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Sermon – Luke 4.21-30, 1 Corinthians 13.1-13, EP4, YC, February 3, 2013

06 Wednesday Feb 2013

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I have been thinking these last couple of weeks that Christianity could really use a new Public Relations campaign: not just the Episcopal Church, or even St. Margaret’s, but Christianity in general.  This past week a receipt from an Appleby’s restaurant was circulated worldwide on the internet.  The receipt was from a table of about ten Christians.  When the waitress picked up the receipt, the automatic 18% gratuity for groups was crossed out, and the tip read “0,” with a note that said, “I give God 10%, why do you get 18?”  The signer signed her name and wrote “pastor,” on the receipt.  I do not know your tipping policies, but most wait staff make well below minimum wage and make up the difference with tips.  So for a pastor to so rudely deny a person their livelihood is embarrassing to all of us.  Now, you may argue this was an isolated incident, but as anyone who has ever waited tables knows, Christians are widely known as being the worst tippers at restaurants.  Even our Wednesday night study group has reflected on the author’s negative experiences with Christians.  This is not exactly a reputation we can be proud of, especially when we are to be caring for the poor – which many wait staff are.

The Church in Corinth was struggling with a similar PR campaign.  We have been hearing the last couple of weeks how the Church there was fighting over who had the best spiritual gifts.  Finally fed up, Paul breaks down the issue at hand.  No matter what gifts a person possesses – speaking in tongues, prophecy, or wisdom – if that person does not have love, they are a noisy gong, or worse, they are nothing.  Paul is a lot like the marketing director who has come in to clean up the Corinthians terrible PR problem.  Love is the answer.  Many of us hear Paul’s words today and we think of the hundreds of weddings where we have heard this text.  But Paul is not really talking about romantic love.  Paul is talking about the way Christians need to behave in order for others to see Christ in us.

Of course, love sounds easy – almost like a cheesy seventies slogan or that Beatles hit, “All You Need is Love.”  But the kind of love Paul is talking about is not easy at all.  The love Paul is talking about is patient; is not envious, boastful, arrogant, or rude; allows others to have their way; is not irritable or resentful.  This kind of love means letting going of the importance of self – which is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks we can accomplish.  We have all seen glimpses of this kind of love in others.  This weekend, our “Movies with Margaret” film was a movie called Saved.  In the film, a girl accidently becomes pregnant, and when she most needs someone who can express Paul’s kind of love, she does not receive that love from the most pious students at her Christian High School.  Instead, the characters who are seen as rebellious heathens are the ones who show Paul’s love most beautifully.  They are the ones who embrace the pregnant girl when she is at her lowest point – when she is lost and utterly alone in her trials.  Those widely acknowledged as un-Christian at her Christian High School are the ones who behave in the most Christ-like way of all:  by showing deep, kind, sacrificial love.

As we slowly begin to wrap our heads around this concept of Paul’s love and how that love might help our own PR campaign, we hit a bit of a snag when we get to our gospel lesson.  Jesus, who has just proclaimed that he is the Messiah in his hometown synagogue, where people are stunned into silence, suddenly is found today speaking so harshly to the synagogue that they angrily rush to throw him off a cliff.  Jesus words do not sound full of love, but instead sound the opposite – rude, arrogant, and irritable.  His anger today may have us wondering if Paul has romanticized Jesus’ life and witness.

The truth is that Jesus’ actions, as harsh as they sound, still exhibit love.  The love Jesus shows is perhaps what we might call “tough love” today.  Despite the fact that the people are outwardly praising Jesus for his words, Jesus sees through their words to their intentions.  The people of Nazareth hear Jesus’ words and wheels start churning.  If Jesus is the Messiah, then they have the honor of being the town that raised him.  And if they have such an honor, then surely they will benefit from all of Jesus’ power and teachings.  Instead of looking on the people of Nazareth with pity, Jesus gets angry.  Jesus knows that his hometown is instantly becoming greedy, wanting to not only keep the Messiah to the people of Israel, but especially to keep him in their own town.  And so Jesus reminds them that God’s love is bigger than them – in fact, God’s redemption will extend to even the Gentiles – Gentiles like that widow at Zarephath in Sidon and Naaman the Syrian.[i]  Jesus’ words sound more like a slap in the face than the patient, kind love that Paul describes.

I have a friend who has many times complained to me about the differences in fighting styles between her and her husband.  She tends to avoid conflict.  Having been raised in a conflict-avoidant household, she totally shuts down in the face of conflict.  Her husband, on the other hand, was raised in a household where conflict was a normal, and sometimes very loud, part of life.  Unlike her busy behavior to squash conflict, he lets the tension build up until he explodes.  Neither of them handles conflict perfectly.  She does not recognize the ways in which she is not loving or caring for him, and so her behavior does often create the slow buildup.  Meanwhile, by not expressing his frustration early on, her husband gets to the point where his only recourse is this last explosion of emotion.  They both could use some work on the Pauline love we hear about today – both needing to be more sacrificial, less irritable, and more patient.  But that work does not eliminate conflict.  In fact, if we really look at what Jesus does in the gospel lesson today, sometimes the deepest love can only happen in conflict.  As one scholar explains, “Sometimes we love our people in the name of Christ, enduring just about everything with them, and sometimes we love them by throwing the Book at them.”[ii]

Paul, Jesus, waitresses, and movies are all pointing us toward a basic reality today.  We are Christians, and as such, we live life differently.  We love differently.  In a culture that says we should be self-centered, boastful, arrogant, and envious, the Church proclaims a different truth.  Living in this love-centered way is not easy.  Sometimes we will have the kind of conflict that Jesus has with his family.  But even in conflict, we hold on to the self-sacrificing love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  Why do we strive for this kind of living?  Because people are watching.  We are the PR campaign that our neighbors see when they wonder what Christianity is all about.  As St. Francis of Assisi said, “The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.”  Jesus and Paul invite us to live our lives as sermons that illustrate love – not in the gooey romantic sense, but in the ways that both sacrifice the self, and love through conflict.

