Advent and the "Zombie Apocalypse"

Good morning everyone. 

Have you noticed that the past few years the rise in popularity of zombies?   Yes, zombies.  

Zombie movies, zombie costumes for Halloween, TV shows about zombies, there is even the ‘zombie apocalypse’! 

I have been hearing people talk about this and have wondered what exactly is a ‘zombie apocalypse’?!

One time I was on duty at Moffett airfield, the Space shuttle was being flown piggyback on a 747 over various parts of the Bay Area as it was being flown to its final resting place to a museum in Los Angeles.  Thousands of people came out to see this and lined the fences and gates to see it as it flew over us, one last time on its final flight to LA.  It was pretty cool to see.  Later, I heard one colonel describe the event to someone who had not been there, and he said, “It was like the zombie apocalypse had begun!”  

What!!??     Now, I have never really been into zombies, in fact I don’t really even like zombies, so this phenomenon of them being so popular lately kind of astounds me.    I don't get it!  

So it makes me wonder, why this is so?    Perhaps this says something about our society and culture that we live in.   Hmmm. 

Now you may be wondering, how in the world would I arrive at talking about, of all things, zombies in a sermon for Sunday morning. 

But hey, got your attention now, don’t I?   

Now, interestingly, in our gospel reading for today, Mark chapter 13, we have what is known by biblical scholars as the “little apocalypse”:  "In those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken…”  

This passage is actually taken from the book of Daniel.   Daniel, as well as the book of Ezekiel and the book of Revelation are all what is known as “apocalyptic literature”.    

Apocalyptic literature tends to be very surreal, fantastic, bizarre & highly symbolic with lots of vivid imagery & characters.   Angels, demons, and other mythological beings, and a giant epic battle between good and evil, with the triumph of God over the forces of chaos.   

Spiritually, apocalyptic literature gives the message of:  “These times are tough, things may get worse before they get better, but hang on!   Hang on just a little longer…and God will intervene….and… the light always overcomes the darkness.”    

So, in dark times…whatever they may be, it is a message of hope.   

When hearing the word apocalypse though, one may think of prophecy, destruction on a catastrophic scale and the end of the world.   Hence the fictional zombie apocalypse and the premise for all those fictional books & movies about the rapture & those left behind.   

Notice I did say FICTIONAL.  But this is the popular understanding of the word apocalypse, not its actual meaning & what it meant in its original language, Greek.   

The word apocalypse actually means “uncovering” in Greek.  “A disclosure of knowledge” or “a lifting of a veil” or “disclosure of things hidden”.     

In other words, a revelation.     

The word “apocalypse” really has nothing to do with end times or prophetic scenarios of the future & end of the world!   These are interpretations.  And we can thank Christian fundamentalism for this interpretation, and because they have been good at spreading this interpretation around, it has become the popular understanding of it.   

Now, also notice that in Mark’s gospel, chapter 13, that more than once it mentions to keep awake, to be aware, be watchful, and to keep alert.

But how many of us, myself included, go thru our days with periods of totally zoning out?  And not only spacing out, but not even being aware that we have spaced out!    

‘Did I close the gate?  Did I lock the door?  Did I turn off the stove?’  And when we double check, of course we did those things, but have absolutely no recollection of doing it!  

How does this happen?  Don’t just blame getting old for this!  It happens to all ages.  Anyone who has taught children, high school and or college knows this!    We sometimes just walk around with our heads in a cloud!  Unaware.  Not paying attention.  On automatic pilot.  Oblivious. 

But what things, important things are we missing out on?  

What things are flying past us when we zone out like a, dare I say it…like a zombie?

Yep, zombies are abound, right here and right now!   Not just in those “bad cinema” horror movies & TV shows!   

Perhaps mindlessness is one of the main spiritual ailments of our times.

This Advent season, let us take heed to Christ’s teaching.   

We may think we are aware & paying attention in life, but are we?    
What is it that we are not seeing?  Or hearing? 

What is it that we might be missing? 

Like a revelation, an apocalypse, a revealing of things hidden, God’s messages come to us all the time.   But are we listening? 

God speaks to us in various ways, but it tends to be ‘delicate’.  If we don’t keep awake, the message can fly right past us!   God can speak to us as we pray, walk down the street, and thru another person.  Perhaps it is just one thing they do, or a little phrase or word they say, and “wham”, we have an “aha” moment, a revelation, and a new spiritual awareness and realization…  

Yes, there are many ways God speaks to us.   Are you watching?  Are you listening?   

