Sermon Proper 17 B

Rules, rules, rules - there seem to be so many rules.

Sermon for Proper 17 B

Given by Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

September 3, 2006

St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Brentwood

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

James 1:17-27

There is a story about a man who had the opportunity to visit hell. Upon entering he saw that people were divided up into groups. He asked Satan about the groups. Satan pointed to the first group and said that those were Jews that worked on the Sabbath. He pointed to the second group and said that they were Catholic (pre Vatican II) who ate meat on Fridays. The third group was made up of Methodists who danced and drank wine. Who is that last group that seems to try to keep themselves apart from the others? Oh, those are the Episcopalians who used their dinner fork to eat their salad.

I remember my mother carefully teaching me exactly were things were to go when I set the table. The forks on the left with one to be used first on the outside. The knife and spoon were to be put on the right with the knife blade pointed inward. The napkin on the left. The water glass above the knife, etc. etc.

Our acolytes are taught that the gospel candle, the one on the left of the altar, should never burn alone, so it is always the last to be lit and the first to be put out.

We stand when we listen to the Gospel, out of respect, but only during a Eucharist. We don’t stand for the Gospel during Morning Prayer. Is it that we don’t respect the Gospel as much during Morning Prayer?

Rules, rules, rules, there are lots and lots of rules. My mother used to sum it up by saying, “It just isn’t done.”

We all have an idea of how we are “supposed” to act. We can easily discover we are judging ourselves if we don’t live up to these various rules which in the gospel today would be described as the tradition of the elders.

It is not that there is no basis for many of these rules. Washing one’s hands before eating is a healthy thing to do. But some people take the rules to an extreme.

For example someone with a compulsive disorder will have an action, such as hand washing, which they will do over and over again. A person with compulsive hand washing may wash their hands, come out of the bathroom, and then go and wash them again. They are not doing it because their hands are dirty. In fact often their hands will get red and soar from too much washing.

They don’t do it to get clean, but to relieve their anxiety. When we are anxious, when we have that sort of generalized fear that doesn’t have a name, we look for something solid, stable, consistent. Rules provide a structure. They keep us safe. They make it easier to make decisions. They are predictable.

We tend to get particularly anxious during times of change. When our world is changing around us we want something, anything that is unchanging. We look for stability.

Often we look to the church for that stability. But now is a time of change in the church. General convention this summer has lots of people talking. There are questions about our relationship to the Anglican Communion, who should be ordained and the implications of a woman presiding bishop. The Episcopal Church is changing and that can be a source of anxiety.

And St. Alban’s is in a time of change. I will be leaving October 1. There is be an interim time while you look for a new Vicar, and then there will be a new priest to guide this congregation. Some of you now, or during the next few weeks, may find yourself anxious and unsure. The church you look to for stability is now anything but stable.

It is a temptation in times of anxiety to cling to the rules. To try to find the correct way to do things. We look for something solid, predictable. We want things to be done the way they always have or at least the way they are “supposed to”.

But that is not of Christ. He was constantly changing, stirring things up. There was nothing predictable about him.

And to those who would cling to a set of rules he says, “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human precepts as doctrine.” He is saying that rather than focusing on what God wants – to love God and love our neighbor – we tend focus on less important, but more measurable, things.

Let me ask you, would you rather have a neighbor that does all the right things, mows his lawn, doesn’t make noise at night, etc. or one who has a good heart?

Would you rather have a friend who said and did all the right things, or one who had a good heart?

Would you rather have a spouse that did all the right things, he would open doors for you, she would cook great meals, or would you want one who had a good heart?

And would you want a son or daughter who always obeyed all the rules, or one who had a good heart?

Jesus said that there is nothing outside a person that can defile; rather it is what comes from the heart.

It is easy for us to look at the outside and judge based on whether someone is following the rules. Only God can judge the heart.

Let’s take a look at the end of the Gospel reading, Mark 7:21-22. This is one of the few lists of behavior from Jesus. Usually our behavioral lists come from Paul. But here Jesus spells it out, the evil intentions that come from a person’s heart.

I had one person, not from this congregation, use these verses as evidence that gays and lesbians should not be ordained because they don’t live up to Jesus’ standard. Well, let’s take a look at this list.

