St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church - Elizabeth, NJ

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  • Home
  • Welcome
    • History >
      • Historical Sizzle
    • I'm New
    • Let's Get Acquainted
    • Rev. Canon Andy J. Moore
    • Leadership
    • Mission
    • Habits of Grace: Prayer into Action
    • Bishop Curry Who is my Neighbor >
      • Bishop Curry
    • Make a Gift
    • Services
    • Gallery >
      • May 7 Covid-19 Testing
      • 25 Years of Priesthood Gala >
        • 25th Years of Priesthood Gala
        • 25 Years of Priesthood Gala
      • Harvest Sunday
      • Sunday School Father's Day 19
      • Men's Club Community Flea Mkt
      • Community Christmas Party
      • Thankgiving Baskets
      • Celebration for High School Gradates
      • Homecoming 2018 >
        • Homecoming
      • Music in the Garden
      • Mother's Day 2018
      • Mother's Day 2018
      • Sunday School Youth Sunday
      • Maundy Thursday
      • Christmas Mass St. Elizabeth's
      • Christmas Eve Mass
      • Christmas Eve Mass
      • Christmas Eve Mass
      • Community Christmas Party
      • Frist Presbyterian
      • Feast of All Saints
      • Sanctuary Sunday 2017
      • International Food Festival
  • Get Involved
    • Sunday School >
      • Sunday School Lift Ev'ry Voice
      • Black History - MLK
      • Sunday School Black History
      • Sunday School Black History ii
      • Youth Ministry
    • ESL Cerificate of Achievement
    • Computer Literacy
    • Episcopal Church Women
    • Mens Club
    • Outreach
  • Hall Rental
  • Calendar
    • News & Events >
      • Bishop Curry Easter 2022
      • Bishop Chip Heart of The Matter
      • Bishop Curry Address the Nation 1/6
      • Bishop Curry Christmas Message
      • Christmas Poinsettias
      • Advent Worship Services
      • ECS Sunday - Bishop Chip
      • Bishop Chip COVID-19 Testing
  • Contact
  • Realm E-Giving Launch
  • Living Like Job
  • it's Friday....but Sunday Comin!!
  • Bishop Curry
  • Past Masses
    • Zoom Service Aug 23rd, 2020
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    • Zoom Service Aug 2nd, 2020
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Emmanuel - God is with Us

12/28/2019

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Mathew 2:14 “Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod.” 

The saga of the shattered glass door of our beloved church continued this week as a symbol of the true nature of the nativity story. The contractor in his haste to install the new reinforced doors painted it black, not brown like the other fittings. He decided not to install them until after the holidays when he can ensure a perfect fit. So, we were left with the shattered doors! Then Roy, an electrical engineer, one of our more recent members newly arrived from India, in act of boldness declared “Father I will decorate this church with so much lights no one will even look at the doors!” And he did.

My friends, Mathew reports, not too long after the birth of Jesus, any semblance of safety and comfort was quickly shattered, and the Holy Family had to head back out into the cold, harsh reality of a life on the run from the hatred of Herod. The manger was a mere respite from the harried life of the poor, refugee status in which Jesus was born. Now, in a place and time when the Episcopal church wrestles with what to do with its many abandoned and underutilized buildings due to congregations fleeing from its sordid past of ambivalence towards urban ministry, it is poignant we are currently focused on a homeless Jesus; a Jesus in exile.

While it is quite easy to focus upon the power hungry, blood thirsty Biblical Herod and the many new Herodians we live with in today’s world, I suggest we not add to the quota of the attention such types deeply desire. Unless, it is to reminder that God knew, as powerful as they seemed then and now, these individuals couldn’t and can’t escape the clutches and finality of death. God’s focus was not on their shattering power but was on pointing The Holy Family the way and place to live without fear. When Jesus declares to Thomas in John 14:1-3, “Let not your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in me” It was more than another prophetic concept, but a living reality in which Mary, his mother, would have told him from early in his childhood about their desperate flight to Africa.  Mary nurtured him on how God opened a way; God carried them along the way and God was the way. Egypt, in North Africa, was the place, but God was the way and God remains the way. Thus, for Christians, Jesus is both the way and the destination.

