Maundy Thursday 2011

This day Maundy Thursday, as we know, commemorates Christ’s Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. But I don’t want to talk about the institution of the Eucharist. There is something else I wish to briefly share with you. Something has been prying on my mind. It’s only one little word but it affects all of us to some degree. And that word is loneliness.

You see, this night has always been most sobering for me and while reflecting about the events of this night, I am thinking about loneliness.

Is it not reasonable to imagine that all of us at one time have experienced loneliness to some degree? Many of us know all too well the loneliness experienced by the death of a loved one. Also, some of us know the loneliness of sitting alone in the doctor’s office waiting for test results and to be examined. There is loneliness experienced when it is time for children to leave home and live on their own. There is loneliness when a spouse travels to Florida to visit her mom. Yes, we all have our own experience of loneliness.

However, this night should we not be thinking about the kind of loneliness our Lord Jesus experienced on our behalf? Jesus endured a type of loneliness that none of us will ever have to experience. It was experienced in the Garden of Gethsemani, as Jesus was let down by his Apostles when He comes to them from praying and finds them asleep. His loneliness was that of total abandonment. No one cared. No one cared that the weight of the sins of the entire world were upon his shoulders. No one noticed his suffering and anxiety. There was not one person, no not one in the whole world, who shared in and comforted Jesus in his loneliness.

In just a few minutes we will listen closely to Father David as he reads Psalm 69. From the very beginning Psalm 69 has been interpreted in the context as a prayer of the Lord’s suffering and death. “Save me, O Lord, for the waters are come in, even unto my soul.” When the waters of affliction come in to our soul, not only do they threaten our life, but they disquiet our mind and fill our heads with confusion and loneliness. Our hearts become so heavy laden with so much sorrow that we cannot enjoy the very blessings, which God gives to us each and every day.

The suffering and loneliness of Jesus is vividly expressed several times in Psalm 69. When he prays Jesus becomes hoarse. His throat simply becomes as dry as sawdust. But He continues to pray even more fervently so that his sweat became like large drops of blood falling down upon the ground. They that hate Him are more than the hairs on His head. He is a stranger to his brethren, and a stranger to his mother’s children. They that sit at the gate hate him. And the drunkards mock Him. Jesus is totally abandoned and he cries out, “Hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble; hear me speedily.”

We also know that this night, before his arrest, being abandoned and alone in the Garden, Jesus sought out in vain the companionship of his closest friends. “What, could you not watch with me one hour?” Psalm 69 speaks of this loneliness as well. “Reproach hath broken my heart, I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to share my sorrow, but there was no man, neither found I any to comfort me.” This is loneliness.

St. John tells us that Jesus came unto His own, and His own received him not. This is loneliness.

And while on the cross, Jesus cries out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Jesus knows loneliness. He experienced it all, like no other ever will. Jesus said that no man takes the Lord’s life from Him, for He has power to lay it down, and to take it up again. And as Hebrews says, this was the Christ, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.

This is also the Christ who knows your loneliness as well. He truly knows. Jesus will comfort, and protect, and will not abandon those whom God has given Him. Therefore, as children of God, let not your hearts be troubled. Soon we will celebrate the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. But for tonight, on this most solemn night ever recorded in human history, let us be ever mindful of the suffering and loneliness, which Jesus endured for our benefit, by humbly declaring, “Yes Lord, we shall watch with thee for one hour.”

Da Deacon - Trinity Anglican Church - Evansville, IN - April 21, 2011

Ash Wednesday 2011

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

The words of Genesis 3:19 are indeed sobering when we hear them read. However, this year when I hear these words not only are they sobering to me personally, but they penetrate my inner core.

Like many of you I have experienced death among those closest to me within my family. Authorities discovered that my brother died peacefully in his sleep on November 25, which this year was Thanksgiving Day. Shortly thereafter, I was called on December 9th to my father’s bedside when he had fallen at home resulting in severe brain trauma. He peacefully succumbed to his injuries on December 10th. My brother has died, my dad has died, and now the Church brings me to Ash Wednesday, a time of penitence and for me remembrance.

Shortly we will gather this evening to have ashes imposed on our foreheads; reminding us of our own mortality. Each passing year, and now, for some of us who have experienced the death of some of our family members, continues to affirm the reality of our own mortality and that we are truly but dust.

Tonight we begin a season of penitence, which leads ultimately to the celebration of Easter. We should remember this day that this is not a day of sadness. It should never be understood as a season that is morose; for it ends in Easter and the everlasting joy it brings to Christians. Rather the Church would have us be the realist that she is. The Church reminds us of that mortality and the fact, the simple fact, that we are sinners; that we stand in need of the mercy of God; that without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross there is no salvation or, as last Sunday’s Collect said, “We are counted as dead.”

