Rooted in Faith
October 6, 2013
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Proper 22 – Year C RCL
Lamentations 1:1-6, 2 Timothy 1:1-14, Luke 17:5-10
When I began thinking about how to make today’s gospel lesson come to life in a tangible way, I thought I might have each person take a mustard seed as they entered the sanctuary this morning. Perhaps I’d put a bowl full of mustard seeds in the narthex so that each person could pick one up on the way in… or maybe the ushers would hand one little bitty mustard seed to each person, along with the service leaflet. Each little mustard seed taken would represent our Faith.
But the more I thought about it, the more I could hear the voices and thoughts of each of you as we reached this moment in the service. When I asked you to pull out your mustard seed and hold it in your hand… to show me your Faith… I kept hearing:
- “I think it’s at the bottom of my purse… oh, there’s no way I can find it under all this”… or,
- “I didn’t realize that was something we needed to hold on to”…
- A few of you may have it neatly wrapped up in a handkerchief… and would prefer just to keep it tucked away for safe keeping…
- While others would be turning to the person next to you, asking, “Have you seen mine? I could swear it was here a minute ago.”
Tricky thing that little mustard seed… and even more tricky, that thing we call Faith.
Find A Way
September 8, 2013
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Proper 18 – Year C RCL
Jeremiah 18:1-11, Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17, Luke 14:25-33
Last Monday afternoon, at 1:53 Eastern Time, something amazing happened. No, it wasn’t that your teenager finally woke up, after sleeping-away most of the Labor Day holiday… it was even more amazing than that… after swimming 52 Hours 54 Minutes 18.6 Seconds, Diana Nyad made history as the first person to swim the 110-mile Florida Strait… and she did it without a shark cage.
Diana Nyad, Photograph by J. Pat Carter, AP
It was her 5th attempt. Her first attempt came when she was in her twenties. Her goal was accomplished at the age of 64. That’s what I call commitment!
In an interview on Good Morning America the next morning, she struggled to speak because of the cuts inside her mouth. They were caused by a mask she wore while swimming at night, to protect her from poisonous jelly-fish. In spite of this discomfort, in the interview, she was radiant! She beamed as she talked about the accomplishment and the many people that helped her through.
She also admitted that this wasn’t easy – and she knew it wouldn’t be. After four previous attempts, she didn’t kid herself into thinking any of it was going to be fun. It was going to be a struggle. But this time, she came up with a mantra that she used in those moments when the struggle was overwhelming… she said “Find a way.”
Come as you are… You are Enough!
July 7, 2013
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Proper 9 – Year C RCL
2 Kings 5:1-14, Galatians 6:1-16 & Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
When I was young, one of my family’s favorite summer-trips involved the seven of us piling into our wood-paneled station wagon for a two-day drive from Houston to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. A few days before the trip, Mom would pull out the vacation trunk and begin layering in a week’s worth of clothes for five kids and two adults – warmer clothes for the cool Colorado evenings, hiking boots, and various other vacation necessities. She was a master-packer, but even so, when it came time to close the trunk, one or more of us kids would usually need to climb on top to get the lid latched.
I couldn’t help but think of this summer packing ritual, as a stark contrast to the travel mentioned in today’s gospel lesson.
We are told that Jesus appointed 70 to go out to other towns in the region – they are headed out on a journey, but this is no vacation. Instead, Jesus tells them plainly, “I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.” And if that isn’t daunting enough, they are then told to take nothing with them – no purse, no bag, and no sandals.
The Ordination of Priests
June 22, 2013
Bishop Rob Wright’s sermon during The Ordination of Priests at the Cathedral of St. Philip.
The Feast of St. Alban the Martyr
Matthew 10: 32-42
Good afternoon!
From the gospel lesson Jesus says, “Those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” The great preacher and teacher of preachers Fred Craddock said a sermon must be “clear, compelling and urgent.” Jesus hits all three of those marks today: “I bring a sword not peace. I must be to you more than family. Take up the cross and follow me.”
Jesus said these words to his disciples in the first days of the church. Call it the ordination sermon of the twelve. He said these things, I think, because He wanted to be clear: When you boil down church, boil down discipleship, boil down even faith to their bare essentials, church, discipleship and faith are about one thing: the worthiness of God! Without God being worth it all, without Jesus showing us He is more than death, without the Spirit ever with us, neither baptism nor ordination nor any of the suffering that comes with them makes any sense!
jodygreenwood 