The Third Sunday after Pentecost - June 29, 2025 - Mr. Ed Carrette, Homilist and Grace Community Missioner Artwork

The Preaching Moment

A moment each week when all is well for a mom and priest. The sermons of Mother Suzanne Weidner-Smith, Rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Alvin, Texas. The Rev. Suzanne Smith came to Grace, Alvin, first as Deacon-in-Charge in July 2018, after graduation from the Seminary of the Southwest with a Diploma in Anglican Studies in May 2018. She was ordained to the Episcopal Priesthood in January 2019, and since 2020, has been the Rector of Grace. After earning her Bachelor of Science degree at A&M in Corpus Christi, she went to Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, where she earned a Master of Divinity degree, and was ordained a minister in the Baptist Church. In the first decade of her ministry, Suzanne was a practicing Hospice Chaplain, where she learned how to provide pastoral care at the bedside of patients transitioning from this world to the next. Listening to their stories, and telling stories of her own, she realized the power of sharing the Gospel in story form. Passionate about liturgy, she weaves scripture and story to communicate the Gospel today. Suzanne is the proud mother of Luke, Noah, and Andrew. Together, they enjoy Cub and Boy Scouts, soccer, and basketball.

All Episodes

The Preaching Moment

The Third Sunday after Pentecost - June 29, 2025 - Mr. Ed Carrette, Homilist and Grace Community Missioner

December 17, 2025 • The Reverend Suzanne Weidner-Smith • Season 4 • Episode 27

Summary

Community Missioner Ed Carrette explores how Christian freedom differs from American cultural freedom, explaining that "for freedom, Christ has set us free" (Galatians 5:1) means liberation from the slavery of sin rather than simply doing whatever we want. True freedom, as demonstrated by Jesus setting his face toward Jerusalem, is the Spirit-empowered ability to love our enemies and manifest the fruits of the Spirit.

THE GOSPEL Luke 9:51-62

When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Artwork: Elijah is taken up to Heaven, by Dr. He Qi (2001)

Community Missioner Ed Carrette:

Lord God Almighty, in whose name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn. Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen. It may surprise us that the word freedom is not once found in our Declaration of Independence, the document that launched a new nation on July 4th, 1776. Instead of freedom, the declaration highlighted liberty along with life and the pursuit of happiness as our inalienable rights over the years, the word liberty has fallen out of our national vocabulary and freedom has replaced it.

Today we celebrate our freedom with parades and fireworks. We commemorate those who died in wars with the phrase, freedom isn't free and we uphold our freedom of speech vigorously. But despite talking a lot about freedom, we are not always sure what it means. The most obvious meaning of freedom is the ability to do and say whatever we want without interference from any authority or institution. With this definition of freedom, it is little wonder. We often disagree what it means to be a freedom loving American. To use an example of the coming celebration on July 4th, the freedom to blast off massive amounts of fireworks in one's driveway is severely limited by most city governments due to the noise and risk of fire. So even on this day, when we celebrate our freedom to live in an explosion free environment, our freedoms are always intention with the freedom of the people around us when we think of our neighbors, freedom isn't just the ability to do whatever we want, especially if action puts our neighbors at risk.

As American Christians, we are often tempted to define freedom through the lens of American society and culture. But freedom is older than America, older than England and older than any other modern nation state, no matter how wonderful it may be to live there. Our second lesson today tells us that for freedom, Christ has set us free. The freedom St. Paul writes about here is in contrast to the yoke of slavery. Sin is slavery because we lose our freedom to do good in our sin, our failures crush us. The more laws we break, the more the law breaks us.

We become discouraged with our lack of progress, our inability to be the kind of people we think we ought to be in sin we are locked into a yoke, unable to do anything but repeat the same cycle of failure, shame, trying harder and more failure. Jesus set us free on the cross embracing us just as we are in our sin. Our enslavement to the cycle of self-destruction is forever broken as we share his broken body and drink his shed blood. We are free in Christ, free to do good things and not to indulge our desires to control other people or have the power over them. Each of us is free in Christ to be for the world what he was for the world. An agent of reconciliation and love.

Our gospel lesson tells us when the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Jesus was walking into a death trap, and yet he set his face stonelike in the Greek toward Jerusalem. He knew what he was getting into, and yet he moved toward Jerusalem because he had the freedom to love. Jesus was determined to love the whole world, including the people who actively rejected him. This is the ultimate freedom, the freedom to love those who do not love us. The ultimate freedom is the freedom to love our enemies means freedom. To love our enemies is empowered by the Holy Spirit. It cannot come from our own willpower or self-determination. We can practice this kind of freedom when we are filled with a spirit and begin manifesting the fruits of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Only the truly free can live out these fruits. The image of freedom we find in our second list lesson for freedom, Christ set us free is this image of the fruits of the spirit. Perhaps we can compare it to the watermelon At many 4th of July, picnics, watermelon tastes like summer. Perhaps we associate it with the freedom of being off from school as children. When we experience the freedom to practice the fruits of the spirit, we become a blessing of freedom to everyone we meet. This is the freedom we were created to experience, and it is the freedom that Jesus calls us to today. Come be free. Jesus seems to say, follow me and you'll bless the world with your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Control. Amen.