Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Lent 1

2012-02-27T14:49:00.000-05:00

The Rev. JuliaW. Messer
1 Lent 2012
Mark 1:9-15
“Shakers, Divine GPS, and Lent”

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Message of Lent: The place you are calledto be may not be the place you expect to be but it may be the place God callsyou to be.

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In days past, the Shakers had asong they would sing, called “Simple Gifts.” The group would gather around in acircle singing the words: “‘'Tis the gift to be simple, 'Tis the gift tobe free, 'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we findourselves in the place just right, It will be in the valley of love anddelight. // When true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend, we will not beashamed, To turn, turn, will be our delight, 'Til by turning, turning, we comeround right.”
The Shakers would dance aroundthe room in the circle and at the end of the verses when they finished singing,“When we find ourselves in the place just right,” and “We come round right”,they would jump into the air and wherever they landed, that was wherethey believed they were meant to be.

Life today doesn’t seem sosimple. I don’t know about you, but forme there have been times in my life when I’ve wondered if I’ve been on theright path or I felt myself in a spiritual wilderness. There have been times when I couldn’t figureout what path to take and there are times when I knew the path that I was on waswhere God had called me. I seem to do okay when I know the right path becauseit is very clear to me. The gray areasget to me, making me second guess myself and wonder. For me it’s the completely unclear paths thatI struggle with; these are the ones that pull me to my knees in prayer. And itcan be scary when I find myself in a wilderness and cannot discern where God iscalling me to go…that the place I amright now may not be where I am meant to be.

Today’s Gospelreminds me of this Shaker song, in thatthe place we may find ourselves in our journey may not be where we want to go,but it is where we could be meant to be. Jesus did not plan to set out into thewilderness but that was where he needed to go.

In the Bible, thewilderness was both a frightening and a powerful place. To look at wildernessas a physical location, it was a location that was uninhabited anduncultivated. Applied spiritually it takes on an even more powerful meaning.Wilderness was a time when people of the Bible underwent temptations and theyused this time to get a clearer sense of where and how God was calling them. Itwas the time and place that they used, like Christ, to face their adversaries.

Lent is thechurch’s time set aside for us to consciously go into our wildernesses. Lentlasts for 40 days, the same amount of time that Jesus found himself in thewilderness. Lent is a time that we arecalled to unite ourselves with the mystery of Jesus in the desert, who facedtemptation through the hand of the devil and yet, did not sin. As we prepare tocelebrate the Easter mystery, Christians are called to use this Lenten seasonas a time to consciously look at our lives and find ways to draw closer to God.

Even Jesus was called to do this. Immediatelyafter he was baptized, he went into the wilderness, to really look at himselfand recognize what God’s plan for him was to be. To me, it was as if Jesus hadto figure out what his ministry would be and come to terms with that and whatit meant to be the Son of God, the Beloved. As Christians, during Lent, we are invitedand encouraged to look at ourselves and ask one way or another, “What does itmean to be who we are,” and “Who we are meant to be?”

Lentcan be a time to take on or give up. We can take on an action that will draw uscloser to God through more devotion to prayer, to consciously perform acts ofcharity, or to even take up some action, some behavior, that will improve ourrelationship with God. Or we can give upsomething. Giving up something can eitherbe as a symbolic gesture of sacrifice (that reminds us of all that Christforfeited for us) or to give up, not just for Lent, but permanently, somethingthat tempts us away from our relationship with God.

Lentis a season of challenge, to honestly and truly look at ourselves and the areasin our lives where we are more prone to giving into temptation that leads usinto sin. As an unknown author once wrote, “Temptation is not a sin. Itonly becomes a sin when it is yielded to. Even our Lord was tempted.”

Honestly, I almost wish sometimes that avery clear Divine GPS would be available to us. It would say, “Turn here,” or“Choose this path”. We could use it whenwe are in our difficult times, such as when we are faced with an unexpectedrelationship problem or job loss. Wecould use it when we try to discern what our future will hold and map out thebest route to take to be a Christian and “Detour” around ALL wilderness experiences.

Butas the Shaker song says, the place we find ourselves is where we are meant tobe and we can use these wilderness experiences to grow closer to God. We maynot like or want to be in the place we are now, but it may be just exactlywhere God has called us to be.

RememberLent is not suppose to be easy; it can be disheartening and upsetting,especially if we honestly look at ourselves and see both what we are becomingand what we are failing to become.

Webegan this season with the imposition of Ashes, and I pray that something asjoyous as Easter may be at the end of it for all of us. And that we will findourselves in the place just right.

Inthe name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lenten Reflections are now online!

2012-02-22T11:36:00.002-05:00

"Letting go and returning home."

A compilation of Daily Reflections for Lent.

Written by Variouys Parishioners and Friends of

Emmanuel Epicopal Church

On our website:http://emmanuelvb.com/DailyMeditations2012.php

On our blog: http://emmanuelvb.blogspot.com/p/lent-reflections-2011.html

2012-02-20T15:19:00.002-05:00

February 5, 2012 John A. Baldwin

This morning's Gospel gives us aglimpse into the healing ministry of Jesus. Not only does he heal Peter'smother-in-law and others in Capernaum, but Jesus also goes about casting outdemons. Some have suggested that the term "casting out demons" is aquaint way of saying that Jesus healed people of their mental illnesses -schizophrenia, bipolarity and the like. Perhaps so. Jesus may well have been anearly practitioner of psychiatric cleansing and healing.

On the other hand, all of thedemons Jesus cast out may not have been quite so exotic as paranoia orobsessive-compulsive disorders. They may have been unclean spirits present andfamiliar to us in our own lives, yet nonetheless just as powerful anddebilitating.

The Gospels portray Jesus aspossessing an acute sense of discernment. He had an amazing ability to see intoa person's heart & soul, and to know what's blocking their growth towardswholeness & maturity. Jesus knew the names of these demons - envy, fear,hypocrisy, judgmentalism, and the like. He called them forth by name, rebukingthem & exorcizing them from people's lives.

Knowledge gives power. Evilflourishes in the dark, and withers in the bright light of the truth. Thisperhaps is what lies at the foundation of Jesus' casting out demons. Consideran "AHA" experience you may have had in life, when it became clearwhy you'd been acting the way you were. Effective counseling leads to many"aha" experiences and the opening to transformation in our lives.When the hurts and fears which trouble us are called by name, they become lesspowerful & menacing. When we become aware that our wounds are shared byothers, they become more bearable and manageable.

Adult children of alcoholics, forexample, have been known to say, "When others began describing theirchildhood experiences, it was truly amazing. They sounded just like mine. I hada new sense of awareness & understanding." When we are able to nameour demons, they lose their power to control and cripple us.

Jesus was able to name and addressunclean spirits with authority because he was as whole and healthy in mind,body and spirit as a human being can be. The unclean spirits knew that theywere diseased when they encountered Jesus, and this is what gave Jesus powerand authority over them.

Have you ever wondered what itmight be like, if we were walking through a park & there was Jesus himselfsitting on a bench, inviting us to join him in conversation? Would you expectit to be all warm fuzzies, or would something within our spirit feel mightyuncomfortable. Would Jesus look deep down inside us, recognize some uncleanspirits, & call them forth.....spirits we've perhaps become too comfortablewith, like excuses for our behavior, laziness, egotism or self-absorption. It'shard to maintain illusions of sweetness & light when we meet health &wholeness in its power & might, and know we have a long way to go.

During the summer before my finalyear of seminary, I entered a 10 week Clinical Pastoral Education program atBoston State Hospital where I served as chaplain in an acute schizophrenicward. It gave me plenty of opportunities to see unclean spirits in action, andto reflect on how they might be affecting my own soul as well. The headchaplain for the program, the Rev. Joe Woodson, was a crusty Baptist ministerwho had a reputation (like Jesus) of being able to see into the souls of theministers in training, past our defenses & pretensions, and nailing us inour weaknesses & vulnerabilities, so as to enable us to mature and growstrong in our abilities to be pastors in a hurting world.

Fortunately for me, Joe Woodsonwas retiring at the end of this summer. He was on autopilot, and I escaped hisintense scrutiny. This made for a much more comfortable summer experience forme than I had anticipated. In later years, however, I've come to the conclusionthat I was actually the poorer for it. Escaping his scrutiny meant my avoidinghaving to deal with the issues, wounds & liabilities which impeded my full effectivenessas a pastor & minister until later in time.

I have little doubt that Jesuscould find traces of unclean spirits in every one of us were he to focus hisscrutiny upon us. He certainly saw them in the Pharisees & Sadducees of hisday, who though very pious & religious, were lacking in their compassionfor the poor, the marginalized, and the “sinners” in their society. Theyresented Jesus deeply when he named their hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

Unclean spirits do not like beingexposed at all. They react with anger, defensiveness and indignation. They aresubtle and devious too, masters of the lie, and adept in distorting the truth.I think, for example, of that little demon who whispers to us, “Am I mybrother's keeper?” who was surely present when the priest and the Levitestepped around the victim on the road to Jericho in the Parable of the GoodSamaritan, and who is present in all of us when we express little concern forthe very poor or homeless.

I think of that little demon whowas present in Jesus' parable about the Pharisee who stood up in the templeflushed with pride that he was not like other men - extortioners, unjust,adulterers or like that miserable tax collector over there, and who is presentin us whenever we look upon others with scorn or contempt.

When we read, mark, learn, reflectupon and inwardly digest the parables and teachings of Jesus, it seems clearthat he is getting at all of the ways in which we allow demons, uncleanspirits, fears and anxiety, selfishness and greed, to impede our growth towardshealth, wholeness and closeness to the heart of God. We make a huge mistakewhen we only see the flaws and impediments getting in the way of others, anddon't discern them within ourselves.

Perhaps it may seem too scary forus to make honest, moral inventories of ourselves, but therein lies the onlysure and certain path to spiritual health and wholeness. I believe we may drawdeep courage to face and overcome our demons and unclean spirits in thisscripture passage from the First Epistle of John: “God is love, and he (or she)who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. …..There is no fear inlove, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, andhe who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because he first loved us.”(1Jn 4:16,18).

2012-02-20T15:19:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday after theEpiphany B

The Rev. MargueriteAlley

February 19, 2012

Are You My Mother?

Letme tell you a story. It is a short story, but a touching story. It is not atrue story, but it is very much the truth. It is not a story about anyone inparticular, but it is a story about us. Once upon a time there was a bird, andshe laid an egg. She left her nest in search of food for the day when the eggwould hatch. While she was gone, the egg did indeed hatch. The baby birdcouldn’t find its mother, so rather than patiently wait, and being somewhatimpulsive and of a mind that surely he could do anything, he set off in searchof his mother. He asked everyone he came upon, including a large assortment ofanimals and even an old car. Each said no they were not it’s mother and thebaby moved on. Finally the baby came upon a steam shovel named Snort andit was Snort who returned the baby bird to his nest where he finally met histrue mother. You may recognize that as being the wonderful and charmingchildren’s book by P. D. Eastman called “Are you my Mother?” Isometimes wonder if we aren’t metaphorically just like this baby bird. Weare born hungry and we begin looking for our mother the moment we are bornbecause we know deep down that she is the only ne who can feed us. If we don’timmediately see her, we begin searching. Since we do not know what she lookslike we don’t really know what we are looking for. So, we ask everyone andeverything “Are you my mother”? Metaphorically speaking we ask money “areyou my mother”? We also ask fame, education, status, cars, jobs, titles and ahost of other things “are you my mother”? Can you feed me?

Each of these replies No! I am not your mother”! So weare faced with a dilemma: we can “bed down” with one of these folks, knowingfull well that they are not our mother, and cannot fill that role or we move onand keep asking. Some of us choose the former, and some of us choose thelatter. To carry this metaphor a bit further, let’s say that we come upon aflock of birds. We are excited because they look just like we do…assuming weknow what we look like. And we immediately latch onto them because they lookand sound so much like ourselves. After a while though, we begin to notice somedifferences….their song is not exactly the same as ours. Their looks are notexactly a match….and most important none of them has lost their baby. Again, weare faced with a dilemma: do we stay because them seem familiar or do we go?They are so much like us…but not quite…and they are not looking for usor welcoming us to their flock. Finally, we encounter Snort the Steam Shovel.Snort is big, ugly, noisy and very scary. He scoops us up and deposits us rightback where we started and right then our mother returns with food for us and weare united. In our metaphor the role of Snort can be played by any number ofbig, scary, noisy things. Addiction, health scares, relationships, loss, grief,anger. Really the list is endless. Ihope you can see the many ways this children’s story is our own story!

Now let’s look at the Gospel. Just before our passage fortoday begins, Jesus is in the villages of Ceasarea Philippi with his disciples.He asks them “who do you say that I am”? It is almost as though the discipleshad asked “are you my mother”? They answer as best they can, he teachesthem more about what will happen in the days to come. Now, in today’s passage,Jesus gathers Peter, James and John and leads them out away from the others, toa secluded place on a high mountain. (we know how God loves this sort drama onbig, high cloudy mountains! Kind of like Snort!) Right in front of them, he istransfigured into something other. This moment serves as another teaching toolin the revelation of who and what Jesus really is. He is standing with 2 of themost important prophets of the Jewish faith …….yet he is the one is glowing, Heis the one who is brilliant white. Peter, being very excited and touchedby this revelation suggests that they build three dwellings so that they canstay and savor the moment. And suddenly, a voice from the cloudsproclaims “This is my son, the beloved, listen to him”. In this moment weare led to some very important revelations. Of course, we immediately see thatGod demands to have the last word. We all know what lies ahead for Jesus…so Godchooses this moment to transfigure “hell” Jesus’s suffering, into heaven for amoment. But there are other revelations in this moment as well. Of particularnote is the fact this transfiguration does not occur in private. It is not anaffirmation for Jesus. Jesus has known all along that he was God’s beloved…orthat God is “his mother” so to speak. This revelation is for the witnesses. Itis for the public.

Today is the last Sunday of the Epiphany season. During thisseason we have learned about Jesus and the role he was meant to play and wehave been called to be “light for the world”, a role which becomes reallyimportant in the dark days of Lent to come. Today also happens to be WorldMission Sunday where we remember our mission projects and missionaries aroundthe world. If we might look back to our metaphor for a moment, I think wesometimes get a bit mixed up as to what our mission really is. Is it ourmission to show others who our mother is even though their mother maylook a lot different than our own? Are we to assume and say to them this is ourmother, therefore it must be yours as well? Is our mission to find outfor ourselves who our mother is because we have not yet met her and weare hungry for what only she can give us? Or is our mission to re-affirmfor ourselves who our mother is because we do know who she is and whatshe looks like, but because she doesn’t look like other mothers, we have begunto question? As a church what exactly is our mission? The Gospel says (atleast to me) that we are called to seek out the transfigured Christ in eachother and in the world. It also says that we are called to “listen” tothe voice of Jesus, and to each other. No where does God say, “preserve hiswords in a book and treat them like an historic artifact. Look at them, adorethem and them go home a glow with the knowledge that you have seen them.” Godsays “listen to him”…..subtext, absorb, think about, reflect upon,incorporate.

Here at Emmanuel we have recently taken some importantsteps to be transfigured before our witnesses. We have made intentional stepsto be more welcoming, to be better stewards of creation, and to care for eachother more intentionally and carefully. This is our public transfiguration.Each of us also has many opportunities in our daily lives for individual publictransfigurations. The trick is to see them for what they are, to listen for thevoice of Jesus, and to be willing to stay on that high scary mountain until weare certain whose voice we are following. As we begin our Lenten journey thisyear, I pray you will consider the ways in which you might be transfigured.This transfiguration might involve some anxiety. It will also involve lettinggo of our impatience, our strong willed independence, and our constant need toask “are you my mother”? And when we return home, perhaps in the bucketof a Steam Shovel named Snort, we will have learned that if we had been a bitmore patient, we would have been fed, by the only one who can feed us.

Leper

2012-02-20T15:16:00.003-05:00

Mark 1:40-45 :The Leper. Then and Now.

The Rev. JuliaW. Messer
2.12.2012

~~~

When I was studying to become a priest,I met with some opposition, not only because of my age, but because of mygender. I got everything from, “What is wrong with you that you want to be apriest,” to “Why don’t you just marry a minister?” And the one that stood outin my mind was when I was down in New Orleans doing some mission work followingHurricane Katrina. I was to stay at a conservative/’Anglican’ parish but I waswarned before I went down not to tell anyone I was in the process to become apriest. However, the moment I got there I was introduced as a seminarian, towhich several people stated “You know we don’t believe in you.” To them, I replied, “That is your choice. I’mdown here to work, not to be your seminarian.” At that time, I really didn’tunderstand what my presence meant to them and how troubled that presence madethem. The good news is that by the end of the week the church had invited me tobe the first woman to serve behind the altar, to read Good Friday’s Gospel, andto be a chalice bearer. I believe thischange happened because the church got to know me, not the hypothetical crazyfemale whom they feared was out to destroy the Episcopal Church. Regardless of age or gender, I was oneworking with them to assist, in the small ways that I could, as they healedafter Hurricane Katrina. The Holy Spirit moved them and they came to see me asnot someone to fear but as a person who believed in and worshipped the same Godin the same way.

This memory stands out in my mind when I readtoday’s Gospel. I realized that I wassomeone that people viewed as not fully fit to serve God, they saw me as an“other” and that got me thinking about what in our lives do we feel makes us an“other”, a leper, and what ways do we view others as lepers. This circularthinking sent me to reflect on how people, including me, view “others”. I know that in some ways I can be viewed as adork. Let’s face it, I’m officially a Church Dork. And on top of that, when Iturned thirteen, all of a sudden—at least it seemed that way to me—I got curlyhair, braces, glasses and acne. I likeJane Austen to Star Wars, I like sports and being slightly preppy. Growing up Idid not fit into a stereotypical stereotype, so dork covered it all. I was the same “me” inside but I was sodismayed with all the awkwardness that I was sure others saw me as “other”. Howoften do we all—I know I do it-- see someone who looks or acts differently andlabel them with our own 21^st century label of leper?

Today, leprosy is known as Hanson’s disease, but inJesus’ time, leprosy was a word that encompassed many diseases. The label, leprosy, would have been used foranything that made a person look deformed, especially any disease that affectedthe skin, and particularly anything exposing raw flesh. These people were considered unclean, notnecessarily because they committed a sin, but because they were viewed as notfit to worship God. The culture saw them as unclean and therefore they weretreated as such, and came to believe that they too were unclean.

In today’s Gospel the leper went up to Jesus, and Ican almost hear his voice sounding deflated, begging Jesus, he said “If youchoose, you can make me clean.” The leper did not ask Jesus to heal him; it isalmost as if he did not think he was worthy of it. And Christ was moved withpity, not because of the man and the burden he bore, but I believe Jesus wasmoved with pity because the leper despised himself and felt he was worthnothing, not even worth asking Christ to heal him.

The leper had to deal with his own internal struggleof not only the disease, but how he viewed himself. And on top of that, he hadto deal with how others felt about him--how they turned from him, rejected him,and how they viewed him as not even worthy of God.

To not even feel worthy enough to worship God is anabsolutely horrible place to be. Yetthere are people who have been in this position because they have donesomething or they are viewed as not worthy.

Today leprosies and their manifestations can come inmany different forms. People with self-esteem issues can feel like everyone iswatching them and that they aren’t worthy enough to be heard or cool enough to be in a particular situation.There is also the leprosy of social rejection from the want to separate us fromthe people who are different from us, especially from the homeless, who are theunclean of today. Leprosy today can be dismissing someone because of a mental orphysical illness or disability. Or it can take on other forms—such as theanimosity and bitterness between Democrats and Republicans today who won’tlisten to each other, but reject, out of hand, based on political affiliation.

Modern day leprosies can be self-inflicted or theycan be placed there by other people. Yet what I love in today’s Gospel is thatin one second, Jesus made the leper clean. Can you imagine being able to behealed of our burdens, to put down the burdens that we have been carrying for along time… and just be healed? It’s miraculous….and in most cases miraclesdon’t work like this. To put down the leprosy that we have been carrying foryears is not something easily done. Butit can be done.

What the leper did was he acknowledged the issue hewas carrying. In a week and a half Lent begins…the season of consciousacknowledgement of the areas in our lives that pull us from the love ofGod. Now is the perfect time to beginto look at the areas in our lives that need to be cleaned, to be healed. Whatdo we do or what burden do we carry that makes us feel unworthy of God’s love?What opinions, or whose opinion do we hold that keep us from reaching out toothers? What areas and reasons do wefind to judge others as less-than ourselves?

We are ALWAYS worthy of God’s love andforgiveness. All we have to do isapproach God and be honest with Him and ourselves. It is that easy but it canbe a challenge to lay down the burdens we have carried with us thus far. Today,all we have to do is to see the “us” that God sees and loves, and to see theperson in our neighbor that God sees and loves.

~~~

In the name of God: Father, Son,and Holy Spirit. AMEN.

Happy New Year to EEC and all our readers!

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Happy 2012!

May this year be filled with joy, love, best of health, good luck, and unlimited possibilities for you and those you love! And may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you , and remain with you always. Amen.

Go in peace to share in the joy and power in life in Christ! Alleluia, alleluia!

Christmas Day 2011

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Christmas Day Sermon
The Rev. Julia W. Messer

Merry Christmas!

