The Winnowing Fork

The Winnowing Fork

Please allow me to thank you for your invitation to spend the remainder of this Advent Season, Christmas, and even into Epiphany to be with you. Together with joy let us set forth the Word of God and Celebrate the Sacrament of Christ’s Presence among us. I am delighted to be with you particularly at this time of year.

Allow me to introduce my wife, Cindy. We met each other not far from here in Hyde Park 38 years ago while I was serving at Christ Church. And we are delighted to be in Dorchester where two of our sons were born at the old St. Margaret’s Hospital over on Cushing Avenue. 

Cindy and I have been married 37 years now. We have three grown sons. Our first born, David lives nearby and attends St. Mary’s Church. Our second married recently and lives in Charlotte and our youngest lives in San Francisco. I have been ordained 44 years and have served congregations in this Diocese, in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. I “retired”, after a fashion, 10 years ago this Christmas and in my retirement I have served as interim and “bridge” priest wherever and however the church  needed. I like writing particularly on issues of Congregational Development. I thank God for all these wonderful blessings. And I thank God for you. You are a blessing to one another and to the church as today’s Epistle says; “May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another.”

In this very special Advent season we prepare for the birth of the Holy Child. There is a note of urgency in our preparation. We hear it in the voice of John the Baptist in today’s Gospel as he enters onto the stage of sacred history with these words;

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

Prepare ye the way of the Lord,

Make his pathways straight”

We are to make room in our hearts for the Birth of this Holy Child, as John reminds us again with that same note of urgency;

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”

This Kingdom is indeed near, it is at hand. In fact it has already arrived. It is within you. Again and and again, Jesus uses these words “near”, “at hand”, “within”, and “among” to describe the location of the Kingdom of God. His winnowing fork is already in his hand.

We needn’t wait until we die to live it. Nor do we await some cataclysmic event to occur, as some claim, when the earth and the heavens shall pass away. No, dear friends. God’s Kingdom is here, within and among us. That is why it is a matter of urgency that we prepare our hearts to receive The Child again this Christmas.

We are to repent. That is to say, we are to become something “new” again for God in the same way that God is always becoming something “new” to us. We are to undergo a “complete makeover”. I imagine that there are some of you who like those TV shows where they are always gutting out and making over somebody’s home. Don’t you wish you had the wherewithal to do all that you might dream of doing in the home in which you dwell? O well, in the meantime we make do with what we have. 

The dwelling place of which the Scripture speaks, however, is within the human heart. Here is where we can make the kind of metamorphosis that John and Jesus want, right here, within our hearts. When John uses that word “repent” he uses a Greek word “metanoia” which means “a complete makeover”. Much like a grub undergoes a metamorphosis from its cocoon to become a magnificent butterfly, so too we are invited by John and Jesus to make our hearts new again. In point of fact one of the images the early church used to signify who we are to become is the butterfly. Where we now put a cross, the early church often put a butterfly, a very beautiful one, like a Monarch Butterfly. 

Which reminds me, do you have any idea how beautiful you are in God’s eyes? How magnificent? As Shakespeare described humankind 

“What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason,
how infinite in faculties, in form and moving,
how express and admirable in action, how like an angel,

in apprehension, how like a god!” 

~Hamlet; II,2.

And Michelangelo, when he looked at a block of marble, he did not see a formless hunk of stone, he saw the potential for an angel. Imagine the exquisite shill of the sculptor working on the rough corners of your soul to make of you something beautiful for God! Jesus is your sculptor! 

The Holy Child is soon to be born for us. We have now lit the second candle of the Advent Wreath a candle that represents Love; not just a love of God and of one another, it is the love we are commanded to have in our hearts and souls for ourselves. The second of the two Great Commandments is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Notice please that the second commandment is to Love your neighbor "as" you do yourself. It does not say "instead" of yourself” but “as” yourself, that is to say, in like manner.

There are distractions to be sure. There is the incessant “jingle” of “Christmas” bells and piped in music in all the stores and the hectic pace we keep this time of year. There is the din of the news much of which portends ill for many of us and the nations of the earth. This is a danger and a distraction to the proper nourishment of our souls. 

It is an urgent matter for us is take quiet time and prayer to be with God as we prepare our hearts to be present to the Holy Spirit. 

