Palm Sunday

Matthew Hoxsie Mead
Sermon 5: Palm Sunday
Expository Preaching
R. Wilson, D. Bartlett, A. Nagy-Benson

Palm Sunday: Blessed is the coming kingdom!

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!"

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Today we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We began the celebration this morning by meeting in the parking lot, blessing palms, and singing hymns in procession as we walked around the block with palms in our hands. Palm Sunday starts as one of the most jubilant Sundays of the year as we read about Jesus triumphantly riding a donkey into Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophesy made by the prophet Zachariah hundreds of years earlier. It is a day that acts as a prelude to the celebration of Easter, a day when we get to take in some fresh air, sing some great psalms and make little figurines and crosses out of our palms. Its a lot of fun and in many ways we experience a joy that probably was not unlike the joy that the crowds around Jesus experienced.

Yet, even as we have just begun to celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we take part in the reading of his passion and death on the cross. There is a clear tension between the two events. One the one hand, the entry into Jerusalem is a wonderful, moving moment when the guy we’ve been rooting for all along finally seems to get his due. He makes his move, rides into the city, and the crowds go wild! On the other hand, we are reminded immediately that this moment of earthly glory will not last very long. Holy Week has begun and the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus has moved to the forefront of our minds this day.

Our liturgy today helps to bring out this start contrast even more. As the service progresses we move away from palms and towards the passion itself: beginning with a procession, reading the passion narrative, celebrating the Eucharist and leaving in silence. Traditionally, the service itself bears two names, Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday. As Christians with 20/20 hindsight, we know that Jesus’ triumph will be completed in his death and resurrection on the cross and for this reason we really don’t have a huge problem with that tension, with that shift from celebration to ominous waiting for the last hours of Jesus.

Those who were with him as he entered Jerusalem probably did not expect that Jesus would be condemned to death and killed only a few days later, but that doesn’t mean that they did the wrong thing by making his entry a moment of triumph and joy. They cried out: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!" Hosanna is one of those Hebrew words that is kind of hard to translate but it basically means “save us”. The people were literally crying out for a savior and in Jesus they recognized that they had found one. They recognized that there was something special in Jesus.

Their cry brings to mind Jesus’ own words as he opened his ministry. The Evangelist Mark tells us that Jesus began his ministry by proclaiming that the time has come and the kingdom of heaven is near. The crowds with Jesus likewise call out, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David.” With Jesus death and resurrection the kingdom truly has come, but that moment is still a few days off.

Like the crowd with Jesus, our own worldly perspectives try to name that kingdom so that we know exactly what we are all talking about; we try to make sure we totally understand what’s going on. In a sense, we try to put that kingdom in an enveloper with a nice, neat, clean label on it. Every year after I do my taxes I make copies of all of my documents and I seal everything up in a yellow envelope and label it: “Taxes, 2002”. We like order and we like to know what we have in front of us. Its a very helpful thing to know exactly what is in an envelope so that I don’t have to think about it, or shuffle through the documents inside to see what I’m dealing with. Similarly, although Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom was near, the crowds proclaimed that the kingdom of David was near.

Again, we see another contrast, more tension between the words of Jesus and the words of the crowd. Jesus proclaimed a heavenly kingdom but the crowds were expecting an earthly kingdom. They wanted something but they wouldn’t get it. What they would get would be far greater than they could possibly imagine. There is a wonderful song by the Rolling Stones that came out in 1969 called, You Can’t Always Get What You Want. The chorus of the song explains that you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need. You get what you need. Well, what did they need? What do we all need?

The answer to that lies in the word Hosanna. Like the crowds with Jesus we need to be saved. We might want that to be an earthly salvation where everyone gets exactly what he or she wants. I want a new car, a big house, peace on earth, good food for every meal and no more worries ever again. We can all think of things that we think would make us perfectly happy forever. Yet, the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed was one that could only be brought about by his death. By dying and rising, Jesus gives us eternal life, a kingdom we cannot imagine in our own worldly terms, a kingdom we cannot name or label quite as easily as we might like, a kingdom that we need. Jesus death and resurrection brings eternal life to those who believe in him. Not just eternal life in heaven, but eternal life that begins here and now.

As people who have heard the story before, seen it on TV, or even seen it in the movies or in plays, we know that Jesus must die. We know this and every year we follow him through that entire process, from its triumphal beginning at the gates of Jerusalem all the way to his resurrection in glory on Easter. It is a long and difficult process to go through. Every Holy Week we participate in the last supper on Maundy Thursday, the waiting and struggle in the garden Thursday night, the gruesome crucifixion on Good Friday, and at long last Jesus’ resurrection from the dead on Easter. Today we begin that process.

As we go through Holy Week together this year, remember that the true triumph is the cross. Without the cross we only have fleeting images of earthly kingdoms that are neither perfect nor what we really need. Without the cross we do not have eternal life. Palm Sunday is a somber occasion because we know the details of the passion that is going to be played out this week. Yet, it is also a joyous occasion because we know that at the end of it all Jesus will be redeemed and he will redeem us. He will rise from the dead and usher in a new kingdom of eternal life.

For this reason we cry out together, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!" Say it one more time with me: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!" Thanks be to God, Amen.