Some of my fondest memories happened on Christmas; there is nothing more magical than this time of year. I especially remember and cherish two very special Nativity Crèches! My Swiss Grandfather was a civil engineer by profession, but loved nothing more than creating things from wood. He built a swing set for me and a train table for my brother. But the thing we treasure the most that he built was a crèche. It is wood, fits nicely on a table, and has a little bit of a Swiss look to it. For the next many years as my grandparents traveled, they would find wooden figurines to fill the crèche. W hen I was older my godmother started sending me for Christmas exquisite Hummel figurines for another crèche. I can’t explain the joy as each of the figurines would come in as a present, year by year, and they got to be put into the crèche. For me when I got these figurines, they were like getting a piece of a greater story. I loved hiding little baby Jesus until Christmas day, or having the wise men cross the room until they made it the manger on the day of Epiphany.

And with today being Christmas, everyone has their own favorite Christmas memories. Christmas memories and traditions help to make today a powerful day. When Jesus came into the world He did not come as a full grown being and made a difference, he was born into a family. A family that had its own traditions and created new memories together. God sent his son not only into the world as a part of a family, but also into the larger human family. So no matter what family you were born to or what life you have experienced, we can all try to find grace in our lives. We are all a part of the story of Christ’s birth and therefore a part of a greater family. In a season where we are acutely aware of traditions, I want to invite you to think of your family Christmas traditions and briefly share your most favorite one with us. Or share with us one of the great moments of grace you have felt during a Christmas season.

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Christmas Pagents Advent 4 2011

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December 18, 2011
Advent IV
The Rev. Julia W. Messer

‘Tis the season of Advent and Christmas pageants! There are many ways to tell or share the story of Jesus’ birth. One way is through nativity plays or Christmas pageants, and another would be nativity scenes or crèches. Since we are having our Christmas pageant at the 11:00 service, today is a perfect day to examine nativity plays.

Emmanuel, along with perhaps thousands of other Christian churches, will present their versions of a Christmas pageant sometime in December before Christmas day. Why do we do it? Where did they come from? Where does this tradition come from?

I bet most of us remember either being in one as a child or being the adult on the hunt for the perfect bathrobe to represent the king’s robes….or perhaps both are memories.

By a show of hands, how may of you have been apart of a Christmas pageant? … I can relate.

Since I can remember, some of my earliest memories of church were being in a Christmas pageant. I can remember almost every Christmas pageant I participated in as a child. There was almost a rite of passage as my brother and I grew older because we took on more responsible roles with lots to memorize. I started as a lamb and grew to become a little angel, then a reader, and finally, the archangel Gabriele and narrator. But I would like to point out that my brother began on a similar path. He started as a lamb, then became a shepherd, and ended as the donkey—a point I’ve reminded him of on several occasions. Despite my ribbing him about his role, we both realized that our roles were to be taken seriously. That’s the amazing thing about nativity plays-- we are a part of the greatest story ever told! We get to interact and be a part of the story of the Messiah coming into the world.

Each year we do this to remember the story of the night that the Light of the world came into the world and the darkness did not overcome it. We remember the day over 2,000 years ago when a baby was born in a stable. He would go on to change the world forever. He offered God’s saving grace; He taught people to live their lives in a radical way --that we are loved by God and we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. This tiny baby boy was God incarnate, and it can be hard to imagine that when the Savior came into the world, He would come in such a common and uncommon way.

Jesus was born to a young woman named Mary; a woman visited by a messenger of God and told that she would bear the savior of the world. Mary was betrothed to a man named Joseph, who made the decision to stay with her and raise this child as his own. Then Jesus was brought into the world, in a manger among animals, yet his birth was heralded by angels and a star lead wise men to his cradle.

It is an amazing and powerful story, which can get covered up in the hustle and bustle of all that we do around Christmas time. We may put more focus on what we will eat, what gifts we have bought others, and we may get so caught up in expecting the Christmas ‘magic’ to happen that we may forget the simple yet powerful story of Christ’s birth.

In that way we are no different than our ancestors hundreds of years ago. Saint Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first nativity play on Christmas Eve, 1223. While St Francis was born to a wealthy family he gave everything up and led a life helping lepers and building monasteries to help the poor and sick of his community. St. Francis was said to be a wonderful preacher, but he wanted people to focus on and to remember the story of Jesus’ birth. At that time when most people could not read, St. Francis wanted a way to convey the powerful story of Christ’s birth and he wanted people to feel even more a part of the Christmas story. So some monks and he, along with an ox, donkey and a recreated manger, reenacted the Nativity.

There you have it; we are a part of a long historical tradition, which of course we Episcopalians are known to be proud of. By being a part of a Christmas pageant, we carry on one of the most interactive ways to be a part of the greatest story ever told -- the story of Christ’s birth into this world. So on this 4^th Sunday of Advent at our 11:00 service, our children will perform a Christmas pageant, helping Emmanuel to carry on a tradition credited to St. Francis of Assisi almost 800 years ago.

~~~~

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Advent 2

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Advent 2-B

December 4, 2011

The Rev. Marguerite Alley

John the Baptizer is one of my favorite characters in the Bible, but not for the reasons you might think. If we were looking for the perfect person to announce the coming of the Messiah, John would not be the one we would choose. If we were looking for a prophet to tell us where we were going wrong, John the Baptist would not be the model by which we would measure ourselves. If we were looking for someone from the religious establishment to help us understand the role of and the need for a Messiah, we would not ask John the Baptist. In short, JB would not be the kind of person we would want to have a conversation with, a meal with, or even be in the same room with!

First, he lived outside civilization. He lived alone in the desert. I am reasonably certain that he was hygienically challenged. I doubt any of us would want to sit near him. He separated himself from “socially acceptable” people in more than geographic ways as well. He wore nothing but a camel skin tunic. His hair was probably wild and matted. I would guess that on a diet of bugs and wild honey that his breath was disgusting and his teeth were rotting.

Second, he taught outside the religious establishment. He was not a trained rabbi, therefore he had no “right” to interpret scripture. He had no standing or office in the temple. He did not sit as a pupil at the feet of any of the great rabbis. His understanding of Jesus and Jesus’ pending role in the religious establishment of the day, came to him in a “non-traditional” way: directly from God.

And finally, John the Baptist had very poor social skills. He didn’t seem to be able to withstand the exchange of pleasantries. He would not last ten seconds at coffee hour in the Episcopal Church. If you asked him how he was, he would probably say that he was miserable, sick with worry and sin…and then go on to describe in detail how you were too. He didn’t pick up on social cues very well either. When folks suggested that his message might be somewhat subversive, he went right on preaching it. When he had the opportunity to re-cant he didn’t. Eventually, he lost his right to speak out at all when his head ended up as the first act in the royal evening’s entertainment.

So, if we were to look for someone to “follow”, someone to teach us, someone to be our spokes person…it would likely not be John the Baptist. He was creepy. He had no credibility. He told anyone who would listen that this person was going to build a new world. That’s just silly. We don’t need a new world. We just need one that works the way we think it ought to. He preached this “new world” idea to the religious establishment and I doubt they appreciated his comments. The establishment was all wrapped up in ceremony, rules and doctrine. The light was all but extinguished under the guise of “the law”. So God decided to step outside the temple and into the wilderness. Remember now that in Genesis, the wilderness is a good place. It is the garden where all good things grow! The light, out in the wilderness can grow and be tended by this wild man……this cast off from polite society. Dressed in animal skins with matted hair and bad breath, John tells us with such urgency and passion that someone is coming; someone so different from what we expect; someone so radical and challenging, that the announcement COULD NOT be made within the religious establishment of the day! John also told us that we cannot sit back and just wait for this amazing person to arrive. He said we have to work, to prepare, to make a pathway for him.

A gospel always starts off with a “message” of some sort. God always chooses someone special to deliver the message…whether it is a flaming angel appearing out of nowhere, a burning bush, or a wild man in the desert. God doesn’t usually choose someone “socially acceptable” as his delivery man. In this case, having chosen one totally removed from the “church” and from polite society as the messenger, only the ones who were willing to go “outside the lines” so to speak could even hear his message.

I imagine that we all know that this wilderness is both literal and metaphorical. There is a lot of empty desert space in that part of the world. One would not have to travel very far to find themselves in the wilderness. Today though, it might be more of a challenge if you are trying to think of it literally. Figuratively though, it is easy to imagine what our wilderness might be. Perhaps being more open minded, or community minded, or globally aware. Perhaps our wilderness might be heading off to college or to a new job or into a new relationship. It could be allowing ourselves to experience new things, to get to know someone better, to do something that makes us a little bit uncomfortable or to start up a conversation with a stranger. For each of us, the fear that the wilderness stirs up in us may come in different forms. We can also probably find a hundred reasons not to go there. We are quite comfy right here. We worked hard to get here. We deserve this. Why should we look for God anywhere else than right here in our favorite little church? I can’t imagine unless it is that voice from the wilderness that calls us. The one we can’t really hear over the din and clatter of our daily lives. It is that voice in the wilderness that holds the light for us and calls us from the darkness into the light. It is John the Baptist who reminds us that God uses the most unlikely people to deliver the most important messages and that we may have step outside the doors of our comfort zone to hear it. It is that crazy man in the wilderness who reminds us that we have work to do to prepare our hearts and our lives for the coming of the Messiah.

An Advent Meditation

2011-12-01T16:42:00.001-05:00

A Meditation on Advent

In this season of expectation
We prepare to welcome Christ Jesus, Messiah
Into the bustle of our lives
and the hard to find moments of solitude
We prepare to welcome Christ Jesus, Messiah
Into our homes and situations
along with friends and families
We prepare to welcome Christ Jesus, Messiah
Into our hearts, and those often hidden parts of our lives
We prepare to welcome Christ Jesus, Messiah
For beneath the surface of your story
is an inescapable fact
You entered this world
as vulnerable as any one of us
in order to nail that vulnerability to the cross.
Our fears, our insecurities and our sins
all that can separate us from God
exchanged by your Grace for Love.
We cannot comprehend the reasoning
only marvel that Salvation comes to us
through a baby born in a stable,
and reaches out to a world in need.

In this season of anticipation
We prepare to welcome Christ Jesus, Messiah

Happy New Year--Advent 1

2011-11-28T14:52:00.001-05:00

The Rev. John A. Baldwin
November 27, 2011
ADVENT 1 Year B

This morning, the first Sunday of Advent, marks the beginning of the Christian year. Our New Year begins not with toasts of champagne, watching a huge ball descend in Times Square, or the singing of Auld Lang Syne, but with Advent wreaths and purple hangings; scripture readings with themes of longing, anticipation and expectation; and above all, a mounting excitement as we move forward toward the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Advent may not have the glitter and pizzazz of New Year's Eve, but it lasts for four weeks, not just a single night. It moves us spiritually deep down inside, rather than the surface fluff we experience on December 31st. Unlike the media's penchant for getting nostalgic and looking back over the significant events of the past year on January 1st, Advent is forward-looking - not simply to the event coming up in four week's time, Christmas Day, but far beyond that to the fulfillment of human history, the Second Coming of Christ, the reign of the Kingdom of God.

It may have startled you a bit this morning, if you were listening closely to the scripture readings, to hear such vivid and powerful images of chaos and turmoil. Isaiah implores God to tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains might quake and the nations tremble at his presence. In our Gospel reading from Mark 13, Jesus seems uncharacteristically dark, somber, even scary in his portrayal of the coming of the Son of Man. “in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”

Both Isaiah and Jesus are pointing towards the birth of something new. For Isaiah, God's intervention in history; for Jesus the coming of the reign of God.

Birth events are filled chaos and turmoil. Far out in the cosmos, the birth of stars in whirling storms of particles is beyond our capacity to fathom. The birth of an island in the eruption of a volcano scatters everything in its path. Closer to home, despite the very best medical practices we are capable of, there is always an element of uncertainty and breath-holding as a child comes into the world. So too, the passing of a human soul from this world into the next is filled with uncertainty and turmoil. Things that are new bring uncertainty to the human heart, which is perhaps why so often there is such great push-back and resistance to new ideas, and threats to the status quo.

It is appropriate, I believe, as we move into a new Christian year, and begin again the journey of faith that will lead us to the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, and beyond it to his life and ministry, culminating in his passion, death and resurrection, that the year begins with a warning: “Keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.” Listen up folks...pay attention, things are about to happen.

Although the Christian faith asserts that the Creator of the universe is filled with love, forgiveness and grace, God is also awesome, powerful beyond our wildest imagination, and beyond our capacity to fully comprehend. While there is reassurance aplenty in the teachings and message of Jesus, there is also an element of uncertainty. “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.”

This heads-up and warning by Jesus has led through the centuries to myriads of religious leaders, mostly on the fringes of mainstream Christianity, to issue imminent predictions of his Second Coming. These go way back in time, but are also very much with us even today. We experienced this ourselves, for example, earlier in the year, when American Christian radio host Harold Camping stated "beyond the shadow of a doubt" that the Rapture and Judgment Day would take place on May 21, 2011, and that the end of the world would take place five months later on October 21, 2011. Camping, then president of the Family Radio Christian network, claimed the Bible as his source and said the Rapture would occur at 6 pm. local time on May 21st, with the rapture sweeping the globe time zone by time zone, while some of his supporters claimed that around 200 million people (approximately 3% of the world's population) would be 'raptured', that is taken up into the air to be with Jesus (while the other 97% would remain behind to suffer the agonies coming at the end of the world).

Kooky though this all seemed, some people at least breathed a sigh of relief when the day came and passed without incident. Following the failure of his prediction, media attention shifted to Camping's response. On May 23, he stated that May 21 had been a "spiritual" day of judgment, and that the physical Rapture would occur now on Oct. 21, 2011, simultaneously with the destruction of the universe by God. However, Oct. 21 also passed without Camping's predicted apocalypse. Whew....thank goodness for that!

I wish that someone in the media had gone up to Camping on May 22^nd or Oct. 22^nd and congratulated him, “You were absolutely right. The Rapture did occur on May 21^st and the redeemed were saved. But wait a minute. How very curious. You are still here!”

Most of those proclaiming the imminent second coming of Christ, are acting under the assumption they are one of the redeemed. “I will be saved, but you poor wretches will be lost.” How arrogant and judgmental, is that!

Lest we simply dismiss these folks as “Kooks”, let me point out that they at least have taken seriously an important part of Jesus' message that we all to often forget or take lightly, “keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come”.

What if we all kept awake, and lived as if today was indeed the last day of our life, no matter whether that be due to the Second Coming, or more likely our own physical death. How might your life and mine be very different if we lived as if today is our last day on Earth? We might choose to live in dread, fear and anxiety. But if we are people of faith, believing in life beyond life in the glory of God, might we not treat others around us with tenderness and compassion, savoring our moments with our loved ones, close friends, children and grandchildren? Might we not notice and drink in the beauty of the world around us that we so often rush past? Might we not remember with thankfulness all that we have been blessed with?

I suspect that if we lived as if today is our last day on Earth, we would find to our utter surprise that we are, in fact, actually living as if it is the first day of our life....our senses heightened and acute, our capacity for love and compassion immeasurably increased, our appreciation of every moment richly treasured.

The season of Advent calls us into a new beginning. It looks forward one to the celebratation of God entering into humanity in the Incarnation, the birth of Jesus Christ. It also points ahead to the future for which "all creation is groaning” filled with justice, peace and mercy, in which we fully love the Lord our God with all our heart, and our neighbors as ourselves.

_______________________

First Sunday of Advent
Year B RCL

Isaiah 64:1-9, Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, Mark 13:24-37

GOD, PRAYER, and our BLOG: Thou shalt know him

2011-11-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

Thou shalt know him

Thou shalt know him

When he comes,

Not by any din of drums

Nor the vantage of his airs

Nor by any thing he wears

Neither by his crown

Nor his gown

For his presence known shall be

By the holy harmony

That his coming makes in me

Source: Unknown (15^th Century)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was later put to music. You can find video’s on youtube that have some wonderful choirs performing this piece. Here is a children’s choir singing “Thou shalt know him when he comes.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDvsyI6CmGE&feature=related

GOD, PRAYER, and our BLOG: Prayer by Carol Ann Duffy

2011-11-21T11:00:00.000-05:00

Prayer

Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer
utters itself. So, a woman will lift
her head from the sieve of her hands and stare
at the minims sung by a tree, a sudden gift.

Some nights, although we are faithless, the truth
enters our hearts, that small familiar pain;
then a man will stand stock-still, hearing his youth
in the distant Latin chanting of a train.

Pray for us now. 2 Grade I piano scales
console the lodger looking out across
a Midlands town. Then dusk, and someone calls
a child's name as though they named their loss.

Darkness outside. Inside, the radio's prayer -
Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre.

Carol Ann Duffy (1955-)

The last line of this poem might be confusing "Rockall. Malin. etc" Here is what a good commentary writes (which can be found at http://www.squidoo.com/carolannduffy )
The final couplet is our epigram - the shipping forecast. The Shipping Forecast is seen by some as comforting and a daily ritual that happens every night before bed time, just like a prayer. It is also a navigation aid for the traveler - a traveler on the ocean, which conjures up images of solitude and vastness rather like human existence in the universe.

GOD, PRAYER, and our BLOG: CS Lewis on Evening Prayer

2011-11-14T15:30:00.000-05:00

The Apologist’s Evening Prayer

C.S. Lewis, Poems (1964).

From all my lame defeats and oh! much more
From all the victories that I seemed to score;
From cleverness shot forth on They behalf
At which, while angels weep, the audience laugh;
From all my proofs of They divinity,
Thou, who wouldst give no sign, deliver me.

Thoughts are but coins. Let me not trust, instead
of Thee, their thin-worn image of They head.
From all my thoughts,
even from my thoughts of Thee,
O thou fair Silence, fall, and set me free.
Lord of the narrow gate and the needle’s eye,
Take from me all my trumpery lest I die.

Footnote to All Prayers
C.S.Lewis (1898-1963)

He whom I bow to only knows to whom I bow
When I attempt the ineffable Name, murmuring Thou,
And dream of Pheidian fancies and embrace in heart
Symbols (I know) which cannot be the thing Thou art.
Thus always, taken at their word, all prayers blaspheme
Worshipping with frail images a folk-lore dream,
And all men in their praying, self-deceived, address
The coinage of their own unquiet thoughts, unless
Thou in magnetic mercy to Thyself divert
Our arrows, aimed unskilfully, beyond desert;
And all men are idolators, crying unheard
To a deaf idol, if Thou take them at their word.

Take not, O Lord, our literal sense. Lord, in thy great
Unbroken speech our limping metaphor translate.

GOD, PRAYER, and our BLOG: Answered Prayer

2011-11-07T14:49:00.002-05:00

Answered Prayer

In the dark

I stubbed my toe on an interruption

stumbled almost tumbled in the awkward three step trundle

to recover balance

cursed the moment as impediment

mumbled harm to whoever left the trip hazard in my path

and stood

suddenly in light

confronted by harm

had I continued as before

Humbled

I gave thanks for the blessing

disguised as interloper

and for someone’s answered prayer

offered for my wellbeing

R. Martin Basden, 10/19/11

GOD, PRAYER, and our BLOG: Kneeling

2011-11-01T15:32:00.004-04:00

Kneeling
By R.S. Thomas (1913-2000)

Moments of great calm,

Kneeling before an altar

Of wood in a stone church

In summer, waiting for the God

To speak; the air a staircase

For silence; the sun’s light

Ringing me, as though I acted

A great rôle. And the audiences

Still; all that close throng

Of spirits waiting, as I,

For the message.

Prompt me, God;

But not yet. When I speak,

Though it be you who speak

Through me, something is lost.

The meaning is in the waiting.

________________

To learn more about this poem and author checkout: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178866

Growing Together IN COMMITMENT Faithfully

2011-11-01T15:18:00.000-04:00

The Rev. John A. Baldwin
October 30, 2011

Year A Proper 26 RCL

Growing Together In Commitment Faithfully

A chicken and a pig decided to go out to breakfast one morning at Joe's Diner. After looking over the menu, the chicken said to the pig, "Look they're offering a special on bacon and eggs for breakfast. How does that sound to you?" The pig replied, "No thanks. For you eggs are a contribution. For me, bacon is a total commitment".

Our theme for this morning, as we come to the culmination of our 4 week Every Member Commitment campaign, is this: Growing together in commitment faithfully". This morning I'm going to address the topic of commitment, which has both healthy, life-giving & vital aspects, as well as unhealthy, depleting & even, at times, addictive aspects.

We have only to look at our Epistle this morning from Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians to glimpse the kind of commitment Paul had in preaching the Good news of the Gospel.....namely that Jesus has been raised to life, and the world has changed dramatically as a result. Paul writes, "We worked night and day....while we preached to you the gospel of God. We exhorted each one of you & encouraged you & charged you to lead a life worthy of God." Paul is an example of commitment at its best: internal, focused, clear, energetic & purpose-driven. He is committed to encouraging others to lead a life worthy of God.

Jesus, in this morning's Gospel, gives us an example of commitment that is not so healthy, in his depiction of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were very committed in their interpretation of the Law, and in demanding its observance. They were righteously indignant at anyone, such as Jesus, who violated the Law of Moses (as they interpreted it), even if by so doing love & mercy were effected....such as healing on the Sabbath. The problem, as Jesus shrewdly observes, however, is this: "The Pharisees preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders. They do all their deeds to be seen by men." Their commitment doesn't come from the heart, but from externals. Obedience is far more important than compassion.

Every one of us has commitments, some very clear, and others quite subtle. Here are a few of them - commitments to family members (our parents, spouse, or children); to serving our country in the military; to earning a living; to being people of integrity, faithful to our values and beliefs; to using our leisure time for enjoyment and refreshment; to keeping informed and in touch with others; to improving ourselves through study and action. Many of these commitments are healthy & bring meaning and purpose to our lives. Other commitments are less healthy, such as commitment to substances which are detrimental to our well-being; commitment to political & societal viewpoints that demean others; commitment to cherished beliefs which fly in the face of common sense and the changing world around us; commitment to old wounds, slights & bitterness we won't let go of; commitment to fear or disengagement from the suffering of others.

Some or our commitments we take very seriously. Others we take lightly, or don't think about much at all. Some of us are under-committed, skating along on the surface of life without making much of an impact on anyone or anything. Others of us are over-committed and perhaps experiencing stress & anxiety because of it.

If we have the courage to look closely at where our greatest commitments in life lie, a good place to look is at our credit card statement or check book entries. There will be reflected the commitment we have made to a bank when we purchased a car or house; the commitment we have made to the well-being of our family in our utility, clothing, food, education & insurance bills; as well as the commitments we make to our own fun and enjoyment. Sometimes what's very telling, is in looking carefully at what may be missing. Is giving beyond ourselves reflected in our check book entries?: to our faith community; to those in need or suffering; to advocacy groups who are addressing our concerns and values; to our youth and the future of our world?

As a faith community, it is vitally important that we examine our commitments and ask ourselves the question: Are we more like the chicken or the pig? Do we make contributions like the chicken which don't demand a whole lot of us? or are we perhaps called like the pig, when we give of ourselves, to make a total commitment?

Jesus lays out some very challenging calls to action from his disciples that involve far more than occasional contributions. In fact, his whole Sermon on the Mount is a call to total commitment: to God; to mercy, justice and peace; to forgiveness and truthfulness; to integrity and faithfulness. Anyone who believes you can live an authentic Christian life by half-measures simply doesn't get it. It takes commitment.

No where, I believe, is it clearer as to what is required in the way of Christian commitment in order to be a loyal and devoted follower of Jesus Christ than in those 5 questions asked in our Baptismal Covenant: Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers? Will you persevere in resisting evil, and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

Our task as a faith community is to grow day by day, week by week, year by year in commitment to God as expressed in our Baptismal Covenant - worshiping faithfully; resisting evil in its many disguises; proclaiming the good news of God's love & grace; seeing Jesus Christ in every person we meet; and striving with our hearts, souls and minds that justice & peace may flourish in our lives & in our community.

May God grant us the strength to commit ourselves to the growth of God's Kingdom in ourselves, our family, our church, our community, and our world. Amen.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Joshua 3:7-17 -

Micah 3:5-12 -

Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37

Psalm 43

1 Thessalonians 2: 9-13 - we worked night and day....while we preached to you the gospel of God. We exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to lead a life worthy of God.

Matthew 23: 1-12 - The Pharisees preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders. They do all their deeds to be seen by men. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

_________

Lectionary: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 Matthew 23:1-12

Formation Sunday Sermon

2011-10-24T15:57:00.003-04:00

Proper 25-A

October 23, 2011

Formation Sunday

The Rev. Marguerite Alley

In the Episcopal Church every Sunday we participate in a liturgy designed to demonstrate for us the two most important concepts of our faith: Word and Sacrament. Each Sunday we gather to hear, to interpret and to meditate upon the history of our faith and the teachings of our “great high priest”, Jesus. In the sacrament of bread and wine we are reminded of God’s unconditional love for us. In the word and the interpretation of the word we are called to a closer relationship and deeper understanding of our connection with God.

Today in the Gospel lesson we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind. This is our primary purpose in life: To know God in our heart by prayer; in our souls through our deeds and in our minds through learning. In our Formation activities we teach that our purpose is to learn the mind of Christ, to offer the prayer of Christ, and to do the work of Christ. In this way, we love the Lord with our whole being. When we do this, we discover that love is verb. It requires action. To love is to leave ourselves open to doing the work of Christ in the world.

Being an active part of a community whose total purpose and focus is to do the work of Christ in the world, is what belonging to this church is about. I can’t say that for all churches. For some, going to church is about personal salvation. For others, it is about hearing a personal interpretation of scripture and being told how to behave and act as a result. But in this church, our primary goal and purpose for existence is to do the work of Christ in the world; to be the hands and feet of the Lord for those who are in need. Now you might think that if you are out there in the trenches day in and day out, fighting for the rights of the disenfranchised, or working for equality in the work place or teaching or whatever it is that you do, that you are exempt from being here on Sunday morning…or Thursday night or whenever. You might think that because you have no disposable income or because you are a single parent struggling to make it from month to month or because your family is pulled in 8 different directions at any one time or because you are retired and living on a fixed income that you are released from an obligation to participate either personally or financially. Maybe you are right. Or maybe you are thinking that we don’t need whatever it is you have that you CAN give. So I will just ask you one question. Do you love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, all your soul and all your mind?

Love has nothing to do with demands. Love is free. It cannot be bought; it cannot be sold. It can only be given. It does not expect anything in return. There are no strings attached. That's how God loves us and that how we are instructed to love. We are also told to love our neighbor. But in order to do this, we must know and understand how Christ loves us. Having a personal relationship with Jesus is how we know that we are loved. Now I know you have all heard that statement……. “have a personal relationship with Jesus”…..and we probably all have different responses. I am going to share my own with you, but you must keep it a secret. Please. No really. You can’t tell anyone I said this. I don’t really get what having a “personal relationship with Jesus” means. In any relationship that is healthy, we should find two things….we should find comfort and we should find challenge. We are offered strength and refuge when we need it, and we are pushed to be better when we need that as well. That is, I think, the mark of a good relationship. So how can you have a personal relationship with someone you have never met; someone with whom you can only have a one sided conversation? How do you get to know someone with whom you cannot communicate? Well, the only way that I have been able to figure out is to read and learn about Jesus’ teachings, to understand about the audience he was speaking to, know a little bit about the Mediterranean culture of the time and go from there to trying to translate that into my current life in this culture and time. And miraculously, by doing that, I do feel as though I have come to know Jesus in a deeper and more meaningful way. I may not personally describe it as a “personal relationship” with him, but I can easily say that I find comfort and challenge in his words and actions. So I could more comfortably say that I have a “healthy relationship with Jesus”.

As you know, we are in the midst of our Every Member Commitment Campaign at the moment and I would like to take a moment now to speak about that in connection to the Gospel today. If you don’t find comfort here in this place then we are not doing our jobs as fellow Christians. If you are not finding challenge here then we have missed the mark. But if you do find comfort here then you must also be here to comfort others. If you do find challenge here that calls you to be more Christ-like then you need to be here to share that as well. Nowhere does Jesus say “Come unto me all you are heavy laden and have some extra cash and I will give you rest”. Our theme in formation this fall has been a short scripture passage from the 12^th chapter of Romans: “Do not be conformed to this world, only be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that the will of God might be discerned”. In our formation activities and in our sermons we have talked about transformation. I hope that that message has been clear. Loving God with all our heart and soul and mind is the goal and the purpose for everything we do when we call ourselves Christians. Learning how to do that is the goal and purpose of our formation program. Doing that to the best of our ability is the goal and purpose of our liturgy…..in Word and Sacrament. All that remains is for us to be the verb…..LOVE.

___________
Lectionary: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Matthew 22:34-46

GOD, PRAYER, and our BLOG: Prayer

2011-10-24T14:43:00.002-04:00

PRAYER

By George Herbert
(1593-1633)

Prayer the Churches banquet, Angels age,
Gods breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth;

Engine against the Almighty, sinner’s tower,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six-days’ world transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;

Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,
Exalted Manna, gladness of the best,
Heaven in ordinary, man well dressed,
The milky way, the bird of Paradise,
Church bells beyond the stars heard, the souls blood,
The land of spices; something understood.

If you want a more indepth look into the author and the poem check out this commentary found at: http://www.faith-theology.com/2010/07/george-herbert-prayer-language-silence.html

GOD, PRAYER, and our BLOG: Disclosure

2011-10-18T11:07:00.001-04:00

Disclosure

By Anne Lewin

Prayer is like watching for the
Kingfisher. All you can do is
Be where he is likely to appear, and
Wait.
Often, nothing much happens;
There is space, silence and
Expectancy.
No visible sign, only the
Knowledge that he's been there
And may come again.
Seeing or not seeing cease to matter,
You have been prepared.
But when you've almost stopped
Expecting it, a flash of brightness
Gives encouragement.

Disclosure poem read on Youtube

GOD, PRAYER, and our BLOG

2011-10-18T10:54:00.000-04:00

GOD, PRAYER, and our BLOG

In addition to posting our sermons to our blog, I am going to try having a BLOG series.

Once a week until Advent begins (November 27th), I will be posting poems I got from one of my classes at Oxford. The theme of these poems range from poets wrestling with God, to what it means to pray, and everything in between.

I invite you to read the poems and to post your thoughts and comments about them. This series of “GOD, PRAYER, and our BLOG” will be only posted here on our Blog.

In faith and thanks,

The Rev. Julia W. Messer

Growing Together IN MINISTRY Faithfully

2011-10-17T15:34:00.001-04:00

The Rev. Julia W. Messer
18^th Sunday after Pentecost
October 16, 2011

Growing together IN MINISTRY faithfully

"Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s."(Matt22)

What a great Gospel reading to use for this second Sunday of our Every Member Commitment season! By now you have gotten your pledge packets and probably know this is the second of four Sundays that we will discuss the importance of being faithful stewards of our faith community.

Today’s message is “growing together in ministry, faithfully.” The two important messages to take away from this theme and today’s gospel are about ministry AND finance.

In regards to ministry-- how often have we found ourselves not fully offering our gifts back up to God? Have you ever found yourself recognizing that you have a talent but are not utilizing it? Maybe you are a wonderful storybook reader or have an eye for photography. Yet you found yourself pushing aside that talent…almost as if you do not recognize or appreciate that you have been given these gifts from God. Perhaps these abilities seem to you as if they are “no big deal”; they are “just something you do”. When we push our gifts aside, we are acting as if we are waiting for God to see the situation and then expect Him to sets our hearts on fire. The question we have to ask ourselves is: Are we going to keep pushing these gifts aside or are we willing to stretch ourselves and see how our gifts can grow if we give ourselves the chance?

Today our intentional theme is not just about our ministries, or our ministries here at Emmanuel, but it is also about growing together FAITHFULLY.

Ways we show faithful living out/of our ministries is described in 1 Thessalonians when we are called to not only hold ourselves up but also our community in our prayers. We are to be faithful to God and to our neighbor by our work and labor which SHOWS our faith and love by being imitators of Christ. This can be shown through three types of ministry.

1. The first is our ministry of our actions. How do we engage in our community; how do we offer our gifts up to God so that we, as a Christian family, can grow together in our ministries? Do we participate in any of the numerous and varied out-reach or in-reach programs? Are we willing to take a chance and see how our gifts can be used for the greater good? Good examples would be parishioners who are part of the numerous lay ministries that make Sundays run smoothly here at Emmanuel. That would include the Altar Guild, sound system, choir and musicians, acolytes, lay readers, healing ministry stations, children’s chapel and nursery care workers, and the Flower Guild. But it also includes other types of ministry of giving of one’s self -- from donating blood to the Red Cross to giving food to feed the homeless, or our Lay Eucharistic Visitors who bring Communion to people who can’t be here on Sunday.

2. The second is our ministry of others. While we want to be the people offering ministry and help to others, there are numerous times in our lives when we are ministered to. We are called not only to be ministers, but to be open to other’s ministries to us. As servants of Christ we are called to be servants to each other and we pray that we might have the grace to let others be servants to us too. For example, we love to eat at Emmanuel, and this act which brings people together is a ministry. When the Martha Ministries prepare food and tables for a family who has lost a loved one or for events where the Let’s Eat Guild makes meals for our social events, they are offering a piece of themselves and a space for people to meet. It is in this act that they show how they care for their church family and it is a form of ministry to offer it as well as to participate in it.

3. And the third is our ministry of presence. In some situations and some times there is nothing we can say or do that can make a difference but by just being open to Holy Spirit moving and being with a person, a ministry is offered. For example, simply greeting each other at the Peace not only signifies that we offer God’s peace to others, but we are recognizing that those we greet are here and that they are important. Another ministry of presence is hearing about a woman who was in a recovery program, and walked by our bulletin boards during a wedding a while ago. Because of the information that she read, she realized that she needed to enter into a support group. By having our doors to the church open, a person was able to recognize and take the step to enter into an intentional community that helped her. A building can even be a part of the ministry of presence.

Which leads me to the second part to remember from this theme of “growing together in ministry faithfully” -- and that is finance. Stewardship month is not only about evaluating your ministry gifts and how you are using them in your community, but also recognizing that this community could not exist or run without your gifts for ministry. Let me rephrase that again: Your gifts of ministry make the spirit of this parish run, but the parish cannot run on spirit alone. It needs your gifts for the ministry to operate. So in other words, being active in ministry and giving financially are two sides of the same coin of rending unto God what is God’s. By financially supporting Emmanuel, at whatever level, you are saying that you actively participate in the ministry of presence. It says that you believe in the ministry that is going on here and you want Emmanuel to continue. Emmanuel’s ministries are not just what you see on Sunday mornings, but include countless others, from recovery programs that we house to our outreach programs, from our social activities to our mission trips. But we are limited in that even a church is an organization that does have to rendering unto Caesar what are Caesar’s….or utility costs to the city.

The ministries here at Emmanuel are numerous and many people come into our building pass through our doors or look to Emmanuel for help and to be the safe haven that it is called to be. Emmanuel has been there for so many people and so many communities for so many years. Therefore as you pledge your time, gifts, and finances, you are saying you support the ministries here. You are saying that you are willing to grow in not only your ministries but also the ministries here that help others. We grow in all together. By pledging you are being faithful to both of these commitments—both sides of the coin. Your gifts are indeed rendered up to God.

