointed time;: it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;: it will surely come, it will not delay.
Look at the proud!: Their spirit is not right in them,; but the righteous live by their faith

Psalm 119:137-144

Justus es, Domine

137

You are righteous, O LORD, *
and upright are your judgments.

138

You have issued your decrees *
with justice and in perfect faithfulness.

139

My indignation has consumed me, *
because my enemies forget your words.

140

Your word has been tested to the uttermost, *
and your servant holds it dear.

141

I am small and of little account, *
yet I do not forget your commandments.

142

Your justice is an everlasting justice *
and your law is the truth.

143

Trouble and distress have come upon me, *
yet your commandments are my delight.

144

The righteousness of your decrees is everlasting; *
grant me understanding, that I may live.

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.

To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

Ben's Sermon from October 28th

2007-10-31T10:42:00.000-05:00

I don’t know about you, but about this stage of the semester I am in need of a break. About now, I feel a bit like St Paul when he says: “I am already being poured out as a libation, and my time of departure has come. I have fought the good fight.” Although I haven’t quite finished the race, which is the next line in St Paul’s letter to Timothy, I don’t think there is anything wrong with having a pit stop half way through the race to recover. A week would do it, I reckon.

But compare getting away from it all for a week with getting away from it all for an entire lifetime. As we reach the mid point of this hectic semester, I want to share with you the words of a monk who lives in the Egyptian desert. See what you think; but I warn you, these words might seem totally bizarre to your ears. You might well ask yourselves, what do I have in common with such a monk? Listen to the wisdom he shows, though, telling us a truth that Jesus told in the Gospel: “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled; and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

“All you need” to live, the monk said, “is a piece of bread, and enough covering for the body. The less you have, the less you have to distract you from God. Do you understand?” There’s no way I can fully understand, but let’s listen on! The monk continued, “just look around this room. When I am here I think that the chair is in the wrong place, I must move it. Or maybe that the lamp is out of oil, I must fill it... But in the desert there is just sand. You don’t think of anything else; there is nothing to disturb you. It should be the same in a monk’s cell. The less there is the easier it is to talk to God.”

The less there is the easier it is to talk to God. This is a monk who worries about having one chair in his cell, because of the distractions it will cause. This is a monk who prefers the darkness and solitude of the desert to the dilemmas of whether or not to put oil in his lamp. He lives a life of utter simplicity, and still he is concerned that he might not be making enough room in his life for God. Wow!

We live in a world filled with stuff. From the moment I get up in the morning, I am thinking of the stuff I have to do, of which order to do it in, worrying whether I’ll get it all done. And that’s when I am not thinking about the stuff I have: wondering where the chairs in my office look best, and that’s chairs in the plural! In Evelyn Waugh’s novel, ‘A Handful of Dust,’ the main character spends the time when the minister is preaching thinking what color to paint his bathroom. I hope you aren’t doing the same right now!

Our lives are busy, but we can’t help making them busier. We think about things that don’t really matter. I doubt any of you feels good about being too busy. I doubt any of you would be like the Pharisee in Jesus’s story who was pleased with all he did, so that he prayed to God: “I thank you that I am not like other people.” But the message of the story is that, even as he prayed this, he wasn’t really thinking about God but about himself. He was filling his head with his good deeds and not with God. He has missed the point of being religious. It’s not about what you do, or what you have, it’s about who you are. And who you are without God is nothing.

“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled; and he who humbles himself will be exalted,” says Jesus, speaking right to the heart of the problem that many of us face. Jesus is calling us to be aware that the stuff of our lives, our studies, our grades, our possessions, even being good, does not make us who we are; I am not constituted by what I do or buy; I am not what I eat.

Instead of our work or our possessions defining us, who I am as a person, who you are as a person, who we are together here in Church, is given to us by God. God gives us our life. Put negatively, the truth is without God we have nothing, we are nothing. Put positively, if we have God, we actually have everything we could ever want. Our Egyptian monk had learned this. You who are here today, worrying about midterms or you grades or how to fit that other activity in, might need to relearn it. Ask yourselves, “Who am I?” Am I closer to my true self when I am away from it all, or when I am in the busy-ness of life?

Today, I want you to be clear that I am not asking you to live simpler lives; after all, I shouldn’t preach what I can’t practice myself. So I am not asking you to give up what you do or what is important to you.

So that’s what I am not saying. What I am asking is that you remember who you most truly are – a child of God. Without God you are nothing. So be humble about yourself; be willing to fail; be willing to stand before God and your friends and say, “I am not quite as perfect as I seem.” Because, in being humble, you’ll find within you the God who’s given you everything you have. It is God who has given you the ability to be who you are, even if you are upset with God that you don’t have more. It is God who, when you are humble, will be exalted, because then God can truly work in you.

Readings for Oct. 28, 2007

2007-10-27T07:21:00.000-05:00

The Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Joel 2:23-32

O children of Zion, be glad: and rejoice in the LORD your God;
for he has given the early rain for your vindication,: he has poured down for you abundant rain,; the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing floors shall be full of grain,: the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
I will repay you for the years: that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,: my great army, which I sent against you.
You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,: and praise the name of the LORD your God,; who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,: and that I, the LORD, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again: be put to shame.
Then afterward: I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,: your old men shall dream dreams,; and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female slaves,: in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

Psalm 65 Page 672 or 673, BCP

Te decet hymnus

1: You are to be praised, O God, in Zion; *
to you shall vows be performed in Jerusalem.
2: To you that hear prayer shall all flesh come, *
because of their transgressions.
3: Our sins are stronger than we are, *
but you will blot them out.
4: Happy are they whom you choose
and draw to your courts to dwell there! *
they will be satisfied by the beauty of your house,
by the holiness of your temple.
5: Awesome things will you show us in your righteousness,
O God of our salvation, *
O Hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the seas that are far away.
6: You make fast the mountains by your power; *
they are girded about with might.
7: You still the roaring of the seas, *
the roaring of their waves,
and the clamor of the peoples.
8: Those who dwell at the ends of the earth will tremble at your marvelous signs; *
you make the dawn and the dusk to sing for joy.
9: You visit the earth and water it abundantly;
you make it very plenteous; *
the river of God is full of water.
10: You prepare the grain, *
for so you provide for the earth.
11: You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges; *
with heavy rain you soften the ground and bless its increase.
12: You crown the year with your goodness, *
and your paths overflow with plenty.
13: May the fields of the wilderness be rich for grazing, *
and the hills be clothed with joy.
14: May the meadows cover themselves with flocks,
and the valleys cloak themselves with grain; *
let them shout for joy and sing.

2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18

I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Luke 18:9-14

Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."

Matt's Sermon from Oct. 21, 2007

2007-10-27T07:20:00.000-05:00

The Bible holds a divisive place in Christian history. The understanding of its place in worship, in daily life, its authority and factual content, have changed constantly throughout the life of the church. Are we even sure of the position that the sacred writings are intended to hold? (pause)

Today’s reading from the second letter to Timothy helps us to understand what exactly we are to do with scripture. The author speaks of the “sacred writings” which Timothy has known since childhood. These sacred writings are the writings that make up the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, which is the only Bible available at this point.

These sacred writings of the Hebrew scripture are able to instruct us for salvation. Exactly how they are able to make us wise is given in the next sentence. They are useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. They are useful for teaching in the general sense of education, history, education, ethics, morality, but also for teaching about relationship with God. They are useful for reproof and corrections, terms which are specifically situated in the context of this letter, where the author firmly encourages Timothy to fight against those who are teaching unsound doctrine in the early church. And scripture is also useful for training in righteousness, that is, it is useful for learning about the right actions and deeds we can do in relation to others.

The key word in this text that establishes the authority of scripture (pause) is “useful.” This is the Greek word ophelimos, which means, among other things, useful, beneficial, serviceable, or profitable. It never possesses the connotation of necessary or required or essential, but rather takes the position as something that can be of good service to us. Scripture is useful.

This is certainly not the perspective on scripture that we are used to in this age. But it is important to remember the setting in which the author is writing. The authorship of this letter is debated, but it is written probably sometime in the first or second century. In this period, access to scripture is nowhere near what it is today. Local synagogues would have had some, rarely all, of the books of the Hebrew Bible. Only the richest of individuals would have a personal copy. And most credible estimates of literacy peak at about 15% of the population. The author is certainly aware of the scant availability of the texts, the general lack of literacy among people in this period, and the difficulty of accessing, reading, and interpreting these texts, even for those who are literate. For him to say that scripture is anything more than an aid to a life of faith, to say that the reading and internalizing of scripture is necessary for salvation, would be to condemn a majority of the church in his time.

But now, since the reformation, with the invention of the printing press and the advent of public schools in the western world, a majority of people are literate and have access to the text. And with this change has come a change in the authority of scripture and the understanding of its significance. Now, when seeking to verify the authority of scripture, scripture is cited, and it all focuses on a single phrase, the verse from our reading today: “All scripture is inspired by God.” It appears clear, but when we take a closer look at the text, some questions may arise.

First, the phrase translated as “inspired by God” is actually a single Greek word, theopneustos, which, literally translated means God-breathed. Unfortunately, the word is so rarely used in the corpus of Greek literature that saying what it definitively means is impossible. “Inspired by God” is, I suppose, one possible understanding, but it is limited because of our preconceived notions of what inspiration means.

I prefer the phrase God-breathed, as there is a precedent for understanding what it means to be breathed on or into by God.

In the second of the two creation stories, we have this passage, “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust, and breathed into his nostrils.” And in the Gospel of John, Jesus breathes on his disciples and says “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Look, (pause) we, too, are God breathed. We have the breath of God in our lungs, we have received the Holy Spirit from the breath of Christ. As the book of Ecclesiastes notes, “All have the same breath.” But notice (pause) that despite being God-breathed, we are not infallible or inerrant or even right most of the time. Notice that Adam, after being inspired, in the original sense, by God, after being God-breathed to life and thus to action and to activity, promptly does the wrong thing.

So what does this make Adam? Does the fact that Adam is inspired but imperfect render him useless? No, Adam is useful. Adam’s story is useful. Adam’s story is an allegory for humanity, explaining aspects of the human condition and our human responsibility to the world around us. Thus, the story of Adam is “useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work,” exactly what this letter tells us today. The Bible, just like the people who are in it and their stories, just like all people throughout history, just like us, has been given life through the breath of God. But just like us, it should not be worshiped; if we hold it too dearly, we are committing idolatry. We are pushing God to the side, to the background, and acting as if the Living God has already finished speaking. The Bible is not God, and it does not hold the authority that is God’s alone. So read the Bible, and use it to learn and to grow in relationship with God, but never hold the Bible so close that you drown out the active voice of God speaking to us through ourselves and all the people of the world.

Readings for Sunday Oct 21, 2007

2007-10-20T13:21:00.000-05:00

Jeremiah 31:27-34

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD. In those days they shall no longer say:

"The parents have eaten sour grapes,: and the children's teeth are set on edge."

But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-- a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Psalm 119:97-104

Quomodo dilexi!

97: Oh, how I love your law! *
all the day long it is in my mind.
98: Your commandment has made me wiser than my enemies, *
and it is always with me.
99: I have more understanding than all my teachers, *
for your decrees are my study.
100: I am wiser than the elders, *
because I observe your commandments.
101: I restrain my feet from every evil way, *
that I may keep your word.
102: I do not shrink from your judgments, *
because you yourself have taught me.
103: How sweet are your words to my taste! *
they are sweeter than honey to my mouth.
104: Through your commandments I gain understanding; *
therefore I hate every lying way.

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

As for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

Luke 18:1-8

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, `Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Ben's Sermon from last Sunday

2007-10-20T13:20:00.000-05:00

Sermon preached on Sunday, October 13, 2007

Some of you might have heard the rumours around town. Some of the students at the Episcopal Chaplaincy have seen me. Once a week, my Catholic friend who teaches theology and I go to the gym and lift weights for Jesus.

So even the Chaplain has fallen prey to the obsession with the body beautiful. If my friend and I try to explain in theological terms what our trips to the gym are all about, we say we’re making a sacrifice – a sacrifice of time and effort, not to mention money, to stay fitter and healthier. Sacrifice is about giving something up, so as to attain a higher reward. Sacrifice means giving up time, making extra effort, giving money. So at the gym I am making a sacrifice. No pain, no gain, right?

Who says that no-one makes any sacrifices these days? And I don’t just mean those brave souls sacrificing their lives as soldiers or fire-fighters. Going to the gym is one type of sacrifice that most of you probably do. In fact, we make great displays of this particular sacrifice. Hemenway Gym has large windows looking out, I guess so the people on the treadmills or exercise bikes have something to look at – but also so as to show off their hard work to those outside the glass. This is a public display of the sacrifices we make of our time, our effort, and our money, for the benefit of the body.

But if we are willing to do this for the sake of our physical health, why are we so reluctant to make sacrifices for our spiritual health? “No pain, no gain,” is just as good a slogan for our spiritual life, surely? We have to give things up, to make sacrifices, for the benefit of our spirit.

True, our spiritual health is not so easy to display. Most Episcopalians could think of nothing worse than saying our prayers in front of a big window overlooking Harvard Yard! But in today’s readings we heard that our spirits are just as important as our bodies.

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells the leper who’s come to thank him for healing this horrible skin disease, “your faith has made you well.” Faith – in other words, the life of the spirit, his life with God – has made him well. Think about it. Most of us, when we are sick, just want our bodies to get better and don’t give a second thought about how miserable our spirits are. Most of us, when we go to the gym, don’t give a second thought about our spirits – even though often our spirits are often raised by doing it. But this leper’s spiritual wellbeing was just as important to Jesus as his physical health. When people are sick we say that their spirits are low for a reason, because our bodies and spirits are so interconnected. Think how debilitating leprosy must be to your spirit. So when the leper returns to say thank you – when he shows Jesus gratitude for what he’s been given – then Jesus knows that his spirit has been restored just as much as his body.

Ten lepers were healed by Jesus, of course, but only one of them realized what this gift really meant. Only one of the lepers realized that he had been given new life, new spiritual as well as physical life. “Jesus, Master,” all ten of the lepers cry, “have mercy on us.” And Jesus does have mercy: he sends them off to see a priest, and they are healed of their leprosy in a way they could never have dreamed possible. Jesus gives them a gift, the gift of physical health, but he also offers them the gift of spiritual health. How many of us forget that we’ve received not just gifts of health and of intellect, but also spiritual gifts? How quickly nine of the lepers forget the gift they’re given; and how many of us do likewise?

Our example here is the leper who came and gave thanks to Jesus – a Samaritan leper, an outcast two times over, by virtue of being a leper among an outcast people. Of the ten who were healed, you might have thought he was the one who’d give thanks the least to a Jewish rabbi like Jesus. This leper gave twice, in fact: once by giving money to the priest, according to the law of Moses, and once by giving thanks to Jesus. The double outcast gives a gift two times over. The Samaritan leper realizes not just that his physical condition has been healed, but that he has received new life in Jesus, the life of the spirit, the life of faith. He embodies what St Paul tells us in his second letter to Timothy: “If we have died with [Christ]” – died to the old life of sin, and put on the gift of new life – then “we shall also live with him.”

God’s overflowing generosity created us, and even more generously redeemed us through Jesus his Son, and that generosity is what gives us our purpose… Our purpose is to act like gifts, to be gifts to one another. Our purpose, like the Samaritan leper, is to realize that life is God’s gift of live, and of new life in Jesus, and to live like it. I often say to people, “I am God’s gift to the world!” They don’t seem to understand that I am speaking a vital theological truth. The fact is each one of us is God’s gift to the world, God’s gift to one another. So let’s live like we’re God’s gift to the world and say thank you.

There are practical ways in which we can live as a gift, can live as a big thank you to God. The Israelite slave girl in our Old Testament lesson gave us an example. This girl makes a very small appearance in three short verses of Scripture (2 Kgs 5:2-4). She is a captive in the house of the commander of the Syrian army, Naaman, a seemingly insignificant person in the service of a “mighty warrior.” She is not in a position where you’d have thought she’d live life as a gift, and yet she gives the gift of good news to Naaman’s wife. Because this girl knows there is a “prophet who is in Samaria,” Naaman ends up going to the prophet and being cured of his leprosy. One small word from one small person, small in the grand scheme of things, can end up having massive results. Living life as a gift can bring healing to others. So, for you or me, saying an encouraging word to someone who is feeling low, or visiting who’s lonely or sick, can be the opportunity for God to work. The Israelite girl shows us that there are plenty of ways to give to others from what little we have and to be giving abundantly.

We make sacrifices for our bodies, which help us live active lives. But how much more could we make sacrifices for our spirit, and truly fulfil our purpose as gifts of God? No pain, no gain, right?

2007-10-11T20:20:00.000-05:00

Collect
Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Psalm 66:1-12 Page 673, BCP

Jubilate Deo

1

Be joyful in God, all you lands; *
sing the glory of his Name;
sing the glory of his praise.

