Christmas Day Homily Year C 2021

God of fear, God of the night, God of the Expectation,

You visited the angels in the night with songs and sights of joy.

In all of our nights, turn us towards hope, because hope might just keep us alive. Amen[i]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We have lived through the night and here we are on this Christmas morning.

We began with the hymn, Oh Come All ye Faithful!

And truly ye faithful are here, a smaller crowd than last night and yet no less faithful, indeed.

Oh come let us adore him, oh come let us adore him. Christ the Lord.

It’s a wonderous and mysterious thing we celebrate each year, this mighty king born in a manger with the most unique visitors showing up to be amazed and in awe and wonder.

A wonderous pregnancy, no room in the inn, and a band of angels singing messages to the community tending sheep.

And the Angel said, “Do not be afraid, for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people.” In the middle of the night, angels, shepherds, mangers, good news.

Do not be afraid is the most commonly used greeting by Angels….. the phrase is used over 365 times. To me, this means there was a lot to be afraid of in those times.

Fear of death, fear of punishment, shame, the government, illness.

We live in similar times of fear, fear of death, illness, economics, daily life and choices.

And yet in the midst of this darkest of nights, the Angels appear and say to the shepherds- do not be afraid. These same words Gabriel said to Mary and to Joseph. “Do not be afraid….” This birth is indeed good news for all the world.

In the midst of these fears there is joy.

God is with us. Emmanuel.

God did not immediately rid the world of fear.

Rather, God transformed that fear to showing the world how one can live in the midst and not give in to fear. God bore God’s love for the world in this tiny baby we celebrate each year as that baby grew into a man, grew into a movement, grew into the call to each of us to live in the same way that God was born to us, each year- starting small and transforming one heart at a time.

God, in the midst of a manger, born amongst us, changed the world through love.

Born in the midst of the messiness of life on earth, these anxious times, God came near and dwelt amongst us.

God is with us and that gives joy and hope.

God with us makes Angels sing, shepherds hustle their flocks to the manger, and a couple who were bewildered by their first born, be amazed at those who arrived as their child was more than their child, their child was a gift of love for the whole world.

I wonder what the shepherds said as they left the manger, as they tried to retell the story of their evening to those who were not there.

I wonder how their faces might have shone with the deep joy of being invited to “Oh come all ye faithful” after so many times of not being invited or otherwise occupied with duties.

I wonder the joy the angels felt in being part of the story that night of being able to sing and share such exciting news and show the way to the manger, the beams of light shining from their fingers and toes.

Oh come all ye faithful, come and adore him, Christ the lord.

The Christmas Carol itself is a beautiful collaboration of many translators and theologians. Rather than being written in one sitting by one composer. The latin words and music were date back to 1743 written by John Francis Wade, but he is not the only composer. So inspired by this work, the Fredrerick Oakley added three verses, and the Frenchman Abbé Etienne Jean François Borderies  added 2 more verses. The lyrics place you in the role of shepherds who rushed to see the christ child and remind us of all the faithful ahead of us who have come to adore the newborn in the manger.

The fifth verse: Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger,
Fain we embrace thee, with awe and love: Who would not love thee,
loving us so dearly?[ii] Reminds us of the love and embrace God has given us on this holy day.

Wherever you might see yourself in the story, the one who needs the reminder to not be afraid, the one who needs to be invited, the one who is reminded that God is right here with us, know that on this Christmas morning- new beginnings still occur and even in the darkest nights, we are turned towards hope, because hope will keep us alive. Amen

Angels, Shepherds, Mangers, Oh MY!

[i] Daily Prayer by Padraig O Tuima Canterbury Press 2017, page 9

[ii] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-o-come-all-ye-faithful-1

Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Year B Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

January 28, 2024

• 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
• Mark 1:21-28
• Psalm 111

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

“Home is where the heart is”

Growing up we used to say. “Home is wherever the Army sends you” or “Home is where the household boxes are!” some may see it as cynical, but as my physical structure of home changed every 1-3 years. From this, one learned to be less attached to physical structures and more accustomed to “how then shall we make this space a home- in this place at this time?!”

In our household, we created homes by hanging art immediately on the walls and art was the last to be taken down when we moved. We found groups to join and church was always there in our midst. Wherever we found ourselves, Sundays found us on our way to a service somewhere.

And Church is where I learned that chewing gum in church was a no no, especially if you were in the balcony and singing and well, someone on the lower level got my gum in their hymnal as I sang with passion on an Easter Hymn.

Church is where choirs always sang (small or large) and where we knew we belonged, somehow, in the midst of all the other unknowns. The church said to us, “How are you, how are you doing, come in and be here with us now.”

My first paying job in the church was in Spartanburg, SC. My first day in the office was actually not in an office but hopping into the front seat of a 15-passenger van with 8 middle schoolers and we were off to somewhere called “Johns’ Island” South Carolina for a week’s mission team of home repair.

“Home” for the week would be on the gym floor for 6 nights with 93 other adults and highschoolers, where my sleeping bag resided in the midst of my wonderful middle schoolers as we found our way in this new community and “home” for the week.

And there we found ourselves working with a program called HomeWorks. Yep, middle schoolers signing up for something called “HomeWorks” in the midst of the summer with a new youth minister, clearly a HUGE step of faith on their behalf.

HomeWorks is a nonprofit that worked with lower income households to do home repairs that otherwise would be too expensive or unable to be performed. Tasks were painting, mild repairs and mostly exterior home repair work. As a leader I was given a home address, supplies, printed out instructions to get to the home and instructions for our task.

And off we went on our first full day to Mrs Baxter’s home.

After 2 wrong turns, we made it (me yearning for my lunch already) and met Mrs. Baxter. A wonderful woman whose home was no longer easily accessible for her because she could no longer use her stairs. The stairs were both in disrepair and her physical needs had changed from when she first moved into her home.

Our task was to build an accessibility ramp for her home.

Yep, me with a liberal arts degree (a minor in Habitat for Humanity Sheet Rock floating), and day 2 on the Youth Ministry job was in charge of building an ADA compliant wheelchair ramp.

The words Rise and Run were perhaps the actions my heart wanted to do when I first learned about this task, but they became the essential key to safety with this project. For those of you in building know that with each inch of Rise, you allow a foot of “run”- or length for the ramp. The house measured 2feet off the ground—this structure was going to have some run.

