Welcome to This Broadcast of the Episcopal Church of St. Andrew and St

Welcome to this broadcast of The Episcopal Church of St. Andrew and St. Charles’ service and sermon for Pentecost 24A Proper 28, November 15, 2020.

Introduction “There is nothing to fear except fear itself,” said Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It is a true and great quote. Unfortunately, we don’t abide by it. Fear is irrational. Just watch someone’s reactions when a bumble bee flies near them. They do more jukes and jives than Lamar Jackson attempting to avoid being tackled. Putting Muhammed Ali aside, when was the last time you were stung by a bee. It is an irrational fear. We all know it, but in the moment our fear is just about impossible to control. And once you know someone’s fear, then you can control them.

This morning we will hear about a person who feared God, and how that fear negatively influenced their life. It calls upon us to examine our relationship with God and ask ourselves what it would be like to have no fear of God.

Officiant: Lord, open our lips. People: And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Officiant and People: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Gloria in excelsis Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King,

1 almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.

A reading from Matthew 25:14-30 “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was leaving on a trip. He called his servants and handed his possessions over to them. 15 To one he gave five valuable coins, and to another he gave two, and to another he gave one. He gave to each servant according to that servant’s ability. Then he left on his journey. 16 “After the man left, the servant who had five valuable coins took them and went to work doing business with them. He gained five more. 17 In the same way, the one who had two valuable coins gained two more. 18 But the servant who had received the one valuable coin dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money. 19 “Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received five valuable coins came

2 forward with five additional coins. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five valuable coins. Look, I’ve gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘Excellent! You are a good and faithful servant! You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.’ 22 “The second servant also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two valuable coins. Look, I’ve gained two more.’ 23 “His master replied, ‘Well done! You are a good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.’ 24 “Now the one who had received one valuable coin came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest grain where you haven’t sown. You gather crops where you haven’t spread seed. 25 So I was afraid. And I hid my valuable coin in the ground. Here, you have what’s yours.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You evil and lazy servant! You knew that I harvest grain where I haven’t sown and that I gather crops where I haven’t spread seed? 27 In that case, you should have turned my money over to the bankers so that when I returned, you could give me what belonged to me with interest. 28 Therefore, take from him the valuable coin and give it to the one who has ten coins. 29 Those who have much will receive more, and they will have more than they need. But as for those who don’t have much, even the little bit they have will be taken away from them. 30 Now take the worthless servant and throw him out into the farthest darkness.’ The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.

Sermon Pentecost 24A Proper 28 November 15, 2020

Matthew 25:14-30

I guess I was in junior high when it first happened. I felt flattered to be included and yet also disturbed at the same time. What was it that happened? I had received my first chain letter. You can understand why I would be flattered. It meant that I had some reasonable social status or else I would not have received the letter. When a chain letter went around the school, it would be all the buzz. “Psst, did you receive one?” “One what?” “You know……a “letter.” “Yeah…..I did.” “You didn’t break the chain did you? You know what happens if you do.” “Yep. So, I passed it on.”

You see, the typical chain letter promised prosperity to all who copied and resent it to four (or more) people within 24 hours, and bad luck to anyone who "broke the chain" by failing to comply. Virtually all chain letters hold out some sort of reward for reproducing them, be it blessings, good luck, money, or a clear conscience. On the flip side, there are threats of calamity or karmic punishment for failing to circulate the requisite number of copies. As an example, letters often had the following warning: "One person, who did not pass this letter along, died a week later."

So, far be it from me to tempt fate! Thus, I did what everybody else did when they were tagged it------I went tagged someone else. It is rather like a pool party where someone gets pushed in with all their clothes on. That person turns around and pushes someone else in. The idea is: if I am going to be wet, then dadgummit, others are going to wet also. We do the same thing when a bee buzzes around us. What is the first thing we do? We run over to someone else and cling on to them. Misery loves company.

Thus, the kicker in chain letters is the threat of bad luck or karmic punishment for the person who fails to continue the stream. It is common knowledge if you want to get someone to do something who may be reluctant to do it, then you use fear.

Growing up there was a large, wooded area at the edge of my neighborhood. In the middle of the woods was a small swampy pond. It was said that a young boy was killed by a madman in the woods, and the boy’s body was found floating in the swampy pond. It was okay (we, kids were told) to play in the woods during the day, but one was never to go into the woods at night for the boy’s ghost could be seen hovering and wailing over the water. And in addition, the murderer was never found and was said to still walk the woods looking for more victims. The message was loud and clear: stay out of the woods at night. Thus, when I wanted to talk a shortcut through the woods from a friend’s house, I made sure to make it through before twilight.

