Sermon Transcript: March 11, 2012 The Third Sunday in Lent Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22
From this morning’s Psalm, “Let the words of mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Typically, on the Third Sunday in Lent, we begin our services here with the Penitential Rite which involves hearing each of the Ten Commandments (or “The Decalogue” as they are commonly called). And after each commandment is read aloud, the congregation responds, “Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law” (BCP p 317-18). And so, we planned on beginning this week’s service with the Decalogue. But, as I proofed the service leaflet and then, read over our Old Testament lesson, I kind of felt like Sophia from The Golden Girls asking, “Is it my stroke, or did we hear this already?” Hearing the Ten Commandments once is often difficult enough, let alone twice. After all, as one of my Seminary colleagues said, “None of us like to be told how to live.”
Many think of the Commandments as a whole lot of “Thou shalt not’s” when, in reality, they come down to two simple phrases that are powerful and yet, very difficult to live: We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves. Every “no” statement offered in these commandments make sense to people who are grounded in the love of God and love of neighbor. If our whole being is focused on loving God and neighbor, then we will be honest at all times; we will not steal; we will respect the dignity of every human being; and we will honor God with our substance, especially our time; because we understand and embrace that loving God and loving all that God has created is our highest calling as God’s people.
Yet, we often use these commandments to advance our own agenda especially when, like we hear from all sorts of politicians these days, we want to tell someone else how to live. And yet, that is not the heart of the commandments. They are about love and love is what unites us as a people and unites us with God. That’s why the Psalmist proclaims that God’s laws rejoice the heart: they are not a burden, but rather, they are the way to an abundant and happy life. Imagine what this world would be like if everyone committed their whole being to loving God and loving their neighbor. Imagine what the Church would be like if every Christian loved God and their neighbor as much as they loved themselves.
Sermon Transcript: March 4, 2012 The Second Sunday in Lent The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Psalm 22:22-30; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38
From Genesis, “The Lord appeared to Abram, and said … ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.’” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It may come as a surprise to some of you knowing how staid, conservative, and serious I am at all times, to learn that one of my favorite television shows is none other than the cartoon series, The Simpsons. I n one particular episode, parents Marge and Homer Simpson head off to the local elementary school. There, emblazoned across the front of the school hangs a huge banner which reads, “Parent – Teacher Night: Let’s share the blame!”
In our Old Testament lesson this morning, God tells Abram to walk before him and to be blameless. I think that one of the subtle and yet, very telling shortfalls of modern society is when things don’t go the way we want them to go, we tend to blame everyone else for what has happened, rather than, look inward to ourselves. At first, we might blame all our problems on today’s social ills and point our fingers saying, “If the government would do something, then no one would ever be hungry or homeless.”Or we might blame our problems on people of different ethnic origin or race; and, of course, the current rage is to blame everything that is wrong with American society on the undocumented workers, or the abortion debate, or, even, gay marriage. Whatever our circumstances, we tend to say that the fault lies with someone else.
When we do realize that our shortfalls are, in fact, our own doing, we just plead, “I didn’t know” thinking that, somehow, by claiming ignorance, we can still shift the responsibility away from us and onto someone else when, in reality, we did know, but, we forgot. To say, “I forgot” would mean taking responsibility for our choices and actions, and some people do not want to do that and certainly, they do not want to acknowledge such before others. When things go wrong, it just has to be someone else’s fault. Besides, rather than look within ourselves, it is far easier to blame someone else, even to blame God.
Sermon Transcript: February 26, 2012; The First Sunday in Lent The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15
From Mark’s Gospel, “Jesus came … saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I had one of those “Epiphany moments” this past Friday afternoon. You know, that’s when something spiritual dawns on you while you are in the midst of mundane tasks. I was in the Charlotte, NC airport awaiting my connecting flight home. The terminal was rather overcrowded due to a number of flight cancelations and delays caused by the severe weather in that region. I was fortunate to have arrived in plenty of time for my connecting flight but others, sad to say, had arrived late and missed their connections or were running full-tilt to get to their next gate.
