Love is the way...

6 Easter/Year A/May 14, 2023

Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 66:7-18; John 14:15-21

Collect of the Day: (A New Zealand Prayer Book)

Eternal God, light of the minds that know you, joy of the hearts that love you, strength of the wills that serve you; grant us so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may gladly serve you, now and always. Amen.

Our gospel reading today, picks up where we left off last week…in chapter 14 of the gospel of John. Last Sunday, today, and next week’s gospel reading are all part of a section of the gospel of John, often referred to as Jesus’ farewell discourse…the section of the gospel of John, (chapters 14-17) where Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure from this world. He’s trying to offer assurance for the days ahead when he will no longer be with them. He’s trying to comfort them, in the midst of their grief and confusion. And he’s reminding them once again…that love is the way, that love never ends…and that love will always be there to lead them and guide them to finding peace and solace and healing and strength to go on, from the center of their hearts where he will abide in them, and they will abide in him. 

In today’s gospel reading, love comes up a lot, as it most always does when Jesus is engaged in some important conversations and teachings with his disciples. The reading begins with Jesus saying to them: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Jesus goes a little deeper and further with his teaching about the commandment to love one another as he has loved them, by assuring his followers that even though he would be leaving them, they would not be left orphaned or comfortless, or without any reminders of this love that he has given them and shown them while he was with them. He promises them that another Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will be sent to them, to be with them forever and remind them of this love. And that they will recognize and know this Spirit of truth, because this Love abides with them, and will be in them.

The gospel reading today ends where it began with the reminder to keep the commandments that Jesus taught them: “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

In the gospel of John, do you ever feel like Jesus is talking in circles? Another episcopal priest posed that question during an online mini-retreat I attended recently.

And it was specifically referring to today’s short gospel passage…as Jesus seems to circle around in his message about love and his commandments to love one another, as he has loved us…reminding them, as he always does…that love is the way…and that his love will always be a breath away…

As I took time to reflect more on that question…the image of a labyrinth came to mind… 

***Talk about Labyrinths/share handouts…

So, perhaps Jesus isn’t talking in circles, afterall…but in a way that invites us and leads us to prayerfully walk with him and follow him in a way of love, that leads us back to the place in the center of our hearts, where another Advocate, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth…will remind us of the love and light of Christ that abides in us, and will be with us always… reminding us around and around…that love is the way, that love never ends…and that love will always be there to lead us and guide us to finding peace and solace and healing and strength to go on, from the center of our hearts where God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit abide in us, and we will abide in them. Amen.

Rev Julie Platson, St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK

HYMN RECORDING: Libera - Love Shine a Light

Closing prayer/Hymn: Love shine a light (words and music by Kimberley Rew)

Love shine a light in every corner of my heart

Let the love light carry, let the love light carry

Light up the magic in every little part

Let our love shine a light in every corner of our hearts

Love shine a light in every corner of my dreams

Let the love light carry, let the love light carry

Like the mighty river, flowing from the stream

Let our love shine a light in every corner of my dreams

And we're all gonna shine a light together

All shine a light to light the way

Brothers and sisters, in every little part

Let our love shine a light in every corner of our hearts

Love shine a light in every corner of the world

Let the love light carry, let the love light carry

Light up the magic, for every boy and girl

Let our love shine a light in every corner of the world

And we're all gonna shine a light together

All shine a light to light the way

Brothers and sisters, in every little part

Let our love shine a light, in every corner of our hearts

And we're all gonna shine a light together

All shine a light to light the way

Brothers and sisters, in every little part

Let our love shine a light in every corner of our hearts

You do know the way...

5 Easter/Year A/May 7, 2023

Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16; John 14:1-14

Collect of the Day: (A New Zealand Prayer Book)

Eternal God, your Son Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life for all creation; grant us grace to walk in his way, to rejoice in his truth, and to share his risen life; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The gospel reading for today is another very familiar one…especially the first few verses (vs 1-4) that offer Jesus’ words of comfort and assurance in the midst of uncertainty and loss…the ones we often hear at funeral and memorial services…“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.  And you know the way to the place where I am going.”

It’s also a familiar one, in a not so comforting way for some listeners who don’t identify themselves as Christians…because vs 6 in John 14: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” is often preached in a way that seems to exclude people who have other religious beliefs and faith practices…

Let’s take a look at the wider context of this scripture passage: John 14:1-7…and consider anew what the living Word of God, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is saying to us today…

Just prior to this gospel passage, beginning in chapter 13: before the Festival of the Passover, Jesus and his disciples were gathered together for the last supper. Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father.

Jesus washes the feet of those gathered, and gives them a new commandment to love one another, just as Jesus has loved them and shown them.

Jesus knew that he would be betrayed and denied by his closest friends, and he said this to those who were with him.

He knew that his closest followers were feeling disoriented, confused, unsettled by what Jesus was talking about that evening.

That’s when Jesus’ words of comfort and assurance (in vs 1-4) …come into the context of today’s story…right in the midst of his closest friends feeling ungrounded and unsure of what to believe now…

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.”

