Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" Mark 1:23-25

Were any of you, as children, scared of the dark?  Maybe you were like me – turning on the lights in the stairway, and then reaching for the light  switch in the upper hall before I’d venture to my room down at the end of the hallway, where I’d make sure I turned on the wall switch before I could enter my room.

And even when I got older and outgrew that fear, there was another one. At the camp where I was a counselor there was an old barn on a stretch of dirt road between two of the campsites furthest from the dining hall – the center of camp life. The barn was abandoned, and at night it stood like a big, dark, spooky cavern – home to owls and who knows-what-other wildlife. It was just the kind of setting that would have been perfect for a low-budget horror film – a person walking alone on a deserted road at night when some un-describable creature would dart out of the dark to snatch you away. A single, small flashlight was not much defense against such an over-active imagination!

I think we’ve all had that kind of boogey-man-hiding under the bed fear at sometime in our past – even if only briefly. So when we hear in the Gospel reading this description of Jesus’ encounter with the man with the unclean spirit, we probably bring this same sense of creepy fear with us, colored with a good dose of one of the “Exorcist” films. And that can make this Gospel account feel very far away from us, distant from our life here and now. So let’s back up a little and try to see what Mark, the writer of this Gospel, is doing.

To begin with, Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, and he has no story of Jesus’ birth – no angels, no shepherds, no stars; he just starts with a brief description of John the Baptist, and then goes on from there – zero to sixty in nothing flat. In the course of a brief 21 verses in chapter 1 we move from John the Baptist to Jesus’ baptism and his temptation in the wilderness, to the beginning of his public ministry of preaching the Kingdom of God, and on to the calling of the first four disciples: Peter, Andrew, James and John.

By comparison, in Luke’s telling it takes four and a half chapters to get to this point; and in Matthew it takes five chapters.

If you pay attention, you’ll notice that Mark always seems to be in a hurry to tell this Gospel, this Good News; he often uses the word “immediately” and wants to rush ahead, breathlessly, to the next thing Jesus says or does. So in today’s reading, Mark has dived right into the meat of Jesus’ public ministry.

Jesus has just called Peter, Andrew, James and John from their work as fishermen on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and they have gone into the village of Capernaum, traditionally identified as Peter’s home. And they go to the local synagogue and Jesus begins to teach; although any adult male was allowed to read Scripture in worship and then comment upon it, the people in the synagogue were amazed at this newcomer’s teaching. It had a directness and sense of authority to it that they had not heard before, and so the people in the Capernaum synagogue said, in effect, “Who is this guy?  And how does he knows this?” Jesus taught from the ancient Jewish Scriptures “as one with authority.”

Then there is an outburst from the man with the unclean spirit; the spirit or demon says "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." Jesus silences the demon, and casts it out of the man.

So not only does Jesus have authority concerning the ancient religious tradition, but he also has authority over the dark forces, the wild and uncontrollable, the spiritual realm. When Jesus comes, preaching the Kingdom of God, this is what it looks like: the ancient religious understandings will be plumbed and expressed in new ways, and the things that plague us, and keep us from living fully the life God longs to give us will be cast out.  That’s what happens when the Kingdom of God draws near to you, when Jesus starts showing up in your life.

But what about that unclean spirit; what is that all about, anyway?

Some have suggested that it was the way first century people understood such medical conditions as epilepsy or mental illness – perhaps. Others would say that the term “unclean spirits” is purely a metaphor for a wide variety of things that plague and trouble us – all of human origin. And then there are those who will say that these “unclean spirits” in the Gospels are demonic and evil in some way – there may well be some element of that in what Mark is describing. The truth is, that all of these categories – mental or physical illness; entrenched patterns of bad behavior in an individual, a family or a community; a sense of spiritual dis-ease and even evil – all of these categories will attempt to drag us away from the fullness of life in Christ and in the Kingdom of God.

So when Jesus shows up in our lives we find that the old traditions - Scripture reading, prayer, worship, alms-giving - all take on new meaning, become alive for us in new and authoritative ways. We also find that the things that plague and haunt us, the stumbling blocks that always trip us up, loosen their hold on us - they weaken and become less important as we put Jesus front and center in our lives.