Those of us living in urban communities should be comforted and feel a sense of pride that when Jesus needed a place for security and stability, God took him to Africa.  Africa then becomes Jesus’ first stop in his work of salvation! Shattered doors are not broken promises, but only Herodians fleeting acts in their deathward spiral. Shattered lives are not about God’s broken promises, but an open and ongoing invitation for a closer walk with Christ Jesus. Jesus found shelter in a land that experienced more than its fair share of brokenness; and yet, Egypt provided shelter and refuge to our Savior.

The incarnation mystery of Jesus being called Emmanuel (God is with us) proclaims with boldness the presence of God within hearts, minds and communities shattered by the scourges of human greed, racism and power-hungry leaders.  Urban communities are often left to struggle under the oppressiveness of leaders who sacrifice communities on the altars of expediency. Herodian policies often sacrifice the poor in order to sustain the wealthy. Food stamps and housing vouchers must be reduced in order to sustain tax breaks for the rich. Herod was willing to massacre innocent children in his blood thirsty lust for power. Today, many children are locked away in immigration prisons only to assuage the thirst of the power hungry. Urban communities continue to struggle with disparities of health care, incarceration rates, wages, job opportunities, housing and even worship experiences.  And yet, Jesus sought and found refuge in Africa!

Emmanuel tells us that God is never far away from us, but always with us no matter the life shattering incident we may experience. Nothing or no one will ever separate a Christian from the loving power and presence of God. Today, we cry with the women who lost their sons due to Herod’s murderous rant. Today, we cry with women whose sons are incarcerated, whose children are struggling with mental illness, whose children are dying due to the opioid crisis. Yes, there is so much crying in a world filled with brokenness and pain as wealth and resources are being hoarded by a few. Yet, Emmanuel continues to declare God’s presence that overpowers gloom, despair and darkness very much like Roy’s lights.

Yes, eventually both Jesus and Herod die, but only one prevails over death! Love is more powerful than evil! Love conquers all is more than an anthem but hopes clarion cry to all whose lives may be shattered. The shattered glass does not symbolize the destiny, but a short stop on our destination. Let’s build our hopes, dreams and faith upon the refugee who became our God and savior, Emmanuel!

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Christmas Message, 2019

12/24/2019

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 The light of Jesus is always guiding us, always journeying with us, and always in US.
                  Living well for Christmas
 
For 2019 we developed a spiritual focus series based upon the call and desire to be living well as Christians as a call to faith. We developed Living Well in Lent, Easter Advent and now Christmas. This is a theme we have placed on our website and publications.  The genesis of this spiritual call was born out the struggles of urban community residents to who dwell and seek God while struggling to cope with economic and social disparities.  As the priest, who constantly hears and encounters weakening hopes and overwhelming fears that can have a debilitating effect physically, mentally and spiritually, I see the role of St Elizabeth’s as leading others to live well through fresh encounters with the God of Hope.  God, we believe, positions us at the intersection where hope and faith encounters hopeless and brokenness.  It is a call for living well in the Hope of God in Christ Jesus.
 
I have recently felt this spirit more strongly than ever when on the first day of Advent, here at St. Elizabeth’s, we watched a video of a woman, under the cover of darkness, try to destroy the front of our beloved Church; something that has happened many times this year.  As we all watched this video, I’m sure each of us had different emotions.  Some of us saw an angry, crazy woman and some saw a lost woman.  I’m sure she is all of these things, but it was hard to see in the dim light illuminating the front of our church.  This act was hurtful and painful to watch.  At that time, a time when we needed to be proclaiming the coming of Jesus and thanking God for the great gift of His Son, this destruction covered our eyes and clouded our hearts in darkness. This act of vandalism seemed to echo so deeply within our community as it became another breach of normalcy, an added fear to overcome.
 
