 By Rev. Heather J. Blais, Rector
Our gospel lesson takes place on the night of Jesus’ arrest. That evening Jesus modeled servant leadership with the footwashing, offered his final teachings, and then ended the evening with a prayer. Today we heard the very end of that prayer. Jesus is readying himself, his followers, and all of us for what is to come. He begins the prayer by praying for himself. It is a poignant reminder that we, too, are wise to start our prayers by asking for God’s guiding presence. As we strive to be healthy and well, and to make ourselves more fully available to God, so we might be agents of Love in our families, schools, and communities. Jesus' prayer starts off by acknowledging with humility and clarity that his work here is complete. He came into the world as the living embodiment of God’s insurmountable Love, and over the course of his ministry he ignited a movement to pursue God’s dream. He did this by:
Jesus’ movement grew with remarkable speed because people were, and still are, hungry for the message of God’s Love. Soon he had followers who were empowered to work alongside him. Jesus loved these followers, like we strive to love our own families - knowing full well the gifts they bring, and their shortcomings. So that night in anticipation of his death, he prayed for these disciples, his chosen family, and the work before them. Jesus asks for God to protect them, to ground their ministry in joy, and bless them with a deep understanding of God’s love. In doing this, Jesus models for his followers the need for us to regularly pray for one another, those we serve, and the universal Church in all our many expressions. Then Jesus does something that is both incredibly powerful and humbling. He prays for all those who will someday become followers of Jesus through the disciples’ mission and ministry. Jesus is praying for the Church in every generation, knowing full well what is possible when we come together in Christ’s name. Jesus is praying for us. Over 2,000 years ago, the person we now understand as God’s embodiment of Love in human flesh, prayed for each and everyone of us. As well as, for each and every person who through our mission and ministry will come to know God’s love. If that doesn’t humble us at our core, I’m not sure what will. By praying for future followers, Jesus is once again modeling for us that we, too, are called to pray for those who will come after us. Praying in our worship, and in our lived choices, for our children, grandchildren, and the generations yet to come. We have handed them a polycrisis, which is when crises in multiple global systems become casually entangled in ways that ‘degrade humanity’s prospects’. * They need our prayers - in our thoughts, words, and deeds. It also empowers them to someday do the same for future generations. This final prayer of Jesus, teaches us as much about prayer, as it does evangelism. I know, we are Episcopalians, and that other E word makes us a bit jumpy. Because we wouldn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. Yet evangelism is so much more than knocking on doors to tell people about Jesus, or obsessing about the number of people in the pews. (Though leave it to the church to ask for a parochial report each year where we are required to offer that precise information.) Evangelism begins with deep listening and attentiveness - considering:
Evangelism then requires us to take these observations to God in prayer. To collectively discern how the particular gifts of our community might be used at this hour. With so much need all around us, it can be easy to want to jump in and try to do too many things at once, setting us up for overfunctioning and burnout. But no one church community can or should try to be all things to all people. Only the living God can or should be our all in all. Which is why we lean on prayerful discernment, inviting the Holy Spirit to help us see the particular way in which our gifts might be brought to bear, at this particular moment in time. It is deep in our ancestral DNA at both former St James and former St. Andrew’s to feed our hungry neighbors. Eight years into our life as Saints James and Andrew, we have embedded that piece of our heritage into our life together as a new church. Over the decades there have been coffeehouses, roast beef suppers, coffee hours, pancake suppers, and two weekly feeding ministries. The way we go about feeding people may change, but it is a piece of who we have historically been, and the unique gifts we have brought to bear. Jesus taught us that when we feed people, and are grounding that ministry in prayer, we offer much more than a simple meal. We are offering our neighbors an embodiment of the spiritual nourishment and sense of community that we experience in our weekly worship. Now, there is another part of Evangelism that we sometimes overlook. Yes, evangelism will make us uncomfortable because it is going to require us to change. Two things we often would prefer avoiding. Yet when we are effective at being Jesus’ hands and feet in the world as a community, we may inspire people to try joining us in worship. And the real question is, are we ready to receive them? It is tempting for all churches to fall into a narrow understanding of welcome. One where we agree to be more or less friendly, but expect the newcomer to mold themselves to us. Best of all, without ever being told, church members may expect that newcomers can somehow inherently intuit that they: …must not sit in a certain pew. …must share our politics and our thinking on justice issues. …must know when to do what in worship, and what it all means. …must make themselves or their children behave a certain way. …must understand our vast Episcopal vocabulary, which offers a specific name for every piece of church furniture, space, liturgy, or committee. But that is not a genuine form of welcome. When we genuinely welcome visitors or newcomers, we are embodying the Gospel’s call to lovingly welcome the stranger. This requires us to have a softened heart, and remain open to the natural discomfort that accompanies change. At Pentecost, our parish has a tradition of welcoming those who’ve been exploring our parish as a spiritual home. At the heart of the liturgy we use, is the acknowledgment that in welcoming these newcomers, our community has been changed for the better by their presence. Their presence is a gift, and an opportunity for our community to grow in faith. When we can accept discomfort and change as part of growing the Jesus Movement, it helps us live more deeply into our core identity:
As the Episcopal Church, we are a particular cup of tea, and not everyone is going to want to drink us. This is one of the great gifts of the diverse and many branches of the Jesus Movement, where there are so many different expressions of being the Church. However long our paths may cross, it is a privilege to walk together - whether that be for a Sunday, a year, or a lifetime. So, what do we do with Jesus' final prayer? We can begin by following his model of prayer. Praying for ourselves, our community, and those who will come after us. We can accept evangelism as an essential part of our calling as followers of Jesus. Readying ourselves for the fruits of evangelism, by offering a genuine and sincere welcome to newcomers.
