A Farewell - July 27th, 2014

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Amen.

    Today, instead of a real sermon, I want to share some farewell thoughts with you. A summary, if you will, of everything I hope you have learned in my time with you; reminders of the truths we are to hang on to. Above all else, I hope you know that it has been a joy to serve you, and though I’ve been called away, I will miss you with all of my heart. In a sense, this place was my first Christian home, my first Christian family, and in fact the first church that I became truly immersed in and absorbed into, and I have been blessed deeply by this.

    Now above all else, I hope that you remember to make the Gospel the central and defining aspect of your life. Live the Gospel; nothing else matters as this does. We must remember daily that we have gone astray, that we have sinned and fallen short, that this sin has separated us from a right relationship with God, and that from the point of sin we must repent. We must turn away from the sin we are stuck in and turn to Christ; recognizing our sin and turning to Christ in repentance is the beginning of the gospel.

    It was in Christ’s death on the cross and his mighty resurrection that we find life and that we die to sin. And on the last day we will rise again to join in the heavenly chorus. When we turn our focus on these truths and make them the central defining aspect of our lives, all other things become secondary. All other things fade away, because the longer we dwell in these truths, the more we know of God’s providence and sovereignty, and of his perfect ability to provide the gifts we need each day. So live and dwell in the Gospel always.

    As the gospel transforms our lives, remember too that all people need to hear these words. It does not matter who they are--whether they are liberals or conservatives; Jews, Muslims, or Hindus; Asians, Africans, or Europeans. Everyone needs to hear it, and for those who are in Christ, none of these things matter--neither their former selves nor their heritage--for they become part of the body of Christ.

    We remember that this does not diminish one’s heritage, political involvement, or hobbies. It is good to rejoice in your heritage, it is good to be politically involved, and it is good to delight in life. However, all of these things can become mini-gods that we worship and lay down our lives to. Do not do this. Do not let a political agenda or a fun hobby consume you. Again, these are secondary and we only learn of their true importance and beauty when we sacrifice ourselves to God. We only learn how important they are when they’re in their right place.

    Pray always: talk to God when you are happy or when you are sad; praise and laments are sweet sounds to God’s ears. Do not be shy; if you are confused or hurt, or you feel as though you are walking through the desert, tell him. God cannot comfort you if you do not let him. He can only pursue you; do not shut him out. Respond always to his call. If your heart is broken, tell him why and then listen. If you feel blessed beyond joy, tell him that too. We have a father in heaven who loves us more than anyone on this earth, more than words can say. If you are walking through a valley of sorrow or you’re on a mountaintop of joy, God is with you and he is there for you. We remember this beautiful Psalm:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
   He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.[a]
     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness[b]
    for his name's sake.

 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,[c]
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely[d] goodness and mercy[e] shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell[f] in the house of the Lord
    forever.[  (Psalm 23, English Standard Version)g

    Likewise be steeped in the scriptures--read them daily, love them, know them. For there is much talk in the world and little listening. There is no magic trick to reading the word of God; rather we read and know that this is the inspired word of God. A friend of mine once said, “You can’t make the scriptures any more spiritual--they are the word of God.” Do not be afraid of them. They will comfort you, challenge you, strengthen you; they will be your guide in spiritual growth, in good times and bad. You will not always like what you read. Sometimes it will hurt, sometimes it will be frightening, but that does not mean we can simply dismiss the difficult parts. Instead, wrestle with them, let them challenge you, and let every word you read shine a brighter light on who God is and how he loves you. Remember always that the central point of the scriptures is Christ’s redeeming love. Realize that this shines through on every page in the Old and New Testament.

    Receive the sacrament; Holy Communion is the spiritual food of the body of Christ. It provides us with a tangible bond to Christ, and it provides us with a tangible bond together. We do not confess to understand this completely, but we do know that it sustains us through good times and bad times. In the darkness it provides us with a way to touch and see Christ, when we have no strength to do anything else. Likewise in times of joy it solidifies that joy, and it reminds us of where that joy comes from.

    Be in fellowship with your brothers and sisters. Come to church, enjoy coffee hour, laugh, cry, pray together. It may seem less important than the first three but the body of Christ is a family. It is a support structure, and through this fellowship we grow. We learn of our faults and our strengths, we learn how to love, we learn how to give thanks for all the gifts that God has given us, we learn how to forgive. We learn to say, “Brother, friend, today has been a hard day, will you pray with me?” or, more practically, “Could you help me with this task?” Be there for each other spiritually and temporally.

The first part of this has been about our relationship with God, and fellowship is a part of our relationship with God, for it supports and builds it up. Our church family is there to carry us along when nothing else will, to be with us when we do not feel like we can go on. Likewise we are there for our brothers and sisters in Christ when they are struggling with sin or hardship.

The Christian religion calls very few people to live a life of solitude, most of us will spend the rest of our lives interacting with others, and in a life submitted to Christ, these interactions are transformed.

Be kind in all things. Kindness is not a sticky sweet niceness that ignores wrongdoing, nor is it an unrelenting need to scream the truth in everyone’s face. Rather, it is the gentle ability to live and preach the truth in all we do in love, never forcing it on someone but never backing away from it either. In disagreements kindness should always rule. We do not fight people, but gently discern the truth in ideas. So we must be careful not to tear each other down when we are at odds with one another, especially within the congregation.

Likewise we do all things in love. We know the greatest commandment and the second, which tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Like kindness – but much more so, love both seeks to speak the truth always and in this seeks what is best for someone. Though if we are not in a good and right relationship with God, if our lives are not lived in Christ, then we cannot know how to love right. So this comes out of that relationship and it defines us as Christians. It is said, “They will know us by our love.” Learn what this means and learn how to do this.

