From Father Jim, an explanation:
The following is a homily (sermon) that I preached on the
3rd Sunday of Advent,
December 11. The text is marked with bold face type here and there.
It is also marked with parentheses and other grammatical marks. Those are for my own preaching
emphases, and not necessarily because I am an unlearned person; although that
may also be a reasonable assessment.
The texts quoted are the scriptures read for the
day. JC
YOU WILL BE CALLED OAKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE PLANTING
OF THE LORD, TO DISPLAY HIS GLORY.
YOU SHALL BUILD UP THE ANCIENT RUINS, YOU SHALL RAISE UP THE FORMER
DEVASTATIONS.I WILL MAKE AN EVERLASTING COVENANT WITH YOU.
Is. 61
Years ago I made an Advent retreat at Gethsemane Abbey
in Kentucky. The first afternoon I was there an elderly monk passed away. At Vespers, his body lay in church
wrapped in a winding sheet. As the
monks passed by, each blessed the body with a sprinkling of baptismal
water. The next day, they buried
the brother in his shroud.
Interestingly enough, a winding sheet is also this: “…they
wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger.”
St. Luke is ironic. The Savior of the world appears in a
shroud and dies for us, wrapped in a shroud.
From the time I have arrived here as your Sunday priest, I’ve
noticed, to my dismay that many of you, perhaps most or all, think of this
little congregation in funereal terms, dying and awaiting its
shroud.
I know you keep doing good works here for which I commend you,
loving one another and providing for the poor.
But I do not see you growing as an “oak
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.” Instead, you seem to have shrunk with
what Isaiah calls a “faint spirit,”
with ashesinstead of a garland, with mourning instead of
the oil of gladness.
“Alas,” you seem to say to De Soto, “we are wrapping
ourselves in a shroud. Please do
not disturb us or change us. We
are returning to the dust from which we came.”
A few weeks ago his Grace, Bishop George looked in on
us, like Peter did at the tomb of Jesus.
He said he was proud of us.
He might have said, “You aren’t dead at all!
Get up! Start exercising
your limbs, you oaks of righteousness.
Speak Gospel to me and speak gospel to the world!”
John 1:6:
“There was a congregation, sent from God, whose name was Trinity. Trinity came as a witness to testify to
the light, so that all might believe through Trinity.”
It’s not only Bishop George looking in amazement at a
congregation he thought was under a shroud. The Lord Jesus is also looking. “I died for you so that you might
live! Get up and get
gospeling!”
Isaiah 61:1:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon us, Trinity, because the Lord has
anointed us, he has sent us to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the
prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…to comfort all who mourn; to
give them a garland instead of ashes.”
We must act like a congregation acts.
We must remember that we are members of the Body of Christ Jesus. We are not pieces of a puzzle that must
be put together or pitched. We are
not stones that must build a sanctuary or tossed away.
We are living members, ears, mouths, eyes, arms, and feet. We
have already been put together.
We are the body of Christ, and as he acted so we also
act!
I Thess. 5:21“...may your spirit, Trinity, and soul and
body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and
he will do this.”
I know you sit here as individuals in whatever shape
you are in as individuals; some young, some old; some healthy, others weak; some
taking in the gospel, others straining it through closed eyes or closed
minds. One of us will die, and
another, but WE will not
die.
We will live on as Trinity congregation.
I wonder if that’s the reason so much of our stuff, windows, crosses,
fonts, books, has names inscribed, and why we remember the departed in prayer –
to remind us that we do not die, rather we live to greet the coming Lord. “Advent!
He is coming!”
We live on, not simply as Trinity.
We live on as the Body of Christ, either here with one foot in heaven, or
there, with both feet in God’s lap.
But we must remember we are NOT individuals because we are baptized into
the one body of Christ!
As the Body of Christ, or as Paul calls us in First
Thessalonians, “children of the light
and children of the day”
You and I shine together, reflecting Jesus Christ to everyone
around us.
How do we shine?
Paul says, “rejoice always, pray
without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus for you.”
I know the world. So do you! They
can’t get gospel, until we rejoice and shine the holy cross from our body of
Christ lives into their waiting lives.
Think of the undeserved love we are wrapped in. It’s not a shroud.
It’s Jesus Christ! In him
we receive the promise of life forever; in him we take his very life in bread
and wine; in him we gain the strength to proclaim,
“Here comes Jesus for you world, and we are coming with
him.”
Dare to believe this, Trinity!
Breathe in the Spirit of God!
Be Jesus right here and right now!
