2nd Sunday of Lent, 2009
“Deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow me.”
I’ve got a question for you – how long did Jesus carry the cross? All his life?
I’ve been to the place where most likely Jesus was condemned, and most likely to the place Jesus was crucified. It’s maybe a mile – at the very most – two.
Another question - How long did Jesus hang on the cross?
About 3 hours – according to the Gospels.
One more question – how long have you carried your cross? How long have you hung on your cross?
It’s a trick question of course – and not really very fair –
For many of us – we describe chronic pain of one kind or another as the cross that we carry. It could be recurring physical illness. It could be a troubled relationship with a partner or maybe our son or daughter. It could be lack of success - not having enough money to give to God, to save, to pay bills, and then be able to go to a movie every once in awhile. It could be a persistent interior voice that is convinced we are less than….beautiful, or loveable, or wise. It could be judgment that we carry – maybe you haven’t kept those 10 commandments that we read earlier, and believe that you are not good human beings. Maybe none of these describe you and you wonder how anyone could even think these things and you’re glad that you’ve escaped troubles.
But maybe you have picked up the heavy cross beams and nailed yourself – and others – and the inevitable troubles of life to the cross bars - and hung there for how long? Maybe years. Maybe a life time.
Certainly, many of us have been trained to do this, to submit to difficulties, to soldier on – especially we women have been trained to do this – even now – after all these years of feminism.
But what I’ve learned over many years as a Christian woman – a follower of Jesus - is that when we define life’s difficulties as crosses to bear we significantly narrow down our ability to respond to tragedy in creative and life giving ways. My guess is that if you pay attention to what happens in your body – when you think of “bearing your cross” - your stomach gets tight, your heart rate increases, your breath shortens - and anxiety or depression are not far behind. What happens when you try to be good and shoulder your burdens is that a whole range of creative possibilities for healing and for reconciliation and for change are lost because they cannot even be imagined. There’s no physical room for imagination to blossom.
This is Not what Jesus had in mind. He hated the cross. He abhorred this instrument of torture and death for the thousands who were crucified along Roman roadways. For Jesus, the cross was not a good to be grasped as proof of saintliness or Godliness or goodness. The cross was splintery hard wood with rusty iron spikes – and it was designed to asphyxiate – to choke out breath. It was designed as a public teaching tool to keep people knuckled under and fearfully assenting to their own poverty and powerlessness. We might glorify the cross – but Jesus did not. He would have done anything to avoid it – think about him in the Garden – pleading to the point of sweating blood. He would have done anything to avoid the cross - except deny who he was and who God is and who creation is meant to be. Who you and I are meant to be. Not bent over nailed down struggling to make a buck beating our chest about our unworthiness men and women – but straight up beloved glorious energetic beings – stewards of creation – and fully, wholly dependent upon the Lord the giver of Life. We are meant to be friends of God. Jesus would have done anything to avoid the cross except not tell the truth. And not live wholly and fully and directly in the truth.
What truth? The truth that underlies the entire creation – Love that is not wrapped up in itself but pours outward through creation continuously. Love that is always available - that breathes in and through us and sustains us whether we are aware of it or not. Jesus was not about trying to act good. He wasn’t about mentally understanding certain principles. He was about Recognizing this Sustaining Love.
He was about healing and life. Everywhere he went people crowded around him hungry to touch him, to bring into their own bodies and spirits the magnificent power of healing and life and clear vision that flowed through him. They hung on his words. They didn’t understand them, for the most part – but they knew that he taught them so truly that they could trust him in a way that they had never ever trusted before.
So the cross that Jesus had in mind was not the cross of chronic suffering. He came to heal those things that ravage and destroy our lives. Professionals, prayer, community discernment – all of these are ways that the Spirit can pour healing into your life. And the truth is – sometimes suffering is not lifted – sometimes it continues – and the community of Christ is called upon to help spread the weight of it around. That’s why we have lay Eucharistic visitors and pastoral care teams and prayer chains.
The cross that Jesus talked about what was the very particular suffering that arises when you re-align your allegiance to a new way of life in which God is at the center – and not country, not family, not church, not liturgical styles, not organists or priests, not ego. This new life is not about abandoning your country, your family, your church, your ego – it’s about those things taking their proper place.
Follow me. Jesus said. It will cost you everything. It will liberate you completely.
What does that look like?
It looks like Ma Khin Khin Lee – whose picture is on the front of the bulletin and whose name might sound familiar to you, because we have written many letters through Amnesty International on her behalf. She was arrested, along with her three year old daughter, in 1999, for helping to plan a pro-democracy march in her native Myanmar. A young teacher, with a bright future – Ma Khin Khin Lee and her husband shouldered the cross – paying a heavy price as they worked for basic freedoms for their fellow countrymen. The wonderful news is that she, along with 23 other prisoners of conscience, were just freed this past February 24th – after 10 years in prison.
It looks like Jenni Williams and the other women of Zimbabwe, who put their lives on the line for social justice and fair and free elections. She leads a women’s movement for justice that has been nurtured in church sanctuaries – Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, and Apostolic. These women confess to raw fear – Jenni has been jailed over 33 times and severely beaten – but she says that she calms her fear and the jack hammering of her heart by breathing deeply and remembering that she is following Jesus on behalf of her children and all the children of her county. And so, Jenni and the Christian women of Zimbabwe take up their crosses and follow Jesus, with their own bodies on the line.
It looks like Jonathon Daniels, one of the martyrs of the Episcopal church. A priest in training, Jonathan Daniels answered the call of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King and went to Alabama, along with other clergy and laity, to help with the fledgling civil rights movement. After being released from jail, he was with a group of other Christians who’d also been jailed. The day was hot and they bought a soft drink from a small town grocery store. An unpaid deputy met them on the porch and aimed his gun at a black teen age girl named Ruby Sales. Jonathan pushed her to the ground and took the full blast of the gun. His death shocked the Episcopal Church into putting civil rights onto the top of it’s agenda. Jonathan and the thousands upon thousands of unnamed people took up their cross and followed Jesus must be dancing in heaven to see this day when the President of the United States is African American.
Deny yourself. Pick up your cross and follow me. Most of the time this is not dramatic – as in the stories I’ve just told you. Most of the time it’s much more quiet. It’s prayer – “wasting time – not “doing” anything of substance – but spending time with God. It’s letter writing – as we’ve done with Amnesty International and Bread for the World, and as many of you do day in and day out, whether you see the results of your efforts or not. It’s going the extra mile for your student – or for some stranger who needs help. It’s releasing your grip on having things your own way – and asking above all else – for the desire to walk with Jesus, whether it’s to the mountain top or to the cross.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Come and See
Epiphany 2B
Come and See
To understand the homily today, you need to recall that I am from the desert – the low desert, the land of sand and dust devils and heat mirages, the land of crickets and cockroaches and sun that bleaches your clothes as you’re wearing them.
One summer, we went on a driving vacation. We drove across the desert with the windows wide open because there was no air conditioning. We drove across the state border and into Arizona. We drove past cactus and jack rabbits, and sand dunes and then through the cities of Yuma and Phoenix – and we drove and drove clear up into the White Mountains – and the air got cooler and it smelled different. And then, there were streams of water that went crashing down hill over rocks that were slippery wet with moss and there were trees – pine and quaking aspen – with leaves that were already turning golden yellow. And we stopped and got out and I could barely breathe it was so beautiful. I wanted to call all of my friends back home and tell them that they must come to the White mountains of Arizona and see the water and the trees and the color. “Come and see!” I fell in love when I was ten years old with quaking aspen - an almost mystical love that continues to this day. I can close my eyes and breathe in that clear cold mountain smell, and feel refreshed and energized
To understand the story, you need to understand that I am from the desert – the low desert, the land of sand and dust devils and heat mirages, the land of crickets and cockroaches and sun that bleaches your clothes as you’re wearing them.
A second parable - this past November, I was privileged to travel to an international conference held in Nazareth and Jerusalem. On that trip, our group traveled through the desert outside Jerusalem to Jericho, which is really only 17 miles! It’s amazing to think about, because it seemed like a much longer bus trip than seventeen miles. The desert we drove through was barren – really, no plants I could discern from the bus. There were washes where summer rains flooded down, and there were field workers and there were crops growing by the miracles of irrigation. When we arrived, I was not well, and so as the rest of the group traveled to Ramallah, I stayed in Jericho at a very nice hotel – that got almost no tourists. When I felt better, I went out for a walk, and ended up walking through the streets of a small farm village – that looked for all the world, like the small town I grew up in. The desert was the same. The irrigation methods were the same. Even the pink gold light of a desert sunset was the same …. I could hardly stand it. I needed to call my dad and tell him. “You’ve got to come and see!” I found out what it would cost to bring my entire family to this hotel in the outskirts of Jericho – for a family vacation! I wanted them to be there, in that place, on the other side of the world, in the place where Jesus had walked, in an environment that was so like the environment in which my family has lived.
Come and see! It’s really important, isn’t it? Remember making that phone call – “Mom, Dad, the baby’s born! You’ve got to come and see your new grandchild. This is the most beautiful baby ever! This baby will capture your heart.” All of us want the people who are important to us to come and see what’s important in our lives. “Come see our new house.” “Come and see my roses!” “Come and see our new Prius.” “Come and see the mural we painted in baby Ella’s bedroom.”
We also say, “come and see” when we have met someone who is incredibly unusual. I would like to share with you three examples of this.