Practically: pray together, dwell in the word of God together, break bread together – both spiritual bread and temporal bread. Share your trials and triumphs, rejoice and cry together.

Do not be inward looking, but reach our little community with love. Find the hurt and the lonely and practice love. Find a way to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, shelter the homeless. This is the job of the Church. It is the first step of showing the Gospel to those who are the most broken in our community and introducing them to the tremendous love of God.    

You may be small, you may not think you have much to offer – but dwell in these things every day, and God will provide. God will make a way. Trust in Him in all things and live in love first for God and for one another, and all other things will fall in line.

Remember our hope is an eternal hope – no matter how dark and bleak, no matter how light and wonderful things may seem – our eternal promise is much greater than these days. The greatest joy will be the day when all things are made right and we will finally rest in joy and sing that eternal song of praise to God our father, finally in a good and right relationship with him. Cling to this, rejoice in it, and all other pains will slip away.

So today I say good-bye. I tried to remember all the important things, all the things I hope we have learned in our time together. I know saying good-bye is hard, and I hope we meet again in this life time, but I know if we do not, we will meet again on that great and glorious day when heaven and earth is made new. So this good-bye is not forever, but perhaps more of an “I look forward to seeing you again.” Do not fear that which is to come, but instead rejoice in Christ always.

May God the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost bless and keep each and everyone of you all the days of your life.  Amen.

A Homily for Epiphany III

Primary Text: John 2:1-11

Let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Amen

            I drove slowly through the snow late last night, longing simply to curl up in my bed and drift sweetly into sleep. Longing to be home. I was returning from a funeral and visiting with a new clergy friend, and I knew that I had spent too long talking, but the fellowship was good and like sweet water for my heart. I knew that even though the conversations I had were good for me, I longed for home, longed deeply for my bed, and for my eyelids to be able sink heavily as I drifted to sleep. The snow whipped severely around and at times, disorienting me to the point that I couldn’t even tell if I was moving forward or standing still. As the minutes drifted towards hours and my soul grew weary.

            As I drove my mind was on the worship for this morning; my mind was on the begging question of whether or not I would be ready, and I started to think about the act of worship, for this is much of what I talked about yesterday with old friends and new, and much of where my mind was. I started to wonder if we grasp, even dimly what we are doing in worship. I wondered if I grasped it and if I had explained or am even capable of explaining the breadth that is the worship of our Lord. I wondered if I could find to the words to do so.

            As I drove I thought of our worship, the importance of both parts of it. There are two parts in our worship. There is the liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Faithful or the Sacrament.  These two elements contain the very essentials of what we need for a healthy spiritual life, for we do not have life without the word; nor do we have life without the sacrament. There are exceptions to these rules, but in the context of a healthy congregation we must desire both and we need both for our growth and strength. For it is in the word that we come to know God, it is in the word that we are able to hear his voice. Yet the sacrament heals our hearts and our souls, it touches us in a way that the word cannot; it goes beyond our very ability to intellectually understand and touches us in a way we cannot quite grasp. In a very real way we are both experiencing the sacrifice of God and in that experiencing the eternal worship that we look forward to at the end of days.

            Let us pause for a moment and really look at the liturgy. It is designed to be an invitation into the worship of God and even more importantly into experiencing God. It is not a hope for the next great emotional high; liturgical worship, while it can touch every element of the human being, is not there to give us an emotional comfort or the warm and fuzzies, rather it is a hope to experience God, even if only at the very edge of His being, even if it is only to view Him from behind as he passes by, as Elijah saw him on the mountain.

            Worship, like the worship in the temple, is a dim image of what we are preparing for. We are preparing for the final, the full participation in the marriage feast of the Lamb. So it is that we start with an examination of our souls, where we look into ourselves and see the darkness of our hearts. We cannot claim that we have kept the commandments; we cannot claim that we have kept even the summary of the law. For if we search in earnest, we see that we have failed to love God completely and failed to love our neighbors completely; if we think on what Christ said on the sermon on the mount, the bar is set high and our hearts long for our own sense of justice, long to rule over ourselves, and long to rule over our neighbors. We do not long to allow the sovereign Lord to be our ruler. For this is the crux of the curse. This is why we reexamine this every week; this is why we then call out to God – Lord have mercy! Christ have Mercy! Lord have mercy! For it is only in His mercy that we can approach Him; it is only by the blood of the Lamb that we can come to him; and it is in this outpouring of love that our unruly hearts are brought into submission to His will.

            The Introit turns our hearts to the love of God. Recently we have started doing this responsively and generally using a full psalm or at least a longer portion of one. The Introit is a calling and an invitation to bring of our hearts into deeper worship of God; it is a preparation to hear His word. The word of God demands a response; the word of God is how we hear the voice of the Lord. The Gradual calls us into hearing His word more deeply and beckons us to enter into the new covenant, departing from the old; for as we enter into something new we enter into something that is greater than the old. For the old was simply a dim image of that which was to come; the old law only convicted us and brought us death. The old covenant was completed in the new and the dim images that we see swirling through the old were made clear when Christ came into the world. It is in this new covenant that life comes again into the world. We stand with eagerness to hear the proclamation of the Gospel and then we immediately respond with the Creed. Historically in the catholic church the Creed came after the sermon – but the reformers, I believe, desired that the people respond with belief immediately following the proclamation of the good news in the Gospel, and so this is what we do and then we hear the word expounded upon, now in the sermon.