What comes next in vs 5…is a question for Jesus from Thomas, who was obviously confused and baffled by what Jesus was talking about …Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

Jesus answers him, in vs 6…“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

We often tend to think Jesus’ answer ends there with vs 6...and vs 6 is often the verse taken out of context to exclude others…but Jesus’ response to Thomas’ question continues through vs 7…

If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” … (You do know the way)

Let me share that again, vs 5-7…all together…

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

(You do know the way)

This is important to note…Jesus is responding to a question that Thomas is asking him…Jesus is not commenting on other religious beliefs and faith practices…

He is speaking to Thomas and to all of us, who are asking this same question…How can we know the way? He’s speaking to those of us who have many questions, those of us who are striving to know God, see God, love God, and figure out how to love one another now, especially in times of such uncertainty and unknowing, and as we try to figure out how to love those we don’t always agree with…

He’s speaking to those of us who are longing for signs of hope all around us, in the midst of personal losses perhaps, or as we look ahead to the future with apprehension and worry about how to move through this time of our lives wherever we fall on the spectrum of the ages and concerns of the times…

Thomas has been following Jesus for some time now, and perhaps many of us can say the same… but he is worried, he is afraid, just as we are sometimes no matter how strong of a faith foundation, we believe we have… Thomas wants to understand what Jesus means when he tells them they already know the way…

And so does Phillip and the others…

Jesus reminds them: (You do know the way)…

Jesus reminds them that in their relationship with him in the past years, walking alongside of him as he prayed with them, opened up the scriptures for their understanding, broke bread together, witnessed his miracles and healing of many people, they have already seen many signs of God’s love and presence in their midst…they know the way that Jesus is talking about…the way of love, God’s love, as revealed to us in Jesus, a love and a way of life, that has the power to heal and transforms people’s lives…

They know the way…they have spent their past and present time with Jesus…and now Jesus wants them and us to trust and know that our worries and our fears and our futures are all in God’s hands too…

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”

As we leave the worship service today… we can step out in confidence that we do know the way…and we are invited and encouraged to step out in faith, one day at a time, to walk in the way of love that proclaims not only with our lips, but in our lives that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life for all creation. May the Eternal God grant us grace to walk in his way, to rejoice in his truth, and to share his risen life.

Rev Julie Platson, St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK

Closing prayer/Hymn: (WLP) 793

1        Here, O Lord, your servants gather, hand we link with hand;

          Looking toward our Savior’s cross, joined in love we stand.

          As we seek the realm of God, we unite to pray:

          Jesus Savior, guide our steps, for you are the Way.

2        Many are the tongues we speak, scattered are the lands,

          yet our hearts are one in God, one in love’s demands.

          E’en in darkness hope appears, calling age and youth:

          Jesus, teacher, dwell with us, for you are the Truth.

3        Nature’s secrets open wide, changes never cease.

          Where, oh where, can weary soul, find the source of peace?

          Unto all those sore distressed, torn by endless strife:

          Jesus, healer, bring your balm, for you are the Life.

4        Grant, O God, an age renewed, filled with deathless love;

          help us as we work and pray, send us from above

          truth and courage, faith and power, needed in our strife:

          Jesus, (the risen One) , be our Way, be our Truth, our Life.

**IMAGE: The Sun -- Edvard Munch, Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway

4 Easter sermon...Good Shepherd Sunday

4 Easter: Good Shepherd Sunday @ St Philip’s Episcopal Church, Wrangell, Alaska

April 30, 2023

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

Collect of the Day: O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice, we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I love Sundays that offer us scriptures like we heard today…ones that are full of familiarity and images that ultimately stir up some good thoughts, and meaningful memories. Psalm 23 is probably well-known to most of us sitting here this morning…And we probably have a favorite version that we go to whenever we want to pray with the words of psalm 23…

As comforting and reassuring as familiarity can be, it can also work against us at times. Sometimes, when we hear something over and over again, we start to hear what is being said, but then realize we heard it before, and then we stop listening, our brain goes on to something else.

That can present a real challenge when it comes to the reading of scripture, and how it can shape us and guide us throughout our lives. We do want to become familiar with the scriptures, but we need our understanding of them to go deeper, than “just words”. We need to spend time with them in ways that will open our hearts, minds, and spirits to wonder aloud and discern the voice of the Lord speaking to us now…and to hear the voice of the Lord, anew, every time we listen to or meditate on the scriptures…

The Episcopal Church teachings generally invite us to approach the reading of the scriptures as the “living word of God”. That is to say, that they still speak to us today, just as they did to those during the biblical times of the scripture writings. They are not just a collection of stories about something that happened long ago, for us to respond with… “oh, that’s a nice story…or, those people sure knew how to get into trouble, they sure were stubborn, they never seemed to have faith in God, no matter how many times he rescued them and blessed them beyond measure…”

The scriptures are the living and breathing words spoken for all people, for all times…which means God is still speaking to us in a very personal way right now…He is calling us each by name…and inviting us now…and throughout our lives, to trust him and follow him where-ever he leads us…

We are reminded that we are called by name, at the time of our baptisms and our renewal of our baptismal covenant throughout the years…

That is where we begin a lifetime relationship with our shepherd…The Lord IS my shepherd…The Lord knows us and calls each one of us by name…

Our vision of Jesus as the good shepherd who leads us and guides us, obviously changes throughout the years. As a very young child, we probably got caught up in the cute sheep and the cotton ball projects, and maybe even memorized a few lines from the psalm; perhaps as we grew into our teenage years, the good shepherd was someone to support us through the confusing times often associated with those changing, disorienting years of adolescence….As we began our adult lives, perhaps Jesus as our good shepherd took on the form of a shepherd who watched over our families…As one moves towards the last years of their earthly life, perhaps we once again, find new layers of meaning added to who Jesus, the good shepherd is for us… one we associate with abundant and unconditional love…and an ever-flowing stream of mercy and compassion and comfort and goodness…One, as we look back over lives, has never given up on us, and continues to call us each by name, even now…

The Lord IS my shepherd.

