Sermon Transcript: The Fifth Sunday in Lent April 10, 2011 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Ezekiel 37:1-4; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45
From this morning’s Gospel, “Jesus asked Martha, ‘Do you believe this?’” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
What do we believe? Perhaps the greater question is if we believe, so what? This morning’s lengthy Gospel reading on the raising of Lazarus says much about believing, but John challenges us to ask “so what?” We can have faith: we can believe like Martha that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, and such faith might cause us to be nice people, but there has got to be something more in today’s scripture lessons than simply believing in Christ.
The story of Lazarus of Bethany rising from the dead tends to draw our attention towards the resurrection of our Lord which we will celebrate in two weeks’ time in glorious splendor. But, my friends, the story of Lazarus is not a foreshadowing of Jesus’ own resurrection, nor is it about death or the resurrection of the dead at the end of time. This story is about life and living life fully in the presence of God today.
Sermon Transcript: The Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany February 27, 2011 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Isaiah 49:8-16a; Psalm 131; I Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 6:24-34
From Isaiah, “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.” I speak to you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
As we near the end of the Epiphany Season, our scripture readings continue to speak of the promises of God and the choice we make to live into those promises as God’s people.
This morning’s reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah proclaims that God chooses to be present to his people in every step of their journey. Isaiah 49 was written during the second great exile of the Hebrew people whose cities and towns had been all but obliterated in not one, but two separate, massive invasions and the nation of Israel was decimated as her people were carried off into exile. God promises to vindicate and restore his people and calls them to rejoice in this promise. Isaiah reminds the Hebrew people and us, that God is present in good times and in bad times because God so chooses to be present. Hearing these words though, you can almost hear the disdain in the voices of the people. We can hear them asking, “How can you say God is present? How can you say God keeps his promises? Look at what has happened to us.” They lament, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” Sometimes when things aren’t going well for us or not going as we had planned, we might think that somehow God has removed himself from us and that we are very much alone in this world.
Sermon Transcript: The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany February 13, 2011 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin Readings: Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 119:1-8; I Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew 5:21-37
From the Book of Deuteronomy, “Choose life so that you … may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you …” I speak in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Have you ever had one of those “Uh-oh” moments? That’s where you ignored that old adage, “Be careful what you ask for because you might get it” and found yourself in a pickle?
Recently, I was commiserating with a fellow priest about our mutual dislike for the Revised Common Lectionary that determines which lessons of scripture are read aloud at Church. We noted that this new arrangement of scripture lessons rarely schedules the harsh sayings of Jesus for Sunday services. Difficult sayings of our Lord appear more often during weekdays when many are not present at Morning Prayer and, suffice to say, we never really gather to talk about those difficult texts. With smug disdain, I lamented that I longed for the days when Sunday readings forced us to grapple with difficult modern day issues. Then, this week, I had one of those “uh-oh” moments: not one, but all three of today’s scripture readings give us pause - serious pause.
Sermon Transcript: The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany February 6, 2011 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin Readings: Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 112:1-10; I Corinthians 2:1-16; Matthew 5:13-20
From Isaiah, “You shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’” I speak to you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Gospel lesson this morning describes God’s people in three terms: We are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and a city set on a hill. Each description describes who we really are and offers us a challenge as to how we should live in this world.
We think of salt in terms of seasoning or, as in the case of this past week, a good remedy for melting snow off of our sidewalks and streets. But salt, in Jesus’ day had multiple uses. Certainly it was a seasoning just as it is now. But salt was often used to describe the meal itself. The people of Israel would describe their meals as sharing salt and salt expressed a binding relationship between the host and the guests at the table. Perhaps that’s where the expression “pass the salt, please” came from. Leviticus and Ezekiel describe salt as a sacrifice while Ezra and the Book of Numbers describe the passing of salt between people as a sign of loyalty and a covenant of fidelity. The Books of the Kings speak of salt being used in purification rites and Paul’s letter to the Colossians describes salt as a preservative. So, salt didn’t simply exist for itself, but rather, it had a purpose and role in the lives of God’s people. And Jesus says, like salt, we, too, have a role and purpose in society as hosts, as a preservative, a seasoning, and as a sign of a loyal covenant with God.
Sermon Transcript: The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany January 30, 2011 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin Readings: Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; I Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12
From the prophet Micah, “What does the Lord require of God’s people but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.” I speak to you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today’s scripture readings seem especially poignant in light of the events of the past week in our nation and abroad. Some world leaders suggest that civil unrest in other parts of the globe are not our concern while many of our own political leaders suggest that it is somehow our own fault if we are unemployed and have difficulty making ends meet. More and more often, our culture espouses a belief that it is the powerful and beautiful that are blessed of God. Even religious leaders with their prosperity Gospel – a false Gospel – suggest that if you are not rich, then you are not right with God or not praying hard enough for the good life.