In today’s first lesson the prophet reminds us that a little child born of the root of Jesse, shall come among us. Furthermore “he shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth”.

Just for the record, the biblical narrative repeats the theme of Justice  time and again. Today, for instance the Psalmist says; 

“He shall defend the needy among the people; 

he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.

He shall live as long as the sun and moon endure.”

Not only is our Advent preparation urgent, it is also clear that God will judge justly for the poor, and will hold the oppressor accountable for any and all oppression. With his fierce and urgent voice John says; “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Be forewarned ye leaders of the world and within our own nation. Repent!

I don’t want to be on the wrong side of God's winnowing fork, do you? Imagine how it would go over if you were the one by whom 20 million people were denied health care! The Gospel, as Jesus says, is indeed sharper than any two edged sword.

Advent waiting is anything but passive. Advent waiting is full of expectation and urgent preparation, much like any expectant mother awaiting the birth of her child. There is much to be done before the moment arrives. 

We have much to do as we await the Birth of the Holy Child this year. Our souls await a complete makeover so that you and I can become the hands and feet of Jesus in and for the sake of the world we live in. In order to repent as John and Jesus would have us repent we will need to undergo such a transformation as will make each of us something very beautiful for God indeed. That transformation is not just a personal one it has its social dimension as well. I would be less than candid if I did not say that I am concerned about any nation, especially our own, when it turns its back on the needy and the poor, the outcast, the sick and the lame. You and I may have to prepare ourselves for further action as we move into the next chapter of our nation’s history.

Teresa of Avila the 16th Century Christian Mystic writes;

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” 

Jesus will come again this year and when he comes all people will be invited to find hope, love, joy, and peace in him, just like Advet words proclaim. God help anyone who prevents the hope, love, joy and peace of God from justly extending to all without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, class, gender or orientation. We seek to be what Jesus lived and died for. We are to become more and more "A house of prayer for all people". Even now the winnowing fork is in his hand!

We seek to be among those on whom God’s favor rests, during this Holy Season of urgent expectation. My prayer for all is the same as the Scripture proclaims on this Second Sunday of Advent.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

In the Name of God, the most holy, undivided, and everlasting Trinity.

Fr Paul.

Jesus, Judgement, The Nation & the Poor

The Judgment Seat of Christ

And The Poor

When you enter the great west doors of the Gothic Cathedrals of France,  and God willing, that’s exactly where some of us will be in a few short weeks, you will be greeted with a scene of the Last Judgment above those massive portals. It is a dramatic scene; with Jesus seated on the Throne of his Glory separating the sheep from the goats; the sheep rejoicing to be embraced by the love of God, the goats separated and to be in torment forever!

It is a sobering scene. As the throngs of faithful enter these great cathedrals, we cannot help but be reminded that as God is our Judge, so Christ is our Advocate. But it is that manner in which Jesus makes his judgments that makes all the difference.

This is how Jesus judges the nations of the earth.

Tell me if you will, what are these great sculptures about? On what scripture passage are they based? I was fascinated by the lectures describing the sculpture and the architecture of the cathedrals that this one critical piece of information is not mentioned.

If we remember how Jesus began his ministry in his own home town, we will remember that he said; 

“I have come to bring good news to the poor”.

~Luke 4:18

Then at the end of his ministry we hear these words; 

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 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.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’ 

~Matthew 25:31ff

So important is this passage to our understanding of the Judgement of Christ, that it has become carved into the very entryway to the great Cathedrals of Europe.

How then does Jesus judge the nations? Obviously on the basis of how well or how badly we treat the poor. It is easy to forget this one simple fact. Somehow we got the message over the centuries that Judgment involved matters involving someone’s notion of sin. Somehow the sins became defined as mere personal habits; good ones as well as bad ones. And indeed the care and love of the self is one of the great challenges facing each and every one of us, and will continue to be up until the last day of our time on this planet.

But what I find fascinating is that this did not appear to be the primary concern of Jesus. All we have to do is look at what Jesus did. He went to all the towns and villages of Galilee and beyond. There he taught all who would listen to him. He sought out the poor, the sick, the outcast, as well as the rich and common folk like ourselves. He treated them all alike; with the abundant love of God and with the power of his healing touch. 

