Father Snort

Brad Sullivan

2 Lent, Year C

February 21, 2016

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

Luke 13:31-35

We’ll Live It Best We Can Anyway

I think we could classify today’s reading as an epic faith by the Pharisees, and a pretty darn good win by Jesus. The Pharisees were trying to get rid of Jesus, trying to make it look like they were on his side. “Herod’s trying to kill you, Jesus, you’ve got to get out of here. We’ve got your best interests at heart, and we need you to go so you don’t die.”

Of course they were lying. We know from Chapter Nine, that Herod was not trying to kill Jesus. He was actually pretty interested in who Jesus was. People were saying he was John the Baptist, and Herod was thinking, “I’m pretty darn sure I had John the Baptist beheaded not too long ago,” and he was curious about who Jesus was. Herod wasn’t a good guy, but he wasn’t trying to kill Jesus. Even when Jesus was going to be crucified, Herod didn’t have any burning desire to have Jesus killed. He said, “send him back to Pilate.” Again, Herod wasn’t a good guy, but he wasn’t trying to kill Jesus.

The Pharisees were lying because they wanted to get rid of Jesus. They were trying to frighten him away. Like the Devil before him, they were trying to deter Jesus from his mission. And Jesus had to have been thinking, “guys, I’m going to be crucified before too much longer, and your little death threat is supposed to frighten me? I’m going to be killed; it’s supposed to happen, just wait a little longer.”

So Jesus turns their failure into a chance for teaching once again. Jerusalem was supposed to be center stage for God’s glory in the world, not the place known for killing the prophets. The Temple was in Jerusalem. When Solomon dedicated the Temple, he said it was to be a place where all of Israel could look to and remember God’s glory, his love, his forgiveness and mercy. Nations were supposed to flock to Jerusalem, drawn there by the light of God lived out in Israel, and yet, Jesus told the Pharisees that Jerusalem was the place where the prophets were killed; he told his disciples that the Temple would not stand and all would be thrown down because of the ways it had been misused.

Despite the Pharisees scare tactics, Jesus remained undeterred from his mission. He named the truth, the darkness and said, “I will overcome it.”

We also have lots of opportunities to be overcome by darkness, to give in to fear or discouragement. I was giving into discouragement not long ago, and Bill Bullard sent me a text with words he had seen earlier which read:

We profess a faith in God through whom all things are possible. When we apathetically accept the status quo, we implicitly demonstrate a lack of faith that tomorrow might be better than today. God should not be mocked in this way. Our faith should be much more steadfast.

Those words cut me to the heart, and they also gave me hope, reminding me to trust in God through whom all things are possible. We had our vestry meeting yesterday, and we were talking about challenges facing the church and challenges in our lives, and we prayed together about these things, and then Debra said, “You know what, we also need to give thanks for all of the wonderful things in our lives and in our church. There is so much negativity out there that we need to remember and give thanks for our blessings. We need to be filled with that light and see that light, that we can be light bearers for others.” So we prayed together thanks for all of the light and the blessings in our lives and church as well.

It is easy to be overcome by the craziness of the world, to be deterred from God’s mission of reconciliation, from living as the light in our lives and in the life of the church. Bishop Doyle points out in his book, A Generous Community, that we live in a VUCA world. VUCA means “Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, & Ambiguous.

That pretty well sums up much of today’s world. There is so much change happening so quickly, that many places where we used to find sure footing are no longer places of certainty, or those places are no longer even here. We live in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and uncertain world, and it is easy for us to be discouraged by such a world. It is easy to listen to the lies of the Pharisees that all is going badly. The lies of the Pharisees saying things like “the church is dying,” or “things aren’t going to get any better.”

For the record, the church is not dying, and while there certainly is darkness in the world, there is also an immense amount of light. There are difficult times. There is uncertainty, and sometimes, things do go badly, but we are not to be discouraged by those difficulties. We are to trust in God, continue living his mission, and have faith that through him all things are possible.

That’s how Jesus lived when he taught his disciples when he told them not to worry, not to fear. When the Devil tried to get him to quit, when the Pharisees tried to frighten Jesus, he lived and taught that there are times of discouragement, and when they come, “we’ll live it best we can anyway.”

In teaching his disciples not to worry, he told them that for one thing, worrying isn’t going to do you any darn good. For another thing, worrying demonstrates a lack of faith in God. So, “do not be afraid little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” In a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, “do not be afraid little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” That’s what we’re striving for in our lives and in the church. We’re striving for God’s Kingdom, to fulfill God’s mission of reconciliation, and when we’re discouraged, we trust that God will fulfill our needs as we live out his mission.

At St. Mark’s right now, we’ve got a group that is gathering called, “New Wineskins.” We’re seeking to discover new ways that we will live out God’s mission both within the community of St. Mark’s and beyond. I again offer an open invitation to come on Sundays at noon. Come dream with us, pray with us, study God’s Word with us, and discern together the ways God would have us live out his mission in our lives and in our live together as Jesus’ Body at St. Mark’s.

Some of these new ways are already happening with our Friday morning breakfasts at church. There are many people who won’t come to church, feeling sometimes like they can’t because of their sinfulness, feeling at other times like they won’t because of negative associations with the “institution” of the church. Folks will come, however, to breakfast here on Friday. While not part of the worshipping community, they are part of the community of people who meet weekly for a shared meal and fellowship in our parish hall.

New relationships and connections are being formed as we gather together, and divisions are ending. I have been invited to attend a Roman Catholic baptism next weekend at Our Lady of Guadalupe. There is no assumption that the Episcopal priest is going to become a Roman Catholic, nor is the family of the young man being baptized going to become Episcopalians. We’ve simply gotten to know each other, and we’ve prayed together, so that they’d like me to be there, to be a part of this young man’s baptism. You bet I’m going to be there.

There are plenty of ways to be discouraged in our volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, but there is plenty of light out there and in here too. As a modern day prophet and singer/songwriter, Terri Hendrix, wrote in the song, Hey Now:

Kiss the evening sky and say bye, bye, bye.

Tomorrow knows no sorrow like today.

And should it come to pass today’s no better than the last,

We’ll live it best we can anyway.

We’ve all had highs, we’ve all had lows.

It’s a fact of life that everybody knows.

And should it come to pass today’s no better than the last,

We’ll live it best we can anyway.

Despite all of the fear mongering of the Pharisees, the light of Jesus is thriving. The church is thriving. Despite times of discouragement, we’re going to continue on believing in Jesus. We’re going to continue on living out his mission. We’re going to continue on trusting in Jesus’ words, “Do not be afraid little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom,” “and should it come to pass today’s no better than the last, we’ll live it best we can anyway.” Amen.

Brad Sullivan

1 Lent, Year C

February 17, 2016

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

Luke 4:1-13

Endure, Master Wayne

In The Dark Night, the second in the most recent trilogy of Batman movies, Bruce Wayne was considering giving up being Batman. The Joker had the city of Gotham pretty well under siege, and he promised to stop if Batman would simply give up fighting and turn himself in to the authorities. As he was wondering what he should do, he had a conversation with Alfred who had raised him since he was a little boy. He said:

Bruce Wayne: People are dying, Alfred. What would you have me do?

