Tag Archives: Grace

The Irrational Christian

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Second Sunday in Lent (Mark 8:31-38)  03/01/2015

Earlier this week I was attending a gathering with my clergy colleagues. We met at a church located close to a college campus and the topic of young adults and faith came up in our conversation. Someone shared the observation that a number of college students who regularly attend worship services and claim that the practice of their Christian faith is important in their lives had been questioned by their peers for their faith in God; often challenged for their faith and devotion…behavior deemed to be irrational. Irrational…meaning one exhibiting behavior that lacks normal mental clarity, reason or understanding. As I listened to my clergy colleague tell this story that placed such a great value on reason and understanding, I was reminded of a recent interview on an Irish TV show called, “The Meaning of Life,” hosted by Gay Byrne. The guest of the show was Stephen Fry, (well-known actor, author, and atheist), and Byrne asked him, “[I know that you do not believe in God, but] suppose it’s all true, and you walk up to the pearly gates, and are confronted by God. What will you say?” Fry responded, “I would say this: How dare you? How dare you create a world to which there is such misery that is not our fault. It’s not right, it’s utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain. That’s what I would say.” Fry’s words are quite strong and perhaps a bit unedited toward the One we believe is holy and almighty, and perhaps like the host of the show your jaw has dropped a bit from its normal resting place. Continue reading →

A Holy Patience

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Pentecost 18A (Exodus 32:1-14)  10/12/2014

Several years ago I was on a business trip to Cardiff, Wales (this occurred many years ago, in a land without smartphones and GPS…imagine that?). I had been to Cardiff a few times before this trip, but always a short trip during the middle of the week. This time around I arrived on Saturday and had a good part of the weekend free before starting work on Monday. I thought this would be a great chance to see Llandaff Cathedral, the cathedral church of the area and a place that has been holy Christian ground since the early sixth century. Sunday was a beautiful fall day and I decided to set out right after lunch. I decided it might be nice to walk to the cathedral on this beautiful day, so I asked the man at the front desk if the cathedral was close by…”yes, the cathedral is just down the road,” was the cheerful reply. Wonderful, a nice walk to the cathedral! My only pair of shoes were leather dress shoes, but the nice man at the front desk said the cathedral was “just down the road,” so I was sure I would be just fine. I walked through the city center and began walking down a road that led to a large park. After about 20 minutes of walking, with no cathedral spire looming in the near distance, I decided to ask a passerby if I was headed in the right direction; “Oh yes, the cathedral is just down the road,” pointing in the general direction I was headed. As I continued on my pilgrimage, I must admit I began to think more about a taxi than the beautiful cathedral that was promised to be “just down the road.” I was also beginning to think my definition of “just down the road” was significantly different than the nice Welsh people I had met along the way. After nearly three miles of walking, I finally passed through a clearing and the grand walls of the cathedral stood just beyond a cluster of trees, quietly sitting in a little neighborhood of its own. A beautiful spot for a cathedral church nearly 1000 years old, but not a good place for finding a lift home! My cathedral pilgrimage had just started and I found that I was already a bit confused, tired, and short of patience from the long road traveled. Continue reading →

A clear vision of God’s grace

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Fourth Sunday in Lent (John 9:1-41)  3/30/2014

I give thanks this morning for the warmer weather of this weekend and the days ahead, albeit with a bit of rain, but the thermometer is heading in the right direction at least! My wife and I have taken up a Lenten discipline of starting our mornings with a two mile walk and I must admit that this discipline has been sorely tested this past week as the early morning temperatures have been about 18 degrees! But I suppose I should not be surprised, as this is the character of March, a month best described as days of turbulence and turmoil in the weather department. We receive a sunny and pleasant afternoon that tempts us with a foretaste of the warmer spring days ahead; followed by 18 degree mornings that send us scrambling for our wool hats and insulated gloves. Yes, this is the time of year that coat closets contain the full array of our outerwear…and today, every type of waterproof boot or shoe! And we are not alone, the other morning I spotted a beautiful cardinal in the tree outside of my kitchen window; he was trying his best to impress a female a few branches away (his mind on the spring nesting season, no doubt) while at the same time he was bracing himself against the wintry breezes of the early morning. Perhaps March was well designed to shepherd us through the first half of our Lenten season. Today marks the halfway point of our Lenten journey…”half time” you might say. And “March Madness” should not be reserved for the exclusive use of the NCAA basketball tournament! Sure, the tournament is full of excitement, upsets, and surprises, but for real moments of turbulence and surprising revelations we must turn our attention to this morning’s Gospel. Continue reading →

A lively and “perfect” faith

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Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany (1 Cor 3:1-9)  2/16/2014

