A Sermon for Jan. 13, 2013: With the Holy Spirit and Fire

A Sermon for January 13, 2013 (Epiphany 1, RCL C)

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for The Church of Saint Mary

Texts:             Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Luke 3:15-17,21-22

Primary Message:  Christ drives out our fear and fills us with courage
Call to Action:          trust in Christ and live boldly
Title:               With the Holy Spirit and Fire

My dear sisters and brothers: when we are overwhelmed by the grace of God, our fear is driven away; then courage and boldness carry us forward in hope.

Let me ask you a question. And yes, this is a true question to which I want you to answer – vocally, out loud, for all to hear.

What single message, what single idea, do you think is the most commonly repeated, the most often delivered one throughout all of the Bible? What is the single most common communication from God to human beings in the Scriptures?

(Answers from the congregation…)  

All good thoughts, worthy attempts. But the answer is found in these four words:

DO NOT BE AFRAID.

 

That’s it! And that message is found in today’s passage from Isaiah as well – twice in fact! “Do not fear, for I am with you” (Isaiah 43:5).  

And although the exact words are not spoken, this theme punctuates every single sentence of this passage:

“When you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

The idea of walking through fire is an ancient way of testing one’s faith.

Have you ever heard of or seen Indian gurus walking over burning hot coals?

Well, let me tell you a very old story about walking through fire and the courage of faith.  

In the year 1219, St. Francis of Assisi traveled to the city of Damietta in the north of Egypt. He went there with one simple and primary purpose: to do what Jesus and the apostles did - to preach the good news to those who have not heard it.

In this situation, however, there was one major difference in circumstance. Damietta was a city under siege. It was the height of the Fifth Crusade. The combined European forces had just suffered a painful defeat in their attempt to capture the city, and now they regrouped while maintaining a siege out in the desert surrounding Damietta.

Within the city, leading the Islamic defenses was the famous Sultan of Egypt, Malek Al-Kamil. With stunning bravery, St. Francis and one of his little brothers, a Friar Minor, approached the enemy lines with a request to speak with the Sultan.

Now, picture this in your mind! Can you imagine what those heavily-armed, battle-scarred Muslim soldiers thought when they considered this short, poor little man with the funny haircut who carried nothing with him, but who asked with such boldness and audacity for a direct audience with the Sultan?!  

We have no idea as to why exactly, but his request was granted. You must understand that Francis was perfectly ready and spiritually prepared for martyrdom. He knew perfectly well that he was risking his life by such a venture, and he was ready to lose his life in this way for the sake of the Gospel.

This meeting between Francis and the Sultan in the year 1219 is an historical fact. But the reports of what actually occurred in this meeting are a bit less certain.

It is said that a very civil and respectful dialogue ensued between Francis and his brother Friar, and the Sultan, along with the imams in his court. Both sides tried in vain to convert the other. Finally, it is reported that Francis offered to undergo a trial by fire to prove the validity of the Gospel.

Francis offered to walk through fire in order to prove that God was with him, as long as the Sultan’s imams were willing to do the same.

Now, that sounds crazy, right? But there was a method to his madness.  

Back in the days of Muhammad, when he was beginning to gather a group of followers around him in the first decades of the 7^th century, it is said that he challenged a group of Christians to a similar trial. Leaders of both groups would walk through fire; the ones who came out unscathed were the ones who had God on their side, the ones who spoke the truth about God.

If you know anything about Muhammad, then you will know that this is clearly a challenge that he would relish. But those Arabian Christians declined, saying that they did not wish to put Christ to the test in this way. And so Muhammad left feeling justified, that his message was inspired and the faith of the Christians was not REAL faith, since they were too afraid to face the test of fire.    

600 years later in Egypt, I think that St. Francis was intending to make up for the supposed failure of those timid Christians in their meeting with Muhammad.

With courage and boldness, he offered to walk through fire with his counterparts, but this time the imams refused. They did not wish to put allah to the test in this way.

