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In the Blink of an Eye

“Time is endless but goes too fast.
You long for the future, then yearn for the past.”
By Ebony Black

Sermon preparation takes time. It is about allowing the scriptures to settle into my brain and heart – to whirl around a little – alas, in my case, a lot. I can’t even tell you how many hours it takes after I read the lectionary, do the appropriate research to be fully grounded in the intent of the passages for the whirling to stop so I can finally put pen to page.

Time is a funny thing. When we are children, time seems to go on forever: “When will I be old enough to stay up until 9:00? -- to stay out until 9:00?”  Perhaps you have experienced a period in your life, or even in your career when you marked off each day on your calendar – thinking that it might help speed up time – to get to the end of something tedious. Can’t wait until this school year is over, says one teacher – me too, agrees the student. That seems rather sad. Trying to rush through a year without considering the joy in teaching – in learning – not to mention some of the fun activities school can offer both children and adults!

As we age, time sweeps by in the blink of an eye. We are reminded of the frailty and brevity of life. It isn’t comfortable to face what we cannot control and time is certainly one of those things.   Have you ever noticed how our culture fights aging? More wrinkle creams or hair dyes line the shelves of our stores as we struggle with the natural signs of the passage of time. Our independence is so precious that it becomes traumatic to give up the car keys when age lessens our vision or judgment. How we struggle with letting go!

Our lectionary this week includes portions of Psalm 90 – a Psalm frequently used at funerals. It has been attributed to Moses. We are offered comfort from the very first line: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.” God has been home to the Israelites, throughout their entire forty homeless years in the desert in search of the promised land. But alas, it is not to be for many on that journey, including Moses. He is left only to view the land of milk and honey from afar. And we learn that our time is not all there is to measure. We are being encouraged to reflect on God’s time – not just our own. “A thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes”

Most importantly, however, we are being encouraged to live each day – day by day – not dwelling on the past or fretting about the future. Moses’ prayer ends with a plea for God to teach us – help us to see and receive each of the days we are given as a gift from God. May we each strive to make each day count to the glory of God!

Let us make each day count!
Deacon Claire

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I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream (Amos 5:23-24).

Today’s Gospel from Matthew asks us to keep awake. To be awake in the Lord is to love God and one another. Be generous with your love to God, to your family, and to your neighbor. Celebrate the diversity of our community with a thankful heart and a steadfast faith. Every kind act you do for one another gives praise and thanksgiving to God, whose steadfast love for us overflows from our hearts. Be aware that folks come to our church each and every week hoping to connect with our community. 

“Henri Nouwen spoke about ‘hospitality of heart.’ At its core, hospitality is an opening of the heart. It really has very little to do with having friends or strangers over for dinner. Indeed, we can invite the poor into our homes for a meal three nights a week, but if our heart is not open, we have not offered hospitality. This is what makes many of us avoid hospitality as a practice. We hesitate to open our hearts to the degree that hospitality calls for. Providing a meal or shelter seems more manageable than opening our hearts. Opening our hearts means we really have to gather others in… to know the hopes that lie hidden in their souls, the joys that have taken them to heaven’s doors – all these become a part of our own heart when we engage in hospitality as a spiritual practice. The challenge of this, of course, is that the contents of our own heart merge with those of our guest. This means that what is in our heart is no longer front and center. It’s no longer all about me. It becomes, instead, all about us” (M. Renee Miller).

Love is not just treating folks well, but listening to how they feel. If we are ever to break the bonds of racial injustice, we must listen to the voices of others. What we often find out is that others are gifted in ways that we never saw before. As I listen to the joint choir between St. Augustine’s and St. John’s on our website, I feel the passion in the choirs singing. That passion penetrates our hearts and makes us overflow with love like a stream after it has rained for several days. Justice and righteousness are a gift of the Spirit when a heart is overflowing in love. Too often we are hung up on the little things that bother us and we are distracted. I ask you to awaken and arise in the love of Jesus Christ. Justice and righteousness begin to roll down when we listen to the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the oppressed, and the naked. I ask you to join our HIHI homeless ministry, give a donation for the thanksgiving baskets, knit a prayer shawl, help in the thrift shop, join the breakfast group or St. Hilda’s Guild, give a gift to our Adopt-a-Family, and pray for peace in the Middle East. God’s only hands and arms are yours. 