The good news is that the rest of our liturgy today gives us the opportunity to reorient ourselves toward love.  In a few moments, we corporately confess the myriad ways we do not show love to our neighbors.  The section of our service that invites us forward for healing is also meant to be a place where we can come forward for healing for ourselves, for our unloving relationships, and our unloving witness in the world.  And finally, at the Eucharistic table, we come not for solace only but for strength; not for pardon only, but for renewal.  This liturgy today can renew and strength you so that your life might be a powerful witness of love and Christian faith.  Amen.

[i] Gay L. Byron, “Exegetical Perspective,” Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 311.

[ii] William H. Willimon, “Book ‘em,” Christian Century, vol. 121, no. 2, January 27, 2004, 20.

Full…

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

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I am having one of those “full” weeks at church this week.  Full weeks can be stressful and overwhelming, but they can also be wonderfully full of grace and blessing.  So far, this week has been the latter.  It started on Sunday.  We had our usual worship services, and both were filled with real energy and life.  Between the services, I trained a new lector – not only reminding me of the blessing of this particular ministry, but also reminding me of the new members here at St. Margaret’s that becoming incorporated into our family.  After the services, I said a few quick hellos at Coffee Hour, and then was off to a Worship Committee Meeting.  I am so grateful for the mirror that this committee provides, helping me to assess what is working and what needs work.  We added two younger members to the committee and their contributions were especially meaningful.  The committee is full of the Spirit and deeply thoughtful about our worship.  Finally, later that night I came back to church for Confirmation Class.  Our six teens and two mentors are an incredible group, with some thought-provoking questions (topics included hell, sin, and judgment, just to name a few).  I left wishing we had more time to keep feeding our young adults.

The fullness continues this week.  Last night, our Cemetery Committee met.  These passionate parishioners and staff continue to amaze me with their thoughtfulness and care.  Their ministry is a vital part of work here in Plainview.  Tonight, I meet with our Study, Sup, and Serve group, who is discussing Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich.  So far, our discussions have been inspiring, challenging, and thought-provoking.  I cannot wait to see what the group does tonight.  Tomorrow, I meet with our hard-working Wardens, who always find a way to mix business with humor.  They are a blessing to me in my ministry here, and our meetings are truly a joy.  Finally, we will round out the week with our next installment of “Movies with Margaret.”  This week we are watching Saved, a dark, provocative comedy about a high school student at a Christian High School who accidently gets pregnant and how the pregnancy affects her relationships and faith.  I imagine we will all wince from time to time, but also see a lot hope and encouragement.

So, yes, a full week.  Of course, add in a special trip to the train station with my lovely husband today (his car is getting some regular maintenance), and a “treat” at a favorite doughnut shop today with my awesome daughter, and this week is truly full.  Keeping this kind of pace would not be a good a long-term plan.  Rest is a God-given gift too.  But I am grateful that this week feels full in a grace-full way, not in a stressed-out, stretched-thin kind of way.  I can only attribute that to the Holy Spirit surrounding me on every side and carrying me through this week with a sense of joy instead of burden.  Thank you God for the joyful, crazy, full life you have given me this week!  Help me to hold onto that joyful perspective in the coming weeks!

Sermon – 1 Corinthians 12.1-11, EP2, YC, January 20, 2013

23 Wednesday Jan 2013

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About two thousand years ago, the Christian community that had formed in Corinth was a diverse group.  There were Greeks and Jews, slaves and free people, men and women, rich and poor.  Their only unifying tie was that they all confessed Jesus as Lord.  And like any good church, they were of a divided mind.  We learn from their correspondence with Paul, that they are particularly divided about what spiritual gifts are to be the most highly valued.  The running argument is that the gift of ecstatic speech is the most important, and those displaying that gift should be given higher importance in the community.[i]  Unable to settle this argument among themselves, they turn to Paul.

Unfortunately for those arguing for singling out the gifted, Paul proclaims a different reality – everyone is gifted.  Simply by proclaiming Jesus as Lord, each person is given a gift.  The gifts may be different, and there will be a diversity of gifts.  This diversity of gifts is necessary for the community, making the community richer and helping the community to see the fullness of God.

Paul’s explanation sounds lovely.  Everyone is special and everyone has gifts.  But truthfully, in the depths of our hearts, we do not really agree with Paul.  We have lived in a cutthroat, competitive world too long to know that not all gifts are really valued equally – not even in the Church.  Sure, some people are gifted teachers, or seem especially spiritual – but what we really need are people skilled in finances.  Or maybe we really value people who are wise or people who are good with technology.  Whatever the thing is that we value, the point is that we rank gifts.  And although we might not want to admit the fact, as modern Americans, we tend to roll our eyes at Paul, seeing his explanation on gifts as cute, but not really helpful if a church is going to succeed.

