Taken – Blessed – Broken – Given; O Lord, make us to be your hands and feet in the world to which you have called us. Amen.

• In 1962 an obscure British band had their first demo rejected by Decca Records and they were told that guitar groups were on their way out” -that group were the Beatles.

• In 1954 a young singer was kicked off the Grand Ole Opry and told to stick to his day job driving trucks, the singer’s name – Elvis Presley.

• Back in the 1970s a young woman sang in a group called the “Breakfast Club” and worked in a Dunkin’ Donuts for her day job. In a fit of anger, she squirted a customer in the face with chocolate sauce and was fired and the band folded, but she never gave up, today we know her as “Madonna.”

• In 1967 a young musician was booed off the stage because the crowd wanted to hear the headliners – the Monkees, that young musician – Jimi Hendrix.¹

There was more than met the eye about these musicians who went on to later greatness. Most would have quit and “kept their day jobs.” They didn’t have it all together they weren’t polished, and there were many musicians out there that was better than they were. But they were willing to do what one of my college music professors would have said “share your mediocrity with boldness!” The critics, and the crowds thought all of them were mediocre, and according to some of their biographies they thought they were mediocre. They followed the advice of Winston Churchill who defined success as “Success consists of going form failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

{They kept showing up with the little they had to offer, and it was enough – more than enough!}

Jesus’ disciples often doubted themselves, and if they were honest, probably doubted Jesus just like Thomas, they just didn’t talk about like he did. Jesus helped them to realize that it wasn’t all up to them and their abilities, talents, and meager resources. This was tiring for the human Jesus and he was ready for a break from the healing, the preaching, and teaching. So, he jumped in a boat and rowed to the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee – but the crowd was wise to where he was heading and when he got to the northwest shore there they all were waiting for him. There were many who were sick and Jesus probably ‘tired to the bone’ had compassion on them and healed them. By now it was supper time and they were out in the middle of nowhere – what to do with 10,000 hungry people (I say 10K because the scripture tells us there were 5K men but additionally there were also women and children – so it was really the feeding of the 10,000!)

The disciples were worried to say the least – what to do – what to do? The idea they suggested was to send the crowd to a neighboring town on the map which was Capernaum (about an hour’s walk).

Jesus the Master and Teacher saw this crisis as the perfect teaching moment for his disciples; and calmly says, “They need not go away, you give them something to eat.” What might have been some of the thoughts going through the disciples’ heads: “Ok has Jesus lost it – maybe he did need the vacation rather than staying behind to heal the sick! We only have five loaves and two fish, basically a lunch that might feed two people, not thousands. But Jesus had asked them to feed all the people, and this is all they had. What an embarrassing moment of powerlessness. What will this do to the attendance at church next week? These people will never forget the night they almost died of heatstroke and starvation, following this obscure rabbi.”

{But they kept showing up with the little they had to offer, and it was enough – more than enough!}

Jesus then said, “Bring them to me.” The first disciples were about to witness, and we later day disciples are about to recall, the famous pattern of Jesus summed up in the Eucharist where the elements are taken – blessed – broken – and given.

This becomes the template that foreshadows our salvation, as Jesus offers his body to be blessed, broken, and given for the world. This is the pattern that feeds the souls of the world and it is shape of our discipleship as his followers. We are invited to offer ourselves to God, with all of our brokenness where he then blesses us as God’s beloved, and then sends us out into the world to whom we are given as bearers of his light and messengers of the good news! Invited to as members of the Body of Christ to become the hands and feet, and sometimes even the mouthpiece of God.

But, we, like those first disciples are susceptible to our fears, worries, and insecurities. We tend to minimize our gifts, and talents, and are too humble when it comes to sharing them. The great miracle when we realize it doesn’t all depend on us – we are invited to join with God in the wonderful journey friends and partners in the ongoing work of reconciling love, where estrangement is healed, and friendship with God becomes possible.
When Jesus joined the partnership, they didn’t just have enough, they had more than enough with 12 baskets full of leftovers. Pretty cool – takeout provided by Jesus!

{But they kept showing up with the little they had to offer, and it was enough – more than enough!}

Ok, I started with music and I’ll end with music. In fact, you’ll get a free sample: {Play excerpt from the Andy Griffith Show theme…}

Earle Hagen, a struggling Hollywood musician, got up one morning with a tune in his head. He started whistling the tune, it only took about 10 minutes to write the musical notes down. The little ditty he wrote became the theme for 1960s tv series The Andy Griffith Show. This week, I was standing in the hallway on the 6th floor of Baptist hospital waiting to go in and see Ruby Wortham when I heard someone whistling, I walked around the corner and saw that it was a custodian whistling the theme the Andy Griffith Show as he mopped.

Let us never underestimate all of our small gifts, and abilities when we dare to offer them up to him. When we do, we will experience God’s math of multiplication and there will be enough, more than enough! Amen.

1 https://www.mymusicmasterclass.com/famous-musicians-who-came-back-from-failure-or-adversity/

“If God is for us then who can be against us?” Amen
• From Romans 8

In my work as a priest one of my privileges is to be able to work with couples in preparation for marriage and officiating at their wedding. I just got back yesterday from performing one up in Jonesboro. One of the readings from scripture they chose is definitely one of the greatest hits – I Corinthians 13 sometimes referred to as the Great Love Chapter where St. Paul describes the character of true love, Love is patient, Love is kind, etc.

