Sermon Transcript: March 25, 2012; The Fifth Sunday in Lent; Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 119:9-16; Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33
From John’s gospel, “(Jesus said) ‘Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, therefore will my servant be also.’”I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A peculiar thing happened to me this week. No, there were no arguments or confrontations with street people or any other bizarre situation where I was embarrassed by my behavior or the behavior of others. But it was peculiar just the same.
Typically, on Sunday evenings I read over the lessons for the following week and start thinking about the sermon. Last Sunday night was no different. As I read over today’s lessons, immediately, I thought, “Gosh, I could preach from Jeremiah with its comforting words that, regardless of how much and how often we have sinned, God has promised to establish a new covenant with us promising, ‘I will be (your) God, and (you) shall be my people.’ And this covenant will be written on our hearts.” I had visions of explaining how the Hebrew word translated as “written” actually means to “be carved.” Oh, what a great sermon topic. But then, I realized that the Maundy Thursday liturgy is all about Jesus becoming that New Covenant and carving his Name on our hearts. Hmmm.
“Sermon Transcript: The Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Jeremiah 31:1-6; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18
Mary Magdalene … announced to his disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’…” Good people of God hear the good news of the Gospel: “Alleluia! Christ is risen!” (The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia.) I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today is a day of feasting and great joy. By his death, Jesus of Nazareth, who lived among us as one of us, took upon himself our sins and the sins of the whole world so that, through his resurrection from the dead we can be restored, be born anew, and welcomed into God’s new creation and re-creation in the world. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead tells us that our life in God never has to end. It is eternal and we can live into that new life right now by simple faith in Jesus as the Christ: the redeemer of the world. Such is the glorious news of Easter.
These past few days, we have journeyed together through what is called Holy Week. It has been a journey of joy and profound learning just as it has been a journey of devastating betrayal and deep pain. One of the wonderful aspects of our tradition as Anglicans that we share with Roman Catholics and all Orthodox faith traditions is that we don’t just talk about Holy Week: We relive it as if it is unfolding for the first time right in front of our eyes. We walk the way of the cross with our Lord. So, throughout this week, we listened to our Lord’s comforting words of healing and wholeness, and accepted his invitation to live and love differently in this world. We answered his call to embrace a new family where every person we meet is recognized as Christ our brother standing in our midst. We were present with Jesus at prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. We sat at the table with him for the Last Supper, and with Jesus, we washed each other’s feet in humility and love. Then, on Friday night, we gathered with the crowd and watched Jesus’ trial where he was condemned to death. We came face to face with our own culpability in his death and owned the fact that, while Jesus willingly went to the cross on our behalf, it was our sin that killed him. And in one of those symbolic moments during our own Good Friday service, when a black veil is pulled down to reveal this cross, incredibly, the veil got caught on a corner. In the Temple at Jerusalem, a heavy veil prevented the people from seeing inside the Tabernacle where it is believed God’s presence dwelled. Our veil here got caught so that as it was pulled down it ripped loudly reminding us of the Gospels according to Mathew (27:51) and Mark (15:38) which tell us that at the very moment Jesus died that Temple veil was torn in two. We heard clearly that through Christ’s death, God revealed his glory for the people to see and in Christ’s resurrection; we are welcomed to live in that glorious presence of God.
Sermon Transcript: November 21, the Last Sunday after Pentecost The Feast of Christ the King The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin Readings: Jeremiah 23:1-6; Canticle 4; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43 From this morning’s Gospel reading, “And the people stood by, watching…” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today we observe the Feast of Christ the King: The end of the Christian Year. This is the day we Christians celebrate Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We proclaim together Jesus Christ’s sovereign rule over all creation as we await his coming in glory. Luke tells us, “The people stood by, watching.” So much of the Christian message is about watching and waiting, anticipating God’s work among us. At Advent, we watch for the coming of Christ as a humble and vulnerable newborn baby just as we await his return at the Second Advent. At Easter, we watch and wait for news that our Lord has risen from the dead. At Pentecost, we wait for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Now, on this Feast of Christ the King, we watch and wait for our Lord’s glorious return not just as King of the Jews and head of the church, but as Lord and King of the universe. We long to see this Jesus face to face. It is a holy longing in our hearts and yet, the Christian faith is much more than watching and waiting. It is about proclaiming the kingdom of God. It is about action in the midst of watching for Christ’s return and seeking his presence among us.
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