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Sunday, December 15
This morning, thanks to WCRB Classical Radio, I had the terrifying realization that Christmas is less than two weeks away. There we thoughts and groaning, that I shall not repeat here. As they started play some Christmas music my mind began racing with all the things that need to be done both personally, and in the parish. All the things I have yet to start came crashing upon me. Let’s just say the sinus headache I’ve been nursing for over the last week did not improve during this revelatory moment. As the music shifted from Christmas to Erik Satie I was able to take a breath and put things in perspective.
I say all this by way of naming that things can be challenging this time of year. No matter how hard we plan, there are still countless demands on us and our time. Forcing pulling us between the many commitments and responsibilities, all while we try to keep space for the holiness of Advent.
As we continue to journey through these days, I hope you will give yourself permission to stop and check in with yourself - hopefully before an intense moment inspired by your favorite radio station. Take a moment to take stock of where things are and be honest with yourself about how you are doing. How can you be gentle with yourself as we move through this time? Are there things we can let go of that will allow us to relax, enjoy the season, and be present in the moment?
Advent is a time when we are invited to prepare both for the first and second coming of God. I wonder if some of that preparation work is letting go of the things which weigh us down, turning them over to God to carry for us. The good news is that God still comes among us even if that hope for project doesn’t get off the ground, even if your seasonal craft looks nothing like what you saw on Pinterest, even if you miss things on the shopping list, or have to turn down holiday party invitations because you can’t keep up with the business of the celebrations. For this we can give abundant and heartfelt thanks.
Our season of Advent began in the dark, but things are getting brighter. Soon the greatest light of all will enter the world once more. I pray that in the midst of all that is going on you are able to see the light casting off the darkness, that you can remember what truly matters in these days, that above all you can rejoice as our redemption draws near.
This Sunday we welcome parishioner Tim Hawk back to the pulpit (or head of the center aisle as the case may be), so as to not take away from his homiletical thunder I want to take a moment to share with you some reflections that I have been doing - unrelated to the Sunday lessons. One of the things Bishop Knisely asks clergy of his clergy is that we have a colleague group. The parameters are pretty flexible: regularly gather with a few colleagues to support one another in ministry. It is up to each group to figure out what the specifics of the group will be. These clergy groups are part of our job that happens away from the parish - as is also true with our time of prayer, study, sermon preparation; and serving on Diocesan and wider Church committee. My clergy group meetings once a month and together we pray, check in about our lives, and then read books together. Be honest, are any of you really surprised that my clergy group would center around a book study? At the moment we are making our way through Marilynne Robinson’s latest book Reading Genesis . This book is part reflection, part commentary, part retelling of the familiar stories of Genesis. Here’s an interview with Robinson from The Ezra Klein Show . where the author shares more about her experience and how the book came to be. Of the many things that I appreciate about the book, one sticks out more than the rest. When Robinson talks about humanity, and the creation of humanity, she regularly references the fact that humans are the only creature of God who has been given the power to create and destroy. Think about that for a moment. God, the author and source of all creation; God, in whose likeness we are made, shares with us one of the most unique powers of God! I have been thinking a lot about how we, as people of faith, are called to use this awesome power; especially as there is such a focus on destruction in the world: war, violence, unjust systems, ecological degradation, the list goes on. I wonder how are we being called to use our gifts of creation and destruction? What is God calling us to tear down, following in the spirit of the great song of Mary - the Magnificat? What are we being called to help build in our community which captures the spirit of God’s creativity? What beauty can we help usher into the world? What works of love? What opportunities can we birth which will invite people to thrive in the fullness of who God has created them to be? I don’t have any answers, but trust that as a community if we use these questions to help frame our discernment we will discover that we are capable of remarkable, dare I say miraculous, things. Beloved of God, I pray that together we may harness this awesome power, sharing with the work God is already doing in the world.
