Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Rhythm

Walking on the beach, I notice the sound of the waves.  Over and over, recurring, recycling, ...

It's quite soothing.  My feet feel the sand and walk, too, in rhythm to a different beat.  That beat is the one connecting my heart and my breathing to the pitter-patter as I shuffle along. That beat includes silences long and still between every thought.

I believe that God is alive in this rhythm, too, in the splash-gush splash-gush of waves.  God awakens the inspire and exhale of my breath.  In the kerthump, kerthump of my heart beat.  In the flitter of the tiny birds who scatter after gobbling sand crabs. In the lumbering swelling of water just before it crests into a wave.

Rhythm.  A new name for God. 

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Matthew 11:28 (The Message)

Monday, October 17, 2011

Sermon: It's All God's

Sermon for Proper 24, Year A - October 16, 2011
St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Arlington VA
Text: Matthew 22:15-22

Matthew 22:15-22


Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.


Sometimes it helps to ask a child.

When asked, what it means that God created human beings in God’s image,
Eight-year-old Rachael gave some keen insight 

First, she asked a clarifying question,
“What’s an image?”
 “Ummm,” Grandpa replied, “something like a photograph.”
 “Oh,” Rachel thought.
“That’s strange.  God is invisible. 
How could there be a photograph of God?” 

Grandpa remained silent
while Rachael thought about this. 
Her wheels turned.
“Maybe…maybe it’s more like God is in the image of human beings.”
“Only it couldn’t be just one human being,
it would have to be lots…”
“…And they’re all different. 
Each one is different,
like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. 
So you would have to fit all the pieces together…”
“…Then they would be a community,
and a community is more like God.”

The insight of this eight-year old
could easily stand alongside any commentary
about how to understand God’s image. 

In the puzzling text we hear today,
this eight-year-old gives insight to
what it means to put the St. Andrew’s
mission puzzle pieces together:
joyous, growing, inviting, and caring.

The Gospel text we heard took place
while Jesus was visiting the temple,
on his journey to Jerusalem.

Up to this point, the chief priests and elders
had questioned Jesus’ authority. 
So as we enter the picture this week,
we understand there was already some tension –
an ongoing controversy
between Jesus and the Pharisees.

In this scene, the Pharisees had joined forces
with the Herodians
to ask Jesus a question.

Isn’t that puzzling that there,
in the temple,
there appeared two factions
that otherwise would be at odds
with each other,
but both wanted to entrap Jesus. 

They asked him a question,
prefaced by flattery and
were a bit obvious, as well,
repeating Jesus’ own words
(from the parable we heard last week),
“What do you think?” in posing their question. 

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”

Jesus was aware of their evil intent,
and called them on it, those hypocrites.
First, he asked why they were testing him,
hearkening back to Deuteronomy
“do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Second, Jesus knew that
no one who claimed to follow religious laws
should have had a coin with an image
in the temple; that was sacrilege.

So, Jesus said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?”
They replied, “The Emperor’s.”

It’s helpful background to note that
the word Emperor is the noun used
in the bible translation
by our church. 

However, in the Greek,
the word used is actually Caesar


Caesar was specific Emperor
whose image was accompanied
by an inscription considered
blasphemous by the Jews:
“Tiberius Caesar,
august son of the divine Augustus, high priest.”

In addition, the tax
was a specific census- or head-tax
that was quite oppressive.

One could only pay that specific tax with that specific coin.

So, when he said to them,
“Whose head is this, and whose title?”
and they replied,
“The Emperor’s,” the tension rose. 

Jesus knew it was a trick–
they intended to trap him.

If he said to pay the tax,
he would alienate the Pharisees
and would be persecuted
as a collaborator with the government. 

If he said not to pay the tax,
he would alienate the Herodians
and would be arrested for sedition. 
It was a political conundrum. 


How could Jesus have pleased both factions,
not taken sides,
and stayed true to his faith?

How can we please
competing factions in our lives,
while staying true to our faith?   
Isn’t that puzzling?