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy
Spirit.
The following is a homily (sermon) that I preached on the
3rd Sunday of Advent,
December 11. The text is marked with bold face type here and there.
It is also marked with parentheses and other grammatical marks. Those are for my own preaching
emphases, and not necessarily because I am an unlearned person; although that
may also be a reasonable assessment.
The texts quoted are the scriptures read for the
day. JC
YOU WILL BE CALLED OAKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE PLANTING
OF THE LORD, TO DISPLAY HIS GLORY.
YOU SHALL BUILD UP THE ANCIENT RUINS, YOU SHALL RAISE UP THE FORMER
DEVASTATIONS.I WILL MAKE AN EVERLASTING COVENANT WITH YOU.
Is. 61
Years ago I made an Advent retreat at Gethsemane Abbey
in Kentucky. The first afternoon I was there an elderly monk passed away. At Vespers, his body lay in church
wrapped in a winding sheet. As the
monks passed by, each blessed the body with a sprinkling of baptismal
water. The next day, they buried
the brother in his shroud.
Interestingly enough, a winding sheet is also this: “…they
wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger.”
St. Luke is ironic. The Savior of the world appears in a
shroud and dies for us, wrapped in a shroud.
From the time I have arrived here as your Sunday priest, I’ve
noticed, to my dismay that many of you, perhaps most or all, think of this
little congregation in funereal terms, dying and awaiting its
shroud.
I know you keep doing good works here for which I commend you,
loving one another and providing for the poor.
But I do not see you growing as an “oak
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.” Instead, you seem to have shrunk with
what Isaiah calls a “faint spirit,”
with ashesinstead of a garland, with mourning instead of
the oil of gladness.
“Alas,” you seem to say to De Soto, “we are wrapping
ourselves in a shroud. Please do
not disturb us or change us. We
are returning to the dust from which we came.”
A few weeks ago his Grace, Bishop George looked in on
us, like Peter did at the tomb of Jesus.
He said he was proud of us.
He might have said, “You aren’t dead at all!
Get up! Start exercising
your limbs, you oaks of righteousness.
Speak Gospel to me and speak gospel to the world!”
John 1:6:
“There was a congregation, sent from God, whose name was Trinity. Trinity came as a witness to testify to
the light, so that all might believe through Trinity.”
It’s not only Bishop George looking in amazement at a
congregation he thought was under a shroud. The Lord Jesus is also looking. “I died for you so that you might
live! Get up and get
gospeling!”
Isaiah 61:1:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon us, Trinity, because the Lord has
anointed us, he has sent us to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the
prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…to comfort all who mourn; to
give them a garland instead of ashes.”
We must act like a congregation acts.
We must remember that we are members of the Body of Christ Jesus. We are not pieces of a puzzle that must
be put together or pitched. We are
not stones that must build a sanctuary or tossed away.
We are living members, ears, mouths, eyes, arms, and feet. We
have already been put together.
We are the body of Christ, and as he acted so we also
act!
I Thess. 5:21“...may your spirit, Trinity, and soul and
body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and
he will do this.”
I know you sit here as individuals in whatever shape
you are in as individuals; some young, some old; some healthy, others weak; some
taking in the gospel, others straining it through closed eyes or closed
minds. One of us will die, and
another, but WE will not
die.
We will live on as Trinity congregation.
I wonder if that’s the reason so much of our stuff, windows, crosses,
fonts, books, has names inscribed, and why we remember the departed in prayer –
to remind us that we do not die, rather we live to greet the coming Lord. “Advent!
He is coming!”
We live on, not simply as Trinity.
We live on as the Body of Christ, either here with one foot in heaven, or
there, with both feet in God’s lap.
But we must remember we are NOT individuals because we are baptized into
the one body of Christ!
As the Body of Christ, or as Paul calls us in First
Thessalonians, “children of the light
and children of the day”
You and I shine together, reflecting Jesus Christ to everyone
around us.
How do we shine?
Paul says, “rejoice always, pray
without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus for you.”
I know the world. So do you! They
can’t get gospel, until we rejoice and shine the holy cross from our body of
Christ lives into their waiting lives.
Think of the undeserved love we are wrapped in. It’s not a shroud.
It’s Jesus Christ! In him
we receive the promise of life forever; in him we take his very life in bread
and wine; in him we gain the strength to proclaim,
“Here comes Jesus for you world, and we are coming with
him.”
Dare to believe this, Trinity!
Breathe in the Spirit of God!
Be Jesus right here and right now!
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy
Spirit.
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