January 29, 2020

Feast of the Presentation

The Feast of the Presentation is the day we celebrate Joseph and Mary making the ritual presentation of their firstborn son in the Temple. This goes back to the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord” (Ex. 13, Luke 2:23). We also see it in the story of Hannah presenting her son Samuel to the Lord (1 Sam. 1:19 – 2:11). This feast takes place 40 days after Christmas, falling on February 2, and this year that happens to be Sunday.

Because the Feast of the Presentation is a fixed day, it is not transferred to the closest Sunday; which means that we rarely get to celebrate this day as a congregation. And, to be honest, this is the first time I recall celebrating this Feast (on a Sunday or any other day), so I had some learning to do as well.

This 40-day period from Christmas to February 2 is also known as Christmastide, the formal length of the Christmas season (and might explain why some people have yet to take down their creche sets). But it can also be confusing, since we are also in the Season after Epiphany (another period of Ordinary Time). However, this 40-day celebration is reminiscent of other 40-day events in the Church year – such as the 40 days of Lent and the 40 days from Easter to the Ascension.

February 2 is also known as Candlemas. You may have begun to notice earlier sunrises and later sunsets. February 2 is the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, so light is becoming more noticeable. Because of this, it was the time when new candles were traditionally blessed. It was a day to bring new light into the home as a symbolic way of driving out the darkness.

This idea of new light is also scriptural. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5) is a major basis of Jesus being the light of the world. Add to that the Song of Simeon (or Nunc dimittis) from Luke 2:29-32 where Simeon proclaims of Jesus, “A Light to enlighten the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.”

I'm now wondering what it would be like to celebrate Christmas during the whole 40 days. What would it look like if we intentionally made time to celebrate and commemorate St. Stephen, St. John, the Holy Innocents, the Holy Name, Epiphany, the Baptism of Our Lord, the Holy Family, the Confession of Peter, the Conversion of Paul, and, finally, the Presentation/Candlemas? How would it look if we continued the celebration and kept our Christmas decorations up for the whole 40-day season? It might give the neighbors something to talk about; or it might give you something to talk about with your neighbors.

But whether or not you celebrate all 40 days of Christmastide, we will be celebrating Candlemas at the 10:15 service this Sunday. Candles on all altars and walls will be lighted and new candles will be blessed and lighted in a liturgical first for me. So come and help us proclaim Jesus as the light that enlightens the nations and as the light that darkness cannot overcome.

Merry Christmas,

January 22, 2020

Come and See

For those of you who worshiped with us this past Sunday, or for those of you who watched the service online, you will recall that “Come and See” was the connecting theme throughout the sermon.

When we have a chance to talk to people about our faith, it can be a complicated process. So we invite them to come and see how we pray. Come and see how we reach out to the wider community. Come and see how we feed the hungry. Come and see how we offer a quiet, safe place to be with God.

The gospel from John had Jesus answering a question about where he was staying with, “Come and see.” I suggested that Jesus was inviting the new disciples to come and see good news given to the poor. Come and see the oppressed go free. Come and see captives released. Come and see the powerful brought down and the lowly raised up.

I also suggested that Jesus invited them to come and see him staying with the poor. Come and see him staying with the captives. Come and see him staying with the hungry. Come and see him living in the kingdom of God in the here and now.

This past Monday was the day this nation honors Martin Luther King, Jr. He lived in a time of great turmoil and divides in our country, much like today. I don't know which time was worse, as both times have/had racial hatreds overtly acted on, synagogues burned and Jews attacked, and it seems we are being told that the answer to all of this fear and violence is more fear and violence.

And yet, Martin Luther King, Jr. stepped into those times and said we shall overcome through peaceful actions. He dreamed of times when racial divides were ended and, like Paul before him, proclaimed a vision of equality among God's children. He invited the nation to come and see what we could be like living in unity rather than divided.

Not so long ago we renewed our baptismal vows, promising to work for the kingdom of God in a broken and hurting world. “Will you persevere in resisting evil? Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? Will you love your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace, and respect the dignity of every human being?”

We live in difficult times where racism, bigotry, fear, and hatreds have been given license to roam free. We need to persevere in resisting evil. We need to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ. We need to love our neighbors rather than fear them. We need to work for justice and peace. We need to feed the hungry, free the captive, raise up the lowly.

We need to invite people to come and see that these are things for which the Episcopal church stands. These are things for which we work to achieve.

Come and see, and then work to make it happen.

Blessings,

January 15, 2020

Resurrection

We are in the business of resurrection. The Resurrection of Jesus is, in my opinion, the second biggest miracle our world has experienced. The first is the Incarnation – that moment when the immortal, invisible, omnipotent God became a mortal, visible, weak human being. However, it is Resurrection that most informs our faith. As Eucharistic Prayer B says, “In him, you have brought us out of error into truth, out of sin into righteousness, out of death into life.”

We are in the business of moving from death into life. We are in the business of resurrection.

Whether that is the death of our own sins into a life of forgiveness and redemption, the death of our own antichrist behavior giving way to Christ-like behavior, a baptism from who we were into who we can become, or any number of other instances, we look for resurrection.

We have an opportunity to live into resurrection first hand.

