Let It Be

A Sermon for the 4^th Sunday of Advent (RCL B) 12-18-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              2 Samuel 7:1-11,16; Canticle 15; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38

Themes:         Mary, Theotokos, change, discomfort
Title:               Let It Be

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen +

Before you sit down, my friends, I will ask you to do one thing. Please move forward one pew. OK? Before you sit down, everyone please move into the pew in front of you. Just one pew forward, that’s all. OK?

There. You did it! Excellent work! Now, was that a bit uncomfortable? Was my request an inconvenience? Good, because today is our time to reflect together upon Mary, the Mother of God, and especially upon how God so completely interrupted and inconvenienced her life.

Our entrance hymn this morning was an old classic appointed for the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25: “The angel Gabriel from heaven came, his wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame.”

I love this carol. It is quaint, lovely, pious poetry from an old Basque carol, but – to be honest – I doubt very much that this is how it actually occurred.

White wings, flaming eyes, blazing light! Is this how angels really appear?

Well, what about that admonition from the Letter to the Hebrews which calls us to practice hospitality “for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2)?

This is more likely, I think. Angels – those messengers of God – are more likely to come among us without fanfare, without flaming eyes, to walk among us as strangers.

I picture Gabriel walking into Mary’s home looking like an ordinary Jewish man, but as a stranger.

And in that part of the world, women have long been discouraged from conversing with strange men, lest they bring dishonor upon their family by suspicion of wrongdoing.

The message brought by this stranger is itself a strange one, and troubling. What is worse still, it was quite inconvenient.

To be pregnant while still engaged to be married? Before the wedding itself? And to have God as the Father of the child? Who could ever believe her story?

This is not at all how Mary had pictured her life to be. 

Gabriel had said that she had found favor with God, but this angelic news was difficult and troubling and uncomfortable.

This should be no great surprise, of course, because that is God’s specialty, after all.

God is the Inconvenient One.

God is the One continually interrupting our lives. God is continually inconveniencing us with plans and goals and purposes which we have not yet chosen for ourselves.

But that, my friends, is a good thing, a very good thing indeed.

Because the basic struggle and challenge of our lives is learning how to deal with change.

Why is it that the ordinary, instinctual human response to change seems to be resistance and anger?

We live in a world, and in a universe or a multiverse, that is constantly changing. Everything is in motion; everything is continually shifting and moving and changing.

Long ago, the Greek philosopher Plato spoke of God as “the unmoved Mover”, the unchangeable Being that set everything else in motion. But given what we know of reality today, it is more fitting to think of God as “the Moving Mover”!

Everything is in flux and motion, and in the midst of all of this movement, God is present, working out plans and purposes that we cannot comprehend.

It is an illusion for us to cling to those few things which only appear to be unchanging around us, as if we can hold onto them and wrestle some security for ourselves out of them by the sheer force of our will!

But this is a lie. The Gospel calls us to truth, and the truth is that everything is changing continually and we have no control over that whatsoever.

What we do have control over is ourselves, at least, this is what we are working on!

There are very few of the major changes of life that are within my control, but I can control how I respond – how I think and feel and act in response to these things.

There is another song that comes to my mind when I hear this story of the Annunciation, a song that is very different from the hymns and carols of the church. It was first sung by a young man named Paul. Most of you know it. You can join in, if you like.

When I find myself in times of trouble,

Mother Mary comes to me,

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

And in my hour of darkness,

She is standing right in front of me,

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be, let it be, O let it be.

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

(If you don't know this song,...ouch! You need to hear it. Look here: Let It Be on YouTube)

Now, if you know the story, Paul McCartney is not singing of Mary, the Mother of God. He is speaking here of a dream in which he saw his own deceased mother who visited him and gave him a word of comfort during a difficult time.

But when I hear this song, I can’t help but to think of our Mother Mary and of her response to Gabriel in the midst of her own time of trouble: “Let it be.”

“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

And here, my sisters and my brothers, is our example of one who lives in accordance with the truth.

We speak of Mary as the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God. All of the Church acclaims her as the Theotokos – the God-bearer. David desired to build God a house on earth, but she is the divine Tabernacle, the true Temple, in which God came to dwell on the earth. She is the new Eve, who overcame, by her trust and confidence, the disorder wrought by the ego-centered choice of the first Eve. It is her body which was taken up by Jesus and through which the world was redeemed.

She is worthy of honor, worthy of praise. But don’t misunderstand! Mary had a choice to make.

God brought drastic and sudden and unexpected change into her life. She did not ask for it. She was not preparing for it. And when it came, she had a choice to make. How would she respond to this change?

