Charlie and Jim, February 14, 2021

Charlie and Jim, 2-14-21 @ 2pm
Lepley & Company, Massillon Train Depot

Song of Solomon 2:10-13
John 15:9-14, 17

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

As we just heard, Jesus says, “This is my commandment: that you love one another.”  That’s it.  That’s the commandment.  Love one another.  (Send tweet!)

By now, we’re all familiar with the phrase, “Love is love.”  What we usually mean when we say, “Love is love,” is something like this:  Love does not distinguish between different kinds of people.  There are no races or genders or barriers when it comes to love.  And since the commandment of Jesus himself is to love one another, well, love is love.

However, on some level, the reason we are all here today is because some people don’t believe that.  Some people want to control love, or to prevent love.  But Jesus never says, “Do not love one another.”  He always calls us to love.

Now, in a bizarre turn of events, these two have already had their love blessed by the Church.  And, because everything is insane and backwards, I am here to ratify their relationship on behalf of the state of Ohio.

Crazy, right?  I guess as long as everyone has their certified documents stored in some filing cabinet at the courthouse over in Canton, then we can get around to celebrating what matters: Love.

The commandment of Jesus is that we love one another.  And I am honored to stand with you today in the name of love.  Because love is love, is love is love is love.  And love is good.  Jesus says so.

Amen.

Why We Decorate

 

I have so many things to say about Christmas decorations that I could write a short book on the subject.  But I will spare you that, and just try to sum up for now.

Making Connections

Some decorations have obvious or intuitive origins.  For example, we put up lights to dispel the darkness of the approaching Winter Solstice, and the lights also connect us to the reading for Christmas Day, that a light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.

(John 1:5)

And then there are the many decorations that have pagan origins (like holly, ivy, and yule logs) which we have repurposed into Christian symbols.  This is not unlike moving Jesus’ birth to December in order to supplant pagan gods’ feasts, even though the majority of scholars agree Jesus was more likely born in the spring.

But I think—given that this year will be unlike any year we’ve experienced—a good basic rule of thumb in all our holiday decorating might be to consider why we’re decorating at all.  It can be as simple as, “This pine tree smells nice,” or as personal as, “My great grandparents brought this ornament with them when they immigrated in the 1870s.”  What I mean is, consider decorating this year with purpose and intention.  Think about why you do what you do, and decorate with awareness and mindfulness.

Now, on to some specifics . . .

Advent Wreath

In my childhood home, we always put a wreath on the dining room table during Advent.  And on many nights, after we ate, we would sing carols and have a short devotion.  The basic makeup of the Advent Wreath is a circle of evergreens (to symbolize eternity in the circle, and continuous life in the greens) along with candles.  Typically, there are five candles: 3 are blue or violet, one is pink or rose, and the center one is white.  The main purpose of the candles is to mark the passage of time (which is why oil candles are not the best for this).  As we move through Advent, we can see where we’ve been and where we’re going.  If you’ve never had an Advent Wreath in your house before, the circle and the greens are not so important as the passage of time.  So, a good alternative might be to put four candles on your mantle or on a table, and just light a new one each week as you count the weeks until Christmas.

Christmas Creche

Sometimes called a manger, the creche is typically a stable setting, where we mix all the stories of Jesus’ birth together.  So, we often get the angels and shepherds from Luke, and the stable and wise men from Matthew in one compressed scene.  And that’s totally fine!  The one thing I ask, as your priest, is that you wait to put Jesus in the manger until after sundown on Christmas Eve.  Not because it’s bad luck or something, but just as a little nod that we’re still waiting during Advent.

Christmas Tree

This is the most notable decoration in our homes leading up to Christmas.  There are many different explanations of how we came to drag a cut pine tree into our homes at this time of year, but let’s skip over folklore for now, and just enjoy the absurdity of it all!  Some people decorate their trees sparsely, with matching bulbs, and others go to town with tinsel and flashing lights.  Whatever the tradition in your own home, I fully support whatever you choose to do.  But referring back to what I said above, try to be mindful of how and why you decorate as you do.  Is it because that’s how you did it as a child?  Is it because it’s not how you did it as a child?  What do you like (or not like) about having a tree in your home?  Do you have favorite ornaments?  How do you choose the space that will be set apart for this large adornment of holiday cheer?

