St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church
  • Home
  • ABOUT US
    • WHO WE ARE
    • Leadership >
      • Meet Our Clergy
      • Meet Our Staff
      • VESTRY PAGE >
        • ByLaws
    • NEWCOMERS
    • FAQs
    • Faces of Our Community
  • Worship & Prayer
    • Download Service Bulletins
    • Recent Recorded Worship Services
    • Daily Prayer Services - The Daily Office
    • Sermons
  • Online Community Life
  • FORMATION
    • Pastor's Commentaries
    • Family & Youth
    • Adult Formation
  • Pastoral Care, Baptisms, Weddings, and Funerals
  • Art, Music, & Literature
    • Visual Art >
      • Stained Glass
    • Music
    • Literature >
      • Library News & Book Reviews
  • Outreach & Social Justice
    • Casa San Miguel Food Pantry
    • All Angels Episcopal Day School
    • Immigration Sanctuary >
      • Immigration Facts & Stories
      • Immigration History
    • LGBTQ+
    • Navajoland Partnership
    • Senior Ministry >
      • Elder Care
  • Give
    • Annual Pledge
    • Stewardship
    • Gifts & Memorials
  • Contact
  • COVID-19 Resources

Sermon, The Rev. Daniel Gutierrez, August 29

8/29/2010

0 Comments

 
When I was young, the first few weeks of school were a time of uncertainty.  I worried that I would not fit in, whether I would be welcome in certain circles, if I would have any friends.  I was afraid that I would be alone.  

I remember tentatively approaching the lunch room because I did not know if I would have anyone to sit with or if I would be invited to sit at a table.  The fear of being left out was unbearable; not being accepted was terrifying.

My fears subsided once someone reached out to me, or when I took a chance and reached out to someone else.  I also remember, seeing those who were not popular, those who were not invited to a table.  They sat alone and you felt their sadness.   

I found it difficult to grasp that one human being could discard another to the shadows, to be ostracized because of your appearance, social status, or personality.  I wanted to create a table large enough for everyone.

My son began a new school this year and I drove both he and my wife crazy.  I obsessed on whether he would have someone to eat lunch with. My love is so deep for him, that I did not want my son to eat alone.  

In today’s Gospel, we sense Jesus’ deep concern that no one is left alone.  Jesus spent every waking moment reaching out to everyone he encountered.  Wherever he goes, he pulls people close, he invites them in.  He encourages all those around him to do the same.   To both the included and excluded, he describes a wonderful Kingdom of God where everyone is welcome and no one sits alone.  His words, his life give hope that no one is left behind.

In our Gospel, you sense a bit of exasperation in Jesus’ voice.  He notices that a table is prepared and many are missing.  He asks why?   Why are you only eating with people you know?  If you only spend time with those who act like you, look like you, think like you, go to the same schools, or shop in the same stores, how you will see the face of God.    Invite all these people who will never receive an invitation.  It is up to you.

Now on the surface, it is a wonderful message.  Therein lies the problem with Jesus.  He really messes everything up.  It is easy to pretend to not understand  what he is saying, because we know very well that the moment we understand, we have to act.  Jesus makes radical demands on us.    Jesus did not talk about bringing the kingdom of God in some far off time; he wants us to do it now.  

A few months back, it was stated that – Jesus does not need any more admirers, he needs disciples.  If we are to be disciples of Christ – can we can admire and worship Jesus without doing what he did?  Can we can applaud what he preached and stood for without caring about the same things.  At what point do our beliefs and our lives converge?  

When Jesus enters this banquet, he does not focus on the setting or the food, he comments on those who are missing.  Why?  Because everyone mattered to Jesus, each person he encountered became part of him, and he part of them.  An inherent sense within our being that each individual is for too precious to be excluded, from community, from love.  He wants them included.
 
This is not a foreign feeling, it is part of who we are.  When we see someone hurting or alone, we feel it.   When we see a child lost, or an elderly person struggling, there is a pang that causes us to act.  When we see someone on the outside looking in,–we want to bring them in.  When you feel this inside, you have experienced God, perhaps without knowing it.

I recently read a story of five business people visiting New York.  Their important meetings lasted longer than expected and they were late for dinner at a fancy restaurant.   As they rushed to catch the waiting cab, they knocked over a stand of that contained the products and money of an elderly street vendor.    