Because there is no such thing as a dumb question or a taboo topic at God’s table.
On any given Sunday, in any given ministry - whatever goes right and whatever goes poorly, God is in it, and always with us. Stepping into the natural discomfort that accompanies change, and the joy of knowing this is a sign of growth. And that we are called as followers to grow the Jesus Movement in our time, in our place, in our community. As we hold all of this, it’s helpful for us to remember that the most common way for someone to begin exploring a church is when they are invited by someone they trust or respect.
Amen. Lectionary Acts 16:16-34 Revelation 22:12-14,16-17,20-21 John 17:20-26 Psalm 97 * As described by Rev. Jesse Zinck at the 2024 Clergy Conference of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts
0 Comments
 By Rev. Heather J. Blais, Rector
Our lesson from Acts features Paul and Silas on their missionary journey. They are traveling through what is now modern day Turkey, with the hope of spreading the Jesus Movement. Except they encountered a small hiccup. The Holy Spirit has forbidden them from speaking the Good News in that region. Imagine for a moment what that must have felt like for these missionaries. Here they are, eager and ready to be Jesus’ hands and feet, yet the Spirit stops them. This experience may have been akin to when we have a tightness in our chest, and a sense of caution in our gut; knowing that we don’t know why, but we need to listen to what the Spirit and our bodies are telling us. When the Spirit tells us to stop, we are wise to listen; and to trust She will surely show us a new way forward. She comes to Paul in the form of a vision, where a man stood in what is now modern day Greece, pleading with him to come and help them. So they left that region behind and soon arrived in Philippi, a city that was a Roman colony, where they remained for several days. On the sabbath, Paul and Silas went outside the city gate by the river. They had guessed there would be a place of prayer there, and they were right. The Jewish community in Philippi was only newly formed, and they did not have enough members to have their own synagogue, which required at least ten people. (1) This particular location afforded them a bit of quiet, being outside the city, and allowed them to wash, maintaining purity rituals. (1) The missionaries found some women gathered by the river, and they sat down and entered into a conversation. This is when we meet Lydia of Thyatira (thai·uh·tee·ruh). Right off the bat, her name tells us: she is an outsider. Lydia is from Thyatira in modern day Turkey, but she has moved to Philippi. She and her household moved during a time in history where people didn’t really move from their hometowns. (2) This would have required some level of financial means. The city of Thyatira was located in a key point along major trade routes. As a result, numerous trade guilds developed there, such as, coppersmiths, tanners, leatherworkers, dyers, wool workers, and linen workers. (3) The city was particularly well known for wool and textile, and for the production of purple dye. (3) Acts tells us that Lydia brought this trade with her when she moved. This was an incredibly unique skill set. The purple dye was made from a, “carnivorous sea snail mucus”. (4) The dye was obtained through the laborious task of either milking the predatory sea snail by poking it until it spat out purple mucus or gathering several of the sea snails and crushing them together to make a larger amount of purple mucus. (5, 6) It took 12,000 snails to dye the hem of a single garment. (5) The work was onerous, and produced very little dye, which caused the textiles to be so expensive they were largely only sold to royalty. The specific recipe that was used back then has been lost to history. (5) In many ways, Lydia is a double outsider. (7) She is not only not from another region, but she is also a ‘worshipper of God’. This phrase was used to describe a Gentile, someone who is not Jewish, and is