6th Sunday after Pentecost Mt 9:18-26, Romans 8:1-11, 2Kings 4 25-37

Preached by Sister Cecelia

Holy Wisdom Church

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Can you picture how this woman who had been considered unclean for 12 yrs had managed to get through the crowds surrounding Jesus to be able to touch even the fringe on his robe? She chose totally to ignore the fear of the repercussions if anyone recognized her and realized they were now unclean and would have to perform the ritual purifying enactments. She sensed she could not go up and ask Jesus directly for a cure but had heard such tales of his healing abilities and kindness that she was filled with hope and faith that he would heal her if she merely touched the tassel of his cloak. I have always doubted that Jesus did not know who had been healed. He wanted her to know it was all right to have done what she did and he wanted others to know how much he esteemed her faith in him to be able to heal her just with a touch.

For the sake of ritual purity this woman was ostracized from society. While we don’t have the same laws now, are there individuals that we ostracize from our society? What about those with addictions of any kind? Some science and medical practitioners indicate that opioid addiction, for example, is a chronic, often relapsing disease of the brain. Although the initial decision to take drugs may be voluntary, chemical and neurological changes to the brain severely restrict a person’s self -control. The disease hinders one’s ability to resist intense impulses to take drugs-despite harmful consequences to themselves and to others. I’ve been told that most addictions are treatable and there are things we each can do to help. We can encourage people in recovery, we can support treatment opportunities. We can commit to not use hurtful or damaging words about those who face addiction. There are many other opportunities we can do to lessen the difficulties of anyone who feels ostracized.

The crowds had heard the leader of a synagogue beg Jesus to come and touch his daughter who had just died. He was truly distressed and willing to try anything to bring her back to life. Was the crowd that got up to follow Jesus only curious to see another miracle performed or were they just excited to think a healer was among them and wanting to see for themselves? In the Hebrew scriptures the power to bring back life was often by touch, by laying on the inert body and or breathing into it. There is no denying that Jairus also had the faith that is so esteemed by Jesus. Matthew does not name the synagogue leader but we learn the fathers name Jairus from the other evangelists.

Our life depends on saying yes, we are with you, Jesus, and to the gift of faith given us. If we are sincere, our yes will be evident in everything we do. Jesus has said; whoever lives the truth comes to the light so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God and through. Perhaps what can be gleaned from the Epistle this morning is that when we have the Spirit of God within us, we have all the help we need to live for God and not for selfish or worldly ends.

When we receive the Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus we more than touch the fringe of Jesus’ garment. In faith we reenact the mystery of Jesus reaching out and touching us to give us his life. We are reminded that our bodies as well as our souls benefit by Christ touching us. When we receive Christ by faith, we begin an immediate personal relationship with God. This relationship has to be nourished by our taking time to think of God, to meditate, to read and reflect and most of all, to listen. It takes faith to keep on doing these things even when at times it can feel like we are doing nothing. The Holy Spirit works in us to help us become like Christ. Then everything we do, every action, no matter how lowly a job or how high, becomes a prayer The Spirit unites the Christian community in Christ. The Holy Spirt can be experienced by all and works through all of us.

Christ is in our midst!

Sermon 138; 2Kg5:1-14; Rm5:1-11; Mt8:5-13: Life’s lessons

As preached by Brother Luke,

Holy Wisdom Church


     This morning’s scripture readings bring me back to the time when I worked in the Department of Defense in Washington DC. Though a civilian, I worked within the military environment. Both the story about the Centurion and the story about Syrian General Naaman highlight lessons drawn from military culture. At first glance, both of these stories are about healings. They point to the power of God acting in the world. And yet I think there is another message for all of us that we should not overlook.

