Fr. Michael’s Sermon for Sunday, September 1, 2019 (Year C, Proper 17)

Luke 14:1, 7-14

One of the problems of belonging to

Let me give you an example of how

What would happen? I’d correct that person immediately. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. The people in the class would probably be a bit in shock. There would probably be private conversations about that person, gossiping. (“Did you hear what so and so said?”) Some people would start to question that person’s salvation. He certainly wouldn’t be allowed to have a position of leadership, especially in any teaching capacity. He’s probably getting invited to fewer dinners. He’s probably not getting asked to serve on the vestry. If he keeps insisting on saying it in Adult Ed classes, he might be asked not to come. In short, his standing within the community is in jeopardy.

But what’s this person’s crime?

So, what I am exhorting you today

When I was the chair of the

The Christian life is about playing

But saying that you believe

Amen.

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Fr. Michael’s Sermon for Sunday, August 25, 2019 (Year C, Proper 16)

Hebrews 12:18-29

The book of Hebrews is 13 chapters long. In Greek, it consists of about 5,000 words, and for context, that’s about 4 times the length of one of my sermons. In our pew Bibles with their small print and double columns, the book is 10 pages long, and the verse count is over 300. And at the end of this, after 13 chapters, 5,000 words, 10 pages, and over 300 verses, the author says, “I have written to you briefly” (13:22).

This ending to this book always

But one thing that does stand out

But back to the argument of the

The author says at the beginning of

You see, the Gospel, the good news of God, comes to us a double-edged sword. The Gospel comes to us both with a promise and a warning; it cuts both ways. Or, to use a different analogy, promise and warning are two sides of the same coin. It’s nearly impossible to look at both sides of a coin simultaneously without cameras or mirrors or the like, but you don’t get one side without the other. You can’t have a one-sided coin, and likewise, you can’t have the promise of the Gospel without the warning of the Gospel, and vice versa.

Consider, for example, what the

In the Old Covenant, the people

The God who warns and speaks from Heaven is a holy God. When his holiness, his presence, came to Mount Sinai, the earth shook. One day he intends to flood this world with his holiness in an unprecedented way, and on that day heaven and earth will shake like never before because of the holiness of God as it floods creation. That holy God invites us to join him in his recreative task today by focusing on the kingdom that will endure when he shakes heaven and earth and not the kingdoms of this world which are already passing away. But the warning, the threat, is to make sure that we don’t ignore the holiness of that God even as he invites us into his presence with confidence. We have confidence to approach the throne of grace because of what Jesus has done, but the one who sits on the throne is still a consuming fire, and that makes what God has accomplished in Jesus Christ by opening a new way into his presence through the blood of the firstborn even more incredible, even more stunning, even more awe-inspiring. Do not neglect your great salvation. Do not forget what it cost. Do not forget the holiness of the all-consuming fire that sits upon the throne and one day will shake heaven and earth. Do not treat it casually. Do not treat it flippantly. Do not ignore it. Instead, as the offer concludes, “Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:28–29).

Amen.

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A Sermon for Sunday, August 18, 2019 (Year C, Proper 15)

Hebrews 12:1-14

Yesterday we said not “goodbye” but “we’ll see you soon,” to our brother Fred. Before the service, while Fred’s family was gathered in the fellowship hall, I prayed with them a prayer from our new prayer book. The prayer is entitled “For Help to Bear Bereavement,” and it goes like this: “Heavenly Father, help us to entrust our loved ones to your care. Though sorrow darkens our lives, help us to look up to you, remembering the cloud of witnesses by which we are surrounded. And grant that we on earth, rejoicing ever in your presence, may share with them the rest and peace which your presence gives; through Jesus Christ our Lord.” It’s subtle in that prayer, but the prayer, assuming the deceased to be a believer, implies that the one we’ve lost has gone on before us and joined that great cloud of witnesses who are cheering us on and encouraging us to continue to run the race that is set before us. Since that passage from Hebrews that speaks of this great cloud of witness is one of our lessons this morning, I think it would be appropriate for us to linger here and reflect on this incredible passage, remembering that Fred has gone on before us and joined that great cloud of witnesses.

