Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Homily for the First Sunday after Christmas - Go and do thou likewise.

The Gospel - John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

 

Homily by the Reverend John S. Ruef

Go and do thou likewise.

The Christian year has begun. We have lived through four Sundays of Advent with its message of the coming of the end of the world. But we seem to have won a reprieve. The child born to Mary and Joseph is hailed by angels and Magi as a Savior. But in the Gospel attributed to John it is the Logos, the Word of God, which has become flesh and dwelt among us. The Fourth gospel takes us beyond time into the very mind of God.

To put it simply, in the language of today, Jesus is what it’s all about. He represents God’s plan most fully. A fallen world must look to him to see what God really intended in Creation. The Fourth gospel seeks to look beyond the material and physical to the mind of God to comprehend the central reality of God. The answer turns out to be love. This is what is in the beginning.

The Old Testament account renders the Creation Story in terms which were comprehensible to a civilization in their thought forms. This writer begins with the first three words of the Creation Story as it appears in English, In the beginning. In the birth of Jesus he sees not simply the birth of a child, but the realization in human form of the very person of God.

The Fourth Gospel is the answer to the very human thought of one caught up in the material world and its disappointments: there must be more to it than this. Jewish thought expressed this something more as the world to come. Greek thought replaced the world to come with the notion of heaven.

The writer of the Fourth Gospel attempts to get behind all these notions to the essence of them all. It is the Word. It is Jesus. It is love as it is expressed in Jesus’ life. It is the Jesus who girds himself with a towel and washes the disciples’ feet. It is the Jesus who pours out his blood for many.

But it is also the Jesus who says to the inquisitive lawyer who wishes to know about eternal life, go and do thou likewise.

Emmanuel Calls Dr. David Smith as Pastoral Vicar

The Vestry of Emmanuel is delighted to announce that beginning January 1, 2008, The Reverend Dr. David H. Smith will assume the role of pastoral vicar at Emmanuel. Dr. Smith is the chaplain at Chatham Hall and will serve Emmanuel simultaneously. As pastoral vicar, Dr. Smith will lead worship every Sunday and assume all rights and responsibilities of a rector except consecrating elements for the Eucharist. He will lead worship at Emmanuel for the first time on January 6.

Dr. Smith has been an ordained Presbyterian minister for nearly 30 years and has recently undertaken a one-year process leading to ordination as a priest in the Episcopal Church next November. In the meantime, area priests have volunteered to celebrate communion with us on a regular basis. Dr. Smith received his B.A. in political philosophy from St. Andrews Presbyterian College and his theological training from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond.

Please join the Vestry in welcoming Dr. Smith and his family to Emmanuel.

Homily for Christmas Eve - Are You Ready for Christmas?

The Gospel - Luke 2:1-14(15-20)

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

[When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. ]

 

Homily by the Reverend John S. Ruef

Are You Ready for Christmas?

Are you ready for Christmas?   I have heard this question asked many times about now. It is well meant and usually receives a weary answer, which hardly reflects the joy of the cards, which one receives or the gaiety of the TV ads, which one sees and hears. The preparations for the holiday can be extensive and exhausting. Newspaper headlines speak of the “madness of travel.” 

As a clergyman I used t worry that this was not relevant to the Christmas message of Peace on earth and good will to men. I used to preach sermons about the retail frenzy attached to Christmas. I used to talk about the origin of the festival in the end of the year Saturnalia celebrations of the Romans. One looks at the Christmas tree and realizes that it comes from the deep dark pre-Christian past of Teutonic Europe.

All this is true, but perhaps not as important as I once thought. Religion, we are taught is based on faith. Clarence Darrow once remarked that it was learned at the mother’s knee. Maybe so. Experience, however, would seem to indicate that faith is a confidence, coming from we do not know where, that ultimately everything will be all right. It includes the idea that good will triumph, and that it will overcome evil.

How this was going to happen was variously described by the religions of the world, particularly Judaism. In our Gospel reading for this evening the “babe in the manger” is called a saviour.  And certainly the early church believed that he would set things right.

Well he didn’t. He was executed by the Roman government as a trouble maker and was believed by his followers to have risen from the dead. The Church has been trying for two thousand years to figure out just what he did do.  In the process the Church has gathered to itself scriptures and liturgies, which attempt to express this faith that everything will ultimately be all right.