Another privilege of a priest is to journey with individuals and families through the valley of the shadows of death and to help them plan the funeral, and to officiate. One of the greatest hits of scripture that is most often used at funeral is the second reading we heard today from the 8th chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. It contains some great lines that have brought comfort to many who are in grief, like this one:
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Death doesn’t get the last word – God does! This is good news that we can all rejoice in!

In addition to the hope we can have in death, there is more good news that can give us hope for living. One that is often quoted is Romans 8.28:
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Whenever we commit ourselves to Christ and seek to love God however imperfectly, we can claim this promise that in the midst of the things in life that are hard and that we cannot understand, God can and will bring good out of them. So dear friends we should keep offering our imperfect love to the author of perfect love. That imperfect part is important and hasn’t been overlooked by God:

The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

When were at our weakest – when we aren’t even able to put our prayers into words – the Holy Spirit offers the perfect prayers on our behalf – how’s that for some good news?! God is praying for us right now! in fact can why don’t we pause just for a moment of silence to acknowledge this: + + + + + + +… Thank you God – thank you! We so need those prayers!

St. Paul goes on with a series of rhetorical questions that center around things that distress us most about life, for example:
“If God is for us, who is against us?” Doesn’t that question hit upon something that can bring about much distress and doubt – with all of our weaknesses and imperfections with all of the mistakes we make on a daily basis is God really for me? To that this question turns into a resounding Yes! God is for us! That is what Christ’s coming to earth living, loving and dying is all about – God is for us!

“He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?”

Next our fears of being judged by others or worse being judged by God are addressed:
Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.

WOW! Did you catch that last part, besides the Spirit who is praying for us, Christ intercedes for us! Right now, Christ is praying to the Father for us – giving us, not single, not double, but triple coverage from the Holy Trinity!

Finally, St. Paul addresses some of the fears and worries that occupy us:
The first he deals with is separation, the fear that one day our good deeds won’t outweigh our bad deeds and that somehow through something we did or did not do we will find ourselves separated and in the ordinary day-to-day will God be on a permanent coffee break when it comes to us, and our lives?

“Who will separate us from the love of Christ?”

He then mentions some of the big things that can be obstacles

• Will hardship?
• or distress?
• or persecution,?
• or famine?
• or nakedness?
• or peril?
• or sword?

St. Paul gives a resounding No to all of these:
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
He then comes in for the slam dunk:

For I am convinced that neither:

• death,
• nor life,
• nor angels,
• nor rulers,
• nor things present,
• nor things to come,
• nor powers,
• nor height,
• nor depth,
• nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Dear friends, this is good news indeed! Today and in the days ahead may they bring comfort to our heart and hope to our souls. Amen!

“Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it.” Amen.

Some of you who know me well know that I have this habit of picking up rocks wherever I travel. I do this as a way to remember some of the significant places I’ve been. Some of these places have been made special by occasional brushes with fame. There’s the pebble from the parking lot of All Saint’s Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills where I got to talk and pray with Debbie Boone for an hour. There’s a rock from the ground at Edinburgh castle where Smantha Brown, travel show host of the Travel Channel walked up next to me to look over the castle wall, and we had a delightful conversation. There are other places like a downtown theatre in my hometown where I met, and got a hug from Donna Douglas, better known as Ellie Mae Clampett from the Beverly Hillbillies. At another auditorium in Jonesboro, where I got to meet and shake the hand of the creator of the Star Trek TV series, Gene Rodenberry. While in seminary I got to meet and shake hands with the former Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, and also with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Other places have become much more than destinations they’ve become sacred places of pilgrimage on my spiritual journey; like the church where I was baptized. The two churches where I was ordained deacon, and priest. Then the church yard in London where I got a piece of the actual roman wall the church is built on, and where a distant cousin, The Rev. Samuel J. Stone was rector, and who composed the hymn, ‘The Church’s One Foundation.” At Grasmere, England, there’s an arbor covered bench in the backyard of Dove Cottage, I once sat on and it was the very spot where the poet William Wordsworth once lived and sat contemplating the glories of creation and writing mesmerizing poetry. Last but not least, there’s an orange couch somewhere (probably in a landfill now) that I once sat on in my first tiny apartment in Pine Bluff, where the felt presence of the Holy Spirit became manifest, and I knew that I would never ever be truly alone. I can look back on that day and place, and say, “Surely the Lord was in that place, and I did not know it.”

Sacred Ground, is an ordinary place that has become extraordinary due to a significant event, or a visitation. This is why we have come to refer to Israel and other territories in the middle east as “the Holy Land.” Places like Mount Sinai, Gethsemane, or Golgotha mark a special encounter with the divine. Even today in our diocese we refer to Petit Jean Mountain and Camp Mitchell as a thin place where God is encountered.

Anytime we enter a foreign country we have to go through customs. At the desk we are usually asked why we are going to be in their country “will these be for business or pleasure?” We answer one or the other or sometimes its both. There can be a third reason for travel when in danger and on the run. This is the kind of travel we encounter in today’s reading form Genesis. We drop in on the journey of the great but flawed patriarch- Jacob who is literally running for his life from his brother Esau, whom he has just cheated out of his inheritance, and who intended out of revenge to kill him. By the trickery of impersonation, he had fooled his legally blind father Issac into believing that he was the eldest son, Esau. With his life on the rocks and running on empty, he finds a hiding place near the town of Luz. He located a rock to use as his pillow, lies down and quickly falls asleep. While asleep his has a dream where he sees a ladder of cosmic proportions with the bottom touching the earth and the top part touching heaven. Jacob then notices what appear to be angels ascending and descending. Then he suddenly becomes aware that God is standing next to him who reminds his of the promise God had made to his fathers before him; Abraham and Issac, to give them the good land, and to bless all nations through God’s people.