Of course, the story was apocryphal. It was created and supported by adults to keep children from being in the woods at night, and it worked. It was an effective use of fear. Today, parents can be prosecuted for allowing their children to play unsupervised at the local neighborhood park. Fearful, helicopter parents not only don’t want their children playing unsupervised at the park, they also don’t want yours to be also. It is all about fear.

Fear is a powerful motivator. If you want to get a person, or a group of people or society in general to comply to your wishes, then put fear in their minds. Lean on a person’s irrational emotions. Stephen King’s clown villain, Pennywise, in the book and the movie “IT” is representative of our fears. Thus, Pennywise was different to each person depending upon one’s

5 deepest fears. King’s point is we are to confront our fears and then, they will disappear as fast as a malevolent clown’s eerie face in a sewer, but not until we face them.

Our strange parable from Matthew’s gospel this morning is about fear. The third servant, like the other two servants, is given some money when the owner of the estate goes away. But unlike his fellow servants, #3 does not invest the money, but instead buries it in the ground. He does so because he fears the owner. He is afraid to invest the money for fear he might lose it, and the owner will be angry and punish him.

This parable is an allegory. An allegory is a narrative in which a character, place, or event is used to deliver a broader message about real-world issues and occurrences. Thus, the owner of the estate is God and the servant, especially #3, is us. What is so interesting is the third servant does what he does because he fears God. And so, the question is why. Why does one fear God? And the obvious answer is because some believe if we do not follow God’s will in life, then, we will be excluded from heaven and sent to hell. Some also believe if we misbehave, then things like accidents or plagues or natural disasters will happen in this life as punishment from God for our actions. I remember when some proclaimed that AIDS was God’s punishment on homosexuals. Doing God’s will because you dread God’s justice or wrath means your relationship with God is similar to one’s relationship with an abusive parent. And I think that is sick.

If a friend of yours shared that their relationship with their husband was based upon fear that he might abuse her if she misbehaves, would you think that was a normal, loving relationship? Wouldn’t you advise that person to get out of such a relationship? This sounds to me a lot like the

Stockholm syndrome. The Stockholm syndrome is a condition in which hostages develop a psychological alliance with their captors during captivity. Emotional bonds are formed between captors and captives, during intimate time together, but these are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims.

The third servant feared…….feared the master to be a harsh man reaping where he does not sow. This means he feared God, and spent his entire life being careful to act in a certain way so as not raise the ire of God and be the recipient of some sort of divine punishment. This was exactly the theological point of Job! Is our relationship to God based upon fear of reprisals? Do we act the way we act because if we don’t, God will punish us in this life or the next? Is this any kind of relationship to have with other people let alone God? Such is a false relationship at best because the only reason one believes as one believes is to avoid hurt. In other words, you don’t really believe in your heart God’s will. Instead, you believe in God because you fear what is going to happen to you if you don’t. What kind of relationship is that? The answer is abusive. No one can be beaten or intimidated to truly believe in something through coercion and fear. You can get someone to act in accordance with your wishes, but you will never gain their heart.

Any person or organization or entity who uses fear to get you to act the way they want you to act regardless of the positive outcomes is abusive. It is abusive because they do not respect your thoughts, beliefs, or values. They don’t care about you. It is all about control. It is all about someone intimidating you through your vulnerability to do what they want you to do. When reason doesn’t work, people use fear. And when fear doesn’t work, people use coercion.

I understand. I really do because I would love to scare all of you into being involved more in church. It would be so easy to preach and teach God’s punishment especially regarding the afterlife to get you and others to increase attendance, finances and behave as I think God and the Bible want you to behave. Oh, I think of the power! The control! But that is simply abusive and absolutely the opposite of Jesus’ message today.

Just think a moment of what it would be like if there were no fear of God. Because I will tell you that God isn’t trying to hurt anyone; God is not even mad at anyone. That is all stuff we have created as a result of our own inadequacies and shame.

I have seen people, who thinking the tumor they had was cancerous be told it is a cyst or non-cancerous growth, suddenly see how blue the sky is or how people are really pretty nice or how wonderful it is to watch squirrels chasing each other in the yard. Suddenly, life explodes with beauty and wonderfulness. It is the same darn world it was prior to your diagnosis, but now you see life through different eyes. Seeing life in all its grandeur and beauty is not seeing life through rose colored glasses which gloss over nastiness. It is a seeing the world though loving, gratitude glasses. It is Thanksgiving----gratitude--- for just for being alive.