When I was in college I went to a multicultural church in a small city.  The church was primarily African-American and African, but several Anglos from the community and from the local college joined the dynamic parish.  As the parish grew, we often had conversations about what our diversity meant and how we would negotiate each others’ differences.  But one day, the pastor had an idea that he charged ahead with before really getting buy-in from the church.  He invited two local group homes to bring their residents to church on Sundays.  The residents had mental and physical disabilities, and many of them were in wheelchairs.  Some were more verbal than others, but many of those who were verbal could not form clear words.  You could tell right away that the church members were uncomfortable.  We did not know how to handle the outbursts or the behavior of the group home members.  Luckily, the pastor was much more generous than we were.  He noticed that the outbursts were not random.  In fact, sometimes a yell sounded a lot like an “Amen!”  And so in the church’s customary call-and-response format, the pastor engaged the group home members just like he did the rest of the church members.

That church learned relatively quickly what Paul was trying to teach the members of the church in Corinth.  Whereas the church in Corinth sees its own diversity and wants to begin ranking gifts, Paul is trying to explain that their diversity is their gift.  Every person in that community is needed to make the community whole.  The full range of gifts means that the community is richer and can live out the community’s call more fully.  Without the interpreter of tongues, the speaker of tongues is useless.  The healers heal the community.  The miracle workers help the community see God.  The prophets help send the people out beyond the community.  Only together can they live into the fullness of faith.  Each person is indeed gifted – but not for the sake of personal pride.  The gift’s purpose is to edify the entire community.[ii]

Furthermore, what Paul is also trying to explain is the gifts are not just for the person, or for the community.  The diversity of gifts tells them something about God.  The diversity of gifts gives the community a glimpse into the diversity of God.[iii]  Only when all those diverse gifts are being enfleshed does the community in Corinth begin to get a glimpse into the fullness of God.  Paul knows that understanding God fully is impossible – we are made in God’s image, but we are not God.  Only through the diversity of their diverse Corinth church, and through the diversity of their gifts, do they begin to see a glimpse of the diversity of God.

At that church in college, we had been pretty proud of ourselves.  We were a diverse parish in a community with a rough history of racial discrimination.  But those group home members made us realize we were still not living into the fullness of the body of Christ.  Without those group home members pushing us out of our comfort zone, we were keeping our identity within our own parameters, not God’s parameters.  Truthfully, the presence of the group home members made us wonder who else we were excluding.  We did not need long to look around our community and figure out who we had been excluding.  The apartment complex next to the church was clearly inhabited by many Hispanics, a group not present in our community.  Only once the group home members opened our eyes were we able to see how much we had been limiting God and how much richer we could be if we opened our doors to our neighbors.  One could argue that our group home members had the spiritual gift of prophesy.

So why is Paul’s letter so important to St. Margaret’s?  This past Wednesday, about eight St. Margaret’s parishioners went over to Plainview Reformed Church to make sandwiches for the INN.  Most of us had been there before, and we fell into a quick rhythm.  Some of us were good at scooping – which is a delicate skill because if you use too much, we cannot make enough sandwiches.  Some of us were good at spreading – an important skill if you do not want to tear the bread.  Others were good baggers.  Now bagging a sandwich may sound simple to you, but as the activity leaders kept reminding us, a sandwich bag that is messy on the inside or out sends the message that the sandwiches were made without much thought – or even without much love.  Even the youngest children who put stickers on the sandwich bags had an important role.  Without the sticker, the sandwich is just another sandwich.  With the sticker, the bag says that someone made this sandwich, and personalized the sandwich just for you – because you are special and worthy.  As that interfaith community gathered, with people of all ages, shapes, sizes, and abilities, we were a lot like that community in Corinth.

What Paul’s letter and our sandwich-making this week show us is that only when we all engage in ministry are we fully living into the life of faith.  Only when all our skills are being used are we even able to see a glimpse of the fullness of God.  Our invitations this week are several.  First, Paul invites us to discern our spiritual gifts.  Now, because you work in construction, you might have been roped into serving on the Buildings and Grounds Committee.  Or because you have young children, you might have been recruited to teach Sunday School.  But sometimes, what we do professionally does not translate to a spiritual gift.  Our best teachers, our wisest decision-makers, our most spiritual people of prayer might not do those things professionally or obviously.  Today Paul invites each of us to ponder whether we are using our spiritual gifts for the betterment of this community.  Second, Paul invites us to consider how each person here might help us to better see a glimpse of God.  That means that after church or during coffee hour, we might need to sit with someone we do not normally sit with and have a meaningful conversation.  And yes, you can have a meaningful conversation with a three-year old or a sixteen-year old.  Finally, Paul invites us to consider who is not here, helping us know God more deeply.  I have heard time and again how much we want to grow as a community.  For many of us, that desire is more out of a sense of preservation – we need to grow to continue to be a church here in Plainview.  But I wonder if we might instead begin to think of our growth as necessary for us to more fully see God.  We may know all sorts of people in our everyday lives who do not fit the St. Margaret’s mold.  Those are the people we need to invite to Church.  That neighbor you got to know when we all lost electricity during the Hurricane.  That woman with the purple hair who cuts your hair at the salon.  The waiter at your favorite restaurant who you have come to know.  Until we invite those people, we will not experience the fullness of God’s gifts for us.  The invitations from Paul today abound.  I look forward to hearing how your homework goes!  Amen.

[i] Karen Stokes, “Pastoral Perspective,” Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 254.

[ii] Lee C. Barrett, “Theological Perspective,” Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 256.

[iii] Troy Miller, “Exegetical Perspective,” Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 257.