Jacob then woke up and said:
“Surely the Lord is in this place – and I did not know it!”

The awareness that he has been sleeping on holy ground moves Jacob with awe and he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” So, he picks up the rock he had used for a pillow and sets it up as a sacred pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He then changes the name of the town from Luz (that meant almond grove) to Beth-el which means house of God. The name change indicated how an ordinary town named after a very ordinary almond grove, as a place where God dwells. It is here that God promises not to abandon Jacob and that God would be with him wherever he went.

“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it!”

This very flawed man goes on to accomplish great things for God.

When he pulled in that day to the town of Luz “almond grove” he had no idea what was in store, that it would become a place of transformation and of promise. This is just how God continues to work through his modern day people. In the psalm today we find that there is no place on earth we can go that God is not present:
Where can I go from your spirit?
   Or where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
   if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
   and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
   and your right hand shall hold me fast.

As we reflect on Jacob’s experience, we are invited to recall the places where we have known and felt God’s presence.

Faith invites us to see ourselves not as wanderers hopelessly lost but as pilgrims on a sacred journey. God meets us in our lowest, most broken moments—turning places of lonely exile into sacred places of hope and of divine promise. The Holy Spirit is our constant companion, even we can’t feel anything, the fact remains that the Spirit of God dwells within us. This power of God can take the ordinary and make them extraordinary.
French Jesuit Priest and Paleontologist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin once said:
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience”. 

“Surely the Lord is in this place, and did not know it.” Amen.

“Jacob’s Ladder,” by Marc Chagall

“Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” – John 1.51

Refresh thy people on their toilsome way, lead us from night to never ending day; Thy true religion in our hearts increase, thy word our law, thy paths our chosen way. Amen.
– From “God of our Fathers” The Hymnal 1982, Words by Daniel Crane Roberts c.1841-1907

Happy Birthday America! This weekend we have been marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of our country! As we look back over our history we find much to celebrate from the invention of the telephone to the first landing on the moon. We are also aware that there are a great many things of which we aren’t proud, such as slavery and the internment of Japanese Americans during the second world war. Freedom certainly isn’t free and it comes at the high cost of lives lost.

There have been periods of peace and progress as well as periods of war and regression backwards by filing to hold the moral high ground. A national anniversary such as this is a time for us to examine where we have made progress toward the realization of the American Dream of freedom and justice for all, and where we are falling short.

One of the ways that we have been falling short is our labeling and demonizing those who are different from us, either in the color of their skin, in their socio-economic class, their religion and politics, or in their sexual orientations. As Christians and Americans, we find ourselves living in the tension of dual citizenship – as citizens of the United States and as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. With responsibilities to both, we pledge allegiance to the flag of our country, and we pray to Our Father in Heaven.

This tension has been there from the founding of our country until the present day, but I think most would agree that not since the Civil War has our nation been so bitterly divided. What has happened over these last few decades to widen the gap and to increase the bitterness and discord?

My wife and I took our daughter to Sewanee last weekend for a young writer’s conference. While on our several hours drive, we listened to some podcasts. One was called, “Stuff You should Know” by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant. The episode talked about something called “the Fairness Doctrine.” This was term used to describe laws and rules set up by the Federal Communications Commission starting in 1949 that required broadcasters to devote some of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest and to air contrasting views regarding those matters. It emphasized the duty the media had for to the public welfare by a clear presentation of the facts, and to cover both sides of key issues and folks were free to make up their own mind.

This fairness doctrine came to an abrupt end in 1987 when the FCC abolished it.¹ This then cleared the path for the explosive growth of partisan and single-perspective talk radio and television programming in the late 1980s and 1990s.² Market share and ratings began to determine how the news was presented to the public, resulting in multiple news programs that intentionally slanted their perspective to suit the views of the corporate sponsors as well as particular partisan segments of the general public.

In the mid 1980s a volatile mixture of media, market share, and partisan politics developed and added to the mix was the religious right which became like kerosene on the fire – the result is what we have today. We are told what to believe about the news by our favorite media outlet. It really doesn’t matter whether it’s CNN or Fox News or MSNBC, we will be getting a one-sided spin without the whole story rarely ever being told. People selected media based on partisan preferences and things grew more inflamed. In the early 2000s along came social media, and I’m not sure what kind of incendiary chemical to call what that threw onto the fire, regardless it was explosive. Now people can’t fully hear a different perspective, we’ve lost the ability to have a dialogue and we’ve forgotten there is really only One team – it’s called America.

There is an allegory called the Allegory of the Long Spoons and it is used to describe the difference between Heaven and Hell. As the allegory goes, in each location, the inhabitants are given access to food, but the utensils are too long to feed oneself with. In hell, the people refuse to cooperate, and consequently starve. In heaven, the diners feed one another across the table and are nourished.
As the Rev. Edmund Harris pointed out:
“The Gospel does not ask us to reject our love of country. But it does ask us to measure every nation—including our own—against the character of Jesus Christ.”³

As dual citizens we can hold two truths simultaneously 1) we as American citizens are free and independent to vote an participate into the political process and 2) we as followers of Christ and citizens of heaven we are totally dependent upon Christ and to follow with God’s help his teachings.