It has also gathered to itself customs and attitudes from various cultures, which, in many cases, cloud or even hide the faith and the religion which attempts to express that faith. But the strange thing is that the faith will not go away. The religion helps.

And in the process of hearing the story and participating in the liturgy we get a glimpse of that world in which everything will be set right. And in the scene of the shepherds and the angels we get a peek at the object of our faith. In the Glory to God in the highest we feel and hear once again the message that everything will be all right.

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent - The Virgin Birth

The Gospel - Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

"Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel,"

which means, "God is with us." When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

 

Homily by the Reverend John S. Ruef

The Virgin Birth

The gospel for today is from Matthew who goes into the birth of Jesus. The story is quite different from the story in Luke, not to mention Mark who has none and John who goes over the commentary on the first verse of Genesis, In the beginning.

In this story Joseph, not having had intercourse with his wife to be, discovers that she is pregnant.  His fears were allayed when he received a divine message informing him that the child had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. Instead of putting her away which the tradition would allow, he decides to persevere with the marriage.

Matthew tries to show that the incident fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah which speaks of a virgin conceiving. The problem is that the Hebrew does not support this reading. The Greek translation of the Old Testament uses the word virgin, but that is well into the Christian era. When one of my faculty members in his former position as a Roman Catholic scholar of some repute pointed this out, he was removed from his position and sent off to compose Christmas cards.

We should be able to reconcile reason with both Scripture and tradition. Apparently, in some cases people are too threatened to allow this to happen. Reason does not have all the answers but neither do Scripture nor tradition. Our humility in the face of this-not-always-reconcilable situation is both helpful and necessary.

Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent - Are You the One?

The Gospel - Matthew 11:2-11

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

`See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way before you.'

Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

 

Homily by the Reverend John S. Ruef

Are You the One?

One cannot help but be struck by the enigmatic way in which Jesus is depicted as answering the question from John the baptizer: Are you the Messiah or do we look for another? Anyone who reads the New Testament gospels cannot help but see this enigmatic way of dealing with people and their questions throughout the gospels.

 The biblical authors for the most part do not speak of God directly. Rather they refer to what He does. Matthew presents Jesus as telling about lepers being cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead being raised up and the poor hearing the good news. These stories are all signs of the Kingdom, which is imminent.

They also speak somewhat diffidently of the one who comes to announce the coming of the kingdom by his acts. Why would people take offense in Jesus? The offense of course was the cross. By the time Matthew writes his gospel, the crucifixion was a part of the Gospel story. It did not make sense that the one who was to usher in the Kingdom should have had to suffer in that way. But he did.

Perhaps that angle of the suffering Messiah had not yet been worked out as it would be later. For now one would present the wonders which Jesus performed as proof enough that he was the Messiah.

But you and I know that, as is sometimes said, life is not all beer and skittles. Suffering is not an add-on. It is part of life. Jesus teaches us, by his own example to endure it in faith, knowing that ultimately things will be better, much better.

An Episcopal Church Primer

"Christopher Webber's book, Welcome to the Episcopal Church, is a very good, brief introduction to the Episcopal Church in history, worship and overall faith. Often used as a study guide or textbook during confirmation and new member classes, this book provides a clear, basic, accessible and interesting narrative that is easy to follow and easy to learn." -  Fr Kurt Messick

Welcome to the Episcopal Church: An Introduction to Its History, Faith, and Worship is available from Amazon.com.

Another primer, geared toward confirmation classes, is Joseph B. Bernardin's Introduction to the Episcopal Church, also available from Amazon.com.

Diocese Accepting Nominations for Bishop

The Diocese of Southern Virginia is now accepting nominations for its 10th Diocesan Bishop. The nomination process, which began December 1, will continue until the end of January 2008, after which the Nominating Committee will begin the process of screening and interviewing candidates.

Anyone, clergy or laity, may nominate a candidate. Copies of the Diocesan Profile and the Nomination Form are available at http://www.svabishop.org/docs.html.

Women of Emmanuel Host Cookie Exchange

The Women of Emmanuel hosted a Cookie Exchange in the Parish Hall on Saturday, December 1st. Participants baked their favorite confectionery to share with other parishioners with each taking home an assortment of the delicious goodies!

Some of the Cookie Exchange participants.

