Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Homily for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany - Stop and Listen

Jeremiah 1:4-10 ● Psalm 71:1-6 ● 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ● Luke 4:21-30

Homily by Fr R Christopher Heying

The Sunday before last, our five-year-old son Patrick dutifully carried in the Gospel Book and then went to sit with his mom, where apparently a quiet conversation began. 

His mom asked him what he would be when he grew up.  I’ll be a papa (which is what he calls me).  So you’re going to have children?  I’ll have a son.  What will you name your son?  I will name him Patrick, but then paused and added, “But then I’ll have to get a new name for me.”  

“What do papas do?” his mom went on.  They love their babies and give them things.  How will you do that?  I’ll get a job.  Where will you work?  At church.  What will you do at church?  I’ll be the priest.  The priest?  What will you do as the priest?  I’ll make money so I can buy my son Skylander Giants (video game characters for his first real obsession). 

Like Jeremiah, Patrick is only a boy yet has a clear mission.  Granted, his is not to be “set this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow,” but giving good gifts to your child cannot be undervalued . . . and rarely is by the child who receives it.

Actually, I was exactly Patrick’s age—five years and two months—when Neil Armstrong on July 21, 1969, took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” and I told my mom that I was going to be the first priest on the moon.

Homily for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany - the Work God Gives Us to Do

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Luke 4:14-21

Homily by Fr R Christopher Heying

Having returned to Nazareth and at the inauguration of his public ministry, Jesus declares that the good news, release, sight, freedom, grace and favor of the Lord that was prophesied by Isaiah is “fulfilled in your hearing” today.

Having spoken last week about a diversity of gifts but the one Spirit, Paul goes on to declare that we though many are by the same Spirit made the one body of Christ.

These two readings together are a starting point from which we can have a conversation about what it is we are about—or should be about—at Emmanuel Church. 

Luke explains that Jesus, whose body we are, went to the synagogue according to his custom and there, toward the start of his public ministry, proclaimed good news, freedom, sight, God’s grace and favor.  Jesus’ proclamation becomes our proclamation. 

The heart of Christ’s mission is to restore all things to unity with God.  As Christ’s body his mission becomes ours: to restore all to unity with God and each other in Christ.   

This is who we are.  This is what we do. But lest this be pious claptrap, let’s ask ourselves: how do we fulfill our mission of reconciliation of all to God?

Homily for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany - The Third Side

Homily by Fr R Christopher Heying

Let me begin by saying how thankful I am for Bishop Light’s visit last week.  His sermon was a timely reminder that each and every one of us—whether ordained or lay—has been given gifts for ministry.  This is fully consonant with what Paul tells us in First Corinthians (12.1-11): “There are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit. . . . To each is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

We each have been given gifts.  We all have ministries.  We have work to do. 

The Catechism of The Book of Common Prayer (855) is in question-and-answer format:

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.        How does the Church pursue its mission?

A.        The church pursues its mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel, and promotes justice, peace, and love.

Q.        Through whom does the Church carry out its mission?

A.        The church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its members.

These questions and answers amplify the mission statement on the back of our bulletin:  Emmanuel Episcopal Church is a community of faith that worships God and goes forth to do the work God gives us to do. 

In worship we encounter God in the community, in scripture, in sacrament.  In worship we are nurtured and strengthened to go out to do the work God has given to us to do: to share through word and action the good news of God’s love by promoting justice, making peace, loving one another as Jesus has loved us.

Homily for the First Sunday after Christmas - The Twelve Days of Christmas

Christmas 1C 2012

Isaiah 61:10-62:3 
Galatians 3:23-25;4:4-7 
John 1:1-18 
Psalm 147 or 147:13-21

Homily by Fr R Christopher Heying

Merry Christmas!  Our celebration of the Lord’s birth continues. 

While presiding at a wedding for two friends during the Christmas Season, I explained to them that since their wedding was taking place on the fifth day of Christmas they would need five golden rings.  As you might expect they had only brought two rings with them and seemed perplexed by my statement.  I then waived the requirement and, to the delight of all, moved forward with the service!

I confess that I have been generally opposed to re-gifting, that was until I received those four calling birds. . . .

Growing up, before heading off to Midnight Mass we would always go to my aunt’s for the Christmas Eve spaghetti dinner. She had lovely china plates of the Twelve Days of Christmas, and it was always a surprise to find out at the end of the meal which plate and its particular gift we had received for the requisite singing of The Twelve Days of Christmas after the meal.

Many years later I discovered that this rather silly song with its catchy tune was a teaching device written during an age of religious persecution.  Using coded language (not unlike that which might be found in the Book of Revelation, written during another age of persecution), The Twelve Days of Christmas was a tool or mnemonic device to teach the faith:

Homily for Christmas Eve 2012 - God's gift to the world

Luke 2:1-14(15-20)

Homily by Fr R Christopher Heying

First of all, you children can relax.  Santa is coming!

For the past 20 hours or so, the bi-national North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), operated by the United States and Canada, has been tracking Santa around the globe.  This service actually began back in 1955 by CONAD, the Continental Air Defense Command, and was taken up by NORAD when it replaced CONAD in 1958. 

It’s no easy feat to track Santa.  In fact, according to NORAD’s website, more than 1,250 Canadian and American uniformed personnel and Department of Defense civilian volunteers donate their time Christmas Eve to answer the thousands of phone calls and emails that flood in from around the globe.  

And don’t worry that you may miss being able to call our NORAD friends who are stationed in Colorado; they will be available at 1.877.HI.NORAD until 3 a.m. Mountain Standard Time.  I believe that’s actually 5 a.m. our time. 

But their website does make two things very clear: (1) Santa visits all homes around the world wherever boys and girls believe in him and (2) Santa never enters those homes unless the children are asleep, but our NORAD friends have observed that if the children are awake Santa has been known to circle back to leave gifts when they are actually asleep.  If you will sleep, I have some really great news for you, by NORAD’s counting a couple of hours ago 4 billion gifts have already been given.

Secondly, Santa is not the only one coming or giving gifts tonight.  God is coming and God is giving the best gift of all: the gift of himself neatly wrapped through Mary in our humanity, Jesus Christ the Lord.