2

Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! *
because of your great strength your enemies cringe before you.

3

All the earth bows down before you, *
sings to you, sings out your Name."

4

Come now and see the works of God, *
how wonderful he is in his doing toward all people.

5

He turned the sea into dry land,
so that they went through the water on foot, *
and there we rejoiced in him.

6

In his might he rules for ever;
his eyes keep watch over the nations; *
let no rebel rise up against him.

7

Bless our God, you peoples; *
make the voice of his praise to be heard;

8

Who holds our souls in life, *
and will not allow our feet to slip.

9

For you, O God, have proved us; *
you have tried us just as silver is tried.

10

You brought us into the snare; *
you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.

11

You let enemies ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water; *
but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.

12

I will enter your house with burnt-offerings
and will pay you my vows, *
which I promised with my lips
and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble.

2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me."

But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel." So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean." But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?" He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, "Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, `Wash, and be clean'?" So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel."

Psalm 111 Page 754, BCP

Confitebor tibi

1: Hallelujah!
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, *
in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.
2: Great are the deeds of the LORD! *
they are studied by all who delight in them.
3: His work is full of majesty and splendor, *
and his righteousness endures for ever.
4: He makes his marvelous works to be remembered; *
the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.
5: He gives food to those who fear him; *
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6: He has shown his people the power of his works *
in giving them the lands of the nations.
7: The works of his hands are faithfulness and justice; *
all his commandments are sure.
8: They stand fast for ever and ever, *
because they are done in truth and equity.
9: He sent redemption to his people;
he commanded his covenant for ever; *
holy and awesome is his Name.
10: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; *
those who act accordingly have a good understanding;
his praise endures for ever.

2 Timothy 2:8-15

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David-- that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. The saying is sure:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he will also deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful--
for he cannot deny himself.

Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.

Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."

Ben's Sermon from Oct. 7, 2007

2007-10-11T20:19:00.001-05:00

I wonder how many of you have visited the Grand Canyon? I did three years ago now, and it was stunning. I could barely take it all in, it was so enormous. Nine miles wide, 270 miles long, one mile deep. Formed over 6 million years, this is one of the most stunning parts of God's creation. Containing rocks from the bottom of every ocean on earth, it is a geologist’s dream. A lot of people find it easier to worship God in the great outdoors than inside a church. You might be one of them. When you are standing on the edge of an enormous canyon, you can kind of understand it! But for those who are here, who have made it inside a church today, let me tell you why it is good that you have. For I believe it is only if we come together to hear about God, only if we see what the Bible has to say about the world as God’s creation, that we can understand the meaning of nature.

Jesus used a lot of natural images to teach us about God and the world in which we live. He described the world we live in as permeated by God’s kingdom, as shot through with the glory of God – if we could only see it. “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, ‘Be rooted up, and be planted into the sea,’ and it would obey you.” Or, in another version of the same saying, with only the smallest faith you could move a mountain. Underlying this seemingly crazy claim, Jesus says that nature belongs to God and that, if you think nature is awesome and powerful, what about the God who created it?

“If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed”: I don’t think Jesus’s words are meant to be taken literally; instead it’s hyperbole, like speaking of a camel going through the eye of a needle. Jesus is telling us that, usually, we don’t have faith. Usually we forget that the God who made the mustard seed or the mountain has a purpose for our lives too. If you could only see it, Jesus is saying, if you only had faith, then you would see God’s awesome purpose for your life – as awesome as the Grand Canyon.

The Canyon is the way it is because water has been running through it over the past six million years. Nature left to its own devices does just what it wants. But think not only of rivers making canyons and glaciers making fjords; lions eating other animals or think of tsunamis crashing into islands. They all do just what they want and it’s dangerous.

But to the Christian, even in the threat of nature we find the promise of God’s saving power. There are two ways of looking at nature. We can look at it as it is in itself – in all its rough and tumble, in all its wonders and horrors – and we can look through it to see our Creator and Redeemer. The first is the way in which geologists and evolutionary biologists tend to look. And I don’t think they are necessarily wrong, given the terrors of the natural world. But that doesn’t prevent you from also looking at it as God’s creation – as the work of a Creator whose purpose is at work within it. We should have faith in God, says Jesus, faith that the invisible God is at work in the visible creation.

Think of your own life. Does your life seem to be part of a world in which everything does just what it wants, that is full of rough and tumble, that’s sometimes wondrous but more often scary?

The language we use suggests our lives are often dominated by the violence of nature. We are constantly told, “It’s survival of the fittest out there” – that we live in a “dog-eat-dog world.” The law of nature, we are told, is that only the strong and clever survive, while the weak and stupid fail. But Jesus tells us that human beings are like sheep: not clever but stupid, not strong but weak, unless they are guided by their shepherd. This is a different view of nature: not survival of the fittest, but of obedience to the God who made creation, discerning God’s purpose for you by following the shepherd. And yes, there will be personal suffering, there will be dens of lions, but that is where growth might happen; as Jesus said in today’s gospel, we will be told to “gird yourself and serve me,” often without thanks, but that is what creatures are called to do for their awful Creator – awful in its original sense of filling us with awe.

The book of Revelation gives us another natural image of what life looks like for Christians. Following the shepherd actually means following the one who became the Lamb slain for us upon a cross. Jesus was obedient to God’s will, Jesus was servant of all, and it led to his death. But the writer of the book of Revelation is granted a vision of the saints, surrounding the Lamb who sits upon the throne: “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple; and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, nor shall they thirst any more; the sun shall no more strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd.”

For Christians, things are not quite as they seem at first sight. Here in the book of Revelation, what looked like a disastrous situation, a gathering of those who have died for their faith, is actually the opposite of disaster. These saints have been washed in blood, but washed clean. The world might seem dog-eat-dog, but according to Scripture this kind of violence can hold the key to salvation. The writer of Revelation sees the invisible creation that is hidden in this one, where saints have sacrificed themselves in delight for they know the ruler of all that is, the ruler of both the visible and invisible creation. They know that service to God and to others, which can sometimes lead to pain and suffering, is the true purpose of creation.

So we must not forget the invisible creation which is hidden away within this one – hidden like the mustard seed – and which, with faith like a mustard seed, we can see in this world. Look around with the eyes of faith: God’s creation is a place of abundant life, life without end. God’s creation is a place of glory, glory that we are offered to partake of in good faith, a faith that will let us see the way creation truly is. Creation is a place where blood is spilled – there is no mistaking that – but, for Christians, the blood of the Lamb does not signify death but the very life of the world.

Ben's Sermon from Sunday

2007-10-02T11:08:00.000-05:00

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Benjamin J King at Christ Church on Pentecost 17, 2007

You don’t need to be from New England to realize that there’s something different about southerners. You don’t need to be from southern California to know northern California is like different countries. You could be from Ireland or from Italy, from China or from India, and you would think there is a north-south divide. It was also true in ancient Israel. Since the death of King Solomon, the Hebrew people had been divided into two kingdoms – one ruled from Jerusalem in the south, and one ruled from Samaria in the north. Around 800 BC, the two kingdoms were still close enough to consider themselves as representatives of one people, the people of God, but they were like two different countries.

Of course a lot of stereotypes build up around the differences between north and south. People from the other place speak funny. Or they eat strange foods. Or they have no culture. Northerners in all the nations I’ve mentioned, think of themselves as the hardest workers and that that southerners enjoy their leisure a bit too much. In ancient Israel, though, the opposite stereotype was true. It was the people of the north who enjoyed themselves rather more than they should, and spent too much time building large estates and eating fine foods, and not enough time working.

So Amos says, anyway, about the northern kingdom. But he would say that, wouldn’t he? Amos was a southerner; his king lived in Jerusalem in the south, not Samaria in the north. But he was called by God to be a prophet to the north when, typically of a Hebrew southerner, he was hard at work herding his sheep. A busy man, with much to do, he didn’t have time to go tell those northerners that they had grown lazy and sinful with their wealth. But that is exactly what God wanted him to do.

In today’s lesson we heard Amos telling the northerners: “Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches…; who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp…; who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of [their people]! Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile, and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.” (Amos 6:4-7)

What incredibly specific things to criticize. Amos doesn’t deal in generalities or preach pious platitudes; he has concrete examples of what must change: the ivory beds, the idleness of the songs, the size of the drinking vessels! Amos knew exactly what was wrong with this culture. Archaeological evidence tells us that the northern kingdom was going into general economic decline just at the time the very wealthy were building bigger houses than ever. Irresponsible spending was their sin. And getting rich at the expense of others. When a recession set in back then in ancient Samaria, when increasing numbers of people were starving, the wealthy went on living the high life. But, warns Amos, those who “trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain” shall not live in their houses for much longer (Amos 5:11). God’s punishment will be upon them. Indeed, the kingdom of Samaria fell soon after. In 721 BC, the Assyrians took some 27,000 Samaritan people into exile – at which point they disappear from the historical record, some of them probably ending up as far away as Asia.

Let us remember that the God of Israel, who sent Amos to the northern kingdom some 2800 years ago, is the same God whom we worship today. Kingdoms change. Empires wax and wane. But people are pretty much the same today as they were in the days of Amos. Our culture spends money on things which just aren’t important. Consider my friend who lives in California: he spends an outrageous amount of money having special water imported from Japan just to wash his face in! Think of all the airplane gas – not to mention money – that is being burned to transport water from one rich country to another one that already has more than enough of its own water. There are plenty of opportunities for a godly use of wealth instead of transporting water across the northern hemisphere.

It’s not just countries that experience the north-south divide. Splits between north and south operate today on a global level, splits about which Amos would have something to say. Think about the people in the southern half of our world. Our Presiding Bishop tells an interesting fact about the Millennium Development Goals: apparently the amount it would take to provide primary education to children in the southern hemisphere is one-half of the amount we in this country spend each year on ice-cream. One half! Now this is not to say we should eat less ice-cream, God forbid! Rather, what if ice-cream lovers like me considered giving half as much to Oxfam each year as we spent on ice-cream? Buy a four-dollar tub of ice-cream – send two dollars to Oxfam. That’s the kind of concrete change that Amos was calling for. His challenge to the Samarians and his challenge to us is to find real ways to do something better with our wealth. And all of us here are wealthy by comparison with the global south.

The prophet says nothing about wealth being wrong in itself, but wealth brings with it great responsibility. The wealthy Samaritans’ sin was not being wealthy; it was failing to recognize the “ruin” they were bringing on their people by spending money on themselves alone. In the story Jesus tells in the today’s gospel, the rich man’s sin was not to be dressed in purple and fine linen, nor to feast sumptuously, but rather his sin was to wear and to eat these things when there was a man with nothing lying outside his gate.

Today, as in Amos’s day, as in Jesus’s day, we in the north have a responsibility to do something with our riches. Instead of feeling guilty about all that we have, we need to put it to good use. Today, God is calling each of us to look outside of ourselves – not to be focused on our own desires alone, but upon the needs of others, and so to see the God who is bigger than us all.

Readings for Sunday, September 30th

2007-09-26T10:32:00.000-05:00

The Collect
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him.

Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came to me: Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, "Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours." Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the LORD, and said to me, "Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself." Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 Page 719, 720, BCP

Qui habitat

1: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, *
abides under the shadow of the Almighty.
2: He shall say to the LORD,
"You are my refuge and my stronghold, *
my God in whom I put my trust."
3: He shall deliver you from the snare of the hunter *
and from the deadly pestilence.
4: He shall cover you with his pinions,
and you shall find refuge under his wings; *
his faithfulness shall be a shield and buckler.
5: You shall not be afraid of any terror by night, *
nor of the arrow that flies by day;
6: Of the plague that stalks in the darkness, *
nor of the sickness that lays waste at mid-day.
14: Because he is bound to me in love,
therefore will I deliver him; *
I will protect him, because he knows my Name.
15: He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; *
I am with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and bring him to honor.
16: With long life will I satisfy him, *
and show him my salvation.

Amos 6:1a,4-7

Alas for those who are at ease in Zion,: and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.
Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory,: and lounge on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock,: and calves from the stall;
who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,: and like David improvise on instruments of music;
who drink wine from bowls,: and anoint themselves with the finest oils,; but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,: and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.

Psalm 146 Page 803, BCP

Lauda, anima mea

1: Hallelujah!
Praise the LORD, O my soul! *
I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
2: Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *
for there is no help in them.
3: When they breathe their last, they return to earth, *
and in that day their thoughts perish.
4: Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!*
whose hope is in the LORD their God;
5: Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
who keeps his promise for ever;
6: Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, *
and food to those who hunger.
7: The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind; *
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
8: The LORD loves the righteous;
the LORD cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.
9: The LORD shall reign for ever, *
your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Hallelujah!

1 Timothy 6:6-19

There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time-- he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

Luke 16:19-31

Jesus said, "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' But Abraham said, `Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.' He said, `Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers-- that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' He said, `No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"

Matt's Sermon from Sunday

2007-09-26T10:29:00.000-05:00

Matt Kruger
September 23, 2007
Today’s gospel reading is a parable, a specific genre of literature, with specific qualities that grant it this definition. In order to be a parable, the story must be a didactic tool, that is, it must have a moral or theological message. Parables must also include rhetorical structures, which are portions of a parable that should not inform the way we act. These are metaphorical elements used to illustrate a larger point, and not intended to function on a micro level. And then there are the practical elements that serve as models for the way we live; these can be interpreted in a more literal sense. The sum of all these elements, a parable should be a story that illustrates a larger truth using examples of impractical and practical action while making a theological or moral comment about the world as a whole.
Because I have this definition and these categories on hand, today’s Gospel should have become at once clear to me. Yet, after having read this parable close to fifty times, I am still not sure what is going on here. I have been to the library, and found nothing consistent from any commentator, ancient or new. Apparently, figuring out what the moral or theological message of this story is has proved to be a difficult task.
One problem is that almost every interpreter of this parable is convinced that it is about money, despite the precedent for understanding references to wealth in a metaphorical sense in other parables and throughout the Bible. This limits the possibilities for interpretation, and also makes this already confusing parable even more unappealing to preach on. But I am not convinced this parable has anything to do with money.
First of all, this parable matches the structure of two others. The first is the parable of the unforgiving servant, which begins, “The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.” In this parable, a king summons a slave who owes him 10,000 denarii, and when the slave begs for mercy, the king grants him more time to pay back the debt. This man then runs into another slave who owes him 100 denarii, and when the man is unable to pay, the slave who has already been granted a stay throws the other into prison until he can pay back his debt. The second is the parable of the talents, which includes this verse, “After a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.” In this parable, a master gives three of his slaves an amount of money, one 5 talents, one two talents, and to the other, one talent. The first two slaves double their money by investing, while the other buries his so that he does not risk losing it. The first of these is about forgiveness, and the second, depending on your interpretation, is about faith or even about literal skills and gifts. By induction, each of these parables can be applied to money, but that is not their main moral or theological message.
Today’s parable can be understood as parallel with these two others, and we can therefore understand the characters as representing similar people. In one interpretation, that would make the master in each of these parables God, and the stewards or servants of God us. In each of these parables, God grants us certain things as the stewards of God’s creation that we can use either in the service of God or for selfish purposes. This is the case with the steward in today’s parable. Though he is supposed to be in the service of God, he is not; interpreting metaphorically, he is a sinner. Eventually, he is warned by God that his account is due, in my interpretation it means that he will be called to account for his actions. A common theological conception of the way the universe worked at that point in time is that all those who die, either at the time of death, or during a later apocalyptic period will be called to answer for their sins. In the temporal sense, the steward recognizes that he is in jeopardy of losing an earthly home, and wishes to avoid this. Thus, the steward acts in a manner that is both sinful and generous to ensure that he is not without a place to live. Though this action is self serving and selfish and seems only to continue the illicit practices the dishonest steward has begun, it has just a tinge of mercy attached to it, and this is enough. Though the servant is only trying to save himself, by forgiving the debts of those indebted to his master, he is acting in kindness, and he is worthy of reward.
The parable continues “And his master commended the dishonest manager,” but the Greek text actually reads “the lord commended the dishonest manager,” where the word “lord” can refer either to the lord of the manor or to Jesus himself complimenting the actions of the steward. I would argue that this sentence is intentionally vague, and in fact refers both to the lord in the story and to Jesus, because the actions are shrewd both in terms of this world and the kingdom of heaven.
This parable pulls at our human conceptions of justice. We are told a little later in the reading, “Whoever is faithful in a very little, is also faithful in much. And whoever is dishonest in very little is dishonest also in much.” This would mean that the dishonest steward, who is dishonest in much, is by virtue of his indirect yet faithful service towards God also faithful in much. He is an unjust person and a righteous person, a sinner and an individual who is already enjoying his salvation in a lived way. His indiscretions were not marked in stone, but when he forgives the debts of others, he himself is forgiven.
This is a reminder of the prayer we say every Sunday. “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” I would argue that this parable has little to do with money, and that it has only been interpreted as such as a result of being grouped by Luke with the second half of today’s Gospel reading. This parable is about forgiving others not out of fear of the afterlife, but that you may live peacefully in the present time as well. This parable is tinged with an eschatological urgency, not because of the imminence of the end times or because death is near, but because salvation is present in the here and now, and to hold onto the debts of others is to hold yourself from your own realization of the kingdom of heaven on earth.

