Homily Transcript: “ROGATION DAY” The Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 29 2011. The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 66:7-18; I Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21
Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
What a privilege it is to gather here on this sunny day in the midst of these beautiful grounds and celebrate our life together in Christ. I think it fitting that this year’s observance of Memorial Day with its call to faithful stewardship of the freedoms won for us at the cost of countless human lives, coincides with Rogation Day and its reminder that Christians are called to faithful stewardship not just of our liberties and freedoms, but of all that God has created: this earth and all its peoples. In so many ways, Memorial Day and Rogation Day is about love: love for our neighbors, our lands and seas, and love for God with whom, through Jesus Christ, we have an intimate relationship.
In this morning’s reading from Acts, St. Paul says that God is not something we created with our own hands from silver or gold. Rachel, a character in Lawrence and Lee’s play, Inherit the Wind, makes this rather astute comment, “God created man in his own image and man, being a perfect gentleman, returned the favor.” Such is the folly of human nature. We tend to shape God into our own image rather than allowing God to transform us into the image of Christ. God is not some figment of our imagination, but rather, God is our creator in whom St. Paul declares, “We live and move and have our being.” God isn’t just a part of our lives: God is our life.
Sermon Transcript: The Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 22, 2011 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16; I Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14
Jesus said, “I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Well, given that there are so many familiar faces here this morning it appears that we missed the so-called rapture of the Church that some nitwit in California predicted would occur yesterday. Of course, our presence here this morning could mean that the rapture, in fact, did take place yesterday and that we’ve been left behind to fend for ourselves. But, that is not what this morning’s scripture lessons teach us. Christ will, indeed, come again, but not to remove us and destroy the earth, but rather, he will come as our judge.
There was a time in my fundamentalist background when I would have joined yesterday with those hundreds of like-minded Christians and gazed upward to the heavens waiting for Jesus to descend upon the clouds and take all true-Christians back with him to heaven. As Episcopalians, we believe in the second coming of Christ, but not in the way that so many of our brothers and sisters in other Christian traditions believe. They believe in a rapture of the church: a non-biblical term for the removal of God’s people from the earth and the ushering in of the earth’s total destruction. Episcopalians believe, as our Creed says, that when Jesus returns, he returns to judge the world. Therefore, instead of focusing on a future Kingdom reserved for raptured Christians, we focus, instead, on the Kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus at his first coming: A kingdom marked by God’s mercy, love, grace, redemption and forgiveness that can dwell in the hearts of all humankind today just as it once did at the creation of the world.
Sermon Transcript: The Fourth Sunday of Easter; May 15, 2011 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; I Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10
Jesus said, “The sheep follow (the Shepherd) because they know his voice.” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This Fourth Sunday in Eastertide is frequehtly called Good Shepherd Sunday because of the focus of our scripture readings. From the idyllic comfort of the shepherd leading us into the green pastures of Psalm 23 to St. Peter’s statement that once we “were going astray like sheep, but now we have returned to the shepherd and guardian of our souls,” our lessons draw our attention to the Good Shepherd whom John’s Gospel says calls us by name and leads us into abundant life.
Our Gospel reading is often heard at ordination services because of its imagery of shepherding and leading. But, this Gospel isn’t about the role of priests and ministers. It is about Jesus Christ and our relationship with him and to him. Regardless of our place in society or even our role in the Church, we are equal members of the same flock. We follow one Shepherd: Jesus Christ our Lord. He has called us by name and we, in turn, follow where he leads.
John says that following Jesus depends upon our ability to recognize his voice. “The sheep follow him” John says,“because they know his voice.” This is the crux of today’s scripture readings: Following God’s lead requires that we know God’s voice. In other words, it’s hard to know which way to turn if you don’t recognize the voice of the one giving the directions. We have to learn how to discern that which is the voice of God. We live in a world of constant noise. Our ears are assaulted all day long with the sounds of our cities and towns, televisions, radios, people, traffic – all of it bombasts our hearing with an endless stream of noise. Even our own internal voice: our thoughts, our conscience, our mind is constantly sending us messages. How on earth in the midst of all these sounds can we be expected to recognize God’s voice? My sense in reading this scripture is that getting to know the voice of God, the voice of the Good Shepherd, takes time and effort on our part. Just as the Shepherd takes time to get to know the sheep by name, being present with them, listening to them, and studying them, so also, our ability to discern God’s voice requires being in God’s presence, studying and learning about God. Learning the sound of God’s voice comes from embracing an adult understanding of the Christian faith and way of life. It means making time for careful study, exposure, prayer, and fellowship with God and God’s people gathered together for worship.
Sermon Transcript: The Third Sunday of Easter; May 8, 2011 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17; I Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35
“While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from seeing him.” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This has been quite the Easter Season: Storms, rising flood waters, and torrential rains have created deep worries throughout our region that struggles to clean up from not one, but two severe storms. Our streets look like war zones piled high with debris and our rich farmlands have become lakes as the Mississippi River continues its ominous climb. We have confidence in our levee system and yet we worry, especially for our neighbors, how this weather and record flooding will impact our economy and our continuing life together. This is the Easter Season: We celebrate the risen Christ and embrace our hope as people of the resurrection and yet, we worry about the future like everyone else.
Added to the onslaught of the weather, came the news earlier this week of the death of Osama Bin Laden. The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on America and advocate of on-going terrorism that has killed thousands and thousands of innocent people throughout the world is dead. But my sense of relief at this news quickly turned to disenchantment as celebratory demonstrations took place in our streets with people jumping and shouting “USA, USA” as if this was an Olympic sporting event. I remembered how often my heart would break at news broadcasts of jubilation in the streets of Baghdad and Afghanistan when an American was killed. Now, our own people were doing the same. Justice has been served and for that we are grateful, but the celebrating leaves many of us deeply concerned for our nation and the world. As the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said so well, “Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness,” Dr. King said, “cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” We are called to seek justice, but we must remember that revenge is not a Christian virtue.
There was another sobering event this week about which there was no mention in the media and for many, it was just another day. This past Thursday was the 18th anniversary of the brutal murder of Holy Cross' own Michael Moore and two of his friends. How sad it is that there is more focus right now on the perpetrators of this crime than on the innocent victims and the shattered lives of the families involved. Let us continue to pray for justice in all things and seek new ways to offer our support to these families who continue to grieve and grieve deeply.
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