First Sunday after the Epiphany - January 11

The Prayer for the Seven-fold Gifts of the Spirit

Today I’m going to focus on one prayer in our Book of Common Prayer, the prayer knows as the Prayer for the Seven-fold Gifts of the Spirit.

I mentioned it yesterday in my homily at Pat Braker’s funeral service. It is one of my favorite prayers in the Book of Common Prayer. In the current prayer book it is part of the baptism service and today our focus is on baptism so it seems appropriate. This first Sunday after the Epiphany the focus is always on Jesus’ baptism. Why Jesus was baptized is one of those pesky questions that Christians still debate. I’ve addressed it before. But not today.

Today I want you to appreciate the prayer for the seven-fold gifts of the Spirit. Specifically, it is the second half of the prayer that appears on the top of page 308.

Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works.

In his commentary on the 1928 prayer book, Massey Shepherd writes: “This is one of the oldest prayers in the Prayer Book. Essentially its present form [1928] goes back to the Gelasian Sacramentary, but the substance of it can be found in the rite described by St. Hippolytus of Rome in his Apostolic Tradition (early third century). It stems therefore from the time when Baptism and Confirmation were co-ordinate parts of one continuous rite of Christian initiation…”

The Gelasian Sacramentary is an 8th century manuscript of liturgical rites. The Apostolic Traditions are the oldest records we have of church rites. So basically, this prayer has been associated with Christian initiation for as long as we have records. This prayer is about beginning the Christian life.

Like much in our Prayer Book, it comes originally from Scripture, from Isaiah 11:2. This is the bit in Isaiah that starts out “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,” so it is part of the Messianic prophecy.

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 

Don’t get hung up trying to count seven in the prayer for the seven-fold gifts of the spirit. In Isaiah it sounds like six. Depending on how you count in our current prayer book you can get anywhere from four to eight. If you read Isaiah in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the OT known in Jesus’ day, I guess you get seven.

In the 1928 book, the prayer appeared in the Confirmation services and the version was (in my opinion) not nearly as good as the current one. “…daily increase in them thy manifold gifts of grace: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, the spirit of knowledge and true godliness; and fill them, O Lord, with the spirit of thy holy fear…” The current prayer book returns the prayer to the primary initiation rite, Baptism, and uses a new version of the prayer which is actually based upon fuller versions of the ancient prayer.

Massey Shepherd quotes The Rev. Dr. A. J Mason, who notes that these gifts are not ends in and of themselves. They are not themselves “moral virtues,” rather they are “gifts which set a man in a position to acquire moral virtues…”

There are two things in particular that I like about this prayer. First, is the reminder that all of these things are gifts. Gifts of the Holy Spirit for our Christian journey. It is one thing to observe the world. It is a gift of the Spirit to discern truth. Courage and perseverance in faith are gifts. It is one thing to see the world around us. It is the Spirits gifts to know joy and wonder. These are gifts. And second, as Dr. Mason says, they are gifts that equip for action. They are tools or skills that we need for the Christian life. They aren’t just gifts that we receive to our benefit and then are done with. They equip us for the Christian life.

As we renew our baptismal vows today, let us also renew our appreciation for the seven-fold gifts of the spirit, given at baptism.

The Second Sunday after Christmas - January 4

They Went Home
Matthew 2:1-12

I know you all are counting. Today is the 11th day of Christmas. We don’t always get two Sundays during Christmas season, but we do this year. The Gospel reading we heard today is Matthew’s version of the nativity story. We don’t hear it as often in church. Luke’s nativity story is appointed on Christmas Eve. You’ll notice there are no angles or shepherds in Matthew. (And no magi in Luke). No nativity in Mark or John. The general nativity story that is familiar to most of us is a conflation of Matthew and Luke.

There’s one line in today’s Gospel that I want to focus on. "They left for their country by another road." I think other translations say “They went home.” They went home by another road to avoid Herod. But they went home. They worshipped; they offered gifts. And then they went home.