Collect and Readings for Sept. 23rd

2007-09-19T10:10:00.000-05:00

Collect
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

My joy is gone, grief is upon me,: my heart is sick.
Hark, the cry of my poor people: from far and wide in the land:
"Is the LORD not in Zion?: Is her King not in her?"
("Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,: with their foreign idols?")
"The harvest is past, the summer is ended,: and we are not saved."
For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt,: I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.
Is there no balm in Gilead?: Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of my poor people: not been restored?
O that my head were a spring of water,: and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I might weep day and night: for the slain of my poor people!"

Psalm 79:1-9 Page 701, BCP

Deus, venerunt

O God, the heathen have come into your inheritance;
they have profaned your holy temple; *
they have made Jerusalem a heap of rubble.

They have given the bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the air, *
and the flesh of your faithful ones to the beasts of the field.

They have shed their blood like water on every side of Jerusalem, *
and there was no one to bury them.

We have become a reproach to our neighbors, *
an object of scorn and derision to those around us.

How long will you be angry, O LORD?*
will your fury blaze like fire for ever?

Pour out your wrath upon the heathen who have not known you *
and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon your Name.

For they have devoured Jacob *
and made his dwelling a ruin.

Remember not our past sins;
let your compassion be swift to meet us; *
for we have been brought very low.

Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your Name; *
deliver us and forgive us our sins, for your Name's sake.

Amos 8:4-7

Hear this, you that trample on the needy,: and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
saying, "When will the new moon be over: so that we may sell grain;
and the sabbath,: so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,: and practice deceit with false balances,
buying the poor for silver: and the needy for a pair of sandals,; and selling the sweepings of the wheat."
The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

Psalm 113 Page 756, BCP

Laudate, pueri

1: Hallelujah!
Give praise, you servants of the LORD; *
praise the Name of the LORD.
2: Let the Name of the LORD be blessed, *
from this time forth for evermore.
3: From the rising of the sun to its going down *
let the Name of the LORD be praised.
4: The LORD is high above all nations, *
and his glory above the heavens.
5: Who is like the LORD our God, who sits enthroned on high *
but stoops to behold the heavens and the earth?
6: He takes up the weak out of the dust *
and lifts up the poor from the ashes.
7: He sets them with the princes, *
with the princes of his people.
8: He makes the woman of a childless house *
to be a joyful mother of children.

The Second Reading

1 Timothy 2:1-7

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For

there is one God;: there is also one mediator between God and humankind,
Christ Jesus, himself human,: who gave himself a ransom for all

-- this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

The Gospel

Luke 16:1-13

Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' Then the manager said to himself, `What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.' So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?' He answered, `A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' Then he asked another, `And how much do you owe?' He replied, `A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, `Take your bill and make it eighty.' And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

"Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

Ben's Sermon from Sept. 16th - Lost Sheep

2007-09-19T10:01:00.000-05:00

I wonder if any of you is feeling a little lost at the moment? Lost in a new town? A new university? Lost among a new group of people? Among new church congregation? For those of you who’re already part of this congregation, perhaps you’re feeling lost because of the new service leaflet or new singing of the Lord’s Prayer?

Any one of you, whether new this year or returning, might be feeling like you have left the herd that sustained you over the summer, and now you are on your own. We often hear that sheep tend not to go it alone, yet to begin new school year that is exactly what you’ve had to do. You are on your own.

But the reassuring message of today’s gospel is that, wherever you wander, Jesus has got you. Whenever you are feeling like a lost sheep, Jesus “lays [you] on his shoulders and rejoices” to bring you home.

Today’s reading from Luke is one of two versions of the parable of the lost sheep in the gospels. You might not know it, but the story also appears in Matthew with a slightly different message. This is nice because it allows me to say something about the way we Episcopalians, we members of the Anglican Communion, interpret the Bible. Anglicans have a long history of being literary-types; we are maybe a bit artsy-fartsy for some tastes, but we believe in a breadth of interpretation. We are the sorts who believe that Jesus’s words are so magnificent, that there can’t just be one interpretation to each passage of scripture.

The parable of the lost sheep is proof of what I say, because Matthew and Luke interpret Jesus’s story in slightly different ways. The gospel writers use the story of the one sheep out of ninety-nine that is lost and put their own spin on it. Is it about being lost to sin, or about being lost in the world? Is it about God saving us from sin in the person of Jesus, or is it about Jesus promising that God holds on to us so that we never will be lost?

Luke thinks it is a parable about sinners and so he sets the story in the context of the Pharisees challenging Jesus. The Pharisees are saying: “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Lk 15:1). So why does Jesus hang out with sinners? Luke uses the parable to explain. Luke seems to be presenting Jesus as a shepherd trying to find the sinners of this world, so as to make them aware that God loves them. Jesus ends the story with these words: when the lost sheep is found, the shepherd comes home, “And… he calls together his friends, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents” – just as Jesus the Son and God the Father rejoice together when one who is lost responds to their call, responds to their offer of grace.

The message seems to be that God finds you in your sin and God is active in you when you repent. That is what Augustine takes the parable to mean in his Confessions, the famous meditation in which the famous saint tells the story of his life. Even when you think you’ve gone astray, says Augustine, God is there guiding you back. You can’t get lost from God. This is what Augustine calls grace.

Augustine tells the story of his own time at college. Instead of going it alone, he got in with the wrong crowd – a group that picked on lonely freshmen. He writes: “I was far quieter than the other students, and had nothing whatever to do with the vandalism which used to be carried out by the Wreckers. This sinister and diabolical self-designation was a kind of mark of their urbane sophistication. I lived among them shamelessly ashamed of not being one of the gang. I kept company with them and sometimes delighted in their friendship, though I always held their actions in abhorrence. The Wreckers used wantonly to persecute shy and unknown freshmen. Their aim was to persecute them by mockery and so to feed their malevolent amusement.” Sound like any group you know?

Augustine says that it doesn’t help if, when you are feeling lost and lonely, you get in with the wrong crowd. It doesn’t help, but even there God is with you. Even as you commit sins against others, God is trying to bring you round through grace. When Augustine thought he was going away from God, as a young boy, as a student and then as a rich lawyer, he came to realize that God was still holding on to him throughout.

Matthew has a different take on this same parable: for him the lost sheep is an example not of a sinner but of a child of God, among whom we can count ourselves. God is the shepherd in this version and God looking out for you. Matthew introduces the parable with Jesus saying of the children of God: “Take care you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?... So it is not the will of your Father that one of these little ones should be lost.” (Mt 18:10-14)

Although the focus is no longer on sin, the message is still that God is never far away from you. Even if the world rejects you, or your peers reject you, or your sweetheart does, or your family, God will not. So which interpretation do you like best?

Both interpretations say something that Episcopalians and Anglicans think is particularly important to say about God. It is distinctively Anglican to focus on the incarnation, on God’s coming to us in Jesus, so that we might be found. In line with Luke’s version, we believe God has overcome sin in Jesus. In line with Matthew’s version, God has come into the world in human flesh so as to lift human flesh up to God. Sin overcome and humanity lifted to God: that has results for us too. As sheep who have been found, in Jesus we are given the opportunity to be transformed.

The meaning of the incarnation, and of this parable, is humanity’s transformation. Think of what Paul wrote in our reading from the first letter to Timothy: “I am grateful to Jesus Christ our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence” (I Tim 1:12). Paul has been found. Like Paul, the Christian is no longer “a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a [person] of violence” but is transformed by Christ “to [do] his service.” We are those who have been called to join a new herd. If we feel like we are lost, then look around you and recognize in one another that we are being transformed in God’s service.

Welcome!

2007-08-23T10:17:00.000-05:00

We're looking forward to seeing new faces and catching up with old friends!

As the semester gets underway, we hope you'll join us for our Open House on September 12th from 5:30-7:30pm and for services on Sundays at 5pm beginning September 16th (Christ Church, Zero Garden Street), always followed by dinner at the Chaplaincy House (2 Garden Street, Map).

The Chaplain, Ben King, is always available to students. Feel free to drop him an email (episcopal_chaplaincy@harvard.edu) or call (617) 495-4340.

Sunday Preview

2007-04-26T16:43:00.000-05:00

The Collect
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Acts 13:15-16,26-33(34-39)

When Paul and Barnabas came to Antioch in Pisidia, they went on the sabbath day into the synagogue, and after the reading of the law and the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, "Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it." So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak:

"You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen. My brothers, you descendants of Abraham's family, and others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him. Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm,

'You are my Son;: today I have begotten you.'

[As to his raising him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

`I will give you the holy promises made to David.'

Therefore he has also said in another psalm,

`You will not let your Holy One experience corruption.'

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died, was laid beside his ancestors, and experienced corruption; but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.]

Psalm 100: Jubilate Deo

1: Be joyful in the LORD, all you lands; *
serve the LORD with gladness
and come before his presence with a song.
2: Know this: The LORD himself is God; *
he himself has made us, and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
3: Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise; *
give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
4: For the LORD is good;
his mercy is everlasting; *
and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

John 10:22-30

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

Chaplaincy Review: Langston Hughes, "April Rain Song"

2007-04-17T19:54:00.000-05:00

Langston Hughes is back!

"April Rain Song"
Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby
The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk
The rain makes running pools in the gutter
The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night
And I love the rain.

Morning After Preaching, Second Sunday of Easter

2007-04-16T15:16:00.001-05:00

I have a lot of sympathy for Thomas. In fact, I think he gets a pretty raw deal in the Christian tradition, probably because of Jesus’ rebuke. (Of course, Jesus rebuked the disciples – and most especially Peter – all the time, so it’s not exactly anything to write home about.) But Thomas is forever remembered as doubting.

I have a theory about this. After time passed, after Pentecost, when the early Christians could no longer see the risen Christ in the flesh, Jesus’ words are a sort of balm: Blessed are you who do not see but yet believe. If you have no chance to physically put your hands on Jesus, well, your consolation is right there in his very own words.

Human beings are sensory creatures. Taste, touch, sight, sound – these are how we experience the world. If you’ve ever been around a very young child, you’ve seen this at the most basic, instinctive level. As we grow up, we learn not to put everything in our mouths, not to touch certain things, like an open flame, sharp knives and so on.

But the underlying principle of human knowing abides: I know because I have seen, felt, tasted, heard – for myself. This is, in fact, the basis for scientific inquiry, for discovering the world and its material properties. Our whole modern world is based on the very human impulse that we share with Thomas – the urge to know through our senses, in order to fully experience the reality of any given thing. Thomas’s reaction is exactly what our academic culture prizes: not relying solely on what others say, but investigating for oneself. Not taking anything on faith. This is precisely the opposite of what Jesus praises, however. Jesus’ words – that those who believe without seeing are blessed – go against our natural impulses and against everything we’ve been taught.

Part of my sympathy for Thomas is that he only asks to see what the other disciples saw. Jesus came and stood among them; he showed the other disciples his hands and his side. Why is Thomas so maligned for wanting to experience as the others had?

I’m willing to bet that if we were given the chance to see and touch the risen Christ in the flesh, we’d take it. I certainly would! Perhaps Jesus’ rebuke is for all the disciples who were privileged to see him in the fifty days after Easter morning, so that they would remember that their privilege places an imperative on them, one that is passed on to us.

Jesus came that we should have life abundantly. The responsibility that comes with knowing and believing in Jesus is that we share the good news with others. We are called not only to believe but to proclaim Jesus as the Christ and as our Lord, so that each person might know the risen Christ and so that they too might share in abundant life.

It is this responsibility that took the apostles to the temple in Jerusalem to proclaim Jesus as Lord. It brought them imprisonment. It took them across the Mediterranean and throughout the Roman Empire. It led Peter to declare that “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” It brought the apostles and the early Christians into conflict with religious authorities and with the state. It would cost many of them their lives in this world, but not the abundant life that Jesus had promised.

Most of us will never have to risk our lives or our freedom in order to proclaim the gospel. It might require sacrifices of other kinds, or it might be so simple as to be forgettable.

This is precisely the kind of moment that I have experienced. I didn’t grow up going to church. My parents and sister didn’t believe in God. But when I was eleven, a friend taught me the Lord’s Prayer. And in that small moment, the seed of Christian faith took root in my life. I don’t remember my friend’s name, and I’m sure she’s long since forgotten me. But that small, simple moment had real and enduring consequences for my life.

It shaped my choices about how to live my life. It defined how I treated other people and how I nurtured my relationship with God. It brought me here, to this very moment. It opened my eyes to the abundant life that we have in Jesus.

Knowing all of this, believing in all of it, I can do nothing else but proclaim the good news – that Jesus is my Lord and that he is risen – in small ways and in momentous ways, in every way that I can, at every opportunity that I am given. Our faith does not stop at believing. It should pervade everything we do, the choices we make, and the ways that we interact with one another and with everyone.

That is the responsibility that rests on all of us who have come to know Jesus not by sight, but by faith, who have experienced the paschal mystery of Easter, and who have responded by believing: to show forth our faith, because it does not belong to us. It belongs to God. It is a gift that we, having received it, must share. Thomas, for all his doubts and his need to experience though his senses the fullness of Christ, invites us to remember that we are blessed to know Christ and that that blessing is something to share. Amen.

Sunday Preview

2007-04-12T09:58:00.000-05:00

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Acts 5:12a,17-22,25-29

Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said, "Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life." When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching.

When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported. Then someone arrived and announced, "Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!" Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man's blood on us" But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than any human authority."

Psalm 111: Confitebor tibi

1: Hallelujah!
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, *
in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.
2: Great are the deeds of the LORD! *
they are studied by all who delight in them.
3: His work is full of majesty and splendor, *
and his righteousness endures for ever.
4: He makes his marvelous works to be remembered; *
the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.
5: He gives food to those who fear him; *
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6: He has shown his people the power of his works *
in giving them the lands of the nations.
7: The works of his hands are faithfulness and justice; *
all his commandments are sure.
8: They stand fast for ever and ever, *
because they are done in truth and equity.
9: He sent redemption to his people;
he commanded his covenant for ever; *
holy and awesome is his Name.
10: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; *
those who act accordingly have a good understanding;
his praise endures for ever.

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if your retain the sins of any, they are retained."

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Chaplaincy Review: Photo Special!

2007-04-10T09:50:00.000-05:00

Students & Ben+
Victor, Judith, Ben, and Marianne

Morning After Preaching

2007-04-09T10:41:00.000-05:00

I wonder how many of you like murder mysteries? I am not a gambling man, but I’m willing to guess nearly all of you. This is something I’ve noticed about church people: they love a good murder! But why are books about violence and death so interesting to us?

It might be sheer escapism. It might also be that, as Christians, we take seriously the reality of violence and death in the world. Think of the readings we hear throughout holy week. Think of Abraham and Isaac, where God demands that Abraham sacrifice his only Son. Thankfully, God relents and gives Abraham back his Son, Isaac, but God’s power of life and death is clear. Then we heard the story of the people of Israel escaping from pharaoh through the Red Sea. God brings death to pharoah’s charioteers, but he rescues his chosen people. Then we heard from Ezekiel, who also told us about God’s power over death. God asked Ezekiel to breathe life back into the bones of the dead in order to bring them to life. Death is not victorious, these stories say, if God is on your side.

In their own way, murder mysteries are based upon the same struggle of life against death. But there is something else to be said for them: something I want to talk about briefly tonight. They are good training for how to read carefully, how to see things we didn’t see before. They train us to look for the unexpected in what is in front of us. You’ve all heard of Sherlock Holmes, I hope, the first real detective in fiction. Picture Sherlock Holmes holding up what looks like something normal and everyday, and asking his sidekick, Watson, what he sees. “I can see nothing,” Watson says to Homes. “On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see.”

Somehow things in front of us, things under our noses, hide within them all the evidence necessary to figure out what happened. For those with eyes to see, what looks like nothing can, in fact, reveal everything. For those with eyes to see, folded grave clothes, an empty tomb, can reveal the resurrection of the Son of God.

A mystery novel trains us to look for the unexpected. To look at the world in a different way from the way most people look – to be a Sherlock Holmes rather than a Watson. Of course it is Watson who, like many skeptics, thinks that Holmes has lost his grip on reality. Holmes is thought by the skeptic to be eccentric and strange… right up until the last pages, when the truth is revealed. But if we look closely, if instead of skepticism we believe, then we will look as closely as Holmes at every clue. And perhaps we too will figure out what has happened before the final pages.

