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It may not be easy to believe this now, but there was a time when I was a tiny little boy with no beard and a full head of hair. It wasn’t gray, either. One New Year’s Day when I was maybe six or seven I was visiting my grandfather’s house and, as it happened, I was the only kid there. All the other people at the New Year’s party were huge loud adults who were eating traditional foods like sauerkraut and pickled herring and drinking wine from the vines my grandfather grew in back of the house. At midnight, someone said, Why not let Eddie have a sip of wine too? So they gave me a sip of the most horrible wine I’ve ever tasted, more like vinegar than wine. I must have made a face, because they were all laughing and chuckling. My grandfather wasn’t a very good winemaker, at least not by then, because he had grown old and no longer bothered to prune the vines. A healthy grapevine, as Jesus said, has to be pruned, and the branches that no longer bear good fruit are burned; otherwise, each vine will grow unchecked and, while it will bear a lot of grapes, they will not be very good. This happened to my grandfather’s vines, and the wine they produced was bad. For a while they were good enough for jelly, so every year my grandmother made a huge batch of grape jelly and gave it away to everyone she could think of. In time, as more people politely turned it down, she gave up on that too. By the time I was ten, I was living at their house and helping to harvest the grapes as table grapes. The red ones were useful only for table grapes; they had almost no flavor, but were refreshing eaten cold. In the end, my grandfather’s labor over thirty years had come down to no more than that. I learned from this that more is not necessarily better; a small fraction of the jungle canopy behind our house would have borne better grapes and good wine. Everyone who heard Jesus understood all this, since wine was not a luxury but a necessity of life and vineyards were and are everywhere in the Holy Land. But Jesus goes further. He makes one of the “I am” statements; just as in last week’s gospel he says “I am the good shepherd,” here he says “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Now he is not only our protector and leader, but he is part of us and we are part of him. Now the wine that we drink in the Holy Communion is not only wine but also his blood, and because we are made one with him his blood is our blood, which we drink to nourish the spirit of God within us. The bread and the wine are our spiritual food and drink, not in an abstract sense but a very physical one, and they sustain us in spirit just as ordinary food and drink us sustain us in body. I would like to say just one other thing about vineyards. The roots of grapevines go deep into the earth, very deep, which is why they can grow in dry hot places like Israel and California; they don’t rely on rain, like grains and tubers, but draw up pure water from underground and fill their fruit with it. The branches that bear the good plump fruit do so by tapping deep wellsprings, and the branches that flourish in the vineyard of God tap the source of all life in the love of God and the redeeming power of Christ, the vine and deep root from which we grow. When we live in Christ we are not separate from him, and we are not separate from other human beings. The reading from the Book of Acts, St. Philip’s baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch, is a perfect example of the unity of all peoples. As we heard just a few minutes ago, the eunuch was earnestly reading Isaiah, trying to learn more about God, but could not understand what the prophet was saying. Who, he asks, is the one who was denied justice, humiliated and slaughtered like a sheep? When Philip explains, the eunuch – obviously a very intelligent man – immediately understands that salvation is not to be gained only by the Law and the prophets, but by participating in the life of Christ. This begins with baptism, so when he sees water he asks what prevents him from being baptized immediately. This is as close as the New Testament comes to humor, since in fact there are a few details that, before Christ, would have made it impossible even consider: He is not Jewish by birth, being a eunuch he can never be circumcised, and he is in service to the ruler of a foreign power. But Philip doesn’t even hesitate, and the eunuch goes on his way rejoicing because he has discovered in the act of baptism, the act of becoming part of the body of Christ, the truth he could not find by himself. I thought for a while about preaching just on the lesson from Acts, since its relationship to this congregation is so obvious, but it seems pretentious for me to talk at length to you about racism. Unfortunately you understand this better than I do. But the lesson is clear: Here is a man who is trying to understand the scripture of the Jews even though the Jews would have rejected him absolutely as a stranger who could never have been part of their community. How often we have, even unconsciously, shunned people whom we would not want to be part of our community, whether that means our church, our neighborhood, or the school our children go to. Shunning need not be a matter of race; homeless people are universally shunned, and so are those who are strange, whose behavior is “inappropriate” according to our social norms. We all know such people, and we have met plenty of them with our community lunches. We will meet many more in a little while when we return to Trinity Church for the garden ministry. Many of them also attend daytime services at Trinity and other downtown churches; like the eunuch, they are searching for truth and wholeness of spirit in their own way. They and we are all the same, branches of the great vine that is the source of life and truth. Amen.