~~~

Now, during the PowerPoint presentation I invite you to write down on the flowers you were given one of these three ministries you have experienced here at Emmanuel or out in the world for which you are thankful for. To recap the three ministries: the first would be through the ministry of your actions, the second would be the ministry of others helping you, and the third would be the ministry of presence. Think about how a simple moment was a moment of grace to you. If you do not have a flower or would like another, raise your hand and the ushers will be bringing more around. These flowers and leaves will be placed on a board, be blessed, and our ministries will be laid before the altar for the last Sunday of stewardship.

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

+AMEN+

Lectionary used: Year A, Proper 24, RCL 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Matthew 22:15-22

Growing Together IN JOY Faithfully!

2011-10-11T12:13:00.000-04:00

October 9 2011

The Rev. John A. Baldwin

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice". (Phil.4:4)

Today is the beginning of our 4 week Every Member Commitment campaign “Growing Together....Faithfully”, in which we are asking everyone who considers Emmanuel to be their spiritual home & parish family to make a commitment (a pledge) to support our mission & ministry in the year ahead (2012). Our theme this morning is “Growing Together in Joy Faithfully”. My sermon focuses, therefore, on that elusive quality of life we all crave, experiencing Joy. At the conclusion of my sermon you will also hear briefly from someone who, I believe, epitomizes joyfulness in his ministry of music.

Our Epistle this morning comes from the 4th chapter of Philippians, the most affectionate letter of all those written by St. Paul. It is addressed to the members of the first congregation he established in Europe, at Philippi in Macedonia. Paul's relations with this church in all the years afterward seem to have been extraordinarily close & happy. Their contributions (which Paul gratefully acknowledges) are among the only ones he accepts. Their generosity stands out conspicuously in this Epistle. It's particularly remarkable, in that the Macedonian converts were, as a whole, very poor. Their poverty and their open-handed support of Paul and his work, moved him deeply.

One of the most remarkable things about this short Epistle is how much "joy" is woven into the very fabric of the letter. Here is a sampling: "I thank my God... always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy." (1:4) "Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord & of one mind." (2:2) " "You also should be glad & rejoice with me." (2:18) "Receive him in the Lord with all joy." (3:1) "Therefore, my brethren, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown." (4:1)

Paul's joy is deep, absolutely sincere & foundational. It is not a naive, Pollyanna, "Don't worry, be happy" kind of joy, because as Paul asserts in this Epistle, "I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any & all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance & want."(4:12) His secret? "I can do all things in him (Jesus Christ) who strengthens me." (4:13)

Paul didn't have an easy life once he met Jesus on the road to Damascus & was converted from zealous persecutor of Christians to bold proclaimer of Jesus' Resurrection. He was beaten, abused, stoned, imprisoned numerous times, and ultimately (according to Christian legend) beheaded in Rome during the reign of Nero. How is it possible to be so grounded in joy, when suffering & hardship were so close at hand? Quite simply, Paul did not equate joy with happiness. It is far deeper, far more steadfast & dependable than happiness, which can flee from moment to moment. They're not the same thing at all.

Happiness is grounded in material things, events & emotions which can evaporate in an instant when setbacks, disappointments & hard knocks interrupt our daily existence, as they inevitably do. Joy, however, is rooted in the divine.... in knowing deep down that no matter what, we are deeply cherished by the God who created us; in believing implicitly, as Paul asserts in Romans 9:39, that "Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord". Psalm 30 puts it this way, “Sing praises to the Lord...for his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” The pursuit of happiness is limited and bound for disappointment, but the pursuit of joy is eternal.

In an article about "Joy" that profoundly impacted me when I first read it many years ago, Louis Evely wrote this: "The Christian religion is a religion of joy. The Gospel is Good News, and in spite of our occasional melancholy appearance, we are messengers of joy, witnesses of the resurrection. (Yet), strangely enough, we do not cherish the joy of God. We are much more inclined to mourn with Christ (to follow the way of the Cross) than to rejoice with Him (to follow the way of Joy)."

We do a pretty good job of rejoicing on Easter Morning, but as Evely goes on to say, “All too often after Easter, we go on vacation in our religious life. We have worked hard during Lent. We reason: Christ is risen...He is happy....He is safely in heaven. We can do no more for him. Now that his hour of suffering is over, his way and ours can part. We are going to go on with our life and suffering here below. He is in beatitude.”

How crazy is that!! Each and every Sunday is a celebration of the Resurrection. Evely goes on to make some bold assertions that I want you to listen to carefully and ponder. He writes: “We have to make for God the sacrifice of being happy! This will prove the sincerity of our friendship. We have to give God the joy of seeing us happy because of him, to tell him, "You did so much for us, you loved us so much and suffered so much for us, that we now want to give you the reward of seeing us happy. We want to be happy with faith, happy with confidence, happy to be with you."

“Everything which we have closed to happiness, we have closed to God,” Evely asserts. ”We shut God out from all those areas in ourselves where we are resigned not to let joy, hope, confidence, and love enter. Our sadness measures exactly our attachment to ourselves. It denounces our selfishness. The place we give to joy is the place we give to God.”

It means a lot to me to be part of a faith community here at Emmanuel whose mission statement is this: “Sharing the Joy and Power of Life in Christ”. I have experienced Joy here repeatedly, not just on Easter, but sometimes even in the saddest events of life: the joy of recalling at the funeral of Father Bill and other dear members of Emmanuel now departed, how they impacted my life for the better, and how they honored God in their lives; the joy of seeing members cope with severe blows in their lives – chronic illness & life-threatening disease, divorce & broken relationships, loss of jobs, fear about the future for their troubled teenagers, and yet have still remained strong in faith; the joy of seeing infants I've baptized grow into beautiful and handsome young adults; the joy of connecting with the unique gifts and person-hood of so many people; the joy of empowering people for service in the world through the celebration of Holy Eucharist; and the joy of having God affirm for me over and over that in spite my flaws and foibles, I am His beloved child.

Evely concluded his article on Joy by saying, “Our (calling) is this: to have so generous a behavior, a love so alive among us, a heart so filled with joy & faith, that those who meet us can only explain it by admitting in their turn that Christ is risen from the dead. Our greatest mistake is to believe that we always lack only one thing in order to be happy: some money, a promotion, some luck; that this illness be cured or that trial ended. If we think thus, then we will never be happy, for there will always be another illness, another trial, some unexpected catastrophe. It is God we lack, & the unexpected thing about God is that he does not fail us: we fail him. We must learn to be happy immediately....right away - or we will never be happy. For the eternal, like the joy which it engenders, always begins now.” Amen.

Lectionary: October 9, 2011 Year A, Proper 23.Philippians 4:1-9, Matthew 22:1-14

The Wicked Tenants

2011-10-04T10:20:00.000-04:00

Proper 22-A

October 2, 2011

The Rev. Marguerite Alley

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20, Psalm 19 , Philippians 3:4b-14,
Matthew 21:33-46

The Gospel for today is a challenging one. Not in the sense that it is hard to preach, but in the sense that you may not like what it says. Now in preparation I have looked at several of my usual preparation sources and they are all pretty much in agreement on what the message of this parable is. Unfortunately, in our rush to not damage each other’s self esteem, in our need to put salve on our wounds, and in our twisting of our framing story, we have come out the other side with what I would suggest is a completely inappropriate, if not altogether incorrect understanding of what Jesus has just said.

