Love Builds Up - A Sermon for the 4th Sunday after the Epiphany 1-29-2012

A Sermon for the 4^th Sunday after the Epiphany (RCL B) 1-29-2012

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28

Themes:         perception, responsibility for others, social stigma
Title:               Love Builds Up

“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge, but anyone who loves God is known by him” (1 Corin. 8:1b-2).

And so, my sisters and brothers, we are introduced this morning to the apostle Paul’s long and intricate discussion concerning the eating of food sacrificed to idols. This conversation spans all of the next three chapters in this letter.

And so we may be justified as we wonder: Why so much time and attention given to this topic? Clearly, eating food sacrificed to idols was a major part of the social fabric in Greek cities, and the new Christians there were struggling to know how to handle this. Some thought it right to eat; others felt it was wrong, and the apostle – as usual – needed to have his say.

Thankfully, this is not an important topic of consideration for us today, but the contours of this discussion are important, and what matters most for us today is this one over-arching principle that guided the apostle’s thought: because of love, we have a responsibility to build up those around us.

What this means for each one of us who calls ourselves by the name of Christian is that we must give careful thought to how our example is perceived by those around us.

“Therefore,” Paul wrote, “if food is a cause of [my brother’s or sister’s] falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall” (1 Corin. 8:13).

Now, let’s be very clear about one thing: there is a WORLD of difference between this concern for how one is perceived which grows out of true love and care, and that concern for how one is perceived which grows out of fear and anxiety.

Our politicians are masters of this second type of concern, aren’t they? Political leaders and those with power consider how they are perceived by others because of their selfish concern – because of their intense need to be praised and honored and respected by others. How will it reflect on them? How will others think and feel about them? This seems particularly to be true today when the matter being discussed is faith and God.

As a leader in the church, I hear our politicians give thanks to God or ask for God’s blessing, and one side of me thinks, “This is a good thing. After all, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

But then the smarter side of me speaks up and says, “You know that they are only saying this to win votes, right? Their image handlers have told them exactly what to say to garner support for their campaign.”  

Now, we know that this kind of perception awareness is spiritually destructive. At its core, sin is self-centeredness: placing ourselves at the center of all things, keeping ourselves at the center of our thoughts, making the protection of ourselves the goal of all our actions.

But to be liberated from sin then means precisely the opposite: because we are cared for and loved and nurtured forever by the strong hand of God, we are free to forget about ourselves. We are free then to focus upon the other.

When we live set free by the love of God, then we consider how we are perceived out of love and respect for the other. Does my example benefit the other in any way? How will others be strengthened and encouraged by my actions?

St. Augustine had this to say about our responsibility to care for one another:

“It is the very law of Christ that we bear one another’s burdens. Moreover, by loving Christ we easily bear the weakness of another, even him whom we do not yet love for the sake of his own good qualities, for we realize that the one whom we love is someone for whom the Lord has died” (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: 1-2 Corinthians, P. 77).

If we are willing to take our responsibility seriously, then this way of consciousness applies to every single aspect of life. It applies to what kind of house I live in, what foods I eat, to how I drive my car.

It applies to the way in which I conduct my daily business, to how fully I recycle and how I conserve our natural resources. It applies to how I dress, and to how I speak about others. It applies to how I spend my free time on Friday and Saturday nights, and to how I act when I’m down the shore in the summertime.

Whatever the circumstance, and whatever the action, this love-centered consciousness means that I am always asking myself the question: does my action right now help those around me to lead a fuller, healthier, more abundant life, or does it hinder? Does my example build them up and strengthen them?  Does it lead those around me toward deeper trust in the goodness of God?

It is not always easy to have this awareness. What many among us want is a new law, a new book of guidelines which tells us what to do. As a Christian, “You can do this, but not that. You can say this, but not that. You can read this, but not that.”

That would be much easier, but God never provides that kind of law, because what God is after is the creation of a community of people who live every moment with this deeper love-centered consciousness, an awareness of the needs of those around us.

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that we must adopt the kind of attitude which believes, in regards to anything that might seem unbecoming, that prudish abstinence is the only sure path to follow. Not at all.