We are like her. God brings change into all of our lives  - sudden, drastic, unexpected. It comes into all of our lives, and rarely – if ever! - do our lives progress the way that we had envisioned.

When change is brought to us, we have a choice to make. How will we handle it?

We can complain. We can fight the change. We can pout. And so we can continue on in our spiritual immaturity, clinging to the falsehood of our own desire to control.

Or we can choose to see in each change an opportunity to grow, a chance to become more than what we are now.

When confronted by the unwanted changes in life, we can in fact choose to respond with trust and confidence, like Mary, and so to give praise to God who fills the hungry with good things.

May it always be so among us and among all who are preparing to greet the festival of Christ’s birth with joy. Amen.

The Mystery of Life

A Sermon for the 3^rd Sunday of Advent (RCL B) 12-11-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11; Canticle 15 ; 1 Thess. 5:16-24; John 1:6-8,19-28

Themes:         the Spirit of God, praying without ceasing, mystery
Title:               The Mystery of Life

Please put down whatever is in your hands, stand up and follow my lead and repeat after me:

Praise be to the Father who makes us (hands straight up, palms upward);

Praise be to the Son who saves us (hands out, like on the cross);
Praise be to the Spirit who fills us with life (hands in, pointing to the heart);
Praise be to God who calls us each by name (hands ahead, palms up and open).
Amen! Please be seated.

There once was an overly confident scientist who took a trip to New York City on a train. In his train cabin, there was also a farmer, upon whom the scientist looked down condescendingly. So, in order to pass the time, the scientist decided to play a little game with the farmer.

"I will ask you a question,” the scientist said, “and if you don’t know the answer, you have to pay me 1 dollar. You ask me a question, and if I don’t know the answer, then I’ll pay you 10 dollars! OK? You go first. Ask me any question."

The farmer thought for a while, and then said. "OK, I know. What has three legs, takes 10 hours to climb up a palm tree, and only 10 seconds to climb back down?"

The scientist was a bit confused by this. He thought long and hard about the question.

Finally, the train pulled into Penn Station. As they prepared to disembark, the scientist took out a 10 dollar bill and gave it to the farmer, and said, "Wow. You stumped me. I have no idea. What in the world has 3 legs, takes 10 hours to get up a palm tree and only 10 seconds to climb back down?"

The farmer took the 10 dollars and then gave a single dollar bill back to the scientist. And he shrugged and said, "I have no idea!"

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ: this morning, I want to encourage all of you to be wary of any hint of over-confidence, to steer clear of any temptation to feel too secure in your knowledge of life and the universe.

John the Baptizer was clothed in camel’s hair, unshaved, a wild man living in wild places. He stood before the people gathered around him and he spoke words of truth and power:

“Among you stands one whom you do not know.”

I have always loved this phrase from the mouth of John the Baptizer because of its recognition of the mystery present in the midst of our life.

Among you stands one whom you do not know. This is just as true in our own day as it was in John’s.  Among us stands those whom we do not know. Around us, and among us, are mysteries unknown, undiscerned, inscrutable. John’s words pointed to the mystery of God hidden in the life of one who appeared as an ordinary human being. Today, we are bombarded by mysteries being uncovered and discovered all around.

Just last week came another announcement from NASA concerning the discovery of a seemingly new habitable planet only 600 light years from Earth – a relatively near neighbor in terms of space travel (see http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2011/1205/New-earth-like-planet-discovered-by-NASA-spacecraft-Video).

Here is a planet which seems perfectly suited to support life. We do not yet know if there is life on that planet – if there are any conscious, sentient beings.

But such a discovery is inevitable. There are likely to be millions of planets out there with conditions suitable for life. Understand this: at some point, humanity WILL make contact with other life forms.  

Think about that. How does this affect your perception of God as Creator? How might this change your understanding of the meaning and purpose of human life?

Many physicists today speak not of the “universe”, but of the “multiverse”. The growing perception in this field is that our observable universe must, by definition, by only one of many universes that relate to one another in ways which we do not yet grasp. Hence, the idea is that we do not, in fact, live in the “universe” – meaning one, but in the “multiverse” – meaning many.

Other scientists speak of this growing perception as multiple dimensions of reality. Some physicists are speaking now of 11 or 12 or 13 dimensions of reality, far more than what was understood about life just a few years ago.

And what about neutrinos? Have you heard about neutrinos?

Neutrinos are produced by the nuclear fusion and decay processes of stars throughout the universe. They are a natural, normal, and abundant by-product of these nuclear reactions.

