It is such a blessing for me to be with people at the end of their lives, right before they die, to pray the Litany at the Time of Death. That is the Episcopal name for last rites. It is such a sacred time, in those hours when someone is transitioning to life in all its fullness with God. And what is so amazing to me is when deeply faithful people, people who have come to church every Sunday for their entire lives, sometimes in the midst of great suffering, express how grateful they are for their life and grateful for their connection to God. It makes me appreciate just how effective the liturgy is, transforming us little by little, week by week, into people who know how to give thanks and to whom to offer it.
Read MoreStewardship is the spiritual practice of gratitude. It is the acknowledgement that we have been entrusted with something precious. Something bigger than ourselves. Something calling us to place our trust in God and God’s work in this community.
If you are sitting here today, you have been called into the life of Saint George’s as a participant. You will be accounted for in her books. You will feed at her altar. You are her.
Read MoreThe prophet Amos’ fiery condemnation, or ‘naming and shaming’ of those in Israel who live lives of gross overabundance while neglecting the needs of the poor among them is one of the most common themes spoken about by all the prophets. Amos happens to be the most prominent example of this. His concern with rampant economic inequality is not just a concern about a disordered earthly economy, but it is concern about a breach of covenant with God and God’s divine economy.
Read MoreSo often, what comes between us and truth is us. The truth is, after all, dangerous. It confronts us. Convicts us. Destroys the worlds we build for ourselves, the lies we tell ourselves, the reliance we place in ourselves, in favor of submission to something beyond ourselves.
We stubbornly and all too often believe we know the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help us God.And we hold tightly to what we think we know, when really the pathway to truth is one of surrender. You see, it’s hard to see the truth with a closed heart and a clenched fist. To journey towards truth requires a letting go.
Read MoreHow do Jesus’ words today help us to see God at work in all of these events?
“Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.”
The shepherd in the parable today knows each and every one of his sheep, the ones who stick with the herd and the ones who wander off to do their own thing. The shepherd is so attentive, so watchful, that he notices immediately when one goes missing. And he will not rest until he finds the one lost sheep.
All of us can relate to this story on some level, whether as a sheep or a shepherd.
Read MoreMoses sets before us this morning a choice: life or death; blessings or curses. The Common English Bible translation suggests that we are meant to choose between “life and what’s good versus death and what’s wrong.”
This doesn’t seem to be a particularly difficult choice. It seems most people would choose life. In fact, the will to live, to survive, is quite strong –both in us, as human beings, and in our fellow creatures, big and small. We are hard-wired to survive.
And yet living, not merely surviving, is something different.
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