Having plenty of time, and tired of reading, I settled back in my chair and watched the mass of people before me that seemed to be jostled around by just too many people in a small space each with their own agenda and their own needs, all trying to head in different directions and all of them talking at the same time. Above this fray of humanity were the sounds of modern communication: buzzers and bells ringing, cell phones jingling their obnoxious ring tones (why don’t people answer their phones?), the incessant beeping of carts carrying the mobility impaired to the next gate; business persons pacing around in circles gesturing into the air as they chatted on cell phones telling someone what to do; and a Public Address system reminding us for the umpteenth time in calm dulcet tones,“Attention please: The FAA reminds all travelers, ‘do not leave your bags unattended at any time.’” My Epiphany moment came about while waiting at the gate for my own 5:35 pm flight. All the signs throughout the terminal and at the gate read “on time” for departure even though it was now 5:40 pm and the plane hadn’t even arrived yet. It was at that time that our gate attendant announced that the flight was delayed. I thought, “Well, now there’s a surprise.” The person next to me who, until now had been having a lengthy conversation with someone on his cell phone (why do people speak so loudly when they’re on a cell phone?), told his caller to hold on and then asked me, “Is there a delay?” I affirmed such, at which point he got back on the phone and said, “The guy next to me just said the flight is delayed. They never announced it. No one told us!” That was my epiphany moment: We live in a world of mass communication that bombards us with constant messages and even when we can see with our own eyes what is happening in front of us – such as it’s hard to get on a plane that isn’t there yet - we can get so wrapped up in our own lives – our own worlds – that we tune out everything around us and, in the process, miss out on vital information. Saying “I didn’t know” seems to have become the universal excuse for not listening to, and not observing what’s going on around us. And guess what? That excuse doesn’t work!
Our scripture readings on this first Sunday in the Season of Lent call us to pay attention to our surroundings and, more importantly, to listen for God and to look for God in all things; to see Christ; to hear and be Christ in a world desperate for good news. Lent reminds us that we can no longer say, “I didn’t know” or “God didn’t tell me.” God has spoken and it is up to us to respond.
Sermon Transcript: February 19, 2012 The Last Sunday after the Epiphany The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: 2 Kings 2:1-12; Psalm 50:1-6; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9
From Mark’s Gospel, “Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here.’” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I think that one of the marvelous things about Holy Scripture is its telling of how God chooses ordinary, everyday people just like you and me to carry forth God’s message and light in this world.
Our Old Testament reading from 2ndKings tells how Elisha received a double blessing from Elijah and carried on God’s mission of reconciliation to the people of Israel. Elisha had no special training nor did he possess any of the skills we would think necessary for a prophet to hold or required of anyone to be successful in ministry. Like the Prophet Moses before him and his master Elijah, Elisha was an unlikely candidate for ministry: he spoke poorly and was a non-descript person. And yet, we learn from this particular reading that he was totally dedicated and committed to his master and that was all God needed to carry his message and light in this world.
Our gospel lesson this morning tells the story of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. Present with Jesus were Peter, James and John. We know Peter all too well as someone who was often brash; who jumped to conclusions; was quick to speak and slow to think. Mark tells us that once again Peter has put his foot in his mouth. He says, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here.” He should have stopped there, but that wouldn’t be typical of Peter. He just had to say more. Peter blurts out, “Let us build three dwellings (or shrines)” to commemorate this occasion and in speaking these words, he misses the whole point of the Transfiguration. I think that what I like about Peter is that I can see myself in him: We tend to think that when confronted with an act of God, a miracle, an answered prayer, a sense of God’s presence, we have to do something special. Yet, Mark tells us that Jesus remained silent and a voice from heaven proclaimed, “This is my Son; the beloved. Listen to him.” God does not need more shrines and dwelling places. What God seeks is a people who will listen to God and try to see God present in every aspect of our lives.
The Rev. Michael Briggs was guest preacher and presider on this occasion. A copy of his sermon will posted to this site as soon as it becomes available.
Sermon Transcript: February 5, 2012 The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Isaiah 40:21-31; Psalm 147:1-12, 21c; I Corinthians 9:16-23; Mark 1:29-39
From Mark’s Gospel, “(Jesus said,) ‘let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This morning’s scripture readings seem to be very timely given that we are a parish in the midst of renewal with an ever increasing desire to fulfill and expand our mission and yet, we recognize the realities of our limited human and financial resources while all around us the needs of our community, our neighbors, and even our own selves are reaching a critical point that threatens to overwhelm even the most stout-hearted and faithful in our midst.
