Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
Original Manuscript:
This is an interactive manuscript. To follow links, click the highlighted words below.
I first came to the Diocese of Pennsylvania when the Pandemic was still ranging. Pretty much everything was online, including clergy get-togethers. The first time I met my colleagues, it was in the middle of a rather large Zoom meeting.
Impressively, one person in the group took notice of me. Shortly after, I got an email from this person inviting me to a weekly Zoom Bible Study. I was incredibly grateful for the kindness and the gesture, and I agreed to join in and check it out.
The Bible Study became a key part of my ministry in this Diocese. I felt welcomed not just as a colleague but also a fellow person spreading the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The clergy who invited me was The Rev. Canon James Stambaugh. Along with him were The Rev. Canon Joel Daniels and St. Paul’s very own The Rev. Jeremiah Mustered.
All of them welcomed me and accepted me not purely because of who I am, but because of the one we all serve.
That acceptance is what our readings are really about today. It is an extension of the hospitality at the center of our readings two weeks ago, exemplified for us in the Hospitality of Abraham. It continues the thread from last week with Jesus and Paul reminding us what it truly means to be a Disciple, someone who is truly serving the Lord. We will see the path continuing from those past readings as we look into this morning’s lectionary.
Today the call to accepting begins by welcoming the Lord into our hearts. This is what Paul means when he says we are to put away sin. Paul has been talking about Grace for a while in Romans, since near the start of this season. We aren’t saved by our own works. Jesus does that by extending Grace and Forgiveness to us from the Cross.
This doesn’t mean we just do whatever we want though. If we are to truly let God in, we are called to put away the law of sin, the law that led us astray. That is the law that led us to need Grace in the first place. Instead, we are called to follow God as best we can. This is at the heart of what Paul is saying to us. It is at the heart of letting God in.
Letting God in means Faith and Trust, the very things that we started this season learning about. It is this Faith that Abraham had.
Now the Sacrifice of Isaac is not something we are to look at as cruel or evil. We must remember the words of Isaiah 55, that “my ways are not your ways, nor my thoughts your thoughts, says the Lord.”
Abraham’s Faith is what is necessary here. It is a Faith that even though he is being asked to sacrifice the very child God promised him, the Lord will come through and somehow miraculously fulfill His promise. It is the Faith that Isaac will make it through this alive somehow. It is the Faith that both of them will exit this event unharmed, physically and emotionally.
Letting God in is about this Faith. It is about trusting in God so much that even when it seems we are being asked to sacrifice the very thing we have been promised, God will find a way to provide.
The core of our message today comes in Jesus’ words: “Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me.” If we are to fully welcome Jesus into our hearts, we must welcome those that Jesus sends. We must welcome the Lord’s Disciples and Apostles in this world, the ones that Jesus and Paul defined for us in the readings last week. We must welcome those who will share the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ so that all might receive the Grace that Paul so often tells us of.
St. Paul’s has welcomed that person in. One of the most faithful and knowledgeable people I have come to know is our very own Jeremiah Mustered. I have learned so much from Jeremiah, which is saying quite a lot since I, if you will allow my immodesty, am no slouch when it comes to biblical and theological understanding. Jeremiah is one of the greats in serving our Lord.
St. Paul’s is such a great example of what Jesus calls us to do, to welcome Him into our hearts by receiving those our Lord has sent to us. St. Paul’s is a rare example of that. There are many parishes that struggle to welcome those Jesus has sent. It is a struggle for the broader church, even across denominations. In fact our readings from last week showed that even in Scripture, people have a hard time accepting those God sends their way.
St. Paul’s has fulfilled what Jesus asks of us, what is necessary for us to allow God in. The question for us now is ‘what do we do with that?’ How are we going to be an example to others? How are we going to help others who struggle to welcome in God’s servants to do so in order that they might also let God in and have that wonderful Divine presence in their hearts and in their lives?