What does that mean to you today?

What do you believe about the One we call the good shepherd?

What do we, as the body of Christ, believe about Jesus, as the One we call the good shepherd?

And…how is the good shepherd calling you, and us, as the body of Christ, to live now?

In all the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, the twists and turns, and in all the uncertainties that will surely come up in our daily lives….it is good to know and to trust that:

Jesus Christ IS our shepherd, He IS Risen. He IS the good shepherd who calls each one of us by name …and is inviting us today…to trust him and follow him where-ever he leads us…to green pastures, beside still waters, to a place where our souls are revived, on a walk through the valley of the shadow of death where we will know without a doubt, that the Lord is present with us…In his presence, our hearts will be full and overflowing…and the shepherd will lead us home to dwell in the loving embrace of God, and with those who have gone on before us…forever.

I invite you to take some time in the coming weeks, to sit down with someone and share with one another, your favorite version of psalm 23 and some of your most meaningful memories associated with the beloved psalm… I encourage you to spend time in the coming days with your favorite version of psalm 23, and explore some new versions (spoken and musical settings)…use it as a daily prayer…morning and evening…listen for the voice of the Lord…calling your name… trust him and follow him…for he knows the way that leads to a hope-filled, love-filled, joy-filled, peace-filled abundant life…for everyone!

Rev Julie Platson

Closing prayer/Hymn: (LEVS II) 104 - The Lord is my Shepherd

1        The Lord is my Shepherd, no want shall I know;

                    I feed in green pastures, safe-folded I rest;

          He leadeth my soul where the still waters flow,

                    Restores me when wand’ring, redeems when oppressed.

2        Through the valley and shadow my death though I stray,

                    Since thou art my guardian, no evil I fear;

          Thy rod shall defend me, thy staff be my stay;

                    No harm can befall, with my comforter near.

3        In the midst of affliction my table is spread;

                    With blessings unmeasured my cup runneth o’er;

          With perfume and oil thou anointest my head;

                    O what shall I ask of thy providence more?

4        Let goodness and mercy, my bountiful God,

                    Still follow my steps till I meet Thee above;

          I seek by the path which my ancestors trod,

                    Through the land of their sojourn, thy kingdom of love.

 ****Image: Kelly Latimore Icon

Celebrating God's Creation

3 Easter: Celebrating God’s Creation - April 23, 2023

Isaiah 42:5-8a, 10-12; Psalm 96:1-11; Luke 24:13-35

Hymn/Prayer: Open our Eyes (#229 – Purple Praise Chorus Book)

Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus, to reach out and touch Him, and say that we love Him. Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen, open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus. Amen.

The account of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is still unfolding for us in today’s gospel reading…We continue to hear the stories about the disciples’ encounters with Jesus in the early hours and days after it was discovered that the tomb was empty…and the news is spreading that Jesus was not there in the tomb where they laid him three days earlier…There’s been reports of seeing him in the garden, on the run to tell others what the angel of the Lord told them, in the house where the disciples were huddled together in fear, and in the house where Thomas would come to believe…

Today’s encounter takes place on the road to Emmaus…Cleopas and another companion were talking about all the things that had happened in the past few days…trying to make sense of what happened to Jesus…processing out loud with one another the grief, the confusion, the sorrow, the shock and disbelief…the emptiness of not knowing where Jesus was…but maybe…maybe their conversation was sprinkled with a spark of joy, too…maybe, they might have hoped and believed, even for a brief moment, in the midst of their sorrow…that Jesus really did rise from the dead three days later…just as he said he would!

And imagine their bewilderment when this stranger appears to them, while walking along the road…listens to them as they pour out all of their sorrows about what had happened in the last few days…and then, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

And imagine their gratitude, when Jesus accepted their invitation to come stay with them, because it was almost evening, and the day was almost over…

Imagine their wonderment, when Jesus was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Imagine their joy, at that moment, when their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. Remembering…that feeling of their hearts burning within while Jesus was talking to them on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to them…

Imagine the indescribable joy, that came alive in them, when thinking back for a moment and remembering, all that Jesus had said to them…and being witness to the truth of the hope and the joy and the love proclaimed to them in the resurrection of Jesus, right there…having seen him themselves…having heard him with their own ears…

Imagine the joy and the hope that was ignited in them, once again…a hope and joy too wonderful not to go and share with the others! “The Lord has risen indeed!” Alleluia!

There is no better season in the year than the season of spring and the season of Easter…to remind us of this resurrection good news and to proclaim the hope and joy that can be sparked to life again in us, in such small and beautiful moments, when our eyes and ears and hearts and minds are open to the sacred life among us…

I love coming to the See House every day to see what new flowers are popping up…I love the walk into town every day, to see what’s popping up in the gardens around town…I love walking through totem park or looking out at Crescent harbor to hear and see the eagles perched up high…I love looking out my office window to search for the whales and the sea lions passing through…I love listening for the birdsongs that come to life this time of year…I see and hear signs of resurrection joy and hope all around me…on my daily walks…

And I want my grandchildren, your grandchildren, all children, and all generations to come…to be able to be enjoy this beautiful world that God has created out of love…I want them to be able to look all around them, on their daily walks, and see and hear signs of resurrection joy and hope in their surroundings…

And to ensure that…it’s up to each one of us today, to consider our daily actions that impact the created world we are called to treasure and respect and use its resources rightly in the service of others, and to God’s honor and glory…

And I want my grandchildren, your grandchildren, children of all ages, living among us now, and all generations to come, to experience the indescribable joy of being witness to the truth of the hope and the joy and the love that is proclaimed and revealed to us, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ…

I’m sure you know that there are many among us these days who are longing to hear some resurrection good news, longing to hear and see signs of resurrection hope and joy and love….

