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Light at the end of the tunnel…

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

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I am traveling this weekend for a friend’s consecration as Suffragan Bishop and for a week of spiritual retreat.  Because my daughter is traveling with me and spending the week with her grandfather, the logistics planning has been a bit of a nightmare.  At points over the last two weeks, I have been longing to just get there and be done with all this chaos.  The trip itself is sort of the light at the end of a dark tunnel of details.

How often we do this with any sort of getaway.  We spend so much energy getting ready for the trip – settling details at work and at home, packing, and securing plans for the trip – that our time in the present is a bit of a blur.  That has been my reality lately.  In the midst of my tunnel of details, some pretty incredible things have been happening.  In the last week alone, I met with a group of aspirants, considering a calling to ordained ministry, I watched my daughter perform in the end-of-year concert at school, I went to my daughter’s first musical, I celebrated a fantastic year of service from our devoted Altar Guild, we recognized our choir for all their hard work this year, I finally met the first rector of my parish who has shaped the lives of so many of my parishioners, and I spent some time with a couple preparing for marriage.  Add to that a date night – the first one my husband and I have had in about six months – and it has been a pretty fantastic week.

I wonder how often we do this in life.  We get so caught up in the routine, or our full schedules, or our worries of the day, that we forget to see God at work in our lives, blessing us abundantly.  That tunnel of darkness can create tunnel vision.  Our eyes become so focused forward that we miss everything around us.  But God is in the midst of everything around us, beckoning us into a life of joy and celebration – a presence of mind that can recognize God’s presence.  Though I am very much looking forward to this coming week, I am especially grateful just for today.  I am grateful to God for the abundant blessings in my life and grateful for the God who has enough patience and grace for a busybody like me.

If you have spent much time with me, you may have noticed that I begin most of my prayers with these words, “Gracious God, thank you for the gift of this day…”  Today, I am trying to live into that prayer, being grateful for each and every day God gives me.

Sermon – I Kings 17.8-24, P5, YC, June 9, 2013

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

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Last week I lost my watch.  When I say that I lost my watch, I do not mean I misplaced my watch.  I went for a walk, took the watch off while I was walking, and about an hour after my walk realized the watch was gone.  I searched the path of my walk, I looked all over the church and our house, but the watch is gone.  Now, truthfully, a watch is certainly replaceable, but this watch was sentimental – a gift from a special occasion that meant a lot to me.  So, of course, ever since I lost my watch, I have been praying to St. Anthony.  St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost things.  The prayer I learned, and have been praying for over a week is, “St. Anthony, St. Anthony, please come around, something is lost that cannot be found.”  Though I know the watch is most likely gone, I keep occasionally offering up the prayer with some desperate sense of hope.

We do funny things in our prayer lives, especially when things are not going our way.  We have been known to bargain with God.  “God, if you please just grant this one thing, I promise I will never blank again.”  We have been known to try to negotiate with God.  “I know that I am not perfect, God, but let me tell you about all the good I have done.  Surely you can grant this one thing to your faithful servant.”  And we have been known to rail at God.  “How can you do this to me God?  Haven’t I been through enough?!?”  Sure, we know the Lord’s Prayer, and we may pray the daily office at home, and we may even pray with scripture, especially our favorite psalms.  But when we are at our lowest, when we feel like we have tried everything we are supposed to say or do with God, sometimes our prayers simply reveal our broken, frustrated, desperate spirits.

This is the prayer that Elijah offers today.  Elijah has already created quite the imposition on a poor widow.  Elijah goes to the widow, a woman who is about to die of starvation, and asks her to feed and house him.  Now, God takes care of the widow’s lack of food, but while Elijah is still there, the woman’s son almost dies of illness.  The woman blames Elijah, and Elijah at first seems fairly composed as he asks for the boy.  But when he retires to another room with boy, Elijah lets God have it.  Elijah cries out to God in anger, rage, and despair.[i]  “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?”  Elijah does not come to God with a polite request that God heal the son.  Elijah does not offer some traditional prayer of healing.  Elijah simply cries out to God.  He cries out to God for the injustice done to this poor widow – who is already clearly impoverished by having no husband.  The death of an only son would mean certain death for her as well.  Her son was her only hope for survival in this world.[ii]  Elijah boldly accuses God of an injustice – in fact accuses God of killing this boy and all that he represents to the widow.