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We hear in our lesson from the Book of Deuteronomy this morning, “If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today…then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you…But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are lead astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish.” (Deut 30:16-18a) And speaking from Psalm 119, the Psalmist tells us, “Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Who never do any wrong, but always walk in his ways.” (Psalm 119:1,3) And Matthew warns us this morning that “if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than your whole body to be thrown into hell.” (Matt 5:29) The challenge of perfection seems to have been set before us this morning in our Scripture lessons. In the spirit of the Olympic Games, it seems we have been challenged to perfectly land an “acrobatic triple cork” jump as we rush down the slope style ski range of life…our lessons seem to be telling us, go for the heavenly gold medal or go home! That approach to life would certainly create a fair bit of anxiety and restless nights. Continue reading →

Close the almanac and say a prayer

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Pentecost 22 (Luke 18:1-8)  10/20/2013

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Information is an important part of our society today. We are connected to the news of the world in ways that were unimaginable just a few short years ago. Information feeds our curiosities and gives us confidence that we are in touch with our world. However, information of the “here and now” is not the only information that peeks our interest. We are not quite halfway through the fall season and I have already spotted my first winter prediction in the newspaper. Predicting the coming season’s weather has been a fascination with people for generations. I remember reading the Old Farmer’s Almanac as a young boy, intrigued that the details of the weather could be known so far in advance, and I soon learned that the Almanac was not always correct. Long-term predictions would have struggled to capture the fierce storm from nearly two years ago, an epic October snow storm that disrupted our way of life for a week or more. Throughout those days, many of us sought some solace, some hope in the power company’s outage maps and restoration predictions. And as the days dragged on through the week, it became difficult to believe the information given to us and not lose heart with our circumstances. This morning, our Gospel lesson offers us an interesting twist on how we might inform our lives, how we might live a life of faithfulness and hope-filled confidence by telling a story of a determined woman and an unjust judge who sat in judgment of her future. Continue reading →

Flooding our hearts with the saving grace of Christ

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Second Sunday of Easter (John 20:19-31)  04/07/2013

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Several years ago, as a member of the US Navy Reserve, I had the opportunity to participate in a multi-national naval exercise in the waters just south of Ireland. As we prepared for the exercise I learned that I was assigned to be an observer on a German U-boat, a submarine 150 ft. in length with a crew of about 20 people; an up-close and personal experience for sure. The participants of the exercise gathered on the coast of France to discuss the details of the coming week at sea, and after the meeting I met the Captain of the German submarine. He greeted me in perfect English and after a brief introduction he asked me where I had learned to speak German. I told him that, unfortunately, I did not speak German. He was quite surprised at my answer and said, “Do you realize that you will be at sea for more than a week in a German submarine…and you do not speak German?” I assured him that I did realize this was about to happen and that I really did not speak German…I could say “hello,” “goodbye” and “thank you.” “Why would the US Navy send an officer aboard a German submarine who cannot speak German?” he replied. “Because we’re Americans and sometimes we do crazy things,” I answered. He laughed, and did not believe a word of what I said. We arrived at the submarine and he introduced me to the crew, telling them that I did not speak German, but that they should be careful because he did not believe me and I might be secretly collecting information. Several times throughout the first few days the Captain tried to trick me by giving directions or telling funny jokes in German, all to his great disappointment. He struggled to believe the truth of the story that was before him. Continue reading →

The transforming grace of Easter

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Easter Sunday (John 20:1-18) 03/31/2013

When I first arrived at St. John’s a few years ago, one of the first groups I had an opportunity to closely work with was the Outreach Committee. At that time, the Outreach Committee was in the midst of re-imagining their mission to the community, re-imaging how to best serve others during challenging economic times, challenging times for everyone. The faithful and insightful people of that group developed some truly creative ideas that combined financial contributions and hands-on opportunities for St. John’s parishioners, allowing the people of our community to reach out and help others in many and varied ways. The foundational idea for this new approach was to become more involved with the people of our community in very personal ways, hoping to develop relationships rather than simply providing financial assistance. This idea is rooted in the belief that interactions between people in the service of others create relationships that are mutually transformational in nature; transformational for the giver and transformational for the receiver. The Outreach Committee, committed to service in the community, changed their name to Community Service in an effort to emphasize this new approach, and the next evolution of their mission was realized this past fall as we committed to some very specific relationships, including our participation in building housing through Habitat for Humanity and tutoring young students at Covenant Prep School in Hartford. These organizations change lives and our participation places us in the midst of ministry that is focused on the redemption and restoration of God’s children and the faithful care of the Body of Christ. This is the Easter story; the story of Christ, through whose death and resurrection, we all find redemption and restoration to the fullness of God’s intentions for us, through God’s grace and love. Continue reading →

“Beyond Ash Wednesday”

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O'CollinsExperiencing Jesus by Gerald O’Collins, SJ; Chapter 1 – “What’s it all about?”