Psalm 51

Preached at Saint James Church, Fairhaven

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

When I was growing up, I went each year to the Saint Michael’s Conference, a one week retreat for high school and college age Episcopalians, led by about a dozen Anglo-Catholic clergy in New England. One of the things that we were taught how to do at Saint Michael’s was how to give our sacramental confession. We were taught to examine ourselves and make a list of all of our sins. When we felt that we had thoroughly examined ourselves, we made our confessions. I always felt much fresher and cleaner after going to Confession at Saint Michael’s because I was able to do a very thorough examination of my soul and confess to God everything that I could remember – not just the really bad things, but also the everyday sins and habits that might not weigh so heavily on me. It was sort of like that feeling you get on a beautiful summer day when you have just taken a shower and you feel refreshed, happy, and care free.

Today is the last Sunday of Lent. Lent is the season of repentance leading up to Easter. The readings and liturgy for Lent stresses this idea, so that by the time Easter arrives we have been given ample opportunity to examine ourselves. You may have noticed that each week we say the Confession at the start of the service. You may also have noticed that today’s Psalm was read at the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. It is very fitting therefore that we again read Psalm 51 as Lent comes to a close. Today let’s take a careful look at confession, repentance, and forgiveness.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness; in your great compassion blot out my offenses. Wash me through and through from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” Sin separates us from God. When we sin we are putting our own wishes before those of God. The first step in repentance is examining ourselves and knowing our transgressions. The psalm writes: “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” It is impossible to repent unless you can identify your sins. Do you remember the story of King David and Bathsheba? In this story, David, the king of Israel does some pretty bad stuff. He sleeps with a married woman and gets her pregnant and he has the woman’s husband, Uriah, sent to frontlines of the ongoing war where he is killed. However, when David is confronted about this he admits his guilt and says: “I have sinned against the Lord.”

When we sin, we must recognize and admit that we have sinned. When we say the general confession we say: “we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone.” God knows everything, and He knows what we have done and what we have not done. Even though God knows what we have done, we still must admit what we have done. In the case of David, he admitted that he had sinned. In our own lives, we apologize to others for wrongs we have done to them. When we are mean to our friends, we apologize. We say: “I’m sorry for saying such mean things to you, I was wrong to do that.” We must do the same with God. We must confess what we have done.
Confession of what we have done is only the first part. We must also repent. When we repent, we turn from the life of sin we have been living and we point ourselves toward God. At some point in our lives, all of us have gotten lost. Whether we are driving or walking around in an unfamiliar place, we have all at some point gotten lost. When we are lost we try to find our way to somewhere where we know or we try to get ourselves on the right road or going in the right direction. Once when I was driving to wedding in Utica, I took a wrong turn at Albany and instead of heading west, I headed north for about an hour. As soon as I figured out I was going the wrong way, I turned my car around and I went the right way.

Repentance is just like this. Once we realize that the sin we have committed is separating us from God, we turn and follow a path that will not separate us from God. It isn’t enough simply to say, I have sinned, and continue business as usual. Imagine if instead of turning around I had just kept going north until I had left New York, left the United States, and come into Canada. I would never had made it to the wedding and my trip would have been a huge waste of time. Nobody keeps going the wrong way when he finds out that he is going away from where he wants. Nobody intending to fly to Denver, yet finding herself on a plane to Detroit would stay on the plane. We would all get off and make sure we were headed in the right direction. Why should we act any different when our life and soul are concerned? When we say the Confession, or when we go to individual sacramental confession, we must not only identify our sins, we must also intend not to do them again. We must intend to amend ourselves and attempt to live a more Godly life.

Yet, it is hard, we all sin and we all struggle through our lives trying to avoid sin. We all struggle with certain sins which we really don’t want to stop. My father, who is an Episcopal priest once taught a confession class at Saint Michael’s Conference. When someone asked him, “Well, what about all of those things that I confess as sins but I know I am going to go right out and do them as soon as I can. Not only that, but I want to go out and do them.” My father responded that there were many levels of intention. You can intend to intend to stop doing those things. You can even intend to intend to intend to stop something. Our sins

A New War (alternate version)

MATTHEW HOXSIE MEAD
GOSPEL OF MARK
DAVID BARTLETT, ALLEN HILTON
MARCH 30, 2003
SERMON 2: MARK 8:27-38

Note: content from this alternate version of my sermon for class was used in the sermon for Lent 2 (10 Commandments) below.

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.

You may have noticed that we have a new carpet today at the front of the church. When I was last here two weeks ago we had just moved the pews out and there was a rather barren space at the front up here; this is a welcome change. I think that the rug has made our worship space more comfortable and given it a warmer feeling.

Change is nothing new, in fact we have recently experienced a great change that has affected us in many different ways. A few days ago our nation went to war. We all have a sense of unease about war. Aside from the terrible nature of war and the obvious effects and dangers it has for those who are directly involved in it, we have questions that cannot easily be answered and fears that cannot easily be addressed. How will the war affect us as a nation? How will it affect us individually? How long will the war last? How will it affect our safety and security? Will there be more terrorist attacks? Will it affect our jobs? How will it affect our daily lives? What does it mean for me to be a Christian during a war?

Amidst all the TV watching, newspaper reading, and discussions about the war, you may have noticed that we have settled into Lent, albeit with other things on our minds. Normally, Lent is an opportunity for us, as we prepare for Easter, to try to become closer to God through various acts of piety. We do this by giving up things and occasionally taking on new challenges, adding new disciplines to our lives, or avoiding certain things. Whatever act of piety we may pick up and drop off after forty days, whatever state of mind we might be in, whether we are at peace or at war, in good times or bad times, whether we have a new rug or not we are reminded today that there are many things that change.

