God’s unconditional promise of peace and unconditional love is enacted through our baptismal identities and we, with God, remember the goodness of all of God’s creation and our calling to care for all of God’s creation.

Vicar Andrea Bonneville
First Sunday of Lent, Year B
Texts: Genesis 9:8-17, Psalm 25:1-10, Mark 1:9-15

Beloved in Christ, grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

I can’t quite describe the feelings I had on Ash Wednesday, but it felt different to be sitting at my dining room table, placing ashes on my forehead, and remembering that I am dust and to dust I shall return.

Maybe the feeling was sadness? Sadness that was connected to the grief about everything that has been lost and everyone that we have lost over this past year?

Maybe the feeling was comfort? Comfort from acknowledging our imperfections and the need of repentance? Comfort from being seen and loved for who we are?

Maybe the feeling was joy as we heard God’s promise or the feeling was relief? Relief from experiencing and knowing God’s power to create life out of dust and return life back to God’s creation?

I’m guessing all of us were consumed by different emotions as we marked ourselves and/or our family with ashes and proclaimed remember…

The psalmist today also proclaims remember. But this time the psalmist is calling on God to remember…

Remember, O LORD, your compassion and love, for they are from everlasting.Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions.
Remember me according to your steadfast love and for the sake of your goodness, O LORD.

The psalmist reminds us of times and places, situations and experiences we have been in the wilderness and have cried out to God saying, remember us!

It makes me wonder what Noah and his family experienced during the flood while they were in the Ark.  

A story that many of us heard in our youth, takes on a new meaning as we learn about violence, destruction, genocide, and natural disaster. The story of the flood leaves us asking more questions than we have answers for as to why God would wipe out almost all of creation, exchanging violence for violence.Our questioning might feel similar to questions that we often ask God. Wondering if God is with us in the midst of suffering and violence or not? Questions that we ask as we try to discern God’s presence and actions in our world and in our daily lives.  

In our first reading for today, we hear the covenant, the promise, that God makes with Noah and his family and all of creation after the flood. God’s promise is a promise of peace to never again wipe out the earth. God then says that God will make a sign of the covenant by placing God’s bow in the clouds. A sign for God to remember the promise that God makes with all of creation.

When God makes this promise with humanity, a transformation happens and God who once was angry at what God created is transformed to see the unconditional love and goodness that God’s creation had from the very beginning.

God says again and again, I will remember. I will remember. And in this covenant, God promises to do the heavy lifting in this two-way relationship between God and all of creation.

The bow, that we understand to be a rainbow in the sky, is also thought to be a reflection of a bow as a weapon that symbolizes God laying down God’s weapon and exchanging it for peace and love.

By hanging God’s weapon in the clouds, God changes God’s mind and promises to enter into a relationship of peace with all creation. Looking to the headlines and in our own community shows us why we and God need to be reminded of humanities goodness. The bow then is a remember for God about the beautiful creation that God has created and a reminder for us of God’s promise of peace.

This promise doesn’t end in this covenant, but the arch of the rainbow leads right to the incarnation of Christ. God entering human flesh and showing us through Christ’s ministry and death on the cross that God was very serious about the promise of peace and unconditional love.The promise is sealed as the arch of the rainbow connects God’s promise with Noah and all of creation with the promise that God makes in the waters of baptism.  God enters into human flesh and enters into new creation, one filled with God’s mercy, justice, and steadfast love.

At the river Jordan, Jesus is baptized and voice from heaven proclaims, you are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased. Then the Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness where he is tempted by Satan, with wild beasts, and the angels waited on him.

In the wilderness Jesus is tempted and Jesus is transformed.  Much like what happens to us when we are in the wilderness journey experiencing temptation from evil structures and forces that hold us back from loving and caring for our neighbors.

During lent, we fast by listening to who God is calling us to be in this particular season of our life so that we can be transformed daily and enter into our communities with the renewal to care for all of creation as God has intended us to do.But we before we get too far in this journey, we take a moment to pause and remember.

Remember that we are created in the image of God, and baptized as God’s beloved. Remember that God has made a promise that God will remember God’s creation. Remember that in our baptism God transforms us to be agents of healing and wholeness.

How do we remember? By enacting rituals, marking ourselves with ashes and remembering that we belong to God and remembering our pain, grief, and failures.  And by marking ourselves with water, remember that God’s goodness and promises are enacted in our very own lives.  

