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Celebration of Holy Eucharist - 10:00 am
Sunday July 25, Proper 15- Jesus teaching on prayer
As I was thinking about our Gospel today , I thought a good name for it might be vending machine God. And the reason I thought I would name it vending machine God- was because of what Jesus said to his disciples about 2/3 of the way through the Gospel this morning. “ So I say to you ask and it will be given, search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, for everyone who searches finds and everyone who knocks the door will be opened.
Jesus makes it sound like all you need to do is drop a few quarters into the vending machine of prayer, make your selection and poof out pops your candy. Just toss up your prayer to God and within a few moments out pops your miracle.
And yet we know that is not how God operates. Everyone we pray for is not made well. Everything we ask for doesn’t come to fruition.
By now I think we’ve come to realize that God is not a big vending machine in the sky. We just can’t drop our quarters in and get exactly what we select.
In fact, I would wager a guess that sometimes our prayers seem fruitless, that god in moments of prayer- seems distant and removed, instead of present and attentive.
I have to admit that after prayer I don’t always feel refreshed or even any more connected to God than before I sat down to pray. I don’t always feel that God has listened or that things have changed all that much. And when I pray, I want to know that somehow my efforts have mattered, that my prayers have made a difference, I want to know that the words I have spoken have not fallen on deaf ears. And yet my experience of prayer and of God often speaks of a God who is silent.
In this moment , I so deeply want to defend God I want to speak of a God who is different who is never silent, who heals, everyone who prays. But I can’t because I know my words would ring hollow because experience tells us otherwise. And so we are left to struggle with a god who is sometimes very silent but also with a God who is innately Good as Jesus describes. Jesus tells his disciples he is The giver of good gifts to those who pray, a god who does not gives snakes and scorpions, but gives fish and eggs.
So then how might God be good even while all we hear is the sound of silence ringing in our ears.
I think we have to remember that even though God may at times be silent to our prayers, that in way means he is not present, that he is not listening to us when we pray. God is always with us even if we can’t perceive him, even when we can’t recognize his presence.
Perhaps at times God is more like the silent psychologist who sits quietly next to the couch, The psychologist always listening, always noting, always processing, but who rarely speaks.
For one of the things that prayer is, is it is our opportunity to step outside this world and consciously step into the presence of God. Prayer is God’s invitation to us to unload all the stuff we carry around, all of our junk onto God.
Prayers is the unloading of our deep failures, the things we have done and left undone, prayer is our opportunity to express the deep disappointments of this world and our lives. we have had and prayer is the opportunity share with God the longings, the desires of our hearts. Prayer is our opportunity to unload all this stuff, onto God so that we can let him deal with it.
I find it kind of interesting that smack dab in the middle of Jesus teaching on prayer that he tells a parable and in this parable a man who needs something in the middle of the night.
Since they didn’t have seven-eleven back in Jesus day- this man had to rely on the generosity of a friend. But when he arrives his friend in already in bed and wants nothing to do with request. So Jesus say be persistent- keep asking- eventually the friend will accommodate you.
And what Jesus is saying is that prayer must be persistent. And I wonder that if Jesus is advocating persistence because maybe like you and I there were times when Jesus prayed and all he got was the sound of silence coming from the other end. Maybe just maybe Jesus knew what it was like to pour out his heart to God to hear nothing.
But I also think Jesus taught persistence because he knew his disciples well. He knew how when push came to shove that when people pray they often don’t really let God deal with what’s going. Yes we bring our stuff to God, but when were done talking to God we pick our crap right back up and carry it out with ourselves we don’t leave it with Him. How often do we truly let God deal with our stuff, How often do we truly allow him the opportunity to take our burden upon him? How often do we really leave all of our stuff at God’s feet?
So maybe Jesus teaching on persistent prayer also has a lot to do with our unwillingness to let go and let God to let go and let God deal with- And so Jesus advocates his disciples going again and again to God to unload our stuff so that God can carry it and God can carry us through this journey we call life.
