"When All Means All"

 

The Feast of St. Anselm

 

Anselm was born in Italy about 1033, and took monastic vows in 1060 at the Abbey of Bec in Normandy. He succeeded his teacher Lanfranc as Prior of Bec in 1063, and as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093. His episcopate was stormy, in continual conflict with the crown over the rights and freedom of the Church. His greatest talent lay in theology and spiritual direction.

As a pioneer in the scholastic method, Anselm remains the great exponent of the so-called “ontological argument” for the existence of God: God is “that than which nothing greater can be thought.” Even the fool, who (in Psalm 14) says in his heart “There is no God,” must have an idea of God in his mind, the concept of an unconditional being (ontos) than which nothing greater can be conceived; otherwise he would not be able to speak of “God” at all. And so this something, “God,” must exist outside the mind as well; because, if he did not, he would not in fact be that than which nothing greater can be thought. Since the greatest thing that can be thought must have existence as one of its properties, Anselm asserts, “God” can be said to exist in reality as well as in the intellect, but is not dependent upon the material world for verification. To some, this “ontological argument” has seemed mere deductive rationalism; to others it has the merit of showing that faith in God need not be contrary to human reason.

Anselm is also the most famous exponent of the “satisfaction theory” of the atonement. Anselm explains the work of Christ in terms of the feudal society of his day. If a vassal breaks his bond, he has to atone for this to his lord; likewise, sin violates a person’s bond with God, the supreme Lord, and atonement or satisfaction must be made. Of ourselves, we are unable to make such atonement, because God is perfect and we are not. Therefore, God himself has saved us, becoming perfect man in Christ, so that a perfect life could be offered in satisfaction for sin.

Undergirding Anselm’s theology is a profound piety. His spirituality is best summarized in the phrase, “faith seeking understanding.” He writes, “I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order that I may understand. For this, too, I believe, that unless I first believe, I shall not understand.”

Almighty God, you raised up your servant Anselm to teach the Church of his day to understand its faith in your eternal Being, perfect justice, and saving mercy: Provide your Church in every age with devout and learned scholars and teachers, that we may be able to give a reason for the hope that is in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 139:1–9 

Lessons: Romans 5:1–11, Matthew 11:25–30

Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006.  April 21st

Observing Transformation

 

What would the opposite of a "werewolf" look like? You know what I am talking about, right? Someone infected by a werewolf bite looks like a normal human being, until a certain time during the night when this human slowly and painfully turns into something else; something hideous.

What if the opposite happened. Instead of being bitten, what if the person experienced a firm but gentle touch from someone who had a "healing power"? Thus, instead of transforming into something frightening, terrifying, and ravenous, he or she turned into something glorious, bright, and beyond beautiful? What would this kind of "conversion" look like, and what would the basis of their beauty be?

This past Sunday we looked at the teaching of the Apostle Peter (in two different passages from our lectionary) regarding our conversion through the resurrection, and the vast difference it makes in our persona, spirit, and actions. It is this conversion that declares to us that the salvation of Jesus Christ matters to everyday life, and is not just some other kind of "moralistic" world religion with mystical ideas lived out by similar, but well-meaning people. There is no salvation without conversion, and no human being can conjure it up or give it to us. As the Apostle Paul clearly teaches us (and Peter specifically explains in our text on Sunday), "in Christ we are new creations; the old has gone; the new has come".

See "Reverent Fear" - I Peter 1:17-23

The Feast of St. Joseph

In the face of circumstances that distressed even a man of such tenderness and obedience to God as Joseph, he accepted the vocation of protecting Mary and being a father to Jesus. He is honored in Christian tradition for the nurturing care and protection he provided for the infant Jesus and his mother in taking them to Egypt to escape Herod’s slaughter of the innocents, and in rearing him as a faithful Jew at Nazareth. The Gospel according to Matthew pictures Joseph as a man of deep devotion, open to mystical experiences, and as a man of compassion, who accepted his God-given responsibility with gentleness and humility.

Joseph was a pious Jew, a descendant of David, and a carpenter by trade. As Joseph the Carpenter, he is considered the patron saint of the working man, one who not only worked with his hands, but taught his trade to Jesus. The little that is told of him is a testimony to the trust in God which values simple everyday duties, and gives an example of a loving husband and father.

O God, who from the family of your servant David raised up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate Son and the spouse of his virgin mother: Give us grace to imitate his uprightness of life and his obedience to your commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 89:1–29

Lessons: 2 Samuel 7:4,8–16;Romans 4:13–18;Luke 2:41–52

Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006, Pg 200-201

The Feast of St. Cyril of Jerusalem

 Cyril is the one we have most to thank for the development of catechetical instruction and liturgical observances during Lent and Holy Week. Born in Jerusalem about 315, Cyril became bishop of that city probably in 349. In the course of political and ecclesiastical disputes, he was banished and restored three times. His Catechetical Lectures on the Christian faith, given before Easter to candidates for Baptism, were probably written by him sometime between 348 and 350.

The work consists of an introductory lecture, or Procatechesis, and eighteen Catecheses based upon the articles of the creed of the Church at Jerusalem, All these lectures (the earliest catechetical materials surviving today) may have been used many times over by Cyril and his successors, and considerably revised in the process. They were probably part of the pre-baptismal instruction that Egeria, a pilgrim nun from western Europe, witnessed at Jerusalem in the fourth century and described with great enthusiasm in the account of her pilgrimage. Many of the faithful would also attend these instructions.

Cyril’s five Mystagogical Catecheses on the Sacraments, intended for the newly baptized after Easter, are now thought to have been composed, or at least revised, by John, Cyril’s successor as Bishop of Jerusalem from 386 to 417.

It is likely that it was Cyril who instituted the observances of Palm Sunday and Holy Week during the latter years of his episcopate in Jerusalem. In doing so, he was taking practical steps to organize devotions for countless pilgrims and local inhabitants around the sacred sites. In time, as pilgrims returned to their homes from Palestine, these services were to influence the development of Holy Week observances throughout the entire Church. Cyril attended the Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople, in 381, and died at Jerusalem on March 18, 386.

Cyril’s thought has greatly enriched the observance of Holy Week in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.

Strengthen, O Lord, the bishops of your Church in their special calling to be teachers and ministers of the Sacraments, so that they, like your servant Cyril of Jerusalem, may effectively instruct your people in Christian faith and practice; and that we, taught by them, may enter more fully into the celebration of the Paschal mystery; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Psalm 122

Lessons: Ecclesiasticus 47:8–10;Luke 24:44–48;

Ready for Healing

This Sunday we watch as Jesus does something truly amazing. A man who was blind from birth is healed by Jesus so that he can suddenly see like everyone else! In later verses in John chapter nine, the blind man states to the Jewish leaders interrogating him "that no one in the history of the world had done such a thing". Some claim to have this same power today (and there may be a miracle out there of this magnitude that I have not heard of), but suffice it to say, it would be an amazing healing if we witnessed it as well.

However, this healing work of Jesus brought many in our story consternation and frustration. The disciples were shown that their Jewish Theology (supposedly based on Holy Scripture) was wrong. As we know from all of the Gospels, Jesus constantly challenged their poor thinking and theology on a regular basis. When the Jewish leaders discovered the healing, Jesus breaking yet another one of their hollowed traditions, they are outraged. In turn they look to put pressure on the family of the man (who were members of a Jewish Synagogue) to answer for this heinous crime!