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Today does not look like a special Sunday in Lent- but it is. What is today called? Today is called “Refreshment Sunday.”

In the Anglican Communion we call the fourth Sunday in Lent “Refreshment Sunday.” The Roman Catholics also have a special Latin name for today which when translated means “Rejoice.” I remember when I was in Britain that today they celebrate “Mothering Sunday.” In America, we observe it on May 10. In the United Kingdom, today they honor their mothers. We will consider this in detail on May 10.

You will observe that it is indeed a special Day. What makes it special? Why should we rejoice in the middle of Lent? We learned that Lent is a time for serious reflection, a time for fasting and meditation, of prayer and the reading of the scriptures. In the midst of all these, why should we rejoice?

Well, the answer is simple - it is because we are halfway through lent. We are now in the position where we can see the light “at the end of the tunnel” - a day when we have a glimpse of the Resurrection on Easter Day and we rejoice. As you well know, Christians are not encouraged to fast on Sundays because every Sunday is Resurrection Day and on this day, Christians are to rejoice. Today however, we rejoice for another reason. We rejoice that in the midst of gloom and suffering as we look ahead to Good Friday, we can see beyond the horizon, that Resurrection Day is eminent.

The children of Israel had the same experience long time ago. God had heard their cry of despair when they were slaves in Egypt and had come to their rescue by sending Moses to confront Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. God had shown the Egyptians and the Israelites alike that there are no other gods greater than the true GOD. That he was the Omnipotent (all powerful), Omnipresent (present everywhere) and Omniscience (knows everything.) He had delivered them by causing the ten plagues on the Egyptians when their Pharaoh had refused to release them from slavery and also when he worked wonders for them by dividing the Red sea and drowning all the army of Egypt in the bed of the sea while the children of Israel crossed unharmed.

It did not take long before the children of Israel forgot all the Lord had done for them and began to complain about nearly everything - food, water, the environment - you name it, they complained about everything. God in turn punished them at first, but forgave them when they repented and gave them Life through the brazen image of a serpent. Anyone who was bitten by the poisonous snakes and looked at the image, lived. God gave them LIFE in the midst of death - but only when they looked on the image God had provided.

Look at the world’s situation today - unemployment, repossessions of homes, poverty, homelessness, loss of pension funds and 401Ks, diseases, wars; the list is endless. Like the Israelites, we have distanced ourselves from God by allowing ourselves to be distracted. As a result, we have been focusing on everything else but God. It was only when the Israelites focused on the image of the serpent that they lived.

The children of Israel had to be helped to have faith in God. They repented and God saw their plight and knew their difficulties - they lacked faith. After all they had just started to know God in a different and more direct way and they needed time to get used to a God who is a Spirit.

We on this side of history are also faced with so many distractions that we keep having less and less time for God. During this Lent, we need to repent. We need to do this on behalf of our world leaders and the peoples of the world. We need to learn to trust God and to Focus only on Him who loves us so much that He sent His Son so that all who believe in Him “should not perish but have everlasting life.”

So on this Refreshment Sunday when we look ahead we see two clear visions that mark our future-

the Crucifixion of our Lord that earned us our Salvation and the Resurrection that gives us the HOPE of Eternal Life.

So let us rejoice. Amen

Sermon by Rev. Admire Cleeve

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Every command of God is reasonable as it is divine and enjoined no less from regard to human happiness, than to secure the glory of the great lawgiver.

Those generally termed the Ten Commandments stand prominently conspicuous in the sacred volume and from the manner in which they were announced, the frequency with which they are introduced, and their essential connection with all good conduct. They present the strongest claims on our attention. As Christians you are aware that our text forms a part of this sacred code; that it stands among these Commandments, and is found in a part of the divine records which gives an account of God’s delivering his law to mortals, and that it has the sanction which accompanies the mandates of heaven.