Building a ramp required a lot of wood, a plan, and ….. a sure foundation.

Foundationally, there was trust from Mrs Baxter that we not only going to care for her home, we were going to improve it.

There was trust that we would do this project one step at a time and that we would do no harm.

The First day was spent measuring, destroying (middle schoolers LOVE this), and digging holes (Post hole diggers were the vocab word for the day.) and realizing we did not have quikcrete for pouring our foundations of our posts for the structure.

Delays.

Each morning we began with prayer together. Much like Anne Lamott who says prayer can be from “Help, Thanks, and Wow” our prayers ranged from “From thank you for the sunshine” to “Lord have mercy” and “Give us patience- I didn’t see that coming”

Each morning we all learned something new, and something unexpected definitely happened.

And in the midst of all of the unknowns there was love.

On day three or four thousand of the week, in the midst of a low country rain shower and temps in the high90s, I found myself totally defeated. We did not have the right tool for the next step. The tool required was 45minutes away and we had to stop for the day, way to early for my liking.

Our lead program manager called on our walkie talkies and said, “Checking in on Abi” and I replied, “Yes, Hank” (dreading having to report in and say that our day was done early because I still hadn’t learned how to say fascia correctly) and he replied with the warmest, “How are you doing?”— rather than “Report in and tell me your progress”- he was doing a heart check.

In his 30+ years of construction work, he knew that a task is just a task…. How your heart is working in that midst is far more important to the work you are doing. And I said, “Hank- it’s a hard day” and we moved from there… he helped us trouble shoot the rest of the day and reminded us that while the ramp was important, Mrs Baxter was far more important- use the time to build relationships and then head back into our “home” for the day.

We finished the ramp by the end of the week. I am pretty sure none of those middle schoolers had built a ramp either before that week, not sure they have built one since either, and yet they worked with what they had, dug down deep from their inner being and the knowledge of love in their heart to build something a bit bigger than the ramp (which was remarkably huge.)

They were invited into a home that was different than their own home, they were part of a community that was strangers on day 1 and by day 7 relied on each other as a team. We might have thought we were not the “right” people at the time, but we figured our roles out as a team and asked for lifelines as needed. Everyone found their spots from “who will make sure the water is in the van” to “Who will count noses each time we get into the van” to “Who is our resource for quikcrete.”

We dug into our beings and we tried our best to always act in love. And when we failed, we got up and started again as a community.

In our reading from the Letter to the Corinthians, we hear about food (my personal favorite topic of the bible!) knowledge and love. The writer is speaking to behaviors around food customs. The community in Corinth is figuring out how to live in their community as followers of Jesus. The advice given is to “live out of love for one another.” Live examples of faithful, persistent love that was given to you by God, through the life and teachings of Jesus. Let that love be your outward practice.

“Knowing things” is marvelous and wonderful and even helpful, but it is relationships and love that are most important. Preaching the good news in the practices you maintain matter, so live with building relationships first. Meet people where their heart is, first. Your behavior should model this for those around you.

I think it is fair to say that you will learn something new and most likely unexpected each and every day, you will need to call a life line, not matter how wicked smaht you might be, AND you just might be that life line for someone else- a reminder: respond in love first.

In our Gospel reading today, Jesus speaks and acts in one of my favorite Greek words evah. “ekousia”-

Ek- out of
and “ousia”-being.

He speaks and teaches from his inner most being. His “authority” or ekousia is both knowing God, not from book study BUT because he embodies who God is- fully human (remember Jesus needs naps, prayers, has a sense of humor, compassion, and even loses his patience) and fully divine (the power to heal, the knowledge of who God is.)

Jesus speaks and heals from his heart space, his true nature: love. The words he speaks in the gospel reading in the synagogue are familiar but heard in a new way because the reading is being understood in a new way, through the lens and voice of God’s love- Jesus himself. Jesus speaks openly and even the demons understand this fully and obey. His words fill people with awe and wonder and re-establishes relationship.

In the church, we are always building up things, metaphorically and literally. Church is space for finding a spiritual home. As Kit shared in her sermon 2 weeks ago, church is a space for you to belong and be fully you. As Morgan shared last week, it’s a space to struggle with faith and love. The church is a space where you can learn not only the practical of the consequences of chewing gum while singing but also the gift of God’s love, mercy, and grace and where your distinct gifts and talents are called together.

For the past 8months as I have preached and celebrated, I have looked out at a pile of dirt slowly moving about in Copley Square. There is a plan out there for what that square will look like eventually and I am definitely not the one called to move that dirt around. I am praying for them though and watching as we will partake in the end product. The work is dusty, dirty, inconvenient and we want to rush through it…but they have to get the foundations right for the final product.

Here inside the walls and systems of Trinity, we too have been building community in so many ways within the ministries of the church. We are building framework so that you might be able to find your spiritual home and ministries. The work of creating Trinity’s Ministry Council has been a very intentional process so that the foundations of the council are able to foster accessibility for all at Trinity to find their spiritual home and ways to engage faith and action.

Howard Thurman said, “Ultimately there is only one place of refuge on this planet for any person- that is in another person’s heart.” In building Christian community we strive to live out a place of the heart. Speaking from the heart, inviting others in, and remembering that we as a community are part of one larger body, the body of Christ.

Love builds up.
Love endures through hardship, challenges, and longer than we hoped.
Love invites, teaches, and heals.
Love is the common ground that makes a household flourish.

I wonder where in this new year, you will find your space in this household and where you might most come alive, where love is speaking to you, too.

Unpack and settle in, breathe in and out-

Have patience and continue to love.

Trinity Church in the City of Boston
Christmas Day, 2023

Christmas Day I

Isaiah 9:2-7 
Titus 2:11-14 
Luke 2: 15-20 

O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

 Christ to thee with God the father, and O Holy Ghost to thee, hymn an chant and high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be; honor, glory, and dominion, and eternal victory evermore and evermore. Amen.

Well, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Froliche Weinachten, Joyeaux Noel, and Feliz Navidad.

