24 April

“Suddenly there was a great earthquake: for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone, and sat on it.”

This morning, the unbelievable is the Truth. Jesus Christ lives. And by the grace of God, we know his presence in our lives today. Jesus is with us in his Word as it is preached, in the Sacraments as they are celebrated, in our prayers as we pray them, and in this community of the Church as we experience it. The Good News of the Gospel is no idle - no made up tale. We have the evidence - the Risen Christ - among us, and for us. Alleluia!

For a few minutes this morning, this glorious day, I would like us to consider the best way to celebrate Easter, namely, the way that Jesus did. This day, the most important day in the Church’s calendar, sets loose a torrent of activity – you all have experienced that!
We celebrate Christ’s resurrection in countless bright and colorful ways. We dye Easter eggs, and eat Chocolate covered marshmallow rabbits. We shop for new clothes – hoping for spring weather – and we buy hats and dresses and suits and shoes. We sit down to wonderful festive meals and enjoy dishes of ham or lamb or other treats. We gather for worship: to sing triumphant hymns with brass and tympani and organ; to hear the resurrection gospel, to receive Holy communion, and sing “Alleluia” – for the first time in 40 days. We have all these ways and many more to celebrate this Sunday of the Resurrection.

But I would like to suggest this morning, that we might celebrate Easter in a very different way - - to celebrate Easter the way that Jesus did. And to celebrate Easter this way does not require painted eggs, or springtime flowers, or even crowded churches, as happy as that is. To celebrate Easter as Jesus did means to forgive somebody, even somebody we may not think deserves it. Jesus forgives. He forgives those who don’t deserve it! Jesus forgives all who will receive the gift of forgiveness and even those who won’t. His friends – and his enemies! The Jews and the Gentiles! People of his time - and people of our time! Israelis and Palestinians! Egyptians and Libyans. Afghans and Americans. Jesus comes back in the power of his unending life – to forgive what was done to him on that First Good Friday – by all of us. Jesus comes back to forgive all the people for what they do to him - - in the person of each other - today and every day. And the marvelous good news is that we all have a place under Jesus’ Easter tent, the umbrella of his forgiveness - - all are a part of that great throng of what Archbishop Desmond Tutu likes to call the great multitude of God’s Rainbow people, all the peoples of the world who find a place in God’s outstretched loving arms - - the Rainbow people who find forgiveness.

Each one of us will find a place there, amongst God’s forgiven people, along with the boss that we can’t stand, and the next door neighbor who irritates us, and the family member we don’t get along with – all of us are there, beneath Jesus’ big rainbow Easter tent – though we don’t deserve it. The whole human race, including you and I, pushed Jesus out of this world into death’s doorway. And what happens? Jesus comes back, radiant with glory, and ushers us to the banquet of the forgiven, where old enemies can feast together as friends! Jesus forgives us.
He knows the secrets of our hearts.
He knows us better than we know ourselves.
He knows us, and still he forgives.

So there’s a couple of things that we can do in response this day: We can recall a person we need to forgive – and who doesn’t deserve it. It doesn’t matter who it is, near or far, out of our lives, or closely involved with us. We can decide that the wall of enmity that has divided us has gone on long enough – and needs Resurrection.

Then, later in the service, when we arrive at the Altar for Holy communion or a blessing, we can pray there for the grace to forgive – as we have been forgiven – and by God’s grace, both we and another person may experience Easter resurrection as never before. In the Name of God: our + Creator, Savior, Sanctifier, Of whom the Glory, in both heaven and earth is made manifest – Alleluia! Amen.

17 April

Our Lenten journey has brought us to Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. In this final part of our journey, things shift. In our liturgies, we are invited to become more actively involved than usual. Today, and throughout the week, we engage in a process of remembering. The word “remember” is related to the word “member,” to belong to, to join in. When we “re-member,” we enter into an event or a story. We become part of it. On Palm Sunday, we re-member Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem by holding palms, singing a song of praise, and even joining in the procession. Some people re-member the story of Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion by taking the parts of various people in the reading of the Gospel story, a departure from our usual pattern of a deacon reading the Gospel lesson for the day.