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent - My soul doth magnify the Lord

Luke 1:39-45 (46-55, the Magnificat)

Homily by Fr R Christopher Heying

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

Today we go with Mary early in her pregnancy as she goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. 

Two extraordinary things have just taken place.

First, you will recall that Elizabeth’s husband Zechariah, a priest offering incense in the sanctuary, was visited by the Angel Gabriel and informed that Elizabeth would conceive a son named John who would prepare the way of the Lord. 

Not surprisingly this was a shock to Zechariah, for Elizabeth was up in years and thought to be barren. How could this be, he asks, and is told that he will be unable to speak until his son is named at his circumcision.

Secondly, Gabriel then announces to Mary that she too is going to have a baby boy.  He will be called Jesus and will be given David’s throne and reign eternally.  Mary also wants to know how this can be, as she is still a virgin.  She isn’t rendered mute, however.  (We can only surmise that God reserves this extraordinary punishment for clergy, where talking too much has always been an occupational hazard.)

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent - I thank my God every time I remember you

Philippians 1.3-11

Homily by Fr R Christopher Heying

“I thank my God every time I remember you.”

As we gather today for this eucharist and the 2012 annual meeting of this parish church, I note the uncanny timeliness of our lectionary readings.

No matter what’s going on in our lives individually and collectively, the appointed readings have a way of reaching down through centuries and across diverse cultures to address us directly, personally. 

At times our readings confront and correct.  At times, they comfort and console.  But at all times, if we have but ears to hear, they connect with us and remind us of what is truly important, truly real, truly saving.  And of what is not.

“I thank my God every time I remember you.”  

Paul begins with thanksgiving, with eucharist, I give thanks, a note of joy and rejoicing that reverberates through the letter even unto the conclusion in the fourth chapter. Some may remember that the word “joy” or “rejoice” is found in the Letter to the Philippians some sixteen times.

You may recall what was going on in Paul’s life when he wrote this letter.  He’s in prison, again, probably in Rome, possibly Caesarea or Ephesus.  And it is not Club Fed.  He’s facing the real possibility of his death, about which he has ambivalence, for if he dies he will be with the Lord and if he lives he will be able to continue proclaiming the Gospel, for “living is Christ and dying is gain” (1.21). 

As he tosses between life and death, Paul sees so much that is good and lovely and true and bids us “rejoice always and again I say rejoice” (4.4).

Paul knows and wants us to know this: God is good—all the time and all the time—God is good.

Do we know that truth?  Is that the truth in which are lives are firmly anchored?

Homily for Christ the King Sunday

John 18:33-37

Homily by Fr. R Christopher Heying

At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in the year 1918 the War to End All War had, at least on its Western Front, come to an end.  

Only a few years later the drums to war and worldly domination were once again beating.  The fascist Mussolini had become prime minister of Italy in 1922, and in 1925 the first volume of Mein Kampf, Hitler’s autobiographical argument for his ideology, was published.

World observers were increasingly alarmed about the growing nationalism and secularism.

Such was the context of Quas Primas, the 1925 encyclical letter of Pope Pius XI in which he instituted the new Feast of Christ the King as an antidote to worldly pretenders.  By declaring a new Feast for the church, the pope put forward Jesus Christ as a true model of kingship and hoped that the faithful would be encouraged to let Christ and him alone reign in every aspect of their lives.

Homily for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - Listen to what we pray.

Proper 28B

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Homily by Fr. R Christopher Heying

Want to know what the church believes?  Attend to what she prays.

Most of the church’s “collects” or short prayers, however artfully written, are fairly simple and straightforward for those who learned their English grammar because it helps to know what a colon is. 

That is because what the church believes can usually be found before the colon. 

What comes after the colon is often the hope or petition based on the belief expressed before the colon.

Take, for example, the Collect of the Day that is appointed for this Sunday, which you have in your bulletin:

Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

In this simple, short phrase, the church says unambiguously that God is ultimately the source of Holy Scripture, which God caused (an implicit but undefined doctrine of inspiration) to be written for our instruction.

The petition, which follows the colon, underscores the belief expressed before the colon and then expands it.  The scriptures having come from God, we now ask God for help to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them.

Homily for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost - Give All You Got!

Mark 12:38-44 - The Widow's Mite

Homily by Fr. R Christopher Heying

Few texts for preaching during the fall stewardship campaign could be more advantageous than this reading today from Mark’s gospel about the widow. 

And in thanksgiving not only for the content of the story but its timeliness, perhaps we might call this fall’s campaign: “Give All You Got.” 

The “Give All You Got” campaign makes things simple.

Anguishing over whether I should give ten percent before or after taxes?  Gone.

Determining what to do if I don’t happen to like Item 2601c or Item 4834b in the proposed budget?  Irrelevant.

There is an added benefit to the “Give All You Got” campaign. 

It takes the pressure off of those of us who may just happen to like walking around in long robes, being greeted with respect on Main Street, having the best seat at ChathaMooCa, and being invited to preach the community service on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and—even better—to bless the Yuletide log at Chatham’s Christmas celebration the first weekend in December.

There’s only one problem with the “Give All You Got” campaign this year.  It’s that it may force us next year to go with the “What the Heck Happened Last Year?” campaign.

Homily for All Saints' Sunday - You can be one too!

Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9

Psalm 24

Revelation 21:1-6a

Homily by Fr. R Christopher Heying

“Make a hymn for a picnic.”

Lesbia Scott, born in England just before the turn of the 20^th century, was a young mother of three when she began writing hymns, which were not originally intended for publication but were in response to her children’s requests, such as:

“Make a hymn for a foggy day.”

Married to a Naval officer who later became an Anglican priest, Mrs. Scott published Everyday Hymns for Young Children in 1929, with tunes and illustrations of her own making.

“I sing a song of the saints of God” was one such hymn.

Later, her hymn was set to a new and catchy tune, Grand Isle, that was composed in retirement by John Henry Hopkins and published in 1940 in Layman’s Magazine of the Living Church, just in time for the Hymnal 1940. 

