The Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving­kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

-- BCP, page 230

 Texts

1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49; Psalm 133;
2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41

"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"... and Jesus said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" (Mk 4:38-39)

The Sea of Galilee is actually a lake, fed by the Jordan River at the north end of the lake and then continuing on south at the other end. It is relatively shallow, with mountains on its east side and a plain that stretches out west to the Mediterranean. Its particular geography also means that fierce wind storms can and do appear quickly, with hardly any notice, turning its blue waters into a churning and treacherous death trap. Those who first heard the story would not have been surprised at this turn of events for the disciples on their shallow, small boat.

That Jesus was asleep in the stern -- now, that's a surprise! What sort of person sleeps calmly through a storm like that? "Do you not care?" I hear their immense fear in that question, as they shake him awake. Sometimes, for some of us, anger and blaming is our response to fear. We lash out. We lose it.

I wonder if the internal calm of Jesus -- his quieted spirit-is what makes possible his external, physical calm as he sleeps through the storm without a care in the world. (Pun intended -- you know me by now). I wonder if this is why he can calm the storm on the outside, transferring his inner peace to the raging whirlwind.

It seems to me that his commanding words, "Peace! Be still!" are more a conferring than an order. Jesus transmits his peace to the world around him.

The story of the calming of the sea resonates deeply for us. In the middle of life's storms, we wonder if it will ever end; we wonder if we will make it in one piece to see the light of day. That fear can lead us to angrily lash out at the people around us, as the disciples did with Jesus, as we long for clear blue skies and gentle breezes.

What if instead of praying directly for a change in our circumstances -- the storm out there -- we prayed instead for the peace of Jesus to be instilled in our hearts? What if we turned to Jesus and asked him to calm the storm that is raging inside us instead? Perhaps we focus our prayers so often on wanting a change in our situation, on fixing the circumstances outside ourselves, that we miss the opportunity to experience 

and live in the calm and peace of Jesus, whose soul was still and quieted "like a child upon its mother's breast" (Psalm 131:3).

The Peace of Christ is a gift that he is ready, willing, and able to bestow on us, because he indeed cares for us. It surpasses all understanding. It is not whether-dependent and cannot be taken away by circumstance. It is a peace that will quiet our souls, empowering us to deal with our situation knowing that we are as safe as a breastfeeding child, that nothing can ultimately destroy us. It is a peace that will hold us together through thick and thin.

And it is a peace that, by God's grace and, precisely because it is the peace of Christ, we can transmit to those around us who are ready to receive it. Christ's peace is transmissible -- contagious, in the best sense of the word. When Christ's peace dwells deeply in our hearts, we cannot help but share it and give it away.

May the peace of Christ quiet your soul and mine today.

Under the Mercy,

Fr. Daniel+

The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

-- BCP, page 230

Texts

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13; Psalm 20;
2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 11-13,14-17; Mark 4:26-34

Today's collect asks (1) that "we may proclaim your truth with boldness," and (2) "minister your justice with compassion." These are daring petitions that, when practiced and granted by grace, transform our lives and the lives of those around us.

1. Proclaim God's truth with boldness. Mention Truth and we start stumbling. So many of us immediately think that this is about having the most accurate information -- right doctrine -- and most complete ideas about God.

But Jesus said, "I am the truth." God's truth, while encompassing propositions about God, is primarily and most fundamentally personal and relational. Want to know God's truth? Look to Jesus, who in his person uniquely embodies God for us. Pay attention to what Jesus did, to what he said, how he lived, and how he died. Look to Jesus, and find resurrection in him, in this life and in the life to come. I came across this quote, attributed to John Ortberg:

Some people would rather debate doctrine or belief or tradition or interpretation than actually do what Jesus said. it's not rocket science. Just go do it. Practice loving a difficult person or try forgiving someone. Give away some money. Tell someone thank you. Encourage a friend. Bless an enemy. Say, "I'm sorry." Worship God. You already know more than you need to know.

2. Minister God's justice with compassion. How strange! I suspect that not many of us see this as part of our Christian job description. I mean the "justice" part. Compassion is not itself the objective, according to this collect, but rather the manner in which we pursue the mission of ministering God's justice.