            After the sermon we enter into the Liturgy of the Faithful, into what is known more academically as the Anaphora. Through this liturgy we begin to enter into intimate worship of the Lord; we are called to come and experience Him. After we have prayed for the whole of the church, after we have prayed for those who have come before us, after us, and those who walk with us now, after we are reminded that we are not alone but very much a part of something bigger, we are invited to look back and look forward. We are invited to partake in the marriage feast of the Lamb. We are invited to partake in the super that the Lord instituted. We look back and look forward in this moment, for the event itself is timeless. The event is eternal. We are very much partaking in something eternal. It is a taste, a glimpse of what our participation in heaven will be. For in the Eucharist we experience the once offered, sufficient sacrifice for all, not represented – but re-experienced. We also, dimly experience the marriage feast of the Lamb, promised for the time of eternity. The Eucharist, coming into it and partaking in it, is in fact the pinnacle of worship. It is in this strengthening and in this remembering and looking forward to the future promise that we are strengthened to head into the world.

            So, what does this have to do with the lessons today? St. John’s Gospel is broken up into two parts:  the miracles and the teachings. However, the whole of his gospel screams one thing – this is the Lord, this is the Messiah, the Son of God, the very God incarnate among us. The only way to escape this testament is to adulterate the text. St. John’s Gospel tells us that something monumental has happened; that the very Lord has burst into the world and that His love is overwhelming.

While it is impossible not to see this testimony from the very beginning of his text, it is at the marriage feast at Cana where Jesus’ first miracle was performed, that we slowly grasp his bursting forth of Love, which is a prefiguration of the final supper, the supper of the Lord. This miracle is so astounding for it was a profound act of Love. If the hosts had run out of wine, it would have been an insult to the guests, and it would have been tragically embarrassing for the new couple. It would have been something like inviting people over for dinner and then saying you forgot to actually buy food to make your guests dinner. Hospitality in Christ’s culture was of the utmost importance. A wedding feast would have lasted days and clearly the feast was all ready getting long.

            However it was not enough for Christ to simply provide them with some wine, it was the best wine that was served at the feast. We know this because the organizer, the feast planner, if you will, was angry because the best wine should have been served first, and this was the best wine. It was overwhelming, a scandalous and an astounding act of Love.

            It was also a prefiguring of something and a reveling. It was an act of re-creating. It was an act of creation. When he turned water into wine it was a speeding up of the very essence of the universe; the grape vines grow only when watered and over time grapes spout; the grapes are juiced and fermented and finally after much time and much work you have wine. This act of creation was sped up in these moments. Simultaneously he uses a piece of the old covenant, the jars for purification and fills them with what will eventually be a figure of the new covenant. He is already starting to show that all things will be made anew, showing the incredible pouring out of His love on the cross, the pouring out of the blood of the Lamb for the making new of those who would hear the call and come and partake.

            Perhaps you are wondering what does all this have to do with longing – which is where I started; longing for bed, longing for rest, longing for home and for safety. We long to be with God, we long for our hearts to be filled with His love. While the curse causes us to desire to rule ourselves, we know deep down inside that there is something greater than the ego, an ongoing ache for something more. We are void and tired without this inflowing of His love.  “As the deer longeth after water, so my heart longeth after the Lord.” He is the only one who can fill this longing, who can fill this want. It is Him alone who plants, who grows and who builds. While we are active participants in history, history is made complete and redeemed by God alone. In the end, His true justice will be served. While it may seem like the road is long and unending and may seem to bring us nowhere, eventually we find we have come a little closer to God and we know eventually we will be brought fully into that eternal promise. When we come into worship, when we enter into the completeness of the Eucharistic invitation we are drawn into a taste of the long promised completion of all these things.

            So come let us put our trust in God, let us worship the One who creates, who builds and who makes anew. Let us trust in the fulfillment of the promises that He is there, that He is good, that His mercy is greater than anything that we could ever imagine. Let us rejoice in the wine that is better than we could ever desire. Let us partake in the marriage feast of the Lamb. Let us enter into that deepest promised relationship with the Lord. For He has called and we have heard and here we are, let us now be continually made into new creations and let us rejoice in all He has done.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, Amen.

A Homily for Epiphany I

Text: Proverbs 8:22-36

Let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Amen

            The Old Testament lesson today is taken from the book of Proverbs. I don’t know that we spend very much time reading or thinking about this book, and that truly is a shame. For though it is not a tremendously poetic book, or a book filled with vivid and delightful stories, it is nonetheless filled with meaningful little sayings. These sayings lay a foundation of wisdom that acts as a guide for us to live a good life.  This is a life ordered after the way and the will of God.

            The book of Proverbs begins with what is in fact a very poetic section where a father gives advice to his son on how to live the good life.  The father explains to his son, who will soon be going out into the world, the meaning of wisdom. He contrasts wisdom with folly. Wisdom and folly are presented as two women. One is promiscuous and seeks to ruin people, while the other is like a rare gem, more difficult to search out, but who brings good and well-being to those with whom she interacts. Wisdom is personified in the second woman.  While she may not be the easier path, she is the better path.

            If we can remember back to the sermon series of about a year ago, you will remember that we spent a day talking about the “Fear of the Lord”.  The “Fear of the Lord” is the beginning of Wisdom. The “Fear of the Lord” is not a tyrannical over-lording, but rather a right perspective on how we are to approach the Creator of all things. While God desires us to approach him, it is not as we might approach our buddy, and not even as we would approach a king or a president, but rather as we would approach someone even grander than the grandest person we can imagine. We approach Him with a heart that is willing to submit to his will. Too, we understand him as a just judge who can either dole out a penalty or grant mercy to us.  We know this penalty is death.  If we chose to live in His mercy, it is a life with Him. For the Lord does not wish to rule over us in tyranny, but rather as a loving king over his faithful people. It is in the next chapter of proverbs that we are reminded of this very fact, that if we wish to have wisdom it starts with the “Fear of the Lord” (Proverbs 9:10).