Alfred Pennyworth: Endure, Master Wayne. Take it. They'll hate you for it, but that's the point of Batman, he can be the outcast. He can make the choice that no one else can make, the right choice.

I have a feeling that fatherly, sage advice was similar to what God the Father might have been whispering to Jesus when he was in the wilderness being tempted by the Devil. In the second temptation of the Devil, Jesus was being given the opportunity to give up all that he was doing in order to fix everything. The Devil was offering to Jesus the glory and authority over all the kingdoms of the world. That had to be a tempting offer, and not just because Jesus wanted glory. Jesus had glory. He talked about returning in glory and the glory he had in the presence of God before the world existed. Jesus had glory coming out of every part of himself in the transfiguration.

What Jesus didn’t have was obedience from everyone. Jesus didn’t have the ability to force his perfect will onto people. Jesus loved people and wanted them to believe in God and to live the ways of God’s kingdom. He wanted that so much that he died for it. He wanted that so much that when the Devil offered it to him, you know it had to be a tempting offer.

You’ve got a long, hard mission ahead of you, Jesus. Preaching, teaching, healing, people loving you, using you, hating you; hypocrites, dust, beating, scorn, blood, pain, death, and all for what? So that people will still often choose not to live God’s kingdom? No, bow down to me, and I’ll give you the authority you need to complete your mission. No one else will even have to do anything. It’ll be done, here and now. Bow down to me and accomplish your sole purpose.

That was tempting. Avoid pain and suffering, claim here on Earth the glory that is yours from the foundation of the world, and force people to obey you. Have power over people to make everything go the way you want it to go. No more getting frustrated at people’s poor choices. No more having to put up with others in authority choosing the wrong thing. No more enduring the short-sighted, wrong-thinking of well-intentioned idiots. You can be in charge and make every decision be the right decision.

And Jesus said, “Thanks Devil guy. The offer is tempting, but I can’t force everyone to love God and each other by turning my back to God. As much as I’d like to make everyone do the right thing, that’s not the way the Father and I work. I have to suffer the pain of watching the ones I love make terrible choice after terrible choice. I have to love them enough to let them. I have to endure. I have to take it. I have to lead and teach and love even when I’m outcast and hated for it. I have to make the choice that no one else can make, the right choice.

For us in the church recently, I’ve seen our church leaders more and more making the right choice. Looking at our politics and general way of society nowadays, division is the name of the game. We’re so afraid that the wrong people will end up getting their way, that we have become incredibly divided in our nation. I would argue that we have bowed down to the Devil, to Satan, the Adversary, the bringer of division. The polarized ends of our society have wanted to force the decisions go how they want them to, and to Hell with those wrong-minded people. While seeking to do good, the polarizing, demonizing, divisions in our society are bowing down to the Devil and bringing about so much harm. It is a temptation all of us fall prey to. All of us want to at some point bow down to the Devil that gives power so that we can have our way.

That was the temptation of the Bishops of the Anglican Communion meeting in London about a month ago. They were meeting to determine, among other things, how the Anglican Communion could remain united amidst deep differences around issues of human sexuality, marriage, Biblical interpretation. Division was knocking at the door. The Devil was offering power to those threatened by the actions of the Episcopal Church. Kick them out. Excommunicate them. Make them leave the communion, and no longer be bothered by them.

Well, contrary to what is printed in a lot of main stream papers, the Bishops did not choose to follow that offer made by the Devil. The Episcopal Church was not excommunicated. For three years, the Episcopal Church will likely have a diminished role in the councils of the Anglican Communion, but the Communion held. The bonds of affection which united us in Jesus held over the temptations of the Devil. We are still one in mission. We are still one in Jesus.

The clergy and lay leaders of our diocese have faced a similar temptation as we have struggled together for the last four years over the same issues. Like the Bishops of the Anglican Communion, when we have met at diocesan council as we did this weekend, our diocese has chosen not to give in to the temptation of the Devil, but to remain united. We have chosen to remain united in mission, and we have chosen to remain united in Jesus. As we addressed issues which brought up our differences even yesterday, leaders gave heartfelt pleas for folks to vote their way, and they also said that whatever the outcome, we would remain united.

In both cases, the bishops of the Anglican Communion and the clergy and lay leaders of our diocese have chosen to resist the temptations of the Devil and chosen instead to follow Jesus. They have chosen to endure all the well-intentioned, wrong-minded people. They have chosen to see them as wrong-minded, yes, but as well-intentioned and wrong-minded. They have chosen to see them as brothers and sisters. They have chosen to give up the power of division and to take on instead the weakness of unity, the weakness of reconciliation, the weakness of striving together, the weakness of Jesus, who gave up his power for the sake of love and chose to be hated, to be an outcast, to be mocked, to be condemned and killed, for the sake of us, his beloved.

Each of us faces the same challenge within the church, within our daily lives and relationships. When we fight with those we love, we are often tempted to choose the power of being right and trying to force our rightness onto others. We’re tempted to choose the power of ending relationships so we don’t have to endure or strive together, so we can be right and make life go the way we want it to. When strife and crime start happening close to home, we’re tempted to build higher walls, have more security, and to retreat away. Yet, as Jesus’ disciples, we are guided to follow Jesus, to take on his yoke, to take on the weakness of unity, the weakness of reconciliation, the weakness of striving together, the weakness of stepping out together in into the areas of our lives and the areas of our city that frighten us.

Resisting the power of the Devil and his division which serves only ourselves, we take on God’s mission of reconciliation together, as one church. We endure for the sake of Jesus’ beloved. We endure for the sake of his love, and we leave the wilderness of striving together in our differences strengthened to live God’s mission of reconciliation. Amen.

Brad Sullivan

Ash Wednesday, Year C

February 10, 2016

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Feasting On Reconciliation

19th century Anglican priest and famous preacher, Phillips Brooks, gave a sermon entitled, Nature and Circumstance, in which he preached about Jesus’ teachings on greatness and the two worlds in which we find ourselves: the world of men, and the world of the kingdom of God. In this sermon, he wrote about Nicodemus questioning Jesus’ teaching that men must be born again to enter the kingdom of God. Father Brooks said:

“Nicodemus wanted Christ to meet him in a lower world, a world of moral precepts and Hebrew traditions, where the Pharisee was thoroughly at home. But Christ said, ‘No, there is a higher world; you must go up there; you must enter into that; you must have a new birth and live in a new life,-in a life where God is loved and known and trusted and communed with.”

- Phillips Brooks, Sermons: Nature and Circumstance

Jesus brought to his followers a realization of these two worlds in which we live, and he continually encouraged his followers not to be satisfied with the things of the world of men, but continually to strive for greater things of the kingdom of God. Jesus taught in our Gospel reading today, “Beware of practicing your piety before others,” and instead “pray in secret so that your heavenly Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Through the prophet Isaiah, God taught that he does not desire the religious fasts of the kingdom of men, but desires fasts from human strife and discord. Fast from the ways you harm each other and feast on justice, mercy, reconciliation, and love. Feast on Jesus and the ways of the kingdom of God.

We see in Jesus’ teachings about fasting and prayer, a collision of worlds. The people were living in the world of their religion, a good world, in which they were seeking to fulfill their religious duty and to be good men. Jesus was, however, trying to pull his people up to a higher world, to his kingdom in which they deeply encounter God and therefore deeply love each other.