So, don’t wait…the time is now to share the good news!

“The Lord has risen indeed!” Alleluia!

Hymn after sermon: Go out with Joy (#229 – Purple Praise Chorus Book)

Go out with joy and be led forth in peace, the mountains and the hills shall break forth singing. Go out with joy and be led forth in peace, the mountains and the hills shall break forth singing. And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands, the Lord our God shall be praised. And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands, the Word of the Lord shall be forever. (Amen)

Rev Julie Platson

St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church

Sitka, AK

How should we live now?

2 Easter/Year A – April 16, 2023

Acts 2:14a, 22-32; Psalm 16; John 20:19-31

Last Sunday, Easter Sunday, was a joyous occasion, celebrating the feast day of recalling Jesus’ resurrection from the dead….and it was an extra-joyful day, because we celebrated the baptisms of Elias and Annalise. At this service, and at other times throughout the year, we join with those about to be baptized, those who are committing themselves to Christ, and we renew our own baptismal vows.

What I love most about these opportunities to renew our baptismal vows, is that even in the midst of personally struggling with questions and doubts at times about our faith and beliefs, as Thomas and many of the early followers of Jesus did, it allows us to publicly and communally reaffirm and strengthen our commitment, together, to follow the risen Christ, and to reignite our call as baptized Christians, to show forth in our lives, what we profess by our faith…

We don’t get baptized because we know it all, or understand it all…in fact, part of the prayer spoken right after the person is baptized says this: Give them an inquiring and discerning heart ….Our baptisms are just the beginning of a life-time commitment, individually and in community with others, to ask questions, to wonder aloud, what it is that we mean when we say “we believe”, and to discern together, how it is that we should live now… as followers of Jesus in the way of love… … as followers of Jesus who come to believe, despite all our doubts and questions at times, that Jesus is indeed the One who came among us to reconcile us to one another, so that ALL may have life…and have it abundantly…

Let’s listen to this short excerpt from the new Church’s Teaching Series, volume 9, Ethics after Easter, written by Stephen Holmgren, that speaks a bit about baptism and the questions that come up throughout our lifetime…

***The Walk from the Font

On an autumn Sunday in Memphis, a young woman in her thirties enters a large Episcopal church in an older neighborhood. The greeters do not recognize her and they ask if she is a visitor.

In the process of introducing her to others later at the coffee hour, the greeters learn more about her. After years of inactivity, she is looking for a church home, a place to come to maturity in the faith that is just beginning to take root again in her life. She identifies one question that she says sums up all of her questions: “What should I believe now?” The young woman is encouraged to join an adult group that is exploring this very question on a year-round basis, a class in adult Christian formation. When she attends their next meeting, she discerns that other newcomers share her question. In turn, the explorations of the group have had an impact on the entire congregation, prompting other adult members in the parish to ask a related question, with an ancient answer: “What do we believe?”

About sixth months go by, during which she attends worship, reflects on her participation in the parish community, and prays and studies with the formation group. The young woman now feels that she is ready to reembrace publicly the faith once claimed on her behalf in a baptism shortly after her birth. She goes with a group of fellow parishioners down to the beautiful cathedral for the Ascension Day Service. Gathered there are many candidates for baptism, reaffirmation of baptismal vows, and confirmation.

On several occasions in the preceding months, she has talked with others in her group about the responsibilities that her new act of public affirmation might bring. Yet the focus of attention has been upon the basic matters of Christian belief and worship. They have been questions like these: Who was Jesus? Who is Jesus? What does the doctrine of the Trinity really mean? Why do we celebrate the eucharist every Sunday?

Now after her reaffirmation of her baptismal vows, she finds that her focus is shifting to another question: “How should I live now?” With the other candidates from her parish who were baptized or confirmed, she begins to explore the implications of her baptism for everyday life.

 The group discovers once again that they are not alone in asking this question. The members of the congregation around them are prompted to ask themselves, “How should we live now?”

________________________________________________________________________________________

Having just celebrated the Sunday of the Resurrection: Easter Day, and having just renewed our baptismal vows last weekend, I invite you during this 50 day season of Easter to spend time with these questions:

“What do I believe?” here in now in 2023…

“What do we believe?” here and now in 2023…

“How should I live now?” here and now in 2023…

“How should we live now?” here and now in 2023…

And if you are looking to take a deeper dive with these questions, with a focus on Creation Care, I encourage you to consider reading the book, The Creation Care Bible Challenge: A 50 Day Bible Challenge…

The book includes 50 creation care themed daily scriptures, reflections, questions for discussions, journaling, and a closing prayer to help ground us, inspire us, and strengthen us to discern our call as baptized Christians, individually and communally, with tangible ways to love and respect and cherish and care for all of God’s beloved creation…

The Monday book group on zoom, will be taking time each week to discuss some of the reflections, and there are copies here in the church for you to use, or you can get the book on your kindle… You might want to do a personal reading/reflection of it on your own…or maybe find a partner to discuss it with; or set aside time to talk with someone about what you read the past week… at a coffee hour on a Sunday, or at another time and place during the week….