Our greatest problem we face as human beings is not mortality but our sin. Almost the root of every sin that we come before God to confess is that one little letter, I. “I have followed to much the devices and desires of my own heart. I have offended against thy holy laws. I have left undone those things, which I ought not to have done; And I have done those things which I ought not to have done. And there is no saving health in me.”

So what can Jesus do about that? Well, in a few minutes He will use the hands of his priest to trace a big letter "I" on your forehead and then making a horizontal line he will cross it. The cross of Jesus is the ultimate prescription for the saving health of our souls. It is by His cross that we are saved.

The prophet Joel proclaims that the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me all your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, mourning. Let your remorse tear at your hearts and not your garments.” Jesus then clarifies how we are to fast and pray when He says, “Don’t be like hypocrites with a sad countenance; they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast…” Even though we will shortly be looking at each other with ashes imposed on our foreheads, Jesus is saying something quite different. Let what is happening here in this season be something that is within us and these temporary ashes are only temporary and a reminder that something is supposed to happen within our hearts. He tells us to wash our faces and then we would “not appear unto men to fast, but unto the Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth it in secret shall reward thee openly.” What God sees within us and is hidden to everyone is a contrite heart.

As we begin this season of Lent with remorse for our sins, we can also be joyful when we reflect upon the fact that we do not have to languish in our sins. Instead we can seek the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and be washed in His blood so that we are clean before God. This is what the season is about. We do not abandon hope. The hope is a few days down the road on Easter Sunday, and really now that hope is always before us. We must keep our eyes fixed on the prize. We begin in this somber way but we end in Easter joy and it truly will be joyous if we understand that the “I” in sin has been crossed out and that we are to live in the light of Jesus’ grace, won for us by His suffering and death on the cross.

On a Mission From God

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep Father David nor Deacon Mike from their appointed rounds.” Yes, we were at it again, "On a Mission From God," visiting Christ Anglican Church, O'Fallon, IL. Thanks to the steady hand of Sabrina's driving and the watchful eye of Faith as copilot, we returned safely home. Hearing the Word preached and receiving Holy Communion turns any gloomy snowy day into a bright and beautiful day!

Advent....Happy New Year

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen. Book of Common Prayer, page 90.

Happy New Year!

It is Advent and we are beginning a new year in the Christian Church. The above prayer is especially important because it is the first prayer of the new Christian year. It is so important to devout Anglicans that it is required to be repeated for the whole of the Advent season until Christmas Eve. However, I hope that all people this Christmas season, regardless of denominational affiliation, will sincerely pause from their daily routine, the hustle and bustle of the season and earnestly reflect on the words used in this prayer and offered to Almighty God.

As we categorize our gift-giving to those who are under ten dollars and those who are over ten dollars, braving the crowds and traffic to visit the malls, and Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Sears (which are advertising for those hard earned dollars touting the greatest savings possible), may I offer below some questions for your personal reflection of what should be really important in our lives? Maybe, just maybe we will remember and in all humility be thankful for the greatest gift ever given to mankind in the person of Jesus Christ. Thankfully, Almighty God didn't place mankind on his under ten dollars list. Indeed, the gift of Jesus Christ to the world is priceless!

The magnitude of God's greatest gift to mankind is not always fully appreciated and completely understood as to its significance to us whom God has created. And sadly this gift, which is the light of the world in Jesus Christ, will not be accepted by everyone among us with humbled hearts in thankfulness. Yes it appears from my perspective that not too many thank you notes are being sent to God.

So if you think it's probably time to write a thank you note to God, perhaps a good place to start is by reflecting on the words in the above prayer. Some suggestions are offered below:

1. How does God give us grace?

2. What is grace?

3. What are the works of darkness?

4. What is the amour of light?

5. So your life is mortal? Is there a cure?

6. Who is Jesus Christ that He would actually visit us?

7. How did Jesus Christ exhibit great humility?

8. What is meant by "the last day?"

9. Is Jesus Christ returning to earth a second time?

10. Judgement? Life immortal? What does that mean?

I sense that answers to the above questions are not necessarily discovered over a cup of coffee or in casual conversation. For some of us, such as yours truly, the answers do not always come quickly but requires a study of the Holy Scriptures. Opening our heart in contemplative prayer to the Holy Spirit assures us that we will be taught eternal truth and know the Grace of God. If there is trust in God, then there can be a renewal in our lives. A new beginning. That is the meaning of Advent. A new beginning. And with each passing Christmas, we Christians should look with great anticipation and hope of the second coming of Christ.

Come quickly Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Amen.