Finally, I ask you to turn in your pledge card by Sunday, if you have not already done so. Our Stewardship Committee will be making calls and visits next week to follow up, but they would prefer if they didn’t need to make any calls. Please also check if you are up to date on your pledge for 2023. Thank you to all members of our congregation who have already pledged. Your generosity allows us to continue the faith and love that have been shared for the past 278 years and to let God’s justice and righteousness roll down from St. John’s into our community.

In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan  

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This Sunday, we are transferring All Saints Day from it’s traditional day of November 1 to the following Sunday, as we are allowed to do. This week has been a time to remember both the saints in our lives and our church and also those who have departed from us, with the commemoration of All Souls on November 2.

We remember both saints and souls who have gone before in church history. As we conclude St. John’s stewardship appeal, I hope we can take a moment to remember that we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. It is important to remember that our church and her works and our faith are always on the move and the church temporal is not and will never be finished until that last day. This is the third iteration of St. John’s church, the Episcopal Church was once an east-coast establishment that now finds itself throughout the Western Hemisphere and beyond, and as we prepare this church for the 21st century, we are making it ready to be a spiritual beacon for Huntington and all of Long Island.

This doesn’t mean simply building and grounds, how many activities you volunteer for, or how much you give, but also how you live in light of being a Christian and worshipping as a Christian here at St. John’s. I do not mean to say we strive for perfection, but, as I touched on in a previous sermon of mine, we do strive to be saints. We are called down a path of holiness in our Christian lives. This is something I would like to touch on this Sunday, what is our stewardship of holiness? How are we stewarding our call to holiness in this place? And how does this stewarding of holiness help the future here at St. John’s?

Remember, holiness is not perfection, but it is the way in which we follow God and God in Jesus Christ closely, that can help us care for a place like St. John’s and our community so that they will be here not only for the next generation, but show right now, right here why St. John’s and her message of making Christ known is so desperately needed in the world.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Zach

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What an amazing fair we had this past weekend! I thank God for all who coordinated, helped and attended. The rain brought us indoors where we were able to experience an intimacy in fellowship that is often not as easy when we are outdoors and spread so far apart. Yet the rain was a deep reminder of God’s abundance – that our earth has been sustained, fed, and indeed loved. What a beautiful picture – a tree that is deeply rooted – a tree that will not decay as it receives God’s loving water. It will bear fruit and prosper. Its leaves are the source of the fresh air we breathe. A deeply rooted tree offers us shade and even shelter from the rain and the sun that nourish it. I wonder how we can each be a tree like that? We know that God’s desire is that we bear fruit and prosper. God gives us a pathway in Psalm 1: When we delight in the law of the Lord, we too become like the trees planted by streams of water. We bear fruit. Our leaves do not wither because our roots are deep. This week’s Gospel contains the summary of the law, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Can you imagine what the world would be like if we all lived and loved like that? We often think of love as simply an emotion – something soft, huggable and often subject to change. This, in fact, is a diminished view of love. Today’s lectionary places “loving God” in the context of a command. We not only feel love in our hearts, but we are commanded to love in the fullest measure. Wholehearted love comes from our minds and our souls as well as our hearts. The "love" that is being called for is not emotion; it is not "liking," "getting along with," "desiring," or "feeling warm about." The "love" Jesus is talking about here is trust, loyalty, enduring devotion, being attached to. Loving in this way becomes a decision. “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” (Jeremiah 31:3). God’s love is indeed everlasting and abundant. We become rooted in God’s love as we grow in our relationship with God and with others through worship, prayer, community and connections.  God’s love becomes an extension of our very selves. As we nurture our relationship with God and each other, we will see that, despite worldly beliefs, we will always have more than enough to share. In God’s Abundant Love, Deacon Claire

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There are so many exciting things happening at St. John’s right now. Twenty one of our folks just returned from pilgrimage in Iona, Scotland. This weekend is our Harvest Fair! There will be concerts, vendors, great food, raffle baskets, St. Hilda’s Guild crafts, baked goods, Vermont cheese, Thrift shop clothes, lots of white elephant items, and much, much, more. Please attend the St. Augustine/St. John’s Choir concert at 4PM.

We are called to be generous in giving of our Time, Talent, and Treasure at St. John’s. Generous living is much more than what we do with our money. We are called to be kind to one another, to all living things, and to God’s earthly creation. We are called to deal with each other honestly and to be humble. Stewardship is a call to action to each of us as followers of Jesus. Jesus showed us the way to live generously: by welcoming the outcast, by overturning the tables of the money changers in the temple, by dining with the poor, by healing the sick, by teaching, by forgiving, and by ultimately giving his life so that all might have life abundant.