            Wisdom, though it starts at the Fear of the Lord, leads to life.  When we talk about biblical wisdom we are not talking about scientific knowledge or literary insight, though in reality these aspects of knowledge are subsets and submissive to the wisdom of the Lord. Instead wisdom is that which leads to a good life. It’s the life filled with God. For when we chose wisdom we chose life.  When we flee from wisdom we bring death upon ourselves, for sin and folly lead to the deterioration of both the body and the soul.

            The statement that the “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom”, is prefaced by the section which we read today.  Today we see that Wisdom is linked strongly to the Lord and to creation.  The Lord is the source of all wisdom and in wisdom the heaven and the earth were created. Whether we believe in theistic evolution, intelligent design or look to the bible as a defense of a six day creation, it is nearly impossible to deny that there is order in creation, that there is a pattern in which things came into being. In being a part of the church and the covenant, we see this pattern as both wise and good.

            From the beginning, Wisdom was with the Lord. In some translations, Wisdom is stated as being created, not simply possessed, by the Lord.  For it seems that in order for Wisdom to be possessed by us, it must be a thing that the Lord created. It is His to pass on as he choses.

            There are some that confuse Wisdom for Christ. In some ways this passage seems to parallel passages such as the beginning of St. John’s Gospel.  But here wisdom is not a creator, but rather a part of creation, a guiding aspect. The whole earth was created in wisdom. Wisdom was not the creator but a part of creation. It was in wisdom that the Lord created; however Christ was the very word that He uttered and it was through that uttering that the heavens and the earth to come into being. The Logos was the creative force in the action of creation.  So while Christ- who is God- is linked definitively with wisdom. He is not the person named Wisdom in proverbs.

            It is wise for us to seek after Wisdom; for Wisdom builds us up and draws us nearer to God. For wisdom teaches us to approach Him and all of creation; it protects us from folly and sin, and instead directs our hearts towards God down the good road. Wisdom teaches us to discern good from bad; as we grow in Christ we grow in wisdom; in fact Wisdom is a part of the recreating process, which we partake in as we are continually being made anew by the spirit of God.

            We learn at the end of the passage that Wisdom leads to life and the favor of the Lord. Wisdom is the very backbone of the Lord’s covenant with his faithful people. It trains and disciplines men and women in His way. Folly on the other hand is the rejection of this. In rejecting wisdom we bring death upon ourselves. We seek after things that destroy our souls and our lives. Instead of delighting in the Lord’s goodness we delight in the things that will eventually lead to death.

            What then does this have to do with the Epiphany of our Lord? It is at Epiphany that we remember the wise men coming to the Lord.  It is here that we first see that the new covenant will be open to all people. It is in the wisdom of the Lord that we come to understand that the Jesus who was born of a humble origin some two thousand years ago was not only some special child or a good teacher, rather He was the Lord himself, the King of Kings. It was in Him that the covenant was opened to all people and it was in Him that we were invited to join into this bond.

            The first covenant with Abraham promised that through his offspring he would bless all the nations. Christ is this blessing, promised long before. For Christ, being both God and a Jewish man, was a descendant from Abraham. He was the blessing for the whole world. In His life and death lies the source of life for all of humanity.  So it is that we see that in the feast and the season of Epiphany, the gates to the Source of Life are blown open for all people. We are all invited to know this.

            We are invited to partake in the great paschal feast. Jews and gentiles, rich and poor, all of the people of all nations are invited in. It is in the true Wisdom that comes from God that we see Christ not only as a good teacher, rather as Lord and Savior. It is in Wisdom that we grow to know Him better. We are invited to drink the cup of salvation and to rejoice in the joy that comes from it. The choices are simple, do we seek the Lord, seek wisdom and seek life, or do we reject Him and descend towards death.  Life and wisdom are found when we seek and rejoice in the Lord. It is in the season of Epiphany that we learn that wisdom and salvation become available to all.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

A Homily for the second sunday after Christmas

Lesson: Isaiah 61:1-3

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Amen

            In the lesson from Isaiah today we are introduced to a speaker who says that the spirit of the Lord is upon him. If we look at it as an isolated unit it is unclear who the speaker is in this verse. For it is not the writer and it is not God, but rather some other voice.

            So when we look at it in the grand scheme of scripture we come to realize that the voice is non-other than Christ’s voice. For we may recognize these words better from St.Luke’s Gospel when Jesus is speaking in the synagogue at his home in Nazareth. For it is there in the early part of his ministry that we start to get a glimpse of who He is, and it is there that He receives no honor; for it is very difficult for someone to return home and not be remembered from all the other stages of his life because of his previous experiences and relationships there.  Even though He was the perfect Lord, He was still completely human, which meant that He cried and like all children probably got in trouble once or twice. (We might remember a certain incident at the temple when he was only 12).

            We begin to see how Christ fulfills the prophecy in this lesson. Yet despite the actualization of this prophecy, he was not the Lord the people of his time expected, for the jails did not burst open and the captives were not released on account of him; neither were the poor suddenly wealthy; nor were the people set free from the Roman occupation.  Indeed, this passage does not speak of temporal blessings but rather of spiritual ones.