In German, French, Spanish and English- our greeting today and for the next 12 days expresses joy, happiness, and merriment about today, the day that Jesus was born. Navidad means nativity, Noel comes from the old French and latin for nativity, Weinachten literally means “holy night” and Christmas- well, even in English it is clear who and what we are talking about. No matter in which how you say it, our Christmas greeting expresses JOY about the birth of Jesus.

And what a Holy night it was, filled with unlikely pairings in unlikely places. Mary, the god-bearer, with no where to rest, God made flesh in the form of a vulnerable baby, this newborn king’s first visitors were smelly shepherds who came in with their flock in tow. And then there were Angels. Heavenly hosts with awe striking news, songs from the realms of glory….. what an incredible gathering of all of humanity. I wonder what sorts of conversations took place? Could they even find words to say?

Many of you know that I do not have any biological children of my own. AS it was said in Gone with the Wind, “I don’t know nothing about birthing no babies” and yet many years ago this is exactly what I found myself doing. As a peace corps volunteer in tiny village called Yendemillimou (no spell check does not like the spelling of this word)……I found myself working alongside of two incredible sagefemme or midwives- though I do like the literal translation from French which is “wise women”….. Susan was a refugee from Sierre Leone and spoke pigeon English and a dialect called Malinke and Fatima was from Guinea and spoke incredible French and the same dialect, Malinke.

Communication was tricky with these two. In order to share a story with these two wonderful women, I first told the story to Susan in English and then I would turn to Fatima and tell the same story but in French. Or Susan would translate the story into Malinke. Either way one of us would wait…listening to the other translation…watching for the same emotions we had when we first heard the story…..and usually the story ended in laughter because of my mishaps in a foreign land.

Every third night, we three spent the night at the health clinic and were on duty for birthing babies. Women would arrive in the quiet of night seeking the skills of these women as they delivered their babies. My friends would gently wake me up and I became “flashlight girl”… in a health center where there was no running water or electricity. My 4 Dcell battery MAG light was far better than the kerosene lantern. And here I was the western woman who towered over my colleagues by a good foot in height- but I was not the sage femme. I knew very little and learned so much. In the quiet of the night, I witnessed my first birth….none of the words were familiar to me- dialect was being used for speed and conversation between the young mother and the mid-wives. And Yet there was trust there, I did not need to know the words- these women knew what they were doing.

And boy was I not prepared for the visible pain of the mother- the hard work, the labor and time., Nor was I prepared for the messiness of birth- there is a lot of things they don’t tell you when you are growing up about all of that. And I was not prepared for the custom of this region when the baby was born.

I was soooo excited to see the outcome of all this effort that I started to talk, asking the questions I was dying to ask and I was immediately shushed….. the custom in this culture was to not say a word until that newborn made the first sound….. here we stood, midwives, mother, all holding our breath until this little newborn gasped and squealed on its own… and then… then we danced, we sang and squealed in joy too.

We were an unlikely group of people, a Sierra Leonean, Guinean, First time mother, and Southern white-woman with a flashlight and found ourselves covered in the messiness of birth and bound together by the universal gift of breath and laughter. Unlikely people in unlikely places, helping to bring new life into this world.

Today our readings speak of birth and new life. We hear of a new beginning coming, 2 chapters later we will hear the familiar words of Isaiah, “For a child has been born to us… Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace…..” the same hope for freedom is expressed in the baby lying in the manger in Bethlehem. A new thing, a new life and while the continuation of the same love of God, a new thing.

In the ordinary, God takes human form and lives with us.

Emmanuel, God with us.

Throughout scripture we hear the message of God’s love for God’s people. Each prophet translates the message into their context and then here in a manger, God comes down to tell that message in and through Jesus. A baby who in the very beginning has no words but grow into the man who tells us how to live, how to love, how to better understand who God is. Living with us through the pains and messiness of life, Jesus gives us new breath and laughing and dancing with us in the delight of new life.

Even when we do not have the words, God provides comfort and new way.

Today the birth story is told again in our Gospel reading….for the first time.

Angels share the message with the Shepherds. In words and language and presence that the Shepherds understand. Angels, celestial bodies of the heavenly realm- close to God- share the news with those who are in the field- working while others sleep… tending livestock. Shepherding was an Essential but by no means a heavenly occupation. And they receive the same joy as if it were priests or kings who had been visited that night.

God is with them, right then and right there — and they spring into action….with haste they go to see the baby Jesus. Unlikely people in unlikely places receiving news of great joy.

And the story has been told over and over and over again. For over 2000 years we tell this story.  We may not understand all of the words all of the time, we may identify with different portions of the nativity at different moments in our lives, but one thing is sure….. god is with us.

In our messiness, our grief, our brokenness, and in our joy, God is there and will triumph over this broken world.

We, too, are called to be midwives, sharing this story with all who are around us, using words that others might understand. Words that shed light in the midst of a world so desperate for unquenchable hope and joy. Sometimes our task is messy, sometimes we will have to wait anxiously, sometimes we will need someone else (even the most unlikely of folks) to hold the flashlight for us to show the light…….the light for new birth and new hope.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity.
Pleased as man with us to dwell; Jesus our Emmanuel.

Merry Christmas indeed, my friends.

Amen.

Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Christ the King Sunday

November 26, 2023

Psalm 100
Ephesians 6:10-24
Matthew 25:31-46

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Holy, Holy, Holy- though the darkness hide thee,

though the sinful human eye they glory may not see,

only thou art holy, there is none beside thee, perfect in power, in love and purity.

One of the legend stories my family received as children was about how to cut a pie.

I mention this because in the past week, many of you partook in a dinner that concluded with pie. Whether it was apple, pecan, pumpkin or sweet potato pie is a whole other conversation.

The legend we received was that my father and grandfather before him were given the duty of cutting the pie into equal slices. Their role was to divide the pie equally amongst those who wanted pie for dessert. If 5 people wanted to eat pie, the pie was cut into 5 equal pieces. If 8 people wanted pie, 8 equal pieces were cut. One person at the table was given the job and had to do it well, or the person receiving the not quite equal piece would be upset and there would be much gnashing of teeth.

Pie, into slices.

Fairness.

One person in control of the dividing.

As children, we gave great thanks that this tradition did not trickle into our Thanksgiving meals. Instead, the pie was just plain old cut into equal pieces no matter how many people wanted to eat the pie and then there were pieces left over for snacking and after other meals.