In the lower world of religious practice, much of what was done made little difference in the world or even in the self. Much of religious practice in Jesus’ day dealt with ritual purity. Follow a set of religious rules, and you’ll be righteous before God. In the higher realm of God’s kingdom, those practices don’t matter. As Jesus taught concerning ritual hand-washing before eating a meal, ritual cleanliness before God doesn’t really matter in the kingdom of God. The cleanliness of our heats is what matters in God’s kingdom.

In our context of Lent, ritual fasting can be a very helpful tool toward opening our hearts to God’s way for our life. The fasting itself, however, does not make one righteous before God. In the higher realm of God’s kingdom, Jesus makes us righteous before God. In the higher realm of God’s kingdom drawing near to God through Jesus is the way of life. In the higher realm of God’s kingdom, believing in Jesus, his teachings and ways, and faithfully seeking to love others as he loves them is our way of life and the feast he would choose for us.

In the higher realm of God’s kingdom, then, our fasting would be to fast from whatever hinders us from drawing near to God, to fast from whatever hinders us from believing in Jesus, to fast from whatever hinders us from following in Jesus’ ways, and to fast from whatever hinders us from loving others as he loves us.

Fast from whatever is keeping you from reconciling with another. Fast from whatever keeps you from prayer. Fast from whatever keeps you from seeking justice, loving mercy, and respecting the dignity of every human being.

In the kingdom of men, we get to judge one another and proclaim our righteousness by comparing ourselves to those we see as less righteous around us. That was the trap of the Pharisees. In the kingdom of God, however, we are freed from this trap. As Bishop Doyle writes, “Christians are free to follow their conscience and are free from the burden of judging or changing others. Christians are prohibited from indicting and sentencing those who are different because of the freedom we have in Christ Jesus.” Jesus frees us from making ourselves righteous by noticing the speck in someone else’s eye. Instead, Jesus loves us, even with the log in our eye, makes us righteous through him, and frees us, thereby, not to judge the other but to love and serve the other. Jesus frees us from the trap of the world of men and allows us to live in the kingdom of God.

I invite you all, therefore into a holy Lent. I invite you to seek the higher world of Jesus’ kingdom. I invite you to fast during this season, to fast from anything that keeps you from reconciliation and love. I invite you to repent of the ways that keep you from living Jesus’ kingdom. Finally, I invite you to feast on Jesus during this season of Lent. Feast on his forgiveness and love. Feast on his reconciliation and healing. Feast on his ways and his presence. God bless you. God loves you. Amen.

Brad Sullivan

5 Epiphany, Year C

February 7, 2016

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a]

Leaving the Locker Room

I was at a men’s retreat this weekend with the men of St. Mark’s in Richmond. Kristin is their go to supply clergy when their rector is away, and she supplied for him last summer when he was on sabbatical. So, the congregation knows and loves her and our kids, and the rector, Bert, thought it would be nice if they got to know me to, so I was invited on the retreat. They actually call is a “gathering of men” because “retreat” is just not something men do. So we gathered for great food, fellowship, games, various beverages, Bible study, skeet shooting, fishing, Eucharist, etc., and I contacted the men on our vestry yesterday afternoon and said, “this thing has been great; we have to do one here.”

So on Friday night, one of the men who leads a weekly Sunday Bible study, led us all in Bible study. It was a thematic study of sports and sport analogies in the Bible (of which there are many), and we looked at these passages, what these sports analogies teach us about our faith, and how the Super Bowl can relate to our faith. Admittedly, I was kinda skeptical at first, but it worked.

From Philippians 3:12-14, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal.” There are four quarters of football, and the team lays aside their previous touchdowns and their previous mistakes, that’s the team that’s gonna win. For us too, we cannot live in the past, forever grasping on to that one glorious moment, or forever haunted by the sins of our past. We have to let our past go, give that to Jesus and follow him. From 1 Corinthians 12:12-20, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” Special teams doesn’t win the game; offense doesn’t win the game; defense doesn’t win the game. It takes the whole team playing together to win. Within the body of Christ, no one person or group fulfills God’s mission of reconciliation. The whole church, working together fulfills God’s mission of reconciliation.

So, can we get some Gospel truth from the Super Bowl? Yeah, we actually can. When we’re watching the Super Bowl this afternoon, we can think of Jesus and the church a little bit.

Looking then at today’s Gospel story from Luke, we heard the story of Jesus’ transfiguration. Jesus’ glory was revealed. The glory of the Lord was shining out of and through Jesus, and the glory of Jesus full and true humanity was shining. Here is a true human, guys, fully reconciled and connected to God. Whenever Moses was near to God up on the mountain, when he came down, his face was glowing. The nearer we are to God, it seems that the glory of God, in whose image we were made, radiates through us. Jesus revealed this truth of himself and this truth of humanity to Peter and James and John on the mountain. He showed them his glory as if to say, “Here’s who I am guys, and here’s who I am leading you all to be. I am the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. Follow me, and fear not, for I am restoring all things to God.”

Then, once the excitement and joy of the moment was over, Jesus basically said, “ok, back to work.” Why did Jesus take those three disciples up the mountain with him? Perhaps just to pray. That’s why Jesus went up there; maybe he didn’t know the transfiguration was about to happen. We don’t really, know, but in any case, once it did, they didn’t stay there in that moment, stuck forever in the past. They moved on into the future or into the always present moment, continuing God’s mission of reconciliation.

Prior to this, the twelve had been sent out by Jesus to begin their work on God’s mission. They’d done great, preaching and healing, and then, after they all came back, Jesus was curious what people had been saying about him and asked, “who do people say that I am,” and the people had been saying that Jesus was John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets. Then, Jesus asked the disciples, “who do you say that I am?” Peter nailed it, declaring Jesus to be “the Christ of God.” Jesus went on to teach them more about that, about how he will be killed and be raised on the third day. He taught them that as his disciples, they too needed to take up their cross and follow him, telling them, “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.”

So the disciples had been doing great. They started their ministry living out God’s mission. They declared and began to understand who Jesus is. They were a little perplexed by the “if you lose your life for my sake, you will save it” part, but they were working through that, and then, Jesus takes Peter and James and John up the mountain to pray.

It was like halftime, and Jesus was in the locker room with the team giving them some instruction, a pep talk and then showing them, the game plan. “Here’s where we’re going guys: restoration, reunion with God. We’re going toward reconciliation and true humanity. I know it’s tough and scary, but when I told you not to fear losing your life, I meant it. Look here are Moses and Elijah, alive and well. Here’s the glory of God and the glory of true humanity shining through me. Trust me guys, I really am restoring all things, and living out God’s mission of reconciliation, it’s leading somewhere great! Now let’s get out there and let’s play some ball.”

So they got this great halftime talk and they got to rest in the locker room for a bit, and then Coldplay and Beyonce stopped singing, halftime was over, and it was time to get back in the game.

The very next day, there was a boy who needed healing. There was gospel work to be done, and for some reason, the disciples couldn’t do it. They’d done great at preaching and healing before. Perhaps they were daunted by what they had heard and seen on the mountain. Jesus had been talking about his coming death on the cross which disturbed the disciples. Perhaps they were still stuck in that moment and just not ready to face the world again. In any case, Jesus showed them that as his disciples, they really did get to keep doing the work he had given them to do. The encounter they had on the mountain with Jesus’ transfiguration gave them strength and encouragement, nearness to God, but it was not a place they were going to stay.