On Friday night, Erin and I had the opportunity to attend the 53^rd Annual Bishop’s Ball at the Cathedral in Trenton. We were there as chaperones for our daughter, Se’, some of her friends and a group of teenagers from Trinity Church in Moorestown.

I had some uncertainty beforehand about what I should wear. This was a Diocesan Youth Ministry dance with the Bishop at the Cathedral, after all. So perhaps I ought to wear my clerical collar, I thought, to show the Bishop that I’m a serious priest who is dedicated to our youth ministry.

But then my better sense got a hold of me. Erin and I were going to dance and to eat some food and hang out with teenagers. A button down shirt and some khakis would do just fine.

Of course, there were a number of other clergy present in their suits and collars, even though Bishop George himself was not in uniform. (That made me feel a bit better, you know!). And, of course, it was those clergy in their collars who never touched the dance floor! No way! They just sat around the periphery of the room and watched!

How boring! Erin and I were the only adults who were out on the floor dancing the whole time!

And I have to say, as I looked around the room and observed the setting, I wondered: what kind of witness did these very proper priests give to the teenagers dancing at that ball?

How did these young people perceive these leaders? Do you honestly think that any of those teenagers looked around at their clergy elders sitting along the periphery of the room with their arms crossed, silently watching, and thought, “Man, I hope that I can be one of them some day!” 

I don’t think so! And do we wonder why so few of our young people imagine a future life for themselves in the ordained leadership of the church?

When our Lord Jesus walked through Galilee preaching and teaching and healing, Mark’s Gospel says that “his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region” (Mark 1:28). People could see in his actions, in his words, in his manner of life, a hope for a better future, a better life if lived in relationship with him.  

My sisters and brothers: let us be awake, let us be aware that people see us and watch us, and let us know that our actions, our words, our manner of life has an influence on them, perhaps for better or for worse.

Not being anxious to protect our honor or our reputation or our social standing, but being eager to provide an influence for good in everything that we do.

And so, let us practice love, the kind of love that seeks to build up each other, to lift one another to a more fruitful, more faithful, more abundant life in Christ. May it always be so among us. Amen.

Perfect People...

Our 9 year old daughter, Fiona, saw this sign today outside of a church in our town and she asked about it. "Is it true that no one is perfect?" she asked.

My wife, Erin, answered, "Yeah, that's right. Only Jesus is perfect."

Fiona quipped, "Then I guess that Jesus is the only one not allowed in that church."

Ouch. Wow. I'm thinking that this is probably not what the pastor intended!

As they say, "Out of the mouths of babes..."

The Good News of God - A Sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Epiphany

A Sermon for the 3^rd Sunday after the Epiphany (RCL B) 1-22-2012

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Jonah 3:1-5,10; Psalm 62:5-12; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20

Themes:         repentance, change, second chances, fishing for people, trusting in God
Title:               The Good News of God

My brothers and my sisters in the Lord, I have a question for you:

Does God have a sense of humor?

Well, that is a very difficult question to answer, in my opinion.

But at the least, we can say that the very inclusion of this Book of the Prophet Jonah in the canon of Holy Scripture provides a strong suggestion of a divine sense of humor.

What do you know about the prophet Jonah?

Oh, I so much wish that we had the time to sit and read through the entire story all together this morning. This book of the prophet Jonah – may his blessing be upon us – is quite small. Only four brief chapters.

But the ironic message of this brief book is a large one, and it is vital.

Sadly, in the three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary which we follow for our Sunday readings, this book of the prophet Jonah is only read twice – today being one of those two, of course.

I suspect that many of you do not really know the full story of Jonah, so let me share it with you now.

First, let us be clear and understand that this is not an historical book. The details of this story do not hold up at all when compared to the findings of archeological and historical research.

But, let us also be clear that this book was never intended to explain history.

It is, in many ways, a book of ancient Hebrew comedy. This is a parody of what a Hebrew prophet is supposed to be like. And as with most parodies, it uses comedy and humor to make a powerful point.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah and called him to bring a message of repentance to the people of Nineveh. This is the capital city of the kingdom of Assyria, a mighty empire who rose and crushed the kingdom of Israel in 722 BC. In that year, the Ninevites demolished the city of Samaria, which was the capital of Israel at this time – Jerusalem being the capital city of the much smaller kingdom of Judah to the south. Today, the ruins of Nineveh are found in the northeastern region of Iraq.