This week we hear Jesus calling his first disciples. Luke tells us that Jesus was standing by the lake near the fishing boats, where the fisherman were tending to their nets after working all night long. Jesus gets into a boat belonging to Simon Peter, and after Jesus has finish teaching the crowd that remained on the shore, he asks Peter to sail out a bit further and drop his fishing nets into the water. Now, Peter is not particularly thrilled by this idea. He had just been out all night, laboring with his crew. To make matters worse, they caught nothing. All that effort and nothing to show for it. Yet, in the midst of his exhaustion, Peter does what Jesus asks of him. When the nets are let down, they become so full that they are on the verge of breaking. Others come to help. Ultimately the boats are so full that they begin to sink. Peter immediately recognized what was happening. Luke writes, “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’” (Luke 5:8, NRSV). Peter expressed his feelings of inadequacy, telling Jesus he is not worthy to experience this miraculous gift from God. After this Jesus says to Peter, “‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:10b-11, NRSV). Jesus does not accept Peter’s sense of unworthiness. Jesus says to Peter that he is worthy: that this awesome wonder is just the beginning. God has called Peter for exactly who he is. The passage ends with Peter, along with James and John the sons of Zebedee, leaving everything behind to follow Jesus. In this Gospel we are reminded that God calls us in the fullness of who we are, with all of our imperfections and shortcomings, to join in the miraculous and abundant work of God in the world. In turn we are called to follow. This past weekend the Vestry gathered for our annual retreat. I left that incredibly energized and excited about what we have planned for the year ahead as we seek to dig deeper into our multi-year plan. I cannot think of a better passage for us to hear as we kick off this next phase of our work. Inspired by the call of these disciples, let us be prepared to do what God asks of us, even if it means trying things we have already done with little to show for it. Let us be prepared to cast our fear, anxiety, and nerves aside. Let us be prepared to follow.
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This Sunday, immediately following our 10am liturgy, we will gather in the church for the 173rd Annual Meeting of St. Thomas Church. Annual meetings are interesting things that people either love or hate. If I’m honest I used to be in that later category, but since coming to St. Thomas that has changed. I find our meetings exciting and joyous occasions - and not just because it’s the one time a year I get to use a gavel. Here’s why I love our meetings. On Sunday, we will celebrate the new members to be elected to our vestry and other leadership bodies in the parish. It is exciting that those being elected represent a cross section of the parish: we have a mix of members who attend the 8am liturgy and the 10am liturgy, members who are long time parishioner and members who are newer to the community, people who have previously served and those stepping into leadership for the first time. We will also give thanks for those ending their terms having served faithfully in recent years. We have incredible news to celebrate as we look back at our financial life for 2024, a tower conditions report that is better than anticipated, and we have experienced growth in many areas of parish life. I encourage you to read the full annual report and discover the amazing things we achieved together. I know it was a blessing to me to read these report and I hope it is for you too. My friends, while we still have work to do, the state of our parish is good! Even better, we are poised to continue these positive trends in the year ahead. This Sunday we will look back on the year that has past, rejoice in all the wonderful things we have to celebrate, and give thanks for what has been. God has indeed been up to something here, and we were not deaf to the call of God. This Sunday we will also take time to look ahead, opening ourselves to where God is calling us next. Preparing ourselves to discern the next step on our journey of faith together. I hope you will join us on Sunday for this important community meeting. You will find copies of the annual report later in this update. A limited number of print copies will be available on Sunday. I invite you to join me in praying for our community as we gather this weekend and in the year head. Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for this parish family. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent. Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (For the Parish, BCP p. 817). Almighty and everliving God, source of all wisdom and understanding, be present with those who take counsel in St. Thomas Church for the renewal and mission of your Church. Teach us in all things to seek first your honor and glory. Guide us to perceive what is right, and grant us both the courage to pursue it and the grace to accomplish it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (For a Church Convention of Meeting, BCP p. 818).
Did you know that the Church calendar, as we have it now, is not as it has always been? For various reasons things shift and change over time. Take for example the Feast of the Epiphany. In the early church, this was a unitive feast bringing together three stories: the visitation of the magi, the Baptism of Jesus, and the wedding at Cana. Over time, theses stories have been separated out leaving us with the Wise Men on the Epiphany, the Baptism of Jesus on the First Sunday after the Epiphany, and, unlike the other two which we hear every year, once every three years we hear about the wedding at Cana on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany. This year, lectionary year C, is the only time we get to experience a glimpse of this unitive feast - and I am very glad we do. For when we hold the three stories together they paint a rather beautiful picture of God. In the story of the wisemen we discover visitors from the East traveling to greet the new born king. While we know this feast as the Epiphany today, it once had a different name - the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. This title draws our attention to what is so important about these visitors. This child who has been born, the Son of God, comes into the world not just for one particular group of people, but for all people. Their visit reminds us that God comes into the world even to the Gentiles - even for us. In celebrating the Baptism of our Lord we hear once more of how Jesus goes to John and is baptized in the River Jordan. After his baptism, Scripture tells us that the heavens open and a voice declares, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” It is through those waters that Jesus’ identity is revealed. As we share those very same waters our identity is revealed too. Through them, God calls, claims, and names us as beloved without condition. Then our attention turns to the Gospel passage we will hear this Sunday, the wedding feast at Cana. Despite what you may have heard, this story is not about some party trick. Weddings in Jesus’ day were grand affairs that lasted for days, maybe even a whole week. It was the duty and responsibility of the host to provide for their guests throughout the entire celebration. When Mary goes to Jesus to tell him there is no wine, she is not expressing concern because her glass is empty. She recognizes the great need the family has, and knows that if something doesn’t happen great shame will be brought upon them. Jesus’ actions are not about encouraging people to keep drinking, they are about God providing for us to remove and prevent our shame. Out of God’s abundance we are protected, we are cared for. It is God’s unceasing generosity that allows us to live lives of abundance not scarcity; life of hope and not fear. In this unitive feast we see that God, the one we come to worship and adore, is God for all people. We see that God claims us all as beloved. We see that God showers us with liberating abundance that removes our shame. As we continue this season after the Epiphany, in our efforts to seek the revelation of God among us, I wonder if we need a little help discovering God among us. I wonder if we need the assurance that God’s gift of grace is available to us as it is to all people. I wonder if we need the reminder that, no matter what messages we hear from the world around us, each and everyone of us is beloved. I wonder if there is fear and shame holding us back from thriving in the fullness of who God has created us to be. In these days let us turn over the burdens we carry, let us open our hearts and lives to God’s grace. Let us come to the feast and be transformed as God is made manifest among us.