I think of our worship in a similar way. We have an encounter with Jesus in the words of Scripture and in the Sacrament. We get instruction and encouragement. We also have a model for our lives with the liturgy. Our liturgy teaches us to give thanks to God first in everything we do. Our liturgy teaches us to read and study scripture. Our liturgy teaches us to pray for ourselves and for others, to examine our lives, offer our sins to God, and to ask his forgiveness that we may be freed from the past and press on toward to goal. Our liturgy teaches us to encounter Jesus in the ordinary things of life, and then our liturgy gives us an encounter with Jesus in the bread and wine.

Our worship is a place where we are meant to return, but like the mountaintop of Jesus’ transfiguration, our worship is not a place where we are meant to stay. In what our liturgy teaches us, it is like practice or a halftime speech. We get to rest. We gain strength, support, and instruction for our lives from an encounter with Jesus. Afterwards, we give thanks that we get to go forth from here to continue as Jesus’ disciples, living out God’s mission of reconciliation. At the end of each service, halftime’s over, and we get to go out there and play ball. Amen.

Brad Sullivan

4 Epiphany, Year C

January 31, 2016

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

Luke 4:21-30

Giving God Away

So, the people of Nazareth weren’t all that taken with Jesus, were they? In Matthew and Mark’s gospels they were scandalized by Jesus as soon as he started preaching to them. He was from Nazareth and they didn’t think the hometown kid could really make it so good; who was he, preaching to them? In Luke’s gospel, however, we get a very different picture of what happened. The people of Nazareth were awed and amazed at what Jesus had taught them, and by the works he had performed in Capernaum. They note that Jesus was Joseph’s son, and they seem to be especially proud that a hometown boy was there, proclaiming fulfillment of Isaiah’s words of God’s grace. “This is fantastic!” They thought. “We’ve always been a kind of nothing little town, and now we’ve got one of our own who’s already done great things and will do even greater things for us. He’s one of us. Now we’re gonna be great!”

Then, Jesus kind of let them down with what he said next. “Yes, I’m from here, but my mission, and God’s grace is not just for you. Heck, it’s not even primarily for you. Just like Elijah and Elisha, I’m going to bring God’s grace to everyone, Jew and Gentile.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, he was basically telling the people, that while it was the year of the Lord’s favor, it wasn’t necessarily going to be too terribly favorable for them.

See, the stories he told of Elijah and Elisha were about both of those prophets preaching and healing folks who weren’t Israelites, folks who were Gentiles, and Elijah and Elisha were preaching to and healing Gentiles because they had been rejected by Israel. Israel at the time was under the rule of some pretty bad kings, and they were no longer faithful to God, so God was taking his salvation elsewhere. “Like Israel of old,” Jesus was saying, “y’all aren’t really as faithful to God as you’ve led yourselves to believe, and the good news is going to reach the Gentiles with much greater effectiveness than y’all. Essentially, you’ve squandered God’s grace, so it’s moving on.”

So at that point, yeah, they got pretty upset at the hometown kid telling them that the year of the Lord’s favor had come, that they were basically going to ignore and reject it, and that the year of the Lord’s favor was going to be accepted by Gentiles rather than by them. He was telling them, “y’all seem to want this all for yourself, for your own benefit only, and that’s not the way God’s kingdom works. Y’all are supposed to be introducing God to the nations, not despising the nations because they don’t have God.” They’d shut God up in a box, and God was springing out of it. God was already there with the Gentiles, and Israel was supposed to let them know that.

So, Jesus was going to let the nations know that. This fact apparently didn’t sit well with the people of Nazareth. “We want you all for ourselves. We want to control the outcome of this new prophet. God is supposed to behave the way we want him to, the way our religion tells us he will.” So they became angry enough to try to kill Jesus. Their anger may have stemmed from the fact that deep inside, they knew Jesus was correct. When we’re shamed, we often react with anger, and we’re only shamed by something if we believe there is truth to it. The people of Nazareth seemed to know the truth of Jesus’ words, that they hadn’t been living as a light to the nations. They hadn’t been bringing good news to the poor, release to the captive, freedom for the oppressed, and recovery of sight to the blind (even if that sight was given by another persons’ eyes, taking the blind alongside with them). They hadn’t been living they ways that Isaiah prophesied, and then they expected Jesus to be good news primarily for them.

To be fair, that’s not an uncommon trap that people who experience grace and good news fall into. Even Jesus’ first disciples fell into the same trap. As Bishop Doyle points out in his book, A Generous Community, Peter and James and John wanted to build booths when they saw Jesus transfigured. They wanted to keep control over that event and, then they could bring others there. They would have control over that moment of grace. Additionally, at one point when little children were trying to see Jesus, they disciples didn’t want the little children coming to Jesus. They wanted to control access to him and to keep their places of power and authority, but Jesus wasn’t having it with them any more than the people of Nazareth. “Let the little children come to me,” Jesus said, “For it is to such as them that the Kingdom of God belongs.”

Jesus and the Kingdom of God were never meant to be kept as a prize for one’s own benefit. Jesus and the Kingdom of God were always meant to be given away. As former Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, famously said, "The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members." Now he didn’t say only. The church doesn’t only exist for the benefit of those who are not its members. The church exists for both its members and for those who are not its members, but do we sometimes find ourselves in the same trap as the disciples and the people of Nazareth, wanting Jesus primarily for ourselves, working first and foremost for us?

If you’re anything like me, there are times when the answer is yes. I’m guessing all of us have times when we primarily want Jesus for ourselves, and the thought of giving Jesus and the Kingdom of God away doesn’t seem right, especially if we’re giving it away to people who seem undeserving in our eyes. Further, giving Jesus and his kingdom away raises fears that there won’t be enough for us. If we as a church do too much work for those outside, will there still be enough Jesus left for us? The truth is, Jesus, his kingdom, and his grace have no limits. There is always enough Jesus to go around. I asked last week when the good news or release from captivity has happened to us, and who was Jesus for us when that happened. Jesus has ministered to us in all kinds of ways and through all kinds of people, and Jesus is out there too, ministering to all kinds of people in all kinds of ways and places, and he is using all kinds of people to do his ministry. Sometimes people know that Jesus is ministering to them, and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes people believe in Jesus when he is ministering to them and through them, and sometimes they don’t.

We heard in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians this morning, “Faith, hope, and love abide, these three, and the greatest of these is love.” If you have faith enough to move mountains but do not have love, you are nothing. Hearts of love are even more beautiful and important to God than are hearts of faith. “When did we see you naked and hungry and we clothed and fed you, Jesus?” “Whenever you did so to the least people,” Jesus responded, “whenever your hearts were full of love and compassion for others.”

We are called as the church, as Jesus disciples to be people of love, people who give our love to other people. If you listen to much Christian media lately, there seems to be a divide between people of faith, and the bad people who don’t believe. That may work for our polarized society, but it is not what Jesus was about. Jesus loved people, whether Jew or Gentile. He brought faith to those who didn’t have it. He brought hope to those who were without it. He loved extravagantly.