Life, in fact, is a series of never ending changes. From the time when we are children until we grow up, we are constantly changing and the world around us is constantly changing. Sometimes, everything seems to be going very well. Other times things are not so good. Things change and because of that, often we carry a great amount of uncertainty with us.

Today’s Gospel speaks to us today, amidst all of the uncertainty and change that we have experienced recently as well as throughout our whole lives. We hear today a two part story. In the first part, Peter confesses Jesus as Messiah. In the second part, Jesus corrects Peter by explaining what kind of Messiah he will be and explains that something beyond what we can see and touch is necessary. Our story begins when the disciples were asked by Jesus: "Who do you say I am?" Peter replied: “You are the Christ.” After this identification, Jesus said that he must suffer, be killed, and after three days rise again. This was something that was very hard for the apostles to understand. Even Peter, refused at that moment to accept that this must happen because he had a worldly idea of what a Messiah was supposed to do and be.

What was a Messiah was supposed to do and be? During Jesus’ life and for many years after it, Jerusalem and the entire surrounding region was under the control of the Roman Empire. In many places, the Romans were resented and hated because they were oppressive outsiders who treated the locals with contempt and taxed them heavily. It was hoped that someday a Messiah would come and restore Israel to its former glory. People hoped for a worldly king who would come and kick the Romans out and restore the old kingdom like it had been under King David. This type of Messiah was not supposed to suffer and die, rather this Messiah would make the Romans suffer and would come in power and victory. All of the problems in the world would go away with this Messiah.

Most likely, it was this type of Messiah that Peter himself hoped for. It is therefore no surprise at all that he could not understand or accept that Jesus had to suffer and die. The Messiah that Peter had in mind was one that would satisfy and address all of Peter’s worldly cares. He had put all of his worldly hopes into Jesus and suddenly they had been dashed. Jesus scolded Peter by saying: “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men”.

Jesus continued on to explain to Peter that it would be difficult road ahead, one must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Jesus.

It is very hard to put our Lord Jesus Christ before the things that we see and do every day. Just as Peter was unable to let go of his worldly view of what a Messiah should be, we too are often unable to let go of our worldly cares, even for a moment. After all, all of the problems in the world did not go away with Jesus. Life is hard enough when you are concentrating on it full time. In addition to working, shopping, cooking, sleeping, taking care of our families, paying our bills, paying our taxes, keeping the house in order, and spending time with our friends, we also have to worry about what is going on around us in the world.

It is for this very reason that we often attempt to maintain certain disciplines for the forty days of Lent. The disciplines that we try to maintain for ourselves in Lent are about bringing us closer to God and resetting our priorities so that we put the things of God and not our own things first. During Lent we do not forget about our worldly cares, to do so would be crazy! No, we simply attempt to make a more concerted effort to put God first in our lives.

The poet Shel Silverstein wrote a funny parody of the classic childrens bedtime prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep”. His parody goes: “Now I lay me down to sleep and pray to God my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I pray to God my toys to take, so none of the other kids will get them.” We all laugh, but this underscores exactly how much we all really do care about what we have and how we live. But in the long run, we leave this world and everything in it behind. If we put all of our worldly cares and concerns at the forefront of our lives and forget about God, what good does it do us in the long run?

Jesus asks us this same question: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” It is very hard to deny our worldly desires and put Jesus first anytime, but it can be especially hard to trust ourselves to God when we are uneasy or afraid and there are very scary things happening in our world. Even the great disciple Peter was unable to put aside his worldly cares.

War or no war, Lent or no Lent, rug or no new rug in the church, there is always one constant: God’s love. God’s love is there for us no matter what changes we are going through. Whether we are in good times or bad times, whether we are at ease or struggling, God is with us. Now, we have questions and fears and we worry that life will get more difficult. Struggling through life is nothing new. Saint Paul went through many struggles and eventually was martyred in Rome. Yet, throughout all of his struggles he also knew that he could never be separated from the love of God. Listen to what he writes in the 8th chapter of his letter to the Romans: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8:38-39]

My message to you today is to open your hearts to God, trust in God and put your faith wholehearted in Jesus Christ. By placing your whole trust in Jesus you can be assured that no matter what he will be with you. Trust in Jesus, put Him first in everything you do and have faith that through good times or bad times, through life and through death He is with you and He loves you.

We are in the middle of Lent now but in a few weeks Lent will be over. We are at the start of a war but at some point that war too will be over. The things of this world are fleeting – honest to God they are – they come and go. They change and they change often and unexpectedly. Some are good some are bad, but even if we gain the whole world we still lose it all in the end. Even if we have everything we want, even our own worldly Messiah, we still have nothing if the love of God is not in us. Reset your own priorities so that Christ is at the forefront of your life because Christ transcends not only life and death but everything in the world that has ever happened or is happening now or will every happen. The Gospel of John tells us that eternal life begins now with faith in Jesus Christ. Put our Lord God Jesus Christ at the forefront of your life now and know that no matter what happens, nothing, not even death itself can separate you from his love.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.

A New War

MATTHEW HOXSIE MEAD
GOSPEL OF MARK
DAVID BARTLETT, ALLEN HILTON
MARCH 30, 2003
SERMON 2: MARK 8:27-38

Note, that much of the material for this sermon was used in the Lent 3 Sermon (below) at Saint James.

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.

You may have noticed that we have a new carpet today at the front of the church. When I was last here two weeks ago we had just moved the pews out and there was a rather barren space at the up here, this is a welcome change. I think that the rug has made our worship space more comfortable and given it a warmed feeling.

