SUNDAY SERMON 11/27/16 by the Rev. Kathleen M. Sturges

“But about that day and hour no one knows,” begins our reading from Matthew. What day, what hour is Jesus speaking of? When the Son of Man will come to earth – the second coming of Christ. However, did any of us really think this morning as we awoke, today could be the day, this could be the hour of Jesus’ return? Unlikely. The second coming may not be at the forefront of our thoughts, but it is an essential to our faith. We proclaim every Sunday in the words of the Nicene Creed that Jesus will return. And in our Eucharistic prayer we proclaim the mystery of faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, but we don’t stop there. No there’s more, Christ will come again.

Jesus tells us to keep awake for his coming for although we do not know when it will happen we are assured that sometime, someday it will happen. God will come completely unexpectedly. But how does one really “Keep awake” without driving yourself and everyone around you crazy?

The story of Juliet Starrett may help us when we consider that. Back in the day, Juliet was a two-time extreme whitewater canoe champion. Several years ago she was canoeing down a river in Eastern Africa when she came upon a hippopotamus. Now in photographs hippos look rather cute - bulbous creatures with the top half of its body poking out of the water. But did you know that when you Google, “Most Dangerous Animals in the World,” that the hippopotamus is ranked at number four? It’s more dangerous than a great white shark, a lion, or a leopard because a hippo is highly aggressive and known to attack human beings without provocation.

The way Juliet tells it is that one moment she was paddling her canoe down the river and the next moment she was ten feet in the air high above the water. When she looked down and saw the powerful jaws of the hippo ripping her performance canoe into splinters. And while in the air she had the presence of mind to look for the nearest shore. Upon seeing it she pointer herself in that direction and started swinging her arms and kicking her feet – Juliet was swimming in mid air. So that by the time she hit the water she was ready to go which enabled her to live and tell the story.

That quick and appropriate response to the unexpected hippo encounter shows that she was ready, she was prepared. Now did Juliet specifically train for this? When I hippo catapults you into the air make sure to do this… No, I think not. However, all the hours, days, months, even years Juliet put in to make her champion stock, that is what prepared her. That is what made her ready when the unexpected came.

Jesus says to us, “Keep awake! For I will come again and it will certainly be unexpected.” But that doesn’t mean that we live need to lives fraught with worry or anxiety or hypervigilance. Just like a champion whitewater canoe-er, we Christians are called to a special type of training to prepare our spirits so that we might be ready for Christ’s coming. We engage in this training every week as we gather to worship, pray, forgive and be forgiven, learn, serve, and fellowship – day by day, week by week, month by month, and hopefully even year by year. We are growing in our life in Christ, training our spirits to be ready for God’s unexpected coming.

Now in today’s reading, Jesus is speaking primarily about his future coming into the world. But there are other comings of God that we recognize and celebrate especially during this time of year. This Sunday is the first Sunday of the Church’s new year. We call this time Advent, which comes from the Latin, adventus, meaning “coming.” Advent reminds us that God comes – not just in the future, in three different ways.

The first coming of God is when God walked this earth in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. We will celebrate that coming on Christmas, known as the Feast of the Incarnation. The second coming of God is the final coming which Jesus speaks of today. A time when God and creation will be fully united. That is the day and the hour no one knows. And the third coming is what takes place in between these two comings. The in-between time that is happening right now. God coming in our prayers, God coming in our acts of service, recognizing God coming and present in our neighbor, God coming to us in the daily-ness of life – whether we are working in the field, grinding meal, eating bread, or drinking wine. God comes in all of that and more.

Keep awake, therefore - be ready for the unexpected. Hopefully the unexpected will not include a close encounter with a raging hippo, but you can count on God coming in unexpected ways - unexpected and wonderful ways - so let’s get ready; keep awake!

SERMON Thanksgiving Eve 2016 by the Rev. Kathleen M. Sturges

We gather together on this eve of Thanksgiving to intentionally give praise and thanks to God - for the gifts of the earth that sustain us and the love that upholds us. Tomorrow the American tradition is to gather with family and friends in order to eat our hearts out. And not only to feast, but to enjoy the experience in the loving company of family and dear friends. This cultural expectation, for me at least, is captured in the Norman Rockwell painting, “Freedom from Want.” The mother figure is at the center placing a huge, perfectly roasted turkey on the table. Everyone is smiling and full of joy - there are no family dynamics here, no annoying comments to be heard. Father stands behind Mother ready to lead everyone in the blessing and do the honors of carving the turkey.