Our joy is that we too, as Jesus’ disciples get to love extravagantly, to bring hope with our love to people of faith and to people without faith. We get to invite people to be here with us, and we get to be out there where Jesus already is, sharing love, faith, and hope, serving others as Jesus’ disciples.

In looking at the church, who we are and who we will become, Bishop Doyle writes:

The God that we choose to follow is a God who is out and among the people. The God we follow bids us to make a Church that is…out and among the people…This God cannot be contained. God’s mission cannot be contained…We must become a generation of church-makers who play in the waters of baptism and in the Scriptures and around God’s altar. This is sacred and holy play through which we reenact – inside and outside church building, and in our lives – the great story of God’s creation.

We are to be about making the world into a different place…with all the tools at our disposal. Most especially we are to make it new with God’s love, grace, forgiveness, and mercy. We are to share and open up our church and walk out into the sweet-smelling and lush garden of creation. We are to invite, welcome, and connect with others. We are to share the message that God says to all people – “Come unto me all you who travail and are heave laden and I will refresh you.”…Don’t keep the little children away. Don’t keep away those who have tried to follow Jesus and believe they have failed. Don’t keep [from God] those who have drifted away from church…Give God away. By all means let them all come. And let us go. And let us make the church together.

Amen.

Brad Sullivan

2 Epiphany, Year C

January 17, 2016

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

Luke 4:14-21

The Spirit of the Lord Is Upon Us

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” That was the teaching from the hometown Nazareth carpenters’ kid. Not someday. Not keep waiting on God to deliver you, but now, today, Jesus claimed, is the year of the Lord’s favor. The spirit of God was upon him, anointing him to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, an end to oppression, and the year of the Lord’s favor.

“The year of the Lord’s favor” was possibly a reference to the year of Jubilee which God commanded in Leviticus 25. Every fiftieth year was the Jubilee year, a year of rest for the land when the people didn’t work the land. God promised to bless the land so that it would provide in abundance, and the people ate whatever the land provided. Additionally, in the Jubilee year debts were forgiven. In the 49 years before each Jubilee, if anyone fell on hard times, they could become their kinsman’s servant, being cared for by their kinsman and living as an indentured servant. There was no interest or penalty. Rather, those who couldn’t support themselves were cared for by their relatives, but not as a free ride; those being cared for also contributed.

Then, on the 50th year, anyone who was living as an indentured servant was released to go back to their own house, their own land, and start over. Everyone was to return to their own property and all of Israel was to observe this year of rest for the land, restoration for the poor, and trust in God to provide for them.

So there was a partnership in the Jubilee year. God blessed the land and the people, and the people trusted in God and showed mercy and forgiveness to each other. God was reminding the people, “you became slaves in Egypt, and I delivered you. You were hungry in the desert, and I provided for you. Now release the land from its work and release each other from service, and trust in me to bless you and provide for you.

We don’t know that Jesus was actually proclaiming a year of Jubilee, but he was proclaiming God’s blessing on the people, release for the captive, good news to the poor, and recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom for the oppressed. Like the year of Jubilee, there was release, and like the year of Jubilee, there was necessarily a partnership and ownership of Jesus’ words by the people. If there is going to be release for captive, freedom for the oppressed, and good news for the poor, those things are going to have to be lived out by those who hear Jesus’ words.

So, then, what is the good news that Jesus was fulfilling, the good news that was to be proclaimed to the poor? The good news is God’s love and blessing not only for those who are obviously blessed, but for the poor and marginalized as well. The good news is God becoming human and living among us, uniting himself to us perfectly through Jesus. The good news is the life of God’s kingdom which Jesus describes in parable after parable. The good news is a job for the jobless. The good news is bread for the hungry. The good news is an employee who chooses to pay his workers what they need, even if it seems overly generous. The good news is Jesus himself who lived among us in one body for 30 years and now lives among us in each of our bodies continuing to fulfill the good news to the poor.

Jesus also proclaimed the good news of release for the captives and freedom for the oppressed. People are captive to all sorts of things: prison, jail, booze, poor decisions, low expectations, harsh childhoods, poverty, anger, resentment, pride, guilt, wealth, success, anxiety, fear. The list of things people are held captive by goes on and on, and Jesus came to proclaim release. “Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus told to the woman caught in adultery. “Your faith has made you well,” Jesus told the woman suffering from a hemorrhage and the man who was blind. “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise,” Jesus said to the dying thief crucified next to him. “Feed my sheep,” Jesus told to the guilt ridden Peter. Jesus proclaimed release to people held captive to all kinds of things. He released them and told them they were God’s beloved children. He releases us from all that we’ve done wrong and proclaims us to be God’s beloved children.

We then get to be the voice of Jesus proclaiming release, and we get to be the body of Jesus providing release to people from that which holds them captive. As we saw in Jesus’ life, this is often messy work. That too is the good news from Isaiah which Jesus proclaimed fulfilled. Strive for righteousness, justice, mercy, live the ways that Jesus proclaimed fulfilled, and I will be with you, God proclaimed.

So then, God became human and lived these very ways that he commanded. God lived with his people as Jesus and got down in the muck with them to fulfill what he had proclaimed through Isaiah. That’s the good news of the Gospel, and then, Jesus says there’s even more good news. Y’all get to get down into the muck of each others’ lives too. As Paul writes in Romans 12:16, “Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.”

God fulfilled Isaiah’s words by associating with the lowly, by becoming one of us. He showed us that associating with the lowly is the way of the good news of his Kingdom. He also showed us that everyone is lowly in some way. Do not be haughty, do not claim to be wiser than you are. Everyone is held captive by something, and no one is too good to associate with the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed.

There is freedom in those words. There is freedom in realizing we really are all in this thing together. There is freedom in realizing we all have muck in our lives. There is freedom in fulfilling Isaiah’s words, in being helpers for one another in the muck of our lives. We were after all made from the dust of the ground, the muck of the earth, and we were made to be helpers for one another. For Adam, when God saw that it wasn’t good that he was alone, Eve was the good news.

As Jesus’ body and Jesus voice, we get to be the good news for each other. We get to be the good news in our more private lives, and we get to be the good news as the church. We get to mentor children in our schools, some of us through Kids Hope USA beginning in a couple of weeks at Linnie Roberts. For the kids whom we mentor, we are the good news.

We get to give as we each have means to do so. We get to give to each other and to those we know who are in need. For some, this will be giving in a big way for someone who is really down and out. For some, this is will be smaller things, but no less big to the person in need. We get to be the good news.

We get to be the good news when we cook breakfast on Friday mornings and offer Bible study and prayer. We get to be the good news when we sit and talk with the folks who come in to eat, and often, they get to be the good news for us.

We get to be the good news to young frightened mothers and mothers to be when we donate to and volunteer with the Women’s Pregnancy Center. We get to be the good news that says, “You aren’t judged; you are loved. You’re baby is not a mistake, but a blessing. You are not raising your child alone, for I am with you.” That is the good news the mentors give to young frightened moms who come to the Pregnancy Center.

So how are we all going to be the good news? How are you going to be the good news? How am I going to be the good news? What good news has Jesus brought to you, and who was Jesus when he brought that good news to you? How have Jesus’ words be fulfilled, and how as Jesus, will you fulfill them?

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon us, because he has anointed us to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent us to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Today this scripture is fulfilled in our hearing. Amen.