As we move through Holy Week, the pattern of re-membering continues. On Maundy Thursday, it is Jesus’ final meal with his disciples and his act of servanthood: footwashing. On Good Friday, the story of Jesus’ death on a wood cross and our own action of venerating the Cross. On Holy Saturday, in the afternoon, we will have a service of light and water. Children will be offered lighted candles, with the message that they are the light of Christ.

Why do we emphasize this re-membering in Holy Week? Because it is the most important week of the Church year. These are the events that are at the heart of our faith. Because, by becoming actively involved, we enter into the events. We become part of them and they become part of us.

I wish you a blessed Holy Week.

Deacon Sue Nebel

10 April

Yesterday, we were blessed with the preaching and teaching of The Rev. Jim Steen. His sermon on the raising of Lazarus stuck with me all through yesterday and into today. He shared he was most struck by the verse where Jesus tells the people to go to Lazarus (who has just emerged from the tomb) and “Unbind him, and let him go.” This verse, Jim preached, speaks to those in Lazarus’ life who will want him to be the person he was before. We don’t know what Lazarus’ reaction to being raised from the dead was, nor do we know how he lived his life from that point on. One thing is sure, he was not the man he was before he died and rose again.

It was my niece’s birthday yesterday and we decided to go to a movie, her pick. She chose Soul Surfer. I’d not heard of this movie, but discovered that Fr. Jim’s message continued to work in my mind as I watched the film. It is the story of a young woman, a surfer (big surprise), who loses her arm in a shark attack. She is no longer the person she was before. The movie is about her response to the situation, as well as the response of others. Those people are asked to do what Jesus commanded – unbind her. Let her go. Let her live into this new life.

Life is ever changing. When we face a change, a difficult situation, something that changes us, are we able to unbind ourselves? Let the old self go? It’s something to think about as we approach Holy Week and Easter, when Jesus gives us the ultimate gift of new life.

Peace,
The Rev. M.E. Eccles, LPC+

3 April

Almost all of the really worthwhile insights in life occur to us gradually. Sometimes these insights take a lifetime. In our relationship with Christ, things are no different. We may have discovered him quite suddenly: in a moment in the liturgy in church, on a weekend retreat, in a conversation with a friend. It could have been in a most ordinary place. In C.S. Lewis’ case, it was on the top of a double-decker bus on the way to the zoo! But wherever and whenever the moment, it is always just a beginning. We may see Christ, but we then spend a lifetime learning what knowing Christ means.

Our gospel passage today is about a blind youth to whom Jesus gave sight. People who had known him blind were so astonished, they thought at first it was a look-alike. They then brought some prominent people, some Pharisees, who seemed blind to the reality of what had happened. All they could see was that Jesus had acted on the Sabbath, and had thereby broken Law. It followed, in their thinking, that Jesus was a sinner, so he could not have been the healer! They simply could not admit that the young man had been healed. They called to his parents. Was this really their son? Of course it was. The leaders turned again to the young man. He stuck to his story. As the questioning goes on, he becomes even more aware of what he owes to Jesus, and more aware that Jesus embodies a power and a love and a grace that these people around him, for all their influence, do not have. In the end they dismiss the young man. Jesus encounters him again and the youth recognizes an even greater authority that calls for his allegiance.

This story is about a person who came to see more and more clearly, while other people became more and more blind to the same reality. Life is like that. There are those who recognize the power and love of Christ, and there are those who are completely unable and unwilling to do so. Today we can make assumptions that healing happens only in certain technical and scientific ways, all of which are valid. But we can also be blind to the hidden ways in which Christ can heal through our memories, our thinking, our emotions, if we are prepared to be open to his healing love. Sometimes it may happen through a friend, sometimes it will be through a professional or pastoral counselor, sometimes a doctor. Our Lord has many ways to reach us. Thanks be to God.

Peace,

Fr. Bob+

27 March

A theme or image running through several of the Scripture readings for today is water.  In the lesson from Exodus, the Israelites are complaining about a lack of water.  Moses appeals to the Lord for help and, following the Lord’s command, he strikes a rock and water gushes out.  That event is celebrated in Psalm 95.  In the passage from the Gospel of John, we hear the story of Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman at the well.  She has come there to get water and Jesus tells her about a new kind of water, living water.  This life-giving water is a gift that Jesus offers to those who come to him.