Sometime last year, Louise invited me to come and see a family friend – a young woman named Anna Balzer “You must come and see her,” Louise said. Even when that meant being at Albany High School at 7:30 AM, to sit in those high school desks at the back of a social studies classroom. “Come and see.” So I did. I heard a young 26 year old Jewish woman who went to Israel when she graduated from the School of Journalism at Columbia – and that trip changed the course of her life. She now documents human rights abuses and works closely with the International Womens’ Peace Service. I was thoroughly unprepared for meeting this dynamic, articulate woman whose heart had been so captured by the people of the Holy Land. I was changed.. I wept because I heard stories I hadn’t heard before, and I saw pictures that I hadn’t seen before – and Anna said to the entire class – “don’t believe me – go and see.” And my heart was captured by Anna, and so I did. I traveled to Israel and to Palestine to see for myself what checkpoints and separation barriers and settlements mean for the people living there, and the people I met have captured my heart and changed the course of my life. Louise invited me to come and see Anna, and Anna invited me to come and see the people of the Holy Land. I am profoundly glad that I said yes to Louise and yes to Anna.
Another story. I was at Diocesan Convention, and a clergy friend of mine said that he had invited a Catholic doctor who did healing prayer to come to his church down on the peninsula, Church of the Transfiguration – and would I come to this prayer meeting and see this man, Dr. Issam Nemeh. Dr. Nemeh had done healing prayer for his wife, who suffered terribly from vertigo and had not found any remedies that worked – and now, she was well. So, I said yes. I will come and see. And I invited a friend to come and see with me. I don’t know much about Dr. Nemeh, I said. I only know that my friend invited me – and so will you come too? And so we did. We went and saw – and both of us experienced the healing power of prayer in a new and profound way – and our hearts were captured all over again by the overwhelming love and grace of Jesus. My friend and I are both profoundly glad that we said yes to this invitation to come and see.
Third story. This weekend, we celebrate the person and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and on Tuesday, a man who is a part of Dr. King’s legacy, Barack Obama, will be sworn in to the presidency. Dr. King was born into a family of preachers. He went to college and then a seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected Senior Class president by a student body composed mostly of white men. Martin attended Boston University where he received his doctorate. The new Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. began his first parish in Montgomery, Alabama in 1954 and by 1957 he was in the thick of the civil rights movement. For the next eleven years, he traveled more than six million miles and gave 2,500 speeches for justice in any town, village or city that needed his spiritual and moral leadership. Dr. King was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 when he was only thirty-five years old. He was the youngest person to ever receive the Peace prize. He was awarded $54,000 for the Peace Prize and he gave that hefty sum to the civil rights movement. 250,000 people converged on Washington, D.C. to hear his "I Have A Dream" speech. So many people said, "You have to come and see. You have to come and see and hear this man. You will be amazed. Your heart will be captured when you see and hear him."
I know that my heart has been captured by the Spirit of Jesus and his peace and justice living within the heart of Dr. King.
Just was we are swept off our feet by the magnificent beauty of the mountains, and the simple miracles of irrigation and water in the desert, so we are often swept off our feet by the good hearts and faith of people that we meet. People like Anna Baltzer and Dr. Issah Nemeh and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. The hearts of Anna Baltzer and Dr. Nemeh and Dr. King had been captured by the dream of God’s reign on earth. Our hearts are captured when we see the greatness of God living in such people.
It is with these images that we approach the gospel story for today.
Today’s story is one of five “come and see” stories. There is only one “come and see” story in the text for today so I am going to tell you all five “come and see” stories from the first chapter of the Gospel of John.
The story goes like this.
John the Baptist was out in the wilderness. Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist. As John baptized Jesus, the Spirit of God came down on Jesus in a special way. I’m not sure exactly what happened – but I do know that the heart of John the Baptist was captured by Jesus. And what did John the Baptist do? John the Baptist went and found his own disciples and said, “Come and see. Come and see.”
One of those disciples was named Andrew. Andrew spent the whole night talking with Jesus – and something happened. Andrew encountered this spiritual giant, this immeasurably wonderful person and Andrew's heart was captured that night by Jesus of Nazareth.
The next morning, at the crack of dawn according to the text, Andrew went and found his older brother. Andrew said to his older brother who was named Simon Peter, “Simon Peter, you’ve got to come and see. You’ve got to meet this Jesus.” So Simon Peter came and met Jesus. We know that Peter’s heart was captured and transformed.
Peter then went to Phillip and said, “Phillip, you’ve come to come and see.” Phillip did. Phillip’s heart was transformed. His heart was captured.
Phillip went and found his co-worker, Nathaniel. He said, “Nathaniel, you’ve got to come and meet this Jesus of Nazareth.”
Nathaniel came and saw and Jesus said to Nathaniel. “Nathaniel. I saw you sitting under your fig tree yesterday.” Nathaniel said, “How did you see that?” Jesus said, “I know your heart.” Nathaniel recognized him as the son of God.
In all of these stories, there were hearts that had been captured by Jesus Christ. Those people then went out to their friends and said, “Come and see.”
I would like to talk about your heart being captured, my heart being captured. Not captured not like a robber who gets caught and put in jail. But captured like a woman’s heart is captured by a man’s. Or captured like a grandfather’s heart is captured by a grandchild. Like my heart was captured by the beauty of the quaking aspen and the Jericho sunset and the greatness and goodness of Anna Balzer and Dr. Nemeh and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Some of you know Lillian Coons from when she was able to come to church, which was before my time here – and George, Lillian’s husband, still comes to church. But Lillian now lives in a convalescent home – and when I first went with George to visit Lillian, I was near tears to see how he held her hand, how he whispered to her, how he told her he loved her – even though she may well have not heard anything he said. George was even kind of mushy with Lillian. That is real affection. It’ even kind of mushy! And when you see George and Lillian together, even now, you know that George’s heart has been captured by Lillian – and I suspect vice versa as well.
Like a man’s heart has been captured by a woman’s, like a grandmother’s heart has been captured by a grandchild, like a girl’s heart was captured by the beauty of the mountain trees, the hearts of these disciples had been captured by the beauty and magnificence of Jesus Christ. Their hearts had been captured by his life, his love, his kindness, his knowledge of God, his way of life and loving.
What I am suggesting to you this morning is that the very essence of evangelism is that people’s hearts have been captured by Jesus Christ and you go and say to your friends and family, “Come and see. You have got to come and see what difference this man has made in my life.”
This is one of the reasons that I have had people throughout the last two years offer their own stories about the difference that Jesus makes in their lives – the difference that belonging to the community of Jesus followers makes in their lives – the difference that God makes in their lives. Because these stories are a way of saying to each other and of practicing being able to say to someone else – come and see. You’ve got to come and see.”
This is at the heart of what draws us together. It’s behind the invitation to sit on Vestry, or to be part of a working small group, or to arrange the flowers behind the Altar. But we don’t often say that out loud. We don’t often say – "will you consider Vestry because I want you to come and see the power and goodness of Jesus at work in our lives?" Because it’s easy to get confused and to think that Vestry or one of the committees is about making sure that the church continues to function well. If that is all that it is – you are going to burn out and get discouraged when things don’t go well, or when there are major disappointments. But when the gospel – the good news of Jesus is placed squarely in the center of the circle – and everything we do is an invitation to come and see and taste the goodness of God at work - then there is a boundless spring of energy. That is why I have insisted on praying together and have attempted to insist on reading scripture together at each these meetings – because the true work is not fixing the windows or the sidewalk or making sure that there are Sunday School teachers. The true work is the invitation to every one of us to come and see Jesus – and to let your heart be captured by the same dream that captured his heart – the dream of the Kingdom of God.
You and I are hungry for that. People outside the church are hungry for that. For hope and goodness and healing and change from the inside out. We are hungry to have our hearts captured by the greatness and goodness of God, expressed in the life and love of Jesus. We are not particularly hungry for more work that is disconnected from the Spirit.
So, when and if you decide that you would like to check out the life of the church by taking part in one of the many opportunities for work and relationship that is offered on the insert – I will help you organize the life of those committees around meeting the Christ – in prayer and in scripture. Your work will flow easier. Your decisions will be guided. And your hearts will be captured and energized. Come and see!
Come and See
To understand the homily today, you need to recall that I am from the desert – the low desert, the land of sand and dust devils and heat mirages, the land of crickets and cockroaches and sun that bleaches your clothes as you’re wearing them.
One summer, we went on a driving vacation. We drove across the desert with the windows wide open because there was no air conditioning. We drove across the state border and into Arizona. We drove past cactus and jack rabbits, and sand dunes and then through the cities of Yuma and Phoenix – and we drove and drove clear up into the White Mountains – and the air got cooler and it smelled different. And then, there were streams of water that went crashing down hill over rocks that were slippery wet with moss and there were trees – pine and quaking aspen – with leaves that were already turning golden yellow. And we stopped and got out and I could barely breathe it was so beautiful. I wanted to call all of my friends back home and tell them that they must come to the White mountains of Arizona and see the water and the trees and the color. “Come and see!” I fell in love when I was ten years old with quaking aspen - an almost mystical love that continues to this day. I can close my eyes and breathe in that clear cold mountain smell, and feel refreshed and energized
To understand the story, you need to understand that I am from the desert – the low desert, the land of sand and dust devils and heat mirages, the land of crickets and cockroaches and sun that bleaches your clothes as you’re wearing them.
A second parable - this past November, I was privileged to travel to an international conference held in Nazareth and Jerusalem. On that trip, our group traveled through the desert outside Jerusalem to Jericho, which is really only 17 miles! It’s amazing to think about, because it seemed like a much longer bus trip than seventeen miles. The desert we drove through was barren – really, no plants I could discern from the bus. There were washes where summer rains flooded down, and there were field workers and there were crops growing by the miracles of irrigation. When we arrived, I was not well, and so as the rest of the group traveled to Ramallah, I stayed in Jericho at a very nice hotel – that got almost no tourists. When I felt better, I went out for a walk, and ended up walking through the streets of a small farm village – that looked for all the world, like the small town I grew up in. The desert was the same. The irrigation methods were the same. Even the pink gold light of a desert sunset was the same …. I could hardly stand it. I needed to call my dad and tell him. “You’ve got to come and see!” I found out what it would cost to bring my entire family to this hotel in the outskirts of Jericho – for a family vacation! I wanted them to be there, in that place, on the other side of the world, in the place where Jesus had walked, in an environment that was so like the environment in which my family has lived.