“I sing a song of the saints of God” wedded to Grand Isle went on to become so popular that when the purists preparing the Hymnal 1982 tried to give it the boot because of what they argued was a lack of theological profundity, a vigorous letter-writing campaign assured its inclusion in our present hymnal. 

The hymn refers to a number of those who have through the ages taken their place in that “great cloud of witnesses” who now encourage us as we run the race set before us.

Homily for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost - Why?

Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)

Hebrews 7:23-28
Mark 10:46-52

 Homily by Fr. R Christopher Heying

Shortly after landing in Dallas in the summer of 2004 I called my first cousins’ grandmother, Mary Essie Morrow, better known to her family as MaMa, and said, “MaMa, this is Chris.”  She immediately responded, “I know who you are: I recognized your voice.”  I immediately thought to myself, “That is remarkable.” 

You see MaMa, born in August of 1899 was 104.  My heart was warmed and the thought formed in my mind: “That’s like God, is it not?  I know who you are: I recognized your voice.”

For those who may have just now begun to worry that in calling me as your priest, you weren’t thinking about such longevity, there’s no need to worry: I am adopted and don’t share those genes!  My time on this earth may not be as it was for MaMa or for Job, “old and full of days” (Job 42.17).

But then neither has it been for some of MaMa’s direct descendants.  In 2001, I returned from New York to bury my cousin Kristin who died of melanoma at the age of 43.  And in January of 2005, with MaMa very much alive and alert at 105, I returned from Virginia to preach my first cousin’s son’s funeral.  George William, at just sixteen and with an undiagnosed heart problem, fell down the stairs and died.

The hardest sermon I have preached to date.  An “innocent” farm boy who loved his goats and his chickens and had significant learning disabilities and speech issues, having been born with an umbilical cord around his neck, and none could hold back tears as we watched George William, as his body was put into the hearse for his final ride, receive his Eagle Scout Award, earned days before his death.

MaMa, his great grandmother, went on to live two months shy of her 108^th birthday (with sisters who lived to be 103 and 109).  Yet George William dies at 16, not so old, not so full of days.

Your life no doubt has been touched by tragedy, by hope cut short for no reason, at least no reason that you can understand.

Homily for the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost - What is a priest?

Job 38:1-7, (34-41)

Hebrews 5:1-10

Homily by Fr. R Christopher Heying

A few weeks ago, my four-year-old Patrick looked up and said to me, with high level of frustration in his voice, “are you going to be a priest forever?”

At first I thought about the quotation on the front of the booklet for my ordination: “A priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” but then also to the possibility that however full-time my ministry may be I am only providing a temp service in the House of the Lord, for is it not Jesus who alone is the true priest forever, around whose throne we will one day gather, when the roll is called up yonder?

But more directly connected to the readings this morning, we might ask ourselves, “What is a priest?”

What is a priest, really? And what does priesthood have to do with you and me?

Through the centuries, Christian priesthood has been viewed with varying lenses, most of which shed some light on aspects and none of which is able to contain the whole of it, priesthood.

Homily for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost - How will we leave?

Job 23:1-9, 16-17

Hebrews 4:12-16

Homily by Fr. R Christopher Heying

It is not about how we come but how we will leave.

The truth of the matter is that all of us—priests and laity alike—come this morning before God to whom all hearts open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid and know all too well that we have erred and strayed from God’s ways like lost sheep following too much the devices and desires of our hearts.

You and I gather this morning before a holy and righteous God who knows that we have each sinned, we have each fallen short of the glory of God, that holiness to which we are called. By God’s own call to us, you and I gather this morning before God who knows that our slate is neither blank nor clean.

Bishop Terwilliger, sometime bishop suffragan of Dallas, put it this way:

“One should compare oneself to Jesus Christ. And if he comes up poorly, he should go to confession. If he comes up well, he should go to a psychiatrist.”

And so we gather this morning before a holy God, knowing that not only that all generally have sinned but also that you and I, by what we have done and by what we have failed to do, have sinned and that there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

One author put it this: “At some time or other, a man must stop running from himself and his God—possibly because there is no other place to run to” (Barclay, Hebrews, quoting Kermit Eby in “The God in You”).

Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost - Becoming doers of the Word through obedience, not ritual

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Written by Katerina K. Whitley; delivered by Mark dePaulo

Ritual is essential in life. National, religious or familial, rituals offer us the comfort of repetition and familiarity as they lend beauty to occurrences that otherwise might be considered mundane. Observe a little child who asks for the same story night after night – this is her ritual – or your own delight in keeping the Christmas rituals as you remember them from childhood.

Look at the warm smiles on the faces of parishioners when a familiar old gospel song is chosen on a Sunday, even in some of our more staid Episcopal congregations. Remember the Thanksgiving dinners and the disappointment of family members if mother or grandmother veers away from the traditional turkey to beef roast.

All of us have rituals that we remember and cherish. Some are simple habits; others are beloved and precious because they are tied to memories of love and affection from our earliest years; a few, like the Eucharist, are holy. Those that are mere habits may easily be forgotten or ignored, but those that are indeed enveloped in memories of love or sacredness are indispensable.

Our lessons today are centered around ritual, but with strings attached.

The Reverend Pamela Webb Visits Emmanuel

The Reverend Pamela Webb visits with Virginia Chapin and Vic Millner.

For the second time in two weeks, Emmanuel welcomed a visiting priest on Sunday, May 6 as we continue the search for a fulltime priest. The Reverend Pamela Webb and her husband, Dan, joined the Emmanuel family to celebrate the Holy Eucharist and enjoy an extended coffee hour.

Reverend Webb’s sermon was a discussion of Jesus’ identity, beginning with “I am the true vine...” which began the morning’s gospel reading. Vine, light, bread, gate, shepherd... all these familiar, earthy, “I am” metaphors were used by Jesus, Reverend Webb explained, to help us to know better that which, ultimately, cannot ever be fully understood by man.

As in the previous week’s visit with the Rev. Gary Barker, we all enjoyed the opportunity to become more familiar with Rev. Webb during an extended coffee hour beautifully hosted by Alice Coles, Beth Coles, Janice Cheney and Janis Simpson. Afterwards, Pam joined the vestry in a closed-door session.