This is what I think Jesus was hinting at as he began his public ministry and proclaimed “repent and believe in the good news”

Daily, we hold both a cross of dirt as we repent and remember God’s mercy and a cross of water as we love and remember God’s good news that comes through God’s steadfast love and peace. Constantly sealed with a cross we bear Gods imagine for the glory of God and we are promised an eternal life, love, and relationship with God.

So on this Lenten journey, I invite you to revisit and remember your baptism daily. After you brush your teeth or wash your hands or before you join for worship, mark a cross on your forehead and proclaim to yourself and/or your family:

Remember you are beloved and you belong to God.

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We join our songs of praise with all of creation as we praise God active in our world. 

Vicar Andrea Bonneville
Presentation of the Lord, Year B 
Text: Psalm 84 and Luke 2:22-40

Beloved in Christ, grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Everyone has a song to sing.

Mary sings, “my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior… (NRSV, 1:46).”

Simeon sings, “my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all people.”

Anna sings praises to God and praises about the child to all who were looking for redemption.

Our Psalmist sings, “how lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.”

I suspect even the birds were singing as they found their home and built their nests at the altar, a place to lay their young.

When reading the psalm, I wondered why the psalmist would write about birds. I learned that it is likely the psalmist was referring to real birds making nest in the walls of the temple.

During that time, the absence of birds was often seen as a sign of divine absence or disaster. Birds building nests were a sign of assurance of divine presence to the people. Not only do they build their nests, but it is also where they lay their eggs. A sign of hope for the future. 

Birds continue to be a sign of hope for people. We look for birds as a sign that spring is coming. We learn about creation from migration patterns of the birds. Birds build their nests all over the world, a sign that God’s presence is everywhere. 

There is a row of houses near a patch of woods in my neighborhood that has bird feeders at every step. It’s a temple, if you will, for many birds and of course many squirrels. They gather there and sing all day long.

My whole body stands in awe and wonder as I listen to their songs. It takes me back to my childhood when birds were my musicians and teachers. My grandparents taught me how to identify birds by their song. I remember sitting for hours on my grandparents’ deck or running around their yard listening and looking for birds.

The sweet songs of birds warm my heart during these cold winter months. I love listening to their songs.

 Birds sing for a variety of reasons. Some reasons are more practical, like to claim and protect their territory for their young. Some more relational, like to be able to attract a mate or communicate.  Yet some birds sing for joy, simply because they enjoy their song and like to sing along with other birds.

But what I find so interesting about birds is that it takes a lot of courage and energy to sing. It seems like they sing so naturally and freely, but when I bird sings it burns a lot of calories to produce a loud and clear song. Also, when birds sing they make themselves known in the predator/prey world and they make themselves vulnerable.

It takes courage, energy, and vulnerability for us to sing our songs. I imagine it took a lot for Simeon and Anna to sing praises when Jesus was presented in the temple.

Simeon, who was anointed by the Holy Spirit, sings praises as he proclaims Jesus as God incarnate, the one who has come to redeem the nations.

His song confirms what Mary has already sung, that this baby will transform the world. Yet, Simeon sees that the baby’s life is not going to be all songs of praise. He tells of how people will reject Jesus and reject the message of mercy, justice, and steadfast love that he proclaims. Simeon even tells of the terrible pain that Mary will experience.

His song echoes throughout the temple and Anna joins with her song. She had been in the temple every day. I suspect she had built close relationships with people in power, yet she sings about a baby who will challenge all power systems.

 We remember that we to have been anointed by the spirit to sing our songs of praise. It is going to take energy, courage, and vulnerability.  Yet, we still sing knowing there will be days when we have a hard time mustering up the strength. On those days, we look to Mary, Simeon, Anna, and the birds as they take the lead and we hum along.

Because despite trepidation, Simeon sings and praises for he knows the joy of his song. For the joy of the hope to come and redemption of nations rests in his arms as he holds the baby and sings praises.

And despite the risk, birds sing because the joy of the song and to be in community with others outweighs the risk of singing. Besides, when a bird is hatched it only learns its song by listening to its flock.

The songs that we hear today intertwine with songs that have been and continue to be sung, proclamations and praise to the living God. When we hear these songs, we tune in with our voices and praise God who transforms our world. 

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jesus calls some of the first followers to live out of their identity as fishermen and join in God’s mission of healing. Now, God call each of us out of our beloved identities to join. It is the urgent task of our time. 