That was what the angel told the women who came to the tomb that first Easter morning. Luke’s gospel tells us the women went “and found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel; and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise’.” (Luke 24:2-6) Remember what he told you, say the angels. Remember the clues he gave. Look with the eyes of faith, and you will know in your heart what’s happened.

In Luke’s account, the evidence of resurrection was already hidden in all that Jesus said and did. For those with eyes to see, Jesus had trained his followers to look for the unexpected. For those with ears to hear, Jesus had told his followers the mysterious truth about himself. So, as the angels say: Why be perplexed? Why seek the living among the dead? For the truth, the mysterious and wonderful truth, is that Jesus Christ has risen. Jesus Christ is who he said – the one whom death and darkness could not defeat, God’s own Son.

Tonight is a night of great joy. The mystery of the death on Friday afternoon has revealed its truth – that Jesus Christ is God’s Son come to be among us, come to release us from sin and death. Life has beaten murder on the cross. Christ has overtaken death. And Christ’s life can overtake us too, lifting us up to God.

Back in the early days of the Church, those about to be baptized learned all about mysteries – the “holy mysteries,” or mysteries of faith. In Jerusalem, over 1600 years ago, St Cyril played the role of Sherlock Holmes, teaching those about to be baptized how to “see everything.” They learned how to see with the eyes of faith, learned how to recognize the Bible’s truths, learned how to encounter God in the world. We can still read St Cyril of Jerusalem’s words to those to be baptized.

“Already there is an odor of blessedness upon you, O ye who are soon to be enlightened: already ye are gathering the spiritual flowers, to weave heavenly crowns: already the fragrance of the Holy Spirit has breathed upon you: already ye have gathered round the vestibule of the King’s palace; may ye be led in by the King!” A bit more poetic than a Sherlock Holmes novel I will admit. But Cyril is trying to instill the sense of anticipation, of wanting to be drawn into a mystery, in a way that employs your reason. Like all good Episcopalians, he doesn’t want people to leave their brains outside church.

On Easter morning in Jerusalem, the newly baptized received the fullness of that mystery: received the Eucharist for the first time on Easter, the day of Jesus’s resurrection. They now tasted what they had been taught: the mystery that is hidden in bread and wine. For the first time they experienced what we learned on Maundy Thursday, about the gift of Jesus’s life in the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

The gift that was given in that Last Supper, the gift of Jesus’s own life, was handed over late on Thursday night to the Jewish authorities, who handed the gift over to Pilate, who eventually handed it to the people, who took that life away by shouting “Crucify him!” on Friday. The gift of life, which we humans tried to snuff out on the cross, is offered to us again as Christ rises from the dead.

The Eucharist is possible only because Christ, though dead on Friday, is risen again. Risen and present still. The mystery of the empty tomb is the mystery of Christ’s life offered to us still. Why, then, do you seek the living among the dead? Today death and darkness have lost. In bread and wine is life. Alleluia!

A later version of the poem,

2007-04-08T22:19:00.000-05:00

Grace

My anger is a ball.

I clench it in my fist like a ball.

It grows a little, prints against my palm.

I roll it, it becomes a ball again.

It is very small. I press it smaller.

Some days it is so small I think I lose it.

But it has strung the center of my palm.

Absently, I flex my spider ball

I let it drop, it bounces up again

Travellating, a glob that slides on string.

When I sleep, it throbs and I relax.

In the morning it is swollen slightly.

Sometimes, I like to play the magic cup game:

Spin a ball slicked under three plain cups:

One for you, one for me, one for us:

Make a guess – where is my anger now?

I have been told

I do not know

The silver cliffs

Of your authority.

But I have heard

And have been told

That if I hurled –

My ball would rise

And maybe pass

The highest peak –

And so I hurl –

Air rushes with a sound –

And nothing:

I’m still waiting for rebound.

--

I'm happy with the formal changes, but it may need some tweaking yet.

Sunday Preview

2007-04-05T14:57:00.000-05:00

The Collect

O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Acts 10:34-43

Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

Psalm 118:14-17, 22-24 - Confitemini Domino

14: The LORD is my strength and my song, *
and he has become my salvation.
15: There is a sound of exultation and victory *
in the tents of the righteous:
16: "The right hand of the LORD has triumphed! *
the right hand of the LORD is exalted!
the right hand of the LORD has triumphed!"
17: I shall not die, but live, *
and declare the works of the LORD.
22: The same stone which the builders rejected *
has become the chief cornerstone.
23: This is the LORD'S doing, *
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24: On this day the LORD has acted; *
we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Colossians 3:1-4

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Luke 24:1-10

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.

Chaplaincy Review: Oscar Wilde, "Sonnet written in Holy Week at Genoa"

2007-04-03T14:39:00.000-05:00

Ocsar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish playwright, poet and novelist. He left Ireland in 1878, and spent the subsequent years in London, Paris and the United States. This particular poem, "Sonnet written in Holy Week at Genoa," was written in 1881.

I WANDERED in Scoglietto’s green retreat,
The oranges on each o’erhanging spray
Burned as bright lamps of gold to shame the day;
Some startled bird with fluttering wings and fleet
Made snow of all the blossoms, at my feet
Like silver moons the pale narcissi lay:
And the curved waves that streaked the sapphire bay
Laughed i’ the sun, and life seemed very sweet.
Outside the young boy-priest passed singing clear,
“Jesus the Son of Mary has been slain,
O come and fill his sepulchre with flowers.”
Ah, God! Ah, God! those dear Hellenic hours
Had drowned all memory of Thy bitter pain,
The Cross, the Crown, the Soldiers, and the Spear.

Morning After Preaching

2007-04-02T10:40:00.000-05:00

We are about to enter a life-changing week. Life-changing for us, precisely because it was life-ending for Jesus. The first holy week was a tumultuous one for him whom we follow. Christ Jesus began where we did today, with a triumphal entry – a triumphal entry into Jerusalem when he was hailed by the people as King. They waved palms, and spread their cloaks upon the ground, and shouted “Hosanna, hosanna” at the top of their lungs.

But within a week their cries changed. Changed to “Crucify him, crucify him.” And so began his rejection by the people, rejection even by those like Peter he had called his friends. He was left alone to die upon a cross. This week we are invited to walk the way of the cross with Jesus, and unlike Peter to stay with him to the end.

Christ, the man, underwent great change in the first holy week. We call it the time of his Passion because of the emotional and physical torment he went through. Think of the emotions a human being experiences when he is hailed one day with cries of “Hosanna,” only to be spurned five days later and condemned to death. Think of the emotion that led him to cry out in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Let this cup pass from me” – let this anguish and pain pass from me. Think above all of the change that greeted Christ, as it will greet each one of us in our own time, as he passed from life into death.

In spite of the changes, there is something changeless in Christ too. For Christ is not just fully man. Through all the changes of holy week, Christ remained changelessly God. He remained God even in his very weakness, remained God in his human death. And this is precisely why this week can change us. It can change us because during this week we come face to face with the changeless God. During this week we recognize anew the wonder of God coming to us. God has entered into human flesh to work our salvation.

“Christ Jesus,” says St Paul, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-6).

“Though he was in the form of God,” says St Paul, “though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” Instead of remaining in the form of God, Christ took on the form of a human. In so doing, his divine substance did not change – God cannot change – but took on human substance as well. Thus he was “found in human form… humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”

As we accompany him through the time of his Passion, we will chart the changes in Christ’s human form. We will perhaps feel his emotions within ourselves: the joy, the sorrow, the anguish. Even if we cannot feel his emotions, we know that there are people who every day experience joy, sorrow and anguish. We can see what those emotions look like. We can see how horrific pain, or isolation from friends, or fear of death, shape and scar people. Jesus was shaped and scarred in just these ways during holy week, but he suffered these things that he might overcome them. But how?

God is powerfully at work in human pain and suffering because Christ has become like us in order to transform these things. Here is how one fourth-century saint put it: “When a great king has entered a large city and taken up residence in one of the houses of it, such a city becomes worthy of great honor and is no longer assaulted by any enemy or bandit, but is rather deemed worthy of every attention because of the king residing in one of its houses. Such is the case of the King of all. As soon as he came to our realm and took up residence in one body, like our own, the whole conspiracy against humanity by its enemies” – evil and sin and the pain they cause – “has been stopped and the corruption of death which had formerly ruled over them has been obliterated.” (Ath, de Inc. 9) Little did the people know how accurate they were when they welcomed the king into the city of Jerusalem. Through his death there even death’s victory would be obliterated.

Sunday Preview: No services this Sunday!

2007-03-22T09:27:00.000-05:00

Because of Harvard College's spring break, there will not be a service this Sunday. Our services will resume April 1, which is Palm Sunday. See you then!

Chaplaincy Review: Ellen Wehle, "Second Coming"

2007-03-20T21:24:00.000-05:00

Check out "Second Coming," a poem by Massachusetts resident Ellen Wehle, featured on Slate. For full effect, be sure to listen to the audio of Wehle reading the poem herself.

Morning After Preaching

2007-03-19T10:40:00.000-05:00

Today, the Fourth Sunday in Lent, is traditionally known as Refreshment Sunday. It is the Sunday in the middle of Lent when we can take a break and think about something happy. Today we put off the sackcloth and wear racy pink vestments instead!

The purpose of Lent, of course, is not to give us a permanent downer during these cold months of the year. With the weather the way it is in New England, there is reason enough to be down in March, without the church adding to our despair! But Lent is not meant to make us more downcast. Rather, it is meant to be a time when we become aware of our failings only in order to put things right. It is a time when we examine the dark side of our character only to let God’s light come pouring in. Lent is a time to try to live up to God’s standards for us only because we realize God has already forgiven us so much.

This is the good news I want to share with you this Sunday. For today we can be refreshed by the good news we heard in the Gospel just now. The story Jesus tells is all about how God overcomes failures in our lives and our relationships, how God forgives us for the darkness in our lives so that we might let God’s light in.

The main character in the story, whom we call the Prodigal Son, is a person who has had enough. Perhaps you have all had enough, too, and are craving spring break. Whatever you do, don’t follow the example of the prodigal and go for a week of sin in Mexico or Las Vegas!

The prodigal is someone who’s had enough of his family, and of the responsibilities that his elder brother is all too keen to fulfill. Later in the story, the elder brother complains to his father: “Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me” anything. We learn from this that the younger son was judged disobedient. He is the wayward member of the family. And like many wayward ones, the relationships he has with his family are broken ones. His elder brother resents him; and he doesn’t like his place in the family. The prodigal is a man for whom family relationships are a burden he would rather not have – and I wonder how many of us can understand that? So he ups and leaves his family, taking his inheritance with him, and journeys into what Jesus in the story calls “a distant land,” “a far country.” He wants to be somewhere his family is not!

But he, like us, cannot escape his history. That is why we all need forgiveness. For forgiveness is about making our history right – recognizing the mistakes we have made and that others have made to us, and asking that they be overlooked. That is the truth that underlies Jesus’s parable. Unless we seek forgiveness for what has happened in our past, it is very likely we will never be able to let those mistakes go. They will continue to haunt us, in fact, just like they did to the prodigal son. Someone unable to make good his relationships with his family is not likely to have better fortune with those he meets in the far country. And what happens is just as we might expect. “There,” Jesus says, “he squandered all that he had in loose living.” Falling in with the wrong crowd, the son loses everything – except the one thing he really wants to lose, his past. In fact now his past haunts him all the more when, feeding the pigs with food he’d love to eat himself, he remembers the plenty he had with his father.

Let me break into this sad story to remind you this is Refreshment Sunday, a day for good news. Perhaps we, like the prodigal son, have things in our past that we have not put right. Perhaps we have blundered in relationships, or have resented how others have treated us. This Sunday we have a chance to make these things right. For God offers us forgiveness, that we might offer that forgiveness to others. God, like the father in the story, sees us and has compassion upon us.

God should not be thought of in only male terms. Just a couple of weeks back, we heard Jesus describe the work of God in these words, “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” – a wonderful maternal image for the work of God in the world. Today, for the message of the parable to come across fully, the imagery of God as a father is crucial. No self-respecting father in the middle east would publicly break into a run, no matter what the occasion. Yet this father is so overjoyed to see his son that he runs to him, runs as fast as his legs would carry him. I remember my Palestinian friend at seminary telling me that this was the most shocking, startling part of the story – that the father runs to meet the returning prodigal.

This is a radical, unconventional image of God as father precisely because God is not like an ordinary father. Our God run to us, runs to embrace us and to hear us say, like the prodigal, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.” For God longs to say to us, “you were lost, my son or daughter, but now you are found.”

The good news is that, if we start to come part of the way to God, God will run to us. Like the father in the story, God’s love for us, God’s desire to sweep us up into his arms, overcomes everything, not least cultural convention. We live in a culture – Harvard, the US, the western world – that is not very good at forgiveness. We live in a culture, as Nietzsche diagnosed, in which we easily become captured by resentment, or seething anger. Yet, deep down, all of us know how psychologically wounding to us it is when we refuse to forgive others or refuse to forgive ourselves. How difficult it is to forgive when we feel hurt or let down. How difficult it is to forgive – and yet how important it is for us to learn how to do so.

We often think forgiveness is only about the person being forgiven. But it is just as important psychologically for the person doing the forgiving. That is the lesson to be learned by the eldest son in the story. The person doing the forgiving receives as much relief as the one they forgive. Both father and eldest son had reason to resent the prodigal; but how much better did the father feel when he forgave the prodigal? The father is able to let things go, to celebrate the return of his son, to make-merry with music and dancing. But the other son? He would rather be left outside, where he can seethe in his anger. How difficult it is to forgive! But how he suffered in his resentment! His lack of forgiveness poisoned his love even for his father. And yet his father forgives him too. Again he breaks social convention by going to speak to his older son, rather than have the son come to him. Like God, this father visits again and again to forgive us.

Think of the Lord’s Prayer. In that prayer we ask our Father for forgiveness with these words: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The two sons in the parable express both parts of this petition – forgive us our sins and may we forgive the sins of others. The parable shows that not only have we been forgiven but that for our own good we must also forgive. Forgiveness is not easy. But Jesus teaches it is good for us. And that is news with which to be refreshed today.

Sunday Preview

2007-03-15T14:34:00.000-05:00

The Collect
Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Joshua 5:9-12

The LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt." And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.

While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

Psalm 34:1-8, Benedicam Dominum

1: I will bless the LORD at all times; *
his praise shall ever be in my mouth.
2: I will glory in the LORD; *
let the humble hear and rejoice.
3: Proclaim with me the greatness of the LORD;
let us exalt his Name together.
4: I sought the LORD, and he answered me *
and delivered me out of all my terror.
5: Look upon him and be radiant, *
and let not your faces be ashamed.
6: I called in my affliction and the LORD heard me *
and saved me from all my troubles.
7: The angel of the LORD encompasses those who fear him, *
and he will deliver them.
8: Taste and see that the LORD is good; *
happy are they who trust in him!

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Luke 15:11-32

Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."' So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe--the best one--and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.

"Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"

Chaplaincy Review: Amy Lowell, "Generations"

2007-03-13T14:42:00.000-05:00

Amy Lowell (1874-1925) was born in Brookline, Massachusetts and became a poet in the early part of the twentieth century. She is best known for using the imagist style and for winning the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry posthumously in 1926.

"Generations"
You are like the stem
Of a young beech-tree,
Straight and swaying,
Breaking out in golden leaves.
Your walk is like the blowing of a beech-tree
On a hill.
Your voice is like leaves
Softly struck upon by a South wind.
Your shadow is no shadow, but a scattered sunshine;
And at night you pull the sky down to you
And hood yourself in stars.

But I am like a great oak under a cloudy sky,
Watching a stripling beech grow up at my feet.

Morning After Preaching, Third Sunday of Lent

2007-03-12T09:46:00.000-05:00

Our Gospel passage for today is a text that I am uneasy with. I have a definite preference for Jesus as warm, fuzzy friend, Jesus as comforter, Jesus as the nice guy. This is, admittedly, false. And yet, I am not quite ready to let this image go. So when passages like today’s Gospel force me to listen to stories and parables that I don’t like, I am confronting not only the text itself but also the images of Jesus and God that are my own creation.

The first part of the Gospel recounts the story of Galilean pilgrims to Jerusalem who are martyred by Pilate at the Temple, “whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” Not a pretty image. Jesus goes on to mention the people “who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them.” Again, not a pretty image.

And his response to both of these events is to say: “unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.”

Perish as they did.

Make no mistake; this is a message to us, to me and to you, despite the historical, cultural and religious distance of the examples. This message is not about dying in the same circumstances, but about being taken from this life unpreparedly. Jesus reminds his listeners that these tragic deaths were not a consequence of greater sins and offenses, but that tragedies happen to those who are good and bad alike, and this is all the more reason to repent.

For, when Jesus tells us to repent, we are being called to be aware, to be ready for what may come without warning. In the Great Litany, most often used during Lent, we pray: “from dying suddenly and unprepared, Good Lord, deliver us.” Jesus is not saying that by repenting we will not perish, but that we will, one day, perish in a different way.

