October 24, 2004 - 21st Sunday After Pentecost

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October 24, 2004 - 21st Sunday After Pentecost - Father Fred Myers

FIRST READING: Joel 2: 23-32

PSALM: Psalm 65: 1-10

SECOND READING: 2 Timothy 4: 6-8; 16-18

GOSPEL: Luke 18: 9-14

Wow! What a time to hear these words from Jesus. I have just finished reading the Windsor Report. In case you are not aware of what the Windsor Report is, this was a report that was produced by a commission out of Lambeth in an attempt to find a common ground on which all churches and provinces in the Anglican Communion can come together and maintain the unity of the Anglican Communion. Now, there are some of those in the Anglican Communion who say, "O.K. Episcopal Church of the United States and the Church in the Diocese of New Westminster, you have violated everything that the Anglican Communion stands for, and so, therefore, we cannot be in communion with you anymore, and you cannot be in communion with us". And, on the other hand, the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Westminster is saying, "We are autonomous; we can do what we want to in our particular provinces, and we will do it" (that's pretty broad; that is not exactly what was being said; but it sounds that way). When you read the Windsor Report, there is an attempt to figure out a way that separation doesn't happen.

It is interesting, because from the Gospel this morning, from this parable that Jesus tells us, it sounds like we have Pharisees all over the place. The Pharisee in the story today - how proud he is. After all, he was a religious leader. He was doing all the right things. He was not like all those sinners out there. He did tithe 10%, and even more, and he fasted even more than he was required to do; so he was good and righteous, righteous meaning in a right relationship with God. That was his understanding of what it meant to be in a right relationship with God. When we look at what is happening at those parties who are involved in the Windsor Report, they are saying the same thing, "We are righteous because we are doing exactly what the Bible tells us to do". However, we have different interpretations of what we are to do, and that causes some controversy between churches and people and so on. Very Pharisaical - we are abiding by the Law, and the Law is what is making us righteous, and, therefore, I can claim to be righteous. Isn't that nice - to be able to claim to be righteous? - in our own thoughts and in our own mind. I am righteous because I do the right things; I say the right things; I go to Church every Sunday; I go to Bible study; I am always good to my parents; I am . . . . So I am righteous. And Jesus says, "Wait a minute. What about this fellow over here, the tax collector?" You know, the tax collector was not a very well-liked person. The tax collector collected taxes for Rome, and, in the meantime, when he collected taxes for Rome, he also extorted some of the funds for himself. That is the way he made his living. And so, the Jews weren't very happy about tax collectors at all, so he was on the bottom of the list of people you wanted to associate with. He was a tax collector, and he was a sinner of the worst kind; and he comes before God and says, "Lord Jesus, forgive me, for I am a sinner." And, in my mind, I think Jesus is saying that, when we recognize who we are in relation to God, then we are in a right relationship with God. We are all sinners. We have all come short of the Glory of God. We have done that over and over again - well, I can only speak for myself, I can't speak for you - but I know that I am a sinner, and I keep doing that over and over, in spite of myself. I am like Paul - those things I want to do, I don't do; and those things I don't do, I want to do - that sort of thing. And this is what Jesus is trying to tell us - that in our relationship with God, we can't do it ourselves. We can't make that relationship happen, and that relationship is not based on what we think or what we do. The relationship is based on the Grace of God - the Grace of God. God's Grace is so great. We hear the words from time to time, God so loved the world - that is everyone in the world, the whole world - God so loved the world that he gave His only Son to the end that all that believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Our relationship is not based on what we do. Our relationship is not based on what we say or what we think. Our relationship with God is based on God's love for us. This is the Good News. The Good News is that we are sinners in the sight of God. We are sinners. We come short of the Glory of God. We don't always do those things that we want to do, and the Good News is that God loves us anyway. God loves us anyway. Jesus died that our sins might be erased, and that was God's Grace to us.

So, when we get into these controversies in the Church, might we not stop to think about, "Well, am I being Pharisaic about this? Am I saying that I am right because I do the things that I think are right? - and I can prove it with the Bible". Or am I being stubborn about the whole thing? Or am I a sinner, too? Am I in the need of Grace? I need to find a common ground on which we all can meet and love God and worship God. Is this not where we are? We are all sinners. We all fall short of the Glory of God, but God is merciful. God's Grace is upon each and every one of us.

