Sermons at St Luke's Ewing

Taking Off the Mask (Sermon, Oct 30)

2011-10-30T19:04:11Z

Click this link or title at end of enry to hear audio, right-click to download if audio doesn't load, or visit our iTunes page here:

Jesus said, “For you have one teacher, and your all students.” (Matthew 23:8)

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

We should remember from our Sunday School classes that “student” is the translation of “disciple” and that to be a disciple is to be a student, which means to learn and to grow with our knowledge.

This is a confronting gospel, and it seems that over these last few weeks all we’ve heard are confronting Gospels. Jesus has had his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and he is now spending the last few days teaching leading up to the last meal with his disciples. Believe it or not, all of these Gospel passages we’ve heard come from just one day, what we would call Monday of Holy Week. Now it’s near the end of what was a very busy day for Jesus, filled with much argumentation and conflict.

We can see how Jesus’s patience is starting to wear thin as he points out to his students, his disciples, how the scribes and the Pharisees in the Temple making a great show of themselves to be seen by eithers teaching the content of the faith from Moses’ seat. That’s what it means to sit in Moses’ seat – to hand on the tradition of the 613 laws and commandments given by God through Moses and that make up the Torah. Yet, they themselves don’t even follow what they teach, so Jesus warns his disciples to listen to their teaching but not to follow their example. We can see why Jesus said there is truly only one teacher, and we are all students!

The Grace of Invitation, Oct 9, 2011

2011-10-18T20:53:28Z

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"And the King said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?'" (Matthew 22:12)

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

"Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe? . . . Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth! For many are called, but few are chosen." And then we get to say, "Praise to you, Lord Christ!" Sometimes we just might not want to say "Praise to you" after some of the Gospels we hear. Is this the way we really want to think about God, as someone who would cast us off into outer darkness?

I mean, think about it. Isn't it a little bit unfair? The man wasn't expecting to be invited to a wedding feast. He was just a guy on the street, and some of the King's servants pass by, saying, "The King is throwing a wedding banquet. Come! Come!" And all the people come, the good and the bad. It doesn't matter how good or how bad you've been. You're invited. Now, that's good news. That's gospel.

But then, as the King is looking around the room, all the people of the city are there. They are having this great feast, and he notices this guy against the wall, sort of hanging back, not really participating perhaps, and asks, "Where is your wedding garment?" The guy looks at him, shocked. How would he have had time to go get ready for the feast? The King's servants literally just grabbed him off the street. But still, he gets banished into outer darkness.

So, where is your wedding garment? What is the wedding garment? How are we to hear this parable? How is this parable going to be interpreted as good news, as Gospel, for us in this 21st century? I think it helps a little bit for us to understand the parable itself.

Making our Final Song, Oct 2, 2011

2011-10-11T21:50:30Z

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"God spoke these words, ‘I am the Lord God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
(Exodus 20:2)

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I think ultimately the main difference between Christians and Jews is the story we tell even though our goal is the same. The Jewish story is this: I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. The Christian story is “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” Both are the same story – God’s victory over the powers of evil and death and God’s guidance of us towards the fullness of life. This gift is given to us at God’s own initiative, and in the Christian version of this story, through God’s offering of God’s own self in Jesus Christ.

It is said sometimes that the church’s ministry is a ministry of memory – remembering these two stories: I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, and remembering Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. It is indeed true that the church, each time we worship, remembers what God has done for us. The Eucharistic prayer is just that - a summation of what God has done for humankind in history.

But the church is not just about remembering the past. It is about laying a foundation for the future as well – a legacy, if you will, of what we will leave behind for those who come after us. How will they know the story? How will they remember that God is the one who brought them out of Egypt into a land flowing with milk and honey? How will those who come after us remember that Christ has indeed died; that Christ nevertheless is risen; and that Christ, of course, will come again. That is a question that faces all of us as we seek to be faithful to the ministry of the Gospel.

"God, Who Never Lets Go", August 7, 2011

2011-08-07T20:43:51Z

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Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him. (Matthew 14:31)

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Last week, when we read the passage about the feeding about the five thousand, I began the sermon with a question to help us think through the action of the story. I’m going to start again with a question again this week that will be unwrapped as the sermon unfolds. Today’s Gospel concludes with the verse that the disciples worshiped Jesus. What happened in this story that moved the disciples to worship Jesus? What happened to cause the disciples to Jesus with new eyes and move them to worship him?

Youth Sunday Address and Sermon, June 5

2011-06-15T18:34:42Z

Click the title at the end of this post to listen to an audio file of this sermon or visit our iTunes page.