Interestingly, Luke also tells us that the shepherds went home. “The shepherds returned [to their flocks], glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen…” They went home.

You would think that the shepherds and magi would have wanted to stay, to linger at the manger. But both Gospels are clear. The shepherds and the magi went home. They saw Jesus; they worshiped; they went home.

I can think of three reasons why they might have headed on home.

1. They had things to do. Kingdoms to run. Sheep to tend to. Obligations to fulfill. They returned to those tasks and obligations of their lives, but they returned to them transformed by what they had seen in the manger. 
2. They went home eager to share the story with others. Luke tells us that the shepherds returned glorifying God. 
3. They went home to work on their faith. To nurture the seed that had been planted in their souls in Bethlehem. 

We are like the shepherds and the magi. We come here. Every week or almost every week. We come here to meet Jesus. We meet Jesus at the manger, at his table. We meet Jesus in the faces and lives of one another and in the words of the Bible. We encounter Jesus here. And then we go home.

1. We go home to the tasks and obligations of our lives. But we go home to life those lives as Christians, formed by the one we encounter here. 
2. We go home to spread the Good News with other people we know who are “out there” in the world. 
3. And we go to work on our faith at home. 

You’ve undoubtedly heard about the first two of those before. We could all do better, but we do think about being Monday through Saturday Christians and about being evangelists.

But what about that third reason to leave here and go home? To go home to work on our faith…

I recently came across a blog post by Kyle Oliver, who’s on the staff at Virginia Seminary. It’s called “A Resolve [it’s that time of year!] to Practice Faith at Home.” He writes (You can read it HERE):

Studies have shown that the most significant factor among those that help faith “stick” in adolescents and persist into adulthood is what researchers call “family religiosity”: talking about faith, participating in household devotions, serving those in need as a family. In other words, faith is formed, or not, in the home—more so than in church, it turns out. And adults benefit from family religiosity too, both of their family of origin and their faith at home practice as adults—even single adults.

Faith that “sticks” is nurtured and grown AT HOME.

Talking about faith at home. Personal and family devotions. Doing ministry as a family. He asks these questions to help prod us towards resolutions that might help build and nurture a faith that sticks:

• What new or additional ritual might help faith stick a bit more for us? 
• What practice with friends and loved ones could regularly gather us around the light of Christ?
• What rite of passage or other life transition might provide an occasion to give thanks for God’s many blessings or even to share with God that we’re ready for better? 

Faith that sticks is formed at home.

So after our time together here with Jesus, go home. Go home to build and nurture your faith.

Christmas Day

The Historic Succession of Messengers
Isaiah 52:7-10
John 1:1-14

How did you find your way to this place this morning? How did you know how to get here? How did you know the way to the manger?

The magi had the star to lead them. It stopped right over the manger. The angels joyfully told the shepherds where to go to find the manger where their savior was born. How did you find your way to the manger?

Somebody told you. Somebody told you the Christmas story. Somebody told you the Christmas story in a way that you just couldn’t resist wanting to see it and be a part of it yourself.

As you may know Episcopalians cherish the apostolic succession by which we really mean the historic episcopate. It’s the theory that there is a direct ordination succession going back to Peter. Bishops have laid on hands on bishops at their ordination in an unbroken line that goes back from the present day all the way to Peter. And we perceive some sort of power or meaning in that connection.

But today it seems much more important to me to think about what we might call the historic succession of messengers. The reading from Isaiah has that wonderful description of the messenger who brings glad tidings. How beautiful are the feet of those who share the story. I like to think of the historic succession of messengers who have shared the story. Stretching from today all the way back to the manger.

So all of this now comes entirely out of my imagination. Who might some of those first messengers have been? I imagine that some of those shepherds who were there went back home and with wonder and awe told their wives what they had experienced. And the wives shared the story when they came together to draw water or for other community events. And the wonder spread from messenger to messenger.

Or maybe there was a stable boy there. He would have only been a few years older than Jesus. And he couldn’t forget something of what he had seen in that baby in the manger. So he kept track of Jesus as Jesus grew older. And he told his best friend.