As the dawn of January 7 arrived, we joined the rest of the world, concluding our celebrations of Christmastide and the Feast of the Epiphany for another year. By the time we arrive for worship on Sunday, the Church will be transformed back to its usual simple beauty cleared of the wonderful decorations which have adorned our space for the last two weeks. (By the way, please feel free to help yourself to any of the poinsettias that remain in the parish hall). Throughout these days we have once more entered into the story of the greatest gift ever bestowed upon humanity - the incarnation of God. We told the story of our Savior’s birth from Luke’s Gospel, we heard John’s prologue which brings together the cosmic nature of the birth of Christ and the intimate, tangible news that God become incarnate and moved into the neighborhood. We heard how the Holy Family ended up in Nazareth and the extreme lengths that a terrified ruler will go to to ensure that his power is maintained. Finally, we journeyed with the wise men from far and distant lands, following the star, to discover the Good News of great joy which has come for people of every tribe, language, and nation. This story is one we must continue to tell, as it does not end when the wise men travel home and the shepherds return to their fields. This story continues each and every day of our lives. The 12 days might be over, but the incarnation never ends. This Sunday, the First Sunday after the Epiphany, our story continues with the Baptism of Jesus. Like so many others, Jesus travels to the Jordan to be baptized. Jesus comes along side the community, with all the people gathered, to share in this moment. As Jesus emerges out of the baptismal waters, a voice comes from heaven and says, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22, NRSV). Through his baptism, Jesus’ identity and vocation are revealed. Through his baptism, our baptisms are given meaning too. In this new liturgical season - the season after the Epiphany - our story shifts. We, like the wisemen, travel forth from the manger having been changed by what we discovered there. It seems to me, Baptism is the perfect segue from the manger to the next phase of our journey. This Sunday, is one of the 5 occasions especially appropriate for Holy Baptism. While we do not have anyone to be baptized this week, we all will have the opportunity to renew our Baptismal promises. We will have the opportunity to discover our identity and vocations revealed in these holy waters for it is in these waters that we are incorporated into the whole history of God. This is how the story continues now that all the trappings of Christmas have been put away. It continues as we become manifestations of God in the world. That is what Epiphany is all about. The word itself means showing, so as we move into these next weeks it is our task to show the world what has been revealed to us - how God has been made manifest in our midst. I hope you will join us this weekend. For it is only together that we can show the world the incarnation shines bright in our world - it is only together that we can continue the story.
Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe’s Christmas Message
At last we have arrived at Christmastide! The glorious 12 days where we celebrate the Incarnation - God taking on our humanity and being born in the person of Jesus. There is something incredibly miraculous that we celebrate in this season. God who was once unknowable, untouchable, unseeable can now be held, and touched, and known in new and previously unimaginable ways. I can only marvel at the fact that the creator of the universe, the author of life, comes to us as a helpless baby. There are no words, only awe and gratitude. Every Christmas I find myself wondering what this means. I wonder how am I called to live in the world, how am I called to be in relationship with this knowable God. Each year, as I continue to grow in faith, I discern different answers. I am at a point where I find myself excited, and, if I am being honest, a bit nervous to ponder these things again. It is not a fearful nervousness, but one of anxious anticipation of how my life will be transformed. I want to invite you to join me in reflecting on how we are called to live in this relationship with God. What does it mean for us that we are in relationship with God who can be known? How do we live, how are we transformed, as a result of this relationship? Through our worship together during this Christmastide I hope we will discern and discover the answers to these questions. May this season shape us for who God is calling us to be in the year ahead. Beloved of God, let us rejoice, for our savior has been born! On behalf of myself, and the parish leadership, I wish you, and all those you hold dear, a very merry Christmas.
