Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

Go As You Are - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

Phil got roped into being a line judge This was very funny
until I saw the picture of myself and said, Is that how I look? Can someone
please delete this picture? And you all, I don't mind saying that to you
because I don't know a person I've ever met who is happy with every picture of
themselves. And by the way, the pictures that we don't like of ourselves, it's
very often not because they don't look like us, it's because they look like us.
Could you have shown a picture that looks less like me to
people? That way I would feel better about me, but I guess that's me looking
like that. Meanwhile, my friends are laughing because they love me. And because
they think it's obviously ridiculous that I've gotten roped into this job I
didn't intend to have, and we're all having a laugh and I'm taken out of the
experience of communal enjoyment because I'm thinking, is that what I look
like?
And this is how we do; this is how we are as people. Am I,
as I am, someone anyone should be looking at or being in relationship with? This
is a thing that people do to ourselves. Am I enough as I am? Can you imagine a
God loving me just like I am? And even if we don't want to admit it we're drawn
to this reality; we're attracted to this idea that there's a certain way you've
got to be if you're going to present yourself before your God. And if you're
going to share real life with people you love, what do you have to be? What do you
have to become?

We Want More - The Rev. Joyce Keeshin

Can any of us not relate to that idea of wanting more? I think our culture is almost built on this idea of more, we want more skill, we want more knowledge, we want more experience.
We want more time. We want more to be more prepared. There's that more, again. Phil talked a bit last week about our desire for more security, more accomplishment, more earnings. We want more, it's almost built into the Western culture. And in this wanting of more, we're also confronted with all the noise around us.
I remember a couple of years ago when I returned to town to face toilet paper shortages. I'd never thought of wanting more toilet paper, but I was in line and showing up at the beginning of stores being open. Back in my marketing days, we were always coming up with the latest promotion. Buy one, get one free.
You know, buy one the second one is at half price. I find myself as a shopper still succumbing to that. There is only me and my dog in my household, and yet there I am. Buy one, get one free. I am right there in line. We want more. And my trip this past summer to see my family in Salt Lake City, we needed to make a stop at Walgreens. My granddaughter, who does have a bit of a sweet tooth, saw this giant box of Junior Mints. She wanted it.

Wealthy Now - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

We want to be okay. We want to know that we are taken care
of. We want to enjoy life, but also our pursuit of that can sometimes make us
forget about the people around us. And if we make the pursuit of wealth and the
pursuit of power and the pursuit of luxury, if we make that the center of our
lives, then its Hades and torment coming our way, plain and simple.
This is powerful on a number of levels for us. On one level
it's very powerful because by the way, when Jesus talks about heaven and hell,
he's not talking about people believing the right things or acting the right
way or going to synagogue, or going to church. He's literally talking about how
we treat each other in this life.
And he's not just talking about being kind to one another or
being understanding and tolerant of one another. He is literally talking about
the fact that we live in a space of deep inequity, and we are completely
complicit in it. And this is Jesus talking 2000 years ago. This isn't just an
America problem or a Cincinnati problem. This is a human problem.

The Robinhood Parable - The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane

One of the films though actually turned out to be a lot like our Gospel lesson for today. Spoiler alert, it wasn't the one where the woman loses her voice and needs to kiss a prince to get it back. The story I'm thinking of is the story of a shrewd little fox who befriends the poor, the orphan, and the widows, while their coins are collected for taxes, as they search for food and safety and security.This Foxy protagonist of the film, who I had a crush on as a kid, hangs out with misfits and crippled old men, rambunctious kids, and friars, like Francis. He sleeps in the trees of the forest owns only one outfit as far as I can tell. And he's always on the move. Any guesses to which Disney hero I'm thinking of? Yes, Robin hood! Many of you remember the famous tagline of this infamous hero, he stole from the rich to give to the poor, or maybe just possibly, was he a shrewd manager who gave back to the people, what was rightfully their own?