Change is nothing new, in fact we have recently experienced a great change that has affected us in many different ways. A few days ago our nation went to war. Before I begin I would like to note that we all have a general sense of unease about war. Aside from the terrible nature of war and the obvious effects and dangers it has for those who are directly involved in it, we have questions that cannot easily be answered and fears that cannot easily be addressed. How will the war affect us as a nation? How will it affect us individually? How long will the war last? How will it affect our safety and security? Will there be more terrorist attacks? Will it affect our jobs? How will it affect our daily lives? What does it mean for me to be a Christian during a war?

Amidst all the TV watching, newspaper reading, and discussions about the war, you may have noticed that we have settled into Lent, albeit with other things on our minds. Normally, Lent is an opportunity for us, as we prepare for Easter, to try to become closer to God through various acts of piety. We do this by giving up things and occasionally taking on new challenges, adding new disciplines to our lives, or avoiding certain things. Whatever act of piety we may pick up and drop off after forty days, whatever state of mind we might be in, whether we are at peace or at war, in good times or bad times, whether we have a new rug or not we are reminded today that there are many things that change. Life, in fact, is a series of never ending changes.

Today’s gospel speaks to us today, amidst all of the uncertainty and change that we have experienced. In today’s Gospel Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah. Throughout the Gospel of Mark, we seen a constant back and forth between Jesus and those around him as they attempt to put some form of label on who he is while he refused to let anyone label him. Finally, today we see Jesus asking his own disciples this very question. “Who do people say that I am?” His disciples replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" To this question Peter stepped up and replied: “You are the Christ.”

After this identification, however, Jesus taught them that he must suffer, be killed, and after three days rise again. This is something that Peter cannot accept or understand. He therefore takes Jesus aside and rebukes him. Peter’s mistake was not that he had failed to understand that Jesus was the Messiah, but that he had a worldly idea of what a Messiah was supposed to do and be.

What was a Messiah was supposed to do and be? During Jesus’ life and for many years after it, Jerusalem and all of the surrounding region was under the control of the Roman empire. In many places, the Romans were resented and hated because they were oppressive outsiders who treated the locals with contempt and taxed them heavily. It was hoped that someday a Messiah would come and restore Israel to its former glory. People hoped for a worldly king who would come and kick the Romans out and restore the old kingdom like it had been under King David. This type of Messiah was not supposed to suffer and die, rather this Messiah would make the Romans suffer and would come in power and victory.

Most likely, it was this type of Messiah that Peter himself hoped for. It is therefore no surprise at all that he could not understand or accept that Jesus had to suffer and die. The Messiah that Peter had in mind was one that would satisfy and address all of Peter’s worldly cares. He had put all of his worldly hopes into Jesus and suddenly they had been dashed. Jesus scolded Peter by saying: “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men”.

Jesus continued on to explain to Peter that it would be difficult to follow Jesus, one must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Jesus. Often it is very hard. It is very hard to put our Lord Jesus Christ before the things that we see and do every day. The disciplines that we try to maintain for ourselves in Lent are about bringing us closer to God and resetting our priorities so that we put the things of God and not our own things first. If we put all of our worldly cares and concerns at the forefront of our lives and forget about God, what good does it do us? Jesus asks us this same question: What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? It is very hard to deny our worldly desires and ourselves and put Jesus first anytime, but it can be especially hard to trust ourselves to God when we are uneasy or afraid and there are very scary things happening in our world.

War or no war, Lent or no Lent, rug or no new rug in the church, there is always one constant: God’s love. God’s love is there for us no matter what changes we are going through. Whether we are in good times or bad times, whether we are at ease or struggling, God is with us. Now, we have questions and fears and we worry that life will get more difficult. Struggling through life is nothing new. Saint Paul went through many struggles and eventually was martyred in Rome. Yet, throughout all of his struggles he also knew that he could never be separated from the love of God. Listen to what he writes in the 8th chapter of his letter to the Romans: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8:38-39]

My message to you today is to open your hearts to God, trust in God and put your faith wholehearted in Jesus Christ. By placing your whole trust in Jesus you can be assured that no matter what he will be with you. Trust in Jesus, put Him first in everything you do and have faith that through good times or bad times, through life and through death He is with you and He loves you.

We are in the middle of Lent now but in a few weeks Lent will be over. We are at the start of a war but at some point that war too will be over. The things of this world are fleeting – honest to God they are – they come and go. Some are good some are bad, but even if we gain the whole world we still lose it all when we die. Reset your own priorities so that Christ is at the forefront of your life because Christ transcends life and death. The Gospel of John tells us that eternal life begins now with faith in Jesus Christ. Put our Lord God Jesus Christ at the forefront of your life now and know that no matter what happens, nothing, not even death itself can separate you from his love.

Matthew Hoxsie Mead
Preached at Saint James Church, Fair Haven, CT
March 23, 2003
Exodus 20:1-17

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me.”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.


A few days ago our nation went to war. We all have a general sense of unease about war and rightly so. Aside from the terrible nature of war and the obvious effects and dangers it has for those who are directly involved in it, we have questions that cannot easily be answered and fears that cannot easily be addressed. How will the war affect us as a nation? How will it affect us individually? How long will the war last? How will it affect our safety and security? Will there be more terrorist attacks? Will it affect our jobs? How will it affect our daily lives? What does it mean for me to be a Christian during a war?