Most times that doesn’t just happen instantaneously – it’s usually a slow and steady practice of letting go of the things that are trying to master us, and holding on to the One who is the Master and Lover and Redeemer of our souls. You know what it is that gets a hold of you at your worst moments: it might be fear, or shame, or greed, or addiction of some kind; your demons might be lust for power, or laziness, or despair, or divisiveness, or negativity, or any number of qualities and attitudes that stick to you with amazing stubbornness.

What Mark is telling us in this Gospel story of Jesus in the synagogue and the man with unclean spirit, is that Jesus has power and authority – legitimacy – in every area of human life. Jesus’ authority is not just limited to the religious realm, although through him the Bible and worship come alive in a whole new way; no, every aspect of life is open to Jesus’ authority and power and sovereignty. That includes the way we treat our neighbors and our co-workers, the way we care for the environment, they way we spend money, the way we treat children, the kind of laws we pass for the good of our community and country, the way we conduct our business and love our families.

Jesus will indeed root out the “demons” and “unclean spirits” in your life, but they will be replaced by the marks of citizenship in the Kingdom of God - love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; love for God and love for neighbor; a willingness to die to self and be born a new according to God’s pattern, in the power of the Holy Spirit; the knowledge that we are all members of the Body of Christ – not individual members of an organization, but part of a whole that is greater than ourselves and poorer when we turn our backs on it.

“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” The answer is – everything.

Let us pray:
O God, I know that if I do not love thee with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul and with all my strength, I shall love something else with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. Grant that putting thee first in all my lovings I may be liberated from all lesser loves and loyalties, and have thee as my first love, my chiefest good, and my final joy.  Amen.  (George Appleton)

Victoria Geer McGrath
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
January 29, 2012

 May the words of my mouth… and the meditation of our hearts…somehow make sense?

A few Sundays ago I was standing outside of our church by our red doors.  An Asian man with a heavy accent approached me.  We greeted one another and then he asked me this question. “What church is this?” I proudly answered, “This is All Saints’ Episcopal Church and we are Episcopalians. He replied, “Ah, yes, I see.  (PAUSE)  What is an Episcopalian?” That seemingly simple question caught me off guard.  I’ve been an Episcopalian for 60 years. I had no ready answer.  In essence he was asking me …”Who are you and what was I doing here?” I hesitated in my reply.

Now when I was a classroom teacher occasionally a question was posed to me that I had no answer for.  My usual response would have been, “That’s a very good question. Let me think about it and I will give you an answer tomorrow.”  But I did not have that time.  Here I was in front of a man who was perhaps seeking a place to worship and I was unsure of what to say.    What would you have said?
(PAUSE)
Well, I gathered myself and gave him a brief, rambling answer that I believed described our church. I compared it to other churches both Protestant and the Roman Catholic. I told a short story about the history of our church in America. I spoke of the way we worship.  But ….I was not sure if I was giving him a satisfactory or clear answer.  As I concluded, he smiled and thanked me.  I invited him to join us on Sunday. He nodded, still with a smile, turned and walked away.

This encounter motivated me to find a satisfactory answer to the question “What is an Episcopalian?”

I still consider myself a teacher; therefore, I first went to a book.  I found one that I thought would give me a simple definition entitled, A Dictionary for Episcopalians. HOLD UP THE DICTIONARY.  There is the word I was looking for right in the title!   However…“Episcopalian” was not one of the entries. It did have a definition for the word Episcopal. It means, and I quote, “Pertaining to a bishop. The term derives from the Greek word episcopos meaning “overseer.” Thus the Episcopal Church is a church that recognizes the authority of bishops.” Our highest ranking priests are bishops; we have no cardinals or a pope to lead us.

This dictionary also states our formal name.  We are the “Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America”. We are both protestant and catholic.  How can that be? The word “catholic” means universal.  We can trace our church’s roots from the earliest history of the Christian church.  We are actually Anglo Catholic as opposed to Roman Catholic since our church descends from a historic and liturgical relationship with the Church of England.

Let me explain this further. During the historical period known as the Reformation, a portion of the English people broke away from the Roman Catholic Church. The Bible had been published in English and now could be read.  They began to view their faith and the way they worshiped differently.  Many of the various protestant churches we know today in were formed back then too. They were “protesting” against Roman authority in order to get back to a simpler form of worship. They objected to the formality of the Roman church and its hierarchy.

