Br. John Ryan: One With God
Posted on in Sermons by The Rev. David Marshall
Luke 24:44-53
Brother John offers his reflection on the humanity of Jesus . Jesus was a total and complete human being. Brother John connects us to Jesus by telling us the story of Jesus traveling to Bethany. We all …Continue Reading »
The Rev. Anna Maria Korathu: Abide in Love
Posted on in Sermons by The Rev. David Marshall
This week for me I had to sit back and think about this. There are people in my life that I have a hard time being around. So, I sat in the evening sun and thought about what it must feel like to abide in somebody’s love and I sat and thought about it and said to the Holy Sprite “I forgive that person and I love them.” I kept saying it over and over. I went to bed that night, I can say it but now I have to mean it in my heart. Jesus said “abide in my love” If I am in love, I need to stay in that love and I need to not harbor a negative thing that separates me from the presents of God and that love. When I said my evening prayer I said once again “Okay, I forgive and I love that person and I mean it.” I woke up the next morning and morning pray became noon day prayer and I notice that my heart was lighter and it was a wonderful feeling. I couldn’t figured out what this lightness was that till I said my morning prayer, looking at my prayer list and that name came up and I said “yes I meant it” and that is what made me feel that I abide in the love. Once I let it go I was free…
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Abide
Posted on in Sermons by The Rev. David Marshall
In John’s letter, and in the Gospel according to John, the word “abide” is very important. John uses the word repeatedly, and in slightly different ways. Here are a few examples
* By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
* God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.
* God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
The challenge we have is that we don’t use “abide” in this way in common speech today. To grasp John’s message, and Jesus’ teaching about abiding, we need to do some work. In John’s letter and in the Gospel, “abide” is used much the way “believe” is used:
* To believe is to put your trust in another
* To believe is to cherish, and to hold dear
So, when we abide in God we are
* Trusting in God
* Loving God
* living in God,
Abide is also like the word abode. Both come from the same root.
* John Chapter 14: “In my father’s house there are many rooms…”
* The metaphor of a house is consistent with the language of abiding. To abide in God is to live in God…
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Worthy of Love and Belonging
Posted on in Sermons by The Rev. David Marshall
Jesus uses the metaphor of the Good Shepherd to describe the kind of relationship he offers, and the life he wants us to live. Jesus wants us to have life and to have it abundantly! Jesus also wants us to know that we belong to him. That means he will be faithful to US! Jesus will not abandon us when life is hard, full of conflict and struggle.
Jesus wants us to have life and to have it abundantly. That’s good news, but it also begs the question: How do we live that life? Or, perhaps, we might ask, what is keeping us from living that abundant life now? In a word, fear. More precisely, shame. Shame is the fear that we are unworthy of love and belonging.
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Jesus is Coming to Dinner
Posted on in Sermons by The Rev. David Marshall
Brother John offers his reflections on the experience of dining with the risen Christ. Jesus showed up in the locked room after dinner and they served him leftovers! With this humorous introduction, Brother John invites us to consider what we would do if Jesus called to say he was coming to dinner. Would you invite different people? Would you change the menu? Would you invite the Bishop? The Mayor? We live in the expectation that Jesus is present to us and available to us. When we consider what we would do if Jesus were coming to dinner, we make our hopes and expectations practical and concrete. Jesus is present. Jesus is coming to dinner. What will you do…
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In the Flesh
Posted on in Highlights, Sermons by The Rev. David Marshall
Why does Thomas doubt? Thomas is a bold, strong willed man of deep convictions. He has spent three years living, learning and working with Jesus. Thomas was ready to die with Jesus when Jesus announced that he was going back to Jerusalem and yet he doubts the resurrection.
So, why couldn’t he believe? And, how are we to believe if he could not? These are both important questions.
Let’s look at Thomas’ words to see if we can get a glimpse into his heart. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
These are such shocking words. Flesh, blood, wounds – mortal wounds. Thomas saw Jesus removed from the cross. He saw the grievous state of his hands and feet where the nails were ripped out. He saw the gash in his side where the soldier pierced him with a spear. We are talking about a human being who was murdered in a violent and cruel way. That is the Christ that Thomas knew…
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We are Witnesses to the Resurrection
Posted on in Sermons by The Rev. David Marshall
The ending of Mark is abrupt and unsettling. The women go to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body for burial only to find him gone. In his place is a young man in a dazzling white robe, possibly an angel. He addresses them in the customary fashion of an angel, “Do not be afraid.” Then he reassures them that Jesus is raised from the dead. The angel then instructs them to tell the rest of the disciples that Jesus will meet them in Galilee. The women are amazed and terrified, and they run away, too frightened to say anything about what they have seen.
That’s it. That’s the ending. No resurrection appearances. No appearing in locked rooms. No breakfast on the beach. No conversations on the road to Emmaus. The story just ends.
Apparently, Mark ended his Gospel in this way on purpose. The ending is a puzzle until we recognize the pattern that repeats itself throughout Mark: Those who should see and understand and recognize Jesus do not while those who do recognize Jesus as the Son of God are unreliable…
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Can We Forget?
Posted on in Sermons by The Rev. David Marshall
They shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. (Jer 31:34)
Jeremiah tells us of God choosing to forget our sins and iniquities when we return to God. Sin and iniquity are what separates us from god. When we return to God and give our faith to God, we have removed the separation. Relationship is what God wants, so God forgives the sin and iniquity and then forgets them to make relationship work. God won’t let anything get in the way of your relationship with God…
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The Light Reveals All
Posted on in Sermons by The Rev. David Marshall
We’ve all had the experience of trying to cross a room in the dark. Even in your own bedroom, in the dark, the short walk to the door can be risky. There are several good strategies for these nighttime walks. You can put your arms in front of you to protect your face, so you find the door with your hand instead of your nose. You can feel forward with your foot before taking a step. But no matter how careful we are, we all eventually stub a toe or trip over a coffee table, or a forgotten laundry basket. The more cluttered and messy the room, the more likely we are to get hurt.
In John’s Gospel the light is God’s love. God sends Jesus to light our way in a dark world. Without Jesus, and without the God that Jesus reveals for us, we are stumbling around in the dark, like a person trying to walk across a dark and cluttered room…
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Disappointment With God
Posted on in Sermons by The Rev. David Marshall
Today I want to talk about something difficult. I want to talk about disappointment with God. Many of us are reluctant to admit that we have been disappointed with God. Somehow disappointment with God has become associated with a lack of faith. Disappointment with God is equated with doubt in God, or at least, doubt in God’s goodness and love. We’re afraid to admit that we are disappointed with God because we don’t want to imply that we have lost our faith.
The problem with this is that when we are really and truly disappointed, or worse, when we are angry with God, we are left with the false choice of either denying our disappointment and pain or rejecting God. So, before we start talking about being disappointed with God I want to make clear that doubt is not a lack of faith. Doubt is a natural part of any relationship. We work through our doubts to make our way to trusting one another…
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