John’s account says nothing about a manger—nothing about Mary and Joseph—no mention of a baby. But the Church [makes] the claim that both Luke’s Nativity and John’s Prologue are equally Christmas stories. Both Christmas stories are true.
Jesus is honest about the fragility of even our grandest man-made structures. Jesus normalizes chaos as the way of the world. And Jesus calls us to testify – to proclaim Christian hope – in the midst of that chaos.
Grace is not a wage that is meted out for good behavior. Grace is a gift, wholly indifferent to questions of merit. A gift wholly undeserved. We simply cannot earn it. So where is the grace in this parable?
In our imperfect humanity, in our mortal weakness, we will fail to keep our baptismal promises perfectly. But God is no mortal, so God perfectly keeps his.
The parables of Jesus are not intended to satisfy us. They are intended to shock and scandalize us. To challenge and convict us.
By embracing LGBTQ+ people to be a part of our community, we become a more perfect reflection of the Triune God. This, my friends, is why we celebrate a Pride Eucharist.
In that liminal space between what was and what would be, they had a choice. They could give themselves over to despair or they could trust Jesus’ promise. And in the Ascensiontide of our lives, we have the same choice.
Friends, we live in a sinful, broken world. We do not have to look farther than today’s headlines to see that. But we are people of resurrection hope. A community rooted in “agape”; the love of Jesus Christ. And we are called to be signs of that love. To be a healing, reconciling, despair-conquering sign of joy to the world.
The Rev. Brandon C. Ashcraft Good Friday, Year B / John 18:1—19:42. April 18, 2025 Trinity Church in the City
How remarkable that the almighty Son of God eschews the regal image of the lion, or the mighty image of the ox, and chooses instead the nurturing image of a mother hen. To anyone who complains that maternal imagery for the divine is a new-fangled innovation, I present the ancient words of today’s Gospel.