involved in a Jewish community, or expresses an interest in Judaism, but has not converted. (7) As a worshipper of God, Lydia would have been accorded a level of respect by the Jewish community, but would not have been treated as a full member. (8) Lydia, and those like her, observed as much Jewish law as they could, but hadn’t converted, which may have been because there was no synagogue. (1) When Paul and Silas sat down and began to speak with the women, the Lord opened Lydia’s heart to listen eagerly. She was so moved by Jesus’ Way of Love, that she volunteered to be baptized, along with the rest of her household. She then insists that the missionaries stay with her while they are in the area. While Lydia only appears in scripture once, she has left the Church an enduring legacy. She is widely considered the first Christian convert in Europe, and was canonized a saint. In the Orthodox Church, she is known as Saint Lydia - Equal to the Apostles. (4) In the Roman Catholic Church, she is known as the patron saint of dyers and all fabric workers. (5) In the Episcopal Church, we commemorate Lydia on May 21 each year, and this prayer was written just for her: Eternal God, who gives good gifts to all people, and who grants the spirit of generosity: Give us, we pray you, hearts always open to hear your word, that, following the example of your servant Lydia, we may show hospitality to those who are in any need or trouble; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (8) In many ways, it was the act of Lydia’s conversion, hospitality, and generosity which allowed for the church in Philippi to be born, and we hear more about their church in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. Lydia may have felt like a double outsider, yet she used her unique experience and perspective to help transform her community. And she did this by sharing from her prosperity. Giving not because she had to or was expected to, but out of a recognition she had been entrusted with an abundance of resources. She was acutely aware of the many gifts God had given her, and was eager to use these gifts to help others experience Jesus’ Way of Love. Lydia’s example invites us to reflect on our own sense of blessedness.
Last week I mentioned the clergy of our diocese gathered for our annual clergy conference in early May. Another wise colleague who serves two churches, parents two young children, and walks alongside her clergy spouse caring for his own church community, reflected on her decision to view the joys and challenges of her life through the perspective of abundance. Instead of I have to, she has embraced reframing: I get to.
St Lydia very well may have done the same. Talking with other women who were worshipers of God, as they reflected:
St. Lydia probably had no idea how her generous and hospitable nature would impact the Church. She got to be part of founding one of the first Christian communities in Europe. She got to be an example of female leadership in the early Church. As one Lent Madness blogger wrote, her very existence as a leader proclaimed: “...what it means for gender roles in the early church: men and women were called, men and women were baptized, and men and women led in ministry.” (5) In our context, where we now understand gender not as a box to tick, but a spectrum, it means, all genders are called, all genders are baptized, all genders lead in ministry. In our current cultural climate, when we hear scripture being used to dehumanize and marginalize others, we can remind ourselves and those around us of leaders like Saint Lydia. (9) A woman whose very life, leadership, and spirit of generosity helped the Jesus Movement to flourish, grow, and spread in that region. The scriptures are full of stories like Lydia’s, where we are reminded - again, and again, and again - that our God is loving, liberating, and life-giving. So as we prepare to head back into the world today, I would invite each of us to reflect on God’s abundance in our lives, and how we can share that abundance.