During Jesus’ life on earth, he managed to disappoint both the political and the religious leaders of the day, by not siding with a single political party, and by not agreeing with religious fundamentalism.

If you find yourselves weary with all that is going on in our world today, you would not be alone, that’s why the best advice comes from Jesus himself, in the last paragraph of today’s Gospel reading:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Amen!

1 https://dividedwefall.org/fcc-fairness-doctrine
2 https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116
3 The Rev. Edmund Harris, Sermon given in St. Thomas Church in Medina, Washington. 

IN THE PRESENCE OF THOSE WHO LIVE THE GOSPEL OF JESUS

Only two verses we read this morning, and in these verses Matthew gives insight into how Jesus welcomed people and how he understood the value of welcoming each other; and we learn much about the church in Matthew’s day in the 80’s, about 50 years after Jesus’ Earthly ministry.

Jesus opens with telling us the good we receive by welcoming those who come in his name and live and teach his ways. Jesus sent out his disciples to preach the Gospel ahead of him. Those people who received and welcomed the disciples learned the Good News of the Gospel, that God is with them, that God, the very source of love, is living within them and resuscitating their difficult lives, renewing their love of life and love for each other. Jesus comes to restore joy and hope and heal their brokenness. Welcome the disciples, and you welcome Jesus himself; to welcome Jesus is to welcome God, and the rewards are the benefits of the Kingdom of God.

In Matthew’s day 50 years after Jesus’ Earthly ministry, the churches did not have priests or ministers, but there were people who traveled church to church, like Paul did, who proclaimed the Gospel to the churches. Proclaiming the Gospel is what prophets do, so these traveling preachers were known as Prophets. Most stories and teachings about Jesus were still being told word of mouth, so these preachers told the stories and teachings shared and passed down by those who were with Jesus. Matthew was one of the people who wrote these things into Gospel Accounts. Today, we have the written materials of the New Testament and priests and preachers and teachers, but that was rare in the early church. When a Prophet came to town and the church welcomed them, they were rewarded with information about what Jesus said and did, and gained wisdom and encouragement from these encounters: the prophet’s reward.

Jesus also told his listeners that to welcome a righteous person would result in a reward of a righteous person. When I was in my third year of seminary, I interned with a church in South Louisiana. In that church, a couple in their 40’s worked with the youth groups and programs of the church. They were rather more conservative than typical United Methodists, so as an unaware 20 something year old, I was leery of them. One day I was in their home for dinner, and suddenly I felt the warmth and love this couple radiated to those around them. They were right-living people living out of love and kindness because they loved God. And you couldn’t help but know you were in the presence of God’s love when you were in their home. They taught me a lot about judging people; it’s not healthy. Righteous people in the Gospels does not only refer to the outward actions of people whom we say live right and do the right things; it does not mean self-righteous or judgmental or self-important people. No, it refers to people who have given themselves over to the love of God, taken it in, and share that love and kindness with the people around them. To welcome right-living people into our life is to share in a glimpse of the Kingdom of God and experience the incarnated presence of God in physical life. That’s the reward of welcoming righteous people.

Finally, Jesus turns our attention to “little ones.” Here it refers to little children, and it refers to followers of Jesus (his own disciples, the 12). Jesus often referred to children as examples of who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God, or whom we should be like in order to be receptive to God’s presence (see Matthew 18: 1-5). Jesus was particularly enamored by their humility, trust and quick ability to forgive and accept people. But he was also aware of their vulnerability, powerlessness, and exposure to being easily harmed. He warns against harming “little ones,” but in our scripture today, Jesus applauds anyone who meets the basic needs of children, like giving them a cup of cold water.

This verse goes further. In Matthew’s day, the members of the churches were often referred to as “these little ones.” And Jesus sometimes referred to his disciples as “little ones.” Here Jesus says there is reward in welcoming his disciples, then and now. When the people of the church show hospitality and kindness to each other and to newcomers, we welcome Jesus himself. When we welcome Jesus, he says we are welcoming God. So, when we speak to each other and to visitors to our congregation with kindness, we are welcoming Jesus. When we greet each other in the passing of the peace in a bit, we will be welcoming God. When we pray for each other, or check up on each other when we sense someone is struggling, or when we go out of our way to do a simple kindness for each other, Jesus says there is reward in this welcoming. There is community and belonging when we do this here. There is healing in this.

Amen.

In the X Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Well, it’s Father’s Day so what would it be without a few Dad Jokes! You know what a dad joke is right? That short punny or pithy statement that results in an involuntary cringe, a muted chuckle, or a groan. So, here’s a few for you that’s sure to make your day a bit more special:

• After an unsuccessful harvest, why did the farmer decide to try a career in music? Because he had a ton of sick beets.
• My friend was showing me his tool shed and pointed to a ladder. “That’s my stepladder,” and I replied, “I never knew my real ladder.”
• What’s the difference between a well-dressed man on a unicycle and a poorly-dressed man on a bicycle? Attire. Alright…One more…
• If you’re feeling depressed, try drinking a gallon of water before you go to sleep. It’ll give you a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Families try to make some effort to show appreciation on this day maybe with a nice card, a gift, and a lunch. So, it’s only fitting on this Father’s Day that Jesus would have some special advice for families about fathers. However it might not be what you think it will be. Ok, here goes:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 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; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. 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; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Well, what do you think of Jesus’ family values and Father’s Day advice? Funny I don’t believe I’ve ever seen these words on a decorative plaque or cross stitched and hanging on the wall. Their definitely not feel-good words, or what we might hear coming from Bible churches and the like who pride themselves on their primary ‘focus on family.’ We can glean at least two things from this passage: 1) There are many instances in scripture where the words aren’t meant to be taken literally – they are hyperbole, where there is an overexaggeration to make a point “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!” “If I’ve told you once I’ve told you a thousand times…” Jesus is emphasizing our need to put God first and foremost in our lives above all others, even those we are the closest to (maybe especially them). In the day of this writing in the first century, the early Christians often paid a high price for following the Way of Jesus. To be a Christian meant that you could quickly become an enemy of both institutional religion and the instrument of the state. Organized religion of the day saw them as being in a cult, and while the state saw them as a threat with split loyalties and harboring antigovernment sentiment.

For some it meant being disowned or disinherited by their families. For others it might mean the loss of a livelihood, or career. Some were divorced by a spouse who wanted nothing to do with that sect called Christians. Some as we know from history, lost their lives in the coliseum, or by crucifixion, or burning at the stake. To follow Christ would mean that some would have to turn deaf ears to the pleadings or threats of their pagan fathers and mothers, or from their children’s tears. They weren’t trying to take over the government; they were trying to bring about the Kingdom of God in the midst of the kingdoms of the world. It was not so much about family values as it was Kingdom Values, and often Kingdom values were just the opposite of the family values of empire.

Some of the kingdom values of the early Christians included but were not limited to the following:

• Radical Generosity: There were no pensions or social security, and some believers lost livelihoods, so they often pooled resources and sold possessions to distribute the proceeds to anyone in need, seeking to eliminate poverty among the Christian community.
• Inclusive Fellowship: The early church fostered a counter-cultural egalitarianism, largely erasing traditional societal divides between Jews and Greeks, enslaved people and free people, and men and women. If you will turn to page _____ in your bulletin you will see a painting by contemporary artist Nathan Green called “The Family of God.” You will notice there are people of all ages, all races, all genders, all socioeconomic backgrounds. As one saint put it: The ground was always level at the foot of the cross.
• Mutual Support: Without Medicaid, Medicare, or insurance, they were responsible for caring for society’s most vulnerable—such as the sick, the poor, and widows—was a central pillar of their daily life.
• Corporate Unity and Worship: Communities met frequently, often in smaller “house churches” where they emphasized shared meals, common prayer, and the teachings of Christ and the apostles.
• Forgiveness over Retaliation: Operating within a harsh, shame-based and empire ruled culture, they taught and practiced forgiveness and did not seek revenge.¹

The empire of the day wanted to snuff them out, and stamp them out. The empires of today wants us to sell out so they can buy us out. The state courts the church’s favor and the church courts the states favor and if history has shown us anything this never goes well, for the sake of true religion, or for legitimate power of the state.

As Pilate interrogated Jesus and engorged with earthly pride said “Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” Jesus replied, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19.10)
Jesus was under the authority of the Most High, and the purpose of the Kingdom would be fulfilled.

The followers of Jesus never have been about taking over the government, or colluding with the state for some type of theocratic monopoly, but working instead to being about God’s kingdom on earth of listening to our heavenly Father, and following the one upon whom the government is upon his shoulders, and whose Kingdom will have no end, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.

“Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Wall in Westminster Abbey, London, UK photo: Carey Stone

1 https://www.google.com/search?q=what+were+some+of+the+communal+values+of+the+early+christians

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest… As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Amen. – Matthew 9

There is no doubt about it, the Church with a capital “C” is flawed, statistics highlight a decline in active members and financial resources, and it’s often viewed as irrelevant to the times. But I wouldn’t count it out. With all of its flaws, the church is still the best thing out there! The Church has proved over and over again that anytime, or anywhere a group of believers are gathered in Christ’s name, the Love of God can be shown to be stronger than anything the darkness can throw at it.

There are times when the beauty of the Church shines through, maybe not in spite of the flaws but because of them the Spirit is given room to work. As the modern-day Canadian bard Leonard Cohen so aptly put it,
“Ring the bells that still can ring,
Forget your perfect offering,
Everything has a crack in it,
That’s how the light gets in.”

Yesterday at the cathedral those who were present witnessed a thing of beauty, we saw the light shining through all the cracks from top to bottom, from the bishop all the way down to the youngest child, we experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit. We saw how God works through very flawed human beings to assemble a community that imperfectly reflects the perfect image of God. When Jesus looked out on a crowd, he had compassion for them, and that they were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” We have been given the same Good News that’s for any who know themselves to be flawed they have a place in the kingdom: “As you go proclaim the good news, the Kingdom of heaven has come near!” Yesterday, at the ordination of Michael Mitchell, St. Luke’s showed itself to be very much a part of the work of the Kingdom of Heaven! I’m glad to report that out of all the diocesan parishes represented St. Luke’s had the largest representation! (Make sure to look at out two Facebook pages for photos).