Some may hear in Elijah’s prayer a sense of self-interest.  If he is proclaiming to be a man of God, and God then kills this woman’s only sense of hope, then the death makes Elijah look bad.  Who wants to follow a prophet of a God who kills the downtrodden?  Or, we might hear Elijah’s prayer as petulant.  Perhaps he sounds like a man whining about fairness – something childish and narrow-minded.  But I hear Elijah’s prayer as both fully human and as an honest portrayal of someone with an intimate relationship with God.  In any intimate relationship, the overly polite ways of being with one another end eventually.  In time, the only thing that works in that intimate relationship is being brutally and fully honest, holding one another to account and being totally open about the good and the bad of the relationship.  This is what Elijah is doing here.  Elijah, who knows God intimately, holds God to account.  “Really, God?  This is how you are going to treat people?  You claim to care about the poor and oppressed, and you have forced me to impose on this poor widow, and now you are going to let her only son, her only source of potential security die??”  Elijah does not ask this of God for himself or out of a sense of injustice.  Elijah asks this of a God whom he knows to be better than this – a God who loves and cares for the poor and oppressed.  And he also knows that God can do the impossible.  Elijah knows that God can bring this child from death to life.

What I love about this passage is twofold.  First, I love the very human, intimate depiction of prayer.  As Episcopalians, with our reliance on our Prayer Book and our desire for beauty and intelligence when we talk to God, we can become so formal with God that we forget that we have a real relationship with God who can handle our real words.  We can be brutally honest with God or even angry with God, and God will still love us.  We can be vulnerable and frustrated and desperate with God.  We can even come to God when we do not have words – when our emotions are so overwhelming that we no longer have anything left to say.  Elijah gives us permission today to be fully ourselves with the God who loves us no matter what.

I also love that we get this passage today because today is our monthly healing service.  Since I have been at St. Margaret’s, I have been regularly asked questions about our healing services.  Our tradition of monthly healing services that began well before my time here still has many of us questioning.  I have had adults ask me who they are allowed to ask prayers for – whether they can only ask for healing prayers for themselves or whether they can ask for healing for others as well.  I have had some of our teens ask me what we are actually doing when we lay hands on people.  Even my own daughter asked me why I made the sign of the cross on her forehead when she came forward once.  Elijah points the way to answers for those questions today.  By praying our litany of healing and by coming forward for ourselves and others, we proclaim several things.  We proclaim that intimate relationship with God means that we can be fully honest about all that is ailing us, our neighbors, and the oppressed.  We proclaim that God can do the impossible through prayer and we offer up our hopes that the impossible is possible for us too.  And we proclaim that although we may not understand God in the midst of suffering, we still come to God, hoping for healing, hoping for clarity, hoping for peace.  Whether you come forward today for healing is actually not that important.  What is most important is that you know that you can, that you know that your God is a God who can do the impossible but who also cares for you so deeply that God can handle all the parts of you – the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Amen.

[i] Carolyn J. Sharp, “Theological Perspective,” Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 3 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 100.

[ii] Glaucia Vasconcelos Wilkey, “Pastoral Perspective, Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 3 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 102.

Homily – Zechariah 1.7-11, Ini Kopuria, June 6, 2013

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

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Today we celebrate the life of Ini Kopuria.  Born in the Solomans in the early 20th century, Ini studied as a young man at an Anglican school, meant to train young men to teach their own people.  Though many sensed his calling early on, Ini first became a police officer.  He gained respect there for his dedication and witness.  Later Ini left the police force and was the first Elder of the Melanesian Brotherhood, an Anglican order devoted to spreading the Gospel among non-Christian areas in Melanesia.  The order focused on simplicity and peacekeeping.

