And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians10-13)

In bible study this week, we studied the profile and praxis of a prophet. N.T. Wright tells us that “if we are to follow Jesus as Lord, we must know more about the one we are to follow.” Jesus says in the temple, “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners.” (Isaiah 61:1). Jesus explains the coming of the Kingdom of God through parables and more importantly, shows us what the Kingdom of God looks like by his actions. N.T. Wright says, “What Jesus was to Israel, the church must now be for the world.”

In today’s Gospel, we hear, “a man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go” (Matthew 21:28-30). Like the second son in the Gospel, many of us in the church want to do the right thing, but often we just get distracted. There are many factors to distract us today. If only one good thing comes out of this pandemic for you, I hope it is a rekindling of your faith in Jesus Christ. God brings us from bondage into freedom, from sin into righteousness, and from death into life.

You can bring the Good News to others by proclaiming that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Our church can bind up the brokenhearted by visiting one another or calling each other on the phone. Invite those you do not see on Sunday back to church again either on zoom, Facebook Live, or in person. We can proclaim liberty and release by letting our friends know that they are loved by God and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ. We can clothe the naked by sending items from our Thrift Shop to Central Islip. We can feed the hungry by donating rice, beans, pasta, and other items to the local food pantry. We are bringing racial reconciliation and social justice through our Sacred Ground Program. Most of all, we can work together for our Harvest Fair on October 24, 2020. Please participate in any way you can. Buy raffle tickets, make a raffle basket, donate an auction item, volunteer to mark some white elephant items, or just pray that we will be able to support local charities and this church’s ministries as we have in the past. This COVID pandemic has made life and business very difficult for many of us in our community. Let us each do what we can to help one another get through it. Jesus taught us that if we share a little of what we have, there will be plenty for everyone. Jesus also taught us to love God and our neighbor. Loving everyone is difficult, but possible through the grace of God.

I give thanksgiving for Jesus Christ, who taught us to love one another as God loves us. I give thanksgiving for Coral, Claire, Fr. John, Jen, Alex, our nursery school teachers, and all our parishioners at St. John’s. I give thanks to all our parishioners, thanks to the ECW and Chris Boccia, thanks to Spirituality and Patti Aliperti, thanks to the Thrift Shop and Nancy Feustel, thanks for Laundry Love and Sue Cronje, thanks to Huntington Rapid Response, thanks to Racial Reconciliation and Social Justice and Heather Kress and Pat Ahmad, thanks to Sacred Ground and Bill Kiley, thanks for EFM and Leslie Valentine, thanks for Bible Study and Fr. John Morrison, thanks for St. Hilda’s Guild and Janice Burnett, thanks for Morning Prayer and Earl Matchett and Claire, thanks to the vestry and wardens, and thanks to Samantha Burns and Barbara Burns.

In Christ’s love,

Fr. Duncan

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL EMAIL VERSION

On the surface, today’s Gospel is about fairness. The landowner hires workers early in the morning and agrees to pay them a full day’s wage. He goes back in the early morning and hires more workers. At midday and in the afternoon he hires more workers. Even at the eleventh hour, he hires more workers. The landowner asks the steward to pay all the workers the same wage beginning with the ones that only worked for an hour. When the steward finally began to pay the ones who had worked all day, they were fuming mad. The fact is that we can be easily annoyed with trivial matters that we deem as unfair. Jesus gives us a prime example. The laborers in today’s Gospel got paid one day’s work, regardless of how long they worked. Those workers who worked the longest earned a fair wage, but they were upset by what the others received.

God turns our world upside down. Jesus is creating a community where the last are first and the first are last. The world isn’t fair and maybe God helps to even things out a little. Have you ever felt God’s generosity when it is unearned and undeserved? When the generosity of God exceeds our expectations, we are surprised in a way that fills our heart with the peace that passes all understanding.                         

When you understand life to be an incredible gift, God’s grace and mercy flows over us like a river. Jesus is teaching parables that turn our world upside down. Suddenly, everyone is eligible for God’s love! It is no longer just the outwardly religious folks that find God’s favor.. The workers that were hired late in the day might have needed money to buy food for their families. When they received their pay at the end of the day, they must have been elated. “Maybe this is the break I have been waiting for,” says the unemployed person trying to get back in the work force. “Finally,” says the child that is back at school with their friends. Someone shows up with cases of water after a wildfire because someone half way around the world heard their cry while praying to God. Someone remembers those essential workers that have served our needs right through this pandemic. We remember those who gave their lives on 9/11 and pray for those who put their lives on the line for our safety.

