Heralds of His tender mercies . . .

      I am really struggling internally with not being able to preach on the Old Testament.  It has been since the middle of Lent, but the call is to preach His Word not mine.  Though I will point out to us that, although Solomon asks for wisdom and God is pleased, for how long does Solomon act wisely?  Brian gets the gold star today, until he decides to marry the Egyptian princess to strengthen ties with Egypt.  Hopefully y’all remember that Israel was commanded not to take spouses from outside Israel or they would lead Israel from God into idolatry.  The king was subject to that as well, plus the reminder that, if the king was faithful to the Covenant and his responsibilities, God would protect him and Israel from foreign adversaries.

     It was easy for me to feel God’s nudge this week, though.  I have often remarked that I need to do a sermon series on the Collects.  Every now and again for the last eleven years, I have preached on them.  Some of you have expressed your surprise at how much Scripture is in our Collects, as if they are not part of the BCP.  But this idea of mercy was front in center of our life together the last couple weeks.  Besides the parables in Matthew are super easy this week, right?  Jesus is THE focus of Salvation History, right?  We know that by His Resurrection and Ascension, and all the miracles He performed.  Anybody want to argue?  Good.  That means Jesus is THE mustard seed of the first parable, THE yeast in the flour of our lives, THE treasure hidden in a field, and THE pearl of great value.  That’s how the Church has understood these parables.  Everybody with me, and do not be like the disciples and crowd that says yes when Jesus asks if they understand what He just said.  Lol.

     Now, in case it did not sink in on the teaching between the wheat and the weeds, Jesus is again reminding us and those in the crowd that angels will be responsible for separating the evil from the righteous.  Do we have any role in the judgement of salvation?  Good, no.  And just to remind ourselves, righteous is a term that does not mean holy or perfect.  Righteous means someone has been forgiven by God.  We know this, right?  What do we do we promise to do when we fall into sin every time we hear our baptismal vows?  That’s right, repent and return to the Lord.  What do we do right before the peace at the Eucharist so that we can come and receive the Eucharist without fear of profaning it or heaping condemnation upon ourselves?  That’s right, repent and hear the words of absolution.  Any questions?  Good.  Let’s get to the Collect and sermon.

     Our collect today is one of those written by Cranmer and used to be the Collect for the fifth Sunday after Pentecost (fourth after Trinity).  Cranmer took it from the Gregorian Sacramentary and translated the Latin into English, for those of us who like historical roots of our BCP.  Anglicans will sometimes get caught up in fights about whether we can lose our salvation as the Collect suggests, by getting too caught up in the temporal world that we lose our focus on Jesus.  Most of us would probably agree with Cranmer since Jesus teaches in the parable of the soils, which we read a couple ago, that we can get too caught up in the cares of the world that we fail to bear any good fruit.  Right?  I was not called to enjoying you to that fight today, however.  I do believe I was called to remind you of the antidote to that risk.  Increase and multiply upon us Thy mercy.

     God’s mercy figures prominently in our lessons and songs today.  Thy mercies, how tender!  How firm to the end! – the end of the fifth processional hymn today.  The Gospel hymn is all about mercy, even though the word is not used.  The psalmist also speaks to it, right?  We recognize on a certain level, then, that without God’s mercy in our lives, we can lose sight of the goal.  If we become so caught up in things of this world, we run the risk of losing the real treasure that we seek, namely Jesus.   The Good News, though, is that God reinforces this all the time by His acts of mercy.  When we are aware of His mercy, when we have inwardly digested His mercy is always in play in our lives as disciples, we are better able to face the challenges and temptations the world throws at us and keep our eyes focused on Great Treasure, Jesus.

     Part of the ease of this sermon was God’s mercy in our corporate life this week.  If you are visiting, we have a feeding ministry that fed about 72,000 individuals last year and distributed north of 400,000 pounds of food.  We think of it as a vibrant, if rather crazy and overwhelming ministry of the parish.  God’s mercy is always providing us with great things to distribute.  Think of your favorite food, like your ultimate comfort food, and we have likely received it and given to others who love it, too.

     Back in the ice storm, some of you might be aware we lost a freezer full of chicken,  somewhere around 300 pounds.  What makes it weird was that everything was frozen during the ice storm.  We did not get above 30 degrees here.  What made it weirder was that the freezer was down in the basement of the parish hall, which means it was at the lowest part of the campus and, theoretically at least, should have been the coldest of the air in the building, right?  When Hilary made it down there, in part because it never occurred to Sarah or me that, since the food upstairs in the freezer was staying frozen, the food downstairs in the freezer might thaw, she discovered it had thawed and made a mess of chicken juice in the freezer and the floor.  I know, yuck.  Hilary can tell you about lots of glorious work like that in this ministry.  

