The Myth of Separate-ness - A sermon for April 28, 2013

A Sermon for April 28, 2013 (Pascha 5, RCL C)

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for The Church of Saint Mary

Texts:             Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; John 13:31-35

Primary Message:  there are no good people, and no bad people

Call to Action:          see yourself as a member of one humanity

Title:               The Myth of Separate-ness

O God, grant us continual grace to hear and receive your word, and to respond faithfully. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

My dear friends: this morning, I want us to consider together this morning something that I will call “the myth of separate-ness”.

You know this myth. It’s talked about commonly, and it’s been in the news quite a bit lately.

This myth of separate-ness was common in the days of those first apostles of Christ. After all, it was central to their very identity as a nation.

Now the process of unraveling that myth begins with this story about Peter’s visit with Cornelius, the Roman centurion. What did we hear there?

When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?”

In the world occupied by Jesus and his disciples, humanity was divided into two parts: us and them. Or to be a bit more clear, the men of the world were divided into two categories: us the circumcised, and them the uncircumcised.

I must say, to be frank, this mark of separateness is rather peculiar. I mean, how did the people in Jerusalem know that Peter ate with uncircumcised men?

Did Peter – or anyone else, for that matter – conduct an inspection?

You know what I mean, though I doubt that we need to speak any more about that!

As we know, it is one of the most normal, most natural things that we can do to separate the world, to divide humanity, into us and them. Right?

What about deciding who are true Mainers, and who are the ones from away?

Oh, I‘ve heard about that one plenty of times already.

It is said that the older of the two Boston bombers, Tamerlan, had protested against the idea that Muslims might celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving. He said that this belonged to the kafir, to the non-believer, and that it had no place in the lives of Muslims. 

The myth of separate-ness. Us and them. Here we see the same pattern repeated again. The world is full of such examples, and we must ask the question of ourselves as well. We are not let of the hook so easily.  

Who among us is NOT tempted to replicate this pattern? To define the “us” and the “them”?

I will give you the benefit of the doubt and thank God that you do not make such distinctions on the basis of skin color and any other such ridiculous matter.

I believe that WE are tempted  to divide people in a different way.

Who among us does not – perhaps even unconsciously – make a mental distinction between us “the good people” and them “the bad people”?

I heard an interview this week with a recovering survivor from the bombings in Boston. As this young woman lay there in the hospital bed, she said, “I don’t understand how anyone could do such a thing.”  

And I thought to myself, “Really? I understand it with no problem at all.”

Bear with me now. This may not be the most pleasant line of thinking, but I believe that it is vital for us to grasp this point.

Do you see how easily that young woman made the distinction between us and them? Between the good people like her, of course, and the bad people who do such horrid things in the world?

My friends, let’s be very clear about this. That distinction is a lie.   

I understand how angry young men like the Tsarnaev brothers, like Adam Lanza, like James Holmes, like Timothy McVeigh, and like so many thousands of others could do such horrible acts of violence, because I was an angry young man once who did a number of stupid and foolish things.

And who knows what could have happened to me if  - during those years when I felt lost and yet wanting to do something important with my life – if I was influenced by the wrong people, or brainwashed by some crazy ideology, or if I had some chemical imbalance in my brain!

There but for the grace of God go I.

I understand it with no trouble at all, but I confess that on this score, I am willing to give all of you women a pass!

99% of all horrible actions like this are done by men – by angry young men.

Women seem to be immune to that dangerous blend of anger and adrenaline and misanthropy and testosterone through which young men must swim.

But the overall point remains the same, regardless of your gender!

There is no class of good people on one side, and a class of bad people on the other.

What there is, is one humanity. Human beings in a variety of shapes and forms and colors, with varying abilities. All made in the image of God. All fallen and broken by sin. All in need of healing. All in various stages of recovery.

Thomas Merton famously discovered this spiritual reality while standing at the busy corner of Fourth and Walnut streets in downtown Louisville, Kentucky in March of 1958, in the middle of a regular business day in the shopping district.