I just met with a Diocesan discernment committee for people discerning a call to ordained ministry.  What I have seen over the years is that discerning God’s will in our lives is never easy.  Often our paths go all over the place, taking unexpected turns, especially when we are avoiding God’s call on our lives.  Like Ini, we sometimes boldly choose paths that we later find do not feed us, or at least do not use all the gifts God has given us.  Discerning God’s call is hard, and takes much work.

What I like about Ini’s story is that he reminds us that even if we are not currently where we are called to be or have made missteps in our discernment, God uses all of our journey to feed us and others.  Though he served as a cop and later became an elder in the Brotherhood, the two vocations informed one another.  After keeping the secular peace, he later fought for sacred peace – a peace motivated by the God of Peace.  That last line in Zechariah reminds me of Ini’s life: the passage describes a vision of horses who proclaim, “We have patrolled the earth, and lo, the whole earth remains at peace.”  Ini’s whole life was about peace, even if it took different forms and shapes.

Though God uses us differently at different stages of our life, that does not mean we are not wholly ourselves.  The common thread of our identity remains true.  No matter what our vocation, God can use our specific gifts.  Our invitation is to be in discernment about how God can use us in this moment, in this place, with our specific gifts.  God can always use us for good, no matter what our current situation.  Amen.

The good use of leisure…

05 Wednesday Jun 2013

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IMG_8840This past Sunday was our Annual Parish Picnic and Mass on the Grass.  We take this time after Memorial Day weekend to celebrate a wonderful program year and to transition into our summer service schedule, when we merge our two worship services into one at 9:30 am.  Sunday was fantastic!  The sun was shining, there was a light breeze, and the excitement of summer was in the air.  We celebrated the completion of another year of Sunday School, recognizing both our teachers and children for all their hard work.  We shared Holy Communion surrounded by God’s creation.  And then we enjoyed the gift our property as we ate, laughed, played, and relaxed.

The Book of Common Prayer has a collect about these sorts of times:  O God, in the course of this busy life, give us times of refreshment and peace; and grant that we may so use our leisure to rebuild our bodies and renew our minds, that our spirits may be opened to the goodness of your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  (BCP, 825)  This past Sunday was a time of refreshment and peace for me.  My husband and I were able to relax as our daughter ran and played with the other kids.  I was able to catch up with people and hear about their summer plans – those other times of refreshment that are planned.  And I was even able to get some exercise when the kids took a break from the bounce house.

But like any good collect, there is always a “so that.”  Collects are prayers written with a specific formula – an address to God, a request from God, a hoped for outcome from the request, and a conclusion.  The “so that” in this prayer is that we might rebuild our bodies, renew our minds, and that our spirits may be opened to the goodness of God’s creation.  In many ways that is the “so that” for our summer season.  We slow down a bit and we ease off some of our programming.  We take that rest so that our minds can be renewed and our strength rebuilt – so that we are able to be reenergized for God’s work in a few months.

So this summer, although we slow down, we also use this time in meetings for strategy and planning.  We pause to reflect on what has worked and what we can do better.  We take a deep breath and listen for the Holy Spirit – something we often do not do in the chaos of our busy lives.  Perhaps we even pick up a book that feeds us spiritually (to read along with whatever trashy novel or self-indulgent magazine we picked up for the beach!), that might inform our future work.  I am excited for what this summer holds for St. Margaret’s, and am looking forward to the ways that God will be refreshing all of us.