We as a congregation, in collaboration with our bishop and diocese have been involved in raising up and sending a laborer into the harvest to a town called Hope where the Rev. Michael Mitchell will commence his ministry as a Deacon-in-charge at St. Mark’s church! Michael is Good News and in July will be bringing that good news to a rural town in need of the love and hope he brings! Who can tell the harvest that will come as a result of the seeds that he will plant. We rejoice with Michael and all the newly ordained! But are you aware that we have all been ordained? Look with me in the red book of common prayer in your pew racks and turn with me to page 855. Here we are asked:
Q: Who are the ministers of the Church?
A: The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons. At our baptisms we are ordained as ministers in the Church.
Looking to the left on p.854 we find more detail:

Q: How is the Church described in the Bible?
A: The Church is described as the Body which Jesus Christ is the Head and of which all baptized persons are members. It is called the People of God, the New Israel, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and the pillar and ground of truth.

Now back to p. 855 where each order of the ministers of the church along with their particular roles are described. While each order of ministry is different, they all begin with the same directive:
The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church…The ministry of a bishop is to represent Christ and his Church…The Ministry of a priest is to represent Christ and his Church…The ministry of a deacon is to represent Christ and his Church.

Turning to p.856:
Q: What is the duty of all Christians?
A: To follow Christ; to come together week by week for corporate worship; and to work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God.

If that is our duty, then what is our mission?

Turn to page 855 at the top:
Q: What is the mission of the Church?
A: The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.

Q: Through whom does the Church carry out its mission?
A: The Church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its members.

I’d like to share two stories to bring all of this home, both involve Trinity Cathedral.
There is a person that I knew several years ago who came to an afternoon chapel service where I was presiding. They entered the chapel weeping. After the service they began to describe the downward spiral, they were in and “the mess” they had made of their lives. I asked how they decided to come to the service that day. They said, “My family didn’t attend church but every time I had a sleepover at one of my friend’s houses they always invited and took me to church at Trinity Cathedral. The family were some of the nicest people I had ever met and the people at the Cathedral were so welcoming. I have never forgotten the way they treated me and the way I felt when in the church service. I thought maybe God is who I need, and maybe God can help me straighten out my life.” This person eventually joined an Episcopal Church, and ended up serving as Senior Warden! The family had no idea what their small seeds of love would produce; the cathedral had no idea what fruit their kindness would produce. This person found unity with God, themselves, and with their neighbors.
The following happened to me yesterday at the ordination. I was walking to the back of the cathedral and suddenly I was approached by someone that society tends to look down on. They asked, “Are you a priest?” Perhaps my collar was the giveaway, they asked “Will you hear my confession?” I said sure and we went to the back pew where they described how they had hatred towards God for the way God had made them. I had the privilege of representing Christ and his Church by hearing their confession before God, then declaring on behalf of the Church that they were forgive and then to tell them the incredibly good news that they were God’s beloved child!
Episcopal evangelism may not be as high pressure as some of our Evangelical brothers and sisters but it is nonetheless effective. Two sheep that were lost had been found. Through the seeds of beauty of architecture, holy scripture, traditional liturgy, prayer, and hospitality a harvest is being gathered.
I’ll give noted author an Episcopalian, Madelein L’Engle the last word today:
“We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.” Madelein L’Engle, Walking on Water (Waterbrook Publishers, 2001).
Amen!

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Amen. – from Matthew 9.12-13

What story did you bring with you to church today? Maybe it’s a story of a recent success, or something else that’s calling for celebration. But often the stories we bring are the stories are the ones that revolve around people, places, and situations we are trying to manage, fix, control, face, or escape from. These are the stories that keep us up at night, and are the ones that, no matter who we are, where we are from, and no matter what we are doing, are never far from our thoughts.

Back in 2012 Chick-fil-a developed an ad campaign based on this phenomenon. It opens with these words: “Every Life Has a Story” followed by a camera operator walking throughout the restaurant filming customers who were there eating. As the camera focused over an individual/s, a thought balloon would appear over their heads revealing the story they were carrying around with them. The camera tightens onto a man in his 40s and his story read: “Fired from his job and worries how he will provide for his family.” The camera then turns to a young woman with her young child; the balloon appears with this: “Single mom raising family alone & trying to make ends meet.” They then throw in a couple of positive ones, a woman in her 50s had this appear: “Immigrated to America when she was 12, and recently received her citizenship.” Then there is an older couple with this one: “After years of fighting cancer he is now, cancer free.” Then a 6-year-old little girl is shown with this: “Mom died during childbirth and dad blames her.” A business man came next with this one: “Only son was just deployed to a war zone.” The last one in the commercial was of a 75-year-old woman, her balloon read: “Husband of 49 years died last month. Today would have been their 50th anniversary.” The commercial ends with the following words: “Every Life Has a Story…If we Bother to Read It.”¹

Jesus being both human and divine was (and still is) able to read the thought bubbles over everyone’s heads.

In today’s gospel we see Jesus walk up to Matthew, a despised tax collector and asks him to follow him – Matthew gets up and does it! What might the thought bubble be over Matthew’s head? “I’m so hated and feel stuck! Even though I’m extorting extra money it’s not making me happy – and I’m so lonely. If someone could show me the way to something better to do with my life.” Jesus was the Way at just the right time in Matthew’s life to the something better to do with his life! Rather than extortion he would become generous using his money to feed the poor and spread the good news. The Crook became a compassionate one.

Next came a group of strict religious leaders called Pharisees, who were gifted with the ministry of criticism, and were quick to Jesus’ disciples why he ate with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus could read the bubbles over the tax collectors and sinners heads that they were craving God’s loving acceptance. The Pharisees were caught in the trap of criticism that kept from finding true religion.