The Reverend Gary Barker Visits Emmanuel

The Rev. Gary Barker (second from right) visits with parishioners.

By Susan Paynter

On Sunday, April 29, the Reverend Gary Barker joined us to celebrate the Holy Eucharist and to become acquainted, afterward, during an extended coffee hour.  The visit was one step in the Rev. Barker’s quest to find a new church family and Emmanuel’s simultaneous search for a priest to fulfill our pastoral needs.

In his sermon, Gary confessed that Good Shepherd Sunday has not historically been one of his favorites.  He has felt it’s an interruption in the continuity of the Sundays of Easter.  But he said that he’s beginning to come to terms with it, gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation. 

He reminded us that sheep don’t go willingly where the shepherd bids.  There’s a reason, he said, for the shepherd’s crook, with its hook on one end and sharp prod on the other.

He further related our difficulty in leading a Christ-like life to the poetry of the Victorian poet, Christina Rossetti, whose feast day had fallen two days before on the liturgical calendar.  Gary read the final stanza of her poem, “A Better Resurrection”:

 My life is like a broken bowl,

A broken bowl that cannot hold

One drop of water for my soul

Or cordial in the searching cold;

Cast in the fire the perish'd thing;

Melt and remould it, till it be

A royal cup for Him, my King:

O Jesus, drink of me.

There’s no doubt that Gary Barker drew us into his deeper understanding and appreciation of Good Shepherd Sunday.

Coffee hour was a pleasure as always, with good food and good company.  There was a lot of talking, telling of tales, catching up and laughing.  Parishioners provided mushroom quiche, ham biscuits, tabouli salad, fresh strawberries, cakes, cookies, brownies, bars and peach pie! 

Gary took the time to visit with us individually and in groups of two, three or four.  Certainly he must have gotten a good feel for who we are, and vice versa:  all in all, a successful day.

Emmanuel Welcomes Visiting Priest the Rev. Wayne Kinyon

Emmanuel welcomed the Rev. Bryce Wayne Kinyon as preacher and celebrant for the Holy Eucharist on Sunday, January 29. Mr. Kinyon, a native of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has served churches and chaplaincies throughout the southeast during his ministry.

He is  a graduate of Duke University and received his Master of Divinity from Sewanee and currently resides in Columbia, South Carolina.

Mr. Kinyon's homily was based on the day's Gospel reading from Mark for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany - Mark 1:21-28. Most of the Gospel readings for Sundays in 2012 will be taken from Mark.

Mark's Gospel is written in a straight forward, no nonsense manner and throughout emphasizes the following five themes:

1. Jesus was an observant Jew following the laws and customs of his time and people, including attendance in the synagogue on the sabbath, unless there was a very good reason not to do so.

2. Jesus was a teacher; one might even say teaching was the central tenent of his ministry.

3. Jesus was a healer both of the body and of the spirit, even commanding unclean spirits.

4. Jesus did not seek public acknowledgment or praise. In fact, on several occasions, he admonished those whom he had healed to keep quiet about what had happened to them.

5. Jesus fame spread throughout the region. The Gospel message was intended for everyone and spread rapidly taking on a life of its own.

Homily for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany - Here I am Lord

(RCL) 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20); Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51

By the Rev. Rob Gieselmann

Hannah was barren. She could not have children. In the ancient times, this was a disgrace, but her husband loved her and did not care. Hannah cared. She stood deeply ashamed in the presence of other women. She was an underdog.

Like so many of us who turn to the Lord when we need help, Hannah turned to the Lord God, the friend of the underdog. The Lord heard Hannah’s prayer.

Eli was the priest on duty when Hannah petitioned God, and he announced, “God has granted your petition. You will have a baby.”

Within the next year, Hannah gave birth to a son, Samuel. When Hannah returned the next year to pray, she did the unthinkable: she donated Samuel to God, leaving him behind to be raised by Eli. In dedicating Samuel to God, Hannah proclaimed: “There is no Holy One like the Lord, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”

Years later, this same Samuel anointed Saul and David as kings over Israel. It was to the boy Samuel, only 12 years old, to whom God spoke today’s strange prophecy of judgment. This prophecy was his first, and he didn’t quite know what to do with it. After all, the prophecy was directed at his adopted father, Eli, his mentor and caretaker.

“Here I am,” Samuel answered God, who spoke out loud. How terrifying it must have been for a boy to hear God’s harsh judgment from dark corners of the night.

That is the “Old” Testament, isn’t it? Dark corners, rash judgment, and cruel penalties? Perhaps, but consider, well, the “rest of the story.”

Homily for the Feast of the Holy Name - What's in a name?

By the Rev. Ken Kesselus

(RCL) Numbers 6:22-27; Psalm 8; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 2:15-21

We know very little about Jesus’ childhood. There is nothing in Mark or John. From Matthew, we learn that an angel told Joseph to name Mary’s child “Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” This, he reports, they did, and then he relates the account of the Wisemen’s visitation, followed by the flight of the family to Egypt and their moving to Nazareth.

Luke provides the most detail, beginning with the birth in Bethlehem that we hear during the Christmas liturgy. Then he gives us the brief story from today’s gospel, followed by an account of Jesus being presented in the temple a few weeks later. Finally, Luke tells us about the 12-year-old Jesus, again at the temple, confounding religious teachers with wisdom beyond his years. He ends with a summary: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.”

That’s it, until he emerges fully grown, prepared for the Baptism of John and the beginning of his ministry. So, our little snippet of information today is quite important within such a limited body of knowledge of Jesus’ first three decades of life. One sentence: “After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” Our prayer book deems it so valuable that whenever the eighth day of Christmas, January 1, occurs on a Sunday, Holy Name takes precedent over the regular liturgical day. We commemorate the occasion when Jesus was circumcised and when he was named.

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent - John the Doorman

The Gospel - John 1:6-8, 19-28

Homily by the Rev. Charles Hoffacker

John the Doorman

Imagine the scene. You are downtown in one of the world’s great cities. You’re standing at the main entrance of a huge, opulent hotel, whose solid stone walls soar upward for many floors. The canopied entrance features a red carpet that crosses the sidewalk to the street, and brass fittings that gleam like gold. It’s a damp winter evening. Flurries dance through the air.