Amidst all the TV watching, newspaper reading, and discussions about the war, you may have noticed that we have settled into Lent, albeit with other things on our minds. Normally, Lent is an opportunity for us, as we prepare for Easter, to try to become closer to God through various acts of piety. We do this by giving up things and occasionally taking on new challenges, adding new disciplines to our lives, or avoiding certain things. Whatever act of piety we may pick up and drop off after forty days, whatever state of mind we might be in, whether we are at peace or at war, in good times or bad times, we are reminded today through the reading of the Ten Commandments as the Old Testament Lesson that there are certain things that are constants in our Christian lives.

Several thousand years ago the Israelites were given the Ten Commandments by God when they too were full of questions and fears. The Israelites were on the run from the Egyptians, away from the land and the homes that had always known, lost and homeless with no idea what their future held. It was in this situation that God gave them the Ten Commandments. What comfort did those commandments offer to the Israelites when they were afraid and lost in the desert and what comfort can they give us as Christians today?

To answer that question I invite you to open your pew Bibles so we can take a look at the first two of these commandments: "You shall have no other gods before me.” And "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

In ancient Israel, the Israelites were in a world where there were many other cultures, each of which had their own Gods. The most prominent nations, the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and later the Romans, practiced polytheism. That is to say, they worshipped many different gods. For example, in Greece there were gods and goddesses for everything you could think of. Zeus was the god of thunder and king of the gods, Dionysus was the god of wine and debauchery, Aphrodite was the goddess of love, Athena was the goddess of sport and hunting, and so on. Anything and everything had a particular deity and a particular cult. It was almost like the internet is today. Just like in Greece I could have found a cult for anything at all, I can today go online and find that there is a message board or chat room for everyone: whether you are looking to meet other music lovers, other sports fans, other stamp collectors, others who want to talk about politics or world affairs or anything at all.

The difference between today’s “gods” [with quotes] and the ancient gods of polytheism is that today we simply don’t call them gods anymore. In many ways we are just like the Greeks, Babylonians, Egyptians, and Romans. Whenever we put anything first in our lives, whether it is music, food, hobbies, political causes, sex, work, our cars or homes, or anything at all we too are worshipping man made gods. The Greeks simply attached a name and a divine character to each of these things. The only difference between someone who worshipped Athena, or Dionysus and someone who lives to enjoy sports or partying is that that the first person has attached a name and a character to that desire. We all in many different ways make our own gods out of the things that we do or the things that we have or want. With our mouths we may say we worship Jesus, but with our actions we are often worshipping something else. When our priorities are aligned like this and we through our actions worship something else by making it the be all and end all of our existence, we are committing idolatry. Today, as much as in ancient Israel, we are called by God to leave behind these other gods and put Jesus Christ first.

But often it is very hard. It is very hard to put our Lord Jesus Christ before the things that we see and do every day. It is very hard to trust ourselves to God when we are uneasy or afraid and there are very scary things happening in our world. The ancient Israelites were commanded by God to have no other gods because they too were questioning and fearful. By giving the commandments, God assured His people that He loved them and would be there for them no matter what.

The Ten Commandments, just like our own Lenten disciplines are not necessarily about laying down rules to try to break bad habits, but about resetting our priorities. Just like the ancient Israelites we too must reset our own priorities. If we make idols out the things that are around us what good does it do in the long run? If we put all of our worldly cares and concerns at the forefront of our lives and forget about God, what good does it do us? Jesus asks us this same question: What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? [Mark 8:36-37]

War or no war, Lent or no Lent there is always one constant: God’s love. The Israelites may have been homeless in the desert but they knew that God loved them and they knew that they could never be separated from the love of God no matter what suffering they went through. Struggling through life is nothing new. Saint Paul went through many struggles and eventually was martyred in Rome. Yet, throughout all of his struggles he also knew that he could never be separated from the love of God. Listen to what he writes in the 8th chapter of his letter to the Romans: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8:38-39]

My message to you today is to open your hearts to God, trust in God and put your faith wholehearted in Jesus Christ. By placing your whole trust in Jesus you can be assured that no matter what he will be with you. The commandment tells us that God shows love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. Love God and keep His commandments, put Him first in everything you do and have faith that through good times or bad times, through life and through death He is with you and He loves you.

We are in the middle of Lent now but in a few weeks Lent will be over. We are at the start of a war but at some point that war too will be over. The things of this world are fleeting, they come and go. Some are good some are bad, but even if we gain the whole world we still lose it all when we die. Reset your own priorities so that Christ is at the forefront of your life because Christ transcends life and death. The Gospel of John tells us that eternal life begins now with faith in Jesus Christ. Put our Lord God Jesus Christ at the forefront of your life now and know that no matter what happens, nothing, not even death itself can separate you from his love.

