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Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2, NRSV

As we begin our annual Stewardship pledge appeal, I am asking you to pray about your annual financial giving. Please consider increasing your pledge this year. As costs rise around us, our church expenses are also rising. I appeal to you to increase your contribution amount to help us sustain this church, our church. When you bring your pledge card to the altar at St. John’s on October 20th, I invite you to Walk in Love.

Generosity is a journey, it’s a practice that we learn and nurture within our hearts. It just isn’t in our nature to give away what we have worked hard to acquire or to donate our precious time without compensation. It takes something as radical as Love to inspire us to share our time, talent, and treasure with others. This is a journey we make together, a Walk in Love.

As we have lived with the Gospel this year, we have been brought into a world turned radically upside down. The laws and customs that had been in place for centuries were challenged, power and dominion have been questioned, and a culture hemmed in from all sides by oppression and subjection desperately seeks a way forward. 

As it turns out, it is not cultural pluralism, political polarization, or social media that causes the change in society, but the simplest concept of Love. Jesus causes a revolution of thought and heart by daring to reach out to the outcast and teach others to do the same. He walks in love with the marginalized, with the poor, with the sick, and brings us along with him on his journey. 

The most miraculous gift of Love is that it was there within us all along, all we had to do was find it, tap into it, and begin growing it. And look what happened? We learned to share, to give, to volunteer, to accompany others, to feed, to pray, to visit, to strive for change. Our Harvest Fair supports many charities in our community that need our love. I ask you to fully support the fair on October 19th. Help us to help others. 

In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan

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An old adage goes, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me!” Recently, I was listening to an interview on a podcast and the person being interviewed decried this phrase. She reminded us listeners that words have meaning and they have power. We also have meaning. We also wield power. Thus, when we use our words wrong, we can have the power to hurt someone else. Surely, we have been on each end of this experience. But on the flip side, we know the words we use can help someone, comfort someone, or make someone laugh or think.

The readings from Hebrews and Mark show us the effect of Jesus’ words on our life. It may seem a bit dramatic that the word of God is “sharper than a two-edged sword”, and yet many times Jesus speaks, people are left confused, angry, and like the rich young man in Mark’s Gospel, he runs away grieving. In Acts 2, when Peter is preaching his first sermon, the listeners, we are told, are “cut to the heart”. We, as Christians, believe in a God who is alive and active in this world. His Word still has power and meaning that is fully realized in the person of Jesus Christ. It is also revealed to us in the Holy Scripture, where we go when we wish to reflect, meditate, and pray on the activity of God in each of our lives.

God’s Word is life. It has the power to create and to revive the soul. It is the power that seeks to comfort, to aid, to strengthen each of us so that our words may be used to His greater glory. Are our words aligned with what God wants for us? It could be as simple as curse words. Perhaps we find ourselves being too cynical or too complacent (meaning we need to speak up!). Words are a powerful tool in which we need God's assistance and guidance in order to use this tool well.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Zach

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Wild Geese (by Mary Oliver)



You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees 

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. 

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

I love to stare out over the blue water near my house in Centerport. There is something about watching bald eagles in the trees and the sky and wild geese on the lawn of Queen of Martyrs church. Wild Geese are even more fun to watch when they are flying home. They often start out in one direction and then get their bearings and all head in another direction. As the summer changes to fall, they are often on the move. Today’s Gospel is about getting salted with fire and then finding peace with one another.

For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. (Mark 9:49-50)

Jesus is telling the disciples that they need to re-focus and turn in a new direction. After hearing that Jesus was headed for the cross, they argued about who was the greatest among them. Today’s words seem a little harsh, but they remind us to check and make sure we are headed in the right direction. The world is not at peace at this moment. We need to be salted with fire so that we are not at war with ourselves in this country and do not expand the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel to other nations. In the reading from James we are simply asked to pray. Please pray for peace with me at St. John’s, be salted by the words of Jesus, and live in peace with one another.