            Christ has come to make wealthy the poor in spirit, to allow them to experience an intimate relationship with God. For without His grace we could not be in a relationship with God.  During the past few weeks we have talked a good deal about the first curse brought on by Adam’s fall in choosing sin, and how Christ restores that first relationship with God.

            Christ frees those who are captive to their sin, frees them to be able to worship God as we are able to now; frees us to approach the otherwise unapproachable throne. He heals the broken hearted, and draws them into his presence, comforting those who cry with the firm promises of life with him.

            However, it is easy to over spiritualize a passage such as this. For even though this is very much a real part of the ministry of Christ, the church is to be His body and we are to be intently interested in serving the poor and the needy and to love the imprisoned. We cannot merely say that we now love God and walk away from all other things in the world. For the church now has a responsibility to the poor, to the needy, to the broken hearted, the imprisoned and to those who are held in captivity, whether it be those who are held captive to their addictions and sins or those who are in held in very real captivity, such as the American pastor who has been held captive for some time now in Iran or the bishops and nuns held hostage by the Syrian rebels.  While we enjoy freedom we must be their voice.

With this in mind we cannot forget that the church is filled with these people too.  We are to love those who are in need of God’s amazing grace and meet them in both their temporal and spiritual needs. It is easy to forget that we must do this. I watched a short and rather cheesy video put together by a bible church that reminded me of this. The young man walks out of his house and immediately every thing in the world starts to annoy him. Finally, while waiting for his coffee at a coffee shop a man walks up to him and gives him a magical pair of glasses that helps him to see all the problems of the people around him, he realizes that the guy who cut in line recently lost his job and wanted to give his child something to smile about, or that the scary punky looking man just longs for love, or that the barista is struggling with addiction. Finally he sees the kid that he starts his day with and realizes the kid just needs someone to care. The point is this: we may not be able to make a huge difference in someone’s life, but can extend to those around us the same astounding grace that we’ve been given by Christ. We can avoid being quick to be frustrated, and we can greet even strangers with a smile, a hello and even a prayer in our heart for them. For we do not know how far a gentle smile from a stranger may go in someone’s life. And let us not be so foolish as to believe that even in our little church that there aren’t some people who might just need a hug or a simple –“ hello dear friend – how are you today? “

This is a part of what it is to be the Church, to be beacons of hope in a dark and dying world. We are not to be our own lights but little mirrors of Christ’s hope and love. We are to reflect his love, by living in relationship with Him and his people. Over time we learn how it is to shine our light, which comes from Christ and subsequently show the world His love, which resides in us.

            Christ came to make clear that a day will come when all will be made right, that in the end sin will be cast out of the world and we will be able to freely follow God and live in perfect communion with him. For though this process has been started, sin and the devil still roam this earth freely and it is best we not forget that fact; for we can see the tragic consequences of it in the world around us. In the poor, in the brokenhearted we see something missing. We see the utter devastation of sin.

            Though we find joy in Christ today, this is but a taste of the joy to come when the world is set right. Though we grieve our sin and the sin that causes pain and sorrow in the world we know that all these things will one day be set right.

            It once was that all churches faced east as a constant reminder that Christ will return, “as the lightning comes from the eastand shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” In the church facing east it acted as a constant reminder that we are to be looking for the coming of the son of man -- for all things in the liturgical church point towards something greater than the actual item or action. They point to the resurrection, or the coming deeper communion, or the preparation in our hearts by the Word for the deeper worship of God. The liturgical worship of God and his church are dim images of the beautiful truth that is found in his Gospel. Though these images are left over from a time when literacy was not a high priority, through them the Gospel became accessible and could be proclaimed to all people.

            Yet there are stories even today about these images being used to show men and women the truth and joy of life in Christ. I heard once of a soldier in a foreign country meeting a Christian priest. The priest asked the man why he didn’t follow Christ, the soldier was unsure of what this meant and so the priest took him around and showed him the icons in the church and explained the gospel to him. Though I do not know the end of the story, it seems from what I heard his life was transformed. For though a language barrier existed the images and icons in the church helped this man to understand.

            Likewise we are to be little images of Christ in the world around us. Being shining lights of the mercy and joy that is found in him, and ever waiting patiently for the coming days of justice. For we look forward to the day when we are no longer separated from God, we look forward to the day when the poor no longer want, and injustice is no longer allowed.

            It is in Christ that we have hope even in our mourning, perhaps especially in our mourning. For though we may follow him day in and day out, it is inevitable that there will be heartbreak in this world. There will be disappointment and discouragement even if we follow the Lord perfectly. For the world is still stained with sin, and sometimes we simply need to pass through these times and a life time may go by before we understand the greater glory we’ve experienced because of the times of tears.

            Even in the times of heartache and pain we have a sweet promise. The last verse today reminds us of this.  

to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

 For instead of ashes we are promised joy.  Ashes are of course a sign of repentance. Ashes are a sign that the inevitable course of human existence is death, Death is what is promised when we do not repent.  But in this reading,  we are promised something beautiful instead of ashes.  The translation we use promises us beauty, but more literally, a beautiful headdress. This headdress is placed upon us, a sign of a glory greater than us.

These promises do not come from within ourselves; it is not of our creating, but rather, the joy and praise that comes from God placed upon us. We will be able to rejoice in Him and praise him with the right praise that we long so deeply to give him. For God is the source of all life and all things and from Him comes all things.

            Even in describing the people as oaks of righteousness we realize that they are planted and sustained by God – by Christ. Our righteousness does not come from within ourselves but from God. It is from our life in the Holy Spirit that righteousness flows. For God plants us in the right way and the spirit leads us on the right path. Not being given to being blown about and bent over like birch trees, but firm and upright and unwavering like oaks.