Fornication, theft, murder – ah – murder. Just what is murder? Some would say that abortion is murder and judge everyone who is involved with abortion as breaking Christ’s rules. Others would look at the heart of a young girl who struggles with the decision for an abortion. Some would say that capital punishment is murder and pass judgment on everyone involved, others would look at the heart of a governor trying to consider the concerns of the victims loved ones and honor the law. Some consider war to be murder and judge those involved while others would see a soldier with a good heart trying to do his duty and protect her fellow soldiers.

The rules look simple, but they never are. They always have to be considered with the heart.

But lets move on with the list – adultery – avarice. Oh, that’s getting a little close to home, wanting too much for ourselves. Then we have wickedness, deceit, licentiousness – okay – but then comes envy – guilty – slander, pride – guilty again – folly – I know that I am foolish sometimes.

Whenever we look at a list in the Bible and start using it to judge others, or ourselves, we can get into a lot of trouble. It looks so clear, so black and white, but Jesus never spoke of black and white. He spoke of mercy, compassion, forgiveness, and love.

Yet we are always judging others, and even more so ourselves. We see others as not doing it right, or we see ourselves as not doing it right. And we are often prone to do it at church – in spite of Christ’s continual message that we should not judge.

This is a time of change at St. Alban’s. There will be anxiety. It will be easy to get lost in the little rules. It will be tempting to judge one another. But remember what James said in the Epistle today:

“If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless.” Worthless. Think before you speak, pray before you judge.

He goes on to say “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Compassion, self control, that is what religion is all about.

Remember, it doesn’t’ matter which candle is lit first. What does matter is that you love one another.

During this coming time of change, whenever there is change in your life, whenever there is anxiety, remember that there is only one adequate response – Love God with all your heart and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. That will get you through the tough times, and that is the only rule that ever really matters.

Proper 14 B - Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2

You are invited to the greatest banquet ever. How should you behave?
The answer can be found in Paul's letter to the Ephesians.

Proper 14 B

Transcribed from a sermon given on

August 12, 2012

At St Barnabas Episcopal Church

By Rev Valerie Ann Hart, Ph.D.

Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2

Imagine that you are invited to the greatest banquet ever given by the richest person on the earth - the most powerful, most well respected, most famous. This person is giving a banquet and you are invited. He or she has picked out the most magnificent setting. It is a banquet hall that is filled with chandeliers and beautiful curtains and gorgeous tables. There are waiters and waitresses all dressed up and fancy. As you get there people are arriving in their limousines. Everyone is dressed to the T. It is the most magnificent banquet - and you have been invited.

Of course the first thing you do when you are invited is, if you are a woman, to get your hair cut and your nails done. And if you are a guy you might still get your hair cut. If you don’t buy new clothes, at least you pick out the best clothes that you have, and you make sure that they are clean. Of course you take a nice shower because you want to be your best at the banquet.

You go to this banquet and it lives up to be every thing you imagined it would be. There is beautiful music playing in the background, but not so intrusive that it gets in the way of conversation. There is food - oh there is food. If you feel like seafood you get your choice. You can have salmon or you can have crab, and there’s lobster You could have lobster tails in all kinds of different ways. If you are more of a red meat kind of a person there is steak that is cooked just the way you like it. And chicken, oh the chicken, all the different ways you can possibly imagine chicken. And there is rice, and there is pasta, and there are fruits, and there are vegetables. And of course there are deserts. Ah the deserts! And you know what is great about this feast, no matter how much you eat you don’t get uncomfortably full and it is all healthy for you. Even the deserts are healthy for you! This is the most magnificent banquet ever.

So how would you behave when you are at that banquet? How would you expect other people to behave? Well first of all you wouldn’t expect a whole lot of swearing to be going on. You would expect people to be fairly kind to each other and polite. You certainly wouldn’t expect to look around and see people taking the food and sticking it in their pockets to take home. You wouldn’t imagine a lot of arguments, but kind conversation and a lot of thankfulness. And a lot of joy. It would be sort of like the best Thanksgiving you can imagine at your grandmother’s.

You see this banquet, this banquet we are invited to, is Christ’s banquet. And just like our grandmothers when we went to the best most amazing possible Thanksgiving, it is from him. He is offering himself. He has prepared the banquet. He is the banquet. He wants us to be there, and he wants us to consume him. He wants us to eat him. He wants us to fill ourselves on his love and his grace. Just like Grandma spent days making pies and cooking food and giving of herself, of her time and of her love so that we can all be nurtured, not just by the food, but by the relationship, by her love and by the gathered family.