In Christ’s love,

Fr. Duncan

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They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them, and taking it in his arms he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
 (Mark 9:30-37)

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
   and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

For all who exalt themselves will be humbled,
and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Luke 14:11)

therefore, the prisoner in the Lord,
I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another in love, (Eph.4:1-2 I)

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. (Col. 3:12)

But he gives all the more grace;
therefore it says, God opposes the proud,
 but gives grace to the humble. (James 4:6)

I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other;
for all who exalt themselves will be humbled,
but all who humble themselves will be exalted. (Luke 18:14)

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth (Psalm 124:8).

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

    Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. 
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:26).    

In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan

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Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” (Mark 8:27-29)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do they say I am? Peter says, “You are the Messiah.” The message, “You are the Messiah,” is simple and profound. The entire Gospel of Mark pivots on the passage that we read today. This passage begs to ask all its hearers, “Who is this Jesus?” Now lots of people believe that Jesus was all sorts of things. If you believe he was a prophet, you are not alone. If you think he was a healer, you are not alone. But at the moment when you truly believe that he is the Messiah, the son of God, your life is just about to undergo transformation. This pivot often brings us in directions that we had never even imagined and require a letting go of our own expectations. The Good News of the Gospel is simply that God loves us and that we should love God and our neighbor.  Life becomes one continuous blessing when you finally realize that everything comes from God. Jesus was God’s showing forth of God’s loving kindness. I’m not one of those prosperity preachers that says that God rewards the faithful with material goods. God loves us deeply and wants us to love one another deeply. It is by the expression of love that we bring others to Christ. We are putting a focus on community involvement in our Thrift Shop and Harvest Fair. Outreach is a sign of God’s love and we need to team up with our community. Right now we are stock piling our Thrift Shop for fall and the Harvest Fair. We need your slightly worn fall clothes, hand bags, household goods, and jewelry. Giving to the Thrift Shop not only cleans out your closet, it helps those who cannot afford the high price of new goods today and supports St. John’s and our ECW. Corporate gifts for the Harvest Fair go directly back to the community through donations to nonprofit organizations. Donations of items to raffle off and baskets help both our community and St. John’s. Please pitch in this year by putting a sign on your lawn, asking restaurants for coupons, and purchasing raffle tickets. 

Our other priority this week is connecting with our children, youth, and young adults and their families. Our clergy will be going out of our way to meet and talk with you. Many folks from St. John’s, Huntington and St. John’s, Cold Spring Harbor worked together on the music that the children and youth will perform “Step Right Up" on Sunday September 15th. My thanks to Bryce, Alex and all those who gave of their time this summer for two weeks in August. Our Christian education program (Sunday school) begins on September 15th at 9:40. We give thanks for Christine and all our teachers. First Communion, Confirmation, and Youth Group are also starting up in September. Youth group meets on Sunday from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Confirmation retreat day is Saturday, September 21st at St. John’s, Huntington. Classes are for 7-12 grades. Please touch base with Fr. Zach, Christine, or Noelle if you are interested. We urge all families with children and youth to attend this Sunday. Next week on September 22nd from 12-3, St. John’s will have a family barbeque at Centerport Beach. The Youth Group will provide activities for the kids! The ECW provides the drinks and our breakfast group provides the hamburgers and hot dogs. Please sign up at church if you would like to bring a salad or dessert. 

In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan

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The Work of Our Faith

The Lectionary in September has us reading through some of the Letter of James. It is, quite frankly, an underappreciated letter in many Christian circles, because some of it seems to fly in the face the theology found in Paul’s letters. Namely, the theology of sola fide, or that through faith alone we are saved, as Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” And this weekend, it is a glaring example when James famously quips, “Faith, without works, is dead.” 

What the role of works is in our Christian faith is a well-known and discussed topic of our faith. But the two, faith and work, are not in contradiction. Indeed, Jesus connects these two when he says in Matthew, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father, who is in Heaven.” We may also remember the Gospel of John reading from August 4 when, after the disciples asked him what they must to do perform the work of God, Jesus respond, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 

“Well, wait Fr. Zachary! Which one was is it?!” Our ultimate work is the belief of the saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. This then leads us to do all other work, even the work of our secular careers because it is a sustaining faith that leads us through good and bad. Our faith gives us our true purpose and identity and drives us to know Christ more and heed the call to minister and act in a world that so desperately needs to know Christ better.

I encourage you to read the full Letter of James. It’s found right after the Letter to the Hebrews and is only 5 chapters long. It has great practical wisdom for you today. 

