Sermon Preached by the Rev. Richard Marsden
Pentecost 10

John 14:8-27
Acts 2:1-21

I know some of you are a bit confused about what just happened. The gospel lesson was read in a number of different languages—and it probably felt a bit like this on that day we celebrate today, so many years ago –where untrained, common men—in the days before Rosetta Stone—proclaimed the gospel miraculously to the world. This holy day reminds us of an amazing event, and an amazing heritage that maybe we don’t give enough attention to these days. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 23 May 2010’ »

The Rev. Richard Lampert
Easter IV

Ps.23-J. 10-Hymn 645

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I shall fear no evil: for thou art with me …..

Today, in churches all over the world is Good Shepherd Sunday! The 23rd Psalm, its companion story in The Gospel of John chapter 10, the beloved Hymn 645 may all well be among the most cherished biblical stories and musical scores found anywhere in our Christian liturgical tradition. Listen to the familiar comfortable words: “I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me,…(John); The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, he makes me lie down in green pastures, ….., he restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake; Yea, though ….(Psalm); The King of love my shepherd is, whose goodness fail–eth never… (hymn) Who amongst us here today when we hear these so treasured words does not feel our own very heart jump for joy? I think no one! I trust none of us! Continue reading ‘Sermon - 25 April 2010’ »

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The Third Sunday of Easter

On a cool, fall day two old duffers were seated on a river bank, fishing. Not a single bite for a couple of hours. Along came a little boy, who sat down between them and caught one fish after another. “How do you do that?” asked one of the old boys.

The lad mumbled something, but the men couldn’t understand what he was saying, so one of them admitted, “Son, I’m hard of hearing. What did you say?”

The little fellow spat several worms out of his mouth into his hand, and practically shouted, “You got to keep your worms warm.” Continue reading ‘Sermon - 18 April 2010’ »

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Easter Day

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
“Hail, Thee, Festival Day, blest day that art hallowed for ever; day whereon Christ arose, breaking the kingdom of death.” This is the day that turned the disciples of Jesus from being fearful, defeated human beings into powerful proclaimers of the Gospel. This is the day when sin and death are defeated, and we are reconciled to God. This is the day when “Christ broke the bonds of death and hell, and rose victorious from the grave.” This is the day that changed the course of history. We are here today because our lives have been changed for ever because of the risen Christ who is alive and lives in us. Alleluia! Continue reading ‘Sermon - 4 April 2010’ »

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Good Friday

Let us pray. O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Frederick Buechner, in his book Wishful Thinking, says this about the cross: “Two of the noblest pillars of the ancient world—Roman law and Jewish piety—together supported the necessity of putting Jesus Christ to death in a manner that even for its day was peculiarly loathsome. Thus, the cross stands for the tragic folly of men not just at their worst but at their best.

“Jesus needn’t have died. Presumably he could have followed the advice of friends like Peter and avoided the showdown. Instead he chose to die because he believed that he had to if the world was to be saved. Thus the cross stands for the best that men can do as well as for the worst….. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 2 April 2010’ »

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Maundy Thursday

Do you remember what Jesus’ cousin, John, said, when Jesus went to be baptized by him in the Jordan River? He said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” We’re familiar with that title for Jesus, but we may have lost sight of why we call him the Lamb of God. The answer is found in what we celebrate in the Paschal Triduum. Tonight begins the Christian Passover, and what Jesus did on the cross is intimately bound with the first Passover, in which God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, saving them from slavery and death. Jesus’ meal in the Upper Room with his disciples took place during the Passover. It was a Passover meal, and that was because the Passover foreshadows and illuminates what Jesus was about to accomplish on the cross.

At the first Passover, every Hebrew family was to sacrifice a lamb. They were to put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintels of their homes, and that blood would be a sign to the angel of death to pass over that house. In every other dwelling in Egypt on that night, the first-born males of both man and beast would die. The plague of death would be so terrible that the Pharaoh would finally be convinced to let the Hebrews, who were enslaved in Egypt, go. The lamb that had been sacrificed was to be roasted and eaten in haste. The people would need nourishment for the journey that was ahead. It was that event that delivered the Israelites from death and enabled them to leave the land in which they had been enslaved. It was that event that began the journey that would lead them to Canaan, the Promised Land. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 1 April 2010’ »

Sermon preached by The Rev. Richard Marsden
Palm Sunday

Many of you know that Gail and I do a bit of historical civil war reenacting. As time permits we go away on a weekend to live in tents, sleep on cots under blankets—sleeping bags when it’s cold—but sshhh—that’s cheating–cook over a fire, no cell phones, no computers, no TV or radio, and no showers or flush facilities for three wonderful days. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 28 March 2010’ »

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The Fifth Sunday in Lent

It’s only a week now before Holy Week, the holiest week of the year for Christians. I have always said, throughout the 28 years of my ministry, that the Paschal Triduum, or Triduum Sacrum, the Great Three Days, are days when every Episcopalian should be in church. Every now and then someone will say something like, “Where do you get off telling us we ought to be in church on days other than Sunday? Where does the Bible tell us that? The commandment only says, ‘Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath Day.’ For Christians we understand that to mean Sunday. It doesn’t say anything about Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. So how can you say we ought to do that, when it isn’t dealt with in Scripture? In fact, Scripture doesn’t even mention those days as annual events.” Continue reading ‘Sermon - 21 March 2010’ »

Sermon preached by The Rev. Richard Lampert
Lent 2

Lk.13.31-35 ( Mt. 23.37-39)

ON THE ROAD AGAIN TOWARD JERUSALEM,
REBUILDING THE CITY OF GOD IN OUR HEARTS

Today’s Gospel re-presents basic fundamental Lenten themes: Journeying toward Jerusalem; The Way of the Cross; God’s Holy Spirit leading us/driving us, or in the words of The Collect, “….. to bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word….. .” Many of us here are taking the Lenten Course, Christ’s Life: Our Life. It’s a fabulous book written by the late Bishop John B. Coburn, in which the author continually connects, paints images of, our lives with Christ’s life, and then repeatedly asks the question, how are you doing in your walk this Lent with Christ? The chapter for next Wednesday, “His Journey Toward Jerusalem”, is one of the best. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 28 February 2010’ »

Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The First Sunday in Lent

“Son,” ordered a father, “Don’t swim in that canal.”
“OK, Dad,” he answered. But he came home carrying a wet bathing suit that evening.
“Where have you been?” demanded the father.
“Swimming in the canal,” answered the boy.
“Didn’t I tell you not to swim there?” asked the father.
“Yes, sir,” answered the boy.
“Why did you?” he asked.
“Well, Dad,” he explained, “I had my bathing suit with me and I couldn’t resist the temptation.”
“Why did you take your bathing suit with you?” he questioned.
“So I’d be prepared to swim, in case I was tempted.”

This fanciful story is told by H. King Oehmig in Synthesis for the First Sunday in Lent. We have only 36 days of Lent to go. For those of you who have given up something for Lent, have you found yourself tempted? I’ve given up chocolate, and every Lent I find that what I give up I especially crave during that time. Linda keeps chocolates in a candy jar in our living room and I find myself looking over there at the jar every time I pass through! I haven’t succumbed, by the way. But I don’t carry chocolates around with me just in case I want one and decide to yield to temptation!

This past week once again a national figure has made a confession for all the world to hear. Tiger Woods exposed his soul to his family, friends, and fans, acknowledging that he has let everyone down in the way he yielded to temptation. Continue reading ‘Sermon - 21 February 2010’ »