February 19, 2023
Last Sunday of Epiphany – Ted Hackett
This the second of a “mini-series” of Sermons on “Heaven, Hell, Death and Judgement”…
The so-called “Four Last Things” which all humans must face…
Last week we tackled two of them…Heaven and Hell…
I am sure all of you remember in exquisite detail all of that sermon…
I learned years and years ago not to ask students what I had said in the last lecture…
Because the blank looks caused me so much frustration…
It was not good for my self-esteem!
So, to review, I talked about Heaven and Hell…
I said that Hell was not Fire and Brimstone and Devils with pitchforks for eternity…
Hell was self-centered alienation which prevents people from being close with each other….from loving each other…
Prevents people from knowing and loving themselves…
Prevents us from knowing and loving God with all our hearts, souls and minds!
We were created to love…
So alienation is Hell!
But, I said, this Hellish alienation does not last forever …
God is infinitely patient…
God will last the selfish, unhappy sinner out.
Because…think about it…
One soul lost forever would mean God was not able to complete the divine creation…..
Like the Father of the Prodigal Son…
God would have lost a beloved child…Forever…
February 12, 2023
Epiphany 5A – Ted Hackett
Today is the 6th Sunday after Epiphany…
Believe it or not, Lent comes in two weeks…
And of course, Lent is a penitential season…
40 days in which we are counseled to
calm things down in our lives…
To do some looking at ourselves…
And ask questions about our lives.
Lent is a little like Advent…
Except that over the years Advent has been a season of what you might call : “Joy Creep”….
The wonderful warmth of Christmas…
Aided and abetted by commercial interests
Have made Advent part of Christmas.
We become like kids …
All waiting for Santa …
Putting up decorations..
Going to parties….
And I for one love it!
We wear blue instead of somber purple or sackcloth
We anticipate with glowing expectation…
Messiah is coming!
Sing out! Go tell it on the mountain!
And I, for one, love it!
But it was not always that way….
When Advent came into the Christian Year in the fifth century, Christmas was getting cranked up in
the West…
And it was a penitential season….
A time for looking at yourself…preparing,
Because it looked not only to Christ’s
birth….but his 2nd coming in judgement!….
Somber stuff!
The early Church was very aware of the end of the world…
Jewish rabbis talked about it…and finally Christians
condensed the Last Things at the end of the world into four…
February 5, 2023
Epiphany 5A – George Yandell
Let me read you a letter to an insurance company about frustrations and disappointment. Maybe you have had similar experiences.
Dear Sir:
I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In Block #3 of the accident reporting form, I put quote – LOST PRESENCE OF MIND – unquote, as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully, and I trust that the following details will be sufficient.
I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a six-story building. When I completed my work, I discovered that I had about 500 lbs. of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which fortunately was attached to the side of the building at the sixth floor.
Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, and loaded the brick into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the 500 lbs. of bricks. You will note in Block #11 of the accident reporting form that I weigh 135 lbs.
Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I LOST MY PRESENCE OF MIND and forgot to let go of the rope.
January 29, 2023
Annual Parish Meeting
Rector’s report – George Yandell
In my annual reports over the past twelve years, I have said these words, and I’ll say them again: This is your parish. I serve God with you, guided by the Spirit of Jesus. I want to tell what I perceive God has done, is doing, and what God may be leading us to do together.
Do you know what an ‘ear worm’ is? It’s a song or refrain that keeps bouncing around in one’s head – often annoying us. An ear worm can be maddening. The past weeks I’ve been hearing this repeated ear worm – “What a long strange trip it’s been” – from the Grateful Dead’s song “Truckin’”. That’s how I have experienced the life and ministries we’ve extended as Covid restrictions have loosened. It’s like learning how to do Church all over again. Yet it’s still continuing a long strange trip, isn’t it? A vast number of congregations of many denominations across the country have closed or severely cut back their ministries. Our parish has done remarkably well considering all the changes we’ve lived through. If the parish is the bridge for us in living into our baptisms in the company of Jesus, you have been resilient and devoted in serving Christ.
Where is the parish headed? That’s what the newly reconstituted vestry will continue to discern after they start their work in the meeting after this all-parish meeting.
We are now into our 37th year as a parish –