In the first twelve chapters of the Book of Genesis we hear the stories of the Creation, Adam and Eve and the Temptation, Noah and the Ark … now on the big screen starring Russell Crowe … and the Tower of Babel among others. Then the text turns away from these mythic tales to the epic story chronicling the beginning of monotheism … the story of Abraham and Sarah and their descendants. The storyline follows Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel. Jacob and Rachel had twelve sons, one of whom was Joseph … the one sold to slavers and taken to Egypt. This brought the Israelites to Egypt to escape a famine, but generations later they lived under the oppression of the Pharaoh. Then there was Moses who led the Israelites out of Egypt to a land of milk and honey where eventually judges and kings ruled until Jerusalem fell to the Assyrians under Solomon, King David’s son. After exile and return the Israelites struggled in their homeland, oppressed for centuries by one empire or another. And then Jesus, one of their own … a descendant of Abraham and Sarah … began his ministry in a little backwater region of the Promised Land. But let’s go back to the twelfth chapter of Genesis.
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In the first twelve chapters of the Book of Genesis we hear the stories of the Creation, Adam and Eve and the Temptation, Noah and the Ark … now on the big screen starring Russell Crowe … and the Tower of Babel among others. Then the text turns away from these mythic tales to the epic story chronicling the beginning of monotheism … the story of Abraham and Sarah and their descendants. The storyline follows Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel. Jacob and Rachel had twelve sons, one of whom was Joseph … the one sold to slavers and taken to Egypt. This brought the Israelites to Egypt to escape a famine, but generations later they lived under the oppression of the Pharaoh. Then there was Moses who led the Israelites out of Egypt to a land of milk and honey where eventually judges and kings ruled until Jerusalem fell to the Assyrians under Solomon, King David’s son. After exile and return the Israelites struggled in their homeland, oppressed for centuries by one empire or another. And then Jesus, one of their own … a descendant of Abraham and Sarah … began his ministry in a little backwater region of the Promised Land. But let’s go back to the twelfth chapter of Genesis.
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Before I begin my remarks about Jesus in the Wilderness, I’d like to say a few words about the wilderness that we find ourselves in today … the wilderness around the coronavirus. The news reports from around the world are startling, and now there are accusations that the threat of Corvid-19 is being politicized. So, I don’t want us to over-react … but, then again, I believe it would be foolish to under-react. Sermon by The Rev. Deena M. Galantowicz
Printer-Friendly Version Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord your God, for God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. This from our first reading from the Book of Joel. Printer-Friendly Version
Today is the Last Sunday of the Church’s season of Epiphany. Ash Wednesday is this week, beginning our season of Lent. This month is also Black History Month. Last Sunday evening … at our Black History Month Vespers service … I shared some thoughts on the dark side of the Episcopal Church’s involvement in Black History. Some who heard those remarks suggested that I share them on Sunday morning, so my apologies to those who were here at Vespers and feel it is redundant to hear this again … but I have revised my presentation and I hope you will find it worthwhile. And my apologies to those who would rather hear a sermon on the Transfiguartion. Printer-Friendly Version
In the early chapters of the Gospel of Matthew, right after the birth of Jesus and the visit of the Wise Men, Joseph takes the Holy Family to Egypt to escape the Slaughter of the Innocents ordered by Herod … the killing of all the children two years old or younger around Bethlehem. The mention of Egypt, and the slaughter of children because a leader was threatened, echoes the story of Moses. |
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