Each year we celebrate Youth Sunday with an address by one of our graduating high school seniors and the awarding of our Saint Luke's Scholarship Award. This year's recipients are Austin Lazarus and Charlotte Agyei. Austin was also chosen to give the youth address.

In his address, Austin speaks of his decision to attend Temple University as an outgrowth of his experience of diversity and commitment to outreach at St. Luke's.

After Austin's address, Father Dirk speaks of the importance of Christian formation and the place of our youth in the church today as living stones built on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

Sermon, Easter 6, May 29, 2011

2011-06-10T21:18:40Z

The link to the Audio File for this sermon is at the end of this post.

And Jesus said to them, "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you."
(John 14:18)

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

You will remember that last week I said to you that as our Great Fifty Day celebration of the Easter season draws to a close, our readings have taken a turn. No longer are they about the joyful encounter of the Risen Christ, but about what comes next as a result of that resurrection.

This Thursday, the 40th Day after Easter, is the Feast of Ascension, the day that commemorates Jesus' ascent into heaven. So, what Jesus is doing is preparing his followers for his departure, for a life in which he is no longer present with them in a physical reality, but present with them in a different way.

Sermon, Easter 5, May 22, 2011

2011-06-10T21:12:20Z

The Audio File is at the end of this post.

"Filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God."
(Acts 7:55)

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

So, I guess we're the ones who were left behind, huh? I have to confess to a wicked thought - I was tempted to post a sign on the door this morning for the 8:30 service, "Morning Prayer Today. Priest Raptured!"

The stories in the media about the prediction of the Rapture, and even the very concept of the Rapture, are based on very flawed readings of Scripture, very flawed readings. Even the more evangelical and fundamentalist branches of Christianity had great difficulty with Mr. Camping's predictions. As we've come to see, virtually everything has remained the same.

But there is something about all of this that ties in with today's readings: a particular vision of the future and our call to lived our lives oriented on that vision of the future.

Sermon, Good Friday, April 22, 2011

2011-06-10T20:24:57Z

The Audio File for this sermon is at the end of the entry.

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens . . . let us boldly approach the throne of grace."

(Hebrews 4:14,16)

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

We're almost there. We're halfway through what we call the Sacrum Triduum, the Holy Three Days leading up to the celebration of Easter. There is actually one service over these three days. We began last night with our Maundy Thursday celebration of the Eucharist. Then, by the end of the night, we found things disappearing around us. The remaining elements of the Sacrament go away. The candles and other items go away. The banners, go away. The lights go, away. The people, go away.

Then, we gather again this evening to continue in prayer and lessons, this time reaching the valley of the shadow of death - or not even shadow of death, but of death itself. Then we will go away yet again, and gather tomorrow night in darkness - just as we left last night in darkness - and then a fire will burn, and a light will spread and grow, and we will discover that love is as strong as death.

Sermon, August 15, 2010

2010-08-15T17:07:20Z

St. Mary the Virgin

The following is a summary of the course of the sermon - the full sermon can be heard as an .mp3 file by clicking on the title link at the bottom of this entry.

August 15 is the Feast of St Mary the Virgin in the Prayer Book Calendar. In keeping with our tradition of observing Major Feasts when they fall on Sundays during the ordinary seasons of the Church Year, we remember Mary - the one who sang, "Surely all generations will call me blessed."

Mary has always been a deep part of the Anglican and Episcopal traditions. There were reactions to the excesses of Marian devotion during the Reformation, but Mary has always been there. We see her referenced in our hymns, honored in our chapels, and remembered in our prayers. While we note Mary's significant role in only 3 of the traditional major feast that include her (the Presentation, the Annunciation, and today - her death and entrance into heaven), we note that at every key moment in Jesus' life - Mary is there. So to engage with Jesus brings us to note the presence of his mother, and to engage with Mary always takes us to Jesus.

She is not an intermediary between us and Jesus, and she is no more remarkable than any other saint or Godly human, but she is the first to receive the promises of grace given to all of us through Jesus.

The sermon explores Mary's role in Episcopal and Anglican piety and devotion and concludes with this meditation:

Just as Mary took Jesus, the Son of God, into her body at his conception as announced by Gabriel, do we not also take Jesus into our bodies and souls when we come to the altar rail to receive bread we are told is the Body of Christ, and wine that we are told is the Blood of Christ?

