Live Easter Now – Today!

Easter Homily By The Rev. Marcia McRae

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA, 27 March 2016

RCL Year C: Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-1;John 20:1-18

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...”¹ intelligent creatures looked through their Hubble space telescopes & said:

“What on Earth is happening?!”

We are Easter people. We know what they were looking at:

That 1^st “Easter [which] flips everything upside-down”, shatters our preconceived notions, transcends what's rational...²

As Tim Schneck says in his book, Dust Bunnies in the Basket: Finding God in Lent & Easter, in this parrallel universe “faith collides with conventional wisdom & wins...love conquers all,...death has no dominion over us,...forgiveness wipes away all sin,...mercy [triumphs over] judgment... inclusion wins...over exclusion, hope conquers despair, Resurrection & life triumph over Crucifixion & death...The risen Christ invites us all into this parallel universe of Resurrection glory.”³

We don't have to wait until we die to start living the life of Resurrection & Love that Jesus shows us.

In all seasons of our lives we are Easter people.

Even in Lent that just ended we live in the truth of Jesus' Resurrection & Love. Notice how we spell Lent.

L-E-N-T: Live Easter Now Today!

Easter people know the rest of the story, the Good News:

God Loves you. No exceptions. All are welcome.

When we face the hard work of a tough day like Mary Magdalene does, confronted by confusing reality, remember the angels & Jesus ask, “Why are you weeping?" What does she say?

“I'm crying because...I don't know..."

The difference between us & Mary Magdalene is we know.

We know where Jesus is. Jesus is right here: in our hearts, in the eyes, the hands, the just-right word of another.

In life we do face death. This last enemy to be destroyed has many forms both literal & figurative, such as the death of a plan, an ability, a relationship. Perhaps we can weep with joy that we don't face death alone. Jesus, the Lord of Life is right here with us, walking each step with us.

On each step that Jesus took on the road to the cross, he carried our burden.

Remember: God calls us each day to live the

Good News of the empty tomb.

When the world tells us:  “Everything is a mess. There is nothing you can do.  Just wring your hands. Hold your breath. Expect the worst.”   we Easter people can respond: “Been there. Done that at the foot of the cross. We know the rest of the story: Alleluia!”

Everything WAS a mess. Jesus changed all that.

Jesus shows us how to make things better. The Holy Spirit guides us to make things better so that we don't just wring our hands & hold our breath. On the cross Jesus said it is finished/it is accomplished & breathed his last. He finished the work of defeating death's power.

When we are told to expect the worst, look at the cross where the Prince of Glory died.

On that worst day, Jesus asks God to forgive us.

If you had been the only person who has sinned in all of history & dying on the cross was the only way Jesus could rescue you from separation from God, Jesus would have done it all for you.

Jesus died for you.

Look into that empty tomb.

It can't hold the Lord of Life.

Take a deep breath &

savor the new life

the Holy Spirit breathes into you.

Bibliography

Johnson, The Rev. Deon. “Practice Resurrection, Easter (C) – 2016”. Accessed: 26 March 2016. http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2016/03/16/practice-resurrection-sermon-for-easter-c-2016/

Schenck, Tim. Dust Bunnies in the Basket: Finding God in Lent & Easter. USA: Forward Movement. 2015. www.forwardmovement.org

Thompson, Richelle. “March 27 Easter”. Meeting Jesus on the Margins: Meditations on Matthew 25. Cincinnati: Forward Movement. 2015.

1 Galaxy idea from Schenck, Tim. Dust Bunnies in the Basket: Finding God in Lent & Easter. Pp. 62-65.

2 Ibid. P. 64.

3 Ibid.

Be Prepared: Expect the Unexpected

Easter Vigil Homily By The Rev. Marcia McRae

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA, 26 March 2016

RCL Year C: Genesis 1:1-2:4a [The Story of Creation]; Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 [Israel's deliverance at the Red Sea]; Ezekiel 36:24-28 [A new heart and a new spirit]; Romans 6:3-11; Luke 24:1-12

The women come to the tomb prepared to work,

to tend the dead.

They don't expect to encounter angels, to encounter life,

a new reality.

The women expect one harsh reality. They encounter Good News & go to share it. Why do the disciples react as they do? Why do they not trust what the women say?