Come and see! It’s really important, isn’t it? Remember making that phone call – “Mom, Dad, the baby’s born! You’ve got to come and see your new grandchild. This is the most beautiful baby ever! This baby will capture your heart.” All of us want the people who are important to us to come and see what’s important in our lives. “Come see our new house.” “Come and see my roses!” “Come and see our new Prius.” “Come and see the mural we painted in baby Ella’s bedroom.”
We also say, “come and see” when we have met someone who is incredibly unusual. I would like to share with you three examples of this.
Sometime last year, Louise invited me to come and see a family friend – a young woman named Anna Balzer “You must come and see her,” Louise said. Even when that meant being at Albany High School at 7:30 AM, to sit in those high school desks at the back of a social studies classroom. “Come and see.” So I did. I heard a young 26 year old Jewish woman who went to Israel when she graduated from the School of Journalism at Columbia – and that trip changed the course of her life. She now documents human rights abuses and works closely with the International Womens’ Peace Service. I was thoroughly unprepared for meeting this dynamic, articulate woman whose heart had been so captured by the people of the Holy Land. I was changed.. I wept because I heard stories I hadn’t heard before, and I saw pictures that I hadn’t seen before – and Anna said to the entire class – “don’t believe me – go and see.” And my heart was captured by Anna, and so I did. I traveled to Israel and to Palestine to see for myself what checkpoints and separation barriers and settlements mean for the people living there, and the people I met have captured my heart and changed the course of my life. Louise invited me to come and see Anna, and Anna invited me to come and see the people of the Holy Land. I am profoundly glad that I said yes to Louise and yes to Anna.
Another story. I was at Diocesan Convention, and a clergy friend of mine said that he had invited a Catholic doctor who did healing prayer to come to his church down on the peninsula, Church of the Transfiguration – and would I come to this prayer meeting and see this man, Dr. Issam Nemeh. Dr. Nemeh had done healing prayer for his wife, who suffered terribly from vertigo and had not found any remedies that worked – and now, she was well. So, I said yes. I will come and see. And I invited a friend to come and see with me. I don’t know much about Dr. Nemeh, I said. I only know that my friend invited me – and so will you come too? And so we did. We went and saw – and both of us experienced the healing power of prayer in a new and profound way – and our hearts were captured all over again by the overwhelming love and grace of Jesus. My friend and I are both profoundly glad that we said yes to this invitation to come and see.
Third story. This weekend, we celebrate the person and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and on Tuesday, a man who is a part of Dr. King’s legacy, Barack Obama, will be sworn in to the presidency. Dr. King was born into a family of preachers. He went to college and then a seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected Senior Class president by a student body composed mostly of white men. Martin attended Boston University where he received his doctorate. The new Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. began his first parish in Montgomery, Alabama in 1954 and by 1957 he was in the thick of the civil rights movement. For the next eleven years, he traveled more than six million miles and gave 2,500 speeches for justice in any town, village or city that needed his spiritual and moral leadership. Dr. King was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 when he was only thirty-five years old. He was the youngest person to ever receive the Peace prize. He was awarded $54,000 for the Peace Prize and he gave that hefty sum to the civil rights movement. 250,000 people converged on Washington, D.C. to hear his "I Have A Dream" speech. So many people said, "You have to come and see. You have to come and see and hear this man. You will be amazed. Your heart will be captured when you see and hear him."
I know that my heart has been captured by the Spirit of Jesus and his peace and justice living within the heart of Dr. King.
Just was we are swept off our feet by the magnificent beauty of the mountains, and the simple miracles of irrigation and water in the desert, so we are often swept off our feet by the good hearts and faith of people that we meet. People like Anna Baltzer and Dr. Issah Nemeh and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. The hearts of Anna Baltzer and Dr. Nemeh and Dr. King had been captured by the dream of God’s reign on earth. Our hearts are captured when we see the greatness of God living in such people.
It is with these images that we approach the gospel story for today.
Today’s story is one of five “come and see” stories. There is only one “come and see” story in the text for today so I am going to tell you all five “come and see” stories from the first chapter of the Gospel of John.
The story goes like this.
John the Baptist was out in the wilderness. Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist. As John baptized Jesus, the Spirit of God came down on Jesus in a special way. I’m not sure exactly what happened – but I do know that the heart of John the Baptist was captured by Jesus. And what did John the Baptist do? John the Baptist went and found his own disciples and said, “Come and see. Come and see.”
One of those disciples was named Andrew. Andrew spent the whole night talking with Jesus – and something happened. Andrew encountered this spiritual giant, this immeasurably wonderful person and Andrew's heart was captured that night by Jesus of Nazareth.
The next morning, at the crack of dawn according to the text, Andrew went and found his older brother. Andrew said to his older brother who was named Simon Peter, “Simon Peter, you’ve got to come and see. You’ve got to meet this Jesus.” So Simon Peter came and met Jesus. We know that Peter’s heart was captured and transformed.
Peter then went to Phillip and said, “Phillip, you’ve come to come and see.” Phillip did. Phillip’s heart was transformed. His heart was captured.
Phillip went and found his co-worker, Nathaniel. He said, “Nathaniel, you’ve got to come and meet this Jesus of Nazareth.”
Nathaniel came and saw and Jesus said to Nathaniel. “Nathaniel. I saw you sitting under your fig tree yesterday.” Nathaniel said, “How did you see that?” Jesus said, “I know your heart.” Nathaniel recognized him as the son of God.
In all of these stories, there were hearts that had been captured by Jesus Christ. Those people then went out to their friends and said, “Come and see.”
I would like to talk about your heart being captured, my heart being captured. Not captured not like a robber who gets caught and put in jail. But captured like a woman’s heart is captured by a man’s. Or captured like a grandfather’s heart is captured by a grandchild. Like my heart was captured by the beauty of the quaking aspen and the Jericho sunset and the greatness and goodness of Anna Balzer and Dr. Nemeh and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Some of you know Lillian Coons from when she was able to come to church, which was before my time here – and George, Lillian’s husband, still comes to church. But Lillian now lives in a convalescent home – and when I first went with George to visit Lillian, I was near tears to see how he held her hand, how he whispered to her, how he told her he loved her – even though she may well have not heard anything he said. George was even kind of mushy with Lillian. That is real affection. It’ even kind of mushy! And when you see George and Lillian together, even now, you know that George’s heart has been captured by Lillian – and I suspect vice versa as well.
Like a man’s heart has been captured by a woman’s, like a grandmother’s heart has been captured by a grandchild, like a girl’s heart was captured by the beauty of the mountain trees, the hearts of these disciples had been captured by the beauty and magnificence of Jesus Christ. Their hearts had been captured by his life, his love, his kindness, his knowledge of God, his way of life and loving.
What I am suggesting to you this morning is that the very essence of evangelism is that people’s hearts have been captured by Jesus Christ and you go and say to your friends and family, “Come and see. You have got to come and see what difference this man has made in my life.”
This is one of the reasons that I have had people throughout the last two years offer their own stories about the difference that Jesus makes in their lives – the difference that belonging to the community of Jesus followers makes in their lives – the difference that God makes in their lives. Because these stories are a way of saying to each other and of practicing being able to say to someone else – come and see. You’ve got to come and see.”
This is at the heart of what draws us together. It’s behind the invitation to sit on Vestry, or to be part of a working small group, or to arrange the flowers behind the Altar. But we don’t often say that out loud. We don’t often say – "will you consider Vestry because I want you to come and see the power and goodness of Jesus at work in our lives?" Because it’s easy to get confused and to think that Vestry or one of the committees is about making sure that the church continues to function well. If that is all that it is – you are going to burn out and get discouraged when things don’t go well, or when there are major disappointments. But when the gospel – the good news of Jesus is placed squarely in the center of the circle – and everything we do is an invitation to come and see and taste the goodness of God at work - then there is a boundless spring of energy. That is why I have insisted on praying together and have attempted to insist on reading scripture together at each these meetings – because the true work is not fixing the windows or the sidewalk or making sure that there are Sunday School teachers. The true work is the invitation to every one of us to come and see Jesus – and to let your heart be captured by the same dream that captured his heart – the dream of the Kingdom of God.
You and I are hungry for that. People outside the church are hungry for that. For hope and goodness and healing and change from the inside out. We are hungry to have our hearts captured by the greatness and goodness of God, expressed in the life and love of Jesus. We are not particularly hungry for more work that is disconnected from the Spirit.
So, when and if you decide that you would like to check out the life of the church by taking part in one of the many opportunities for work and relationship that is offered on the insert – I will help you organize the life of those committees around meeting the Christ – in prayer and in scripture. Your work will flow easier. Your decisions will be guided. And your hearts will be captured and energized. Come and see!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Comfort. Hope. Peace.
Advent 2B
This week, I was visiting our senior warden, Louise, and her daughter Olivia who is going with other high school students to our President-elect’s inauguration! – we were sitting in the living room talking about what dress Olivia might wear to the inauguration events - and Louise suddenly said – it’s hard being Episcopalian these days! And brought out the New York Times. There we are, headlined on the front page – above the fold! “Episcopal split as conservatives form new group. And in smaller letters “Threat to Frail Union”.
The San Francisco Chronicle headline was a bit more tame: “Conservatives form rival group to Episcopal Church:” “Theological conservatives upset by liberal views of U.S. Episcopalians and Canadian Anglicans have formed a rival North American province
"The Lord is displacing the Episcopal Church," Duncan said in a news conference in Wheaton, Ill., where the proposed constitution for the new province was drafted.
Our dear Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, responded in her unflappable calm and comforting voice that "there is room within The Episcopal Church for people with different views and we regret that some have felt the need to depart from the diversity of our common life in Christ." Isn’t she great!