Or the magi, who went home by another road so they would not have to tell the story to Herod. Maybe one of the magi was telling of the holy king he had seen and his gardener overheard him. And the gardener’s lord told the story with such simple but powerful conviction that the gardener sold what little he had and traveled to Judea and became a disciple…

Or maybe there was a neighboring magus who had been invited on the original journey but hadn’t gone… he just had too much on his plate at the time. But when he heard about what they had found he regretted missing out and he traveled to Bethlehem to see for himself and then brought the story back to his own people and his own land.

Somebody who was there told the story that found its way to you. The story of the manger. In your imagination, who was the first messenger who started the historic succession of story telling that ended up with you?

And then someone told the story to you. Maybe your mother told you, or someone else in your family. Or a friend. About Jesus born in a manger in Bethlehem and about how this Jesus brings God to life in our lives. About how this baby is the Light of the world. A light that no darkness can overcome.

Today is a day to give thanks for all of those messengers over the centuries who shared the story so that we could find our way to the manger.

And, of course, we are part of that line of messengers. To whom will you or have you told the story of the manger?

Christmas Eve

The True Spirit of Christmas

In addition to the bombardment of advertising that comes at us this time of year, different media outlets also present stories that might all be grouped under the headline “The True Spirit of Christmas.” Pretty much anything that contrasts with the commercialism of Christmas seems to come under this heading.

I welcome these stories. They are filled with hope and often illustrate the best of human nature. It is good at Christmas time to be reminded of the goodness of people.

But it’s also good, especially for those of us who gather for worship on Christmas, to be reminded that Christmas isn’t about us, even at our very best. If we define the “True Meaning or Spirit of Christmas” as anything and everything that’s just slightly better than commercialism, we’re still missing out on the deep wonder and true miracle of Christmas. The true meaning of Christmas is all about God. God who came among us.

I think God is in these human stories that we tell to illustrate the “true spirit of Christmas.” And yet, even those of us who are Christians often forget to name him.

As examples of the true spirit of Christmas we often hear stories of heroic generosity. The parent who goes hungry to buy a child a simple gift. Individuals and families who give and give and give so that other families with limited resources can have a Christmas feast or so that military personnel can experience some piece of home at Christmas time. Stories of human generosity.

But the story to tell tonight is of God’s generous giving of himself to us without reservation. And of the literally limitless abundance of God’s blessings for us. God’s generosity is the source of ours. God’s generosity is the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas time also generates stories of reconciliation. Stories about family members long estranged who humble themselves to come together at Christmas time. To forgive one another and renew relationships. Dicken’s A Christmas Carol is one of these stories. Scrooge, who finally puts aside all of his attitude, and humbly reconciles with Fred, the son of his beloved sister.

The true story of Christmas, though, is that God humbled himself to be born in human likeness so that we might be reconciled with him. Divine love is born in the world tonight. A love that is more powerful than any human division.

To illustrate the meaning of Christmas we often tell stories of individuals who shine forth with hope and wonder in the midst of darkness. It seems there are many dark places in the world today. We cherish stories about individuals or communities who nonetheless, persevere in hope.

Hope itself was born in a poor manger. Beauty beyond human description came into being in the dinginess of a barn. Holiness took on human being. That incredible hope is God’s Christmas gift.

Peace. Peace is also celebrated as a manifestation of the real meaning of Christmas. Many of you will have seen renewed interest this year in the Christmas truce of 1914. It has been 100 years. It really happened in the early days of WW 1, that informal truces arose across the trenches of France. Armies paused in their killing of each other to exchange gifts and greetings.

I read a commentary on the truce which included this observation: “Crucially, there was no truce in 1915…. The most important legacy of the Christmas Truce, which has been memorialized in movies and remembered as evidence of mutual respect and humanity amidst the horrors of war, is that there was only one of them” (Read the piece here... not that I necessarily support or can really evaluate the overall thesis). The most important legacy of the Christmas Truce of 1914 is that there was only one of them.