     At the heart of the Centurion story is his understanding of authority and how it is supposed to work. For a military organization to be effective everyone needs to be clear about authority and ready to respond in a positive way to commands. The Centurion’s training lays the foundation for this and his experience confirms it. So when he asks Jesus to heal his servant, he understands that Jesus has the power to make this happen. The Centurion is so convinced of this that he says to Jesus I’m not worthy for you to enter under the roof of my house, just say the word and it will be done. He does not expect Jesus to personally go and minister to his servant as a doctor would. Rather he believes that the power to heal will be activated simply on the command from Jesus. On hearing this, Jesus commends the Centurion for his faith. A faith that surpasses any that he has seen in Israel. A faith in Jesus’ authority, drawn from God, to affect a healing. Jesus was neither commending nor condemning the military mindset but rather affirming the Centurion’s wisdom to draw from his experience an understanding of faith in God’s power in the world.

     Of course, the military understanding of the top down quality of authority is only one aspect of the military culture. The story from 2nd Kings about the Syrian General [commander] Naaman and the Prophet Elisha adds another dimension to this paradigm. Although in those times it was not unusual for servants [or slaves] to be a part of the military retinue, today we might call them subordinates. So in this story the Israeli servant girl passes on information to Naaman about the prophet in Samaria, Elisha, who she says could cure his skin disease. This is an example of information [not authority] going from the bottom up. Naaman takes this information to the Syrian King hoping to get permission to go to this prophet. Naaman knows he needs the permission of the King to follow-up on the Israeli servant girl’s information. Again, utilizing the expected authority structure, top down. The King obliges and sends the general to Israel with a letter and gifts for the King in Israel. The Israeli King’s response is grist for another homily. In the end Naaman goes to see Elisha. However, Elisha does not meet the general but simply sends a message telling him what he needs to do to be cured. Sounds like Jesus and the Centurion’s servant. However, Naaman takes offense because what is happening does not conform to his expectations. He storms off but another servant [subordinate] speaks to him about the prophet’s instructions and convinces him to do what Elisha says to do. Why should these servants care about Naaman’s welfare? Whether we view this dynamic in terms of servant-master or subordinate-superior, the interests are the same. It is in the subordinate’s best interest for the superior, in this case the Syrian commander, to be well and successful. The subordinate casts his argument in a way that he believes is most likely to convince Naaman to do what is in his best interests, even though the commander does not see it. This reminds me of the way information is passed on in the government and other large organizations. Massive reports always come with Executive Summaries which are usually the only part of the report most executives will ever read. If decisions are needed, usually three options are given and the often used strategy is to make option B the one you want the executive to choose. It’s all about how information is presented. The servant crafted his argument to appeal to Naaman’s desire to be strong in spite of his disease. When Naaman agrees to do what Elisha instructed him to do and is cured, he then goes to Elisha to thank him and to declare that Elisha’s God is the only true God and he will henceforth pay homage to that God.

     So we have two different stories set in a military context that ultimately bring the central character to an understanding of who the true God is. The centurion applies his training and experience about authority to come to a faith in Jesus while Naaman, by relying on information from subordinates, aware of its value, is also brought to a realization of the true God. Life’s experiences brought them both to God. But these paths were their paths. They are not the only paths. Indeed, they are not necessarily the ideal paths. They simply illustrate a more generic truth. In our search for God we might learn from these stories not to dismiss life’s lessons for they may well be the avenues leading us to God.

     Christ is in our midst.

Homily for the Sunday of the Fathers of Nicea 2016

As preached by Brother Christopher

Holy Wisdom Church

          Next week on Pentecost, for the first time in about 1200 years, the heads of the autocephalous Orthodox churches are scheduled to meet in Crete in a great and Holy Council. This has been in the planning for close to a hundred years; everyone in Orthodoxy knows and agrees in principal that it is desperately needed. And yet in recent months there are disturbing signs that all of the planning and hard work is once again going to fall short of of realization: the Church of Georgia stated recently that it could not sign one of the chief documents on relations with the non-Orthodox churches; just this past week the Church of Bulgaria said that it is not going to attend the Council at all, and the Antiochene Church has also threatened to boycott the event due to a jurisdictional dispute with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem over the Church in Qatar... there are even reports of heated disagreements over seating arrangements for the hierarchs that threaten the Council. It leaves one wondering if we shall ever get beyond the pettiness that has so often crippled Orthodox church life in recent centuries. Put cynically, “Where’s an emperor when you need him?” 