Holy Credit Score - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

We think of our relationship with God in an arbitrary way. We say, God is mysterious and yes, God is mysterious. But we act like the whole thing is completely up for grabs and we think, I just hope that I have done enough good. That when God sees me, my credit score will allow me into heaven, and hopefully, I haven't accrued so much bad behavior, so much debt...
...We are not defined by some scale of good or evil. We are
defined by the God who has become one with us in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the
answer to the question, Am I worth it? Because Jesus is God joining us in this
life, sharing our life, sharing our pain and our fear and our sorrow and our
anger. Sharing in our joy and our laughter, our affection and our care. Jesus
is God living for us and with us, dying for us and with us. And then raising us
all up into the truth of our utter and unconditional belonging to God.
It is not that Jesus gives you the right credit score and if
you believe in him, your number will go up. It is that Jesus explodes that idea
of value altogether and reminds you of your primary identity as beloved. This
is the work of Jesus Christ.

The Costs We Incur - The Rev. Joyce Keeshin

...Our minds start processing cost. We start processing costs
in our decisions, and we're recognizing at times when the cost may be rising or
already too high. But lots of times we need to make cost assessments in order
to move forward.
We all face choices throughout our daily lives. And even the
most positive choices have a cost to them. We may decide to pursue a new career
opportunity, but the cost may be forsaking the familiarity and the competence
we have developed over years. We may be losing the companionship of colleagues
who we treasure.
We may be facing longer hours in a steeper learning curve.
We may choose to move to a new home, but the cost may be the expense of a move
and a higher mortgage. Or if downsizing the decisions as to what we are
prepared to let go of. And in either case possibly the loss of dear neighbors
who will become part of our lives, even those things that pull us forward, have
a cost to them.
We may be confronted with painful choices for ourselves, or
loved ones. Decisions about best treatment approaches for an illness. Or even
when to cease treatment. Best care arrangements for a family member needing
more support, we can look at the pluses and minuses of each option. Whatever
our choice is, there is a consciousness that there is a cost, a cost of the
path not chosen.

This Heavenly Banquet - The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane

In our gospel lesson for today, Jesus invites us to a dinner party that probably looked sort of similar to that. Spices piled high, colors and rosewater tea, spiced meats and heaping piles of baklava. We're invited to imagine ourselves there. In the first part of the lesson, as a guest. And in the second half, as the host. In each instance Jesus giving us direction by parable of how we ought to behave at a wedding feast, at a dinner party. If you're just catching on, wedding feast is gospel code for the heavenly banquet. As guests in the parable, we are told to take a seat at the lowest place. If you've been to big family gatherings at Thanksgiving, this spot is marked: Kids Table. That's the spot for you. Where it's loud and messy. And you're likely to have something thrown at you or spilled all over you. We are not, as Jesus says, to take our place and the head of the table. This is the spot right next to the mashed potatoes and gravy. That's not our spot, Jesus says. Unless we are invited to sit there. It would be pretty bad if you went and sat at the head of the table and then were asked to go over and sit by that weird Jello pudding thing that Aunt Mildred brought. Because then you feel ashamed and disgraced. In the first part of this parable, we are there as the guests. And Jesus says to us, know your place. And assume when you arrive that you are seated below the salt, as they say.

In Defense of the Hypocrites - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

I think one of the real true disservices most Christians
have done to the faith is not taken the Sabbath day seriously. We use these verses like this, 'well, people
used to not have to do anything on the Sabbath, but then Jesus showed up and
did some healing on the Sabbath and now I can take my kids to soccer and do
laundry and get the shopping done.' It's a really big stretch there, isn't it?
From Jesus healing on the Sabbath to us just being like, 'who
needs a day off from anything?' But Jesus is doing something powerful here, he's
healing someone. This is a big deal, especially to her, how many of us have
experienced chronic conditions and pain and things we wish would just go away? And
then Jesus just shows up and takes care of it. If you're that person, who cares
what day it is? If anything, it makes the Sabbath thing more Holy to you? And
this is what Jesus is getting on about. Jesus is recognizing that the call of
keeping the Sabbath Holy is not just about worshiping, right? It's about how we
participate with God, how we share in the healing that God brings into this
world.
But he does this in a way that is very upsetting. He does it
in a way that interrupts and changes and upends and subverts the way people
experience their worship. I'm one of those people who find myself wishing Jesus
was a little gentler. That he wasn't putting them to shame but was a consensus
builder and trying to get everybody on the same page. It's not how he rolls though;
I haven't read that story yet.