Even though he was a monk who lived an isolated life of silence and prayer, he realized right there that there is only one humanity. As he wrote in his journal:

“I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separate-ness… [As monks], we belong to God. Yet so does everybody else belong to God…This sense of liberation…was such a relief and a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud. And I suppose my happiness could have taken form in these words: ‘Thank God, thank God that I AM like other men, that I am only a man among others.’” (Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, p. 153-154).

Like waking from a dream of separate-ness.

The first step in truly loving others as Christ commanded is to refuse to deal in illusions and falsehoods, and to recognize our common reality.

In each one of us, no matter what skincolor or gender or age or intelligence, no matter what abilities or mental competency, no matter what markings we do or do not have on our bodies – inside each one of us, there is tremendous potential – for good and for evil – potential to build and to destroy.

Do you know this truth about yourself? Do you know this truth about others?

Peter and those first disciples were being taught this lesson by the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit is still teaching us this lesson today.

“And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life’” (Acts 11:18).

Let us give our thanks and praise that God has given even to me, even to you, that repentance that leads to life. Amen.

Children’s Message

Good morning!

Let me ask you a question: who is invited to live in God’s house forever?

Am I invited? Are you invited? How do we know? Because God said we were invited!

This morning, we heard a strange story read from the Bible about a giant sheet and lots of different animals.

Did you hear it?

Saint Peter was praying and he saw a vision. Do you know what this is?

A vision is seeing something real but which is not actually there.

Peter saw a vision of a large sheet floating down out of the sky, and in that sheet were all kinds of animals. Wild animals, reptiles, birds.

And maybe it looked a little bit like this! (Acolytes unfurl sheet).

When Peter saw this, a voice told him, “Get up, Peter! Kill and eat.”

He said, No way! I’ve never eaten any food that wasn’t special, wasn’t holy.

But the voice of God told him that it was ok to eat anything.   

Now, guess what? Let me tell you a secret. This story is NOT about food at all, and it is not even about animals!

Do any of you know what it IS about?

It’s about PEOPLE! All those different kinds of animals represent different kinds of people. And all different kinds of people are invited to live in God’s house.

If they want to, they can live with God now and forever. Even you and me are invited. Everyone, no matter what they look like or what kind of abilities they have or don’t have – God has spoken, and God has invited us all to live with God forever. Now that’s good news, isn’t it? Let’s pray.  

The Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Virtues

Thomas Merton once described a holy person as one who is "quiet, simple, humble, and direct." This summarizes for me a life that eschews the seven deadly sins and which cultivates the seven virtues. It is a beautiful life, one which is worthy of being pursued with vigor. This is a highly appropriate reflection for the period of mystagogical catechesis which is the Great Fifty Days.

Here is an outline of these traditional categories in Christian moral thought, with some of my own brief explanatory notes:

The Seven Deadly Sins

1. Pride - arrogance, boastfulness, expecting (closely linked with anger)
2. Covetousness - greed, taking (linked with envy)
3. Lust - obsession, demanding, grasping (linked with gluttony)
4. Envy - greed, discontent, craving
5. Gluttony - indulgence, immoderate, consuming, devouring
6. Anger - bitterness, resentment, fearing (fear gives birth to anger)
7. Sloth - laziness, unmotivated, disengaged, withdrawn, lack of vision

The Seven Virtues

1. Faith - confidence, trusting (closely linked with hope)
2. Hope - assurance, perspective, seeing (hope grows out of clear vision)
3. Love - commitment, focus, giving (closely linked with fortitude)
4. Justice - fairness, impartiality, compassion 
5. Prudence - discernment, wisdom (linked with temperance)
6. Temperance - calmness, self-control, moderation
7. Fortitude - perseverance, diligence, determination 

If you keep these characteristics in mind when you study the great teaching on the hillside by our Lord Jesus (The Gospel of Matthew 5-7), you can see how his teachings clearly connect here and how these categories help to dscribe the eternal kind of life into which he brings us when we trust in him.

Leave your gift there and go!

A Sermon for the 6th Sunday after the Epiphany (RCL A) 2-13-2011
Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Deuter. 30:15-20; Psalm 119:1-8; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew 5:21-37

Title: Leave your gift there and go!

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who redeemed the world by his incarnation and self-offering on the cross, and who redeemed us and made us his holy people through his own blood. This Lord Jesus, our Teacher, the one who guides all people in finding the good life, this Lord Jesus loves confrontation.