With his courage, Francis won the respect of the Sultan. He and his friars were treated as honored guests, and they were given free passage to travel throughout the Sultan’s lands - including the Holy Land! – in peace.

“When you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God…Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”

My friends: something happens deep within the heart of a person who is overwhelmed by the grace of God. When all of your defenses are broken down, all of your pride washed away, when all of your strength is gone and you realize that there is nothing solid or dependable or trustworthy in this life except for the grace and love of God, then you can live without fear.

“Perfect love drives out fear.” So we are told in the first letter of John, and this is what I think it means when John the Baptizer preaches to the people about the coming Messiah:  “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

The Messiah immerses us in a life of trust and confidence, courage and boldness, because it is a life of intimacy with God who is pure goodness and mercy.

Now, let’s be clear: I am not suggesting in any sense at all that we actually attempt walking through fire. There are still lots of people who do this!

There was an event in San Jose, California this past July hosted by the famous motivational speaker Tony Robbins. It was a four day conference called “Unleash The Power Within”, and as part of this conference the attendees were invited to – yes, you probably guessed it by now - walk through fire! Actually, it was a 10 foot swath of burning coals around 1500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Supposedly, he has offered this type of activity for many years, but THIS time at least 21 people were taken to the hospital with severe burns! Bystanders spoke of hearing people screaming as if they were being tortured! (http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_21125630/san-jose-21-people-treated-burns-after-firewalk)

OK, this is NOT what I would suggest! It is NOT courageous to put yourself in dangerous situations. That’s just plain stupid.

The boldness and courage which the Holy Spirit and the fire of Jesus bring into our lives is much more basic, and simple, than this.  

It is the courage to speak the truth, even when it might hurt your own position or threaten your own position.

It is the courage, sometimes, just to get out of bed in the morning, to not give up, to keep on going. The will and courage to persevere.

It is the courage to turn the other cheek, to choose to love your enemies and never to seek revenge.

It is the courage to not care about your prestige, to not be attached to your possessions, to not be anxious about your income or your assets.

Above all, it is the courage to love, the courage to care, to pour yourself out for those who need you.

Will you allow yourself to be touched, and overwhelmed, by the Holy Spirit and the fire of Christ, so that your fear is driven away, so that you can walk forward into the unknown with courage and boldness? Let it be so. Amen.

 

 

 

Bold, Courageous Risk-taking - a sermon for 28 October 2012

A Sermon for October 28, 2012 (RCL B Proper 25)

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:             Hebrews 7:23-28; Psalm 34:1-8,19-22; Mark 10:46-52

Themes:        goodbye
Title:               But He Cried Out

My dear friends: for the last four (or three) years, God has given me the privilege of speaking with you from this pulpit as I have attempted to make sense of Holy Scripture within the context in which we are living in our society today.

As I reflect upon what God has laid upon my hearts over the years, there is a wonderful serendipity with the Gospel reading appointed for this morning.

Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd are passing Jericho on their inexorable march toward the conflict in Jerusalem. Along the way, a blind beggar cries out for help.

And the Lord Jesus turns to this man and asks him an amazing question:

“What do you want me to do for you?”

Bartimaeus makes his request for the restoration of his eyesight, and Jesus replies with a line that is quite typical for him to say: “Go; your faith has made you well.”

My friends: I invite you right now to think with me for a few minutes about the fact that true faith in God is bold, courageous risk-taking.

Think about it for a minute, my friends: the Messiah, the Son of God, this very popular Rabbi surrounded by eager crowds, on his way toward the end of his life in the showdown in Jerusalem – this one stops in the road in order to offer his services to a poor, blind beggar.

“What do you want me to do for you?”

Why? Why does he act in this way toward Bartimaeus? What about the other blind beggars whom the Lord surely passed by on the road without even a notice? Why is Bartimaeus healed?

The crowd ordered the poor blind man to be quiet, but he would not. Instead he shouted out all the more.

