27 Sept - Seeing the Square

James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50

In today’s gospel, we hear the intriguing story of Jesus’ disciples trying to stop a man who had been casting out demons in Jesus’ name. They seem to have become especially upset because the offender was not one of them. In the eyes of the disciples, he was not part of the inner circle, and he was acting differently from what they considered to be the norm.

As soon as Jesus heard about it, he turned the tables on his closest followers and rebuked their blind, unbending exclusiveness. He told them not to stop the man, because whatever good is done in Jesus’ name would put him in a situation of not speaking evil of the Lord. And tellingly, Jesus concluded, “Whoever is not against us is for us.”

Jesus seems to be telling the disciples something like this: “Look for the commonality. Recognize that there are many among you who might work or think differently, but don’t jump to the conclusion that that makes them against you – or against me.”

The story of today’s gospel is about the disciples’ attempt to draw a circle around Jesus and themselves – shutting out the one who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Perhaps a concise, powerful poem by Edwin Markham can help us remember that Jesus ordered the disciples not to exclude that man and to recall that those who are not against us are for us.

In his poem “Outwitted,” Edwin Markham writes:

“He drew a circle that shut me out –
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in.”

-- The Rev. Ken Kesselus, author of John E. Hines: Granite on Fire
From "Sermons That Work"

20 Sept - Earthly Things

James 3:13 - 4:3, 7-8a, Mark 9:30-37

The collect today is, I think, apropos for our times. "Grant us, O Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things." In this time of economic and financial crisis, that speaks to me.

We’re taught to be ambitious; and ambition should lead to success, should lead to reward, which we often interpret to be financial reward. Where did Jesus say that our reward was financial? James writes about this in his letter. He’s writing to a community that’s clearly in conflict and he says to them: “you ask, but you ask wrongly, because what you get, you’re going to spend selfishly.” Ambition leading to the wrong things. For James, envy and selfish ambition lead to wickedness and chaos and open the doors to sinfulness.

I think today many of us have fallen prey to Prosperity Theology, or what is called the Prosperity Gospel, which has some roots in the Old Testament: those who have much have been blessed by God and those who don’t have been cursed by God - our godliness is reflected in our success.

But Jesus turns things upside down.

I picture Jesus walking behind the disciples as they’re walking to Capernaum and arguing over which of them is first over the others. They get to a house and Jesus invites the twelve inside. I imagine that there are other people in the house, servants, women preparing a meal, children wandering around... and in front of them all Jesus totally busts the disciples by saying: “so, what were you arguing about on the road?” And it says that they were silent. The translation that The Message uses is that “the silence was deafening.”

Do not focus on earthly things.

And to prove his point, Jesus drags a child who was playing nearby and pulls him into this circle in the midst of this circle of men and says: “the first will be last, the last will be first; and one who welcomes a child such as this welcomes me, and not only me, but my Father.”

Now, our society greatly values children. But let’s look back to the way that society viewed children all the way up into the Middle Ages. Children were worth something between a woman and a slave. Thomas Aquinas in the Middle Ages taught that if a house is raging with fire, the husband is obligated (obligated!) to first save his father, second save his mother, third save his wife and fourth save his child. That’s the relative value of a child to the disciples - how shocking it was for Jesus to pull this child in and say: this is who you should be spending your ambitions helping.

One of the questions in the Wired Word reading for this Sunday is: “is your fear and anxiety around your financial status a comment on the state of your faith?”

Is your fear or worry about your financial status a comment about the state of your faith?

Something to think about.

Though easier said than done, the prayer of our collect says:

help us not to be anxious about earthly things,
but to love things heavenly…to follow Jesus’ example.

Peace,

The Rev. M.E. Eccles, LPC

13 Sept - Be The Rock For Jesus

James 3:1-12, Mark 8:27-38

Jesus offered no easy religion to his disciples and he offers no easy religion to us. We don't much like that. So often we think of faith as some sort of insurance policy against suffering, hurt, betrayal, sickness, and death itself. Like Peter, we don't want a faith that goes there. We want a return for our investment. We want our rights. We want our freedom. The list of our wants go on and on. Like Peter, we don't want Jesus to suffer, but is that in part because we don't want to be caught up in his suffering?

It is easy to deal with the sufferings of others at a distance. We may support causes, write checks, travel to meetings in our nice cars, and utter revolutionary thoughts. We may be attacked by those who oppose our views. What a comfortable martyrdom. Yet always there, behind the altar, on the wall, however tasteful or ornate, is the Cross. "If any would follow me they must take up their cross."

Yet even at the gate of death we cry Alleluia. So speaks the language of our Prayer Book. If our faith isn't an escape from hurt, isn't a faith about a Messiah who comes to do it all for us, it is a faith that brings us extraordinary joy in walking the way of the cross through death into life. Peter was crucified, legend tells us, upside down because he was not worthy to suffer as his Lord did. Poor Peter. He couldn't prevent his friend's death, and he suffered the same fate.

