Homily Highlights for April 24 the Fifth Sunday of Easter

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

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Homily Highlights for April 24 – The Fifth Sunday of Easter

THE GROWING CIRCLE OF LOVE IN JESUS

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you...” (John 13:34) The New Commandment of love is the center of the teaching of Jesus and the center of Christian life. It would be hard to find any passage of Scripture more important than this one so it is important to understand it as fully as we can. Imagine the power of love in Jesus as an ever expanding circle, a road map of spiritual growth revealed to us in Scripture.

LOVE OF GOD AND NEIGHBOR

Jesus cuts through thousands of laws and teachings in the Old Testament Scriptures to bring us to the heart of God’s will. “’Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-39) These two commandments are found in the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18) Jesus makes them central and puts them in mutual relationship. Love of God finds its concrete expression in love of others and the love of others finds its foundation in the love of God. This is the spiritual work of a lifetime but Jesus does not stop here when teaching about love.

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

Hear again the teaching of Jesus: “You have heard it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43-44) In this challenging commandment is the call to learn the spiritual discipline of “overcoming evil with good.” (Romans 12:21) It is also a call not to presume who is in and who is out in God’s Kingdom. The dramatic account of Peter’s vision in the Acts of the Apostles today is a foundational Scripture in the Gospel of inclusion: The beginning of the Gentiles, who are, all the people of the world outside the Covenant with Israel, being called to the saving love of God in Jesus Christ.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU

If all of these teachings on love are not challenging enough, Jesus calls us to learn to love as God loves. “Love one another as I have loved you.” A giving sacrificial love that seeks the good of the other no matter how we are feeling at any given moment. I think we touch this experience in parenting when we must steadily love our maturing children. Scripture also calls us to this standard as a church community in seeking the common good above all else. (1 Corinthians 12 & 13) Finally, this love is eternal as the great vision of the Book of Revelation unfolds: For what is heaven but the place where God IS and where we are united with God’s love forever. Each day holds the challenge and hope of eternity in every call to love in the power of God who tells us “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)

Father Hagerman

Homily Highlights for April 10 – The Third Sunday of Easter

HEROES, SINNERS, AND ORDINARY PEOPLE

“O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.” (Psalm 30:13)

PETER AND PAUL ARE CALLED

In our Scriptures today great sinners become great heroes of the faith. Paul in a flash of light goes from “breathing threats and murder” to breathing the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, the breath of God. Peter the impetuous fisherman jumps into the sea to seek the Lord whom he had denied three times. Three times he must confess his love of Christ to restore the balance of faith and then the fisherman can become the shepherd who will follow Jesus to his own cross in Rome. How will this extraordinary God of great biblical dramas call us who are ordinary people?

THE PSALMS AS THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

The Psalms are meant to be said or sung together for they are the voice of all of us. We might not naturally be so dramatic but we do know what it means to cry to the Lord for restoration of health. Our prayer list is always growing. We do know what it means to call for God’s help when we feel we are being treated unfairly. We know seasons of tears and seasons of joy; seasons of life and seasons of death. Ordinary life becomes extraordinary in prayer when we seek God in all seasons. What moves us to seek the Lord? “While I felt secure, I said, ‘I shall never be disturbed.’” (Psalm 30:7) But sooner or later we all get disturbed, don’t we? Into the changes or losses we do not seek comes the Lord who calls us. Perhaps in a flash of light or in the persistent question, do you love me?

WE ARE THE WITNESSES TO THE RISEN CHRIST

For every life that shows forth the healing power of forgiveness, the risen Christ lives!

For every life that passes from sickness to health upheld by prayer, the risen Christ lives!

For every life that learns that in giving we receive, the risen Christ lives!

For every life that grows wiser from mistakes rather than being crushed by them, the risen Christ lives!

For every life that passes through mourning to new life, the risen Christ lives!

For every life transformed to God’s service in the simplicity of who we are, the risen Christ lives!

This is for all of us—ordinary people loved by a wondrous God.

“Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.” (Psalm 30:13)

Father Hagerman

Homily Highlights for April 3 – The Second Sunday of Easter

FROM DOUBT TO THE PEACE OF GOD IN FAITH

GOSPEL

“Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you...Thomas, do not doubt but believe.’” (John 20:19, 27)

THE TRUST OF A CHILD

As we gather in the second week of the Easter Season, I find myself thinking about faith from the perspective of a young child, for the cradle of loving arms is the place where faith is born long before the word is first spoken. There is warmth, feeding and quick responsiveness, and life in the world feels good and safe. But I remember the first time many years ago when my oldest daughter started restlessly moving in my arms wanting to explore the world of the nursery and home and there were some bumps and falls and tears in that exploring, but as long as there was a steady guide and arms to return to, the world could still feel good and safe. Over the years, the bumps and falls continued but seasoned by times of laughter and sharing and through it all life in the world can still feel good and safe for the child who is loved and learns faith.

As the child grows, there are questions and some of the answers are wondrous gifts and surprises and some are bumps and falls and tears….And if there is someone who will hear the questions and walk with you in finding the answers, the world can still seem good if not always as safe as the nursery. God has never turned away from our questions and doubts. They are written as prayers in the Psalms of lament and can lead to a deep and authentic faith. Doubting Thomas is the patron saint of Christians in India, for history and tradition tells us that Thomas went to one of the furthest corners of the world to proclaim the Gospel of the one who knew how to handle his doubts and lead him to an even deeper faith.

