April 25, 2021 - The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Lectionary Readings 

In the name of our Risen Lord and Good Shepherd: Jesus Christ. Amen.

            “I am the good shepherd,” says Jesus. There are a lot of ways of understanding Jesus, but here, in his own words, Jesus tells us who he is. Because of the easy association of the Good Shepherd with Psalm 23 and the renowned shepherd-king of Israel, King David, along with the sacrificial elements of sheep, this Good Shepherd image is one of the most common and cherished in our faith. But, for the vast majority of us, the metaphor is a bit abstract and antiquated. When was the last time any of us saw a shepherd? I mean, sure, we can guess that a shepherd tends a flock of sheep – but what does that actually entail?

April 18, 2021 - The Third Sunday of Easter

Lectionary readings

In the name of the Risen Lord. Amen.

            Many of us have likely had those moments where there is a clear before and after, where something happened and we knew that from that moment onward, life would never be the same. I once heard a smoker say that they saw a picture of what a smoker’s versus a non-smoker’s lung looked like that is was a turning point for them and they never touched another cigarette. In the work that I’m proud to be a part of with Racial Equity Rowan, I have experienced it myself and seen it in many others: they attend the two-day workshop and come away with a completely new way of understanding the concept of race in our society. It’s as if, in the vein of St. Paul, scales have fallen from their eyes. For many of us, the first time we saw our children, whether on an ultrasound screen or in the flesh in the delivery room, it was one of these trajectory-shifting and outlook-changing moments. What’s that expression? There are some things that once you have seen them, you can’t unsee them and some things that once you have known them, you cannot unknow.

April 4, 2021 - Easter Sunday

Lectionary Readings

In the name of the Risen Lord. Amen.

            “‘Welcome, happy morning!’ age to age shall say,” as one of the great Easter hymns puts it. Welcome, happy morning, indeed. What a joy and blessing it is to be gathered together today to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the dawning of the New Creation. We were not able to physically gather last year for Easter, and so this one is all the sweeter to see your lovely and holy faces. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 133, “How good and pleasant it is when the people of God gather in beloved community.” Indeed, it is wonderful to be gathered together, and all the more on this day of Easter when we shout, “Alleluia! Jesus Christ is risen today.”

April 4, 2021 - The Great Vigil of Easter

In the name of the Risen Lord. Amen.

            “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” How could we not know this? A splendid sunrise Vigil, a joyous Baptism, being able to be gather together when we weren’t able to last Easter and for most of the time since then, and the tremendous Gospel text from St. Mark in which it was announced by an angel that “Jesus has been raised!” Yes, the glory of the Resurrection is on full display this morning and I am exuberant to be sharing in this Easter celebration with each of you.

April 3, 2021 - Holy Saturday

Lectionary Readings

God of all things, grant us to follow in the way of your Son this week, that through his Death, we might receive the riches of your grace ☩ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            From the book of Job, we heard “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant. But mortals die, and are laid low; humans expire, and where are they? As waters fail from a lake, and a river wastes away and dries up, so mortals lie down and do not rise again; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake or be roused out of their sleep.”

April 2, 2021 - Good Friday

Lectionary Readings

God of all things, grant us to follow in the way of your Son this week, that through his Death, we might receive the riches of your grace ☩ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            On Good Friday, we are stunned observers. As we heard in the reading from Isaiah, “By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future?” It was not that long ago that we celebrated the birth of Jesus and since then we have seen the glory of God through his teachings, miracles, and healings. He has called disciples to follow him, he has raised the dead, pronounced God’s mercy, and fed the multitudes with just a few loaves. Who could have imagined what we just heard read in the Passion?

April 1, 2021 - Maundy Thursday

Lectionary Readings

God of all things, grant us to follow in the way of your Son this week, that through his Death, we might receive the riches of your grace ☩ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            “How is this night different from all other nights?” That is one of the questions that children ask during the Jewish Seder. As an aside, Jesus and his disciples did not celebrate the Seder as we know it, as the form in use today didn’t exist then. Secondly, Christians should not be celebrating a Seder, unless invited to one happening in a Jewish household. The notion of a “Christian Seder” is religious appropriation and leads Christians to erroneous conclusions about their own faith. And thirdly, the way John depicts it, the events we heard about happened on the night before the Passover so that’s not even what we heard about in the Gospel reading. That being said, that question which is a part of the ritual of the Seder is a helpful one for us on Maundy Thursday – how is this night different from all other nights?