I do pray that everyone here over all your years does experience at least one Thanksgiving that matches this fantasy. But most times real life interferes. No matter it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Year’s Day or any special day, real life always creeps in with joys and sorrows, successes and failures, healthy and broken relationships. The American expectation, the Thanksgiving fantasy is just that - fantasy.

We probably all know in our heads, at least, that we are called to give thanks no matter the circumstance, but the fantasy still holds onto our hearts. You’re probably aware of the real American origins of Thanksgiving. President Abraham Lincoln declared the third Thursday in November to be a day for the country to give thanks and praise to our benevolent God. It was 1863 and the nation was at war with itself. Everyone knew death personally. Everyone suffered. Everyone knew scarcity. Yet in the midst of all of that, President Lincoln called the people to give thanks. And along with thanks came a call to confession and repentance for the sins of the nation, prayers for the countless widows and orphans, mourners and sufferers. And finally a request to ask God to heal our nation and to knit it back together in peace and harmony.

The American Thanksgiving had nothing to do with parades or football games or shopping sprees. It was not born out of a time of abundance, but a time of suffering. To give thanks in such times is a radical response of faith in the face of the darkness in this world. It seems that when we are stipped of the many things we think we can depend on that it is then that we are able to clearly see that which is truly is dependable. The one who deserves our thanks and praise.

Our final hymn this evening may be known to you, “Now Thank We All Our God.” It was written in the mid-1600’s by a German, Lutheran Pastor named Martin Rinkhart. He lived in a walled city called Eilenburg and during the Thirty Years’ War people from the countryside fled to Eilenburg seeking protection from its walls. However, the more the war raged the more people who came to the point that overcrowding fueled diseased and death. Thousands died in one year. All clergy in the city died except for Pastor Martin who was left to shoulder the task of conducting burial after burial - including one for his own wife - sometimes 50 burials in one day.

It was in the midst of this unimaginable grief and loss Pastor Martin penned the words:
Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices.
Who wonderous things hath done, in whom the world rejoices.
Who from our mother’s arms hath led us on our way
with countless gifts of love and still is ours today.

It is a mistake for us to think of Thanksgiving as a national holiday that is most fitting in the context of peace and ease and abundance. Rather Thanksgiving - the holiday and the act itself - is a radical response of faith to darkness.

With the words of Psalm 100 tonight we declared, “Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise; give thanks to him and call upon his Name.” Why? Because we have great things in this world? Because the turkey is perfect? The family is happy? All is well? No. The answer is given in the next verse. We give thanks and praise because “the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his faithfulness endures, from age to age.”

Thanksgiving is a radical response of faith. And true gratitude comes when we are most aware of our deep dependence on and connection to our God who is good, whose mercy is everlasting, whose faithfulness endures from age to age. This evening and tomorrow and hopefully every day following may we pause to turn toward our bountiful God and give thanks for the countless gifts of love that still are ours today.

Advent Resources

MID-WEEK REFLECTION 

EMILY RUTLEDGE, YOUTH MINISTER

The season of Advent is beautiful and Holy but often overrun by what the world tells us Christmas is: GO GO GO, SHOP SHOP SHOP, TAKE TAKE TAKE.  As we embark on this season where as Believers we are called to wait, anticipate, and reflect, here are some ways that you can do that in your homes and in your time.  Join my family as we create Advent traditions that continually point to the coming of Christ, to our desire to know him, celebrate him, and welcome him into our hearts each year.  