Amen. Lectionary Readings: Acts 16:9-15 Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 John 14:23-29 or John 5:1-9 Psalm 67 References: (1) https://www.lentmadness.org/2022/03/james-theodore-holly-vs-lydia/ (2) https://www.lentmadness.org/2014/04/lydia-vs-harriet-bedell/ (3) https://academic.oup.com/book/41960/chapter-abstract/355229316?redirectedFrom=fulltext (4) https://www.lentmadness.org/2014/03/lydia-vs-moses-the-black/ (5) https://www.lentmadness.org/2014/04/lydia-vs-john-of-the-cross/ (6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolinus_brandaris (7) Working Preacher Podcast for 6 Easter (8) Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2022 (9) https://medium.com/@lbloder/the-story-of-saint-lydia-2d31242c28bf  By Rev. Heather J. Blais, Rector
How does the world know we are followers of Jesus? It’s not a rhetorical question; let’s talk about it for a minute. How does the world know we are followers of Jesus? <worshipers respond> Love. They will know we are Christians by our Love. Jesus says it quite clearly in today’s gospel. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34b-35). The context of this commandment makes it even more striking. Jesus and his disciples have gathered for their last supper. Judas has left; betraying Jesus. He knows what Judas has done, and that the cross awaits him. In light of such knowledge and pain, Jesus gives the disciples one final lesson. When the powers of this world strike down the vulnerable, we are us to respond with love. Because that love is how we will be identified to the world as Jesus’ followers. We are called to walk in love, proclaiming in our words and action a Love that is stronger even than death. Unfortunately, right now there is a large movement of people in our country who self-describe as Christian. Yet many of their behaviors and actions are not grounded in love. Jesus' name is being used as a weapon to spread fear, scarcity, hate, and lies. Something that surely devastates and angers God, and puts a stumbling block before the Church’s mission and ministry. The Episcopal Church leans upon scripture, tradition, and reason, which have taught us that God is the ultimate Source of Love. We witness God’s Love whenever we engage with creation, or look to the life, death, and resurrection of God’s precious child. God’s Love is on every page of scripture. It leaves many of us wondering, how are we called to respond to Jesus’ name being co-opted in such a harmful way? How do we respond to this stumbling block? Let’s start by remembering this is history repeating itself. There is a long history of people in power - particularly from within the Church - who have taken Jesus’ name and used it for their own personal gain. In the Middle Ages the Church in Europe undertook a military campaign known as the Crusades to resecure control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Later, the Church granted permission for Europeans to take and settle land in the Americas, causing generational harm to the Indigenous tribes whose land we stole. So while what is unfolding is painful to watch, it’s helpful to remember the long and harried history of Jesus’ name being used to justify unjust practices. The week before last, the clergy of our diocese gathered with the Rev. Dr. Canon Stephanie Spellers, one of the Church’s leading thinkers around 21st century mission and ministry.* She spent some time reflecting with us on what the rest of the world calls Christian Nationalism, and she calls Christo Nationalism. This shift may be a small difference, but what it does is blatantly make clear that this movement that has taken hold in our country, is anything but Christian. A colleague I deeply admire went on to reflect - while we don’t use this language anymore, Christo Nationalism is heresy. The early Church faced a variety of heresies as Jesus’ followers navigated how to make sense of Jesus Christ. One heresy was Docetism; which was the idea that Jesus Christ did not have a real human body, and only appeared to have one - like a ghost. Or Tritheism; which is the idea that there are three Gods rather than one God in three persons. I found the idea of Christo Nationalism as a heresy incredibly liberating. Whatever we call it, let’s acknowledge what it really is, a heresy. A belief or doctrine that is presented as Christian, but is deemed false by more than one denomination or branch of the Jesus Movement because its teachings are contrary to the teachings of Christ.** Then the question becomes, how do we help the rest of the world know there are followers of Jesus who reject the heresy of Christo Nationalism? Stephanie Spellers suggests we need to boldly reclaim our identity as the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement, which is: “…the ongoing community of people who center their lives on Jesus and following him into loving, liberating and life-giving relationship with God, each other and creation.”*** We are known as Jesus’ disciples by our Love. So what does it look like to be people of Love? Spellers suggests Love looks like: Generosity. Gratitude. Freedom. Resilience. Curiosity. Joy. Bringing these qualities into our day-to-day lives helps us to be in tune with the loving, liberating, and life-giving God that took on human flesh in the life of Jesus and taught us how to live. When we can do this, we are a Church that looks and acts like Jesus.