As a child…

09 Wednesday Jan 2013

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Diverse kidsI never really spent time around young children growing up.  I was never a babysitter.  As I became older, my friends often speculated lightheartedly that I would never survive as a mother, since when kids were around I was either like a deer in headlights or was a bit disdainful with the mess, noise, and general chaos.  Even when my own child was born, I had never changed a diaper.  So when Jesus says, “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it,” I have often worried how serious he really was about that.

But this Christmas and Epiphany, I slowly began to see the wisdom in Jesus words.  My own daughter really opened up the incarnation for me this year in a fresh way.  Over the holidays, we made our way to St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church in Times Square.  After Eucharist, while looking at the many side altars, my daughter found a crèche.  She immediately ran up to the small crèche, and knelt on her knees to look at the figures.  I was shocked at the peaceful calm that came over her as she knelt at Jesus’ manger, and was immediately reminded of the way the magi too were brought to their knees in the presence of Jesus.  Her small body kneeling at the feet of Jesus gave me a small window into Jesus’ words about how children guide us into the kingdom.

But my daughter was not the only child who opened up the incarnation for me this year.  Our confirmation class of six teens got word from a parishioner of families in a local hospital who would not be able to afford Christmas gifts this year.  So, the class agreed to take up their December class time (adding in another class sometime this spring as a make-up) to go together and shop for gifts, using their own money.  The pile of gifts the next day blew me away.  Without even thinking, our confirmands demonstrated Christ’s love incarnate in a season that can typically be very self-centered.

Finally, this past Sunday, our young people offered an Epiphany Pageant in the context of worship.  Because they were helping lead worship that day, I asked the children and youth to pray with me the same prayer that I pray with our choir and acolytes before we lead worship.  And although we had the typical smiles and photo ops, the children seemed to really get it – they were leading worship.  And as the pageant closed, with all the kings, shepherds, angels, Mary and Joseph kneeling at the feet of the Christ Child, the incarnation came alive once again.  I could feel the reverence of our children, and they drew me out of my smiles about their “cuteness” and reminded me of my own need for a posture of reverence at our Lord’s feet.

So today I am grateful for the tremendous life and witness of our children.  They are teaching me everyday new and deeply meaningful ways to enter the kingdom of God.  Thank you for your witness to me and to the people of faith.

Sermon – Luke 2.8-20, CD, YC, December 25, 2012

27 Thursday Dec 2012

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In the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, fear has been a rampant part of our lives.  Parents have been afraid for the safety of their children.  I talked to many parents who really did not want to send their kids back to school in those first days, even though they knew logically that this was not an option.  We have also turned into a country fearful about guns – either fearful that they will be taken away from us or fearful that they will be used as a crutch to solve society’s ills instead of more peaceful means.  And at a time when we focus on the Christ Child today, many of us fear the loss of innocence.  We long for a more simple time – a moment of pure clarity when everything is made plain.

Over two thousand years ago on this day, things were made plain for a rag-tag team of shepherds.  “Do not be afraid,” the angel says.  “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.”  Good news.  Great joy.  All the people.  These are words that do not strike fear in the hearts of the shepherds.  They are words that instead set them free from fear.  They are words that open up a window into hope.  They are words that fill them with joy.  For if this is good news of great joy for all people, then even people like unsavory, undesired, unloved shepherds are included in this news.  And with this outpouring of good news, the shepherds are blown away by the most awesome chorus of voices praising God’s name.  Fear is a fleeting feeling for these shepherds.

This fearless joy can be our gift too.  We can let go of our angst about safety, about politics, about control, and take hold of the Good News of the Christ Child.  We can gather around the host of angels and let the Good News rain down on us, and liberate us from fear.

Of course, that certainly sounds easy, and maybe even feels easy on this holiest of days.  But can we really expect us to be able to live free from fear?  The shepherds help us answer that question.  The response of the shepherds is full of immediate action.  The shepherds go with haste to find Mary, Joseph, and the child lying in a manger.  The shepherds gather with the Holy Family, and share their story.  Finally, the shepherds go out glorifying and praising God.  The shepherds go, gather, and glorify.

This is the invitation of the gospel for us today.  We too are to go, gather, and glorify.  First, we are invited to go.  When God speaks to us, we are to respond.  The shepherds go with haste.  And so, instead of pondering things in their hearts, or worrying about whether they might run into trouble along the way (which would have been a valid concern given the registration taking place in Bethlehem by Augustus and Quirinius)[i], the shepherds go with haste.  So our first invitation is to let go of our fears and simply act.  Act with immediacy when God calls us.

Next, the gospel invites us to gather.  This incredible God experience does not happen for the sole benefit of the shepherds.  The shepherds gather, creating a community of faith who share the Good News.  We too are invited to gather with a community of faith.  We do that today, as we gather on this holy day.  But we are invited to gather regularly, so that we can share in the faith journey together, making sense of God’s call as a community.  This work of discernment is not done alone.  We need a community of faith to shape us and form us.

Finally, the gospel invites us to glorify.  The Shepherds leave that manger scene with nothing in their hearts but praise of God.  Glorifying God seems so simple, but sometimes glorifying God is what is the most difficult for us.  We become so accustomed to coming to God, asking for things – for healing, for direction, for peace.  We struggle with God, and long for God.  But we sometimes forget to simply glorify God.  Just two weeks ago, we heard in the letter to the Philippians the call to “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”  This is one of those days when we really need a large gospel choir who can lead us into glorifying God with those words, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, again I say, Rejoice!”  Sometimes we simply need to let go of everything and glorify God.