Brad Sullivan

2 Epiphany, Year C

January 17, 2016

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

John 2:1-11

Everyday Jesus vs. Apocalypse Jesus

So when Jesus and his mother, Mary, were at a wedding, and the wine ran out, Mary told Jesus, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." It seems that Jesus thought his mother was telling him they needed wine for the Last Supper. “My hour has not yet come,” Jesus said. “It’s not time for that important meal yet, mom, I don’t need any extra wine.”

Then, I’m assuming one look from Mary told Jesus, “Son, I know we’re not there yet, but in the mean time, there is a whole lot of living to do. Give these people some wine…and don’t ever refer to me as ‘woman’ again.” “Oh, you mean wine for the party?” Jesus realized. “Good idea Mom, the stuff they’ve been serving so far isn’t that good anyway...and yes ma’am,” and then Mary commanded the wine steward to do whatever Jesus said.

Why was this such a big deal, and why was Mary so intent on making sure there was wine enough at the wedding? It may seem like an odd miracle to start letting people know that the Messiah has come, making sure there was plenty of really good wine, but Jesus helped the couple and family out quite a bit. This was a wedding, and wine at a wedding was a big deal, much like it often is today.

Providing the wine was more than getting folks drunk. Providing the wine helped the couple start out on the right foot. If the party didn’t go well, people would talk. Social shaming is far from new, and running out of wine at the wedding could have been the talk of the town for quite some time. Social status meant a good bit, more perhaps even than it does now. Providing wine for the party meant that this couple didn’t get shamed on their wedding night, meant that their marriage didn’t begin badly.

It seems no surprise then, that Mary, was the one who insisted that this young couple not be shamed on their wedding night. Mary knew quite well the shunning that goes with shaming and diminished social status. She was, after all, the possible adulteress wife of Joseph who ended up pregnant before she was even married. That was a big deal in those days, and she likely suffered much scorn. Jesus may well have been thinking, “no wine, no big deal.” Perhaps in directing Jesus to provide more wine, Mary was also helping to teach him and remind him about how badly we often treat each other and how important every day of our life is, not just the end. Jesus’ hour had not yet come, but the newlywed couples’ hour was right then.

We tend get so wrapped up in the end, in the tasks we have, etc. that we miss or mistreat the people and the world around us. We’ll have a deadline or we’ll be late, and in our anxiety and dwelling about that end, we can be rather less than cordial towards others, especially if they interrupt us or make us even later. We dwell on the end and miss or mistreat the people and the world around us.

We even tent to dwell on the apocalypse. Whole fields of study, books, movies, theologies all dwell on the apocalypse, the end of the world. Why? Perhaps because it is scary and big and it makes for a great book or movie, but perhaps too because the apocalypse is easy, simple. Our anxieties seem to push us as a society to the apocalypse, contemplating, fearing, dwelling on the end of the world. Even if not the end of the world, conversation in Bible study often turns to the end of our lives and what happens after we die. Certainly there is anxiety about our deaths and the end of the world, but I think our conversations about Jesus often turn to the end of our lives and the end of the world not because we are anxious about then end, but because we are anxious about right now. Whatever the end will be, we ultimately don’t have much control over it. The end is much simpler than now.

Living isn’t easy, and there is plenty to fear today. It can be simpler in one’s belief in Jesus to skip to then end not have to actually live, but we’re not here just for the end. We’re here for all the living before the end. Jesus also isn’t here just for the end. He isn’t present only at the end. He blessed and sanctified not only our deaths but our lives. Jesus is here for every day of our living, including the end. It’s nice to know too that even Jesus was at times perhaps too focused on the end and needed a reminder from his mom, “it’s time for living, son. Be the light of the world, even here, now, for this young couple.”

The best wine, like what Jesus helped serve at the wedding, is here for us not only at our last supper, but for all of the meals and feasts in between. The light of Jesus is here for the unimportant and mundane, which is where much of our lives are spent. The important and mundane of every day are important enough for “Everyday Jesus” to hallow and sanctify with his presence. It may not make for as good of a movie or be as flashy and exciting as “Apocalypse Jesus”, but that’s not where we live. We live in the everyday. We live in the simple anxieties and joys, the humdrum and excitement of everyday life. Mary reminded Jesus, and Jesus reminds us all, that he is here with us and for us in our everyday lives, because all of our lives are hallowed and sacred. Amen.

Brad Sullivan

1 Epiphany, Year C

January 10, 2015

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

The Heathen Preaching to the Church

When Jesus came to be baptized by John, people had been coming in droves to be baptized by him. It was like a lengthy mass baptism as people came who were seeking God’s kingdom, seeking a new life and a new way of life in God’s kingdom, rather than the ways of the kingdoms of the earth. This was far more than a liturgical new years’ resolution, far more than individuals wanting to be better. They were seeking a whole new life, a whole new way of life. They were sloughing off the old ways of the old age and the kingdoms of the earth, and preparing for the new age of God’s kingdom.

For us, we largely have individuals or a few people getting baptized at any one time, and over the centuries, people have begun to see baptism as being about personal salvation: individuals choosing to “get saved” and secure entry for themselves into God’s kingdom. From the beginning, however, baptism was not just about an individual’s salvation, but an entire people choosing to divest of the old ways and to put on the new garments of life in God’s kingdom. Then, they devoted the rest of their lives to living out the ways of God’s kingdom, bringing it about and living God’s kingdom, even as they awaited the day when God’s kingdom would come fully. Baptism was not about securing individual entry into God’s kingdom when a person died, but people living out God’s kingdom while alive.

Baptism as sloughing off of the old ways and allegiance to the old kingdoms and inaugurating life in God’s kingdom, that is the baptism with which Jesus was baptized. Then, after he was, he was anointed by the Holy Spirit and proclaimed as God’s son, the beloved.

Anointing and proclamation were essential elements of declaring leadership in ancient Israel. The ancient kings of Israel were anointed with oil and proclaimed as God’s chosen kings. The prophet Samuel anointed Saul and then David after him, speaking for God in proclaiming them to be God’s chosen kings of Israel. When Jesus was anointed, however, it was not by God’s prophet, but by the Holy Spirit. The proclamation came not from a human intermediary, but from God himself. Jesus was the one to lead this new kingdom of God. Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus’ authority.

How did he assert his authority? Well, he prayed a lot. He taught people about his kingdom. He helped people. He spoke out when he saw people in authority abusing or misusing their authority.

Jesus did not force his kingdom. He could have, of course. As he told Peter, when he was being arrested, Jesus could have commanded legions of angels to fight for him, to prevent his arrest, and presumably make happen anything he wanted to happen. Jesus’ might, his command, and his authority exceeded that of any king of the earth, and yet when it came time to fight, Jesus let the kingdoms of the earth kill him. Jesus chose to let his kingdom be lived out by choice, not by force. Jesus’ kingdom, the new age, is lived by people choosing to follow him and live his teachings. One day, yes, his kingdom will come fully, but until then, he left to human choice, how much his kingdom would or would not be lived out here on earth.