Yes! You heard me right. Jesus loves confrontation!

Ah, you may be asking, but what does the word confrontation actually mean? Do we have any Latin scholars with us here today? Confront comes from the Latin words “com” and “frontem”. It means foreheads together, in the original Latin. The basic idea of confronting someone is to address them face-to-face, forehead-to-forehead. Head on, direct, clear, unambiguous.

And so I say it again: Jesus loves confrontation, because he loves it when people take the initiative to engage in face-to-face, direct, clear, unambiguous communication.

The Lord understands that conflict and tension are normal and regular parts of life. And the Lord understands that conflict avoidance is a pattern of behavior that leads to more suffering, more bitterness, more violence.

If you look in a medical dictionary, you will see a definition of confrontation which is something like this:

“a therapeutic technique constituting the act of facing or being made to face one's own attitudes and shortcomings, the way one is perceived, and the consequences of one's behavior, or of causing another to face these things.”

Being made to face one’s own attitudes and shortcomings. This, I believe, is what Jesus has in mind for us.

Listen again to these words from his best remembered teaching session, his seminar on the hillside, as we might call it today.

Here in Matthew’s Gospel, he is talking to real-life people about the conflicts that they have in their everyday lives, and he asks his listeners – and us, of course – to look deeper than the surface level. Of course, murder is wrong, but that deadly act is simply the direct product of a heart that is filled with anger and bitterness. So what are we to do? What can we do to move away from the anger that leads to violence? What does he say?

“So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against us, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23).

My friends, stop and consider what kind of action it is that Jesus is calling forth.

Of course, he is speaking of temple ritual, when the Hebrew people entered the temple in Jerusalem to offer gifts to the priests and to make sacrificial offerings to God to redeem their sin.

But think about the implications. He does not call us to seek reconciliation BEFORE we offer our worship to God, and not AFTER. Rather, he calls us to interrupt our worship of God right in the middle! The Lord says that reconciling with another is far more important than completing our ritual act! When you are in the process of worshipping God, if you remember this conflict in your life, then leave and go immediately! Reconcile, and then return and complete your act of worship.

Can you appreciate how radical this is? We tend to prefer orderliness and neat, clearly defined rituals, but how would our worship be different if we here actually and honestly took this teaching to heart?

To be honest, I’m not sure how this would work. But recently, I heard about a congregation out in Minneapolis who sometimes practice a different way to receiving Communion which seeks to respect this teaching from Christ.

In this community, when communion is ready, a number of stations are set up around the meeting space where the bread and wine are available. At each station, there are candles and flowers and an icon. Everyone is asked to examine their hearts for a few minutes in silence. Then, when each is ready, they are invited to go and to commune themselves. Sometimes families go and give communion to one another.

But if anyone in the congregation knows that they are at odds with someone else who is present, that person is asked to take the bread and wine to the one with whom they are in conflict. Take communion to someone else as a way of showing your commitment to reconciliation.

Maybe that person has already received communion? So what? There’s no rule against receiving twice. Maybe it’s embarrassing to be seen as the one who is carrying the bread and chalice to another in the congregation? So what? Humility and vulnerability are essential if we are to grow in God’s grace.

Can you see it? Can you imagine the potential for disorder and confusion which this kind of communion practice might create? But what does Christ consider to be more important: the beauty and orderliness of our ritual practice, or the possibility of reconciling with another?

True reconciliation is what Jesus is after. Now, let’s be clear about the fact that reconciliation is not easy. Sometimes you can work your hardest to reconcile with someone, but they are not open to it. Sometimes they refuse to reciprocate.

We have a neighbor on our street where we live in Moorestown who absolutely hates me. Everyone on the street calls him Uncle David. As far as I can tell, he has no family around, so I have no idea how he came by that unusual designation. He lives all alone just four houses down from us.