So God’s call comes to Jonah, and what does he do? He runs away!

Now, you have to understand that in this book, Jonah is the bad guy! Think about that for a minute.

In the Bible, the prophet of the Lord is always the good guy, right? Moses against the Pharoah. Joshua against the Canaanites. David against the Philistines. Elijah against the corrupt King Ahab and his wife Jezebel.

But not here! In this story, Jonah is presented as the bad guy of the story, the one who consistently does the wrong thing while all the gentiles around him are doing the right thing!

God calls Jonah to go east to Nineveh and Jonah boards a ship going as far to the west as he can possibly go!

So God sends a mighty storm to stop the progress of that ship across the Mediterranean. When the pagan sailors discover that Jonah is a prophet running from God, they pray to the Lord and ask for help! These sailors do not know what else to do, as the storm rages on and grows more intense.

But they know that Jonah is to blame. They do not want to hurt him, but they are out of ideas, and so they throw Jonah overboard. And, immediately, the storm subsides. The sailors are amazed and they give praise to the God of Israel!

This is the amazing thing! Even in his rebellion, Jonah is a successful prophet. Even though he disobeys God, everyone around him becomes believers!

You all know what happens next. Jonah is swallowed by the whale and stays in the whale for 3 days and 3 nights. Finally, the whale vomits Jonah out onto dry land and the Lord calls to Jonah again.

This is where we pick up the story this morning.

This is the second time that God called to the prophet Jonah with the commission to deliver the message of repentance to the people of Nineveh.

Jonah does not want to do this. But, given what happened the last time he ran away, it seems that he figured out that fighting against God is a losing proposition!

So Jonah is given a second chance. This time he carries out the divine commission – reluctantly, of course. He is the reluctant prophet. He does not want to deliver the message of repentance to the people of Nineveh, because Jonah does not want those people to repent and be spared!

What Jonah wants is to see the people of Nineveh punished! He wants to see them suffer the same thing that his people in the land of Israel have suffered at the hands of these Ninevites! They are the enemy of his people! They are the cause of much pain and suffering in his hometown, in his home country.   

What is cut out in today’s reading - verses 6-9 – is the proclamation of the king of Nineveh that everyone must fast from food and water, everyone must wear sackcloth, and must cry out to the God of Israel and ask for mercy. Even the animals must do this, so says the king!

Now, I can just imagine a bunch of people making little sackcloth suits for all of the chickens and all of the dogs and all of the goats and all of the cows, and putting them on.

But how do you force them to fast? How do you keep the cows and horses and dogs and goats from drinking out of the rivers and streams and marshes?

And how do you make them all pray and ask for forgiveness?

Verse 10 explains the result: “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them, and God did not do it.”

This is good news, right? This large city, this capital of a major (and brutal) empire, along with the king and all of the nobles - they all repented and found favor with God. This is a good thing, right?

Not to Jonah! He was peeved! Listen to the very next verse: “This was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry.” And this is what he said to God, “I told you so! I knew that you are gracious and kind and forgiving and that you do not want to punish anyone, and that’s why I tried to run away! Because these people deserve to be punished! They don’t deserve to be forgiven! So just forget about it, Lord. Just kill me now, because I don’t want to live and see these nasty people all forgiven and happy with you!”

He is the reluctant prophet, after all. Jonah goes outside the city and finds himself somewhere secluded where he can sit and watch what happens next. But it’s hot there in the sunny desert, so the Lord causes a bush to suddenly spring up overnight in order to give shade to Jonah.

The text states that “Jonah was very happy about the bush.” But the next night, the Lord caused the bush to die and Jonah, once again, is livid with anger.

God asks: “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And Jonah responds, “Yes, angry enough to die!”

Such a foolish man! And here this funny little story about this foolish man concludes and makes it’s crucial point:

The Lord says to Jonah: “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

So we see that Jonah the prophet is angry, frustrated, resentful, seeking to punish his enemies.