Although it seems like this story (and this sermon, for that matter) are focusing rather morbidly on death, that is not what all of this is about. By reminding us of our limitations as human beings, and particularly that we are finite beings, we are being called to live more fully in the present time. And that brings me to the second half of the reading from Luke.

Despite the initial, summary judgment of the fig-tree – rejected as a failure – the parable offers a message of hope, for the gardener proposes to do something unusual, to take the last possible measures. The fig-tree has been granted a reprieve.

The “sin” of the fig-tree is not that it did something bad, or even that it did nothing – it has been growing for six years. During the first three years, Levitical Law forbids eating the fruit of the tree, and three more years had passed, during which the owner had looked in vain for fruit. The tree had not born fruit in six years, since it had first been planted, but it had been doing plenty: growing taller, digging its roots deeper into the ground, sending out leaves and branches.

And yet, the tree was expected to produce fruit. The fault, then, of the tree is that it is not doing what it is called, meant and intended to do.

Likewise, the question that we must face in Lent is not, Can I make it to Easter without eating sweets? Or, how can I manage to stay awake without my regular fix of caffeine? But, Am I doing what I have been created and called by God to do?

A fig tree is good when it does what it is created by God in its nature to do: to bear fruit. By bearing fruit, it fulfills its particular and God-given purpose in the world. It would be awfully easy to transfer this directly to human beings and declare that each of us, individually and collectively, are expected to bear fruit (in a metaphorical way, hopefully).

I think that is too simplistic. God created each one of us with our own set of gifts, skills, weaknesses, and strange quirks. Before I can ask, Am I doing what I have been created and called by God to do? I must first ask what it is that God asks particularly of me. And the first step to asking what it is that God created and called me to do is to take stock of what I have to work with – and what I have to work on – (because believe me, we all have both).

God has expectations and demands of us. This is sometimes hard to hear in a society that prizes individualism, autonomy, and independence. The reality that we claim as Christians is that we are not autonomous individuals, but that we are dependent on God’s grace, love and mercy and ultimately that we are subject to God’s judgment.

God asks – demands – of all of us three seemingly simple things: to heed his call, to bless his name, and to be faithful to his purpose for our lives. This is what we are all to do in order to live more fully. But we are also uniquely called: to teach, to heal, to give time, to feed the hungry, and even to study and learn.

Making an honest assessment of ourselves continually is one small part of living, as Jesus asks of us, a repentant life, ready for whatever may come. Your calling now may not be how God calls you in five or ten years; being ready requires that we pay attention to how we grow and change and how our calling evolves with us. From this assessment, we can begin to discern what God is creating and calling us to do now, and from there, we can begin to do it.

Toyohiko Kagawa, a Christian and a lay leader in Japan during the early part of the twentieth century, wrote in a poem:

I read
In a book
That a man called
Christ
Went about doing good.
It is very disconcerting to me
That I am so easily
Satisfied
With just
Going about.

The story of the fig tree - and the story of this poem - invite us to consider what we would do with the gift of another year. What will we do with God’s gift of time to us? Will we be satisfied with just going about as usual? Or will we instead take the opportunity to discover how we can live into God’s call more fully, more faithfully, and – perhaps – more fruitfully?

Amen.

Sunday Preview

2007-03-08T21:44:00.000-05:00

The Collect
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Exodus 3:1-15

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up." When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the LORD said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain."

But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM Who I AM." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you':

This is my name forever,: and this my title for all generations.

Psalm 103:1-11: Benedic, anima mea

1: Bless the LORD, O my soul, *
and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.
2: Bless the LORD, O my soul, *
and forget not all his benefits.
3: He forgives all your sins *
and heals all your infirmities;
4: He redeems your life from the grave *
and crowns you with mercy and loving-kindness;
5: He satisfies you with good things, *
and your youth is renewed like an eagle's.
6: The LORD executes righteousness *
and judgment for all who are oppressed.
7: He made his ways known to Moses *
and his works to the children of Israel.
8: The LORD is full of compassion and mercy, *
slow to anger and of great kindness.
9: He will not always accuse us, *
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
10: He has not dealt with us according to our sins, *
nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.
11: For as the heavens are high above the earth, *
so is his mercy great upon those who fear him.

Luke 13:1-9

There were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them--do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."

Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, 'See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?' He replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"

Chaplaincy Review: Christina Rosetti, "Consider the Liles of the Field"

2007-03-06T18:44:00.000-05:00

Christina Rosetti (1830-1894) was an English poet and a member of the Church of England. (I posted another of her poems, "In the bleak midwinter" just before Christmas.)

CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD

FLOWERS preach to us if we will hear:--
The rose saith in the dewy morn:
I am most fair;
Yet all my loveliness is born
Upon a thorn.
The poppy saith amid the corn:
Let but my scarlet head appear
And I am held in scorn;
Yet juice of subtle virtue lies
Within my cup of curious dyes.
The lilies say: Behold how we
Preach without words of purity.
The violets whisper from the shade
Which their own leaves have made:
Men scent our fragrance on the air,
Yet take no heed
Of humble lessons we would read.
But not alone the fairest flowers:
The merest grass
Along the roadside where we pass,
Lichen and moss and sturdy weed,
Tell of His love who sends the dew,
The rain and sunshine too,
To nourish one small seed.

Chaplaincy Review: Gwendolyn Brooks, "A Penitent Considers Another Coming of Mary"

2007-02-27T07:59:00.000-05:00

Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) is remembered primarily as a poet, although she also wrote fictional and nonfictional prose. Her book of poetry, Annie Allen, was awarded the Pulizer Prize in 1950; she was the first African American to receive this award. She taught at colleges throughout the United States, and she became the Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968.

"A Penitent Considers Another Coming of Mary"

If Mary came would Mary
Forgive, as Mothers may,
And sad and second Saviour
Furnish us today?

She would not shake her head and leave
This military air,
But ratify a modern hay,
And put her Baby there.

Mary would not punish men—
If Mary came again.

Churchy Q&A: What is a Province?

2007-02-23T08:17:00.000-05:00

This evening, several of us at the chaplaincy are heading out to the wilds of New Hampshire to the Province I Chaplaincy Retreat.

What is this "province" thing, you say? Well, you've come to the right place!

In the Episcopal Church (USA), there are several levels to the institutional 'stuff' of the church. The basic unit in our polity is the diocese, and we have 111 of them, not only in the United States proper, but also in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, Haiti, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Europe and Venezuela. A diocese is led by a bishop, who serves as a pastor, teacher, and administrator. He or she authorizes the ministry of priests and lay people in parishes (your local church).

For organizational purposes, the Episcopal Church gathers together the dioceses in a particular region. This is what we call a province, and the dioceses of a province often work together to develop programming and resources. The Diocese of Massachusetts is located in Province I, along with Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Western Massachusetts.

Quite helpfully, Anglicans also refer to member churches of the Anglican Communion as provinces. Many are national churches, some incorporate part or all of several nation-states, and others include parts of a nation. Consequently, "province" can refer to part of a member church or to the member church itself.

Sunday Preview

2007-02-22T08:05:00.000-05:00

The Collect

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Psalm 91:9-15: Qui habitat

9: Because you have made the LORD your refuge, *
and the Most High your habitation,
10: There shall no evil happen to you, *
neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
11: For he shall give his angels charge over you, *
to keep you in all your ways.
12: They shall bear you in their hands, *
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13: You shall tread upon the lion and adder; *
you shall trample the young lion and the serpent under your feet.
14: Because he is bound to me in love,
therefore will I deliver him; *
I will protect him, because he knows my Name.
15: He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; *
I am with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and bring him to honor.
16: With long life will I satisfy him, *
and show him my salvation.

Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written,

'Worship the Lord your God,: and serve only him.'"

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,

'He will command his angels concerning you,: to protect you,'

and

'On their hands they will bear you up,: so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Chaplaincy Review: Paul Lawrence Dunbar, "We Wear the Mask"

2007-02-20T19:35:00.000-05:00

Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1872-1906) was an important African American poet around the turn of the twentieth century. His works were widely published at the time, remarkable for such a young man. He published his first book of poetry in 1892, at the age of twenty. His parents, former slaves, reared him in Dayton, Ohio, where they had settled after the Civil War.

"We Wear the Mask"

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes, -
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be overwise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them see only us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

Morning After Preaching, Last Sunday after Epiphany

2007-02-19T11:49:00.000-05:00

Last October, I was invited to a friend’s home for dinner. Almost everyone there was Jewish, as it happened to be a festival in the Jewish calendar. We gathered for dinner in a Sukkah, a booth built by hand to commemorate the forty years spent wandering in the wilderness. This same handmade tent is precisely what Peter offers to build for Jesus, Moses and Elijah on the mountain. Just as the Sukkah and the rituals of Sukkot are a way of symbolically participating in the events of long ago, Peter’s offer to build tents on the mountain would have instantly recalled for first-century Jewish Christians the salvific acts of God in their history.

The encounter on the mountain involved only the inner circle of the disciples. Luke sets this story apart as significant by not only by naming a select group of disciples, but also with the allusions and references that connect Jesus to the history of Israel and the salvation that God has offered. Jesus meets Moses, who led the Hebrews out of Egypt and who brought the Law to the people, and Elijah, a prophet who was taken to heaven in a whirlwind and whose return would signal the impending arrival of the Messiah.

Just as Moses and Elijah were pivotal in the history of God’s relationship with Israel, the imagery and allusions of Luke’s account suggest that Jesus is equally part of that history. Just as Moses went to the mountain to receive the Law, Jesus has come to the mountain to receive the blessing of God and of the figurative representatives of the Law and the Prophets. Like Moses, he is transformed during the experience; Jesus is transfigured, literally ‘changed in form’ (μετεμορφώθη). For the disciples, this experience is sensory and, particularly, visual.

This is a perceptible change: an outward sign of an inward reality. Jesus, who has been seen and experienced as human – favored by God and a prophet to Israel – and even as the Messiah is now seen in a new way.

When Moses came down from the mountain and his encounter with Yahweh, his face shone (Exodus 34:29). Jesus’ clothes become radiant and bright, “dazzling white.” His face altered in appearance. Imagine for a moment that you are there. The person you’ve come to know in one limited sense suddenly is revealed as someone transcendent of our reality. It’s not surprising that Peter has a moment of sensory overload and says, “it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” In other words: I don’t want to go just yet. I want to stay. I need time to take it all in. Luke tells us that Peter didn’t know what he said. He was so caught up in the moment that he misapprehends its very purpose. The Transfiguration, for all its allusions to the history of Israel, is oriented towards the future, towards the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Luke places the encounter on the mountain on the eighth day, the day after the Sabbath, the day of the week when Jesus’ tomb will be found empty, the day on which we give thanks for the gift in celebrating Eucharist.

And when Moses and Elijah speak with Jesus, they are talking of his departure, his exodus in Greek. Here Luke both points towards the future events which will come about in Jerusalem and draws on the language of the historical events of Israel. He has woven together past, present and future into a cohesive understanding of what God is up to with us.

The cloud, familiar to the Jewish Christians in Luke’s audience as a symbol for the presence of God throughout the Scriptures, provides a means of establishing the presence of God in their midst. The voice from the cloud makes a declaration: “this is my son, my chosen.”

The final word from the cloud is an imperative command to listen to Jesus. It is fitting that the story of the Transfiguration – full of imagery, allusions and the divine presence – ends with Jesus alone as the sole object of the disciples’ vision. The Transfiguration presents Jesus as the son of God, imbued with divine authority and glory. The command, ‘listen to him,’ directs the disciples’ attention to Jesus rather than to the awesome events of the mountain.

First, that Jesus is, emphatically, the Son of God and worthy of awe and devotion. Second, that the disciples should not be distracted by the brightness of his garments, the appearance of Moses and Elijah, or the wonders of the mountain. Rather, Jesus alone is the one to whom they should look.

This is the message for us today: do not be distracted by wonders and signs. See them, but remember that it is Jesus - as the beloved and chosen of God - to whom we should look.

Churchy Q&A: Bishops and Primates, oh my!

2007-02-16T14:46:00.000-05:00

As Anglicanism developed in the 16th century, it retained many of the institutional structures of the (Roman) Catholic Church. Bishops are ordained leaders of the Church, serving a particular diocese as a pastor, teacher, and administrator. The leader of a national church or province in the Anglican Communion is known as a primate, presiding bishop, or archbishop.

The Archbishop of Canterbury (currently Rowan Williams) is the Primate of All England and is also known as primus inter pares: first among equals. Although he does not have authority over other archbishops, his role as the Archbishop is given respect.

Sunday Preview

2007-02-15T19:02:00.000-05:00

The Collect
O God, who before the passion of your onlybegotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Exodus 34:29-35

Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Psalm 99: Dominus regnavit

1: The LORD is King;
let the people tremble; *
he is enthroned upon the cherubim;
let the earth shake.
2: The LORD is great in Zion; *
he is high above all peoples.
3: Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome; *
he is the Holy One.
4: "O mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity; *
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob."
5: Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God
and fall down before his footstool; *
he is the Holy One.
6: Moses and Aaron among his priests,
and Samuel among those who call upon his Name, *
they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.
7: He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; *
they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.
8: O LORD our God, you answered them indeed; *
you were a God who forgave them,
yet punished them for their evil deeds.
9: Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God
and worship him upon his holy hill; *
for the LORD our God is the Holy One.

Luke 9:28-36

About eight days after Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Christ of God, Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

Chaplaincy Review: Maya Angelou, Caged Bird

2007-02-13T10:50:00.000-05:00

Maya Angelou (born 1928) is an African American poet, author, actor and director. She also played a pivotal role in the American Civil Rights Movement. She has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Awards (several times). She also won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album in 1993.

"Caged Bird"

A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Morning After Preaching, Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

2007-02-12T10:37:00.000-05:00

The Greek words for “Blessed” in today’s gospel means happiness: “Blessed – happy – are you,” says Jesus. Here are some other wise words on the subject of happiness: “nobody is in any doubt about what it is that all men and women want, only about what it means. What everyone wants is happiness, despite Marx and Nietzsche’s withering opinion that only the English desired that. But [their remarks were] a smack at the peculiarly anemic version of happiness espoused by the English Utilitarians, for whom happiness is an essentially unproblematic issue, reducible in effect to pleasure. But”—and here is the rub—“to attain happiness I must sometimes pass up on short-term pleasures.”

Following the tradition begun by Aristotle, many thinkers have believed that life is about seeking happiness; but this happiness is not the stuff of short-term pleasures, the fulfillment of bodily passions; nor is this happiness the stuff of selfish pleasure-seeking at the expense of others. Rather, happiness is best enjoyed with others, and involves taking responsibility for others as well as yourself.

Into this long tradition of people who have sought happiness I want to put Christ’s words from today’s gospel. “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their ancesters did to the prophets.” What can Jesus mean here? What does this say to the human condition that strives to be happy? Can Jesus really mean that we should give up enjoying ourselves, so as to be blessed by God?

Well it is certainly possible that this is exactly what Jesus is saying. We must allow our human ideas of happiness to be called into question by Jesus’ words. Perhaps the poor and hungry really do have something to teach us—we should at least not be blind to their example. Perhaps Jesus really is calling us to come into greater conflict with those around us, in witness to our Lord. Let’s be serious about that possibility.

But today I am going to suggest another explanation of Jesus’ words. How can you be happy when you weep, or when you are hungry, or when you face persecution? It may well be the case that these words were recorded by the first Christians (they are found both in Matthew and Luke, which we heard today) because they were words of great comfort for those who suffered for their faith. Jesus was preparing disciples for the troubles they would experience when he left them. Luke’s Gospel, and the book of Acts which goes with it, constantly talk about the persecutions that the first people to call themselves “Christians” would face. The disciples would indeed be reviled: they would be battered and bruised for their faith, and eventually die the death of martyrs. And this they did—did throughout the first centuries of the church—so that we who live in an age where Christianity has been established in many places, don’t need to face the horrific persecutions that our Christian forebears did. For this we should be happy.

In a letter from the first century, the judge Pliny wrote to the Emperor Trajan about the Christians he was trying, with these words, “They affirmed the whole of their guilt, or their error, was, that they were in the habit of meeting on a certain day before it was light, when they sang… a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath… never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which… [they] reassemble to partake of food.” Pliny writes to ask the Emperor what exactly it is these Christians are doing wrong. They are ethically upright, they sing harmless songs, and they gather on Sunday to share a meal – the meal we call the Eucharist.

Which brings us to Jesus’ words to those who hunger. Jesus is telling us that happiness and joy are very much a part of God’s plan for humanity; for those, at least, who live in the Kingdom. And the early Christians would probably have had in mind the Eucharist as the place where that Kingdom was made present here. There could be happiness in the midst of suffering in this shared meal. The Eucharist was a time for rich and poor, for happy and sad, for slave and free to share bread and wine. No ordinary meal either, but one in which Jesus the King was made present.

“Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger” said Jesus. But the bread that those first Christians ate, which we eat now, and the wine—Jesus’ own body and blood—both feeds us and leaves us wanting more. We who have a foretaste of the Kingdom can never be satisfied, can never be “full”, until we are granted a place at the heavenly banquet which will follow the resurrection of the dead. We who share the Eucharist can enjoy ourselves here, can taste the kingdom now, but our happiness will not be complete until we are with our Lord in heaven. He is the first fruits of the dead (as St. Paul reminded us in our epistle), but the fruit of new life is promised to us too whenever we eat the Eucharist.

And Jesus’ words those who weep? Those first Christians themselves wept over the deaths of their loved-ones, just as we do today. The catacombs were the underground places where they went to mourn their dead not, as people sometimes think, to hide from the Romans. They were burial grounds not hiding places. And they were places where early Christians gathered to share the Eucharist, to share the meal that united the whole community, living and dead.

But what about us here and now? How we can be happy in this life? Well, there are three lessons we can learn from the early Christians. First, happiness as I’ve said already is not about seeking after short-lived pleasure—Aristotle said we should be prepared for it to take an entire lifetime and I think the early Christians agreed. Happiness, or blessedness as Jesus calls it, involves facing up to the difficult things of life, not simply trying to run away from difficulty.

Secondly, happiness involves commitment: for Christians that means commitment to Christ and to one another. We need to be aware that happiness is larger than just ourselves—it is to be measured in the happiness we share.

Thirdly, happiness is about good old-fashioned fun! We are a community gathered for a family feast, just as our Christian forebears were centuries ago. Let us enjoy ourselves then; let us relish this foretaste of the heavenly Kingdom. But let us not forget those who hunger, who weep and who mourn… or those who have gone before us to make possible what we have today.

Churchy Q&A: What's going on in Tanzania?

2007-02-09T10:03:00.000-05:00

On February 14-19, the leaders of Anglican churches worldwide will meet in Tanzania. These leaders are called Primates, and they meet every three years in order to prayerfully discuss the issues facing Anglicanism and each of the member churches. The first Primates' Meeting took place in 1979, convened by Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Coggan. It is considered one of the "Instruments of Unity," along side the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, and the Anglican Consultative Council.

The Episcopal Church (USA) is represented at the Primates' Meetings by the Presiding Bishop, now Katharine Jefferts Schori.

This post is part of a series on Anglicanism. Have something you'd like answered here? Post in the comments!

Sunday Preview

2007-02-08T09:34:00.000-05:00

The Collect
O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ--whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.

Psalm 1: Beatus vir qui non abiit
Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, *nor lingered in the way of sinners,nor sat in the seats of the scornful!

Their delight is in the law of the LORD, *and they meditate on his law day and night.

They are like trees planted by streams of water,bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; *everything they do shall prosper.

It is not so with the wicked; *they are like chaff which the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes, *nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, *but the way of the wicked is doomed.

Luke 6:17-26
Jesus came down with the twelve apostles, and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

"Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.

"Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.

"Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
"Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

"But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
"Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
"Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
"Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

Chaplaincy Review: Langston Hughes, "My People"

2007-02-06T11:58:00.001-05:00

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, and columnist best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. This poem, entitled "My People" and first published in 1923, is a reflection of his exploration of African American identity.

The night is beautiful,
So the faces of my people.

The stars are beautiful,
So the eyes of my people.

Beautiful, also, is the sun.
Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.

Each Tuesday in February, an African American poet and their work will be featured here to celebrate black culture in recognition of Black History Month.

Sunday Preview and Churchy Q&A: What is Evensong?

2007-02-01T20:36:00.000-05:00

First of all, welcome back to campus, for those of you who've been away during intercession! Please join us for services this Sunday at 5pm (and every Sunday through the academic year). We worship in Christ Church, Cambridge, located at 0 Garden Street, and gather for a meal immediately following at the Chaplaincy House (2 Garden Street).

On the first Sunday of each month, we are joined by the community, choir and clergy of Christ Church for Evensong. Evensong is a traditional Anglican service of Evening Prayer that has been set chorally. Most of the office is sung by the choir and clergy. Lessons from Scripture, the Creed, and the penitential introduction are said by all. The service often includes anthems and congregational hymns.

Evensong originated in the Church of England, particularly in the college chapels of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It is less common in the United States, but appears more frequently in churches with strong choirs and musical direction.

Please join us for Evensong this Sunday!

Chaplaincy Review: "Mr. Eliot's Sunday Morning Service"

2007-01-30T09:52:00.000-05:00

Look, look, master, here comes two religious caterpillars.
	The Jew of Malta.


POLYPHILOPROGENITIVE
The sapient sutlers of the Lord
Drift across the window-panes.
In the beginning was the Word.

In the beginning was the Word.	5
Superfetation of ,
And at the mensual turn of time
Produced enervate Origen.

A painter of the Umbrian school
Designed upon a gesso ground	10
The nimbus of the Baptized God.
The wilderness is cracked and browned

But through the water pale and thin
Still shine the unoffending feet
And there above the painter set	15
The Father and the Paraclete. . . . . .
The sable presbyters approach
The avenue of penitence;
The young are red and pustular
Clutching piaculative pence.	20

Under the penitential gates
Sustained by staring Seraphim
Where the souls of the devout
Burn invisible and dim.

Along the garden-wall the bees	25
With hairy bellies pass between
The staminate and pistilate,
Blest office of the epicene.

Sweeney shifts from ham to ham
Stirring the water in his bath.	30
The masters of the subtle schools
Are controversial, polymath.

Morning After Preaching, Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

2007-01-29T10:19:00.000-05:00

How can one person be both God and man, as Christians believe? To ask the people in the synagogue’s very good question, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” How can Jesus say of himself: “Today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”? (Luke 4:21-2)

One way to understand this person who is both human and divine is to say that who he is, is the Word, and who he becomes is a human, Jesus. He is God but he becomes man.

I have found St. Paul’s idea of self-emptying can help explain the paradox. Paul, writing to the Philippians, expressed the idea that Jesus Christ, “though he was in the form of God… emptied himself… [into] human likeness” (Phil. 2:7). This seems to fit neatly with the idea expressed in those famous words from John’s gospel: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14). And, elsewhere in his letters, Paul refers to Christ as “the power of God and the wisdom of God” and here the feminine word, Sophia, wisdom, seems to complement John’s masculine, Logos or word (I Cor. 1:23-4).

This is Wisdom, this is Word, with a big-W. Jesus is God’s Sophia who was from the beginning, the Logos which God spoke before anything was, a Word so full of power that creation sprang forth upon God’s uttering it. This same Word has become a human being, Jesus Christ, and yet remains, in Paul’s terms, “the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

But precisely this “wisdom,” precisely this “power,” manifests itself in the form of earthly powerlessness. This is self-emptying means. The one who was with God in the beginning, the Almighty, shows his might in becoming something God is not – in becoming a human being, and a humble one at that, an itinerant rabbi, a friend of fishermen, tax collectors, prostitutes and lepers. He is the Word of God, but he becomes the “son of Joseph,” born as a human, brought up in Nazareth. And as the son of Joseph, speaking in the synagogue in Nazareth, he declares what it is, as Word made flesh, that God has sent him to do: “to bring good news to the poor... to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Lk 4:18-19).

If you want to see what divine power looks like in human form, then you need to look at Jesus. The Word-become-flesh shows us God’s power – a power to open hearts, to heal and to release the sick, even to die as a criminal. This is the power, in the words Jesus’ parable, which leads a shepherd to give up ninety-nine sheep to go and search for the one sheep that is lost. This is the power, in the words of Paul, which gives up equality with God in order to be among humans. And to do what with this power? “To bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

In our reading from Luke’s gospel today, right at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, we see what sort of reaction many people have to this shepherd. The people of Jesus’s hometown don’t like his presumption in claiming that he is the one whom God has sent. After all, they say, “isn’t this Joseph’s son?” – didn’t he go to school with our sons and daughters, what’s so special about him? The passage continues, “all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up and… led him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.”

Jesus manages to escape. But over the next three years of his ministry, Jesus will find opposition to his mission in places far from his home town. In Jerusalem, opponents to this young upstart will arise among the religious and political authorities.

Whether or not we believe Caiaphas said the words put in his mouth in John’s gospel, the sound of worldly-wise power rings true. “It is better,” says Caiaphas, “to have one man die than to have the whole nation destroyed” (Jn 11:50). This person proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor – he’s trouble: do away with him.

These are words which lead to this observation by Donald MacKinnon, a theologian at Cambridge: “At the heart of the Christian story we may see the opposition between Christ and Caiaphas: of the one who asked as a rhetorical question what shepherd, if he lost one sheep, would not leave the ninety and nine to seek it out; and the one who gave counsel that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.”

MacKinnon shows us the opposition between one who wields earthly power and the one who is God’s power on earth. The Logos becomes human in order to find the lost sheep of Israel. This is divine power, divine wisdom, in the flesh.

And he has been sent to find you and me, the lost sheep of God’s family, Israel. Sent not to threaten us with earthly power, but to feed our spiritual poverty, to release us from those things that keep us captive to the world, to give us sight of what’s really important in life, and proclaim that the Lord’s favor is with us.

Churchy Q&A: What is Epiphany and the season after it?

2007-01-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

Epiphany is a feast in the Christian calendar that celebrates the revelation of God in human form to humankind. In Greek, it literally means "appearance" (επιφάνεια). In western Christianity, Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th.

Unlike Lent, for example, Epiphany is a single day. The weeks after are not the season of Epiphany, but they are named by their relationship to the feast day. This Sunday will be the fourth after Epiphany.

Bonus: The days between Christmas and Epiphany are known as Christmastide and are the origin of "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

Sunday Preview

2007-01-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Jeremiah 1:4-10

The word of the LORD came to me saying,
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy." But the LORD said to me,
"Do not say, 'I am only a boy';
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you,
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,: says the LORD."
Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me,
"Now I have put my words in your mouth.
See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant."

Psalm 71:1-17 or 1-6,15-17 Page 683,684, BCP

In te, Domine, speravi

1: In you, O LORD, have I taken refuge; *
let me never be ashamed.
2: In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free; *
incline your ear to me and save me.
3: Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; *
you are my crag and my stronghold.
4: Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, *
from the clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor.
5: For you are my hope, O Lord GOD, *
my confidence since I was young.
6: I have been sustained by you ever since I was born;
from my mother's womb you have been my strength; *
my praise shall be always of you.
7: I have become a portent to many; *
but you are my refuge and my strength.
8: Let my mouth be full of your praise *
and your glory all the day long.
9: Do not cast me off in my old age; *
forsake me not when my strength fails.
10: For my enemies are talking against me, *
and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together.
11: They say, "God has forsaken him;
go after him and seize him; *
because there is none who will save."
12: O God, be not far from me; *
come quickly to help me, O my God.
13: Let those who set themselves against me be put to shame and be disgraced; *
let those who seek to do me evil be covered with scorn and reproach.
14: But I shall always wait in patience, *
and shall praise you more and more.
15: My mouth shall recount your mighty acts
and saving deeds all day long; *
though I cannot know the number of them.
16: I will begin with the mighty works of the Lord GOD; *
I will recall your righteousness, yours alone.
17: O God, you have taught me since I was young, *
and to this day I tell of your wonderful works.

1 Corinthians 14:12b-20

Since you are eager for spiritual gifts, strive to excel in them for building up the church.

Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive. What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also. Otherwise, if you say a blessing with the spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say the "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since the outsider does not know what you are saying? For you may give thanks well enough, but the other person is not built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults.

Luke 4:21-32

In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus read from the book of the prophet Isaiah, and began to say, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the sabbath. They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority.

Chaplaincy Review: T.S. Eliot, part 2

2007-01-23T11:18:00.000-05:00

This is the first stanza of the first section of Eliot's The Waste Land, one of the most well-known modernist poems of the 20th century.

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.

Morning After Preaching, Third Sunday after Epiphany

2007-01-22T11:11:00.000-05:00

Texts: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Psalm 113; Luke 4:14-21

“You are the body of Christ.”

Being at seminary and all, you might think that the body of Christ is on my mind all the time. In actuality, however, most of us, myself included, are far more preoccupied with practical questions: will I be able to afford rent on a minister’s salary? where will I work? do I really have what it takes to be a priest, pastor, confidante? And lately, what’s going to happen to the Church?

Anglicanism has been much in the news these past few years, and not for good reasons. I would love to see headlines declaring – “Anglicans broker peace in the Middle East” – “Episcopalians end poverty” and so on. Nothing seems to make news, though, like the ecclesiological version of a train wreck. And – to be fair – even the appearance of a disaster or conflict gets our attention far more than success.

It is far easier to do damage, to reject one another, and to create a rift than it is to heal, to compromise, and to work together for good. The Gospel reading today, from Luke, portrays Jesus’s return to Nazareth and describes him reading Scripture in the synagogue. This pattern of worship was common in first-century Judea. Everyone would gather together, hear the word and listen to the teacher’s interpretation of the passage. Perfectly peaceful… except that a few short verses later, Luke tells us that when they heard more of his teaching, “all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff” (Luke 4:28-29).

Even in the presence of Jesus, whose messianic claims they had accepted without murmur, division is instinctive. It is as old as Cain and Abel. It is part of human nature.

Anglicans are not the only ones good at schism, an ugly word for the particular divisions that afflict the Church. There are literally thousands of Christian denominations of all flavours and stripes, which is why Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is necessary wisdom for us today, not only as Christians, but also as Anglicans.

Despite all appearances to the contrary, we are still members of one church. We share in one baptism. We might go about it different ways – sprinkled, dipped, poured on, right up to whole body experience – but it is the same Spirit, and I’m not sure that God worries about the minutiae. And, no matter how much we might not like it, we are all members of the one body of Christ.

To be honest, I am compelled to this conclusion – not by preference, because I am human, and certainly not by observing how we act towards one another – but because none of the things we do and say make any sense otherwise.

If the body of Christ is not ultimately one, holy and universal, then our witness to the gospel is imperfect, incomplete, diminished. Paul makes two separate and yet integral arguments. First, that the Church is fundamentally one, exhibiting a kind of unity that eradicates ethnic and social differences. Thus, for Paul, Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, shared a common initiation by the Spirit through which they experienced a level of oneness analogous to the human body: many bound together as part of a single entity.

Second, that “the body does not consist of one member but of many” (v. 14). Unity does not preclude diversity. It is absurd to think of a body with only one part, performing only one function. The body of Christ is complex, and the many parts are organically related to one another, rather than simply existing contiguously.

It is impossible to speak of the one body in any meaningful sense unless we recognize the value of its many parts. Oneness does not mean sameness. Unity does not require uniformity.

I wonder if this lesson is heard in the Anglican Communion today, if it is heard in the Episcopal Church. We seem to imagine that everything will be better when that disagreeable group over there is gone. Things might be easier, but they will not be better. Eliminating one part of the body leaves those who remain poorer for it, diminished.

If we examine the model of Jesus’ own life and ministry, the portrait that emerges is complex, multi-layered and, like the body of Christ, diverse. Jesus brought together both radical reform and a commitment to the Law, judgment and forgiveness, holding seeming contradictions in tension with one another. Jesus embodies a vision for the body of Christ and for the church: Teacher and healer, friend and stranger, victim and savior. Jesus was not confined to one aspect. He did not restrict his ministry to teaching or miracles, but incorporated all of these into his life and work. It is imperative for the church to do the same.

I imagine that fear has a lot to do with our rejection of one other. We don’t want to be lumped together with people who do things we find distasteful, with people who proclaim a theology that we abhor. It gets to the very heart of who we are, and we don’t want to be mistaken for people that we think get it wrong.

It is also pride that imagines our particular part of the body is superior to another. It is this pride – arrogance, even – that we have to work to overcome. And it is to this pride that Paul’s letter speaks: “the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable;” those that seem to be less honorable deserve recognition and honor; those that seem worthless are as necessary and integral to the whole as the most valued.

We are created by God to drink of the same Spirit. We are called by God to live as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are, by the grace of God, members of one body, the body of Christ, the church.

We are the body of Christ. Young, old. Educated, or not. Poor, rich. Hungry, well fed. Imperfect, all of us.

We are the body of Christ: conservative and liberal; evangelical and practically Catholic; emotional and stoic; those who speak in tongues … and those who are horrified at the very thought. All of us, from every race, culture, theological persuasion, liturgical style, speaking in many languages and with many voices: so diverse that we disagree with one another vigorously, passionately, even vehemently.

We are the body of Christ, not because of a common identity as Christians, but because of the one Spirit, present at Jesus’ baptism, present at each our own baptisms, and present among us in the sacrament of Christ’s body and blood.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to us: “You are the body of Christ.” Amen.

Churchy Q&A: What is Zion?

2007-01-19T18:06:00.000-05:00

Many thanks to Howard, who served at the altar on Sunday and read the passage from Isaiah, for this question!