But despite it’s headlining status, this news of trouble in the Episcopal church is not really the main news of the week. On the same front page, above the fold, were articles on the rapid warming of the planet, the trouble that the automakers are in, and this headline – “When a Job Disappears, So Does the Health Care.” “As jobless numbers reach levels not seen in 25 years, another crisis is unfolding for millions of people who lost their health insurance along with their jobs, joining the ranks of the uninsured.” Starla, 27, 8 months pregnant with her second child, rushes to the hospital to have early labor induced and then is delivered by Caesarean section. She did this before her plant closed, leaving her with no health insurance. These are the stories of our neighbors – and I know actually, of some of you. Cuts - leaving you without insurance, and with little explanation of where to go next.
And then, of course, there are the non-headlines, the everyday aches and bruises of life – surgeries that don’t fix the pain, chemo that destroys the appetite, spouses that leave, children that grow up, stress that gets in the way of sleep, debt that piles up.
Second Isaiah was called by God to speak words of comfort – to be a voice of comfort in a time when the Israelites were in exile – their homes destroyed, their way of life gone, and them carried off to a foreign place. “Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.” Handel’s Messiah begins with this magnificent chapter of Isaiah. Calvin and Luther, those old time theologians, insisted that this chapter pre-figured and even contained – the whole of the gospel of the good news of Jesus Christ. You might think of the God of the Old Testament as a God who wreaks vengeance and destruction on people, and the God of the New Testament as Loving – but that’s not so. Here, God comes to his people, in the words of his prophet, with the tenderness of a mother whose child is in pain, with the tenderness of a shepherd, whose lambs have been scattered and who are in need of direction and protection.
“Speak tenderly … cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received double for all her sins.” I have been in Ecuador and in the Holy Land this year – and in both of those places I have been with people who are at the bottom of the heap, the children of indigenous people in Ecuador, and the children of Bedouins in the Holy Land – I have seen hunger, and the distressing way that hunger stunts growth and dims the light in a child’s face. My friend Khalil Zhakaria, a Gaza resident, asks for prayers for his mother, who has cancer, and who is utterly reliant on the prayers of other Christians, because Gaza has been sealed off from any form of outside medical or food aid for weeks now. Of course, we are all paying the penalty of the sins of greed and lust for quick profit and power and revenge – but there are those who pay double and triple for those sins – they are the ones whom Christ called the “meek” – the ones who will enter the kingdom first. These children of hunger and war are the lambs whom God carries closest to his bosom.
So, Isaiah is called and anointed to preach comfort and hope – in a comfortless and hopeless time. But Isaiah asks – as you and I might very well ask – “what shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy, their fidelity – is like the flower of the field. It fades so quickly.”
Have you, especially you long time believers – ever felt like – what’s the point? In all these years – have we really made any dent in the world’s bent towards self-destruction? Has the sweet and compelling voice of Jesus, spoken through the church, stopped any wars, thwarted any famines, reconciled any families, healed any emotional distress? The short answer actually is yes – it usually doesn’t make headlines, but I KNOW healing happens, because people appear almost every week in my office telling me about healing of one kind or another – and I myself have experienced God’s healing. So – even though our constancy and fidelity to God can’t be counted on – God’s faithfulness can be. So God tells Isaiah: “Lace up your sneakers, climb the highest mountain, and shout it out – Here is your God. He comes with might and power. He feeds his flock, he gathers his lambs, he gently leads the people home.”
The truth is, our hope is NOT in our own faithfulness and reliability – our hope is not in any President-Elect, no matter who it is – our hope is not in labor unions and bail outs – our hope is in God - whose word is powerful. Whose word is constant. Whose word is reliable.
But where is God? The people that Peter wrote to were wondering – and I don’t know about you – but I wonder that too. Where is God? Just this week – someone exploring the Christian faith asked me – why doesn’t God intervene in times of trouble? Why does God allow such pain and suffering? Peter’s response is one of the many responses that the church gives to this delay in God’s putting things to right –God does not want any to be lost and therefore God is patient. God’s time is not our time – but even so - before the “end of time and the healing of all creation” – God does come into our world and our lives, with signs and wonders, with power and with tenderness.
Sometimes, God comes in big ways with miracles of healing. My Gazan friend, Khalil, is convinced that his mother, through the power of prayer, is being healed of her cancer – and I do not doubt his word.
Sometimes, God comes in big ways with miracles of peace. One of the people I met in Nazareth, was the Catholic Christian Mairead Maguire, the Nobel Peace winner from Northern Ireland. When her friend’s daughter was killed in the fighting between the IRA and Britain, Mrs. Maguire went from house wife to activist and was instrumental in bringing peace to Ireland.
Sometimes God comes in big ways with miracles of liberation. In Jerusalem, I met Bernard Lafayette, who worked closely with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the American civil rights movement, not just forty years ago – and now we have an African American President – elect.
And sometimes, God comes in small ways, in ways virtually unnoticed and unremarkable – as in a baby born of a peasant woman in a barn in Bethlehem, almost 2000 years ago. But that baby was the beginning of the good news of God’s miracles of healing and peace and liberation for all people, not just a few, not just the chosen, not just the elite and well born – but for all.
The beginning – but not the end.
The Gospel of Markleaves off with the women running from the tomb, so astounded that they do not say anything! It is an odd ending – until you go back to the start of this gospel – The Beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God – and realize that this Good News is still unfolding … we are a part of it. We are now the ones to continue the unfolding and the telling of that Gospel – We are the Isaiah’s - the ones baptized and called to lace up our sneakers, climb the mountains, contribute our pledges, and lift our voices with strength to cry out the good news of Comfort. The good news of Hope. The good news of Peace. The good news of Jesus.
This week, I was visiting our senior warden, Louise, and her daughter Olivia who is going with other high school students to our President-elect’s inauguration! – we were sitting in the living room talking about what dress Olivia might wear to the inauguration events - and Louise suddenly said – it’s hard being Episcopalian these days! And brought out the New York Times. There we are, headlined on the front page – above the fold! “Episcopal split as conservatives form new group. And in smaller letters “Threat to Frail Union”.
The San Francisco Chronicle headline was a bit more tame: “Conservatives form rival group to Episcopal Church:” “Theological conservatives upset by liberal views of U.S. Episcopalians and Canadian Anglicans have formed a rival North American province
"The Lord is displacing the Episcopal Church," Duncan said in a news conference in Wheaton, Ill., where the proposed constitution for the new province was drafted.
Our dear Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, responded in her unflappable calm and comforting voice that "there is room within The Episcopal Church for people with different views and we regret that some have felt the need to depart from the diversity of our common life in Christ." Isn’t she great!
But despite it’s headlining status, this news of trouble in the Episcopal church is not really the main news of the week. On the same front page, above the fold, were articles on the rapid warming of the planet, the trouble that the automakers are in, and this headline – “When a Job Disappears, So Does the Health Care.” “As jobless numbers reach levels not seen in 25 years, another crisis is unfolding for millions of people who lost their health insurance along with their jobs, joining the ranks of the uninsured.” Starla, 27, 8 months pregnant with her second child, rushes to the hospital to have early labor induced and then is delivered by Caesarean section. She did this before her plant closed, leaving her with no health insurance. These are the stories of our neighbors – and I know actually, of some of you. Cuts - leaving you without insurance, and with little explanation of where to go next.
And then, of course, there are the non-headlines, the everyday aches and bruises of life – surgeries that don’t fix the pain, chemo that destroys the appetite, spouses that leave, children that grow up, stress that gets in the way of sleep, debt that piles up.
Second Isaiah was called by God to speak words of comfort – to be a voice of comfort in a time when the Israelites were in exile – their homes destroyed, their way of life gone, and them carried off to a foreign place. “Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.” Handel’s Messiah begins with this magnificent chapter of Isaiah. Calvin and Luther, those old time theologians, insisted that this chapter pre-figured and even contained – the whole of the gospel of the good news of Jesus Christ. You might think of the God of the Old Testament as a God who wreaks vengeance and destruction on people, and the God of the New Testament as Loving – but that’s not so. Here, God comes to his people, in the words of his prophet, with the tenderness of a mother whose child is in pain, with the tenderness of a shepherd, whose lambs have been scattered and who are in need of direction and protection.
“Speak tenderly … cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received double for all her sins.” I have been in Ecuador and in the Holy Land this year – and in both of those places I have been with people who are at the bottom of the heap, the children of indigenous people in Ecuador, and the children of Bedouins in the Holy Land – I have seen hunger, and the distressing way that hunger stunts growth and dims the light in a child’s face. My friend Khalil Zhakaria, a Gaza resident, asks for prayers for his mother, who has cancer, and who is utterly reliant on the prayers of other Christians, because Gaza has been sealed off from any form of outside medical or food aid for weeks now. Of course, we are all paying the penalty of the sins of greed and lust for quick profit and power and revenge – but there are those who pay double and triple for those sins – they are the ones whom Christ called the “meek” – the ones who will enter the kingdom first. These children of hunger and war are the lambs whom God carries closest to his bosom.
So, Isaiah is called and anointed to preach comfort and hope – in a comfortless and hopeless time. But Isaiah asks – as you and I might very well ask – “what shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy, their fidelity – is like the flower of the field. It fades so quickly.”
Have you, especially you long time believers – ever felt like – what’s the point? In all these years – have we really made any dent in the world’s bent towards self-destruction? Has the sweet and compelling voice of Jesus, spoken through the church, stopped any wars, thwarted any famines, reconciled any families, healed any emotional distress? The short answer actually is yes – it usually doesn’t make headlines, but I KNOW healing happens, because people appear almost every week in my office telling me about healing of one kind or another – and I myself have experienced God’s healing. So – even though our constancy and fidelity to God can’t be counted on – God’s faithfulness can be. So God tells Isaiah: “Lace up your sneakers, climb the highest mountain, and shout it out – Here is your God. He comes with might and power. He feeds his flock, he gathers his lambs, he gently leads the people home.”
