Third Sunday in Lent

Something people should know about me is that I am NOT a morning person. I run purely on "autopilot" until after I've had my first cup of coffee... So sometimes I forget items if they are not where I am used to finding them. Such was the case this morning as I left behind my recording device.

So, I am sorry to say, you will just have to read my sermon this week.

In the sermon I mention an article that was written about me and one of the things I do in my vocation.  You can find the article by clicking HERE. It may help you to see it to make more sense out of my sermon.

Here is the text of my sermon for today:

Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent

4 March 2018

St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Birch Cove, Halifax, NS

I speak to you today in the name of God: Father (+), Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

By now most of you have seen the article either on line or in hard copy. Yes that’s me on the cover of the Chronicle Herald with a cup of my favourite non-alcoholic beverage in my hand. I knew the article was going to run but I had no idea it would include a half page picture on the front page of the weekend edition!

I’m going to start today with a quote... perhaps by a nameless person unless that person wants to take credit for it... but here it is... from an email I received yesterday:

Well, as I do every morning, I prepared myself a good nutritious breakfast, poured myself a cup of hot perked medium roast coffee, placed said breakfast on my dining room table, picked up my newspaper off the island counter, and sat down to enjoy and read the Chronicle Herald - my daily routine. Was there a murderer on the front page?  No.  Was there someone else accused of some kind of abuse?  No.  Someone accused of ‘break and enter’? No.

On the front page was a small picture of Viola Desmond and a large picture of our very own Father Elliott!  So I thought ‘Holy #*&%’, how much is it going to cost to bail him out!  (Joking of course).  Plus a half page writeup on page 6!  My oh my, you are in very good company with Viola.

Excellent picture, great writeup, and I think it’s wonderful.  Imagine what can be accomplished by September!

One of the things that I started doing in my last parish was sitting in coffee shops and pubs with a sign on the table that I hope invites folks to come and sit and talk to a priest.

The main reason I do it is to follow in the footsteps of my Lord and get out there, out amongst the people, doing something to remind people that they are loved by God and that God wants to be part of every person’s life. Never forget that no one was more important to Jesus than the person he was with at that moment!

Until I saw the publication I had a sermon all prepared for today. But I have decided to shelve that one for another time and offer you all my thoughts on how this connects with today’s Gospel.

I’m still trying to piece it all together myself but I think I’ve stumbled upon something.

Today we hear of Jesus coming into the temple – the holiest place for all of Israel – and he drives people who are abusing their positions out. Jesus looks around and sees that the purpose of the temple was being forgotten.

The Temple was the place where you came to be closest to God and to offer your gratitude for the major events in your life.

Instead it had become a place of commerce, profit, apathy, and laziness.

You could simply throw money at a provider and receive the exact thing you needed to sacrifice to “give thanks”.

This made Jesus very angry – so angry he got violent. Jesus, meek and mild, becomes Jesus, whip-master.

Why? Why is Jesus so angry? He’s angry because he sees his Father’s house being abused and used in ways that promotes only one thing – greed. Nothing gets Jesus angrier than the big demon of greed.

Like Jesus nothing gets me angrier than greed. But greed is the most powerful force in our lives. It has a life of its own. We hear of so many horrible things in this world that are only brought about by the demon of greed.

We are told things can’t be changed because “that’s the way it is”. When the truth is the powerful and the rich don’t want to change things because it will impact their bottom line. Jesus, today, is telling us that our “bottom line” is not nearly as important as our relationship with God.

Jesus is trying to teach his disciples (that’s us by the way) that his way is a lifestyle, it is a choice of living your life – your whole life. The money changers and the people who sold doves were just “filling a demand” but Jesus wants us to see it differently.

We come to this place we call a church and we gather as a group. We all come here for many reasons. The primary reason we come here though is to worship God, to learn from our holy books, and to be fed by Jesus. All of these things give us the strength to go out from this place and live the life we have promised to live.

We have promised to live a life that loves God’s people. Who are God’s people? ALL people are God’s people. We are called to love them... no matter what.

It is this lack in the church to actually live the message we say we believe that has emptied our church buildings. We are not relevant to people because we have forgotten to live outside the walls of our buildings the life we are called to live.

This is where I hope the connection can be made to sitting in a coffee shop or a pub and offering “Free Prayer.”

I live in hope that one day I will make some small difference in the life of a child of God who is in trouble or in need of feeling God’s love. I go out to public places to try and tear apart some of the disturbing stereotypes that have been earned and thrust upon the church.

Sometimes though the message of the church is not popular because of what it asks of us all. Sometimes the message of the church gets us in trouble.

Today Jesus gets himself in trouble. For today the plot against Jesus begins in earnest. For today Jesus costs the powerful and the rich money. When you cost the powerful and rich money that’s when the trouble really begins. The message of the kingdom is to lift up the lowly, the needy, the sick, the lame, the dying, all those who have no power. To lift them up.

To say to those with power and money that they can give of their excess to make this world a better place, a place of love, a place guided by God’s justice.

Now sometimes this gets me in trouble. Thankfully I’ve never been hunted down and physically crucified for speaking truth to power... but I have been... politely asked to leave a place because I was making people “nervous”. And that’s ok. I quietly pack up and leave... wipe the dust off my feet and head to another place.

So my dear friends, here’s what this has taught me: we can make a difference. We can accomplish many things. And sure, it may get us in trouble, it may get us kicked out, it may even get us crucified. But will we let that stop us? NO. Because we know that after the pain of crucifixion comes the glory of resurrection. All we need to is offer this troubled world love, challenge, love, patience, love, direction, love, example, love, kindness, love, humility, love... and love.

I try to do this one cup of coffee at a time. Amen.