When the “Spirit of Christmas” is only about human nature, even human nature at its most noble, its most generous, its most hopeful… when the “Spirit of Christmas” is only about human nature, it is fleeting. Only God offers the peace which passes human understanding. To know the little baby born this night is to know that peace.

When we hang onto the gifts that God gives this night, then the Christmas spirit becomes more than fleeting acts of holiday goodwill. The true spirit of Christmas becomes a way of life. The true spirit of Christmas is the Christian life. Year round. Life shared with God. Christmas spirit is the Christian life.

It is a life full of abundance generously shared, and full of wonder. A life filled with the reconciling power of God’s own love, with unquenchable hope and the peace which surpasses human understanding.

May you know that life throughout the year.

The Fourth Sunday of Advent - December 21

Santa Claus Blessings and Gabriel Blessings
Magnificat (Canticle 15)
Luke 1:26-38

Today, of course, is the Fourth Sunday, the last Sunday of the Advent season… this time of preparation and anticipation for the celebration of our Lord’s birth. The two primary figures of Advent are John the Baptist and Mary. Both, obviously, play roles in preparing for Jesus’ birth. For the last two Sundays, the focus of our readings has been on John. Today is Mary’s day.

The Gospel story we hear today is usually called the Annunciation. Gabriel’s announcement to Mary of her special calling and Mary’s acceptance of that vocation.

Considering this story of Gabriel coming to the young woman Mary led me to think about what I’ll call two different paths to blessing. Two different roads that lead to blessing.

As a sort of shorthand, I’ll call them the Santa Claus path to blessing and the Gabriel path.

Why do we call Mary blessed? Mary, in particular? Why is she always referred to as the Blessed Virgin Mary? I think most of us would respond that it’s because of her special role… because she bore Jesus. That’s why she is blessed… because of what she did.

This perspective is the Santa Claus path to blessing. She wasn’t naughty; she was nice. She earned blessing. I may be calling this the Santa Claus path to receiving blessing, but this perspective is in Scripture, too. We didn’t hear it this morning, but a little later in Luke’s Gospel when the pregnant Mary visits her relative Elizabeth, Elizabeth says: “Blessed art thou among women.” You are special, set apart, particularly blessed because: “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb.” And even Mary herself in her great hymn of praise says: From this time forth all generations will call me blessed… From this time. Now that I have taken on this special calling, I will be called blessed.

The Santa Claus path to blessing. Blessing comes as a result of particular faithful or righteous acts.

And it works, sort of, especially if you want to make sure your cousin or history call you blessed.

And in the midst of my sounding critical of this approach, it’s hard to argue with anything that might motivate us to do things that are pleasing to God. So if seeking blessing motivates you to faithfulness, go for it.

But, especially in this Advent season, I want to highlight the Gabriel path to blessing.

Gabriel comes to Mary, as far as we know, totally unexpected and says to her: Greetings, Favored one. The Lord is with you. The Lord is with you. You are blessed. That’s what blessing is. To be blessed is to be touched by God. The Lord is with you, Gabriel says. You are favored and noticed by God. You are blessed.

This is before Gabriel says anything else about her special calling and certainly before she accepts the Lord’s will for her. Greetings. The Lord is with you.

Her story really takes off when she comes to see that she is blessed, when the door of awareness opens for her that the Lord is already with her. The Gabriel path to blessing isn’t really a path so much as a coming to awareness, a recognition that God’s blessing has already been given.

David Lose, whom I often quote says: “And this, I think, leads us to a central dynamic not only in the Gospel but also the Christian life itself: the first, and in some ways the most important, thing we are called to believe is that God similarly notices, favors, and blesses us. And once we believe that, we can do incredible things.” The first, and most important, thing we are called to believe is that God notices, favors and blesses us… just as he did Mary.

The first thing Gabriel announces to Mary is that she is blessed. Period. Before she says "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Before she does anything that might suggest she earned her blessed status by her actions.