Are you maturing in your Christian journey? Are you humble and teachable in your readiness to change your beliefs or their application when Christ's teachings are clearly in conflict? If you answer is "yes" then let me ask you a few questions:

· Was (and is) this a painful and difficult action involving a lot of courage and perseverance?

· Or was changing your thinking easy, painless, and comfortable?

The disciples of Jesus had a lot to lose and went through a lot of discomfort and pain to "lose their beliefs and applications" in submission to Jesus as their Lord. Holy Scripture makes it clear that to grow and mature in your Christian faith, one's beliefs, priorities, and actions will continue to change and readjust to him and his definitions of eternal life.

If your answer to the above question regarding maturity is "no" as a baptized follower of Jesus, then what does that indicate about you as his follower and his place in your life? What does that indicate in your approach to "Seek first the Kingdom of God"? Or is that just another one of those "suggestions" or "ideals" that we might consider?

If it was easy to mature in Christ, then everyone would do it. Like in ANY endeavor, if we aren't honest with our needs and refuse to put in the work, we will not be effective in anything we attempt or pursue. Do we want to be continually “conformed to the image of the Son”? The let’s expect it to be unsettling, challenging, and needing of courage. This in turn, opens us up to let go of needless anxiety and to know true peace.

The Blind Man in John 9:1-12 shows himself "ready to be healed" as a disciple of Jesus, and if you would like to know what that means, then I will see you on Sunday! (or Fr. Tom Youtube Channel - "Belief Readjusted"). Jesus heals and wants us to bring healing to the world around us. What joy awaits us when we trust him and his ways.

Towards Christ and His Kingdom,


Fr. Tom

Feast of St. Gregory the Great

Only two Popes, Leo the First and Gregory the First, have been given the popular title of “the Great.” Both served in the difficult times of the barbarian invasions of Italy. Gregory also knew the horrors of “plague, pestilence, and famine.” He was born of a patrician family about 540, and became Prefect of Rome in 573. Shortly thereafter he retired to a monastic life in a community which he founded in his ancestral home on the Coelian Hill. Pope Pelagius the Second made him Ambassador to Constantinople in 579, where he learned much about the larger affairs of the Church. Not long after his return home, Pope Pelagius died of the plague, and in 590 Gregory was elected as his successor.

Gregory’s pontificate was one of strenuous activity. He organized the defense of Rome against the attacks of the Lombards, and fed its populace from papal granaries in Sicily. In this as in other matters, he administered “the patrimony of St. Peter” with energy and efficiency. His ordering of the Church’s liturgy and chant has molded the spirituality of the Western Church until the present day. Though unoriginal in theology, his writings provided succeeding generations with basic texts, especially the Pastoral Care, a classic on the work of the ministry.

In the midst of all his cares and duties, Gregory prepared and fostered the evangelizing mission to the Anglo-Saxons under Augustine and other monks from his own monastery. The Venerable Bede justly called Gregory the Apostle of the English.

Gregory died on March 12, 604, and was buried in St. Peter’s basilica. His life was a true witness to the title he assumed for his office: “Servant of the servants of God.”

Almighty and merciful God, you raised up Gregory of Rome to be a servant of the servants of God, and inspired him to send missionaries to preach the Gospel to the English people: Preserve in your Church the catholic and apostolic faith they taught, that your people, being fruitful in every good work, may receive the crown of glory that never fades away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 57:6–11 

Lessons:
1 Chronicles 25:1a,6–8 or 33:1–5,20–21 

Mark 10:42–45

(Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006, pgs. 192-193)

Peace to the People

There is a phrase that comes up often in mystery and police shows: "Well, she kept herself to herself". The police representative is asking about the neighbor who disappeared, the person in the apartment across the hall who is a suspect in a crime, or a person next door who may have just committed a violent crime and has been arrested: "Well, I didn't really know them. They kept themselves to themselves".

Many people might make the mistake of thinking that someone who isolates themselves from community or from other people is a "peaceful" person. They keep themselves to themselves. They keep their head down. They avoid risk. They don’t offend people or get into relational conflict because they isolate themselves to avoid all of this stickiness. Is that what it means to be a "peaceful" Christian or a "peacemaker" as a Disciple of Christ?

Proverbs 18:1-2

The one who lives alone is self-indulgent,
showing contempt for all who have sound judgement.

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
but only in expressing personal opinion.

As Proverbs and a host of other teachings in Holy Scripture make clear: avoiding the difficulty of community often goes hand-in-hand with a selfish, opinionated, and unhealthy individualism. This person isolates themself so that opinions can stay intact and lifestyles and family cultural values never have to change; according to Proverbs this reveals some kind of self-indulgence and self-centeredness. One can't be a peacemaker as a Disciple of Christ, when our lives all about "me and my own". And yet, this is how many Christians choose to live. When problems arise, Christian Community, no matter how healthy (yet imperfect), is easily discarded with little consequence to everyday living.

This Sunday we will look at what it means to be a peacemaker, including what Jesus and Holy Scripture teach about it. As usual, Jesus says something very dangerous (and if a clergy person is smart, they will wisely navigate this minefield). However, in the time-period he said it in, it would have been scandalous! Women couldn’t get employment, families could be thrown out of synagogue, workers could lose their business connections and their only source of income! Family was the horizontal, everyday stability of first century life. And yet, Jesus says this:

Matt 10:34-39

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a                 sword.

35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-        law against her mother-in-law; 

36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

What!!??

To paraphrase Jesus and the Apostles: “the truth doesn’t change due to our ability or inability to stomach it.” The true peacemaker does NOT put the needs of himself/herself above certain things that Christ calls us to, no matter how difficult it is to do in the context of our inherited or developed views about marriage and family life. The only way to truly love another person, including our closest blood relations, is through the eyes and teachings of Jesus.

However, this does not mean that we turn our brains off and go throwing ourselves into undiscerned church busyness or undiscerned spiritual decision making. Sadly, there are many churches that will use and burn people out if they are allowed to do so. The “secret to the successful spiritual life” is constantly being sold by a rotating group of self-proclaimed experts. What we are called to is a sacrificial use of our spiritual gifts for the church and the world, but this does not negate our responsibilities as good stewards of our lives and the families we love. The point is, we are to make these often difficult and complicated decisions through the lenses of Jesus Christ and his callings on us with the aid of other, wise believers among us. If we choose not to, we risk becoming slaves to our own individualism, insecurities, and selfishness.

Lent is a time to look at why we are so emotionally committed to certain things in our lives, and to ask ourselves why we see these things as immovable entities. It is a time to find community with others facing the same complex applications in a society around us that seems so self-assured about what life is really about. If we want to bring shalom to the world around us, the starting place is not found in positive good activity alone. The starting place is to open our hearts to the life-changing work of the Spirit through Word and Sacrament; by living out this peace, this "wholeness" that we are experiencing through God's transforming work in our lives.

Let us continue to journey together in the Season of Lent.

Evening Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is one of the grounding sources of the Anglican Tradition that practically and ecclesiologically (i.e., our beliefs about church) binds all of the Anglican Communion together. The intent in the creation of the prayer book was to aid us in having a "common life" in Christ liturgically, scripturally, and even theologically.

The Daily Office, as found in the Book of Common Prayer (The BCP), is supposed to form the foundation of how we see weekly, systematic prayer. Based on the Christian monastic "hours" begun in the sixth century, the Daily Office provides us with five different communal services during a day where we can set ourselves apart for liturgical prayer (BCP, pg. 35). The two foundational services in the Daily Office are Morning and Evening Prayer.