*** Whether people grew up attending Church or not, the wider culture has a general understanding that Jesus primarily taught about love. Many people within the wider culture see how Jesus’ name is being co-opted to spread hate and fear. To deny gender affirming healthcare, to try and take land that is not ours, and to come like a thief in the night to steal people away for deportation. They do not need to have read scripture to know: this is not Jesus’s Way. We know this is not Jesus’ Way. So how do we bridge that disconnect? How do we help the world know there is a Jesus Movement, and branches like ours in the Episcopal Church, which strive our best to look and act like Jesus? We begin by grounding ourselves in prayer. There is one prayer that is proclaimed both on Good Friday and Easter Vigil, because it is a truth we as the Church need to know and feel in our bones. O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.**** This is a prayer that asks us to lean into our faith and the greater truth that God is guiding us, and will help us to be brave and bold, even when it feels impossible. Empowering us to be agents of God’s Love. We cannot afford to be half-hearted about God’s Love. We can’t be kind to the person in the next pew, and then go to the grocery store and dress down the clerk in the checkout line for not satisfying our needs. We need to be Love everywhere, with everyone. This is hard work. There are some behaviors it is hard to see past, to remember underneath that behavior is a fragile person, made in the image and likeness of God. In times like these, God calls on us to double and triple down in our prayer lives and spiritual practices. The Jesus Movement needs us to remind the world what God’s Love looks like. As a community we seek to offer Love to the world through the beauty, healing, and spiritual nourishment of our shared common worship life. We strive to embody God’s Love in our feeding ministries, our companioning ministry with those marginally housed or unhoused, our essential’s pantry, and through our fiber skill-share program. On June 7, we get to proclaim God’s Love by standing outside at the Pride Parade and cheering for all of God’s beloved across gender and sexuality spectrums. In our private faith journey we need to routinely reexamine our priorities. As we prepare to head into the rhythms of summer, now is as good a time as any to enter that season with intentional reflection. Asking ourselves: Do we feel nourished by God’s love or are we exhausted, lonely, and heartbroken? If it is a time when God’s Love feels far off, we might simplify our daily routine, minimize our digital engagement, spend time outside, and lean on our faith community. If it is a time when God’s Love feels accessible, we might reflect further on where we are practicing generosity and gratitude, where we see freedom and resilience in our faith, and how we can continue to cultivate joy and curiosity. Because if we are going to be Love, we need to dwell in God’s Love all the more. What if each of us at James and Andrew were to bring a shared intention into this summer? A shared commitment to show the world what the Jesus Movement of Love is all about. In the morning, before we rise, we can prayerfully ask: How could my words, actions, and heart reflect the loving, liberating, life-giving way of Jesus?*** And in the evening, we can ask with genuine curiosity and no judgment: When did I see myself or others being loving, liberating or life-giving today? Where do I wish I’d seen or practiced Jesus’ Way?*** Let us collectively in our worship, mission, and ministry be discerning how we at James and Andrew can continue to find ways to together share the Good News of God’s Love with a world aching for it. Amen. Lectionary Readings for 5 Easter: * https://stbarts.org/connect/clergy-and-staff/member-detail/1651780/ ** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_heresies *** https://www.episcopalchurch.org/jesus-movement/ **** https://www.bcponline.org/  By Kathryn Aubry-McAvoy, Lay Preacher
Today is the 4th Sunday of Easter. It is commonly known as “Good Shepherd Sunday. Lately I’ve been weary, how about you? (I recently read that the CDC has coined an expression for a feeling that a good number of adults are experiencing; they call it “The Great Exhaustion”. It seems that many of us have had difficulty resuming healthy patterns of rest, work and play, since the Pandemic. ) It’s tiring to try to make sense of this complicated and often distressing world. I could use some comfort, some simple messages meant for ordinary disciples like you and me. “Good Shepherd Sunday” came just in time. In the teachings of the church year, we are asked to grapple with some pretty complex ideas. I know they all have deep meaning for us to- day, but I always appreciate simple lessons; my life, our lives, are complicated enough! We hear amazing stories in the lessons every Sunday: immaculate conception, angels, guiding stars, the many signs and miracles of Jesus, the deep self-reflection of Lent, the pathos of Passion week, the mysterious waiting by the tomb and the miracle of resurrection on Easter Sunday. In the Sundays following Easter, we see the resurrected Jesus mysteriously returning to the disciples to continue teaching in preparation for his final departure from earth and completion of his earthy mission at the Ascension…. And wait, then the holy Spirit will descend upon us at Pentecost! Whew, it’s a lot! This story, our story is mysterious and amazing and sometimes exhausting. But today is Good Shepherd Sunday. Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want” is perhaps the most beloved, comforting and well-known of the psalms. It is often chosen at funerals, even by people who don’t consider themselves religious. It is a beautiful song about life, it is not particularly mysterious…God gives us green pastures, still water and refreshment for our souls. We also must walk through dark valleys and face evil and injustice and death…in other words, ordinary life. The extraordinary part of it is that we have a promise that goodness and mercy will follow us. This goodness and mercy comes to us in the form of ordinary things: a table set for us, oil to soothe us, and green pastures to lie in. Even in Revelations, that book written in strikingly symbolic, apocalyptic style, so foreign to modern readers; in it we are reassured that God will protect us, even during times of tribulation. The Lamb will lead us to “springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear.” Today’s gospel reading is different from the others we hear in this Easter season. The last 3 Sundays’ Gospels have featured the resurrected Jesus mysteriously appearing to the disciples. In Chapter 10 of the Gospel according to John, which we hear today, Jesus (apparently alive and well) is walking in the portico of Solomon. It appears that this is happening before the crucifixion and near the end of his all too short life of preaching and teaching. It is winter. Jesus sounds irritated, understandable as he has been trying to get his message across for so long. He is speaking to leaders who have been self-serving and exclusive. The people gather around him, they are waiting for explanation, they say they have been kept in suspense. They want plain talk. He replies, plainly: “Believe and you will never perish, you will be given eternal life.” Nothing can change the relationship between the sheep and their shepherd if you believe; see the works I do in my father’s name. Contrast Jesus’ leadership style with that of the Pharisees. This and other passages in John’s gospel have done great harm to our Jewish siblings. The historical context, and John’s particular focus are complex, but it’s important to remember that when Jesus says “you do not belong to my sheep”, he is speaking to some of the Pharisees, those religious leaders of Israel, those in power who have lost sight of what really matters. Jesus’ followers, those who believe in the “way of Love”, were also Jewish, and he is describing their relationship to him and his relationship to God, and by extension to us. He says “the works I do in my Father’s name testify to me.” One miracle of our relationship with Jesus is that we ordinary disciples have the same “power of works” that Jesus had. An example is found in today’s first lesson. It is from The Acts of the Apostles. Christian tradition holds that the book of Acts was written by Luke. Luke was a companion of Paul; he was a historian an evangelist and perhaps the most literary of the NT writers. He was also a physician, and because of this, I think he might have been more knowledgeable of the affairs of ordinary disciples like us. The story in Chapter 9, set in Joppa features a miracle wrought by an ordinary man, a disciple of Jesus, like all of us. Tabitha, called Dorcas, was a good woman, one filled with compassion, generosity and talent. One clue to her special status is that she was given a second name. Remember that Jesus changed Simon’s name to Cephas (Aramaic for rock) or Peter (Greek for rock). The disciple Mary was called Magdaline, perhaps to distinguish her by the city she may have come from (Magdala), equally likely is that it refers to the Hebrew translation of the word which is tower or stronghold. Mary, the devoted disciple who supported Jesus throughout his life and witnessed his crucifixion and resurrection, Mary the Tower. Back to Tabitha called Dorcas, Dorcas is a Greek word meaning gazelle. In the bible gazelles symbolize beauty, grace, swiftness and love. Tabitha was a beloved disciple. The followers of Jesus in Joppa, knew that Peter, the rock, was nearby so they sent for him, he came, he went alone to Tabitha, he prayed, he gave her his hand and helped her up. This was a miracle wrought by an ordinary human, quite different from Jesus filling the fishing nets, and other post resurrection appearances, not to mention the many miracles and signs Jesus performed in his earthly life. How can we become disciples like Peter? Being “dead” in this life is not an uncommon phenomenon; if you are grieving, frightened, traumatized or persecuted, you can feel like you are walking through a valley of death. If you are hungry, cold or lonely, life can feel as heavy as death. In this life, in these uncertain and difficult times, we are called by Jesus to follow Pater’s example. Peter first became present to Tabitha, then he prayed, then he reached out and raised her up. “Tabitha cum” get up. We should not be afraid to follow Peter’s example, in prayer, in presence and in healing for those who are walking through a dark valley. We are all praying for miracles big and small these days: we pray for health in body, mind and spirit, we pray for compassionate leaders, for public policy changes which lean toward justice and equity in this difficult time. There are small miracles too; sharing a hot meal, a kind word, being an abiding presence in the face of loneliness; these are all ordinary every day miracles. Today’s lessons speak to all of us present- day disciples at Saints James and Andrew, we are made for this. These stories remind us that we have healing power. It’s in our DNA. Follow Jesus, follow Peter, follow Tabitha, and remember that goodness and mercy will follow us, it’s a promise. May our days be filled with ordinary miracles, given and received. Amen |
Mission
We believe God is calling us to cultivate a community of love, joy, hope, and healing. Jesus is our model for a life of faith, compassion, hospitality, and service. We strive to be affirming and accessible, welcoming and inclusive; we seek to promote reconciliation, exercise responsible stewardship, and embrace ancient traditions for modern lives.
Office HoursTuesday, Thursday, Friday
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Our gardens and grounds are open from dawn to dusk for the community to pray, rest, be. Please help us take care of this sacred space by following the outdoor ethic & principle of “leave no trace.” |
Contact Information
|
Worship Times10 a.m. In-Person Worship & Livestreamed
View worship services. We would love to have you join us soon! |