A Brief History of the Episcopal Church

"David L. Holmes's A Brief History of the Episcopal Church is an outstanding tour through the history of the Episcopal church, from its earliest days to the present...Holmes successfully incorporates discussions of liturgy, theology, polity, and architecture into the story, while giving attention to women and men representing a range of ethnic and social backgrounds. In so doing he relates the history of the Episcopal church to that of the larger society in a way that makes church history come alive." -  A Reader

A Brief History of the Episcopal Church is available from Amazon.com.

Emmanuel Featured in Churches of Chatham

Emmanuel is one of twelve churches featured in this year's  Churches of Chatham 2008 calendar, a project of Chatham First, Inc. Including the cover photos, twenty-one area churches are represented.

Calendars are available at various local businesses or by calling Betty Camp, Chairman of the Calendar Development Committee, or Langhorne Jones. All proceeds from calendar sales will benefit the lighting project at the Frances Hallam Hurt Town Park.

Chatham First is a non-profit organization of volunteers who work to improve the quality of life in the community.

2007 Congregational Meeting Held December 9th

Emmanuel held its 2007 Congregational Meeting and Luncheon following the 11 am Service on Sunday, December 9th. After a delightful lunch, parishioners:

• Elected two new members of the Vestry for three-year terms beginning in January 2008:
  • Linda Swanberg and
  • Richard Camp

• Heard annual reports from:
  • Langhorne Jones, Senior Warden,
  • The Reverend John S. Ruef, and
  • John Geyer, Treasurer.

The Parish Luncheon

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent - Prepare the Way of the Lord

The Gospel - Matthew 3:1-12

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: `Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"

Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

"I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

 

Homily by the Reverend John S. Ruef

Prepare the Way of the Lord

I tell you God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

This is John the Baptizer speaking and upbraiding his fellow Jews for depending upon Abraham to work for them. It is another way of their saying, “Well, after all we are Jews, children of Abraham, the Chosen People.” John might very well have asked, “Then why are you in virtual captivity, subservient to the Empire of Rome?”

As with all the prophets before him, John is reminding his people of the Torah, God's gift to them during their escape from the rule of Egypt. John is reminding them of his promise to them of the land of Canaan with the condition that they obey the directions of the Torah.

But they had not done so. And to make matters worse, the end of this world and the Judgment was upon them. Their one chance was to repent and do it now.

From the Christian standpoint, Matthew shows how the Messiah, who is coming in judgment, is also the Savior, who will baptize with water and with fire. He will not only save those who repent but will fulfill the promises made to Israel.

There will indeed be a judgment. There will be a burning of the chaff. But for God's reinstated people, there will be a gathering into the barn of his purified people.

As we all know, however, things did not go that way, at least, not yet. Constantine became a Christian, made the Christian Church the official religion of the Empire and thereby, according to some writers, set it on the slippery slope of decline.

Are we to make our appeal to a tradition, which we know is right and considers all who disagree wrong, or are we to have faith, which, though not a guarantee, may be the courage needed to forge ahead into uncertainty?

Homily for the First Sunday in Advent - Be Ready

The Gospel - Matthew 24:37-44

Jesus said to the disciples, "For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

 

Homily by the Reverend John S. Ruef

Be Ready

Be ready. Be ready for what? The end of the world, of course. The Jews of Jesus' day understood what the end of the world was. God would come to set things right. The process leading up to this setting right began with Abraham, as Matthew's version of the genealogy shows. By comparison, Luke's version starts with Adam.

The predominant message of this passage would seem to be that of being ready because you don't know when this end of the world is going to come. It is compared to the Flood and to the person whose house may be about to be robbed.

In the days of Noah, people went on with business as usual. They simply did not know that their end was near and that God would start all over again. The householder simply did not know that on a certain night the thief would come.

But Matthew's Jesus speaks to the early Christian community, mostly Jews who knew precisely what the coming of the Lord meant. It was the end of the world with the promise of a new and purified one. One would be taken and another left.

On the basis of what would this judgment be made? It is the story of Jesus which Matthew has largely told, full of instances in which Jesus interpreted the Jewish tradition in a new way, along with healing and casting out demons.

In the years to come, as had been true since the time of the resurrection, many others would attempt not only reinterpretation of the Jewish tradition, but interpretation of the evolving Christian one as well.

As is still true today there would be disagreement. When would we know who is right? When Judgment Day comes. When will that be? We do not know, but, be ready.