Ash Wednesday marks the start of the holy season of Lent; a journey of 40 days (not counting Sundays) that ends with the glorious, powerful and life-saving resurrection of Christ. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, it’s still just the morning after Ash Wednesday and the brilliance of Easter Morning seems very far away. Gerald O’Collins begins his Lenten reflection book with a chapter titled “What’s it all about?” The “it” O’Collins refers to is the subject, and the exploration, of the chapter rather than a mysterious and confusing pronoun (I always tell my kids, “use a proper noun before using a pronoun!”); and the “it” is not simply Ash Wednesday, but all that Ash Wednesday hopes to point toward as we begin our journey of Lent. And the journey begins with a funny smear of ashes on your forehead, should you so choose. O’Collins’ first chapter makes a clear point, however; should you not choose to have the ashes smeared across your forehead, the meaning remains and envelops your journey as well. What is that meaning?

The complicated answer is that there are so many meanings it would take a lifetime to approach the truth of it, but that seems like a cop-out. So, let’s take up the matter of the ashes again and focus our attention there. O’Collins makes a blunt point of it: “Ash on our foreheads shows what we are: people of dust and destined to die.” (p. 12) He continues to make several points of mortal life, points we know all too well – life if fragile, life is transient, life happens in the midst of the mighty cosmos, but life is sacred and God given; and this last bit about life trumps all the others. We head into Lent knowing that life is not always a box of chocolates (yes, Forest Gump’s mother said that) but we have been given our lives through the grace and love of God, which means that our life, our fragile mortal life, has a depth that transcends the fragility that appears on the surface of it. Lent’s journey is about exploring the depth of life so that we might appreciate, maybe even understand a bit of the abundant love that we have been given from the One who gives everything through love.

“All things made new through God’s redeeming Grace” – A celebration of All Saints’ Day

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Sunday after All Saints’ Day (Revelation 21:1-6)  11/04/2012

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I was glad to see the Halloween trick-or-treaters out this past Wednesday evening. The fun and innocence of young folks in costume is fun to watch and fun to share with others. Images of Halloween festivities remind us of a time when we shared in their innocence and lived in a time when the harsh realities of this world did not crowd our minds. The festivities of this Halloween were a happy change from last year’s terrible storm, but the disruptions of the recent storm felt here at St. John’s were a reminder that millions of people south of us were not as fortunate. The clashing images of happy young children in costume and the raw images of storm destruction were not lost on us, people who have lived through both experiences. But pictures of happy little trick-or-treaters take us back to a time, for some of us a distant time, but a time prior to having given way to the realization that the world is comprised of many complexities. As a young boy during the 1960s there were many worldly realities that I did not understand during that time. Among my first realizations of this turbulent period of American history was the return of my Uncle from a far away place called Vietnam. After his service as a US Marine he may have physically left the country of Vietnam, but the experience itself was not something that was easily left behind. His stories brought me to a growing awareness of this world and a new awareness of his journey through life, a journey that proved the difficulties of war cast a long shadow. And the images and experiences of this past hurricane have reminded us of the power of nature and have highlighted the truth that there are cosmic realities far greater than what we can control or even imagine. Life can point us in a direction that we had not anticipated; and on this holy day of All Saints we remember that in the midst of complexity and change we are anchored by those whom we love, and on this day we remember especially those whom we have loved and have gone to a place where we know not, a place we can only imagine. Continue reading →

“When is a patio not a patio?”

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A trick question? “When is a patio not a patio?” And, no, the answer has nothing to do with the fact that the “patio” is not a patio because it is a bunch of processed gravel…this is true, but I’m working on the gravel pit and by the end of the summer the patio will be there…I promise. So back to the question at hand…and the answer (as seen below) is that a patio is not a patio when it is a parking lot. That’s right, my home project of building a “patio” will serve as a parking lot for the near future, but that doesn’t deter me from knowing that I am building a patio (and in my plans, there is a wonderful fire pit and space for a table & chairs and some nice reclining chairs too). Why does any of this matter or have any bearing on one’s daily life?

Last Sunday’s Epistle reading was from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, with Paul encouraging the Christians in Corinth with the following: “As we work together with Christ, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, ‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’ See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry…” (2 Cor 6:1-3) Paul’s intent is a defense of his ministry and his theology of life in Christ, but he also exhorts the Corinthians that life in Christ is a life lived wide-open; a life that is full of love and possibilities…and, importantly, that life begins now! And so, back to the patio, that is a parking lot, that is a patio – do not wait for life to align exactly as you believe it must look before jumping off and getting involved in all that life has to offer. The sooner you jump and join the fun, the better off you will be…and the better off everyone else around you will be because you have joined the party. Paul lists all the hardships he and his friends have endured (2 Cor 6:4-13) but ends this section of his letter by telling the Corinthians that the hardships have not prevented his participation in the “here and now” of life and in the acceptance of the grace of God given to him: “We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return – I speak as to children – open wide your hearts also.” (2 Cor 6:11-13) So, open wide your hearts and be open to the possibilities of life – even if the patio looks like a parking lot…