St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
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Homily Highlights for March 27 – Easter Sunday
WHY DO YOU SEEK THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD?
WHY DO YOU SEEK THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD?
The Easter Gospel brings us a powerful question across the centuries from God’s messenger at the empty tomb, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5) The question reminds us that to understand Easter we must begin with Good Friday.
WHO KILLED JESUS?
We can approach that dark day as a detective mystery asking the question: Who killed Jesus? We begin with motive. In the crucifixion of Jesus what were they trying to kill? Why were they trying to silence him? Jesus in his earthly life was a great teacher and healer and Scripture is his witness. To connect with the power of his teaching, let’s start with the witness of one whose life was transformed by his relationship with Jesus. Just days after denying him and fleeing in fear, Simon Peter is proclaiming that he still lives and the world is changed. Peter speaks in our New Testament reading from Acts, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ.” (Acts 10:34-36) A message of radical inclusiveness. A family of God that transcends bloodlines and national boundaries, a gospel of peace. Is this a threatening message to those filled with pride and seeking enemies in those who are “the other.” Can we even handle it now? Who killed Jesus?
THE MESSAGE OF ISRAEL’S PROPHET
To know Jesus as teacher we must know the faith of Israel in which he was nurtured and how, especially in the teaching of the prophets, his own teaching is shaped. We hear from the prophet Isaiah in our Old Testament reading, giving us a vision of God’s Kingdom, the Kingdom Jesus came to proclaim.
“No more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime … They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat...they shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity...Before they call, I shall answer...the wolf and the lamb shall feed together...They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain says the Lord.” (Isaiah 65:19-25) A family of God for all nations, living in justice and peace, caring for the vulnerable. Who could be threatened by that?
THE ILL LED CROWD
The voices of Good Friday cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him.” In ignorance the crowd cried for violence manipulated by corrupt power in politics and religion. God’s gift of freedom turned against God. Is the pattern strange to us? Across the ages Jesus challenges us. “You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” (Matthew 16:3)
IN WHOSE NAME DO WE GATHER?
Jesus was not silenced. All the instruments of violence and coercion wielded by Pilate and the Roman Empire could not silence Jesus. We gather today in his name, still challenged by his vision and values.
We shall not seek the living among the dead.
We shall not turn from the call of our living God to be a House of Prayer for all people, for all nations.
We shall not turn from the call of our living God in our Baptismal Covenant to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”
Today is not the end of the story, it is the beginning—a new season to embrace with joy and hope God’s gift of life renewed.
Father Hagerman
Homily Highlights for March 13 – The Fifth Sunday in Lent
THE HARVEST OF GRACE
“May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.” Psalm 126:5
“Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:13-14
BENEATH THE JAIL DOOR
I arrived last Tuesday at my Prayer and Bible Study Class at the Jennifer Road Detention Center to find that half of my class had been “locked down” or confined to their cells. Apparently it was a rough day on A-3. I had made what now appeared to be a fortunate decision to bring the bulletin from St. Stephen’s for its very powerful set of readings last Sunday for our Study. The bulletin fit nicely beneath the locked doors of the cells and the men gave me a smile and a thumbs up as we said a prayer through the glass. I often tell them, “Remember nothing can lock God out but our own hearts.” It was a striking moment of grace – the kind that happens when our routine is disrupted by the unexpected. Forgetting what lies behind, however sad, if we keep our eyes on Christ, we find him beckoning us forward to a gift of new beginnings, sowing in tears, reaping in the joy of a hard wisdom. We may do some straining to lift up our hearts, but we do not need to do that straining to win God’s love; that has been done for us in Jesus. Amazing Grace how sweet the sound.
ANOINTED BY GRACE
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is at dinner with friends and is anointed by one of his dearest friends named Mary. It is an anointing that looks ahead to the burial of Jesus after his death on the cross for us when we are anointed by grace.
The meaning is missed by Judas who is upset that he will not have more money to steal. Mary, the faithful friend, will be there to anoint Jesus at his burial. Judas will be hanging in a tree of despair, unable to take with him any of his ill gotten money. Judas never does get it, for Jesus died for him too and could have restored him by grace to discipleship as he did to Peter who denied him three times. Judas could only look backward.
THE POOR YOU ALWAYS HAVE WITH YOU
We often misunderstand this response of Jesus to Judas as a kind of fatalism in an unjust world. Nothing could be more mistaken. Jesus is quoting the book of Deuteronomy (15:11) which reads, “For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you. You shall open wide your hand to the needy and to the poor in the land.” The Christ who teaches us that whatever we do to the least of his people we do to him. (Mt. 25:31) is never going to give us a counsel of indifference in the face of suffering. The counsel is always for compassion, reflecting the heart of a compassionate God who so loved us that “while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Amazing Grace how sweet the sound … for all of us.