          All of this is strangely relevant to today’s celebration, when we honor the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council that was held long ago at Nicea in 325. That Council was called by the Emperor Constantine and intended to establish clarity and unity in Christian doctrine and church life. The issues were far more contentious than those we’re carping about today: for example, whether Jesus was really one essence with the Father -- whether he was the Eternal Word incarnate, or whether he was, as Arius claimed, merely a magnificent creature, the nicest of guys. Those Fathers also came out with a common creed that expressed the essentials of Christian faith that have remained in place even to this day. Those hierarchs met in council together throughout that year, argued passionately for their beliefs and ultimately came to a common clarity of faith through dialogue and discernment. What would Orthodox Christian faith be without that initial Council? It leads one to wonder, “we claim that we are the Church of the Fathers. Yet how faithful to the spirit of those Fathers are the games we see being played out in advance of the coming Great and Holy Council?” We will have to wait and see whether the movement of the Spirit at Pentecost is able to rouse the Council set to meet in Crete, or whether we shall have to simply put up with more frustration and embarrassment as a Church that cannot seem to read the signs of the times as a true kairos moment. Lord have mercy! 

          In this morning’s gospel the high priest Caiaphas states, “You know nothing at all.  You do not understand that it is better to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.”  Caiaphas doesn’t realize the true import of what he has said: this passage has often been used to show that Jesus died for our sins. While that is true, unfortunately it has been understood in a toxic way -- particularly in the Christian West -- to reinforce an atonement theology grounded in substitution. Jesus is the one who dies in our stead. He is the scapegoat, the perfect victim who appeases the Divine anger for all of our sins. It is a strange concept: God requires Jesus to die on the cross to free the debt we owe, to pay the penalty for our own sin and disobedience. God demands payment, and so Jesus‘ sacrifice becomes a juridical transaction. If that’s what it means to be saved, then it turns God into something of a legalist. 

          But there is another way of looking at Jesus’ sacrifice that seems to me much more in harmony with the gospel. The salvation offered to us by Jesus is contingent on revealing just how completely, how unconditionally we are loved. Jesus was put to death because he preached a message that was at variance with the Jewish status quo. His was a true Gospel, good news, a message that revealed God’s kingdom as one of  inclusion, as open to all who repent. By challenging the hypocrisy, rigidity and narrowness of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus angered them to such an extent that they conspired to put him to death. And they did. But Jesus on the cross reveals the extent that God will go to help us understand God’s limitless love for us. He will go even to the death. And that is just the mystery of Christ that Paul understood and was transformed by, that he speaks of in his letter to the Ephesians when he prays that we will have

“the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

That is what the Fathers at Nicea were ultimately about, what they saw in Jesus and what they intended to pass on to us. Please God, may the Fathers at this coming Great and Holy Council be as faithful and vigilant as those who met at Nicea so long ago. 

Sermon 137; Is2:1-5; Ac 1:1-12; Lk24:36-53: Ascension: Abandoned

As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

I'm leavin' on a jet plane/ I don't know when I'll be back again. For some reason, while thinking about this feast and the scripture passages from Luke’s gospel and Acts, these lyrics from that old song kept coming to mind. John Denver; Peter, Paul and Mary and many others sang that song. It is about a departure with no return expected. Many of us may have experienced that special fascination of watching a plane take off from an airport, rise into the sky and fly away, slowly shrinking to a small speck and then disappearing from view. And if the plane also had a friend or loved one on board, the emotions around that departure can become quite intense. We may not know if we will ever see that person again. Or we may know that we will never see that person again. In which case, feelings of loss, grief, sadness, disappointment, estrangement and abandonment may arise. My guess is that the apostles at the Ascension had some of the same feelings. The icon of the feast shows their confusion and fear.