Back in August one of our parishioners was arrested for attempted bank robbery. There is a long story there, but let's just say that Dcn. Sue has been doing all of the legwork with this situation in providing both spiritual and practical care. Our parishioner has spent from August 12 until January 14, that's 156 days, in jail. Due to the hard work of her caseworker, legal defense, and (yes) prosecutor, an agreement was reached that provided for her conditional release.

I was at her final hearing yesterday where release paperwork was signed, an apartment lease was being provided, transportation arranged, household items delivered, and a bag of clothes that I gave her. Dcn. Sue has more clothing for her, and her caseworker will be working closely with her to ensure she is on the right track and following the terms of her probation.

She also plans on attending the 10:15 service this coming Sunday.

In attending both her first sentencing and final trial, and in discussions with Dcn. Sue, I can tell you that she is heartily sorry for these her misdoings and has humbly repented (at least to the victim and the judicial system). She is also concerned about the reception she will get from the people at Saint John's. How she is received, though, is entirely up to each one of us.

I will close by reminding everyone that we are in the business of resurrection. We all have a resurrection story in our lives somewhere. May we be a part of her resurrection story.

Blessings,

January 8, 2020

Halacha is a word that means Jewish law. It is derived from the Hebrew word for walk. And the word for pilgrimage comes from the word leg.

I know all this because Rabbi Ari Plost told me all this recently in response to an e-mail thread regarding the HARC board meeting this evening and who would be in attendance. I said that I would be there and that I'm now doing most “normal” things. Rabbi Ari responded with, “Halacha.”

My journey from back surgery to full recovery is, like everyone who is recovering from one type of surgery or another, taken in small doses, sometimes quite literally one step at a time. As I progressed from walking fifty feet, to walking a short lap around my unit, to walking multiple long laps around my unit, to walking around the block, to (most recently) walking two miles, these progressions were taken a little at a time. Those first small steps in the hospital led to longer and longer trips.

Our journey doesn't begin at the end. Our journey doesn't begin with a two-mile walk three days after surgery. Our journey doesn't begin by impressive physical or mental feats. Our journey begins in the beginning. Our journey begins with small measures of practice.

I've always hated the question, “Where would you like to be in five years?” I'm never really sure how to answer that, because life can throw so many curve balls and twists and turns that that five-year plan becomes just another wasted resolution.

I think a better question is, “What would you like to get better at?” A deeper, more intentional prayer life. Donating time or finances to a deserving organization. Focusing on my children. Playing a musical instrument. The possibilities are endless. But none of us is going to pick up a trumpet and play like Louis Armstrong. None of us is going to step out of the house and run a marathon. None of us is going to read the Bible cover to cover this month.

Instead, make your journey one leg at a time. Take a small walk with whatever it is you want to get better at. Do you want to spend 30 minutes in prayer before you start your day? Set your alarm 10 minutes earlier and learn to spend 5 minutes in prayer first. And then walk a little further; pray a little longer.

As Rabbi Ari said, “Even the smallest measures of practice can lead us to greater efforts.”

Blessings,

Todd+

January 1, 2020

The Fourth Day of Christmas

We are in the midst of the Twelve Days of Christmas. I have been putting out a #ChristmasIsNotOver tweet daily since Christmas Day (the First Day of Christmas) in the hopes of reminding someone somewhere in the twitterverse that Christmas is not over, that there are #12DaysOfChristmas, and to be part of the #ChristmasResistance. I fear it's a futile effort, but it makes me feel better.

Today, January 1, is the Eighth Day of Christmas. It is the day of eight maids a-milking. More importantly, though, it is the Feast of the Holy Name, the traditional time (eight days after birth) when Jewish boys were circumcised and named. But today I want to talk about the Fourth Day of Christmas.

The Fourth Day of Christmas is December 28. On the Church calendar this day is the Feast of the Holy Innocents – the day we commemorate the innocent children killed in and around Bethlehem on Herod's orders as his response to the coming of the Messiah.

This was also the day in Rockland County, NY (about 30 miles north of NYC), when a group of wholly innocent Jewish people were viciously attacked in a Rabbi's home while celebrating Hanukkah.

Both groups, the Holy Innocents and the wholly innocent, were attacked out of fear and hatred. And just like then when a “voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation,” the voices of our Jewish brothers and sisters on that day were heard weeping with wailing and loud lamentation.

This past Sunday I preached a brief homily during Lessons & Carols addressing yet another attack on a group some people find worthy of attacking. The gospel reading for that Sunday was from John 1. We are all familiar with the passage: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

We are once again living in dark times. White supremacists and nativists have been emboldened to ramp up both their rhetoric and physical violence against people of the “wrong color” and/or those who “don't belong.” Women, LGBT people, and Jews also fall into this group of approved targets.

If we believe God is love, if we believe Jesus came to redeem the world, if we believe (as Scripture says over and over again) that God stands with the stranger, outcast, downtrodden, alien, and “others,” then we have a responsibility to stand up and speak out against all that is dark, hateful, fearful, and evil.

As an act of solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters, I encourage you to attend Shabbat services next Friday, January 10, at 7:30 pm. Congregation B'nai Abraham is located at 53 E. Baltimore St. (between Locust and Potomac). If you receive this e-mail but are not near Hagerstown, I encourage you to find a synagogue close by and inquire how you may show your support.

I hope to see you there, because neither the Holy Innocents nor the wholly innocent should be forgotten.

Blessings,