Advent Word is a creation of SSJE (Society of St. John the Evangelist) Be part of the Anglican Communion’s Global Advent Calendar. It’s an innovative way to engage in the season of Advent with people all over the world. Simply respond to the daily meditation emailed to you with images and prayers that speak to your heart. Your images and prayers will appear in the Advent Calendar with others from around the world. Join us as we anticipate the coming of Christ, the fulfillment of our deepest longings.

best for: adults, teens, tech-savvy, & contemplative types




Praying in color free downloads of printable Advent calendars created by an amazing Episcopal educator, Sybil Macbeth, that allows prayer and contemplation through coloring.  Print out the calendar and each day pray and color.  You will end up with a beautiful art piece that reflects your personal prayer life and walk through this season.

best for: all ages, the artistic, doodlers



Jesus Storybook Bible Advent Calendar a FREE downloadable Advent calendar with readings for each day from The Jesus Storybook Bible, which I consider the best children's Bible around. A short daily reading that brings you all the way to the birth of Christ.  My family uses this advent calendar with our children (5 & 2 years) along with a daily activity (this year with the kindness calendar you can find below)

best for: preschool-3rd grade, Jesus Storybook Bible needed 

Kindness Calendar gives an act of kindness for each day in Advent.  This is just one example. Families can work together to brainstorm their own acts of kindness that are meaningful to them.  A wonderful way to get even the youngest child involved. This can be done along with family living outside of the home (cousins, children at college, extended family, friends) as a way to stay connected to each other and have a unified focus of giving.  

best for: all ages, pre-school, elementary school, middle & high school, inter-generational


Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp a beautifully illustrated book that has a reading for each day as well as questions to reflect on as a family.  When you buy the book you will also receive a code that allows you to print off paper ornaments that correspond with each reading and create a Jesse Tree. You can create an actual tree from branches to use as a sacred space in your home this season and add an ornament each day as you read through this book. Beautifully illustrated, written, and executed.  Wonderful for both children and adults.  The Jesse Tree element is not necessary to benefit from this book but an added bonus for those that connect with tangible elements.  

best for: 3rd grade and up, families, individuals




The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp from the author of Unwrapping the Greatest Gift this book is geared towards adults and allows for written reflection at the end of each day's reading.  "I don't want a Christmas you can buy.  I don't want a Christmas you can make.  What I want is a Christmas you can hold.  A Christmas that holds me, remakes me, revives me.  I want a Christmas that whispers, Jesus" -Voskamp


best for: adults




Truth in the Tinsel an e-book for purchase that has daily activities that help little ones understand that this season is about Jesus.  It takes some commitment in terms of preparation and time but if your heart is behind it, it can be a wonderful Advent practice.  There are even printable ornaments you can buy if you would like to take a step away from creating everything needed.  


best for: early elementary




Watch for the Light Reflections from the world's greatest spiritual writers including Aquinas, Bonhoeffer, Gutierrez, & Merton.  Daily readings from the greats that carry through to Epiphany.  A wide range of writings compiled for reflection, education, and allowing you to await the coming of Christ. 

best for: adults

Celebrating our saints!  


St. Nicholas on December 6th: How our family works through the 'Santa' of Christmas is to celebrate the Bishop of Turkey who gave his inherited wealth to children in need.  A few ways to do that are:

• Watch the Veggie Tales made that tells the story of St. Nicholas.  It is a well-done and child friendly way to explain St. Nick!
• Leave treats in children's shoes to mark the day, which is how St. Nicholas shared what he had with the children he helped
• This is a great day to have children go through their toys and decide what would be best to donate to others and together take them to a donation center.
• This is also a perfect day to shop for a child chosen from a giving tree

St. Lucia Day on December 13th: St. Lucia (Lucy) was a young girl who brought persecuted Christians in Rome food when they were forced underground into the catacombs.  She wore candles around her head so that she would have two hands to hold food while also being able to see.  Some ways to celebrate this day are

• Volunteering at a local food pantry to sort or distribute food and/or buying food to donate.  The most needed foods are often canned meats, nut butters, bags of fruits or vegetables, and bread.
• Educating our children about other people of faith in our community who are forced into hiding because of their beliefs and donate to them or write a note of encouragement to them, such as the Islamic Society of Central Virginia
• Be light in whatever way is life-giving and meaningful to your family. St. Lucia Day always falls near the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.  