But God is shown to be merciful, considerate, forgiving, ready to make amends even with those who had previously been the enemies of God, and enemies of the people of the covenant.

Does that sound familiar? I hope so!

Jesus begins his own prophetic ministry by proclaiming the good news of God: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news.”

Into a world of human cruelty and anger, where people were seeking vengeance for the violence perpetrated by the Roman oppressors, Jesus enters with this same message of hope: God is merciful, forgiving and ready to be reconciled with all people, if only we will repent and accept the message.

There is no one outside the reach of God’s saving embrace. Like Simon and Andrew and James and John, we too are called to fish for people; not reluctantly like Jonah, but with joy for the privilege of working together with God for the reconciliation of humanity. My friends, could there possibly be anything more worthy of our time and our efforts and our treasures and our prayers?

Marvelously Made - A Sermon for the 2nd Sunday of Epiphany

A Sermon for the 2^nd Sunday after the Epiphany (RCL B) 1-15-2012

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              1 Samuel 3:1-10; Psalm 139:1-5,12-17; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51

Themes:         God calling, God’s knowledge of us, the body as God’s temple
Title:               Marvelously made

It came upon him quite suddenly. The sadness, the feeling of loss mixed together with desire and longing. He began to pray, and without quite knowing why, he began to pray and ask for a son. And somehow, he already knew the boys’ name.

When he returned to his home, he spoke with his wife and his other children about this new prayer which seemed to rise up within him all by itself. He asked them to join him in this prayer, and they did.

Not too long after this, it became clear that his wife was pregnant. But this pregnancy brought pain and unexpected bleeding. There were a few times when it was so bad that they were certain the baby had been lost. Finally they decided to visit the closest doctor.

But this doctor did not bring them any good news. After examining the mother, the doctor spoke clearly and softly and said to her, “An abortion is the only way to save your life.”

But this man and this woman – trained as missionaries of the Gospel and now living in a foreign land – they were not about to abandon their prayer, their hope. They prayed and trusted in God, and they soldiered on. In fact, after they left this doctor’s office, they felt themselves surrounded by an incredible sense of God’s peace.

The pregnancy continued, as did the bleeding and the pain, as well as the hopeful praying. But as she neared full term, the bleeding subsided enough so that this mother, accompanied by her entire family, could fly to the capital city where she could give birth with the assistance of an American-trained doctor.

Surprisingly, the delivery of this baby boy went quite smoothly, only to be followed by a massive blood clot larger than the baby himself. The attending physician was amazed. He told the parents:

“This is a miracle baby. I can’t explain how it happened, but despite all odds, he beat them. Only a small part of the placenta was attached, but it was just enough to keep him nourished all these months.”

Both mother and newborn son struggled to recover in the ensuing weeks, but slowly they gained their strength and soon they were able to fly back to their home on the mission field.

And so Tim Tebow entered into this world. (Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow, pp. 3-5).

Please understand. I do not share this story in order to make a point about the morality of abortion.

The situations surrounding each woman’s life and each pregnancy are complicated and multi-faceted and opaque. It is foolish for some man like me disconnected from these circumstances to draw black and white lines of morality which must not be crossed. And never, ever do I wish to see the federal government involved in drawing such lines.

However, I believe that we must consider together the power of trust, and the strength that comes when we place our hope in the God who knows us and loves us.

All of us at times must face difficult moments when we are forced to make decisions, decisions that will have far-reaching consequences which we can only begin to perceive.

At those moments, we have to choose which path we will take.

Will we follow the path of fear, in which we try to seize control of our situation and force it to conform to our own will, to our own limited vision of reality?

Or will we follow the path of faith and trust in God? Will we – with patient trust – wait and see what God will do, and allow God’s will to be done?

Our readings appointed for this second Sunday after the Epiphany echo with a constant refrain giving voice to the truth of God’s intimate knowledge of each one of us.

Consider young Samuel, the boy who would one day be a great prophet. Now just a boy learning at the feet of the elderly Eli. The text states that “Samuel did not yet know the Lord”. But, without question, Samuel was well known by the Lord.

