Thank you for tuning into Ascensioncast. We hope you enjoy listening to this and our other podcasts. You can find more information at www.knoxvilleascension.org or by emailing [email protected].

The Gospel: John 6:56-69

Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Sermon Text

The Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost

So I really wasn’t too sure how to go about doing this.  This final Sunday thing.  I mean is this a typical sermon?  Do I try to preach the Gospel?  Or is this just simply a farewell speech?  I’m actually still not totally sure.  I mean how do you say goodbye for now to an entire community, to so many who you love and care for?  How do you end relationships with an entire community even when you’re just going down the road?  So I guess I don’t really know what this is going to be, but I do know that there are a few things I really want to say to you all this morning.  There are some things that I’d really like you all to remember.

You know a close friend and mentor of mine told me once that every priest should fall in love with their first parish.  I realize that there’s probably quite a few of you who don’t know this, but it’s fairly odd for an associate rector, especially one who came straight out of seminary, to be formed as a priest and then stay in one church for more than just a couple years…………….or ten!  I think that the fact that my family and I have been here at Ascension for ten years, that we’ve worshipped together and walked alongside one another on the way, for this long, certainly suggests that this is true in our case.  We have loved you, so much, and we have felt loved and supported by you, by this community, for all these years, and we want to thank you all for that, from the bottom of our hearts.  As I said in the letter that went out a few weeks ago, my home church, where I grew up, The Church of the Good Samaritan, taught and formed and made me a Christian.  You all, Church of the Ascension, taught and formed and made me a Priest, and I will be eternally grateful to you all for that.  I really want you all to hear this, don’t stop forming priests.  I know, I know it’s hard to take someone in, to care for them, to teach them, to love them, and then to let them go, but this is what the greater Church needs, so badly. It is what this communi

Thank you for tuning into Ascensioncast, your source of news and inspiration from The Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Knoxville, Tennessee, for this week’s episode of The TEA with GiGi and Andrew. You can find this and sermon podcasts on the Ascensioncast channel. For more information, visit www.knoxvilleascension.org, or email [email protected].

Thank you for tuning into Ascensioncast. We hope you enjoy listening to this and our other podcasts. You can find more information at www.knoxvilleascension.org or by emailing [email protected].

The Gospel: John 6:51-58

Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

The Sermon

Several years ago I read a book called City of Thieves, by David Benioff. It’s set in World War II Russia during the Nazi siege of Leningrad. The two protagonists, Lev and Kolya, are arrested by Soviet officials: one for deserting his unit, and the other for stealing from a dead German pilot. Nonetheless, the Colonel of the prison strikes a deal with them. He wants a dozen eggs to be used for a cake for his daughter’s upcoming wedding. Most of Russia is starving. There is barely any bread, let alone eggs for such luxury. Nonetheless, if Lev and Kolya can crawl into enemy territory, steal a dozen eggs from the Germans, and then slip back into Soviet territory, he will grant them freedom. If they return emptyhanded, they will be shot.

City of Thievesis a gripping historical fiction novel. What makes it compelling is that beyond the suspense and intrigue, an ordinary item, such as an egg, becomes a quest for the holy grail. Everything hinges on a dozen eggs. Their very life depends on it.  While reading the novel I thought of my own relationship to eggs. They are inexpensive and plentiful. I thought of all the times how I’ve taken eggs for granted. There were neighborhood Fourth of July parties where we had egg tosses. Then there was Halloween when as a teenager, I egged mailboxes. (For all of you sitting here whose house I may have hit, I’m sorry.)

No, the power of that book is that it has the ability of taking common, everyday things, such as eggs, and then transforming it into a vital force of life. You walk away appreciating food and freedom. You begin realizing that the very act of eating is something profoundly holy, and is nothing short of a gift.

Our Jewish brothers and sisters recognize this. In Rabbi Harold Kushner’s book, To Life: A Celebration of Jewish Being and Thinking, he emphasizes that every action of one’s day can be holy: Waking up in the morning, sitting down to breakfast, eating a piece of toast, and drinking a cup of coffee. Brushing one’s teeth. Engaging in work, whether through manual labor, or working with the mind—it’s all holy. All of it is sacred and beautiful.

This is the point of the Letter of To The Ephesians. Take your life seriously. Take the gifts in your life seriously. The opening sentence calls us to live, not as unwise people, but as wise, making the most out of our time. You see, wisdom is more than just knowing right from wrong, or having clear judgment. Wi

Thank you for tuning into Ascensioncast, your source of news and inspiration from The Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Knoxville, Tennessee, for this week’s episode of The TEA with GiGi and Andrew. You can find this and sermon podcasts on the Ascensioncast channel. For more information, visit www.knoxvilleascension.org, or email [email protected].