The other place of major division on holiday meals was who sat at the “kiddie table” adjacent to the larger table. (It isn’t until later that we realized these kiddie tables were far more fun.) Divided by age and plate size, we, children, were sat adjacent or even in a different room. As a child, I always wanted to be at the other table, little did I know that right where I was, was the right spot to be.

Shoulder to shoulder with family.

Divisions made for us, demanded of us.

Decisions that included and excluded others.

Our opening collect today reminds us that it is God’s will to restore all things through God’s well beloved Son, that all peoples of the earth might be freed from sin and enslavement and be brought together into one body.

And yet, in today’s gospel we hear one more parable ending one more time with eternal punishment. And.

Division.

Or.

Perhaps, this is not the final point of the parable.

Is there something more?

Like every parable before it does, this parable’s foreboding punishment means to remind us of the path we should follow. This Eternal punishment is a guidepost along the way to remind us that our goal is not to assume the role of judge nor ignore those in need rather to look with new eyes on the world around us.

The king, in our gospel today, claims all of the nations and is inviting them into seeing each other as one, all within the kingdom of this King.

And as any King might do, he sorts them.

He sorts them not by tribe or nationality, rather- he sorts them by action.

He sorts them by the grace, the compassion, the love that each has had for one another and more importantly for not just one another, their people within their peoples, but how they have treated the “other.”

The person not familiar to them, treated them with dignity and care.

In this final parable shared with us on the Reign of Christ Sunday, we learn of God’s desire that we live so that others might live,

that our actions are governed from love rather than scarcity

and that we might have eyes to behold family right where we are.

Likewise, the reign of Christ is not one seeking to condemn and sentence people to eternal damnation.

Instead, the reign of Christ is invitational,

inviting us to reframe our perspective and see more clearly the opportunity we have to share generously what we have with those around us.

A King can do whatever a King wants to do. (Remember Mel Brooks’ “It’s nice to be King” which is a clear example of how not to use the powers of being King) and this King invites those listening to realize that in this kingdom, each person matters to the other.

Every single person represents the King,

which in turn means each person is set apart,

beloved, and royal in the eyes of this King.

And this King cares so much for his kingdom that he is willing to pass judgement upon those who do not follow this philosophy.

All, though different, responsible for caring for each other.

All are charged with sharing what they have with those who are immediately before them, right where they are.

Each and every person is to be seen as beloved children of God, regardless of which table they are sitting at or if at some point they have been left off the table completely.

ALL are invited to join in the feast, to be fed, to have their thirst be quenched, and to be invited into the family to which they already belong by being born on this earth.

Our world right now is a multitude of divisions.

Tribes, peoples, political parties. Family tables fraught with unspoken tensions.

Each moment seeming to be in competition, always striving to elevate one over the other.

We see hope breakthrough in moments of cease fires, in moments of leadership and change, in moments where dignity of each human being in restored to wholeness.

This King is inviting us to see that the kingdom is stronger when we realize that we are all a part of this family, each moment is a moment to share what we have with the nearest person- regardless of the chair we are sitting in or at the table we find ourselves.

Each moment is a moment to be present with each other.

when we are hungry for justice,

when we thirst for peace and

when we are in desperate need to be clothed with the warm embrace of the assurance that no matter the size of our table, we are never alone, never less than and never without someone who deeply understands our needs.

Michael Franti puts the concept into words:
People need, people need, people need people
No matter where in the world that you go
Don’t you know that you’re not alone?
No matter where in the world that you go
Don’t you know that you’re not alone?
‘Cause people need people

Our hymnody and scripture puts it as this:

This King of Love, my shepherd is.

This King of sheep and goats

This King of the lost and the strays.

This is the reign of Christ. A reign that invites each of us and all of us to a table that has a chair for each of us with food enough for all.

Listen to the shepherd calling you in to be fed, to be clothed, to be transformed by a love that is so deep and broad that divisions dissipate and are overrun by the concept of sacred companionship.

People need People. Each and every one.[i]

God of the losers,
who inhabits the hungry, the thirsty,
the naked, those in prison,
whose kingship is one of love,
enable us to find a way
in this world of restrictions and fears,
to build friendships,
to find time for each other,
to lift the phone or make a contact, and,
in sharing our brokenness and restrictedness
may we find divinity in that moment with each other.

Through Christ the King,

Amen[ii]

[i] https://www.google.com/search?q=people+need+people+lyrics+franti&sca_esv=585237898&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS977US977&sxsrf=AM9HkKkjyAdz_GAGj41ldRBzoF_axEo3Ww%3A1700914986825&ei=KudhZYz0Md-w5NoPsqWJmAE&ved=0ahUKEwiMsdSMkt-CAxVfGFkFHbJSAhMQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=people+need+people+lyrics+franti&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiIHBlb3BsZSBuZWVkIHBlb3BsZSBseXJpY3MgZnJhbnRpSJgeUNYCWPkbcAF4AZABAJgBX6ABsweqAQIxNLgBA8gBAPgBAcICChAAGEcY1gQYsAPCAg0QABiABBiKBRiwAxhDwgINEC4YgAQYigUYsAMYQ8ICEBAuGIAEGIoFGNQCGLADGEPCAhMQLhiABBiKBRjIAxiwAxhD2AEBwgIWEC4YgAQYigUY1AIYyAMYsAMYQ9gBAcICBRAuGIAEwgIKEC4YgAQYigUYQ8ICCxAAGIAEGIoFGIYDwgIjEC4YgAQYlwUY3AQY3gQY4AQY9AMY8QMY9QMY9gMY9wPYAQLiAwQYACBBiAYBkAYNugYECAEYCLoGBggCEAEYFA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

[ii] https://www.spiritualityofconflict.com/readings/283/reign-of-christ

Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Proper 24 (Adapted) Year A 2023

October 22, 2023

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Come, Lord, come to us.
Enter our darkness with your light,
Fill our emptiness with your presence,
Come, refresh, restore, renew us.
In our sadness come as joy, in our troubles, come as peace,
In our fearfulness, come as hope, in our darkness, come as light,
In our frailty, come as strength, in our loneliness, come as love,
Come, refresh, restore, renew us.
By Eleanor Daley (b. 1955)

How often do we sit in curiosity?