One summer night a few years ago, soon after we moved into our house, Erin and I were frantically trying to get the kids to the table to eat dinner together. Do you know how hard it is sometimes to get everyone together at the same time to eat when the food is hot, but the kids are all running around playing with friends? Angus, our son, was down the street at the house next to Uncle David’s. After yelling at him over and over again to come home for dinner, I marched down there in exasperation to drag him home. Erin and the girls were already sitting at the table waiting for us. But just after we turned to come back home, I heard a sharp whistle behind me. I turned around to see Uncle David in his front yard looking at me and going like this (gesturing for me to come over to him!).

So I thought, “What! Are you kidding me? Am I some kind of dog that you whistle for and to whom you bark out your commands? Forget it! We’re going home to eat dinner! If Uncle David has something important to say to me, he knows where I live!” I was thinking all of this while all I did was wave to him and march Angus back home.

Little did I know that I had sealed my fate! My refusal to obey his whistle and finger command was all he needed to write me off forever. He has never forgiven me for that. Uncle David walks his dogs by our house twice a day, but even though we always say “good morning” and “hello” to him, he always ignores us completely. Doesn’t even respond! But once, two years later, he shocked me completely by stopping in front of my house and saying to me, “You didn’t have the time to talk to me, that’s why I hate you!” I was quite flabbergasted and so I responded and said, “OK. Whatever.” Frankly, I don’t really want to be friends with him. I think he might be, like, the next Unibomber, sitting in his house all by himself every night. He’s kinda scary!

But we still say hello to Uncle David every time we see him. We give him invitations to come over to our Kentucky Derby Parties. He never even acknowledges that we exist. I think that we have tried to reconcile with him, but he refuses to even consider it.

One of the elders living out in the Egyptian desert in the 3rd century was asked to define humility and he said this: “if you forgive a brother who has injured you before he himself asks [for] pardon” (The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers, Thomas Merton, p.53).

It’s not easy to reconcile with some people. The Lord knows that. But the point is that we – we who share in the resurrection life of Jesus which is always new, always fresh – we are the ones who are always seeking to reconcile, always making the first move, always taking the initiative to reach out to confront another, not with anger and violence, but rather with genuine concern and with love.

Perhaps someone here will need to leave right now, because you know in your heart that you need to reach out to someone and offer to reconcile with them. Please do it. Listen to the Holy Spirit who speaks in your heart. Don’t worry about what the people around you might think. Wouldn’t all of our lives be so much better if we all instead worried much more about what God thinks? May it be so. Amen.

Live for the Praise of His Glory

A Children's Sermon for All Saints’ Day 2010, offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Daniel 7:1-3,15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31


To the children gathered together:
Let me ask you a question: what do you want to DO when you grow up?

OK, here’s a different question. Are you ready? Who do you want to BE when you grow up?

Do any of you want to be a saint when you grow up? No? I don’t blame you for that, but I do hope that you will change your mind.

Now I have still another question for you. Can you think of an important person? Who is it?

This past week, our nation held its annual Election Day. Did any of you hear about senators and representatives and governors who were elected to serve in government?

Do you think these are important people? Well, let me tell you a secret. Listen: the most famous President, the mightiest King and Emperor, the longest-serving Senator – none of these have any importance when compared to the smallest little saint in the kingdom of God!

This is the truth, and here is a true story. On Monday nights, I play basketball with a group of other adults in my town. We do there what a lot of you have probably done on the playground, at recess or after school. We pick 4 captains who then pick players for their team. We end up with 4 teams and we play on two courts.

But do you know what happens every Monday night when we pick teams? I’m the last one to be picked. The very last one! (That’s because I can’t shoot at all! I can run faster than nearly all of them, but I can’t shoot and they know that about me.)

I don’t mind. It’s very good to be humbled like that. God knows that I need it.

But for me, this is a parable for the saints of God. Out in the world, the saints are the ones who are always the last ones to be picked by others for their team. They don’t look like much on the outside. They are not the superstars, the celebrities, the famous ones, the mighty that people in the world follow and obsess over.

The saints are the hidden ones, the ones who never look for fame or recognition. The saints are not interested in power. They don’t want to be better or richer than others.

The saints are the ones who do what Jesus taught us. Did you hear today a bit of what he taught us? Did you hear any of the words of Jesus that I just read?

Love those who hate you and those who try to hurt you. Do good to them.
What did he say? If someone hits you, do not hit them back.
If someone takes your things, do not ask for them back again.
Do to other people the same as you want them to do to you.