I am wondering if any of you were able to catch the pilot of a new television show this fall called “Terra Nova”. If not, here is the skinny. The earth is on its last leg. The environment has been destroyed. People have to wear masks if they leave their houses. They can (if they can afford it) have air purification systems in their homes. If they can’t, they wear masks 24 hours a day. The wealthiest of the world live in a few plexiglass domes that have all the air purified and can therefore live “mask-free”. There, in these domes, some trees and plants can still be found and enjoyed and are employed as part of the purification system. Outside the domes there is no vegetation. The population has outgrown the lands ability to sustain, and thus there are no houses, only high rise tiny apartment spaces. There are no pets, because they use up “human air”. In the story, 7 years prior, a crack was found in the time/space continuum, and some explorers were sent into it to see where they might end up. It turns out that they end up 25 million or so years in the earth’s past. The decision is made to begin sending small groups of carefully selected people to “re-start” civilization and try to stop the destruction of the planet before it begins to happen. Ironically, they have only been working on this for 7 years and already the advance group has split over ideology and now is quite hostile towards each other. It promises to be an interesting show that I am going to actually make the effort to follow.

Now….what has this to do with Jesus’ parable? Well, the characters in this parable are a bit too familiar for us to look at this and escape seeing the obvious. The tenants are enjoying a good life on the land. It is pleasant, comfortable and the benefits are great. Along comes a “messenger” who reminds them that the rent has come due…in other words, they are expected to give to the owner some of what they have enjoyed in payment for being allowed to live there and enjoy it! Despite the fact that they have been given this beautiful garden to live in and enjoy, they resent having to give back any of what they perceive to be “theirs”….so they kill the messengers. The owner must have thought that the news sent back to him was a mistake, because he sends more servants the second time. Oddly enough, the tenants I guess believe that the owner is so far away, there is little he can do to them, so they kill the next bunch as well. At this point, who can fail to see the obvious point? Pay what you owe or God will send servants to collect, and we will have to kill them to protect what is rightfully ours! God is so far away from us…what can happen? Well, so maybe we need to hear the next piece to make sense of it. After the second set of servants is killed, the owner decides to send his son. We are told that he thinks that the tenants will “respect” his son and pay what they owe. To no one’s surprise, the tenants kill the son as well. Now, who can fail to get the point here? The landowner is obviously either dimwitted, the eternal optimist or completely oblivious to the point of risking the life of his own child.

Even I can see where this is going. Pay up or you will be forced to do something drastic that might cause you a moment or two of regret, and goodness knows, we don’t like living with regret. So there you have it folks…the easiest parable of the Bible. Unless of course, you want to take a look at what Jesus is saying…rather than what we are hearing.

Perhaps we should take a second look. The tenants, wicked and enigmatic, look strangely like us. We think the vineyard belongs to us and so we do with it as we see fit. We abuse the land, the water, and the air. We have built and we maintain societies based on the power of having natural resources intended for all to share and in which a decent life for everyone is not a reality, but at best an ideal. And when the landowner sends his servants to remind us of our obligation to each other, we reject them. The behavior of the landowner is hard to accept as well, because it too is familiar. It is the behavior of God. The landowner sends his servants to proclaim and collect justice, and that message is rejected and the messengers murdered. God tries again with the same result. Finally, in an all out desperate act, God sends Jesus to proclaim justice, and mercy for all and we, still feeling as though we OWN the vineyard, decide this is not what we want and we see an easy way out in killing Jesus.

Now if we still want to try and see what the story is really about we must look at

the end of the story. We are left with 2 possible outcomes. The first comes from those who are with Jesus. They are shocked and horrified by the story. They cry out that the landowner should put the wicked tenants to death and maybe even torture them a bit so that they suffer as much as he did. I wonder what would happen if I said right now that the

United States

is sort of like these folks responding to Jesus’ story? Well, I am not going to say anything like that. What I will say is that this is not the conclusion that Jesus endorses. What he says is very different. He reminds his listeners of a verse from the psalms: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes.” Those gathered around Jesus who said that the wicked tenants deserved to die seem to be advocating exclusion and violence. They believe the best way to handle murderous rebels is to make them taste their own medicine. This attitude is ancient, popular, and leads to…well it leads to where we are today!

If the landowner, if God believes that the tenants are not capable of any other kind of response then perhaps God should have wiped out human beings along time ago. Clearly, our Creator believes that we, the tenants, (see how smoothly I slipped that in?) are indeed capable of more appropriate behavior because if we are not and God kills us then we win. We are dead yes…but we forced God to deal with us in the exact same way that we dealt with those servants and God’s son! I seriously doubt if God will fall for our devious plan. Instead, we are “given” Jesus who offers us the ONLY plan that will save our lives!

In that pithy statement about the stone rejected by the builder becoming the cornerstone, we are given a way forward. Now many folks have interpreted this statement as being that Jesus is the stone rejected by the builders and certainly that could be true. But it would be more accurate to say that Jesus’ message is what was rejected. What Jesus taught and stood for and died for is what is being rejected in the story and in the world right now. That message is to us, about us and for us. It is quite simply….get over yourselves. Think about the bigger picture. Stop treating each other like enemies and start thinking about how you can all live together and take care of the vineyard.

How do we do this? We could start by understanding that whomever we call an enemy has within them some broken, rejected part of ourselves. By accepting that enemy, we accept back that part of ourselves. By continuing to reject that part of ourselves, we remain in a broken state. Acceptance of our own brokenness is the first step in being able to open the gates of the vineyard to all for whom it was intended. Allowing “our enemies” to share in the abundance of creation, accepting their differences and celebrating the diversity of creation means we are transformed and so is are they. That transformation is what Jesus came to teach, to live and to die for. The challenge then, from this parable is this…will we continue to be the wicked tenants or will we step outside the walls we have created around the vineyard and greet the servants and the son as welcome reminders of our interdependence and our connections to each other, and be transformed.

Spiritual but not religious...

2011-09-27T14:08:00.002-04:00

The Rev. J.W. Messer
September 25, 2011
Year A, Proper 21, RCLExodus 17:1-7 , Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 , Philippians 2:1-13,

Spiritual But Not Religious… The Parable of the Two Sons
Matthew 21:23-32

When I was studying in Oxford this summer (I love being able to say that!), a group of us clergy would go out and look for off-the-beaten-tourist-path local pubs for dinner. One night at one of these places, all the tables were filled except one. So we begged the person sitting at the table to let us join him, which he did. Conversation went smoothly until we revealed that most of us were Episcopal clergy. When we asked him what faith tradition he was, acting shocked he replied, “I’m not religious; I’m British!”

Unfortunately the equivalent of this statement in the States is “I’m spiritual but not religious.” I can’t tell you how often I hear this statement, particularly in my age group. In fact it now is an acronym: “SBNR” and even has its own Facebook page.

I think there are a lot of reasons behind why people today say “I am spiritual but not religious.” One may be that they don’t want to admit that they do not belong to an organized religion, but want others to still think well of them. Another may be that they are so involved in soccer/dirt bike riding or whatever makes them happy on the weekends that they don’t feel the need to go to a church. And others may have been brought up in an organized religion but have fallen away, or they have tried to attend a few churches and when that service doesn’t fit them they give up going to church.

Or it could be something darker or sadder that they neither have the time nor inclination to examine or fix. Perhaps they had a horrible experience that has absolutely turned them away from organized religion. Or maybe they were literally dragged to church non-stop as children and have totally rebelled.

Whatever their reasons are to make this statement, to live this statement, I believe that underneath, they too are people looking for something bigger than themselves, but they don’t like or feel the need to be a part of organized religion.

Let’s be honest -- organized religion certainly is not without sin. It is undoubtedly easy to point to the disgraced mega-church pastors who have been brought down over the years by major sex, drug, and molestation scandals. But it is more than major scandals; it is about power, ego and money getting in the way. Organized religion can have its downside just as any organization; it’s just when something that is suppose to represent the ultimate good and love on earth betrays that trust, then it takes a long time to get over.

A lot of the time when people say they don’t like organized religion, they use it as a scapegoat, because they don’t like being told what or how they should act or live their lives. One way to view today’s parable is through this perspective. The parable is of two brothers, and they are told by their father to go out into the vineyard and work. This work that they are asked to do is something that is expected of everyone in the community, and the product they create impacts a larger community. Yet when asked, one son said he would go into the vineyard but didn’t go, while the other said he wouldn’t go but ended up going.

Applying this to our daily lives, the question has to be asked: Which one would we like to be? The one who will say that I will do what is asked of me, but I won’t go do it. Or the one who doesn’t want to do it but ends up working. We want to be the latter, but at points in our lives, we have been in both positions. We have not followed through on things we said that we would do, and we have been the people to go behind and do the work because it wasn’t getting done.

Applying this to our spiritual lives, the question has to be asked: Which one are we? The one who proudly proclaims to be a person of faith and of a certain tradition, but doesn’t follow through and won’t engage in a community? Or the one who doesn’t know who he is or if she is willing to fully sign up as a person of faith, but leads a life that in every way is that of a good and righteous person.

I think there is even more to this parable beyond these hard questions. The two sons are two different approaches to faith and doing God’s will. The first son answered the way he thought the Father wanted to hear which got the Father off his back so that he could do what he wanted to do. The other son, who first said no, thought about it, realized his mistake, changed his mind, and went out into the field to do the work the Father had asked him to do. Both sons were capable of the work, but it’s how they approached it.

Jesus first compared the son, who said he would go but didn’t, to the leaders of organized religion of the day who had earlier been on the right track but got distracted by all the frills and ended up being more concerned about appearing like people of faith than actually being people of faith. Jesus then compared the marginalized and rejects from society to the son who went and worked the vineyard after first saying no, because like the son, they had made bad decisions earlier in their lives and yet something happened to them, they repented, and they got back on the right track.

While most of us here present do not absolutely fall in either one or the other category, the questions still apply to us. How are we going to live out our lives when the Father asks us to work in the vineyard—when that work is so important with an effect far beyond the vineyard. Are we going to perhaps not always respond perfectly to the question, but after realizing our mistake, do the work? Or are we going to say what others expect to hear or the easy way out, when we have absolutely no intention of doing the work? Are we going to live our lives fully committed to God and God’s call for us? Or pretend that we are? Are we going to toil in the vineyard or walk away from it?

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. + Amen +

It's not FAIR!

2011-09-19T16:14:00.000-04:00

September 18, 2011
The Rev. John A. Baldwin

In listening to the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, I am reminded of an expression I heard more than a few times from my daughters as they were growing up, and which I suspect you have heard from children and grandchildren yourselves - "It's not fair!"

In Jesus' parable, the workers who come early to the Vineyard, though offered a good wage for working, become prey to rising expectations. They begin to salivate, imagining the extra bonus they are going to receive when they see those who came later being paid what the earlier-starting workers were offered. They are brought up short when the owner pays everyone the same wage. "It's not fair! We deserve more than they do."

When our young children are dismayed by what they perceive to be the inequities of life - "It's not fair that Joshua gets to stay up later than me" ...."It's not fair! Why do I have to eat all my peas in order to get dessert?" - we are likely to say in response, "Sorry love, but life often isn't fair."

And it isn't! Is it fair that you and I are living in one of the most prosperous nation in the world with liberties others long for and envy, while several billion human beings live in poverty in Third World nations, and many suffer from cruelties that are beyond our comprehension? Is it fair, that women generally earn less than men for the same work performed? Is it fair that some people are born into loving, nurturing families, while others are born into abusive, love-starved families? Is it fair that Hurricane Irene inflicted relatively small damage on our area, but pounded the Outer Banks, and flooded Vermont?

One of the early awarenesses of life is that human society is filled with unfairness. And it's a harsh reality to learn, indeed. But it's one thing to acknowledge the unfairness of human beings, and the sinfulness of the structures within which we live, and it's another thing to accuse God of unfairness. But we do!!!

The problem of evil leads us inevitably to such questions as, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Is it fair that Emily, who is one of the most loving persons I know has terminal cancer? Why was my child born with a birth defect? How come, out of all the houses in my area, it was mine that was destroyed by the tornado? In our anger and anguish we cry out to God. "Why aren't you being fair?"

A theology that is based on the premise that we are more favored or privileged than other people, and that God will protect us from unfairness if we live a faithful life, is a shaky and vulnerable theology. It totally fails us when unfair things happen to us, or to those we love and care about. If we've striven hard to lead decent, moral, faithful lives, then it must be God who failed us. How could God let bad things happen to good people? Why is God being unfair?

As a pastor I hear this theology being expressed over and over again. "I used to go to church until my daughter was drowned in a boating accident. Now I don't believe in a God who could let this happen." A theology that envisions God as responsible for everything that happens, can lead to our blaming God for everything.....from the sinful actions of men and women...to someone being in the wrong place at an unfortunate moment....to human genes combining in the womb in a tragic way. Inevitably this theology will lead to our faith failing us in a crisis. It's a weak theology, and our Gospel this morning underscores this.

In reality, God is radically fair to all alike. He doesn't play favorites. He treats Johnny-Come-Latelys the same way he treats those who sign on early. Every human being has the breath of life breathed into our bodies at birth, and that breath will inevitably be taken back by God from every one of us at death. Although we may accumulate wealth and ample possessions, no one can take it with them beyond the grave. Every man, woman and child, no matter what their race, beliefs, or character flaws and weaknesses, is loved by God. Everyone who sincerely repents of their sins and wrongdoings is forgiven and reconciled to God. These are the actions of a God who is radically fair to all alike.

Where our theology gets us into trouble is when we assume that somehow we should receive special privileges that are denied to others, or when we see God's role in our lives as primarily that of a Guardian Angel protecting us from all unfairness in life, rather than experiencing God as a companion in joy and suffering alike, as well as a tower of strength to draw upon in adversity.

A God who is radically fair is one we can rely on not to abandon us in times of trouble, and who we can trust to support us in our struggles to find new life and meaning on the other side of pain.

Earlier in my ministry I attended a conference in suburban Minneapolis that I will never forget, one that filled me with more than a little apprehension as it approached. It was a dialogue for clergy with men and woman who'd been diagnosed with AIDS. Back in those days (about 20 years ago) this was very close to receiving a death sentence. The conference planners hoped to enable clergy to grow in understanding and in compassionate ministry to those suffering with AIDS.

During the conference, I spent a half hour apiece hearing the stories of 2 young men as they described the effect learning they had AIDS had upon them, and how they were coping with their disease. Although both had lived lifestyles that were very different from my own, I felt great warmth and compassion for both of them in their illness.

Both described their shock and fear, the trauma of sharing with their friends and families, and the sadness of being treated like lepers. There was a very real sense of unfairness - being stricken with a fearsome disease in the prime of their lives.

"It was a terrible moment when I learned I had AIDS" one told me, "But strangely, it was also a blessing in disguise." He went on to tell me about some of the hurts and pains of his life. He described his inner life as containing a garage filled with rats. When something hurtful or painful happened to him, he pushed it into the garage and slammed the door, locking it with alcohol and denial.

But when he learned he had AIDS, something changed inside. He began to unlock the door of the garage, and let out the anger and hurt. He read me a poem he had written and sent to the Catholic Archbishop in St. Paul, Minnesota describing the anger and confusion he felt at a Church which had nurtured him as a child, but which had later turned its back on him and rejected him as a gay man.

Writing and sending the letter lifted a weight off his heart. Even though he never received a response, he felt his stored up anger towards the Catholic Church melting a bit. He began chasing out the other rats in his inner garage, and finding new hope in life, even while living with a disease which could end his life suddenly. He told me he had become very active in support groups for those with AIDS, not only drawing strength and courage from them, but also supporting and ministering to others.

"I know the rest of my life may be very short", he said, "But then, so could yours, or that of anyone. Having AIDS has changed my life, so maybe it is a blessing in disguise."

Although for many of those living with AIDS, diagnosis has not necessarily led to a deepening of faith, in this man's life it apparently has. Moving past this sense of unfairness, he discovered a God who was closer than ever in his illness.

Is it fair that AIDS struck down many young people in this country in the 1980's and 90's, as well as being rampant in Africa today? Is it fair that those inflicted by this disease were treated like lepers and outcasts in our society, and some even by their own families?

As Christians, an essential part of our vocation and ministry is to do battle with the unfairness of life, through our witness to a God who is radically fair in his love and compassion for all people. We need to move beyond the theology we may have been taught as children which portrays God as a Guardian Angel, who surrounds us with a wall of protection from the unfairness of life....and we need to move towards a theology that is realistic about suffering and sin, but which experiences God as very real and present in our lives as a companion, guide and friend. Amen.

___________________________
Lectionary: Year A Proper 20 RCL: Exodus 16:2-15 , Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45, Philippians 1:21-30 ,Matthew 20:1-16

Forgiveness

2011-09-18T12:47:00.002-04:00

Proper 19

September 11, 2011

The Rev. Marguerite Alley

Today, we are remembering the events of September 11, 2001. The emotions of that day are deeply ingrained in most of us. The repercussions…far beyond the lives lost, are still felt in our daily lives. Fear, mistrust, suspicion, and anger are all such a part of the tragedy of 9-11.

There have been times in my ministry when I have been asked to help people face senseless tragedy. I have been with parents when they have lost their children, husbands and wives who have lost their partner, even children who have lost their parents. In each and every case I have been asked why. Why did this happen? Why did this happen to me? Why did God do this to my loved one? I am always at a loss for words in these cases. But I don’t think anyone would really appreciate it if I just said “Beats me”! and walked away. We lost a student at First Colonial a week or so ago in a senseless accident. The young man went for a run while on vacation with his family. A great student, a star athlete, a great person, a senior making his college plans. While on his run he lost his balance and fell into a deep ravine and died. I don’t have an answer for his parents either. But what I do know is that the only way to live through something like that or something like what happened on 9-11, the only way to make sense of and begin to understand is to seek understanding. I believe that this search for understanding will require incredible strength. And to find this kind of strength we must dig down deep.

To begin with, we must understand that the problem of tragedy, injustice and suffering is a problem for every human being regardless of whether or not you are a person of faith or not. When we are young and developing our faith, we have a tendency to believe that when something bad happens God caused it, and we question how a great and loving God could cause this to happen. But as we grow, we begin to understand that NOT believing in God is not going to make dealing with tragedy any easier, so we must re-think our understanding.

Now every faith has ways to understand and deal with suffering in the world. But as a Christian I know my own faith’s resources the best. When people ask the big question, “Why would God allow this or that to happen?” there are almost always two answers. One response is: Don’t question God! God is all -powerful and all- knowing and it’s not your place to question God! Just accept everything. Don’t question. The other response is: I can’t possibly know what God is thinking because God is God and I am not. Well, neither of these is very satisfactory to me. One is too hard to do…and the other is too weak.

I would suggest to you that forgiveness is the only lens through which we can understand God’s place and role in the tragedies we face.

It seems somewhat providential that the 10^th anniversary of September 11, 2001 would fall on the Sunday in our lectionary where we read Jesus’ mandate about forgiveness. Even people of great faith struggle mightily with this mandate.

One of the great themes of the Hebrew Scriptures is that God identifies with the suffering. Yet we are asked to forgive those who injure us. There are all these great texts that say things like this: If you cast out the poor, you cast me out . I am a husband to the widow. I am father to the orphans. But Christianity says God goes even beyond that. Christians believe that in Jesus, God became human and thus vulnerable to and involved in - suffering and death! He didn’t come as a king or a president. He came as an ordinary day laborer. His vulnerability, his openness, his willingness to take on our pain flies in the face of what we want to believe about our God. We feel like we want a hero, a superman, one who will rush in to right the wrongs, to punish the evil -doers. And yet, in the aftermath of 9/11 we wonder why that didn’t happen. Do we feel any safer now that Osama bin Laden is dead? Certainly enough “good” Christians are praying for peace and security. Clearly, at least in my mind, divine retribution has not occurred. But, maybe something better has. Have you considered, that if God was willing to come to us in human form, to suffer the physical pain of alienation, crucifixion and death, that this does answer our question? A God who is willing to do this is a God who loves us beyond measure. A God who avoids coming to us, a God who blocks or avenges our pain, can’t truly love us, because that God doesn’t really know us.

In our Gospel this morning, Peter questions Jesus’ mandate. How many times do I have to forgive someone? Maybe the real question he is asking, is how many times will YOU God, forgive me?

Now we have all known someone who plucked our last nerve, tested our friendship, pushed us to our very limit of forgiveness. And according to Jesus, 70X7..that is to say limitless forgiveness, is what is expected of us as his followers. That can get to be pretty irritating! We tend to want our relationships to be a bit more equal. We want to get at least as much as we give. Forgiving over and over again and getting little in return is just not in our nature. We have a tendency to keep score cards on people. I mean I try not to…but sometimes I just can’t help it. When someone burns me, I am very reluctant to give them another chance.

Here is where we must work hard at our 70X7 forgiveness. The frustrating thing about forgiveness is that when you do muster the courage to forgive someone sometimes the other person doesn’t change at all and in fact doesn’t even seem grateful!. If we were expecting some kind of return, was it really forgiveness? I don’t think so. Forgiving means we believe that the life of the family of God is THE most important thing. Anyone who wants to be a Christian is called to forgive with no limits, to love unconditionally. At least this is what we strive for.

Forgiving someone guilty of a heinous offense does not mean we are saying the act was /is acceptable. It means that WE are not going to allow ourselves to be filled with hate and anger. It means we are willing to recognize that the perpetrator is a human being and that they are more than that one act they committed. And that is darn hard to do!

If you have ever been forgiven and taken the time to think about it then you will understand this. We cannot control forgiveness. We cannot make someone forgive us and we cannot force someone to change when we forgive them. If you have ever been forgiven then you understand…it comes from beyond us. We have nothing to do with it. All we can do is ask for it……..or offer it. It is quite simply grace….freely given. We cannot force another to accept it. We cannot turn it away. It is what it is.

It is quite tempting to look at this parable and to say that the real message is: Forgive those who injure you, or God won’t forgive you. But wouldn’t that be living out of fear rather than out of love? It sure doesn’t feel much like grace. Perhaps we need to just change a few words and rather than “forgive so that you will be forgiven” we need to “forgive because we are forgiven”.

