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A Sermon for 2 Easter

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  On Easter Sunday,  our gospel  lesson featured Mary Magdalene’s experience at the empty tomb.   Mary realized the person she had mistaken to be the gardener, was actually her beloved teacher and the risen Christ.  The resurrected Christ offered her one final lesson:  “Do not hold on to me…”  “Do not hold on to me…” Rather, she was to inform the disciples that the resurrected Christ would soon be ascending to God.   In her  sermon last week , Molly reminded us of Bishop Fisher’s words at our most recent diocesan convention.  He reflected:  “...[Mary] just wanted the old body back, and the gardener turned out to be the Risen Jesus.  She embraces him but the Risen Jesus tells her he needs to keep on moving. But tell the disciples he is Risen. And she becomes the apostle to the apostles… We, too, want the old body back.  2019. Or 1955. But, the old body is gone and Resurrection to something unknown and a little scary is here. And Mary Magdalene goes with this new reality and gives a mess
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Teaching Sermon: Holy Week & Easter

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  Today’s teaching sermon will focus on the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter.  In Daily Prayer for All Seasons  the authors write:  “The rites of Holy Week are at the very heart of the Christian year, indeed of our Christian faith. And for many of us they are, year after year, the most meaningful and life-changing services of the church.” While this is an information heavy sermon, I hope it will enhance your experience of journeying through Holy Week. Palm Sunday   3 / 4 The earliest recorded observance of Palm Sunday comes from the writing of a 4th century female pilgrim named Egeria  (Ege·​ria) .  She describes how Christians gathered near the Mount of Olives and would read the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.   The pilgrims would then form a procession and make their way across the hillside into Jerusalem, all while waving palm or olive branches.  They sang psalms, and shouted,  ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’   This practice spread, and by the ear
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What does reconciliation look like?

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  In last week’s  gospel lesson , we heard an exchange between Nicodemus and Jesus.  In her  sermon , Molly reminded us that as a Pharisee, Nicodemus would have been an important person, part of the educated and elite within Jewish society.  She also reminded us that the Pharisees understood interpretation of scripture as an ongoing process of revelation, which is likely why Nicodemus would have sought Jesus out.  He was curious about Jesus’ understanding of scripture. Given the tensions that existed between Jesus and some of the Pharisees regarding how the law should be applied, Nicodemus chose to approach him under the cover of night. In their conversation, Jesus made a profound claim about the meaning of his life and ministry in scripture’s most well known verse -  John 3:16:  “‘For God so loved the  world  that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.’” In her sermon, Molly reflected,  “This verse…has sometimes been interp
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How will we recommit to our faith this Lent?

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  This past Ash Wednesday we began the season of Lent.  Here at James and Andrew, that meant Molly and I bundled up in our winter gear and headed outside to greet folks who walked by our church between 11 - 1.  Copyright Greenfield Recorder 2023 We made eye contact with those who walked by, offering a warm smile and friendly greeting. For those who slowed or paused, for even a brief moment, we would offer ashes and a blessing. We interacted with a wide variety of parishioners, neighbors, and spiritually curious folks who recognized something sacred in the ritual. For many who come to receive ashes, there is a desire to reground themselves.  Our day to day lives are already full of stress; and our society pressures us to live life at an increasingly impossible pace.  All the while our world can feel like it is falling apart.  More climate disasters; more racism; more gun violence; more of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.  More illness; more caregiving; more strained
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How do we think about God's law?

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Today’s readings invite us to reflect on how we think about God’s law.  Laws can set us on a path of binary thinking:  Do this, not that.  Follow this list of rules.  Do not cross that line in the sand.  Obey the law, and be rewarded.  Disregard the law, and be punished.   Laws are routinely misused by those in power to suppress, exclude, and burden.  Yet at their core, God’s laws are neither good nor bad.  They are a set of guidelines; community norms; policies and procedures; boundaries that exist to help us maintain healthy relationships with God and one another.  They are the essential framework guiding every aspect of our common life.   Like the rules parents give their children, they are meant to help us thrive. They are meant to guide us towards a life of abundance and joy, while cautioning us against choices that can lead to scarcity and loneliness.  Our first reading is from Sirach ,  a book within the Apocrypha that is sometimes known as Ecclesiasticus.  (1)   The author is t
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