It appears that neutrinos are second only to photons in being the most common particles in the universe. Our own star, our sun, produces millions of trillions of neutrinos every second.
In fact, it is estimated that around one trillion neutrinos pass through your own body every single second of your life. They pass through other matter with unstoppable ease. They pass straight through the earth with hardly no resistance at all.
A trillion pass through your body every second, but only one or two of them will impact the cells of your body over the course of your lifetime.
Which ones? Can you feel or see these neutrinos passing through you? Do you know what they are doing inside of you?
Do any of us really know what is going on in the heavens around us every second?
One hundred years ago, people did not know about neutrinos or about the multiple dimensions of reality. They did not have satellite telescopes to observe distant planets.

But what will people know 100 years from now about which we have absolutely no clue today?

All of this new discovery and amazing knowledge leads me consistently back to one question: what does this mean for our lives? How does this knowledge of the complex and multi-faceted nature of the universe guide and shape how I live every single day?

What was it that John the Baptizer spoke? “Among you stands one whom you do not know.”

You see, at the core, I am but one small speck of dust in space. There exists around us and within us and among us mystery that we never will fully fathom or understand.

There is profound mystery in life about which we know next to nothing.

And guess what? We don’t have to know. We need only to be open, to embrace the mystery, to relish the new discoveries of science, to look forward in hope to what is yet to come.

Among us stands one whom we do not know. That one is Christ – the Incarnate Son of God who remains a mystery. How can this person be both fully human and fully divine without the one canceling out the other?

We do not claim that the Son came into this world from beyond it. That is super-naturalism and this the Church rejects.

No, Christ comes from within the world, the full flowering of consciousness, the first fruits of the end toward which all life is moving. In only 2 weeks, we will celebrate the mystery of this Incarnation – this perfect union of the divine and the human, the uncreated and the created in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

How can we understand this? No more than we can understand what happens when we follow the guidance of St. Paul and learn to “pray without ceasing.”

These things cannot be grasped with the mind, but only experienced in the soul.

Be open to the mystery, my friends! Shun the hubris that closes your mind with too much faith in your own ability to understand things. Do not be afraid to experience God standing unknown and hidden in your midst today. For Christ comes to us bringing good news that transforms all those who embrace it.  May it always be so among us. Amen.

The Prayer of Sir Francis Drake, 1577

Supposedly offered as Francis Drake set off from Portsmouth in England aboard the Golden Hind in order to raid Spanish outposts along the coast of South America. This prayer has given inspiration to many, and is being used now by our Diocese of New Jersey as we begin the process of electing a new Bishop.  

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves,
when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little,
when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst for the water of life;
when having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity;
and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision
of the new Heavens to dim.

Stir us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
to venture on wider seas where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes,
and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ our Lord.

 By Francis Drake, an English explorer and licensed marauder for the English monarchy. In his expedition, he ventured at least as far north as the non-Spanish parts of California, claiming it as "New Albion" - New England- and returned to his Queen (the long way - via circumnavigation) with gold and other loot worth over a half million pounds sterling. For this, he received his Knighthood, and he likely composed some lovely song of thanksgiving to God for the prosperity of his journey. Unfortunately, we do not know now what the Spanish composed about Sir Francis Drake, though it was most certainly less ebullient and confident.  

We Are All Students

A Sermon for the 20^th Sunday after Pentecost (RCL A) 10-30-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Joshua 3:7-17; Psalm 107:1-7,33-37; Matthew 23:1-12

Themes:         crossing the river, hypocrisy, the unity of the new community
Title:               We Are All Students

Billy Graham tells a story of a time early in his preaching career when he arrived in a small town where he was scheduled to lead a revival meeting as a guest preacher for the local Baptist church. Wanting to drop a letter in the mail, he asked a young boy for directions to the post office. After the boy had pointed him in the right direction, Dr. Graham thanked him and said, “If you’ll come to the Baptist church tonight, you can hear me give directions on how to get to heaven.”

That young boy replied very seriously and said, “I don’t think I’ll come for that. You don’t even know how to get to the post office!”

(From The World’s Greatest Collection of Church Jokes, Barbour Publishing, Inc., 2003)

It’s not always easy to be a leader among God’s people, to be someone who is called to lead the people on their journey into being the kind of community which God desires them to be.

Today, we heard the conclusion of the story of the creation of the nation of Israel, which we began just after the Feast of Trinity Sunday back in June. Abraham’s descendents had been enslaved in the land of Egypt. God brought them out of the land by the hand of Moses, and in the wilderness of Sinai God made a detailed and arrant covenant with them, also through the leadership of Moses.