Sit wondering without presumption, to be present and to learn?

How often do we ask a question as a litmus test, testing someone’s stance on a subject?

How often do we risk being fully alive by opening our eyes and hearts to listen deeply?

The questions we ask, matter.

The questions we are asked, matter.

How we receive an answer matters

How we answer matters.

In High School, I remember spending a lot of time asking questions, learning learning learning. In an environment that encouraged questions, I loved to hear people’s stories and listen, craving more. Sometimes this dialogue led me to forgetting time and having to run to my next thing.

I remember one evening being exactly where I was supposed to be on my boarding school hallway, in my room, but pushing every other boundary. I was hanging my head into the hall to finish the conversation that we had not quite yet finished… but I was IN my room.

At that moment, the dorm mother came up to me and asked me point blank, “Abi are you in your pajamas?” And I looked down at my jeans and sweatshirt and knew I was doomed. I was in trouble regardless of my answer. If I answered “Yes”- it was clear I was going to sleep in street clothes, which was a bold-faced lie. If I answered “No”- well, then I was also going to hear some sort of “why aren’t you in your pajamas?”

Which I also thought was a dumb question, CLEARLY I was finishing a conversation… I was stuck. My wise dorm mother knew the answer to the question before she asked it and I felt trapped. There was judgement coming.

While the tension was all of my own doing and preventable, I felt stuck….

And yep, I shushed my mouth and changed into my pajamas……

We can ask questions to which we already know the answers.

We can ask questions to test people.

We can also ask questions to be curious, to wonder, to walk alongside of and become one with the other.

Curiosity and wonder invite the unimagined and refocus our attention in a new way.

Today we read the next portion of the gospel of Matthew’s Chapter 22, immediately following last week’s gospel. The tension is building in the community. We are 22 of 28 chapters of Matthew completed. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem with only a fraction of his life left to live on earth. Jesus’ parables and teachings are building tension.  Each parable has consequences, often in the gnashing of teeth. People have questions. Jesus has lived a full life and is speaking about matters that are ruffling feathers.

The Pharisees today were not curious.

They were not wondering with Jesus and imagining a new way of living.

They have come to trap Jesus.

They ask a question that they know he will be stuck answering.

The Pharisees want to hear Jesus speak out against God’s law or the Empire’s law.

They, like men of today, could not stop thinking about the Roman Empire, either!

And Jesus is not trapped.

Jesus does not choose between right and wrong.

Jesus redirects the Pharisees’ understanding.

In what they thought was a Yes or No question, Jesus reminds the Pharisees to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.

And to God, give to God.

The image of Caesar on the coinage reminds everyone who claimed authority, led the army, build the roads, that profile on the coins was a visible reminder.

But in the face of the person beside you, you see the face of the one true God. God who created all of what we have to begin with, setting all that we have in motion.
Give to God what is God’s. Live your whole life belonging to God, first.

You see, this image of God that is more than you can imagine and requires each of us to come together to more fully see the image of God.

Give to God what is God’s.

We live in this world, governed by man, and we are to commit lives to God- living out our fullest in relationship with one another and striving to preserve the dignity of every human being.

I think the Pharisees were afraid.
I think their tricky questions came from a place of fear of losing control, fear that God would actually love the world so much that God could actually reconcile the world through love and relationships, proving their places of authority misplaced and often flawed.

I think the Pharisees did not want to be wrong but wanted to be right, to gloat and show their wisdom and obedience to the law. The Pharisees did not have a desire to get it right.

And yet, here is the thing, in a world where judgement was the motivation and fear the underlying cause. The last line of our gospel is that they were amazed.

Rather than humiliated and shamed, they, too, were transformed.

Amazement
Wonder
Curiosity

The Pharisees were left wanting to know more

Wanting to ask more questions, questions that deepened understanding.

Questions that would build up relationship rather than increase distance.

Questions that would fill ones soul up with the indescribable yet fully experiential love that Jesus stood in their midst to give.

Have you ever walked into this space with someone who is seeing Trinity for the first time?

I love walking in here with friends and bringing them in from the side and listening to them as they sharply intake their breath as we stand in the back absorbing all of the beauty in this space.

There is a glow about them, an awe.

You can describe the space all day long but in coming in and experiencing this space for yourself, you see the divine at work through the art, the space, and after I tell them snippets of what is where and why, through each of you.

This space is beautiful, but this space is only a historic landmark if we do not talk about the people of Trinity coming together to pray, to break bread, to act in the world as the hands and feet of Christ.

Coming together creates the image of Christ for this greater world. Each of us is the image of God and a part of this body, sharing the gifts and talents that we have been given to be the living household of God.

And that household of people is more than we can imagine, but each day we have a chance to glimpse it in our midst. Sometimes through that friend who realizes sees the holy for the first time in our familiar space and sometimes it is in the questions we ask, even when we think we know the answer.

God will meet us here and invite us to go deeper.
We are always in the right space at the right time to be the love this world needs.

In our fearfulness, come as hope, in our darkness, come as light,
In our frailty, come as strength, in our loneliness, come as love,
Come, refresh, restore, renew us.

Amen.

Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Proper 19 Year A

September 17, 2023

Collect for Proper 19

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

O Most High, all-powerful, good Lord God,
to you belong praise, glory, honor and all blessing.
Be praised, my Lord, for all your creation. – Canticle of Creation by St Francis[i]

What is in a name?[ii]

These familiar words come from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Juliet is complaining about Romeo’s last name. A family connection that means nothing to her because her love for the individual exceeds any family hatred that has occurred before their relationship.
And yet there are Households divided.

The only thing that can reconcile them is the transformational powet of love.

We each receive names in our lives, names by birth, names given at baptism, sometimes these names are given because we are unable to say the full name presented to us at a young age, or perhaps a name was given to us because of traits that we have.

My grandfather went by the name Red, because of his red hair.

My maiden name is White.

So, yes, his name was Red White.[iii]

When I was growing up with this last name, I gave quite a bit of thanks that my parents did not name me Lilly or Snow.

And of course, in marriage I became A White Moon and my husband and I thought about all the names we would not name our children: Waxing, Waning, Harvest, Full, Blue, etc etc.

A name matters, given or bestowed, a name establishes relationships and connects us with the past and what is to come or even what we might have to overcome.