During this 50 day season of Easter…. spend some time in silence and contemplation… ask questions, lots of questions, wonder aloud, and discern together:

“What do I believe?”

“What do we believe?”

“How should I live now?”

“How should we live now?”

And then go! Go out into the world as followers in the way of love that Jesus has shown us…and go forth as the people of God committed to show forth in our lives, what we profess by our faith…

Let us pray: O God, Give us an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. Amen. (BCP 308)

Rev Julie Platson

St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church

Sitka, Alaska

Prayer/Hymn at conclusion of sermon: Joyful, joyful (H) 376

1        Joyful, joyful, we adore thee, God of glory, Lord of love;

          hearts unfold like flowers before thee,

          praising thee, their sun above.

          Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;

          drive the dark of doubt away;

          giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day.

2        All thy works with joy surround thee,

          earth and heaven reflect thy rays,

          stars and angels sing around thee, center of unbroken praise.

          Field and forest, vale and mountain,

          blooming meadow, flashing sea,

          chanting bird and flowing fountain, call us to rejoice in thee.

3        Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest,

          well-spring of the joy of living, ocean-depth of happy rest!

          Thou our Father, Christ our Brother: all who live in love are thine;

          teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Easter Sunday Joy!

Easter Sunday - April 9, 2023 – 10am service

Baptisms: Elias and Annalise

The Acts of the Apostles 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Matthew 28:1-10

I am so grateful to be gathered with all of you this morning to celebrate the joy of Jesus’ resurrection on this Easter Sunday. There’s something extra-special about the joy we celebrate this morning…. I know there are many other joyful occasions we celebrate…such as Christmas, one’s birthday, the birth of a new baby or grandchild, high school or college graduation, new jobs, weddings, a clean bill of health…to name just a few…

But there’s something about Easter that brings an abundance of joy to this day….there’s the beautiful flowers, all the people gathered here today, the music, the scriptures…and of course, one of the highlights of today is that we will baptize Elias and Annalise, and welcome them into the “household of God”….the family of God...

But, there’s something else about this special joy we celebrate on Easter morning…

It’s a joy that has perhaps been pushed aside for too long, because of our fears, our grief, our daily worries….

It’s a joy that perhaps, we’ve been longing for, after going through some particularly troubling times…

It’s a joy that grows and bursts forth from the depth of our hearts, where the love of God dwells within us…

It’s a joy that proclaims that death does not have the final say…

It’s a joy that proclaims new life, not just for today, but every day we choose to walk the way of love with the risen Christ Jesus……Christ has arisen, Alleluia.

And it is indeed a joy for us to be witness to the wonderful, good news story we just listened to, as proclaimed in the gospel of Matthew…

I think what I love most about the resurrection story according to Matthew…is that the joy is palpable….even in the midst of so much fear and chaos and uncertainty…As I listen to or read this scripture passage, I feel my heart rise and fall and rise again with a joy and a hope that cannot stand still any more….or keep quiet any longer…I sense the spirit prompting me to GO! And share this exciting, good news with someone else…that the tomb is empty…Jesus is not there – He is risen! Alleluia!  

It’s one of those stories that’s surely meant to be shared with others…it’s a joy-filled, hope-filled message that our hurting and fearful world needs to hear…it’s a good news, joyful news story…that has the power to transform people’s lives…through sharing the love of God, as revealed to us, in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ…

At the time of our baptisms, in our baptismal covenant…we make a vow to proclaim boldly, by word and example, the Good News of God in Christ: The good news, the joyful news, the hope-filled news that Jesus Christ is Risen… The Lord is Risen indeed, Alleluia!

In just a few moments, we will renew our baptismal covenant, along with those about to be baptized…Elias and Annalise…

It’s an opportunity for all of us to begin again, together, on this joyful Easter Sunday…by saying yes, as the church of God, the household of God, the family of God, to following Jesus and his way of love and life proclaimed so boldly for us…

And to re-affirm our commitment to proclaim boldly, by word and example, the Good News of God in Christ…. The good news, the joyful news, the hope-filled news that Jesus Christ is Risen… The Lord is Risen indeed, Alleluia!

Rev Julie Platson, Rector

St Peter’s by the sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, Alaska

Hymn after sermon: (WLP) 738  - Day of delight and beauty unbounded

Day of delight and beauty unbounded,

tell the news, the Gospel spread!

Day of all wonder, day of all splendor,

tell Christ risen from the dead!

1        Sing of the sun from darkness appearing,

          sing of the seed from barren earth greening,

          sing of creation, alleluia!

          Sing of the stream from Jesus’ side flowing;

          sing of the saints in water made holy;

          sing of salvation, alleluia!

          Refrain

2        Sing now of mourning turned into dancing,

          sing now the myst’ry, hope of our glory,

          sing with thanksgiving, alleluia!

          Sing now of fasting turned into feasting,

          sing the Lord’s favor lasting forever;

          sing all things living, alleluia!

          Refrain

Good Friday Sermon by The Rev Kellan Day

The Hour Has Come, Good Friday – April 7, 2023

The Rev. Kellan Day is the assistant rector at Church of the Incarnation in Highlands, North Carolina. She is a graduate of The School of Theology at the University of the South. Kellan and her spouse, Kai, relish time outside – climbing, hiking with their dog, and sitting on porches with friends.

The hour has come.