And the thing is that even though God may be silent and even though he is not a vending machine, he is always willing to take our burdens, our disappointments upon his shoulders. We just need to be willing to let go of those things and to give them to him.
AMEN
Sunday June 27, 2010--Luke 9:51-62 - Sermon from Fr. Sean Leonard
I was talking to someone this week about today Gospel’s lesson and she said something to the effect of - I don’t like what Jesus has to say in this week’s gospel particularly to the guy who wants to bury his father before following – she continued, “ that just doesn’t seem like Jesus.”
The Jesus we hear about today doesn’t appear to be the same Jesus who leaves the 99 sheep to go after the 1 who is lost. He doesn’t appear to be the same Jesus who gathers the young children onto his lap. He doesn’t seem to be the Jesus who cares for the poor and the blind and the lame.
No the Jesus we find in the second half of today’s Gospel is challenging and difficult. His actions, his words- just don’t seem like Jesus. And that creates for uncomfortable feeling, a disconnect that challenge our very understandings of who Jesus is and what he expects from those who follow him.
The story starts out just fine- some of his disciples have been sent ahead to a village to make preparations for Jesus arrival. But when they arrive at this village they are rebuffed and go away angry and offended. They ask Jesus to call down fire and brimstone- to annihilate- to vaporize this village. But Jesus rebukes them, tells them to move on. That’s the Jesus we know and love- the one who forgives, the one who is merciful.
Before long though the story spirals out of control and we begin to get a bit of that uneasy feeling about the Jesus we see in the second half of the Gospel.
The story continues as a gentleman approaches- very zealously he says,
“Hey, Jesus I will follow you wherever go”- but Jesus takes out a pin and quickly pops his balloon of enthusiasm.
Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head. Following Jesus is going to be difficult.
Jesus moves on and as he- passing by another gentleman, he says,
“Hey come and follow me!”
“Great Jesus, I would love to, but first let me go bury my father.”
This guys unwillingness to drop his nets and immediately follow provokes this response in Christ,
“Let the dead the bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God .”
Now here comes the tri-fecta. A third person approaches again probably enthusiastically.
“Hey- Jesus I would love to follow , but first let me go and kiss my wife and kids goodbye- I’ll be right back.”
Again Jesus’ answer is very disconcerting.
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
So how do we reconcile this confrontational, this very driven, this uncompromising Jesus who has set his face toward Jerusalem and is not looking back- how do we reconcile this Jesus with the soft and cuddly Jesus, the cum-bya Jesus, the Jesus who gathers the children- the very comfortable, easy Jesus the Jesus whose there to help us when we need him? Or Can we reconcile these two Jesus?
Perhaps the Jesus we are confronted with today, is meant broaden our perspective to expand our understanding of who Jesus really is and what his expectations are for those who follow him.
The Jesus we meet today demands- he demands that if you are going to follow you will have to in poker terms your going to have to go all in- you will have to bet the farm on Him, to you will have to put all your eggs in just one basket.
The Jesus we meet today demands that there be nothing that stands between him and his followers.
The Jesus we meet today Jesus demands that his follower reorient- reorder their priorities. The Jesus we meet today demands center stage in his follower’s lives.
The Jesus we meet today has expectation for his follower that go beyond following the Ten Commandments or coming to church. It’s pretty easy to follow thou shalt not kill or thou shalt not steal. He has greater expectations than these.
I want you to take a moment and think about all the things that you are, think about all the things that describe who you are? Are you a mother/ father – grandmother/grandfather, sister brother, son-daughter, are you an executive, a banker, a retiree, a business owner, a teacher, a stay at home mom, are you a bills fans, a patriots fans, a sabres fan, are you a golfer, a runner, a hiker, a walker, a musician a shriner or a mason or a girl scout.
Take a moment to think about all the things and the words that describe who and what you are.
Now one of the things you may have had in your list was a Christian or maybe a follower of Jesus. You may describe yourself as a Christian.