You know, we might even remember this in our relationships with one another. When we claim our own right-ness, our own righteousness, we are putting ourselves in the place of God. We are saying that we know what is right, what it is to be right, and, by golly, I am going to stand on that! I am going to stay there, and I am going to be right, whether you believe it or not! And the other person says the same thing - well, I am right, and I am standing on what is right! --- instead of admitting to one another, "I may be wrong about some things; I may be in error; I may be a sinner". The Grace of God is what puts us in a right relationship with God - not what we do, not what we say, not what we think - but the Grace of God, the Love of God for each and every one of us.

Can we look at one another and see in each other the love of God working and say to one another, "You are a child of God; you are graced just as I am"?

AMEN
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November 28, 2004 - First Sunday in Advent

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November 28, 2004 - First Sunday in Advent - Father Fred Myers

FIRST READING: Isaiah 2: 1-5

PSALM: 122

SECOND READING: 13: 11-14

GOSPEL: 24: 36-44

Many years ago - and it must have been during the Vietnam War, because I am not old enough to remember the Second World War - anyway, years ago, I read an editorial that was in the local newspaper, and the title of it was, "Are we prepared for peace?" Are we prepared for peace? And the editor went on to say, "Do you realize what would have to change in our world if we suddenly came upon a day when there was peace throughout the whole world - the peace and justice and mercy of God throughout the whole world?" Our whole industry would have to change. Our think-tanks would have to change. There would be many, many, many people who would be involved in this change, the change for peace. We are not prepared for a world of peace. We are just not there. Oh, we can prepare ourselves for disasters. We know how to do that. We know how to prepare ourselves for earthquakes. We make sure that we have plenty of food and water, and we find a place to hide. We know how to prepare ourselves for other kinds of disasters and so on. We know how to do that. We have a vision of what is going to happen, and then we make provision for that happening, should it every occur. But, do we have a vision of peace? Do we have a vision in our minds of what it would be like for peace to reign throughout the world?

Isaiah did. Isaiah said there would be no more wars. Weapons of wars would be turned into plowshares. There would be nothing that would even indicate that we wanted to be at war with one another. He had a vision.

Paul, in his letters to the Romans, had a vision. He anticipated that the coming of the Lord was going to be immediate, and so he admonished his people to act in that way and to have that vision before them. What would happen if, suddenly, justice and peace reigned throughout the world? - the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ - the Kingdom of God suddenly breaking into our history, and there would be no more war. There would be no more quarreling. There would be no more competitiveness. There just wouldn't be any more. We would be loving one another, caring for one another, thinking about one another. Do we have that vision? Do we still have that vision today?

Jesus, in His talk this morning, said, "When the end-time comes, be prepared". Now, you can take that as meaning that it is going to be a frightening time - some will go and some will be left - or it can be a glorious time, depending on how you look at and depending on what your vision is.

We need to have a vision - a vision of what life can really be like - and, if we carry that vision with us constantly, it will be like lighting one candle in the dark. We will be able to see, and, in order to be able to see, you have to have light. Today, we light the first candle of the wreath of Advent in preparation for the peace and justice of God in the world. Now, it seems like a big thing to do. It seems like a task that maybe we can't quite get a hold of, but it doesn't have to be. It can begin with just me, and it can begin with just you - creating and participating in God's Kingdom of peace and justice. Peace and justice and mercy - this is what we are all about as Christians. We just light but one little candle and not curse the darkness. The darkness is around us all the time, but, by lighting one little candle, we bring light into the world, just as Jesus is the Light of God.

How do I begin that? How do I do that? I do it in my most intimate relationships. I do it in the relationships I have with those with whom I come in contact with. I do it by allowing others to know that they are children of God, and by looking into each and every person's eyes and saying, "Yes, there is a child of God; that is not an enemy, that is a child of God".

I square-dance over at the Cathedral City Senior Center, and there is a sign in there that says, "There are no such things as strangers; there are only friends we haven't met yet". And I love that sign. I think that is great. There are no strangers; there are only friends we haven't met yet. And that is one thing that we can do; we can welcome people into our lives, saying, "Yes, you are a child of God; you can be a friend".

So, in this Advent season - this new season of the Church year - as we light one candle, let us be the candles in our own particular cultures and in our own particular families and in our own particular friendship circles. We can be a candle. We can be that light that brings the love of God into the world.

Are we prepared? Are we prepared for peace and justice and mercy? We can be.

AMEN
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