Each year, I am asked to preach and teach on stewardship. The fact is that if you put God first in your life, everything else will come in line. Of course we want to keep the building in good shape, hire a sexton, and give to the poor, but what is really important to me is your spiritual health. When your heart feels the redeeming love of God, you will naturally love others. When you feel the forgiving grace of God, you will naturally forgive others. When you realize that everyone is welcome in the Episcopal Church, you will want to show hospitality to everyone you meet. Stewardship is so much more than money and it is what makes St. John’s such a special place. We are like one big family and although we can be a little dysfunctional at times, our greatest gift is our hospitality. Please know that this is the greatest gift you can give to St. John’s. Before you put one dollar in the plate, please give of yourself that others might have life abundant.

We make a pledge each year to help the wardens and vestry make a budget for 2024. You will receive a pledge card in the mail this week and I ask you to prayerfully consider the gifts that you receive and ask you to make a pledge to St. John’s. If you have not received a pledge card yet, they are available on the table in the back of the church. We will collect pledge cards for the next three Sundays and bless them at the altar on November 5th on Loyalty Sunday. Each week, you will hear parishioners witness about what they love about St. John’s.

We are thankful for whatever you can pledge. In order to hire a sexton next year, we need to increase our pledges by about 5%. Please consider raising your pledge this year so that St. John’s may continue to grow and flourish. Another way you can help is to invite someone to St. John’s. Perhaps they can come to the Harvest Fair or join you on Sunday. It is a hard subject for most of us to bring up, but many people are frustrated with their own church and now is the perfect time to invite people to St. John’s.

I am so grateful for you. Your faithful membership at St. John’s and your generosity sustains our ministry and is a source of encouragement to me. I am always proud of the fantastic turn out at Harvest Fair and all the outreach and mission that we do. God bless you!

In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan

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Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:4-9).

I would like to thank Leslie, Rob, Sean, and every member of the team that made the pilgrimage to Iona, Scotland so amazing. We faced some obstacles, but we worked together in the beautiful space where Saint Columba spread Christianity throughout the region. We heard about and practiced Celtic Spirituality and learned about the history of the island. I found Iona to be filled with the presence of God and left with an experience of a deeply welcoming community that prioritized welcoming their guests, the care of the created world, and justice issues. They preached the love of Jesus, and they practiced what they preached. I was deeply moved by the sermon of the warden at the Sunday service and will try and share her thoughts on being gentle with one another and the land that we live in. Many of you know that we are deeply committed to the environment, outreach to those in need, to our children, and our vestry is working on ways to be even more meaningful in Huntington.

Please support our thrift shop by volunteering on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 12-3, bringing donations to the church, and shop at our thrift shop. We give a special thanks to Mary Beth who works tirelessly with her volunteers to make St. John’s Thrift Shop one of the best on Long Island. We need lots of help working in the Thrift Shop for the Harvest Fair.

St. John's Annual Harvest Fair will take place on Saturday, October 21st from 10AM to 4PM. This is an “all hands on deck” event. Join us by just coming down and lending a hand. New members are especially encouraged to join in. If you don’t know where to go, just head for the kitchen and you will work with lots of familiar faces. Please invite your friends and neighbors to attend. Our ECW will give a substantial portion of the proceeds to local charities. Help us to help others. God’s abundance is a feeling that what you do matters and that your life has meaning. God’s abundance includes our worship, our music, our community, our pastoral care and our physical buildings and property. In a time of despair and worry, God offers hope and contentment. In a time of enmity and separation, God offers love and unification. In a time of uncertainty, God offers us eternal life. By the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we know that God’s unending love for us is real and that God’s promises are true. I urge you to see your life as a precious gift from God and to give of your time, talent and treasure accordingly. Come to the Harvest Fair, and if you are able, come to the gospel concert at 4:00PM. St. Augustine’s Church will provide fabulous music and we should welcome them with open arms. 

I am so grateful for you. Your faithful membership at St. John's and your generosity sustain our ministry and are a source of encouragement to me.

In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan

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Something that was emphasized for me this week was the importance of seeking encounters and experiences in the world today. Travelling and music festivals are just two of the ways in which I feel my generation most popularly seeks encounters (and neither are wrong). Then again, the lax attitudes towards and legalization of marijuana and psychedelic drugs points to a need in our society to experience something “real” or mind-altering for the sake of self-improvement. 