The promise which the LORD originally made to Abraham many centuries earlier was that his descendents would come back to Canaan and possess the land as a strong and mighty nation.

And so here today, we read the conclusion of this long journey to finally enter into the land of Canaan as the people of the Covenant.

The crossing of the River Jordan by the people of Israel under the leadership of Joshua is the final ritual act that establishes the Israelites as the unique community of God’s faithful people in this land chosen and prepared for them by God, and in which God promises to dwell with them in a unique and distinct way.

This story purports to tell us of events from nearly three thousand years ago, but please remember - their story is also our story.

Have you ever wondered WHY it is that John the Baptist was baptizing in the River Jordan, and that our Lord Jesus Christ was himself baptized in the waters of the Jordan?

It is no accident. Baptism is itself the ritual act by which you and I take our place as members of this unique community, as participants among God’s faithful people.

In and through the waters of Baptism, we are able to cross through the River Jordan along with the Israelites, along with the Ark of the Covenant, and enter the promised land along with our ancestors in the faith, in order to live as God’s covenant people.

The unfortunate reality, however, is that, as the people of God, we often fall short of God’s intentions and hopes and dreams for us.  

Today in Matthew’s Gospel, we hear these harsh words from the mouth of Jesus against the scribes and the Pharisees. They paint a very negative caricature of the leadership of the Pharisees during an abundantly difficult period in the life of the Jewish people. The criticism leveled here is clear: “they do not practice what they teach.” But notice that the words spoken by Jesus are directed to his disciples and the crowds gathered around them. This is a teaching sermon, and Jesus is teaching them – and us! – about the quality of community that God has always intended for the covenant people.

We’ve seen this vision before. This egalitarian vision of Jesus is seen quite clearly throughout Matthew’s Gospel.

It is a vision of a community based upon equality, simplicity, humility, and compassion, where the leaders of the community are it’s servants.

This is the kind of covenant community which God originally intended when the people crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan. And this is the kind of covenant community which God intends for us today.

There is no major surprise here. I believe that there is a deep hunger latent in all human beings for this kind of community which is envisioned by our Lord.

We can see this hunger in the Occupy Wall Street movement that has now spread around the world. Of course, the people in these random encampments have their own personal motivations and favorite causes which vary widely from person to person, and from place to place. But, at its core, and in its original impetus, we know there is the strong desire for humility, equality, and compassion to serve as the guiding values of our society, rather than greed, arrogance and selfishness.

It goes without saying that this is not the case, hence the reason that these protests continue!

Nor is this kind of widespread change in society likely to happen anytime soon.

You can label me a pessimist, but I prefer to think that I’m a realist.

I understand the reality of sin, the reality of self-interest among humankind. And I understand that it takes more than protesting to change the fundamental character of human beings.

It takes the power of a different vision for life, the wisdom of a Master Teacher, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

There is a story from the life of St. Francis which speaks powerfully to this alternative vision for human society. Once when St. Francis was very ill, Brother Leo – one of Francis’ early companions – was taking care of him. And one time, while in the room with Francis, Brother Leo entered into a time of deep prayer in which he had a vision of a large and fast-flowing river.

And as he was watching, Brother Leo saw several of St. Francis’ followers enter the river with heavy loads of their backs. But the powerful current of the river suddenly swept them away and they were lost. Some made it half-way across the river, some nearly all the way across. But – alas – all of these brothers finally fell and were horribly drowned because of the heavy burdens which they were carrying.

Then Brother Leo saw a new group of Franciscans come to cross the river without carrying any loads at all. And these brothers came and crossed over the other side without any difficulty.

After seeing this, Brother Leo awoke from his vision and he found Francis also awake and alert.

And St. Francis explained to Brother Leo the meaning of this vision in this way: “What you saw is true,” St. Francis said, “for the great river is this world.

The friars who were swallowed by the river are those who do not want to follow the teachings of the Gospel and do not keep voluntary poverty.

But those who went across without danger are the friars who, having the spirit of God, neither love nor desire nor possess any carnal or earthly thing in this world, but ‘having food and sufficient clothing’ they are ‘content’, following Christ naked on the cross. And joyfully and willingly they embrace, take up and carry every day the very light and sweet burden of His Cross and the yoke of His very holy obedience.

And consequently, they pass easily and without danger – indeed with joy – from this world to God, who is blessed for ever and ever” (The Little Flowers of Saint Francis, Image Books, 1958: P.124-125).

In the Lord’s sermon in Matthew’s Gospel, we hear these words: “You are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.”