However, there were those who liked the formality of the worship services they were familiar with, but still wanted to separate from Roman authority.  They chose a “middle way” or “via media”, the Latin phrase.  They retained what they liked in the worship services and formed a church with a closer alignment with the New Testament. This church was headed by the King of England.  They were the first Anglicans. They formed the Church of England. The story of Henry the Eighth and his desire to divorce his queen in order to gain a male heir is not entirely true.  This was not the reason the Church of England was founded. This is what we would call today an “urban legend”.

One of the first steps the early Anglicans reformers took was to write a book that included the services and prayers of their newly formed church. Over a period of years it evolved into our Book of Common Prayer.  It has been said that the BCP is second only to the Bible as an English book related to faith. Other denominations, including Roman Catholics, have borrowed prayers from our red prayer book.

This past week I attended a Roman Catholic funeral mass.  As you may have heard they have recently changed the wording of their services.  In the pews there were plastic covered sheets that had the new wording in bold print.  As I read the prayers with the new wording, I discovered they had changed several of the phrases in their communion prayers and the Nicene Creed to phrases directly from our BCP. 

The BCP was written in English and allowed priests, royalty, and commoners, to participate in the worship service which had been spoken in Latin up to that point. It set the tone of inclusiveness that is part of our tradition today. If you have an older one in your pew, look at the edge of our book. (HOLD UP OLDER BCP). You can easily locate the pages for our Holy Communion services by simply finding the darkened pages on the side and opening it to that spot.  We are all familiar with this section.

But if you have never taken the time to read other sections I would encourage you to do so.  It is a beautifully written book.  It not only guides our various worship services, but also contains the Psalter, or Book of Psalms, the Catechism that outlines our faith, and a wonderful selection of collects and prayers for any occasion in life. If you are an Episcopalian you should have a copy of the BCP next to your Bible at home. It is something we can all be very proud of as members of this church.

Another thing about the Episcopal Church that we can be proud of is its history in our country.  After the American Revolution we could no longer recognize the King of England as the leader of our church.  Once again we experienced a reformation.  Many of the same people who led our country through the Revolution were also Episcopalians.  As a matter of fact, 31 Episcopalians were signers of the Declaration of Independence.  21 Episcopalians helped to write and signed the Constitution, including George Washington. These people developed the structure of this new American church; they incorporated principles that were fought for during the Revolution.  Our church is organized in a very democratic way.

 The laity shares authority with the members of the priesthood.  The national church is headed by our presiding bishop.  Our diocese is overseen by our bishop. Our church is led by our priest, Mother Vickie.  But at each level there is direct involvement by the laity.  People like you and I hold offices such as our vestry members, who assist in the way the Episcopal Church is run and the policies that we stand on at each level.  Later this month a convention will be held in our diocese.  The proceedings will democratic and voting involves representatives from the laity and our priests who will decide issues and our future path. This occurs on the national level too.

Are there differences of opinions ….?  Oh, yes, most definitely. We have conservatives, liberals as well as moderates in between. When my daughter attended the University of South Carolina, I went to a service at the historic Episcopal Church in Columbia. Many Confederate leaders are buried in its cemetery. They hold a very different point of view than those of us in the Diocese of Newark.  But we are held together by our common beliefs….our three-legged stool.  It represents a firm platform for us as Episcopalians.

The analogy of the three-legged stool is often used to describe the Episcopal Church. This goes back to the end of the 16th century. The Reverend Richard Hooker was the first to use this image.  These principles guide our policy and theology.

The first leg is, of course, scripture.   The first part of today’s service is devoted to readings from the Bible. We read a section of the Old Testament, a psalm, a selection from the New Testament and then, of course, the Gospel. And, as I am sure you have noticed, they are all related to each other in theme. Our corporate, or common, worship is shared by all. Some parts are reserved for our priest, other parts read by us, the laity.  We state our beliefs with the creed that is spoken by all. The Eucharistic Prayer of the communion service restates the final acts of Jesus’ life and ends with the Lord’s Prayer.

The second leg is tradition. Our traditions are best seen in the services of the Book of Common Prayer.  Realize that as we worship this Sunday, we are joined by millions of others who worshiping in a similar way.  Although the wording of our services may change, our way of worshiping is basically unchanged.  We are comforted in the fact that we could attend an Episcopal service anywhere in this country, or the world for that matter, and recognize the service and be able to participate easily even if it is not in our language.