God called to Samuel. God had a plan, a goal for Samuel’s life. The boy had only to learn how to listen.

The apostle Paul writes to the believers in Corinth to encourage and guide them in their struggles. Here he reminds them of the truth of who they are: they are God’s prized possessions, bought with a price, a steep price, a costly price. Even their very bodies are treasures of the Lord, temples of the Holy Spirit!

When our Lord met Nathaniel, this new disciple was amazed that Jesus – somehow – knew him and had seen him!

“Where did you get to know me?” he asked. “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

Under the fig tree, Nathaniel thought he was all alone. But, in fact, God was with him.

The words of the Psalmist are perhaps the most poignant of all:   

“Lord, you have searched me out and known me.

There is not a word on my lips, but you, O Lord, know it altogether.
For you yourself created my inmost parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I will thank you because I am marvelously made; your works are wonderful, and I know it well.”  

How often, my dear brothers and sisters, do we forget that we are never alone?

How often do we live as if God did not knit us together carefully in our mother’s wombs, as if God did not see us when sitting alone?

How often do we live as if our lives were our own, as if our bodies were not precious temples filled with the Holy Spirit, as if God was not calling to us with a plan and a goal?

How many of you have meditated on those words from the opening Collect of our liturgy, that prayer which we call the Collect for Purity?

“Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.”

For those who do not know God, these words might inspire anxiety and fear.

But to us who have tasted and seen that God is good, these words are cause for rejoicing!

God knows me. God knows everything about you. And God calls us each by name with a goal for our lives which is good and beautiful.

It is this loving and all-encompassing knowledge which allows us the freedom to choose the path of trust.

When life seems chaotic, when difficult choices confront you, do not allow yourself to become enslaved by fear.

Remember who you are. Remember whose you are. And rest in the peace which comes from trusting in the goodness of God.

We can say it no better than the words of this famous Psalm:

“I will thank you because I am marvelously made; your works are wonderful, and I know it well.” Amen.

Glossolalia - A Sermon for The Baptism of the Lord

A Sermon for the Baptism of the Lord (RCL B) 1-8-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Genesis 1:1-5; Psalm 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11

Themes:         the gifts of the Spirit
Title:               Glossolalia

“When Paul had laid his hands on [the believers in Ephesus], the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:6).

And so today, my friends, we find ourselves in consideration of a subject matter with which we Episcopalians are not very familiar: the so-called charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit.

These gifts include speaking in tongues and the gifts of prophecy, as well as healing (see 1 Corinthians 12). These gifts have always been present in the church since the Day of Pentecost, though their use has varied widely in different time periods by different Christian communities.   

The most unusual, distinctive and most controversial of these gifts is commonly known as speaking in tongues. On the special insert in your bulletin, you will see the proper name for this phenomenon as taken directly from the Greek of the New Testament: glossolalia.

So let me ask you now, and please answer honestly:

How many of you here have ever spoken in tongues?
How many of you have ever delivered a word of prophecy?

OK, be honest: How many of you were just looking around to see if anyone had raised their hand?

That’s understandable. Prophecy and speaking in tongues are not common in our parishes here, but – make no mistake about it – there are many Christians today who make use of these gifts and there are even Episcopal parishes in New Jersey where these spiritual gifts are evident.

In the beginning, before the varied heavenly bodies took their form and their various orbits were established, God spoke and said, “Let there be light.”

Now, be honest. Do you think God speaks English? Did God actually speak the word “light”?

If we stop to consider it, of course God did not speak as we think of speaking. The Creator has no mouth, no vocal cords, no lips or tongue with which to shape sounds and form intelligible words.

The Creator’s words are formless and yet they themselves shape all energy and matter.

How then does God speak? We can call this the language of the Spirit.

Many people consider speaking in tongues as learning the language of the Spirit, how the Holy Spirit speaks when interceding within us.

It may seem quite odd to you right now, but think for a moment of what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God speaks every human language and even the language of God.

To lose ourselves in the Holy Spirit is like letting go and drifting in the current of a mighty river.

Caught in that flow, things can happen to us – and in us, and through us – that we cannot explain, because they are beyond what our minds can conceive.