Presiding over this elegant space in front of the hotel is the doorman. A mountain of a man, he cuts quite a figure, dressed in a knee-length blue topcoat brightened by braid on the shoulders and the sleeves. The stripes on his uniform pants lead down to his black, shiny shoes. A serious hat rests on top of his head. With utter dignity, he opens doors, orders cabs, greets people coming and going, and lends even more substance than it already has to the building behind him.

There you are at the main entrance. You’ve never been to this hotel before. In fact, in the small town you come from, there are only motels, and no doormen, especially not the sort who are grandly uniformed. But you have come to this metropolis for a convention, and the big banquet is tonight, here at this hotel.

The massive figure in the topcoat and braid now looms right in front of you. Never before have you seen the likes of him, except in old movies. Why should you do?

One option is to question him. Ask him whose army he is in, or is he an admiral? Ask him to count the brass buttons on his splendid coat. Ask him to come in out of the cold; you know a warm hotel lobby, and it’s only a short walk away.

A better option is simply to let him do his job. You’ve come for the banquet; his job is to open the door for you. A genial nod in his direction is all that he expects by way of recompense.

Which option do you choose?

Homily for Last Sunday After Pentecost - Christ the King

The Gospel - Matthew 25:31-46

Homily by the Rev. Kay Sylvester

Christ the King

The celebration of Christ the King Sunday arose when Pope Pius XI found the increasing secularism of modern society eroding people’s faith. This was in 1925, and the Fascists under Mussolini were making their presence felt in Italy. Pius thought it was necessary to remind the faithful that whatever political powers might hold sway, ultimately, it is Christ who is “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

It seems we keep having this conversation. The very first statement of Christian identity, the first creed, if you will, was “Jesus is Lord.” In the first century, the part that no one said aloud was: Jesus is Lord, not Caesar.

We are faced with a few issues in claiming that “Christ is King.”

Parish Welcomes Visiting Priest

Emmanuel welcomed the Reverend Dr. Theodore Johnson as preacher and celebrant at this morning's service of the Holy Eucharist. Dr. Johnson, who currently resides in Basye, Virginia, has devoted much of his ministry to congregational development.

Prior to the morning service, Dr. Johnson led the Adult Bible Class in a discussion of the context and manner in which Jesus acquired his first disciples as told in the Gospel of John (1:29-42).

Dr. Johnson's homily expanded on the dual notions of time used by the Greeks (the language of the New Testament): chronos - time as measured by the clock, and kairos or cosmic time, those moments when God speaks to us and time seems to stand still. John the Baptizer's calling out Jesus to his (John's) disciples - "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" - in verse 36 appears to have been one of those kairos moments. Andrew and the other disciple immediately took up with Jesus as the one whom they should follow.

Following the service of Holy Eucharist, parishioners and friends gathered for refreshments in the Parish Hall to visit with Dr. Johnson as well as friends and neighbors. Thanks to the Vestry for arranging Dr. Johnson's visit and Alice Coles for coordinating the bountiful refreshments.

Dr. Johnson engages Langhorne Jones and Garrie Thompson in conversation.

(Photos by Rosemary Nichols)

Homily for the First Sunday after the Epiphany - Seeking Another Way

The Gospel - Matthew 3:13-17

Homily by the Rev. J. W. Mathieson

Seeking Another Way

Epiphany is about seeking. We are all seekers - seeking another way, a new way to a better life in Jesus Christ.

During my time in ministry, I have had the privilege of participating in two different Billy Graham Crusades. If you recall, or are not familiar with Dr. Graham's crusades,  there is a time after the completion of Dr. Graham' s sermon or message, when people are invited to come down to the front of the gathering in an altar call to accept Jesus as their Savior, to renew their Christian vows, or simply because they are seeking something new or different in their lives for which they desire God's help.

Homily for the Twenty Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - Doing Our Duty

The Gospel - Luke 21:5-19

Homily by the Rev. J. W. Mathieson

Doing Our Duty

This morning I want us to imagine we are completing an overseas flight, and the usual hustle and bustle is happening as we prepare ourselves for the end of the trip.

The past hour you can feel and experience more movement aboard the plane – people queuing up at the bathrooms, others reaching up to either put something away or to retrieve an item from the overhead compartment. Talking has accelerated.

The flight attendants are moving quickly along the aisles cautioning people to “buckle up,” cleaning up the debris from a night’s breakfast. They have passed out customs information blanks with instructions as to the procedures to enter the flight’s country destination.

The ladies have put on lipstick and even changed clothes. The men are stretching and acting macho letting everyone in earshot know the important business they have completed, or the great round of golf they had while on vacation. A lot of name-dropping is part of the conversation.

The pilots are running over their landing procedures, and we can feel the change of pitch to the engines, and a sense of descending – with an occasional shudder to the plane. Anxiety heightens.

Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter - Peace be with you

The Gospel - John 20:19-31

Peace be with you.

Today's Gospel story is most often thought of as the story of Doubting Thomas - the disciple who would not believe that Jesus had risen lest he personally see and touch Jesus' nail-scarred hands, and place his hand into the wound in Jesus' side.

Thomas' story is an important one, and he is often unfairly maligned. After all, he was only asking to see what the other disciples had already seen!

But there is another story here which has to do with why the disciples were gathered in a locked room.

The Gospel story says that they were hiding in fear of the Jews. But there is no evidence that the Jews, or the Romans, or anyone else for that matter, was looking for them. After all, they had fled when Jesus was arrested and they had watched the crucifixion from afar - from the top  of a distant hill.

Homily for Ash Wednesday

The Gospel - Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of a new Christian Season known as Lent.  Lent is one of the oldest observations of the Christian calendar.  Its purpose is one of self-examination and penitence, demonstrated by self-denial in preparation for Easter.  It began as early as 130 a.d. with Irenaus of Lyons. 