This Christmas, the Church does not let us go home with a message of comfort without action.  Instead, the Gospel is full of action:  go, gather, and glorify.  Now, I know you want to go home, eat a feast with friends or family, watch some basketball, and enjoy a day free of the obligations of work, school, and to-do lists.  But remember that even those meals, those times with others can be a place to go, gather, and glorify.  Go to your next stop with joy overflowing from the news of angels.  Gather with a community, not letting the opening of presents override your telling of the miracle of the Christ Child.  And glorify God – in your prayers over your meal, in your conversations with others.  Perhaps focusing on glorifying God will get you out of the normal kvetching that often happens at Christmas meals.  So, go, gather, and glorify.  May this be our work this Christmastide.  Amen.

[i] Michael S. Bennett, “Pastoral Perspective,” Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009),118.

Sermon – Luke 3.7-18, A3, YC, December 16, 2012

17 Monday Dec 2012

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I have been reeling since hearing the news of the shooting tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday.  The emotions alone are still raw.  The image of twenty-seven families losing a child or parent is heart-wrenching.  At a time when many of them were probably gearing up for the holidays, now they are planning funeral liturgies.  The image of hundreds of families gratefully greeting their children is tainted by what will be weeks if not years of therapy for innocence lost.  I know my own child is still recovering from fears from Hurricane Sandy – I can only imagine the fears these families will have to process.  The image of police officers and first responders flooding the scene, faithfully doing their jobs is marred by the probability that they too will need months and years to process the scene:  not with the eyes of professionals, but with the eyes of human beings.  As one FBI officer explained, although they are trained to do their jobs professionally, they are not unfeeling robots.

We too are left with a swirl of emotions.  I have felt deep sadness, confusion, shock, anger, and frustration.  With few answers to questions, we do not know who to blame or how to respond.  As you watch the news and follow social media, you can already hear the call to demonize guns, the mental health field, government, and the shooter.  In some ways, blaming someone or something would make the whole experience easier.  Otherwise, we are left bereft, feeling God’s absence or at least questioning God’s presence in suffering.

I wondered today, then if John the Baptist’s message this Advent was even relevant.  Perhaps we could turn somewhere else altogether today for solace.  But the more I thought about the gospel lesson, the more I realized John’s message of repentance is exactly what we need today.  On this “Stir Up Sunday,” John’s message of repentance stirs up in us our own culpability in the presence of sin in this world.  While I desire to point a finger at someone else for the sinfulness of the world, John the Baptist tells me, to look at my own sinfulness today.  John says, “Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham.”  In other words, do not let your redeemed status, your chosen status, let you get complacent about your sinfulness.  In today’s terms, do not let your identity as not being the shooter let you believe yourself to be free of sin.

As our confirmands prepare for confirmation this spring, they are working through a curriculum that keeps pointing them back to the Catechism.  In our Catechism are a series of questions I find helpful today.  Turn, if you will, with me to page 848 of your Prayer Books.  Here are the questions on sin:

What is sin?  Sin is the seeking of our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship with God, with other people, and with all creation.  How does sin have power over us?  Sin has power over us because we lose our liberty when our relationship with God is distorted.  What is redemption?  Redemption is the act of God which sets us free from the power of evil, sin, and death.  How did God prepare us for redemption?  God sent the prophets (like John the Baptist!) to call us back to himself, to show us our need for redemption, and to announce the coming of the Messiah.  What is meant by the Messiah?  The Messiah is one sent by God to free us from the power of sin, so that with the help of God we may live in harmony with God, within ourselves, with our neighbors, and with all creation.

This Advent, and in light of this tragedy, we are all invited to reflect on how our sinfulness pulls us away from God, one another, and all creation.

As dark and disheartening as John’s message may feel today, our gospel lesson does not leave us without guidance.  Three times, in response to John’s call to repentance, different groups of people ask the same question, “What then should we do?”  That question has been echoing with me all week, especially after Friday.  What then should we do?  To each group in the text, John has different advice – advice that is specific to their lot in life.  To the crowds he says, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”  To the crowds, John gives them the work of justice.  They are to share their abundance with others.  This is their work of repentance.  To the tax collectors, John says, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.”  Tax collectors were able to survive by charging more than the base tax – their comfort came from these overages.  John challenges this widely accepted practice with another call to justice.  The tax collectors are not to abuse their positions of power.  This is their work of repentance.  To the soldiers, John says, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusations, and be satisfied with your wages.”  The soldiers used violence and manipulation for their own personal gain.  John challenges them to rule with justice.  The soldiers are to care for the people, not abuse them.  This is their work of repentance.  For each person, John saw a unique way of living a repentant life based on the vocations and values of that specific individual.[i]

Asking the question, “What then should we do?” is where John tries to get us today.  At this time of year, when we receive the most requests for contributions to churches, nonprofits, and universities, opportunities abound for goodness.  In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, as we learn of our neighbors here in Plainview – students and teachers at the school just down Washington Avenue – who need our help, opportunities abound for goodness.  In the wake of national violence, as we make sense of suffering and pain and as we enter into authentic conversation with our neighbors, opportunities abound for goodness.

The opportunities for goodness, the answer to the question “What then shall we do?” are found in our baptismal covenant.  As we discussed last week at our Annual Meeting, I have been discerning with our Vestry about who St. Margaret’s is and what our work is to be about.  We have wondered together this past year about what is the message that we want to convey to others about our identity.  Out of that discernment has emerged three verbs:  seeking, serving, and sharing.  We are a community that is seeking a deeper relationship with Christ, where seekers can simply be seekers on the journey with us.  We are a community that is serving our neighbors, loving and caring for them.  And we are a community that is sharing the good news of St. Margaret’s and the Good News of Christ Jesus with our community.  In these three words, seeking, serving, and sharing, we are, as our baptismal covenant suggests, proclaiming by word and example the Good News of God in Christ and seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as our selves.  So when we look at that question of “What then shall we do?” our answer is to be a people seeking, serving, and sharing.