     We threw the chicken away because we did not know when it had thawed and whether it was safe.  We are, after all, trying to feed people, not make them sick.

     A few weeks later, Susan Abington and Mark Hunter, a deacon in the diocese, reached out to see if we had suffered any losses that impacted those whom we serve.  Apparently trees knocking down power lines did not count with ERD.  I am teasing.  Episcopal Relief & Development does great work.  Whenever there is an emergency in the country and around the world, ERD tries to work with local Episcopal or Anglican churches to get needed supplies and other help where it is needed.  If you are able, and God puts it on your heart, consider giving to them when you want our churches ministering in devastation.

     Anyway, the chicken was the only foodstuff we lost, and I was told to get an estimate of replacement cost.  ERD wanted to help us make sure no one went hungry because of the loss and the ice storm.

     I received a call last week from a lady claiming to be from ERD.  She wanted to know if it was true that we had somehow turned our lost chicken into more chicken.  It was true.  I had asked a lady at ERD between the time we applied and the time the diocese received the grant if I had to replace boneless, skinless chicken breasts with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  The lady with whom I spoke asked why.  I told her we serve 86 people groups or so.  Different people like different parts of the chicken.  Some like dark meat.  Some like white meat.  Some like legs.  Everyone seems to love wings, right Hilary?  She, of course, said sure.  She said I could probably get other proteins if I made the case, but I told her we would stick with chicken to make it easier.

     I headed to the local butcher that helps us during Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Michael was, as you might imagine, willing to help.  I was kind of useless to him as I told him I had about $1500 to spend and was willing to accept anything he might suggest at a good price.  Kyle had moved on as store manager, and Damon, I think is his name, needed to be involved due to some changes in company policy.  We settled on how to do it, when to pay, when to pick up, and all the details.  I told them what I preferred, but I trusted Michael to get us a good deal.  We ended up with a bit over 600 pounds of different chicken.  We got some boneless, skinless breasts; we received wings and other cuts.  We had dark meat; we had white meat.  We had bones and no bones.  We ended up with about 600 pounds of chicken.  We had only lost 300.  How did we do this, the lady asked?  I told her God did it.  She gave me the “no, seriously” response that people do when they first hear about God’s crazy and merciful provision in this ministry.  I told her, “Seriously, it IS God.”  We are not smart enough or creative enough to do the things He does.  And we know, as a result that it is Him.  All of us are vaccinated against pride and despair in this work because of God’s faithful and merciful provision.  He allows us to give the food insecure a choice between HagenDas and Ben & Jerry’s. God is the one who lets our volunteers offer the food insecure lobster or tuna steaks; T-Bones or Ribeyes; Salmon or Shrimp?  

     The people we serve would be happy with whatever we offer.  Those oppressed by hunger are often convinced they deserve nothing more than noodles or rice or peanut butter.  In truth, they are shocked when we give them a choice during their initial visit.  But those crazy choices lead to those conversations where we get to remind them of God’s love of them, of His willingness to provide His Best, in Jesus and in immediate needs, to remind us all of that Truth.  And, lest we forget, God is the Creator and Maker of all things.  We of all people in the world should expect for Him to be able to provide, but especially when His Son is being glorified in our life and witness.

     As you might expect, given ERD’s mission, the lady loved the story and asked for permission to share.  I, of course, reminded her that ERD was part of that work now.  Had they not done what they did, Michael could not have done what he did, and we could not have done what we did.  I learned they may or may not be part of the story as she thought we exceeded the grant size.  That means the bishop filled in the gap instead of ERD, but ERD was willing and did for other congregations in our diocese.  A willing heart counts for an awful lot in God’s eyes.  

     I know that some of us get tired of hearing the stories about Body & Soul or Room in the Inn.  Other ministries happen; worship happens; Bible study happens; fellowship events; and who knows what else.  It is just that God is so visible in some aspects of our corporate life that even Bartimaeus would see it.  We live in an area where we are tempted to think we deserve God’s grace, where we are tempted uncritically to think that we merit the lives we live.  I mean, most of us would never expect to have to use a food pantry.  All of us live in the United States.  Most of us live in Brentwood which might be the very opposite of privation.  But God knows us.  He knows the challenges we face; He knows the traumas that have shaped us; and He knows the attitudes we have expressed and believed.  Because He knows our weaknesses He is ever in our midst proving His mercy to us, demonstrating His merciful care of all through us, that others in the world might turn to His saving embrace.  And because He loves us and He wants us to remember our need of His mercy in our lives, He makes us heralds in the lives of others, that we might keep our focus on Him, our protector, our strength, and our focus of salvation!