The last leg of our stool represents reason. Personally, I am most proud of this aspect of our church.  Our challenge as individual Episcopalians is to think about our faith and the way we should conduct our lives in relation to it.  The readings from scripture guide us. They are traditionally followed by the Episcopal sermon which interprets the scripture as it applies to our daily lives. But we are challenged to think about the scripture and “hear what the spirit is saying…” not only to the church, but to each of us. This applies not only on Sunday, but every day of our lives in our interactions with others.

Here is my personal example of this.  This is strictly my opinion as I have thought about it and reasoned it through in my own way.  You may or may not agree.  That’s OK.

In my opinion, if you were to simplify Jesus’ message into its most basic meaning, I think it could be stated in just three words, “Love one another.”  Notice also that in his teachings He did not add the words “except” or “but”.  Sometimes we Christians do that.

Now in today’s world the meaning of the word “love” has been expanded and perhaps has been muddled.   How can you love your spouse, your child, or your mother and also say you “love” ice cream or pizza?  It is not the same kind of love is it? 

In our baptismal covenant, that was read and reaffirmed two Sundays ago, we have a wonderful phrase.  We declare that we will “respect the dignity of every human being.” In my personal reasoning this makes sense.  We aren’t going to “love” everyone we encounter.  We may not even like them. We may disagree with them on issues great or small.  But we can respect them.  We can be tolerant of them even if their opinions, beliefs, and life styles are vastly different from ours.   Believe me this is not easy.  But who ever said that following the way of our Lord was going to be easy!

The three-legged stool can help define us as Episcopalians in an understandable way.

However, let’s get back to the original question. What is an Episcopalian? Here’s what I came up with after some personal study and research.   Again, I believe most of you will agree with these statements, but maybe not in the order I have placed them. They have been paraphrased from the Episcopal Church website through  a link entitled, “Who We Are.”
(PAUSE)

Episcopalians are believers in Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity.

We uphold the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer.

We retain scripture and traditions going back to the beginnings of Christianity.

We believe in forgiveness and Jesus' promise of everlasting life.

Lay people, both men and women, have a vital role in the governing and administration of our church.  Both men and women can serve as deacons, priests and bishops.

We use scripture and reason to guide our life in Christ and our relationship with others.

Through reasoning, we see Jesus’ message as it relates to today’s world and apply His grace with understanding to human conditions.

We are tolerant and understanding of differences in human beings.

All baptized Christians are welcomed at the Lord’s Table.

We have found our spiritual home in the Episcopal Church.
(PAUSE)

My fellow Episcopalians, this, in my opinion, is who we are and why we are here today.

(PAUSE for congregation's response to Vicki and Beth holding up signs that say: "Thunderous Applause" and "A Chorus of Alleluias!”) 

 This is the not the simple statement I was searching for originally.  Perhaps there is no simple answer to the question, “What is an Episcopalian?”  However, it does affirm what I believe.

In keeping with the tradition of the Episcopal sermon, I need to make a connection with today’s Gospel message. Unlike the gentleman I spoke with, Simon, Andrew, James, and John did not have to ask Jesus the questions I was asked outside of our red doors.  “Who are you and what are you doing here?” They just stopped what they were doing and joined Him.  However, people who may be searching for a spiritual home are not going to join us without first asking those questions. It is my hope that I have prepared you to give a better answer than I did. Amen

Third Sunday after the Epiphany
January 22, 2012

WHAT IS AN EPISCOPALIAN?
Episcopalians are believers in Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity.
We uphold the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer.
We retain scripture and traditions going back to the beginnings of Christianity.
We believe in forgiveness and Jesus' promise of everlasting life.
Lay people, both men and women, have a vital role in the governing and administration of our church.  Both men and women can serve as deacons, priests and bishops.
We use scripture and reason to guide our life in Christ and our relationship with others.
Through reasoning, we see Jesus’ message as it relates to today’s world and apply His grace with understanding to human conditions.
We are tolerant and understanding of differences in human beings.
All baptized Christians are welcomed at the Lord’s Table.
We have found our spiritual home in the Episcopal Church.

WEBSITES EXPLORE:
www.episcopalchurch.org
Google “Famous “Episcopalians” and explore the websites that are identified.
Look up the Book of Common Prayer in Wikipedia and read about its history.

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."                                                                                                                             John 1:45-46

I don’t know about you, but it’s only January, and I am already fed up with the 2012 election campaign! In theory, the primaries and the months leading up to them are an opportunity for the public to take a look at several different candidates - their experience, ideas and leadership – and in the give-and-take of debate and open exchange to have the best candidates emerge, much as cream rises to the top. Instead, we’ve been treated to a steady diet of criticism, suspicion, disrespect and appeals to the politics of division…and we’ve still got ten months to go!