Hopefully by now, you know how much value I find in understanding the Christian life as a journey. I typically describe this as New Exodus theology or typology, but to put it most simply Christians are always people who have been set free but have not yet arrived. Hopefully, we are always progressing forward but there is always the temptation to be looking. The metaphor the author of this epistle uses in our reading isn’t the metaphor of a journey but of a race, but the basics still apply. We have begun the race, and we must finish it. In the New Exodus the danger is looking back to Egypt, looking back to our sins and our former way of life, longing for them, and acting upon them. In the race, the danger is not so much looking back as it is being tripped up by things in our life that make running the race unnecessarily burdensome.

The ESV and many English

The first thing that the author of this epistle wants us to know about our race is that we have a great cloud of witnesses, those who have already crossed the finished line ahead of us, and they are cheering us on. This particular race isn’t so much about who finishes first but making sure that we all finish, and those who have gone before us in this life into the presence of Jesus, people from Abel to Abraham to the unnamed heroes and heroines at the end of chapter to our loved ones who have died in Christ, are cheering us on, not only in the present but also with the witness that they have left us in this life. This is why it’s good to familiarize yourself with saints and heroes of the faith, and why it’s particularly good to embrace intergenerational ministry. The more mature among us should be investing their lives into the youngest amongst us because when you pass on to the next life you will be cheering them on, so why not begin now to cheer them on and leave them a witness of faith and of a life well-lived?

The second thing that the author of this epistles wants us to know about our race is that we are being hindered in our running. What’s important to note here is that the author seems to have two general categories. One is “sin” and that’s obviously part of our lives that hinders us from running our race well and which we should actively be trying to remove from our lives lest we get tripped up. But there’s also the more general category of “weight” or perhaps better, “impediment.” There are things in our lives, and I know what they are in my life without giving it much thought, that aren’t necessarily sinful, but they are impediments to us as we try to run the race that is set before us. And this can be tricky to think through. I’m not about to make a call for asceticism and suggest that we forsake everything enjoyable in this world and form a community out in the middle of nowhere. I have great respect for people who can make that choice, but I also know that God doesn’t call us all to that life. Nevertheless, if there are things in our lives that keep us from running our race as well as we possibly can, it is worthwhile to take some time, reflect, pray, and ask God how you might run your race better today than you did yesterday.

So first, the author reminds us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who are cheering us on as we run our race. Second, he implores us to lay aside every impediment and sin, which can slow us down and trip us up. And third, he tells us to run the race that is set before by looking to Jesus. He calls Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith, and those words are fine, but given the race metaphor, I think the author is saying something a little more specific. The word “founder” is the word ἀρχηγός, and morphologically it suggests that the word means something like “the one who goes before.” The word τελειωτής, translated here as “perfecter” refers to someone “who brings something to a successful completion.” In the context of this race metaphor, what the author means is something like this, Jesus is not only the ἀρχηγός, the one who goes before, the trailblazer, the trendsetter, the one who showed us all how to run the race, he is also the finisher, the one who brought the race to completion on the cross, as the author says, “for the joy that was set before him.” And the amazing claim that the author makes is that Jesus isn’t just the finisher of his own race, he is the finisher of our race as well, or of our faith, as the author puts it. He is our beginning and our end, the alpha and the omega, the one who goes before and the one who finishes, and if we are in him, he both begins and ends our race as well.

So, how did Jesus run his race? The author implores us to look to Jesus, but when we look at him, what do we see? We see someone who emptied himself for the good of others, even to the point of death on a Roman cross. And why did he do this? How did he do this? How was he able to make the choice to deny himself in this life and give up his life for others? “For the joy that was set before him.” That’s the gamble. That’s the risk. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him, not because he wants us to be unhappy or because he wants us to suffer, but because on the other side of the cross is joy everlasting. No one can make that choice for you. Only you can. Only you can choose to deny yourself today, take up your cross, and follow Jesus on the race, or on the way, because of the eternal joy that lies just beyond the finish line. But that’s the challenge. That’s the call of the Christian life. May God help us all to run the race that is set before us.

Amen.