While it is true that the Daily Offices can be used in meaningful personal devotion (see the introductory booklets I have created for such a task), the intent, development, and liturgy was designed for communal prayer. Christianity has always been understood in the catholic tradition as "we" before "me".

Yet, in much of the Episcopal Church, the Daily Office has fallen out of use. We are all busy and live in a highly individualistic world, so choosing to be "face to face" in communal prayer takes... well... effort. Monastic Christians in the past (and today across the globe) worshiped together in liturgical prayer seven times a day. Are we capable of worshipping together for 30 minutes, on one day, for a few weeks during lent? I think so. But it will likely be an inconvenience to our packed days.

In an attempt to introduce many of our new attenders to the Daily Office and perhaps encourage a place for it once again among our current membership, I would like to offer five sessions of Evening Prayer during the Season of Lent. I will lead these brief services on Wednesday's from 5:30 pm - 6:00 pm. I pray that many of us will benefit from this opportunity to step out of “our life” and engage the intent and season of Lent through communal prayer, reflection, and meditation. 

For those who might be more amenable to an early start, our Morning Prayer Group will also be meeting weekly during Lent (and on most other Thursdays as well) at 7:30 am at Westminster Village, Bloomington, IL (located very close to the Church).

Fr. Tom

The Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas

 

Thomas Aquinas is the greatest theologian of the high Middle Ages, and, next to Augustine, perhaps the greatest theologian in the history of Western Christianity. Born into a noble Italian family, probably in 1225, he entered the new Dominican Order of Preachers, and soon became an outstanding teacher in an age of intellectual ferment.

Perceiving the challenges that the recent rediscovery of Aristotle’s works might entail for traditional catholic doctrine, especially in its emphasis upon empirical knowledge derived from reason and sense perception, independent of faith and revelation, Thomas asserted that reason and revelation are in basic harmony. “Grace” (revelation), he said, “is not the denial of nature” (reason), “but the perfection of it.” This synthesis Thomas accomplished in his greatest works, the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra Gentiles, which even today continue to exercise profound influence on Christian thought and philosophy. He was considered a bold thinker, even a “radical,” and certain aspects of his thought were condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities. His canonization on July 18, 1323, vindicated him.

Thomas understood God’s disclosure of his Name, in Exodus 3:14, “I Am Who I Am,” to mean that God is Being, the Ultimate Reality from which everything else derives its being. The difference between God and the world is that God’s essence is to exist, whereas all other beings derive their being from him by the act of creation. Although, for Thomas, God and the world are distinct, there is, nevertheless, an analogy of being between God and the world, since the Creator is reflected in his creation. It is possible, therefore, to have a limited knowledge of God, by analogy from the created world. On this basis, human reason can demonstrate that God exists; that he created the world; and that he contains in himself, as their cause, all the perfections which exist in his creation. The distinctive truths of Christian faith, however, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation, are known only by revelation.

Thomas died in 1274, just under fifty years of age. In 1369, on January 28, his remains were transferred to Toulouse. In addition to his many theological writings, he composed several eucharistic hymns. They include “O saving Victim” and “Now, my tongue, the mystery telling.”

(Lesser Feasts and Fasts, pg. 152)

Feast Day Scripture Readings

Authentic or Contrived?

Performance and production can be manufactured; a growing, humble, and teachable heart is given only to those who seek it.

Came upon these verses today while planning services for the Season of Epiphany:

Micah 6:
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Humility and ceremonial precision can be faked; a character being shaped through the power of the Spirit, cannot. Remember what is most important to God as we seek to be spiritually disciplined and obedient to him. The Church of Jesus Christ does not need more moralists and religious sycophants who fit the Kingdom of God into their lives as it is convenient. God calls us to be humble and courageous followers of Jesus, no matter what the risks to our insecurities and need to find our worth using the values of the world.

A Different Kind of King

 The word "King" stirs up various thoughts in our minds as Americans. While much of human history and culture has been shaped and ordered by some kind of Monarchy, the concept is less intuitive for us today. However, if even from a historical perspective, we still have ideas about "Kingship" and "Monarchy" both positive and negative.

In the giving or the "law" to Israel, The Lord told the people that they were not to have a king, for kings would levy taxes (in abusive ways), make citizens their slaves, and make war for their own political aspirations. However, God would be a just and righteous ruler for them, if they would but bow to his reign. That said, as the book of I Samuel records, it did not take the Israelites long before they wanted a king "like the other nations" around them. They were interested in a more tangible form of power and protection than being reliant in faith on their Lord God. Like us at times, they thought they knew better than God. They were wrong and learned this lesson (time and time again) the hard way. We also find disappointment and the need for God's redirection, when we take a similar approach to what matters in life.

The coming of Jesus, however, broke the mold of expectations for kingship. He neither used his Kingship for narcissistic glory, nor did he try to amass a huge military force to ensure his reign. He did not exclusively spend time with the self-important and wealthy for the building of a political agenda, but instead congregated with the humble, the suffering, and the poor. Jesus was a different kind of king, and we will revisit his royal entrance into the land of Israel this Sunday.

Like the power-brokers and the "impressive people" of the day, the approach of the ministry and teaching of Jesus seemed silly and ineffective. We as the church today, often succumb to the same foolishness. The Kingdom teaching and life of the Gospel seems too slow, too vague, and too difficult to evaluate when it comes to goal accomplishment (I mean, "if you don’t have a goal, you are sure to hit it!!!"). Power, programming, and wealth seem much more reasonable and tangible ways to build the church. We often prefer leaders "like the nations/corporations/successful leaders around us" than to rely on God's slower, less-impressive ways. But it is only in God's ways that we have God's influence and enduring power.

Let us not be deceived, for God is not mocked. Let us model ourselves and our ministry planning and living to follow our Lord God’s gradual, patient, faithful work of salvation and eternal life - no matter how slow or unimpressive His ways may seem at times.

The way the Christ-child entered the world is a central part of his message. Can we receive it?


See the Video Sermon, "A Different Kind of King" - Matthew 2:1-12, The Second Sunday of Christmas, January 2026.

The Anticipation of Advent

In chapter 35, Isaiah lays out the hope and reality of the Messiah who will make all things "right" (our Old Testament Reading from the third week of Advent in the Revised Common Lectionary).

 

 Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

"Be strong, do not fear!

Here is your God.

He will come with vengeance,

with terrible recompense.

He will come and save you."

 

Isaiah tells us that we should not fear those who use their power for evil or who seem to threaten the very "humanity" that we have come to believe should make us different than the rest of creation. However, our problem is not being created in God's Image; our problem is that we are corrupt because we want our humanity to be equal to God and His majesty.

 

In addition, when He does return as our God (the Messiah), He comes with the power to overthrow those who only understand a hammer of a justice which they cannot defeat. If there is anything that we have learned in our politics of late, there is no way to reason with the arrogant and delusional. That said, it is truly not a new problem.

Our God, however, does not delight in punishing, but it is the only recourse for those who reject God's offer of salvation. However, He also blesses those who realize they cannot justify themselves outside of the righteousness and forgiveness given through Jesus Christ. Evil cannot dwell in the presence of our triune God, as it always represents a cancer that leads to humanity wanting equal or greater power than the one and only creator who is thoroughly just and holy. He can righteously handle all of the immense power that is a part of his being. We humans, cannot.