These things happen today, my friends. The work of the Spirit has not changed. We live in the age of the Holy Spirit, these days after Pentecost when the Spirit is actively reaching out to all the world through the community of disciples.

These things are still happening today, even if we do not see them often in our lives.

Tony Campolo tells an amazing – and true! – story of prophecy in which he became unwittingly involved.

For many years, Dr. Campolo was a professor of sociology at Eastern College in St. David’s, just off of the Main Line. He is also a Baptist preacher. Dr. Campolo is retired now, but a few years back, he was asked to come and speak at a small Pentecostal college out in Pennsylvania. Before he was to begin, a number of the faculty gathered around Dr. Campolo to pray for him, to ask the Holy Spirit to fill him and guide him. These faculty laid their hands on Tony’s head as he knelt in the middle of their circle.

Well, these are Pentecostal people, and so they prayed long and passionately. Eventually, one of the men began to pray for a particular gentleman named Charlie Stoltzfus. And we praying and he said, “Lord! Don’t let that man leave his wife and three children! Send an angel to bring that man back to his family. Don’t let that family be destroyed! You know who I’m talking about, Lord…Charlie Stoltzfus. He lives down the road about a mile on the right-hand side in a silver house trailer!”

By this point, Tony was getting a bit annoyed. Hey…I thought you were supposed to be praying for me! he thought. And besides, why would you tell God where this Charlie guy lives? Do you think God is sitting there saying, ‘Now, give me that address again?’

Finally they finished, and Tony gave his talk to the students and then he got into his car and headed home. As he was going up the ramp onto the Pennsylvania turnpike, there was a young man hitchhiking. As a South Philly Italian and a Baptist preacher, Tony has always been a bit of a risk-taker, and he is prone to pick up hitchhikers.

So Dr. Campolo picked up this young man and they proceeded onto the PA turnpike. Tony introduced himself and asked, “And what is your name?” He said, “My name is Charlie Stolzfus.”

Tony was a bit stunned and was trying to remember what had been prayed and what he should do.

He didn’t say a word, but at the next exit, he changed directions and headed back from where they had just come. The guy said, “Hey mister! Where are you going?”

Tony said, “I’m going to take you home!”

“Why?”
“Because you just left your wife and three children, right?”

And he said, “Right, right!” And then he just leaned against the passenger door and stared at Dr. Campolo as if he was some kind of ghost. Tony drove back toward that college and stopped about a mile before the school in the driveway of a silver house trailer.

The young man looked in astonishment and asked, “How did you know where I live?”

“Because God told me! Now, I want you to go on inside because I want to talk to you and your wife!”

Charlie ran into the trailer and Tony followed him in a few minutes later. Tony met his wife, whose eyes were as wide as saucers, and he asked them to sit and he said, “Now, I need to talk with you two and I want you to listen.” Dr. Campolo told them the story of why he was there. He told them about our Lord Jesus, about God’s desire to change and transform our lives, and about the power of the Holy Spirit. Both of them made a decision to become Christians that night, and today Charlie Stoltzfus is still married and he serves as a Pentecostal minister somewhere in the South.

When our Lord was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended and rested upon him and the voice of God spoke. When you and I were baptized, we were sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever.

Do you know what that means? There is a mystery to our lives which is beyond the scope of our logic, beyond the force of our rational minds. There is a power at work in the world and in our lives which cannot be explained away.

The Holy Spirit is alive and well today and continues to speak through the people of Christ today. Perhaps you will never practice glossolalia – speaking in tongues. Perhaps you will never utter a word of  prophecy. But who knows? Perhaps you will!

IF you will yield your life to an infusion of the Holy Spirit’s power within you.

After all, my friends, this is the question which matters the most of all:

Are you open to the power of the Holy Spirit working freely in your life?

Or, are you afraid of appearing strange or odd or different, afraid of losing control?

Don’t be afraid, my brothers and sisters. Open your heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to fill you and move through you with power. Why not?

Let’s ask for this power right now. Please bow your head and pray with me.