Homily – I Kings 18.20-39, P4, YC, June 2, 2013

05 Wednesday Jun 2013

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Having gotten through Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, we now enter the season the church calls “ordinary time.”  But there is nothing ordinary about the lessons we get during this time.  This Sunday’s Old Testament lesson is a classic example.  King Ahab is one of the worst kings the Israelites have had.  He encourages worship of Baal, the god who is supposed to bring water to fertilize the soil, in addition to the God of Israel.  But there has been a three-year drought in the land, and Elijah is going to use this opportunity to prove the Israelites wrong about Baal.  So he challenges the prophets of Baal to a duel.  Whoever can get their god to rain fire upon the bull sacrifice will be the true God.  So the Baal prophets spend all day praying to Baal, dancing around the altar, going to extremes such as cutting themselves to get Baal to perform.  The whole time Elijah mocks them.  Then Elijah dramatically gets his sacrifice ready, and even has the Israelites pour water all over the wood, just to prove how awesome Yahweh is when Yahweh rains a fire down that consumes the whole thing.  One could argue that Elijah is being a bit rude, if not pompous, in this story.  But what Elijah is actually revealing is an intense, deep trust in God – a trust that is so profound that he is willing to make bold statements without hesitation about God in front of everyone.

One of the things Elijah accuses the people of is limping along with two different opinions – not entirely sure that God will care for them, so investing devotion to Baal just in case.  Too often we are like the Israelites.  We too can be found only sort of trusting God, and putting our trust in other things – just in case.  We lack Elijah’s boldness because we are just not as sure as he is.  I have seen that lack of total trust just in these last several months.  Since I came here about a year and a half ago, we have been working hard, making lots of changes.  But I see the hard work is taking a toll.  We are getting tired and I am not sure we are convinced all our work will pay off.  And so we are beginning to hold back.  I noticed the reaction first in myself.  The questions started bubbling up:  Can we make this work?  Will we have the money?  Will we have the energy?  Do we have the same chutzpah that Elijah has?  I have noticed us starting to eye one another, as we peer over what feels like a cliff.  There is this sort of stand-off:  If you jump, I’ll jump.  We are like the Israelites.  Elijah says to them, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions?  If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”  The text says that the Israelites do not answer him a word.

In contrast to all of this is Elijah.  He has a brazen trust in God.  He is so bold that he mocks others; he has water poured on the wood, not just once, but three times; only then does he call down the fire from God.  Even after three years of draught, Elijah does not doubt that God will give a sign to the people – he trusts that God does not abandon God’s people.

In the midst of our silent stand-off, I see a glimpse of Elijah in all of us too.  Just watching us at the Parade last week gave me hope.  Over twenty of us gathered to walk – even those of us who have told me that they do not feel comfortable with evangelism at all.  And when we gathered, I watched us talking to friends and strangers, having meaningful conversations, handing out our business cards, smiling, and waving.  These are actions that show a bold trust in God.  Our invitation is to hold on to that trust, to stop limping along with two opinions, and to just jump off that cliff with each other.  I am willing to make that jump, and I know that God will enable us to jump together.  And when we do, we will say those same words that the Israelites proclaim when they witness God’s power:  The LORD indeed is God; the LORD indeed is God.  Amen.

Homily – Luke 1.39-57, Romans 12.9-16b, Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, May 30, 2013

05 Wednesday Jun 2013

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Today we celebrate the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  This is the story where Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist.  I have always loved this story in Scripture.  There is something so intimate, sacred, and profound about this moment.  In the womb, babies are declaring the messiahship of Jesus; Elizabeth utters words that will be recited over and over again in the “Hail Mary”; Mary sings a song that will be sung in thousands of ways by thousands of churches over thousands of years.  But all of this happens in the most unlikely place – between two women, who we know had little power; by one woman who is pregnant and unwed; and by another who is too old to be having children.  In these unlikely characters, who have little to no power in their world, something revolutionary is taking place – something society would deem only worthy of kings and the powerful.

I have often wondered how much we miss about God because we look in the wrong places.  When we are seeking truth and intimacy with God, we are more likely to consult scholars or religious leaders.  We are so accustomed to experiencing God in particular ways and places that we can miss God speaking to us, or the Holy Spirit circling around us.  We are quick to label a kicking child in the womb as just a kicking child – not the Spirit speaking truth.

To encourage us to live in ways that access God in unexpected ways, we get Paul’s words to the Romans: outdo one another in showing honor, serve the Lord, contribute to the needs of the saints, extend hospitality to strangers, bless those who persecute you, associate with the lowly.  Paul knows that we experience God most in encounters with others, especially those not valued by society or even us.