 

The Messiah breaks into a humanity and a human history that has overwhelmingly rejected God's offer of redemption by choosing to believe that He and His revelation to mankind are optional. For these, only punishment remains. Their rule of selfishness, hypocrisy, and injustice (according to God's character and ways) is over.



May our God "Strengthen our weak hands, and make firm our feeble knees" as we wait faithfully for that final day when all is made right.

Fr. Thomas Reeves

The Feast of St. Nicholas

Very little is known about the life of Nicholas, except that he suffered torture and imprisonment during the persecution under the Emperor Diocletian. It is possible that he was one of the bishops attending the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325. He was honored as a saint in Constantinople in the sixth century by the Emperor Justinian. His veneration became immensely popular in the West after the supposed removal of his body to Bari, Italy, in the late eleventh century. In England almost 400 churches were dedicated to him.

Nicholas is famed as the traditional patron of seafarers and sailors, and, more especially, of children. As a bearer of gifts to children, his name was brought to America by the Dutch colonists in New York, from whom he is popularly known as Santa Claus. (Lesser Feasts and Fasts, pg. 96)

In Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, they have the custom of making him the secret purveyor of gifts to children on 6 December, the day on which the Church celebrates his feast; (Cath Encyclopedia, online).

In oral tradition, he is known as a bishop who especially cared for the poor and those under oppression. One story tells of a man whose two daughters were going to be forced into prostitution because he could not pay his debts. That evening Nicholas went by their small house and dropped gold coins into two stockings hanging on the mantle of the fireplace but still near to the window. They awoke the next day to find that they had been spared from a life of misery.

Almighty God, in your love you gave your servant Nicholas of Myra a perpetual name for deeds of kindness both on land and sea: Grant, we pray, that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Lessons

Ps. 78:3-7

I John 4:7-14

Mark 10:13-16

(source: Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006; Church Publishing)

Political Extremism

 A well-written article by the Dean of our Diocesan Cathedral in Springfield, IL.

Extremism - by the Very Reverend Andrew Hook

Seven to One

 

Following Jesus means adjusting our beliefs to him

Jesus to the Sadducees: “You don’t know the scriptures or the power of God”

From the sermon:

How do you interpret the Holy Scriptures? Are there many ways to interpret the scriptures, and we just get to pick one? There were multiple Jewish groups in Israel looking for the coming Messiah. They had different ideas and different ideologies that affected their ability to receive the very Messiah they said they were waiting for. Was everyone right and they just needed to agree in the areas they all accepted, or did Jesus also repeatedly tell people that they were wrong and removing themselves from the hope of redemption?

The Church Effective

 

In the book of Acts, the newly established church (now, the New Covenant People of God) begins to run into everyday organizational problems as it grows. What becomes clear is that the solutions to these problems will involve the spiritual gifts and service of others if the early church is going to continue to be effective. One of those needs was the daily distribution of food for the widows among them, who were dependent for survival on others now that their husbands had died.

 

Acts 6:

1 Now, during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 2 And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables.

 

Many of you have likely heard me say at one point or another: "We as a church will only be as effective as we have people involved using their spiritual gifts". This statement bears my phrasing, but it isn't my idea. It comes repeatedly from Holy Scripture, and it is a truth that influences every family and organization. We are always better when we are functioning together.

 

The situation is rectified in Acts chapter six when people are chosen from within the body due to their spiritual gifts and because they were known for their honesty and integrity. Why would this matter? Those disseminating the food would handle currency and oversee how the provisions would be measured out (and to whom!). In this kind of position, fraud and the manipulation of others could be a great temptation for those of weak character.

 

Hear Acts 6, again:

7 The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

 

The church continued in its healthy and effective trajectory because the apostles were wise enough to understand their limitations and their need for the entire involvement of the body of Christ. But the people had to choose to serve (and we are very thankful for the many who do so in our congregation).

 

We have reached that time in the church year where we prepare to thank vestry members who are finishing their three years serving on our leadership council, and then calling and welcoming others to serve in their stead. However, because we do not have a large membership, finding others to serve on the vestry can be a daunting task for those of us asking for volunteers. It is a position that is often hard to fill for a host of different reasons and often resisted by a host of different people with different kinds of gifting. This does not mean that vestry will be the right place where everyone should serve, and yet, without enough people, shared accountability for decision making becomes difficult (as a reminder, a year ago we finalized a change in our constitution, moving our necessary number of Vestry members from nine to seven).

 

A person who serves on the vestry will be a confirmed or received member and will have a spiritual and physical commitment to Christ and his church. Like the Biblical story above, it is also a position of trust. The largest part of the requirement is a monthly meeting that occurs on a Thursday evening that lasts between an hour and an hour and a half (not a weekly meeting!).

The vestry leads our church administratively alongside the Rector. It isn't always exciting work, but it is important work in regard to the careful and honorable management of our facilities, our finances, and our programming at every level.

 

Could God be calling you to consider the use of your gifts in this important way? So often, those who serve in so many other places in our parish end up coming forward in the end (often, having served multiple terms before) because no one else is willing. I would like to see this load shared by others who are capable and willing to do so.

 

Our Church has grown significantly over the last four years. In that time, many people have stepped up, engaged their gifts, and found a place to serve and belong in using their spiritual gifts. If we are going to continue our healthy trajectory of spiritual and healthy numerical growth, it can only happen as more people choose to use the gifts and calling that they have been given.

Pray for your Priest and your Vestry. Pray for God's provision. Pray for one another.

See you Sunday!

 

Fr. Tom

 

The Feast of St. Ingatius of Antioch

 

Ignatius of Antioch, martyred in 115, had a profound sense of two ends—his own, and the consummation of history in Jesus Christ. In ecstasy, he saw his impending martyrdom as the fitting conclusion to a long episcopate. He was accounted the second Bishop of Antioch in Syria.

Seven authentic letters which Ignatius wrote to Churches while he journeyed across Asia Minor in the custody of ten soldiers (“my leopards,” he called them), give valuable insights into the life of the early Church. Of certain Gnostic teachings that exalted the divinity of Jesus at the expense of his humanity, Ignatius wrote: “Be deaf. . .to any talk that ignores Jesus Christ, of David’s lineage, of Mary; who was really born, ate, and drank; was really persecuted under Pontius Pilate; was really crucified and died in the sight of heaven and earth and the underworld. He was really raised from the dead.”

In another, he condemned a form of biblicism espoused by some as the method of historical interpretation and the only rule of Church practice. He wrote: “When I heard some people saying, ‘If I don’t find it in the ancient documents, I don’t believe it in the Gospel,’ I answered them, ‘But it is written there.’ They retorted, ‘That has got to be proved.’ But to my mind it is Jesus Christ who is the ancient documents.”

Ignatius maintained that the Church’s unity would always spring from that liturgy by which all are initiated into Christ through Baptism. He exhorted: “Try to gather more frequently to celebrate God’s Eucharist and to praise him. . . . At these meetings you should heed the bishop and presbytery attentively and break one loaf, which is the medicine of immortality. . . .”

Ignatius regarded the Church as God’s holy order in the world. He was, therefore, concerned for the proper ordering of the Church’s teaching and worship. He wrote: “Flee from schism as the source of mischief. You should all follow the bishop as Jesus Christ did the Father. Follow, too, the presbytery as you would the apostles; and respect the deacons as you would God’s law. . . . Where the bishop is present, there let the congregation gather, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”

Almighty God, we praise your Name for your bishop and martyr Ignatius of Antioch, who offered himself as grain to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts that he might present to you the pure bread of sacrifice. Accept, we pray, the willing tribute of our lives and give us a share in the pure and spotless offering of your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalms         116:1-8 

Lessons        Romans 8:35–39

                     John 12:23–26

(Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006, pgs. 422-423)

John Henry Hobart - An Early American Episcopal "Saint", September 12th

Despite likely being a workaholic, I love so many of the characteristics and authenticity that Bishop John Henry Hobart displayed in the below descriptions from James Kiefer's Hagiographies. 