We stumble again, don't we, because our notions of Justice imply making sure that individuals get their due reward or punishment -- and, who am I to give that? Isn't that the job of the courts and God? But Justice in the biblical sense is so much larger, deeper, and wider than our retributive notions. Justice is first and foremost about the restoration of right relationships with one another, so that all may live in the righteousness and peace of God. It is relational -- about how we deal with one another. It is communal -- not merely for individuals but constitutive of community. It is restorative -- aiming to repair the broken bonds of dignity and trust without which our humanity cannot exist, live, and thrive. When we minister God's justice with compassion, we are participating in God's dream of a reunited and restored humanity.

In last week's post I relayed to you the current work of Faith in Action, our interfaith network of 26 congregations. Please review it again. Then write to our city council (for those who live in city) and the sheriff, or the board of supervisors (for those who live in the county). We want to do three things that, while they will not usher the Kingdom of God, will make us a more just community. Our local elected authorities hear from us that:

(1) The $1 or $3 per day charged to inmates' families has to stop;

(2) We need the city and county to hire a community justice planner, so we can best use the data we'll be collecting with our new multimillion dollar system to save money and reduce incarcerations;

(3) Make restorative justice (not merely punishment) the first consideration in our juvenile justice cases.

Under the Mercy,

Fr. Daniel+

The Third Sunday After Pentecost

O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

-- BCP, page 229

 Texts

1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15); Psalm 138;
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1; Mark 3:20-35

Faith in Action is a Harrisonburg City/Rockingham County multi-faith and multicultural organization that Emmanuel helped to launch. Karen Ford and I are currently our congregational representatives and I serve as Vice President.

What follows is excerpted from Faith in Action documents.

After great deliberation and with the support of its 26 congregations, Faith in Action has committed to work with the relevant policy makers and stakeholders in 2018 to achieve the following in our campaign for local criminal justice reform:

Eliminate the financial burden of the $1-a-day fee currently paid by families of inmates at our local jail and the $3 charge for local inmates transferred to the Middle River Regional Jail (as permitted, but not mandated, by VA Code Section 53.1-131.3).   Engage in a careful and open selection process for the hiring of a well-qualified Community Justice Planner. This person would evaluate all criminal justice programs and practices, make strategic recommendations for the best allocation of resources, and coordinate the legally mandated biennial update to the Community Criminal Justice Board's Community Corrections Plan.   Establish protocols for all juvenile justice cases to be screened for a restorative justice process. We will support transparent and community-based steps in implementing restorative justice alternatives for adults and juveniles alike.

Faith in Action sees these three issues as vital movement toward making the criminal justice system a model for rehabilitation, reducing incarceration and recidivism within the community, and making room for more restorative rather than punitive justice practices.

Here are some of the reasons for these three asks:

Click here to read further.

Under the Mercy,

Fr. Daniel+

The Second Sunday After Pentecost

O God, your never-failing providence sets in order all things both in heaven and earth: Put away from us, we entreat you, all hurtful things, and give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

-- BCP, page 229

 Texts

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20); Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17;
2 Corinthians 4:5-12; Mark 2:23-3:6

Last weekend's solemn observance of Memorial Day got me pondering the meaning of the word Sacrifice. We honored our men and women who gave their lives for the sake of their country, in defense of its freedoms and peace. The word "sacrifice" came up often as I watched on television the Concert from the Mall.

Sacrifice. An appropriate word to describe people who "in the day of decision," died for our freedom, values, and ideals, as our collect for heroic service says (BCP, p. 839). We owe them and their families constant honor, gratitude, and remembrance.

The word sacrifice does not apply exclusively to dying for others, however. At its root, the word means to make an offering. In Eucharistic Prayer A, the celebrant speaks of the Holy Communion as "this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving." Praising and thanking God is an offering, a sacrifice.

In that sense, any time we offer anything to anyone, we are making a sacrifice. Parents and teachers who dedicate themselves to the wellbeing of their children are making a sacrifice. As we come this week to high school graduations in the city and county, I am mindful of the sacrifice that parents, students, and teachers have made to make the day of commencement possible. Offering not only knowledge but also encouragement, discipline, and delight (to name a but a few or their offerings), parents and teachers have sacrificed for the education of their children and students. Young people who have labored to complete assignments on time and to master the material also made a sacrifice -- at times placing their personal desires second to their educational requirements, for example.

A sacrifice then is something that requires effort. That is to say, whether the thing we offer is hard for us to do or not, we make a sacrifice when we choose one course of action over another, such as modifying one's lifestyle in order to save for the children's education or doing homework instead of playing with friends. Intentionality and commitment are part of making a sacrifice.