Now if you put that in your list of descriptors there is a problem. Yes you heard that right! I didn’t misspeak.
Of course, if you didn’t have that in your list there is an even bigger problem.
So then what’s the problem with using the word Christian or follower of Jesus in a list of descriptors of who we are?
The Christianity that Jesus is calling his followers to isn’t meant to be compartmentalized, segmented, but rather our Christian faith is meant to flavor, to infect all the areas of our lives. Being a Christian, Being a follower of Jesus is meant to be a lifestyle, a way of life. So rather than being a father and businessperson and a runner and a mason and a Christian.
What if we thought of our selves as a Christian father or a Christian businessperson.
What if we allowed Jesus to lead us in every area of our lives? What would our lives look like if we allowed our Christian faith to flavor all aspects of my life- the way we do our work, the way we interact with people, the way we parent, the way we talk about people.
So often we think that Christ calls us out of our lives into something different into something more noble, something more holy- as if our lives weren’t holy enough. As if being a missionary or being a pastor is more noble and more Godly than running a business or cutting some ones hair.
But the call to follow Christ is not a call to leave our lives behind but the call of Christ is to live our lives in the world as followers of Jesus Christ-to live our lives with Christ front and center- to live our lives as Christian mothers and father- as Christian teachers and hardware store owners and accountants.
Jesus call on our lives today is a call to leave behind all the things that hinder our following of Christ and that my friends is hard work- its difficult- its demanding- it takes work to shift our loyalties and to be led by God Spirit, to let go and let God lead- But when we let go and let God lead then God can mold us into the Christian people that Jesus is calling us to become.
And the good news is that when engage in this hard work- what we will find our lives transformed and we will find our world transformed and we will find ourselves being led into the kingdom of God. AMEN.
Sunday June 13, 2010 Luke 7:36-8:3 - Sermon from Fr. Sean Leonard
I would imagine that Simon the Pharisee from the Gospel was probably a pretty good guy- I know for a fact that he was a good church guy- if we were to fast forward 2000 years and put Simon in an Episcopal Church- Simon he would have probably been on the vestry, paid his tithe, attended Church every Sunday without fail- and he may have even taught Sunday School. I would imagine he looked a lot like you and I- 2.2 kids, a nice house, a good job, a fine wife- his life was in good order, he was happy and most importantly Simon knew the rules he should live by.
Simon knew that if he the ten commandments-say my prayers- pay my tithe, support the local synagogue- associate with the right kind of people then God would look favorably upon him.
That was probably how Simon operated and it was probably how ordered his life- that was until that one night. Simon was hosting a dinner party when an uninvited guest crashed his party.
Now, this uninvited guest was not just anyone, this was a woman who was known around town - and not known because of her virtues- she led an interesting life- she had a life that would be seen in the tabloids -she was known because she got around just a little bit with some of the gentlemen folk. In fact, she may have made her living entertaining the gentleman folk Galilean community.
This woman because of her profession was social outcast- someone on the fringes of society someone whom the local religious looked down upon- not only did they look down upon her but by Mosaic law she would have been characterized as unclean and defiled- whom good religious folk should not associate with.
And there she was – this woman at Simon’s dinner party. Not only was she there but she was washing the feet of the honored guest.
Simon is repulsed that this woman is washing Jesus’ feet. We can hear it running through his head- Doesn’t he know who it is that is touching him- doesn’t he know that he is know ritually unclean. Doesn’t he know that touching this person or allow this person to touch you is offensive to God.
Now I forgot to tell you something about Simon and that is is that Simon is so good, he has been so well trained religiously as a Pharisee that he is able to recognize who is in good with God and those who are not in. He’s good at telling the insiders and the outsiders
Simon he’s an insider or so he think- he follows the rules- goes to temple, he’s in good with God. But this woman, this prostitute in Simon’s system she is an outsider, she’s sinful- and certainly doesn’t play by his rules so she is someone who is not fit for the kingdom of God.