Fr. Thomas Reeves

After the American Revolution and the Independence of the United States, the Episcopal Church, under public suspicion in many quarters because of its previous association with the British government, did very little for about twenty years. John Hobart was one of the men who changed this.

John Henry Hobart was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 14 September 1775, the son of a ship's captain. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University, ordained deacon in 1798 and priest in 1801. Called as assistant minister to Trinity Church, New York, in 1803, at age 36 he was elected assistant bishop of the diocese in 1811, becoming diocesan in 1816.

To look at John Henry Hobart, you wouldn't have predicted greatness. Height always distinguishes, and he was notably short. Blessed with attractive blue eyes, he was nearsighted and forced to wear thick glasses. In an age of marmoreal gestures in the pulpit, he was melodramatic. At a time of dignified eloquence, he spoke rapidly, with emotion. When most men were reserved, even with their families, he was warm, whether with ambassadors or farmers, to the point of being thought odd.

Most bishops were content if they bestirred themselves for episcopal acts a hundred miles from home. Hobart had the energy of ten men: horses dropped under his exertions and he thought nothing of a winter visitation of 2,000 miles in western New York or 4,000 at a more seasonal time.

Early in his career he tackled publicly issues still dubious in the American mind: episcopacy and apostolic succession, arguably besting in print a redoubtable Presbyterian opponent.

He founded two institutions: a college in Geneva (later Hobart College) and General Theological Seminary in New York City, breaking his health to get both off the ground.

He not only looked after the Diocese of New York (46,000 square miles and virtual wilderness west and north of Albany) he served as rector of Trinity Parish, the wealthiest and most influential church in the country. Agreeing to oversee the diocese of Connecticut, since its high- and low-church party roils had prevented the election of a bishop, he covered its parishes more thoroughly than any bishop ever had. New Jersey, similarly bishopless, appealed to him, and he looked after it as well.

He knew all the clergy in the Church generally and in his own diocese intimately. He was aware of their background, remembered their families, forgave their frailties, and appreciated their strengths. He watched over his candidates for Holy Orders with a paternal interest, meeting with them weekly.

His instinct for politics never overrode his principles. Once convinced of the rightness of his position, no wave of unpopularity would budge him. His friends adored him and even his enemies credited him with frankness and fearlessness. He held no grudges and played no games, two qualities that endeared him to many. In a turbulent New York State election for governor, a common saying was that only Hobart would have been easily elected.

He took 26 clergy at the beginning of his episcopate in 1811 and quintupled them to 133 by his death; watched the number of parishes increase from about 50 to almost 170; and confirmed roughly 15,000.

This lovable, indefatigable, type-A bishop went virtually nonstop from his ordination until his death. The only surprise was that he didn't die sooner. At midnight, September 7, 1830, a young clergyman rode in a stage through Auburn on his way to Binghamton. Passing the rectory of St. Peter's Church, he was puzzled to see a light so late. He rapped for the stage to stop and soon learned from the rector, John Rudd, that Bishop Hobart was ill. Francis Cuming remained to assist in any way he could.

Hobart's illness wasn't that surprising. Troubled for years with what was most likely a bleeding ulcer, with rest and medication he would generally rebound. In Auburn he had preached and confirmed and other than a slight cold, seemed fine. But soon the serious nature of his attack became clear and he cancelled the remainder of his visitation. Over the next few days, he frequently requested to hear portions of Lancelot Andrewes's litany, in which he would join.

Amidst his pain, Hobart found time to offer advice to Cuming: "Be sure that in all your preaching the doctrines of the Cross be introduced: no preaching is good for any thing without these." Cuming writes: "His pains were so severe he could not give his mind to them unless they were short, and when I had invoked our Heavenly Father to continue to be gracious to his suffering servant; and that whereas he had studied to approve himself to God upon earth, he might be permitted to stand approved by his Master in heaven, he interrupted me by saying, 'Amen: O yes, God grant it, but with all humility I ask it.'"

"On Friday, September 10th, just before the going down of the sun, and as its last rays had forced themselves through the blinds, and were playing upon the wall not far from the bed, he said, 'Open the shutters, that I may see more of the light; O how pleasant it is; how cheering is the sun--but there is a Sun of Righteousness, in whose light we shall see light.'"

Cuming again: "There were times when he was peculiarly oppressed. The promises of the Gospel, however, would revive him. At one of those times he said to me with the most remarkable emphasis, 'Comfort me.' The reply was 'Bishop, it is written, the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin.' - 'So it is, so it is,' he added; God be praised for that, God be praised for all his mercies - God be merciful to me a sinner!'"

On Saturday, at a bedside service of the holy communion, when Rudd "came, in the confession, to the words, 'by thought, word, and deed,'" the bishop stopped him and said, 'You know the Church expects us to pause over those words: pause now, repeating one of the words at a time till I request you to go on.' This was done, and the pauses in each case were so long that a fear passed over our minds that he had lost his recollection or fallen asleep. This, however, proved not to be so; he repeated each word, and after the third pause added: 'Proceed, I will interrupt you no more.'"

Early Sunday morning, September 12, 1830, John Henry Hobart died, aged 55. The funeral took place in New York City on September 16. The mourners included the governor of the state and the mayor of New York City, and the procession was estimated at nearly 3,000.

The third bishop of New York is buried under the chancel of Trinity Church, New York.

Prayer (traditional language)

Revive thy Church, Lord God of hosts, whensoever it doth fall into complacency and sloth, by raising up devoted leaders, like thy servant John Henry Hobart whom we remember this day; and grant that their faith and vigor of mind may awaken thy people to thy message and their mission; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Prayer (contemporary language)

Revive your Church, Lord God of hosts, whenever it falls into complacency and sloth, by raising up devoted leaders, like your servant John Henry Hobart whom we remember this day; and grant that their faith and vigor of mind may awaken your people to your message and their mission; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Psalm 78:3-7 or 133
Jude 20-21,24-25
John 17:11b-19 (St1)

A False Community

 

"In a false community everyone protects himself against everyone else. Everyone tries not to be known, except in ways he or she chooses. Everyone tries to work out ways in which all relationships will be smooth. This is not community.

There is a vision in the writings of Saint Hermas, one of the seventy disciples of Christ, a vision: he sees the angels of God building the city of God, the new Jerusalem, and he sees that they choose square stones with sharp edges and place them next to one another, cementing them together. And then there are stones that seem so beautiful in their material, so smooth in their shape -- round, oval -- and they are rejected. Because it is only those stones that can be fitted together and cemented together that can be used for the building of these walls of the Heavenly Jerusalem. And when we try to create a society in which every one of us is safe from the other, are we not creating a society of people who are like smooth, rounded stones that can in no way be fitted together with others? What is needed then is a hammer that will break the smoothness and reshape them."

- Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, "Churchianity vs Christianity," pp. 114-115

Breaking the Rules

 

When is it OK to break the rules?

I am thankful that I was raised in a house where I was taught manners and respect for other people. I was taught, in keeping with the teaching of Jesus to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. This kind of mutual respect and honor is in part what keeps any human group or human society from turning into chaos. Today, in the United States, in the broader sense of our popular culture and our national debates, good manners seem be the exception rather than the rule.

