February 2, 2023

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28)

After a sleepless Saturday night caused by fear and anxiety (sound familiar?), Garrison Keillor went to church last Sunday, where heard, as we did, this passage from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Garrison shares how the Word of God touched him

“And then moments later she read from First Corinthians that we do not find God through wisdom. No, God chose what is foolish to shame the wise, for God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. The thought of God’s foolishness is a radical one, seldom mentioned in church, and near me were some highly educated people, including a man who got his Ph.D. in classic philosophy from Harvard and here I sat, a writer of limericks and a lover of juvenile jokes (Knock-knock. “Who’s there?” Eskimo Christians. “Eskimo Christians who?” Eskimo Christians, I’ll tell you no lies.) and when I went forward for Communion I felt foolishly happy. The wafer was not artisanal, the wine too sweet, but I received it with a good and grateful heart.”

“Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
for ever. Amen.” (Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany – BCP)

February 1, 2023

“Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are, That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,  How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,  You loop'd and window 'd raggedness, defend you From seasons such as these?”

Pardon the length of this ADD, but Buechner’s mediation on this King Lear quote is too rich to abridge. He taught at Exeter, which provides the context for the quote.

OUT OF THE SILENCE of a high-school classroom the tragic word is spoken, and, if the teacher is right in his conjectures, it is also heard. The poor naked wretches of the world are all of them, everybody. They did not know it before, but they know it now because they have heard it spoken. Without the word, they might never have guessed it, or, if they had guessed it, it would have been for them only one more unspoken thing among many other unspoken things that they carried around inside the worlds they were. Once spoken, the word of their nakedness and wretchedness is a shattering word. They are young and full of lunch and full of hope and clothed in the beauty that it is to be young, and thus of all people they are in a way the least naked, the least wretched; but the word out of the old play tells them for a moment otherwise. It speaks in a way they cannot avoid hearing for themselves, which is the awesome power of words because, although there are times when they shield us from reality, at other times they assail us with it. The play tells them that life is a pitiless storm and that they are as vulnerable to it as Lear himself, not just in the sense that youth grows old and beauty fades but in the sense that youth and beauty themselves are vulnerable—their heads are houseless, their youth itself a looped and windowed raggedness and as inadequate to the task of sheltering them as their teacher's middle-aged urbanity is to the task of sheltering him. The word out of the play strips them for a moment naked and strips their teacher with them and to that extent Shakespeare turns preacher because stripping us naked is part of what preaching is all about, the tragic part.                              

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

“Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that,
by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and 
ever. Amen.” (Proper 28 – BCP)

January 31, 2023

Q) What happened before the invention of the crowbar?

A) Crows were forced to drink alone!

IMHO, humor is the elixir of life. We use a lot of humor in the Christ Church pulpit. Sometime it takes a while for newcomers to feel it is okay to laugh in church. (It couldn’t be that the jokes aren’t that funny?)

 The bible isn’t known for humor, but Jesus did deploy it.  I saw a Jesus film once that included this scene. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11-12) The listeners were laughing there heads off! Guess you had to be there?

Still, His point is good. Would the God who loves you give you a snake? Don’t you know that God wants the absolute best for you?

PS. Odds are that you will tell that joke today….

“O Lord our God, accept the fervent prayers of your people; in the multitude of your mercies, look with compassion upon us and all who turn to you for help; for you are gracious, O lover of souls, and to you we give glory, Father, Son, andHoly Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.” (The Collect at the Prayers – BCP)

January 30, 2023

"Any idiot can face a crisis — it's day to day living that wears you out." That’s from Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. He was a medical doctor as well as a writer. So maybe he could face a crisis better than most, but still he’s got a point. The day to day can make a person look forward to bedtime!

Here is a Monday word of encouragement from the prophet Isaiah. “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.” (Isaiah 40:30-31)

“This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus. Amen.” (In the Morning – BCP)

January 27, 2023

“Papa don’t preach I’m in trouble deep, Papa don’t preach I’m losing sleep.” Madonna, now 65, is going on tour. That one is from 1986. One definition of preach in the Oxford English Dictionary is “to give someone advice on moral standards, behavior, etc., especially in a way that they find annoying or boring.” Ha!

That is a sad commentary on what passes for preaching, for it is so far from the heart of God. Here is what the prophet calls preaching – “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation.” (Isaiah 52:7)

Good news. Proclaimed peace. Good tidings. Salvation. Get up and walk out when you hear anything less.