            Yet none of this is for our glory, though we receive the benefits of it. It is for God’s glory. For in making us rejoice and delight in His goodness, His mercy and His beauty, it is His glory that is reveled. It is his splendor that shines dimly through us.

            We are brought here by the sovereign will of the Lord. We are washed in His righteousness, brought into communion with Him in word and spirit. We are set on the right path, that we might do his will in the world. In all of this is His splendor shown forth. We are made beacons of his joyful and beautiful light. Though we may grow weary, though our hearts may ache because of the wages of sin, we have this great hope that is found in Christ, for HE is the one whom the spirit of the Lord resided upon. May our hearts take encouragement in this promise and may we learn what it is to be little lights reflecting the light of the hope and grace and love that we find in Christ.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, Amen. 

A Homily for Trinity XIX

A Homily for Trinity XIX

October 5th, 2013

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Amen

            A year ago yesterday I was sitting down with a friend to wait for another to celebrate her birthday. I looked down at my phone to see Fr. Henthorne calling, which was odd, as he rarely called on a Friday night, so I figured I should answer it. I dodged out of the restaurant and to my surprise it was Priscilla.  During that call she informed me that Fr. Henthorne was in the hospital. He had over done it, was sick, a scenario we were all familiar with. However as the situation developed, it quickly became clear that this was more serious. Within a week and a half we lost our dear friend and spiritual father.

            I suspect like many tragedies and tumults of life we can all remember those moments ear-marked in time by the news that our world was being turned upside down. Yet through this tragedy God has been exceptionally faithful to us. Still today Priscilla and her family remembers the kindness and hard work we showed during those days.

            Over the past year we have struggled and wrestled with many things. In those first few months there were several Sundays that I went home and cried, unsure what I had done wrong or where the peace I had so often found in our little community had gone. Yet we persevered through this. Things have changed and I go home Sundays - tired - but filled with joy for the love that we bear.

            So a year later, we are still here, we are doing well. Things are far from perfect, but we know that God is faithful even in the darkest of days. We have wrestled with this loss - the pain and the questions it left. Though some still linger, and though there are days that I miss him with all of my heart (I am certain that is the same for all of us), our little congregation remains strong, though changed. We have much to be thankful to God for.

            Now this lays out the question of what is next? Where are we going from here? I believe that though we are a small parish, we are a strong parish. We have a lot of work laid out in front of us.

            We need, first of all, to keep our eyes on the goal, we need to continue and persevere. We need to run the race, keeping the prize in mind, that prize is of course life with God in heaven. We need to continue to live with that one goal in mind: giving glory to God, living out the gospel in all we do, continually repenting, and believing that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

            We need to continue to grow. Growth comes in two forms, the first being the most important. We need to continue to grow spiritually. Ever seeking to know God more intimately, ever training our hearts to avoid sin, remembering to pray always and sing praises to God.

            Growth also comes from the number of members in our congregation. The average age of our congregation is a little high. Each of us brings a gift- and this is a good and beautiful thing, but we yearn to be and to serve a broader spectrum of people. If the Lord wills it, we need more people; and whatever His will for our parish, it is our duty to daily pray open our hearts to love those whom the Father would give to us. I believe that we can grow, and perhaps more importantly, I am confident that we will grow.

            We need to be outward looking. God has provided for our needs incredibly. With that being said: we need to be aware, first, if one of our congregants has a need- spiritually or emotionally or physically. We must endeavor to help him or her through these things. However we also need to be giving to those around us and to our brothers and sisters around the world who are in need: we need to do charitable out reach. I had a long conversation with a dear friend at Synod and he diagnosed the situation astutely- the biggest struggle within the continuing Anglican churches is that we are too inward looking. I talked to another friend on the way home and he said “of course we are, we are in survival mode.” We shall never grow if we are always on the defensive. We can never score a touchdown in we are always punting. Instead we look forward and live the gospel with an open heart.

            We are doing many of these things well, we must continue to do them.  Those things that we are not doing, or not doing well, we must begin to do. I would like to clarify that when we say “we live to gospel, “ I do not mean that we go door to door knocking and saying “do you want to know Jesus?” It means rather, that we live with an open heart, open ears and kind words. It means that glorifying God is our key goal in all we do. This does not mean invasive evangelism, but rather loving God, and being honest about that whom we serve. I think as Anglican Christians in New England, we are very quiet about our faith. I think that is alright, but I know when we live our lives to the Glory of God, we need not use words at first, for others will see that our lives are different than the lives of the world- as the epistle says, we do not live as the gentiles live. This difference will glorify God, and will naturally draw people to the gospel.

            So what is next for us? Over the next year, I will ask the vestry develop mission and vision statements so that we can figure out how our little parish gives glory to God. We will tidy up the by-laws which are kind of a mess right now. We will start a more active program of outreach figuring out how to give locally, providing, even in little ways for the most vulnerable around us.  And we will give internationally, and we will restart our Christian education program. We will make a plan for when children come, and I believe they will come.

            If you see us heading in a direction that you find odd or worrisome, or you think you have a brilliant idea for something we can do as a parish, please tell a vestry member or me. I hope that I am easy to approach and that you feel comfortable telling me how you think things are going, and any ideas that you may have. Perhaps we have a good reason for the things we are doing or perhaps it is something we didn’t notice, either way, I want to be approachable. I want to know what the parish is thinking. This is your parish, and it should be reflective of what orthodox Anglican Christianity looks like in Hancock County, Maine.

