Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

"To obey God is to find true freedom. [Emmanuel] Lévinas calls this "difficult freedom", in as much as it is freedom from having to have our own way. Even as we are thus freed to be who God created us to be. Individuals subordinated to and formed for the disciplines of mercy and justice. Can we make this difficult freedom our own? Surely we must try to do so. {...} What does difficult freedom mean for us?"

"'I can't breathe' is surely uttered futilely in our overcrowded prisons, where African Americans make up such an overwhelming share of the population. How can we have any semblance of justice when a large percentage of our population is treated unjustly? Has no space to breathe, within or outside of prison walls. No space to build a future. No space to hope for what is good. Our prison tragedy has deepened immeasurably with the arrival of COVID-19. Now what was lack of breath due to overcrowding and oppression is literally living in a soup of respiratory virus that takes breath away, takes life away."

God shows up in Jesus Christ and offers the people the deliverance they seek: the transformative life, the reconciliation of the world, drawn into God's heart, a life centered on love, conquering death, built for eternity; but it requires them to look at themselves honestly, to change aspects of the way they choose to live, and to partner with God in a transformed way of being in the world. And that transformation of the status quo is too terrifying for the powers that be that surround Jesus. He is killed. He is killed according to the rules of their country. His breath is taken away.

Ascension reminds us that there are times in our lives when Jesus is just beyond our reach. When we are left waiting expectantly for what's going to happen next. The time between Ascension and Pentecost, the time between when Jesus left us and the Holy Spirit came to us, is not just ten days on our liturgical calendar. But rather a microcosm of our daily lives. This in-between time is our daily in the meantime.

"Imagine a world where when people wanted to be heard and seen for who they were; be understood; they'd go to a Christian because Christians had reputations for listening and seeking commonality and understanding. Why not, Christians? Why can we not take a page out of Paul's book here and seek to understand and care for others? To meet them where they are, not by way of condescending or pretending that everything's the same. Not by way of minimizing differences, either. Or living in some sort of relativistic world where nothing is good or bad. None of that stuff, Paul doesn't do that. But by in the midst of our difference, seeking to talk about that difference from a place of what we do share. And what we care about and desire. What we yearn for and need. What if we were Christians like that?"

"Jesus is saying, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life, focus your hearts and your minds on my teaching, on my integrity, on my power, and on my risen-ness. If you stick with me, you will be alright.

If no one can come to the Father except through Jesus, it means that he is person who can bring everybody to the Father. And if Jesus is the Word of the Father, then he is the expression of the Father's eternal desire that everyone should come to him."

"In a nutshell, great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them. Jesus summed it up with his command, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And it was not a request. God loves us and is expectant.

On a positive note our church is doing its darnedest walking The Way of Love to become Beloved Community. To love our neighbors so that there is not one needy person among us. One of the practices of The Way of Love is Go: to live like Jesus, crossing boundaries. This means moving outside our circles of comfort. Going to other places, places we are not familiar with; geographically, culturally, economically, spiritually. But how can we do these things at this time of lock-down and self-imposed isolation?"

"You see that's what Jesus does for people, he takes their cold, sad, confused, scared, troubled hearts and sets them on fire. I know that many of you have felt this fire inside. I have seen it. And I also know that times like these can make us question the state of our hearts, especially as they are breaking. Breaking for those who are sick or alone, and for the many who have died. Troubled by so many unanswered questions."

"If our goal is to come out of this thing as better people than when we went in, then I think we are missing the reality of how God is present in our lives right now. [...] We ask this question, 'God, will you save us?' This is the right question for our time. 'God, will you make me a better person during this?' is not the question. 'God, will you save us?' and not just one of us, and not just some of us. Will you save us, our people? Will you redeem us? Will you make things right?"

"As you emerge into this world, you are being empowered, not only to recognize love, but to share that love and to bring your understanding of love into the world in powerful and beautiful ways."

Image Credit: Sculpture of Mary Magdalene, artist unknown.