Good Shepherd Sunday

4 Easter/Year A

Good Shepherd Sunday

May 3, 2020

Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; John 10:1-10

 

Here we are…half way through the Easter season…gathered together for worship on Zoom, on our computers, or I-pads, or by phone…People online with us today, from Sitka and other places, far and wide… How strange all those tech words sound at times, in associating them with church and worship….Who among us this morning…had ever imagined that we would be gathering for church in such a way…Sure, there’s been other churches who have had an online presence, way before the COVID-19 pandemic was among us…but they were still offering in person services, and live-streaming from the service, in the church…where people gathered together each week..

Even though, we’ve been gathering this way, now…since the 4th Sunday in Lent…March 22nd …It’s still a daily struggle, at times…to want to be able to go back to worshipping the way we have always done it…gather together like we always have…move freely about the community, go to school, go shopping, go to concerts, travel, eat out at restaurants, gather with our friends and family, as often as our hearts desire…We want this Covid-19 pandemic to go away…we want the suffering of so many people to stop…we want it all to end…so we can go back to living our lives the way we were accustomed to…to go back in time, to the way things were…

But, we can’t go back. We’ve never been able to go back in time, to the way things were. Time, as we know it…is always moving forward…and in that time, as we understand it…things are always changing…always being transformed…into a new creation… We know that, in our minds, but not always, in our hearts.

In nature, we observe time moving forward, in the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, winter…and beginning again…year after year…season after season…

In the seasons of the church year, we observe time moving forward, as we observe the changes and transformations that happened to people in biblical times, in their times of suffering and joy, in their stories of their encounters with God, with Jesus.

We learn from all of this, in the hearing of the scriptures, in the singing of hymns, in the prayers, in the breaking of bread together, and in the fellowship of gathering together every week.

 And we learn, too…how all of these stories, are very much…our own stories too. No matter how much time has passed.

In today’s scriptures, we are reminded of the hope we can hold onto in this present time of unsettling changes, unknowns, grief and sorrows… that are marking our days and passage of time now…

On this 4th Sunday of Easter that we observe as Good Shepherd Sunday, we have a gospel story from John…and every year, on this 4th Sunday of Easter, we hear a different part of the story about Jesus, being called the Good Shepherd…

In today’s gospel, the disciples are having a difficult time comprehending what Jesus is speaking to them about…with all the shepherd and sheep and pastures and gate talk…Even though references to shepherds and sheep was most likely familiar to them, they seemed to be getting stuck on listening to Jesus’ words literally…listening with their minds only…

But, Jesus was speaking to their hearts….

  •   Jesus’ words for them today…were meant for their hearts to hear…and for our hearts to hear…

  • Jesus’ words for them (and us) today…were meant to remind us…to bend our ears toward our hearts for just a moment …that’s where we will listen for, and hear his voice calling to us…speaking words of encouragement and guidance and hope…

  • Jesus’ words for them (and us) today… invite us to enter through the gate, through Jesus’ words of love, and welcome, and compassion…for even when the world and all that is happening does not makes sense in our minds, and there seems to be relentless suffering in our midst…Jesus’ invitation to us to receive this gift of unconditional love, and welcome, and compassion is a balm for our soul and our hearts…

  • Jesus’ words for them (and us) today…are meant to point us towards life…to remind us of the abundant life intended for all of us…an abundant life marked with the joy of being in relationship with God, with one another, and all of creation…Even in times of uncertainty and worries…

  • Jesus’ words for them (and us) today…are meant to go straight to our hearts…to bring healing, comfort, peace and hope…in the midst of whatever is happening in our lives today.

A hope that transcends all time and all understanding…a hope that our minds cannot fully comprehend…a hope that speaks directly to our hearts…

Psalm 23 captures the essence of this hope and this assurance we can hold onto in Jesus, as our shepherd…

No matter what version you have heard growing up over the years…the one your parents, or grandparents taught you…the version you learned in Sunday school or the version you heard spoken at a funeral over the years…Psalm 23 is a timeless psalm…

Psalm 23….is a timeless psalm…that assures us throughout all times… and in all circumstances….We have a shepherd who is with us… speaking words of love, and compassion, and peace, and hope…directly to our hearts…