Of course, none of these things are new to the world, but their continued popularity points to the larger fact of human experience that we are always seeking out meaning, purpose, and contentment. We tend to also seek experiences that might already confirm what we think and know, hence the creation of echo chambers both in real life and on-line. Our faith in Jesus Christ presents us with an encounter with the one who made us and loved us first before anyone else. This is a very real encounter because we believe that He is still living.

This importance of encounter was talked about in the context of evangelism and the fact that we Christians have a history of evangelism through information. In this age of both mass information and needed encounters, how does a Christian get a word in edgewise? Perhaps we need to encounter Jesus Christ once again ourselves. The Gospel, while it is information as good news, is news about the encounter of God Incarnate with His people. This is life-changing news because it confronts us with an encounter that should motivate us more than any trip, abroad or in the home, can provide. It is the fullness of what is real and true and beautiful in this world offering us a very personal relationship, because it comes from the One who knows us.

Some questions to leave you with to meditate on: When was the last time you encountered Jesus Christ? What do you believe about what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do in your life? How can I best witness to my encounter with Jesus to others?

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Zach

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Hello St. John’s,

While I will have a sermon prepared for Sunday, all I can think about this week is my late sister, Theresa. Last year on September 27, my family lost her to metastatic breast cancer. I’m sure most of us has had a devastating loss in our own families, so I hope we can share in our mourning about these special people in our lives and would love to hear from you about who they are. I would like to share Terry with you today.

As I read this weekend’s reading from Philippians, the famous Christ Hymn, I am especially reminded of her. She was incredibly selfless and loving and spirit filled. She took her diagnosis and fought it with every ounce of her being, while at the same time always making sure all of us around her were taken care of. The week she was in the hospital leading up to her death, my mother was also admitted to the same hospital back in Michigan for what turned out to be kidney stones, all my sister could do was ask about mom, how she was doing, and demanded my mom start drinking more water. Terry loved her family, her husband Mark and two boys, James and Connor. She supported them in all they did; shuffling the boys to sports practice, volunteering with their school, all the while committed to her work as an office manager at a medical office. She cared deeply for people.

She never complained about her fight and took every minute as a gift from God and remained so calm in the face of such certainty. I especially rely on this steadfast faith of hers every time I feel down and out about losing her. We both knew that we would see each other on the other side. The last time I spoke with her, she joked with me that she would get to meet Jesus first. I know she is in His loving arms.

For all the women out there especially, please get tested for the BRCA gene and stay on top of your mammogram screenings.

Your in Christ,
Fr. Zach

The Readings

Ezekiel 18:1-4,25-32

Psalm 25:1-8

Philippians 2:1-13

Matthew 21:23-32

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September 14 is always Holy Cross Day. This day marks a feast in honor of the Cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified. But why September 14? Wasn’t Good Friday sometime in the spring, shouldn’t that be Holy Cross Day? That’s a great question! The September 14 date commemorates three events: the finding of the True Cross in AD 326 by Queen Helena, the Christian mother of Emperor Constantine; the dedication of churches soon after built by Emperor Constantine at Holy Sepulchre and Mount Calvary; and the restoration of the True Cross at Jerusalem in AD 629 by Byzantine Emperor Heraclius after it was taken by the Persians. Unfortunately, much of the Cross supposedly found by Queen Helena is now lost, with only fragmented relics claimed to be of the Cross now found throughout the Middle East and elsewhere. By the Reformation, John Calvin is noted as having said that there were so many relics of the True Cross that they could build a ship.

So this week, the readings present us with a beginning framework of reconciliation and forgiveness. It is through the Cross that Jesus Christ reconciled himself, as God the Son, to us. How are we to exactly forgive someone 77 times? How are we to relate with those who hurt us, or who we hurt? We seek the way of Jesus first and that way begins with his work on the Cross. God Himself has reconciled himself to his people. He has forgiven sin once and for all. That of course means we cannot abuse this gift. As one priest colleague put outside his church, “Enjoy your forgiveness.” Indeed, enjoy it! Because the freedom found therein can help us not only build bridges, but repair broken ones that need repairing, that need the healing love that Christ offers for us on the Cross. The Cross is a moment in history which affects us eternally. It is the way through troubled times as the perfect symbol of reconciliation and forgiveness this world so often needs. 

Yours in Christ,
Rev. Zach