LOST CHILDREN IN A WORLD OF DOUBT, HOPEFUL CHILDREN IN A WORLD OF FAITH

The gift of love we give to our children can grow into a gift of faith. Baptism plants the seed of the Spirit that marks them “as Christ’s own forever.” It is an irrevocable gift that will reach out to grow; waiting for the nurturing family…..telling the stories, celebrating the blessings, unafraid of the questions and even carrying the doubts with a patience that may challenge our own faith until God’s time of revealing comes for hopeful children in a world of faith.

Jesus does not leave Thomas in doubt but comes to him, leads him to faith and sends him. And the promises we make in the Baptismal Covenant will not allow us to leave out children in doubt, lost in a world without faith. The long walk of commitment that is the Easter Faith is made vivid today as we promise to support these children in their life in Christ.

Father Hagerman

Homily Highlights for March 27 – Easter Sunday

WHY DO YOU SEEK THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD?

WHY DO YOU SEEK THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD?

The Easter Gospel brings us a powerful question across the centuries from God’s messenger at the empty tomb, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5) The question reminds us that to understand Easter we must begin with Good Friday.

WHO KILLED JESUS?

We can approach that dark day as a detective mystery asking the question: Who killed Jesus? We begin with motive. In the crucifixion of Jesus what were they trying to kill? Why were they trying to silence him? Jesus in his earthly life was a great teacher and healer and Scripture is his witness. To connect with the power of his teaching, let’s start with the witness of one whose life was transformed by his relationship with Jesus. Just days after denying him and fleeing in fear, Simon Peter is proclaiming that he still lives and the world is changed. Peter speaks in our New Testament reading from Acts, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ.” (Acts 10:34-36) A message of radical inclusiveness. A family of God that transcends bloodlines and national boundaries, a gospel of peace. Is this a threatening message to those filled with pride and seeking enemies in those who are “the other.” Can we even handle it now? Who killed Jesus?

THE MESSAGE OF ISRAEL’S PROPHET

To know Jesus as teacher we must know the faith of Israel in which he was nurtured and how, especially in the teaching of the prophets, his own teaching is shaped. We hear from the prophet Isaiah in our Old Testament reading, giving us a vision of God’s Kingdom, the Kingdom Jesus came to proclaim.

“No more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime … They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat...they shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity...Before they call, I shall answer...the wolf and the lamb shall feed together...They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain says the Lord.” (Isaiah 65:19-25) A family of God for all nations, living in justice and peace, caring for the vulnerable. Who could be threatened by that?

THE ILL LED CROWD

The voices of Good Friday cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him.” In ignorance the crowd cried for violence manipulated by corrupt power in politics and religion. God’s gift of freedom turned against God. Is the pattern strange to us? Across the ages Jesus challenges us. “You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” (Matthew 16:3)

IN WHOSE NAME DO WE GATHER?

Jesus was not silenced. All the instruments of violence and coercion wielded by Pilate and the Roman Empire could not silence Jesus. We gather today in his name, still challenged by his vision and values.

We shall not seek the living among the dead.

We shall not turn from the call of our living God to be a House of Prayer for all people, for all nations.

We shall not turn from the call of our living God in our Baptismal Covenant to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”

Today is not the end of the story, it is the beginning—a new season to embrace with joy and hope God’s gift of life renewed.

Father Hagerman

Homily Highlights for March 13 – The Fifth Sunday in Lent

THE HARVEST OF GRACE

“May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.” Psalm 126:5

“Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:13-14

BENEATH THE JAIL DOOR

I arrived last Tuesday at my Prayer and Bible Study Class at the Jennifer Road Detention Center to find that half of my class had been “locked down” or confined to their cells. Apparently it was a rough day on A-3. I had made what now appeared to be a fortunate decision to bring the bulletin from St. Stephen’s for its very powerful set of readings last Sunday for our Study. The bulletin fit nicely beneath the locked doors of the cells and the men gave me a smile and a thumbs up as we said a prayer through the glass. I often tell them, “Remember nothing can lock God out but our own hearts.” It was a striking moment of grace – the kind that happens when our routine is disrupted by the unexpected. Forgetting what lies behind, however sad, if we keep our eyes on Christ, we find him beckoning us forward to a gift of new beginnings, sowing in tears, reaping in the joy of a hard wisdom. We may do some straining to lift up our hearts, but we do not need to do that straining to win God’s love; that has been done for us in Jesus. Amazing Grace how sweet the sound.

ANOINTED BY GRACE

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is at dinner with friends and is anointed by one of his dearest friends named Mary. It is an anointing that looks ahead to the burial of Jesus after his death on the cross for us when we are anointed by grace.

The meaning is missed by Judas who is upset that he will not have more money to steal. Mary, the faithful friend, will be there to anoint Jesus at his burial. Judas will be hanging in a tree of despair, unable to take with him any of his ill gotten money. Judas never does get it, for Jesus died for him too and could have restored him by grace to discipleship as he did to Peter who denied him three times. Judas could only look backward.