Vicar Andrea Bonneville
Third Sunday after Epiphany, Year B 
Text: Mark 1:14-20 

Beloved in Christ, grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

What are we waiting for? Now is the time.

This is the urgency that Jesus uses as he comes out of the wilderness and begins his public ministry. It is the urgency present on the shores of the Sea of Galilee as as he calls some of his first followers to join in his ministry, in his mission.

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus’s mission begins with an epiphany. A sudden and surprising statement that calls for people to repent, meaning to turn their lives around and open their hearts, and to trust and believe in the good news. The good news that God’s reign has come near and that God is active in the world working through people and systems and creation to bring forth a new creation that demands healing, justice, and love.

This epiphany rocks the world. Shakes and quakes reverberate throughout the land all the way to the Sea of Galilee as Jesus rocks the boats of this first followers, proclaiming “follow me.”

This epiphany demands immediate action from the fishermen. People who are talented in the art of patience and waiting, feel the urgency like the pull of a big fish, and drop what they are doing to join in the mission of Jesus. I suspect their hearts were probably racing as they stepped out of their boats, a place that had become their comfort zones, to begin to learn a new way of fishing.

Jesus calls the fishermen to “fish for people” which has traditionally been used as a metaphor for evangelism and conversion. But what if the fishermen are called to fish for people because the identity of fishermen is who they are and the act of fishing is what they have prepared their whole lives for.

An immediate transformation takes place on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, but the fishermen maintain their identity. For them, and for us, following God means to fully become ourselves, to fully become who God created us to be, to fully live into our identity as beloved children of God with God’s mission set on our hearts.

The first followers demonstrate to us that faith is to have bold confidence in God’s mission, even if there is a cost, even if we have to step out of our comfort zones. Because believing in the good news that Jesus proclaims and living our lives in a way that trusts this good news, even though sometimes have doubts, continues to transform the world.

Fishing for people in Mark’s Gospel is about casting out demons, denouncing evil structures and systems, holding leaders accountable to care for all people, and healing—a whole lot of healing. As Jesus’s ministry begins, the first work of the disciples is to witness to and be a part of this ministry of healing.

Healing was the urgent task then and healing is the urgent task now.

As long as there is suffering, healing needs to happen. And as long as there is a need for healing, epiphanies, large and small, are going to rock our world and jolt us into action.

We, like the first followers of Jesus, must change our directions and transform our lives while we live into our identities of who God uniquely calls us to be. We must step out of our comfort zones and learn new ways of doing things that puts care for our neighbors who have been marginalized by systems and structures of oppression at the center of our who we are.

We as the church fully become ourselves when we become a place and a presence of healing and transformation. A community of diverse people all with unique identities and vocations working together to witness to God’s healing and aid in bringing this healing to our world.

Healing that regenerates that natural world, diminishes the power of white supremacy, mends the broken hearts of all who grieve.

Healing that restores identity to those who have been invisible in our society, repairs the harm of the failures of the Christian church, rebuilds our systems and structures, and reconciles our communities.  

Healing that soothes the world by forming a balm; mixing with God’s mercy, justice, and steadfast love with our beloved identities and compassion.  A healing balm for all of creation.

We join in the work of healing and know that we also need healing. Healing within our personal lives and healing in our communities. Healing through God’s forgiveness as we confess ways we have benefited from systems that oppress our neighbors. Healing as we work to love all of our neighbors, even the ones who are difficult to love.

Healing is to remember the past with our eyes focused on creating a new future, a future filled with mercy, justice, and love.

During the inauguration on Wednesday, Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet, recited her poem “The Hill We Climb.”[1] Her powerful words, a reaction to insurrection just two weeks prior, quickly became a healing balm for our nation and an epiphany that rocked our world.

I will share with you a few of her words with you now, but I encourage you to revisit all of her work.

She spoke to the world:

When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
If only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it

The time is now to see the light and be the light. 

God calls poets and fishermen; teachers and engineers; nurses and accountants; parents and grandparents; children and students; musicians and politicians; factory workers and grocery cashiers […] beloved children of God like each and every one of us to step into the light, to step out of our comfort zones, for an urgent task is at hand: to bring healing to our world.

What are we waiting for?  Now is the time.

Amen

 

 

 

[1] Amanda Gorman, “The Hill We Climb”, Recited at Presidential Inauguration, Washington D.C., January 20, 2021 https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/amanda-gormans-inaugural-poem-the-hill-we-climb-full-text.html