grace – Holy Cross Episcopal Church

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Romans 5:12-19Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Matthew 4:1-11

Iâ€™ve told the story before, but itâ€™s worth repeating. A rich man came to see me in the church I served back in St. Charles, Illinois, about a wedding for his daughter. They were nominal members of the more fashionable parish in the next town down the river, but they never attended church so the priest there had refused to do the wedding. Would I? The father would â€œmake it worth my while.â€ What did my church need?

Well, I thought to myself: think boldly here, John. So, looking out the window of my study to the vacant expanse of lawn we owned, I said, â€œWell, we very much need to expand our education wing.â€ My visitor made a choking sound, so I quickly laughed said that I was only kidding; weâ€™d be glad to do his daughterâ€™s wedding and he could make whatever contribution he felt called to out of gratitude.

Needless to say, my relations with that man were never very good. He got my back up; I got his. We were operating, you see, out of completely different paradigms. He came from a successful corporate career, the world of commerce and power, where I offer something to you if you will do something in return. I will build you a ship (this had been this rich manâ€™s most recent business) if you pay me so many hundreds of millions of dollars. The Church, however, operates (or is supposed to operate!) differently. For example, each Sunday we offer you a wonderful breakfast, a beautiful worship service, a helpful (we hope) message for your week, and the Body and Blood of Christ. And itâ€™s entirely up to you what you do in response â€“ moneywise or anything-wise. Itâ€™s all free gift.

Lent 2 March 8, 2009

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Romans 4:13-25Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Mark 8:31-38

When I moved here to start as vicar, going on twelve years ago, I was new to email. (Sounds impossible to believe! Now email is being eclipsed by Facebook and Twitter.) I picked as my email address holyx, for Holy Cross. I didnâ€™t realize that I could have used a plus sign instead of the x and had an address that avoided negative connotations.

Anyway, itâ€™s occurred to me sometimes that X is an interesting take on the Cross. (Actually, the crosses used in crucifixion apparently werenâ€™t like the Latin crosses weâ€™re used to seeing. They were tau or T-shaped. And some crosses were actually X shaped, the victimâ€™s hands and legs stretched out more painfully.) But the thing about X and the Cross is that â€œX marks the spot,â€ X is the intersection of space and time, X is the cross-hairs in a gun sight. And all of that is true of the Cross of Christ, the Holy Cross, the namesake of this church.