You see, Bartimaeus took a risk. He was incredibly vulnerable. Poor, blind, sitting down in the midst of a large boisterous crowd. People were yelling at him; they could have struck him, kicked him, hurt him.     

But Bartimaeus would not be silenced. He took the risk; he called out for help.

The Lord heard and replied. “Your faith has made you well.”

It is always this way with Jesus.

He calls out the twelve. They risk everything to go and follow him.
Four friends risk much to bring their sick brother to Jesus for healing.
The syro-phonecian woman risks scorn and ridicule – and worse – by debating with Jesus for the healing of her daughter.
Here, Bartimaeus risks his personal safety in order to ask for healing.

Over and over again, those who connect with Jesus are the ones who take risks in order to be near him, who take risks for the sake of love.

Do you see it, my friends?

Everything in the life of faith depends upon taking risks.  In fact, that is the very essence of faith: bold, courageous action, the ability to take risks.

And this is seen so clearly not only here in the Gospels.

Look at all of the saints who are honored and celebrated in the church: Paul of Tarsus, Patrick, Benedict, Francis of Assisi and Clare his dear friend, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, even Mother Teresa of Calcutta of our times. On and on and on we could name them.

All of these are honored and remembered and celebrated today. WHY?

Because they took risks for the sake of God! They were bold in risking much for the sake of the Gospel.

Some of these risked physical harm, like St. Patrick when he returned to Ireland and faced those who had attacked his village and had kidnapped him.

Francis and Clare took the risk of living life entirely by faith, with no material possessions at all and no money, no possessions at all. And guess what? They lived lives filled with incredible joy and peace! Because, by the way, you do not need money to have joy and peace in your life!

Other risked social embarrassment and exclusion, like John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, as they labored to reform the church in their day and restore it to its spiritual foundations.

Countless others risked their time by devoting hours on end to prayer and meditation.

This kind of devotion offers no promise of immediate reward. It is something people do because they fall in love! They fall in love with Christ and they want to spend time in his presence. For all they know, this will be wasted time which they can never recover, with nothing to show for it. But saints have done it – over and over again, simply out of love.

And what have they gained? They have gained intimacy with God, closeness to Christ.

Amazing insight, vision, a sense of peace and trust in God which does not change even when the circumstances of life.

A number of different times, I have shared with you this quote, which is one of my favorites:

“Grace will not baptize us while we sit at home, slighting the means which God has appointed.” These were words preached by John Henry Newman more than 160 years ago, but their truth applies in all ages.

The grace of God is available today. This is transforming powerful grace. It is dynamic energy and power.

BUT – it is available to those who take risks, who step out in faith into the unknown with boldness and courage and confidence.

Now, to be clear, not all risk-taking is good. One of the primary reasons that our society finds itself in such an economic downturn is due to reckless, irresponsible risk-taking by those in the financial sector.

It is not risk-taking by itself which is inherently good, but risk-taking for the sake of love, for the sake of God. It is the willingness to lay yourself – your wants and needs, your money, your resources, your time – to lay these down in order to serve others, to serve God.

THAT is faith in action.

This past week I became acquainted with the story of Katie Davis.

As an 18 year old from Tennessee, Katie traveled to Uganda during Christmas break with her church youth group. She was immediately captivated by the people and the culture of Uganda. Her heart was touched by the graciousness of the Ugandan people, but also by their immensity of their needs.

13 months later, in January of 2008, Katie had graduated from high school and had returned to Uganda to launch a new effort at helping impoverished children here to receive a basic elementary school education and the basic food staples needed to live, and to be nurtures by a caring, Christian community. Today, Katie is a 23 year old young woman living in Uganda, and she is in fact now a mother – at 23 years old! – who has officially adopted 13 orphaned Ugandan girls. (See her story here: http://www.amazima.org/katiesstory.html).

What causes an intelligent, athletic, attractive high school graduate – the senior class president, no less! – to leave behind her home and her friends and her future career potential in order to care for poor children in Uganda?

Faith in Jesus, because true faith is bold, courageous risk-taking.