In the reading last Sunday, Isaiah declares "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest" (62:1).

Zion is a term that dates back three millenia, so it has many layers of meaning. Originally, it designated a mountain near Jerusalem, where a fortress once stood. It has come to also mean the city of Jerusalem, the land of Israel, and the biblical nation of Judah, which was the southern kingdom of the Israelites from 930 to 587 BCE.

It also signifies, metaphorically, the promises of Jerusalem and a time when God will dwell with the people. At my church in Georgia, we had a local song that went something like this:

Zion is a place of singing,
Zion is a place of joy,
Zion is the dwelling of the Lord.

So let us climb the hill of Zion,
to the city of the living God...

Sunday Preview

2007-01-18T21:03:00.000-05:00

The Collect

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Psalm 113

Laudate, pueri

1: Hallelujah!
Give praise, you servants of the LORD; *
praise the Name of the LORD.
2: Let the Name of the LORD be blessed, *
from this time forth for evermore.
3: From the rising of the sun to its going down *
let the Name of the LORD be praised.
4: The LORD is high above all nations, *
and his glory above the heavens.
5: Who is like the LORD our God, who sits enthroned on high *
but stoops to behold the heavens and the earth?
6: He takes up the weak out of the dust *
and lifts up the poor from the ashes.
7: He sets them with the princes, *
with the princes of his people.
8: He makes the woman of a childless house *
to be a joyful mother of children.

Luke 4:14-21

Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me: to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives: and recovery of sight to the blind,; to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

Chaplaincy Review: T.S. Eliot, "Journey of the Magi"

2007-01-16T08:05:00.000-05:00

T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) was born in St. Louis and went on to study at Harvard, receiving his A.B. in 1909. He began doctoral studies and completed his dissertation, but by 1914 he was living in England. He did not return to Cambridge (Mass.) to defend his dissertation, perhaps because of the First World War, and therefore did not receive a Ph.D. He would spend the majority of his life in England, although he returned to Harvard to give the Norton Lectures for 1932-1933.

This poem, "Journey of the Magi," was written and first published in 1927, the year of Eliot's conversion to Christianity and confirmation in the Church of England. It describes the journey from the point of view of one of the magi.

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.'
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

Morning After Preaching, Second Sunday after Epiphany

2007-01-15T11:26:00.000-05:00

“What’s that got to do with me?” We’ve all said it, I’m sure. “What’s that got to do with me?” Normally when we’ve been asked to do something or say something we don’t want to – it’s the equivalent of saying, “It’s not my problem.” Your mom tells you to visit grandma when you’re back home, or the Episcopal Chaplain wants you to trek across to the B-School for Compline, and you say to yourself, “What’s that got to do with me?”

Or perhaps when your conscience pricks you to do a good deed – to give a dollar to a homeless guy, or to go to the aid or someone who’s fallen over – then anther part of you might say, “but what’s that person got to do with me.” We often say it when we know that we should do something but don’t really want to. So it might seem surprising that Jesus says these very words to his mother in our Gospel today.

Together at a wedding in Cana, right at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, his mother comes to him and says that the bridegroom and his family have run out of wine. Imagine what a social faux pas that would be today and multiply it ten times, because in the ancient world, the honor of the family was at stake.

The news gets back to Mary, who goes and tells her son, “They have no wine.” And Jesus answers her, “Woman, what have you to do with me?” (Jn 2:4.)

Jesus doesn’t seem at all concerned, either about the honor of the hosts or the wishes of his mother. Even though he goes on to perform the miracle of turning water into wine, what sticks in my mind are those words, “Woman, what have you to do with me?”

Why does Jesus say such a thing? And what does it mean for us. Well, I think it is no surprise that these words, and this story, are found in John’s Gospel.

For John, it is of supreme importance that Jesus has so little to do with the wedding party, or his mother, or his disciples, or you and me. It is that Jesus is different from us that his life should make all the difference in the world. For Jesus is not just another ordinary fellow. He doesn’t do things just because his mom tells him to. His purpose in life is not for all the old ladies at the wedding to coo and say “oh, isn’t he such a well-behaved young man?” He is different for a special reason: the reason he’s here.

There is something different about him. On a psychological or spiritual or metaphysical level, whatever you want to call it, this person is on another plane. “Woman, what have you to do with me?” is not a smart remark from a petulant son, but a psychological, spiritual, and metaphysical truth. What have you to do with me because I am here for something rather more than transforming water into wine? I am here to transform my mother’s life, my disciples’ lives, all lives, into a new life with God.

It is the transformation of humanity, not of water into wine, that Jesus is here for. In the story of the wedding at Cana, what matters to Jesus is the thing he calls his hour: he tells his mother, “My hour has not yet come.” His “hour” is the reason he’s come.

This “hour” is another theme of John’s gospel. It is the thing that guides all of Jesus’s decisions, that shapes how he acts. It refers to the end of his life, which is for John the whole point of Jesus’s mission on earth. As the one sent by God, it is what Jesus does in the last hour of his life that makes sense of all the rest. This is the hour he’s been waiting for, and why in John’s Gospel his last word from the cross is tetelesthein, “It is accomplished.” I’ve finished what I came here to do.

On the cross, Jesus’s hour has come. Here again is his mother, standing near the cross, looking to him perhaps for another miracle. And here again he says to her, “Woman.” “Woman,” he says, as if to remind her of that earlier time, when he said, “what have you to do with me?”

But then come softer words. Looking at John standing beside her, he says to Mary “behold thy son.” John, the one disciple who has remained with Jesus to this hour, is given to her as a new son. And Mary is given to John as a new mother: Jesus says, “Behold thy mother.” On the cross, Jesus begins the transformation of those around him into something altogether new. On the cross, he changes them from a biological family into God’s family. On the cross he gives them new life with God, a life we share here today.

The flesh and blood relationships he has with his mother, and with John the so-called beloved disciple, are not what matters to Jesus. Family honor upset because of running out of wine is not what matters. What matters is that, from the cross, he is able to pour out his Spirit on those around him and bind them to one another. Bind them to one another in the Spirit which he breathes out on the cross. And Jesus can only do this because he is different. Because Jesus is different – because he is not quite one of us – he can shape those around him into this new spiritual family through the cross. More miraculous than turning water into wine is turning us into brothers and sisters, sons and mothers.

“What have you to do with me?” With Jesus, we have to do with the one whom God sent to save us by binding us to one another as God’s family. And the result is that now, when we look at another person, we can never say, “What have you to do with me?” Because, through Christ, we have been made into one family, brothers and sisters of one another. And with that comes a responsibility to look out for those around us. We don’t live as individuals anymore, but as the family of God.

Friday Special: Blackadder Night on Monday!

2007-01-12T18:26:00.000-05:00

Hopefully exams are going well for all! But if you're ready for a little break from studying, I have just the thing: Blackadder Night!

We'll be gathering at Cabot House in the JCR to watch a few episodes of Blackadder, a great British comedy, from 8:30 to 10:30 PM on Monday, January 15. The episodes won't be dependent on one another, so if you can only come for part, please don't hesitate to join us late or leave early! Directions are at the end of this message.

There will be snacks provided, and you're more than welcome to bring friends or send this message on to your favorite Anglophiles! Never heard of Blackadder? Check out Wiki for more information.

See you Monday night, if not before!

Directions:

Walk up Garden Ave away from the Chaplaincy towards the Quad (in the
direction of Sheraton Commander). You'll soon see a fork in the road:
stay on the right and continue forward. Two-three blocks later you will
see the Quad sign. Approach the Quad (the nice grassy, green area).
Welcome to Cabot House! The JCR is on the first floor in F Entryway
(part of Whitman Hall). If you are having a hard time finding it, give
Susie a call [phone number is in the email message].

Cabot House's house map:
http://cabot.harvard.edu/AboutTheHouse/HouseMap/Map.shtml

Sunday Preview

2007-01-11T17:22:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 62:1-5

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,: and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,: and her salvation like a burning torch.
The nations shall see your vindication,: and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name: that the mouth of the LORD will give.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD,: and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,: and your land shall no more be termed Desolate;
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,: and your land Married;
for the LORD delights in you,: and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,: so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,: so shall your God rejoice over you.

Psalm 96:1-10

¹O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
²Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
³Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvellous works among all the peoples.
⁴For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be revered above all gods.
⁵For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
⁶Honour and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
⁷Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
⁸Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts.
⁹Worship the Lord in holy splendour;
tremble before him, all the earth.

¹⁰Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity.’

John 2:1-11

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Grace

2006-12-28T14:26:00.000-05:00

What I've always admired about John Donne is his ability, his extreme daring (and accompanying closeness) to just yell at God. Critics have pointed to these moments in his poetry (witness Batter my Heart, the sonnet) as proof that he tries to use wit as his last defence against an unknowable God, or to prove that his heart wasn't really in it, that he was an oscillator between Catholic and Protestant churches, but to me it was a sign of real faith. King David did it a lot in the psalms - rant, rave, yell at God, because life sometimes does make you angry.

This is my own attempt at describing the phenomenon.

Grace

My anger is a ball.

I clench it in my fist like a treasure.

It grows sides, imprints my palm lines.

I roll it, it becomes a perfect ball again.

It is very small. I press it smaller.

Some days it is so tiny I lose it

But it’s really in the center of my palm.

I let it drop, it bounces up again,

Magnetic, or rubbery, with veins.

When I sleep, it throbs and I relax.

In the morning it is swollen slightly.

Sometimes I get out three cups,

One for me, one for you, one for us,

And I play the magic cup game.

Guess where my anger is now?

I do not know or understand the silver cliffs

Of your authority

But I am certain that if I hurled

My anger would rise past its highest peak

So I hurl,

The air rushes with the sound

And nothing;

I’m still waiting for rebound.

Chaplaincy Review: Christina Rosetti, "In the bleak midwinter"

2006-12-19T14:35:00.000-05:00

Christina Rosetti (1830-1894) was an English poet and a member of the Church of England. This poem originally appeared in Scribner's Magazine prior to 1872, but it was also published in a posthumous volume, Poetic Works, in 1904. By 1906, it had appeared in the English Hymnal, and it appears in our Hymnal 1982 as well.

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, Whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, Whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

Monday Special: See Ben's Video Interview!

2006-12-18T14:34:00.000-05:00

If you were fortunate enough to join us at Christ Church last night, you'll know that there's no sermon to post because there was a special service, a Festival of Lessons and Carols.

Instead, I'm inviting you to check out Ben's interview on video at the United Ministry at Harvard. If you can't get enough of the accent, this is just the fix for you -- plus, he talks theology! Just follow the link and look for Ben about halfway down the page!

Friday Special: More Caroling Photos!

2006-12-15T12:51:00.000-05:00

Here we go a-caroling, around Harvard Yard and the dorms:

Dizzy? How about this one then:

*No Churchy Q&A today, but we're looking forward to seeing you Sunday at Church!

Sunday Preview: Lessons and Carols

2006-12-14T22:03:00.000-05:00

This Sunday, there will be a special service know as a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Lessons and Carols is a traditional Christmas service with readings and music and tells the story of Christ's advent in the world through Scripture and song.

The origins of Lessons and Carols reside in the late 19th century in Britain, but the version that most Anglican and Episcopal churches use today was developed by Eric Milner-White at King's College, Cambridge, in 1918. Since then, King's College has continuously offered the traditional service on Christmas Eve.

So when you come to worship with us this Sunday, expect something special! The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols begins at 5PM, and includes music offered by the adult, youth, and handbell choirs of Christ Church, Cambridge.

Bonus: The service at King's College was first broadcast by radio in 1928. It is often carried in the United States by NPR stations. When you're home for the holidays, look for it on your local NPR station either live at 10AM on Christmas Eve or as an encore later in the day.

Peter

2006-12-14T10:32:00.000-05:00

Alright, so this is my first post. I'm supposed to be the poet here, so here goes. I just came up with this one a couple of nights before, so it's not exactly polished but if someone wants to comment on it aesthetically, you're very welcome.

Peter

Three years is a long time.

I think about them, these three years.

Three years with the nets, heavy

with sea, grey and secular

the nets I’d thrown

aside, rough against the palms

I recall my art –

the knotting rub of fingers

the haul of fish and gale

the empty net plopped against the side.

I try not to dwell on

those two strong days,

the vertigo of words and wind and boat

the multitude of shores that ring

and ring around my ears.

The heady doublebrew of despair

but the high, rich kind

when the poured storm

rose to a pitch beyond the human eye,

until at last, one of us thought

to call his sleepy head.

The calm,

as though sky had been whisked clean away

and replaced by another sheet.

Beloved,

will I ever know

that gently humorous raising of your brow?

The ship turns on its prow

I have been left to fish

the gaping maw

the strong muscular raving of the storm

will lap my feet,

will swallow me whole

--

Personally, am dissatisfied with the voice in this one. Somehow burly Peter doesn't seem as introspective as I am :p I always imagine him bouncing around trying to be the life of the party and treading on people's toes all the time but then laughing it off with a pint. But then, this is post-Calvary, pre-resurrection Peter, so he wouldn't be so rowdy would he? Triggered by the hair trigger of speculation over how long exactly it was until the disciples believed that Jesus had arose.
Also, I dislike depictions of Jesus as an absolutely humourless fellow. God certainly has a sense of humour: he created giraffes. Have you ever seen a giraffe fight another giraffe?

Chaplaincy Review: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Christmas Bells"

2006-12-12T10:02:00.000-05:00

Longfellow (1807-1882) was a professor at Harvard, a linguistics and language scholar, and a prominent poet. You can visit his home, located at 105 Brattle Street and now a national historic site. There is a fee to tour the house, but the gardens are free and open to the public.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The Carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said;
‘For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!’

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
‘God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!’

Caroling and Hot Chocolate!

2006-12-11T22:00:00.000-05:00

After caroling our way through Harvard Yard, we topped off the night with hot chocolate from Burdick's. We were glad to meet new friends, and missed those familiar faces that couldn't join us.

Many thanks, especially, to our hot chocolate crew, who labored over the sweet stuff that everyone enjoyed so much!

Morning After Preaching, Advent 2C

2006-12-11T12:26:00.000-05:00

There are two types of people in this world, so they say: there are dog-lovers and there are cat-lovers. There are two types of people in this world: there are people who like baseball and those who like football. There are those who like dark chocolate and those who like milk chocolate. There are radicals and there are conservatives. Let’s stick with this last one shall we? There are radicals and there are conservatives; and in our two readings today we see both.

In the gospel of Luke we see John the Baptist, a loner; someone who denounces the authorities of this world as radicals denounce the politicians of our own day. He shouts at King Herod for his marriage to his brother’s wife, just as the moral vices of our own politicians are paraded in the media. But unlike the media, for John to confront worldly power means risking death.

In the Letter to the Philippians we see Paul, the founder of church communities across the Roman world; someone who thinks Christians should respect the authority of the Roman Emperor, even though the Emperor was clearly corrupt. Paul believes there are no distinctions of man and woman, Jew and Greek, slave and free in the new Christian community. But although these are the ideals Paul wants Christians, he is enough of a realist to know that the world outside the church will continue to use such distinctions. He is an idealist who has been mugged by reality.

So Paul was a neo-con, if you like, and John was a sort of long-haired hippy. A loner lives on the margins of society and, in John’s case, it was in the desert where all he could eat was locusts and wild honey. I imagine him thinking, “Life in the city brings so many temptations, so many opportunities to be led astray, so much money to distract you from the really important things of life.” He “wore a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather belt around his waste” (Mt 3:4). A minimal wardrobe, then, to go with his minimal diet. You don’t get the impression that John cared very much what other people thought of him. And so he speaks his mind telling people they commit too many sins and need to repent.

You don’t get the impression John is very happy with society either. He wants to shake it up and remind people what’s really important in life: not money, not your house, not even your family, but the state of your soul. “Are you doing what God wants you to do?” That is John’s question.

We know John had a small group of followers, but I don’t think he’d miss them much if they weren’t there. In another of the gospels, some followers of John come to him and say “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” But for all John cares, everyone can go to Jesus, for, he says, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn 3:26, 30).

Paul, on the other hand, is all about building-up society. A lot of people find Paul a tricky customer: he seems uncompromising on how he wants the new churches to live. But in the Letter to the Philippians, we learn that his motive for setting up these churches is love. “For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:8). Paul yearns for his friends in Philippi, he loves them.

Paul certainly loved being with people, which is part of why his time in prison was so difficult. He writes to his Philippian friends, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy.” Think of the friends you’ve been parted from, friends from back home or perhaps friends who graduated last year, whom you love but whom you don’t see everyday like you used to, and you get a sense of how much Paul misses the Philippians.

“Thank you for looking out for me.” That is what Paul is saying in his letter. You Philippians sent me food here in prison and for that I thank you. He says, “I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace” (Phil 1:7). Partakers, participants, sharers of God and of one another; sharers of the gifts of God among one other.