Of course one difference with Thanksgivings is if you are in a family that is like most families not all them live up to what they are supposed to be. We aren’t always kind to one another when we come together on Thanksgiving, but we’ll get to that.

Now imagine this wonderful feast, this perfect feast, this gift of Christ - and all we have to do is show up. It is the Kingdom of God. It is how Jesus described the Kingdom of God as a wedding feast that we are all invited to. And all you have to do is show up and be willing to receive it - to feel that love, and that joy, and that thankfulness.

Like I said not every Thanksgiving is perfect. We sometimes don’t live up to what we are called to be as family. We don’t always love each other, but we are invited to. If you take a look at the passage that Paul wrote in the letter to the Ephesians you will see that Paul is writing a description of how we are supposed to behave at the great banquet, how we are supposed to behave at the banquet of the Kingdom of God. He is saying to the people that they have been invited and have said yes and have chosen to become part of the family of Christ.

This passage begins with the words, “So, then.” So then since you have come to the banquet this is how you are supposed to behave. “So then, put away falsehood, let us speak the truth.” It doesn’t make any sense to lie at the banquet where everyone has more than enough. Why would you need to lie? “For we are members of one another.” It’s a family. We are all the family.

Then he ads, “Be angry, but do not sin”. This is interesting. In my family Thanksgivings were often uncomfortable because there was someone who was angry but didn’t think they should say anything about it in front of the family. You know what it is like when you walk into a room where everybody is angry, but no body is talking about it. They all pretend everything is just fine. Sometimes you wish they would just fight with each other because at least they would get it out. Paul is saying its okay to be angry. It’s okay to express your anger. If someone steps on your toe, tell them, “Hey, you stepped on my toe.” But then you let it go. Don’t go to sleep. “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” Don’t go you stepped on my toe three years ago at Thanksgiving. You stepped on my toe and I was too polite to tell you then but today I just can’t stand it any more and I have to tell you.” We have all been to those kind of Thanksgivings as well. At least if you had as dysfunctional a family as I did. So it is okay that we sometimes hurt one another and that we feel angry because we have to know what our anger is before we can forgive and then once we forgive we are starting all over again.

Paul adds what seems obvious, “Thieves must give up stealing.” If you are at the banquet and Christ has given you everything you possibly could need, the promise that you will never hunger or thirst, all the love you need, all the support you need, all the caring you need, why would you ever steal? Why would you have to hoard things? At this great banquet where there is more than enough for everyone, why would you keep stuff aside for yourself? Instead Paul says that we should get a job so we can make money to give to others. When we are at the banquet where there is more then enough our job is to give away to other people, not to hoard it for ourselves.

Paul continues, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up.” Who would want to be at a fancy banquet where everybody was trash talking everybody else. It would ruin the whole thing. Instead you would want to be at a place where people are encouraging one another, lifting one another up.

We don’t want to, as Paul puts it, “grieve the Holy Spirit” so we are encouraged to “Put aware all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you.” That’s how we are to live in the Kingdom. That’s how we are to behave at the great banquet of Christ.

Paul concludes, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” This banquet is an offering from Christ. You see there is no greater delight for Christ than to feed us. That is his purpose. That is why he became incarnate - to feed us - to be the bread of life - to nurture us - to give us the love and forgiveness, the caring and the compassion, that we need to thrive, to grow. It is his delight to give the banquet, all we have to do is show up and then live lives as if we truly were receiving all that we need, all the love that we need, all the compassion that we need - to live lives that are fully alive and filled with hope and tenderness and compassion.

Sermon for Proper 8 B

This sermon was given in 1994 before the most recent changes in the lectionary. At that time the story of the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years was left out of the readings. It is a reflection upon why Mark included it in the middle of the story of the healing of Jairus' daughter.

Sermon for Proper 8 B

Given on June 16, 1994

At St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Brentwood

By Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

If the Gospel reading seemed a bit long to you today, that’s because it was. I added a bit extra. Each Sunday we are mandated to read what is in the lectionary for that week, but it is up to the discretion of the priest to add to the readings. If we followed the lectionary today we would hear only the story of Jairus’s daughter. This is a powerful story even if standing alone. Certainly much could be preached about it. Themes of faith, and resurrection, the meaning of death and of life are there to be drawn upon. But when Mark wrote the story down he chose to add in the middle of it the story of the woman who had been bleeding. By editorial prerogative he could have put that story somewhere else, or even left it out, but instead he sandwiched it in the middle of another story. The people who put together the Sunday lectionary, unlike Mark, chose to leave the story of the hemorrhaging woman out. She doesn’t show up in the readings for any other Sunday, and I feel her story is too important to ignore. In addition, I feel that Mark must have had a reason for combining these two stories together, so I read the whole thing.

