Christmas 1, Evensong

Christmastide is the season when we celebrate God with Us: Emanuel. Celebrations of Christmas are rarely confined to the church building. They flow out into the streets and public spaces and into people’s homes. One of my favorite images of spreading the good news of God in Christ if from tonight’s first reading from Isaiah. “Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent.” The message of God’s salvation proclaimed beyond the walls of the city to those outside. I think as Christians we are called to do this.

One might ask how: I have found that a great way to broaden my own vocabulary as a Christian is to read the Bible: The apostles who encountered Jesus wrote about it in ways that have continued to have great meaning for Christians.

Many of the basic images and most of the vocabulary of the church comes from the writings of the New Testament. A great example of that can be found in tonight’s reading when Paul speaks of the church as the Body of Christ. There are many others.
Our Prayer Book also uses the vocabulary of the Bible. Many of the prayers, and responses are either taken directly from the Bible or rephrased in a way that resonates with Scripture. A great way to learn the how to speak about Jesus to others is through the daily and weekly prayer of the church. Praying and hearing about Jesus makes it easier to begin to speak about Jesus in the same way.

Another great way to learn how to speak about Jesus is by reading through the Bible. I lead a Bible Study most Wednesday nights – we will resume on January 9, 2008. We have been, and will continue to read the letters of Saint Paul, author of our second reading tonight.

This Christmastide, I hope our voices, will not be silent. I hope they will imitate the seasons decorations and spread beyond the walls of the church to those outside as we each proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.

Saint Nicholas

Sermon: ADVENT 1, THURSDAY, DAILY MASS:
PSALM 118:19-24; ISAIAH 26:1-6; MATTHEW 7:21-27
(Evening Mass)

Tonight we celebrate Saint Nicholas. You may know Nicholas as Santa Claus, or even the patron saint of children, but he's also the patron saint of seafarers and sailors.

There are many seafarers and sailors on my mother's side of my family, fishermen, lobstermen, people that work on boats, people that sail boats. I'm not a professional, but I am also a pretty good sailor. Onoe thing that is very important when you are sailing is to make sure the boat is ship-shape. No holes or cracks, everything tightened and taught, lines checked, etc. The wind may change and the sea may be rough, but if the basics have been covered, you are generally in good shape.

Our Gospel tonight is one of my favorites. Jesus speaks of importance of building on a firm foundation. Like a well prepared ship, a house built on a firm foundations can better weather any storm.

I beleive that living as a Christian begins with the firm foundation of faith in the resurrection. God's love, I think, is best shown in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That love that conquors death cannot be shaken. Going forth into the world with faith in that love makes a difference. As Saint Paul says, nothing can conquor the love of God, not sin, not sickness, not poverty, not even death.

May the love of God so fill our hearts that we may have the strength to weather the difficulties we face in our own lives, and let us, following the example of Saint Nicholas, spread the knowledge of the gift of God's love to all those around us.

Saint Nicholas

Sermon: ADVENT 1, THURSDAY, DAILY MASS:
PSALM 118:19-24; ISAIAH 26:1-6; MATTHEW 7:21-27

Today is the Feast of Saint Nicholas. Devotion to Saint Nicholas was enormous in parts of Europe in the early days of this country, and it is through his name in Dutch that most people now know of Saint Nicholas as Santa Claus. The images of the man in the big red suit bringing gifts to children stem from the fact that Nicholas is the patron saint of children.

Our reading from Isaiah today states :Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps faith may enter in.: The legends of Santa Claus tell of him coming into people's houses and leaving a variety of different gifts. Nobody ever puts a lock on the door or the chimney to try to keep Santa out. Who knows what gifts he might bring.

I think that image works well both with the open mission of the church. Throughout this Advent, I pray that all churches will open their doors to whomever might come through. Each of us brings many different gifts that God has given us to help spread the Gospel, and the same is true about everyone who walks through those doors. May our hearts and hands be open to the new people who enter our lives, our churches and our mission this Advent.

Saint Clement of Alexandria

ADVENT 1, WEDNESDAY, DAILY MASS:
PSALM 23; ISAIAH 25:6-9; MATTHEW 15:29-38

Today we celebrate the life of Saint Clement of Alexandria. Clement lived in the late second century. He was an extremely intellegent and eductaed man. He was the head of the famous Christian Catechitcal School in Alexandria, where he taught many important Christian thinkers, including Origen.

Clement and his peers encountered what is commonly called Gnosticism. Gnostic groups were usually recognized because they taught that Jesus had passed down secret knowledge about salvation to only a select few of his disciples, and they likewise had passed that knowledge only to a seletc few others. Clement, in all that he did, tried to counteract this, by teaching that the love of God was not a secret, but was made available through Jesus Christ for all people.

Our gospel today tells of the Feeding of the 4000. Did you notice how after three days in the wilderness, Jesus gave the suddenly abundant food to his disciples, then the disciples gave all of that food the crowds, then those crowds dispersed into the world? That, I think, clearly mirrors the resurrection. After three days, Jesus rose from the dead and apeared to his disciples. They then spread the news of his resurrection to the crowds, those crowds then dispersed around the globe and spread the good news of the resurrection to the whole world.

I think we can follow the example of Saint Clement, a saint who spread the knowlegde of the faith to many others. No matter how we are being feed spiritually, whether it is through mission or education or anything at all, I hope that each of us can take what we have been fed with and pass it along to others.