They apologized but continued to run toward the waiting cab.  One stopped, turned around and helped the vendor, and found that the vendor was blind.  The blind vendor softly said “thank you Jesus.”  The man smiled and said “Yeah, he always helps me.”  The elderly blind man responded, “No, are you Jesus.”

Our faith is most sacred when we live it, when we reach out to others. Our lives must shout our faith.  When we do this people will know that we are followers of Christ, not by the cross we wear around our necks but by the love we carry within our hearts.  

Throughout the Gospel, we see that Jesus’ heart breaks for those who are left out.   He not only fed people, he stopped and invited them into his life.  Jesus took time to know the poor and his life demonstrates that we must not only help the poor, we must know the poor?   Because when the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, poverty will come to an end.

And notice Jesus did not define poverty.  Yes, the poor are those in our community who cannot afford a home, food, medication or clothes.  They are the ones on the margins of society who will never be invited to the table, unless we welcome them to our table.

The poor are those children of God who are starving spiritually, physically and emotionally.  Those not only those unloved by society, but unloved by themselves. The children of God who will never be invited to the table, unless we  invite them into our lives.  

The poor are those nameless faces we pass each day.  Those lost because of illness, fractured relationships, loneliness, desperation.  Those who know deep down, they will never be invited to the table, unless they happen to bump into Jesus, or maybe even a follower of Jesus who stops, reaches out and represents the love of Christ.

In our Gospel, Jesus asked his host, where are the poor? Now he is asking us -  
If you only eat with those who you like, how will you show my love?
If you love only those who love you, how will you share my welcoming embrace
If we only invite to our table the people we know, how will we reflect the face of God?

When we invite someone into our church, into our lives, something holy happens.  We’re making an effort to see beyond the surface appearances that we often judge people by. We’re making an effort to see each individual as God sees them.

When we invite someone in, we begin to see their faces, you will hear their voices.  We acknowledge God in one another.  When we welcome strangers to our table, we are welcoming God.  We will not allow them to eat alone.  

We have a beautiful table at St. Michael, our job is to prepare it, and then build the guest list.  Through our Season of Listening, through our ministries, through our individual lives, let’s invite people in.   Let’s prepare a table that consists of everyone, sinner, saint, citizen, convict, rich, poor, the young couple far from home, the single who eat alone, seniors who do not drive, teens who feel left out.

Let prepare a table for the straight, gay, married and divorced, the sick, the healthy, every color, shape and class imaginable. Let’s invite them in.    When we prepare this big table we may get a taste that heavenly banquet that Jesus often spoke of.  We may glimpse the Kingdom of God.    When we prepare a big welcoming table for all, we know that we will have a place at that table, and the joy of knowing that no one will ever eat alone. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008

Questions about the life and ministry of St. Michael's?
Contact Us!
Click here for information on
​legacy giving.
Picture

505.345.8147                601 Montaño Road NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87107                  office@all-angels.com

  • Home
  • ABOUT US
    • WHO WE ARE
    • Leadership >
      • Meet Our Clergy
      • Meet Our Staff
      • VESTRY PAGE >
        • ByLaws
    • NEWCOMERS
    • FAQs
    • Faces of Our Community
  • Worship & Prayer
    • Download Service Bulletins
    • Recent Recorded Worship Services
    • Daily Prayer Services - The Daily Office
    • Sermons
  • Online Community Life
  • FORMATION
    • Pastor's Commentaries
    • Family & Youth
    • Adult Formation
  • Pastoral Care, Baptisms, Weddings, and Funerals
  • Art, Music, & Literature
    • Visual Art >
      • Stained Glass
    • Music
    • Literature >
      • Library News & Book Reviews
  • Outreach & Social Justice
    • Casa San Miguel Food Pantry
    • All Angels Episcopal Day School
    • Immigration Sanctuary >
      • Immigration Facts & Stories
      • Immigration History
    • LGBTQ+
    • Navajoland Partnership
    • Senior Ministry >
      • Elder Care
  • Give
    • Annual Pledge
    • Stewardship
    • Gifts & Memorials
  • Contact
  • COVID-19 Resources