But at what point does a person’s or societies’ view of “good manners” or “appropriate behavior” become manipulative, unduly restrictive, and/or downright abusive? Every human family or group, no matter how large or how small, has unwritten expectations and “acceptable manners”. This does not mean that their definitions are healthy or to be adopted.

When Jesus came to live among us, he walked into both civil and religious structures with many assumed and expected manners and rules. Those under the power of these leaders knew the consequences of thinking outside of their holy and elevated rules and used their so-called prestige and knowledge for their own selfish desires. This not only bothered Jesus, but it also often infuriated him to the point of rebuke and at times even name-calling for specific theological application.

Jesus knew the importance of the Law of God in the Old Testament, and he knew the authority and power of the truths of the Old Testament Scripture in general. However, he also knew, that human rules, established to give limits and boundaries to facilitate structure and order, were to be contextually applied based on the core, Godly characteristics of righteousness/justice, mercy, and shalom as God had revealed it to his people.

However, those who love POWER over their love for God, revel in rigidity and simplicity – laying aside a patient, gracious, and thoughtful discerning of truth and error or right and wrong. Jesus never pursued the leadership of Israel to change them. They pursued him as a threat. When Jesus pushed back at their duplicity and parasitic behaviors, the Jewish leaders saw Jesus as a disrespectful, rebellious, and dangerous prophet. Of course, any prophet in the Old or New Testaments that pushed against corruption, injustice, or the disobedience to God’s Word also faced these same responses.

Our text for Sunday comes from the Gospel of Luke chapter 13 (see the link below). Jesus again, chooses mercy over the strict interpretation of current man-made applications regarding the sabbath. The RIGHT group, the POWERFUL group was non-too-pleased. But the powerless, marginalized, and ill woman who was healed were ecstatic and gave praise to God!

How might we be a people who give this “gospel” news and love to others who know only the marginalization and power structures so valued by the world? How can we avoid this kind of off-putting, Holy Spirit dousing, and selfish approach to leadership at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church? To the Church of Christ?

"Controlling the Rules" - Luke 13:10-17

Waiting on God

So, why is it so hard to wait for things? The first, although admittedly shallow, example that comes to my mind is a child who is waiting for Christmas to come. Finally, the week before Christmas arrives, and then Christmas Eve. Growing up, our family opened gifts on Christmas Eve. As a young elementary student, I found that day almost unbearable in its slowness.

And, yet, learning to wait for things that we so desperately want (or have convinced ourselves that we need) continues as a challenge (and often a problem) into adulthood.

We, the redeemed, are also called to wait: for God’s strength, healing, encouragement, and especially for the final return of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is with His return that we will know a final healing, joy, and the fulness of human life in reconciliation to God.

But the good news is that we are not alone. The human beings and central characters in the story of God's Covenant People also struggled with waiting on God - even when God miraculously delivered His promises in overwhelming and shocking ways. The reality is that our gracious and dependable God always keeps His promises. However, He is rarely in a hurry, nor is He often moved to placate our childish behavior.

In the sermon below, we look at the "waiting" required of Abram. May it comfort us to know that God is right in the middle of the "waiting" that consumes so much of this life, just like he was with Sarai and Abram. And, our Lord tells us - over and over again - that, in the end, our waiting will be well worth it.

Waiting on God - Genesis 15:1-6 - Video Sermon

Navigating the Heavenly

 

Have you ever heard the statement about certain Christians that they are "so heavenly minded, that they are no earthly good"? The idea is that the theology of some seems so focused on the future glory of heaven, that they tend only to emphasize the ethereal or spiritual. Thus, these believers are vastly detached or impractical about everyday Christian living and/or the needs of others around them.

However, many in response to this culture of "doing church" over-react (for a host of complex historic and cultural reasons) with a similarly poor approach to theology, believing only what is done practically and literally in this life matters. Helping the needy and marginalized and leading them to the American Dream = heaven. The End.

As our texts on Sunday (see below link) will emphasize, neither of these extremes is remotely scriptural. Our "heavenly mindedness" is what fuels our loving, earthy, and faithful living. We love others now as we will love them for all eternity. We are to be living examples, and a taste of heaven for those who are exposed to our transformed character and actions. We embrace the temporary nature of all of our material blessings and our wealth. When we die, we leave as poor and vulnerable as we entered.

But to live this new life, our old ways and perspectives (fueled and informed by the disobedient of this world) have to be put to death. Thanks be to God, our old lives and their rulers and authorities have been defeated, and in our baptism, we are given the power to be Christ to the world around us. However, we must claim and rely on this change in our character through the power of the Holy Spirit. It takes effort and determination to live in such a heavenly way.

 

 “Living Above it All” – Video Sermon, Colossians 3:1-14

GOOD vs. BEST

 

In recent sermons we have been discussing the reality of the "cultures" in which we breathe and drink in our understandings about what matters in life. Much of how we live is intuitive. When we make decisions regarding the use of our resources between two good things, there are assumptions behind our decisions.

 

It is also true that our hurts, fears, and anxieties, affect our decision making and priorities. Without careful meditation and evaluation (and the wise advice of those who love and observe us) most people won't recognize the true things that drive them. Instead of being responsive and thoughtful, we are often reactive and stressed-out.

 

One main purpose of the Church of Christ is to hold firm to the "first things" that give the redeemed true wisdom and direction. The Church is to help her people to keep their eyes on Jesus. Thus, during the storms, or when the storms do finally arrive, we are prepared and ready.

 

But if our lives are so jammed-packed with good things, so that we have no time for spiritual preparation and prioritization, should we be surprised when the storms knock us for a loop? Storms and crisis don’t care about our priorities, retirement plans, or scheduled events. They come anyway and sometimes force us to look at the true weakness and vulnerability of our focus and choices. They are the true “flash floods” that reveal our vulnerabilities. However, if we are building on the ROCK, we will stand firm and remain strong through the storms that hit us. Why? Because we are preparing for and we expect them to arrive in our lives.

 

In the below sermon we look at an everyday scene that will be familiar for most of us; two sisters, handling an important guest in different ways. One is wrapped up in convention and the cultural assumptions that are intuitive. Another is enthralled with knowing and following Jesus; this results in her taking a disciplined hearing to his teaching first of all. Jesus, as he often does, redirects the assumptions of us all.

Good vs. Best (Video Sermon)

Accepting the Challenge

 

When it came to the genuine, foundational, character problems of the Jewish religious community of their day, Jesus often meddled. I submit that if a person is actually honest with the clear revelation of Holy Scripture in the Gospels, there is just no way around it. While we can definitely say that Jesus was careful and strategic about how he taught, when he taught, and who he was teaching, he was also at times prophetic so as not to be brushed aside or misunderstood (He risked offence and misunderstanding in the beginning, middle, and end of his ministry on earth). Our text on Sunday is one of those stories where everyone who is listening would likely have been bristling.

When Jesus tells a parable in answer to the question of a certain lawyer of the Mosaic Law, ("who is my neighbor?") the crowd got an answer for which they had not bargained. Are we Christians today anymore ready for such challenging answers from Jesus? What did the Jewish leaders and the people do with the repeatedly challenging teaching of Jesus? What do we do?