Let us pray…

Loving God, keep us awake in faith; when our faith grows weary, strengthen us …when our faith grows fearful, grant us courage, when our faith grows despairing, grant us hope, and when the faith of others falters, may we be a light in their darkness...   

Amen.

[Sermon by the Rev. Laura Adelia at St Peter's Episcopal Church, NOV 30, 2014]

"I can't believe it!" "That is why you failed" [The Parable of the Talents]

Good morning everyone!  Yesterday a group of us went to visit the Greek Orthodox Monastery in Florence.  And I must say, it was so very beautiful. 

Incredibly, the monastery was only started in 1995.  And today, only 19 years later, it has acres and acres of beautiful churches, numerous chapels, gardens, walkways, orchards and orchards of citrus, olives, & date palms.  Plants are everywhere, as are fountains.  The brick and tile work amazing throughout, all created & built by the monks!  And all this was just bare desert 19 years ago!   

Think of the vision they must have had, the amount of work that they have done to create this beautiful and incredible place!  

They could have said “We can’t afford this!  We can’t build this, it’s the middle of the desert!     

But they didn’t.    

Today we just heard in our Gospel reading the well known story, the Parable of the Talents.  

These days when we hear the word “talent”, we tend to think of certain gifts & abilities that some people seem to have.  
Just look at the many talents right here in this room!

However, the word “talent” meant something totally different in Jesus’ time.  What did it mean?  A talent was an extraordinarily huge sum of money.   In the ancient world, a talent was worth what an ordinary laborer earned over the period of 15 years! 

So, a talent is A LOT OF MONEY!  And I do mean, a lot of money!

Now, this parable is tricky.  Why?  Because it seems like the lesson is all about making money!   Is that what this parable is saying?

In the story, we have a “master” and three servants.  The master gives his three servants three different sums of money before he goes away on a journey.    And the scripture reads, he gave each according to his ability.

To the first servant, the master gives five talents.  To the second servant, two talents.  And to the third servant, one talent.  

Now we know that one talent equals about 15 years of pay.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a modern day laborer earns on average about $30K a year.  So, calculating 15 years of 30K equals $450,000!  

So modern day wise, ONE TALENT nearly equals nearly a half a million dollars.  

But on with our story…

What did the first servant do?  He traded and invested his five talents, and made five more talents!    Let’s look at the numbers.   $450,000 times 5, (5 talents)= $2,250,000!  Making five more talents, that is a total sum of 4,500,000!  (Four million, 500 thousand dollars.)

The second servant invested his two talents, and made two more talents!   You do the math!

And the third servant, did he do with his talent?  How much money did he make?  He didn’t.  He dug a hole in the ground and hid the money!  

After a long time, the master comes home.   And then he goes to settle accounts with his three servants.

The first servant shows his master he had invested his five talents, and made a profit of five more talents!   The second servant, shows his master he had invested his two talents, and made 2 more talents!

The master was well pleased of course!  Hey, wouldn’t you be pleased if someone doubled your money?
 

And what of the third servant?   The third servant was afraid & buried his talent in the ground.  He then returned his talent to his master.   However, the master was not at all pleased.  

Not only was he not at all pleased, the master took the servant’s talent away & gave it the servant who had ten talents!  On top of that, he had him thrown into the outer darkness, along with lots of weeping and gnashing of teeth! 

Why was the master not happy?   The third servant did not lose or squander his money!!    He returned it in full!!  Is the moral of the story just about making money?   

The parable is not about money or ability, it is about trust & faith.

The 3^rd servant lives in fear and he puts his gift, his talent, his treasure in the ground.  He does not put his talent to use!  

“The Parable of the Talents” is not about money or abilities. It’s a story about trust, and taking risk.   In other words, a leap of faith!

A scene from the Star Wars movie “The Empire Strikes Back” pops into my mind here.  Young Luke Skywalker is getting his Jedi training from the Jedi master, Yoda.  Do you remember?  Yoda instructs Luke to raise his spacecraft where it had crashed in the swamp.  He tries, and seems to raise it just a bit….and then it falls.   Luke sighs in exasperation, “I can’t!”     