In Christ,
Fr. Zach

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What is at the Heart of our Faith and Traditions?

Cartoon by Steve Thomason

Our Gospel this week comes sandwiched among many stories of Jesus doing miraculous works and how the people respond to his display of power. In Mark 6, Jesus fed the 5000, he also walked on water and healed the sick in Gennesaret. Further along in chapter 7 of Mark’s gospel, Jesus continues to travel among the Gentiles and perform healing miracles.

It is interesting that in today’s reading, the Pharisees are present – and they must have traveled quite a distance from Jerusalem just to check on this Jesus of Nazareth. What is he up to? Perhaps to find a legal loophole in his teaching? Perhaps to trap him?

The Pharisees, dedicated to obeying and pleasing God follow traditions that helped them maintain their identity as God’s people – especially in a world that was tempting them to worship their neighbors’ Gods. Nothing wrong with that…yet in their desire to obey God they established strict rules which ultimately became traditions. In doing that, they lost sight of the line between God’s law and their own human opinion. They emphasized human tradition which caused them to neglect – and even forget the deeper Torah law -- Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

They question why Jesus allowed his disciples to eat with unwashed hands but at the heart of their concern was a more significant issue: Jesus’ authority and the transformative nature of his teaching. There is nothing wrong with honoring traditions – and certainly, Jesus, as a Jew, observed many of the Jewish customs and traditions. Yet, there comes a time when holding on to a tradition can become a trap which prevents us from grasping the big picture.

Jesus is asking us to search for God in our hearts – what is God’s will as we make decisions each day? Sometimes we must step outside of traditions – especially when they have lost their meaning – and even more especially, when they trap us into an inability to see where love is – what is the most loving thing we are being called to do?

I invite each or us to reflect on some of the traditions we hold dear here at St. John’s. Where did they come from? Do we know why we adhere to some practices? What prevents us from stepping out in faith to stretch and grow into an even more loving community?

In God’s Boundless Love,
Deacon Claire

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As I mentioned last week, we welcome Fr. Mark Kowalewski to church this week where he will be both preacher and celebrant for both services. Please give him a warm St. John's welcome!

This Sunday, the lectionary ends the Bread of Life discourse from chapter 6 of John's Gospel. Some of the disciples remark, "This teaching is difficult, who can accept it?" The Gospel can be hard to accept because it makes us confront things about ourselves we'd rather not remember and let go. But only in Jesus can we truly let it go because it is forgiven. Erased. Scrubbed from our souls. Indeed, when we feast on the Bread of Life we are going through a spiritual cleanse. This isn't just taking communion, mind you, but feasting on all the spiritual graces and blessings bestowed upon us.

In the Letter to the Ephesians reading, Paul's famous words of "putting on the armour of God" also mirrors such a feasting. We are not fighting against our flesh and bones but powers of darkness that seek to destroy us. If you've ever read C.S. Lewis' classic The Screwtape Letters, you know what I mean. We have access to the belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness, because in the Bread of Life is found the what is needed to be prepared for our Christian lives.

We are soon to start a new program year. A new school year for some. A new year in which we can perhaps renew our lives in those spiritual blessings, so that whatever the future may hold, we know we are walking with God's protective love over us.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Zach

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This week has been a very somber week as we said goodbye to Mary White and Marie Gilles. Trusting in our sure hope as Christians, we know that we will see them again and we continue to hold their families in our prayers.

This Sunday, we welcome back Fr. Dan Ade into our pulpit for all Sunday services and as celebrant for the 10 am service. Fr. Dan helped us out last year by doing supply work during Fr. Duncan's sabbatical. Fr. Mark Kowalewski will be with us the following week. Fr. Dan and Fr. Mark are ministry partners leading the Incarnation Chapel in Carle Place. We welcome them both to our community!

As we continue John's Bread of Life discourse this week, I have been especially nourished by Vacation Bible Camp (I feel "School" gives kids the wrong impression!). We have been meeting Jesus in various points of his ministry, the temple, the beach, the Sea of Galilee, among others. The children have given some great insight into who Jesus is for them and where they meet him. We are excited to showcase the musical soon at St. John's in Huntington.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Zach