Knowing what we know about how God works – revealing truth in unexpected ways and through unexpected persons – our invitation today is to be a people actively seeking God in those places.  We will have to risk scary encounters, we will have to step out of comfort zones, and we will have to always be attentive.  Because when we do, the promise of God’s revelation is an awesome ride.  Amen.

A spark…

29 Wednesday May 2013

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One of the things we have been looking at as a parish is how to more intentionally engage in evangelism.  The conversation has not been easy.  We have all been victim of an overzealous religious person who has made us feel uncomfortable.  A few of us have hidden behind closed curtains from someone knocking at our door to share their testimony.  Some of us have crossed on the opposite side of the street from the guy with a Bible, a loud voice, and a handful of tracts.  And of course, we ourselves have begun to overcompensate, avoiding talking about our faith altogether in non-church circles for fear of becoming “that guy.”

But we have been prayerfully working on seeing evangelism not as uncomfortable, out-of-touch haranguing, but as a grace-filled conversation about the goodness and grace of God in our lives.  We have been prayerfully considering how we can create the environment for such conversations.  And we looking at ways to meet people where they are, knowing that we cannot expect to share the Good News if we stay closed up in our church.

Perhaps without even realizing it, this week we did just that.  Last Wednesday, we gathered with people of faith throughout the Plainview-Old Bethpage community and made 495 sandwiches to feed our hungry neighbors.  We shared the work together, we got to know people from other faith traditions and communities, and we prayerfully thought of the men and women whose lives would be touched by our strokes of peanut butter and jelly.

Then, on Monday, over twenty of our parishioners gathered to walk in the Plainview Memorial Day Parade.  I watched as parishioners, clad in St. Margaret’s gear, shook the hands of old friends, had conversations with strangers, and waved with gusto.  As we walked, I overheard onlookers wondering about our Garden of Eatin’ (check out our Facebook page for our fun shirts, props, and banners), talking about where we were located, and not-so-subtly realizing I was the priest.

After the walk, parishioners re-gathered at the church, and planted our Grow to Give Garden.  Our garden is located near the road that our church faces, and I can see that the garden might be a great invitation into our property.  The garden already has brought young and old together.  I am hoping it might also bring parishioner and non-parishioner together too.

handshakeThis week, we started the work of evangelism.  My hope is that the experience gives us some energy around keeping it up.  I am already considering what local establishments I might begin to frequent when I do my sermon preparation.  The Vestry is beginning to ask some of our committees and groups to consider moving off campus to better be seen by and to encounter our community.  Our work is just beginning, but this weekend gave me the spark to keep it up.  See you at a local Starbucks, Cosi, or Panera soon!!

Sermon – John 16.12-15, TS, YC, May 26, 2013

29 Wednesday May 2013

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When I was in seminary, I audited a class entitled, “Living Biblically:  Money, Sex, Power, Violence, and The Meaning of Life.”  The title alone made me want to take the class.  The class spent the quarter studying Jesus’ words and actions for some clues.  Of course, I did not leave the class with all the answers.  But the one thing that stuck with me from the class was this:  when looking for answers to “What would Jesus do?” you have to look at not only what Jesus says, but also what he does.  That may sound simple and obvious enough, but what we slowly began to realize is that what Jesus says and what Jesus does are often opposites.  So, if you look at what Jesus says, you find some pretty harsh words about how to live life and who is to be judged.  But if you look at what Jesus does, you find him living in a much more permissive and forgiving way.  We came to see Jesus as one with high standards and a low threshold for forgiveness and grace.  Of course, that did not mean we got all of our answers to our 21st Century questions about money, sex, power, violence, and the meaning of life, let alone answers to our questions about science, technology, and our modern world.