As I was preparing to write my sermon, I came across a quote that really sums up my thoughts. It is from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov:

“I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage, that in the world’s finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, for the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, for all the blood that they’ve shed; and it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify what has happened.”

_________________

Lectionary for Year A RCL, Proper 19: Exodus 14:19-31, Psalm 114 , Romans 14:1-12, Matthew 18:21-35

Addressing Interpersonal Conflict

2011-09-18T12:40:00.000-04:00

The Rev. Julia W. Messer
September 4, 2011
Proper 18, Year A, RCL
Proper 18 Exodus 12:1-14, Psalm 149, Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20

Addressing Interpersonal Conflict

I have to confess….I am not really a fan of reality TV shows. And I particularly dislike those where the shows which seem to be based on who has been the most “wronged” by seeing who can scream the loudest, or swear the loudest, or throw the most things at each other. And yet when I read today’s Gospel, it was not hard to have images of these shows come to mind. It seems these shows and our society has forgotten the beginning part of this Gospel reading; how to handle conflict as Christians.

Most people do not like nor do they seek out conflict, except perhaps TV show producers looking for higher ratings. Yet we all have and will face conflict in our lives. I am not talking about life threatening or dire conflicts; I am talking about the every day ordinary conflict we face in our every day ordinary lives, I’m referring to the conflict of interpersonal relationships--The kind, which if left unaddressed, will eat at us. Like the rude neighbor, the co-worker who takes credit for what you have done, or even the friend or loved one who has hurt you. We’ve all been there and will all be there again.

If there is one thing we could learn from those annoying reality scream shows is that most interpersonal conflicts that we face with a regular occurrence usually boils down to a few major reasons. Someone got their feelings hurt by being snubbed, insulted, put down, or lied to. And the way most people deal with conflict is to talk behind the other person’s back, yell at or attack them which of course makes the person being yelled at shut down and not listen, or the pain builds and builds until one day anger erupts and the pain is too long standing to be easily repaired.

So what are we to do when we find ourselves in inevitable conflict? This Gospel passage tells us in very clear steps how to approach that conflict when it arises. We are not to be passive, or run away, nor are we to ignore it and hope it goes away: we are to face it and the person who caused it. In the Gospel, Jesus sets out very specific progressive/proactive steps on how to address the conflict and once they are addressed, the next step that is implied but not stated, is the most transformative of them all. It is forgiveness.

Forgiveness is one of the most difficult disciplines of faith, not only when we are in the wrong seeking forgiveness, but when we have been wronged and are called to forgive the person so that the relationship can be restored. One main reason a person cannot forgive usually boils down to, is the fact that their pride has been hurt and their pride is stronger than their ability to forgive and show mercy.

Remember: “It really doesn't matter if the person who hurt you deserves to be forgiven. Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. You have things to do and you want to move on.”

This is why this passage is so important because it addresses the Christian understanding of forgiveness and deals with conflict.

That is why I would like to examine more closely today’s Gospel message.

1. So what to do, when we are faced with interpersonal conflict? We are told to be proactive, to GO and point it out. Not as young children like to point out, “Look at all you did wrong” but it is meant more as, that if it hurt you bad enough that you are still hurt by it, then don’t let it sit on your heart, and let it fester, as it turns your heart against the person, but go and tell them about it.

And when you go speak with the person, speak to them in private. This does not mean on national television, nor does it mean you have to tell all your friends or loved ones about it before you approach the other party. The important thing is not to let your heart be consumed by hate for the other person and what they have done. Respect where they are coming from and what they have to say, which can be said easier in private. And if this does not work the first time, keep trying!

2. But if talking with them after a while still gets you nowhere, and the offence is still there, then go to the next step, which is when Jesus talks about bringing in evidence--not random accusations from years ago--but those with solid ground, which might be a person who witnessed the action. This also applies to us -- when we have wronged someone it may be hard to hear it the first time they tell us, but if we hear it again, or from another party, it may still be hard to hear, but we may be more likely now to admit where we were wrong and to seek also to restore the relationship as well as learn to forgive ourselves.

And if that still does not work, then don’t give up just yet, keep trying. The goal of all these steps is to try to restore the relationship, not to seek revenge

3. But sometimes, you cannot reach the person and they are not in a place to listen. That is why Jesus continued to say that if the offended party still felt the offence, then take it to the church and if that still does not work and it gets to be too much, the offended party is called to treat them as if they were a Gentile or tax collector, which means to put them aside. This could mean that the offended party may have to treat the other person with as much civil indifference as they can muster.
But what I think Jesus was also trying to say is that we may have to put aside the person and our anger, because if we continue to focus on this wrong, then we can not move on. If we hold onto our pain and hatred, it has a way of transforming our hearts and how we see the world. Yet if we forgive and let go of it, this forgiveness can also transform our hearts and how we see the world.

The goal of this interaction is to try to get some justice, peace, and restore the relationship. Jesus knew that sometimes in life it is not possible for us to restore the relationship. This is where we have to give it up to God and know that what is happening is between God and them and remove ourselves from this anger or pain.

While this is important, because the Gospel speaks of how to handle conflict, it is also important to understand the rest of passage, when Jesus says, that whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosened in heaven. What I believe Jesus is pointing out is an important:

If we bind our hatred to the other person, then it will be bound in heaven. Is that something we really want to carry with us?

Today’s Gospel reminds us that conflict resolution and forgiveness can come in stages. Sometimes before we can even take the first step to acknowledge or address the wrong to the other person or ourselves, we should at least try to acknowledge it in our minds to God. So today, when we say the General Confession and the Lord’s Prayer, I invite you to think of someone in your past whom you have hurt, and someone who has hurt you. Even if you cannot forgive them just yet, offer their name or image up to God in your minds.

Catherine Ponder, an author powerfully once wrote: “When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.”

The name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Missing Sermons

2011-09-08T14:06:00.000-04:00

Dear Readers,

We apologize for the few missing sermons on our blog. Due to extemporaneous sermons or guest speakers the following sermons are absent from our files.

July 17th The Rev. Julia W. Messer preached an extemporaneous sermon with the Mission Team who went down to work in Belize. (See previous blog post to see their thoughts on their experience in Belize).

August 14th, was preached by guest priest, The Rev. David Hamilton.

On August 28th, Hurricane Irene hit Emmanuel and the services were merged into one service at 10am. The Rev. John A. Baldwin preached an extemporaneous sermon about experiencing Irene and the Gospel.

2011-09-08T13:30:00.000-04:00

Proper 16

August 21, 2011

The Rev. Marguerite Alley

A Chip Off the Old Block

“You are Peter”, says Jesus, “and on this rock I will build my church”. Now that is just kind of funny to me. Think about it for a second. What comes next in the story? Peter, having been renamed, having been blessed for his intelligent answer to a deceptively simple question, then argues with Jesus about how things are going to go when they get to Jerusalem! I can hear Jesus thinking…”who died and put him in charge?....oh, right, me”! If we read further, we would see that Peter goes lickety spilt from being a perfect little disciple in this passage, to Satan, the Father of Lies in the next! How can this be? And more over, how can this man be turned into our model for being Christians?

Upon first glance it can be very difficult to discover any kind of “good” news from this story. Peter is very quick to respond to Jesus. He almost appears to be “kissing up” in the modern vernacular. Then, when it really matters, he turns tail and runs. In reflecting on this, I thought surely there must be SOMETHING good we can say about Peter, the rock! I guess we can award him high marks for being the first one willing to answer Jesus on the question “and who do you say that I am?”, while the others probably stared at the ground or counted freckles on the back of their hands. We could also say that he isn’t afraid to register his opinion in discussions. I suppose we could also say that at least when he screws up he is willing to keep trying. Perhaps the best we can say is that Peter is a work in progress!

When Jesus renamed Simon bar-Jonah, he might have had his tongue in his cheek a little bit. He actually uses two different forms of the word rock. First, he says you are Peter (petros). And then he says, “and on this rock (petra) I will build my church”. Now the first form, “petros” is masculine, but it really means little pebbles, or small stones. The second form, “petra” is the feminine form, and actually means giant boulder, or in the modern vernacular “the mother of all rocks!”. So, essentially, Jesus is telling Peter that he is a “chip off the old block”!

So, if we can say at least something good about Peter, the rock, then I suppose we can also glean something from this story of value for us as Christians today. So what might that be?

Well, consider this. If someone you know asked you what church you attend, and you stated proudly, I belong to Emmanuel Episcopal Church in beautiful downtown Kempsville, and then they said “what exactly do you believe there”? What would you say? When I first moved to Virginia Beach, I was in a masters program through Loyola University in New Orleans. One of the members of my class asked the 4 Episcopalians in the group exactly what we believe, and one of our folks said this: “One of the great things about being an Episcopalian as that you don’t have to believe anything”. Is that true of us? We could answer with the Nicene Creed, but that hardly seems like a statement of faith so much as a statement of institutional doctrine. We could sing “I believe that children are our future” or “I believe for every drop of rain that falls…” but those don’t really work, do they? What would we say?

In our Gospel this morning, Jesus is the person who is asking us “what exactly do you believe”? During the past weeks, Jesus has been travelling. During this time he has healed people, he has calmed the sea and he has fed several thousand people in one sitting. He was also teaching along the way, and asking people to think about which is more important, words or deeds. Once in a while, he checks his disciples to see if they are understanding what he is teaching, assumedly so that they might explain his teachings to others when he is not around. He is not shy about razzing them when they don’t get it. So, when this time, he asks a whole different kind of question, they are rather pleased that it is, in their opinion, an easy one. “John the Baptist”, “Elijah”, “Jeremiah”……are the answers they offer. They are not afraid to answer this question though, because they are merely parroting what they have heard others say. It is almost as if they are just giving the list of possible answers in hopes that Jesus will somehow react and they will know which it really is. Instead of course, Jesus says in essence..”Yeah, yeah….but I want to know is who do YOU say that I am? What exactly is it that YOU believe?”

Finally, after a very pregnant pause, Peter offers up “You are the Christ, the son of the living God”. Peter is almost always the first one we hear from. He is first to leave his job and follow Jesus, the first to try walking on water and frequently the first to answer Jesus’ questions. I wonder if Peter was courageous or just a quick thinker?

But evidently it is the right answer, because Jesus blesses him, renames him and tells him that he will be the head of his followers. I wonder if the other disciples were jealous of Peter? Considering his disastrous attempts at walking on water, and the fact that he often didn’t really live up to his promises, I think their jealousy might have been wasted.

Peter was certainly no hero. He did not exude the kind of character, intellect or leadership skills that I would look for in a church leader. But, frankly, I am glad that he has a place in heaven because I think, given his flaws, he will look upon mine with a more generous spirit than some others might. Peter might better understand me when I can’t find the right answer, or when I just parrot what I have heard without really trying to come to an answer of my own, or because mine doesn’t sound very theological or deep. Peter may understand me better in the times when I blurt out an answer before I think about it or when I make promises I cannot keep.

If Peter is the Rock on which the church is built, then I think that might be the good news of this story. If he can be important to God, then so can we! Because he is just like me, there may be some hope for me. Whether he is a chip off the old block, or a stone in my shoe, his flaws remind me that being a Christian is not about being flawless, but about being available and being willing. His perseverance reminds me that I need to keep trying to answer the hard questions, and keep getting up and moving on when I have fallen.

So, the next time someone asks about what it is we believe here in this zany little Christian community, don’t be afraid to try and answer them! What you believe does matter in big picture. You may not be very good at articulating your faith the first time, but you might be surprised by what you hear yourself say. The trick is that we must try. Not just to find the right words, but also to incorporate the message into our lives and if we do that, then we can all be chips off the old block. Put all those chips together, we can build a church.

Amen.

Lectionary used: Isaiah 51:1-6, Psalm 138, Romans 12:1-8, Matthew 16:13-20

2011-09-08T13:22:00.001-04:00

Sermon

August 7, 2011

Lynne Coates

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22; 45b; Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33

In the name of God: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen

I have a story. A young priest passed a beggar on the sidewalk and decided that the $20 he had just gotten from the ATM would be better spent on the beggar. So put the $20 in the envelope and, deciding to give him a bit of inspiration along with the money, wrote on the envelope in large letters. "PERSEVERE!" He slipped the envelope to the man as he walked past him. The next day, the priest passed the beggar again, and the beggar jumped up and handed the priest a big wad of bills. Surprised, the young priest asked him what that was for? The man replied, “This is your half of the winnings. PERSEVERE came in first in the fourth race at the track yesterday, and he paid 30 to one. Perseverance may have a bit to do with the sermon. But, mainly, I just liked the story.

Faith is a belief in the trustworthiness of something that has not been proven. In order to live into that trust, like Peter in today’s gospel, we have to be willing to leave the security of the boat.

Peter might be my favorite disciple. He is at times, egotistical, mouthy, ignorant, cocky, pig-headed, and when he opens his mouth, as we said in the 60s, he often inserts his foot. He is also the essential follower of Jesus. He is the disciple, the rock, on which Jesus is said to have placed his church. When we look at Peter before the Resurrection, we see a man who is often afraid to stand up for what he believes, who denies the person he claims to love above all others, and who goes into hiding in fear with the other ragtag Jesus-followers. After the Resurrection, we see Peter as a man with new vision, one who is willing to sustain persecution, even death, for his beliefs. In fact, the radical change in behavior of all the disciples following the Resurrection is to me the most compelling evidence that the Resurrection did take place. But that’s for another sermon.

In today’s gospel, we see a hint of the faith of Peter who is willing to take a risk and get out of the boat. This is a story of faith and challenge and a call to obedience which Henri Nouwen defined as “attentive listening - to the movements of the Spirit of God within us.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran pastor, theologian and martyr in the resistance movement in Germany during World War ll, said that if Peter had not taken the risk and had not gotten out of boat, he would perhaps never have learned the meaning of faith that he demonstrated so clearly after the Resurrection. In his book The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer said that unless a definite step is demanded and acted upon, the call to discipleship can vanish into thin air. What this means, I think, is to follow the two commandments of Jesus as stated in Matthew – love God and love my neighbor and be willing to act faithfully on whatever derives from that.

A bit about Bonhoeffer: In 1939, he went to the United States to teach at Union Theological Seminary. It appeared to be a good move since he had been active in the resistance movement against Hitler in Germany. He could wait out the war in safety, teaching and preaching what he believed. But later, as he wrote to Reinhold Niebuhr: "I have come to the conclusion that I made a mistake in coming to America. I cannot in good conscience remain in safety while my people are fighting for their very civilization. I cannot choose to fight with them from the security of living in the United States.” And so he returned to Germany on the last scheduled steamer to cross the Atlantic, knowing that he would in all probability be arrested and ultimately executed. He was.

God may not call us to be Christian martyrs, but I believe that God does call us to be faithful, by loving God and others. These commandments require, I think, action on our part. Faith, I believe, is not a feeling, but an action. It’s what we do. It’s what we choose to do because we know it is in keeping with God’s call to us. It may be as simple as sending cards to those who are ill or grieving. We may visit shut-ins. We may give time and talent where it is needed, even when it is inconvenient or sacrificial. We may be willing to step out of our routine into something that feels uncomfortable because we know it’s the right thing to do.

Peter calls out to Jesus and Jesus calls back, “Come.” When Peter gets out of the boat he is being faithful to Jesus’ calling. This illustrates what we have come to call “stepping out in faith.” Literally in this case. This may have been a defining moment for Peter, as Bonhoeffer said, such that after the Resurrection, he could call on that faith to become the apostle on which our church is built. The church is founded on those who dared to get out of the boat.

God calls us always to do the next right thing.

For people who hid Jews during World War II this was the next right thing. People in every European country were willing to take in Jews who were escaping from Nazi persecution and death. Those who took the heavy risks of hiding Jews could incur the same kinds of persecution and punishment and even death that the Jews themselves were subject to. Many of those who took such risks were killed, sent to concentration camps, or had their homes and belongings burned. Hiding Jews also entailed grave consequences for their family and social life. Their children were generally forbidden to speak about the "guest" and could not bring friends home from school; often the families themselves could not receive visitors. Moreover, food and clothes became scarce and families had limited resources. These were faithful people, willing to follow what they believed God was asking them to do.

“Getting out of the boat” is a phrase that can mean doing something that takes effort, that feels uncomfortable, because it’s the right thing to do. The opposite of stepping out in faith, or stepping out of the boat, is backing away in fear. Making choices based on fear keeps us locked up, sometimes literally, in our houses. It keeps us prisoners from life in the world.

Here is what may seem to be a trivial example from my life when I recently backed away from doing something hard.

I was urged to join a group at Westminster-Canterbury called the Golden Tappers. Now, I had never in my life tap-danced. You can ask Bobby, our choir director, how much I hate to do the dances for our fall musicals. But I bought tap shoes and went to practice every Friday for an hour. It is good exercise, and I was sweating along with the rest of them. Then I heard that we would be doing a complicated routine on stage for the Follies. The Follies at Westminster-Canterbury is one of our largest events and a fund-raiser for the scholarship fund. Now some of you may have been willing to pay to see me tap dance in costume, but it was not to be. I made the decision to drop out about month before the Follies. I think there is a “disconnect” between my brain and my feet. When my Cursillo group would ask, “Are you having fun?” I would always say, “Not yet.” There were others in the Golden Tappers who claimed to be as challenged as I was, and I’m embarrassed to tell you that every one of them is older than I am. They stayed the course. I didn’t. So, you could say that I was willing to dangle my foot in the water, but I couldn’t make myself get out of the boat. Now, I don’t think that God is seriously disappointed in me for failing to tap dance at the Follies, but I disappointed myself.

In the Genesis reading for today and in the Psalms, Joseph is featured. Remember that Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by a group of men who had bought him from Joseph’s brothers. Joseph’s tenure in Egypt is recounted as difficult labor and imprisonment. Through all that he stayed faithful to God, and he worked hard in captivity, and that landed him a favored position as second in command in the land of his captivity. Joseph later was able to be generous and forgiving to the very brothers who had betrayed him.

Most of us are not going to be sold into slavery or go bungee jumping or sky diving or even tap dancing. We are not called to be reckless or to perform on stage. We are called to trust. What will that mean to you?

Jesus calls us in discipleship, to reach out to others, to forge relationships. We cannot know how important that reaching out can be.

Years ago, when I taught at a middle school, a few of us found ourselves at the house of one of our teachers on a Friday afternoon. We were trying to cheer him up because his wife had left him quite unexpectedly. And so we sat around and commiserated about the week at school, as I’m sure those who still work do on a Friday afternoon. I was the last one to leave. Something told me to say something encouraging to Joe (not his name). I felt uncomfortable about it. It wasn’t my business, I told myself. But I believe that God kept nudging me to say something. I told Joe that I was glad he had opened his home to all of us, and I hoped he would do this again, maybe as a weekly offering. I told him that his friendship was important to me, and I counted on it. We did go on to meet just about every Friday at Joe’s house. About a year later, Joe confided in me. He said that first Friday, he was waiting impatiently for all of us to leave, because he was considering ending his life. What I had said to him caused him to reconsider. He went on to open his home every Friday afternoon for years, and we all had some great times together.

I offer this up, not to pat myself on the back. It was a simple thing that I did. The point of the story is that we never know who among us needs to be encouraged, to be loved, to be offered friendship. When we have a chance, reach out. It is a way to get out of our own boats.

The church is here to help us be disciples and by example make disciples, and in the day we forget that, we cease to be a church and become a kind of cruise liner, trying to make sure that we are all comfortable and have a good time.

Maybe God is calling you to a new ministry within the church, or a new job, or a new attitude. I hate it when God asks me to risk a new attitude. I like my old ones! I’m also comfortable doing crossword puzzles and watching The Young and the Restless in the afternoons. But I think God is calling me to better stewardship of my time. Stewardship always seems risky because we believe that if we give more of what we have, there won’t be enough left for us, but we will find that when God directs us to the road less-traveled, there will always enough spiritual resources and even a lot left over.

Has God ever helped you? Has prayer ever made life a little more bearable? Have you ever found real comfort in your faith? This week, there will be people who will get frightening calls from their doctors. Some will learn they’ve lost a job; some might realize their family is breaking up or might recognize the early signs of Alzheimer’s in themselves or a loved one. Some might exchange hurtful words with a friend and wonder how to make it right. Is it really fair to keep the good news of reconciliation and redemption hidden inside church walls and hope that whoever needs it may happen to wander in?

Someone said, “A ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.” God calls us to set sail. And once we’re out on the sea, we see God and some new possibilities. Jesus is on the water and bids us come. Do we dare?

God is patient with us when we can’t seem to leave the comfort of the boat. But we remember: the church was built on Peter, the Peter Jesus knew before the Resurrection, who was willing to get out of the boat.

Amen

2011-09-08T13:19:00.005-04:00

July 10, 2010 Proper 10 Year A Romans 8:1-11, Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

The Rev. John A. Baldwin

The Parable of the Sower, from this morning's Gospel, is one of only three parables that appear in all of the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. The others are the Parable of the Mustard Seed, and the Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard. The Gospel of John does not have any of Jesus' parables recorded.

This parable of the sower going forth to scatter seeds is rich in imagery and meaning. It's truly one of Jesus' masterpieces. Simple, yet profound. Even though we are 2000 years removed from the story and citizens in a society where seeds are more commonly scattered by huge farm machinery, we can still picture the solitary work of a sower scattering seeds...especially if we've planted gardens in our back yards.