Next comes a leader of the synagogue who heartbroken by the death of his daughter, breaks all proper protocols of dignity, kneeling down to a highly unorthodox rabbi, Jesus. He blurts out a powerful declaration in Jesus: “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus and the disciples follow him to his house but on the way, they are interrupted by a woman who had been suffering from a chronic blood disorder for 12 years. Gripped by a desperation that only those who suffer with chronic pain can understand, she comes up behind Jesus and touches the fringe of his coat, telling herself “If I can just touch his coat I will be made well.” Jesus feeling her faith filled touch, turns around, looks her in the eyes and says, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” Finally, relief after 12 long painful and humiliating years.

From that miracle, Jesus and his disciples continue on to the synagogue leaders home arriving to witness a group of traditional mourners who were weeping to the accompaniment of a consort of flutes. When Jesus tells the mourners to go home the girl is “only sleeping” they laugh hysterically, but Jesus got the last laugh. He went into the house, took the hand of the dead girl who instantly sat up in the bed very much alive. The news of the unorthodox rabbi’s miraculous resuscitation spread like wildfire across the entire region.

The whole message of this gospel reading came in the response of Jesus to the critical pharisees: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” By faith Matthew acted on Christ’s invitation to follow him into a whole new life. Matthew knew he was a sinner and heart sick about where his life had led him, knew he needed a physician. By faith, the woman who had suffered with 12 years of pain and hemorrhaging takes an active step of faith by reaching out to Jesus and grabbing his coat fringe and is healed on the spot! Her life had taken her to a lonely, ostracized place she had tried everything nothing had worked until she met Jesus the synagogue leader’s daughter dies, the mourners were already wailing he decides to lose all decorum, to risk his reputation and his position in the Jewish community. He finds Jesus, kneels and asks him to bring his daughter back to life. All medical interventions, and all intercessory prayers had failed to prevent the death of a precious daughter – he knew that only the Great Physician that he had heard people talking about could help her now – and that’s just what Jesus did.

Jesus being both human and divine is able to read the thought bubbles over our heads too. Comedian and Episcopalian Robin Williams once said: “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind.” Where does your life hurt? What need can’t you meet for yourself? What dilemma would you write in your thought balloon today?

Well, according to a despised tax collector, a group of sinners with bad reputations, a chronically ill woman, and one grateful synagogue leader and his daughter, Jesus the Great Physician knows, Jesus cares – trust him, let go – and let God! A-men.

The ground is level at the foot of the cross.
All fall short, all have a need that they can’t meet themselves 

1 Every Life has a Story: YouTube Chick-fil-A June 8th 2012

Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
• Reginald Heber (1783-1826); tune “Nicaea” by John Bacchus Dykes

Today in the Church calendar is the Feast Day of the Holy Trinity. And it was Theophilus, the 6th Bishop of Antioch, in the year 180 who was the first person credited with using the word “Trinity” to describe the nature of the Christian God. It took the Church awhile to approach, argue, and finally in the year 325 at the Council of Nicaea, articulate the doctrine of the Trinity – God in three equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Throughout scripture we can see evidence of all three persons at work in the plan of salvation. In the first verses of the book of Genesis we hear of the Cosmic God that was before anything was made, and over the “formless void and dark waters” a mysterious “wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” The same word in Hebrew for wind, breath and spirit is the same “Ruach.” In the Greek of the New Testament the word for wind, breath, and spirit is “Pneuma.” Pneuma is the root of the English word “pneumatic” a term used in mechanical engineering to describe tools and machines that operate by using compressed air; from jackhammers to the tubes in a bank’s drive thru, that sucks your check to the bank teller. Now when you go through the drive through at your bank remember “Pneuma” the wind, the breath, the spirit that is at work in the world and in our lives.

Later in the creation story from the book of Genesis just before humans were created, we read the following: Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness…” {1.26}. Notice the words “us” and “our” – God is a community, a relationship of Love manifested in three persons. Over the centuries theologians would and still do continue to grapple with the mysteries of the Trinity.

In trying to articulate the Divine mystery, St. Patrick back in the 5th century tried to keep things simple. To the people of Ireland, he attempted to explain the trinity by holding up a three-leaf clover, noting that although it was one clover, it had three leaves, with each leaf representing each part of the One God.

In more modern times other metaphors were used to illuminate the idea of three-in-one. There’s ice, water, and vapor, all three are H2o but are manifest in three different forms. In music there is a chord consisting of three notes, a root, a third, and a fifth, all distinct and separate notes but together they make a single chord.

In the 4th cen. St. Augustine came up with the notion of God as The Lover, The Beloved, and The Spirit. This presents God as a relational being of perfect love. The Father is the Lover, the Son is the Beloved being loved, and the Holy Spirit is the Love that connects and proceeds between them.

Others have attempted to describe the Trinity by each of their function: God -the Creator; God – the Redeemer, and God – the Sustainer. Our former Presiding Bishop Curry likes to say: “Loving, liberating and life-giving God.” In the Book of Common Prayer from New Zealand the Trinity is described as “Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver.”