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A Sermon for Sunday, August 11, 2019 (Proper 14, Year C)

Hebrews 11:1-16; Luke 12:32-40

“Now faith is the

To start, let’s talk

Point number two. On the

So, if faith is not

It’s not as catchy as the

Faith isn’t assent to

To put it another way, we

Amen

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A Sermon for the 6th Sunday after Trinity, July 28, 2019

Colossians 2:6-19

What is a paradox? A paradox is “a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which when investigated may prove to be well-founded or true.” Let me repeat that. A paradox is “a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which when investigated may prove to be well-founded or true.” Let me give you some examples. There is the Liar’s Paradox: “This statement is false.” If the statement is false, then the statement is true, and therefore false again. It’s a paradox. There is Zeno’s Paradox: “You can never get from point A to point B because you first must travel half the distance, and then half the distance left, ad infinitum.” Schrodinger’s Cat is another famous paradox, but since it involves a potentially dead cat, we’ll let that one go.

Here are some paradoxical quotations. “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.” -Gandhi. “It’s weird not to be weird.” -John Lennon. “Life is a preparation for the future, and the best preparation for the future is to live as if there were none.” -Albert Einstein. “I know one thing: that I know nothing.” -Socrates

Paradoxes are fun because often

Within the Bible and Christian Theology, the greatest paradox is the cross of Jesus Christ. It is seemingly absurd. It is utterly contradictory. And yet when investigated may prove to be well-founded or true.” The cross is the great truth with a capital T. It is the Truth of the universe, and it is the Truth by which all other truths and all other experiences are called into question.

How many of you have ever played capture the flag? If you aren’t familiar with this game, it’s pretty simple. There are two teams, each team has a flag on their side, and the goal is to get across to the other team’s side, grab their flag, and bring it back to your base. Now that is kind of the opposite of what we did with the moon landing. With the moon landing, we took our flag to the moon and planted it there, and we had video cameras rolling to record the event.

In the first century, when it came to war, they did some of both. The Roman Empire would go to a place, conquer it, and raise their flags and banners. Except, in the first century, there were no cameras, so how could you prove to the people back home what had happened? This is where capture the flag comes in. Roman wars were essentially gigantic games of capture the flag. We go over into your territory, we conquer you, we take your flag, and then we bring it back to our base. And not just your flag. We bring your treasure. Your prized possessions. Your royal family. And we march them all into the city with great fanfare and pomp. We throw a big celebration to honor our victory, and at the climax of that celebration, we would kill the king who dared opposed the might of the Roman empire.

This is, in a lesser way, what happened to Jesus. Except Rome didn’t think he was even worth bringing back to the capital for execution. If he had shown up with an army and led a military campaign, that is certainly what would have happened. But Jesus wasn’t considered a threat. Not really. And so he died just outside his home city on a Roman cross with a sign hanging above his head that announced his treasonous crime: “King of the Jews.” On that day he was stripped naked, and the rulers and authorities of this world triumphed over him in a particularly humiliating and violent way.

Now look at verse 15 in Colossians

How many of you have ever been buried? How many of you have ever been raised from the dead? That’s strange because in verse 12 Paul speaks to you as if you have both been buried and been raised. He says, “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Paul believes that at our baptism, we died, are buried, and rise again in Christ, and that’s a paradox. That’s a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement because we know that those events are out there in the future for us. We haven’t experienced them yet; they are out there, still waiting for us in our future.

And what this says to me that we

All that matters in this world is what he’s done and that we exist in him. Everything else is something else… something less. Remember what Paul says in Philippians 3:8-11 – “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.” But if we’re going to be “in him” then we have to see the world differently, we have to live with the paradox that is the cross of Jesus Christ. We have to live with the paradox that the world may not be as it seems. But if we boldly proclaim that at the cross of Christ, God was leading the rulers and authorities of this world in triumphal procession and putting them to open shame, despite all the evidence to the contrary, then we have no other choice. We must not live as those who live only by what they can experience. By faith, we believe that at the cross God defeated the rulers and authorities of this world. By faith, we believe that when we were baptized, we died, were buried, and rose with Christ and that we now exist in him. By faith we believe, that just as God raised Jesus from the dead, he will also raise our mortal bodies on the last day. By faith, we believe that there is more to life than what we can know. By faith, we live. By faith, we die. By faith, we rise again.

Amen.

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