Since this parable reappears every 3 years in our Sunday scripture readings, I've preached on it many times before during my ministry, often finding new wisdom and insight. Like all good stories, there are many entry points for drawing meaning from this simple tale. We can walk around it, examining each part of it.

We can, for example, reflect upon the parable with reference to our own spiritual life. What kind of soil am I?...rich and fertile, stony and hard, choked with worries and anxieties? We can broaden the question to refer to our faith community, our work environment, our families, our society. How receptive are we to God's grace and love? We can look at the parable not only in terms of the broad sweep of our life, but also in how it applies right now. What seed is God sowing in my life today, July 10th, 2011? When you entered Emmanuel this morning were you open to being receptive soil for the Word of God coming to you through scripture, to the grace of God coming to you through receiving the bread and wine of Holy Eucharist, to the love of God coming to you through your brothers and sisters in Christ? OR have you allowed the concerns, worries and anxieties that face us every week to distract, bother or hinder you, so that this morning you are rocky ground, and may walk back out into the world unaffected at the end of our time together? I pray every week that we are faithful in this place in nurturing, watering, weeding and tending each and every one of you, so that you may grow and yield good fruit in the world.

If we look at the sower as a description of God's action in the world, we can also pose the question: What does this reveal about God? We might even envision ourselves as the sower. What seeds are we sowing as disciples of Christ? as a parent or grandparent? as a worker in the vineyard? There's yet one more curious and vexing question which comes to mind on hearing the parable. Why is it that even in good soil the harvest varies, sometimes producing a hundred fold, but at other times only 60 or 30?

One of my favorite collections of short stories is called Story Power by James Feehan, and one of its entries reminds me very much of the Parable of the Sower. Here it is:

In 1910, a young explorer was traveling in the French Alps when he came upon a barren stretch of land, desolate and abandoned. He had traveled about 5 miles into this God-forsaken territory when he saw in the distance the stooped figure of an old man with a sack of acorns on his back and an iron staff in his hand. With the staff he made a hole in the ground, dropped in an acorn, and then brushed dirt on top. He told the explorer that he had planted 100,000 acorns over the past 3 years. "If I get one in ten to sprout I'll be happy", he said, adding that his wife and only son had died, and that as long as the Lord spared him he would carry on planting trees to bring back life to a land that was dying.

Fifty years later the explorer, now an old man himself, returned to a sight wondrous to behold. The acorns of 1910 had become an oak forest 11 kilometers longs by 3 kilometers wide. There were oak trees along the slopes as far as the eye could see. Birds were singing in the trees, wild-life frolicked in the shade, and streams flowed with water in groves that had been bone dry. At the entrance to the forest was a linden tree, the symbol of re-birth. As he gazed in wonder, he thought back to the old peasant who had worked alone to turn a desert into a forest, and had completed a task worthy of God. (Story Power, James A. Feehan, Resource Publications, 1994, p. 34)

The unflagging commitment and optimism of the old man, "If I get one in ten to sprout, I'll be happy" seems to be the key to his success. A sower, knowing all of the factors that can intervene before the harvest, has to let go of control over the seeds, scatter them widely and generously, and then move on to plant others. He or she cannot afford to plant them carefully one by one, and then worry over each one, whether or not it will grow and flourish. Sometimes the harvest is so far into the future that we can never be sure that an oak forest or fields of waving grain will be the end result.

We cannot know with certainty that the love and energy we invest in our children will result in well-grounded, whole and mature adults; OR whether the time we put into our work and projects will be beneficial to others; OR whether initiating a new friendship will blossom and flourish. But it's vitally important as the Parable suggests to keep on sowing those seeds, trusting that if we are faithful and constant, God's miracles of growth will occur.

I'd like to share one more story from Freehan's book, Story Power. In the days before electricity the streets were lit at night by gas lamps. The city lamplighter went from lamp to lamp lighting them with a burning torch. One evening, English writer, John Ruskin, was sitting in his house looking out his window across the valley where he could see the torch of a lamplighter, but because of the darkness he couldn't see the person. Ruskin commented to a friend, "That's a good illustration of a Christian. People may never have known him, they may never have met him, they may never even have seen him. But they know he passed through their world by the trail of light he left behind him." One might add, by the number of seeds of love and grace he or she has sown.

This marvelous parable is a gift to us from Jesus. As we walk around it, reflect upon it, and play with it....we cannot help but notice its deep down optimism, an optimism also reflected in the reflections of the prophet Isaiah (55:10-11): "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it."
Amen

2011-09-08T13:19:00.003-04:00

Proper 12-A

July 24, 2011

The Rev. Marguerite Alley

I saw a picture yesterday, posted on Facebook, of a church marquee that said: “Satan called. He wants his weather back”! I have recently returned home following a stint as chaplain to the staff and campers at Camp Chanco, our Diocesan summer camp. While temperatures for the two weeks I was with them don’t compare to those we had this past week, it was still pretty darn hot! The two weeks I spent at camp were a wonderful and challenging time for me. It brought back many great memories of the times I spent there. It also reminded me of the first time I went to the senior high conference. On the way home from camp, I was just chattering away to my parents about all the things we talked about, the songs we sang, the experiences we had and so forth. I few minutes into my extended answer to my mother’s question “How was your week?”, I noticed that her head had dipped to the side and then I heard her snore! I was so angry that every time after when she would ask about the week, I would refuse to answer her with anything other than “You wouldn’t understand”. As it turns out, my answer was true, if not rude, belligerent and disrespectful in its intent.

We often experience the very same frustration when we try to talk about God. When we try to explain our most holy experiences with God, we find that we do not have the words to explain what being in this relationship feels like. We can share how our life is different but that comes out sounding pious. You could speak about how your heart feels as if it will explode sometimes or about how many wonderful people you have met. But all of that falls pretty far short of the real experience, wouldn’t you agree? So, how can we speak of something we cannot see, or touch, or smell? How can we share with someone else what it feels like? Most of the time we are forced to use metaphors and similes, because we cannot accurately describe something that defies description.

The program I used for the time I was at Chanco focused on three important parables. The Parable of the Sower was the third one we explored. Part of what I did with the campers and staff was to have them create a simile to describe the “spirit of God”. So, in completing the sentence “the spirit of God is like…” I got some amazing answers from the kids and their counselors. I will share a couple of the ones I liked the most. One camper said the spirit of God is like “going back to your hometown after being away for a long time”; everyone is glad to see you, you feel at home and welcome. Another said it is like “surfing in the barrel”; you are surrounded by awesome power but it is also a little bit scary. The one I found most intriguing was this: The spirit of God is like “eating a taco”: when you first pick it up, it can be hard to handle but once you take a bite, it tastes so good, that you want more. And when you are finished, you feel full and satisfied. These are all great similes to help us understand something that cannot be seen or touched but they are all very different, and have more meaning to the ones who created them, than to the ones that heard them. So, even with good similes, the experience can be very different.

Jesus uses similes in his parables for the same reason. Now you might think, that of all people Jesus, who does have first hand knowledge of God and the kingdom, would be able to describe it for us. But even the Son of God uses ordinary everyday experiences. Jesus speaks indirectly, and makes some interesting and sometimes surprising metaphors with things that are holy and things that are “everyday”. This is one of the things I like most about Jesus’ teaching style! He takes everyday things, experiences and understandings and makes us look at them in new and fresh ways.

In our Gospel today, we hear first about the Mustard seed and then a handful of yeast. On the surface, neither of these is much to look at; a tiny seed and a hand full of yeast. But, placed in the right medium; the seed in soil and the yeast in flour, and the results are amazing: A shrub that is big enough for birds to build nests in and a huge loaf of bread are the result of these two seemingly insignificant ingredients. So, if the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed or a handful of yeast, then it must be amazing, powerful and there must be more to it than what we see on the surface.

The next two similes are a bit harder to see. A man finds a buried treasure, re-buries it then sells all he has to buy the field. So, he is lucky. He won the lottery. Then Jesus says that a merchant is in search of and finds a pearl of great price and sells all he owns to purchase it. Now as a merchant, he is already doing pretty well for himself but he finds something he really wants and is willing to sell all he has to acquire it. So, according to Jesus, each one finds something that makes everything else they “own” look kind of puny and small by comparison and they are willing to let go of all that they have acquired thus far in order to have this one thing. So, if the kingdom of God is like this, then what Jesus is saying is that the kingdom is uncommon but within our reach if we are willing to “pay for it”. The final simile is that the kingdom of God is like a net thrown into the sea. We are told that the net gathers all fish and that later they are sorted. Now, traditionally many folks have read this portion and have been inexplicably drawn to the part that speaks about the sorting, as if the parable is about who will get into the kingdom and who will not. I would suggest to you that nothing could be further from the truth of this parable! If the net gathers all kinds of fish, to be sorted later, then the kingdom is not something we find, but rather something that finds us and drags us to the shore. We don’t get to choose with whom we share the net.

The thing that most captures me about these similes is that in each of them there is a hint of mystery. In the first, the mustard seed goes into the ground…we cannot see it do its thing……then when the shrub grows to its full potential, there is nothing left of that original seed. It vanishes. In the bread simile, the yeast goes into the middle of the dough. We cannot see its power immediately. In fact we cannot see how it works at all. All we can see is the huge, risen loaf ready for the oven. In the field, the treasure is buried, and in the pearl story, the pearl is found among all the other pearls, but takes a discerning eye to find it. So, if the kingdom of God is like these stories then I think what Jesus is saying is that it is not really something we CAN see or touch or even define and describe, but something that finds us, something that must be searched for, something that must be felt, experienced and believed.

So, then…..if we can’t see it, touch it, define it or describe it, how are we supposed to look for it? I suppose that one might go on retreat, or join a monastery or convent. That might free us from all our “ordinary, everyday worries” so that we could devote ourselves to the search. But where should we look? If the kingdom is hidden in this world, then it is really well hidden and only those with the best eyesight and the most committed of us will be able to find it. But, if Jesus uses ordinary, everyday experiences to explain it, then it just kind of makes sense to me that we ought to be able to experience, define and articulate it through our own ordinary, everyday experiences…with a bit of help. What if it is not really hidden but rather, just not in plain sight? Think of those magic eye drawings that were so popular a few years ago. Once you saw the object, it really stood out, but when you first looked, it didn’t make any sense. I suspect that Jesus chose to speak in parables for one simple reason; he knew that ordinary everyday language, experiences and ideas were the only way that we COULD understand what the kingdom of God is like. Why else would he talk about farmers and fields, baking bread, fishing and buying and selling things unless his intention was to tell us that the kingdom really is as simple as these things, that our treasure is not buried under the “X” on a map discovered in a time capsule, but right here among the people, places and activities we share and enjoy everyday. He seems to be saying that to speak about things where words fail us, we need but use words with which we are already intimately familiar. He seems to be saying that the places to look are those where we spend most of our time; within our families, our homes, our friends and our communities. Because if we don’t recognize the kingdom in these places, then we stand little chance of recognizing it anywhere. Because we are the soil where the seeds have been sown. We are the earth where they will grow and they are growing in us and in others even when we can’t see it happening. We are the field and Jesus, the treasure buried within us, is the only treasure worth seeking.

AMEN

A Thank You note from Lydia of Holy Cross School!

2011-07-20T11:48:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone from Emmanuel

On behalf of Holy Cross, I'd just like to thank you so much for taking the time to come down and share your hearts, energy and enthusiasm with our wonderful children. You were very organized, and it really showed in the way you ran the VBS - I really learned a lot from you. Thank you also for doing the open air church services - I really enjoyed attending and worshiping with you all.

Thank you also for those who spent many hard hours working on the office, in the sewing center and in other places around the school. We are really excited about the progress that was made.

I'm really looking forward to meeting some of you again next year, and to see the new faces that will come too.

Take care, and enjoy the rest of the summer

Lydia Brown
Volunteer Coordinator

--
Support Holy Cross School at http://www.hcefoundation.org/ or http://www.holycrossbelize.org/

Post from Diann N. about our 1st day of VBS in Belize

2011-07-20T11:47:00.000-04:00

Hi from sunny / rainy / sunny / rainy Belize!

We arrived Saturday afternoon after an easy trip with no delays, but were immediately cloaked in heat and humidity. No more than an hour later, everyone was in the pool at our hotel. There we connected with Liz, Rog, and their friend Chris.

Sunday – Eucharist on the dock by the water – random dog asleep in the corner, pirate flag waving on the next pier – a very special hour close to God. Roger had posted fliers in town, so we were delighted to welcome a few non-Emmanuelites to worship with us. Afterwards we did some final planning for Monday, then went on a snorkel trip. Besides seeing a moray eel, green sea turtle, huge grouper, and rays, one highlight was being able to pet a shark. We ended the day with dinner on the dock brought in by a local woman, Bernadette, who cooks out of her own kitchen down the beach. Today we learned that she used the money that she earned from our dinner to buy a badly needed microwave for her business.

Today, Monday, we learned the meaning of “Blessed are the flexible, for they will not get bent out of shape.” A torrential rain delayed the children’s arrival at VBS, so we decided to go to Plan B; then the rain let up and we returned to Plan A. To make the morning even more challenging, we had to move two classrooms full of furniture before setting up our activity centers. We are ever grateful to Fr. Rich and his teens from St. Thomas, who arrived just in time to help us.

The morning was filled with chapel skits, games, stories and crafts. The kids loved making snakes out of all those neckties that you donated, Emmanuel. Many even wanted to make a second snake for their “sick siblings” at home. The men worked on electrical wiring projects and reported that it took them ten man hours to do a one hour job. It’s the Belize way!

Thank you all for your support and prayers. Lydia Brown, the volunteer coordinator here at Holy Cross, was shocked and extremely grateful for your generous monetary donation to the school. The money and donated supplies will be used to help the 425 currents students.

Wednesday: We haven’t been able to get this blog out until now due to technical problems. The VBS program is very popular with the children and is keeping us on our toes as we continue to adjust each day. From Julia’s cheerleader-style prayers, to Theresa’s snack service, Joan’s music, awesome crafts with Stephanie and Laurry, and Heather’s story time help in the library with me – each morning has been a gift.

This afternoon was especially hot, so the air-conditioned library became the project of the day. We transformed the slightly dated jungle decorations into a brighter jungle, filled with our extra necktie snakes, flowers and other critters. The men are still spending lots of man hours to accomplish simple construction projects.

Each of us has many personal inspiring stories to tell – challenges overcome and moments filled with God’s grace. We’ll see you all Sunday.

Blessings, Diann

Emmanuel's mission trip down to Belize

2011-07-19T10:01:00.000-04:00

Emmanuel sent 15 people down Holy Cross Anglican School in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize (which is Southern Virginia's Sister Diocese) http://www.holycrossbelize.org/

We are all still trying to capture in words how amazing and grace filled this trip was. Until we can here are a few pictures that showed a little of what we did.

While we were down there, from 8:00am -12:00pm we ran a Vacation Bible School (VBS) program that we offered several programs: Chapel/Skit, Arts & Crafts, Library time, Health, Singing, Sports, and snack time. We also had part of the group help with electrical and maintenance work around the school.

Every morning we started the day with a VBS skit. The adventures of Terry and Jerry Jaywalker as they went searching for the Blue Cheeked Bee-Eater (a mysterious bird--"Ohhh! Ahhh!")

There were so many great Arts & Crafts offered, from creating your own animal to lion puppets to creating your own fish/sea turtle/crab.

more Arts & Crafts

When the children went to the library they got to read creative stories and even write what they think could happen next in the stories. Also, while our group was down there, we helped reorganize the Library and update some of the decorations.

Our sport programs offered all types of different games, from teaching the children how to play softball to relay races.

On our first full day, we celebrated the Eucharist on a pier, as we anticipated the beginning of our work and time down in Belize.

Some of the wonderful children we worked with in Belize.

The great Kitchen staff that helped get snacks ready every day for the children. For some of the children this was their only filling meal they would eat that day.

Holy Cross Anglican School requires all their students to wear uniforms, and these amazing women help to make the uniforms that the children wear.

In one of our programs we talked about the importance of being healthy and what we do to stay healthy.

And of course, as Emmanuel goes, we love to sing and we sang at every opportunity that we could!

On our last day in Belize we closed with a Eucharist.

This trip would not have been possible if it were not for everyone’s support (for the donations and financial support) and for your prayers!

THANK YOU!

The Third Sunday after Pentecost

2011-07-06T13:26:00.002-04:00

Proper 9-A

July 3, 2011

The Rev. Marguerite Alley

Well, once again, John has pulled a fast one on me. Not only has he left me with a particularly difficult set of lessons for today, he is not even here so that I might appropriately thank him for it! Alas, I shall have to thank him by preaching a legendary sermon, that will just really make him sad he missed it. So, regardless of what I actually say in next few minutes, your assignment is to completely blow it out of proportion, (in any direction you like!) and be sure you tell lots of people how good or bad it was!

Now I was sorely tempted to pull out a previous sermon based on Romans 7 . But I decided that not only do you deserve better than that, you deserve some kind of decent explanation of the Gospel this morning. I am going to focus most of my attention on the last portion, verses 25-30. I will though, hopefully place the opening in context as well. If you have any questions or comments following, please be sure to ask Fr. John.

First, if you will allow me a teaching moment…..We have recently entered the longest season of the church year. This season is generally referred to as “Ordinary Time”. Ordinary refers not to this time being plain or common or boring, but rather the “counted” Sundays(from the word “ordinal”) that follow the Feast of Pentecost. During Ordinary time, we primarily hear stories about, quotes by and teachings of Jesus. These stories and quotes and teachings help us understand our own story and the story of the Christian church. Our church, and many others as well including Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Roman Catholics have worked together to create a wonderful teaching aid called the Common Lectionary. This tool takes each of the Gospels and spreads the majority of it across the Sundays following Pentecost in a three year cycle. So the first year, called year A, we hear from Matthew, year B we hear from Mark and year C we hear from Luke. The Gospel of John is quite different from the others, so portions of that gospel are extracted and used at times appropriate and are also included in special services like the Burial Office.

One of the best things about our Lectionary is not just that we read most of a Gospel in 25 to 30 Sundays, but also that we read some sections that we might not know about or in fact choose to read. While it does contain the stories with which we are most familiar, it also has passages that would be easy to overlook because either they are not very nice stories, or they are hard to understand. Our lectionary though, is one of the great ways in which we can be connected to our brothers and sisters in other denominations. On any given Sunday, it is comforting to me to know that scads of people all over the world are reading and wrestling with the same passages. So…..if you don’t like Matthew, just wait till next year this time and we will be reading from Mark, of the following year when we read from Luke!

This morning’s reading from Matthew ends with one of the most often quoted passages of all scripture. “Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden”, Jesus says, “and I will give you rest”. Matthew 11:28-30. You can find this passage inscribed on headstones, in colombaria, on stained glass and virtually anywhere else where people might find comfort from hearing or reading. It is a wonderful idea, and one that can provide a good deal of comfort when we feel as though we are just slogging through a life of burden, when our efforts to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps have failed and we feel we are sinking under the weight of all we must bear. I would suggest to you though, that while this passage gives us great comfort today, it meant something altogether different to those who heard it for the first time.

Jesus had just completed a trip with his disciples to several Galilean cities, where he had preached and taught and healed many people. His experience had been less than what we would consider successful. The people to whom he was speaking were not the poor, the oppressed or the down trodden. The people in these cities were, by the standards of the time, young, upwardly mobile, professionals. Their local economy was in good shape, and the state faith institution was still intact. They didn’t really see themselves as needing anything Jesus had to offer. The first part of the passage is where Jesus expresses his frustration at the fact that these folks aren’t interested in his message. He then goes on to tell God he is glad that these intelligent and capable people DON’T understand his message! My understanding of this statement is that Jesus wants to be clear that one cannot understand God merely because they are smart and capable. He wants us to understand that Wisdom and Divine Revelation are two very different things, and that in order to receive divine revelation, we must be as open and innocent as children. In a sense, he is saying that those who know God do so because God allows us to know him, not because we have “figured him out”.

Then we come to our favorite comfort passage. After telling us that we cannot know God because we are smart and able, he offers this thought of comfort, aid and support. Whether Jesus is referring to an actual physical burden, such as for those who were laboring for the Roman Empire as slaves carrying sticks and mud for building projects, or whether he was referring to the very human burden of grief or fear, it is not clear to me. My commentaries suggest though a third alternative and that is that the burden is actually a religious burden. This makes more sense to me.

Matthew wrote this Gospel several years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is important to note that it was written for a Jewish audience. At this time, the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation had failed, and the Temple had been destroyed. The Sadducees (the elite religious class that maintained the Temple) were now out of work so to speak and the Zealots (those who had led the rebellion) were in hiding, in prison, or had been the main course at an afternoon picnic for lions. The Pharisees were the “last men standing” so to speak of the Jewish faith, and they held the future of the faith in their hands. Jesus and his followers were the veritable “burr under the saddle” of the Pharisees. While the followers of Jesus were certainly fewer in number than the Pharisees, they did share a good bit of faith in common. Both had the Torah, the prophets and their devotion to God as the basis of their faith story, their public practice of faith, and their personal faith.

Fast forward now 2000 years or so. It is easy for us to characterize this conflict we are reading about as being between Jews and Christians but this is as far from accurate as you can get!. The conflict is between Jews and Jews. Now today, the conflicts we are struggling with in our own churches are no less bitter than this one we are hearing about. Just as in the conflict within Christianity today, this early conflict between followers of Jesus and the Pharisees, was within one religious tradition and was centered around the meaning of true faith and what God requires of the faithful.