If we receive Jesus into our bodies as Mary did, then are not also called to bear Jesus into the world as Mary did? While we certainly won't give birth to Jesus in the biological and physical way that Mary did, we are nevertheless ones who birth Jesus into the world through our witness of Christian faith and service. Mary as the "bearer of God" in Christian theology. So, too, are we, as ones who make up the Body of Christ.

As the hymn "God himself is with us" sings, "let [our souls] like Mary's be thine earthly sanctuary" so that the world can know Christ is with them today just as Christ was with us two thousand years ago.

Sermon, August 8, 2010

2010-08-08T16:50:51Z

Where are the Treasures of the Church?

Pentecost 11 (Proper 14, Year C RCL)

Today's sermon draws on the first lesson from Isaiah 1 to explore the relationship between worship and mission.

We have moments in our lives when things become so routine that we participate in them almost like we are in a trance. The body goes through the motions but the mind is elsewhere. When we snap back to attention, we wonder, "How did that happen?" This may happen to us while driving a car, cooking a meal, doing a routine task in the office. Our body is engaged but our mind is absent.

This is what's going on in Isaiah 1. The prophet is challenging God's people to recall the purpose of their worship. It's not about rote routines and magic words, but about entering into a deeper fellowship with the living God and re-orienting our relationship with our neighbors. Yet, the people had forgotten that. The worshiped for the sake of worship and focused on the wrong things. Instead of focusing on God and God's people, they focused on the words said and things used. As a result, the cow offered for sacrifice was better fed than the poor in the streets! This is what God was trying to shake up through Isaiah's ministry as prophet.

We need to be shaken out of our routines, too. Even here, in church, it happens. We can enter our trances where the body goes through the motions and our minds are on the shopping list, the vacation planning, or the project at work. Every now and then, we need to shake things up to refocus us back to our true purpose. One colleague will sometimes ask his congregation to stand up and switch sides of the church they sit on when he see their eyes glaze over! In our case, that's why I change the prayers every season and do other things to shake things up - like worship outside for St. Francis Day and switch to real bread. These things jolt us out of our trances of familiarity and help to appreciate anew just what our worship is about.

Worship begins with being gathered as God's people, but it ends with being sent out into the world. That means our worship isn't complete until we take the relationships we have formed in here (with God and with each other) and share them with the people we meet on the other 6 days and 23 hours of the week. Worship and mission are intricately related, and our worship must be structured in a way that strengthens our mission, and our mission must enable us to return to worship.

This is the hear of the sermon, as it unfolds, the preacher uses a story of a church in South Africa that connected their worship with the needs of their community and concludes with the story of St. Laurence, Deacon and Martyr of Rome, who referred to the sick and those in need as the true treasures of God's church.

Sermon, August 1, 2010

2010-08-01T16:58:47Z

God's Forgiveness is the Answer to God's Judgment

Pentecost 10 (Proper 13, Year C RCL)

Today's reading from Hosea 11:1-11 gives us an image of God as a loving mother who holds her beloved son Israel to her cheek and feeds him from her breast. This is unusual because Israel is often described as a daughter, and God is seen in the role of father. Other times, Israel is the bride and God is the bridegroom - and in last week's lesson from Isaiah, Israel was the unfaithful spouse and God the wronged husband.

But this week, we are taken to God's dilemma - what to do with this child who is disobedient, whom you love so dearly, and yet whom you must discipline because you are just, righteous and holy. Wrong actions cannot be left unaddressed. We see God wrestle with that, but then decide that the just answer is forgiveness, not destruction.

With this in mind, we turn to the Letter to Colossians, in which the author appeals to us who are raised with Christ to seek the things that are above, and to put do death the things within us that are earthly.

It is an appeal to a certain type of behavior that is the result of our nearness to God. Being a Christian does have a claim on our ethical lives, but what we are to do (or not do) is not determined so much by lists as it is by a desire to draw near to God - the same God who draws near to us - the same God who cannot bear to abandon us (as we see in Hosea), who embraces us and holds us close to the divine cheek as a loving parent embraces a child.

Of course, there are times when we assert our own wills over the will of the one who made us and act in ways that do not reflect the holiness of God. What then? Do we stand condemned? Are we taken before the great and dreadful judge who casts us away?

Coming back to Hosea, we see that God's answer to our transgressions, God's judgment and act of justice is to forgive us. We are forgiven out of God's desire to be with us, and it is God's hope that the grace of God's forgiveness will draw us back into that relationship.

As God's people, we are certainly to strive for an ethical life, but we must remember that the ethics of our lives are based on the actions of life: God's love for us, and our love for God and one another. When faced with a dilemma, the question is "How does the decision of what I am to do reflect God's love, and reflect God's nearness in this moment?" If we can answer that question and act accordingly, then we are well on the way to embracing the one who embraces us.