When you hear the name Mary, you might think of the mother of our Lord or perhaps your favorite Mary in your life: a Choir member (I think we have three?), a wife, sister, mother, a great aunt.
Whoever it might be, you are connected to that person and memory….by a name.

It is through Mary that we trace Jesus’ lineage and his connection with humanity.

Naming in the bible established a relationship.

From “Adam,” the name given from God to humanity as it is formed from “primal elements” (as our eucharistic prayer will soon say.)

To Adam and Eve naming all of the animals of creation- establishing community and relationship with all that existed.

Community, togetherness, the household of God.

And they all exist in the garden of Eden, that perfect community.

Until.

Humanity does what it unfortunately does best.

Humanity forgets to trust the love of God.

Humanity falls from grace,

Humanity returns love with brokenness…

and community becomes divided.

The story repeats itself over and over again.

Love is given, love is received.

Love is forgotten and brokenness is remembered.

Divisions are established.

People are cast out.

Names are taken in vain

and love is hungered FOR rather than received.

In the letter to Ephesians today, we hear Paul writing of our adoption into a household that adopts us through a sacrificial love that can mend all of humanity’s brokenness. A household that accepts us for who we are and loves us into community. This household shows us the way to live and invites us to live in community with others. We are named and beloved.

The household to which Paul speaks redeems the earthly households we might be a part of that leave us wanting more.[iv]

In both Disney’s Snow White and Cinderella the lead characters are craving acceptance for who they are. They have been left behind or lost and they find friends in the most unlikely of places. Animals have names and seem to work beside these humans to make the household a better space. It’s a harmony that is loving and playful. Who can forget Gus Gus, the mouse in Cinderella, who never quite got the task correct but was very much a part of the beloved family.[v]

With this same loving and cheerful spirit, St Francis speaks to our relationship with creation in his own time of being cast out of his own family. While he, too, sought his place in the community that rejected him, he writes his beautiful Canticle of Creation. Francis speaks to God’s love and humanity’s relationship with creation. You can almost hear the conversation and joy he has for brother sun and sister moon (please don’t ever call me that.) in creation.

Eric Doyle remarks that the canticle speaks, “to love is to be in relation with another, creating a bond between the self and a part of the world, and so ultimately between self and all creation. If one person can love one other person, one unique animal, one flower, one special place on this earth, there is no reason in principle why that love cannot stretch out to embrace every single creation to the furthest reaches of space.”[vi]

Love that stretches is the love that we have been given by God.

In creation, we see the circle of care and community.

We seek to stretch to share the love that we have received and are promised. 
We are to call by name the flowers, the birds, the water as we recognize that we, too, are in relationship or kinship rather than consumer-ship with creation.

In our Gospel reading today we hear of debts forgiven and debts demanded.

Peter asking “How generous must I be with how much forgiveness that I give?”

To be fair, what Peter offers in the number “seven times” is quite generous.
It’s more than the policy of three strikes and you are out.

Jesus says to Peter, “friend, you should forgive not just seven times but seventy seven times”…..essentially, Peter, your forgiveness should stretch more than you can count on your fingers and toes put together.

Love for community is bigger than seven.

A legacy of love digs deeper than keeping score,

love invites changed relationships, transformation.

Jesus’ following parable illustrates the way forgiveness should be shared not counted. Rather than tracking tit for tat, forgiveness should be given as God has given to us, in uncalculating love.[vii]

The forgiveness of the King in our parable today should be emulated not exploited.
The slave should share the grace that was given to him, not create further division in subsequent relationships.

Share what has been received.

Break the cycle.
Think Beyond preserving self only.

And so it is as we live in this household, named as beloved children of God.

We, too are called to see the need that creation, all of it, has for reconciliation.

In seeing creation as community, we too, can be stewards of care.

Seeking to change the cycle,
rather than taking the easy way and only taking what we have been given.

With fires, earthquakes, disastrous flooding, 90degree temperatures in Boston in September, hurricanes threatening Maine, it is hard to ignore the changes that are occurring in creation, in our world.
We must work towards building up practices that build community, that celebrate creation and community together, recognizing the fragility of all of creation and stretching beyond our own immediate needs.

We need to pause and contemplate our own actions and responsibilities towards how we walk amongst the garden we have been blessed with and how then, we too can see God’s own love at work, opening our eyes to see both the beauty and our responsibility of care.

For the next three weeks we will be continuing a season of Creation Care, I invite you to go deeper with us in Prayer, Learning, Acting and Sharing as we recognize our own habits of creation care and division. We will take the time to name our connections and creations’ belovedness. We will seek to reconcile the two, reclaiming and working to restore that garden of Eden relationship where all of humanity began.

You, too, are called by name to this work.

We, too, are called to speak by name the work that is to be done, together.

And our answer, just like at baptism, is “I will with God’s Help.”

[i] As we begin our 3-week Creation Care sermon series and educational forums, I could not resist sharing a small portion of St. Francis’ Canticle for Creation. To read the whole canticle you can find the rest of the canticle here: https://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=3188

[ii] I love digging deeper into phrases we use, often without remembering when it was first coined, https://nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/soliloquies/whats-in-a-name/

[iii] My grandfather was a really interesting fellow. I am totally not biased. He does have his own wiki page (I did not create, by the way.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kermit_White

[iv] For those of you reading the Revised Common Lectionary, you might be wondering why we are reading Ephesians. As we begin our 2023-2024 program year at Trinity Church, our theme of “Companions in the Household of God” is taken from Paul’s writings to the Ephesians. We began our reading of Ephesians September 10^th and will focus our Adult Education Forums on Ephesians starting October 15^th. Now is the chance for you to dig into this book of the Bible with us!

[v] More on Gus, the mouse. https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Jaq_and_Gus

[vi] Care for Creation: A Franciscan Spirituality by  Ilia Delio O.S.F. Keith Douglass Warner O.F.M. Pamela Wood; page 88

[vii] From George MacLeod’s prayer “The Chaos of Uncalculating Love” http://bobhostetler.blogspot.com/2008/08/chaos-of-uncalculating-love.html

Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Proper 12 Year A 2023

Genesis 29:15-28
Psalm 105:1-11, 45b
 Matthew 13:31-33,44-52

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Jesus,

 steady one,

How you lived your life,

With those burdens and beliefs,

We do not know.