Jairus is a leader of the synagogue, that would be like being a Bishop and a mayor wrapped into one. Leaders of the synagogues had religious respect and authority, and were also community leaders. He was undoubtedly also well off financially.

In contrast, the woman who is hemorrhaging doesn’t even have a name. She has spent all her money on doctors, so she must have been quite poor. She has been bleeding for twelve years, which is usually interpreted to be a menopausal problem. When a woman was bleeding in ancient Israel she was considered unclean, ritually impure. In fact a man who touched (or was touched by) a menstruating woman was considered impure and had to go through certain rituals and wait at least twenty-four hours before being considered clean again. A man who was ritually impure was not allowed to enter the temple or partake in any religious services. Imagine what it would have been like for this woman. An outcast, untouchable for twelve years. Desperate she committed an unthinkable act - she touched a rabbi - thereby making him unclean as well.

Yet Jesus responded to her with as much compassion and love as he did to the rich Jairus. She is healed, not condemned.

Then Mark describes Jesus as continuing on with Jairus, without any purity rituals, without waiting the appointed time, and bringing the little girl back to life. A great miracle is performed by a ritually impure rabbi.

I believe Mark put these two stories together to emphasize Jesus’ total acceptance of all people. The rich and powerful and the most lowly and outcast are all welcomed and loved by Christ. It is the model which Mark would have us follow - total acceptance of all. It would have been easy for Jesus to focus his ministry on the rich - he could have healed them and lived will. But he didn’t, he responded to the poor, the outcast as well. It would have been easy for Jesus to only focus on the poor, to say that the powerful were already too corrupt. But he didn’t, he healed the rich and the powerful as well.

The community which Christ began - the Church - is called to welcome all. There is never a fee to enter the church. We are not judged by the amount of money in our pockets or the power that we wield. We are all in need of Christ’s healing love, rich or poor, powerful or outcast. We are all equal in his loving eyes.

Right now I feel a little like that hemorrhaging woman. I feel a bit awkward and unsure. I need to reach our and touch your robes for the health of this church. Asking for money is difficult for me. I don’t like to focus on the needs of the church, especially in a sermon, but I don’t know any other way to do this. This church, this tiny part of the great Kingdom of God, is in financial need. Each month we spend more than we receive and our savings are being quickly consumed. If St. Alban’s is to continue as a light in the world, if Christ’s work of reconciliation and healing is to continue here, in this form, we quite frankly need more money. The work of Christ will go on regardless of what happens here. The Kingdom of God is greater than you or I or St. Alban’s, but I believe we have some unique gifts to bring to this community and if you feel so also I ask you to increase your pledge or fill out a pledge card in the back of the church.

In the letter read today Paul writes to the Corinthians about members of the church in another city saying:

During a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave accord to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints. Begging for the privilege of sharing in the ministry.

In my mind from the readings today there can be no question about the kind of life a Christian is called to live. It is a life in which all people are valued, where no one needs to be ashamed because of their lack of the ability to give and no one is to be proud because of their wealth. It is a life in which one gives all that one can. It is a life where people give out of the abundance of joy that they have experienced as Christ’s gift to them.

All of us, rich and poor alike, are like the woman who feels she is unworthy to speak to the Lord and ask for his healing, yet has faith that just to touch his hem will heal her. We come on our knees to Christ, awed by the greatness of his gift to us, knowing that there is nothing we can do that would even begin to equal it. So we offer to Christ what we have, our time, our talents, our treasure. Not out of ought, but joyfully wanting to share in the privilege of Christ’s ministry to the world.

Sermon Proper 6 B

Parables are like seeds sown in the heart where they can sprout and grow.

Proper 6 B

Sermon given on June 15, 1997

At St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Brentwood

By Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

Mark 4:26-34

A handful of wheat, five thousand years old, was found in the tomb of one of the kings of ancient Egypt. Someone planted the grains and, to the amazement of all, the grains came to life.