Have you ever felt blessed by God? When we receive our fair wage it feels right, but when we receive more than we deserve, it is a blessing from God. I give to this church because God has blessed me in so many ways. I receive blessing upon blessing. They just keep coming. I am blessed by my beautiful children, my lovely wife, my mom, my brothers, my friends, by our Morning Prayer group, for my home in this wonderful town, and by the ministry of St. John’s. The list goes on and on for me. I love my ministry and my call to St. John’s. Today is my sixth anniversary of serving at St. John’s. The year 2020 has been tough for all of us, but I believe that God will get us through it. We will begin Eucharist in October and slowly and safely, we will get back to church. I pray that God will bless me with many more years of service at St. John’s. Please join me in giving praise and thanksgiving to God every Sunday. We have an outdoor service at 8AM. We have an indoor service at 11AM. There is an 8 AM zoom Morning Prayer and a 9:15 zoom Morning Prayer with incredible music. If you have not joined the M-F Morning Prayer community at 9 AM, I highly recommend this service of praise and prayer. If you have been away for the summer we invite you back. If you are new, we invite you to be a part of our community. We are blessed at St. John’s and God calls us all to be a blessing to each other.

In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL EMAIL VERSION

In August of 2014, Susan and I sat in the packed church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Oxford and listened raptly to Baroness Caroline Cox speak about the persecuted church and the forgiveness extended by those persecuted to those who tormented them, sometimes to the point of martyrdom. Rather than comment, I will let these brief synopses speak for themselves and I hope that the witness will compel us to come to grips from within, not just as theory but in practice, with our Lord's command to forgive those who sin against us as we have been forgiven.

On the night before he was murdered, Martin Luther King, Jr. preached his “I have been to the mountain top” sermon.” His last words were “I have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” The Rev. Fleming Rutledge preached on Dr. King with these words: “It was not human happiness that he felt. It was not human hope that he held. It was not human promises that he trusted. It was God that he trusted, the God who makes a way out of no way. He trusted that God's glory would be shown forth in his weakness as he 'shared in the sufferings of Christ.'”

In October 2000, 21 year old Pastor Liu Haitao was beaten to death by the police in Henan province, China.

As he died, suffering injuries from torture, as well as denial of medical treatment, he told his mother: “Mum, I am very happy, I am fine. Just persist in our belief and follow him to the end. I am going now, Mum. Pray for me.” His final word before he died was a very weak, but unmistakable 'Amen.'

In the historic Armenian land of Nagorno Karabakh, Baroness Cox met a man who had vowed revenge for the death of a child, but when the opportunity arose he broke his vow. An American responded by saying that for the first time he understood what was meant by “Vengeance is mine saith the Lord”; thank you for the dignity you have shown.” The man responded, “Dignity is a crown of thorns,”

In Jos, Nigeria, the Most Reverend Benjamin Kwashi was away from home when militants came to kill him so instead they brutalized one of his sons and his wife. After visiting his wife in hospital he wrote that “we praised God that we had been found worthy to suffer for his kingdom; and we prayed that all Gloria's pain, humiliation, and anguish would be used for his kingdom, his glory, and the strength of his church.” Then he gave this challenge to the wider Christian Church: “If we have a faith worth living for, it is a faith worth dying for. Do not you in the West compromise the faith for which we are living and dying.”

Finally, the following poem, written by David Aziz, is a chilling illustration of “faith and forgiveness which shines like a light in the darkness.” The poem was published in a pamphlet entitled The Coptic Christmas Eve Massacre: A Youth Perspective—Please God, be our Guide, You decide/You are there as I die and my mother cries./I was looking forward to the fata,/But now I'm getting colder and wetter./l lie on this blood-stained road,/With my lifeless body on show,/I wanna be free, I wanna be free,/I wanna be free from this body, ye/I wanna be free, let my spirit roam free,/Lord please receive my spirit from within me,/I am filled with lead but I survive,/And though I am dead I am still alive,/I don't hate those who shot me so please don't be bitter (bold mine),/'Cos life with Christ is much better./But this is for the best,/When your faith is put to the test,/But it's all over now and I rest,/I said it's all over now and I rest,/...I can rest.

There are many other illustrations in Baroness Cox's little book The Very Stones Cry Out and, in its own way, each story cries out: How ready am I to respond to my Lord's command to forgive? How ready are you?

-Fr. John+

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL EMAIL VERSION

In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus asks his disciples, “But who do YOU say that I am?"

So, I ask, “Who is Jesus for YOU?”