Come, Holy Spirit, Spirit of life, Spirit of power, Spirit of the living God. We praise you, we love you and we give you glory. Come and fill our hearts with your power until our cup is overflowing. Fill us and speak in us and through us, Lord, for we live to serve you alone. Thank you! Amen.

Christmas Eve Homily - 2011

I'm a little behind in my blog posting. How is it that life can be so very busy? Well, I am now trying to catch up. Here you go...

A Sermon for Christmas Eve (RCL Year B) 12-24-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Isaiah 62:6-12; Psalm 97; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:1-20

Title:               Behold What You Are

Well, it has finally arrived, my dear friends. The sun has set on December 24, and our long Advent season of waiting has come to an end. And now our feast has begun!

Who here is excited that Christmas has arrived?

There is a nearly palpable feeling of hope and joy in the air during these days. It is a magical time of year and it feels easy to get swept up into the feeling. That is, if - of course – you are able to avoid the miles of traffic leading to the malls and the long lines at all of the cashiers in the grocery stores!

There can be no question that our Christmas celebration has been overtaken by advertisers and retailers in their frantic effort to make as much money as possible. Just watch the television commercials and anyone can see that what they are selling has nothing at all to do with the Christ Child in the manger in Bethlehem.

What began with St. Nicholas sharing some of his inheritance with poor girls in his town in order to save them from a life of shame and degradation has now blossomed into a frenzied rush of shoppers searching for the best deals and the perfect gifts.

This is unfortunate, and it is right for us in the church to distance ourselves from all of that consumerism, to hold it at arms length as we re-capture the true essence of our Christmas feast.

But it is true and right that Christmas is in fact all about gift-giving.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son.”

Tonight, we receive once again the most perfect gift of all: Emmanuel, God with us.

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, there is the Abbey of the Society of St. John the Evangelist. These Episcopal monks are commonly known as the Cowley Fathers, because their order was begun in an English town named Cowley. Oftentimes, when these men celebrate the Holy Eucharist, the consecrated Bread and Wine are presented to the gathered community as the presiding priest says, “Behold what you are!” To which all those gathered respond, “May we become what we receive.”

We will do the same tonight, and throughout the seasons of Christmas and Epiphany. The words are printed in your bulletin in the order of service, just after the Lord’s Prayer. Do you see them? Let’s practice it once together now:

            “Behold what you are!

            May we become what we receive!”

The Body of Christ was given birth by blessed Mary, and this is what we celebrate now.

But we also receive that same Body of Christ here at the Altar.
And the reason why we receive this Body is so that we might become that Body!

For by the grace of God, we are the Body of Christ! Us! Here! Can you believe it?

We are the Body of Christ active and working in the world today.

In the beginning of John’s Gospel, we hear the amazing summary of the Incarnation: “The word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

There is a trajectory in the Scriptures, a macro-movement of God’s interaction with the world, of word becoming flesh.

Once God spoke from above, a voice out of the dark cloud filled with fire and lightning.

But here we see God living among us, a baby crying and hungry and being soothed with his mother’s milk.

This is still the direction of God’s action in the world – taking the ideas, the hopes and dreams of God and making them real in flesh-and-blood human beings.

The Body of Christ here today. We embody that movement today. We are the ones who are called to take this amazing good news of Emmanuel – God with us in love and compassion and mercy – to take this news and to make it a reality in our daily lives.

Not just now, not just in December and January during this special season. But also in March and in July and in September. In every day in which the sun rises over us.

So now it’s time for us to give our gifts.

Our gift back to Jesus is to become what we receive!

After all, it is Jesus’ birthday! Give him the gift of letting his Word become flesh in you.

Give him the gift of becoming what you truly are! The Body of Christ taken, blessed, broken and given in order to love your enemies, to feed the hungry, to visit the prisoners, to set the captives free.

Trust me when I tell you that giving this gift to Jesus is also the perfect gift that you can give to your loved ones as well.

When we become the Body of Christ alive today, we become a channel of God’ grace and compassion and forgiveness and love to those around us.

Tonight, tomorrow, during these 12 days of celebration and joy, as you look into the manger, as you look to the Child who is born as the Prince of Peace, slow down and behold what you are!

And may we all become what we receive from his grace and love!

O come, let us adore him. Amen.