We may feel trapped,
as if two (or more) groups
have plotted against us,
forcing us to prove our allegiance
to one faction or another. 
We use coins that say
“In God We Trust”
and yet we rely
on our own strength. 

Each of us has complex choices to make. 
Sometimes these choices are
between the good and the better. 
We feel trapped when we have to choose. 

The choice might be
“spend extra time at work to meet a deadline” or
“leave early to enjoy the family.” 
The choice might be
“visit the in-laws for the holidays” or
“stay home and participate in a church event.”
The choice might be
“volunteer at Arlington Food Assistance Center” or
“attend a bible study.”

Sometimes these choices are
moral dilemmas. 

The choice might be
“accept how my cousin uses hateful language” or
“stand up for the respect and dignity of all persons and confront my cousin to stop spreading hate.”

The choice might be
“step back away from this person of whom I fear,” or
“step forward towards this person and engage in meaningful conversation, seeking Christ in them.” 

Many people today feel trapped. 
How do we fit the puzzle pieces together?
How do we respond?

Jesus responded. 
He said, “Give to the Emperor what is the Emperor’s
and to God the things that are God’s.” 

Jesus said, in effect,
it was not unlawful and
not against the Torah. 

He saw the trap they set
and liberated the Pharisees and the Herodians
from their small way of thinking.

Now, imagine that after saying
“Give to the Emperor what is the Emperor’s,”
he paused. 

Imagine he put his arm around the questioner,
looked at him, loved him. 

Then, with a wink and a slight hug, he offered,
“and to God the things that are God’s.”

Jesus didn’t choose either/or, he showed the both/and. 

It’s all of God; especially you, dear questioner. 

Jesus showed that
God’s image appeared
in the midst of this
messy human scene,
in the midst of the mixed up
puzzle pieces strewn about in tension and
now filled with grace. 

In a moment of compassion,
Jesus reminded them
that the world belongs to God. 

Jesus knew the scriptures,
and without mentioning it
probably had on his mind
Isaiah’s affirming words –
from the last lines of today’s first reading,
“I am the Lord, there is no other. 
I form light and darkness, weal and woe. 
I am the Lord, I do all these things.”

In a scene filled with God’s grace,
Jesus transformed the challenge;
he showed the picture on the outside of the puzzle box. 

He replied, in essence,
“Caesar can stamp his picture
and pedigree on the coin,
but Caesar can’t come close
to the true commerce
that animates the world.
Caesar’s image conveys oppression and power-over. 
Anyone can do that. 
Recognizing what is God’s image
Takes real compassion.” 

Jesus reminded them that
God had imprinted God’s image
on each of them
(and of course on every human being).
When the Pharisees and Herodians
knew what he meant,
that all people are
to give their whole selves to God
and only dross to Caesar,
they went away to think again.

Do we know what Jesus meant?
How do we respond?
How do we fit the puzzle pieces together?

Through God in Christ, we are liberated from the trap. 
It’s not one or the other, it’s both/and. 


God created everything that is,
including each “Caesar” and each “faction”
that might give us angst. 

To give to God what is God’s
begins with noticing God in everything. 

Noticing God’s joyous incarnation in every person we meet.  Noticing God’s growing revelation
in this community, St. Andrews.
Noticing God’s invitation to love each other deeply.
Noticing God’s care for this community to sustain it for more than sixty years through thick and thin. 

What is God’s?  It’s all God’s.

Jesus invites us today
to look at the puzzle image on the box
as St. Andrews,
a joyous, growing, inviting, and caring community…
These four are the corner pieces of
our community jigsaw puzzle. 

Joyously, we continue in the apostles’ teaching
and fellowship, breaking bread and praying.

Growing, we proclaim by word and example
the Good News of God in Christ.

Inviting, we seek and serve Christ in all persons,
loving our neighbor as ourselves.

And caring, we strive for justice and peace
among all people,
respecting the dignity of every human being.