“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.” (Third Sunday after the Epiphany – BCP)

January 26, 2023

When Virginia Woolf published her first piece of literary criticism in the Guardian, a friend sent her a note of congratulations. I love her response. “Not that a review deserves praise, it is necessarily dull work reviewing I think, and I hate the critical attitude of mind because all the time I know what a humbug I am, and ask myself what right have I to dictate what’s good and bad, when I couldn’t, probably, do as well myself!”

Isn’t it so darn easy to make yourself comfortable in the seat of judgment? Dispensing decrees on what is good and what is bad? It is so easy to do, because that is our original temptation – the serpent told our first parents that we would be like God. And it so noxious and hellish, because we are not God. Oh, the presumption!

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

“We humbly beseech thee, O Father, mercifully to look upon our infirmities; and, for the glory of thy Name, turn from us all those evils that we most justly have deserved; and grant that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in thy mercy, and evermore serve thee in holiness and pureness of living, to thy honor and glory; through our only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (The Great Litany – BCP)

January 25, 2023

“You have to lose / You have to learn how to die / If you want to want to be alive / Okay?” 

That Bible Truth is from Wilco. Jesus says it this way. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24)

I know this to be true, as oxymoronic as it is. Don’t you? By your life that is impotent and stale (“alone” as Jesus says) until you experience some kind of death. Then – voila – living is on the other side!

Okay?

“Almighty God, whose dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Monday in Holy Week – BCP)

January 24, 2023

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

The title of this Noel Coward poem is “Nothing is Lost” – which serves as a pithy commentary for Romans 8:28.

Deep in our sub-conscious, we are told
Lie all our memories, lie all the notes
Of all the music we have ever heard
And all the phrases those we loved have spoken,
Sorrows and losses time has since consoled,
Family jokes, out-moded anecdotes
Each sentimental souvenir and token
Everything seen, experienced, each word
Addressed to us in infancy, before
Before we could even know or understand
The implications of our wonderland.
There they all are, the legendary lies
The birthday treats, the sights, the sounds, the tears
Forgotten debris of forgotten years
Waiting to be recalled, waiting to rise
Before our world dissolves before our eyes
Waiting for some small, intimate reminder,
A word, a tune, a known familiar scent
An echo from the past when, innocent
We looked upon the present with delight
And doubted not the future would be kinder
And never knew the loneliness of night.

“O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done.
Then in thy mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.” (In the Evening – BCP)

January 20, 2023

“And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:15)

Don’t forget to pray. And don’t forget that praying is doing something. When we have a problem, we want to do something to fix the problem. Call that person, confront that other person, complain about it to still another person. Make a decision, do a pros and cons chart, join a gym, call the doctor. Whatever.

Sure, do those things. But the real thing to do is pray to God. That is a real thing. It is an action. It is lodging the problem with the only One who sees things from every side. Furthermore, it is to expect an answer. Usually, it is the answer we did not see, could not see coming.

“Heavenly Father, you have promised to hear what we ask in the Name of your Son: Accept and fulfill our petitions, wepray, not as we ask in our ignorance, nor as we deserve in our sinfulness, but as you know and love us in your Son JesusChrist our Lord. Amen.” (The Collect at the Prayers – BCP)

January 19, 2023

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Thomas Jefferson once said, “There is a fulness of time when men should go, & not occupy too long the ground to which others should advance.”  As we age, as we change our roles change. We are given different work to do. A marriage heals, a child moves away, a new season is underway.

God’s direction of your life is purposeful. Every hair of your head is numbered and every move you make is secure in His love.

“Grant, O Lord, that the course of this world may be peaceably governed by your providence; and that we may joyfully serve you in confidence and serenity;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Proper 3 – BCP)

January 18, 2023

I had the enormous privilege last Saturday to do a blessing for a 1 day old newborn in the hospital and then, later, baptize a toddler in our St. Anne’s Chapel. Both are achingly poignant moments, aren’t they? Babies’ lives are a tabula rasa. Yet we know that the world into which they have been born, though shot through with joy and beauty, is nonetheless replete with woe. And those babies are sure to encounter their fair share of that woe.

Frankly, I don’t understand how anybody could stand such a moment were it not for trust in God. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13) The God of love and grace is with us from beginning to end. And what does that God do? He turns all woe into everlasting wonder.

“Into your hands, O God, we place your children. Support them in their successes and in their failures, in their joys and in their sorrows. As they grow in age, may they grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.” (Thanksgiving for the Birth of a Child – BCP)

January 17, 2023

Memoirist Mary Karr gives us a helpful reminder when she says, “A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.” That’s a bible insight. Because we are all dysfunctional. In other words, none of us functions the way we are meant to function. There is always a wrench in the works, a hitch in the giddy-up, a snake in the grass. Sin always is at work.