Blessings, peace, and joy in your Advent,

Emily

Sermon - Sunday, November 20, 2016

The Rev. David M. Stoddart

  

So, can God make a stone that is too heavy for God to lift? This is a paradox that has been debated for centuries by people who apparently have a great deal of time on their hands: you would not believe how much ink has been spelled over this quandary. Heavy hitters from Thomas Aquinas on have weighed in on it. The question really comes down to this: is God capable of making himself incapable? I am aware of the many issues surrounding this, issues of language, logic, and theology, but the practical answer to the question seems so obvious that I will lay all those considerations aside for the moment and offer you a solution. Can God make a stone too heavy for God to lift? Of course God can: she made us. The Creator who formed 100,000,000,000 galaxies could not lift a single one of us out of bed today and make us come to church.

When we talk about God being “Almighty,” we quickly run into problems because for many, if not most, human beings, power normally means domination, the ability to control people and circumstances and bend them to our will. Power is a plane dropping bombs or a presidential motorcade stopping traffic. Power is something people amass, something they accrue to themselves so that others must defer to them and obey them. And if that is how we understand power, then God must be like that, just more so: a supersized version of us.

But what if God is not like that? What if ultimate power is not about domination? What if we defined power not as the force to control others but as the ability to produce a good result, to achieve a desired goal? If we defined it that way, then maybe we could understand what we are celebrating today. It is the last Sunday of the church year, the Feast of Christ the King. In our opening collect, we hail Jesus as “King of kings and Lord of lords.” In our reading from Colossians, we claim that He is the image of the invisible God . . . For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. He is the ultimate authority figure, a being of presumably unlimited power.

But listen to this Gospel! I know you’ve heard it before, but let it sink in. They hang him on a cross. He doesn’t control anyone — he can’t even control his own body: those being crucified invariably urinated and defecated on themselves as they slowly lost their ability to breathe. It was not just a death filled with physical agony, but a death shot through with public humiliation and utter powerlessness. In the midst of it all, Jesus forgives the very people doing it to him and offers Paradise to the man dying next to him. And this we are told, this, is the way God exercises power: not by dominating others, but by giving himself away in love.

The great physicist Niels Bohr often remarked that anyone who is not deeply shocked by quantum physics has simply not understood it. So let me invoke his wisdom now: anyone who is not shocked by the way Jesus reveals God’s power on the cross has simply not understood it. It overturns all conventional thinking. It overturns all religious thinking! The ancient Israelites wanted to believe that God was a mighty warrior who would destroy their enemies; they envisioned the Lord as a heavenly despot who would smash anyone that got in his way. But they got it wrong. Those biblical images of God seated on a throne, surrounded by clouds and lightning may convey grandeur and awe, but they do not and cannot convey God’s power. Only Jesus does that, and he does it most fully when he dies. There’s a reason why we have an execution device hanging on the wall of our church.

God’s power is love. Period. It is the persevering love that can take the hits — over and over again — until the final good is accomplished. It is the enduring love that, when one way is closed, always finds another way forward. God’s power is the love which can suffer the worst that death can dish out — and then bring life out of it. It is the relentless love which never, ever gives up on anyone. Jesus didn’t give up on that criminal: he gave him heaven. He didn’t give up on his executioners: he gave them forgiveness. That love ― unstoppable, undying, forever patient, forever determined ― will usher in the Kingdom and will include you in that Kingdom, and me, and everyone who wants it. And God will do that without ever forcing a single person to do anything. Just consider: one man, Jesus, embodies God’s love and fully surrenders to that love flowing through him, even to the point of death —  and thousands of years later, thousands of miles away, here we are: embraced, inspired, and transformed by that same love. Talk about power: I defy anyone to show me anything more powerful than that.

Obviously, that has profound implications for how we understand and exercise power in our own lives. But equally important it shapes the very nature of worship. It is precisely because Jesus Christ reveals the power of God as self-giving love that I worship him. He has no ego that needs to be stroked, no narcissistic needs that we must somehow satisfy. He doesn’t want us to cower before him in fear and say, “Oh, Lord, you are really great! You are the best ― please don’t smite me!” Jesus is King and Lord because he desires nothing for himself but to love us and inspire us to love in return. That is the only power he will ever exercise over us. And that is the very essence of God. To worship such a God is not to bow in grudging obedience to some big guy in the sky who can dominate us, but to delight in love which is unconditional and forever, which seeks nothing but goodness and joy. Worship is sharing in love, receiving it in ever greater abundance even as we give it away. That’s what gets me out of bed on Sunday morning; that’s what gets me out of bed every morning: I am a stone too heavy for God to lift, but I will gladly get myself up and worship such a God ― not because she makes me but because I want to.