A parable is like a seed. No matter how long ago the story was told, when planted in the heart, in the mind, in the soul, it can come to life and grow. Each time we remember the story, each time a new event in our lives triggers a remembrance of the parable, there is a new understanding, and the seedling grows. Each time, each retelling, each rereading, each remembering the depth of understanding grows.

Jesus taught in parables, in puzzles, with stories that his hearers would remember, would think about, that would aid and nurture the spiritual growth of the hearer.

There are parables of words, and parables of action.

A sannyasi, an Indian holy man, had reached the outskirts of a village and settled down under a tree for the night when a villager came running up to him and said, "The stone! The stone! Give me the precious stone!" 

"What stone?" asked the sannyasi. 

"Last night the Lord Shiva appeared to me in a dream," said the villager, "and told me that if I went to the outskirts of the village at dusk I should find a sannyasi who would give me a precious stone that would make me rich forever.” 

The sannyasi rummaged in his bag and pulled out a stone.  "He probably meant this one, " he said, as he handed the stone over to the villager.  “I found it on a forest path some days ago.  You can certainly have it.”

The man gazed at the stone in wonder. It was a diamond; probably the largest diamond in the whole world for it was as large as a person’s head.  He took the diamond and walked away.

All night he tossed about in bed, unable to sleep. The next day at the crack of dawn he woke the sannyasi and said, "Give me the wealth that makes it possible for you to give this diamond away so easily.” 

A gift, an act of love, a touch, a statement, the telling of one’s own story can be a seed, planted in the heart, which grows to enlighten the soul. The gift given without expectation, the seed planted without knowing how, or why or if it will grow. The faith of the farmer who keeps scattering seed on the ground even though he doesn’t know why or how. Even though sometimes for days and nights he sees nothing above the ground. The seeds are scattered in faith - faith that somehow they will bear fruit.

The Samaritan woman put down her water jar and went off to the town.  She said to the people, "Come and see the man who has told me everything I ever did.  Could this be the Messiah?"

What a wonderful teacher was the Samaritan woman! She gave no answers. She only asked a question. She planted the seed of a question. It must have been tempting to give the answer because she had gotten it directly from Jesus when he said, “I am the Messiah.  I who am talking to you."  But she was content to scatter the seed of a question and let it grow.

Many more became disciples because of what they heard from his own lips. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard him ourselves, and we know that this is, indeed, the Savior of the world.  "

We too need to be like the farmer who scatters seeds. We are called to scatter seeds - seeds of our own stories - the parables of our own lives - seeds of faith, seeds of love, seeds of gifts given without expectation. We plant the seeds in those we care for, in those we meet, in our neighbors, our friends, and our children. We tell the stories, we ask the questions, we give the gifts and then we sleep and rise night and day and let the seeds sprout, and grow and rejoice that the smallest of seeds can become the greatest of all shrubs.

Sermon Proper 5 B

Here is something I wrote back in 1994 that includes some reflections on martyrdom. Who would have thought then that 20 years later the news would include information about people killed just because they are Christians.

Proper 5 - Year B

June 5, 1994

Sermon Given at St. Alban’s, Brentwood

By Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

During the past several weeks I have received in the mail two letters asking that vicars and rectors set aside this Sunday for a special purpose. The first was from the bishop of our diocese concerning the Episcopal Charities Appeal and the second was from the Ugandan AIDS project, asking that we remember the Ugandan Martyrs who appear on our calendar on June 3rd. I said something about the Episcopal Charities appeal in my newsletter and I will say more about it later, but first I’d like to talk somewhat about the Ugandan Martyrs. If you are like I was before I started Seminary, you probably never heard of the Ugandan Martyrs. Rather than try and describe them myself, I would like to read you the letter describing the background on the Ugandan Martyrs that I received

(Here I read from the letter which I no longer have)

It is hard for us who live in the United States, a country that has had total religious freedom for more than 200 years, to really comprehend martyrdom. It is hard for us who have never had to chose between life and our belief in Christ to realize that people have been systematically killed because of the belief in Christ not just centuries ago, but in 1977. It is hard for us who come to church on Sunday mornings when it is convenient, when we are not too tired, when there is nothing else we need to do on Sunday to imagine what it was like for Christians who lived under communism to meet in secret and risk losing everything in order to go to receive the Eucharist. It is hard for us who live such secular lives to realize that a religion could be that important in a person’s life.

