AscensionNYC

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving­kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Here is a link to listen to the sermon by The Rev. Posey Krakowsky on June 16, 2019, Trinity Sunday. There is also a link to the scripture for this Sunday and the text of the sermon below.

Lessons

You can read the scripture for June 16, 2019, here.

      Trinity_Sunday_2019

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May I speak to you in the name of the eternal Trinity: Love, Beloved, and Lover — Amen

Before I dive in to the three in one and one in three, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that today is Father’s Day — and to wish a blessed and happy Father’s Day to those of you who identify as fathers. Just as on Mother’s Day, I also want to acknowledge all of us who may have complicated or conflicted relationships to fathers, fatherhood, and fathering. Parenting is never easy, and neither is being parented.

Wherever you are on your journey of relationship with the fathers or lack of fathers in your life — may you find a sense of peace.

I’m not sure if any of you know my friend the Rev. Julia Whitworth — she is currently the rector of Trinity Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, but she was raised to the priesthood in our diocese, and served most recently here as the Canon for Liturgy and the Arts at the Cathedral of St John the Divine. Last weekend, when Indianapolis held their PRIDE celebration, Julia and Trinity Church Indy had the distinction and honor of being Grand Marshals of the parade. The reason they were chosen is because, under Julia’s leadership, Trinity created a safe house for at risk LGBTQ youth in Indianapolis — it is called Trinity Haven, and it is the first such place of its kind in the state of Indiana. Julia experienced many ups and downs to make it happen. It was not an easy process, particularly in a red state in the current political climate. So, if any of you are looking for a place to donate in honor of PRIDE, you might want to consider Trinity Haven Indianapolis.

The Spirit always moves in surprising ways, and the confluence of today being Trinity Sunday, Julia’s church being named Trinity, and the fact that it is PRIDE month, reminded me of a short anecdote about Julia. She was one of my best friends at Union Seminary, and she was invaluable to me as a mentor during what turned out to be a very long ordination process. I could always count on Julia for solid advice and thoughtful feedback. But the small incident I am about to relate was one that speaks more to her help in my spiritual formation — a gift that she gives to others naturally and reflexively — mostly by sharing and witnessing to her own core spirituality with a generous and open heart that speaks to me of genuine spiritual grounding. I know I am not the only one who is grateful to her for that.

During our first semester of seminary, we were sitting together in church history class, and the subject was the ecumenical councils of the early church. At the end of class Julia said, something to the effect of —“no matter what else happens, please don’t let anyone take away the Trinity. I really, really love the Trinity.”

At the time, as a person who was exploring formally returning to the Christian fold — the idea of ordination was not even a glimmer in my eye.

Here is a link to listen to the sermon by The Rev. Edwin Chinery on June 9, 2019, the Feast of Pentecost. There is also a link to the scripture for this Sunday and the text of the sermon below.

Lessons

You can read the scripture for June 9, 2019, here.

      Sermon - Feast of Pentecost 2019

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In today’s gospel passage we’re back in The Upper Room with Jesus – once again peeking in on his final conversation with the disciples. He’s been talking about what the disciples’ lives will be like after he departs – after he returns to “his Father”.

Now they’ve come to sort of understand what he’s about in the last three years – and like us, perhaps, never quite arriving. And they’ve grown quite comfortable with his physical presence among them – how he moves in and around their lives. They feel safe with him it always seems. But he’s begun to tell them that he must go, and – and this is the whole point of Pentecost and the coming of the spirit – that they can continue to rest assured in the knowledge that God will somehow still be present with them.

And then we hear from Philip. For Philip, Jesus’ assurance provides little comfort. He asks for proof. “Show us the Father and we’ll be satisfied”. (Interesting side note – he’s somehow avoided being labelled Doubting Philip.)

But again, in Johannine fashion, Jesus’ layers of response to Philip, and to the disciples, point toward being subject to – or stuck, really – in a pattern of understanding God as being external to them. Externalizing God, rather than in conceiving of God’s intrinsic nature – or, imagining the way in which God is already present in you. So, using very simple language, Jesus creates a series of images of how the God-head resides in Jesus and Jesus in the God-head. And then, as means of underscoring that point, he refers to how it’s that presence – the presence of the God-head within – that has enabled him to say the words – to teach – in the ways he has. It’s the God-head’s presence in him that has enabled him to perform the works he has.