The truth is, our hope is NOT in our own faithfulness and reliability – our hope is not in any President-Elect, no matter who it is – our hope is not in labor unions and bail outs – our hope is in God - whose word is powerful. Whose word is constant. Whose word is reliable.
But where is God? The people that Peter wrote to were wondering – and I don’t know about you – but I wonder that too. Where is God? Just this week – someone exploring the Christian faith asked me – why doesn’t God intervene in times of trouble? Why does God allow such pain and suffering? Peter’s response is one of the many responses that the church gives to this delay in God’s putting things to right –God does not want any to be lost and therefore God is patient. God’s time is not our time – but even so - before the “end of time and the healing of all creation” – God does come into our world and our lives, with signs and wonders, with power and with tenderness.
Sometimes, God comes in big ways with miracles of healing. My Gazan friend, Khalil, is convinced that his mother, through the power of prayer, is being healed of her cancer – and I do not doubt his word.
Sometimes, God comes in big ways with miracles of peace. One of the people I met in Nazareth, was the Catholic Christian Mairead Maguire, the Nobel Peace winner from Northern Ireland. When her friend’s daughter was killed in the fighting between the IRA and Britain, Mrs. Maguire went from house wife to activist and was instrumental in bringing peace to Ireland.
Sometimes God comes in big ways with miracles of liberation. In Jerusalem, I met Bernard Lafayette, who worked closely with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the American civil rights movement, not just forty years ago – and now we have an African American President – elect.
And sometimes, God comes in small ways, in ways virtually unnoticed and unremarkable – as in a baby born of a peasant woman in a barn in Bethlehem, almost 2000 years ago. But that baby was the beginning of the good news of God’s miracles of healing and peace and liberation for all people, not just a few, not just the chosen, not just the elite and well born – but for all.
The beginning – but not the end.
The Gospel of Markleaves off with the women running from the tomb, so astounded that they do not say anything! It is an odd ending – until you go back to the start of this gospel – The Beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God – and realize that this Good News is still unfolding … we are a part of it. We are now the ones to continue the unfolding and the telling of that Gospel – We are the Isaiah’s - the ones baptized and called to lace up our sneakers, climb the mountains, contribute our pledges, and lift our voices with strength to cry out the good news of Comfort. The good news of Hope. The good news of Peace. The good news of Jesus.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Credere
Proper 23A
Who do you trust?
I like going to baseball games. I like being in the stands next to dads with their kids and grandmothers making raunchy jokes and girlfriends trying to look interested in the game when it’s clear that they would much prefer a romantic dinner. I like cheering and I like when the teams run out onto the field at the beginning of the game, and everyone stands up and the guys take off their hats, and we all say the pledge of allegiance. There was a period when I refused to stand up and I wanted nothing to do with that pledge – because I was so mad at the distance between the promise of the country and the reality of the country. But I long ago got over that. I figured out that the pledge is there to remind us of the promise – to be a yardstick – to remind us, whether we’re in a classroom or at a baseball game – of what we stand for. What the premise of the American enterprise is – Our yardstick, as Americans, is “liberty and justice for all.” and it’s really really important to be reminded of it. It’s the creed of the United States of America, and I, for one, would not want to see that creed disappear or be forgotten. So – I stand up at baseball games, put my hand over my heart – and pledge my allegiance to this ideal of liberty and justice for each and every person. And then I sit down next to the kid with the cracker jacks and the guy with the six pack beer belly and I say “Thanks be to God.”
I carry another creed even closer to my heart – a creed that my parents chose for me, and one that I have since affirmed over and over – a creed I will spend my entire lifetime living into. That of course is the Apostle’s Creed – the creed of our baptism as Christians. Now I was not baptized into the Episcopal church. I was baptized as a Methodist – and my parents were freethinkers. I don’t think they ever identified with any one particular church. I’m the renegade of the family. Choosing a hierarchically structured church, with allegiance to a bishop. A Maverick! (Sorry.) But whether you’re a Methodist or a Roman Catholic or a Baptist or an Episcopalian - the baptismal creed transcends all these differences.
As you align yourself with the God of Jesus Christ – this is your creed. You can find it on page 304 of the Book of Common Prayer. The earliest written version of the Apostle’s Creed is probably from about 215. In it’s earliest form it was given just like you find it in the prayer book - in this question and answer format for baptismal candidates. These candidates, by the way, had spent three years in spiritual formation, learning the Jesus way. So that, by the time, they said yes to these questions, they were thoroughly acquainted with what it might mean for them personally, to not just believe this stuff with their heads – but to place their trust in this God – to give their hearts in trust to this Creator God, and to pledge themselves to walk, as much as they could, in the way of Jesus and to be in fellowship with other people who were trying to walk that way too.
And that’s where I want to take us this morning. Into this question of trust.
When I’m at the baseball game, and I say those beautiful words, with liberty and justice for all – and then I go home and file my IRA return, I am saying, with my check, I trust that this country will keep working to come closer to that yardstick – to those words. Though I have to admit my trust is a bit shaky – I trust the people sitting beside me on the cold benches up in the stands above the A’s dugout to keep working at those words we say together – liberty and justice for all. It’s not the only reason I send in my check. I know if I don’t, the IRA will come pounding at my door sooner or later. So it’s partly fear – but it’s also hope and trust and the willingness to continue to be a part of this whole American enterprise. So I grumble – a lot – and then I put the stamp on the envelope and send it off.
You know, another thing I do, trustingly, is use credit cards. Credit… a word we’re hearing a whole lot about these days. It’s actually related to the word creed – interesting, huh! They are both based in this word – trust – credere – belief. When I use my credit card, I trust that I’m going to have the ability to pay later for what I’m purchasing now. And the credit card company has a different kind of trust – they trust I will extend myself just a bit further than my ability to pay every month – and that’s how they make their money – by charging me interest. Now, I’m one of those people who assiduously pays off my credit card every month – but I know many people who are not able to do that, for one reason or another. Maybe they bought too many things. Maybe they got sick and couldn’t work. Maybe there was a family emergency or several family emergencies. Or maybe they were sold something they couldn’t ever really pay for. Whatever happened, credit – trust – a huge amount of it, amounts beyond our imagining, were extended based on faulty premises, and it’s what has the world crashing down around our ears right now. And as always, it is the poorest of the poor that will eventually pay with real hunger and cold for this credit crunch – for this creed that’s gone bad.
What’s the result? Fear. Panic. Anxiety. The American Psychological Association released the findings of a survey they conducted of 7,000 American households. The study noted that eighty percent of Americans were stressed about the economy and their personal finances. Half were worried about their ability to provide for their family’s basic needs. 56% were concerned about their own job stability. 60% of respondents reported feeling angry and irritable, and 52% reported laying awake at night worried about this. The report concluded that, “The declining state of the nation’s economy is taking a physical and emotional toll on people nationwide.”
And I can’t pretend to you that I am not worried as well. This church, all churches, stay afloat through giving. Through weekly offerings in the plate and through the extension of pledges – promises to share a proportion of the resources God gives you for God’s work in the church. The brunch on November 2nd is designed for conversation about how God is blessing you at St. Alban’s and how you hope to share more in those blessings. We heard last week from Elizabeth about how she comes closer to God through Jesus and how St. Alban’s helps her to do that. Today, we are going to hear from Blondelle about the power of resurrection in her life. These weekly witnesses are offered to help stir your own responses to the same questions – how do you experience resurrection, how do you come closer to God, and what role does St. Alban’s play in that.
What does that have to do with creeds – with where you put your trust? Do you say the pledge of allegiance – put your trust in the goodness of this country’s highest ideals? Do you pay taxes and trust that your money will be used for the benefit of schools and roads and public health systems? Do you participate in the common marketplace of credit and loans and payments made over time? Yes. You do.
But the truth is, the credit crisis, this worldwide economic meltdown, points to the inadequacy of any ultimate credo whose object is anything but God. God is our refuge and strength. And God’s sustaining power is not tied to the Dow.
When he wrote his letter to Timothy, Paul didn’t know anything about the Dow Jones, but he could have easily been speaking to any American today: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God” (I Timothy 6:17).
The word of hope, the reminder of where safety lies – is found throughout the Bible. There are the words of the prophets spoken to the Israelites living in exile after losing everything. To the exiles God spoke profound words of promise: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10) During times of great adversity, the psalmist wrote, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” (Psalm 46:1-2)
So, fundamentally, every Sunday, when we stand and say together the historic words of our faith – found in the Nicene Creed, the Creed said by our parents and great grandparents and great great grandparents, stretching all the way back to 325 AD and accepted by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East, Roman Catholic, Lutheran Church, the Anglican Communion, and almost all branches of Protestantism. – we are doing more than just reciting a bunch of dead words from a bygone era – we are making a claim about where we put our trust, beyond family, beyond country and flag, beyond the marketplace and bank accounts – we place our trust in this God who is maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, this God of Jesus Christ, to whom and in whom, all things, in heaven and earth, properly and rightly, belong.
Who do you trust?
I like going to baseball games. I like being in the stands next to dads with their kids and grandmothers making raunchy jokes and girlfriends trying to look interested in the game when it’s clear that they would much prefer a romantic dinner. I like cheering and I like when the teams run out onto the field at the beginning of the game, and everyone stands up and the guys take off their hats, and we all say the pledge of allegiance. There was a period when I refused to stand up and I wanted nothing to do with that pledge – because I was so mad at the distance between the promise of the country and the reality of the country. But I long ago got over that. I figured out that the pledge is there to remind us of the promise – to be a yardstick – to remind us, whether we’re in a classroom or at a baseball game – of what we stand for. What the premise of the American enterprise is – Our yardstick, as Americans, is “liberty and justice for all.” and it’s really really important to be reminded of it. It’s the creed of the United States of America, and I, for one, would not want to see that creed disappear or be forgotten. So – I stand up at baseball games, put my hand over my heart – and pledge my allegiance to this ideal of liberty and justice for each and every person. And then I sit down next to the kid with the cracker jacks and the guy with the six pack beer belly and I say “Thanks be to God.”