Underneath and throughout our community
is the kiss of light in our eyes
and the watery sign of the cross on our foreheads. 
This is what we give back to God. 

All of our joyous, growing, inviting, caring faces
are together the images of the divine that God sees. 

The 8-year old Rachael in our opening story
challenges us
to look at connecting individual puzzle pieces
into God’s image,
into God’s community. 

The divine image is not fulfilled
by unique puzzle-piece images,
until they fit together. 

The sacred individual,
the sacred community,
the sacred resistance to the tyranny of Caesar…
when we place all these puzzles together,
we think again about God, the Image,
the community,
and the jigsaw puzzle of humanity and earth and heaven.

All things come of thee, O God,
and of thine own have we given thee.

Amen

Sermon for Baptism on All Saints Day

Sermon for Baptism – All Saints Day, 2011
Vicki Hesse, Seminarian
Matthew 5:1-12


Belay? Belay On!  Climbing? Climb On!
The world of rock- or mountain- climbing
requires a lot of communication.

The simple “Belay? Belay On!” exchange,
at the start of every climb,
happens between the climber and the belayer –
(the one connected to the other end of the rope).

This conversation means that
both people are ready to go.

Here’s how it works.

The climber asks, “Belay?”
and waits for the belayer to reply, “Belay On.”

Once assured that the other is ready,
the exchange continues, “Climbing!”
The belayer responds, “Climb On!”

This common-to-climbers chat
is how you make sure
the other person is there and ready.


You are depending on each other
for your safety!

During the climb,
the belayer uses a locking device
and adjusts the slack on the rope,
to protect the climber in case of a fall.

As the climber concentrates on climbing,
the belayer concentrates on the climber’s situation.

The belayer keeps a broad perspective
and responds as the climber ascends or descends.

In some cases, the climber
might be heavier than the belayer
and this requires an anchor.

What the belayer will do is
insert a carabineer
or other rope-holding device
into a crack in the rock
below his or her body.

This device, this anchor,
counter-balances the belayer and
keeps them from
being launched into the air
in case the (heavier) climber falls.

This conversational dialogue
and this method – this system –
gives the climber confidence
that she or he is not
alone up there on the rock,
that protection is out there
on the length of the rope, and
that the anchored belayer is there to help.

Today, we celebrate Babygirl’s baptism
on All Saints Day.

We will all renew our baptismal covenant and
in so doing, we will renew our promise
to belay for each other
as we climb the cracks and crevices of life,
with God as our anchor.

We will promise to be with each other
as a climbing team, and more,
a family – God’s family.

And we will promise
to give each other confidence
that we are not alone, by the grace of God.

Our ropes are tied in,
sealed by the Holy Spirit and
we are marked and anchored as Christ’s own forever.

In the Gospel reading from today,
we heard a piece of scripture
commonly called The Beatitudes.

It begins with the lines,
“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain;
and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.
Then he began to speak, and taught them…”

Like many mountain climbers,
Jesus probably went out to vast places
when the crowds got to be too much.

On this day, for example,
Jesus saw the crowds and went up the mountain
with his disciples,
bouldering, climbing, canyoning, and scrambling.

Along the hike,
the disciples told stories to Jesus
about their ministry experiences.

“The people,” the disciples said, “are helpless and harassed.
The folks are poor, tired, worn out.
They keep trying to pull themselves up
by their bootstraps – by their own individual power.
They really want to do the right things,
but the government
and sometimes even the religious authorities,
are persecuting the families and businesses
for even trying.”

We can imagine that as they reach the summit,
they ended their whining.
Maybe they signed their name
on the register at the peak
and took a photo or two of the grand vista.  

Then the disciples gathered around Jesus,
trying to find a spot on that bumpy ground.
The disciples paused at this point.
The question hangs in the air –
“how are we going to help the people?”


We might imagine ourselves
having a similar discussion
while hiking up a 14er.

You know how we like to talk to each other on hikes,
how we lament with each other
about the way things are these days.

