Father Nissen's sermon, Sept 30

America is known for rugged individualism. Yes, we need to be strong and have a sense of purpose in our lives. But this does not make us fully human. Without relationships with others we are stunted.
Read Luke 16:19-31, which tells of the rich man who ended up in Hell and the beggar Lazarus who died and rested in Abraham's arms. This teaching is not so much a story about Heaven and Hell, but a teaching that focuses on our need for one another. The rich guy discovered this after his death that Lazarus could help him.
So the story can teach us that we should not get so wrapped up in ourselves and end up like the rich man. We should be like Lazarus, which means "He whom God helps." the rich man is not given a name because he did not relate well to people and was not, therefore, fully human.
Through Jesus' incarnation and our baptism we are all one with one another. Let us thank God that our beloved Episcopal Church continues to put before us the vision that we can talk, love, and share together.
God bless you.

Saint Of The Day

Cyprian of Carthage (ca. 200-258) Bishop of Carthage, Father of the Church, martyr

Cyprian, born into wealth, sold his property, including his gardens at Carthage, and gave most of his revenues to the poor. He was baptized in 246 and elected Bishop of Carthage in 248. His election coincided with the Decian persecution. The Roman Emperor Decius issued an edict that all bishops be put to death and other believers tortured until they recanted their faith. Cyprian went into hiding but continued to write eulogies for those who were martyred.

During the the persecution, most Christians denied their faith. In 251, after the persecution subsided, Cyprian allowed the apostates back into the Church as long as appropriate penance was performed. Another issue related to those who denied their faith was the question of rebaptism. Cyprian despite admonishment from Rome performed rebaptism.

A new round of persecutions began under Emperor Valerian with Cyprian arrested on August 30, 257. On September 14, Cyprian was tried, sentenced and beheaded. Before dying, he ordered that 25 gold pieces be given to his executioner.

Saint Of The Day

Alexander Crummell, Priest, Missionary, and Educator, 1819-1898.

Alexander Crummell was born in New York City, March 3, 1819. He attended Noyse Academy in Canaan, New Hampshire, which was founded by a group of abolitionists from Dartmouth. After the school was dragged off its foundation by ninety oxen and torched, Crummell returned to New York then on to Boston to further his education. At the age of twenty-five, he was ordained a minister.

Crummell quickly discovered that he was not accepted by the white Episcopal clergy, so he moved to England and completed an A.B. degree in theology at Queen's College of Cambridge University in 1853. He spent twenty years performing missionary work and teaching in Liberia. In 1879 he founded St. Luke's Episcopal Church, where he served as its pastor until his retirement in 1894. During that time he led the movement to separate from the white Protestant Episcopal church. He also established the American Negro Academy in Washington D.C.

Crummell devoted his life to writing and instruction. He believed Africa's situation could be improved by the people receiving a classic Western education. He is quoted as saying, "If Africa is ever regenerated the influences and agencies to this end must come from external sources. Civilization....never springs up, spontaneously, in any new land. It must be transplanted."

Father Nissen's sermon, Sept 9

• In 1956 the movie Friendly Persuasion received six Academy Award nominations. It is a story of a family of Quakers during the civil war who oppose violence and stay true to their beliefs. As the Cold War ended, President Ronald Reagan gave Premier Mikhail Gorbachev a video of Friendly Persuasion.
• Read the letter of Philemon this week. St. Paul befriends a runaway slave, Onesimus, who then helps St. Paul in his church activities. He writes this letter asking the slave's master to take him back "on the basis of love" and using friendly persuasion.
  
• St. Paul says good things about the slave Onesimus. May we say good things about each other so we can keep the avenues open for communication and find God will for our lives. St. Paul reminds us that we are all on in Christ. This is "friendly persuasion."