These are difficult days in our nation: From Occupy Wall Street protests continuing their barrage across the country, to the inane political rhetoric of presidential candidates, to staggering unemployment and job layoffs, to economic inequities, our people seem more divided now than ever before: Divided by race, by gender, by sexual orientation, by economic status, and even by religion. For me, what I find most disheartening is that Christians are arguing among themselves more than at any time I can remember and in the process, churches risk losing sight of the message they are called to proclaim. Noted author and poet, Charles Baudelaire, wrote that the devil’s greatest achievement is having convinced the world that he doesn’t exist. I think I would add another to those achievements: he has divided our once united nation and created such incredible need at every level of our society that churches are overwhelmed to the point of fighting among themselves. There are times when I wonder, like the people of Israel in today’s reading from Isaiah, if our ways are hidden from the Lord – can God not see what we are doing and what is happening with us? If so, why is God disregarding how much we are struggling to make ends meet?
Sermon Transcript: January 29, 2012 - The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany - The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; I Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28
From Mark’s gospel, “… a man with an unclean spirit … cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Several years ago, I was invited to a rather posh dinner party in an exclusive Bostonneighborhood. But, for all the lavish surroundings and the alluring smells of what appeared to be top of the line hors d’oeuvres, something didn’t taste quite right. In fact, it was downright awful! I found myself wondering, “Where did this come from?” Of course, being polite, I said nothing to our host and then tried to eat around what was on my plate. Has this ever happened to you?
Such was the situation that St. Paul addresses in today’s reading from I Corinthians. Several church members feared that they might be eating meat that was already offered to idols. It was typical for pagan temples to sell off any leftover sacrificed meats after worship services. So, when you went to market, you had no idea if the meat on sale had actually been offered to a pagan god. Paul reminds the Church that we know and serve the only one, true God who, Paul says, is greater than any other god or lord in the heavens or on the earth. Therefore, Paul says (and I paraphrase here), “Who cares if some yahoo pagan priest waved a potroast over a pagan altar? Their god means nothing to us. Whether we choose to eat or not to eat has no impact on our spiritual life: these meats are harmless. So, go for it and enjoy yourself.” But, then, Paul adds a word of caution. And these cautious words have divided the Church for centuries. Paul says, “But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” Paul explains that if any of our actions, anything we do or say, will encourage someone else to commit what they believe is a sin, then don’t do it. The hard part for us is that in this day, living in a multi-cultural society with different standards of conduct, especially among the myriad rules and regulations of Christian denominations right here in our own city that tell us you can’t do this or that, what we choose to eat and drink or choose to do or live is often interpreted as being unchristian. Case in point: Some churches insist that Christians don’t drink or smoke; nor do they gamble, play cards, go to movies, or dance. Some say that real Christian women never wear slacks and Christian men do not have long hair, and the list goes on. Sadly, this suggests that Christians should be outright divorced from our culture rather than engage it, never have any fun, nor enjoy the arts, or just relax with a cold beer on a hot summer day.
Paul would say these rules are poppycock! And yet, he reminds us that any excess can be unhealthy for God’s people. And if what you are doing will cause someone else to stumble, then, think twice before you do it because we might harm someone else in addition to harming our own selves. Then, Paul goes a little further. This is what irritates me about Paul and what I like about him: he pushes the envelope just a little more; he ruffles our comfort zone. Paul says that if we do something that we know for ourselves is a sin, remember this: you never sin in private. Oh, we might think that how we live outside these walls is our own business and has no effect on the Church. But Paul says that even things done in secret damage the body of Christ. “Private sins” often influence how we look at an issue and can cause us to unduly and unfairly influence church mission. For example, if in our hearts we harbor racism, then we might work against issues of racial equality and try to deter the Church from taking a stand in the community. If, in our hearts, we really think the poor deserve their misfortune, we might work against offering them food or clothing, or ignore the beggar on the street and in so doing, ignore the Christ.
Sermon Transcript: January 22, 2012 The Third Sunday after the Epiphany The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:6-14; I Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20
From the Book of Jonah, “And the people of Nineveh believed God.” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
One of the many things that I like about the Old Testament is that, while it is very clear that God chose Israel to be a model and light to world about living in right relationship with God and neighbor, there is an overriding message that God will save whom God chooses to save: That salvation is not dependent upon birthrights or our national origin; it is, instead, a gift of God’s grace.