About how we really try to do our best,
but it seems the people in charge
just keep persecuting us
for trying to make things better.

About how we feel helpless and harassed,
tired, worn out and we hope
that this hike might rejuvenate us
so that we can find the strength
to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps,
by our own strength.

We can’t really depend on others,
it’s our own strength
that will get us through, we think.


So we can really relate
to how the disciples must have felt.



When Jesus and the disciples summit
and finally get settled on the mountain,
Jesus, having heard their stories the whole way up, pauses.
Then he began to speak and taught them.

He invites the lamenting disciples
to see the world as God dreams it can be.
“Look,” he says, life is more than individual actions…

Then he pauses (not much air up here on the mountaintop).
He explains how the disciples
can reframe the situation.
He says,
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.


What does he mean? The disciples murmur to each other,
waiting for Jesus, their rabbi, to explain.

How it is possible for the people to remain faithful
to their covenant with God,
even when life is hard for the community?

What does he mean by “blessed?”

One way to understand “blessed”
(or “ ‘ashar” in Hebrew)
is to relate to Psalm 1 –
another place using “blessed” –
and there, it means
“you are on the right road when…”

Of course, the disciples were also familiar
with the Psalms,
a common language between disciples and teacher.

So Jesus explains to his disciples,
 you are on the right road when
you are poor in spirit
(considering other people’s concerns),

you are on the right road when
you mourn
(about how slow God’s justice seems to be but you know that God will make things right in the long run),

you are on the right road when,
in being meek (humble),
you believe that God will renew the earth,

you are on the right road when
you hunger and thirst for justice “for all”,
not just for the individual,

you are on the right road when
you hold the rope mercifully for others
just as they would for you.

You are on the right road when
you know that God’s grace is open to all.

While Jesus is explaining all this,
we can imagine
the disciples look out over the vista
and see a new world
for the people.

These people – all who are in covenant with God –
are the ones who receive
grace, justice, peace, love and mercy
in God’s kingdom.

Eventually, the crowds make their way up the mountain
and find Jesus and the disciples there.

The people want to hear this great news too!
This is a new way of thinking!

With this new way of thinking,
we are here today
to mark a different kind of summit experience.

The summit we have reached
is a mighty transformation –
happening in Babygirl’s life and in our lives.

At her Baptism,
she is adopted into God’s family –
God’s climbing team –
and we, as witnesses,
renew our covenant with God
to love and be gracious
and belay for
each other.

We know we are on the right road when…
empowered by the Spirit –
we tie-in our ropes with Babygirl
and with all the saints –
past, present, and yet to come.
In the sacrament of Baptism,
we outwardly mark
what will inwardly change;
Babygirl will sanctified by God.

This will be done in your presence –
parents, godparents, family and friends
who intend to support Babygirl
in her climbing journey
of the Christian life.

As Parents, Mom and Dad,
you are taking vows on her behalf
that you can teach her what it means
to life in Love with the world
and in Love with God,
every step of the way,
with God’s help.

By taking these vows,
you are teaching her
how God is her belay,
her anchor.

Dependent on each other
and in covenant with God,
we promise to be there
on her whole journey.

As humans, we also recognize
that even with our best knots,
some ropes might become frayed.

But, in Baptism,
our Master’s rope seals the connection.

It holds because
these love-knots are tied
with God’s grace and
by all the saints
that have come before us,
who are here now
and those in the future.

We are promising to stay tied-in
to Babygirl and each other
throughout this life journey,
both the physical mountaineering world and
the inner world of cracks and crevices
and canyons and vistas.

Through Baptism,
we are adopted into God’s hiking team.

Oh, just one more thing.
Today, you all are witnessing
the vows that Mom and Dad are taking
on behalf of Babygirl,
and the vows that these two are taking
as her God-parents.

In the vows, you will be asked
to support them in their life in Christ.
When asked,
can we hear,
as from a mountaintop,
your affirmation, “WE WILL!”  ?