The Gabriel path to blessing: Believing that God notices, favors, blesses us. Period.

Lose continues: “We live in a world that seems geared toward rewards and punishments. Whether at work or school or even home, we have been conditioned to expect people to give us only what we deserve. But blessing operates on a different logic. Blessing is never deserved, but always a gift….unmerited and undeserved regard and favor.”

So the work of Advent is not to add one more task, to work at somehow earning God’s blessing. The word of advent is to work at believing that we are already blessed. Noticed. Favored by God. To hear Gabriel say to each of us: The Lord is with you.

Listen for Gabriel. In the midst of whatever is overwhelming you, whatever is going on. Find a place, a space, to listen for Gabriel. Announcing blessing. Greetings. The Lord is with you. Period. You are blessed. Can you hear Gabriel speaking to you? The Lord is with you.

The Third Sunday of Advent - December 14

Come; And I Will Go
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
John 1:6-8, 19-28

This year we began the Advent season, as we always do, with the iconic hymn of Advent: O Come, O Come, Immanuel. You probably heard reference to it today, too, in the organ prelude. It expresses the essence of Advent. Come.

Come. The Advent season is about anticipating the coming of Jesus. Immanuel. Which in Hebrew means literally:  God with us. Come.  Come, God, be with us. Enter our hearts, our homes.

Come. To us. Come. Be with us.

But I want to add another refrain to Advent this year.

At the same time we say and sing: Come, God with us, let us pray: Go. Go there, Jesus. Go. Go be with him, or her, or them. You are needed there, Jesus. Go. Be God with them.

Where would you send Jesus to be born this year?

There seems to be so much trouble in the world, it’s easy to sigh in exasperation and say… He’s needed everywhere! And, of course, Jesus is needed everywhere. But the task I’ve set myself this Advent, and encourage you to pursue is to be specific. Go, Jesus. To him who needs you, whom I name by name. Go to her, my neighbor three houses down. Go to that street corner I know (I can give you the GPS coordinates) where poverty fuels violence. Go to that community which struggles to establish justice. Go. To them.

The passage we heard this morning from Isaiah tells us what Jesus brings when he comes. And remember, this is the passage that Jesus himself quotes later in his ministry.

He comes to “bring good news to the oppressed.” Jesus comes to “bind up the brokenhearted” and to “proclaim liberty to the captives.” He will “comfort all who mourn” and “repair the ruined cities.” The Lord loves justice and righteousness and will cause what is sown in the garden to spring up.

To bind up the broken hearted, to provide for those who mourn. Later in this service we will pray for four, known to this parish, among the faithful departed. Go, Jesus, to those who mourn. Or think of others known to you who are brokenhearted. Go, Jesus, be with them.

Go, Jesus, proclaim liberty to the captives; and release to the prisoners of our world. Poverty imprisons many around us. Other things enslave. Who do you know who is enslaved? What face do you picture? Wealth, ambition, anxiety can be captivity, too. And there are places in our world where human beings are still, literally, enslaved. Who do you care about who is enslaved? Go, Jesus, Go to them. Be born there.

Where do you see injustice? We are all challenged now to face the deep ongoing reality of racial division and injustice in our society. Where does that intersect your life? Go, Jesus. Go, God be with them who work for justice.

Isaiah also talks about restoration and growth. Restoration, rebuilding of whatever is broken or destroyed. Who do you know who is broken? What in your world is destroyed? Go. Jesus. There. Restore and rebuild. And for that which is young or dormant, give life, Jesus. Bring life there.

Go. Jesus. Go there. What is the point of this prayer? God doesn’t need our directions, of course, to find the people and the places that are in need of him.. But it is a prayer worth praying. Go. Jesus. Go; be born there.

I’m reminded of words about prayer attributed to Mother Theresa: I used to think the purpose of prayer was to change God; now I know it is to change me.

So as we pray this Advent for Jesus to GO THERE, it is not mostly about telling God something God already knows, it is about transforming our hearts and wills. It is about changing us from people who pray that God will “Go there,” to people who say, “I will go there.” I will go.