 Twelve Days of Christmas

Okay, here’s the one thing I want to be sure to mention.  From November 29^th to December 24^th, we are in the Advent season.  Sure, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but Christmas doesn’t come until the sun sets on December 24^th.  Then we begin the twelve days of Christmas.  (Perhaps you’ve heard a song about this stretch of days.)  If you start counting Christmas as the first day, you will get to 12 on January 5^th, and the next day is January 6^th, which we call Epiphany, when the Magi arrive.  Point being, no matter when you put up your decorations, I encourage you to try to leave them up throughout the Christmas Season, which means until January 6^th, just to be sure you get those 12 drummers drumming, if nothing else.

As We Wait . . .

 

Christ the King Sunday, 2020

Dear Friends in Christ:

As you might recall, I am a bit of a stickler for not jumping ahead in the liturgical calendar.  We don’t celebrate a day or season until it arrives.  However, I’ve recently received this announcement from Dr. Kara Slade of Princeton University: 

Public notice from the liturgical police.
The following activities are allowed at any time because it's 2020:
Advent music. Christmas music. Hallmark movies. Die Hard. Any other Christmas movies. Decorations of any kind. Thank you for your cooperation, citizens.

And with that “permission,” I pass on to you that 2020 Advent rules are suspended.  If you’ve already got a Christmas tree standing in your living room, and Bing Crosby on the hi-fi, then good for you!  Have at it.

In the packet of stuff that was mailed to you, you will find several things that might be useful in the coming weeks.  You’ll see that there is an envelope for you to open each Sunday in Advent, as well as one for you to open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

In addition, you’ll find some tips and thoughts to set this season apart regarding any Christmas tree, Christmas creche, Advent wreath, and so on.

Though we cannot be together in person, we still mark time together, and we still wait together for the One who makes all things new.

May God bless you and your loved ones as we journey toward Bethlehem together.

Fr. George

Tigers Prayer Service, 2020

Massillon Tigers Prayer Service
October 3, 2020
Hebrews 12:1

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

Well, I’m not going to lie.  You all are being asked to do a challenging thing during a very challenging time.  You’re being asked to focus on a really big game at a time when it’s nearly impossible to focus on anything for more than five minutes.  School is different, and family life is different, the football season is different, and this game is different.  Everything is different this year.  I mean, with all painter’s tape on the pews, and the masks we all have to wear, even being in this room together is different this year.

Like I said: A challenging game during a very challenging time.        And that’s why I want to tell you this:  This annual service here at St. Timothy’s is a chance to just stop everything for a minute.  A chance to sit and rest in the presence of God and one another.  For this time here today, it’s okay to just be silent.  To give yourself time to think and reflect and just sit, without taking notes, or worrying if you’re doing things right, or bracing yourself for somebody running into you full speed from the side.

A few minutes ago, I read to you that verse from the letter to the Hebrews:  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

You are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, in the faith and on the field.  Some of those witnesses are people who have played on this team before you, like our own church member John Muhlbach, who went on to play for Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.  And some other witnesses who are destined to simply watch the game on TV, like me.  But you are also surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us, and who cheer you on from a different place.  Some cheer you on from another part of the country, and some cheer you on from another place entirely.

But there’s another part of that scripture verse that I want to be sure you notice.  The writer says, “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”  The race marked out for us.  Because, sure, all those other people are cheering you on, happy to tell you what this game meant for the team in their day.  But today’s game is not their game; it is your game.  Today is the race marked out for you.  The race marked out . . . of a challenging game during a challenging time.  No one else will play this game, on this day, against that particular team . . . who shall not be named.

For you and your coaches, this game is yours alone.  But you are not alone.  That’s the thing that I hope you’ll remember today.  This game is yours alone.  But you are not alone.  God bless each and everyone of you, and go Tigers!