Back in January 2007 at Br Elias funeral, I spoke about our loss: “The reality of his departure from us will sink into each one at a different time and in a different way. In our house, we may have begun to get used to his absence over the past year since he was away most of the last 12 months in hospitals or rehabilitation centers, but still he was at the other end of the telephone, he was there when we visited him and he did fight to come back and be with us for a few weeks despite his deteriorating health. But after today, when we gather to pray in church, he won’t be there, when we gather around the table for meals, he won’t be there when we gather to relax in our recreation room, he won’t be there either. And we will know it and we will feel it and we will feel the emotion of that loss welling up inside and we will cry. And that’s ok. It’s grieving. It must be done. We must cry over the loss of Brother Elias even as we celebrate the life that was with us but is now with God.”

After the funeral, Fr Alexis Vinogradov came up to me and said that as Orthodox we understand that even though he died he is still with us. And I said that is well and good but what I meant was that physically he is no longer with us. But of course, when someone is no longer with us physically, still we do feel that person’s presence in other non-tangible but real ways. We can be reminded of the person’s humor at recreation, or of their cooking at meals or of their presence in church during services. They can return in dreams and at times we may simply feel their presence in the room even though physically they are not there. This is the mystery that Vino was talking about and it is at the center of this feast. Indeed, the beginning and end of the paschal season is marked by this mystery. At Pascha Christ returns from the dead, only to depart again at the Ascension. Remember at the beginning of the paschal season Christ told the apostle Thomas, blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe. And here at the Ascension, Christ is telling the apostles that he will not leave them orphans, he will send them the holy spirit; even as he disappears from their sight. So this leaves them and us with the call to believe in something we cannot see. And we are asked to do this at the very time that we feel abandoned.

This feast is about more than Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It is about our connection to that realm into which we will all pass. The Ascension is both separation and preparation. We are being prepared to receive the unseeable Holy Spirit. The Spirit that is God’s presence everywhere, in all things and in all living beings. That spirit is in every one of us. That spirit is what carries us to Jesus, to the realm beyond this physical world. The icon of Holy Wisdom behind the altar has the mandorla, the image of uncreated light and the passageway to the realm of Kairos time. The same mandorla is depicted in the Ascension icon on display in the narthex. In that icon, Christ, though further removed from us in the image, is at the opening created by the mandorla, going before us preparing the way as he said he would. The Spirit moves between both Chronos time [the time ticking in our present physical world] and Kairos time [the realm of timelessness] and is the conveyance that brings us God’s presence and indeed the presence of all those who have gone before us and ultimately conveys us to God.

So how does this feast help us to deal with abandonment, [separation, broken connections, departures]? By reminding us that no one is abandoned or lost. Not only does God remember all but God brings all together. We experience that reality every time we feel God’s presence and indeed the presence of others. The laws of the physical world may rearrange the pieces of this earthly puzzle, but in that realm beyond our reach, all the pieces are put back together as the fulfillment of God’s plan. No one is lost. No one is left abandoned.



Christ is in our midst!

As Preached by Brother Marc

May 24, 2016
Holy Wisdom Church

Emily Dickenson famously wrote, "They say, that God is everywhere, and yet, we always think of Him, as somewhat of a recluse."

As we know, the Jewish people of God in today’s story were governed by harsh and ruthless authorities.

Hard words were needed if someone were to give voice to the ancient prophets. They had to be dramatic words: I bless and I accuse. I warn and I bring mercy.

If Jesus simply claimed he was new prophet speaking those very words of God—the powers that be would have laughed. They did so in fact, by saying no prophet comes from Galilee. Who does he think he is?

As we know, Moses predicted God will raise up a prophet “as he raised me up.” Isaiah 700 years before Christ said, “Know that your ways are not my ways. My Word goes forth until it brings reconciliation. The chastisement of our world was upon Him, and by His wounds we were healed.” John the Forerunner said, “He will baptize with the Holy Spirit, and with fire.” (Matt. 3:11)

But even so, in fact, Jesus said much more, “I and the Father are one.”

That woke everyone up: How could it be possible, even to suggest this? Who could prove Jesus' teaching was from God and not merely from himself? Those in charge were not just skeptical—they were threatened on many levels from another dimension.