Making choices then means that letting-go as well as of taking-on are essential dimensions of offering, of making a sacrifice. We let go or give up something in order to take on an activity -- such as a student who curtails leisure time in order to complete homework or a teacher who works well beyond their school hours for the benefit of their students.

I've used examples that focus on students, teachers, and parents. But the dynamics of sacrifice are there for all of us in any facet of life.

At the core, to make a sacrifice is to offer ourselves for the sake of something greater or for the sake of someone else. It's what Jesus calls dying to self. Sacrificial people are not Me First people. We put others ahead of ourselves. Giving our time, our talents, and our treasure for the wellbeing of others represent the offering of ourselves. Sacrifice is an intrinsic component of service -- not only military service but any form of giving and offering to which we may called in life.

May you and I be graced with the gift of sacrificial living for the sake of the world and to God's greater glory.

Under the Mercy,

Fr. Daniel+

First Sunday After Pentecost: Trinity Sunday

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

-- BCP, page 228

 Texts

Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29;

Romans 8:12-17; John 3:1-17

Holy TrinitySt. Andrei Rublev, c. 1400 Gosudarstvennaia Tretiakovskaia Galereia Moscow, Russia

Andrei Rublev (1370-1430) wrote the most revered icon of the Holy Trinity as Abraham and Sarah's three mysterious visitors (Genesis 18). [Icons are "written," not painted.] The icon depicts three angels in equal dignity as a symbol of the triunity and equality of all three Persons. The angels are engaged in conversation as they bless the Chalice, forming a community of love in full regard of one another.

What are the implications of our being made in the Image of God, who has been revealed to the Church as "the glory of the eternal Trinity" in whom we "worship the Unity"? [Collect for Trinity Sunday; BPC, page 228] Trinity Sunday is an opportunity to reflect on who we are, in light of the Trinitarian Nature of God.

Our vision for community is rooted in the nature of God as One, Holy, and Undivided Trinity, that is, God's revelation as a community of persons, indivisible yet united by the divine nature, which is Love. Human beings, created in the Image of God, are therefore made for community and to be in communion with one another, with the created order, and with God. We are made by Love; we are born to love.

Because of who God is, we celebrate the uniqueness and particularity not only of each of us as individuals but in the multiplicity of the cultural and ethnic mosaic of the one human race as a gift of God, as a sacrament of the Holy Trinity. All people are outward and visible signs that declare the glory of God. Though we indeed "fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23), each individual and each part of the human family in its own way participates in the divine image. The richness and variety of humanity are a blessing to be celebrated, a delight to be enjoyed, and a means of coming to a closer appreciation of God's greatness and goodness.

When we come to worship on Sundays, we learn more about our vocation as a community that glories in the uniqueness and variety of all human beings. Trinity Sunday, in particular, is a time to rejoice and to renew the bonds of affection that unite us to the Father through the Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit.

Under the Mercy,

Fr. Daniel+

The Day of Pentecost

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

-- BCP, page 227

 Texts

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; Psalm 1;
1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19

The following is excerpted and adapted from a letter co-authored by The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church. With the Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners, Bishop Curry comments here on the issuance Thursday of a document that addresses the paramount importance of reclaiming the name of Jesus at this moment in our history. -- DDR+

You may already have heard about Reclaiming Jesus: A Confession of Faith in a Time of Crisis, which has been commended to the churches by a group of elders from across the traditions of our Christian families. Conceived and discerned during an Ash Wednesday retreat, written and prayed over during Lent, announced to some colleagues and a few publications at Easter, it will finally be launched to the churches at Pentecost -- when the early Christians took their faith to the streets in the public square. Those who have come together did so on the basis of relationships more than formal representation, are all in their sixties or seventies, and are either current or former heads of churches or church organizations. The declaration, as well as a summary version that has been published in both church and secular publications, are here. We also want to draw your attention to a short but moving video here, with several of our elders speaking to the need to reclaim the name of Jesus in a time such as this. The video has just been released. In a little more than a day, it has been viewed by almost half a million people because, we believe, there is a great hunger in the churches and beyond for an alternative faithful Christian voice to what many people are hearing or not hearing at this historical moment. Please join us for a service and vigil in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, May 24, at 7:00 p.m. It will take place at the National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle. Following the service we will lead a candlelight procession to and prayer vigil at the White House. You can find more details about the service and vigil here. We encourage you to share the event details with your churches and networks and encourage them to join you -- either in person or by watching the live stream of the service.