And yet what we see in this story is that Jesus accepts her. Oh yeah , she is a sinner that’s quite clear, but she has been redeemed, in Jesus, in God she has found redemption her sins have been forgiven, they’ve been cast into the sea and they are no longer counted against he. Not only does Jesus accept her but he holds her up as a shining example of a faithful person –Your faith has saved you -go in peace.
So what then for Simon, the Pharisee, what’s his good news. Here’s a guy who’s been following the rules all along, he’s been trying to please God- he just been a little misguided.
First and foremost what I hope Simon sees is that there are no outsiders with God- that God shows no partiality.
I have some people in my family who hold me up as someone who has an in with God. Now although I let them believe that- that’s not really true- I am not more an insider I do not have an inside track more so because of what I do than anyone else.
What I hope Simon the Pharisee is able to see is t hat even though he was on the wrong path- there is hope for him- just like there was hope for the sinful women.
Secondly, what I hope Simon the Pharisee sees is that his faith is lacking, and not really that it’s lacking, but that he has put his faith in the wrong places - that he has placed his faith in system, in a way of life- he had placed his faith in system that he thought could and would save him, that would lead him to God.
He thought If I can just dot all my “I’s” and cross all my “t’s” then maybe I will earn God’s favor.
What I hope Simon learned is that faith is about presenting ourselves again and again and again to God. Faith is about -presenting our situations -presenting our difficulties our pain, presenting our sin again and again to God. Faith is about commending our lives and all that is in them to God for his care.
And what I believe happens when we present our selves to Jesus in faith, what we will hear Christ say to us is what Christ said to the sinful woman- “your faith has saved you go- in peace.” “Your faith has saved you go- in peace.”
AMEN
Sunday June 6, 2010 - Sermon from Fr. Sean Leonard
Last week, while visiting one of the area nursing homes I was on my way out with my son, Caden. On occasion, I will bring my children with me to do pastoral visits. We had just finished visiting a parishioner and were heading to down the hall to sign out when a patient sitting in her wheelchair distressed by something saw me coming and said “young man-help me.” Help-me Help me Help me Help me- she repeated that over and over. Since I was still some way down the hall, I had plenty of time to assess the situation.
Running through my head was what can I do to help, Caden’s already antsy he’s not going to like it if I stop to speak with this woman. She clearly had some form of dementia- and I did not think I could offer her anything. Yet also running through my mind was a clear sense that I should stop and should take a moment to offer her a prayer- to see if my presence might be helpful her. But I was in a hurry and didn’t want to get stuck for another 5 or 10 minutes -so I as strolled by I tried to smile sympathetically and offer something to like “Oh, you’ll be Ok.”
As soon as I passed, I knew immediately that I had been called by God to that situation. I had been called to offer my presence to that woman and I had blown it. I had failed b/c I had my own agenda that I wanted to stick to, I didn’t know exactly what I was to do in that situation so rather than step outside my comfort zone and take a risk – I did the comfortable thing and I kept going. I failed myself, I failed my son- in that I had an opportunity to model what compassion looks like, I failed to respect the dignity of that woman- dignity that should be afforded all human beings and I failed God.
I wonder how deeply God grieved in that moment of my disobedience. Was God disappointed by my failure- Was God disappointed, as a parent might be disappointed in a child’s failure? God had invited me into ministry with him, he invited me to be his hands at that moment and I had turned my back on that call.
I hope that someone came after me and was able to offer that woman the help she was looking for. Of course, I realize that my sinfulness may have cost that woman the opportunity for comfort and solace, I realize that my actions or lack there of were a slap in the face of her dignity. And, I realize that I may have been the life preserver that God was throwing to her at that moment.
Ever have the nagging sense that you were supposed to do something?
Ever have the sense that you are being called to offer your gifts, your talents in a certain situation?
That nagging sense might just be God inviting you into his work, that nagging sense just might be God inviting you to offer your hands to his work.