So what are some of the ways of the new age, the age of Jesus’ kingdom that he teaches, but does not force? One is Jesus’ notion of fairness. Remember the end of Jesus’ parable about the workers in the vineyard? The owner of the vineyard hired some folks at the beginning of the day and promised them a days’ wage. Throughout the day he found other people who hadn’t found work, and he hired them too. Then they were all paid the same. “Hey, that’s not fair,” they guys who worked all day said, “those guys earned just as much as we, and yet they didn’t work nearly as long as we did.” “True, they didn’t work as long as y’all did,” Jesus would say, “but they still needs enough to live on, doesn’t they?” (Matthew 20:1-16) In the new age of Jesus’ kingdom, fairness is superseded by basic human needs and love of people.

Another way of Jesus’ kingdom is the approach to institutions and religion. Jesus was teaching the Scribes and the Pharisees about how they keep their traditions for the sake of the institution of their religion and end up ignoring God’s ways. “Sorry, Mom and Dad, but I can’t support you in your old age,” they would have people say. “I’ve got the means to support you, but I have to give that money to the Synagogue.” “No, young man,” Jesus would say, “you need to take care of your parents first. Half the reason to give to the Synagogue is so they can care for people in need. If you take care of your parents, then the Synagogue won’t have to.” (Mark 7:6-13) Our institutions are not more important that the people for whom they were made.

We live smack dab in the middle of the kingdoms of this world, the kingdoms of the old age. Many of these kingdoms have been influenced by Jesus and his kingdom, but the kingdoms and governments of the earth are still kingdoms of the old age. This means that even as we try to influence the kingdoms of the world, we are also influenced by the kingdoms of the world. We hear the ways and wisdom of the kingdoms of this world, kingdoms that we love (our government, our businesses, our American way of life), and we end up following the ways of these kingdoms, sometimes even when they don’t follow the way of Jesus’ kingdom.

Our challenge is to live in both worlds, the old age of the kingdoms of the earth and the new age of Jesus’ kingdom. Our challenge is to live Jesus’ kingdom without forcing his kingdom on others. Like Jesus, the way for us to live his kingdom is to pray a lot, to teach about his kingdom and way, to help people, and to speak out when we see people in authority abusing or misusing their authority. This also means that we may need to put away our swords when our teaching and speaking out angers those who hear.

A friend of mine read an article I had posted about the church’s need to invite people to join them in worship and to teach people about Jesus, no longer assuming that most people know about Jesus. She pointed out that many people don’t want to know about Jesus and are quite frankly tired of having Christianity forced down their throats, being told that they are terrible people or being threatened with hell for not believing in Jesus. She wrote,

Setting up missions to convert the heathens is not what the church needs. Fighting injustice, battling for the rights and dignity of the poor, helping to create a world without prejudice, these are missions Jesus would get behind. The like-minded people who join a church because it's focused not inward on their own population but outward on what good they can do in the world are people you can be proud to call brothers and sister in Christ.

My friend is, by the way, not a Christian, the heathen preaching to the church. I agreed with her about the mission of the church, and I also wrote the following regarding evangelism and sharing our faith, beliefs, and the ways of Jesus’ kingdom:

I do assume that lots of people would benefit from hearing [about Jesus and his kingdom]. I do assume that people would benefit from hearing about and living the way of Jesus: a way of love, compassion, grace, forgiveness, reconciliation, relationships chosen over being right, etc…I don't believe our faiths were ever meant to be kept quiet. We were meant to connect to each other, and sharing our deeply held beliefs is a prime way we do that. Evangelism is that offering of self, the sharing of who we are via what we believe. When shared, not forced, it can be great. Some will find it to be good news and want to believe the same. Some will simply find it interesting and know a person better.

We are to live and preach and teach Jesus’ kingdom by truly adopting his ways as ours, and then talking about his kingdom not simply as an imperative of scripture (that’s what the Scribes and Pharisees did). We’ll live and preach and teach Jesus’ kingdom by living it and then offering what we have lived and experienced to others. Consider Jesus and his baptism, the sloughing off of the old age and the old ways of earthly kingdoms. Consider his anointing by the Holy Spirit and the proclamation from God that Jesus is his beloved Son and the king of the new age and life in Jesus’ kingdom. Then, consider your baptism into his kingdom. Remember your baptism, the sloughing off of the old ways and the desire and commitment to live and proclaim Jesus’ kingdom and the new age of his ways. Amen.

Brad Sullivan

2 Christmas, Year C

January 3, 2015

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

Mary and Joseph took Jesus from Bethlehem and fled to Egypt, fleeing for Jesus’ life, threatened by the murderous king Herod. This was not the first time someone from Israel fled to Egypt under the threat of death. Back before Israel was a mighty nation, there is Israel the man, whose favorite son, Joseph was about to be killed by his brothers because they were jealous of him. At the last minute, one of the brothers, Judah, decided to sell him into slavery rather than kill him, so Joseph was taken by to Egypt by some passing traders. Going to Egypt, his life was spared.

Years later, Joseph had become the Pharaoh’s second hand in Egypt by predicting a drought and having them store grain to prepare. When the drought hit, Joseph’s brothers and his father, Israel, were starving, and so they fled to Egypt to escape death. Once there, they were reunited with their brother and son, and the sons of Israel became the people of Israel, and centuries later, under Moses’ leadership, the people of Israel left Egypt to become the nation of Israel.

Jesus’ life retells this earlier story, fleeing to Egypt to escape death, then returning to his home to become who he was. Neither journey was an easy one to make, but they were necessary. Mary and Joseph took the journey to Egypt, to the unknown, in order to protect their beloved son, Jesus, and by doing so, they kept the light of his Gospel burning bright.

The church throughout the United States, we’re facing declining worship attendance for many reasons. More folks work on Sunday than they did 30 years ago. Many folks are traveling to see family, others are tired and wanting to stay home with their immediate family. Still others are finding more entertaining ways to use their free time on Sunday.

Additionally, more and more people are changing their religious affiliation from Christian to “none”. People are leaving the church, and leaving their faith in Jesus along with it. We now have a new mission field full of people who either don’t know or have forgotten the light of the Gospel, and we have a church that is not equipped to bring the light of the Gospel to them.

We’ve operated under an attractional model of church for centuries. “Build it and they will come”, or even “invite them and they will come” has been our primary way and often our only way of spreading the light of Jesus. Our invitations are reaching some, but our invitations are not reaching the majority of people who have either left the faith or have left the habit of coming to church to worship with their community.

The slow and steady shrinking of the church is happening faster and faster. More and more people see the church as an institution, and they are untrusting of the institution. Many people live in small communities where it is not economically feasible to build a church and pay a clergy to lead them and fulfill their sacramental life. Our sacramental way of life and sharing the light of Jesus has become limited by our attractional model of church, bringing people here, being the only way that we live out the Gospel.

It is time for the church, like Jesus before her, to go to Egypt.

In our context, going to Egypt means adopting new ways of living and sharing the Gospel. We’re going to continue worshipping here. We’re going to continue inviting people to share in our life here. We also need to start meeting in small groups and small communities in which not everyone may come here to worship, but their communities and groups would still be connected here, even sacramentally.

Bishop Doyle in his upcoming book calls this “Small Batch: The Local, Organic, and Sustainable Church.” This is not the end of church as we are used to, but the addition of new ways, or really old ways, of being church. Some of the earliest churches met in Synagogues or other places for worship in fairly large communities. Some of the earliest churches also met in peoples’ homes or in small assemblies in public places. They would share scripture together, pray together, and they would share a meal together in Jesus’ name, remembering his last supper with his disciples and his command that they continue to share bread and wine in remembrance of him.