Are you a John? A radical. A loner. Perhaps a bit of an introvert, but with big ideas about how the world has to change. Are you a Paul? A conservative. A strengthener of community. An extrovert, but perhaps with a desire for people to conform to your expectations of them. Perhaps you have bits of each of them in you, or perhaps you are neither. What is important in God’s eyes is that whatever your personality type you have a role to play in Christ’s Body.

And this gets us to what Paul and John have in common: both of them want the people baptized. Both of them want people baptized because both of them realise that God wants all types of people to be part of Christ’s Body. Baptism is about turning around the direction of your life – repentance – and about becoming part of the Body of Christ – remembering, or putting the members of Christ back together. Paul and John were both baptizers, because they knew that God yearns for God’s people to live a new life in Christ.

Baptism is about new life, then, but also about membership of the Body of Christ. Membership of a Body in which there are other members to whom we give and from whom we receive. Baptism, then, is about our membership of one another – whether like Paul we love other people, or like John we aren’t so sure about them. Baptism is a decision that we live best when we live as members of a body – the Body of Christ.

Baptism is a strange ritual, all that water and all those promises to renounce Satan. But perhaps even stranger to the outside world is the membership of the Body of Christ that comes with it. To be the member of this Body requires our commitment. It requires our commitment to look out for one another, whether the other members are friendly or cold, introverts or extraverts, conservatives or radicals. It requires us to look out for those in tough times, especially the poor, the sick, the prisoner. To be part of a Body isn’t always easy, because the Body is made up of many members and chances are you won’t get on with all of them… or many of them… or any of them. But to have all sorts of differences within it is the very nature of a body.

So however we divide people up, we need to invite them all into baptism in the Body. For only if the church has different members can we be built, through the Spirit, into a healthy Body. Only then can we literally re-member, put back together, the Body of Christ. Amen.

Churchy Q&A: How do you know what Scriptures to read at church?

2006-12-08T09:59:00.000-05:00

In the Episcopal Church, we follow a Eucharistic lectionary, which tells us which texts to read on Sundays and on other holy days. There are three years in our lectionary, and over the course of those three years we'll have heard most of the New Testament and large portions of the Old Testament.

The texts are chosen to support the liturgical year and season and to harmonize with one another. For example, because we are in Advent, we're reading texts that speak to the birth of Jesus at Christmas and to the coming of Christ in the future. The texts anticipate these events, and allow the preacher to construct a sermon around them.

The Episcopal lectionary suggests readings from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the New Testament writings, and the Gospels for each Sunday. At the chaplaincy, we always read the Gospel and the Psalm, with the lesson drawn from either the Old Testament or the New Testament. The preacher chooses which lesson text to use, based on the themes of the sermon.

Bonus: Curious about if/when a particular passage will be read? Click here!

Sunday Preview

2006-12-07T09:31:00.000-05:00

The Collect
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Philippians 1:1-11

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God's grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Psalm 126
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
‘The Lord has done great things for them.’
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.

Luke 3:1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord,: make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,: and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,: and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Chaplaincy Review: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "Who am I?"

2006-12-05T21:31:00.000-05:00

This poem was written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer during his time in Tegel Prison. Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a pastor and a participant in the German resistance to the National Socialist regime. He was implicated in the July 20 plot to assassinate Hitler, and was hanged for treason on April 9, 1945 at Flossenbürg concentration camp.

Who am I? They often tell me
I would step from my prison cell
poised, cheerful and sturdy,
like a nobleman from his country estate.

Who am I? They often tell me
I would speak with my guards
freely, pleasantly, and firmly,
as if I had it to command.

Who am I? I have also been told
that I suffer the days of misfortune
with serenity, smiles and pride,
as someone accustomed to victory.

Am I really what others say about me?
Or am I only what I know of myself?
Restless, yearning and sick, like a bird in its cage,
struggling for the breath of life,
as though someone were choking my throat;
hungering for colors, for flowers, for the songs of birds,
thirsting for kind words and human closeness,
shaking with anger at capricious tyranny and the pettiest slurs,
bedeviled by anxiety, awaiting great events that might never occur,
fearfully powerless and worried for friends far away,
weary and empty in prayer, in thinking and doing,
weak, and ready to take leave of it all.

Who am I? This man or that other?
Am I then this man today and tomorrow another?
Am I both all at once? An impostor to others,
but to me little more than a whining, despicable weakling?
Does what is in me compare to a vanquished army,
that flees in disorder before a battle already won?

Who am I? They mock me these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, you know me, O God. You know I am yours.

Morning After Preaching, Advent 1C

2006-12-04T21:30:00.000-05:00

Texts: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13, Psalm 50:1-6, Luke 21:25-31

I don’t have many memories of Advent from my childhood. I can remember preparing for Christmas, but it didn’t have much to do with God. We would spend hours during the weeks before on decorating the house, putting up a tree and loading it down with ornaments. Advent was just how we got to Christmas, where the good stuff happened.

In actuality, Advent is a season of preparation, in which we anticipate not only the birth of Jesus, but also – and more importantly – the expected coming of Christ and the kingdom of God. Advent is how we get to the ‘good news.’ We already know the story of Jesus of Nazareth and the course of his life, ministry, and death. But we are also watching and waiting for the story that is yet unfolding. The story of Jesus’ journey from humble beginnings to Easter morning is only the opening salvo. God isn’t through with us, and that is what Jesus tells us in the reading from the gospel of Luke.

Jesus tells of the signs in the cosmos and of the distress of the earth that would portend the coming of the Son of Man. He is speaking of an event so momentous that both the physical and social worlds react. But catastrophic events were not a distant possibility for the early Christian community. At the time when the gospels were being written, catastrophe was a present reality. The Roman armies held siege to Jerusalem, surrounding the city with three legions on the west and another to the east. After six months, they had seized Jerusalem, destroyed the city, burned the Temple, and decimated the Jewish population.

The apocalyptic passages in Luke were good news to the followers of Jesus, then and now. They speak to the teleos – the end – that the world is moving inexorably toward, and this end is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not a physical territory in the way we think of kingdoms. It does not have a geographic location with boundaries, a flag, coat of arms and currency. It is, instead, a radical experience of the world in which God lies at the center. Because of this radical reorientation, we are brought into right relationship with one another, with the world, and with God.

The kingdom of God is already inaugurated, brought into being at the incarnation of Christ in Jesus. It is already among us, but it is also not yet fully realized. The signs in the stars and moon and in the very earth itself were a way of knowing that the end was in sight. At the same time, Jesus warns us of the limitations of our knowledge, for ‘about that day and hour no one knows’ (Matthew 24:36). No one knows what the future holds. We can look for signs and watch carefully to discern what might lie ahead, but we should always be prepared.

There is a danger, though, in imagining that one day – perhaps far off, or perhaps tomorrow – God will swoop in and bring the world to an end. The temptation is to let go of attachments to this world and just wait for the beginning of the end. The temptation is to wait, passively, for God to show up and make everything new. That is not what Jesus asks of us.

Instead, we are called to watch, attentive to the signs and promises of hope, without neglecting the troubles of the world. We are called to live as citizens of God’s kingdom, not in a distant, imagined future, but here and now. We are called to be disciples.

For Luke, one is not a disciple alone. Discipleship means living in community in a manner consistent with God’s intentions for human kind. Discipleship is a way of life that isn’t limited an hour on Sunday or a personal, private relationship with God. It is deeply transformative and affects every aspect of life.

Discipleship is fundamentally relational: love for one another is the hallmark of Jesus’s disciples (John 13:35). It is this vision for the community of Christ that lies at the heart of Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians: ‘may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all’ (1 Thessalonians 3:12).

We respond to the call of Jesus Christ, in the same way that the cosmos and the physical world respond to the coming of Christ: it affects our very being, it is not easy, it is both a burden and a great joy.

These apocalyptic texts envision what Creation's true end is, what God intends for this world: the redemption for which the world groans is found in Jesus Christ, not simply in the events of his birth, but also in his anticipated return.

But in preparing for the full realization of the kingdom of God, we cannot forget our obligations to one another. We are the people of God, whose intentions for the world were shown forth in life of Jesus Christ. We are participants in God’s kingdom, not tomorrow, not in the day and hour that are yet to come, but today. How might we answer the call to discipleship today? What does the Lord require of us, ‘but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God?’ (Micah 6:8)

When we are consumed by the desperate circumstances of the world – the enormous disasters and the commonplace travesties – Jesus prompts us to think of the fig tree. The fig tree is among the last to bloom in Palestine. Its blooming serves to remind us that the end is near, that there is an abiding hope for a future in which God brings all things into harmony with one another and with their creator, that the hour of redemption is at hand.

“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief.
  Do justice, now.
    Love mercy, now.
      Walk humbly, now.
You are not obligated to complete the work,
  but neither are you free to abandon it.” (The Talmud)

We are an integral and essential part of what God is up to in the world. In Advent we remember that God enters the world in unexpected and wonderful ways in order to bring creation to its fulfillment. We are not free to abandon the work of the kingdom, but we know that its completion lies in the hands of God.

Amen.

Churchy Q&A: How are hymns for church decided on?

2006-12-01T16:43:00.000-05:00

At the Chaplaincy, the person preaching at that service selects three hymns: opening, offertory, and closing. It's a little more complicated than just rotating through your 20 favorites, though, because the hymns (hopefully) support and strengthen the service as a unified whole. There are several factors to think about:

The readings, especially the Gospel, are the crucial, anchoring element. I begin by reflecting on the readings and sketching the sermon. After this preliminary peek, I look for hymns that fit with the readings and the sermon, in order to connect what is read, sung, and heard.

Although the readings are based on the lectionary and therefore follow the liturgical season, it's important to keep the season in mind. The Hymnal 1982 categorizes hymns, but some categories are more fixed than others. For instance, you wouldn't sing "Unto us a boy is born" before Christmas Day, but many hymns from the sections 'Jesus Christ' and 'Praise to God' are suitable throughout the year.

It's also helpful to consider the hymn's tune. Aside from whether it is familiar or easy to sing, the tempo and pace can help to shape the experience of the service in subtle ways. I look for slower, more reflective tunes for the offertory (especially) and also for the opening. The closing hymn tends to have a quicker tempo, because it is how the congregation is musically 'sent forth' into the world.

And then there are the instinctive decisions. For instance, I have to confess that I would feel a bit odd singing When morning gilds the skies at 5pm.

Sunday Preview

2006-11-30T16:20:00.000-05:00

The Collect
    Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
    How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
    Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Psalm 50:1-6
The mighty one, God the LORD,
    speaks and summons the earth
        from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
        God shines forth.
Our God comes and does not keep silence,
        before him is a devouring fire,
        and a mighty tempest all around him.
He calls to the heavens above
        and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
‘Gather to me my faithful ones,
        who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!’
The heavens declare his righteousness,
        for God himself is judge.

Luke 21:25-31
    Jesus said, "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
    Then he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

Chaplaincy Review

2006-11-28T11:21:00.000-05:00

No creature has meaning
    without the Word of God.
God's Word is in all creation, visible and invisible.
The Word is living, being,
    spirit, all verdant greening,
    all creativity.
This Word flashes out in
    every creature.
This is how the spirit is in the flesh—
    the Word is indivisible from God.

Hildegard of Bingen

[Calling all poets and authors! If you'd like to see your work in this spot, please contact Jennifer or Ben.]

Morning After Preaching (29B)

2006-11-27T10:53:00.000-05:00

Missed church? Trying to remember that line from the sermon that made you think? This is the place! Make comments, debate, get engaged! This is your chance for 'monday morning quarterbacking', in a churchy-sense.

Texts: Daniel 7:9-14; Psalm 93; John 18:33-37

The Christian year ends this week. And it ends in the same way that a new Christian year will begin next Sunday, Advent Sunday, with a very Jewish story. One about the coming messiah. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the beginning and end of the Christian year – its alpha and omēga – are about the Jewish messiah. After all, the Jewish scripture is the foundation upon which Christianity is built. It is Jewish scripture that tells us what God is like and what God’s messiah is like. The difference between the Jewish and Christian understanding of scripture, though, is whether, when the messiah comes at the end of time, that messiah will be someone we recognise – Jesus – or someone we don’t. For me, that is what is at the heart of Jewish-Christian relations. We are all looking for the messiah to return, but the question is whether when he comes it will be Jesus or not.

The Christian year ends with a Jewish story in which God is an Ancient One – the Ancient of Days – who chooses as ruler of the earth someone “like a human being, like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven” (Dan 7:13). It is a story that Jesus used, during his earthly ministry, to talk about himself. Jesus identified himself as that Son of Man who will come again with the clouds of heaven (e.g. Mk 8:31-38). Jesus was convinced of his own role as the messiah, and so it is as the one who is to come that Churchgoers next Sunday will begin a new year talking about him.

So let’s look at the messiah story in Daniel a little more closely. The prophet Daniel describes his vision like this: “I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed” (Dan 7:13-14).

Daniel’s vision is a typical example of the prophetic vision: it’s rather weird and frightening. The prophets of ancient Israel were given the gift of seeing such visions of God. If you like, it’s part of the job description of a prophet! Think of Isaiah praying in the temple and Ezekiel as he sat by the banks of the river Chebar in Babylon. Both of them see God in what appears to be human form, just as Daniel does when he sees the Ancient One. But these are visions of God – prophets are keen to show that this is not God, but only a visible image of the invisible God. Visions do not claim to see God as God really is; a vision takes as its starting point that it will not be able to capture God in all God’s glory.

So Ezekiel heavily qualifies what he sees in his vision, so that we don’t end up thinking that the invisible God really looks like anything: “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” (Ez 1:28b). Let’s just be clear – Ezekiel is saying this is the 1) appearance of a 2) likeness of a 3) glory that belongs to God. And so it is with Daniel’s vision. God is not an Old Man in the clouds – instead, Daniel’s vision has God, the Ancient of Days, seated on a throne of fiery flames with burning wheels: not something you are likely to run into on the streets of Cambridge. And the one whom God sends, the messiah, is one “like a human being,” not just any human but an extraordinary one so that he is only “like” a human.

In the Gospels, Jesus claims he is the one chosen by the Ancient of Days to be the coming messiah, the King of the Jews. He is the one to be “given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.” All the earth is to be blessed through this king of Israel. He will be the just and merciful ruler of the whole world.

Now I know, in this country, you are all a bit suspicious of kings. A ruler of the whole world might not be what you are looking for exactly. A ruler who is given supreme power but who claims to use that power for the good of all, might sound to you, like it did to your forebears, a contradiction in terms. Kings will only ever be tyrants, demanding taxation without representation?

But for those of you who fear a king who lords it over you, think of the messiah you are promised. For this is the wonderful bit about Christianity. If Jesus is the one chosen by God, what does the representative of God’s glory on earth look like? A humble Jewish carpenter.

In our Gospel reading today, the Jewish carpenter is face to face with the Roman Proconsul. Pilate is a representative of the Roman Empire of which Judea is one small part. If the Roman Empire was the known world, here was Jesus face to face with the personification of this world. And Jesus tells him that “My kingship is not from this world.” The king of the known world is Caesar, but the kingship that really matters is from God. That is the kingship given to the messiah.

“My kingship is not from this world,” says Jesus. “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over.” They would be fighting if his kingdom were of this world. But for those of you who fear tyranny, here is the key: Jesus is not the sort of king whose dominion is backed up by violence. Not a representative of a regime with all the machinery of torture at its disposal, for that is the role of Pilate his accuser. Not a King George III. But someone who has gone up against worldly power with only prayer and the hope that the world will be a better place. The kind of king I am talking about is someone who, on the cross, seemed to have his prayers of suffering go unanswered and his hope snuffed out. That sort of experience doesn’t breed tyranny – the sort of leader who has gone through suffering opposes tyranny.

If we are looking for modern parallels, the nearest I can come up with is a Nelson Mandela. And not the young ANC freedom-fighter, but Mandela after he spent all those years doing hard labor in prison on Robin Island and came out not mad or bad but merciful and just. Or a Vaclav Havel, a philosopher who opposed the communist regime in Czechoslovakia and came out of prison a leader of a peaceful opposition movement. Both these men lost out to power and suffered as a result – but through that suffering learnt how to rule.

Think of these worldly examples and times them by a thousand, for Jesus says, “my kingship is not from this world.” Jesus’ kingship is even more merciful and just because it is not from this world. Instead, it is kingship for the world. If we believe Jesus is the messiah then his kingship has already begun, a kingship for carpenters, fishermen, prostitutes, sinners. A kingship by one who has suffered on the cross. A kingship, as the Creed says, for us and for our salvation. No taxation, no representation, simply salvation.

Welcome!

2006-11-26T10:45:00.000-05:00

The Harvard Episcopal Chaplaincy holds services every Sunday at 5pm at Christ Church, Cambridge, through the academic year. We would love for you to join us for service and for dinner afterwards!