What is it that would bring someone to a willingness to give their lives for Christ? It is not out of duty, or ought, (the primary motivators in much of American religion) but rather a response - a response to the love of God demonstrated through Jesus Christ. It is a response to the freedom we have been given through Christ’s sacrifice, the freedom from bondage to sin and guilt. The Old Testament reading today concerning Adam and Eve’s refusal to accept responsibility for their actions and the subsequent separation from God was wiped out by Christ’s loving sacrifice. All need to feel guilty and separated from God was wiped clean by the inconceivable love shown by Christ. Christ knows us, sees us, sees through us, sees all the little fears and guilts and mistakes…and…he loves us. To paraphrase Mr. Rogers, “he loves us just the way we are.” And that love transforms us, and helps us to become the people God intends for us to be.

To be willing to die for someone who gives us ourselves is not so surprising. To be willing to give up all for the one who is the source of all the we are, all that we have, is not so surprising When we realize how much we are loved, when we realize that all we have, all we are, is a loving gift from God, when we know that we belong to Christ, then we must respond.

In the Gospel reading today Jesus says:

And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Those who just say that they are related to Christ, are not acknowledged, only those who “do the will of God.” When we know that we are Christ’s, that each breath is a gift, that all we have is a gift, that every penny that passes through our hands is a gift, that the beauty of the sky and the trees are gifts, that our very lives are gifts from a loving sacrificing God, how can we not respond? How can we not try to do the will of God?

The Episcopal Charities are one way in which the will of God is done in our name by the Episcopal Diocese of California. There are people out there ministering to the homeless, the elderly, the lonely, those addicted to drugs and alcohol, mothers who are struggling to raise children alone, people dying, people diagnosed with AIDSS. These people who are doing the will of God in our name thorough these Episcopal Charities ask for our support, especially our financial support. By giving to the Episcopal Charities Appeal we do the will of God by financially supporting those who are doing the will of God throughout the diocese.

We as a church, as the St. Alban’s community, are also called to do the will of God. When you financially support the church you help this entity to do the will of God. Now we do not have enough money even to balance a very limited budget. How can we together do what our church is called by God to do in the community of Brentwood without consistent financial support?

And we are called to do the will of God as individuals. To strive to do the will of God in our work environments, to strive to do the will of God in our families, and to strive to do the will of God during our leisure time.

All that we have, all of our time, all of our talents are gifts from God and we are called to be stewards of these gifts and to in all ways and at all times consider whether our choices are consistent with the will of God. When we do this, when we feel our actions are consistent with the will of God, we experience a deep inner satisfaction and we know that we are indeed Christ’s sisters and brothers.

Trinity Sunday Sermon - Year B

To be adopted by God, to know that we are loved unconditionally now and forever, to be born anew, that is the mysterious and glorious gift that I explore in this sermon for Trinity Sunday from 1997.

Trinity Sunday year B

Sermon given at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church

By the Rev. Valerie Hart

May 25, 1997

Romans 8:12-17 & John 3:1-16

         On Friday in the Chronicle there was an article about an 11 year old boy named Jason and his 12 year old sister Heather. Jason had had an abusive early childhood and been removed from his home. He and his sister had lived in eight different foster homes since they were preschoolers. They had struggled and suffered, but things are different now. They have been adopted. Their foster mother has now gotten through all the legal hurdles and has officially adopted them. They are orphans no longer, moved from home to home. As they engaged in a hug after she signed the paper, their new mother told them “I’m not leaving; you’re not leaving. For time and all eternity, you will be mine.”

         It is a new life for Jason and Heather

         They have a new home

         They have a new identity,

         New hope,

         A future filled with love.

         One could say that in a very real sense they have been born anew. It is a wonderfully inspiring story.

         We spend much of our lives like orphans, orphans going from place to place, thing to thing, relationship to relationship, searching for something. Each of us calls it something different, but we are all searching. Some search for power, or money, or purpose, or direction, or perhaps we call it love. We might say that there is something inside all of us that is searching for wholeness, to be complete. Often we can’t put a word to it, it is just a hollow inside, that even when everything is wonderful in our lives, we still feel incomplete.

         Like these poor foster children who bounced from house to house, searching for, hoping for permanence, for love, we search to be filled, to be satisfied. We may look for the answer in money, in work, in drugs or alcohol, even in relationships, but the search still comes up empt. Something is missing.