Amen.

The Burial of PerLee Hartman

For PerLee Hartman, 9/11/20
Lamentations 3:22-26, 31-33
Revelation 21:2-7
Psalm 23
John 6:37-40

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

Jesus said, “This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.” 

I did not really know PerLee Hartman.  Not when he was a strong, feisty, independent man.  Well, wait that’s not true.  From the stories Janine has told me, he was a damn strong feisty man right to the end!  She’d come in every week to tell me and Candy about how PerLee had somehow worked his wheelchair to the point that he was dangling over a cliff, hanging by one finger in the middle of nowhere, and then it would end with her laughing about how it always turned out alright.

Even in his final years, PerLee could get into trouble before you could say “Get back in your wheelchair!”  I did not know PerLee well, but I feel like I knew him because of the stories Janine tells me about him.  He lived a good life, and was loved by good people.  People who miss him, and will continue to remember the joy he brought into your lives.  As crazy as that joy often was!

As I said, I did not know PerLee well, but you did.  That’s why you’re here today.  And I hope those of you who knew PerLee will keep telling stories about this remarkable man in the days ahead.  You knew PerLee.  And more importantly, Jesus did.  Jesus knew PerLee, and Jesus loved PerLee.  And here’s why that is important.

As we just heard, Jesus said, “anyone who comes to me I will never drive away.”  And Jesus said, “I will lose nothing of all that the Father has given me.”  And Jesus also said, “all who see the Son and believe in him will have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”

I can clearly see that Jesus was describing PerLee Hartman here.  He came to Jesus, and Jesus never drove him away.  PerLee was given to Jesus in his baptism, and was not lost to him.  PerLee believed in Jesus, and most often probably found Jesus in the peaceful woods and streams that God created.  Created just to remind people like PerLee that God still loved him.

PerLee was known by Jesus, and is not lost to Jesus, and PerLee will be raised up on the last day.  And I like to think that when that happens, on the last day, we will all see PerLee Hartman, standing next to an empty wheelchair and asking us all, “What the hell took you so long?"

May God’s face shine on PerLee Hartman, and may God’s face continue to shine on each one of you.
Amen.

The Burial of Mary Vasilo

For Mary Vasilo, 8/28/20
Lamentations 3:22-26, 31-33
2 Cor. 4:16-5:9
Psalm 23
John 6:37-40  

Jesus said, “This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”  In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The thing about our dear Mary Vasilo is that she would never tell anyone how old she was.  I’m kidding, of course.  Mary loved to tell people how old she was, and always followed up with, “Can you believe it?”  It was clear to me that Mary was proud of approaching 90.  She bragged about turning 91.  She reveled in the fact that she passed 92.  Sure, she complained as she got older . . . as do I.  But Mary was not afraid to tell people how old she was.

And you know what else Mary wasn’t afraid of?  Death.  I mean, just like any rational person, she was afraid of a lot of pain, or of the sadness that we would all feel when she was gone.  But Mary wasn’t afraid of death itself.  And there’s a very simple reason for that.

Mary Vasilo trusted Jesus.  Mary trusted that Jesus would do what Jesus promised to do.  To show up in the sacraments, to walk beside her through her life, and to raise her up on the last day.  People who believe those three things—the power of the sacraments, the presence of Jesus, and the promise of the resurrection—people who believe those things can all be found in one place: church.  Because that is where those three things are proclaimed and celebrated.  And, it’s not news to anyone who is here today, Mary loved to be in church!

When I started as Rector of St. Timothy’s four years ago, everything was new to me.  Everything was kind of strange and unpredictable.  But the one thing I could count on, the one thing that was predictable each week was that I would see Mary Vasilo, every Wednesday afternoon, and again on Sunday morning.  Every.  Single.  Week.  And when Mary couldn’t be here—like when she was busy drinking apricot brandy up in Twinsburg—she would call Candy to make sure that I knew she wouldn’t be here.  I always knew how old Mary was, and I always knew when she was out of town.