Perhaps the disciples' reluctance has deeper roots, as Michael Joseph Brown, interim president & academic dean of Payne Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH, says in his commentary on today's Gospel & he quotes St Augustine.¹  Notice these words from St. Augustine centuries ago:

“...the fall of humankind came through a woman, so now the restoration is first proclaimed by women. News of Jesus’ resurrection seems like nonsense in light of the horror of his death by crucifixion…The women reported this to men...These things seemed in their eyes like an idle tale...When Eve related what the serpent had said, she was listened to...A lying woman was believed, & so we all died. But [the disciples] didn’t believe women telling the truth so that we might live. If women are not to be trusted, why did Adam trust Eve? If women are to be trusted, why did the disciples not trust the holy women?”²

St. Augustine asks us challenging questions. Trusting people sometimes takes practice. It takes practice to trust when we encounter the unexpected.

Practice. Practice.

 How many times have you heard that in your life?

With practice, we can build self confidence to enter more fully into our work. This doesn't mean we won't make a mistake, as I know from my many mistakes. Each week in worship we practice our faith together. We hear scriptures again & again, like a coach's drill practice or like our fingers repeating musical scales to make them part of who we are. Look how far we've come through tonight's practice session:

We have journeyed from the Garden of Eden to the escape at the Red Sea, to the promise of a new heart, a new spirit God will give us to replace our heart of stone with a heart of flesh. As Easter people we know this happens because the loving heart of flesh that beats within Jesus stops beating on the hard wood of the cross.

God loves us & God redeems us through Jesus' death. Death is not the final word. We proclaim this when we gather in community to celebrate Holy Eucharist. In Holy Eucharist we gain spiritual strength to walk in newness of life that we know by being baptized into Jesus' death, as Paul reminds the Romans & us.

How do we walk in new life?

How long does it take us to live into a new reality?

We see how haltingly, how confused Jesus' followers walk into this new reality. When we see a totally different result than what we have expected, we may have no words to express our befuddled thoughts. When we do have words, the other person may not accept what we say, as we see in our Gospel.

Beloved Brothers & Sisters redeemed by the blood of Jesus, you are embraced by the Love of God.

Guided by the power of the Holy Spirit, return God's embrace.

Embrace the truth that you are profoundly loved.

Embrace others in the truth:

God loves you. No exceptions. All are welcome.

Embrace the fact that you – we – are part of God's miracle³ in this happening community where

we live God's Love.

Bibliography

Brown, Michael Joseph. “Commentary on Luke 24:1-12.” https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2819 Accessed: 26 March 2016.

Johnson, The Rev. Deon. “Practice Resurrection, Easter (C) – 2016”. Accessed: 26 March 2016. http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2016/03/16/practice-resurrection-sermon-for-easter-c-2016/

Schenck, Tim. Dust Bunnies in the Basket: Finding God in Lent & Easter. USA: Forward Movement. 2015. www.forwardmovement.org

1 Brown, Michael Joseph. “Commentary on Luke 24:1-12.” https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2819 Accessed: 26 March 2016.

2 Ibid. Brown's footnote: Arthur A. Just, Jr., ed., Luke (InterVarsity, 2003), 376.

3 Note: Idea from Schenck, Tim. Dust Bunnies in the Basket: Finding God in Lent & Easter. P. 60.

Rainy Days Get Me Down

Good Friday Homily By The Rev. Marcia McRae

St. John's Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA. 25 March 2016

All Years RCL Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42

Rainy days get me down.

You may remember the poignant singing by The Carpenters of these lyrics: “Rainy days & Mondays always get me down.” These lyrics seem appropriate for this rainy Friday. Despite this dark day we know Good Friday offers us the Light of God's Love.

We know rain is good for the earth, the seas, our gardens, farms, wells & other water supplies. We know we can have too much of a good thing: too much rain can ruin crops, drown people & creatures, cause landslides & destroy roads, buildings & lives.

Despite the negative aspects we know of nature, we know our human nature's negative aspects cause much more damage. Despite the damage we inflicted on the 1^st Good Friday trying to silence the Prince of Peace & get him out of our face with his words of Love & wide embrace of outcasts – the people we'd rather not associate with,

God gives us the blessing to join in community

tonight to celebrate Good Friday.

