Snake on a Stick

On my way to church today, I had a thought. "Okay, for the past few weeks the sermons have been short, but nature abhors a vacuum, so this week the sermon will be at least 20 minutes long."

Nature is happy. Balance has been restored.

Actually, the sermon wasn't bad. Charlie focused on the good works we as a parish are doing, and he rightly gave credit to God from which they come. By choosing ten of these works, I knew that time would be an issue as it would be difficult to limit each effort to a mere sixty seconds. I was encouraged in the thought that the subject matter would be changing regularly and digressions would be minimized.

I will disagree with Charlie in that I cannot give unflagging support to the Episcopal Relief and Development contribution basket because I have seen how these monies can be misused. There was the ugly letter written by a certain Dr. Louie Crew in 2004 to to Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi and Other Bishops of Uganda after Uganda announced they were going to distance themselves from monies from the Episcopal Church USA (following the consecration of V. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. The letter and discussion can be found at StandFirm. Here is an excerpt:

"We have been a major contributor to your Planning, Development, and Rehabilitation (PDR) Department, an arrangement that lets you identify the needs and put the gifts where they will be most effective. Most of ERD's grant to Uganda of $284,000 in 2001 and of $138,500 in 2001 were funneled through your PDR.

Should ERD stop making those appeals and stop making these grants?

Should ERD screen its donors to find out who consented and who did not consent to the consecration of Bishop Robinson?

Is the Church of Uganda cutting itself off from the Episcopal Church's funding of numerous Communion networks, such as our major funding for the provincial secretaries conference currently taking place in Johannesburg?

Will the Church of Uganda continue to contribute only .5% to the costs of the Anglican Consultative Council, or will it increase that amount to offset subsidies by The Episcopal Church, which contributes 29.3% of the costs of the Anglican Consultative Council? (See the contributions of all 38 provinces at http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~lcrew/accrequests99-02.htm)."

Comments noted that in the ERD’s Form 990 filed in 2006 for the fiscal year 2005, ERD spent roughly $4.5Million in expenses to dispense $11.6Million in charity.

Rest assured that some of your ERD dollars will go to the needy. Don't be so sure that the ERD won't be used for political reasons.

This is why I wanted to hear something about the snake on a stick. Recall today's O.T. reading from Numbers 21:4-9,
"From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.’ Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.’ So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live."

I wonder if the Archbishop of Uganda has a bronze Dr. Crew on a pole somewhere?

An Unclean Spirit

"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight."

C.S. Lewis-"The Screwtape Letters."

"The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn."—Luther

"The devill . . the prowde spirite . . cannot endure to be mocked."—Thomas More

(Preface to "The Screwtape Letters")

Today's sermon was a real stem winder from Fr. Foss. Is it just me, or do Super Bowl Sunday sermons really tend to run into overtime? Because of the length, and because my foot went to sleep around halftime, I will focus on the first quarter of the sermon where I wanted a challenge flag thrown out.



We started with the problem of demonic possession. This stems from the Gospel lesson from Mark 1:21-28 where Jesus casts out an unclean spirit from a man in the synagogue. Charlie assumes that we post Enlightenment humans can no longer believe in demonic possession (score one for Screwtape), and judging from the sounds of approval from the congregation, most in attendance feel likewise. Charlie was right to bring out the cultural and historical context of this miracle, and that people of the day certainly believed in unclean spirits, but to not provide a counter argument to the discredited demon puts the weak among us in danger. I come to this conclusion from the second reading, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 which bears repeating,

"Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him."

"Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘no idol in the world really exists’, and that ‘there is no God but one.’ Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist."

"It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ‘Food will not bring us close to God.’ We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling-block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall."

In my opinion, when your preacher has got that demon thing figured out, and feels that this is like the food sacrificed to idols, an ancient belief, long discounted, a table from which no harm comes, he should:

1. Be very careful when expounding about this liberty.
2. Don't let us weaklings see you biting into that meaty subject.
3. Better yet, swear off of it.

How did these readings affect you? Did they raise the following questions?

1. Could demons exist?

2. Did Jesus cast out demons?

3. Do Episcopal Bishops perform exorcisms without crossing their fingers?

4. Is evil just in the mind of man?

5. Does God or the devil care who wins the Super Bowl?

6. Shouldn't demons rejoice in negative answers to questions 1, 2, and 3, and a positive answer to question 4?

My guess is that the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment thinkers have done Wormwood's work for him.



Let the game begin!

What Do You Call a Sunday Without a Sermon?

Once again, on the Sunday after Christmas the crew of the E.S. ECOOS was treated to a selection of carols during the sermon hour. The Pewster asked me to comment this week, so here it goes,


What do you call a Sunday without a sermon?
How do you catch the silence and pen it down?
What do you call a word that means quit complaining?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A Miltown?

Many a thing you know I'd like to tell you
Many a thing I thought you already knew
But how do you make me pray
And not listen to all they say
How do you keep a brain upon the pew

Oh, What do you call a Sunday without a sermon?
How do you hold a daydream in your hand?