Recalling “My ways are not your ways,” Jesus continued: The world does not recognize me. You seek glory from one another instead of from God. You do not know God—Not the presence, nor the miracle of grace in the midst of destruction; not the pearl of great price or hidden treasure in the middle of a field.

Our desires and natural egotism are deeply, often unknowingly, antagonistic and resistant toward God. Jesus said “Those who are by some grace aligned with God’s ways recognize I do the will of God. They know whether my words are from God or whether I am setting up my own doctrine. You know in your heart of hearts, existentially, in your gut feeling, e.g. ‘My spirit leaps for joy.’”

This is truth as satisfying, liberating, creative, life-giving, real, reality, from the perspective of the highest things. Here it is a matter of the survival of the human spirit. He says, “To glory in my own glory and power would be a lie; being willing to die for my teaching gives witness to the truth.”

This was not mere political maneuvering. These words broke through the boundaries of mere religion. Neither was this the fickle messianic projection of the multitudes! He says, “It is not about me. I am not in control of Life’s ways, the ways of the one who sent me.” Here religiosity and spirituality are confronted by authentic religion, by the profound call and guidance of the spirit.

He was known by works of compassion and healing. His message was, “Take up your cross: I came to suffer and die: it is for this purpose I come to this hour.” Everyone must die; he accepts to die even before his time, if it must be so.

After the resurrection event it took until Nicaea to begin to gain the clarity to have agreement on the event and the teaching, and how to talk about it. What about us, who know the story and the history?

It is not enough to be a completely sincere and genuine person who wants to do what is right. Many have missed heaven by 18 inches, the distance between the head and the heart. We need to have both of them healed and blest with interior harmony.

“No one ever spoke like this, ‘I am meek and humble of heart.’” Is he more than a friend of God, a prophet? “You have words of life. Who else can we turn to?” To possess the virtue of faith is to experience authentic knowing, to use a special quality of words, and to develop character.

Trust is not a simply the decision to believe apparent facts. Instead, it is a coming to the Lord—as a feast, a banquet, and a spring in the desert when we are dying of thirst. Believing is receiving the Lord as water, food, and life for the soul.

Paralytic

MAY 22 16 1JN 3:16-24, AC 3:1-16, JN 5:1-15 Christ is Risen!

As Preached by Sister Cecelia, Holy Wisdom Church


This morning’s gospel is a simple story that probably had more fact than symbolism concerning the poor man for whom Jesus felt such compassion. Instead of the joy one might expect to see from this invalid regaining his health, much disapproval and anger takes place. It was the Sabbath and no work is to be done on the Sabbath. The original law only stated the Sabbath was to be different than the other days and that neither a man nor his servants nor his animals were to work on that day. Through the years this simple rule was made into thousands of minute rules and regulations, many carrying a punishment of being stoned to death if broken. That sort of explains why the paralytic excused his carrying his bed and then later went to the leaders naming Jesus as the man who told him to carry his bed. After regaining his health he did not relish the idea of being stoned.

Some of us appreciate symbolic meanings in writing and art works more than others but all of us can derive some meaning from symbolism. It is doubtful that St. John wrote about the paralytic with any allegorical meaning in mind but that has not prevented many from seeing even deeper meaning into the story.

Some scholars have interpreted the paralyzed man as standing for the people of Israel. The 5 porches are interpreted as the 5 books of the law. In those same porches the people lay ill. The law could lay bare a person’s weaknesses but could not mend or cure them. The law, like the porches, could shelter the sick but could never heal them. The 38 yrs stand for the centuries the people had been waiting for the Messiah. The stirring of the waters stands for baptism. There are in some early Christian art depictions of a man rising from the baptismal waters carrying a bed upon his back.

Aside from seeing the allegorical meaning that could be attached to this gospel, compassion stemming from love is the theme of all three readings today. Jesus is telling us that God did not stop working on the Sabbath and neither did he. God rested from the work of creation but the work of compassion, love, mercy and judgement continues. Jesus teaches that human need must be helped. Other work may be laid aside but the work of compassion - no. The Christian’s compassion must become like God’s, unceasing.