We celebrate because we are Easter people, who know the rest of the story. I wonder what kind of celebrations took place that 1^st Good Friday night among the people who wanted Jesus dead.

What does it feel like to realize we celebrate the execution of an innocent man? Do we really celebrate Jesus' execution, or do we remember it with awe & grateful hearts that the Lord of Life has willingly suffered & died for us so that we can live fully in God's love not just after we die but now on this smaller side of larger life.

We know at tomorrow's Easter Vigil & Sunday morning we will celebrate the Good News of Jesus' Resurrection. Jesus' death shows us the lengths to which our loving God goes to bring us into the fullness of God's love. Our creator, our Father in heaven goes to extremes to draw us into God's Love – the life-giving Love of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. How do we respond in our daily life away from church?

In his meditation for today, Mike Kinman, dean of Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, says: “:...the cross of Jesus...is the only place where there is nothing left to fear...in Christ's arms...in this world there is no safer place.”¹

We meet Jesus in places of need, in people of need. Meeting Jesus in our brothers & sisters in the human family who are in need “means we need to count everything as loss that separates us from [these brothers & sisters], knowing their arms are the arms of [Jesus, who] said: 'I was in prison & you visited me.'... Jesus' prison was literally the cross...those who visited him there risked being next. That's why most of them hid in fear.”²

Let go of fear. Celebrate our life in Jesus.

Celebrate our life together even when we know

it will change.

We can celebrate because we are Easter people who know the rest of the story. We know that from death God brings forth life. We know:

“The cross is safe because Jesus is there.”³

Bibliography

Meeting Jesus on the Margins: Meditations on Matthew 25. Mike Kinman. Cincinnati: Forward Movement. 2015.

“Rainy Days and Mondays” Paul H. Williams & Roger S. Nichols. Sung by The Carpenters. Accessed: 25 March 2016. http://www.metrolyrics.com/rainy-days-and-mondays-lyrics-the-carpenters.html

1 Meeting Jesus on the Margins: Meditations on Matthew 25. Mike Kinman. P.104-105.

2 Ibid. P. 105.

3 Ibid.

Why is This Night Different?

Maundy Thursday Homily By The Rev. Marcia McRae

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA, 24 March 2016

Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14; Psalm 116:1, 10-17; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Why is this night different from all other nights?¹

Our Jewish brothers & sisters asks this question at the Passover meal each year.

John & I have been blessed to participate in the Passover meal with friends & to ask: “Why is this night different?” The question opens the opportunity to teach children [& remind adults] of their heritage [our heritage] as the people God has delivered from slavery in Egypt.

Our lesson in Exodus says, “If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor...” This meal is to be shared in community. The meal of Holy Communion that we share is shared in community.

Like the unleavened bread of Passover, which is built on an earlier tradition that nomads observed in their community,² we share unleavened bread, which is made with little human interference, an apt gift for a holy meal³. It is made quickly so that people can move quickly to leave behind the old life in Egypt & move into new life with God⁴.

Then why do we move more slowly this night?

Why do we have more silence?

Why is this night different?

Tonight we commemorate Jesus’ giving us a new meal based on the Passover community meal. We leave the old life behind to live into new life God offers us through Jesus. Sometimes this new life with God challenges us. We see Peter face the challenge of letting Jesus wash his feet.

Why do we wash our feet tonight before we share the Bread & Wine? Why do we strip the Altar? Why do we have no dismissal? We have no dismissal because tonight we start our Liturgy. We continue it tomorrow. We conclude it at the Easter Vigil – that great celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection.

In tonight’s part of this Great Liturgy of Jesus’ saving work, we do what Jesus commands: to love each other as Jesus loves us. This love is strong enough to bend down & wash the feet of others.

Jesus takes on a menial task to show us clearly how strong God’s Love for us is. Jesus takes on a menial task to show us how to serve each other, to give us courage to serve the least among us. To give us courage to be served.

We wash our feet because our Lord Jesus washes the Disciples' feet THEN he gives the New Commandment. This new mandate [in Latin mandatum] gives us the name for Maundy Thursday, the day we receive the new mandate, the new mandatum, the New Commandment.