I carry another creed even closer to my heart – a creed that my parents chose for me, and one that I have since affirmed over and over – a creed I will spend my entire lifetime living into. That of course is the Apostle’s Creed – the creed of our baptism as Christians. Now I was not baptized into the Episcopal church. I was baptized as a Methodist – and my parents were freethinkers. I don’t think they ever identified with any one particular church. I’m the renegade of the family. Choosing a hierarchically structured church, with allegiance to a bishop. A Maverick! (Sorry.) But whether you’re a Methodist or a Roman Catholic or a Baptist or an Episcopalian - the baptismal creed transcends all these differences.
As you align yourself with the God of Jesus Christ – this is your creed. You can find it on page 304 of the Book of Common Prayer. The earliest written version of the Apostle’s Creed is probably from about 215. In it’s earliest form it was given just like you find it in the prayer book - in this question and answer format for baptismal candidates. These candidates, by the way, had spent three years in spiritual formation, learning the Jesus way. So that, by the time, they said yes to these questions, they were thoroughly acquainted with what it might mean for them personally, to not just believe this stuff with their heads – but to place their trust in this God – to give their hearts in trust to this Creator God, and to pledge themselves to walk, as much as they could, in the way of Jesus and to be in fellowship with other people who were trying to walk that way too.
And that’s where I want to take us this morning. Into this question of trust.
When I’m at the baseball game, and I say those beautiful words, with liberty and justice for all – and then I go home and file my IRA return, I am saying, with my check, I trust that this country will keep working to come closer to that yardstick – to those words. Though I have to admit my trust is a bit shaky – I trust the people sitting beside me on the cold benches up in the stands above the A’s dugout to keep working at those words we say together – liberty and justice for all. It’s not the only reason I send in my check. I know if I don’t, the IRA will come pounding at my door sooner or later. So it’s partly fear – but it’s also hope and trust and the willingness to continue to be a part of this whole American enterprise. So I grumble – a lot – and then I put the stamp on the envelope and send it off.
You know, another thing I do, trustingly, is use credit cards. Credit… a word we’re hearing a whole lot about these days. It’s actually related to the word creed – interesting, huh! They are both based in this word – trust – credere – belief. When I use my credit card, I trust that I’m going to have the ability to pay later for what I’m purchasing now. And the credit card company has a different kind of trust – they trust I will extend myself just a bit further than my ability to pay every month – and that’s how they make their money – by charging me interest. Now, I’m one of those people who assiduously pays off my credit card every month – but I know many people who are not able to do that, for one reason or another. Maybe they bought too many things. Maybe they got sick and couldn’t work. Maybe there was a family emergency or several family emergencies. Or maybe they were sold something they couldn’t ever really pay for. Whatever happened, credit – trust – a huge amount of it, amounts beyond our imagining, were extended based on faulty premises, and it’s what has the world crashing down around our ears right now. And as always, it is the poorest of the poor that will eventually pay with real hunger and cold for this credit crunch – for this creed that’s gone bad.
What’s the result? Fear. Panic. Anxiety. The American Psychological Association released the findings of a survey they conducted of 7,000 American households. The study noted that eighty percent of Americans were stressed about the economy and their personal finances. Half were worried about their ability to provide for their family’s basic needs. 56% were concerned about their own job stability. 60% of respondents reported feeling angry and irritable, and 52% reported laying awake at night worried about this. The report concluded that, “The declining state of the nation’s economy is taking a physical and emotional toll on people nationwide.”
And I can’t pretend to you that I am not worried as well. This church, all churches, stay afloat through giving. Through weekly offerings in the plate and through the extension of pledges – promises to share a proportion of the resources God gives you for God’s work in the church. The brunch on November 2nd is designed for conversation about how God is blessing you at St. Alban’s and how you hope to share more in those blessings. We heard last week from Elizabeth about how she comes closer to God through Jesus and how St. Alban’s helps her to do that. Today, we are going to hear from Blondelle about the power of resurrection in her life. These weekly witnesses are offered to help stir your own responses to the same questions – how do you experience resurrection, how do you come closer to God, and what role does St. Alban’s play in that.
What does that have to do with creeds – with where you put your trust? Do you say the pledge of allegiance – put your trust in the goodness of this country’s highest ideals? Do you pay taxes and trust that your money will be used for the benefit of schools and roads and public health systems? Do you participate in the common marketplace of credit and loans and payments made over time? Yes. You do.
But the truth is, the credit crisis, this worldwide economic meltdown, points to the inadequacy of any ultimate credo whose object is anything but God. God is our refuge and strength. And God’s sustaining power is not tied to the Dow.
When he wrote his letter to Timothy, Paul didn’t know anything about the Dow Jones, but he could have easily been speaking to any American today: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God” (I Timothy 6:17).
The word of hope, the reminder of where safety lies – is found throughout the Bible. There are the words of the prophets spoken to the Israelites living in exile after losing everything. To the exiles God spoke profound words of promise: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10) During times of great adversity, the psalmist wrote, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” (Psalm 46:1-2)
So, fundamentally, every Sunday, when we stand and say together the historic words of our faith – found in the Nicene Creed, the Creed said by our parents and great grandparents and great great grandparents, stretching all the way back to 325 AD and accepted by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East, Roman Catholic, Lutheran Church, the Anglican Communion, and almost all branches of Protestantism. – we are doing more than just reciting a bunch of dead words from a bygone era – we are making a claim about where we put our trust, beyond family, beyond country and flag, beyond the marketplace and bank accounts – we place our trust in this God who is maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, this God of Jesus Christ, to whom and in whom, all things, in heaven and earth, properly and rightly, belong.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Anxiety Reduction Plan by St. Paul
In skimming through my archived sermons, one title leaped out at me: "God’s Anxiety Reduction Plan." Well – after a week of white knuckle Class V White Water Rapids with the stock market – I looked that one up! It was a reflection I had started awhile ago, based in work by William Loader, a Lutheran pastor, on this particular passage from Philippians. While I had prepared it for Advent, because of the phrase, “The Lord is near.” It seemed so appropriate to our times, that I opened it, and reflected some more on this most beautiful passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
“Rejoice in the Lord. Always. Again, I will say: Rejoice.” Paul is not being Pollyanna. He knows what it is to be in dire straits – to be in real need. He knows hunger and he knows plenty. He knows what it is to have very little – and to not know what is coming next –whether it is going to be storm wrecks or smooth sailing. The cause for rejoicing? The Lord is near. Remember what Jesus said? My peace I give you. I am with you always. Till death parts you from this earth, and I take you into your heavenly home. My peace I give to you.
The Lord is near, as close as your heartbeat. Relax. Rejoice.
And then Paul tells you his secret – he offers a specific set of instructions – which is good, because if you’re anything like me – you have an issue with worry.
But Paul just says: “Don’t. Don’t do it. Don’t Worry.” About anything! Let’s try it. I’ll say a worry – and you respond with Paul’s injunction: “Do not worry about anything.” And then, we’ll pass it around. Any one call out a worry – and we’ll all respond for you.
“I’m worried about the elections.”
“I’m anxious about the economy.”
“I’m worried about aging”
“I’m worried about whether or not I’m going to have a job.”
Ok- do we get the idea? There is NOTHING we are to worry about. But, if you’re anything like me – telling me not to do something, will almost guarantee I’m going to do it!
But Paul goes on with more instructions – about HOW to actually not worry… “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
In everything. Paul is emphatic in this passage – using words we were taught in our composition classes to NEVER use! Words, like Always, Everything, Never! But Paul doesn’t shy away. Always rejoice. In EVERYTHING, with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God. In everything that comes your way – turn first to God who can do something about your circumstance. In absolutely everything, first use: Prayer – conscious contact with God.
Second use: Supplication – turn specific difficulties over to God, and
Third, use Thanksgiving – rest in assurance that God is taking care of the situation. And is able to bring about divine intent for your life.
Does that mean everything just becomes hunky dory and works out exactly how you want it to? No, of course not. Paul followed this anxiety reduction plan daily – and he still knew hunger and jail and betrayal and eventually the death sentence, just like Jesus did, and just like countless Christians do still today. In November, I am going to be traveling to the West Bank and meeting dozens of faithful Palestinian Christians – people who cannot travel ten miles away to get medical care in
He, along with many who follow him, have come to the know the promise that is connected to this plan – namely when a worry or anxiety comes, instead of worrying we pray with an attitude of gratitude for God's intervention in our situation and then:
"...the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Specifically this translates to: Peace: The result of knowing that God has promised to be in charge of the situation, whatever it is.
You have a guard standing outside your heart and mind – the Peace of God – stands guard, watching over you, protecting you from worry and anxiety, so that your mind and soul can roam freely among those things which are beautiful, and just, pure, and pleasing.
Practice God’s anxiety reduction plan daily – hourly if need be –
Rejoice. Because regardless of whether you emotionally feel it or not - the Lord is as near as your heartbeat.
Pray – get in touch with God.
Petition – let God know your needs. Your anxieties. Your problems.
Give thanks – rest in assurance that God cares for you.
And peace, guaranteed, will be yours.
Philippians 4:1-13
4Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved. 2I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
10I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. 11Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. 12I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. 13I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Looking Good? Or being good?
Proper 21A
But no one sat back confused wondering what Jesus was talking about.
It’s a pretty good straightforward story. One that it isn’t hard to identify with. I’m guessing we’ve all been in the role of the father, requesting action and getting lip in return or getting a great response but no action. And I’m sure we’ve all been in the place of both sons – saying no – and then ending up doing the right thing. Or more painful to admit – not backing up our polite responses with real action.
I’m guilty of this. And I’ve got a lot of reasons. If you ask me to do something, I want to make you happy – and the easiest way to do that is to say yes. Also, I want to be a good person – and it looks like the easiest way to do that is to say yes.