Indeed, we are all students, learning together at the feet of the Master how to live this life the way that God desires, for this – we are convinced – is the way of joy and peace and freedom. To embrace the Gospel, to follow Christ naked on the cross in this way, is to embrace simplicity, humility, equality, compassion as the key values of our common life.

We all know that the world needs to change, that human beings need to change, that our society needs leaders who will guide us in the ways of truth and goodness.

Thanks be to God that here in the Body of Christ we have a Teacher, an Instructor, who is shaping us to be God’s faithful people in this world.

Thanks be to God that we can follow Christ in his way of the cross which is none other than the way of life and peace. Amen.

The Laying on of Hands

A Sermon for 19 Pentecost (RCL A) 10-23-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

 
Texts:              Deuteronomy 34:1-12; Psalm 90:1-6,13-17; Matthew 22:34-46
Themes:         Moses and Joshua, resurrection, Jesus and the Sadducees        
Title:               The Laying on of Hands       

“Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him” (Deut. 34: 9).

My brothers and sisters: what does it mean that Moses laid his hands on Joshua?

Let us think together for a few moments about that ancient practice which we call “the laying on of hands.” 

This is one of the simplest and most universal of symbolic gestures. People in all cultures and in all eras of human history have used this gesture in a symbolic way. Throughout the Bible, the laying on of hands is used as a means of conveying grace and power and blessing. Once a leper knelt before our Lord Jesus asking for healing, and the Lord placed his hand upon his head and said, “Be clean!” (Mark 1:41). When the first seven deacons were elected to serve just after Pentecost, the apostles prayed and laid their hands on them (Acts 6:6). And in the Letter of James, we are taught that the leaders of the church ought to lay their hands on the sick, to anoint them with oil and to pray for their healing (James 5:14).

But why do we speak of laying hands on someone’s head?

We all know that there are certain parts of the human body which generally convey more spiritual energy than other parts. If I stare at Fred’s feet or Carl's shoes (nice shoes, by the way!), it is not quite the same as looking him squarely in the eye. There is far more energy exchanged in that way.

And if I reach out my hand to touch someone as a way of blessing them, there is energy and power given off in that gesture. We all know instinctively how this works. To withhold your touch from another person is to withhold your blessing. Just think of the refusal to shake someone’s hand. We all know what is intended, and what is felt, by that refusal.

There is a sense of sacredness and power in a person’s head and hands which we all feel.   

And what is more, our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us that matter is important, that our bodies are valuable, and that God works through created things.

This is what Christ teaches us. There are other teachers who can offer you a different vision of life, others who teach that it is only the soul that has value, that our salvation is found in our understanding of certain mental concepts and ideas, that earthly things have no significance.

But this is not the wisdom that we receive from Christ. We receive the grace and the forgiveness and the power of Christ through the things of this earth, and we pass them along in the same way.

The laying on of hands, and the more general practice of intentional healing touch, is a vital part of our Christian tradition, and we continue this ancient practice even in the church today.

The laying on of hands occurs when a person is confirmed in the community by the Bishop, and when one is ordained by the Bishop.

But it also takes place at many other times in the church as well. On Sunday mornings, when someone who is not baptized or when children who are not yet ready to receive the Sacrament come to the Altar rail, I lay my hand on the head of each one and give them a blessing.  

Also, some of you (may) have been present for the Ministration at the Time of Death, what the Roman tradition calls Extreme Unction or the Last Rites. At that critical moment, all of those gathered together anoint the dying person with oil and lay their hands on them and pray, in a symbolic gesture of love and compassion and healing and blessing.

This laying on of hands is one of the most primal and basic of symbolic human actions. There is enormous power in the human hand, and when you stretch out your hands in a conscious, intentional way, you have the ability to convey energy and power.

Now, I know without a doubt that what I am about to ask will be uncomfortable for some of you.

We are going to practice together this morning. One way that we think of the liturgy of the gathered faithful is as a kind of practice, a rehearsal of what we know to be true and real. We practice it together, we rehearse it again and again and again, because when we seek to love God and our neighbor out there in the world, it is easy for us to become distracted and confused and to lose sight of the truth as it is in Jesus.

And so we will practice here today. I am asking that each one of you lay your hands on the head of two people: the person on your right and on your left. It doesn’t matter if they are family or friends or complete strangers. They belong to Christ, and you belong to Christ! And so we’re all family in this place!

Lay your hands on each person’s head – one at a time – and give them your blessing. Do it with intention, deliberately, slowly, in an attitude of prayer. Your words can be quite simple – you know the general blessing formulas that we use. “The Lord bless you and keep you.” “May the blessing of God Almighty be with you now and always.” Feel free to tailor and shape these words – or your own words of blessing – as the Spirit leads you, and especially if you know the needs of the person whom you are blessing. 