Now most of us have been taught that this struggle to understand the requirements of faith are most simply stated as “works vs grace”. We have Martin Luther to thank for that clarification. Jesus was offering those who would listen, a religion based on grace rather than one based on good works. Every person, who desires to be in relationship with God, finds themselves sandwiched between these two ideas…because as humans it seems to be in our DNA to feel that we must do something to get something, and yet Jesus is saying that we must only “want it” to get it. And even though we often profess to believe that God’s love IS unconditional, we don’t act that way. The passage from Romans this morning reminds us of this was well. We create huge long lists of things we need to do, ought to do, should do, are expected to do and so forth. We act as if our salvation it depends on us. If this is true, then Jesus need not have died on the cross! We have convinced ourselves that there are all sorts of conditions to be met first, rules to be followed, burdens to bear and so forth. We tell ourselves that we are not yet free, or ready or able to serve God.

I have found myself in this position 2-3 times a year, as regards my school job and when I can slow down , relax and just “be”. I tell myself that I just need to get “through this” “past this” or “over this” and then I can relax. As far as my role in the church, I have found myself at times believing that God expects more from me than others. I am not sure why, but I suspect that this is part of the ethos and the pathos of the ordained.

In February 2009, you may recall that I had a rather unpleasant go round with a very large kidney stone. I spent most of the month on my back in bed, trying not to move too much, because the “equipment” that was allowing my kidney to function normally did not like to be jostled. This event occurred at the absolute worst possible time of the school year for me…..during the final four weeks of festival preparation. I doubt I would have taken any time that month for myself, for my friends or even for God as I was totally focused on this monumental performance assessment on the horizon. Well, I discovered some interesting things during my necessary imprisonment. First, my students were more mature that I ever imagined. They rehearsed themselves. What they lacked in knowledge and expertise, they made up for in enthusiasm and repetition. Second, the world seemed to function reasonably well without my assistance. I also uncovered some important information as well. When the sun shines through the blinds in my room and the ceiling fan is running it kind of looks like a moving checkerboard. When you think about a moving checkerboard, you get the idea that even when you have made the right move, you have to keep moving or it becomes the wrong move. I also learned that dogs seem to intuitively know how to walk over you on the mattress without making you jiggle too much, and that they are perfectly happy to sleep next to you, all day and all night when you don’t feel well. I also learned that my cat has a mean streak and likes to bat things off the dresser just to see if you can get out of bed, or if your illness is for real. I doubt I would have learned or discovered any of these interesting and important things any other way.

I think a lot of us labor under the delusion that in order to make and keep God happy we must constantly labor under real or imagined burdens. We load our selves with all kinds of expectations, good deeds that need doing, good and positive thoughts, blameless and obedient lives….all in an effort to accomplish something that was never asked for, expected or required in the first place.

“Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”. These words assure us that those who please God most are not those who carry the heaviest load or the most burdens, but those who are willing to share their loads, those who are willing to enter into a relationship with Jesus in which our load is significantly lightened and our burdens are born alongside us, by one with much broader shoulders and a stronger back. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me: for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” AMEN

Trinity Sunday 2011

2011-06-22T13:09:00.000-04:00

June 19, 2011

The Rev. John A. Baldwin

When Easter comes late in the year, as is the case in 2011, two important dates coincide on a Sunday morning, Father's Day and Trinity Sunday. Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers here this morning, and happy Trinity Sunday to everyone else.

Father's Day receives a lot less hoop-la than Mother's Day, with florists and retailers not enjoying nearly the same level of business they did earlier in May. Father's Day is nonetheless an important occasion, because it recognizes the great blessing children receive when they have a father who is caring, nurturing, protecting and affirming. The role model our fathers play in our lives can be wonderful, powerful, and life-affirming.

On the other hand, relationships with fathers for many people are often complex. Far too many fathers are absent from their children's lives physically and/or emotionally. My relationship with my own father (who died 3 years ago) was far more complicated and difficult than I would have liked it to have been. Even well into my adult and professional life he felt he had free license to be critical, believing that in doing so he was helping to make me a better person. It was hard to live with at times.

More recently I have been deeply blessed to become a father figure and role model for my grandson, Landon. I am trying to be for him what I longed for my own father to be for me, affirming and nurturing. We'll see how successful I am in doing that as the years go by.

How we view our fathers & their role in our lives does affect our language and understanding of God, the creator & maker of Heaven and Earth, whom the Church down through the centuries has traditionally referred to as "the Father". This was brought home strongly to me when I went off to seminary at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts and encountered Feminist Liberation Theology for the first time.

It was unsettling to have the images of God I'd grown up with, challenged at their very roots. How can people have a positive, loving relationship with the divine, it was asked, if we've had abusive, hurtful, painful experiences with our biological fathers, and we limit our language about the divine to "Father God"? If a father has been absent from our life, how can we feel any warmth or intimacy with God as "Father"? How much pain and suffering has been inflicted on humankind, it was contended, by patriarchal dominance that relegates women to second-class citizenship? I was stretched & pulled in seminary to become more of a "feminist" man... that is to say, someone secure in my own masculine spirituality, not threatened by feminine spirituality....and instead, aware of & nurtured by the feminine that resides in every complete and whole male person.

Later in time, here in the Diocese of Southern Virginia, I was blessed to experience, unpolluted, feminine spirituality in all of its glory, when I served as the only male clergy person on an all-female Cursillo weekend. Just a few years later I was also blessed to serve on an all-male team, and to savor masculine spirituality at its very best.

At seminary, after some of the initial shocks & challenges to my theological framework, I found I could cope intellectually with an expanded range of images. Of course God is not male or female, but rather both, and much more. How foolish we really are, when we diminish the awesome power & majesty of God by seeking to make God too small, trapping God in language that fools us into feeling like we are in control.

And yet, how is it possible for us not to use human language and images in our theological discourse, and have any kind of intimacy. Praying to an amorphous cloud of gas has no appeal whatsoever. It's only as we personalize God that our religion, our faith, our hope, has the power to move us inwardly and deeply. By referring to God as "Father" (or "Mother" as feminist theologians might prefer), we are making possible a personal relationship with the divine. It's important not to let our less-than-perfect experiences with our parents color those terms too deeply, but to envision what fatherhood or motherhood at its very best is all about, and then focus on that as we envision God as loving, nurturing & affirming.

One of the theologians who really connected with me in seminary was John McQuarrie, who convinced me that the world religions are not as different & disconnected from one another as some would like us to believe. All religions may be placed upon a continuum, McQuarrie asserted, from God as Transcendent (unknowable, beyond us, distant) at one end, to God as Imminent (in all things, close at hand) at the other end of the continuum.

So for example, atheists would be at one end (transcendence) - God is so far removed from us that there's no evidence God exists at all. At the other end of the continuum (Immanence) would be primitive religions (animism and fetishism) in which God is so close at hand that the divine is present in the good luck charm I hold in my hand, or the idol in my living room shrine.

MacQuarrie views Christianity as being rock-solid in the center of this continuum, affirming both the otherness & transcendence of God, and the closeness & imminence of God, with Hinduism & Buddhism being more focused on God's imminence, and Judaism & Islam focused more on God's transcendence. Thus in the Christian faith we can refer to God in personal terms, yet also being fully cognizant of God's power and might.

Now I know I'm straying here into a lot of theology on Father's Day and Trinity Sunday, and I hope your eyes haven't glazed over yet. Hang with me just a moment longer. The Holy Trinity is one of the unique contributions that Christianity has made to world religions. The transcendent God and creator of all things, becomes fully present and imminent in a human life, Jesus of Nazareth. That presence is not just a once upon a time, historical event, but is an ongoing, ever-present reality in the Holy Spirit of God, which is present in every worshipping community, and in every human heart and life. Although the feast day of Trinity Sunday might seem to be about an abstract theological doctrine, it's really about a reality of our universe. One way of affirming this is with these words, God beyond us, with us, and within us. Amen.

Pentecost Sunday 2011

2011-06-14T12:06:00.000-04:00

The Rev. J.W. Messer

Day of Pentecost
WhitsundayActs 2:1-21, Psalm 104:25-35, 37, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, John 20:19-23

PENTECOST 2011

I can’t believe it, but today is a special day for me. Exactly one year ago, to this date, I was ordained to the transitional deaconate. And one LITURGICAL year ago, I interviewed at Emmanuel, and knew I was called here. I was on these beautiful grounds, had met with the clergy, vestry, staff, & many parishioners and recognized what a happy and healthy parish this was (and is). It was on that Pentecost Sunday one year ago, that the Holy Spirit called me to Emmanuel.

Pentecost is a very special day in the life of the Church. Today, we celebrate the birth of the Church and the power of the Holy Spirit. Even after our readings today, understanding who the Holy Spirit is can sometimes be confusing. Perhaps a story will help.

Once there was a Sunday school teacher, named Mrs. Smith, who was trying to explain to her class who and what the Holy Spirit is. Mrs. Smith talked about how the Holy Spirit can inspire people, even make leaders out of people who most would not think would be. She explained how the Holy Spirit even gave the followers of Christ the ability to speak in the native tongue of others. Mrs. Smith closed by saying that the Holy Spirit was moving and embodied in flame and wind but the Holy Spirit could also be invisible and inspiring, and could appear anywhere.

Little Tommy, who usually was up to trouble, was really listening to what the teacher had to say, and finally spoke up. “Mrs. Smith, the Holy Spirit sounds cool! It can make people do some awesome stuff, huh!” “Yes Tommy, the Holy Spirit does; that’s very good.” Tommy went on to say “So if the Holy Spirit is God and God is everywhere and can be big and can be small, then the Holy Spirit is everywhere?” “Yes! Tommy that is right!” “So can the Holy Spirit be in this Church right now?” “Yes, the Holy Spirit can be and is in this church right now!” “Can the Holy Spirit be in this room?” he queried. The teacher was really proud of Tommy and the fact that he was paying attention made her pretty sure that the Holy Spirit WAS indeed in that room at that moment. So she affirmed that the Holy Spirit was in the room. Then Tommy held up a glass and said, “Can the Holy Spirit even be in this glass?” A little more hesitant, Mrs. Smith still affirmed that the Holy Spirit could even be in the glass. SLAM! Covering the glass with his hand, Tommy gleefully looking around, smiling and said, “GOT HIM!”

The idea of a little boy wanting to capture and almost bottle the power of the Holy Spirit can be viewed as an amusing story. But I think it also touches on an important point--we do not know how, when, where, or why the Holy Spirit inspires. We just see the results.

We see this on the day that the Church was born, the day of Pentecost. As revealed to us in the First Lesson, Acts 2:1-21, a rush of a violent wind came into the house where the followers of Christ were sitting. Then suddenly a flame appeared above the heads of everyone there and they were able to speak as if they were native speakers in other languages.

The significance of the first act of God’s spirit at Pentecost, and at the creation of the Church, is that it honors the diversity and individuality of believers. Everyone is not going to hear or experience God in the same way. And God does not make everyone experience the Holy Spirit the same way. The disciples came with their own life’s experiences and when they went out into the world, they all had their own unique experiences.

We are all given battles to fight and abilities to reach others through our gifts and our experiences. Each of our own gifts and abilities work together to help build up the body of Christ, which we heard about in Corinthians. We hear that each of us have been given portions of the Spirit to use for the common good. But it is when individuals work together that the body becomes stronger. No gift is greater than another, no one way to use our gifts is greater than another way, as long as it is done to build up the Body of Christ and to build up each other.

As St. Teresa of Avila so aptly and poignantly wrote:

Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
Compassion on this world
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good
Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world
Yours are the hands
Yours are the feet
Yours are the eyes
You are His body
Christ has no body now on earth but yours

We are the body that must work together, and it’s not always the easiest of tasks. We are all scarred; we are all working through our own issues. We bring our issues to the table, just as we bring our gifts and abilities. We bring the ability to make dinners for the food kitchen or for each other at events. We may have the ability to lay flooring for a house through the Faith Works Collation. We may have the gift of a green thumb that offers beauty and joy to all who see the flowers. Whatever our call, or whatever our gifts, we are all guilty at some point of discrediting our gifts, by seeing them as nothing special, or seeing them as simple gifts. Simple gifts are never simple. The call to use our gifts is a powerful one. If used as God intended, our gifts will bring joy to us and those around us. The want to share these gifts can set our hearts on fire.

No gift is greater than another; what is important is to try to discern what our gifts are, and how to be involved and participate in the life of the community. The Holy Spirit is a uniting force, which builds the Community of Christ together. We may not know where our paths will go, but we are called to be open to the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit we may be reached by God or we can reach others. Being open to the Holy Spirit allows our gifts to be used to build up the body of Christ. Our talents, our gifts, may not appear as we think, but can be shared by simply being present and being open to a ministry of presence. What we are called to do is to use our gifts in the world, to be able to be open and inspired. And we pray that our hearts may be set on fire.

+In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.+

Sunday, June 12, 2011 - Year A

The Seventh Sunday of Easter/The Sunday after Ascension Day

2011-06-08T17:08:00.002-04:00

Sermon

June 5, 2011

Lynne Coates

Acts 1:6-14 Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 John 17:1-11

In the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen

There was a rabbi who was having a heated dispute with his congregation; they couldn't agree on anything. The president of the congregation said, "Rabbi, this can't continue. There has to be a conference, and we have to settle this once and for all." The rabbi agreed.

At the appointed time the rabbi, the president of the congregation, and ten elders met in the conference room of the synagogue. After much heated discussion, it became more and more apparent that the rabbi was a lonely voice in the wilderness. The president of the synagogue said, "Come, Rabbi, enough of this. Let's vote and allow the majority to rule." He passed out slips of paper; the votes were collected, and the president said, "You may examine them, Rabbi. It is eleven to one against you. Eleven to one. We have the majority."

Offended, the rabbi rose to his feet and said, "So, now you think because of the vote that you're right and I'm wrong. Well, that's not so. I stand here and call upon the Holy One of Israel to give us a sign that I'm right and you're wrong."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when there was a deafening clap of thunder and a brilliant flash of lightning that struck the conference table and cracked it in two. The room was filled with smoke and fumes, and the president and the elders were hurled to the floor. The rabbi stood untouched, his eyes and smile flashing with triumph. Slowly, the president lifted himself out of the rubble. His hair was singed, his glasses were hanging from one ear, his clothing was in disarray. Finally he said, "All right, all right! Eleven to two. But we still have the majority."

We know that at times there has been discord and disunity in the Church. This disunity is apparent in the numbers of denominations that we have.

In the 16^th century, the “protesters” became the Protestants and they split from the Roman Catholics. But once the squabble started, it snowballed. It wasn't long before the Protestants began disagreeing with each other and different protestant faiths are the result. But then, I believe that God wants us to stand back and look at what we’ve done and understand that we are one. We are all called to love God and love others, no matter what faith we are. These are the two greatest commandments.

Bishop Jack Spong says that what distinguished Jesus from us is that he was able to become fully human. Now, we may not think so much of our “humanness.” But what I think it means to be fully human is to be truly what God calls us to be. We do have our moments. We can in those moments be like Jesus. When we deny our own comfort and reach out to another, we are being like Jesus. We are being fully human.

Jesus said in the today’s gospel: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus was giving the disciples his legacy, his call, his own discipleship. He left them with everything they needed to continue his work in the world. The result of that work is of course our church with all its Catholics, Protestants and others who struggle to love God and love others.

There will always be that which separates Christians from Christians and denomination from denomination. Loving God and others is not determined by whether we agree with each other about every interpretation of scripture or doctrine or form of church government. Our unity is determined by whether we love one another, and whether we reflect the love of God in Christ for the world, as we were charged to do at the Ascension. And this is Ascension Sunday.

Shortly after the end of the Civil War, in a fashionable Richmond church, during Communion a black man walked down the aisle. A tense silence gripped everyone. No one got up to go receive the bread and wine, although many had not yet received Communion. The black man started to kneel alone.

Quietly, a tall, graying man with a military bearing came up to receive Communion. Together, they knelt. People realized that the person kneeling beside the black man without showing any distinction was General Robert E. Lee. Although Lee said nothing, everyone knew he had shown his faith through the act of joining that lonely black worshiper at the altar. Certainly no big deal today. 150 years ago, it was a very big deal.

What if a bedraggled and dirty homeless person struggled up to receive Eucharist in this church. Would we go up and kneel beside that person? The way we kneel beside each other and beside our children? I like to think all of us would. Or do we cast ourselves as judges of others?

I confess that when I was young I struggled with tendency to judge others at times as if I were somehow given the wisdom to find fault and to inform someone else that I had all the answers if he or she would just listen to me. Right? And God must love me more because I was possessed of this wisdom. What I have learned and continue to learn is that God loves all of us equally, no one person more or less. If this is what God does, then this is what I must do. What we must do. I remind myself that the job of God is taken and not by me. I pray that I am not ultimately defined by that long-ago behavior.

In the epistle appointed for today from 1Peter, we hear: “Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.” That passage frightened me greatly when I was little. I figured that my sins were so great that roaring lion would surely have me for lunch. What I see about this passage today is that whatever passes for the devil is that which I must cast off about myself in order to become the disciple Jesus needs in the world. The passage further reads: “…the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen and establish you.”

In my research for this sermon, I ran across a story about a Roman Catholic deacon who had lost his way, and his work at church had been failing for some time. He had been negative and judgmental toward others. He was asked by his priest to drive some young people to a nursing home to sing. He agreed reluctantly. As he stood in the back of the room and waited for them to finish, he looked down, and there was an old man in a wheelchair. The old man reached up and held his hand all during the program. The next month it was the same. The man in the wheelchair came during the singing and held the hand of the deacon. It happened the next month, and the next month, and the month after that, and the month after that.

Then one Sunday the old man wasn't there. The deacon asked a nurse about him and was told, "Oh, he's down the hall in his room. He's dying, you know, but if you want to go down and pray over him, I guess that would be all right."

So, the deacon found the old man, seemingly unconscious, took his hand and prayed that God would receive him, that God would ease his passage from this life into the next and give him eternal healing.

As soon as he finished the prayer, the old man squeezed the deacon's hand and the deacon knew that he'd been heard. He was so moved by this that it brought him to tears. He stumbled out of the room and bumped into a woman. She said, "My father’s been waiting for you.”

The deacon was amazed at this. He said, "What do you mean?"

The woman said, "Well, my father would say that once a month Jesus came to this place. He would take my hand for a whole hour. I don't want to die until I have the chance to hold the hand of Jesus one more time.”

This story tells me that we can all be the face and the heart and the hands of Jesus for someone else. We can take Jesus’ charge to his disciples at the time of his Ascension and begin to live into it. These moments, opportunities to serve, can take us by surprise sometimes. I pray every day for God to send me opportunities to serve. But I am not always as vigilant as I could be. And I’m sure I miss some of those opportunities. But I still pray.

Those who were present at the Ascension, we imagine, made their way back to where they were staying. With the family of Jesus and a number of women and others they engaged in community-building. They spent time in prayer as they sought to be about the continuation of the work of Jesus. They became the Church. Our Church. Humble, small, tentative beginnings. Now the Christian Church is the largest religious group in the world. How amazing is that!

Now through the Ascension we see Jesus set free from limitations so that his story might continue through the likes of you and me as we are given help and support by the Holy Spirit.

"You shall be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, and in Judea

and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

A priest once asked his Sunday school pupils how they could tell when the night had ended and the day had begun. "Could it be," asked one student, "when you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it's a sheep or a dog?"

"No," answered the priest. That’s not the answer I’m looking for.”

Another asked, "Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance and tell whether it's a fig tree or a peach tree?"

"No," answered the priest. “It’s still not the answer I want. "Then when is it?" the pupils demanded.

"It is when you can look on the face of any person and see the face of Jesus. Because if you cannot see this, it is still night."

Amen

2011-05-31T12:23:00.002-04:00

Easter 6-A

May 29^th, 2011

The Rev. Marguerite Alley

Many of us were fortunate enough to grow up in families where we experienced first hand the meaning of “unconditional love”. Some of us did not. For some of us there were always conditions, and sometimes they were hidden conditions. When a person grows up in a family where the concept of love has strings attached to it, it damages us. Often for life. We grow up believing that we must earn love and that we often will fall far short. We grow up believing that when we don’t live up to other’s expectations, their love will be withdrawn and we will be left alone in the world. The result is that we grow to be fearful and insecure adults, often afraid to try new things, afraid to express our feelings and deathly afraid of disappointing our loved ones and being abandoned as a result.

In the collect this morning, we prayed “Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire”. In the Psalm we sang “Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, nor withheld his love from me”. A couple of weeks ago we heard the story of the encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus and then in the room where the disciples were hiding following the crucifixion. Nowhere in these stories does Jesus admonish his friends for bailing on him or for being cowards. Nowhere does he suggest that there are any strings attached to his love and friendship. Clearly, Jesus loves his disciples with that unconditional love. Even when Thomas refuses to see Jesus for what he is and demands to see his wounds and touch them…..Jesus is nothing but patient and loving.

This started me thinking…..God created the universe for us. God created this world for us. God created us for each other. God created all that exists within our world for us. We, in return have ignored the simplest of “rules” (if you can even call them rules). We have lusted after, wanted more and murdered each other. With each gift we have demanded more. Each time we have been let off the hook, we have gone on to even greater atrocities. Its kind of ridiculous to think that anyone or any entity could love US unconditionally. And yet…..

