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
    • Sunday Service Aug 30th 2020
    • Zoom Service Aug 23rd, 2020
    • Zoom Service Aug 16th, 2020
    • Zoom Service Aug 9th, 2020
    • Zoom Service Aug 2nd, 2020
    • Gallery >
      • 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
    • Moments in Black History 2019
    • Black History - MLK
    • Sunday School Black History
    • Sunday School Black History ii
    • Youth Ministry
    • ESL Fall 19 Classes
    • ESL Cerificate of Achievement
    • Computer Literacy
    • Episcopal Church Women
    • Mens Club
    • Outreach
  • Hall Rental
  • Calendar
    • News & Events >
      • Free Testing for COVID-19
      • Robin Pierre DCN
      • Pastoral Letter April 24th
      • Holy Week Schedule
      • Church Services Suspended
      • Reading Lent4 - Mar 22nd
      • Lift Ev'ry Voice & Sing Challenge
      • Absalom Jones Service Sunday 2/16
      • Brad Kleiman in Concert
      • Annual General Meeing
      • Christmas Service
      • Cathedral Day 2019
      • Bern Nix Jazz Festival
      • All Saints Sunday, 3rd, November
      • Sight & Sound 2019
      • Int'l Food Festival July 13th
      • UMHA - Workshop Canceled 6/15
      • Prayer Breakfast Mar 16th
      • MLK Day of Service
      • UMHA - Sunday Dec 16th
      • New Year Eve Service
      • Christmas Celebration Fun Night
      • ECW Trip to Lancaster PA
      • Homecoming 2018
      • Music In the Garden
      • Saxophone Recital
      • Elizabeth Homeless Coalition
      • From Your Door to Heaven's Door
      • Urban Garden
      • Black History Events
  • Contact
  • Realm E-Giving Launch
  • Harvest Baskets Giveaways
  • Rector's Harvest Message
  • 25 Years of Priesthood Gala
    • 25th Years of Priesthood Gala
  • 25 Years of Priesthood Gala
  • Sunday May 5th
  • Lent 2019
  • Living Like Job
  • Operation Warm Heart
  • 9th Annual Food Festival
  • it's Friday....but Sunday Comin!!
  • Bishop Curry
  • Poor People's Campaign
  • Zoom Sunday Service Oct 4th
  • Stewardship Sunday 10/18/2020
  • Jobs

Healing thru Redemption

2/6/2021

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Mark 1:38   He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."

 My favorite Character in Super Smash Mario is Captain Falcon. He has some of the best moves, but sadly his rivals are aware of all his weak spots.  Jerome or even Zara can easily defeat me, and they will always ask why I keep choosing the strong loser.  Adia, who often times will share a wisdom way beyond her age, responds, “Don’t you see Daddy just likes playing with us!” as she resets the game for more defeats for Captain Falcon.

My friends, today we witness Jesus participating in a conflict in which the church and we Christians will often times find ourselves.  Many will hope an encounter with Jesus would be one in which Jesus and by extension, the church becomes the local spiritual, health and financial care hub.  After the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, we witness the whole community bringing all who were ill and mentally disturbed to Jesus for His healing.  This got to the point where even Jesus became mentally, spiritually and physically exhausted.  The human desire for easy answers to life’s complicated questions can often times lead us into places where caregivers and receivers enter very unhealthy relationships; lines easily get blurred, ministry becomes compromised, and the work of God becomes diminished.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a lot about us socially. We discovered much about human relationships as lockdowns became lock-ins.  As relationships became reoriented, power and control shifted; love went deeper; buried resentment surfaced; new love languages were discovered, and expressions of peace found new creative outlets.  We discovered underlying conditions are not only physical health conditions, but human weaknesses that apply to every facet of our lives. This week we are witnessing a growing awareness of the disparities in the rollout of the vaccination in urban communities.  These disparities are the outcome of an elixir of mistrust, misinformation, and lack of accessibility; all part of the underlying conditions of poverty that continue to inflict death and despair.

My people of God, this is the crucible Jesus encountered as he set out to teach a new way of engaging in relationships with God and with one another. “That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.” (Mark 1:32-34)   Jesus entered into a world of human weaknesses on every level and was challenged in every way to provide much needed healing.  Jesus set out to engage people in the midst of their illness and anguish; however, He was well aware this sickness and suffering were symptoms of an underlying condition.  God did not send Jesus to become a physician, mental health care giver or exorcist.  As much as gifts were part of His work, His mission was the redemption of a broken world.  Sin and greed were the underlying conditions which led to the huge disparities in power, wealth and access to health care.  As soon as human beings discovered they could sell medicine, they were willing to see others die rather than give it away for free. Jesus became a threat to that health care system.  Jesus’ mission was greater than the reformation of health care; it was the redemption of the human soul.  Lost souls are anomalies; individuals deviating from their God-given purpose.  Life becomes a cycle of pain and brokenness for oneself and for those with whom one shares relationships.
 
St. Paul set out to be like a father playing Super Smash Mario choosing whatever character is available in order to engage us in the ministry of love.  One should know after the healing Peter’s Mother-in-Law, she immediately became a change agent, now a part of the solution.  “Jesus came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” (Mark 1:31)   Her whole life now became one of service to Almighty God; from patient to care-giver is the mission of the church and the call of Christ Jesus. We are invited by Jesus during this pandemic to allow God’s Holy Spirit to change and transform our very inner being in order to participate in this new world.
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Increasingly, the nation is witnessing a greater awareness of the sin of racism in every sphere of our society.  Many are yet to accept it as the sin from which they benefitted and for which they should definitely hope for redemption.  But there is no redemption without confession and reparation.  As black Christians, we are urged to focus upon compassion and service.  We are uniquely blessed to bring much needed healing, wholeness, and education to our communities.  We are called to allow our faith to move us from patient to caregiver, victim to forgiver, hated to vessels of love, hopelessness to hope sharers.  This is only possible through Jesus Christ!


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    Rev. Canon, Andy Moore 

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

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