In His mercy!

Brian+

Trinity Sunday 2026

      Ok, I promised 8 o’clockers I would trust them and preach a bit longer.  Why do we read the first creation story today?  If you get it correct, you can head to the Parish Hall for coffee until we partake of the Eucharist.  Don’t laugh too much, the real sermon is short.  We read it, in part, because we have finished reminding ourselves about the great works of the Gospel.  We intentionally reminded ourselves that Christ has come and will come again in Advent; we celebrate the Incarnation, we remind ourselves intentional that God manifested Christ to the Gentiles during Epiphany; we remind ourselves of our need for a Savior during Lent; we remember the Passion and Death of our Lord Christ during Holy Week; we celebrate His Resurrection and its consequences on Easter; we remember the Ascension on the Thursday service everyone skips during Easter; and we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  The rest of the year will be spent on learning what it means to grow in discipleship, what those events we intentionally remind ourselves each year mean to our lives in this world, in this place, and at this time.  It means I could skip Trinity Sunday and jump right into that, if I preferred.

     On this day, Trinity Sunday, it could be fun to preach on the promise we have that we will one glorious Day be a part of that intimate relationship that we know as the Trinity.  Part of what we celebrated on Ascension was the fact that a part of us has ascended with Jesus back to the Godhead.  Right?

     Paul shares a wonderful blessing in Second Corinthians.  Certainly it would be good for us to be mindful of those things of which he writes the Church in Corinth.

     And the Gospel lesson is Jesus’ reminder that He has been given authority over all things in heaven and on earth and that we have been sent to baptize in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  You would think there’d be little disagreement with that part, but you would be admitting you do not pay much attention to what is happening outside these walls.  Nowadays, when I have to certify that someone was baptized at Advent, I have to certify that no one used anything other than the Trinitarian formula for the baptism.  Anything else is considered invalid by the wider Church, and rightfully so.

     In truth, I knew I would be preaching on the Trinity before I picked up the readings.  I have shared how clergy often pass off preaching this day to assistants or seminarians.  The problem is that we are speaking of a Holy Mystery when we talk about the Trinity.  Often, no matter how well intended when we start, we begin quickly to drift off into anathemas or outright heresies as we try to explain the Trinity.  Worse, we can preach a wonderful doctrinal statement that goes on and on and on, but seems to have no practical purpose.  But as I worked my way through study this week, I was drawn back to a passion of one of my colleagues.  So I am plagiarizing her.  Well, I am giving her credit, so I am not really plagiarising.  But you get the idea.

     Before I begin, everyone turn in your prayer books to page 864.  Yes.  I am serious.  I am encouraging us all to turn to the historical documents.  Like I said, I have to stretch this out a bit.  At the bottom of the page is the Anathansian Creed.  Take your time and start reading it for comprehension.  I’ll be quiet for a few moments to let you get into it. . . . 

     Is anybody bored yet?  You are bored with God?  Lol  I am only teasing.  A number of our brothers and sisters will say this creed today, and a few of my colleagues will likely preach on it.  There will be wringing of hands because, gasp, it may not have been written by Athanasius.  In fact, our oldest copy is from the 6th Century, which means that one was not written by Athanasius.  Because you have a classicist for a priest and he makes you learn about obscure things like copyright and marketing in the ANE, you all understand that a disciple of Athanasius could have written the creed and attributed it to his master.  As long as Athanasius, or most of his disciples, agreed, it would be accepted as expressing the teachings of Athanasius.

     Athanasius is famous in the Church, sainted to be more precise, for His defense of the faith against Arius, who argued that there was a time when Christ was not.  Arius believed that Jesus was subordinate to the Father, that Jesus was created by the Father.  It was his teachings that caused the bishops to council to settle matters like this at Nicea.  The end result of that gathering was the Nicene Creed.  To be fair, the end result was that the Church accepted the Nicene and Apostles’ Creed as distillations of the Christians faith.  To be a Christian, one had to accept those creeds.  Interestingly, most of the Church accepts the Athanasian Creed as on equal footing with the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds.  But that is why I am not making you recite that creed today.  Principal worship is meant to be ecumenical.  Since some in our church hold that the Athanasian Creed is not on the same level as the other two creeds, we do not honor their discernment by acting as if it is.  We want to be good hosts, if other Christians are joining us for this celebration, right?