Now, if this feels strange or uncomfortable for you, then this is even more reason for you to practice! For I am convinced that this simple blessing with the laying on of hands is a basic practice with which all Christian people need to be familiar.  Let’s practice it for a few minutes right now.

++++++++++++++++++

“Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him” (Deut. 34:9).  When we were baptized into Christ, we each received the gift of the Holy Spirit and were incorporated – in our bodies – into the mystical body of Christ. And that means that each one of us has the power of blessing in our hands, because our baptized bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.

 Be bold to share that blessing, my friends. Be bold to lay your hands upon the heads of your children and bless them before a test or an interview or an important milestone in their lives. Have the courage to lay your hands upon the head of your spouse or of one of your parents when they are ill.

Whatever the relationship or the situation, do not be shy to share your blessing with those around you. It is right there in the power of your hands, in the depth of your love, and in the confidence of your faith. And the Spirit has given it to you to be shared!     

May it be so. Amen.

We Shall Be Distinct

A Sermon for 18 Pentecost (RCL A) 10-16-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Exodus 33:12-23; Psalm 99; Matthew 22:15-22
Themes:         the people of God, the glory and holiness of God, the impartiality of God
Title:               We Shall Be Distinct

My dear brothers and sisters, I have a question for us to consider together this morning:

What does it mean to be holy?

Holy and holiness are words which we use quite often here in the church, but they are not very popular in our culture today. That much is obvious, I am sure.

Not many among us would like to be described as holy by our friends or neighbors; more often than not, this word carries a heavy negative connotation.

But let me ask again: what exactly does it mean to be holy? It is not an easy word to define.

Perhaps it might be easier to define if we can explain the opposite of holy.

Is sinful the opposite of holy? This is most likely what you are accustomed to hearing: a holy God versus sinful humanity. Holy and pious actions as opposed to immoral and depraved ones.  

However, let me suggest to you that I believe the more correct opposite of holy is in fact the word ordinary. Ordinary, commonplace, quotidian.   

When Moses spoke with the LORD on Mount Sinai, he pleaded that God’s presence might stay with the Israelites: “If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth” (Exodus 33:15-16).

Here we are given an excellent and clear description of what it means to be holy: to be distinct, to be different, to be separate. It is a comparison term; holy is always used to compare two things.

A holy God versus ordinary gods. The Holy Spirit versus commonplace spirits. Holy Scriptures versus regular scriptures. The holy church versus ordinary churches.  

The church is holy in the same way that the Rotary Club is not – no offense intended at all to any Rotarians out there!

God is holy in the same way that our politicians are not – that much is obvious to everyone, I am certain!

To be holy is to be different than the ordinary, separated and set apart for a special purpose.

And that is not always a comfortable thing for us to experience.

You have heard me speak about the neighbor on my block in Moorestown who hates me and my family. Everyone calls him Uncle David. And he is still this ongoing, inexplicable enigma to us – why he behaves toward us as he does. So one day recently, my wife Erin was walking by his house and David was on his front porch putting up Halloween decorations. While passing, Erin made a neighborly comment: “Oh David, I like your decorations.” You know, she was trying to be kind and neighborly.

No response at all from him, not even a glance in her direction! So, being the stubborn, hot-headed Irish girl that she is, she stops and asks him, “David, is there someone that I’ve done to offend you?”

(Well, that was the big mistake, if you ask me! I mean, do you really want to know what he is thinking? I’m not so sure.) But then David turns and says to her, “Your husband is rude (now I told you about the time when I ignored his dog whistle call to me, didn’t I? OK, well he said)…your husband is rude and your family is too flamboyant. I’m a quiet guy. You are too flamboyant and I don’t want anything to do with you.” And he turned away and that was that.

Now, I’ve been called a lot of things in my life. I object to being called rude, as I am the one shocked at how rude he is! And I do not consider myself to be rude in the least. But, flamboyant?! Wow, I actually think that is a compliment!

Of course, this caused Erin and me to have a long talk about standing out and being different in our neighborhood. What exactly do our neighbors think about us? Besides, Uncle David, who is just plain bizarre in my opinion, what do the others think? Do many of our neighbors think that we’re flamboyant? Does this have anything to do with our faith in Christ? Or is it just our family personality?

How do we stand out in our neighborhood? Or are we ordinary and indistinguishable from everyone else?

Ask yourself that question: does my life – does the lifestyle of my household – indicate in any way that I am – or that we are – followers of Jesus Christ?