We heard about a little bit about Paul’s call to share the Gospel to the Gentiles, but chances are the calls that we receive are not going to be the blinding lights or the voices from heaven that like the one Paul received on the Damascus road. No they are going to be a little more subtle- the small voice within, the person saying have you ever consider doing this ministry or that. But they still may be God
So when you are asked to do something or when you get that nagging sense- do you ever ask yourself the question is this God who’s calling me?
Do you ever ask the question is God inviting to join in His work at this time?
Perhaps the question that we should add to the repertoire of questions that we ask along-- with will I have time for this or do I have the skills and talents to do this is, “is God calling me to join him in this work at this time?”
The next time I am confronted with God’s call I hope to respond differently and perhaps next you get the nagging sense- you will ask yourself is this God calling me to join him in his work?
AMEN
May 30, 2010 Trinity Sunday- Sermon from Fr. Sean Leonard
Did anyone else notice that today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans has a couple of rather large landmines?
Landmines like “hope does not disappoint us…” Hope does not disappoint us???
Anyone who has prayed or hoped for a cure that hasn’t come- knows that hope does disappoint us.
Anyone who has hoped that a situation would turn out differently than it has- knows that hope does disappoint.
Landmines like “we also boast in our sufferings…” “Boast in our sufferings?” Worse yet a better translation for the word boast is the word rejoice. “Rejoice in our sufferings??” Find joy when our lives are falling apart? Find joy when things are not turning out the way I envisioned them to- when my marriage is falling apart, when my child is sick, when I have this devastating illness---Rejoice—Boast in my sufferings????
The concept of suffering- the concept of why does a good God allow bad things to happen? Is a question that has stumped people, theologians and Christians for thousands of years.
The very existence of suffering in this world has led many to turn from God and doubt God’s very existence-- or make the claim that even if God exists, God could not be the loving God that Christianity says that God is.
I think that for Paul though there is a pedagogical quality to suffering, for Paul there is something to be learned or something to be gained from our experiences of human suffering whether that be our own or someone else’s. And because Christians can learn something from suffering then for Paul it is something that should be embraced, something that we can boast in, something that we can rejoice in .
For Paul suffering is a place where endurance- patience and perseverance can be learned— not because we want to learn it, but because suffering is often something out of our control- so by its very quality suffering forces us to learn to be patient- it forces us to learn to endure the difficulties. This endurance builds character- fortitude and strength and from their Paul says hope springs.
So then how do we rejoice in our sufferings, how do we boast in our difficulties?
Rejoicing is not about being happy about the situation, that you have cancer or that your marriage is falling apart or that you’ve lost your job- that you are facing addiction- it’s not about being happy in those situations- it’s about recognizing that there is an opportunity here for you to meet God very different way than perhaps you find might find God when the sun shining and the bird’s are chirping and everything in going long just a-ok.
For in the darkness of human suffering there is an opportunity for us come face to face with God in a way that is real and poignant- for in the darkness of human suffering there is the opportunity for us to embrace God because often there is nothing else left for us to embrace. When the bottom falls out from underneath us what else can grasp but God.
But we must invite God in- we must invite God to walk with us in the darkest places, so not only should our prayer be for God to spare us from the trial and tribulation but also our prayer should be that God walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death.
For only there can we know the comfort of his rod and his staff provide. For only there can God spread before us a table, for only when we invite God in, can we be lead to green pastures and still waters. For only in God’s walking with us can we know the hope that does not disappoint.
“On the last day of July 1941 the Auschwitz sirens announced the escape of a prisoner. As a reprisal, ten of his fellow prisoners would die of a long, slow starvation, buried alive in a specially constructed, concrete bunker.
So all day, tortured by sun, hunger, and fear, the men waited as the German commandant and his Gestapo assistant walked between the ranks to select, quite arbitrarily, the chosen ten. As the commandant pointed to one man, Francis Gajowniczek, he cried out in despair, “My poor wife and children.” At that moment the unimpressive figure of a man with sunken eyes and round glasses in wire frames stepped out of line and took off his cap. “What does this Polish pig want? asked the commandant.