Let us pray. Almighty God, we ask through your Son our savior Jesus Christ that you give us the strength and guidance to put you first in our lives. We pray for perseverance and resolve so we can press on through our own lives toward you, Father. We ask that you illuminate and strengthen us with your Holy Spirit so that we may walk with you in holiness and faithfulness throughout this Lenten season, through these times of unease and worry and all the days of our lives. Bless us, sanctify us and help us to trust in you above all else in our lives. Comfort us in our struggles. We pray that you will gently correct us and lead us on the paths of righteousness so that we may follow your commandments and live together in faith, peace, and love. All this we ask through your son our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Transfiguration

February 20, 2003
Expository Preaching: Yale Divinity School
The Transfiguration: Mark 9


Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

I have lived in Boston, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, and New Haven. I have done a fair amount of moving. Moving can often be an extraordinary event. In many ways it can be a life-changing event. When we move we leave behind our old homes, many of our friends, and most importantly we leave behind many of the things that make us comfortable. When I have moved, I only feel comfortable again when I have spent a fair amount of time arranging everything just as it should be (or sometimes as it used to be). In this sense, moving can be a great adventure. It can be scary and it can be hard, so we do as much as we can to make it easier. In the past four years alone I have moved four times. I am very familiar with boxes. The last time I moved from Ansonia to New Haven, I had the entire thing down to a system. I boxed everything up and enlisted the help of three friends, one jeep, one minivan, and my station wagon. Everything was about as organized as it could be. I boxed up everything and labeled all of the boxes and it really made my life much easier because I was in control.

Today’s Gospel passage speaks of a very different type of extraordinary event. Surely the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ on the mountain is one of the more amazing scenes in the entire Bible. In a short passage we learn that Jesus took with him only three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John up to a high mountain. There he was transfigured or transformed before them. We are told that the clothes that Jesus was wearing became whiter than any bleach can make them. We are also told that Jesus talked with Elijah and with Moses, the two most important intermediaries with God in the entire Old Testament. After this, Peter suggested making three booths or tents so that they could remain there. The evangelist tells us that Peter suggested this because all of the disciples present were terrified. Finally we are told that a cloud formed over them and a voice came out of the cloud and said: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” And then, as quickly as it had all begun, it was over and Peter, James, and John were again alone with Jesus on the mountain. As the scene ends with the four of them returning to the others Jesus tells them to tell no one what they had seen until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Peter, James, and John probably felt honored to be taken apart from the group and brought up the mountain. They had already witnessed many amazing things that Jesus had done. They had heard him say many amazing things. In fact, Peter only a few verses before this scene had made his own confession that Jesus was “the Christ”. However, this feeling of honor rapidly turned into terror. The Christ that Peter had confessed had turned out to be a little more real than the apostles bargained for. A trip up the mountain had turned into an event of such extraordinary nature that it had really put a scare into all of them. They must have all wondered who Jesus really was, because at this point he is surely more than a teacher or even anything that they might think a messiah might be.

The transfiguration of our Lord is a preview of what is to come. Up until that point in the Gospel, Jesus has only hinted at who he is. In fact, just as he does when he returns with the disciples from the mountain, he adamantly tells people not to reveal who he his. When Jesus is transfigured on the mountain he is seen for the first time in some form of heavenly glory. He is seen with the two most important figures in Israel’s history. For the disciples who were there, the revealing of the truth must have been awesome. Not only awesome in the sense that it was a really wonderful thing, but also in the sense this is was a very terrifying thing. Peter, James, and John had literally just witnessed God on earth. Whether or not they knew that at the time is doubtful, but one thing is fore sure. The event they were witnessing was stranger than anything they had seen and it was something that was completely out of their control.

When Peter suggested that maybe they should build some tents or booths for Jesus, Elijah, and Moses, he trying to in some way organize what he was seeing. Just like when we move we try to organize everything so that we are more in control, Peter was trying to organize what he saw so he could feel a little more in control. He was in effect trying to build three boxes. One labeled “Moses”, one labeled “Elijah” and finally a box labeled “Jesus”.

Peter’s response to this exciting and scary revelation was to try his best to bring some order to the situation. He proposed three shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Exactly what order he would have brought about by building shelters is kind of hard to imagine, but in the end it didn’t matter. Peter wanted to organize in a human way and make more permanent a scene that could not be organized in a human way. Even though he had confessed that Jesus was the Christ, he was not yet able to fully grasp what that meant. He didn’t understand yet that Jesus was God on earth. In his attempt build three shelters he was trying to organize and contain the situation. To put it bluntly, Peter was trying to put God into a box. Not only that, but Peter was trying to put God into a box that was equal to the boxes he wanted to put Moses and Elijah into.

This is not anything that Peter alone is guilty of. In our own ways we try to put God into our own little boxes. Every week we divide up our time, we divide up what we devote ourselves to, and very often God gets only a small piece of the action. Along with the rest of the boxes in our lives, God is put into a box. God is reserved for Sunday. The rest of the week is my time. Or maybe God only gets Sunday morning. Football or ice-skating takes up the rest of Sunday. The week is for work, family, and maybe Joe Millionaire or the West Wing on TV. By treating our own lives like this, we are doing exactly what Peter has suggested. We are trying to organize God to fit our own realities.

Yet we, like Peter, must sometimes stop for a moment, stop trying to fit God into our lives in a way that works for us. We must listen to God. What is God saying? God is saying the same thing he said to Peter and the others on the mountain: “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” Listen to him. Listen to Jesus. The voice from heaven didn’t say listen to him only when and in whatever way is most convenient or best for you. Listen to him, don’t put him in a shelter because God is easier to deal with that way. Don’t try to box up God so that you can put him in the closet and open him up at your own convenience. To do that is to put God on a human level. God is everywhere, God knows everything, and God can do anything. To try to negotiate with God or to control God is impossible, and to think that one can do it at all is to misunderstand God.

As Christians we are called every day, every hour, to listen to God. This week take a few moments out of your day to pray or give thanks to God. God does not wait here at the church for us to come to him on Sundays, he is present with us every day. God is present in our lives all the time. Let us pray.

