🔊 Joy & Hope in the Struggle

Welcome to AnchorCast, a weekly podcast of homilies and sermons from Christ our Anchor Anglican Mission in Nashville, Tennessee.

Let us pray.

Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.

Amen.

So today, we stand at an interesting and exciting place in time.

For the good, it is our first Mass at Christ our Anchor since we celebrated it at Christmas Eve.

So that’s pretty exciting.

And it’s also our first time as a ministry of the Diocese of Quincy.

So that is also exciting.

And tonight, we’re going to be here with some friends, wrapping presents for our brothers on the streets.

And because of the work we do here at St.

Andrew’s, the support of our bishop, and the work of this little mission, we’ve touched many, many, many lives.

But we also know that tomorrow morning, we will be in court.

And if he shows, a man that we loved and helped will accuse us of some fairly awful things.

So this evening, the words that Paul wrote in Romans kind of ring in my heart.

He said, Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God.

And tomorrow, we shall do just that.

We continue to love.

We continue to forgive.

We continue to offer a path towards reconciliation.

And we will welcome our friend who has done us harm, knowing that Christ has welcomed us despite our wretchedness.

And then on Saturday, as we give gifts to our brothers out on the street, we will welcome them here to this place and to our fellowship.

And they will know that they are loved.

They will know that they have support.

They will know that God has a better life available to them.

And we do this knowing that like them, we are absolutely not worthy.

And knowing that in our own weakness, Christ came to us.

So before court and after court and in the cold and by the river and in the parks and all times and in all places, our Lord forgives.

Our Lord welcomes.

Our Lord loves.

And as His church, we have no other choice but to do the same.

As I think about the coming days, the words of Jesus in today’s gospel hit different.

He says, now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near.

You know, it’s hard being bitten by the very mouth you fed.

And it’s hard being accused of stealing tools that you yourself bought.

It’s hard seeing folk out in the cold, seeing folk with unattended wounds.

And it’s hard knowing that there are solutions to homelessness, but that humanity lacks the will to pursue them.

You know, parks downtown are supposed to be places of gathering and community and beauty.

And instead, they are places of suffering and fear and loneliness.

But in all of this that we see around us, we know that our redemption is drawing near.

There will be justice.

There will be healing.

There will be warmth.

Jesus says heaven and earth will pass away and Christ will descend and usher in His new creation.

He has promised it, and because He promises it, it will be done.

And until then, we wait in Advent.

So the wreath and the cross and the gifts of this very table remind us that He really and truly did come.

He heard the cries of Isaiah.

He heard the prayers of Daniel from the lion’s den.

He heard the Psalms prayed over and over and over again across the centuries.

And He heard all of this, and 2,000 years ago, He answered.

And He answered in the most extraordinary way imaginable.

He took on our form.

He lived in His own creation as a creature, and most amazing of all, took upon Himself the sins and filth and death and destruction of the entire universe.

And then He rose the third day, defeated death, and promised to complete His work at the end of time.

And while so much of this is beyond our understanding, and while it is very hard to wait with all the things that we see and know going on around us, one thing we do know, and that is that we can trust Him.

His promises are absolutely true, and He will make all things new, and He will return in glory.

In the name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, amen.

Christ Our Anchor is an Anglican mission in East Nashville that meets on Wednesday evenings for prayer and fellowship.

And join us on Wednesday evenings at 5.30 as we live into what Jesus has called His church to be.

Everyone is welcome.

Amen.