Time once again for Paul’s great insight.  “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” (Romans 7:15) To truly understand our own dysfunction is to have compassion on another’s dysfunction. And it makes the day go, if not easy, at least easier.

“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.” (Third Sunday in Lent – BCP)

January 16, 2023

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant." That’s what the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King said.

Jesus, who is truth and love and ultimate reality, says it this way. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the wholehuman family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (For the Human Family – BCP)

January 12, 2023

“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, 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 fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.” (1 Corinthians 15:19-21)

Albert Camus, the Pulitzer Prize winning absurdist, died in a car crash when he was 46. Faulkner wrote his obituary, saying, "When the door shut for him he had already written on this side of it that which every artist who also carries through life with him that one same foreknowledge and hatred of death, is hoping to do: I was here.”

What is not widely known about Camus is that right before his death he asked a minister in Paris to baptize him. His absurdist vision of life apparently gave way to the absurdly good news of the Gospel. He was here, yes. And now he is raised to life in Christ.

“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.” (Third Sunday after the Epiphany – BCP)

January 11, 2023

“And it may even be that in the end all problems are spiritual problems.” That is from Cormac McCarthy’s latest novel called Stella Maris.

Does that mean that your hangnail has ultimate meaning? Maybe. Because you have to deal with that hangnail. And how you deal with that hangnail will reveal something about how you deal with life itself. And dealing with life itself has everything to do with how you see yourself, other people, the world, existence, and the question of God.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind….” (Romans 12:2)

“Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings with thy most gracious favor, and further us with thy continual help; that in all ourworks begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy Name, and finally, by thy mercy, obtain everlastinglife; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (For Guidance – BCP)

January 10, 2023

The feeling of being an imposter is as common as the common cold. When Jodie Foster won an Oscar, she said, “I thought it was a fluke. I thought everyone would find out and they’d take it back. They’d come to my house, knocking on my door, ‘Excuse me, we meant to give that to someone else. That was going to Meryl Streep.’”  But here’s what Meryl Streep had to say. “You think, ‘Why would anyone want to see me again in a movie? And, I don’t know how to act anyway, so why am I doing this?’”

You make feel like a fake in any number of realms, but it just doesn’t matter. Why? Because your life is hidden in Christ. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3)

“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.” (Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany – BCP)

January 9, 2023

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2)

I love the motto of the Carthusian monks, whose order was founded 1000 years ago. It’s a motto for the ages – every age and everywhere. The Latin is Stat crux dum volvitur orbis. It means “The cross is steady while the world turns.” The cross is steady while the world turns. Your world will turn; the cross is once and always your anchor.

“Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.” (First Sunday After the Epiphany)

January 6, 2023

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Philippians 1:6)

At some point in everyone’s life, you need church to be a hospital for sinners rather than a school of virtue. This can happen early, when the grace of God comes with mother’s milk. It can happen at any crushing fork in the road of life, when you find yourself lost in a dark wood. It can happen after you’ve given the school of virtue everything you have, yet you still wake up with your same petty and judgmental self.

It will definitely happen on your death bed, when you finally realize that grace is all that ever mattered. And ironically, any virtue you were hoping for is ever and always an unselfconscious by-product of that very same grace. The dichotomy fades away. The God who began the work is the God who will finish it.

“Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.” (Holy Name – BCP)

January 5, 2023

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Every golfer dreams of playing The Masters at Augusta National. This year Scott Stallings received his invitation. But the Scott Stallings who received the invitation was not the professional golfer Scott Stallings, but a regular guy named Scott Stallings, who plays golf like the rest of us – way over par. For a brief moment, this Scott Stallings imagined packing his clubs and showing up at Augusta ready to play! But then he contacted Augusta National, who then invited the professional Scott Stallings.

You have been chosen by God. And it is no mistake. The merits of Jesus’ life and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus’ death have qualified you for perfect righteousness. It is an invitation that can’t be returned or revoked.

“We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him,
and he in us. Amen.” (Prayer of Humble Access – BCP)

January 4, 2023

“When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.” (Galatians 4:4-5)

Trees are most likely on the curbside now, but liturgically speaking, we are still in the season of Christmas. That text is chosen for the 2cd Sunday of Christmas because that is when and why Christmas happened. When? The fullness of time. Why? So that we who were under the law might be redeemed and become children of God.”

Of course, we love the shepherds and angels and magi, but right there is the heart of hearts of Christmas.

“Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.” (Holy Name – BCP)