Lord God, we have experienced your love through the gift of your Son our Lord, Jesus Christ. Send us out into the world with confidence that you are with us every hour of every day. Bless us this day and every day as we give thinks to you for your wonderful creation. Help us to listen to you. We ask this through your son our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Equal before God

Epiphany 6, Year B, 2003
2 Kings 5:1-15 – Healing of Naaman
(Mark 1:40-45)

Sermon Preached by Matthew Mead
Saint James Church, Fair Haven, Connecticut
February 16, 2003

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.

My great-grandfather loved to sing hymns in church and he loved to sing loudly. The only problem was that he was a terrible singer; he couldn’t hold a note to save his life. One time when he was asked why he sang so loudly, even though he was not a good singer, he replied that he loved to sing hymns because he loved to praise God. “After all”, he said, “God doesn’t care how I sing, He loves my singing just as much as he loves when someone sings really well.” His point was that God’s love for us all is the same, whether we are good singers or bad singers, whether we are the “haves” or the “have-nots” of the world. God loves us all equally.

What do today’s readings from Scripture tell us about our own worth to God? There were two readings today that speak to us about our own worth to God. If we turn to the second book of Kings, chapter 5, we can take a look at the first. This is the story of Elisha the prophet and Naaman the commander of the army of the land of Aram. Naaman was a very important and powerful man but he had a problem. He had leprosy, a serious skin disease that would have been very hard for him to deal with.

One day, Naaman heard that there was a prophet in Israel who might be able to heal him. So, he went down to Israel and was directed to Elisha, the prophet. Naaman came with ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing, not to mention his entire entourage of horses and chariots over to Elisha’s house.

When I lived in New York City the President would come to town every now and again. For ten blocks in every direction the roads were closed. I was in my car once and I had to wait at 66th street for fifteen minutes while the President drove by. Whatever I was doing, wherever I was going, whomever I was going to see could wait because someone very important – more important than anyone else in New York that day – was driving by and had to get where he was going.

This was about the same treatment that Naaman was used to getting. He expected a big deal to be made out of his arrival in the town where Elisha lived. But Elisha didn’t make a big deal out of his arrival. In fact, Elisha didn’t even bother to go out to speak to Naaman himself; he sent a servant with a simple message: “go and wash in the Jordan River seven times, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed”.

It isn’t surprising that at this point Naaman got angry. What good was it for him to come all the way down to Israel with lots of money and people if he couldn’t even get some respect and a good old fashion miracle from the prophet? Luckily, one of his servants told Naaman: “if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?” So Naaman gave the suggestion a chance, went down to the river and washed seven times and was healed. He then returned to Elisha and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.” His pride nearly got the best of him but in the end he was shown the mercy and grace of God because he sought out God. Neither Elisha nor God was impressed with Naaman’s display of importance. His money didn’t do him any good. His entourage didn’t earn him the type of healing that he had hoped for. He was made to humble himself and lose his pride; only then was he healed.

Now, Naaman was rich and he got healed despite his money. But he wasn’t the only leper who was healed that we heard about today. If we turn to today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1, we read of another leper. This leper was an unnamed man who had no money to give and no large entourage. He was a man who had nothing, and on top of having nothing he had leprosy. For Naaman leprosy was an inconvenience, for this man, it was a life sentence as an outcast. The difference between the two men is remarkable. Naaman had everything and he expected healing, his way or not at all. Naaman even brought lots of money to pay for his cure. The unnamed leper in the Gospel had nothing and so brought nothing to Jesus. He could offer nothing at all so he got on his knees and begged Jesus.

We are given the examples of two people who are at different ends of the spectrum. One is wealthy beyond all imagination. The other has nothing at all except a debilitating disease. Yet even with all of their differences they both sought out God and experienced God’s love and mercy.

We are all of equal worth, in fact infinite worth to God. As Christians we know that we are all worth the same to God. We know this because it was for us that God gave his only Son to die on the cross. Jesus died for everyone, from the famous general to the unnamed leper. Today’s Bible readings give us two examples of people who received the mercy of God. Let these readings today give you new confidence in your own faith. God’s mercy and grace are available to everyone. Pray to him with faith. Draw near to him with bold expectation. And know that God is with you.

Going the right way....

MATTHEW HOXSIE MEAD
GOSPEL OF MARK: SPRING 2003
D. BARTLETT, A. HILTON
SERMON 1: MARK 1:14-20


“The time is fulfilled.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent and believe the good news.”
In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, Amen.


Have you ever been on a trip when you realized that you were going the wrong way and had to turn around completely and start again? I have done that several times in my life. One time in particular, I was going to a wedding with my fiancée Nicole. She was in the wedding party so we left a day early in order that we might get the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner on time. We were driving up to Utica from New York City on the New York State Thru Way. If you have ever been on the Thru Way, you may know that it follows the path of several highways, mostly Interstates 87 and 90. If you want to stay on the Thru Way, you have to merge from one highway to the next. I did not know that, I thought I-87 and the Thru Way were the same road all the way through New York. So, we stayed on I-87 and just kept going north instead of west. After an hour I began to question whether or not we were on the right road. Finally, when we saw a sign saying that we were about 50 miles from the Canadian border, I came to the realization that I was going the complete wrong direction. After a fit of anger where I blamed everyone, including the bride, the groom, and even Nicole for not making sure that I knew where I was going before I set off, I immediately turned the car around and went the other way. We drove all the way back to Albany and got back on the Thru Way. Luckily we made it up to Utica to the wedding rehearsal on time.