Jesus says: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Love is the central aspect, the essence of our life as the Body of Christ. Love does overflow more & more in this happening community where we live God's love.

God's love is central to our calling as Jesus' disciples. This is true for us, it was true for the Disciples & for the Christians in Corinth to whom Paul writes. Jesus gives us work to do, serving where we are, sharing Jesus' love. Sometimes this means we have to stoop to serve. Sometimes this means we have to allow someone to stoop & serve us.

We see that impulsive Peter has trouble with this new command. Is it surprising that he has trouble letting Jesus wash his feet? We will see more of Peter’s impulsiveness tomorrow. Tonight we see Peter's impulsiveness at the community meal.

The Rev. Arlette Benoit of St. Paul's, Atlanta, notes⁵: “...Peter is the one who voices his uneasiness & disapproval towards what Jesus is doing...” Maybe he's saying what other disciples are thinking.

Put yourself in Peter's sandals: you're watching Jesus washing your fellow disciples' feet. One by one, Jesus gets closer to you. Closer. Closer. Suddenly it's almost your turn!⁶

How do you handle this?

"[Peter] probably [has] flashbacks...probably [thinks]: ‘Oh, if I had enough faith to continue walking on that water…maybe I would be worthy for Him to wash my feet...maybe I should have shut up & listened more. Maybe that would have made me worthy for the Son of God, my Messiah to wash my feet. Maybe I should not have outed him & called him Messiah…I’m definitely not worthy. I am a sinner.’"⁷

Aren't we all? How impulsive are we in our response to one who is in a different station of life than we are? One who is different & offers us humble service?

The grace we can gain from tonight’s being so very different can reduce our impulsiveness. It can slow us down to think, to ponder, humble service.

Why do we strip the Altar, & move more slowly & have more silence? We strip the Altar to enter the time of remembering the stripping away of Jesus from his friends, the stripping away of all that Jesus has: his clothes, his life.

We move more slowly & have more silence so that we can “hear” & “see” God better. When we slow down & have more silence, we are like a pond where water is stirred: Debris that has settled to the bottom gets stirred up & obscures the water. When we let the water rest it becomes clearer⁸ & we can see more clearly below the surface.

When we slow down & have more silence, we can more readily “see” God. When we slow down, we can make better decisions – decisions that can affect this Body of Christ & beyond.

Slowing down before reacting gives pro athletes the advantage of waiting until just the right moment to move. I learned this reading Frank Partnoy’s insightful study Wait: The Art and Science of Delay. He examines good & bad procrastination.

"The central element of good decision-making...is a person’s ability to manage delay.”⁹ He says:

"We are hard-wired to react quickly. Modern society taps into that...¹⁰ [We see this in Peter.] We like to believe there is wisdom in our snap decisions, & sometimes there is. But true wisdom & judgment come from understanding our limitations when it comes to thinking about the future...¹¹ A wise decision requires reflection, & reflection requires a pause."¹²

Our Lord Jesus takes time this night

to wash his Disciples feet.

Our Lord Jesus takes time this night to share

a special meal in a new way.

Our Lord Jesus takes time this night to give us

a new commandment.

Our Lord Jesus does all this

in the context of community.

Bibliography

Bacon, Ed. 8 Habits of Love: Open Your Heart, Open Your Mind. Boston: Grand Central Life & Style. Hatchette Book Group. 2012.

Benoit, The Rev. Arlette. “Shareholders and Partners with Jesus, Maundy Thursday (C) – 2016”. http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2016/03/08/shareholders-and-partners-with-jesus-maundy-thursday-c-2016/ Accessed: 24 March 2016.

Harper’s Bible Commentary. General Ed.: James. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1988.

Holy Bible. New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.

Holy Bible with the Apocrypha. New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.

Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation. New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.

Lectionary Page. http://www.lectionarypage.net/. Accessed: 7 March 2013.

Long, Thomas G. What Shall We Say? Evil, Suppering, and the Crisis of Faith. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2011.

Michno, Dennis G. A Priest’s Handbook: The Ceremonies of the Church. 3^rd Edition. Harrisburg: Morehouse Publishing. 1998.