Yes, I am thankful that we have been given a mind to think and an imagination to envision new ideas…and the will to go out into the world to share all that we have learned with others…and to do all of this, for the good and well-being of our communities… but, my heart also rejoices…and I am filled with gratitude…in knowing, that in all of our days…and with all of the changes that come with the passage of time… we have something that does not change…We have a God who loves us and care for us….we have a shepherd who speaks words of love, and compassion, and peace and hope…directly to our hearts…on this day…and in all the days to come…

 Rev Julie Platson, Rector

St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church

Sitka, AK

Ali Hosford…sing solo after sermon…

The Hymnal 1982 - #663 The Lord my God my shepherd is

 

 

A NEW BOOK RELEASE - MAY 5

Identity, belonging and rediscovering God: Native (by Kaitlin B Curtice)

From her webpage:

Kaitlin’s new book Native comes out May 5, 2020

Native is about identity, soul-searching, and being on the never-ending journey of finding ourselves and finding God. As both a member of the Potawatomi Nation and a Christian, Kaitlin Curtice offers a unique perspective on these topics. In this book, she shows how reconnecting with her Native American roots both informs and challenges her Christian faith.

Winged Prayers - Sermon

Sermon (by Lisa Sadleir-Hart) for Creation Care Service (April 26 2020)

It’s 1970; I’m 8; I live in Woodland, CA - 20 miles north of Sacramento off of I-5. Mrs. Kroft, my third grade teacher, assigned a month-long nature project.  I don’t want to disappoint her, so well before 8am, I’m perched on a chaise lounge with notebook in hand in my 1805 Archer Street backyard.  It’s relatively quiet; I’m there to listen, watch and record the robins that visit my backyard in the morning every day for the next month.  American robins arrive early in spring.  I’ve seen them balancing easily on the fence line from the living room; I’ve heard their joyous morning and evening song;

It’s 1971; I’m 9; my dad is a California state Fish & Game Warden - a protector of God’s Holy Creation.  He’s home early; he has a surprise for my sister and I in the garage.  On his rounds today, he came across a snowy owl - alabaster white feathers with keen eyes and a broken wing.  She’s on route to the raptor center at UC Davis.  I am enthralled to be so close to God’s messenger; she is a true sight to behold.  This memory is etched on my heart forever.

It’s 2020; I’m 58; I’m in the garden with Jackson who’s there to help move 3 gooseberry plants.  Tapppppppppp “Jackson turn slowly around, look there,at the top of the roof - a Northern flicker”.  She flies to a hemlock tree and sings, chatters and fully delights us.   Five minutes later “ Jackson slowly looks up, there’s a Wilson’s Snipe;  oh, look” as 3 in the adjacent yard take flight & the one on the roof flies over our home as a bald eagle circles far above.  Earlier on Monday, I had recorded 7 Canadian geese, 4 Greater Yellowlegs, 2 Belted kingfishers, 2 Pacific wren, 2 chestnut-backed chickadees, 21 Buffleheads and numerous mallards, mergansers and gulls on my walk in Totem Park.  Later a rufous hummingbird graced our feeder on the back deck and 2 Northern flickers and a Wilson’s snipe hung out eating in the muskeg behind our home.  This was an exceptional day for birding or as I like to say “ for God-ing”

But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;  (Job 12:7)

My affinity for birds started at an early age.  My dad gave me my first set of binoculars which I still have then last summer helped me pick out my most recent upgrade. He, also, gifted me with my first Peterson’s Field Guide to Western birds.  He taught me that to really see and hear birds, to fully take them in, you need to pause, get still and listen.  Birds startle easily and quickly take their leave.  And for me, God’s a bit like birds.  To really connect to the Creator requires a deep sustained pause and an unwavering willingness to still both the loud inner and outer voices in our psyche and communities, respectively, to hear what the Divine has to say.

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32)

Birds are no doubt Divine messengers (think canary in a coal mine), and they are in serious trouble.  As humans, we have not planted hospitable gardens for them to nest in.  To the contrary, we have created environments that have put considerable stress on birds.  Audubons’ recent report on birds and climate, Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink, indicates that 389 North American bird species—nearly two-thirds of those ­studied—are vulnerable to extinction due to climate change.  Risks to these winged species are on the rise due to wildfires, debilitating heat waves, heavy rains, red tide and sea-level rise.  AND as they point out, there’s hope - “If we take aggressive action now, we can help 76 percent of vulnerable species have a better chance of survival.” 

“Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul and sings the tune without words and never stops. -      Emily Dickenson

The Audubon report was on the heels of an in-depth assessment that appeared in the September 2019 online issue of Science - Decline of the North American Avifauna.  Over the last 50 years we lost 1 in 4 birds across North America and Canada.  That’s close to 3 billion breeding adult birds across all biomes!  We lost 33% of boreal forest birds, 23% of Arctic tundra birds and 37% of shorebirds.  This includes a loss of 1 in 3 Dark-eyed juncos - one of my frequent companions.  Cornell Lab of Ornithology conservation scientist, Ken Rosenberg, commented that “these bird losses are a strong signal that our human-altered landscapes are losing their ability to support birdlife...and that is an indicator of a coming collapse of the overall environment.” 

It is never too late to go quietly to our lakes, rivers, oceans, even our small streams, and say to the sea gulls, the great blue herons, the bald eagles, the salmon, that we are sorry.

— Brenda Peterson in Singing to the Sound: Visions of Nature, Animals and Spirit

So what are weary, yet cautiously hopeful, God & bird lovers to do?  First, and foremost, continue to take time in the Divine’s holy, beloved creation.  It brings solace to one’s soul and gives one clear evidence of how a changing climate is impacting local bird habitats.  Second, learn about climate change science through non-partisan organizations like Audubon, Sitka Sound Science Center or the Sitka Raptor Center and its impact on our winged brothers and sisters.  Third, speak up on behalf of birds.  They indeed are “canaries in coal mines” (miners actually did bring birds into mines to give them early warning signs of oxygen loss in the caverns) and the sheer loss of them since 1970 sounds a loud and clear alarm.  God is asking us clearly and loudly that THE TIME IS NOW!  REPENT - TURN AROUND/PIVOT/ABOUT FACE. YOU STILL HAVE TIME.  And finally, commit to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s 7 simple actions to help birds.

1.   Make Windows Safer, Day and Night.

2.   Keep cats indoors.

3.   Reduce lawns, plant native plants.

4.   Avoid pesticides.

5.   Drink coffee that’s good for birds. 

6.   Protect our planet from plastic. 

7.   Watch birds, share what you see as a citizen scientist. 

For more information, go to https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/seven-simple-actions-to-help-birds/  and join me in giving our winged neighbors a fighting chance at survival.

To close, I’d like to leave you with a Mary Oliver poem, Such Singing in the Wild Branches.

Such Singing in the Wild Branches

It was spring

and I finally heard him

among the first leaves––

then I saw him clutching the limb

in an island of shade

with his red-brown feathers

all trim and neat for the new year.

First, I stood still

and thought of nothing.

Then I began to listen.

Then I was filled with gladness––

and that's when it happened,

when I seemed to float,

to be, myself, a wing or a tree––

and I began to understand

what the bird was saying,

and the sands in the glass

stopped

for a pure white moment

while gravity sprinkled upward

like rain, rising,

and in fact

it became difficult to tell just what it was that was singing––

it was the thrush for sure, but it seemed

not a single thrush, but himself, and all his brothers,

and also the trees around them,

as well as the gliding, long-tailed clouds

in the perfect blue sky–––all of them

were singing.

And, of course, so it seemed,

so was I.

Such soft and solemn and perfect music doesn't last

For more than a few moments.

It's one of those magical places wise people

like to talk about.

One of the things they say about it, that is true,

is that, once you've been there,

you're there forever.

Listen, everyone has a chance.

Is it spring, is it morning?

Are there trees near you,

and does your own soul need comforting?

Quick, then––open the door and fly on your heavy feet; the song

may already be drifting away.

-Mary Oliver

 

__________________________________________________________________________

Quotes about birds and wings:

“The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.” ― J.M. Barrie, The Little White Bird

“A bird is safe in its nest - but that is not what its wings are made for.”

― Amit Ray, World Peace: The Voice of a Mountain Bird

“Run my dear,

From anything

That may not strengthen

Your precious budding wings.”

― Hafez

"Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark."

-       Rabindranath Tagore

 

 

 

 

Creation Care Prayer service - April 26

Creation Care Prayer service

St. Peter's by the Sea Episcopal Church will offer a Creation Care morning prayer service on Sunday, 4/26 at 10 am. Lisa Sadleir-Hart, parishioner and Citizens Climate Lobby member, will offer the message - On a Wing and a Prayer. All are invited.

For the link to the ZOOM meeting, send an email to stpetersbytheseak@gmail.com.