         Even in the very best marriage, it is still not perfect. No human being can love us totally, unconditionally. No human being can see our souls, not all of us, and still completely, without demands, without expectations, without judgment, just love us - warts and all.

And that is what we are longing for - to know that we are loved, totally, unconditionally, for eternity. To be loved without having to disguise, or change any aspect of ourselves.

         Nothing of the world can satisfy this ache, this hollow inside. Nothing of the world can satisfy it because this is a longing for connection with God. It is a longing to know and be really known by God. It is the longing to live in God’s love.

         Paul writes, “When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” He also states that we have received “a spirit of adoption.”

         To be adopted by God - what an image. What a sense of connection and love.

         Is this what Jesus meant when he told Nicodemus that we must be “born from above”? Or as it is often translated to be “born again.” The Greek word has both meanings - from above and again - and Jesus probably desired the ambiguity of the double meaning, because in the same passage he plays with the word for wind and spirit, which is the same in Greek and Hebrew, and uses that pun to make important points about the nature of spirit. But I digress. Jesus said to Nicodemus that one must be born again. Now that’s a phrase that sure has been battered around a lot lately. But what does it mean? Nicodemus certainly couldn’t quite figure out what Jesus meant. To be born again, born from above, how can that be?

         Perhaps the reading from Paul helps us. To be born again- from above - may be to come to know that we have been adopted by God, for adoption is in many ways like being born again.  To know that we are adopted by God, that after all this struggle, all the abuse, all the dead ends, all the fears, we are God’s and God is our eternal parent. Like Jason we feel the security, the peace, the joy, when we can hear God say to us, “I’m not leaving; you’re not leaving. For time and all eternity, you will be mine.”

         How is it that God - the creator - can let us know that we are adopted children. How can this God who loves us totally and unconditionally, communicate to use that we are God’s for eternity. The way the Creator chose to do this is to send his son - the redeemer. The oft cited (especially at football games) John 3:16 which ends today’s reading states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

         God so loved the world.

         God so loved each of us.

         God so loves us, so longs for us to know that we belong to him, that we are loved by him, that he sent his child to let us know that we are all God’s children.

         How then do we become adopted by God? Not by signing papers and getting the OK of a judge, but through the action of the Holy Spirit - the Sanctifier. Jesus says that we are born of water and Spirit. Paul says that we have received a spirit of adoption and that “all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

         We are sanctified through the spirit.

         We are redeemed - reminded - by the son.

         We are created and loved by the father.

The Trinity - that divine mystery - that confusing theological concept - that inadequate description of the divine (as are all descriptions of the indescribable) - it is that which we name God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is that which passionately loves us - that which calls us to adoption - that which transforms us. It is that which says to us, “For time and all eternity, you will be mine.” because, you see, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Pentecost Sermon

On Pentecost we invite the Holy Spirit to be among us. Yet, we never know what the Spirit will bring, peace and comfort or power and transformation. Perhaps we need to be careful what we ask for.

Pentecost 1997

Sermon given at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church Brentwood

By Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

John 20:19-23

Acts 2: 1-11

         Come Holy Spirit, come, come like the fire and burn, come like the wind and blow. Take our eyes and see through them, take our ears and hear through them, take our mouths and speak through them, take our hearts and set them afire.

         Have you ever had to write something, maybe a paper for school or a report for work, and you just sit there in front of the paper, empty, tried, thinking you’ll never get that done, and all of a sudden, a thought enters your mind, seemingly out of nowhere, and soon you are off and writing, feeling energized, creative again.

         Or perhaps you have sat at a meeting where all you wanted to do was go to sleep. You know the feeling, bored, drowsy, the meeting is going nowhere and you have a hard time concentrating. And you can tell that the others around you feel the same way, even if they are suppressing their yawns. When, suddenly, someone comes up with a comment or idea that seems to set the place alive. Suddenly the tiredness is gone and the ideas begin flying. What seemed like a waste of time that you would do anything to leave, is now the place you most want to be.

         We’ve all known those flashes, those breakthrough of illumination, where suddenly the energy is there to make a difference. Sometimes we refer to it as inspiration - to be in the spirit - to breath in.