Luckily, our lectionary does not give us with a strong challenge without some encouragement.  We hear the comforting words from another of God’s prophets, Zephaniah.  “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak.  The LORD, your God, is in your midst…he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”  In the face of tragedy, God does not leave us without work to do.  As we repent of our sins, what we shall do is to seek, serve, and share.  But in case that work feels like work, God encourages us in the journey.  Do not fear.  Do not let your hands grow weak.  God will renew you in God’s love.  Our work is laid out before us – we can get out there, seeking, serving, and sharing, because God will renew us in love.  Amen.

[i] Kathy Beach-Verhey, “Homiletical Perspective,” Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009),71.

Advent Clearing…

12 Wednesday Dec 2012

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clear pathOne of the constant sounds here on Long Island since “Superstorm Sandy” is the sound of chainsaws.  The sound is so constant that the hum of the chainsaws has almost become white noise…almost.  The noise is not quite soothing enough to truly be white noise.  Instead it is a humming reminder of all the work still left to be done here.  As we slowly try to clear the property around our homes and businesses, the work seems endless.  Piles of stacked wood along the roads demonstrate signs of progress, but there are still roads that are occasionally closed as work crews continue clearing what looks like a dropped box of toothpicks.

I wonder if that constant hum might be our Advent theme song this year.  We too need to clear out the debris of our lives that keeps us from connecting to God.  This past Sunday, John the Baptist called us to “Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming!  Clear the road for him!”  (New Living Translation)  Our Advent time of preparation can be a time of clearing out what is keeping us away from God.  Whether our debris is the rapid pace of life, the to-do list (that conveniently does not include prayer), or our own self-centeredness, we all have debris that blocks our path to God.

Clearing debris is not easy work, and does not come naturally.  In fact, our more natural state is to keep the debris in place so as to avoid true intimacy with God.  That is why an Advent theme song is helpful.  We need the din of humming chainsaws to pull us back into the work of clearing debris.  Or perhaps you prefer an actual hymn as your theme song.  Personally, I love Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.  Or maybe your Advent calendar or devotions are your theme song this year.  Whatever brings you back to the work of clearing debris, working your way closer to a deeper relationship with God is what might make this Advent sacred for you.  Crank up the music, and continue to enjoy a blessed Advent!

Homily – 1 John 4.7-14, Feast of St. Nicholas, December 6, 2012

12 Wednesday Dec 2012

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As Simone becomes older, I have been wondering what to tell her about Santa Claus.  I have been worried about creating an “I want” monster, especially when I want her to think about giving, not receiving.  I am also aware of how Santa Claus has become the icon for secular Christmas, a holiday whose focus is to be the Christ child.  What is a mother to do, who simply wants to raise a happy, humble child but also help her navigate being a Christian in a secular world?

I wonder how Santa Claus, or Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, would feel about the modern challenges of Christmas.  Even though today is St. Nicholas’ feast day, the details about St. Nicholas’ life are a bit unclear.  Living in Asia around the 300s, what seems to be agreed upon is his care for sailors and seafarers, for children and the poor.  There are legends of him being a gift bearer – whether the gifts were small coins in children’s shoes or bags of gold for poor women.  What does seem certain is that Nicholas had a love of people, and he expressed that love through tokens of affection – unexpected gifts for all.

Our challenge 1700 years later is that gift giving and the sharing of love has become tainted by our consumerist society.  Now we often give gifts because we feel like we have to; we don’t want to leave someone out or not reciprocate in gift giving; we may feel pressure to buy or to get just the right thing – especially on tight budgets; and we don’t want to be embarrassed by getting a smaller gift for someone than they give us.  We can get so stressed about gift giving that we forget why we wanted to give something in the first place.

We get some encouragement today from our Epistle lesson.  “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; … if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.”  This is where the gift giving started – out of love. But love doesn’t have to be expressed in gifts – we love because loving is holy work.  Loving transforms others and transforms us.  God is made manifest in those expressions of love.

I think St. Nicholas got this.  He didn’t give gifts because of some cute letter from a child.  He gave because he was so filled with love that he could not live another way.  The gifts were an expression of the God who was transforming him and others.

So this year, find a way to make this Christmas about love.  Presents aren’t inherently bad – St. Nicholas gave with the best of them.  But remember why you are giving them – a full heart that witnesses the exorbitant love of God for all.

Sermon – Luke 3.1-6, A2, YC, December 9, 2012

12 Wednesday Dec 2012

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I have been thinking about this sermon for weeks – the sermon to lead us into our Annual Meeting – the sermon to lead us into a time of celebration and inspiration.  But then I remembered that we are in Advent, stuck once again with John’s crazy witness of repentance.  Repentance is not quite the sexy message I was looking for to promote what has been a great year.  Who wants to tarry in the wilderness when we have good news to celebrate?

But the more I have thought about the wilderness this week, the more the wilderness seems to be the perfect place for us today.  The wilderness is a holy place in our scriptures.  The wilderness is the sacred place where our ancestors journeyed toward the Promised Land.  Many a scriptural figure has ended up in the wilderness with only God for company.  For the gospel of Luke, the wilderness is a key place of activity – where testing, prayer, withdrawal, and miracles happen.[i]  Many a spiritual Christian has fled to the wilderness over the centuries – a place where the quiet is deafening, and where one goes to strip away the distractions of life.