            So, the next question is how to do I, Fr. Dunn, play into this. I have waited a long time to articulate my sense of call to you. Perhaps this was wrong of me, and if it was I apologize for dragging my feet and I ask for your forgiveness. I feel definitively called to be here for this season. I sense that my call is to help build this church. I believe that I can do it, and I believe that it will happen. I do believe that eventually I will be called to something else. I make this pledge that I will be honest with you, once I definitively know my next call, I will tell you, and I will, to the best of my ability give you as much of a warning as I am able. I love this place deeply, and I want to see it thrive and grow in the love and grace of God.

            My wise friend with whom I had a long conversation at synod told me I should be forthright with you all about my call. Some priests find their church and they are happy to stay there until the end of their days. I do not believe that this is my call here and now, though I will not discount that it may be eventually. I do not see myself growing old here. I do however see myself being here for several years. At this time I am not willing to put a number on those years, but I do believe that I am called to build this church and I believe I can build this church, and I do believe that I will, with the help of God and with the help of all of you. While I will lead this process, it is not me who builds the church- it is first God who will add to our numbers daily and secondly all of you. It is not “Fr. Dunn’s church,” but rather Christ’s Church, it is your church in Christ.

            Finally, we have talked about what we as a parish can do, and what I will do, but the last question remains: how can you help the church and help me? You can remember that I am a human being too, that I am as fallen and broken as everyone else. Remember that I am susceptible to sin like any other person, and so I ask that you are quick to forgive when I am not the perfect pastor and priest.

            Please remember that though I came here five years ago as Ian, I am now Fr. Ian or Fr. Dunn, or for our low church segment Pastor Dunn or Pastor Ian. Any of these designations are acceptable. This dynamic has shifted. I think it is a good and beautiful thing that we have raised up a leader from within (although St. Paul’s in Portland might want to fight you for a claim over who rose me up, you may have claim over me, this is home.) With that in mind please try to remember Anglicanism is a church with a strong leadership and we need to be aware of that, so that we continue in our Anglican ethos.

            You can help me by watching for burn-out. I do not want you to think that I am on the verge, however pastors, as a profession, have one of the highest rates of burn-out. As someone who is bi-vocational I worry for the balance, and I like serving you all too much to burn out- which also means I may not notice when it is coming. I do not want to fizzle before the end of my days but rather burn brightly. So please watch and please help me to know when I am in need of a break, and please do not be afraid tell me if this day comes, and I will do my best to listen, chances are I’ll know, but be too proud to admit it. I am human.

            Please pray for me, and I will pray for all of you.

            We have been through a valley of darkness, we will go through more, but we will also climb mountains with great vistas, together we will laugh, we will cry. In growth, there will be pain, there will be joy. Let us persevere through these things together as one family in Christ. Our God is a very good God, he is faithful, let us be anxious to serve him in all things. I think that God has given us an incredible hope and an incredible future. Let us joyfully take up our cross and follow him into our future.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen

A Sermon for Rogation Sunday

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer.  Amen

            Today is Rogation Sunday; the Sunday that remind us all gifts come from God.  The rain, the sun, the blessings and the curses that fall upon the earth, and every breath we take – comes from God.  It is in God we trust that the seeds we are planting this time of the year will grow into crops to harvest in Fall, and provide seeds to plant next year; in other words, seed-to-seed.  For this reason. today’s lesson centers around the Lord’s Prayer -- the foundation of Christian prayer, the foundation of our spiritual formation, and the foundation of our learning to dwell in God’s mercy. 

            As we have talked about in the past, the foundation of catechesis is comprised of three basic things -- the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Creeds, particularly the creed commonly called the Apostles’ Creed.  From this foundation, we learn and grow.  The Ten Commandments stir-up our conscience, showing us both what right-living is, and our failure to live it.  The creeds teach us right belief, and help us to know God.  The Lord’s Prayer tells us how we are to approach our Lord, in the fullness of supplication. 

            If we as a congregation desire growth in spirit, and in numbers, one thing we must continually learn is to trust God.  And, not only trust Him, but learn to depend on him fully, and continue to be prayerfully dependent upon God.  It is God who will nurture and strengthen our souls.  He will direct our walk towards right, and compassionate actions.  He will transform our broken souls into reflections of His glory.  In His sanctifying grace, we are made into reflections of His glory.  It is therefore, important to take a little time to dissect the Lord’s prayer -- because it was Christ’s instruction that we, “pray like this.”

            This commandment from Christ is to not only pray these words, but to also formulate our prayers from them.  This prayer Christ taught us is both words to which we can cling, and a foundation on which we can build a solid and vibrant life of prayer. 

            It would now be a good time to say together, again, the Lord’s Prayer, so let us pray as Christ taught us:

OUR Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name.  Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen.

            It is common for this prayer to be broken into seven parts.  It has been suggested, by some, that these parts can be applied to each day of the week, so I have included a little card in the bulletin this week, that you can take home, and use each day to meditate on these short, but essential truths.  God uses this prayer to teach our hearts, and align them in the right way of living. 

            While there is some disagreement where the breaks should be, I have made my best venture at the divisions, as I see them.  The first portion: OUR Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name.

 Our relationship with God is two-fold -- we come to Him in the fullness of adoration on bended knees, yet, we also learn to recognize that He is the source of life, our caretaker, and the ultimate Father.  He is our protector, and our caregiver.  In some cases, we are instructed to come to God in the full closeness of this relationship using the word ‘Abba’ that translates very roughly, to ‘daddy.’  But, if we leave it simply at ‘Daddy,’ we do a disservice to this word, because it is deeper, and more respectful, than we might think when we say it.  Some commentators have said it is more akin to ‘daddy-sir,’ which perhaps provides a better idea of what this relationship is.  It is a deep, intimate, and profoundly respect-filled relationship to which we are called. 