Jesus had a clear understanding of where the Jewish Covenant People of God were headed with their many religious and political compromises in concert with the powerful rulers of the day. This, of course, culminates in the destruction of the Temple and the decimation of the Jewish people in Israel a mere 60+ years later (70 AD). As Jesus looks at the direction and future of the American Church in the years to come, what does he see?

Jesus often specifically identified the hard-heartedness of the Jewish leadership. Yet, the overwhelming majority of everyday worshippers were just fine tolerating their leaders as long as they themselves didn't experience too much disruption. Yes, their leaders were bankrupt theologically and corrupt in practice. Yes, these same leaders manipulated and took a buffet approach to Holy Scripture, picking and choosing from their pages the truth that fit their presuppositions and desires. However, in the end, the challenges of Jesus, as will be revealed Sunday with the "Good Samaritan", largely fell on deaf ears. Jesus just seemed too extreme. Those that did continue to follow him before and after his death and resurrection only ended up doing so at great risk.

It will take effort on our part to stay open and teachable to Jesus. It will take evaluation, meditation, and courage to evaluate why we hold some of the beliefs that we hold and why we hold them so tightly.

However, if we choose to listen and pursue the teaching of Jesus through the preached Word, with a reliance on the aid of the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts and minds, we truly have nothing of substance to lose, and everything eternal to gain.

Fr. Thomas Reeves

The Love Test - Video Sermon

GOING

 

One of the characteristics of being a follower of Christ is the desire and action of reaching out to others with the hope and redemption offered by Jesus to the world.

Recently, I was out at the Pitt's farm for a "blessing of the fields", setting them apart and asking our God for a fruitful harvest. While we were walking around on the homestead, Jack pointed out a particular gas vapor farm light that they used for security reasons. This light was no longer needed on one part of the property, and so, he had moved it to be better used at another location.

Now, if that same security light had been purchased, put into the machine shed, unpacked, and left unconnected, what good would it do? For the lamp to fulfill its design and purpose, it had to be installed outside of the machine shed and connected to an electrical source so that it could have an appropriate place to have any influence.

Outreach is not something that the baptized Christian is supposed to do first of all; it is to be an evidence of who we truly are. Our genuine character will reveal itself through habitual patterns, whether good or bad. Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter five that "we are the salt and light" of the world. He goes on to say that we "should not hide our lights under a bushel-basket". How are we developing our full character in Christ?

This Sunday, we are looking at Luke chapter ten. Jesus has already sent out the 12 disciples to bring the good news of the Kingdom of God to various Jewish villages. In Sunday's text, he is now sending out 72 other disciples to attempt a similar mission. How does this text apply to the people of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church?

God is not asking any of us to be something that we are not.  However, he is asking us to claim who we are in Christ, and through the gifts and strengths that he has given us, bring the light of Jesus to a world in need of God's love.

(See the YouTube Channel for Father Thomas Reeves for the video sermon: "GOING")

St. Matthew's in Publication

 

Our Church, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, was featured in the Summer 2025 issue of the Anglican Digest. My article appears on page 44.

The Anglican Digest

Towards Discipleship

 

Last week (July 22nd - Ordinary Time) in the Gospel of Luke chapter eight, we looked at the story of the demon-possessed man who was self-destructing, and the townspeople that were terrified when Jesus transformed him. We reflected on how much these people had to lose (in their way of thinking) if they "lost themselves in Christ". And yet, by sending Jesus and his disciples away, they likely sealed their own self-destruction and a continued life of chaos.

This Sunday, we follow the journey of Jesus in Luke as we look at chapter nine. Jesus is coming into what we could call the "final stretch" of his ministry (that had lasted roughly three years) which culminates in his death and resurrection. He is rejected in Luke 4 by his hometown and many who know him well. He is then vehemently hated and despised for confronting the Synagogue in Nazareth with truth about God's gracious saving actions for the Gentiles. This was truth that had “gone too far”, and they absolutely would not consider, nor could they believe that Jesus would suggest such an idea.

 In our chapter Sunday, Jesus in his journeys is again rejected, this time by a village of Samaritans, when he inquires if he may lodge with them for a while (of course, this lodging would include his teaching). Luke tells us that this Samaritan rejection was a precursor to the continual and final rejection of Jesus by the Jewish leaders and people in Jerusalem.

 As the chapter progresses, Jesus is then approached by multiple people who say that they want to follow him, but Jesus makes it hard on them by testing them. Each person makes a culturally acceptable excuse to communicate that NOW was not the right time for them to fully commit to Jesus as their Lord. In our Old Testament reading, Elisha gives a similar excuse to the prophet Elijah, and both Jesus and Elijah respond to those hedging in their commitment: "I don't believe you."

This Fall we will have several people claiming and recommitting themselves to their baptismal vows and pledging to serve with us as covenant family members in our redemption together. Here are a few parts of the baptismal ceremony that will be revisited by each person to be confirmed or received:

 Question:      Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?

 Answer:         I do.

 Question:      Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?

 Answer:         I do.

 Celebrant:     Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and

                        fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the

                        prayers?

 People:          I will, with God’s help.

 Celebrant:     Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever

                        you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

 People:            I will, with God’s help.

 Celebrant:     Will you proclaim by word and example the Good

                        News of God in Christ?

 People:         I will, with God’s help.

 Celebrant:    Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving

                      your neighbor as yourself?

 People:         I will, with God’s help.

 

These are promises that are to become a part of our change in character, intent, and action. It means looking at all of life through the lenses of Jesus Christ and his callings without excuses. Our Baptismal promises are not to be motivated to placate or perform for clergy or fellow Christians but are about a genuine commitment to serving Christ and others - because we agree with Jesus that this is the way that leads to life and salvation. Our Lord knows if we are making excuses or if we are truly committed to honoring and obeying him.

This is why he challenges us to "take up our cross and follow him”. He leads the way, that we might follow. May we ask for his power and courage to seek him with all of our hearts, souls, and minds. Life and light await us. Amen.

Inconceivable!

What seems impossible makes us powerful.

 

The Easter Vigil

 

Hear the words from An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, (Church Publishing Online):

The liturgy intended as the first (and arguably, the primary) celebration of Easter in the BCP (pp. 284-95). It is also known as the Great Vigil. The service begins in darkness, sometime between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter, and consists of four parts: The Service of Light (kindling of new fire, lighting the Paschal candle, the Exultet); The Service of Lessons (readings from the Hebrew Scriptures interspersed with psalms, canticles, and prayers); Christian Initiation (Holy Baptism) or the Renewal of Baptismal Vows; and the Eucharist. Through this liturgy, the BCP recovers an ancient practice of keeping the Easter feast. Believers would gather in the hours of darkness ending at dawn on Easter to hear scripture and offer prayer. This night-long service of prayerful watching anticipated the baptisms that would come at first light and the Easter Eucharist. Easter was the primary baptismal occasion for the early church to the practical exclusion of all others. This practice linked the meanings of Christ's dying and rising to the understanding of baptism.

The Easter Vigil is the “hinge” service that transitions God’s people from Lent into the Joy of Easter. In the early church (likely common as early as the 4th century) catechumens (those seeking baptism/membership into the church) would engage a process (usually, starting much before Lent) to prepare for baptism spiritually, theologically, and communally. It was then the custom that most baptisms would occur at the Vigil.

This year, a family of five and an infant of another family will be baptized during the Easter Vigil. If someone were to ask me: “Which service would you prefer me to attend”? I would likely direct you to the Easter Vigil Service for its immersion in scripture, its journey from "darkness into light", and its unique and focused pageantry.