Why this focus on water?  In our own time, in this country, we take water for granted. We turn on a faucet and clean water comes out.  If we are not satisfied with tap water for drinking, we can buy bottled water. But it was different for the Israelites, the Samaritans and others whom Jesus met.  They lived in desert country where water was precious, never taken for granted.

Today, in many parts of the world, clean water is scarce and, sometimes, not available at all.  As we read the stories about the impact of the earthquake and tsunami on nuclear reactors in Japan with the increase in radiation and the possibility of contaminated water nuclear, we are reminded once again that clean, life-giving water is not something to be taken for granted. 
One of the Millennium Development Goals addresses this issue, setting an objective of making clean water available in poor countries.  Bishop Lee has challenged parishes in our diocese to raise money to provide wells in Third World countries.  We will be hearing more about this initiative in coming months at St. Simon’s.  It will be an opportunity for us to help those who do not have what we take for granted: safe water. 

Deacon Sue Nebel+

20 March

Not the easiest gospel to understand.  And if it’s hard for us to try and figure it out, imagine poor Nicodemus.  Who’s in control?  Born “anew”?  Born “from above”?  Flesh verses spirit?

 Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night and he’s probably heard of the miracle at the wedding of turning water in to wine.  And he certainly has heard of Jesus’ behavior at the temple.  And he says that he knows that Jesus must be blessed because “no one can do these signs apart from God.”  And Jesus launches into “no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”  Did Nicodemus even get to ask what he came there to ask or discuss what he wanted to discuss?  Suddenly he’s dealing with “what?!  How can we be born anew?”

 Now, Nicodemus would have felt very sure in his place in the kingdom of God because his understanding, along with all of the Pharisees of the time and the Jews of the time, was that if you obeyed the Mosaic Law to the letter of the law, then you were blessed.  And that would be the salvation plan.  But Jesus – Jesus is turning things upside-down.  He’s talking about being “born from above,” which can also mean “anew.”  Well, who’s in control here?  Many Christians emphasize turning to Jesus Christ, choosing Jesus Christ, being born again.  And that is a human choice, a human action.  But babies, real babies, they are born by God’s action.  How many babies are actually born on their due dates?  Who’s in control?

And then Jesus says: “the wind blows where it chooses and you hear the sound of it but you don’t know where it comes from or where it goes.”  The wind, an analogy for the Spirit of God: mysterious, invisible, certainly beyond our control, but we can discern its effects.  We can look outside on a day like today and we can see the branches move and know that there must be wind.  Or, if we’re outside, we can feel the wind in our hair, on our faces, but we don’t know where it’s going.

Francis Maloney talks about the difference between the flesh and the spirit.  “To be born of the flesh means to be content with what one can observe and control…making judgments on…what one senses.  Birth in the Spirit leads to a different way of seeing and understanding.”  Nicodemus is stuck in his senses; on what he can see and on what he can control – his behavior.  And Jesus is saying: “That’s not it.”

And we’re not unlike Nicodemus.  We like to control things.  Boil things down, simplify so that we’re not confused.  And I asked the vestry on Tuesday – that they have heard John 3:16 a number of times in their lives; certainly many of us have seen the placards at ball games: John 3:16.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life.”  And I asked them: is it overdone?  Is it overstated?  Does it have meaning for you anymore?  And I got: Yes!  It’s an incredibly powerful statement.  And I also got: No, it really doesn’t have meaning anymore. 

 

Carl Gregg, another theologian, agrees that it’s both.  That, in typical human form, we try and make it formulaic.  But, that verse, like any verse in the bible, needs the verses around it to provide the context.  The verse just before it is: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”  Well, I had to go and remind myself what the story of Moses and the serpent was; I couldn’t remember.  And it’s in Numbers 21; it’s while the Israelites are wandering in the desert for years and years.  And their feet hurt.  And they’re tired and the food stinks and there’s not enough water and they start complaining loudly to Moses.  And Moses is like: “Hello?!  Not my problem.”  And God says: “Fine.  I’m gonna send a bunch of poisonous serpents.”  Now this is kind of like going to the doctor or the emergency room with a broken arm and having the doctor say: “Hang on a sec” – gets a hammer – WHACK – smashes your toe.  You’re not thinking about your broken arm anymore.  And the Israelites, with the infestation of the poisonous snakes were not really thinking about how bad the food was at that point.  It’s about perspective.  And Moses built (or creates, casts) a serpent according to God’s design and tells the people: “if you’re afflicted, look upon this serpent, turn to God and you will be healed.”  And that’s what happens.