Sitkans can pick up an "I pledge to be a Faith Climate Voter" and sticker on the table at the entrance of the See House and mail it to Interfaith Power & Light.

2 Easter Sermon - EASTER HOPE

EASTER HOPE

April 19, 2020

We gather again on Zoom today, to worship and be with one another… on this 2nd Sunday of Easter, only one week in, to the Great 50 days of the Easter season.

Last Sunday, on Easter Day, we celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And that was only the beginning. The beginning of what I called, “Easter Hope”, in my sermon last week.

Let me explain a bit more, about what I mean by that, this week…as we continue in our season of Easter

This past week, the daily scripture readings in this first week of Easter… gave us a glimpse, into the encounters of Jesus and his closest followers, in the early days following His Resurrection…

Most of the encounters with Jesus in the scriptures this past week, highlighted similar elements in each of the gospel stories…there were grieving disciples who were just trying to make sense of what had just happened, they were just plodding along, trying to get back to some normalcy in their lives and in the midst of trying to just keep on living, after the death of Jesus, he takes them completely off guard, and surprises them, by not only showing up, wherever they were, but he showed up in the flesh, he spoke to them, and invited them to look at his hands and feet, to touch him and see…

He broke bread, blessed bread and shared it with them, he sat down and ate with them,  he showed up on the beach, and invited the fisherman to come ashore and have breakfast with him,  he comforted them, and assured them…that it was indeed Him…he had risen...and they were witness to that…and they believed…and they went to tell others…

And in today’s gospel reading, we have yet another story, of the disciples’ encounter with Jesus… they run to tell Thomas, who wasn’t with them at the time, that they had seen the Lord…Thomas didn’t believe them at first…When Jesus shows up again, and stands among them, Thomas, finally has his own encounter with Jesus…a moment, that makes his heart skip a beat…and he exclaims, “My Lord, and my God!”

Yes…they all had their moments of seeing Jesus and they believed…but I don’t think it was just what they saw, that made them believe… there had to be something more… How could it really be Jesus, standing among them right now…for they all knew that Jesus died, they were witness to his death on the cross….how could a dead person, be alive again…walking and talking and eating with them…

Perhaps, it was their underlying faith, a hope, planted deep in their hearts by the love of God, that was coming to life in them, through the breath of Jesus pouring out the Holy Spirit upon them… a seed planted in death…that was now bursting forth as a new creation, a new life, a new faith, a new hope…

An Easter Hope.

How could this be?

God. Love. God’s love. God’s love and compassion, for all of humanity.

And By God’s great mercy, God has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…

A living hope…an Easter Hope...that walks with us, even now…and especially now.

Even now, as we walk in the shadow of death, and suffering, and illness, and in the midst of all the uncertainties that mark our daily lives now, in this season of the COVID-19 pandemic… We are witnesses now, in this time and in this place, to a living hope…an Easter Hope…an Easter joy….that spreads among God’s people…when we share this hope and moments of joy with one another…in our daily encounters with one another… whether we gather online for worship services, or through phone calls, letters, emails, make masks, deliver meals, walk past each other at the store, or on the sidewalk, from a distance…but with a loving glance and an assuring smile…

Some days, we are going to be the ones feeling left behind, and out of energy or any idea of how we will get through the day…And it will be, because of the actions and outpouring of love, from our neighbors, and family and friends…that we will get through it, together…It will be you and I together, at different times, who will be the ones to lift up that beacon of hope for others to grasp hold of, even when they can’t quite see it yet…or even dare to believe it…

That’s how hope continues to live, and thrive among us…because we share our personal witness to where, when, and how, we have seen the love of God, the hope of God, and the joy of seeing how God is at work in the world among us now….especially now…

Take heart…God knows our weariness…God understands our moments of unbelief.

God loves each, and every one of us. God cares for each, and every one of us.

And By God’s great mercy, God has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…

A living hope…an Easter Hope...that calls us to walk by faith…knowing that we have a savior who walks with us….in death..and in life…

Be on the lookout this week, for signs of Easter Hope…and when you see them...believe…..believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

And then, Go! Go and tell the others…share your Easter Hope and your Easter joy, so that others may share in that Easter hope and that Easter joy, too!

Let us commit ourselves to walk together, with faith and with hope…an Easter Hope!