Mitchell, Leonel L. Lent Holy Week and the Great Fifty Days: A Ceremonial Guide. Lanham, MD: A Cowley Publications Book. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2007.

New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. Eds.: Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger. New York: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1977.

Partnoy, Frank. Wait: The Art and Science of Delay. New York: Public Affairs (Perseus Book Group). 2012.

Passover Haggadah.. Winn Dixie. Miami: OneWorld Designs. 2009.

1 Passover Haggadah. Winn Dixie. P. 6

2 Harper’s Bible Commentary. General Ed.: James. L. Mays. P. 142.

3 Ibid. Pp. 142-143.

4 Ibid. Harper’s

5 Benoit, The Rev. Arlette. “Shareholders and Partners with Jesus, Maundy Thursday (C) – 2016”. http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2016/03/08/shareholders-and-partners-with-jesus-maundy-thursday-c-2016/ Accessed: 24 March 2016.

6 Note: Idea paraphrased from Ibid.

7 Benoit, The Rev. Arlette. “Shareholders and Partners with Jesus, Maundy Thursday (C) – 2016”. http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2016/03/08/shareholders-and-partners-with-jesus-maundy-thursday-c-2016/ Accessed: 24 March 2016.

8 Note: seeing my experience with our backyard water garden this way is influenced by Bacon, Ed. 8 Habits of

Love: Open Your Heart, Open Your Mind. P. 31.

9 Partnoy, Frank. Wait: The Art and Science of Delay. P. 244.

10 Ibid.

11 Partnoy. Wait. P. 245.

12 Ibid. P. 246.

Good News: God is in Charge!

Homily by The Rev. Marcia McRae

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA

20 March 2016, Palm Sunday Year C: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16 ; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 22:14-23:56

The scripture we have just heard has

“gruesome familiarity, & as frustrating as it is,

we can't do anything to change it.”¹

Despite how frustrating it is to hear the story of Jesus' Passion – the betrayal, Jesus' pleading with God not to have to go through the suffering, the agony, the dying – you & I know the rest of the story. We know, as our own Paul Fryer said yesterday in an email:

“This is the heart of the Gospel.”

We know the Gospel is Good News.

Even on Palm Sunday & throughout Holy Week, we are Easter people. We know the rest of the story. That's why, when the going gets tough, when things take a sudden, unexpected turn we know God is in charge. The crowd of people beating their breasts as they leave the scene of Jesus' crucifixion don't know the joy of Jesus' Resurrection will happen soon.

Like so many people in our neighborhood & lives,

they don't know:

God is in charge!

In your mind's eye, what expressions do you see on the faces of the people leaving that scene?

I remember Palm Sunday 2008 when some of you weren't so sure God is in charge. I remember the stunned, confused looks of you who were inside the church when our outside Liturgy of the Palms was delayed. You didn't know the whole story: as we were about to start the Liturgy outside, our priest had a medical emergency we thought was a stroke.

Before he was taken to the hospital, he asked me to lead the service since I was in the process for ordination. After checking with the Senior Warden to be sure he didn't want to lead it, I scrambled to find words to help alleviate the stress with which you were so obviously struggling. It was the shortest sermon I have preached!

After explaining what had happened outside, I assured all of us: God is in charge. My confidence in that fact was because Twin Lakes had water despite the severe drought. That confidence came from a chat with a neighbor about the lake. His wife had questioned why he wasn't worried about it. He assured her rain would come because “God is in charge”.

When we stay centered on God, we respond differently when the unexpected happens. In his book Dust Bunnies in the Basket: Finding God in Lent & Easter, the Rev. Tim Schenck reminds us: In our own lives we often make judgments about why certain things happen to us without fully knowing the breadth of God's plan for us. This is why the beginning of Holy Week offers no better starting point than to pray with Jesus,

"Yet not what I want, but what you want." ²

Bibliography

Holy Bible with the Apocrypha. New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.

Schenck, Tim. Dust Bunnies in the Basket: Finding God in Lent & Easter. USA: Forward Movement. 2015. www.forwardmovement.org

1 Schenck, Tim. Dust Bunnies in the Basket: Finding God in Lent & Easter. P. 34.

2 Ibid. P. 35.