Robert Farrar Capon writes, ‘We spend our lives invoking upon ourselves imagined necessities, creating God in the image our own fears----all the while, God is beating us over the head with a balloon of grace and the styrofoam baseball bat of a vindicating judgment. There are no lengths to which God won’t go to prove there are no restrictions on the joy God wants

8 to share with us. If you have never been afraid of Larry, Moe and Curly, you don’t need to be afraid of the Trinity either.”

But you have to see it. You have to drop being the victim of an abusive relationship which is created by you, not by God. So, you have to ask yourself, why is my relationship with God based upon abuse? Since God doesn’t want this, why is it that I want it? Why have I created a God who wants to punish me? Ultimately, you have to ask yourself, “Why do I fear God?” Because fearing God isn’t faith in God.

If God is not punishing, but exceedingly loving and welcoming, then things like forgiveness, loving others as we want to be loved and selflessness are not things we do for God. We do them because we believe in them on their own merits. And that, folks, is exactly what belief in God is. The final word is: life is to be enjoyed with God and not feared because of God. Amen.

Apostle’s Creed I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth; I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

Prayers of the People As we journey with Christ and celebrate the paschal mystery of his death and resurrection let us pray to God for those who seek light in the darkness.

For the holy catholic church throughout the world, sharing the death and resurrection of Christ. Reader: We pray to you, O Lord. People: God is mercy.

For Michael, our Presiding Bishop, for John and Diane, our bishops, for all who minister in Christ and for all the people of God. We pray to you, O Lord God is mercy.

For all nations, peoples, tribes, clans, and families. We pray to you, O Lord. God is mercy.

For justice, mercy, and peace in all the world. We pray to you, O Lord. God is mercy.

For all who are tempted, oppressed, afflicted, or in need. We pray for Susan, Julia, Bill, Faye Sweeney, Chris MacQueen, and Ann Margaret Lorey in their fight with cancer. We pray for Wendy M as she recovers from heart surgery. We pray to you, O Lord. God is mercy.

For the dying and the dead, and for those who mourn. We pray for Jim Moore who died this past week. We pray to you, O Lord. God is mercy.

For our families, friends, companions, and for all those we love. We pray to you, O Lord. God is mercy.

Remembering Andrew and Charles and all the saints, let us offer ourselves and one another to the living God through Christ. People: To you, O God we give thanks.

Announcements 1) Visit our website www.2saints.org; visit our Facebook page and above all continue to watch us each Sunday. 2) Live in-person service: We have returned to live, in-person services every Sunday morning outdoors on the patio between the church and the parish hall. A canopy and chairs will be set up on the concrete. However, you are encouraged to bring your own chair and sit on the grass area. Holy Communion in one kind will be offered. Please visit our YouTube, Facebook, and Website where you can watch a video describing what to expect upon arrival. 3) Contact us with pastoral concerns: [email protected] or call at 818)366-7541. Or you can go to the bottom of our webpages where there is a link for prayer requests. Click on this line and enter the person for whom you would like prayers said. 4) Pantry is open; Th 9:30-10:30. If you would like to donate to the pantry to assist with supplies, you can send in a check with pantry marked in the memo. 5) Morning Prayer: Each Thursday at 8AM via zoom. 6) Stewardship: We started our annual Stewardship Pledge Drive for 2021. The core of our stewardship program this year is to gather

together because we have been and are still separated from one another. Please join us today at noon for our final small group meeting. If you have not received an invitation to our Stewardship meeting, please call the church this morning at (818)366-7541 and let us know. In addition, if you wish, you can make your pledge online now and not wait until our ingathering. Simply go to our website (www.2saints.org) scroll over to our donations and pledges link, click on it and follow the instructions for making your giving estimate for 2021. It is fast and easy. 7) Book Club: the next meeting of the bookclub will be December 1st at 7:30Pm. The book is Anxious People by Frederick Backman. Blessing May the Lord Bless you and keep you. May God give you grace not to sell yourselves short, Grace to risk something big for something good, Grace to remember that the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth, and too small for anything but love. May God take your minds and think through them. May God take your lips and speak through them. May God take your hands and work through them. May God take your hearts and set them on fire.

Dismissal Let us go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of the Spirit. Alleluia! Alleluia! Thanks be to God, Alleluia! Alleluia!