But like God, I cannot make any of you desire that; I cannot force any of you to experience that. But I love you and I can encourage you to open your hearts and minds to the life-changing Truth ― and I can assure you that God’s love, more powerful than anything in this universe, will not give up on you until you do.

Sunday Sermon 11/13/16
The Rev. Kathleen M. Sturges

Our reading from the gospel of Luke begins this morning with people marveling at the grandeur and beauty of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. This temple was the second temple that had been around for roughly 500 years. Century after century the Lord God’s temple stood enduring violence, desecration, re-dedication. Generation after generation Jews would make pilgrimages to worship and sacrifice at this temple. Even under the current Roman occupation the temple stood offering a degree of comfort and peace; no matter what happened the temple was there solid, stable.

And it was not only awe-inspiring because of its religious significance, but also for its architecture and physical dimensions. The plaza around the Temple was the size of six football fields constructed to hold hundreds of thousands of worshipers at one time. The walls that surrounded this plaza were about 16 feet thick and 20 stories high with enormous stones placed one on top of the other. In fact, part of that wall still stands and is known to us as the Wailing Wall - the holiest site in modern Judaism. But the centerpiece of all of this was the temple itself: a building of marble and gold with bronze entrance doors. It was said that you could not look at the temple in daylight for it would blind you.

This is what the people were marveling at when Jesus speaks up and says, “It will not always be this way. There will come a time when this amazing, seemingly invincible structure will be destroyed. Not one stone will be left upon another, all will be thrown down.” Unfortunately, Jesus doesn’t stop there. “Not only will the temple be destroyed, but there will be wars and plagues and earthquakes and famines.” And then Jesus gets personal, “This is not just something that will take place out there, but it will happen to you. You will be arrested. You will be persecuted and imprisoned. You will be hated and betrayed by family and some of you will even be put to death.” The people, in an attempt to gain some control of the situation grasping at straws ask “When? When will this happen? Can we have advanced warning?”

Jesus clearly isn’t interested in offering any specific timetable. The Jewish Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., but for the rest of the predictions of chaos and destruction and upheaval, sadly, those are not unique experiences. Likely every generation at some point has looked around and thought that surely its time is the end. But Jesus is not going to get bogged down in predicting future dates - his bigger concern is to guide his followers in how they are to respond in such times of chaos and distress. What to do when the things that you can see, the things you have depended on, whether it be a temple or a religious establishment or political structures or peace in one’s personal life, become unstable and even crumble.

“Do not be terrified,” says Jesus. Do not be terrified. This is not about the power of positive thinking this is about the reality of our true foundation - God. God, who is infinitely more stable, more solid, more dependable than anything of this world. It is this God in whom we can safely put our trust and hope. So we do not need to be terrified when the world goes awry, but more than that, Jesus says it is in such times these that we are given an opportunity, an opportunity to testify, to bear witness to God. God is. God is present. God is good. God is love.

This message speaks to us just as much today as it did to those who heard it two thousand years ago. The world is not coming to an end, but following the results of the election there were some who may have felt it was close. Some are full of grief and fear, while others are bubbling over with joy and hope. Most of us are confused. The reality is that there are people here that voted for Trump. There are people here who voted for Clinton. Others voted for a 3rd party candidate. Perhaps there are others who did not vote at all. And here we all are people of one God, one faith, one baptism and yet we are not all of the same mind. We do not all see eye-to-eye, we do not all agree. But, it is in such a time as this, a time when our community, our country, our world is deeply divided and there is upheaval and distress that Jesus says, “Do not be terrified,” and that, “This is an opportunity to testify - to bear witness to God.” A God that is present, is good, is love. In whose name we’ve been baptized and together, even though we are not of the same mind, we will seek to love and respect one another, to see Christ is all persons, to strive for justice and peace and dignity for all. This is our testimony - this is our witness.

Earlier this week President Obama in seeking to ensure a peaceful transfer of power declared, “We are not Democrats first. We are not Republicans first. We are Americans first.” Yes, indeed, we are Americans, but even more than our identity and allegiance to our nation we are first and foremost God’s people. And now is our opportunity to testify.