A Positively Poetic Priest

I have had a reputation in my life for not sleeping. As a small child, I didn't sleep through the night and frequently kept my parents awake. As a kid at camp, not being a good sleeper, everyone thought that I just didn't sleep. Even through college and seminary, my friends joked that I must not be human because they had never seen me sleep. I have a hard time sleeping through noise, and people make a lot of noise. My husband continues this line of joking still today though he has managed to catch me asleep, though not often, because he falls asleep faster than I do and he can sleep through almost anything. In the Gospel passage this morning, we hear another parable from Jesus. And this one leaves us with a lot more questions instead of answers. In the stories and teachings before this parable in the arc of story from Matthew Jesus is on this theme of staying awake. Of course, we get to the parable of the bridesmaids and see all of them promptly fall asleep. Thankfully, I don...

1 plus 1 equals 1. Theologians don't usually have good reputations as mathematicians. Theologians tend to follow the rules of logic only so far as it helps them out and then when things become a little messy, say in the case of trying to figure out how Jesus can be both fully human and fully divine at the same time, they ignore logic altogether and theologically add 1 and 1 and get 1. It is in such cases, that the rest of us get lost and wonder at the sanity of theologians. However, there is a real tension throughout the Gospel stories when it comes to Jesus. Not only is he supposed to be the long awaited Messiah and he doesn't do what anyone thought he would do... but he is also human AND divine,  and we don't really know how that works. Over the centuries, different groups have had different ideas about how that works, some have put more emphasis on the idea that Jesus is human  while other groups have emphasized Jesus'...

Now we have come to the end of the Revelation to John of Patmos. (And the end of my sermon series on Revelation. And there was much rejoicing!) We have been witnesses to eternity, we have celebrated with joy, we have been given the gift of salvation, we have been transformed by God, we have seen that God is in all, hope has been stirred within us, and at the end of all things, Jesus gives us the promise of Soon. "See, I am coming soon." "Surely I am coming soon." He says it twice in this passage. Perhaps because Christianity has become a bit jaded in the two thousand years since John's vision, We have lost most of that urgency. We smile ironically at "soon." Soon would have been a few years ago... Uh, Jesus, it's been two thousand years here on earth. That ain't soon. Now Jesus is simply late. And not even fashionably late by human standards. Although, if you do any kind of athletic eve...

"Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen." (First Sunday after the Epiphany: The Baptism of our Lord, BCP 214) As we move into the season after Epiphany, the seasonal emphasis of Jesus as a baby in Christmas changes to seeing Jesus start his ministry as a young man. We will hear the stories of Jesus starting his ministry, in starting to show the world who he really is. This coming Sunday we will hear the story of Jesus being baptized by John in the Jordan River. In some ways this story is quite appropriate for the beginning of a New Year. Jesus starts out his new ministry, and we start a new year again. Both are the beginnings of journeys which will take us furthe...

Have you ever known a person who was so staunch in their position about something that only an act of God would make them change their mind, and perhaps not even that? Change, especially change of the heart, is not easy. For example,  The position of the early church was that: The Holy Spirit is at work in those who are baptized. And the understanding was that the Holy Spirit was ONLY at work in those who are baptized. (Unfortunately, though this position has changed,  many people still believe this way.) People who were baptized and went to church were the special ones. The one who knew God and could interact with God. No one else could get near God, no one else was working with the Holy Spirit. If you wanted to access God, you had to go find God in a church. Many changes have happened throughout the centuries the world of the first century church was extremely different than the world of the twenty first century church yet...

In the gospel of Mark The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ Starts before Jesus is even on the scene. It starts with Isaiah... It starts with the prophets! Isaiah being the representative And then we get John. The crazy evangelist. Luckily we don't all have to wear camels hair and leather And eat honey and locusts. Though I thought about bringing some in for coffee hour this week... Any story really begins back before the main character Many times I've heard people tell their life stories by beginning with their parents or grandparents, because what comes before us makes a huge impact on who we are and what we do. Personally I know the truth of this in my own story My parents' stories have impacted my life in so many ways. I am named after my mother's mother, Sharon, who died in a car accident long before I was born. Yet, her name, her legacy, and her death, all impacted how I was raised and who I am today. So...

One of the children who started coming to the food pantry started asking Sara Miles about the baptismal font outside the back of the church. Explaining baptism to this girl made her think about baptism in a new way. “Baptism, if it signified anything, signified the unavoidable reality of the cross at the heart of the Christian faith. It wasn’t a magic charm but a reminder of God’s presence in the midst of unresolved human pain.” (236)

In Chapter 21, Sara Miles talks about the different sacraments and sacramental rites of the Episcopal Church and how they were translated into the life and community of the food pantry. The Episcopal Church recognizes two Sacraments: Baptism and Eucharist. Along with the Sacraments, the Episcopal Church recognizes five sacramental rites, which means they are like sacraments, yet not with the same kind of necessity. The Catechism in the Book of Common Prayer puts it this way, "Although they are means of grace, they are not necessary for all persons in the same way that Baptism and the Eucharist are." (BCP 860) The sacramental rites include confirmation, ordination, matrimony, reconciliation, and unction. As you can see, not everyone is called to ordination, not everyone is called to matrimony. Yet, we recognize these rites as ways in which people experience God and God's grace. The Catechism doesn't leave it just to those seven ways though. One of the questions it a...

“Now here I was, an adult, with an irrational yearning for it—almost a hunger. The idea seemed dangerous and seductive, and I’d tried to resist it. I’d stand there at the Table, looking out the doors at the rock font, and try not to see the water spilling forth. I impetuously called Mark, my Lutheran friend, and asked if he’d be my godfather. I told Donald I wanted to be baptized. Then, full of dread and superstition, I backed out.” (122) Have you ever really really wanted something, only to be given the opportunity to have it/do it, and then backed out? 

In Chapter 12 (which I will quote from in the next couple of days) Sara Miles describes her experience of baptism. One of the things she quotes from in the book is the Book of Common Prayer's Baptismal Covenant. The Baptismal Covenant is the part of the baptism service where the candidate (the person wanting to be baptized), is asked questions about their beliefs and desires when it comes to becoming a Christian. Not only does the candidate answer the questions, the whole community who is present answers as well, signifying the community and the solidarity of being in the body of Christ together. You'll also notice, nothing is done without God being involved. God is always present. The Baptismal Covenant goes like this: Celebrant (fancy word for priest): Do you believe in God the Father? People: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. Celebrant: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God? People: I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son...

Lent 2A 12 March 2017 “How can anyone be born after having grown old?” A very logical question, Nicodemus. Unfortunately, Nicodemus is thinking a little too logically. Because when Jesus answers back with this gem, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” It’s really no surprise that Nicodemus is a bit confused. What does he mean, born from above? Whatever can Jesus mean? The phrase, “born from above,” in the NRSV is the same phrase that is translated as “born again” in other translations. “Born again” is definitely a buzz word in modern Christianity. It stands for inclusion into the more fundamental evangelical conservative groups on the Christianity spectrum. Only if you have had an experience of being born again, having a total life reversal because of an encounter with Jesus, can you be born again. When I think of the phrase, born again, I think of televangelists and celebrities who have done bad things and then...