Our scripture lessons this morning tell us differently. When the prophet Micah arrived on the scene in Israel about 700 years before the birth of Christ, the nation had enjoyed many years of prosperity and, in the process, had grown complacent to the needs of their neighbors. Poverty, hunger, homelessness, unfair lending and business practices were increasing daily much like we hear about modern day Egypt and see here at home. The people of Micah’s day started to believe that if you were poor, or in need, it was a sign of your disfavor with God and your responsibility alone. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with requiring people to work in order to earn a living, but the incredible message of the prophet Micah is that we are responsible for the care and welfare of each other, our neighbors, and the world.
Sermon Transcript: The Third Sunday after the Epiphany January 23, 2011 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 5-13; I Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23
From this morning’s Psalm, “(LORD,) You speak in my heart and say, ‘Seek my face.’ Your face, LORD will I seek.” I speak to you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Many of you who were raised with the King James Version of the Bible, with its use of the old English language much like we hear in our Rite I observance of the Holy Eucharist, might recall our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel reading a little differently. In the old English, Jesus says to Peter and Andrew, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”
Some time ago, during testimony time at my childhood Evangelical Church, an elderly woman who had been married, I believe it was five times or maybe even more, got up and proclaimed to the congregation about how her life had radically changed when she became a Christian. She announced, “Ever since I met Jesus Christ, I have been fishing for men.” Needless to say, there was a lot snickering among the congregation that morning.
Sermon Transcript: The Second Sunday after the Epiphany January 16, 2011 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin Readings: Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-12; I Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42
From this morning’s Gospel reading, “When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The story is told of a visitor to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. For those who don’t know, St. John’s Cathedral has been under construction for over a hundred years. It will be the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world when, and if, it is ever completed. One of the wonderful things about this massive project is that a number of schools have been created to provide on-the-job training in masonry, carpentry, stone cutting and the like. Our visitor stopped by one such school and observed a teenager shaping some stones. He asked him, “What are you doing?” to which the teen responded, “I am shaping a stone.” A short time later he came upon another student who was also shaping a stone. “And what are you doing?” he asked her. She answered, “I am building a Cathedral.”
Sermon Transcript: The First Sunday after the Epiphany January 9, 2011 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin Readings: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17
From this morning’s Collect, “Grant that all who are baptized into (your Beloved son’s) Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior” I speak to you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
One of the things I love about the celebration of the Season of the Epiphany which, began this past Thursday and means “manifestation,” is that I see myself as a participant in the story of the Magi, the wise men, coming to Bethlehem. Perhaps, you see yourself in it, too. In this story, the promises of God are revealed in the sight of the people but, as John’s Gospel says so well, the people “knew him not.” The Epiphany reminds us of how often God reveals or manifests himself to us or in those around us and yet, we do not see these works of God, or even more significant, we choose not to recognize God doing the unexpected. Such is the story of the Epiphany.
Sermon: The First Sunday after Christmas Day December 26, 2010 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin Readings: Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 147; Galatians 3:32-35; 4:4-7; John 1:1-18
From this morning’s Collect, “Grant that (this Jesus Christ), this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives.” I speak to you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A very Merry Christmas to you all and may this celebration continue in our hearts.
Our scripture lessons this morning are offered within the context of our Opening Collect which proclaims Jesus Christ as the light of the world. The fact that our collect prays God to enkindle that light in our hearts suggests that this light is not static. It needs to be fed and nurtured much like faith is never static. Faith grows through a lifetime of probing, asking questions, seeking answers, and letting it stretch our imaginations in new ways.
Isaiah tells us that his experience of faith in God caused him to rejoice in the Lord greatly. Through faith in God, Isaiah came to understand and experience God as someone who clothes, redeems, and saves. Isaiah describes God in active terms: “God has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.” He describes these garments, this covering, as beautiful – the very best – like the clothing worn by brides and bridegrooms. Now, having experienced God’s presence and blessing, it is his abiding or continuing faith in God that pushes Isaiah to take action. He says, “I will not keep silent … I will not rest.” Such is the response of God’s people when we come to understand who God is and seek to put God first in our lives. This light of God, Christ himself, “shines out like the dawn and (his) salvation becomes like a burning torch.”
Sermon The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ December 25, 2010 The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin Readings: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20
From this morning’s Gospel, “The angel said to them, “Be not afraid: for see – I am bringing you good news of great for all the people.” I speak to you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A very Merry Christmas to you all! Some often wonder why the Church goes to such lengths to prepare for the commemoration of the birth of Christ. For some, there is the suggestion that what we spend on decorations or special music might have been better shared with those in need. Perhaps, for others, the falderal and costs of last minute shopping and feasting hits our pocketbooks in ways that we wonder if we will ever recover financially from this season. To quote Charles Dickens, there is a “Scrooge” in all of us at some point in our lives. Certainly watching scenes of holiday shoppers fighting with each other to get that one gift they somehow convinced themselves would bring love and happiness into their lives, gives us pause.
This holiday shopping frenzy, usually followed by New Year’s resolutions to never allow such stress to a gain such a serious hold in our lives ever again, is set against the backdrop of one of the simplest and seemingly less complicated stories in all history: the birth of Jesus Christ.
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