Mary would be the first to tell you that she was a simple person, but I don’t think that’s true.  I would say Mary was a solid person.  And there’s a big difference.  Because Mary knew what was important, and she knew what she believed, and she knew who she loved.  And, more importantly, she knew that she was loved.  She knew she was loved by her family, and she knew she was loved by her caregiver, and she knew she was loved by the people of this church—especially the ones who checked in on her every single night.  But she also knew that she was loved by Jesus.  And I think that’s what made Mary’s life so wonderful to behold.  She knew she was loved.  And that makes all the difference in a person’s life.  Any person’s life.  To know that you are loved makes all the difference in how you live your life.

As we just heard, Jesus said, “anyone who comes to me I will never drive away.”  And Jesus said, “I will lose nothing of all that the Father has given me.”  And Jesus also said, “all who see the Son and believe in him will have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”

I can clearly see that Jesus was describing Mary Vasilo here.  She came to Jesus, and he never drove her away.  She was given to Jesus, and was not lost to him.  She believed in Jesus, and she will be raised up on the last day.  And I like to think that when that happens, on the last day, we will all see Mary Vasilo, holding a glass of apricot brandy, proudly telling everyone exactly how old she is.

May God’s face shine on Mary Vasilo, and may God’s face shine on you.  Amen.

For Will Miller, May 29, 2020

For Will Miller
Lamentations 3:22-26, 31-33
Psalm 121
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:9
Psalm 23
John 14:1-6

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

This is a hard time to do a hard thing, this saying goodbye to one who was loved and cherished by so many.  There are lots of people who would like to be here today, but they can’t.  We’d love to be able to sing and to share Communion, but we can’t.  We would so appreciate to be able to share a meal together afterward, but we can’t.  And what we really want, truly, is to have back the Will we knew in October, but we can’t.

This has been a long and exhausting journey for those who were closest to Will.  The days and months and years ahead aren’t going to be easy.  But you will have each other, and you will have the people who love you, walking beside you.  Will was a special kind of person, and I know that I will miss him very much.  And I will miss him especially in a very particular way, a way that I see reflected in this gospel reading we just heard, from John.  Because Will reminded me of Thomas, on more than one occasion.

Jesus says to his disciples, “I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.”  And you know who speaks up?  Thomas.  Thomas was always willing to ask the hard questions that nobody else would ask.  Remember right after the resurrection, when the disciples tell Thomas that they have seen Jesus?  And Thomas says, “Unless I see the scars, I will not believe.”  No one else says that.  No one else asks the hard question, which in that case was:  “How do I know it’s really Jesus?  How can I believe unless I see that proof that Jesus has suffered, like I am suffering?”  It’s an important question.  And only Thomas asked that question.

And today, when Jesus says, “You know the way to the place where I am going.”  And Thomas—the one who asks the hard questions that no one else is willing to ask—says to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  No one else asks that question.  Heck, we don’t know if anyone else even thought of that question.  But Thomas did.

In a very real and tangible way, that’s what Will did for me as his priest.  Not in an aggressive way.  Not in an accusing way.  But Will was one who would often ask me the questions that never occurred to me.  He would just walk up to me and ask, “Why do we do that this way?”  Or, “What did you mean when you said that?”  Or, “Have you ever considered trying to do this?”  Like he was always wondering about things, always curious, always willing to ask the hard questions.  And believe me, a lot more priests would do well to have a lot more Will Millers in their congregations!

And this morning, well, I guess it’s fitting that we are gathered together asking hard questions ourselves.  Questions like, “Are we really going to see Will again?”  Questions like, “Is Will in a safe place now?”  And even, “How will we ever see Will again if we don’t know where he is, when we don’t even know the place?  How can we know the way?”

And the answer to all those hard questions we are asking comes from the lips of Jesus.  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”  We know the way to the place where we will be reunited with Will, because we know Jesus.  And wherever Jesus is, that is where we are going to find our beloved Will.

May God give us all the strength to trust that we are going to see Will again, and he is going to be the Will we remember, the one who asked the difficult questions, the one who knew Jesus, the one who knows the way.

Amen.