We come together each week – unique individuals – and we become the church. Just as St. Paul told us in Romans, “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” How can we be the church Jesus had in mind? What does it demand of us?

Christians are called to follow Jesus, just like the disciples. Where are each of you on that path? Are you still on it? Have you veered off in a different direction? What does following Jesus look like? What would you say if someone asked you why you are on the Christian path?  Do you have your elevator story ready?

Who do you say that I am? To answer this question, we need to be in relationship with Jesus – we need to find room in our hearts – allowing him to dwell there and then we need to listen. Many of us are using Facebook and other forms of social media in the hopes of making more friends and learning more about each other. But I maintain that we really need to be in personal relationships, where, in real time, we can have conversations that demand give and take. To listen. Our zoom morning prayer group has developed a deeper intimacy and trust with each other…enabling us all to grow. We also need to enter into a lifelong conversation with God – which is what prayer is all about, to immerse ourselves and inwardly digest the holy scriptures, and to attend Bible studies where together, we can further clarify our understanding of who Jesus is. This is how we begin to answer that “who” question.

The Church is made of individuals. We are made stronger, however, in coming together to support each other, to learn from each other, to challenge each other and then, collectively, with the help of the God and the Holy Spirit, to go out into the world and be Jesus’ voice, hands, feet to our hurting world.

We often hear criticisms of today’s church – our numbers are declining. We are no longer relevant. Our world is bursting with individualism – “I can find fulfillment by following my own path.” Religion is relegated to our own private sphere of personal values. People say, “I am not religious, I am spiritual.” We have become more isolated, fragmented, and polarized. We hide behind social media and voice our extreme positions when it comes to religion, politics, race, or our environment and then avoid considering the responses. We are not willing to engage in meaningful and heartfelt conversations with each other, where listening may be more important than speaking.

But, people of St. Johns, we are the Church. God is a living God, not frozen in the past. God doesn’t just exist in the memories of the good old days or the way things used to be. How is this living God moving and working in our world today? 

On this rock – we shall not build a nation where millions of children are homeless and hungry. On this rock – we shall not build churches (communities of faith) that oppress the poor and women. On this rock – we shall not turn a blind eye to the racial injustices and violence towards our black brothers and sisters. Thank God that Paul reminds us that, “We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:6-8) What we each do on earth matters.

We are a strong church – when God’s heart becomes one with our own. To be Christlike, we must know Christ. We need to come together to recharge and then go back out into the world to be Christ in every encounter we have. As we widen our circle, all are enriched. I dare say, “We are NOT irrelevant.”

In Christ’s Love,

Claire Mis, Seminarian

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL EMAIL VERSION

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” (Isaiah 55:10-13).

In today’s Gospel lesson, thousands of people follow Jesus to a rural location. The disciples tell Jesus that the crowds need to be sent back into town to get some food to eat. Jesus tells them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” It seems a popular thing in this day not to be satisfied with what you have and to complain about it with one another. Isaiah and Jesus tell us in the scripture readings for this Sunday that God has the power to complete God’s purpose through us. The people in today’s Gospel from Matthew had an abundance of food and were satisfied.  God provides all that we need when we follow the path of loving our Creator and one another.

This combination of the Corona 19 pandemic and the upcoming election has made this a very difficult time in our country. God has given us everything we need in Huntington and we are called to share that abundance with everyone in our community. I give thanks for our benefit concerts, food donations, laundry love, thrift shop yard sales, and all we have done to help one another through this crisis. I am especially thankful for the love and care that you have shown one another. Please continue to join us for Morning Prayer, Bible Study, Hilda’s Group, EFM, Sunday service in the Garden of Blessings, 8AM Morning Prayer on Sundays on zoom, 10AM Sunday Holy Eucharist on zoom, Coffee Hours, Huntington Rapid Response, Racial Reconciliation and Justice Meetings, Spirituality Group, and everything we do at St. John’s. God is working God’s purpose through you. We need to be steadfast in our faith, generous in our love, and patient with one another.

In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan

The Chalice

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

This is one of my favorite passages in the bible because it reflects the foundation of my faith. God created every one of us and we are called to be God’s children. God loves us with unconditional love and nothing can keep that love from us. I know that businesses are hurting, people are anxious, children are struggling, our nation is in chaos, and we are in the middle of the Covid19 pandemic, which has changed the way we do church. I am hopeful that there will be a vaccine this fall or winter and that slowly and safely, we will get back together again at St. John’s. In the meantime, we must cling to the love of God in Jesus Christ. Our community has become stronger and more connected because of this pandemic. I urge all our parishioners to join us for Sunday services in the Garden of Blessing or on Zoom. Please join us for Morning Prayer at 9am each weekday and feel the love of God in our community. Join us for bible study this Tuesday at 11am as we look at the New Testament in the context of the 1^st century. Join any of our groups or ministries and stay connected with the community of St. John’s. We invite anyone to join us in any of our ministries.