Jesus is very much aware that it’s the combination of words and works that’s been so illuminating, so sustaining…so healing, affirming and just simply stirring – that all of this has brought those he’s loved and lived among to just this point. To the point of separation – the point of Jesus’ departure. And in beautifully balanced correlation, it’s the same point at which he is now letting them know that they’re ready to move from understanding God as external to them, and toward embracing God as being in them. In a new way. A way in which we can know without knowing, how God is both transcendent and imminent. Untouchable and yet inescapable.

And then he goes on: “The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these…because I am going to the Father.”

Now what do you suppose he means by that? “…will do works greater than these…because I am going to the Father”.

You may not agree with me, but I have a strong sense that Jesus’ linking of “works greater than these” and “I am going to the Father” d...

Below is an audio link to the sermon by our Rector, The Rev. Elizabeth G. Maxwell, on the Seventh Sunday of Easter, 2019.

Lessons

You can read the scripture for June 2, 2019, here.

      Sermon - June 2, 2019

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Here is a link to listen to the sermon by The Rev. Edwin Chinery on May 26, 2019, the Sixth Sunday of Easter. There is also a link to the scripture for this Sunday and the text of the sermon below.

Lessons

You can read the scripture for May 26, 2019, here.

      Sermon - May 26, 2019

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In our gospel passage for today, Jesus talks with the disciples about the time after “his hour” – after he goes to his father. Jesus doesn’t speak about his passion in John’s gospel anywhere near the way he does in the synoptic gospels. Oh there’s frequent mention of his detractors wanting to kill him, but he mostly talks about going to a place where “you cannot come”.

We’re in that long conversation between the Last Supper and Gethsemane. Jesus has washed everybody’s feet and he’s given the new commandment to love one another. Then his speech becomes even more confusing than usual – with circular language that seems, at first, only puzzling – meant to knock both his disciples and us a little off-kilter. He even sort of acknowledges it himself, “You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you’”. God’s tendency to speak in paradoxical ways through the fourth evangelist is, understandably, difficult to get comfortable with. That might be the whole point. There really isn’t any walking away with an easy understanding we can neatly tuck away and move on feeling resolved. No. This stuff wants to stay with us. And if we stay with it, we begin to understand the poverty of language – it’s inability to capture, contain, or clearly describe to our brains the points Jesus tries to make – the points he seems to know must land in our hearts if we are to know him in our lives. Sticking with him – keeping his word – is a little like encounter with poetry or music. If we don’t try to impose meaning on his words, sometimes what begins to float up through them are little glimmers of impressions about God. And if our approach is very generous, we might begin to perceive that Jesus is referring to what will always be a powerful and unfinished encounter with God – that this encounter is not exclusive to himself – and that it transcends linear time, physical presence, and even language. This is not so much about brain learning. It definitely wants to be more about heart and spirit.

Some time ago – this past Ash Wednesday, actually – we talked about giving up contempt for Lent. We reflected together on how it’s become apparent – politics being the point around which our observations moved – that large parts of our national and world cultures promote a dynamic grounded in something called “motive attribution asymmetry”. That’s a very fancy way of saying that my ideas are based in love and yours in hate – where I believe I’m driven by benevolence and you by evil and animosity; therefore, you are an enemy with whom I cannot negotiate. We also explored what it means to think no so much about eliminating disagreement, but removing contempt from it so that we might “disagree better”.

I confess I came away from the pulpit that day feeling pretty good. Not because I’m so brilliant – far from it – but because it felt like I’d been able to say out loud what’s...

Below is an audio link to the sermon by our Rector, The Rev. Elizabeth G. Maxwell, on the Fifth Sunday of Easter, 2019.

Lessons

You can read the scripture for May 19, 2019, here.

      Sermon - May 19, 2019

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The following is an audio file to hear the sermon by our Rector, The Rev. Elizabeth G. Maxwell, at the 11 o'clock service this past Sunday, May 19, 2019.   An archive is available on the lower right sidebar to listen to sermons from February 2015 to date. On Thursday, May 30, 2019, 7pm, we will celebrate Ascension Day with a festive service and the Ascension choir followed by a reception. Everyone is welcome to join us for our special name day service.

Audio

      Sermon - May 19, 2019

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You can read the scripture for May 19, 2019 here.