Sermons

It came to pass that Keanu Reeves went on a late-night talk show to promote a new movie. He bantered with the host. They told stories and made jokes. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. In the run up to the commercial break, the host made a sudden shift in conversation. “Keanu Reeves,” He said, “What happens after we die?” The crowd laughed.

The Rev. Joseph Peters-Mathews is the vicar of St. Hilda St. Patrick. This sermon was delivered on All Saints Day, November 1, 2022. The sermon was a response to Luke 6.20-31 and based on the manuscript below. O blest communion,fellowship divine,we feebly struggle,they in glory shine;yet all are one in thee,for all are thine.Alleluia! Alleluia!

In a few short verses we are told that Zacchaeus had a conversion experience. Zacchaeus became a changed man. He moved from “just looking” to seeing–Jesus, himself, other people. He saw how he had hurt people and overlooked others. He vowed to repay those whom he had cheated and to give to the poor. He moved from being a taker to being a giver. And a big giver at that. Now that’s a conversion! It’s almost hard to believe.

Jesus was on the road to Jerusalem with his disciples, when he told them about their need to PRAY always and not to lose heart. In today’s story, Jesus continues trying to help us understand how to talk to God. By flipping the script and making the awful tax collector more humble than the righteous Pharisee, he wants to surprise us into understanding that our attitudes and motivations matter when we pray. Why?

Who’s here? We are. As we gather, seek transformation and are sent, we need to pray always and not lose heart. We don’t lose heart because we know we can just wear God down if we keep showing up. We don’t lose heart because it’ll all work out anyway with rose-colored glasses on.

While our gut may be to wonder at the other nine, they’ve followed Jesus’ directions. They believed in him to ask for healing, and they did what he directed. In coming back to give thanks the Samaritan man isn’t just healed though. All ten of those who’ve asked for healing have received it. Another translation of Jesus’ final direction, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well” is “Get up and go on your way; your faith has saved you.” Your faith has made you well, your faith has saved you, a full healing of mind, body, soul, spirit, and relationships, through faith in Jesus and thanksgiving to God has brought salvation to you.

Maintaining hope believing and proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is at hand feels daunting. Following the directions Jesus gives us for our work even if we boil it down to simply though it’s far from simple loving God, loving our neighbor, and thus changing the world, it’s a heavy task….There are mass shootings, racial reckonings on the horizon with signs and portents already at play, and heading into another fall and winter so more indoor time with the plague of COVID19 surrounding us. I’m pretty sure we too would be forgiven for saying to Jesus “Increase our faith!”

It’s possible that Jesus is suggesting – as later church writers wholeheartedly proclaimed – that this level of wealth is just bad. The common parlance today including by the children of Patagonia’s founder is “Every billionaire is a policy mistake.” Jesus may be saying that they’re moral mistakes as well particularly with counties, towns, and countries domestically and globally not having reliable access to clean drinking water and people being lied to about having jobs waiting only to be dropped off on an island. While Jesus is challenging this issue he’s continuing to invite us to do something, like I talked about two weeks ago..

Susy Hessel is a lay preacher at St. Hilda St. Patrick and is a mental health counselor.  THEY Who are these people we call THEY? What do they look like? How do they speak? Where are they from? What do they believe? They aren’t like me. They are the OTHER. Someone from a different culture