Today’s Gospel offers us a look at the start of Jesus’ career and the call of his first disciples. When Jesus first encountered these disciples they immediately stopped what they were doing and followed him. Why? Were they, like me, going the wrong way only to discover that the right way was with Jesus? If so, what was so special about Jesus that these men stopped what they were doing, dropped everything, and followed him? What made Jesus the right way?

To understand what the disciples did and to understand what was so special about Jesus, we have to look back a little bit. The gospel of Mark begins only a few verses before today’s Gospel reading so we won’t have to look far. If we quickly recap what has happened so far we have a very rapid introduction of Jesus. Mark the evangelist does not give us a story about the birth or family history of Jesus. He does not give us any information at all about the childhood or youth of Jesus. Instead the Gospel of Mark starts with the testimony of John the Baptist and the arrival of Jesus at the Jordan River. At his baptism, the heavens open, and Jesus is identified by a voice from heaven as the Son of God. Immediately after this, Jesus is driven into the wilderness where he is tempted by Satan and ministered to by the angels. His first act after this is to come to Galilee and proclaim the good news.

Essentially, the only thing that Mark has told us about who Jesus is prior to his preaching is that he is the Son of God. With this in mind let’s take a look at what Jesus preached. In verse 15 we read what Jesus preached: “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news!”

His message has two parts. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.” This first part is a statement of things that have happened. Jesus here is speaking about what his own impact is in the grand scheme of things. We already know from the beginning of the Gospel that Jesus is the Son of God, but what does the presence of the Son of God mean for us here on earth?

In his letter to the Romans, Saint Paul says: “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Through Jesus, the time truly is fulfilled. Before Jesus the human race had not yet been redeemed. Before Jesus there was no means of salvation for humanity. We were stuck in a perpetual state of sin that was separating us from God. However, because God loved us so much, He sent His only Son into the world so that we would never again be separated from God. With the coming of Christ to the world God himself has come to us and through Jesus we will never again be separate from God. By suffering and dying on the cross Christ has redeemed us and brought us to God. Before the coming of Christ there was no salvation. With his coming, a new age has come about. This new age now made it possible for people to enter into the Kingdom of God. Through Jesus we can all enter the Kingdom of God. For all of us, the Kingdom of God is at hand. Now, through Jesus nothing at all can separate us from the Love of God.

That really is good news! Sign me up right now! Where do I sign up or what do I need to do? What do I need to do to get into this Kingdom? What do I need to do to never again be separate from the love of God?

Very often we find ourselves with the final result but no idea how we got that result in the first place. Its like seeing the final few minutes of a movie or reading the last few chapters of a book and knowing how it all ends but not knowing what the whole story was about or what the characters did to wind up the way they did. A few days ago I rented a movie called Memento. The movie basically runs backwards so that at the start you know what happens but you don’t know why the characters do what they do. In this case, I needed to keep watching to find out what was really going on. Likewise, Jesus gives us the good news first and then he tells us how each of us can make that good news a reality in our own lives. If you only hear the first part of his message, nothing else will make much sense. The first part of his message is: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.”

But we cannot forget that Jesus’ message had two parts. In the second part of his message Jesus said, “Repent and believe the good news!” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church defines repentance as: “The acknowledgement and condemnation of one's sins, coupled with a turning to God. It includes sorrow for the sin committed, confession of guilt, and the purpose of amendment.” Webster’s Dictionary defines it as: “the action of turning from sin and dedicating oneself to the amendment of one's life”. Literally then, to repent is to turn away from sin and towards God. In a manner of speaking it is a complete change of direction. Not an arbitrary turning but a willful turning away from sin towards God.

If you were traveling by train and you suddenly found out that you were on the wrong train, you would get off and get on a train going in the right direction. If you were walking through the woods and found yourself suddenly at the edge of cliff would you keep walking right over the edge? No, you would turn around. If you were driving and you found that you had taken the wrong road, no matter how far out of the way you had gone, you would turn back. And, if you found out that you were on a path that didn’t lead to God, you would turn around, get on the right path and go the right way.

Jesus asked the same of the first disciples. He called them, they immediately stopped what they were doing and followed him. When Jesus found Simon Peter and Andrew they were fishing. They were casting their nets into the sea. Immediately after Jesus called them, they left their nets and followed him. James and John not only left their nets, they left their boat and their father working in the boat. They left everything behind and followed Jesus.

Today I hold up the first disciples as an example of what we as Christians must do. Very few people are called to leave their families and jobs and become itinerant preachers of the Gospel. Families, friends, jobs, homes, and every other thing in our lives that we have and cherish are very important, but at the same time we must realize that they are not everything. They cannot be compared to the love of God that we have through Jesus Christ. Jobs and money; homes and cars; all the little things we do that we really enjoy doing and all the really big, exciting things that we do; fun with friends, and even family come and eventually they go. None of these is God and if we put any of them before God, then we make one of these our god and we are going in the wrong direction.

If you are going in the wrong direction in your own life, stop and turn around. If you have put anything before God you need to stop, turn away from sin, turn towards God, and make sure that God is first in your life. Leave sin and worldly idols behind and follow Jesus. When we hold something up so high that we have put it before Jesus then we are going nowhere fast. In fact, when we do that we have left Jesus behind and we are going the wrong way fast. Through Jesus we have been saved. Through Jesus the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Turn away from sin, turn towards God, and believe this good news!