         Today, on Pentecost, we celebrate the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity. Today is also considered the birthday of the church. Before my sermon I invoked the presence of the Holy Spirit. At the baptism today we will ask for the Holy Spirit to come upon the child Jacob Rhys Cropper. But what are we talking about when we refer to the Holy Spirit?

         When I was growing up the third person of the trinity was referred to as the Holy Ghost. In my child’s mind I imaged it to looks something like Casper the friendly ghost. It was a white, see through kind of thing. But that is not at all how the Holy Spirit shows itself in the Bible.

         One image is of a dove, and we can see that dove represented on the back window, that descended upon Jesus when he was baptized. The other images are presented in the readings today. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit comes as wind and fire. It is also represented as breath in the Gospel as Jesus breathes upon the disciples. Breath, fire, wind, a dove. These are the images. But what do they represent. At first look they are very comforting, the gentle dove, the fire that warms us when we are cold, the gentle breeze that cools us, the breath of Christ. Who wouldn’t want the spirit to be present, to give us support and peace.

         But there is one thing we need to remember about the Holy Spirit - it is not domesticated. The Spirit blows where it wills. It can be a gentle breeze that fills us with comfort, or a tornado that turns our life upside down. - Just ask Dorothy when she finds herself transported from the gray of Kansas to the vivid colors of Oz. The Spirit can be a warming fire, and it can rage and burn bright and hard like the fire that purifies metal, burning away all our impurities. And if you have ever felt yourself in the refiner’s fire you know how uncomfortable that can be.

         And even the image of that gentle dove is deceptive. After Christ’s baptism, we are told that the spirit drove him into the desert for 40 days of fasting and temptations. I’m not sure I’d want that kind of gentleness.

         And finally we have the image of Jesus breathing onto the disciples. He tells them “receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” What a powerful, daring, incredible responsibility, and awesome power.

         The Holy Spirit is sometimes described as God’s action in the world. So what is this action like. First of all, when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives everything is turned upside down, everything is changed. We are no longer the same person we were before the spirit enters our life. Dorothy is a wonderful image for this. Her old life was destroyed by the tornado. She finds herself in a whole new world, a world full of wonder, and fear, and temptation, and hope. When we ask for the presence of the spirit, be ready to be transformed.

         Next we find that the action of the spirit is the beginning of a process, of a journey. Christ goes to the wilderness, the disciples go out of the room they are hiding in and begin to preach.

         When Dorothy finds herself in Oz she begins a journey, a journey that transforms her. She goes from being a weak and frightened girl, into the leader of a group of travelers who has the courage to confront the false wizard and demand gifts for her friends. And she also develops the wisdom to realized that she has, and always has had, the power to go where she most wants to be, to go home.

         The spirit transforms, purifies and empowers. Empowered to do what God calls us to do. Christ is empowered to follow his call to teach, and heal, and sacrifice himself. The disciples are empowered to forgive, to preach and to teach the good news.

         The Holy Spirit is God acting in the world, and when it comes upon us, it is to prepare and empower us to act. One must be very careful what one asks for.

         After my brain surgery, and the difficulties I went through for the first year, I was so grateful to be alive, to be enjoying my family, to be able to think and act, that I prayed in thanksgiving, “How can I serve?” I prayed this almost every day for several years, not having any idea what the answer to this prayer would be. Suddenly one day I felt the Spirit upon me, and felt I had received the answer to my prayer - I was to become a priest - it was something I had never even imagined. And it was the beginning of one of the most difficult and rewarding journeys of my life. I knew what I felt called to, but getting their involved dealing with the diocese, going to seminary, confronting many inner doubts and fears, learning things about myself that I would just as well have ignored. It was years of burning, purification, tempering of the instrument (and it still goes on), for a purpose. So I could be empowered. So I could act.

         Every experience of the Holy Spirit in the Bible is associated with empowerment, empowerment to action. When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit we are called to action. Those of us who are baptized had the Holy Spirit invoked in our lives. Those of us who feel touched by the spirit of God’s love, have been touched by the spirit and are empowered to act, to make a difference, to tell others, to be God’s instruments on earth.

         The Holy Spirit is far from domesticated. It can and will turn your life upside down, sending you to place you have never imagined, testing refining and purifying you, and most importantly, empowering you. Empowering you to make a difference in the world.

         Come Holy Spirit, come, come like the fire and burn, come like the wind and blow. Take our eyes and see through them, take our ears and hear through them, take our mouths and speak through them, take our hearts and set them afire.