Those who step out for the sake of God are the ones who go out and change the world!

When God gives the call to you, my dear friends, how will you respond?

Remember: “Grace will not baptize us while we sit at home, slighting the means which God has appointed.”

Oh, you can sit at home and watch TV and complain about how messed-up the world is and then wonder why it’s not getting any better! Sure, you can do that.

But that is not faith! That is not active participation in God’s mission in the world!

That is not the way to experience grace in your life.

Think it through for a moment right now. Think through your life. What have you risked for the sake of love, for the sake of God?

What is true of our individual lives is true of our churches as well. What has your church risked for the sake of love, for the sake of God?

 

True faith in Jesus Christ is bold, courageous risk-taking.

 Not because we hope to gain anything from it! We have already gained everything!

Baptized into Christ, we have been forgiven and redeemed in him.

And now, because of that, we have the chance to step out in faith, to risk ourselves for the sake of him who died for us.

Christ offered himself for us, so that we might offer ourselves for him.

That, my dear sisters and brothers, is what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ.

May you never forget this, never shrink back from God’s call out of fear, never seek to protect yourselves from the pain of sacrifice. But may you always reach out in love for the sake of the Gospel, and offer yourselves so that others may live in the grace of Christ. Amen.  

 

A Feast of Rich Food - a sermon for the Holy Pascha (commonly known as Easter)

A Sermon for the Holy Pascha / Resurrection Sunday (RCL B) 4-8-2012

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 188:1-2, 12-24; Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18

Title:               A Feast of Rich Food

Alleluia! Christ is risen!  The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

And so we have finally come to this festival day of joy and light and hope. Our long Lenten season of discipline is over, and now the season of celebration begins!

Last night, at our wonderful and interesting Vigil liturgy which marked the turning point and the beginning of our festival, we baptized our newest sister in Christ – Chelsea Ann Baumiller. And immediately after this, just as the Church prays for every newly baptized Christian, so I offered a prayer over Chelsea which ends with this petition:

“Give her an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works.”

My dear friends: if we are willing to receive them, these are the gifts that are offered to every one of us once again on this blessed morning:

·        An inquiring and discerning heart

·        The courage to will and to persevere

·        A spirit to know and to love God

·        The gift of joy and wonder in all the works of God!

For it is truly a gift to be able to find joy and to feel wonder at all the amazing things in creation.

Have you ever seen people running through a parking lot when it begins to rain?

They’re trying to get under cover as soon as possible, so that they can stay dry, right?

This feast, this celebration which we will carry with us now, this is all about stopping in the midst of the rainstorm and letting yourself become soaked!

Here is your challenge, here is your call: my friends, let yourself become soaked with God!

Do not run through life so quickly that you are dodging all of the raindrops!

Stop, and let the love and beauty and grace and majesty of God to soak you down to the bone.

No, even deeper than that. All the way down to the core of your being.

Then you will understand about the gift of joy and wonder in all the works of God!

Do you know someone like that? Someone who has that gift of joy and wonder?

There is a famous story told about St. Francis of Assisi, the little Povorello.

It is said that one night he was walking through the streets of his home city, the city of Assisi up in the hills of Umbria in Italy, when he noticed that the full moon was shining down with incredible brightness.

But what amazed St. Francis even more was that no one else in the city seemed to notice this at all! Everyone was going about their late-night chores or whatever activities demanded their attention. But no one paid any notice to this amazing moon!

So do you know what he did? It is said that St. Francis then climbed up the steeple of the large church there on the central square in Assisi. He grabbed the ropes – think of the hunchback of Notre Dame! – and he began to ring all the church bells. That got everyone’s attention!

The bells were run only to announce the start of mass or if there was a news-worthy event that needed to be announced, such as the start of a war or the death of a Pope. So the people ran out into the square, eager to hear the important news. And there was the little St. Francis, small in stature but giant in soul and bright in face, leaning out a window high up on the steeple, pointing up at the moon and saying to the people: “Look, look! The moon is incredibly brilliant tonight!”   