For much of John’s Gospel, it was not the hour. It was not the hour when Mary, his mother, told Jesus about wine running out at the wedding. It was not yet the hour when Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well. It was not quite the hour, as Jesus preached and healed and made his way toward Jerusalem.

But the hour finally came; it arrived as Jesus said it would. The hour of the Passover, the hour of Jesus’ suffering, the hour of Jesus’ sacrifice.

Yet, in this “hour,” that time is warped. The hour unfolds and doesn’t it feel like eternity? An eternity that passes like a millisecond. We know not how it began, only that it did, and suddenly too: an arrest, a trial, a betrayal, a flogging, an execution, a death, his death. The hour has come, the Lord confirms for us, when he offers: “It is finished,” and he breathed his last.

It is an hour, a time, a moment, that our lives are forever marked by. How could it not change everything? It is during this hour when our humanity is revealed, exposed, unmasked.

Our humanity is revealed in Judas, who gives Jesus up to the authorities for a sack of silver. Greed or cowardice or infidelity, pick the one that fits you best. Which one is it: profit or fear or fantasy that has power over our lives?

We hear an echo of our own voice in Pilate’s famous question: “What is truth?” a question reverberating throughout the halls of time. We ask the question in college seminars and in moments of confusion and as mass media empires regale us. We love to ask the question, but I wonder whether we’re as interested in the answer.

We see in the mirror, looking back at us, a version of Peter, fearful or embarrassed or nervous to be associated with the recently arrested Jesus, denying our involvement, protesting our connection. We, too, would rather not be related to those other Christians or with religious people in general, and so we never let Jesus’ name slip off our lips. We deny our involvement.

And yet, there we are also, present with the women at the foot of the cross. Sorrowful and shocked. Overwhelmed and nauseated by the violence but unwilling to move away, bearing witness to his life and now his death, for where else could we go, to whom else could we go?

We see in Mary’s eyes, our own anguish. We see in her exhausted body our own defeats. Our own nightmares made real. We see her, and we stand near her, we bear her weight, we hold her tight. We refuse to leave.

We, too, are Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, showing up at the eleventh hour, but showing up nevertheless, bearing the weight of his corpse, anointing his stiffening body with spices, wrapping it in linens, laying it, ever so gently and tenderly, tears rushing forth as his body is placed into the hewn rock.

What has this hour revealed us to be? Who have we been?

We are fickle and violent and tremendous and terrible and loving and paralyzed and overwhelmed and cowardly and touchingly gentle and intrepid and filled with an astonishing sorrow.

Because of the truth of ourselves, because of what we uncovered at this hour, and what we discover still to this day, our next question is all the more essential: What has this hour revealed about God?

If we are who we are, who has God been for us?

Jesus, in light of the many faces we humans can put on, shows us his face: a face set, with resolute conviction, toward our redemption. He is unmoored, resolute, afraid yet willing. He is pure love, love to the bitter end.

John’s Gospel narrates Jesus’ commitment to our redemption with precision and craft.

 Jesus, in John’s Gospel, is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. He is the one who will be killed for our redemption, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world. The timing of his death means everything. The hour is here, and Jesus is executed on the day of preparation, when all the unblemished lambs were sacrificed, in preparation for the Passover. He is the lamb who takes away the sins of the world.

And yet, there’s more.

John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus wears a tunic with no seams. A detail most of us quickly gloss over, given the powerful presence of the cross and the tomb. But let us linger on this seamless tunic for just a moment. The soldiers cast lots for it; it was a prize to be won. It was likely beautiful, like he was beautiful, but it was also in one piece. A singular garment for a singular ministry. But more importantly, it is the tunic of a priest, the seamless garment that a priest would don on the Day of Atonement. Such a day was when Israel’s sins were wiped clean, forgiven by the sacrifices made by a priest. 

Jesus goes to the cross as a presider, as a priest. He presides over his own passion with tears and lamentation, with grief and pain, with struggle and anguish, but he presides, nonetheless. It is the liturgy of heaven on earth, it is the mass unfolding, and Jesus is our great high priest through it all. The one who offers earth to heaven and the one who brings heaven to earth. In such a liturgy, at such an hour, salvation has arrived.

Jesus goes willingly, he chooses this path, he drinks the cup, he faces the hour. He is not coerced but freely offers himself. A priest who offers a lamb, a priest who offers his own life.

This willingness on Jesus’ part, this offering of himself, does not just reveal a piece of who God is. It reveals God himself. It is an apocalypse, the Temple curtain torn in two, it is heaven split open. We see on the cross the One who set the foundations of creation, the One who created humanity, the One who drew Israel into a Covenant, the One who spoke through the prophets, the One who came as babe, wrapped in cloth.

The One on the cross is the One we worship, the One who long ago, set out to save us, who has saved us, who continues to save us.

We are who we are, and thankfully God is who God is: Devoted to us, in love with us, one of us. As lamb and priest, as host and meal, as human and divine, Jesus spends every breath of his life, until the very last one, redeeming and forgiving and saving us.

The hour has come. It is here.

Come to the foot of the cross, then, and behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Behold our high priest who intercedes for us in heaven. Behold our Savior and our God.