Father Hagerman
Homily Highlights for March 6 – The Fourth Sunday in Lent
LOST AND FOUND
“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: Everything old has passed away; see everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation”
(2 Cor. 5:18-19)
THE DINNER PARTY
Our Gospel today begins with a dinner party. All the worst people in town were invited. Jesus was there and the Pharisees noticed and said, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Jesus is glad they noticed and tells three stories together about the lost (Luke 15): the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.
CASTING THE STORY OF THE PRODIGAL SON
Who do most identify with in this famous parable of the lost or prodigal son? Perhaps we have in some way touched the experience of all three at some time in our lives.
The Prodigal Son is lost, living badly, estranged from God, alienated from his family. He is sinking deeper into a life of self-destruction when we are told that “he came to himself.” And started on the road home not knowing what would happen, for the way of repentance and reconciliation can be risky.
The question is raised for every lost son or daughter: Can you take that first step toward home?
The Father is hurt, worried and anxiously waiting. Perhaps, not an uncommon experience for many parents. The Father has a choice. He can lock the door, but God speaks to the heart—He is my son.
The question is raised for everyone: Is there someone out on that road waiting for you? Are you going out to meet him?
The Jealous Brother speaks in the voice of everyone who cries that “Life is not fair.” Can a world so full of tragedy and grace come from the hand of an orderly God? Can we imagine ourselves as much in need of grace as those we believe are not living as well as we are? There is a party in which Jesus and the forgiving Father are at the table welcoming sinners who can be made new. Are you going in to the celebration?
HOW DOES THE STORY END?
There are many possibilities of how this story could end. My faith tells me that if the angry brother takes even one step to enter the celebration, he will find also that his father is running out to meet him.
For “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: Everything old has passed away; see everything has become new! All this is from God, Who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”
Father Hagerman
Homily Highlights for February 28 – The Third Sunday in Lent
COME TO THE WATERS
“You are my God, I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. So I will bless you as long as I live. I will lift up my hands and call on your name.” Psalm 63:1, 4
“Everyone who thirsts come to the waters.”
Isaiah 55:1
CAN I GET YOU SOMETHING TO DRINK?
I have visited with many people in their homes during many years of parish ministry, and have always appreciated the welcome and hospitality. It often takes the simple form of “Can I get you something to drink?” In the Southern tier of New York State, I was part of a 3 church ministry team in a parish of several counties. There would sometimes be a long drive through winter weather and I was glad when someone welcomed me with a hot cup of coffee. On summer days in New England, I drank a lot of iced tea. In the midst of the important events in many lives - the new babies to baptize, the loss of loved ones, the anticipation of planning a wedding - the simple act of sharing even a glass of water was a way to relax and invite the presence of God into a family’s life.
GOD’S ANSWER TO OUR THIRST
To the prayer expressed in the psalm of a soul thirsting for God, God’s answer is clear and simple: “Everyone who thirsts come to the waters”. The invitation is to a life of deeper meaning and belonging, the daily bread and drink of the soul belonging to the family of God through the waters of Baptism. Growing into a meaningful relationship with Jesus from which Jesus tells us, comes the living waters of life in the Spirit of God which enriches everything in our lives. (John 4:10-14) Life in God’s Spirit, to use an image from today’s Gospel, makes our lives fruitful in God’s vineyard (God’s Kingdom).
THE INVITATION OF LENT
The Season of Lent is, above all, an INVITATION to a deeper relationship with God.
Come to the waters.
Let the words of today’s psalm sing out with renewed meaning. “I will bless you as long as I live,” for I have discovered a new sense of thankfulness for your blessings in my life.
Come to the waters.
“I will lift up my hands and call on your name,” for my joys are deeper, my problems less perplexing and my sorrows seasoned with the hope of rising again because I have you to call on in every season.
Come to the waters.
Father Hagerman
Homily Highlights for February 21 – The Second Sunday in Lent
WHOM CAN WE TRUST?
“The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)
TRUSTING GOD
In a world filled with damaged relationships, personal disappointments, public scandals, disrespect, misleading rhetoric as the common currency of political communication, and increased terrorist threats, trust is difficult to extend. The question “whom shall I fear?” in the psalm today might bring a long list of possibilities in response. The need to trust God is compelling but not easy.
The final verse of the psalm is honest even while it offers encouragement.
“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage, wait for the Lord.”
This psalm is a prayer for patience, for trust, for the ability to wait for the Lord. To wait even when the answer to prayer is not clear or quick. To wait and to seek:
“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”
“Your face Lord do I seek.” (v. 11)
SEEKING GOD IN A SPIRITUALITY OF COMPASSION
Jesus calls us to seek his face in the needs of others. “When I was hungry, you gave me food.” (Matthew 25)
In today’s Gospel, even as he is being hunted by Herod, the focus of Jesus is on his works of healing in body and spirit. Jesus models and teaches a spirituality of compassion. Fear for himself is eclipsed as his heart reaches out to the struggling children of Jerusalem: “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.” There is a confidence in God in the face of the threat of death and rejection by his people, “On the third day I finish my work.” The day of resurrection.