Jewish teaching tells us that it is the righteous who inherit eternal life. And that righteousness is not simply about adhering to rules and regulations, but rather, it is a righteousness that comes from the heart: from the hearts of those who seek and listen to God and, in seeking and listening to God, they choose to live righteous lives. Righteous lives are measured by how we keep God’s laws of which the Ten Commandments are supreme. As the Psalmist would say, the righteous place their hope in God because they recognize that God is their rock and their salvation. They are content to wait in silence for God. As Proverbs (20:7) says, “A righteous man walks with integrity,” or as Matthew (13:24) says, “The righteous inherit the Kingdom of God.”
Christians say that it is our faith that leads to eternal life: That it is because of our faith that we walk with integrity; that our faith in God is the reason we have hope and are content to wait in silence for God. What we need to realize is that when Jews speak of righteousness they often mean the same as when we speak of faith because the fact is that we cannot be righteous without having faith and we cannot be faithful without being righteous. Our faith or righteousness is demonstrated in how we live every moment of every day; how we embrace God’s values; God’s commands.
Sermon Transcript: January 15, 2012 - The Second Sunday after the Epiphany - The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: I Samuel 3:1-10; Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; I Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51
From this morning’s gospel, “Philip said to (Nathaniel), ‘Come and see.’” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
You got to hand it to Philip in today’s reading from John’s gospel. Rather than debate the merits of Nazarethor his discernment
that Jesus is the Christ, Philip chooses to invite Nathaniel to “come and see:” to observe and decide for himself. “Come and see:” sure sounds like a great ad campaign for a church, doesn’t it?
So much of life comes down to perception. Often times, our preconceived ideas of what we think should or should not be tempers how we perceive the world. Church history is filled with missed opportunities for mission and growth because God’s people objected to this, that, or the other movement of the Holy Spirit deciding that whatever was happening could not possibly be of God and refusing to even come and see for themselves. And yet, this morning’s scripture lessons tell us that our life in Christ, our life as God’s people, is never static: God is always at work in the world continuously renewing, creating, and doing new things. In so many ways, God is forever inviting all of humankind to, “Come and see.”
I think that one of the difficulties we encounter as Christians is our misperception that being born again or having a conversion experience is an ending. We might think that like Samuel, all we have to say is, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” and everything will be just fine; that we will never have to make difficult choices. Or, like the Church at Corinth, all we need to do is “get saved” because we prefer to believe that’s all God requires. But the Christian faith has more to say about beginnings than endings. What began at Calvary with the forgiveness of our sins was only the beginning of God’s new work in us and it will not end until Christ returns. As our reading from John’s gospel tells us, we have much more to see and learn about Christ and our life in Christ.
Sermon Transcript: January 8, 2012 The First Sunday after the Epiphany and The Baptism of Our Lord
The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Genesis 1:1-5; Psalm 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11
From Mark’s gospel, “And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved.’” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Do you hear voices? Not the voices of others, but rather, those voices in our heads that seem to clamor for our attention. I do. Sometimes my voices speak so loudly that I question my own sanity. (I know others question my sanity, too!) Often, those voices are simply the incessant chattering of our consciences, or perhaps they are none other than the voice of God while, at other times, the voices are clearly not of God. For some, speaking about voices in our heads conjures up that cartoonimage of an angel whispering into one ear, “Don’t do it,” while a devil is whispering into the other, “Go ahead. No one will know.” Yet, regardless of their source, I find that each one begs me to listen to their voice above any other. Learning to hear God’s voice in the midst of the daily noise around and within us, and tune out that which is not of God is what discernment is about. And discernment is something with which each of us struggle. For many, it is a daily struggle. We are constantly bombarded by noises and voices. How can we recognize God’s voice above the fray?
On this First Sunday after the Epiphany which celebrates the arrival of the Magi at Bethlehem and the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Light of the world, our scripture lessons turn our attention to God’s voice and how God empowered Jesus for ministry at his baptism. As much as I had hoped to preach about the role of baptism in our lives, my thoughts and prayers kept directing me back to these images of God speaking and those voices in our heads. How does God speak to us today and, perhaps even more important, why or for what purpose? And if God is speaking, how can we know God’s voice above all others?
The Psalmist describes God’s voice thundering as it splits flames of fire, shakes the land and causes trees to quake. At Christ’s baptism, a voice comes forth as the heavens are ripped open and in Genesis, God’s voice brings about the creation of the world. Those are pretty incredible images and certainly, if any of us experienced things like that, then we could easily recognize God’s voice. But, from my experience, the voices we hear are quieter: they nudge and gnaw at our conscience slowly urging us to listen and discern their message. But are they of God?
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