That is why I find our gospel lesson today so comforting.  Our lesson from John today is part of Jesus’ farewell speech with his disciples – his last words during that Last Supper.  You can imagine the hushed room, the feeling of something ominous approaching, the questions by the disciples, and the ever-patient Jesus trying to explain all the things they need to know.  Finally, Jesus utters these words today, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”  You can almost hear the frustration in his voice, as if he is saying, “I wish I could explain everything to you now fully, but I just can’t.”  In the midst of the weight of such a conversation, Jesus promises something better than they could possibly imagine:  the Holy Spirit.  Jesus explains that Holy Spirit will come and will continue to guide the disciples.  All of the things that they cannot understand now, all of the things Jesus cannot say, will be revealed to them through the Holy Spirit in the years to come.  Though Jesus will be physically absent from them, Jesus will be continually present with them through the Holy Spirit, revealing truth and perhaps even revealing what Jesus would do.

I think why I find this passage so comforting is not simply because we are promised the presence of God with us.  What I find comforting about this passage is that truth is not locked away in some book or some person from two thousand years ago.  Truth is accessible here and now through the Holy Spirit.  We call our scriptures the Living Word because the Holy Spirit enlivens the Word and speaks truth to us, even today.  This is also why we still have the community of faith– because the Holy Spirit creates for us fresh encounters with the revelation of Jesus.[i]  Jesus knew that our changing circumstances would bring new questions and challenges that would require us to think afresh, and Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will get us through.

On this Trinity Sunday, I am grateful that we get this passage.  Although we just had Pentecost, the Church is not always great about talking about the Holy Spirit.  Sure, we regularly say the Trinitarian combination “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” liturgically, but rarely do we give the Holy Spirit the credit the Holy Spirit is due.  I think the challenge is that we fear the Holy Spirit a little too much.  When we hear talk of the Holy Spirit, we are afraid someone is going to start acting strangely and then claim they were slain in the Spirit.  We are afraid that “the movement of the Holy Spirit” is just code for the movement that a particular person or group wants.  We are afraid our worship will become some seventies, hippie version of God to whom we cannot relate.  I know we are afraid or at least uncomfortable because I cannot remember the last Episcopalian I know, including myself, who began a prayer addressing the Holy Spirit as opposed to God or Jesus.

But this is how I know that the Holy Spirit is still present among us, guiding us to all truth.  One of the primary areas I see the movement of the Holy Spirit is in the practice of preaching.  I always say that somewhere between the preacher and the congregation is the Holy Spirit.  Preaching does not work without the Holy Spirit.  I cannot tell you the number of times I have sat down after preaching a sermon and thought that the sermon was probably the worst one I have ever preached.  But without fail, the sermons I think are the worst often receive positive feedback.  I also cannot tell you the number of times I have gotten into the pulpit with a specific message in mind, only to have a parishioner speak to me later about how something I said was so meaningful to them – only I swear I never said what they think I said.  Somehow the Holy Spirit helps the preacher to glean truth, and the Holy Spirit helps the congregation to glean truth.  Those truths may not be the same truths, but they are truths that lead us closer to God – which is what Jesus promises in our gospel lesson anyway.

Now, I do not mean to insinuate that this revelation only comes through preaching.  Revelation comes throughout our lives together.  The revelation of the Holy Spirit comes in that friend, coworker, or schoolmate who says something so profound that their words stick with you for weeks, and leads you into deeper prayer.  The revelation of the Holy Spirit comes in Bible Study or in an outreach activity when some experience leaves you with a profound sense of the holy in your life.  The revelation of the Holy Spirit comes in the mouths of our children, who say the most sacred and surprising things that open up new truth in unexpected ways.

This is why we dedicate an entire Sunday to celebrating the Trinity.  Without the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, we would not experience our spiritual journey in the same way.  Perhaps we are not truly comfortable labeling the Holy Spirit in our lives or praying to the Holy Spirit, but that does not mean that the Holy Spirit is not ever present in our journey – in fact, making that journey possible in the first place.  We take today to celebrate the mysterious nature of all three persons who make up the one substance of the Trinity[ii] because only through this relational nature of the Trinity is our faith enlivened and is truth revealed.  So today, your invitation is to figure out your invitation.  Perhaps your invitation is to pray with a person of the Trinity that you have been avoiding for a while.  Perhaps your invitation is to listen for the ways that the Holy Spirit is revealing truth to you.  Or perhaps your invitation is to see the movement of the Holy Spirit through others this week.  On this Trinity Sunday, there is no way of avoiding invitation.  The question is which invitation is for you?  Amen.