When we come to God it is to give glory and praise to His name.  We sing with joyful voices: hallowed be thy name.  We say blessed be your name, all glory be to thee, O Lord.  So, we recognize that God’s name is blessed above all things.  The most important thing, above all these other observations, is that we come to God, that we come to Him when we are joyful and we come to Him when we are sorrowful.  We approach the king of Kings, on bended knees – giving Him all that is within us. 

Thy kingdom come.  We are reminded that we are to look forward to His second coming.  We are to look forward to the freeing judgment, when we come to fully dwell in Christ’s righteousness, when His righteousness is infused completey into our being when our sins are washed away, and Christ’s righteousness becomes ours, and when we are bathed in the blood of the lamb.  This is the promise, and the hope, of the church.  We pray for His coming, because we know in that day we will be set free -- finally, fully - - from our sins, and in that time all things will come to light.

 Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.  We pray that we might learn to submit to God’s will for us.  This is no easy task, and we often find our hearts are far wilder and rambunctious than we might realize or admit.  We are not always willing to allow God to dictate the next steps in our lives, and so often when one door closes, we buck and thrash against His will.  Yet, we are called to be sheep, called to follow his gentle guidance, because Christ is the true, and only shepherd of our souls.  When we come to experience heaven in its fullness, we will learn what it is to bask in God’s good guidance fully.  It will be then that the dance of His will, and ours, comes to be in perfect sync.  This is our expectation, and to what we look forward.  Until that day we pray, and learn slowly what it is to submit our wills to Him. 

Give us this day our daily bread.  We are to look to God to be our sustainer in all things.  This does not dismiss us from working hard to provide for our families, and for ourselves.  However, we are to learn to recognize that it is God who provides all good things, and it is by His grace that we have air to breath, food to eat, and a bed on which to sleep.  We are to pray for these things, and trust that He will continue to provide them.  Though we understand how agriculture works, and how plants go from seed- to-seed, we also give God the credit for this, recognizing it as one of his miracles.  It’s a paradox that we understand how things work, while knowing God works in them, not as a distant engineer who winds the clock, then walks away, but as the actual builder himself; the constructer, the designer, the great creator.  It is through this constructing that He sustains us. 

And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us.  Many would split this, saying that we are to pray for forgiveness, and then forgive others, but, in my opinion, these two things must go together.  Our fragile hearts cannot forgive, or be forgiven, if we cling to disdain for those who have hurt us.  So, we must forgive, and we must let the hurts that others have caused us to become bygones. 

In conjunction with forgiving, we must pray that our hearts will soften so these things do not become walls separating us from compassionate living, and seeking of God’s mercy.  If we bear grudges against someone, we must confess them to God. And, if they continue to haunt us, we should confess them to our confessor, to our priest. 

We must also pray that we are forgiven for our sins, both the ones we know and do willingly, and the ones of which we are unaware.  God will forgive these sins when we repent, and turn from them.  If we cannot overcome them, we confess them to our confessor.   It is part of the priest’s responsibility to hear those confessions.  So, these two are completely linked, because to live peaceably with God, we must also live peaceably with our fellow man.  We must flee from our sins, and let go of the sins committed against us by others.  Clinging to the sins committed by others will kill our soul, and letting go will make us come alive.

And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.  Learning to submit to God’s will is hard, but we, as the church, must do it.  For no other thing will bring us where we are to be.  It is easy to be discouraged when the world around us collapses, and sorrows sneak up on us, unplanned and unannounced.  Surely, when Fr. Henthorne died suddenly, we felt discouraged, dismayed and abandoned.  The past six months have been difficult for us.  Yet, we trust that God has a plan, and that God has something glorious for us.  If we submit to His will, learn to delight in it, and trust that He will not bring us into any evil thing on our path, our hearts will learn to delight in His goodness.  For the Father will quench our thirst with the living water, and give us strength with the manna from heaven. 

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen.  Finally, we are reminded to remember when we pray to God, He is the ultimate authority -- the king of kings.  When the devil tempted Jesus, “all of this could be yours if you serve me,” we know that it was foolishness on the devil’s part, because all of the heavens, and the earth, is God’s.  Alhough the prince of the world still roams and tempts, God will smite him at the end of times.  Not only is God the sovereign of all, but all power is his, too. 

            All power is his.  He can give life, and take life away.  He alone knows the total of what our lives hold.  It is to Him that all glory goes, and for this reason we sing our strong and beautiful songs of praise to His glory.  It is His glory that we desire to reflect. 

            When we pray, let us pray as we have been taught to pray- coming to God as our father.  And, not only as our father, but also the supreme sovereign, praying to Him in the dynamics of this being, praying for His coming again, trusting always that that day will come.  We must trust in His will, not seeking our own design, rather submitting to Him, acknowledging and trusting in His provision.  We ask for forgiveness and forgiving, trusting that He has a good plan for us, and seeking always to avoid evil.  Finally, we give laud and praise to the King of Kings, for He is a mighty and good king. 

            It is this that we learn and lean on, on Rogation Sunday, that God, the sovereign Lord -- Our Father – is our provider, both for the body, and for the soul.  The ultimate provision of God is to give us the salvation of our souls.  We  should always remember that.  We come to Him every day on bended knees, trusting in Him for all that we need – temporally and eternally. 

Amen