“I am a Catholic priest; I want to died for that man. I am old, he has a wife and children … I have no one,” said Father Maximilian Kolbe.
“Accepted,” retorted the commandant, and moved on.
That night, ten men, including the priest, went to the starvation bunker. Normally they would tear each other apart like cannibals. Not so this time. While they had strength, lying naked on the floor, the men prayed and sang hymns.
[When all hope was gone the prisoners invited God in, through prayer and song, when they had no other recourse Fr. Kolbe and his fellow prisoners invited God in…And God came and for two weeks dwelt among them in the darkness of the starvation bunker. ]
[Eventually] the bunker was required for others, so on August 14 the remaining four were disposed of. At 12:50 p.m., after two weeks in the starvation bunker and still conscious, the Polish priest was finally given an injection of phenol and died at the age of forty-seven.” 1
But when death came Fr. Kolbe did not face it alone- he faced it in the loving embrace of God’s arms.
May we invite God into every facet of our lives, but most especially may we invite God into the dark scary places that we sometimes find ourselves. May we invite him again and again and again.
For when we invite God in--- death turns to life- resurrection springs forth from a tomb that is drenched in sadness and death and what we will find is that we have a hope, a hope that endures and a hope that does disappoint ---because the hope that we find in God becomes the wellspring that nourishes our lives.
AMEN
1 Gumbel, Nicky, Questions of Life, 1996, pg. 19&20.
Sermon for The Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 9, 2010
by Joel Ross ( Youth Sunday)
Jesus is always helping people. He helps the sick, needy and even people that just need guidance. In the Gospel, Jesus is with a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. He has been pushed around all of his life, but no one helps him. Everyone is shoving him out of the way and it is like he is being bullied. For 38 years, people have been walking in front of him in lines and he feels like nothing. He finally turns to Jesus and explains why he needs help. Jesus noticed that he was in distress and he didn’t even need for the man to ask him. He healed him right away and the man felt much better. That relates to kids being bullied in school today. People shove them out of line, or make fun of them. They feel lonely, but they are not. Jesus is always with them. He is with everyone, 27/7, to help them. Just knowing that can make you feel closer to God. You know that he follows you around and even watches over you when you sleep. You can always count on God to be there when no one else is. He notices you, supports you, and nurtures you when you are down. He always wants you to feel good, and he wants to help you when you feel bad.
It is also ok to ask Jesus for help. He will always be there to help you get through tough times. This past week, I was swamped with homework. I had 3 essays due,1 being an AP assignment, I had to write this sermon, and over top of all that, I had tennis everyday after school. So this week, I was very stressed out. I didn’t think that I could get all of that done on time so I started to pray. Jesus answered my prayer by allowing my mind to think straight. All of my work then seemed to be not as bad as I thought it would be. I was getting everything done, and it was with Jesus’ help. You can always turn to Jesus whenever you need him and he will help you. It might not seem that he is actually there, but he is.
If you need help, you can always turn to Jesus and ask for help. If someone in your family is sick, you can pray to Jesus and ask for them to get better. That is what the man in the Gospel reading did. He was very sick and he asked Jesus for help. At once he was made better. That shows how fast Jesus can help you. Sometimes , even when you lose something, you can pray to Jesus and somehow, you find what you were looking for quickly, also showing how Jesus reacts quickly to your plea.
You don’t always have to pray about yourself. You can pray for other people. In Rite-13, I remember learning about arrow prayers. That is sending up a quick little prayer when you notice something. If you hear an ambulance coming, you can pray that everyone is ok in that situation, and everything turns out all right. You can also send up prayers when you see things on the news. If you were watching the news on the earthquakes in Haiti, you can send up a prayer and ask Jesus to help everyone in Haiti. Bad things happen in the world and you can help by praying.
I also ask Jesus for help on tests, or if I think I might not do great, I ask that the test will be easy. I also ask Jesus for silly things. I might ask that I win Last Modified: 2010-07-25 11:58:34