Thank you for tuning into Ascensioncast. We hope you enjoy listening to this and our other podcasts. You can find more information at www.knoxvilleascension.org or by emailing [email protected].

The Gospel: John 6:24-35

The next day, when the people who remained after the feeding of the five thousand saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Thank you for tuning into Ascensioncast, your source of news and inspiration from The Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Knoxville, Tennessee, for this week’s episode of The TEA with GiGi and Andrew. You can find this and sermon podcasts on the Ascensioncast channel. For more information, visit www.knoxvilleascension.org, or email [email protected].

Thank you for tuning into Ascensioncast. We hope you enjoy listening to this and our other podcasts. You can find more information at www.knoxvilleascension.org or by emailing [email protected].

The Gospel: John 6:1-21

Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

The Sermon: Feeding of the 5000

Every Wednesday morning here at Ascension a lively group of people get together to study the readings for the upcoming Sunday, usually with the preacher who will be preparing the sermon. This past Wednesday I sat with those faithful folks in our library and we wrestled with the gospel lesson for today, the story of the feeding of the five thousand.

It was a great discussion, and as we talked we wondered about two different ways of looking at the story. Some of us believed that the miracle in the story was that people who were listening to Jesus teach opened up their food bags and their hearts in order to share what they had with others. Others of us believed that the miracle was that somehow Jesus expanded the number of loaves and the number of fishes so that there was enough for everyone, and so much so that twelve baskets of food were left over. It was a great discussion, and even though there were different points of view, I think that everyone left there with a deeper connection to the story.

Later that day I ran across a poem by one of my favorite poets, Mary Oliver. I had forgotten that she had dealt with the very question we had struggled with in a poem titled “Logos.” Here it is:

Logos – Mary Oliver

Why wonder about th

Thank you for tuning into Ascensioncast, your source of news and inspiration from The Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Knoxville, Tennessee, for this week’s episode of The TEA with Andrew and Linda, special guest cohost and parish administrator at Church of the Ascension. You can find this and sermon podcasts on the Ascensioncast channel. For more information, visit www.knoxvilleascension.org, or email [email protected]. Now for The TEA.

Thank you for tuning into Ascensioncast. We hope you enjoy listening to this and our other podcasts. You can find more information at www.knoxvilleascension.org or by emailing [email protected].

The Gospel: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

The Sermon: “Healing One Another”

Last week I was in Leawood, Kansas examining the structure of a 22,000 member Methodist parish called Church of The Resurrection. They are bucking the national trend in that they are growing not declining in membership. For three days I studied stewardship, pastoral care, small groups, and operations. I was impressed by the number of small groups. They have a group for childless women, one for veterans, a bipolar support group, a cancer support group, grief groups, and a support groups for the unemployed. A vast network of pastoral care exists where lay people and clergy work together. It’s a church where a lot of healing takes place. That healing comes from one another.

While there, I stayed with a close friend of mine from Washington, DC, who is also a congregant of Resurrection. On Friday evening, after a day of meetings, the two of us sat in his living room and talked. All of a sudden the doorbell rang. In walked a figure wearing a green nylon suit. This figure made mime-like gestures in this bodily outline. It was weird. I was on the verge of fleeing, convinced my long-time Kansas friend was now a member of a green man cult.

All of a sudden the mystery man unzipped his suit. Out emerged a good friend who flew in for a surprise visit from Washington, DC. (I hadn’t seen him in eight years.) Later, a second friend surprised me from Austin, Texas. What started out as a work trip turned into a deeply meaningful reunion of buddies. Healing took place that weekend. It happened through a group of friends who cared enough to fly out from all over the country to Leawood, Kansas.

Let me pivot from Kansas for a moment, but I’ll get back to it in a moment. Let’s focus on Mark’s Gospel. The apostles have gone into the community healing the sick. They are exhausted. The burden of meeting crowd demands for healing is too great. Jesus tells them to rest. Unfortunately they aren’t left alone. The crowd is like a throng of fans chasing Jesus and his disciples as though they were celebrities. The people wants something from Jesus and the disciples. They want healing and relief from their brokenness. Jesus and the apostles become objects of healing, which is exhausting.

Reading this passage, I was reminded of on an interview the lead singer, John McCrea, of the alternative rock band CAKE once gave. He reflected on one of the challenges of being a cele

Thank you for listening to this week’s sermon on Ascensioncast. The sermon is published weekly along with other periodic programming from Church of the Ascension. Below you can find the Gospel and Sermon texts from this past Sunday. For more information, email [email protected]. We experienced some technical difficulties with sound for the Gospel recording, so it is not included with the recording this week.

The Gospel: Mark 6:14-29

King Herod heard of Jesus and his disciples, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.