“we piped and you did not dance, we wailed and you did not weep”

Sermon preached at Evensong on Sunday Advent 2 (December 2006)

Tonight’s second reading is the second half of a larger passage about John the Baptist. Jesus’ remarks about John come after John has sent his own disciples to see whether Jesus is the Christ. Jesus responds by healing many people and preaching the good news to the poor and telling John’s disciples to reply with what they have seen and heard.

Jesus next turns his attention to the crowd. He exclaims that some of them have taken John’s preaching of repentance and forgiveness to heart and some have not. He compares those who do not accept John’s teaching to children who become hostile when someone won’t follow their lead: “we piped and you did not dance, we wailed and you did not weep”.

I believe that the church today can take Jesus’ message to heart. It can be easy to get upset when other people walk to the beat of a different drum or when they don’t follow the lead that we set. From my own perspective as a priest at Saint Mary’s I get frustrated when I go to other churches and they worship in ways that are different than what I prefer. I also get frustrated looking at the various factions of the church trying to push and pull the everyone else in many different directions. In my perfect world everyone would always follow my lead, but most likely my idea of a perfect world isn’t exact the same as yours.

I think that one way that we avoid falling into the “my way or the highway” trap is to follow the example. Of John the Baptist John knew that Jesus was from God because he saw that he spread the love of God to others through his words and his deeds. I think that we can do the same. I don’t think that concentrating time and energy on spreading division and trying to force others to go our way is very productive. However, when we concentrate our time and energy on spreading the love of God to others through what we do and what we say, then not only do differences seem less important but we find that more and more people join us as we follow the way of Christ.

Whe are here for Jesus

Sermon Preached on November 19, 2006
Proper 28B
Daniel 12:1-4a(5-13)Hebrews 10 31-39Mark 13:14-23Psalm 16 or 16:5-11



On Monday my wife gave birth to our first son, Liam. He’s awesome and I would love to stand up here and tell you all about him, but stories about my son are not why we are gathered here today. We are gathered together because of Jesus Christ.

In our Gospel reading today Jesus speaks of times of anguish and despair out of which God’s people are delivered to eternal life. Probably these refer to the sack of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD. That event was a transformative event for the early church in that a great piece of its Jewish roots was gone. What to do?

That I think is exactly the same question we can ask ourselves when we read this passage today. Unless you want to sell books or be featured in the history channel, I’m not sure its helpful to identify these times of anguish and desolation as the prelude to the Second Coming – trying to see signs in the world around us as to when it will happen. Nor am I sure that its helpful to try to figure out who will be delivered and who will not. Rather I think the question we can ask ourselves is the same one the people of the early church asked. What are we to do in the times – difficult times – that we often find ourselves in?

Jesus warns that some people will take the opportunity to point out false Messiahs and false prophets. If you turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper there are always people telling you that life is only worth living when you have power, money, possessions, or pleasure. This isn’t limited only to the secular world. I have heard any number of church leaders point to good solid things like peace, justice and the self-empowerment and claim that that salvation lies within them.

As important and wonderful as it may be to have money, enjoy life, work for peace and feel self satisfied, all of these can act as distractions from seeking out, experiencing and spreading the love that God has for all of us in Jesus Christ. Jesus offers eternal life, can anything else claim to do that?

Next week is the feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the church year before Advent begins. At Saint Mary’s we celebrate this feast by committing ourselves to Jesus. Commitment Sunday is the time to identify those things is our own lives that are important to us see where our priorities really are. Often this means taking an honest account of where and how we spend our money. Do I spend as much money on Jesus as I did on going out to fancy restaurants or going to concerts or going on vacation? Is the time I invest in church and at prayer reflected in the money I give to support the church? Those are questions that I think are important for all of us to ask ourselves.

As I ask myself these questions I wonder what it will mean financially to have a child. My wife and I intend to continue pledging 10% of our income to the church. Its not going to be easy. We will have to give up some things. But I don’t intend to limit my questioning to money. Three days ago my father came by to see our son. He said that one of the things he always prayed for his children was that they would see the face of Jesus. How can I help my son to see the face of Jesus as he grows up? How can I help others to see the face of Jesus?

Over the next week I invite you to join me in asking how Jesus fits into your life. How does Jesus fit into your financial planning for next year? How do you plan to show the face of Jesus to those who are important to you over the next year?