     Look again at the length of that creed.  See how long it is.  Do you have an idea how long it would take us to recite it?  Would we really comprehend everything we said, or have you found some challenging spots?  Ok, in lieu of that, I was reminded of a passionate conversation led by the Rev. Dr. Kara Slade, the head of the Anglican House at Princeton.  Most of you know Timothy Kimbrough is the head of the Anglican House at Duke, right?  Same work, different college.

     If her name tickles your mind a bit, she has been one of our colloquium lecturers since the pandemic.  In fact, the year I missed because I had COVID, she came and taught the clergy about time being a forgotten creation.  We forget that time is made by God and, so, is something we can and should offer and not be too surprised when He gives us more.  I would describe Kara as being among those esteemed clergy who believe that the Holy Spirit can give a charism of sarcasm at one’s ordination and might think she received a double measure.  Bishop John, of course, disagrees, but he did invite her to teach the clergy of the diocese.

     Kara’s charge at Princeton is to make sure that anyone in the Anglican world of denominations who graduates from Princeton, understands the theologies of Anglicanism, both the thought and the liturgical practice, much like Dean Kimbrough at Duke.  We learned some time ago that Trinity Sunday drives her nuts.  The seminarians, far too often, were called upon to preach and rightfully stressed about it.  She is their pastor in a sense, so it makes sense that it agitated her.  This is a hard enough job without people, especially clergy, setting us up to fail.  So she asked if we assigned the preaching to anyone but ourselves for this day.  Thankfully, in that very specific community, most of us did not.

     But Kara has to engage with the wider Church, not just those blessed with a love of the Gospel and a double portion of sarcasm given at their ordination.  She refused to tell us who set her off.  In fact, I think she had a disclaimer that this was not directed at anyone in particular.  But one year, on all her social media platforms, she posted the quintessential sermon for Trinity Sunday.  This was the 8am sermon, so you can write this down in the event someone questions you about the Trinity.  The identity of God is shown to us in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit!  Yes, I can repeat it.  The identity of God is shown to us in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit!  Later, when you get home, read that Athanasian Creed in your BCP and compare it against Kara’s sermon.  You will quickly see why she is a professor at Princeton.  It is an 18-word sermon.  It describes a Holy Mystery.  Does it forget anything?

     Because 8am fussed a bit, think of the Holy Spirit.  How do we know Jesus is the beloved of God, the Anointed?  Right, at His baptism the Spirit descends like a dove. Anointing Him.  How do we perceive He is the Messiah, the Christ?  That’s right, through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Her short sermon picks up the instruction that the Holy Spirit is present at His Anointing and our perceiving.  It makes more sense to us Adventers because we look back to the Nativity, reminding ourselves He came down from heaven and became fully human, and we look forward to His Second Coming, when He will come to complete the task of Re-Creation.  So now you have a great sermon to share, if anyone ever asks you about the Trinity.

     Oh, I almost forgot.  Kara shared our sermon illustrations.  Again, she is making sure Anglicans graduating from Princeton can preach and teach, and we do have a reputation to uphold, right?  She ended her posts withDon’t try and explain the doctrine, just preach the ding dang Gospel!  Us being us, you know, given a double portion of sarcasm, focused hard on ding dang that week.  Most of us assumed it was a theological term that came from an ancient language that none of us knew.  Good, you know what Princeton academics are like.  I see some of you were given that same charism as some of us clergy by the Holy Spirit by your chuckling.  Remember that when Bishop John comes, especially if you hear him arguing with me that sarcasm is NOT a gift of the Holy Spirit.

     But to the depth of her sermon, think on this: Who gives you what to say?  That’s right, the Holy Spirit.  Her sermon was so spot on, so full of Good News, that she reminded you, even though you had forgotten it, that the Holy Spirit empowers you to do the work that God has given you to do.  If someone asks you about the Trinity, you are being asked to share the Gospel, not a doctrine.  You are being asked to tell how you heard the Gospel, why you chose to believe the Gospel, and the impact the Gospel has on you as you live in this world.  People are not interested in doctrine.  When people ask, they want to know why we believe.  All we have to do is answer their question and their follow-up’s.  That’s it.  Because Christ has ascended and the Holy Spirit has come, you and I are fit ambassadors of God.  And all we need do is to tell people why we believe and live as we live and believe.  The rest is, as they say, up to God, just as it always has been!

In His peace and power,

Brian+