But we know this:

You kept your heart steady,

And were distracted neither by fame nor fury.

May we keep steady,

Pursuing that which will help us,

Not harm us;

What will dignify us,

Not destroy us.

Because you did this,

And in you,

We see a life lived

With the deepest love.

Amen.[i]

“Hold Steady”

Do you remember when this was last said to you?

I remember these words being said as splinters were being taken out of my finger.

I remember these words being said when a dress was being hemmed.

I say these words each time I am on the highway and find myself with large trucks on both sides of me.

Hold Steady……and the splinter will be removed, the pins on the hem will be in place, you will get through this narrow space and all will be well.

Hold Steady, be faithful,

keep going forward, breathe and we will get through this together.

So friends, let’s steadily plunge into our readings today.

As we continue the story of Abraham and Sarah’s descendants, today we have a love story gone a bit awry.

This story brings up so many cultural differences that we must talk about.

First, culturally the women had no say in this marriage.

Thankfully, in our culture things have changed.

Second, to work as a farmhand to earn the right to marry a daughter.

Again, thankfully, dowries are no longer required, and women are not seen as property in this way.

Third, Jacob the trickster has met his match with his Uncle Laban. Jacob, for once, is tricked!

I do feel like that with some simple pre-marital counseling, safe church practices, and better communication, some of this story could have been avoided.

I feel for Leah who knows that she was never the first love of Jacob, even as she is the one who is steadfast and faithful through and through.

I wonder how she felt being a pawn in her father’s plan.

There are so many things in this story that we can wonder about….

And they deserve some of our attention and we can reflect also on the steadfastness of love.

Jacob’s love keeps him honoring his commitment to both Laban, to Leah, and to Rachel. Love makes him steadfast, carries him through and keeps him faithful to his commitments. (Perhaps, he also checked the vail when it came to marrying Rachel, too!)

Hold steady, do the work, and seek dignity not fame nor fury.

Jacob, Leah, Rachel, let love motivate your daily life, your daily space,

Grow in love and relationship….

Hold steady, the pain of rejection will pass,

the adjustments to the space will be made, and this uncomfortable space will pass.

I am not sure that life was ever easy in Jacob’s household.

Remember, Leah’s boys and Rachel’s first born, Joseph, do not get along.

Remembering how the marriages all began, you can’t blame them.

We have come a long way from this story. Hold Steady…Yesterday, July 29^th, was the 49^th anniversary of women’s ordination in the Episcopal Church, Barbara C. Harris – the first woman ordained bishop was an acolyte at the service in Philadelphia. And while there is still work to be done for equality and all voices to be heard and represented in the church, we hold steady, faithful in love and working for the kingdom of heaven.[ii] During my own ordination, I could feel the weight of those hands placed on my head- praying to hold steady to respond to the call of love in my life and to share that in this calling each and every day.

During the liturgical season of Ordinary time (the time between Pentecost -way back in May, 50days after Easter- and Advent-which begins 4 Sundays before Christmas Day) we have two different scriptural threads going on.

We have the personal histories of the families of the Old Testament and we have settled into the parables of Matthew. 

Parables told from the son of a carpenter, usually about farming, while standing on a boat or by the water and concluding with a fiery hell and the gnashing of teeth.

Today is no exception.

We hear of a mustard seed, yeast, hidden treasure, the flawless pearl, casting a net into the sea, and the master of the household.

Jesus, the consummate teacher is inviting his listeners to keep wondering about the Kingdom of heaven.

Each parable, even as short as they are, tells that the Kingdom of heaven can be found right here and now and demands our engagement.

Like a mustard seed, a weed that is undesirable and yet can become so much more.
A life of steadfast faith encompasses all things and endures even through the weeds.

Like the small amount of yeast that can transform the largest amount of flour with time and patience. Steadfast love has the power to change all that it is around.

Like hidden treasure and the perfect pearl that, when found, inspires you to abandon everything to secure that piece of perfection. Love motivates and moves you.

Like a net that pulls up all the fish, even then there is work that must be done by all of us.

The kingdom of heaven is steadfastly revealing itself in the old and the new as needed in each situation.

Jesus steadfastly lives and tells of the kingdom of God. A space that is “on heaven as on earth” as we pray in the Lord’s prayer requires all of us to be part of the story regardless of what befalls us.

All of our readings today point us towards the mysterious and astonishing love of God. Every time we think we can fully describe God’s love and kingdom, the lives we live demand that we should keep holding steady to learning this vocabulary of steadfast love again and again.

The men and women in our lives who have shown us what steadfastness looks like, model the gift of taking one steady step at a time, in love, not for fame nor fury but for the love of God that has lit a spark in their loves and inspired them to do the same.

The Traditions of enduring steady love set the example for us to unravel how God is still engaged in our current lives.

Steadfast, faithful.

Hold Steady friends.

In this midst of this heat.

In the midst of rejection

In the midst of challenging times.

Seek the pearl.

Seek the hidden treasure

Keep casting the net

Because the kingdom of God is in our midst, inviting us to find it, to seek it out and to know this love, steadfast love of God.

Hold Steady.

Keep breathing.

See the path ahead.

Live a life with the deepest love.

And as our closing hymn sings, “Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the living of these days, for the living of these days”[iii]

[i] https://www.spiritualityofconflict.com/readings/263/eighth-sunday-after-pentecost As you can tell, this is one of my favorite resources for prayers and direction. This project opens up scripture in a whole new way!

[ii] Lots of history to tell! https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2023/07/28/church-prepares-to-mark-49th-anniversary-of-womens-ordination-to-the-priesthood/  https://www.episcopalarchives.org/house-of-deputies/women/ordination   and here This Movie tells the story! https://vimeo.com/797111253?fbclid=IwAR0v3xYnG_LhAX_i5DpZebhjl7VLxvISkx08Xc1nton7_vUeQgUe3AWM0_4

[iii] Our closing hymn is one of my favorites, a chorus that stick with you! https://hymnary.org/text/god_of_grace_and_god_of_glory

Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Proper 11 Year A 2023

Genesis 28:10-19a
Psalm 139: 1-11, 22-23
Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Storytelling Jesus,

Annoying your listeners and followers with parables

 that irritate and questions

that interrogate the faithful.