The Institution of the Sabbath day, and the manner in which we should regard it, are the topics which our Text embrace and, those which now demand our serious attention. Moses was on Mount Sinai when God spoke the words to him. God first introduced himself to Moses. He said ‘I am the Lord they God’, as he is saying to us this morning. He is the God that has brought us thus far from all the certainties and uncertainties of life. He warned Moses and he is warning us this day that we shall have no other God but Him. He warned us not to create graven images, nor adopt any mortal, beast or thing as our God, for he God is a jealous God. He promised punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject Him, but promise to show steadfast love to those who love Him and follow His commands.

The misuse of the Name of God is a sin, and God will not acquit anyone who misuses His name. God also asked that we remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy, as we have six days to work and labor Our entire household should observe the Sabbath day and do no work on that day but praise Him; for this reason God blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

God commands that we honor our fathers and mothers so that our days may be long in the land as our Lord has assured us. We are warned not to murder, commit adultery, not to steal, nor bear false witness against our neighbors.

Amen.

By: Rev. Frank Vincent

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Mark 8:31-38 Some years ago, the new president of CCAD held a party at his home so that the faculty and trustees could get to know him better. We did indeed get to know him better, and he was fired hardly more than a year later. One example of his charm at the party was a conversation with me and a few other faculty about our hobbies, if any. “Photography,” I said. He nodded. “Fishing,” another guy said. He nodded. Another said, “I like to watch the Weather Channel, sometimes a couple of hours a day.” He just stared at her, and said, “You need to get a life.” What does this have to do with today’s Gospel? Jesus said, “Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” The problem with “getting” or “saving” one’s life in modern terms is that this so often means doing something for yourself, something that will make you richer or better-looking or at least less boring. So the former president’s comment about the Weather Channel wasn’t just a general injunction but a suggestion that she take up fishing like Walter or photography like Edward, or maybe needlework or gardening or something, or maybe move on to teaching in Seattle or Houston where she wouldn’t be so bored. In broader terms, he was also suggesting that “Your life is empty, it has no meaning”; Jesus too suggested that some lives are empty, and offered discipleship as the alternative. As I read today’s lesson, I kept thinking about last Sunday’s lesson – and, of course, there is a reason why these passages are put together in sequence. To me, one of the reasons is that the temptations in the wilderness represent wrong ways to get a life, and today Jesus tells us the right way. Since Admire chose not to discuss the temptations in detail last week, I’m going to talk about them a little now, but from the perspective of how different they are from “Take up your cross and follow me.” The first temptation was to give up self-denial and do a magic trick, turning stones into bread, to make himself more comfortable. Hunger alone would make this an attractive proposition, but throughout our lives, hungry or not, we are constantly urged to use our skills to make ourselves materially comfortable, to gain status in our communities, to put our personal stamp on our lives. Just as Satan suggested to Jesus that he take care of his own hunger and no one else’s, so we are taught from childhood to look out first for ourselves and satisfy our own needs first. This is why one of the biggest sections of any bookstore will be the “self-help” aisles where we learn how to “pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps,” as Emerson put it, usually by thinking positive thoughts about ourselves until they come true and we are rich and successful in our jobs. The most famous of these mantras, still repeated many times a day by many people, is “Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.” The emphasis is pretty clear, as it is the psychobabble we hear every day about “self-esteem,” “selfworth,” “self-determination,” “self-motivation” and so on. From this point of view, each of us is like a miniature Las Vegas: What comes from the self stays in the self. Jesus’ point of view is different: don’t pull up your bootstraps but instead take up your cross and follow me. The second temptation is not wealth through self-improvement but sheer power. Satan gives Jesus a vantage point where he can see “all the nations of the world,” that is, south through Egypt to Ethiopia, west to the Rock of Gibralter, north to Asia Minor and west through Iraq and Iran to the first of the Himalayas. Our world is larger than that, but still it is an impressive piece of real estate. And, while the Gospel doesn’t mention this, I think the second temptation is a lot harder to resist than the first. After all, the ruler of the world will surely have his or her material needs met without difficulty, so the ruler will be free to be wise and just. That is the real temptation: Take a shortcut, gather power to yourself rather than let it flow out of yourself, and do good without suffering. Another story we all know, Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings is all about this form of seduction. Only the real lord of the Ring, Sauron, accepts it for what it is – pure evil – while everyone else who comes near it believes that he can control it and use it for good. Even saintly Frodo fails in his mission to destroy the Ring because its power possesses him; only divine intervention saves the world from its evil. In the Gospel too, Satan says that all the kingdoms of the world have been given to him, and offers to turn them over to Jesus, implicitly so he can take a shortcut in saving them and avoid the agony of the cross. But Jesus, perhaps recalling this conversation in a high place, rebukes Peter – “get thee behind me, Satan!” – when Peter objects to the idea that Jesus must undergo great suffering and rejection by all human authorities. Satan required in the second temptation that Jesus worship him, by which he would have forfeited his life, and in the third, rather desperate temptation he tries again to make Jesus turn divine power into a magic trick, this time ordering angels to catch him in mid-air. What matters to me about the third temptation is where it happens: at the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem. From there Jesus could easily see the hill of Golgotha where his ministry would end among mocking soldiers and bystanders who would say “If you are the Son of God, send angels to bring you down from there!” He would face the same temptation, this time in agony, but would choose instead to die like any one of us. Jesus foretold his death, and in the process relived his temptation in the wilderness, not only so the disciples would know what was to come but to offer an invitation to them, and through them to us: Give up your obsession with yourself and your needs, deny them, not just to observe Lent but throughout your whole life and being. We do not have to take up a cross to be crucified, but we do need to put to death the selfish impulses that carry us into ourselves and away from other people and from the image of God in all people. We must do this every day, in our work and our prayers, because only then can we learn to live no longer for ourselves alone, but for him who died for us and rose again. Amen.