We have been taught that God is love. We have been taught that God loves us, just as we are, no strings attached. We have been taught that God knows no other than unconditional love. Each time we have wandered from the path, the shepherd has gently (not always subtly) guided us back. Each time we have ignored, or distorted what we know God is telling us we have been patiently reminded. Each time we have broken our promises or tried to willfully impose our own desires upon God or others, we have been quietly corrected. Never though have we ever been threatened with the loss of God’s love. Never have we been told that God has had it with us and our lack of faith. Until now. Today…..after everything, Jesus says “those who love me will be loved by my father”.

This is a pretty big departure from what we have been taught. We have consoled ourselves with the thought that really…not matter what we do, God will still love us. We have done a lot of pretty nasty stuff with that in the back of our minds. We have not loved God with our whole heart…….because well, it is good to be rich. It is good to be powerful. Society tells us that “he who dies with the most toys wins”. We have not loved with our soul. We have hurt each other. We have alienated, ridiculed and crushed those who are different. We have not loved the Lord with our minds. We have closed them to new ideas, we have poisoned our children with fear and suspicion. And we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have let them fight their own battles, even when we knew they were horribly out numbered, were already so beaten down they didn’t stand a chance. We are, if truth be told, about the most ungrateful bunch of brats a parent could be stuck with. And yet…until now we have been taught and we have believed that God loves us..no matter what. So what has changed? Was the crucifixion some kind of test that we royally flunked? Was the fact that Jesus’ best friends (the ones who claimed to know and understand him the best) abandoned him in the final hours the last straw?

Those of you who ARE parents, understand this dilemma that Jesus is facing. Each time our children test us or disappoint us…..we tell them, “This is it. You better straighten up and fly right, or else….”but Jesus has never said anything like this. I don’t think any of us really believes that tornados, hurricanes or earthquakes are God’s way of punishing us for our willfulness. That being said, it certainly sounds here as though Jesus is saying “if you love me……” It sounds as though now there are some strings attached. But, I think Jesus is going in a totally different direction with this statement. When I was a teen, the thought of disappointing my parents was pretty unpleasant for me. It didn’t always keep me from doing bad stuff….because sometimes I didn’t even stop to think before I did the bad stuff. Later, when I had disappointed or hurt them…I often felt worse because I hadn’t stopped to think of anyone other than myself. I think this is what Jesus is really talking about. One time stands out particularly clearly. (Story) It wasn’t until weeks later that we knew that she “knew”. I overheard her saying to my older brother “I need you to stay here for the weekend. I thought I could trust them, but I can’t”.

When we really love someone, we think of them before we think of ourselves….especially in things that effect both. I think what Jesus is saying when he says “If you love me you will keep my commandments”, is not a statement that suggests the withdrawal of that unconditional love we have come to depend on. I think he is not saying “if you love me you will obey me” but rather, “when you love me, you are obeying me”. That is a pretty big difference in my mind. The “spirit of truth” is what helps us to see when we are not loving as we are called to, and shows us how we can better be the children of a loving God. At this point in the whole story, we are still digesting all the meaning of the crucifixion and resurrection….yet Jesus is already reminding us that there is more to come by introducing the Holy Spirit. By pointing out for us the steady presence of God in our lives through the gift of the Advocate, Jesus is also reminding us that in fact God’s unconditional love and forgiveness are still offered to us with absolutely no strings attached. And when we choose to love God with our whole selves in return, we are indeed obeying and keeping his commandment.

Mission Sunday: Mission to Haiti and the Holy Trinity Cathedral

2011-05-24T13:13:00.000-04:00

The Rev. J.W. Messer
Mission Sunday
5.15.2011

About a year ago, I graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) in Alexandria, Virginia. During my time at seminary, we were expected to daily attend one of the three services held in the chapel. For the most part over those three years, I met daily with a 129 year old prayer friend, Immanuel Chapel, on the VTS campus. The VTS chapel was one of my favorite places on campus, and when stressing, it was very peaceful and restorative to go into the chapel when no one else was there and kneel at the altar rail under a great stained glass window that was above the altar. The window depicted THE GREAT COMMISSION, with Jesus preaching with his disciples gathered around him at his feet, and the words inscribed above the window read “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel.”

On the night before graduation, family, friends, seminarians, faculty and church leaders all gathered in the chapel for what is known as A Service For The Mission Of The Church. This service celebrates the conclusion of the mission of the seminary which was to prepare us for the new state of our ministries in the Episcopal Church. My class was the last graduating class to gather for this service in Immanuel Chapel.

On October 22, 2010, I lost my prayer friend, and VTS lost the central and the spiritual focus for the soul of campus, in a fire. Luckily no lives were lost. The accidental fire demolished the historic Immanuel Chapel, with flames so intense that firefighters could not even enter the building to try to save the historical and sacred objects. In just 40 minutes or so, our chapel with the iconic window, “Go ye into all the world” was destroyed and lost to us forever.

Current and past students, faculty, staff and friends all grieved together over this irreplaceable loss. Immediately, however, fundraising began in order to build a chapel, one that would be a new chapel for a new century. Money instantly started to pour in; without hesitation VTS is going to replace the building that was, and will be, central to VTS gathering.

This leads me to today’s Gospel reading where Jesus, in conversation with Thomas and Philip, tells them that God sent Him to prepare a place for them in God’s Kingdom. Jesus said that if you know Him, then you know the Father. And since you know Jesus and the works He has done, then we are all to do the works that Jesus has done. Jesus was sent by God into the world to call people to go forward in his name. This is mission, and it is central to the Christian faith. Mission is the act of sending and being sent across significant boundaries of human experience to bear witness in word and deed to God’s action in Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.[i] Mission means sending and being sent. But it is also has a counter, that is, it is important to have a place to return to – a physical place to gather and a place in which to be rooted. This is why it is vital for VTS to rebuild the chapel. Even a spiritual body of future priests and leaders of the church still need a physical location to gather in, a structure that serves as a beacon to all being formed for ministry and the local community to gather.

However after a disaster strikes, not everyone is as blessed as VTS has been. Ten months before the VTS chapel burned, Haiti was decimated by an earthquake. This earthquake killed more than 250,000 people and made millions more homeless. Many of the services we expect from the government—healthcare, education, culture—were provided by The Episcopal Church in Haiti. In the wake of this devastating earthquake, about 85% of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti’s institutions were destroyed or severely damaged. In Port-au-Prince, Holy Trinity Cathedral was in ruin and rubble. This Cathedral was more than an historical church of the Episcopal Church’s largest diocese of 100,000 members. It was also the center for so many, particularly in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, with a population nearing 3/4ths of a million. The Cathedral was more than a church building; it housed and trained a touring choir and the nation’s only symphony orchestra, providing both cultural development and income in a country where the annual per capita income is less that $400. Holy Trinity also helped to educate the next generation. It housed a primary, a secondary school, and a Professional School offering education and spiritual guidance to hundreds. Clearly, many people of the city looked to the cathedral for help as it has served as a focus for so many for so long.

A National effort is being led by The National Episcopal Church in an effort to focus its mission towards our Diocese in Haiti. While many government agencies from all over the world have been working over the past year to help those left in the aftermath, there is one thing no one else can rebuild, the Holy Trinity Cathedral.[ii] The national church is asking us to help to rebuild, one brick at a time. Brick by brick, we can have a hand in helping our brothers and sisters in Christ to rebuild their beacon of hope to their nation -- all with two simple acts. First, we can donate our money. The national church suggests that $10 buys a brick, but by donating even a few dollars, we help our sister Diocese of Haiti as they begin their resurrection projects to rebuild a broken nation, a broken cathedral. At Emmanuel, we are the recipients of a challenge grant from one of our parish families. Every gift of $25 or more will be matched, up to a total of $1000. And the second act we can offer to them is our prayers. These two acts are simple but have transformative powers.

We are all called as Christians to go out into the world and make disciples, to help and love our neighbor as ourselves. We are called to be God’s hands on Earth! Shouldn’t we use those hands to make a place, a home on Earth for our neighbors? Even if all we can offer is one brick at a time, one prayer at a time, we, as a Christian body, can help resurrect from the rubble the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the beacon of hope for so many Haitians.

VTS needs and will get its’ chapel rebuilt; there will be a physical location for a community to gather in. The people of Haiti deserve the same. The question is not are we able to help, but WILL we help?

Let us at least begin this journey with a pray.

Let us pray:
Almighty and loving God, all of creation is yours. We are joined together with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, so that when one hurts, we all hurt, and when one rejoices, we all rejoice together. Today we pray especially for the Diocese of Haiti, for we know what it means to have something we hold dear, something that seems bigger than us, destroyed in a moment. The loss is painful which can shake us to our core, but it is does not end there. We also face the struggle to rise out of the rubble and to restore our lives to what is now the ‘new normal.’ In all of this, we turn to you for strength and grace. We turn to our neighbors for a helping hand. You call all of your children to go forth and to be your hands in the world. Help us as we discern how best to use the gifts and talents you have given us to aid our brothers and sisters in Haiti, as they work to rebuild your Church. All this we pray through your name. Amen.[iii]

+And in God’s name we pray. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. +

[i] Horizons of Mission pg 18

[ii] Diocese of

Haiti

website in their plea for help

[iii] Prayer written by JWM

The Fourth Sunday of Easter

2011-05-17T10:41:00.000-04:00

May 15, 2011

The Rev. John A. Baldwin

Acts 2:42-47 ,1 Peter 2:19-25 , John 10:1-10 Psalm 23 ,

One of the distinguishing features of the Gospel of John is Jesus' description of himself in "I am" statements: "I am the Vine", "I am the way, the truth & the life", "I am Living Water", "I am the Good Shepherd", "I am the Bread of Life", and from this morning's Gospel, "I am the door of the sheep...if anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture."

Jesus liked to use sheep as illustrations in his stories and parables. He spoke about the importance of seeking out the lost lamb. As the disciples were setting out on a missionary journey, Jesus said to them, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves." When challenged by the Pharisees about healing on the Sabbath, Jesus replied, "Suppose you had a sheep which fell in a ditch on the Sabbath; is there not one of you who would not catch hold of it and lift it out?"

Having spent nearly 5 months on 3 separate occasions in rural Dorset, England where sheep outnumber residents by a considerable number, I have seen a lot of sheep up close. There is hardly a more peaceable creature. Who has ever been hurt or threatened by a sheep? Yet I've also been told that sheep are not highly intelligent or discerning. If allowed to, they will wander aimlessly seeking pasture. That's why you will never find sheep in England without a fence to keep them in. They are also defenseless against predators. A wolf can find mighty easy pickings in a sheep pasture.

Using sheep as an image or metaphor for human beings is not particularly flattering, but it does point towards some characteristics of human nature that were evident to Jesus: our need for a shepherd to guide and protect us; our tendencies to wander aimlessly through life, without greater purpose at times than keeping our bellies full; and our vulnerabilities to getting lost or being devoured by wolves.

What strikes me about this image of Jesus as the door of the sheep is that it's a two-way door. The sheep have the freedom to go in and out.....to graze peacefully within the protecting walls of the sheepfold, or to stay without, but at the risk of vulnerability to thieves, robbers and strangers. We might well ask: If God entertained such an unflattering view of human nature, why would he allow us to go in and out of the sheepfold, instead of keeping that door firmly shut, and protecting us from ourselves? The answer, I believe, lies in the wonderful, yet terrible gift of freedom that God has given us.

A short film called The Parable was produced for the 1964 World's Fair. In it, a clown in whiteface becomes a Christ figure. He wanders through a circus grounds acting as a servant, carrying pails of water for an overworked elephant tender, taking the place of another in a dunking tank, and dusting the shoes of spectators in the bigtop. Later in the film he straps himself into a harness, taking the place of a "living puppet" in the top of the circus tent. He becomes an actor in a Punch and Judy type show, his arms and legs manipulated with strings by a master puppeteer down below.

In his servanthood, the clown not only stirs up gratitude from those whose roles he assumes, but also enmity in the hearts of those who resent his interference, the bosses and trainers. When the clown straps himself into the harness, they see it as an opportunity to attack him with baseballs, swords and canes. In effect, they crucify him. The master puppeteer, with a lifeless clown now in harness, conducts a macabre dance, moving his limbs in a mockery of life.

This image of the master puppeteer lies close to the heart of what many conceptualize when they think about God. Isn't this what is implicitly meant when people attribute close calls to God's will and plan? For example...the telephone rang as I was going out the door and as a result, I missed by a minute being involved in a fatal accident on I-64. God pulled the string. My friend, my parent, my neighbor has cancer, broke a leg, lost their job (fill in the blanks). It's all part of the plan of the master puppeteer, isn't it? Wars, floods, tornadoes and tsunamis? All part of God's plan. Don't you wonder why some unfortunate people become victims, and others are spared? If God is pulling all the strings, his ways are mysterious and impossible to fathom for sure, but everything happens for a reason, right?

The great theological problem if we ascribe to a view of God as a puppeteer, rescuing some and ignoring others, is that it poses a universe where there is no freedom to choose. We are not free to decide whether to go in or out of the door of the sheepfold. In fact, our decisions really don't matter at all. God will do what God wants to do. We really are like those living puppets, and the dead clown.....helpless participants in a macabre dance of life and death. This seems to me an image more appropriate to Hell rather than to the Kingdom of God.

Basic Christian theology asserts something quite different. God in the self-emptying act of Creation bestowed upon human beings the wonderful yet terrible gift of freedom. We are free to choose between responding to our own needs, wants and desires, or to minister to those of others; to be self-centered, or God-centered; to embrace abundant living, or to nurture those temptations that draw us away from the love of God. Precisely because God values his creation so much, he allows us the freedom to make choices that are foolish even as God fervently hopes we will choose what is loving and good.

In that freedom of choice there is room for error and accident. I can choose to buy a house on an earthquake fault line; to take into my body substances that are harmful to my health; to choose friends whose morals are questionable; to value the outward and material over the inward and spiritual. That's the terrible side of freedom, leading us perhaps to long for a God who pulls strings and saves us from ourselves.

The wonderful side of freedom, however, is that God desires a relationship with us which is truly respectful, allowing us the capability to blunder and then seek reconciliation; to grow in wisdom and strength; to become a new creation; to seek God so as to find Him.

This freedom to choose lies at the heart of our baptismal covenant. Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers? Will you persevere in resisting evil and whenever you sin, repent and return to the Lord? Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being?

God forces no one to do any of this, but when we do embrace the baptismal covenant, the door to abundant living in this life and the next is open to all who choose to enter.

The Stewardship of Creation Sunday

2011-05-02T12:43:00.000-04:00

John A. Baldwin

The Second Sunday after Easter

May 1, 2011

I came into the office this past week to find our parish administrator in some distress. The mother eagle in the Norfolk Botanical Garden had been hit by a jet and killed. Donna had been following the birth of the baby eaglets and their mother's nurturing of them for several weeks, thanks to a video link to the internet. What had once been the purview of only avid birdwatchers with binoculars had been brought into the living rooms of Tidewater Virginia, and fascination and compassion had ensued. Not only Donna, but many others who'd been engaged with this extraordinary glimpse of nature, found that they cared about a bird, and the drama of her raising her young.

Imagine that, feeling grief about the death of a raptor (a bird of prey) ! But eagles too have little babies whom they nurture and protect. They, like us, are marvels of creation....different from us, but in their own way perfect specimens of nature's creative force at work. When we feel and experience that connection, we begin to care across-species, and I believe we move closer to the heart of God. Last Tuesday night, at our monthly meeting of BUBBLES (theological discussion over a glass of beer at Salvatore's) we considered the question "Do Dogs Go to Heaven?" Sentimentally, of course, everyone affirmed that Spot, Fido and Rover, would definitely go on into life hereafter. After all, dogs display unconditional love in ways that humans often envy. Why wouldn't God draw them closer to his nearer presence? The discussion at our table moved on into reflection upon whether animals have souls, as we believe humans do, and just what is the reality of heaven? Speculative theology, utilizing the imagination to reflect on matters of faith and religion, always enlivens and fascinates me.

What passages in the Bible say about many things is open to speculative theology because scripture utilizes rich imagery, story, human insight, and historical experience to address issues of ultimate importance. It speaks in new and different ways to every generation, and to every sort and condition of human beings. We look at scripture from different vantage points, and in every reading of it we see and hear it through the filters of our personal experience. Consider for example, what is perhaps the most quoted passage in scripture (John 3:16). "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him will have eternal life." We get so focused on the latter part of this quote, that we glide right over the first 5 words. "God so loved "the world" ......It's not God so loved "humanity", but God so loved "the world"....all of it. Humans come dangerously close to sheer pride and arrogance when we forget to recognize that God created all things, and in the first chapter of Genesis, God blessed all of it as "good"....dogs, cats, and eaglets; earth, winds and waters; mountains, rivers and seas, and maybe even mosquitoes, ticks and chiggers (though some have asserted, tongue in cheek, that those had to be the works of the devil!)

The two stories of creation in Genesis One (the creation of the world in 7 days) and Genesis Two (the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden), have important things to say to us this morning as we celebrate the 41st annual Earth Day (albeit a few days late, since this year it fell on Good Friday). Genesis One speaks to our role as participants, allies and co-creators with God in the ongoing work of creation. But it also has those interesting and challenging words within it: "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it". We have been inclined to use the word "subdue" in the modern era primarily as license to conquer, control, own, deplete and use up. But it has a softer side as well, namely to bring into cultivation, reduce the intensity of, tone down. In other words, "to bring into balance." And that is precisely what we see in the beginning of Genesis Two, the Garden of Eden - humans living in harmony with flora and fauna. Trouble sets in, however, as Adam and Eve (who represent all of humanity) decide to seek divinity, to squeeze God out of the picture in the ongoing drama of creation, and go it alone. Adam and Eve fall from grace, not because they are inherently wicked, but because they succumb to pride and hubris. They disrupt the balance within the garden.

Earth Day has evolved over the past 40 years from dire predictions of doom in 1970 to involving citizens from all walks of life into pursuing the goal of a Billion Acts of Green. Back in 1970, dramatic events such as the Cuyahoga River bursting into flame in 1969, the blowout of an oil well off Santa Barbara, and the "death" of Lake Erie due to pollution all fed Americans' concerns. Earth Day 1970 provoked a torrent of apocalyptic predictions. "We have about five more years at the outside to do something," ecologist Kenneth Watt declared to a Swarthmore College audience. Harvard biologist George Wald estimated that "civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind." "We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation," wrote Washington University biologist Barry Commoner.

Imminent global famine caused by the explosion of the "population bomb" was the big issue on Earth Day 1970. "Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make," Paul Ehrlich confidently declared in an interview. "The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next 10 years." Pollution was another big issue on Earth Day 1970. Smog choked many American cities and sludge coated the banks of many rivers. People were also worried that we were poisoning the biosphere and ourselves with dangerous pesticides. The Great Lakes were in bad shape and Lake Erie was officially "dead," its fish killed because oxygen supplies had been depleted by rotting algae blooms fed by organic pollutants from factories and municipal sewage. Beyond anxiety over population, pollution, and pesticides, even more long-term concerns were on display at the first Earth Day, including the depletion of nonrenewable resources, disappearing biodiversity, and global climate change due to human activity--all of which have come to figure prominently in our current environmental debates.

Fortunately, the apocalyptic gloom and doom of Earth Day 1970, while waking a lot of people up, didn't prove as prophetic as we might have feared at the time. While, it's absolutely true that far too many people remain poor and hungry in the world--800 million people are still malnourished--we have not seen mass starvation around the world in the past four decades. Where there have been famines, such as in Somalia and Ethiopia, they have been primarily the result of war and political instability. Far from turning brown, the Green Revolution has made a huge difference in food production outpacing population growth. According to the World Bank's World Development Report 2000, food production increased by 60 percent between 1980 and 1997. What about the fears expressed about the world's population? In 2000 there were 6 billion - 30% fewer than predicted on Earth Day 1970, because total fertility dropped nearly everywhere on the planet from around 6 children per woman in the 1960s to around 2.8 in 2000. In the U.S., air quality has improved significantly over the past 40 years, and similar trends can be found when it comes to water pollution. Lake Erie once "dead" again supports a $600 million fishing industry.

Earth Day 2011 is much less apocalyptic in nature, much less filled with gloom and doom, yet none the less deeply serious in encouraging each of us to become involved in restoring the balance in nature. In an effort dubbed "A Billion Acts of Green," organizers are encouraging people to pledge online at actearthday.com. to do something small but sustainable in their own lives to improve the planet's health — from switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs to reducing the use of pesticides and other toxic chemicals. "Millions of people doing small, individual acts can add up to real change," said a spokesman for the group coordinating efforts. There were hundreds of rallies, workshops and other events around the United States and hundreds more overseas where it is now celebrated in 192 countries. In the years since the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 the environmentalist movement has made great strides with passage of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, the Endangered Species Act and other groundbreaking laws. Sadly, the bipartisanship that marked the birth of Earth Day — it was sponsored in Congress by Wisconsin Democrat Gaylord Nelson and California Republican Pete McCloskey — is too often missing in discussions about environmental policy today.

My own theological perspective is marked more by optimism than pessimism. I am a firm believer that God is actively involved in all that is going on in the cosmos, and that God earnestly desires for us to be in partnership with Him in the ongoing work of Creation. I believe that the Earth Day movement is moving in a positive direction in evolving from apocalyptic gloom and doom to encouraging each one of us to do our small part in personal initiatives. We have been very fortunate at Emmanuel to have a small but very dedicated Green Team looking faithfully at how we here in Virginia Beach can make a contribution. I invite you to join them in this effort as faithful members of Christ's family, the Church.

~~~

In the name of God: Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.

Emmanuel Episcopal Church

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The Stewardship of Creation Sunday

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