There is no doubt though that the biblical witness stands in clear solidarity with the poor and the sick and those who are dying or even dead. Just look at the two stories we have before us today in our lectionary cycle.

In the lesson from the First Book of Kings we have a story of the prophet Elijah, a figure in the biblical narrative that prefigures Jesus in many ways. He comes at the behest of God to Zarephath and meets a poor widow there and asks her to bring him something to eat. The poor thing was in the process of gathering a few sticks so she could go home, feed her son, and since this was to be their last morsel of food and oil, they must then prepare to die. But the prophet Elijah said, no feed me first and I promise that your jar of meal and your jug of oil will not give out. And so it was. 

Then her son died, and the widow’s lamentation would rise to God in the ears of the prophet and with exquisite pathos she says; “What have you against me you man of God that you would bring my sin to remembrance and cause the death of my son?” The prophet revives the woman’s son and then we are all left to wonder at the power and grace of God in making provision for us both in our poverty and even at the hour of our death.

Likewise in the story of Jesus with the widow of Nain; the crowd in the village; no doubt a crowd of rich and poor and just plain common folk were all in a state of agitation over the death of the widow’s son. Again how cruel! That God would take a child from his mother. Jesus cautions them all not to be afraid and armed with the power of God, revives the young man. While cautioned not to, fear seized the crowd again because it was clear to them all that a prophet had arisen among them and God’s grace and God’s power was given to the poor widow and her son.

Thus from these two stories, and much more, we learn of God’s concern for the poor. In fact the word “poor” occurs in the scriptures 213 times. The Judgment of Christ as presented in Christian Art on the great west doors of the Cathedrals of France is a reference to this great concern of God in the person of Jesus; “Insofar as you have done it to one of the least of these, you have done it to me.”

The nations are held in judgment. So are we all. But it is not about trivial matters of of sin. Everyone here is in recovery in one way or another from some kind of personal “thorn in the flesh”. And for these matters I am convinced we are forgiven particularly when we confess our sins, negligences, and offenses before God.

What causes Jesus the greater animus when it comes to our Judgment, is how we treat those who are in need; the poor, the elderly, the young, and all those vulnerable in our midst.

It is not the fashion in France, Europe or even among our own countrymen to go to church as was once a matter of course. I believe that is because we may have forgotten to “be” the church for the sake of the world. Many had forgotten what the sculpture on the great west doors of those cathedrals referred to.


It has been said that during one of the many famines in France, Marie Antoinette is reputed to have said “Qu’ils mangent le brioche”; “let them eat cake”. The callous sentiment helped to inspire the French Revolution and the rejection of the Monarchy, and the uprising of the peasants. How far France had come from the glorious times of Charlemagne when a somewhat fairer distribution of wealth assured that at least, the poor would not starve to death. The monarchy had come a very long way, from a time when the welfare of the people was paramount to a time when the people starved at the doorway to the Palace at Versailles.

Now we can read the Bible for ourselves. We can now see the biblical concern for the poverty of the widows and their children, we know of the compassion of God for the death of their children, we know of God’s abundant power to provide for us both in our poverty, in our illnesses and even in our death.

The nation and the world we live in is now is filled with poverty, injustice and warfare. It is our sacred mission to speak frankly to this nation and to this world about the suffering of God’s people. We must tend to the poor, heal the sick, bring justice to the oppressed, and peace where there is warfare and violence. Not an easy task, I’ll grant you.

It was not an easy task for Paul and the early church as they travelled the world over to bring the Gospel of Peace to a war torn world, and a world that ground up the poor at the hands of the oppressor’s rod. The church confronted Rome and all the powers and principalities of the time to speak up for “the least of these”. 

This is now the challenge facing us. When the church regains its sense of mission again, to bring Good News to the Poor as was the mission of Jesus, then we will become the salty presence we must be for the sake of the world. We must issue this challenge to the church, the nation and to the world.

I can hardly wait to see for myself the great west doors of the Cathedrals of France. There, Jesus is waiting on us, seated on the Throne of his Glory. He is our Advocate and our Judge. Time is short, lets get on with it. We’ve go work to do! 

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

Fr. Paul