In the Gospel reading for today, John calls Jesus the light.

Whenever a Christian is baptized these words are either said or implied, as the baptismal candle is given to the newly baptized: “Receive the light of Christ as a sign that you have passed from darkness into light. Shine as his light in the world to the glory of God the Father.”

For all of us who are baptized, we bear the light of Christ. It is our call to shine as that light in the world.

So, for all of those faces... all of those individuals whom you have named in need of Christ. All of those street corners or communities where you seek for Jesus to be born... you are the bearer of the light of Christ.

So this Advent, as I pray for Jesus to come, I also say… I will go. Come, Immanuel, to me, and I will go to others.

To those who grieve and are brokenhearted, I will offer the oil of gladness.

To those who are broken and destroyed, I will go and help rebuild and restore.

And where there is injustice, I will go and work for justice and righteousness.

O come, O come, Immanuel, and I will go.

The Second Sunday of Advent - December 7

He Is Coming
Isaiah 40:1-11
Mark 1:1-8

‘Tis the season for Handel’s Messiah—both in the concert hall and in the Sunday Scripture Readings. For those of us who know Messiah, this morning’s reading from Isaiah is very familiar. “Comfort ye. Comfort ye, my people” are the opening words of Messiah. Make straight in the dessert a highway. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill laid low. And this passage from Isaiah also serves as the template for the Gospel reading from Mark.

I know both of these passages well, but as I reflected on them and read about them this week I was given a new perspective.

This is the Second Sunday of Advent. And Advent is a season of preparation. I’ve always seen preparation as the task required of us during Advent. “Let every heart prepare him room” is Advent’s command. Preparation for Christmas is necessary. And Advent is when we do it.

But there are two interesting things that emerge in these readings. (1) It’s not the people to whom God is coming who have the responsibility of preparation. It’s not real clear in Isaiah who does, but it’s not God’s people. The heavenly voice is speaking to someone other than God’s people when it says: “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem… and prepare the way of the Lord.” Others (an angelic host?) are being commissioned to speak to God’s people and to prepare in the desert a highway for God. And in Mark it’s John the Baptist’s job to prepare the way. Our collect, too, identifies the prophets as the ones who have the responsibility to prepare the way for our salvation. It’s not the people to whom God is coming who have the responsibility of preparation.

And (2) He’s coming. Regardless. He’s coming. In neither Isaiah nor Mark does God say, “If you’re ready, I’ll come.” Or when you’re prepared, I’ll come. He’s coming. As one commentator put it, it’s as though God says, “Ready or not, here I come” (Mark Allan Powell). 

But we are given this time. This time in Advent. Time for preparation. But it’s a gift, not an obligation. This time to prepare is a gift, not a requirement.

Think about a child coming home for the holiday after being away at school. He is coming home, for sure. You’re very excited that he’s coming. But isn’t it nice to have a little bit of time to clear out all the stuff you’ve stored in his room since he went away? So he will feel welcome when he arrives.

Or a child or spouse returning from a military deployment. She’s coming. Thank God, she’s coming. But isn’t it a gift to have a little time to do the shopping and prepare her favorite meal for the day she returns?

John the Baptist reminds us that repentance is one way to prepare for Jesus’ coming. A way to clear out the stuff that has accumulated in our hearts and souls. To make Jesus welcome. It’s a gift. Advent time to prepare.

But he’s coming. The Lord is coming to God’s people.

He is coming to the frenzied whose lives are filled to the bursting point, and he’s coming to the lonely, whose lives are empty of relationships and activities. He’s coming to the angry and to the arrogant. He is coming to the oppressed and the oppressors. He is coming to people who are struggling, poor in stuff, and to those rich in stuff who are often poor in spirit. He is coming to the forgotten and the famous. He is coming to the faithful and the negligent. He is coming to individuals, families and societies who bask in peace and to individuals, families and societies who have only known conflict. He is coming to people who are prepared and to people who are not.

He is coming.