Then Yoda steps forward,  raises the spacecraft and moves it to higher ground.  Luke  watches in amazement, and says, “I can’t believe it!”   And Yoda’s reply,  “That is why you failed.”

Life is the same way. 

What turns out to be important is not 'how much money did you make' or our abilities, our talents in themselves, but our decision to use them in ways that show our willingness to risk and to trust.   

In other words, learning to live and walk in faith & love, and not fear…  

Believe!   And the seemingly impossible, really is possible!
Amen.

[Sermon given by The Rev. Laura Adelia, NOV 16, 2014]

SERMON: Spiritual Awakenings

Our scriptures for today focus on the themes of spiritual awakening, wisdom & awareness. 

Have you ever had a spiritual experience?  A deep moment of spiritual awareness, or awakening?  What was it like?    How did it impact your life?  Did it change you?  If so, how? 

Deep questions for so early in the morning, I know.    But isn’t this one reason why we are here?  And why we come to church?  To grow spiritually?

Let’s take a look at some first hand spiritual experiences and awakenings as told by the people who experienced them:

One person shares this story:   “I was never really very religious, but one day I visited a beautiful old church in Montreal, and it felt like God literally picked me up and told me he loved me.    I sat in the back of the church, and cried and cried.  It was very emotional.”

And then there is this story:  “I was going thru a really difficult part of life.  I told God to kill me because I hated my life.  Two days later I was hit by a car and nearly died.  Since then, I love life and appreciate everything that I did not ever recognize before.”

And another:   “My mom had cancer, and we all felt so helpless.  In spite of the unknown, I felt God’s presence, leading us thru this…”

And one more:  “I was in a rollover car accident with my two boys.  I had hit a truck.  I felt someone, something was with us as we were rolling over….Although traumatic, we all survived.”   

All of these are amazing stories and experiences.  I am sure many of us have our own spiritual awakening / experience stories.  

Notice these experiences all describe a feeling of a Holy presence.  For some, the experience is triggered by a very intense  or traumatic experience, a car accident, major depression, illness, the death of a loved one, facing death, and so forth.

Visions…  Dreams….  Intuition….a sudden insight….a deep and intense feeling...knowing.    Moments of spiritual awakening can be bizarre and difficult to describe or share with others.   We may think, 'Other people may not understand if I tell them.  Will they think… I’m crazy?' 

What Jesus is saying in this parable of the bridesmaids is that the main task of the spiritual life is to wake up! 

We may read a lot of books on spirituality and religion, study the Bible…but in midst of all this reading & or travel, are we are still distracting ourselves from truly experiencing the Holy?   And growing spiritually? 

Now, this next Saturday many of us are going on a trip to visit the Greek Orthodox monastery in Florence.  Have you have ever stayed at a monastery for a period of time?  They are beautiful, peaceful places, aren’t they? 

What can we learn from monastics? 

The Eastern Orthodox church emphasizes experiencing the Holy, not so much intellectualizing it.  The divine mystery of God is also emphasized.  For if we could explain or understand God, then it would not be God!  

A lady who’s husband had just deserted her was distraught with grief.  She was sitting by the fire feeling its warmth.  She began to walk and a man walked with her, but they did not say a word.  The unknown man who was with her just let her cry.  She cried as they walked, and cried and cried.    As she cried, she began to feel lighter.   Presently, she heard a voice, with gentleness and tenderness that said to her, “Look up dear, look up to the heavens.  There is more to life than this.  Much more…” 

This awakening story is from Bishop Kallistos Ware’s book, The Orthodox Way.   

Prayer, stillness, quiet and inward silence is also emphasized.  Eventually, prayers with words gives way to just being silent…and listening.  Listening.  No longer talking about God or to God, but listening.   

As the Psalm says, “Be still, and know that I am God”. (Ps. 46)

One way to this inner silence is thru contemplative prayer, such as the Jesus Prayer, (also known as Breath Prayer).  It is said repetitively and meditatively, many times with beads or prayer ropes.   It goes like this;  inhale and say "Lord Jesus Christ Son of God".  Then exhale and say, "...have mercy upon me, a sinner".

A shortened version would be (inhale) Lord Jesus Christ...(exhale) have mercy on me. 

Or simply, (said with your breath) Lord have mercy.  Christ have mercy. 

