Sermon Notes
When you read the Old Testament prophets, like Jeremiah, three things become clear: 1) Humanity is always in its own way. 2) God is scary. 3) Jesus sounds a lot like an Old Testament prophet. When you invest time in studying the prophets, those three things remain true and are related: God is scary when people are in their own way by rejecting Divine Wisdom; the prophets communicate the consequences. Jesus, the Son of God, is Divine Wisdom and shows us the truth.
This morning, in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus attends a meal at the Pharisees’ house, and at that meal, he gives advice about where to sit at the table. To me, this could be a scene straight from a middle school lunchroom. Nobody is sure where to sit, when someone does sit, they may be told that the seat is saved for someone else.
Let’s tackle our relationship to worship. Trinity Episcopal Cathedral is fantastic at worship. We have the space, the staff, the accessories, and the best contribution of Anglicanism to human history – The Book of Common Prayer. This common prayer elevates our speech to holiness, whether we’re decked out in gold chasubles and dalmatics here or gathered in sandals on a boat.
Let’s talk about money. After all, Paul and Jesus and the Hebrew Prophets and the Torah all address money frequently: personal finances, wealth management, good business practices, governmental economic justice and injustice, debt, loans, and regulating the value of a shekel. Yep, God, has a lot to tell us about money.
“Martha, Martha, you are distracted by many things.” Jesus’ statement to his friend and disciple from Luke’s Gospel is one many of us are familiar with. It’s one of those quotes from Scripture that has often been used with a variety of agendas, but it seems that those lines could be said to any one of us right now.
This reflection was offered on Election Day 2020 for The Benedictine Way’s Election Day Prayer Vigil. The prophet Micah asks “What does the Lord require” and his well-known answer “Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God” offering a guiding light for how people of faith are called to live their lives each and every day. It is in that spirit, that this reflection is offered.
[…] Looking left, the grand campus of Yale and looking right, one of the poorest and most crime-ridden neighborhoods in the country. Only a matter of blocks away in physical distance and yet innumerable miles apart in suffering, racism, financial well-being, and more. It was on that border that the church stood; it was on that border that we lived and prayed and served.
[…] And yet, he continued on, but only because he came to one realization: the capacity within him to endure this kind of injustice and prejudice would not come from his own smarts or abilities. It would not come from his own perseverance or endurance. It would only come, he realized, out of his own brokenness and the realization that it is that common brokenness that unites each of us.
I have no idea what that phrase—“new normal”—is supposed to mean. Or, perhaps I’m just frustrated with the fact that we have not arrived there and don’t know what to look for when we do or to know we’ve made it. That said, it seems that this week our society has gone back to our old normal, but not in the way you might be imagining.
This summer Ellen and I had plans to visit one of my best friends in Atlanta for his wedding. We should have been flying out in just a few days, actually! Later this summer, a friend since I was four or five years old with whom I attended school through high school, is going to be married in Kansas City. I have been looking forward to this summer for so, so long.