There was a time in our nation, in our culture, when pursuing a faithful Christian life was normative and not any means at all of distinguishing oneself. But that has changed drastically, and particularly so for younger people.

Last week, I caught a few minutes of a conversation on the WHYY radio show “Fresh Air” between Terri Gross and Jeffrey Eugenides, an award-winning author of fiction. In this interview, Eugenides spoke of his own experience in college at Brown University and how he received the inspiration to leave college for a bit and to volunteer in Mother Theresa’s home for the dying in Calcutta, India.

This is what he said about the inspiration behind his decision:

EUGENIDES: “Well, I do remember thinking that the most radical thing I could do in my college among my friends was to become devout. You know, I mean, that was better than being a punk rocker and having a Mohawk, [it] was actually to say the Rosary in your room. So it had that appeal to me, as though I was really thinking independently and wasn't going along [with everyone else]. … I wanted to make a radical decision.”

Do you see? Being truly different and being radical today for young people has nothing to do with getting tattoos or lots of various piercings or strange hair colors. Everyone does that now, right?!

That’s nothing different; that’s simply following the crowd, being a sheep blindly following the flock.

But try to actually live your life as part of the covenant community, under the instruction and teaching of our Lord and Master, Jesus of Nazareth. Now that is radical, and that is different!

But we need to be careful. It has long been a temptation for the people of God to consider their peculiarity, their holiness as a measure of worth or value greater than other people. But it is not that.  

Even though their intentions were malicious, the Pharisees and the Herodians spoke words of deep truth when they addressed the Lord in our reading today:

“Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.”

Jesus shows us the true nature of God, and in this Incarnate One we see that God loves all people, regardless of the particularities of their lives.

So how can it be that the covenant people of God are called and set apart to be distinct, peculiar, unique among all of the peoples of the earth, while at the same time we know that God regards no one with partiality but loves all people of the earth with equal compassion?

Here, my friends, we come upon one of the beautiful and paradoxical mysteries of our life in Christ.

We are indeed called to be different than others, to be set apart as God’s holy people. But the reason for this distinction, this separateness is that in this way we might serve as the channel through which God’s equal love for all humanity might become manifest!   

This is the sacred task that is set before us now in these days of challenge.

How do we stand out in our neighborhood? Or are we ordinary and indistinguishable from everyone else around us?

Does our lifestyle indicate that we are followers of Jesus Christ, part of God’s covenant community?

 And what is more, how do we ensure that this holiness never becomes a license for perceived privilege, but rather a continual call to serve those who are in fact outside of our community?

God has called us together to be in the world, but not of the world, and yet always for the world. 

May we be given the grace and the strength to live out this calling with courage and boldness. Amen.

The Defining Mark

A Sermon for the 17^th Sunday after the Pentecost (RCL A) 10-09-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Exodus 32:1-14; Psalm 106:1-6,19-23; Matthew 22:1-14

Title:               The Defining Mark               

Have any of you here ever heard people criticize churches or church-going folks as hypocrites?

If so, raise your hand. I certainly have. Many times.

In some ways, that old complaint is unfair, since all of us are only human afterall. And, more often than not, to be frank, a person makes that protest as a defensive gesture, as a way of protecting themselves from the hard task of reflecting upon, and taking stock of, their own life.

But in another sense, that criticism of churches as hypocrites is entirely fair and justified. 

The good news, however, is that in this regard, we are in good company!

Just look at our story today from the Exodus journey of the Israelites. Here they are, gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai. Moses had just communicated to them the 10 Commandments and the instructions for building the tabernacle, and all of the other instructions that would shape them to be the special covenant people of God.

And what do they do? They immediately go and defy the very first principles of this covenant with God by worshipping idols and setting up false gods in place of the LORD.

“They forgot God their Savior” (Psalm 106:21). But how could they forget so quickly?

The people there at Sinai were, like all of us far too often, hypocrites.

And, of course, all of these parables in Matthew that we have been reading through over the last few weeks – these very dark and violent and bloody parables – all of these reflect a sharp criticism of the people of God as failing to produce the fruits of the Kingdom, as ignoring God’s invitation to the true banquet in the kingdom of God, and instead as settling for lesser feasts, lesser banquets, lesser gods who cannot satisfy their needs.

In response to this rather pessimistic vision of God’s people as constantly failing to get the point throughout history, even down to our own present day, it seems right to ask the obvious question: how, then, can we recognize when God’s people get it right? What are the defining marks of the true people of God – of those who are not hypocrites, of those who get it, and who bear the fruits of the Kingdom? 