It starts with the prayer of the lips.  As it is repeated it goes deeper and inward, becoming a mental prayer.  Finally, the intellect descends into the heart.  The prayer is something no longer said, but becomes who we are...in every breathe we take.  Christ within.  

This is captured in the famous Russian Orthodox book, The Way of  Pilgrim, about a man in the 19^th century who hears in a sermon about unceasing prayer.   Stumped by this, the man seeks personal instruction on this and finds himself a staretz, which is Russian for “Spiritual Director”.    

The staretz teaches him the Jesus Prayer, which he says to himself as he walks across Russia!  Of course this takes many, many years.  But as he walks and travels there is spiritual transformation. Eventually, the man no longer verbally says or even has to think the prayer, for it has become him. 

We can see much of the influence of the Orthodox Way right here in the Anglican – Episcopal tradition.    Ora et labora, prayer and work, is the Bendictine motto.    

Bendict of Nursia, being the “father” of Western monasticism, and taking much of his rule for monks from the Eastern Church.   

We get the “Daily Office”, daily prayer from the Benedictines; Morning Prayer, Noontime Prayer, Evening Prayer or Evensong, and Compline.  And for those of you fairly new to the Episcopal Church, all these daily prayer services are right here in the Book of Common Prayer! 

What does all this have to do with you, or all of us, regular people who are not monks and do not live in a monastery?   

Actually, it has everything to do with us!    

For spiritual growth, true and authentic spiritual growth certainly takes more than just coming to church services one hour per week!   

As we head toward Advent, which is by the way beginning in just three short weeks, let us be ever mindful of our inner life.  Opportunities for awakenings are always before us…but are we listening?  

I challenge you to take our your Book of Common Prayer, and pray the Daily Office during the four weeks of Advent.  Pray Morning Prayer when you wake up.  Pray Compline before bed.   See what benefits you may experience in your spiritual life from this practice. 

In the Gospel story, the wise bridesmaids trimmed the wicks of their lamps.  What is the spiritual equivalent of filling our lamps with oil and trimming our wicks? 

Lamps and candles burn slower when the wick is trimmed.    It is similar with plants…fruit trees, and roses – they produce more fruit, or roses when pruned.

What do we need to perhaps prune in our lives, for new spiritual growth to occur? 

The paradox is, that doing less can also help us to awaken to the presence of the Spirit in every breath we take!     

For in the world of spiritual growth, less is more!

Knowledge speaks...wisdom listens...

What is Jesus calling us to do?   To wake up!   And stay awake!

Amen. 

[Sermon given at St Peter's by the Rev. Laura Adelia, NOV 9, 2014]

All Saints / All Souls Day NOV 2, 2014

Revelation 7:9-17; Psalm 34:1-10, 22; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12

All Saints

Good morning everyone!  A blessed and happy All Saints & All Souls Day to you all! 
  
I remember a story I heard from a priest long ago.  He told the story of when he was at seminary and the beautiful, historic chapel there.  He said inside the chapel were big stained glass windows, gothic arches, & much religious art including statues of various saints.  

And week after week, month after month, even a couple of years, he attended services in this chapel.  

And then one day, he happened to notice the feet on one of the statues.  They were wearing sandals, probably Birkenstocks.  But that’s not why he noticed their feet.   The saint statue had six toes on each foot!  What, what?  At first he thought the artist must have made a gross anatomical error.  But then he noticed that each saint statue had six toes!

And then it hit him.  The artist who made the statues was making a theological statement.  

What was the artist trying to say?

The artist was saying, the saints are not perfect!

The saints were ordinary people, who did extraordinary things.  Someone with an exceptional degree of holiness.   Someone to emulate.

Being that we Anglican / Episcopalians take our traditions from the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox heritage, we have literally hundreds of saints and official days that we honor them. 

However, some denominations do not celebrate the saints.  In fact, for many denominations, today is known as Reformation Day.  For example, the UCC, my former denomination did not celebrate All Saints Day.  And I really missed the saints!  

So, who is your favorite saint?  Or patron saint? 

And yes, every religion in the word has their saints!  They are just known by different words.  In Hinduism, a saint is a “rishi” or a guru.  Judaism has saints, so does Buddhism.  