This week, we look at a group of parables. A parable is like a box with a lid on it. Sometimes parables are hard to understand. We come back to them again and again. One day, God reveals the truth to you in a way that changes you forever. Jesus told parables so that we might look deeper into our own lives. We might think we have it all figured out, but The Word of God challenges your world view each and every Sunday. The Gospel challenges you to make the world a better place, starting with you. The parable of the mustard seed teaches us that from small beginnings great things can happen. God’s reign spreads from a spark to a wild fire when we hear, accept, and grow in God’s love. Even a seed as small as the mustard seed will flourish when it is sown in the ground. The mustard seed is the love of God that is sown in our hearts. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that everyone that believes may have eternal life. Jesus love is sown into all of our hearts and each of us will make it through this pandemic if we stay connected to God and one another.

We will soon be opening a new box. It is the future of the church. Like the parable, sometimes it is hard to understand what is coming. There will be changes in our jobs, schools, churches, and every aspect of our lives. Change is a very scary thing. But what if we needed to be shaken from our feet upside down, so that we might take a fresh look at how we treat one another and how we treat this creation in which we live? Maybe God can work with this horrible situation and reveal a truth that will change us forever. Let us pray,

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan

A fifteen-year-old Amish girl and her middle-aged mother were in a shopping mall for the first time in their lives. They were amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny, silver walls that could move apart and then slide back together again. The girl asked, “What is this, Mother?” The mother (never having seen an elevator) responded, “Sweetie, I have never seen anything like this in my life, I don’t know what it is.” While the girl and her mother were watching with amazement, a heavy set middle aged, balding man in a dirty tee shirt moved up to the moving walls and pressed a button. The walls opened, and the man walked between them into a small room. The walls closed and the girl and her mother watched the small numbers above the walls light up sequentially. They continued to watch until it reached the last number, and then the numbers began to light in the reverse order. Finally, the walls opened up again, and a good looking 30-year-old guy in great shape with tight jeans walked out. The mother, not taking her eyes off the young man, said quietly to her daughter, “Quickly, go get your Father.”

I am afraid that there is no magic elevator that will get us out of this Covid19 pandemic. We have taken a survey of over a hundred in our parish and we overwhelmingly want to start having outdoor services at St. John’s. Our task force put guidelines in place, ordered the appropriate supplies, and set the church up to open. They proposed that we open for outdoor services on July 19^th. The vestry voted to start outdoor services at 8AM and the wardens and Rector agreed to start this Sunday. Please register online if you would like to attend a contemplative, outdoor Morning Prayer service in the Garden of Blessings. The vestry also voted to allow the Thrift Shop to open in the Garden of Blessings on Saturdays. In both cases, you will need a mask and need to socially distance yourself from others. We ask that you bring a chair and prayer book, if you register for the 8:00AM outdoor service. If you do not have a prayer book, we will loan one to you until this pandemic is over. I would like to thank everyone who took the survey, our task force, the vestry, the wardens, and Claire. We have come to a consensus on outdoor services as the best way to open back up at St. John’s while staying safe. We have prepared the church for services when the vestry, wardens, and Rector feel it is appropriate.

Last Sunday our choir had a friendship sing along with St. Augustine’s in Brooklyn. If you missed the Zoom and Facebook Live event, you can go to stjohnshuntington.org to watch the wonderful combination of our choir, the St. Augustine’s choir, steel drum band, and some songs that we sang together. My thanks to St. John's choir, Alex and all the good folks at St. Augustine’s.

Our youth interns completed their 6^th podcast that advises young people on the importance of voting. I urge you to click on the following link and listen to Jen Hebert, Jen Low, Jack Glicker, and Samantha Burns You might want to share it on your Email, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter accounts.

 https://soundcloud.com/samantha-burns-617075477/spirituality-on-tap-6-the-importance-of-voting

Sunday schedule: 

• 8AM Morning Prayer in the Garden of Blessings (registration required)
• 8AM Morning Prayer on Zoom and Facebook Live
• 10AM Holy Eucharist on Zoom and Facebook Live
• 11:30 Alex will play his final Covid19 concert

In Christ’s love,

Fr. Duncan