Lots of people thought he was mad. Crazy. But was he mad, a little bit loony? Or were they?

Let me suggest to you that we are all a bit mad and a bit loony! Every single one of us.

But, we are crazy for different things!

Some are crazy about money, and they are convinced that wealth will make them happy – even though all of the evidence shows this to be patently false.

Some are crazy about health, and they will do everything they can to stay and look young for as long as possible – even though we all know that old age and illness and death are inevitable.

Some are crazy about success, and they will spend every waking moment ensuring that they – or their children – outperform their competition – even though we know that there is always someone better or stronger or smarter than you.

Some are crazy about their country, and they live and breathe with patriotic fervor – even though we all know that no nation lasts forever, and that human societies come and go with the passing of time.

But there are some who are crazy about God, and these ones are soaked through and through with joy and wonder at the goodness of God and the beauty of God’s world.

There are some, like St. Francis, who are not blinded by the silly notions of human society.

These are the ones who notice the brilliance of the moonlight, who join with the singing of the birds, who give thanks for a simple meal with friends, who find joy in the laughter of children.

There is an ancient story from the deserts of Egypt that goes like this.

A man came to visit a wise elder named Joseph in order to ask for some advice in his relationship with God. The man said to Joseph: “Father, as much as I can I say my daily prayers, I fast a little bit, I meditate a little, I live in peace with others, and as far as I can, I try to keep my thoughts clean. What else can I do?”

Do you see? This visitor had a nice little religious life – a little bit of prayer, a little meditation, a peaceful place to live, some effort to think good thoughts.  But it wasn’t enough.

Is there any more than this?  That was his question to Joseph. Is this all there is?

The wise elder, Joseph, stood up then and stretched out his hands toward the heavens.

And his fingers became 10 flames of shooting fire.

And he said to his visitor: “If you want, you can become all flame!”

(The Sayings of the Desert Fathers by Benedicta Ward, P.103).  

There is more, my friends! There is much more. There is resurrection power.

And if you want it, then you can become a living flame!

If you want, you can become soaked with God.  

Not by doubling-down and working at it as hard as you can.

That is not the way to have your heart transformed by grace. The soul needs quiet to grow.

You become soaked with God, we become completely on fire with the love of God, only when we slow down, stop the noise around us and within us, and open ourselves to that grace.

Like the opening of a tulip flower in the warmth of the early morning sunshine.

Let your soul be like that flower as you soak up the love and mercy and grace of God that pours upon us through our Lord who lives today.

You are here this morning, and we have been invited to this feast of God.

So take a deep breath and celebrate!

If you have anything in your hands, please put it down. Stretch out those fingers. Open your palms up.

Do you know that God is good? Then let’s give God a round of applause. (Clap your hands, for real!)

Praise God, because our Lord Jesus is alive, and that same power which raised him from the dead can transform your heart and your life! If you want it.  Amen.  

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 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.

A Spirit of Power and Love

A Youth Sermon for Proper 22 C RCL 10/3/2010, offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Lamentations 1:1-6; Lam. 3:19-26; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10

Did you hear and notice that powerful little sentence from our readings today? “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

What is cowardice? What does it look like? Can you show me what cowardice looks like?
What does it feel like to have cowardice, to be cowardly?

So the great apostle Paul taught us that God did NOT give us that kind of spirit. God does not want us to look or to feel that way.

Instead, God gave us a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline!

That spirit of power, the spirit of love, looks different that cowardice, doesn’t it? What does it look like to be filled with power and with love? To be bold?

Yesterday, we had a retreat out at a nature preserve where a group of us gathered together to learn about St. Francis of Assisi. Do you know anything at all about St. Francis?

Well, when Francis was a young man, he faced a really tough situation where he had to choose whether to live with a spirit of cowardice or with a spirit of boldness. Francis’ father ran his own business and he wanted Francis to join him and to learn the business so that he could take it over when his father grew old. But instead, Francis was more interested in working in churches! What’s worse is that Francis was giving away his father’s money to poor people! Finally, his father was fed up with this. He had had enough of this strange behavior. So he dragged his son, Francis, into church to stand before the bishop to make Francis swear to give up this craziness and to be a good son.