And there’s a parallel between Moses’ story and Jesus bringing it up (not unusual).  One, the people were in danger because of their sin.  Two, God provides the agent of salvation – bronze snake, Jesus.  Three, the agents are lifted up – literally.  And four, the people are saved by believing in the agent or by believing in God through the agent.  The major differences, of course, are: Jesus is the Son of God and worthy of worship and the bronze snake – not so much.  And Jesus offers eternal life, not just extended life.  

But Gregg goes deeper to show how things can become formulaic if we don’t really try and go beneath.  In 2 Kings 18, Hezekiah becomes king and he’s a pretty young king at twenty-five.  And he is “right with the Lord.”  And “right with the Lord” means that he worships the Lord, that he has destroyed idols and he has knocked down poles that represent idols; but it also says: “he broke in pieces the bronze serpent of Moses.”  That’s hundreds of years from when Israel was in the desert.  So this bronze snake – serpent – was carried for the rest of the way, made its way into the temple and had become an idol.  People were going with their afflictions to the snake and worshiping there hoping to be healed.  It is no longer an agent of God.  It is an idol.  

And trying to take one verse in the bible, like John 3:16, and making it into a formula is just as dangerous.  Yes – Jesus was lifted up and died.  But that’s not the focus.  The focus is how Jesus taught us to live our lives.  The focus is on resurrection.  The focus is on Jesus pointing out: it’s not all about Mosaic Law.  It’s about the two Great Commandments, which we heard earlier: Love your God and love your neighbor as yourself.  It’s not enough to just believe in words.  We have to live it.

Nicodemus ultimately does live it.  Being a Pharisee, when Jesus goes to trial, he fights to try and get Jesus a fair trial.  And then, later, he takes care of Jesus’ earthly body after the crucifixion.

How will we embody it?

Peace,
The Rev. M.E. Eccles, LPC+ 

13 March

All of us have to make decisions.  Sometimes it is far from easy.  We go through a time of real struggle, sometimes feeling resentful about the process.  Sometimes we may feel depressed by the complex choices before us, and sometimes we feel that we want to run away from the whole thing.

It may well be that Jesus experienced moments like that.  One certainly faced him when he went into the wilderness after his baptism.  Maybe the word wilderness is a good way of describing how we feel when we face making really important choices in our lives.  All signposts seem to be missing; we don’t know which way to turn.  There may be unknown dangers if we choose one way rather than the other.   One thing quite certain is that no choice ever provides the perfect answer.  Jesus knew thoughts like that as well.  He had heard the call of God to public ministry, and had gone to accept baptism from John in the Jordan.  Then he faced the difficult task of deciding how he was going to pursue the vision of God’s kingdom which had been given.

Jesus tells us that the devil offered him at least three ways of building the kingdom.  The first was to bribe people into following him.  The second way was to impress them.  The third was by reaching for power.  Jesus says a resounding “No,” because he saw clearly that the devil was appealing to self-image and ego and the human desire for position and power.  To build a ministry on what appealed either to his own ego or to the desires of those who followed him would be a betrayal of himself, of his followers, and of God.  So Jesus made another choice.  He calls people to come to him and with him, not for what they can get, but for what they can give of themselves to him, to one another, and to the world around them.

When we are facing a wilderness of choices, it is important for us to be clear about the basis on which we are finally going to make our choice.  Are we merely out for our own advantage?  Do we merely wish to build our own image and position?  If so, we are failing to bring Jesus into our choosing.  But knowing that Jesus himself experienced the wilderness makes him our companion in our time of wilderness.  That can make all the difference!

Wishing you a Holy Lent,

Fr. Bob+