In 325 the Council of Nicea discussed a 40-day Lenten season of fasting.  In 540, Gregory the Great moved the beginning of Lent to a Wednesday to secure the exact number of 40 days…not counting Sundays…and it is Gregory who is credited with giving Ash Wednesday its name. 

Homily for the Last Sunday after Epiphany - Close Encounters with God

The Gospel - Luke 9:28-36

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

Close Encounters with God

Today’s readings take us into close encounters with God: the kind that don’t seem to happen too often, but when they do, they are the ones that change us. Today’s gospel reminds us to search our past to find times when we have already experienced transfiguration, and calls us to be open in the present to transfiguring experiences in unexpected places and times.

In the natural world, the metamorphoses of tadpole to frog, of caterpillar to butterfly, of acorn to oak tree, of bulb to tulip, depend on a complex and miraculous combination of factors coming together: genetic, environmental, seasonal, and more. What’s amazing about these natural processes of transformation is that each being’s biological potential has already been programmed by God into their very genes.

Homily for the Second Sunday of Christmas - Why are they here?

The Gospel – Matthew 2:1-12

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

Why are they here?

As roles go in the annual Christmas pageant, most girls want to play Mary, and no boy wants to be Joseph; mainly because every girl wants to be Mary. Inevitably whatever boy gets tapped to be Joseph must suffer a torrent of taunts from his buddies….”Joseph and Mary sittin’ in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G. First comes love then comes marriage, then comes Joseph with a baby carriage.” 

Being a shepherd was O.K., but the costumes were always drab and shepherds got relegated to the background, playing third fiddle to the angels, Joseph, Mary and of course the Wise men.  The role every boy really wanted was to be a Wise man.  They had, by far, the coolest costumes, usually some fancy brocade number with a spiffy turban.  They got to carry something too, and their entrance was usually accompanied with much pomp and fanfare.  The taped music would have trumpets blowing and all the shepherds would offer a little genuflect as they approached the manger.

Interestingly enough, we really don’t know how many there were, or who they were.  We have based our assumptions of three on the number of gifts, and their names, Melchior, Gaspar, and Baltasar were more than likely imagined by the Venerable Bede, an 8^th century English monk.

But for the original readers, the story we read today was a shock.  Matthew never intended this sort of royal treatment of the Wise men to emerge.  In fact the presence of the Wise men in the story was scandalous and the first readers would have known that.

Homily for the First Sunday of Advent - We Remember!

The Gospel – Luke 21:25-31

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

We Remember!

A new year begins. 

Different from the secular year or fiscal year, or school year, today marks the beginning of Advent and yet another Christian year.  It is the end of what we call “Ordinary Time” or rather the time during the cycle of the Christian year when nothing “extraordinary happens”…..like Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost ….those are extraordinary times and the six months when none of that is going on is Ordinary time.  So here we go in the extraordinary time….again. 

Homily for the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost – Go There!

The Gospel – Mark 13:1-8

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

Go There!

Today’s Gospel lesson can be read in a number of ways.

From an historical point of view, Jesus’ prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem’s great buildings suggests that Mark’s Gospel was written during or shortly after 69 – 70 AD. It was during this time that the Romans, in response to a Jewish rebellion in Palestine destroyed the Temple, literally wiping away any trace of where it had been. Attributing such a prophecy to Jesus would surely have increased Jesus’ standing among the people.

On a more whimsical note, the passage can be read as a “tourist moment”, not unlike someone’s first visit to New York City – “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!”

The passage is also an example of apocalyptic literature about “the End Times” and the use of fear and guilt to coerce people into a particular state or direction: “Do this or you will burn in hell!” Over the centuries, the church has proven itself very proficient in the effective use of fear and guilt.

But Jesus may have been saying something entirely different. He may be saying to us that war, rumors of wars, and earthquakes will always be with us. Don’t get caught up in worrying about when they will be over. They won’t. There is no rescue. Rather, look to see what you can do to alleviate the suffering and anguish which result.

Go There – to where people are suffering and anguished. It is there that you will find the Kingdom of God.

Homily for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost - The Two Dances

First Lesson - 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

The Gospel - Mark 6:14-29

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

The Two Dances

Have you ever noticed how naturally and easily young children dance?

I was washing my car at home recently. All the doors were open and I had my mp3 player plugged into the radio with the music cranked up on random play. Three young children – ages 2, 4 and 5 – were playing in their yards at adjacent homes.

At one point, a song by James Brown came on – I Feel Good – and it was loud.

Suddenly, all three of the neighboring children stopped what they were doing and just began to dance. They moved and swayed easily to the music as James Brown belted it out, oblivious to how they looked or who might be watching.

Dancing seems hard-wired into young children’s make up. But somewhere between age five and later adulthood, we seem to lose that easy, uncaring ability to just dance.

Today’s Gospel lesson is about the ugly circumstances, including a dance, leading to the be-heading of John the Baptizer. It is a strange and unpleasant story for a Gospel reading.

But if we first look at today’s lesson from 2 Samuel, what we find are two stories about two very different dances.

Homily for the Fourth Sunday After Pentecost - A New Dimension of God's Nature

The Gospel - Mark 5:22-24,35b-43

Homily by the Rev. Helen McKee

Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter - Love One Another

The Gospel - John 15:9-17

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

Love One Another

Next Sunday is Ascension Sunday when we will celebrate Jesus’ ascension into Heaven to be with the Father. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is preparing his disciples (friends) for his imminent departure.

When we leave this life, we will leave things behind. Jesus also left things behind. Three of those things are mentioned in today’s Gospel.

First, Jesus promised his followers the Father’s Love. We might be saying to ourselves, “That’s great; we would like some of that too please.” But are you sure that you know what Jesus meant by the “Father’s Love”?

Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter - Abide In Me

The Gospel - John 14:15-21

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

Abide In Me

Theologians through the ages have written about Christians’ penchant for a “milquetoast Jesus,” who is, in today’s parlance, something of a wimp. Dorothy Sayers, better known for her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries than her essays, wrote in exasperation in her book The Greatest Drama Ever Staged:

“We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him ‘meek and mild,’ and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies.”