Let us give thanks for the wonder and blessing of the resurrection.

Why is Good Friday, Good?

 

The contradiction of Good Friday is contained in its name. How can the manipulated trial, torture, and brutal killing of an innocent man be considered in any way, shape, or form “good”?

The answer to this question is revealed by the gracious and merciful nature of our God who in his holiness and justice owed the guilty no mercy or reprieve (we, who inherit Adam and Eve’s guilt and rebellious nature, and in turn, engage in disobedience from birth).

The foolishness of rejecting the cross, as many are want to do (especially, within Protestantism) is a rejection of the depth of human evil in our history, experience, and lives. To advocate the foolish covering over of infected, festering wounds by the “band-aids” of surface moralism, also reveals a dishonesty regarding the depth of our need.

We are now told by many “prominent Christian leaders” that the “good news” of salvation preached by Jesus Christ is that He wants we humans to “find God within ourselves”.  For some, this is now the accepted approach to “evangelism”. I submit, that taking this path is tantamount to a patient with a serious cancer diagnosis being told to think “positive” thoughts and focus on all the good health they have in other ways. Somehow, their focus on the healthy biological parts of their body will address their spreading and destructive disease. Accepting this denial, the cancer left untreated will feed on and destroy their health. In the end, the cancer must be irradicated, or the person will not be healed.

To see Jesus as a good prophet who is needlessly crucified as a moralistic ideal to be pursued is not “good”. This kind of crucifixion transforms no one, nor can it address the evil in us or in the world. But, a gracious God, who without compulsion or a need for us, who sends His only son to be our ultimate sacrifice? This is a whole other matter. The death of Jesus covers our sins, transforms our hard hearts, and provides us with a forgiveness that we could never produce ourselves. With the church catholic, I say: This is good.

While most of the Jewish world looked on with disinterest and disdain, our Lord Jesus Christ sacrificially provided for us the way of salvation. He did not die in vain.

Thus, at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, we offer two different holy and focused ways on Good Friday to walk alongside Christ on the day of his death. At noon, we offer a “Way of the Cross” service (the stations of the cross) highlighting and worshipping the important people and moments as Jesus journeyed toward his crucifixion. At 6:00 PM, in an abbreviated but poignant service, we rightly engage the grief and gloom which, in turn, prepares us for the joy of Easter. We leave this service in darkness and silence as we revere the sacredness of Christ’s love and sacrifice on our behalf.

I hope you will plan to join us on this day of personal and communal fasting and meditation (BCP, pg. 17).

What is Maundy Thursday?

 

During Holy Week, Jesus is quite active in his ministry while in Jerusalem before he and his disciples celebrate the Passover on Thursday afternoon-evening. On Monday, he clears the temple of the money changers (infuriating the Temple officials and other Jewish leaders.) Through the rest of the week, he continues to teach and is confronted by various Jewish leaders trying to entrap him.

Maundy Thursday is the most ancient of the Holy Week Services in our catholic tradition. It is a service of great significance, and when we engage our God in worship in this service through Word and Sacrament, we connect ourselves in a unique way to those who celebrated this “new Passover” for the first time. In this special Thursday service, we are also unified to all who have celebrated the Eucharistic Sacrifice in time and space, and to all who will be celebrating it together on this night across our nation and across the globe.

On Thursday, the disciples secure a room where they can all celebrate the Passover meal. It is at this meal that Jesus does and says some very surprising things. Firstly, he insists on washing the apostles feet, teaching them that spiritual power and service are interrelated in the Kingdom of God. What often looks humiliating to a world drunk with power, is life giving for those who lead and love the true followers of God.

Secondly, he gives them a mandate: “That you love one another”. While this commandment is taught in the Old Testament, Jesus calls it a “new” commandment based on his example, humility, and his coming redemptive work: “as I have loved you”. The next few days would be monumental. Thus, we get the name for Mandatum (mandate) Thursday, or Maundy Thursday.

Finally, Jesus fulfills the Jewish Passover by being THE true Passover sacrifice that had come to save the world. Thus, He establishes the new Passover Meal: The Lord’s Supper, i.e., Holy Communion. Earlier on Thursday, myriads of lambs would have been slain and prepared for roasting at the Temple in  preparation for the multiple Passover meals occurring throughout Jerusalem. On Friday morning, Jesus, the Lamb of God would be slain as the truly perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Soon following the Passover dinner, Jesus is betrayed, arrested, and stripped of his clothing. At the end of our service on Thursday, we also strip the table and altar area and leave it stark and barren. We leave in silence, honor, and meditative focus on the gifts the Lord gives us on this night, and the reality of their extreme expense.

I hope that you will join us for this service on Thursday, April 17^th at 6:00 pm.

Palm Sunday - Starting off on the "right foot"

 

The first day of Holy Week in the Christian Calendar is Palm Sunday (this year it appears on April 13th - we will only have one service at 10:00 am). It is the tradition here at St. Matthew's to also celebrate this day as Passion Sunday, and to see Holy Week through the eyes of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Thus, Holy Week is often called Passiontide.

Palm Sunday reminds us that the people in Jerusalem did not understand who Jesus truly was or the significance of his triumphal entry. They were hoping that he would be a Messiah that was better suited to a white stallion instead of a donkey. Their hope was that he had come to make their political and economic dreams come true. Many traditions of Christianity still want these same things from him (and so do we at times). Jesus was never to be that kind of Messiah. That Messiah has no redemptive or life-giving power.

But Jesus was on a triumphal path to his crucifixion and resurrection where he would defeat sin, evil, and Satan. His path would be glorious, but it would only be seen this way by those with "eyes to see".

By being present at the Mass on Palm Sunday, we communicate to those in attendance (and some that are not) that we want to be among the followers of Christ who "see". We welcome and celebrate afresh (although, in muted ways) the ride that Jesus takes which would lead him to the cross. Through a spiritually accused week, we re-engage the tragedy and the victory that must come before the glory of the resurrection. Without it, there is no resurrection, life, or spiritual power. Without it, there is no hope.

 Let us start Holy Week on the right "foot" (pun intended).

  

Fr. Tom



The Christian Year and Holy Week - An Introduction

 

For those who are new to worship at St. Matt's, you might wonder about the different seasons of our church year and their corresponding colors. In our confirmation/membership classes, we cover and explain "The Christian Year".

Essentially, the Christian Year models itself on the life of Christ as revealed to us in Holy Scripture. During ordinary time, while still focusing on the ministry of Jesus, we also focus on the growth and ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. I encourage everyone to watch the brief video below that I use in our inquirer classes to introduce the Christian Year (I also have a wonderful booklet free to anyone who inquires):

 

The Christian Year (Video)

 

The culmination of the Christian Year is EASTER. In the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), the Easter Vigil service (which we celebrate at the conclusion of Holy Saturday in the evening) is the pinnacle FEAST/Service of the Year. What helps us to prepare and draw closer to the reality of Christ's suffering and then his glorious resurrection is Holy Week (capping our Lenten preparation and thrusting us toward the conflicts that would arise for Jesus in Jerusalem). Holy Week begins on Palm/Passion Sunday.

In my next few articles, I am going to introduce you to the services of Holy Week, and the importance historically that they have played for Christ's church. Our Holy Week services beckon us to "put the brakes on" during a normal week (with all the usual distractions) and enter more deeply into the sacrifice and victory of Christ. He welcomes us to walk with him. For this to happen, we will likely have to plan and schedule for it. Will you walk this road with us?

 

Fr. Tom