But the question really is – do I want most to be a good person – or do I want most to look like a good person? The truth is our culture values looking good, looking young, looking successful, looking happy – more than it values the actual thing itself. But growing into our actual self is what life is about – not what our mother wanted for us, or what our school wanted for us, or what we just thought was supposed to be – but what God intends for us.
There is a great story I’m sure you’ve heard before but it bears frequent repetition:
“When you die, Zushya,” the rabbis taught, “You will not be asked why you were not Moses. You will be asked why you were not Zushya.” The rabbis knew that being yourself is the best gift you have to give to the world. To be other than yourself is to have failed creation.
And that, my friends, is most challenging. Because it means being able to say no – when no is the thing most true to yourself. Or yes, when yes is the thing most true to your self. “Being entirely honest with oneself,” Freud wrote, “is a good exercise.” Because once we admit to ourselves why we are really doing what we are doing, we can choose, if not to leave it, at least to do it for different reasons.
Jesus told the church leaders that they were like whitewashed cemeteries – looking beautiful on the outside, but inside full of moldy dead bones.
In plain old church language – it’s called hypocrisy. A clergy friend said that a parishioner told her that he did not go to church any more, because there were nothing but hypocrites in there. She said she told him there was always room for one more; he didn’t like that. She admitted that she was stepping on his toes a little bit. But really she was just trying to let this man know that it’s only when we can’t admit that we have a bit of lie inside that we are in real trouble. When we don’t know that we cast a shadow that we are in danger. Because the truth is that in all of us there is something to be overcome. As Billy Graham put it “There is a bit of Watergate in all of us.”
But there is hope. The little white lies and the big fat black ones are not the end of the story. The phrase that drew my attention most in this gospel passage was: “changed his mind.” It occurs three times. The first son “changed his mind” and went and did what the father had asked of him. The tax collectors and prostitutes changed their minds and believed. But the church authorities to whom Jesus is speaking, even after they saw, did not “change their minds.”
I was interested in the Greek word that was translated as “changed his mind.” Normally, the Greek word used for changing one’s mind, or repenting is metanoia – meta meaning change and noia meaning mind. But this Gospel text used meta melo mai.
So, what are we most concerned with? With what other people think? The hard truth is we do not become ourselves by being what other people want us to be. When we are driven by the expectations of others, it is, as Anais Nin put it “To live on the reflections of ourselves in the eyes of others.” It is, in other words, not to fully live.
Or are we most concerned about growing up into the person God created us to be? And it is a growing up. At every major stage in life there is a moment when we outgrow what we were. Then, as Joan Chittester writes, I discover that, “I am not at all the sort of person you and I took me for.” At that moment, we come to new understandings about life, we make new decisions, we become new again, we grow.
Of course, growing in honesty is never an excuse for being less cultured, less gentle, less holy than we should be. It is not an excuse for brutality or meanness. Growing in honesty means growing more fully into the image of God that is stamped into each one of us. And while that is at times a bumpy road, it is never an excuse for behaving badly towards one another.
Because growing up into our most whole selves means, ultimately, growing into the way of the cross. Into the way of Jesus. Into the way that Paul so eloquently sings about in his letter to the Philippians – the way of humility, the way of service, the way of love. Growing up into our most whole selves means changing what we most care about – changing us from caring most about looking good to caring most about being good.
Resource: The
Monday, September 22, 2008
Dawn Patrol
Pentecost 20A
September 21, 2008
The Rev. Linda Campbell
Have you heard of the Dawn Patrol? Well – if you have ever been part of the Dawn Patrol – would you stand up? These people are heroes!! I don’t know what time they actually show up – but it’s really early – it’s still dark! And these guys – because I think it’s mostly a guy thing – came before the sun came up – and when I left at 5 PM yesterday, most of them were still here, cleaning up.
But then, there were all the people here Friday night. I was away – but I’ve heard it was really hopping!
And Leslie and Carol spent Friday roasting tomatoes out of Talbot’s garden, peeling the skins, and chopping them up, along with all these other ingredients, to make the best salsa.
And Karen, of course, overseeing the entire production! So, who can say when the work really began – it’s been going on for over 30 years, annually – this St. Alban’s Bazaar – this community building barn raising fundraiser.
But back to yesterday. I know Chuck was here before dark, and still here at 5 PM. And I know Jeff showed up around 3 – true to his word to the clean up crew – that he would be here to help clean up. And he, along with others who came towards the end of the day – brought the magnificently new energy. Having cared for his children and his classroom earlier in his day – now here he was, with the energy of the newly arrived – to move furniture, pack knick knacks, make decisions, and do the awesome work of clearing the hall.
Wow! Thought I. All of this – on the day before we hear the parable of God’s idea of fair wages! Jeff gets paid first – a good wage. And Chuck looks at Jeff getting paid and thinks, oh boy. I was here before it was even light. I’m going to get paid really well! And then, when Chuck gets to the pay window – he gets the same as Jeff.
Well ok – I don’t think they would get really upset – because, after all, we love each other- and Chuck knows that Jeff has other obligations – and that, in the end, it all balances out.
But anyone know who Mark McDonald is? Mark McDonald was the 1st employee of Microsoft. And he cashed all his stock options in when the company hit 400 employees, because he said, it was just getting too big. He cashed out rich. How do you think Mark McDonald would feel, if the 52,112th employee, the one hired just a month ago, got paid what Mark was paid when he cashed out? I think Mark would be steaming mad. I think that 52,112th employee would go home hugely happy. I think the company would go broke.
God’s ways are NOT our ways. Companies can’t run on this vineyard owner’s model – well – come to think of it- Jesus may be a better economist than the one’s crashing the markets right now - but I don’t think Jesus is really talking about this kind of economics.
One of the classes I led during the 1st Lent I was here – was a class called Talking about God and Money. Not many of you came. I don’t think you really knew how to put God and Money together in the same sentence! But some people from outside the church were really interested – and they came. And this parable was one of the one’s we read. After I read the parable – one of the women, from outside the church, said – well that’s really awful. That is totally unfair. Where did you get that story! I said that it was one of the stories that Jesus told – and she had a very hard time believing me. I don’t think she ever really did – what kind of Bible did Episcopalians use??!!
Will Willimon tells a very similar story. When he was Chaplain of Duke, he led a service in which Matthew 20: 1 – 16 was the lectionary text. When the service was done – a college student came up to him and said that she really enjoyed all his uses of stories, but the one he told about the wages was a really bad one. She didn’t like that one at all. Will asked her about her church affiliation. She said that this was the first time she’d been. Her boyfriend was in charge of the ushers, and one of them couldn’t show up, so she’d filled in to help him out. Will said – well, it is a really outrageous story – and I think you’re the only one who really got it!
I grew up with it – so I’m kind of ok with it. God does stuff like that. But you know where it really starts to rub with me? It really starts to rub in the whole arena of forgiveness. I know God forgives – that’s his specialty – forgiveness and mercy. But I want for some people – and I could name a few- to hurt - a lot - first – then when they’ve paid off a bit of their penalties – well, then maybe. But the idea of getting off, scotch free, is just really a pretty bitter pill for me to swallow sometimes. And I don’t believe in cheap grace- God doesn’t just let people off – I mean you have to receive and accept his forgiveness. But that doesn’t seem like enough. I want for there to be punishment and some revenge. How much? I don’t know. But when you show up at the last minute, at God’s mercy seat, after hurting a lot of people, I don’t think you should get the same goodies as the people who showed up early on, and spent a lifetime practicing forgiveness and goodness.
But you know what? I’m not in charge! The Universe doesn’t operate according to my principles!
The story we didn’t read this morning is the story of Jonah. You might remember Jonah because he tried to run a way from God and spent time in the whale’s belly, before he finally decided to go God’s way. Well – do you know WHY he tried to run away from God? God said he needed someone to go and try to get through to the Ninevites. Now the Ninevites were not nice people. They were war like, they skinned people alive and nailed them up to their walls to die and in some years after the Jonah story, they would conquer Jonah’s people and treat them really badly. And the
And we need that kind of mercy! There are fires raging in the world – fires of injustice, fires of war, fires of poverty, fires of depression and anxiety, fires of fear. And God’s love and mercy IS our salvation. Whether you have been called to man the fire hose for a long time, or whether you’ve just showed up – believe me, God can use your help – and so can we – and so can all of creation. Welcome to you old timers! Welcome to you new comers.
God is about boundless love for the world – lavished indiscriminately, upon you, upon me, upon others. And it’s up to you whether we view your own work in God’s vineyard, or God’s firehouse, or God’s household – whatever metaphor you want to use – whether you view your work as a gift from God or as mere endurance of the scorching heat. I invite you to understand your work – whether it’s with the Dawn Patrol, or the Clean up Crew, whether it’s in the classroom, or in the kitchen, whether it’s taking chemotherapy, or running triathalons – whatever work God has given you, I invite you to understand it as a gift, a fulfillment of your created purpose, and not merely as endurance of the scorching heat of day. The work itself is the gift. And trust that the God who called you – will also amply and fully reward you.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
A Way Forward
Pentecost 19A
A Way Forward
The Rev. Linda Campbell
The scriptures say that the pillar of cloud came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. Putting these two armies together in the same sentence almost makes you think that they were comparable. But the army of Israel consisted of rag tag slaves, men, women and children, oppressed by years and years of massively hard work, intended to cow them into utter submission – while the army of Egypt consisted of battle hardened soldiers, equipped with the finest and latest weaponry the Empire could afford – and as it was a very rich Empire, it could afford the finest and most modern that were available.
While we may read this as a metaphor for spiritual battle – spiritual freedom from fears or addictions – for the slaves – this was no metaphor. There was real water in front of them and a real army behind them and no way of escape – no way through. Can you imagine the terror? The mother’s with their babies and toddlers, the men who had nothing to fight with, the weeping of this people who were now certain of their death.