The wilderness is where we find John the Baptist today.  There is a stark contrast in where we find John and where the powerful men of the time are.  Luke details the leaders of the day:  Emperor Tiberius, Pontius Pilate in Judea, Herod in Galilee, Philip in Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias in Abilene.  These names are not just in the text to trip up the priest on Sunday.  Luke mentions these rulers and the towns that they rule so that we can understand the significance of where John the Baptist is.  The towns of the rulers are places of wealth and comfort.  Each of those leaders is treated with dignity and respect, lives in lavish homes, and is worshiped like a god.  But the word of God does not come from these posh places.  The word is spoken in the wilderness.  In the Greek, “wilderness” is translated as “solitary, lonely, desolate, and uninhabited.”  Here in the middle of nowhere – a place where people feel utterly alone and desolate is where the word of God is proclaimed.

So how could I possibly be excited about a journey into a stark, barren place on such a celebratory day as this?  Because St. Margaret’s went through its own wilderness journey not so long ago.  As a relationship with a priest was dissolved, tensions rose among parishioners, and many left our family, St. Margaret’s journeyed through what felt like a time of desolate wilderness.  Although I was not part of the St. Margaret’s family at that time, working through the healing process with you this past year has taught me a lot about what that wilderness time was like.  Many of you wondered if we would survive.  Some of you sat in the parking lot before Church, not sure if you could walk through those beautiful red doors one more time.  For many of you, the wounds from that desolate wilderness are tucked away in a box on the back shelf of your hearts, but the box seems to keep slipping off the shelf when you least expect.

The truth is, I am not sure if we are out of the wilderness time.  We still have some work to do here at St. Margaret’s and there are going to be times when we are not happy with each other (I know, that is hard to believe!).  But just because the wilderness is a place of solitude and desolation does not necessarily make the wilderness all bad.  The wilderness is where the people of God encounter God.  Abraham’s journey into the wilderness brought about a blessed covenantal relationship with God – with the gift of descendants as numerous as the stars.  The people of Israel’s journey through the wilderness brought them to the Promised Land.  And even when they were in the wilderness, they felt God with them – helping them find water from rocks, food in the form of manna and birds, and leadership to comfort and guide them.  Even John the Baptist, preaching repentance today from the wilderness, finds that his message in the wilderness is the herald of the Messiah, the one who finally brings about redemption.  The wilderness is not necessarily a bad place.  The wilderness is an intense place – an intense place of encounter with God, but not a bad place.

That is the tricky part about wildernesses.  When we are in the wilderness, we can feel lonely and despondent.  Jesus himself is thrown into the darkness of temptation when he goes into the wilderness for forty days.  But being in the wilderness does not cut us off from God.  Being in the wilderness cuts us off from the padding we use to cushion ourselves from pain; that same padding that can be a barrier between us and God.  When we are in the wilderness, there is no avoiding God.  The wilderness is like an empty locked room with only you and God.  In some ways, I think this is why we are encouraged to go on silent retreats at monasteries.  The few times I have been, the first day is always awkward.  I am such an extrovert, that the first day of silence kills me.  I want to talk, I want to engage others, and I want to keep my busy, active pace.  But when all you have is a cell, the worship space, and perhaps somewhere to walk quietly with your thoughts and prayers, things get clear much more quickly.  That padding is gone immediately and you are left with God to reconnect.

So unfortunately, John the Baptist is going to leave us in the wilderness for just a couple of more weeks of Advent.  But that is good news for us.  We have been through a time of experiencing the desolation of the wilderness.  That time was dark and painful for many of us and will never fully leave our consciousness.  But having come through that dark time, we can stay in the wilderness by choice.  Like Abraham who chose to take his small family into the wilderness for the promise of good things, we too choose to tarry in the wilderness this Advent.  We tarry here because we want to be closer to God.  We choose to journey through the wilderness because we need the guidance from the intimacy that only the wilderness can provide.  We claim the wilderness this Advent, and especially this day of our Annual Meeting because we want to be in a place where we can clearly hear God’s guidance for our future.

This year has already given us a taste of how wonderful the journey with God can be.  Although we have had some adjustments, joy has been the overwhelming experience of this past year.  From joyful liturgies, to the joy of new ministries, to the joy that each new parishioner has brought to our lives, we have much to celebrate.  If we have already seen this much joy this year, imagine what a little more intensive time with God can do for our spiritual journey in the year to come.  The promise is clear from John about what the time in the wilderness will bring:  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.  So stay with me in the wilderness for a couple more weeks.  We may find that our time here leads to even more blessing and joy in the year to come.  Amen.

[i] Miriam J. Kamell, “Exegetical Perspective,” Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009),47.

Sermon – Luke 21.25-36, A1, YC, December 2, 2012

05 Wednesday Dec 2012

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On the way to Simone’s school this week, Nat King Cole’s “Christmas Song” came on the radio.  As I tried to teach Simone the words of, “chestnuts roasting on an open fire,” I suddenly became teary-eyed singing the familiar song.  Something about Christmas songs on the radio can do that to me.  Whether Judy Garland is singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” or Mariah Carey is singing “All I Want for Christmas is You” a wave of nostalgia hits me and a sense of deep happiness washes over me.  The tricky part about these songs though is that they do not connect me to the reality of my lifetime of Christmases.  Instead they simply remind me of my idealized dream of Christmas – the glossy picture I have devised about the utter perfection of Christmas.