Instrumental Hymn after sermon:  1982 Hymnal #209 We walk by faith, and not by sight

Rev Julie Platson, Rector

St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church

Sitka, Alaska

****IMAGE INFO:

© Paul Oman/Drawn to the Word 2020. All Rights Reserved.

paulomanfineart.com

St Peter's Worship Services

In person worship services at St. Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church have been suspended until further notice.
Online services through Zoom, are being held on Sundays at 10am and Wednesdays at Noon.
For questions or for more information on how to join the Zoom services, email the church at stpetersbytheseak@gmail.com.
The church and the See House are closed until further notice. 

Resources for Families

EASTER SUNDAY

Easter Day/Year A

April 12, 2020

 Jeremiah 31:1-6; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-18

Just a few short weeks ago, we were gathering in the church for our services…we were gathering in the See House for coffee hour, book groups, bible studies, prayer services, choir practices…community groups were using the See House every day of the week….we were visiting people in the pioneers home, we were travelling and making plans to travel, we were attending plays and concerts and movies and children’s programs at their schools…the playgrounds, the streets, the stores…were all filled with people and noise and busy-ness…

Today…our world has become much quieter in many ways…or so, it seems, at times…but, I have also seen how, in some ways…the world has become noisier and louder…

The grief and the worries and the heartache of this time of living in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic…has felt unbearably loud and noisy at times with the hearing/reading of the daily news, being updated every day with the statistics of those being diagnosed with the illness, those dying from the illness, new health mandates and orders to follow….it has also been unbearably loud in the silences in the times of waiting and unknowing, too…

But, the other noise, that has been loud and noisy and hopeful, all at once, for me…is when I  think about all the people on the front lines, the doctors, the nurses, the caregivers who are hustling and bustling and doing all in their power to love and care for those entrusted to them… or when I think about the grocery stores, the restaurant workers, and all those in our community who are working tirelessly and creatively to find new ways to care for the whole community….

The sounds of new life and new creation and new hopes are bubbling up in the midst of all that has threatened to drown out the Good News of God’s love for God’s people….

People are learning new ways to gather, to reach out to one another, to stay connected to one another, to love one another in ways we had yet imagined…

That’s what Easter Hope reminds us of.

That the noise and loudness of darkness and death do not have the final say.

Easter comes. In darkness and in light. In comes in the loudness and in the quiet.

Our gospel story began in the darkness. An empty tomb.

But, right there in the midst of that realization, that Jesus wasn’t there, in the tomb…and just a few moments later….Mary turns and sees, and hears, that indeed Jesus is there, with her! He has risen…just as promised. He is walking with her…talking with her…

I walk every day down to the church…in the winter…the morning walk is dark…the streets are quiet…the air is cold. I kept hoping for the days when the weather would get warmer, lighter…I kept hoping for the days when we wouldn’t have to worry about shoveling snow anymore..

 It seemed liked it was taking forever…

But, gradually, the landscape, the sounds I hear, the smells of early morning have changed…and I am being serenaded every morning now, by the bird songs as I walk…my eyes are feasting on the new flowers that have burst through the dark soil….the sun is already up when I walk…illuminating the path that stretches far ahead of me…

That’s what Easter hope is.

No matter what….spring comes. Summer comes. Fall comes. Winter comes, and spring comes again…Easter comes again, being born anew in our hearts and our lives, every day…new mercies every day. New joys every day. New hopes every day.

That’s what Easter Hope is.

On the last Sunday, we gathered together in the church, on March 15……I left you with these words: God is in the midst of all of this…God has always been with us. God will be with us for the long journey ahead….and I offer them to you again today…

Today, in the midst of Easter morning, with the assurance, that Indeed Jesus is Risen…we can be filled with the loudness and the quietness of this Easter hope that lives for us, and in each one of us…

Alleluia…Jesus is Risen…Jesus is in the midst of all of this…Jesus has always been with us. Jesus will be with us for the long journey ahead…

In this life…and the life yet to come…

Jesus walks with us, talks with us…tells us that we are his own….and the joy we share, as we tarry there…none other, has even known…

Instrumental Hymn after sermon: In The Garden

Words and Music by C. Austin Miles, 1912

 

Rev Julie Platson, Rector

St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church

Sitka, Alaska

HOLY SATURDAY

April 11, 2020

Collect of the day:

O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Holy Saturday scriptures

Job 14:1-14

Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16

1 Peter 4:1-8

Matthew 27:57-66