Irritate us,

Displace us from the centre

 when we tell stories that demand

others for our own comfort.

Because you told stories in the hope that action would follow.

Let Action Follow.

Now and now and Now and Now.[i]

Happy Summer Friends!

Here we are in the warmer temperatures, settling into the end of July and what I love about summer is that there is a time for story telling, story listening, the reminder that we are connected to a larger narrative.

If you have been paying attention in the past several weeks, you have noticed that we are hearing the story of old Abraham’s call, Abraham’s complicated family, the birth of Isaac, the childhood of Isaac, Isaac’s finding a wife, and now Isaac and Rebekah’s sons….twins who wrestled each other even in the womb. Jacob who wrestles his brother out of a birthright and then a blessing (later.) Who said family drama was something new?

Each of these stories remind us of God’s call through the ordinary, the complicated, the dramatic, through all of our lives.

Each summer that I was in college, I served on a camp staff of an episcopal camp. While I did not grow up going to camp as a child, this camp was a second home to me during my college years. Each summer we spent the weeklong sessions sharing the Story of God’s love within and outside the ordinary. We sat around the campfire and told the story, we gathered around the cafeteria tables to share meals, and we sang. We sang old songs our parents sang at camp, we sang songs I had never heard of before and ones that after we sang once, would never leave our head.

One favorite song that seemed to stick perniciously, is one that was written by Henry Pritchett (an episcopal priest who served in both the deep south and NYC.) and it was called “God is a Surprise”

Well, surprise, surprise,
God is a surprise, right before your eyes. 
It’s baffling to the wise.
Surprise, surprise, God is a surprise.
Open up your eyes and see.[ii]

And the verses of the song told the story of the people of the bible who were delightfully surprised by God. From Moses and the surprising burning bush to Peter called from fishing to Jesus, mortal man and yet divine son of God. Each person telling the surprising love and call of God in their lives. Each with their ordinary interrupted.

Today our readings remind us that God is indeed surprising in when and where God will meet you. Both readings have surprising things occur at night.

Night time when we read stories to our loved ones before bed.

Night time when we let go of control and rest.

Night time when we have to be vulnerable in order to receive the restoration we need.

IT is in the night that Jacob takes a rock and places it under his head to fall asleep. To let go of the dreams of a wife, the strife of a brother, the consequences of his actions, the beloved-ness of his mother and the guilt of betraying his brother and father.

Amazingly, despite all of those things, sleep comes to Jacob and there he dreams. He dreams of Angels, he dreams of God, he delights in visions of being connected with God.

And God, speaking to him says “I’ll stay with you, I’ll protect you, I’ll bring you back here. I will stick with you until all has been accomplished”- what an amazing dream, to hear God say to you- “You are not alone” “You are beloved” “You are a gift.”

Surprise! In the midst of all this chaos, the pressure, the betrayal- YOU are loved, you are not alone, you are still God’s child. It’s baffling to the wise, but open up your eyes and see.

Similarly, Jesus is telling his disciples a story about a nighttime planting.
Surprising things grow in this garden.

Now, when we moved to Boston a year ago, we inherited a yard of amazing things. Green things everywhere. Overgrown, lush, blocking my path. In the past year I wanted to cut it all down and reshape the chaos and instead, my husband said to me- let’s just wait and see what comes back after the winter.

Irritating! I had time, I had desire, let’s fix this…. But no, let’s wait. And sure enough… overnight, it seems like,  all the things that died and went away during the winter have popped up and then bloomed, weeds that looked like they were choking other plants flourish alongside of a tree that revealed itself as a lilac tree, tulips emerged and now are replaced by lilies. Shasta Daisies have come up where nothing once was.

Our parable today tells of a different overnight activity. Last week we heard about the Sower and the seed (sometimes how I feel our Boston garden was planted) and this week we hear about a diligent thoughtful farmer who planted in rows and then the enemy comes in and plants weeds, one translation says “Thistles.” Surprise, two plants start growing in the farm land…… and what should one do?

Surprise! Wait and let them both grow.

The optimist in me says “OH, maybe it’s a partnership? They both will flourish and help each other out!” the pessimist says “BUT they will choke each other and no one will flourish”— and if we focus here we miss the surprise.

While the Sower last week was ridiculous in his scattering of seeds, today’s emphasis remains on the planting and seeds that were planted.

Surprise! The action here is not to eliminate the enemy’s work but to strive amidst those weedy thistles.

Surprise, our role is not to weed but to tend our garden, strive towards planting seeds, nurturing those seeds and growing towards God.

In the most ordinary of ways, in the most surprising places.

God took the most ordinary, even grumpy, people- who constantly lied, cheated and broke their promises and called THEM into being vessels of transformative love.

Jacob was a trickster, literally wrestling with an angel one night, he constantly saw the worldly things as most important and yet- God promises, surprisingly to us perhaps, to always be present and always protect Jacob.

God’s love for God’s people has been constant despite destroying our own best interests. In God’s ultimate desire to restore our relationship, he takes on the form of a human and plants himself right in our midst. Rose among thorns, inviting each of us in to learn, to hear one more parable with a surprising ending, to grow in a new way, to lean more towards the Son of God and experience a sacrificial love that leans more towards us that we can even imagine.

God is a constant surprise if we expect a limited understanding of God.

If we only imagine a God who could stop loving us, a God who doesn’t care for us, we will always be surprised.

The God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah and Rachel (next week my friends!) continued to surprise them in the moments when they were most vulnerable, most doubtful, most empty.

The God of yesterday, today and tomorrow invites us in our own weakness, doubt, and uncertainty to be surprised by the deeper love of a God who “pitched his tent” among us and knows the pain of losing a friend, of betrayal, of unplanned shocks and says again and again to each of us “I’ll stay with you, I’ll protect you, I’ll stick with you.” And you will still flourish.

So my friends, know that you too can rest in that embrace and be surprised as God shows up again and again in our own lives.

Just Open up your eyes and see…sometimes even by closing them and resting.

Amen.

[i] Prayer from https://www.spiritualityofconflict.com/readings/263/eighth-sunday-after-pentecost

[ii] http://frankdunnsblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/surprise.html