In Christianity, the first “saints”, or rather, those who were later deemed “saints” were the martyrs, those who were killed for their faith.  By the 3^rd century and forward, relics of these martyr / saints became holy objects.  And the places where they were killed or buried were believed to be especially holy…sacred ground.

There seems to be a correlation between death and holiness. 

Once we have lost a few loved ones, cemeteries and their sacredness take on a whole new meaning.  The graves of our loved ones who have passed on… we are walking on hallowed ground.  

Which then leads us to All Souls Day.  I think it is no coincidence that both All Saints and All Souls Day are back to back.  

The celebration of the saints and remembering the dead are in other religions and cultures as well, and on these very same few days!

In ancient Rome, there was the Lemuria festival, where the Romans practiced certain rites and rituals to expel evil and malevolent spirits that were believed to visit during this time of year.  

And over in the British isles, there is Samhain, (pronounced Sah-win), a Gaelic & Celtic festival that marks the end of the harvest season, and the beginning of the darker half of fall, which begins on Oct 31^st at sunset.

In Mexican culture, we have Dia de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. 

The Catrinas

Have you ever seen or been to Dia de Los Muertos celebration?  Families will create a home altar of flowers, pictures, candles and the favorite foods and candies of their dead loved ones.  

Why?  It is believed the spirits of the dead return to visit at midnight on OCT 31^st.  Then on NOV 2^nd, in many Mexican villages, there will be processional throughout the town or village to the cemetery.  And there many people will be, with food, music, mariachis play, the priest gives a mass.  And the spirits of the dead return to their graves.

The love ones who have passed on are honored and remembered.  And for the dead, they know they are still loved and not forgotten.

Interestingly there are many other similar traditions around the world all on these same three days!  

Is all this just a grand coincidence?   It does make one wonder!
But why Oct 31^st, NOV 1st & 2nd?

Well, as with most holidays, “holy days”, it has to do with the seasons of the year.  

Oct 31^st – NOV 2^nd is the midway point between the Autumnal Equinox and Winter Solstice.  It is the journey into “darkness”, from NOV 2^nd to the shortest day of the year, DEC 21^st, (that is in the northern hemisphere).   The days get shorter and shorter, colder & colder, & the nights longer.  The leaves have fallen, the plants and trees go dormant.

To the ancients, it certainly must have looked like the earth was going into a sort of giant death!

We don’t see the drastic changes so much here in Arizona in the warm climate of the desert.  As well, as we don’t have daylight savings time here, the shorter days are not so pronounced.   But in other states, wow!  It gets dark by 4 pm or earlier!  

But are all the saints people from the past, and long dead and gone?  Or do we have saints in the here and now, right here among us? 

Oh, I think we do!    And I am sure many of you right now can think of someone who is a modern day saint, or …has “saint-like” qualities.  

A few years back I met a lady who shall remain nameless, as she would probably die of embarrassment that I am speaking about her.  She created and ran an animal rescue organization, and I adopted one of my dogs from her.  
A few years later, I adopted another dog from her animal rescue organization.  This second time around, we got talking.

I asked her how she got into the animal rescue business, and she told me her story.  She was stricken with cancer, and survived it twice.  The second time around, she made a promise to God that if she lived, she would do something to help animals.  She survived.  

And so she started her animal rescue organization.  She has rescued, saved, helped, etc. and has found homes for literally hundreds of dogs.  

I listened to her story, spellbound.  She described herself as a rescuer.  I shared with her that I was in the Air National Guard, and in a “Rescue” unit.  

She asked what I did in the military.  I sighed.  I hoped she would not think I was going to push religion on her.  I told her I was a chaplain.  She asked what faith I was.   I told her I was an Episcopal priest.  

She responded, “You’re a priest?  My dad was an Episcopal priest!”   

Her work saving animals was / is her ministry.   

Yes, all of us know a modern day saint or two.  Think of them right now.  Especially think of them, as the world tends to overemphasize the negative. 
Yes, we especially need positive thoughts.  And the saints.  Ordinary people, who do extraordinary things…

“A saint is always someone through whom we catch a glimpse of what God is like”.

Let us pray…

O Almighty God, who by thy Holy Spirit hast made us one with thy saints in heaven and on earth: Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may ever be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and may know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to thy power and mercy. We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit, and who liveth and reigneth forever and ever.
Amen.

[Sermon given by The Rev. Laura Adelia, NOV 2nd, 2014]