Add to that the kind of religious litmus tests that candidates are putting themselves through, and it’s no surprise that a person without a strong religious commitment of their own would want to stay away from any kind of organized faith. Why would you want to go to church if you think this is the way Christians behave? 

I wouldn’t be surprised if many of you, at your work or in your neighborhood or among your friends, are in a real minority when it comes to being an active participant in a faith community. Your co-workers and neighbors just don’t see the point, or they may feel themselves to be spiritual on their own, or may even admire Jesus and want to be connected to God, but don’t think that church has anything to offer them. So they stay away, and maybe they ask you why you bother – why your faith is important to you. And maybe you have a hard time putting your answer into words; Episcopalians, along with Christians from other “main line” denominations, often find it difficult to talk about their faith.

When I meet with couples who are preparing for marriage one of the first things I do is ask them to tell me their story: how did they meet, when did they know that this was the right person, how did they decide to get married? And I ask them to tell me what it was that first caught their attention about the other person, and now that they have been together for awhile, what is it that they most value in the other? Of course, there’s always a little embarrassment when the couple first starts to answer – people sometimes feel funny telling a priest that they were attracted to their fiancé(e) because he or she thought the other was beautiful or good-looking or sexy. But after about the first sentence and a half the words just come spilling out, and the couple has wonderful things to say about each other – all of them true; it’s often a very moving and holy moment. They are able to talk about their intended spouse because of the depth of their relationship, because of the love they have for one another. And if a friend or family member would say “You’re really going to marry him (or her)?” the response might be, “You need to get to know her (or him) for yourself.  Why don’t you come have dinner with us next Friday?”

Come and see; don’t make up your mind ahead of time. That’s what Philip said to his friend Nathanael when Philip was inviting him to meet Jesus. Nathanael was very skeptical when he heard his friend’s enthusiasm for this new rabbi, this new religious teacher, who was from Nazareth, of all places!

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Nazareth was not the place anyone expected the Messiah to come from, so how in the world could this rabbi Jesus be the One that the ancient Jewish world expected and longed for?But Philip didn’t argue or defend or debate with Nathanael’s skepticism and scorn; he simply said: Come and see, and invited Nathanael to have his own encounter, develop his own relationship with Jesus. And that’s exactly what happened.

Right away Jesus identified Nathanael as a straight-shooter, a direct and honest man:  When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" Jesus got right to the heart of who Nathanael is, and what he is all about. That was enough for Nathanael – he came to the conclusion that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, the King of Israel. Anyone who can read the truth of the human heart so well must be the divinely promised One, as far as Nathanael was concerned.

And then Jesus takes things one step further; he tells Nathanael and any onlookers and us, the readers, that we will see greater things than just having Jesus know us -  in and through our relationship with him we’ll experience the very presence and power of God. That’s what Jesus means when he talks about the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. It’s a reference to the ancient dream of Jacob with the angels on the ladder, when he knew so profoundly the presence of God – despite the fact that he had cheated his brother, tricked his father, and was on the run. The dream was not a reward for Jacob’s behavior, but rather a vision of the reality of God which is far greater than we are, that puts us and our actions and our concerns into a much larger context.

Jesus is describing himself as the ladder, the bridge between heaven and earth, between human and divine, between us and God. When we draw near to Jesus, not only will be known for who and what we truly are, we will also be in the presence of the holy, the real, true goodness and joy. That happens in all sorts of ways – through prayer, through singing, in silence, in the laughter of fellowship with other Christians, in the sharing of sorrows, in reconciling with someone from whom we have been estranged, in receiving the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

We draw near to Jesus, we come into God’s presence, our eyes and hearts are opened – even just a little bit – and we are healed and blessed by that encounter. And then we are sent back out into the world to share this blessing and healing and companionship, for the good of the community, for the flourishing of human life and society, for the healing of the nations. And it all begins with an invitation – an invitation to “Come and see” – to come and see Jesus for ourselves. This is an invitation we can all extend to others – each in our own way – to come and experience the love and grace and goodness and strength and healing presence of God in and through Jesus, and through the friendship and worship of Christian community.

Come and see – and you will see greater things than these. Amen.

Victoria Geer McGrath
Second Sunday after the Epiphany
January 15, 2012