Francis had to choose! Was he going to cower under his father’s anger and do what his father wanted? Or was he going to listen to God, follow Jesus and be bold and courageous?

Do you know what he did? He decided to follow Jesus! He took of all of his clothes, gave them back to his father, and walked away totally free to begin a brand new life!

Francis was a Christian, and he chose to live with that spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline that Jesus had given to him.

Do you know how to live with that Holy Spirit inside of us? That Spirit does not allow us to be ashamed of the Gospel. But when we are filled with the Holy Spirit like Jesus and like Francis, then we can stand up with boldness and say to others,

“I don’t care what you say, because I am going to love you no matter what! And I don’t care what you do, because God is going to love you no matter what! And there's nothing you can do to change that!”

That’s the freedom that we have in the Holy Spirit! To speak and act in a spirit of power and love and self-control.

Let’s pray together:

O God, you made us and you have given us this Spirit of power and love: help us to not be cowards, but to be bold and brave and strong so that we can love everybody and so that we can tell everybody that you love them too. Thank you for giving us such great and wonderful gifts, and thank you for teaching us through the example of people like Francis of Assisi. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Retreat with the Little Poor Man of Assisi



"We happy few" - our small mini-retreat group!

 On Saturday, October 2, we held a "Mini-Retreat with St. Francis of Assisi" at the Wheelabrator Wildlife Refuge in Westville, NJ. Here is an outline of the life of St. Francis. He is, without question, one of the greatest followers of Christ ever to walk the earth. We have much to learn from him. 

Reading about St. Francis in the Wheelabrator Picnic Shelter

The view from Tie-Off Point due north to Center City

Outline of Francis’ Life

• 1182a.d. Birth of Francis in Assisi. The son of Pietro di Bernardone, a wealthy middle-class linen merchant, and Pica, a French woman.
• He studied at St. George’s Church School in Assisi as a youth. He was deeply influenced by the ideals of medieval chivalry and dreamed of being a brave knight.
• 1200 He joined the war between Assisi and neighboring Perugia, was captured and spent 1 year as a POW. During an illness, he received a vision urging him to serve the Lord rather than men.
• 1202 He returned to Assisi and began to help poor priests and the needy by selling his father’s goods. He also began to pray intently. He received a vision of Christ saying, “Francis, go and repair my church which, as you see, is falling into ruins.”
• 1206 Confrontation between Francis and his father over wealth given away. Francis stripped away and left everything behind him now.
• 1209 He received his “gospel way of life” and begins to gather followers (called Friars Minor, meaning “little or insignificant brothers”).
• 1210 Now as a group of 12, they wrote a short Rule of Life and received verbal and direct approval from Pope Innocent III for the Order (the Order of Friars Minor).
• 1212 Desiring to preach the Gospel to everyone, Francis traveled and tried, but failed, to reach the Muslims in North Africa, Spain, and Syria.
• 1219 Francis traveled with Crusaders to Egypt where he preached to the Sultan and attempted to forge a cease-fire agreement.
• 1220 Suffering from malaria and glaucoma, he retired as leader of his growing movement and entered a time of deep struggle and disappointment.
• 1223 Finally regaining peace, Francis created the first Nativity crèche to make the celebration of Christmas more real to the people.
• 1224 He received the Stigmata on his body while in prayer on Mount Alverna on September 14 (Holy Cross Day).
• 1226 After two more years of painful illness, Francis died peacefully in nakedness on the bare ground. He was 44 years old.
• 1228 Francis was canonized as a Saint by the church and his following continued to grow.
• 2010 Today, more than 1.5 million people around the world are vowed Franciscans. Many more are influenced by his example.

The primary source for fruitful meditation upon the life of St. Francis is the Little Flowers. Buy it, and read it often!