But, later that same week, I discovered a homeless couple sleeping in an alcove of our building. They were cold, hungry and bundled among blankets and two suitcases which held all of their earthly belongings.  I began an encounter with them with doubt and misgivings, but eventually lead the couple into the warmth of the church for a brief respite from the extreme cold.  When I tried to convince them to go to a shelter, they refused.  The woman said, “…the shelters are dangerous.  I fear being sexually assaulted or rob of what little we have.  My husband has been injured and lost his job, and we quickly lost everything due to medical costs.” From stability to homelessness is a quick trip in our communities. “He is not strong enough to protect us.  So, we have found this spot to be the safest spot to rest for a while”.  This couple would rather sleep outside in the cold, near the illuminated cross of our Lord.  They felt safe in the light of St. Elizabeth’s and in the light of Jesus.  This is what St. Elizabeth’s is about; casting off the darkness and bringing people into the warmth of the light.  This is the true paradox or the spiritual tension in which we live. On one side, those on the inside are feeling threatened by increasing attacks on religious houses and their congregations.  While, for many this is still the safest place.     
 
My friends, we are living in a dark world where politics, race and poverty divide us; where we are governed by men who would rather bow to a corrupt president than to fight to keep our country free.  Our cost of living is rising.  Churches, synagogues and mosques across the Country are being vandalized and congregations are being attack, shot and killed.  Poverty and homelessness are evident in all of our great cities.  Our young, Black men are incarcerated!  There is an opioid crisis!  We fight endless wars in which many young men and women are dying each day.  These are dark times, and they mirror the days in which Jesus was born.  We all know the story.  We tell it each year, and each year we learn more and more how important this story is.  Yet, hope continues to declare, “Faith in Jesus is still the safest place!”
 
We know Mary and Joseph were forced to adhere to unjust laws enforced by a corrupt government, a government forced upon their country through wars and the occupation of strange cultures.  This young couple was poor.  They journeyed from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register for tax purposes.  It is believed the roads were filled with people coming and going; desperately trying to get to their home towns to register with tax collectors. This journey was dangerous; strangers were all around and Herod’s soldiers, warned about the birth of a new king, were searching for a young couple.  Because of the advanced state of Mary’s pregnancy, they had to move slowly.  What a sight; a young pregnant girl accompanied by a protective yet aged man. They traveled in the day and in the darkness of night, filled with anxiety, and fear and when they arrived in Bethlehem, they must have been glad to find what for them seemed to be the safest place in town; that shabby, warm, poorly lit place, hidden from view where Mary could rest and finally give birth to Jesus, the light of the world.
 
My friends, the light of God is always guiding us, always journeying with us, and is always in us.  Jesus came to us when the world was at its darkest; when hope was hard to find or even imagine.  Yet, it was hope that kept Mary and Joseph moving through the darkness to find safety, warmth and light.  They hoped, like any parent, the child Mary delivered into their dark world would be special and would share His light with those around Him.  We know now that through Jesus, God came into the world.  We know very well that Jesus, his teachings, his message, his spirit, his light points us to a way of life where we take care of one another and take care of the world.  Jesus lights up our way.  With him, we do not stumble in the dark.  In the light of Jesus, we are loved and his light shines on us, warms us.  This love, this light is in our homes and in this Church.  In these dark times it is our responsibility as Christians to guard this light, fan its flames and shine it on those who may be blind to it, unsure of its power and seek it.  In the light of Jesus, there is kindness, possibilities and love.  This light of Jesus is in us.
 
Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Living well for Christmas means more than gift giving and receiving. It is about us become bearers of the greatest gift from Jesus; a love which tells of hope in God.
Romans 15:13   “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
 
My friends, a new day, a new month a new year is coming.  No matter how confusing, how filled with fear, how filled with doubt and darkness our world may seem, as Christians, we know there is a light that cannot be hidden, covered or extinguished.  Let St. Elizabeth’s continue to reach out into the darkness and share our light, the light of Jesus.  The light is in us.     


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    Author

    Rev. Canon, Andy Moore 

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St Elizabeth’s
305 N. Broad Street
Elizabeth, New Jersey 07207

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