『“Messengers of Hope”』のカバーアート

“Messengers of Hope”

“Messengers of Hope”

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 October 5, 2025: May God’s words be spoken, may God’s words be heard. Amen. Before I get to the sermon, let us just take a moment to celebrate the momentous news our church, which is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, got yesterday. The new Archbishop of Canterbury was announced. Now, before we go further, for those not versed in all things Episcopal Church, we are part of the global Anglican Communion, which began as the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury, or ABC for short, is the spiritual head of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. The ABC is the “first among equals” of the Archbishops (or Presiding Bishop in our Episcopal Church) across the whole church, and represents us globally – meeting with the Pope, the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs, and other ecumenical and interfaith partners. The ABC can be seen in important events in the life of the British Commonwealth, including overseeing the coronations of monarchs, the weddings and funerals of the royal family, and more. And for the first time in 1,428 years, the Archbishop of Canterbury will be a woman! Glory, Glory Hallelujah! It was announced that His Majesty The King has approved the nomination of The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally for appointment as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. Of course, not all parts of our Anglican Communion are thrilled. The ultra-orthodox GAFCON – mostly in Africa and South America, still believe only men should be ordained to any role, much less the episcopacy – and to be clear – they mean straight men only. And I even saw someone ask on Facebook if this was a DEI hire. Seriously – you can’t make this stuff up. You know, maybe we need to follow the same principle that a friend taught me a long time ago – assume everyone is gay until they come out as straight and ask if it was a DEI hire any time a job is given to a straight white guy. Folks, DEI just means the playing field has been leveled so white straight guys have to compete fairly with everyone else. If they can’t handle that, then they need to get off the field. But, while we will pray for the hardened hearts of these people, we will not allow their unwillingness to embrace all of God’s children equally to divert our attention from the joy of this announcement. Our church is moving forward into new life! Let the people say “Amen!” And now, to the gospel today. Jesus uses that famous mustard seed example to answer his followers request to “Increase our faith!” He says “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, `Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” And then he tells them this unsettling bit about a slave returning home after working in the fields. Jesus says that the master wouldn’t invite them to dinner, but expect to be served first, then the slave would eat. What in the world does a mustard seed have to do with faith, and what is up with that other part about the slave? Well, just to clear up the last part – Jesus is NOT advocating for slavery. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, slavery was a pervasive part of the Greco-Roman world in which Jesus walked. Slavery was not a racial construct, but a societal one of economic status. Jesus himself acted as a slave to his disciples when he kneeled before them and washed their feet. So, this is not advocating for a slavery system, but leveraging the system in place at the time to make a point. Jesus is using this familiar construct to tell his disciples that each of us have a role to play, all of them of value in the household of God. You know, the thing about this gospel today is how the disciples are asking for what they think they need– this incredible faith that would be without doubt, without question – a sort of super-sized, cape wearing super-hero kind of faith – completely perfect and without flaw. Jesus tells them tells them they don’t need that. In other words – your faith doesn’t have to be super sized to do amazing things in the name of God. Just a little can uproot bushes and send them to the sea. Seriously Jesus – who cares about doing that? That is, unless it is the pesky NJ invasive Russian Olive bush…I’d sure like to throw a bunch of them into the sea. But maybe that wouldn’t be what we would be asking for today anyway, and it certainly isn’t what Jesus wanted them or us to do. Jesus is just using this example to make a point. Because it isn’t mulberry bushes followers of Jesus should be trying to uproot. No, we don’t want to move bushes to the sea, but to bring peace to the world, to end hatred and bigotry, to eliminate hunger and poverty, and to reverse the abuse of God’s creation. And it is that last one, Creation Care, that we are celebrating today, and every Sunday in October. “The Season of Creation,… is celebrated by Christians around the ...
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