Our entrance into Advent is a lot like that contrast.  You might have come into church today totally excited about the hope and love of Advent as we await the perfect baby Jesus.  We imagine Advent as a sort of pregnancy, where we wait for four weeks to birth the Christ Child.  We cannot wait to hear those stories that are coming – of Mary and Joseph, of shepherds and angels, of wise men.  Advent in our minds is this great time of anticipation.

Of course, the actual gospel text does little to fuel this happy anticipation.  Instead, our gospel lesson from Luke is an apocalyptic text about signs and fainting and fear.  “Stand up and raise your heads…Be on guard…Be alert at all times,” says Jesus.  The words from Jesus are not soothing or encouraging at all.  In fact the kind of waiting Jesus describes does not sound like a joyful waiting for a birth, but sounds more like the dreaded waiting for judgment.

As modern Christians, we do not tend to enjoy apocalyptic scripture lessons for several reasons.  First, apocalyptic readings are usually weird.  We much more often associate these texts with crazy fanatics who make predictions about the end of the world that rarely come true.  We have friends who like the Left Behind series; and even if we find the idea intriguing, we cannot really watch without feeling like the whole idea is strange.  We even make jokes with silly bumper stickers that say, “Jesus is coming.  Look busy.”

The second reason we do not enjoy apocalyptic readings is that we often do not understand what apocalyptic readings mean or how to interpret them.  If you have ever read the Book of Revelation all the way through, you know that your eyes start to glaze over as the images become stranger and more disjointed.  That style of literature is totally foreign to us.  Even John Calvin, theologian and father of the Presbyterian Church, who wrote a commentary on every other book of the Bible, did not attempt to write about Revelation.[i]  If John Calvin cannot interpret apocalyptic literature, we do not have much hope for our own understanding.

Finally, we do not tend to enjoy apocalyptic readings because we find them exhausting.  Even Will Willimon argues that, “It’s hard to stand on tiptoe for two thousand years.”[ii]  We know that Christ will return, but how can we possibly keep vigilant constantly?  Our life is already full of anxiety.  Between the Fiscal Cliff, wars around the world, and our own financial, personal, and emotional anxieties, we have enough to worry about without having to also be anxious about Jesus’ return.

Fortunately, on this first Sunday of Advent, there is good reason for us to turn to this kind of text.  The season of Advent reminds us that we cannot anticipate the first coming of Christ without also anticipating the second coming of Christ.  The two activities are intimately linked.  We celebrate the birth of this child because we know what this child will be.  We do not simply anticipate the Christ Child because he will be a cute baby.  We anticipate him because we know that he will be the Savior and Redeemer of the world and that he promises to come again.  Our anticipation is two-fold because we know the rest of the story.  Our anticipation would be like if we knew that baby Martin Luther King, Jr. or baby Mother Teresa were about to be born.  We do not celebrate this birth for the everyday joy of life.  We anticipate this birth because of the joy of this specific person and God-head, in whom we have redemption.

In this time between the two advents, the Church invites us through Luke to live a little differently than normal.  Our everyday faith usually means business as usual for us.  We know about the second coming, but we do not think of the second coming often.  We go to church (most of the time) and receive the sacraments; we read scripture (sometimes) and pray; we try to live by the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments; we have our version of Christian music (hymns, Christian pop, or gospels) that enliven our faith; and we faithfully spend money and time every week on what we might deem “kingdom causes.”  This is more than enough religion to keep us going in this in-between-advents time.[iii]

But this advent, we are invited to step back and look at the whole of our Christian faith.  Sure, we may not want to be on guard at all times, but being on guard from time to time is a good thing.  We can all use a little check-up from time to time – and not just during Lent.  As Lewis Smedes argues the hardest part of anticipating the second coming of Jesus Christ is in “living the sort of life that makes people say, ‘Ah, so that’s how people are going to live when righteousness takes over our world.’”[iv]  This is our work this Advent.  Not just to look busy because Jesus is coming, but to be busy.

There is a well-known story that happened in the colonial period of American history.  The Connecticut House of Representatives were going about their work on a sunny May day, when all of a sudden, an eclipse caught the entire legislature off guard.  Right in the middle of debate, everything went to darkness.  In the midst of panic over whether this might be the second coming, a motion was made to adjourn the legislature so that people could pray and prepare for the coming of the Lord.  In response, one legislator stood up and said, “Mr. Speaker, if it is not the end of the world and we adjourn, we shall appear to be fools.  If it is the end of the world, I choose to be found doing my duty.  I move you, sir, let candles be brought.”[v]  Those men who expected Jesus went back to their desks and by candlelight resumed their debate.

We too light candles in Advent.  We too move into a time of actively living in the time between two advents.  We too take on the intentional work of living as though righteousness has taken over the world.  Of course we do not do this work alone.  We do this work “prayerfully, depending upon God to give strength to persevere despite temptation or persecution.”[vi]  Jesus is coming.  With God’s help, instead of “looking busy” this Advent, we can be busy this Advent.  Amen.

[i] Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., “In the Interim,” Christian Century, vol. 117, no. 34, Dec. 6, 2000, 1271.

[ii] Will Willimon, as quoted by Plantinga, 1270.

[iii] Plantinga, 1270.

[iv] Lewis Smedes, Standing on the Promises, as quoted by Plantinga, 1272.

[v] Joanna M. Adams, “Light the Candles,” Christian Century, vol. 123, no. 24, Nov. 28, 2006, 18.

[vi] Mariam J. Kamell, “Exegetical Perspective,” Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009),25.