This morning’s reading continues the central organizing story of Judaism – the exodus from slavery into freedom, THE STORY of protection and power wrought on their behalf by God.
The account began when Pharaoh ordered the slave boy babies killed because he was afraid of the growing strength of his slaves. But one baby’s mother hid her baby and set him afloat on the water, hoping for a miracle. A miracle did happen – and the boy lived and grew up in Pharaoh’s courts. As a man, he awakened to the plight of his people, became enraged and killed an overlord and then escaped into the desert – trying to put all the misery of slavery and ill fortune behind him. But God would not let him go – he called him back from the desert to lead his people. Then the multiple disasters of pollution and death befell the Kingdom and there was much mourning throughout the Empire – but these disasters opened the way for Moses and his people to escape. God inspired and God protected they hurriedly packed what they could carry and lit out, in the dark of night.
But they did not get very far before they hit a stone wall – which is where they are in this morning’s reading - the sea in front of them and the pursuing army of their captors behind them. The raucous joy of their escape must have died in their hearts when they saw the impossibility of their situation.
There is nothing about our lives or our nation’s life that comes close to approximating this position – or is there? I visited this week with Michael Barlow, who is the Diocesan staff person in charge of congregational development – and he said that he had just had a conversation with Bishop Marc in which the Bishop said that we had about 100 months left in which to address global warming before the planet reached a tipping point in which nothing we do will stop the disastrous effects. 100 months. And the headlines that grab the news have to do with lipstick and moose hunting. Does this make you feel crazy? Does it make you feel doomed? Honestly, sitting in the beautiful offices at
unless you are in
As it is about to for these Israelites.
But then, “The angel of God moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud came between the army of
A way opened. A way where there was no way. A path where there was no path. A road to freedom where there had been no road, no way, no path, no escape. God acted, intervened, on behalf of an impoverished, powerless people. God acted before they were a people, before they had been formed in faith. God acted on their behalf before they were even capable of praising him. Their response of faith and praise would come later. First, they were only able to put one foot in front of the other, carrying their children along with them as they took their first steps forward, driven as much by fear and the impossibility of going back, as by anything else.
That God acted on their behalf before they could properly respond has been the good news carried forward for millennium by the Judeo faith. It is a gospel that cannot afford to ever, ever be lost. It is the Gospel that Christ carried forward in his own body as it was nailed to the cross. “Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.”
I have no idea what to do about the 100 months left to stop the rapid warming of the planet. I have no idea what to do about moose hunting headlines rather than substantial debate on issues. I have no idea what to do about terrorist bombings or massive civilian casualties. What I do know is what I am fed on week by week – the Word of God carried in the people of God, the scriptures and the sacraments. I am fed by the Gospel that God acts on behalf of the poor and powerless. And that I am called to do so as well. That God, through Christ, forgives us poor sinners who can’t tell our right hand from our left. And that I am called to do so as well. I am fed by the Gospel of praise and thanksgiving that the people of
We belong to a beloved community that follows whatever pathway God opens up into what looks like an impossible future. We belong to a beloved community that forgives because that’s what Jesus did. We belong to a beloved community that sings in faith and praise trusting in God’s overarching goodness and salvation.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Living the Rule
The Rev. Linda Campbell
"Welcome!"
Matthew 10: 40 - 42
Proper 8A
The last couple of weeks, you have been treated to some great preaching. A couple weeks ago, Nancy Olson told us stories about what the hospitality and companionship of this parish and of other Christians meant to her as she raised her mildly autistic son and followed a call into ordained service. Bishop Marc told us stories of welcome and hospitality experienced by his father, when he was a young man in
I have long thought that hospitality is the core Christian virtue, and have preached this in every parish I have served – every youth group I have led, every Sunday School class I have taught. I am firmly convinced of the accuracy of the Benedictine rule: “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me”… Once a guest has been announced, the superior and the community are to meet the guest with all the courtesy of love. First of all, they are to pray together and thus be united in peace…. Great care and concern are to be shown in receiving poor people and pilgrims, because in them more particularly Christ is received; our very awe of the rich guarantees them special respect.” Follow the Benedictine rule and you will find that it helps you slow down and pay attention. It will help you see God - in the young and the old. In the rich and the poor. In the people you know - and the people you don't know.
I've been in a funk recently and so I know it's time to renew my commitment to deliberately practice hospitality - to go out of my way, every day, to open my mind and my heart and my life to others. I invite you to reflect with me on what welcoming life looks like.
I was a bit chagrined last week when Bishop Marc reported that he had had an extra five minutes on his way here – and so when he saw the Code Pink house on
The truth is that a heart that welcomes the prophet and the teacher and the little ones – is “a place where the truth of the oneness of all things shatters all barriers, a point where all the differences of the world meet and melt, where Jew and Gentile, slave and free, woman and man all come together as equals.” And that, my friends, is the beginning of revolution. When we let new people and new ideas into our hearts, we begin to shape a new world. The good thing is that it is a new world that is filled with a lot of potential friends rather than probable enemies!
Being truly welcoming means bending some efforts to change things, to make a haven for the helpless, to be a voice for the voiceless – it means stretching our ideas of home and family and church to others. What I don’t want for my family and friends and fellow church goers – I do not want for others. What I want for my children, I want for the children of
Monday, June 09, 2008
Movin' On
The Rev. Linda Campbell Proper 5A : Genesis 12: 1 – 9; Romans 4: 13 – 25; Matthew 9: 9 -13; 18- 26 “Movin’ On”
One voice: Father Abraham has many sons.
Many Voices: Black ones and white one,s yellow, brown, and red ones.
All: We all claim Father Abraham!
One voice: Mother Sarah has many daughters.
Many Voices: Poor ones and rich ones; young ones, retired ones.
All: We all claim mother Sarah!
One voice: I have a story, you have a story, and God has a story.
Look for yourself in the story of Father Abraham.
Many Voices: And Mother Sarah.
All: And all people of faith!
(from 21st Century Africana Worship Resource, United Methodist, by Safiyah Fosua)
My eldest son moved this weekend – from
When Abraham came home from the fields one day with the news that they were moving, I have no idea what Sarah did with all her belongings. Unlike the move from
What ever possessed them then to pack up and move?
One word - God. God – who rather routinely messes with the way thing are, the way things have always been, the way things have always been done.
These two elderly people way, way, back in the day, became the archetype of faith. They gave up the way things were because God called them. That God called them to journey into something new and strange and unknown must have been difficult – but there also must have been something so irresistible about God’s call – that Abraham and Sarah found themselves willing to move beyond three very human, very powerful and very deep-seated fears—
fear of the unknown; fear of others who are different, and fear of impotency or powerlessness in the face of the impossible.*
Who knows why God spoke to Abraham? But God did – and Abraham responded. And as he followed God without knowing where he would end up or what his life would be like - he became the very archetype of faithful living.
First, God called Abraham to leave his home and, with it, everything that was familiar: "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you" (12:1). So, Abraham gathered up his immediate family and left – setting out for a place he’d never been to, on a route he didn’t know. He and Sarah left all that was familiar – their comforts, their extended family and friends, all the regularity and rhythms of their lives. Abraham and his wife exchanged their clarity about their place and their purpose for a future of genuine and profound not knowing. They journeyed from what they had to what they did not have. They journeyed from the known to the unknown, and from everything that was familiar to everything that was strange. The apostle Paul was so struck by this obedience to God’s call that he wrote about Abraham in his letter to the Hebrews: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home (in the Promised Land) like a stranger in a foreign country" (Hebrews 11:8–9). “In his journey into the unknown, Abraham embraced ignorance, relinquished control, and chose to live with confidence in God's promise to bless him in a new and strange place.”* (Journeys with Jesus, Dan Clendenin)
But to do so, Abraham had to leave behind a small minded, parochial vision. God told this wealthy, but obscure, Semitic nomad, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” God narrowed his promise down to this one person – in order to open out again into all the families of the earth. And that meant that Abraham had an even longer journey to make than the physical one. Because in addition to parting with their home and their possessions, Abraham and Sarah had to part with their prejudices and assumptions. And that is not easy.
Prejudices and assumptions are most often hidden from us – we don’t even know they are there, until we are put into some situation in which they come blazing out, or someone tells us about them. I recently completed an anti-racism training with the Diocese. It is required for all clergy. None of us likes to think of ourselves as racist- but the truth is, we are. We cannot help it. Racism is not just about prejudice – it is about imbalance of power. And the truth is, it is often hidden from the people who don’t actively experience the consequences of it.
Is racism the only “ism” scar that runs deep throughout us? By no means. But it is a window through which we can clearly see the truth that “our common tendency is to fear the other, to suspect and marginalize the strange, to dismiss all that is different from who and what we know.” And almost all of the time – we don’t even know we are doing it.
We find subtle ways to dismiss what does not please us, and to get rid of what offends us, whether that is ideas or people. Eugene Peterson, in his book Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places says that it is common to “construct religious clubs instead of entering resurrection communities..” (Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, 2005) The truth is we dismiss difference under a variety of guises – “we want to stay small” “we like doing things this way” “we are traditional” “there’s no need for anything to change.”
If this is uncomfortable – it is meant to be. Since I arrived at
Thankfully, God keeps knocking at the door of the religious clubs we construct –calling us out, out, to enter God’s resurrection community… - a community that includes people and music and cultures and worship and outreach and neighbors who look and act different.
Resurrection, by it’s nature, is messy and rarely follows the rules. The dead, after all, are supposed to stay dead. But then, God raised Jesus from the dead. People in their 70’s are supposed to stay at home and they’re not supposed to become first time parents! But Abraham and Sarah left the comforts of home for the rigors of crossing into the
What amazing ancestors we have! What a pattern they’ve give us for a full life! When and if God taps you on the shoulder – do you hold your life lightly enough to leave behind the comforts of the known, to become a sojourner who is open to real difference – and to believe in the impossible?
Like Abraham and Sarah,
Where is your story in this story? Where is
Praise be to God.
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