Of this we can be sure: the defining marks of those who love and follow the Lord their God in faithfulness are not anything that can be seen on the outside, but rather are the marks of love on the human heart which reveal themselves in our actions.

This past Monday, October 3, was the 5 year anniversary of the massacre at the West Nickel Mines School in Lancaster County, where a gunman (a non-Amish man) entered into an Amish school and opened fire on the schoolgirls, shooting 10 of them before taking his own life.

Some of you may have noticed the many articles which were written for last Sunday’s newspapers in recognition of this anniversary. It was a day of horror for that peaceful Amish community, and there still is no discernable cause for why Charles Roberts IV acted in this way.

But what is most remarkable of all is how the Amish families most directly impacted by this detestable action were quick to offer forgiveness to the murderer (to Charles Roberts) and to his family. Please understand: this forgiveness was instant and spontaneous. There was no meeting where everyone decided to practice forgiveness. It came forth as a natural fruit, a normal outgrowth of the culture of their community.

These Amish parents went straight to Roberts’ wife and children to offer their condolences. Besides his immediate family, all of the people at Roberts’ funeral were Amish. Simply because he was a human being loved by God who now was dead. Donations poured in to this Nickel Mines community from around the world, and the Amish took a large portion of these funds to create a school scholarship fund for Roberts’ children.

And so I ask again: what are the defining marks of a faithful Christian community? There are no outward signs or marks that we must wear in order to signify ourselves as members of the new covenant community.

In this regard, I disagree completely with the Amish, in their insistence upon clothing and tools and styles from the 18^th century Germany as the only means by which Christians might distinguish themselves from the world around them.

But where they are entirely correct is the importance of the goal: we ARE intended to be different, to be a distinct community in the world, shaped by our covenant relationship with God.

And the defining marks of this community are these: compassion and forgiveness.

There is a brief story from the time of St. Francis which highlights this defining characteristic of Christ-following people.

There was a young man who was deeply touched by the witness of Brother Simon, one of St. Francis’ early companions there in 13^th century Italy.

This young man heard about a certain criminal who was captured and condemned to lose both of his eyes as punishment for his crimes. So, this young man rushed to the town council and, moved with courage and compassion, he pleaded for mercy. With tears in his eyes, and with heart-felt prayers which were clearly sincere, the young man asked that HE be given the grace that one of his own eyes might be extracted so that the criminal should not be deprived of both of his eyes. In this way, each would lose only one eye, and both may still have the gift of sight. But the council was greatly moved by the young man’s fervor and generosity and compassion. And so they decided instead to grant the criminal a complete pardon and release.

Now, that is foolish jurisprudence and terrible governance by the town council. I’ll grant you that.

But the point here is the amazing compassion displayed by this young man walking in the shadow of St. Francis.

What do we see when we find someone who has been touched on a deep level by the amazing love which God has poured out upon us in Christ, by the forgiveness and mercy displayed on the cross?

What have people always seen in such people?

Compassion and mercy and forgiveness.

In our parable from Matthew, after all of the random replacement guests had been herded into the wedding hall, the king himself came to inspect those guests, and he found one who was not wearing the customary wedding robe.

What is the wedding robe which that unfortunate guest at the wedding banquet was lacking?

What is the new clothing required of the guests at the wedding banquet of the Lamb of God?

So spoke St. Augustine in his preaching on this parable: “This is the wedding garment: ‘The goal of this command is charity which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.’ …The wedding garment is charity such as this: ‘Though I speak with the tongues of mortals and angels and have not charity, I have become like a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.’”

Many are invited to the banquet of God, many may even draw near to God through faith, but what is the defining mark by which we know those who have been touched and transformed by the grace of Christ?

Not clothing, not our words, not the images on our walls or the jewelry around our neck.

There is no external mark by which we can see this.

There is only a heart which is full of the love of God in Christ, a cup running over with compassion and forgiveness for others. There is only a life that has been transformed and is now continually given over to good works, out of gratitude and joy.

May we be counted among their number. Amen.

Forgiveness is a learned skill!

Why is it important to participate in a local church community?

Because we learn the skills of living by watching those around us. And who we are watching makes all the difference in the world!

Here is an excellent article on the irreplaceable value of Christian community in shaping people who learn to forgive others instinctively. We do not need to live in isolation like the Amish, but I am convinced that we need to focus upon creating local parishes where our children (and our adults!) learn how to live in a way different from the society around us. Read the article linked below, then please comment and let me know what you think.

Amish families at an Elizabethtown College conference last month
(Photo by Tom Gralish for the Philadelphia Inquirer)

Philadelphia Inquirer 10-2-2011: POWER OF FORGIVING