Rev. Valerie's Reveille

Due to our Vacation Bible School activities, I was not able to write a St. B’s News article last week about the troubling events that have been occurring in Ferguson, MO since August 9 th , and while we had a good group of parishioners at the 8:30 service, many of you did not hear my sermon in response to the events of the week.  I do invite you to listen to that sermon, which is posted on our website – www.stbarnabas-sbnj.org .  The Gospel lesson that it refers to is Matthew 15:21-28: Jesus left Gennesaret and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon." But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "...

The Youth Mission Trip to Washington D.C was awesome, challenging and fun.  Seven youth and three adults from St. Barnabas joined 11 youth and three adults from All Saints' Episcopal Church in Morristown, TN (where my family attends) to work with the homeless and/or hungry in our nation's capital.  We worked with an organization called Youth Services Opportunities Project (Y.S.O.P.) that connected us to many different agencies and non-profits that help address the various needs of these at-risk populations.  We learned some of the causes of homelessness (mental illness, lack of affordable housing, addiction and job loss to name a few) and that regardless of the circumstances, all people deserve the dignity of being treated as a child of God and offered the opportunity to better their lives. Many others may not be homeless, but may not be able to afford food in addition to rent, medication or medical treatment, transportation to and from a job, etc.   The yo...

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?  And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” Matthew 25:37-40 On Sunday, 7 youth and 3 adults will leave for Washington D.C. to help serve the homeless and hungry in our nation’s capital, and I, finally after 3 years at St. Barnabas, will be among them.  It is a joy to participate in a Mission Trip and I have no doubt that those involved with get out of the experience more than they expected, even though we won’t get as much sleep as we would like, it will be hot, and, at times, we will be dealing with people and situations that may be uncomfortable.  Y...

According to the Church calendar, we move into “Ordinary Time” this week (based on the word ordinal , as in 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd etc. Sunday after Pentecost).  During Ordinary Time, the Lectionary gives us the opportunity to hear a (mostly) continuous narrative of certain stories from the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as the “meat and potatoes” of Jesus’ earthly ministry (preach, teaching and healing).  This week we enter into the Old Testament narrative a bit late (since Easter was rather late this year).  It is the story of the dismissal of Hagar and Ishmael by Abraham through Sarah’s insistence.  This is one of Phyllis Trible’s Texts of Terror , as it is one of the harshest stories in the Bible.  It is a very important story for us as modern Christians to know because it is the foundation for the ancient rivalry between Jews and Muslims (Ishmael is an ancestor of the prophet Muhammad, and ergo the reason why the 3 religions claim Abraham as our common ancest...

The sublime nature of the doctrine of the Trinity can be a bit daunting to explain.  As Trinitarians, we believe in one God with three expressions, while still proclaiming adherence to a radical monotheism. Our critics do not believe this tenet is truly monotheistic since we talk about the three “persons” of the Trinity in distinct terms (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).  The point is valid as far as it goes, but there is so much more to this doctrine that gets lost when we try to simplify it or talk about it in metaphorical terms, like water existing as a solid, liquid and gas.  While most of us probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the Trinity, such contemplation does offer us the opportunity to stretch our spiritual foundation by focusing our attention of how we understand God and what God does in the world.  As the diagram above shows, we understand each person of the Trinity as distinct from the others, yet working in harmony with them.  Perha...

I’m not sure where the past 50 days have gone.  While the season of Lent is only 40 days long, that seemed to take much more time than this season of Easter.  And yet this Sunday is the day of Pentecost and with it the season of Easter is ended.  It strikes me that it is part of our human nature that enjoyable events seem to “fly by,” while things that are difficult or testing seem to take “forever.”  I am sure the 10 days in between Jesus’ ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit felt much longer than that for the apostles and other faithful, as they waited, but not knowing for what.  Similarly, the following 10 days must have sped by “in the blink of an eye” as they experience the indwelling of God’s Spirit in new and awesome ways. Being aware of this seemingly fickle passage of time is what is most important, regardless of the events, as it reminds us to be reflective in the midst of joy AND sorrow, pleasure AND pain, the good times AND the difficult ...

In the poem Mending Wall, Robert Frost muses that, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” yet one of the characters offers the refrain, “Good fences make good neighbors.” Usually the context of the wall offers more or less of a visceral reaction.  Before it fell, the Berlin Wall was a harsh testament to the repression of Communism, erected to keep out influences those in power deemed dangerous.  It felt like a victory of social progression when that wall came down, but now a similar wall is being constructed in Israel to separate the Jews and the Palestinians.  This new wall draws a stark line between those in political power, access to resources and the ability to live freely.  The Israelis believe this “fence” to make good neighbors, but the Palestinians do not. The Fourth Sunday of Easter is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” when we reflect on one of Jesus’ provocative metaphors to explain his mission and ministry to his followers.  Interestingly...