Innerdriving

Pentecost 18, Proper 20B Mark 9:30-37 St. Matthias September 23, 2018            I was trying to remember this week if I have ever kept a New Year’s Resolution.  That may seem like a rather random thing to think about in mid-September, but it SEEMED to TIE right in with our Gospel lesson from Mark.   Jesus and the disciples are walking through Galilee on the way to the city of Capernaum.  Now from what we READ - it sounds to me like Jesus was walking by himself - maybe 20 or so steps in front of the disciples - who are all clumped together and arguing with one another about WHO is the greatest.   Clearly, the disciples did not want Jesus to hear what they were saying – but he does – and he asks them about it when they reach where they are going.  It is another of those times when the disciples are caught saying and thinking the wrong thing and Jesus tells us once again in the Gosp...

Proper 19B Mark 8:27-38 St. Matthias September 16, 2019            I realized this week that it was 3 years ago this Sunday that I first walked through the doors of St. Matthias.  Richard LeComte was Senior Warden at the time and was looking for a supply priest and somehow got my name and I remember thinking that I had never been St. Matthias so this was a good opportunity to visit someplace new.  I fully expected to spend 2 or 3 Sundays with you at the most.  But on the way back home to Birmingham after that Sunday, I remember calling Phyllis and telling her that there was really something special about St. Matthias and she should come with me next week.  She did and agreed with me.  So, now – 3 years – later – we are still here and this week I took a minute to think about how things have changed.  We’ve got some new folks.  The rotten wood, bad drainage, and mold are gone.  We ha...

Proper 17B Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 September 2, 2018 St. Matthias            I’m going to let you in on something of a liturgical secret this morning.  If you want to know the theme of the scripture lessons on any Sunday, look at the Collect of the Day.  This prayer gets its name because it is both a collection of our prayers AND it collects the thoughts for the day.  So, this morning we prayed that God will “ increase in us true religion.”  Now why this is important is found in the Gospel of Mark and the story of the Pharisees who were terribly concerned because the Disciples were eating, and they had not washed their hands.  How many of you just heard the voice of your mother?   My mother would ask if I washed both the front and the back and if I used soap?  They demand to know why the Disciples did not follow the Law of Moses – the tradition of the elders – and wash their defiled...