We don’t have to look very far to see this image played out in liturgy and song. Think of the hymn:

Awake, awake to love and work!
The lark is in the sky;
The fields are wet with diamond dew;
The world’s awake to cry
Their blessings on the Lord of life,
As He goes meekly by.

Jesus is depicted here as meekly passing by.

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter - The Good Shepherd

The Gospel -  John 10:11-16

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

The Good Shepherd

 I am the Good Shepherd.

People who live in sheep raising countries such as England, Australia, and New Zealand have a different notion of and appreciation for sheep and shepherds than most people would here in our own country.

The Bible is filled with stories about shepherds and herding sheep. Think of the Psalms – especially Psalm 23.

The children of Israel had been a nomadic people whose livelihoods and sustenance relied on sheep. Sheep provided meat and milk, wool for clothing, and hides for making tents. Sheep were even used as a form of money or exchange.

Our own image of shepherds watching their flocks by night often seems peaceful, even idyllic. But the life of a shepherd was not like that. It was hard, dirty work, often without sleep.

Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter - We Are All Thomas

The Gospel - John 20:19-31

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

We are all Thomas

The Apostle Thomas has gotten a bad rap.

Remember your days in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. Thomas is almost always portrayed as “Doubting Thomas” – the disciple who would not believe that Jesus had risen from the grave unless he himself could see Jesus’ wounded hands and side.

The “Doubting Thomas” persona is seemingly reinforced by Jesus’ words near the end of today’s Gospel, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

But that’s not the whole story. Jesus in no way rebukes Thomas’ for his doubts. Instead, he welcomes his request, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”

Homily for Easter Day - Go!

The Gospel - Mark 16:1-8

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

Go!

Good morning! Happy Easter and welcome to Emmanuel. We are glad to have you here.

Easter is the central festival of the church year. More people attend church on Easter Sunday than any other day of the church year – more than on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

But regardless of whether you attend church once a year or every Sunday, we are glad you are here.

Easter is also the Sunday when more words are spoken than on any other Sunday - especially by the clergy!

And our Gospel lesson for today from Mark’s Gospel is about the meaning of words.

Homily for Palm Sunday - What do you want me to do for you?

The Gospel - Mark 11:1-11a

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

What do you want me to do for you?

Today is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week.

During Holy Week, we have the opportunity to experience a full range of emotions – from the joy and merriment of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem which we remember today, to the sorrow and despair we feel on Maunday Thursday and Good Friday, to the elation that comes from our celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and triumph over death which we will celebrate next week on Easter Day.

On Palm Sunday, we remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. It was Passover week in Jerusalem – a time of festivals, merriment and parades. People lined Jesus’ route spreading their garments and leafy branches on the road to ease his way.

Homily for the Fifth Sunday in Lent - Dying to One's Self

The Gospel - John 12:20-33

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

Dying to One's Self

One can learn a lot by listening to a group of teen-age girls talking among themselves. Not only can they all talk at once while understanding everything that everyone is saying, they are oblivious to an adult presence. You are in fact invisible.

Accompanying some 14 Chatham Hall students on the recent service trip to South Africa, I was struck by the difference in their conversations going over versus coming home.

On the bus to the airport from Chatham, the conversations were all about cell phones, music, boys, and dresses for the coming spring formal – typical teen-age conversations.

Coming home at the end of the trip, the conversations were about what they had seen and done in Africa – the needs of the people, the lack of Internet access in the schools, service projects that they could carry out in Chatham, ways in which they could continue to participate in the lives of the people whom they had visited.

These students were living today’s Gospel – they had died to self and were now living for others.

In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus said, ”Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Lent - For God So Loved the World

The Gospel - John 3:14-21

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

For God So Loved the World

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whosoever should believe in him would not perish but have eternal life.” 

No doubt this is one of if not the most memorized quote of the entire New Testament; the gospel in miniature.  I “Googled” John 3:16 and received 1.5 million hits to sites that offered interpretation, scrolling screen savers with music, baseball caps and t-shirts with the verse inscribed thereon, and my personal favorite, “JC Racing” a NASCAR team with 316 as the car number and “Jesus Saves” painted on the hood. 

More often than not, we memorize this passage out of context, and forget it was spoken by Jesus to illustrate the necessity of his death and the need for us to die to self in order to fully enjoy the wonder of God’s salvation.  Eternal life we like, death we don’t.  That’s too bad because one does not come without the other.

Eternal life is not something that comes after we die.  It always has been.  Since the moment we were conceived in the imagination of God our eternal life began. (Eternal, by definition has no beginning and no end).  Our eternal life takes on another dimension when our bodies die, that’s for sure.  However, between birth and death, eternal life is buttressed and strengthened by our willingness to die to self, to rise above the constant nagging of self interest and take on the well being of the world ahead of our own.

Homily for the Third Sunday in Lent - Re-setting Our Priorities

The Gospel - John 2:13-22

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

Re-setting Our Priorities

One driver sticks post-it notes all over the dashboard of her car to make sure she remembers each errand. Kitchen calendars fill up with family appointments. Many cell phones now include calendars so their owners can have instant access to appointments that are too numerous to remember.

Chronic stress accompanies an increasing number of Americans who feel busy beyond measure. It’s a common problem for the current generation, even among the retired. People are so overwhelmed that one of the greatest luxuries of the twenty-first century is free time.

Busy-ness intrudes on all of us because we have so many opportunities. And because we want everything – and more. We have become slaves to what we desire, not what we need. We have become possessed by our activities – our getting and spending and doing. Isn’t that part of the malady that infects us during this difficult economic period? Living beyond our means? Materialism and greed? No boundaries to keep us in check?

Obviously, we need to re-set priorities and follow them.

Homily for Ash Wednesday - A Time for Penitence and Prayer

The Gospel - Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

A Time for Penitence and Prayer

The highlight of the Christian year is not (contrary to popular perception) Christmas.  The highlight of our year is Easter.  Resurrection marks the moment of distinction between Christianity and all other religions.  Jesus’ resurrection becomes the touchstone of His divinity and we hear and see the clear promise of eternal life.

But no matter the wonder of Jesus’ resurrection, we often take it for granted.  Our familiarity does not breed contempt; it creates lethargy and nonchalance. 