Why celebrate Trinity Sunday? With the prophecies fulfilled in the earthly life lived by Jesus, through his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension his particular mission has been completed and the baton is passed to us to finish the work of salvation. As we receive the Love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, our lives are transformed and we carry the good news to the world around us. As one writer notes, “The liturgical dramas of Jesus’ life are over and we the ones left to tell the story. We are the ones to go out into the world to proclaim the good news, to baptize in the name of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
One of my favorite metaphors is something Fr. Richard Rohr describes as “the Divine Dance.” This notion of God in a threefold dance is from a Greek word called “perichoresis” which means “to dance around.” And we are invited to join in the circle of joyous love.
One of the early reformers John van Ruyesboreck attempted to describe this liturgical dance with God as follows:

“The Spirit of God blows us outwards, so that we can cultivate love and the practice of the virtues, but He also sucks us inwards, so that we can give ourselves up to rest and enjoyment. And this is eternal life. It is the same as when we exhale the air that is in us and again inhale a new breath. . . . To go inwards in an unrestrained enjoyment, to go outwards with good works, and in both at all times to remain united with the Spirit of God.”¹

I invite you to go into our chapel and observe the three windows one is a huge star of David, one is the Christ on the cross of Good Friday, and one is the dove with flaming tongues of fire. Think of all that has taken place to bring about the salvation of the world. Then, just think, the story of salvation’s continuing unfolding is now in our hands:

{ Jesus’ words echo down through the centuries and they have come down to us},

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Amen.

1 John van Ruysbroeck, The Book of the Seven Steps, cited in Balthasar, The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics. Vol. V, The Realm of Metaphysics in the Modern Age, p.74.

“and Jesus said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24: 46-49, nrsv).

Father Carey noted last week when preaching from that passage that the disciples and followers did not know how long it would be before this happened and they did not know exactly what would happen.

Today, we learn that they did as Jesus asked; they stayed in Jerusalem. And as it turned out, it was just over a week when it happened. The Holy Spirit came on them while gathered together in a room. Luke describes the event as a violent wind that blew through the room on them, and tongues like fire rested on all of them, and they were filled with God’s Holy Spirit. The word used for “wind” in Greek is “pneuma” which translates as both “wind and spirit,” just as the Hebrew word for spirit used in the creation stories “ruakh” means both “wind and spirit.” The Holy Spirit is the Breath of God coming on us.¹ As Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit, now his disciples and followers are filled with the Holy Spirit. The first gift the Spirit gave them was ability to communicate in languages they did not know which they used to communicate with residents of Jerusalem. This was not the “Glossolalia” or “speaking in tongues” which the early church often experienced as a gift of the Spirit. On this day, the gift was for communicating with people from many languages and cultures.² These Jews from all over the Roman Empire and even beyond the Empire who had settled in Jerusalem knew Hebrew or Greek or Aramaic in order to conduct business and live in the city. But this day, God reached out to people in their native tongues, so they heard the words of “home.”³ God was inviting people to become citizens of the Kingdom of God as their true selves through Jesus’ call to repentance and receiving forgiveness and reconnection with their Creator. All people, for as Peter spoke to the crowd who was made up of people from everywhere in the known world, he quoted Joel who says God will pour out His Spirit on Young and Old, Men and Women, Slaves and Free, every category of humans of the day. The Holy Spirit made it clear that God intends to tell the Good News He told in Jesus’ life and teachings, and his death and resurrection, to everyone all over the Earth. That’s why Luke lists where everyone is from in the crowd that day. God is speaking to everyone everywhere and to every category of human in their home town language.

The disciples thought the Gospel was for Jews as fulfilment of God’s promises to the Jews. But shortly, Paul and Peter will discover God intends their work to be for the whole of humanity, and it becomes a whole new faith community centered in Jesus.

What does the Holy Spirit do in people? The Spirit gave the disciples and early followers power as courage and confidence, Spiritual Power. The Holy Spirit filled them and fills us with this power. And the Spirit transforms us just as the earliest followers were transformed. This is the sin and forgiveness thing. Sin is our behavior and thinking that breaks and destroys relationships, and it clouds our vision so we can’t clearly experience God’s love and presence with us. The Spirit teaches us about God’s forgiveness which clears our vision and restores our ability to experience being loved by God, and restores our ability to love ourselves and each other.

The Holy Spirit is transformative, creating in us the “Fruits of the Spirit.” If you look at our Bulletin today, a list of Gifts of the Spirit is there on page 11. This comes from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians (5:22-23). These are the character traits we develop as we are transformed by the Holy Spirit. We develop Love, Peace, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Self-Control, Joy, Patience, Goodness, and Gentleness (that’s Paul’s list).

Now I know, these are the traits our family and friends see in us and that we see in the mirror when we look at ourselves, right? I asked my siblings once how they would describe me when we were growing up. The words they used were bossy and opinionated to describe me. I never asked them how they would describe me now. I might not be able to take it. How do your family and friends describe you?

Well, fortunately, the Holy Spirit’s work in us brings forgiveness, reconciliation, and love, reconnecting us to our Creator and to each other, and to people needing love and forgiveness outside our churches. The Spirit is at work weaving those traits listed as Fruits of the Spirit into each of us, one day at a time. In another letter of Paul’s, I Corinthians 13, Paul says of all the Gifts of the Spirit, one stands out as most important: LOVE. That makes it possible for us to be close to God, and it makes it possible for us to have good caring relationships, and it moves us to care for people in our church and for our hearts to be moved to help people outside our church. Paul says the gift of the Holy Spirit that is most important is LOVE. And that’s why we say at Saint Luke’s “it really is all about love.” Let the Holy Spirit do its work in you.

1 Barbara Reid in “The Acts of the Apostles.” The New Interpreter’s Study Bible notes, p. 1958.
2 Reid, Interpreter’s Study Bible, p. 1958
3 Reid, Interpreter’s, p.1958