Month: November 2021

Sermon

November 21, 2021
Last Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 29
Year B
“Christ the King Sunday”

First Reading: 2 Samuel 23:1-7
Psalm 132:1-13, [14-19]
Second Reading: Revelation 1:4b-8
Gospel: John 18:33-37

Today is our:

 Feast of “Christ the King” 

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, now and forever. Amen (BCP 236)

On this last Sunday of our liturgical calendar year, we give a special recognition to the dominion Christ our Lord has over all aspects of our lives. It’s perfect to lead us into our Advent season of Hope-Peace-Joy-Love…. 

Gospel: 

In our gospel lesson today, we read how Jesus is summoned by Pilate…he questions him again…

“Jesus” are you King of the Jews? Jesus, puts him on the spot, are you saying that or is it because others told you?  

Pilate…tells Jesus, that your own nation and chief priests have handed you over to me.

Pilate is nothing more than a governor, he holds authority in the headquarters, he is not Jewish, and really, he doesn’t want the responsibility of a trial…Jesus is Jewish and let his own judge him.

I feel they were cowards; they all know there is something special about this man.

Pilate asks Jesus “What have you done”? Jesus reply’s, “My kingdom is not from this world…because if it was my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.

“Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “you say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. 

“Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Jesus came into this world to change the way people had been for years. Hope of a new life a new beginning. He came to the earth: to save his people from their sins by his life, death, and resurrection. His great purpose was to restore sinners to their God so that they may have eternal life forever with him.

Kings put people into slavery, Jesus freed people.

Kings crucified people; Jesus saved people. 

Kings ruled over people with fear and disgrace. Jesus loved people; Jesus gave people not fear, but hope.

Jesus brought Joy into the world. Every time He healed a person, cast out a demon, or forgave a sin, joy was the immediate result. Those who followed Jesus had peace, finely. 

All those who listen to his voice he brought Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace. Instead of separating people, he brought them together.

Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew or Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  

Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love

We will be in the advent season next Sunday. 

Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year; the season begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends on the day before Christmas. 

It may be a time for a new beginning for us as Christians; it lets us focus on the promise that God made to his people and how that promise was fulfilled in Jesus.

Change is among us in this time of Advent expectation.

Many of us may have already experienced the kinds of change that faith can bring, but that doesn’t mean the change is over, we will continue to grow. 

Advent is also that unchangeable season when the same concepts, the same words rise over and over again, year after year, to challenge our hearts and minds.

As we wait in expectation and preparation for the coming of the Lord. 

Let’s remember what the apostle Paul said to the Ephesians…. 1:15-23

I pray that God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 

Amen
The Reverend Lola Culbreath

Sermon Proper 25 

Joel 2: 23-32

The prophet Joel is writing about, the devastating loss of crops due to the swarm of locusts, and Israel is suffering; for the people who survived. Anything that affects crop production, floods, insects, lack of rain etc. – had tremendous and lasting effects on the emotional well-being and religious imagination. The Israelites perceived the end of these disasters as a sign that God had not abandoned his people.

Joel reminds the people of Zion, to be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God.  Joel’s prophecy is that God’s spirit will be poured out richly on God’s people and all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Psalm 65

Psalm 65 begins by recognizing the need for all our transgressors to come to God. One of God’s gifts to us is forgiveness, our sins are stronger than we are, but God will forgive them, as Christians we have the joy of knowing God’s presence resides in us throughout each day, along with the Holy Spirit. The Psalmist points out that God cares a great deal about our lives and longs to bless and affirm our work. Let’s shout for joy, and thanks for his love and care of us.

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

Paul is writing this letter while under arrest in Rome, shortly before his death. The words are those of a man looking back over his life. Paul faces death at peace with his life knowing that he did his best in carrying out the work that God had given to do. In verse 6 Paul has allowed himself to be poured out as a libation, a drink for others of God’s grace. Paul teaches us an important lesson – our lives are not about us. We are called to be poured out for others, and it is only in that great act that we will find the peace and satisfaction that Paul talks about in this scripture. God is faithful and will never abandon us, no matter the circumstances.

Gospel Luke 18:9-14

In today’s Gospel reading Jesus teaches us a message that most of us don’t want to hear. The way up is to do down. We cannot “earn”  God’s approval by showing ourselves to be loyal, disciplined, rigorous soldiers. We fall into God and God’s mercy, compassion, and love through humility and our acknowledgment of our brokenness. The crack in our hearts – the broken place that this little tax collector seemed to be keenly aware of – This is where the light gets in. The things that the Pharisee is doing fasting, praying, Almsgiving – are all good and necessary parts of good religious practice. But the Pharisee has committed the greatest sin; he has given in to the greatest temptation – doing the right thing for the wrong reason.  Basically, his worship is directed towards himself, not God. God does not seek empty piety; God seeks genuine and authentic relationship with us. We can only do that when we come to God, like the tax collector, in a state of humility and honesty.

Sunday 24^th Pentecost

Hope and fear, laughter and tears have been part of our journey; Joy and pain, longing and doubt meet on the pathway.

Often, we do not believe, O God, and sometimes we doubt that your promises can be true. Grant us and our world the freedom to laugh, the courage to cry, the heart to be open, and the faith to believe.

During the travels of Ruth and Naomi, they were able to sustain their lives because of Jewish law; grain on the edges of a field was to be left for “the poor and alien” to harvest. The field belonged to a single man named Boaz, who just happens to be a kinsman of Naomi’s husband Elimelech. Boaz marries Ruth according to the marriage laws of that time, “the brother of a man who dies without a son must marry his brother’s widow”.

God works in surprising ways through the lives of often unlikely people. Ruth, a Moabite woman non-Israelite becomes the ancestor of Jesus. The son Obed was the grandfather of King David. Ruth becomes King David’s great-grandmother. 

Psalm 127 reflects the spirit of the story of Ruth and express’s the trust in the Divine providence and blessing of children. The focus on children as the “Lords’ heritage, “as a gift of God: They ensure the survival of the family. The Psalm reflects the spirit of the story of Ruth with its expression of trust in the Divine providence and the blessing of children.

In the letter to the Hebrews, we are shown once again, that Jesus made himself the perfect sacrifice once and for all. He dwells in heaven and offers limitless intercessions on our behalf. With Jesus’s sacrifice and no other offering would ever be needed to do away with our sins. 

Mark’s gospel reading has two distinct pronouncements. One contains the pronouncements against excesses of religious leaders. The next focus is on the truly sacrificial giving of a poor widow, in contrast to the arrogance of the scribes. 

Scribes were specialists and official interpreters of the Scriptures. After their lengthy study, a student was ordained as a scribe. Jesus talked to the scribes about their excesses and showy behavior, at the expense of compassion and justice. The Scribes knew the rules better than others, they were able to exploit the knowledge to their own advantage. Jesus is not criticizing all scribes but those against a certain type of individual found among people of all faiths. 

The possible taking advantage of widows, the scribes (as lawyers) may have served as trustees of property and then taken a large share of the estate as their fee. In this case, the widow without her husband to represent and support her is “now a symbol of all oppressed whom the privileged religious class can easily exploit,

One thing that Jesus realized was that the widows giving was more at the high risk. “She out of poverty as put all she had to live on.

This incident shows us that giving of things, without giving of self, is of little value in the sight of God. The humble, faith-filled act on the part of the nameless widow serves us to remember that giving of things, without giving of self is of little value in the sight of God.

Prayer For The Day

O God of grace and glory, in whose service we find perfect freedom and true purpose, by the invisible working of your Holy Spirit, keep us forever awake to the needs of the world and alert to respond in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, until the end of the age.

Amen