We need some time to think about it.  We need some time to put our souls and hearts in a place of gratitude.  Like Advent whips us into a frenzy for Christmas, we need time so the Holy Spirit can work on our nonchalance and have Easter be for us the be all and end all of life’s wonders.

Homily for the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany - O How I Love Jesus

The Gospel - Mark 1:40-45

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

O How I Love Jesus

“O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus … Because he first loved me.”

These words from Hymn 95 in our Life Every Voice and Sing hymnal come to mind as we think about the amazing miracles of Christ. Today’s story, about the healing of a leper, reminds us of why we love Jesus, why we’re so moved by who he was and what he did – why his story is the focus around which we have built our religious and spiritual lives. Jesus must have been an incredible person – courageous, compassionate, committed. And we love him because he loved us first.

To understand what this story really says about not only how great Jesus is, but about how much he loves us, we have to talk about leprosy and about the cultural norms of those times. The term “leprosy” in the Bible was used to name a number of different skin diseases. And according to the religious law of the Jewish people, a person with any one of these so-called leprous diseases was considered unclean, untouchable, unwanted.

Here’s how the code of Leviticus puts it:

Homily for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany - A Call to Action

The Gospel - Mark 1:29-39

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

A Call to Action

The story in today’s Gospel is a follow on to the story we read last week.

You may remember that last week Jesus appeared in the Temple with some of his disciples and began to teach. And those who heard him “were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” (Mark Ch 1:21)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus leaves the Temple after teaching and goes out into the town – much as we come to church, worship and then go home. The difference is in what Jesus did when he left the Temple versus what we usually do when we go home.

Homily for the Third Sunday after Epiphany - What's in a Name?

The Gospel - Mark 1:14-20

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

What's in a Name?

Today’s Gospel continues the story of the calling of the twelve to be Jesus’ disciples. And it seems appropriate and fitting that as we prepare this morning to baptize Andrew James Coles that two of the disciples in today’s lesson should be named Andrew and James.

Jesus first sees Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets as he walks along the Sea of Galilee. Later, he comes upon James and his brother John. In both instances Jesus invites these fishermen to follow him and they immediately leave their nets to do so.

These invitations and their resulting ready acceptances did not just happen out of the blue. Andrew and James had been following John the Baptist and they had been watching and listening to John as he preached about “the one who will come after me, whose shoes I am not worthy to untie.” So, their response to Jesus’ invitation was a logical next step for them.

In the Bible, names mean something about the people who bear them. Abraham meant “father of many nations.” Jacob, you may recall, meant “trickster, conniver, cheater, thief.”

Andrew means “a man of great value.”

Homily for the Second Sunday after Epiphany - I am what you have been looking for.

The Gospel - John 1:43-51

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

I am what you have been looking for.

I am what you have been looking for all of your life.

Today’s Gospel tells the story of the calling of Nathaniel to be a disciple. Philip, who had accepted Jesus’ call on the previous day, found Nathaniel and said to him, “we have found him of whom Moses in the law and all of the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

When Nathaniel asks Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip replies, “Come and see.” Philip’s question is the one asked by everyone who first hears a message they do not believe, or do not wish to believe: “Can anything good possibly come from that dirty little town or place or person?” Philip’s response is the one offered continuously by Jesus: “Come and see for yourself.”

Upon seeing Nathaniel and Philip approaching, Jesus said, “ Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” Nathaniel was the opposite of deceitful – he said what he thought and thought what he said. Today’s Gospel ties together two stories – one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. The Old Testament story is the one about Jacob wrestling with God.

Homily for the First Sunday after Epiphany - Where are all the young people?

The Gospel - Mark 1:4-11

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

Where are all the young people?

New Year’s Resolutions - we have this built in reason to dramatically change behavior, to become something different and not have anyone think we are strange. “Why are you doing that?” we may be asked, and can simply reply, “It’s my new year’s resolution,” and that’s reason enough.

And there is no better Gospel lesson for today than what Jesus had to say…."Repent”.  Because repentance and resolutions are the same thing. 

They are both agreements to change.  To take another road.  Do a 180 and keep going.  Repentance and resolutions are prompted by some sort of new understanding…An EPIPHANY… An “aha” moment that convinces us to turn about.

I love to read parish profiles from churches around the country – these documents that parishes must prepare to describe themselves as they begin the search for a new priest or minister. Churches want two things: More young people (since the typical Episcopalian is 55 years old, single and female) and more money…enough said.

But what’s interesting is that most churches have no idea how Christians and therefore Christian churches are perceived by people between the ages of 16 and 32, and if we did understand it, we would readily see why that age group, for the most part, is not here.

Homily for the Second Sunday after Christmas - Following the Sign

The Gospel - Matthew 2:1-12

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

Following the Sign

Today’s gospel recounts the story of the Wise Men who followed the star to find and worship the baby Jesus.

Many of us are forever waiting for a sign from God as to what we should do with our lives. But too often we are waiting for a big, bold, obvious sign – that rarely happens. We, like the wise men, must be alertly watching for the sign we seek because the signs are all around us if only we will open our eyes to see them.

And once we have seen the sign, we are still free to choose whether we will follow it because our relationship with God is based on freedom of choice. We are always free to choose whether we will follow God or not.

Following the sign also involves overcoming many obstacles.

Homily for Christmas Eve - Today My Son Is Born

The Gospel - Luke 2:1-20

Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith

Today My Son Is Born

Today my son is born. His mother will squat on her knees in the straw and pull him from her body. There will be no doctor, no nurse, no midwife, no sister, no mother. Only a good-hearted man.... baffled and confused...like most men, and all new fathers.

Today my son is born and the first thing he will smell is manure. Not to be glib, but it seems only appropriate considering all with which he will be forced to contend.  Manure and fur, and his mother’s shawl...wrapping him against the cold desert night and the icy rudeness of traveling taxpayers unaware.

Today my son is born and I am hopeful and happy... distressed and despondent all at once.... providence is paradox.... the first shall be last and the last shall be first. I am  happy and hopeful, this timeless moment will change all time... I am distressed and despondent, seeing the time it will take.  But, time I have... and can always create more.