This was the fastest period of church growth ever, and there were many models for how people worshipped and lived their lives as Jesus’ disciples in community with others. Quite unlike our modern sensibilities that church and faith should be quiet and private, faith was talked about in these small communities of friends or small communities of people with similar vocations. Faith was shared, and peoples’ relationships came to be formed around their affection for each other and through sharing their faith with each other.

The light of the Gospel spread not only through invitation to large communities. The light of the Gospel also spread through sharing faith in Jesus, through prayer, worship, and Eucharist in small batch communities: people who were together first through their affection for each other and then held together even more strongly through their faith and life in Jesus.

Over the centuries, our worship life centralized around the altar and we developed the model for church and the way of life to which we are all accustomed. This way of life for the church has worked well and continues to work well for many of us, but we cannot continue with our current way of communal church life as the only way. Nationwide, declining membership in the church, declining membership, and declining faith in Jesus show us that we can’t simply stay as we are. We must remain as we are, and we must also go to Egypt. We must go to a place that is for us, largely unknown, but is the place in which the sons of Israel became the people of Israel, the place in which Jesus escaped death, and the metaphoric place in which the early church thrived and grew.

While keeping one foot firmly where we are, we’re also going back to the earliest times of the church, and like the earliest church, we don’t exactly have a roadmap. The earliest church often had traditions which they kept and they also made their way as they went.

We don’t have a roadmap for how Small Batch communities are supposed to work either. So we’ll try things. One thing I’ve talked to some folks about already is forming some small groups with people for whom we already have great affection, people who are already our friends. These small groups of friends can agree to meet here for worship together at least once a month. They can also meet together at other times for Bible study and prayer, for meals and sharing faith. They can grow their affection for one another by intentionally living out their faith tougher. Then, these small batch communities could invite another friend to join them, and our shared life in the Gospel of Jesus would deepen and grow.

There are other things we’ll try, other small groups with some folks who may or may not worship here, but who will worship together. We’ll succeed, and we’ll fail, and we’ll try again. We don’t exactly know where this is going, but we do know where we are headed if we do nothing and continue on the same path. Nationwide continued decline.

I’m going to keep pushing for folks to start small batch communities. If you’ve got an idea for one, start it, talk to me about it, and I’ll support you. We can’t be afraid of failure or afraid of what others will think. What we need to do is to dare greatly for the sake of the sake of the Gospel, and so I leave us with the words of Theodore Roosevelt and the words of St. Paul.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face I marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best know in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly…

- Theodore Roosevelt, Citizenship in a Republic

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that be testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

- Paul, Romans 12:2

Amen.

Brad Sullivan

Christmas Eve, Year C

December 27, 2015

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

John 1:1-18

When Jesus was born, it was likely a tough year. Herod was king over Israel. While he had not yet committed the mass murder of infants and toddlers, such a heart still dwelled within that man who was king. It couldn’t have been great with him as monarch. Rome still ruled over Israel with their taxes and contempt for the people of Israel. Darkness was everywhere, and into that darkness came the light of Jesus. With all of the bad, we still hear the story of a single baby being born.

We’re told that on the night of Jesus’ birth, Mary pondered what was meant that Jesus is the Messiah, the Lord. John, in his Gospel, seeks to answer those questions. Jesus brought life into being and that life is the light of all people. As Jesus came among us, the true light was coming into the world, full of grace and truth. The light of Jesus shone in the darkness of the world, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was plenty of darkness after Jesus was born. Less than two years after Jesus was born, King Herod went on his killing spree, murdering infants and toddlers, and so Mary and Joseph had to flee Israel and go to Egypt, not an easy trip with a toddler, less so when you are fleeing the threat of death. Then, as word came that Herod had been successful in his mass killing of infants and toddlers, and Mary and Joseph knew it was because he had wanted to kill Jesus, those deaths must have pierced their souls. They knew some of the children Herod had killed, knew their parents; Jesus had been playing with some of them, would have grown up together. The darkness began to overwhelm Mary and Joseph. Then they looked at Jesus and the saw the light of God piercing the darkness of the world. They saw how special he was, saw God’s grace and truth already manifest in him. They looked at Jesus and knew that it all was worth it and all would be well, even for the slaughtered innocents. The light shone in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.

By all accounts, it has been a tough year for us too. We haven’t had any state sanctioned mass killings of infants and toddlers, but we have had plenty of mass killings. The economy has declined in Texas with the decline of oil prices. We are still involved in multiple wars in the Middle East. Politicians and presidential candidates sound not like statesmen, but like middle schoolers arguing in the lunchroom (no offense intended to our middle schoolers). Many of these politicians seem to want to use the darkness to increase peoples’ fear, so that we’ll vote for them as the solution to the darkness.

There certainly is more than enough darkness to be overcome by, but we look not to politicians, but to Jesus. We look to Jesus and see his light, full of grace and truth, and the darkness of the world recedes. We don’t ignore or tune out the problems of our lives and our world when we look to Jesus, we get a lamp filled with his light so we can make our way through the darkness without shame or fear.

The thing about darkness is, it seems oppressive and vast, threatening to drown everyone in a flood. Darkness seems that way, but it is held back and cast out by even the smallest light. We carry the light of Jesus with us to light our way through the darkness. We carry the light of Jesus with us to light the way for others.

The thing about light is, darkness does not extinguish the light. There may be far greater darkness than light, but no matter how vast the darkness, it cannot extinguish the light. Only neglect can do that. Fires don’t go out because it becomes too dark around the fire. Fires go out when they are left untended. Darkness does not extinguish the light of Jesus in our lives or in the world. Only our neglect of our faith can dim the light of the Gospel in the lamps we carry.

When we neglect the Gospel, the light of Jesus dims within us. When we neglect our faith, the light of Jesus dims within us. When we neglect of spending time in the presence of God, dwelling in his love, hope, and peace, then the light of Jesus dims within us. When the light of Jesus dims within us, then the light of Jesus dims within the world.

On Christmas Eve, I said that like Mary, we are God bearers, bringing the story of Jesus with us, bringing faith in Jesus with us to share with others. So many need to hear the story, need to witness faith in Jesus. We are meant to be God bearers for them.

We are also light bearers, carrying with us the light of Jesus to shine in the darkness for others. To do this, we have to tend the flames. If we neglect the fire of the Gospel, then it will still burn within us, but it can become too dim for people to notice, and people need to notice. With the darkness in the world, people need the light of Jesus. We need the light of Jesus.

And what is the light of Jesus, the grace and truth which the darkness cannot overcome? The way of choosing vulnerability over power, the way of choosing love over anger and pride, the way of choosing forgiveness and reconciliation over righteousness and revenge, the way of walking and dwelling with God. These are the ways of Jesus, the way of the light.

Jesus showed us a new way of being, but he did not just come to give us a new law. The light of Jesus itself is simply Jesus. The light of Jesus is not only a way, but a person, the Word of God which spoke creation into existence, the Word of God which became human, uniting us all forever to God in perfect unity. God became human in Jesus, showing us what it is to be truly and fully human. The light of Jesus burns within us, within our true humanity, and the darkness within us cannot overcome it. Amen.