Maundy Thursday Sermon 2023

Maundy Thursday – April 6, 2023

(SERMON BY Chip Camden)

Readings: Exodus 12:1-4,(5-10),11-14; I Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17,31b-35; Psalm 116:1,10-17

"You will never wash my feet." Peter said.  You can hear the gears grinding in Peter's mind: "What are you doing, Jesus?  I can't let you abase yourself in this way -- not to me.  If this is some sort of loyalty test, I'll show you that I care deeply about honoring you as the Messiah.  If this is you going off the rails again like you did at Caesarea Phillipi when you talked about being killed and called me Satan, then maybe I need to set you straight.  Every time your brand is at its peak, you undercut it with something like this.  You're supposed to be sitting at God's right hand with your enemies as a footstool, not washing other people's feet like a slave!"

Jesus says, "Unless I wash you, you will have no share with me."

"Oh, I get it now, this is about cleansing.  In that case, lay it on, Jesus!  Wash me all over!  My hands and my head are particularly prone to sin, so make sure you cover those!"

Jesus' response, that the feet are enough for one who has already bathed, indicates that this isn't about purification at all.  Peter still doesn't get it.  It is rather exactly what Peter did not want to embrace: a Messiah who is a humble servant.  Jesus tells the disciples that this is to be a model for their behavior towards each other.  Servants are not above their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them, so they should not seek power over others that their Lord has refused.  Although Jesus doesn't say so here, this also reflects on the nature of God.  The Messiah is sent as a humble servant because humble service is what God does.

This is in stark contrast to the usual image of God as a powerful King sitting on His Throne.  A king needs to project an image of power to discourage disobedience, revolt, or attack.  Nor can a king be bothered by the small details of his subjects' lives -- he has more important things to occupy his limited attention.  Both of these aspects of the metaphor of kingship fall apart in the face of the infinitude of God.  If God's power is infinite, then she has no reason to fear any threat.  If God has no limit to her attention span, then she can take delight in paying loving attention to all the small details. 

As Psalm 113 says:

Who is like the LORD our God, who sits enthroned on high

but stoops to behold the heavens and the earth?

He takes up the weak out of the dust

and lifts up the poor from the ashes.

Or as Jesus says:

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. (Matthew 10:29-30)

There is no paradox in God's transcendence and God's immanence -- they are one and the same thing.  Because God is not limited, God is intimately present to us in everything.  The incarnation is an expression of that willingness of God to enter into our lives, and our mutual caring for each other is part of our formation into the likeness of God.

Not all Biblical authors understood that.  Many passages in the Hebrew Bible emphasize the distance between God and humanity, at the expense of intimacy.  One such author is Qoheleth (the nom de plume of the author of Ecclesiastes):

Never be rash with your mouth nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few. (Ecclesiastes 5:2)

In Qoheleth's mind, it is better not to get God involved in your life, just as it is best not to draw the attention of a king.  How then, should one conduct one's life?  This is the primary question that the book of Ecclesiastes tries to answer.  During this Lent, I reread Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew, and one word kept popping out of the text at me: ׳תרון yitron, which is usually translated as "profit."  This specific word does not occur in any other book of the Bible, but Ecclesiastes uses it nine times, beginning with chapter 1 verse 3: "what profit is there to a man in all his labor which he labors under the sun?"  Spoiler: there isn't ultimately any profit in anything we do, according to Qoheleth, so the best one can do is to enjoy life, as vain as it is, before it gets swept away.

Even though the word yitron doesn't occur elsewhere, we can understand its meaning because it is evidently derived from a root that means "left over" or "exceeding."  A profit is what is left over in your favor from a transaction. 

It's the reason why you put money into sending a caravan across the desert to trade in a distant city -- you expect to get something back in excess of what you put into it.  Qoheleth extends this transactional model to all of life's activity.  If it doesn't give you a return on your investment, why do it?  In this Qoheleth sounds almost contemporary with us here in the twenty-first century, and like us unable to imagine any value outside that model.

And yet, in tossing aside the notion of finding any profit in life, Qoheleth brushes up against a truth: the one thing you can get out of life is enjoyment.

Behold, that which I have seen to be good and beautiful is to eat and to drink and to see goodness in all one's labor that one labors under the sun, all the days of one's life which God has given because that is one's portion. (Ecclesiastes 5:18)

We tend to hear this as an exhortation to abandon ourselves to pleasure, potentially self-destructive.  But we can also hear it as a call to deeply experience the moment, rather than to focus on outcomes.  In every experience, there can be joy -- even in the deepest sorrow, if and only if we allow ourselves to feel it deeply instead of tossing it aside as unprofitable.  This deep joy at the root of all things is where we meet the immanent God who holds the sparrow and counts the hairs of our heads.

The meaning of life isn't to be found in deriving any profit from it, but rather in experiencing it in joy, in love, in relationship.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

If we learn to find joy and love in each moment, how much more will we be able to find that love and joy in each other.  If we can see God's caring hand at work in the most minute details of our own lives, shouldn't we be able to see that love at work in the lives of others, and won't we want to take part in it?  Let us look deeply into each other's eyes, and with joy serve the divinity we see there at the great feast of life.