Sermon, July 25, 2010

2010-07-25T16:58:00Z

Sermon to mark the Feast of St. James, as kept at St. Luke's on July 25, 2010. We explore Jesus' question "can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?" and see it as solidarity with the suffering.

Sermon, July 18, 2010

2010-07-18T16:38:42Z

Being the Image of Christ in the World

Today's sermon is taken from Colossians 1:19, "For in [Christ] the fullness of God was pleased to dwell."

This is a great short answer to the question, "Who is Jesus?" If we want to know who God is, we look at Christ.

Our worship is the primary means we encounter Christ today, because in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus is fully, really, completely present.

Yet, how is Christ encountered in the world? Today's lesson ends with the reminder that Christ is in us. We take Christ into us each time we receive the Sacrament. In the Eucharist, just as Christ is the image of God, we become the image of Christ.

While the climax of our worship is Communion with God, our worship doesn't end until God sends us out. "Go in peace, to Love and serve the Lord." Just as Christ is the image of God, we are sent forth into the world to be the image of Christ.

Ask the Priest Sunday, July 11, 2010

2010-07-13T19:08:02Z

Today was "Ask the Priest" Sunday in which the sermon is compiled from a series of questions about faith and religious life submitted by parishioners. Three questions are then drawn at the start of the sermon and the preacher answers the questions. Actually, this week there was a bonus question since two of the cards stuck together!

This week's questions are:

Will all of your sins be forgiven? Even when some have been done more than once?

What is hate/love? And what are faith and hope?

Is there only one God?

What do the initials "IHS" stand for?

The sermon audio linked below gives Father Dirk's answers to these questions. Written answer will be available later in the week and will be posted in the Rector's blog. A link will be provided once the answers are posted.

Sermon, Pentecost 6, 2010 (Independence Day)

2010-07-06T19:21:12Z

Since the Independence Day falls on a Sunday this year, we observed the propers for that day instead of the regular Sunday propers.

The sermon explores the origins of Independence Day as a Prayer Book feast, a Scriptural view of government, and the relationship between faith and civic life.

Just as God raises up Kings (government) to govern, so God raises up prophets (church) to prick the conscience of the King.

Youth Sunday - Mayor's Challenge

2010-06-29T17:41:36Z

St. Luke's welcomed Mayor Jack Ball of Ewing Township to share our celebration of youth ministry at St. Luke's.

After hearing Miata Roger's Youth Address, Mayor Ball offered his own thanks to the youth of St. Luke's for their community and a challenge to stay involved and make a difference.

Youth Sunday Address - Miata Rogers

2010-06-29T17:39:19Z

Graduating high school senior Miata Rogers is the recipient of this year's St. Luke's Scholarship Award.

As Miata prepares to enroll in Oberlin College in September, she shares with St. Luke's what this congregation has meant to her these last five years.

Sermon, Pentecost 4, 2010

2010-06-29T17:37:14Z

It's Father's Day and one of our parishioners, Jonathan Halcomb, preaches on Elijah and the sound of sheer silence, Paul's letter to the Galatians, and the demon-posessed pigs in the Gospel and finds the strands that tie them all together.

Sermon, Pentecost 3, 2010

2010-06-29T17:33:18Z

The Tragedy of False Assumptions

Father Dirk looks at how false assumptions in today's readings lead to tragic consequences, and how false assumptions have hindered the effective ministry of the Church and pushed Christians away from one another.

Sadly, the tragedy of false assumptions are at play in the Anglican Communion today.

What we seek to hold onto is Paul's promise in his letter to the Galatians is that we are not justified by the Law, but through grace.

The grace of the Gospel has touched each of our lives. Our call is to share that particular grace with those around us. How can anyone say that our experience of grace isn't good enough to share?

Sermon - Pentecost 2, 2010

2010-06-29T17:29:40Z

Faith, Patience, and Hope

The grace of salvation so often includes bringing the outsider into the full participation of God’s promises, into the dignity of life as God has created it for us to enjoy.

Jesus is the one who brings that fullness of life to us, (“Made us worth to stand before you.”)

And Jesus is the one who sends us out to do our part in extending that fullness of life to others as well

Sermon - Trinity Sunday

2010-06-29T17:22:32Z

The Trinity is about relationships. Ministry is relational. Who we are is defined through our relationships with God and one another.