[i] Eugene C. Bay, “Pastoral Perspective,” Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 3 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 46.

[ii] Philip Turner, “Theological Perspective,” Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 3 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 44.

Homily – Genesis 1.14-19, Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler, May 23, 2013

29 Wednesday May 2013

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Today we celebrate Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler.  Both lived in the 1500s, although they were born about a century apart.  If you remember, Copernicus was the first to put out the theory that the sun, rather than the earth, was the center of the universe, around which the planets rotated.  Kepler helped solidify this theory.  Both men saw no conflict between their theory and their faith.  Copernicus dedicated his work to the Pope, and Kepler saw in the relationship between the sun and the rotating planets the image of God.  But as you may also remember, religious thought was uncomfortable with this idea.  A great debate ensued, as though science and religion could not operate together.

Truthfully, I am not sure we have ever recovered from this debate.  There are still Christians who believe faith and science are not compatible.  Many centuries after Copernicus and Kepler, we are still pushing scientific minds away from the church.  I think part of the challenge is that our favorite stories from Scripture, especially like the part of the creation story we heard today, do not always make logical sense.  As we become older, we fear that if we start questioning those stories, our whole faith might unravel.

But the saints of God have been telling us differently for centuries, if we are willing to hear.  Copernicus saw no conflict between his theory and the authority of Scripture.  Kepler was able see the image of God in his work.  “Both men, through their life’s work, testified to the extraordinary presence of God in creation and maintained, in the face of both religious and scientific controversy, that science can lead us more deeply into an understanding of the workings of the Creator.”

Just over our vacation, we had coffee with an old friend.  She had been struggling with her faith because she saw so many discrepancies between what she knew as a scientist and teacher and as a woman of faith.  In our conversation, I was reminded of a campaign the Episcopal Church ran many years ago.  It said, “Jesus died to take away your sins, not your mind.”  Like the beauty and wonder of this place we live in that God created, God also created us in God’s image.  God invites us every day to live fully into the gifts, talents, and mind that God has given us.  Amen.

 

Seeds of hope…

22 Wednesday May 2013

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Planting This weekend our parish will plant the vegetables in our Garden of Eatin’ – a Grow to Give Garden that will feed our neighbors in need.  As we prepare for the day, I am overwhelmed with emotion – pride, satisfaction, joy, and hope.  A garden to feed others may seem simple enough, but this project has been a bit of a microcosm of what our parish is facing in general.  We are a tough parish that has survived some hard times.  The tenor of our parish has been transformed in the last couple of years into a place of hopefulness and joy, but our history has not left us unscarred.  Out of our history, and perhaps with a little human nature sprinkled in, change has become something to dread rather than to eagerly anticipate.  Of course every church, and probably every individual, does not actually like change, but I believe our tenacious will to survive has resulted in a deeper desire to control, and therefore a fear of change.

From that perspective then, you can see why I am so excited about this garden.  This garden represents the best and the worst of us.  At our worst, we worry about using our property in an alternative and perhaps detrimental way.  If there is to be change, we want to make sure every single detail has been considered by every single person.  We fear the long-term impact of taking on a project that will need long-term care.  But at our best, we see the wealth of our eleven acres and want to share that wealth in a new way.  We see neighbors who need food that we can grow.  We know we will get to know each other a lot better with dirty hands and sweaty brow than we might in our Sunday best.  And we dream that our labor might be a tangible witness to the power of God’s love in our community.

So for me, digging into that dirt, and planting those seeds and seedlings this weekend, is a proclamation that we will be the best version of ourselves.  We will take the uncertain road, we will submit to change, and we will open our hands to our God who will use those hands for good.  A garden may not seem like a big deal to others, but to me, this garden is a bold statement about who we have been, who we are, and who we want to be.