The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday reflection

Palm Sunday/Year A/April 2, 2023

Reflection before the Passion Gospel

Before we move into listening to the yearly Passion gospel that gives us a glimpse of what unfolds in Jesus’ life in the midst of what we call “Holy Week”…the time frame between today, Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday…and then culminating with our celebrations of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead next Sunday, Easter Day…

I want us to enter into this Holy week, with a clear understanding of whose life we are contemplating….not only through the events of what unfolds this week in the scriptures, but the complete story of Jesus’ life as revealed to us in the hearing of the scriptures throughout the entire church year… The stories that point us to Jesus, the One whose love and light and way of life in the world…has shown us and can lead us even now to discover what matters most…who matters most…loving God, loving all the God loves, loving one another, as Christ has loved us…and shown us the way…

*Read the story: Jesus, by Brian Wildsmith…

Click here to listen to a recording of this story

As we move now to contemplate the stories about Jesus and God’s people that unfold throughout Holy Week…remember…it is not the end of his story…or ours…Jesus tells us in Matthew 28… “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Instrumental Hymn after the passion gospel: (LEVS) 37 – Were you there when they crucified my Lord…

I invite you this week to consider whose life we are contemplating as we walk through Holy Week…and to ask yourself if Jesus is the One you will seek to follow all the way to the cross, to his rising from the dead on Easter Sunday…and beyond that…and to make a choice to follow him in walking the way of love in the world…

Rev Julie Platson St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, Alaska

This is the hope and the good news we can hold onto...

5 Lent/Year A/March 26, 2023

Ezekiel 37: 1-14; Psalm 130; John 11:1-45

Opening prayer: written by Nancy Johnson

Holy God, Creator of Life, you call us out of our dark places, offering us the grace of new life. When we see nothing but hopelessness, you surprise us with the breath of your spirit. Call us out of our complacency and routines, set us free from our self-imposed bonds, and fill us with your spirit of life, compassion, and peace, In the name of Jesus, your anointed one, we pray. Amen.

On the 1st Sunday in Lent, we heard the familiar gospel reading, that begins with Jesus, being led by the Spirit into the wilderness, after his baptism…

The wilderness story every year, unfolds with the devil, the tempter, Satan, challenging Jesus in his time of extreme hunger and weariness through a variety of ways…trying to tempt him to give into the empty power of the ways of the world, that leave us famished way beyond any 40 day fast in the wilderness. Jesus emerges from his time in the wilderness, having wrestled with some questions about his purpose and calling after his baptism… Bishop and author Jake Owensby posed these questions simply, and suggested that they are two questions that we ought to consider, too throughout the season of Lent: “Who or what is your God? Who are you?”

As we come to the 5th Sunday in Lent, and our final week of Lent set to begin…I’m hoping that you’ve had a chance to spend some time with these questions the past several weeks of your Lenten journey, discerning your own answers to these questions…“Who or what is your God? Who are you?”

Those questions are certainly important and profound ones to consider on this day when the gospel reading prompts us to consider what we believe about God and ourselves, in the context of death, grief, and suffering…

In our gospel reading today, the raising of Jesus’ beloved friend, Lazarus, we are given a glimpse into a story that opens to us not only a window into the lives of those experiencing the death of a loved one, but we get a glimpse of Jesus, being fully human, who was deeply immersed in the lives of others. We see that he was not just a heavenly, spiritual being only…Jesus had skin, flesh and blood, and had deep connections and relationships with others

. He experienced anger, discouragement, frustration, sadness…profound love for others…deep sorrow in his own heart…we were shown how he reached out with compassion, with empathy…and after a brief back and forth conversation with Martha and Mary, pouring out her heart over the loss of her brother, and seeing how she and the others were weeping and so deeply grieved…Jesus, too, began to weep. Jesus wept.

Weeping, crying, sobbing, tears…this is the most universal human response to what deeply grieves our hearts and unites us to Jesus and one another.

Jesus wept. We weep for our loved ones, we weep for ourselves, we weep for all those suffering, we weep for a broken world, where not everyone knows they are a beloved child of God…we weep for those who wait and long for answers in times of grief and suffering…waiting for the Lord; more than watchman for the morning… more than watchman for the morning…

Jesus knows what grieves our hearts, as human beings. And Jesus is right there with us, in the waiting, when we wrestle with so many questions, that don’t have easy answers…Jesus knows…

We can trust and believe that indeed Jesus sees us, hears us, knows us, and loves us…most especially in those times we might feel like no-one could possibly understand us or what we are going through…

This is the hope and the good news we can hold onto…

Jesus offers us hope in these words, too when he proclaims this good news:

“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”

And then he asks the question: “Do you believe this?”

“Do you believe this?”

In our minds, from the vantage point of our being fully human…it may be hard to make sense of Jesus’ words or believe them. How can we be alive if we die, how can we never die? That’s not possible, we tell ourselves…we know that all of us will die someday…because of illness, diseases, accidents, from our bodies growing tired and breaking down…

Yet, here is one small nugget of hope that can help us believe this good news proclaimed by Jesus:  On the day of our baptism, surrounded by loved ones and our faith community, we are reminded that in life and in death, in body and in spirit, we belong to God and each other… We are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ's own for ever.

We belong to God, Jesus reminds us of that…our baptisms remind us of that…

Our bodies and our spirits belong to God… our baptisms remind us that we belong to one another, too…

Not just for today…but for all the days ahead…in this life, and in the life yet to come…we are marked as Christ’s own for ever…

This is the hope and the good news we can hold onto…

“Do you believe this?”

Let us pray: Hymn after sermon: (H) 335  - vs 4 & 5

4        I am the resurrection,

          I am the life.

          They who believe in me,

          even if they die,

          they shall live for ever.

And I will raise them up, and I will raise them up,

and I will raise them up on the last day.

5        Yes, Lord, we believe

          that you are the Christ,

          the Son of God

         who has come into the world.

And I will raise them up, and I will raise them up,

and I will raise them up on the last day.

Rev. Julie Platson, Rector

St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, Alaska