If Mark repeats Peter's own testimony in this passage, he demonstrates an honesty we would wish to emulate. Yes, we believe. Yes, we seek to avoid suffering: keep Easter but not Good Friday. Yes, we want to liberate those who suffer just as long as we don't suffer ourselves. Yes, we want our rights and fail in our duty. But just as Jesus used the fallible St. Peter as the rock on which he built his Church, so he uses the smaller, often split rocks of our uncertain faith to spread the gospel to a needy world.

-- Fr. Tony Clavier, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, La Porte, Indiana, in the Diocese of Northern Indiana.
(from Sermons That Work)

Ephphatha - Expand Your Horizons.

James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17, Mark 7:24-37

In the accounts of Jesus’ ministry in Scripture we encounter many stories of healing. In one of them from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus heals a man who is deaf and also has a speech impediment. Jesus touches the man’s ears and his tongue and says to him: "Ephphatha” which means, “Be opened.” Ephphatha. Be opened. What a wonderful expression for healing. We can also think of those words as Jesus’ message to us: Ephphatha. Be opened. Broaden your horizons. Stretch the boundaries of your world, your interests, your compassion.

Ephphatha. Be opened.
Open your ears. Listen to the world. Pay attention to the voices that cry out, but often go unheard. The voices of the marginalized, the unseen and ignored. They want to be recognized. To be regarded as worthy of love. To be treated with respect.

Ephphatha. Be opened.
Open your heart. Jesus commands us to love our neighbor. Neighbor means everyone, including people who are different from us. People who annoy us. People whom we might prefer to avoid. These are all people whom God loves. We should show them our love too.

Ephphatha. Be opened.
Stretch the boundaries of your comfort zone. In the week ahead, I invite you to take a risk. Make a commitment to at least one new action that will broaden your horizons. Pay attention, really pay attention, to a news story about issues in a developing country. Reach out in an act of kindness to a stranger or a person you consider diasagreeable. Listen with your heart to someone’s need. Make a promise to pray for that person—and keep that promise.

Ephphatha. Be opened.

Peace,

Deacon Sue

30 Aug - Nurturing Love

Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69

People living in Jesus’ time were expected to follow an elaborate set of laws and codes, guiding principles that had been in place for years. The reality is that observance of the laws had become empty. Following the laws satisfied one’s pride, but not one’s spirit. Jesus offered a new kind of law, a law that finds its place in the heart. Once settled there, that principle shapes how people look at one another. The way that they treat one another. That law, that guiding principle, of course, is love. Jesus taught that God is a God of love. A God that loves all people—whether they are healthy or sick, old or young, rich or poor.

The challenge for us as people of faith is to continually affirm the law that Jesus has given us: to love one another. To be ever mindful of its place deep within us, at our core. To nurture its growth, so that it becomes stronger and stronger. To be aware of how it shapes us. To make it visible in what comes out of us: our words and our actions. And when we fail in our intentions, when we utter hurtful words or do harmful things, then we return to God. To acknowledge what we have done and ask God’s forgiveness. Then, to then to try once again to pursue the work we have been given to do: to love one another.

The Collect for this week is a prayer for God’s help in our effort to be faithful.
I offer it to you for your own prayer life:

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things:
Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion;
nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Peace,

Deacon Sue

23 Aug - The Armor Of God

Put on the whole armor of God so that we can stand against evil.

Powerful images in Ephesians. He writes and hopefully makes those that he’s writing to feel invincible.

Do we feel invincible? How do we know what the wiles of the devil are, who the rulers and authorities are? Those are some tough questions and they spread into all of our life. For example, when we shop, how do we know that what we buy is really environmental or is it just the company putting “green product” on the item as a marketing scheme? How do we know when we invest in our 401k that we are investing in companies that have Christian morals and don’t exploit the weak? Difficult questions…and I don’t have the answers.

But Paul writes with such certainty – such certainty – that we can discern the answers to these kinds of questions. One way we can discern this comes from an idea written by William Loader, and that is that if something is putting up barriers, then it’s unlikely that it’s part of good. What is good is things that break down barriers. That’s what Ephesians is all about: reconciliation and love and faith. Breaking down the barriers – earlier in the letter it talks about the Gentile and Jews and the circumcised and the uncircumcised – so Paul is writing about breaking down barriers – destroying them so that we can become the family of God.

So if you’re worried about this lesson and what Paul is writing, take comfort. Take comfort because you can get this armor. Where can you get this armor, you ask? In church! Paul is writing to a community, not to an individual, because community is stronger than individuals. Talk to each other; share good ideas and share the Good News.

Come to church. Be reminded of salvation, of God’s love, of peace and of faith. If you look at how Paul describes the armor, these are what make up the armor. And if we put those on and join in the community we can stand strong against evil.

The Rev. M.E. Eccles, LPC