Easter is about the gift of a new humanity given to us in Jesus Christ. Pentecost is the gift of new community formed through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Today, on Trinity Sunday, Father Dirk looks at the Trinity as both the source of our humanity and the community in which we live.

Pentecost, 2010 - Return from Sabbatical!

2010-06-29T16:58:38Z

Father Dirk is back from sabbatical in South Africa, a land of 11 official languages.

Finding parallels with Acts 2:5 ("And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.” ), Father Dirk preaches on the call of the Christian to listen with an open ear and a discerning heart, and the grace God gives us to not only hear, but to understand those who are different from us.

Last Sunday of Epiphany - Sabbatical Kick-off

2010-06-29T16:41:56Z

"Somtimes you just have to get away to get with God."

Themes on Sabbath, sabbatical, and baptism!

Father Dirk preaches his last sermon before the start of his sabbatical.

Third Sunday of Easter, 2009

2009-04-30T16:10:27Z

Theme: Passion & Purpose Sunday

Preacher: Robert D. Lewis, Psy. D.

The Diocese has designated today as Passion & Purpose Sunday, a day to explore the meaning of Christian vocation and our calling as God's servants in the world. It is also a day to celebrate the opportunity God has given us to nurture vocations in our youth, both priestly and lay vocations, as we help them claim their God-given gifts and their place in God's world.

Dr. Robert Lewis has been a member of St. Luke's since his early childhood. He has worked with our youth, serves on Vestry, and is also a member of the Commission on Ministry for the Diocese of New Jersey.

Second Sunday of Easter 2009 Sermon

2009-04-19T18:01:38Z

Verse: "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." (John 20:21)

Preacher: The Rev. Dirk C. Reinken

An exploration of the meaning of Christian vocation. Vocation comes from the Latin vocare, which means to be called out. Christian vocation is God's call to each of us to go forth as servants of the Gospel, as ministers.

We are each gifted by the Spirit to participate in Christ's ministry of reconciliation. Reconciliation means, in its broadest sense, the building up of community - breaking down barriers, overcoming divisions, drawing together.

In discerning our vocation, Frederick Buechner's words describe it well: "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." This Easter season, framed as it is by the giving of the Holy Spirit on Easter Day in John's Gospel, and on the 50th Day (Pentecost) according to St. Luke, is a time for us discern our vocation, how God has gifted us in baptism, and called us to use that gift in service to the ministry of reconciliation in the world.

Easter Day 2009 Sermon

2009-04-17T19:25:28Z

Text: "If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." Colossians 3:1

Preacher: The Rev. Dirk C. Reinken, Rector

Duration: 11 min 07 seconds

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! This is the faith of the church that we are called to proclaim, and the life we are called to live.

Using the example of The Rev. Canon Andrew White and the Anglican Church of St. George, the preacher reminds us that the way to faithful living and faithful service amid the challenges of the world is to follow Paul's encouragement: Seek the things that are above. Set your mind on Christ.

Christ is risen, the world has changed. Though we may not always see that, the more we live as if it were true, the more we come to see that it is, indeed, true.

Easter Vigil 2009 Sermon

2009-04-12T11:33:29Z

Preacher: The Rev. Lisa Caton, Priest Associate

Surrendering is our pathway back to God's love - our task is to allow ourselves to let go and give God the burdens, so the light of God can shine through us.

Good Friday 2009 Sermon

2009-04-11T12:40:45Z

Preacher: The Rev. Dirk C. Reinken

Verse: "The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,and he shall bear their iniquities." (Isaiah 53:9)

There are at least two ways to look at the Atonement. One is the idea that Jesus went to the Cross to take the punishment that was due for us - that Jesus took upon him the wrath of an angry God that was otherwise our just punishment.

Another way is the idea that, on the Cross, Jesus is standing with us in the depths of our human brokeness. By Jesus standing with us, the power of that brokeness to separate us from God and each other is somehow put to an end once and for all. Through his free self-offering, Jesus is suffering with us and for us so that suffering can be transformed into new life. This understanding of the Crucifixion is at the heart of the Anglican tradition.

The Glory of the Cross that John speaks of in the Gospel, therefore, is the glory of God with us. The name Emmanuel for the Savior announced at Jesus' birth means God With Us. The full meaning of that name comes clear on Good Friday.

Maundy Thursday Sermon

2009-04-10T13:31:47Z

Preacher: The Rev. Dirk C. Reinken

Verse: John 13:2
"Knowing that . . .he had come from God and was going to God."

Maundy Thursday is about the creation of community, about Jesus using the supreme act of love of self-offering to remind us of our origins, our purpose, and our destiny as God's beloved.