This Sunday, the fourth and final Sunday of Advent, our attention turns from preparing for the second coming of God, when God will return in glorious majesty to lovingly judge the quick and the dead, to the first coming of God, when God entered the world as a babe in Bethlehem. This Sunday we enter the Christmas story through the eyes of two faithful women. Mary and Elizabeth, two cousins, find themselves pregnant - which, for both of them, is nothing short of a miracle. Luke tells us of how Mary journeys with haste to see Elizabeth. She travels to see her cousin to share her news, to seek support and companionship. Through this Gospel passage, we get to eavesdrop in on the powerful and prayer conversation Mary and Elizabeth have. As we listen in we discover something of the nature of discipleship: what it means to trust God to do the unimaginable; what it means to say yes to God. It is from this conversation that we receive one of the greatest songs in our tradition - the Magnificat, the Song of Mary. Mary sings of the glory of God, naming how God’s work will be revealed in the world. Through the centuries these words have inspired countless artists, musicians, and poets. These words have inspired ordinary people to new depths of discipleship, committing themselves to accept the vocation that God has placed on their hearts. What we hear this week is a remarkable story well worth returning to again, and again, and again. But, have we ever stopped to wonder what this was all like for Mary and Elizabeth? I hope you will join us this week as we see the faithful witness of these women, listen to their prayers, and ponder the revelations they offer to us.
While I usually stay away from naming things “the favorite” fill-in-the-category-here, I actually feel comfortable saying that Advent is my favorite liturgical season. Beginning at sundown on the eve of the First Sunday in Advent, I light my Advent wreath and hit play on my Advent play list. I struggle to figure out what to read as my daily devotional - something new, return to something treasured - and I have to work hard to resist the temptation to read a dozen different things. One of the reasons I love Advent is because of what we hear this Sunday. This Sunday we meet Mr. Advent himself, John son of Zechariah - also known as John the Baptist. We hear how John has been journeying around the region “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3, NRSV). We hear how the crowds gather to him eager to hear what he has to say. Luke then goes on quote the prophet Isaiah, declared to his readers that John is the voice they have waited for saying: “‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” (Luke 3:4-6, NRSV). John the forerunner cries out to the world from the mysterious complexity of the wilderness to declare that the one who shall restore the world, who shall recreate the world, who shall redeem the world is coming. John reminds us that we need to get ready. Throughout this season we are reminded of the innumerable ways that God’s reality differs from the realities of the world. This season, with its heavy emphasis on preparing for the second coming of God in glory, draws our attention to the fact that God’s desires for our lives differ from the state we currently find ourselves in. I love this season because it is the reminder that I need, to get myself ready and not delay. And it is the reminder that the current state of things is not the abundant life God desires for me. I give thanks for the gift of the voice crying out in the wilderness saying that all is going to be okay - the one we desire most is coming to us to make all things new. After lots of consideration my Advent devotions this year have focused on poetry. I’m reading a book on the psalms titled “Show we your ways, O Lord” and a book on George Herbert titled, “Wounded I Sing.” Both of which are available in the parish library. As I’ve read these books I’ve been reminded of other poems which have grounded me through Advents past. This week in my reading and preparing for Sunday my mind as returned to one by Allan Boesak titled Advent Credo. I share it with you below, in the hopes that these words will help illumine for you the story God has for us this season. It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss— This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life; It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger and poverty, death and destruction— This is true: I have come that they may have life, and that abundantly. It is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word, and that war and destruction rule forever— This is true: Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called wonderful councilor, mighty God, the Everlasting, the Prince of peace. It is not true that we are simply victims of the powers of evil who seek to rule the world— This is true: To me is given authority in heaven and on earth, and lo I am with you, even until the end of the world. It is not true that we have to wait for those who are specially gifted, who are the prophets of the Church before we can be peacemakers— This is true: I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions and your old men shall have dreams. It is not true that our hopes for liberation of humankind, of justice, of human dignity of peace are not meant for this earth and for this history— This is true: The hour comes, and it is now, that the true worshipers shall worship God in spirit and in truth. So let us enter Advent in hope, even hope against hope. Let us see visions of love and peace and justice. Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage: Jesus Christ—the life of the world. From Walking on Thorns, by Allan Boesak, Eerdmans, 2004. As found at https://www.journeywithjesus.net/poetry/current-poem?id=477