The Role of Preaching

Fr. Matt Kennedy presented his thoughts on the role of preaching HERE. Fr. Kennedy is a former (guess the denomination) priest at a former (guess the denomination) church. After reading his blog, do you have any idea why he might not fit in as a (guess the denomination) priest? Read for example,

"Biblically speaking, a sermon is not a speech, lecture or motivational talk.

Rather it is an exposition and application of scripture. Read Paul's charge to Timothy:"

'But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.'(2 Tim 3:14-17)

..."It is a dereliction of duty not to preach from the scriptures in such a way that the necessity of repentance and reconciliation is made clear. When God's call to all men and women to repent and surrender to Christ is hidden behind comforting words that provide false salves to the conscience and superficially alleviate the tension between biblical truth and cultural norms, souls are endangered. What a terrible thing to send a congregation home hyped up on motivational platitudes without a hint that there is a judgment to come and that apart from Christ none can stand in it.

..."At the same time, we should not depart regularly feeling condemned. While the sermon opens the Word of God and that necessarily leads to conviction from time to time, it also brings comfort and encouragement and assurance. Not only are we forgiven sinners, but in Christ, we are beloved children of God. We are heirs to the world. We have no reason to hang our heads in shame because our Lord has taken away all shame and guilt.

...There should then be a sense of eager anticipation as the bible is opened and the sermon begins...what treasures will God reveal? What comfort will he bring? What guidance or assurance will he give me this day? For every rebuke, there is also a promise of mercy and grace to all who seek it in Jesus Christ.

...The sermon is not a speech, lecture or motivational talk, done properly it is the means by which God communicates the desire of the bridegroom to the bride, Christ's will to his Church."

Whatcha think?

I think I need come back with a piece on "The Role of Listening in the Congo" (and not another one on Appreciative Inquiry)

Okay, was he formerly,

1. Roman Catholic
2. Greek Orthodox
3. Southern Baptist
4. Lutheran
5. Presbyterian
6. Episcopalian
7. Hindu

Fr. Kennedy is at the Church of the Good Shepherd Binghamton, NY.

Death, Taxes, and the End of Time

In the Episcopal Church there are few certainties. One of these has to be the annual "Every Member Canvass," or "Stewardship Campaign," or "Pledge Drive."
There are probably many other names for this time of the Church Year, and some of these cannot be shared in polite society. Most of these alternative descriptors are prefaced with words such as, "Not again," "They always want more," "They spend too much," "This year we are staying the same," or "We give enough already." These are not the words of the cheerful giver, but admit it, you probably have made or have heard similar comments.

Today was an unusual Sunday. Fr. Foss had to take on in his sermon the Stewardship business, All Saints Day, a double Baptism, the memory of the dearly departed, Revelation, and the Beatitudes. But that is not enough of a challenge, lets throw in the "church militant," Desert Storm, and the guilt of growing up with "Southern" prejudices.
All this presents a problem. The problem of time.


And I am not talking about the fact that by setting our clocks back this morning we had an extra hour of sleep. No, I have to bring up the fact that today's sermon ate away 23 of the 60 minutes we gained.
It is at times like this that I have to sit back and remember that time may not exist, at least below the Planck scale according to this article. If you don't read it, here is one choice quote,

“The meaning of time has become terribly problematic in contemporary physics,” says Simon Saunders, a philosopher of physics at the University of Oxford. “The situation is so uncomfortable that by far the best thing to do is declare oneself an agnostic.”

While squirming in your pew, please try to consider another solution to the problem of time. Just think of yourself as playing a role in this old John Prine song, (I give you the option of the lyrics, or a YouTube of someone singing John's song pretty well).

While out sailing on the ocean
While out sailing on the sea
I bumped into the Saviour
And He said pardon me
I said "Jesus you look tired"
He said "Jesus so do you,
Sit down son
'Cause I got some fat to chew"

Chorus:
Everybody needs somebody
that they can talk to
Someone to open up their ears
And let that trouble through
Now you don't have to sympathize
Or care what they may do
But everybody needs somebody
that they can talk to


Well he spoke to me of morality
Starvation, pain and sin
Matter of fact the whole dang time
I only got a few words in
But I won't squawck
Let 'em talk
Hell it's been a long long time
And any friend that's been turned down
Is bound to be a friend of mine

(Repeat chorus)

Now we sat there for an hour or two
Just eatin' that Gospel pie
When around the bend come a terrible wind
And lightning lit the sky
He said so long son I gotta run
Appreciate you listening to me
And I believe I heard him sing these words
As he skipped out across the sea

Chorus:
Everybody needs somebody
that they can talk to
Someone to open up their ears
And let that trouble through
Now you don't have to sympathize
Or care what they may do
But everybody needs somebody
that they can talk to
John Prine "Everybody" from "Diamonds in the Rough" 1972

Here's a version from Ohtis,


Oops, there goes more of that time we gained last night.

And don't forget to send in those pledge cards.