Belay? Belay On! Climbing? Climb on!

Amen.

Sermon ~ Proper 24, Year A

Sermon for Proper 24, Year A - October 16, 2011
Text: Matthew 22:15-22
Vicki Hesse, Seminarian

Sometimes it helps to ask a child.

When asked, what it means that  
God created human beings in God’s image,
Eight-year-old Rachael
gave some keen insight.

First, she asked a clarifying question,
“What’s an image?”

“Ummm,” Grandpa replied, “something like a photograph.”

“Oh,” Rachel thought.
“That’s strange.  God is invisible. 
How could there be a photograph of God?” 

Grandpa remained silent
while Rachael thought about this.  
Her wheels turned.
“Maybe…maybe it’s more like God is in the image of human beings.”
“Only it couldn’t be just one human being,
it would have to be lots…”
“…And they’re all different. 
Each one is different,
like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. 
So you would have to fit all the pieces together…”
“…Then they would be a community,
and a community is more like God.”

The insight of this eight-year old
could easily stand alongside any commentary
about how to understand God’s image. 

In the puzzling text we hear today,
this eight-year-old gives insight to
what it means to put our faith community's
mission puzzle pieces together:
joyous, growing, inviting, and caring.

The Gospel text we heard took place
while Jesus was visiting the temple,
on his journey to Jerusalem.

Up to this point, the chief priests and elders
had questioned Jesus’ authority. 
So as we enter the picture this week,
we understand there was already some tension –
an ongoing controversy
between Jesus and the Pharisees.

In this scene, the Pharisees had joined forces
with the Herodians
to ask Jesus a question.

Isn’t that puzzling that there,
in the temple,
there appeared two factions
that otherwise would be at odds
with each other,
but both wanted to entrap Jesus. 

They asked him a question,
prefaced by flattery and
were a bit obvious, as well,
repeating Jesus’ own words
(from the parable we heard last week),
“What do you think?” in posing their question. 

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”

Jesus was aware of their evil intent,
and called them on it, those hypocrites.
First, he asked why they were testing him,
hearkening back to Deuteronomy
“do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Second, Jesus knew that
no one who claimed to follow religious laws
should have had a coin with an image
in the temple; that was sacrilege.

So, Jesus said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?”
They replied, “The Emperor’s.”

It’s helpful background to note that
the word Emperor is the noun used
in the bible translation
by our church. 

However, in the Greek,
the word used is actually Caesar. 


Caesar was specific Emperor
whose image was accompanied
by an inscription considered
blasphemous by the Jews:
“Tiberius Caesar,
august son of the divine Augustus, high priest.”

In addition, the tax
was a specific census- or head-tax
that was quite oppressive.

One could only pay that specific tax with that specific coin.

So, when he said to them,
“Whose head is this, and whose title?”
and they replied,
“The Emperor’s,” the tension rose. 

Jesus knew it was a trick–
they intended to trap him.

If he said to pay the tax,
he would alienate the Pharisees
and would be persecuted
as a collaborator with the government. 

If he said not to pay the tax,
he would alienate the Herodians
and would be arrested for sedition.  
It was a political conundrum. 


How could Jesus have pleased both factions,
not taken sides,
and stayed true to his faith?

How can we please
competing factions in our lives,
while staying true to our faith?   
Isn’t that puzzling?

We may feel trapped,
as if two (or more) groups
have plotted against us,
forcing us to prove our allegiance
to one faction or another. 
We use coins that say
“In God We Trust”
and yet we rely
on our own strength. 

Each of us has complex choices to make. 
Sometimes these choices are
between the good and the better. 
We feel trapped when we have to choose. 

The choice might be
“spend extra time at work to meet a deadline” or
“leave early to enjoy the family.” 
The choice might be
“visit the in-laws for the holidays” or
“stay home and participate in a church event.”
The choice might be
“volunteer at Arlington Food Assistance Center” or
“attend a bible study.”

Sometimes these choices are
moral dilemmas.  

