St. Martin's In the Desert

Month: August 2022

  • “Shall I Not Drink the Cup Which My Father has Given Me”

    As we assess our day, this scripture is the greatest thing we say and do than to quiet the sea or
    raise up the dead. As we know, the apostles and the prophets worked mighty miracles but often failed
    the will of God. To suffer His will requires faith. We need this sublime Christian achievement, i. e. a young
    life afflicted by pain or sorrow and to see no relief; to be pinched by poverty in one’s attempt to help
    family; to be chained to a life of disability; now, stripped bare of those we love. We know this is faith at
    its best.

    ln essence, we have a God who is a sympathizing God. Our feelings are challenged by our ability
    to care and become a helper based on our own ability to suffer. Have we suffered somewhere and somehow on a cross? Can we have happiness as we succor others without tasting the cup that Jesus drank or submitting to baptism?

    David’s psalms were quite comforting. when he had been pressed out by suffering. Paul had a
    thorn in the flesh that accounted for his tenderness in many of his letters. My own circumstances are the
    means by which I surrender to God’s hand. I can be chiseled for eternity. This involves trust. Do I push
    away the tool that is shaping me?

    We will face trials. We have an assurance that He falls like sunshine where we are. rle brings
    peace and comfort daily; however, his judgments are a great deep. yet, God means it to be good. Even
    through weary days of prison bondage, Paul was working through his waiting. God permitted afflictions
    bitter and so strange, and the Lord saw the end from the beginning purpose. paul placed his hand in the
    Lord’s and followed Him fearlessly through his endless days.

    Marty J. Larcom

  • Sermon – August 7, 2022

    Sermon – August 7, 2022

    Sermon
    August 7, 2022
    Year C
    Ninth Sunday after Pentecost:

    First Reading: Isaiah 1:1,10-20
    Psalm 50:1-8,23-24
    Second Reading: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
    Gospel: Luke 12:32-40

    Collect:
    Grant to us, Lord, we pray the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen

    Not Being Afraid and Having Faith Go Hand in Hand

    Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16

    “Now Faith is the Assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

    By faith, our ancestors received….by faith we understand…by faith Abraham obeyed by faith he stayed and by faith he received.

    The word faith is front and center throughout our epistle reading.
    And near the end of the reading, it says… “All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance, they saw and greeted them.”

    At least 400 years ago, the people followed what their ancestors were telling them. The only thing they had was their faith. They understood that their worlds were prepared by the word of God and that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

    The letter to the Hebrew people, from what the scholars think, is they have written to people who perhaps are giving up, leaving the church, who are leaving the faith. These people have suffered and sacrificed a lot and they can’t see staying in it for they might feel, that things could be better somewhere else.

    Gospel: Luke 12:32-40

    Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
    As priests, we listen and we hear and see the cares and joys of your life, we also hear the concerns you have. Listening is part of our vocation and there are highs and lows to what we do.

    Fear can take over your life, emotionally you can feel alone and not know where or who to turn to. Fear is a natural, powerful, and human emotion and we all have fears and anxiety.

    In the gospel, Jesus calls them little flocks, a community of people, he uses the metaphor of a shepherd, our shepherd, and do not fear or be afraid, he promises us the Kingdom of Heaven, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

    In the Bible, God has given us numerous promises we can claim or hold on to during the seasons of doubt and fear.
    We often fear that which we cannot change… and then, funny how we fear change. 😊

    We are also reminded that He knows our hearts and our minds and that we are prone to worry, fear, and anxiety.
    That is why He speaks to our fears and encourages us to surrender all our fears to Him.

    Fear of things comes in all forms, sometimes the things we worry about, are solved or soon forgotten, meaning it wasn’t worth worrying about them at all. But there are true fears that are not something so easily forgotten.

    Having to be afraid of something is not because you don’t have faith, you do have faith and knowing… to use the faith you have to overcome the fears.

    Conclusion:

    Scriptures invite us to acknowledge the reality of fear while not allowing its presence to discourage us from our faith.

    A great definition of courage is “the ability to persevere through all emotions.”

    Faith, Faith, Faith, we have been given the courage fueled by faith, not the absence of fear but the ability to withstand it.

    We from time to time, when faced with fear,
    is to develop internal state of strength,
    face or fears and redirect our focus,
    and rest on the foundation of our faith that was given to us, by the Grace of God.

    In the second reading today, the Hebrew people may have been thinking of leaving the church.
    I say, stick to church and more people today should be flocking to church.

    The church is a place where we practice and see our faith, our faith that relies on the promises of God and the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.

    Faith, helps us overcome and rebuild relationships. Faith helps us through incredible physical suffering and pain. Faith that we know when we ask God for forgiveness, we are forgiven and that faith can change our lives and others.

    One of my sayings lately is that “I keep my knees bent, and my eyes looking up”
    God is with us now and forever; we just need to not… be afraid and have faith.

    Amen
    The Rev. Lola Culbreath

  • The Transfiguration Sunday – August 6, 2022

    The Transfiguration Sunday
    Year C
    August 6, 2022

    First Reading: Exodus 34:29-35
    Psalm 99 or 99:5-9
    Second Reading:2 Peter 1:13-21
    Gospel: Luke: 9:28-36

    Collect:

    O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, forever and ever. Amen

    FAITH and LIGHT

    Imagine Jesus on a normal day walking with three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John.

    Jesus appears to them to be normal, when he asked them to come with him…. But on this day, he leads them high on a mountain, by themselves…Right before their eyes, He was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.

    This was no ordinary morning, no ordinary walk…the light was so bright, it was almost blinding. We all at one point in our lives have looked at a light so bright, that we had to look away or close our eyes, it was so bright.

    Suddenly they see Elijah and Moses talking to Jesus…they were so terrified by this, that Peter, not really knowing what else to say…says, “Rabbi, maybe we shouldn’t be here, you want us to go and prepare three dwelling places, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”? really what else could he say?? Maybe it’s his way to honor them, by putting up areas of worship for them.

    Then a great cloud overshadowed them…and a voice came from the cloud.
    “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

    Let’s go back…They climb this mountain and are separated from the other disciples, then Jesus is transformed before them in bright light, and two of God’s greatest, are there talking to Jesus.
    Next comes the shadow of heavy clouds and a Thundering voice out of the clouds….” This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” And, they start down the mountain Jesus…ordered them…tell no one about this, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.

    I am pretty sure they agreed to this, who would believe them and how would they explain it…after all Jesus is still there and they don’t really know what is going on!
    Telling no one about it was the only thing that made sense.

    Conclusion:

    Peter, James, and John have experienced the past, the present, and the future all in an instance. I wonder how we would find that experience?

    It is possible, that some of us have had different experiences in life, maybe not as clear and involved as the three disciples, but we… all have had our own time on the mountain of life or in the desert in life.

    We all have connected to God in different ways, through experiences of our own through our faith.

    And there are people who are still waiting for that one experience in life that will help them believe more than they do.

    We will have times in our lives when our faith is being tested and challenged.

    Jesus will always be there to help us transform ourselves, we can’t just have one experience and then say, okay, I made it, and I can stop there, we have to come down the mountain with him and turn around and go back up.

    There is plenty more growing to do and we have to be ready for that invitation from Jesus to go.

    Keeping a strong spiritual life will help us to be ready when he says, come, we have another mountain to climb.

    God spoke twice when Jesus was baptized and in this scripture. Here God says, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

    Listen to him in Sunday worship, listen to him when reading the scriptures, and Listen to him when you’re in personal prayer.

    Say to yourself every morning…Lord, I am Listening! Let yourself be transformed.

    Amen
    The Reverend Lola Culbreath