By Edward Lense

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Just two weeks ago, St. Cyprian of Carthage also took a step of faith when we moved from Broad Street to this building in Cleveland Avenue. You will discover from many of the accounts of old and many today where people had and are being called to take steps of faith that their lives were never the same after. A great change and a transformation of their lives are usually the result.

We do not know what the future holds for our church (St. Cyprian of Carthage), although as we are positive that if God is with us, all will be well. What form the future will take is for him to decide. What we do know, however, is that like Noah and our Lord, we have work to do and that work is – to “go out and make disciples” as commanded by our Lord. That is what we have to do now – go out and meet people and invite them to come and meet our Lord – tell them we have an open house on Sunday, March 29, at 10.30 a.m. for our service and lunch at 12.00 p.m. We are aware also, that if we keep faith, there will be change for the better and a transformation beyond our dreams will be the result.

This year, Lent is beginning at a time when the United States and the rest of the nations of the world are experiencing difficult times; the U.S economy is in crisis. It is a period of uncertainty, anxiety and worry. So many are losing their jobs, some who have been unemployed for some time now are not so sure they are employable any more. People have lost their homes and are still losing them in record numbers. This downward spiral of our economy makes even experts to doubt whether recovery will come soon. In our nation today, Millions of people are afraid of the future for themselves and for their families.

We are God’s children and what we know others don’t know. We Christians have a Lord who will take care of us. He often said over and over again, “Be not afraid”. As a matter of fact, the whole Bible is full of this assurance from God to his people “Be not afraid”. As I was preparing my sermon, I conducted a search in the Authorized Standard version of the Bible for the phrase “be not afraid” and I found forty-six.

He promised us also in Matthew 11:28-30, ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

For us who believe, we need Lent to further take another step in our faith to remind us of his promise and to strengthen the bond with our Lord. He is always there for us, for he also promised us in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” and we know it and we believe it.

There are others outside, who have not heard this good news who are worried, anxious and frustrated and who have nowhere to turn because they do not know our Lord. We need to go and meet them where they are and give them HOPE. We need to tell them about our Lord and what he promised us - “His yoke is easy, His burden is light.” Invite them to come to his Church to taste and see the Generosity, Love, Compassion, Mercy and the Saving Grace of our Lord. Let them join us in taking another Step of Faith. Amen.

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