The choice might be
“accept how my cousin uses hateful language” or
“stand up for the respect and dignity of all persons and confront my cousin to stop spreading hate.”

The choice might be
“step back away from this person of whom I fear,” or
“step forward towards this person and engage in meaningful conversation, seeking Christ in them.”  

Many people today feel trapped. 
How do we fit the puzzle pieces together?
How do we respond?

Jesus responded. 
He said, “Give to the Emperor what is the Emperor’s
and to God the things that are God’s.” 

Jesus said, in effect,
it was not unlawful and
not against the Torah. 

He saw the trap they set
and liberated the Pharisees and the Herodians
from their small way of thinking.

Now, imagine that after saying
“Give to the Emperor what is the Emperor’s,”
he paused. 

Imagine he put his arm around the questioner,
looked at him, loved him. 

Then, with a wink and a slight hug, he offered,
“and to God the things that are God’s.”

Jesus didn’t choose either/or, he showed the both/and. 

It’s all of God; especially you, dear questioner. 

Jesus showed that
God’s image appeared
in the midst of this
messy human scene,
in the midst of the mixed up
puzzle pieces strewn about in tension and
now filled with grace. 

In a moment of compassion,
Jesus reminded them
that the world belongs to God. 

Jesus knew the scriptures,
and without mentioning it
probably had on his mind
Isaiah’s affirming words –
from the last lines of today’s first reading,
“I am the Lord, there is no other. 
I form light and darkness, weal and woe. 
I am the Lord, I do all these things.”

In a scene filled with God’s grace,
Jesus transformed the challenge;
he showed the picture on the outside of the puzzle box. 

He replied, in essence,
“Caesar can stamp his picture
and pedigree on the coin,
but Caesar can’t come close
to the true commerce
that animates the world.
Caesar’s image conveys oppression and power-over. 
Anyone can do that. 
Recognizing what is God’s image
Takes real compassion.” 

Jesus reminded them that
God had imprinted God’s image
on each of them
(and of course on every human being).
When the Pharisees and Herodians
knew what he meant,
that all people are
to give their whole selves to God
and only dross to Caesar,
they went away to think again.

Do we know what Jesus meant?
How do we respond?
How do we fit the puzzle pieces together?

Through God in Christ, we are liberated from the trap. 
It’s not one or the other, it’s both/and. 


God created everything that is,
including each “Caesar” and each “faction”
that might give us angst. 

To give to God what is God’s
begins with noticing God in everything. 

Noticing God’s joyous incarnation in every person we meet.  Noticing God’s growing revelation
in this community.
Noticing God’s invitation to love each other deeply.
Noticing God’s care for this community to sustain it for more than sixty years through thick and thin. 

What is God’s?  It’s all God’s.

Jesus invites us today
to look at the puzzle image on the box
as our community,
a joyous, growing, inviting, and caring community…
These four are the corner pieces of
our community jigsaw puzzle. 

Joyously, we continue in the apostles’ teaching
and fellowship, breaking bread and praying.

Growing, we proclaim by word and example
the Good News of God in Christ.

Inviting, we seek and serve Christ in all persons,
loving our neighbor as ourselves.

And caring, we strive for justice and peace
among all people,
respecting the dignity of every human being.

Underneath and throughout our community
is the kiss of light in our eyes
and the watery sign of the cross on our foreheads. 
This is what we give back to God. 

All of our joyous, growing, inviting, caring faces
are together the images of the divine that God sees. 

The 8-year old Rachael in our opening story
challenges us
to look at connecting individual puzzle pieces
into God’s image,
into God’s community. 

The divine image is not fulfilled
by unique puzzle-piece images,
until they fit together. 

The sacred individual,
the sacred community,
the sacred resistance to the tyranny of Caesar…
when we place all these puzzles together,
we think again about God, the Image,
the community,
and the jigsaw puzzle of humanity and earth and heaven.

All things come of thee, O God,
and of thine own have we given thee.

Amen