What brings about our ability to love and be compassionate as God is? There are two things that seem necessary . It is the realization that those who suffer are simply the other side of ourselves.

They remind us of our own vulnerability. Compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all living beings. We are all part of one another, and all involved with one another. Sympathy understands the feelings of the one who suffers; empathy feels the feelings of those who suffer and are moved to help relieve the suffering.

The other realization is that we have no power of our own. We can be only channels of the power of our Risen Lord. If I only think of what I can do and be, it is most likely that I will experience great frustration and fear. If I think rather, not I, but Christ in me, there will be peace and power.

Knowing our own shortcomings and weaknesses, we all depend on the compassion of God.

Are there others depending on me for the same thing?

Christ is in our midst!

Beyond Expectations

As preached by Brother Luke, Holy Wisdom Church

Sermon 136: Col 1:13b-20; Ac2:22-36; Jn 20:19-31

Back in 1949, when I was born, Harry S. Truman was President. He was from Missouri and we all know Missouri is the “show me” state. Their motto is: “we have to see it to believe it.” Isn’t this the usual human response. We want tangible proof, preferably something we can touch, grab on to and know concretely that it is real. Doubting Thomas is a common expression even for those who have no idea about its origin. Today the church places before us the event that spawned the phrase “doubting Thomas.”

Isn’t it amazing that last week we celebrated the most important event in our Christian understanding of salvation history, the resurrection of Christ. And yet, just one week later the church introduces doubt. We aren’t allowed to get comfortable with any of these teachings. One week we have Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem and yet before the week is out he is nailed to a cross and dies. His followers flee the crucifixion and now some fear the resurrection while others doubt it. And yet, this sequence of events, far from being beyond our comprehension, in fact mirrors our very natural human experience.

We are in the middle of a presidential election season. In January a new president will take office and at that time he or she will be accorded the usual honeymoon, often lasting 100 days. It is during that period that the president begins to get the new administration’s staff in place, starts to articulate the administration’s goals, and craft the programs that are intended to achieve those goals. But it won’t be long before doubt arises. Personnel choices will be questioned; program initiatives will go to congress to go under sometimes hostile scrutiny. Public opinion polls may begin to reveal that voters now have second thoughts. In other words, the honeymoon will be over.

Of course the expression honeymoon originates with marriage. We might think of it as the special trip which immediately follows the wedding. It may be more than a trip; it may last much longer. But at some point the cute little things you overlooked aren’t so cute any more. Those small things you thought you could live with now seem unbearable. And some things you never knew about come to light. And looking at the sad statistics about divorce, it seems that seeing beyond the problems and keeping in mind the joy behind the original decision get crushed in the new reality.

This is why our gospel lesson today is so important. It intends to remind us of the larger issue. Note what Jesus said to Thomas. He is happy that Thomas, who has seen the risen Lord, now believes, but even more: Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe. And I believe happy is the important word here. How can we live, In the Spirit of Happiness, as we wrote about it many years ago? What is the happiness to which Jesus refers?

Christ says his kingdom is not of this world. What world is he referring to? The world that wants to deny the reality of the pain, sorrow and death that await us all. The world that closes its eyes to the poor and the marginalized. The world that wants only to see life as endless opportunities for pleasure and fulfillment. For Christ, his kingdom embraces all the joys and sorrows of this world and Christ accompanies us through it all for he has experienced it all. But he also calls us to a reality beyond our expectations.

So for all of us, who were not present when Thomas met the risen Lord, Christ is calling us to live beyond our expectations. To live in faith, confident that beyond all of this is the place prepared for us to which Jesus accompanies us. It is in living in that place, that kingdom of God, that place beyond expectations, that we experience true happiness. And that place includes the here and now.

Thomas expected Jesus to be dead and buried. The unexpected happened. Thomas’ life was changed forever and he worked to spread the Good News far into Asia and beyond. The church continues to present this story to us so that we too may know the happiness of faith in the unexpected. Faith that affirms: Christ is Risen!