Introspective Sheppardese

In today’s gospel, Jesus’ friends ask him how they might increase their faith. Jesus replies; “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.’ In some way, Jesus’ explanation of faith could makes us feel disoriented because he doesn’t give us the sort of answer we would expect. In my opinion, there is a hidden purpose behind this explanation about faith. How many times have we felt discouraged because we pray, and pray and don’t get the results we expect from God? Sometimes after praying and praying we feel abandoned by God to the point that we think God doesn’t listen… We started with a reading of the book of Lamentations. Here we encountered the voices of people grieving for a collective tragedy. We found the theme of despair …people felt abandoned by God. The author of this text personifies the city: the daughter of Zion. Does the lament sound familiar to you? Aren’t we inclined to echo t...

In Alexandria circa 318–319AD, a priest named Arius was very popular. Using Aristotelean terms, he maintained that “the Son has a beginning, but God is without beginning” and that the Son is not a part of God. This way of thinking was controversial and popular at the same time. Arius had a lot of followers. His teachings were centered on the nature of the  Godhead in Christianity , which emphasized  God the Father's uniqueness and Christ's subordination under the Father , and his  opposition  to what would become the dominant  Christology .  This way of thinking created a lot of division among the Christian churches in the 4 th century. Therefore, Constantine the Emperor, who was a Christian, called for a council in Nicea to make this discussion a top priority. After Emperors  Licinius  and Constantine legalized and formalized the  Christianity  of the time in the  Roman Empire , Constantine sought to unify the newly rec...

“If someone does not bear his or her own cross, and comes to me. S/he cannot be my disciple”. In today’s gospel, Jesus invites us to consider the high price we pay to become his disciples. If we were building a tower, he says, before we start we should analyze our finances, so we will have enough money to finish the tower. We should do our research in regards the cost of the project, Jesus says. We should work on it in advance. You shouldn’t start the project if you cannot finish it. Jesus does not refer to architecture. He was describing discipleship. He warned his disciples about the high cost to follow him. He spoke about our crosses. As his followers we will endure tests walking the path to follow him. It is a narrow path. As his disciples we are exposed to a life of sacrifices. Today, let’s think about our lives, for example. Our children here in St. Andrew’s are getting ready for their first day of school. After church, families will get ready to start the prep work for ba...

John 20:19-31 Mary had told them that she had seen Jesus, but they obviously did not believe her. What they didn’t know back then is that the risen Christ would transform these disciples, and then later Thomas!   Jesus’ first words to them were "Peace be to you" (v. 20). After those words of reassurance, he gave them their directions to embark in their mission, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (v. 21). Their fear turned to faith!   Their doubts turned to action!   What happened for such a radical change to happen?   They had come into the presence of the risen Christ!   On Easter evening, Jesus had appeared to the disciples in their locked room.   And then Jesus breathed on them and gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit, and those dry-bones disciples came to life!   He breathed on them and gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit, and they became living disciples! But Thomas was not present!   Thomas was not there with the othe...

Sermon on Easter Sunday March 27, 2016 (John 20:1-18)  Have you noticed spring is here! The grass turns green and little chicks are chirping very loud. What a difference from winter! In winter the panoramic picture is gray. Contrary to winter, spring brings bright colors in flowers blooming and leaves start to grow populating the branches on the trees. We feel alive, even the colors we choose to wear are not black but bright. In today’s gospel, Mary is revealed as the first witness of Jesus’ resurrection. She was one of Jesus’ disciples and dearest friends. But we would think that he would grant this honor to one of the inner-circle disciples or to his mother.   But God's ways are not our ways.   We would not have picked Mary Magdalene or Mary of Magdala for this honor, but neither would we have picked devious Jacob to carry on the promise of a great nation, or boy David to get rid of the giant, or oppressor Saul to become missionary Paul.   God calls wh...

Fifth Sunday in Lent 2016 Year C In Jesus' story, the landowner is God and the tenants are the people of Israel.   This is the story of Israel.   God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and made them his people.   God made the Israelites into a nation.   God told the Israelites how he wanted them to behave, but he left them lots of freedom.   What a God! It’s important to remember that this parable was given specifically to the religious leaders of Israel. The messengers represent the Old Testament prophets. God sent numerous prophets to Israel to warn them of the dangers of rejecting God authority over their lives. Most of the prophets were abused and hated when they were alive. - Elijah was threatened by a wicked queen, - Jeremiah was thrown into a pit to die, and - Amos was scorned and ridiculed. The messages of the prophets were never valued until years after they died. Someone once said, “Prophets, poets, and pigs have one thing in comm...