Let me tell you a story about a true saint. We do not know his name. He lived a long time ago in the desert, in Egypt. He was what we call a monk, which means that he never married so that he could pray as much as he wanted. When this monk was an old man, a group of strong, young thieves came to his room and told him, “We have come to take away everything that is in your cell.” The old man replied, “My sons, take all that you want.” So they took everything that they could find and they left. But after they left, the old monk noticed a little bag in the corner behind a chair which the robbers didn’t see.

So do you know what he did? He took that little bag and ran after the thieves and told them, “My sons, stop! Take this! You forgot it in my room.” And then he went back to his empty room so that he could pray.

But the thieves were amazed. So do you know what they did? They were convicted in their heart! They brought all of the old man’s things back to him, and they knelt down before him and asked to be forgiven, because they said, “This one really is a man of God!” And they were right! He is one of the countless number of saints who we celebrate today. (The Wisdom of the Desert, P.59).

Now let me ask you: who, in this story, was actually stronger, more courageous, braver? The robbers or the old man?

That's right. The old man! It is easy, isn't it, to grab and rob and steal. It is much harder to give away your belongings. You have to be brave and strong to do that.
When you grow up, you will do lots of different things in your work, in your lives. And as you do these things, you can BE a saint of God. You can be one who does what Jesus teaches us, who loves everyone, no matter what. I hope and pray that God will give you that desire.

Please close your eyes and let us pray:

Dear God, please help us to listen to Jesus and to do what he teaches us. Thank you for all of your saints who also teach us how to live a good life, how to be strong and brave and courageous. Help us to be like them, to love everyone in the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

FOR THE BAPTISM
Let me say a few words also in consideration of the baptism which brings many of you here today. Sean and Laura: do you realize what you are doing? It is a dangerous thing that you are doing today! It’s not safe to entrust your newborn child to the care of this Jesus, this revolutionary Messiah who will lead Tyler down a path of humility and self-sacrificial love. It costs us a lot to love our enemies and never to retaliate, never to get revenge. It costs a lot to give and not to grab.

To be baptized into the body of Christ is to be brought into a family full of people from all over the world, from every language and color and class, who are all a little bit crazy because we are learning from this Jesus how to live a life very different from the world around us. We don’t usually do a good job of this, but we are learning, and we are growing in grace and wisdom.

In just a few minutes, you parents and godparents will stand here and will promise to be part of this revolutionary, learning, serving, worshiping community, and to do everything in your power to guide Tyler into this way of life. It’s a little dangerous, but it’s a good thing that you do today. Because this way of life is the path to a life of joy and peace beyond anything else that this world can offer. And that is why we are here. Amen.

Not to Lose Heart

Sermon for Proper 24 C RCL 10/17/2010, offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Jeremiah 31:27-34; Psalm 119:97-104; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Luke 18:1-8

In our Gospel reading today, the Lord tells a parable to his disciples so that they would learn to pray always and not to lose heart. There are only 3 parables on prayer in all of the gospels, and all 3 of these prayer parables are found only here in Luke. We heard the first earlier in the summer, and next Sunday we will hear the 3rd of these. But today we are given this brief little parable for our meditation. And what is more, we are even told before hand what the lesson of this parable is meant to be!

“Jesus told the disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.”

What does it mean to lose heart? It’s an unusual Greek word that is used here and it means something like becoming weary or tired, losing heart, beginning to despair.

What a fitting word given to us today, I believe. I know that there are many among us here who are feeling weary and tired; many who are tired of carrying such a heavy load in the church all alone.

Well, if you are in that category, then listen well to this message of hope that the Lord brings to you today. The persistent widow who finally receives justice from the wicked judge because of her patience and perseverance is a lesson for all of us who labor in the Lord’s work but see little fruit for our efforts.

I spoke with you a few weeks ago about prayer, particularly about the woman who was praying a novena to St. Joseph. And I suggested that she was misguided in her prayers because she did not, first and foremost, seek after the will of God above all things. (10/3 Sermon - Life that really is life)

But there is, of course, a place for pleading to God for those things which are on our hearts. We call that the work of petition and intercession.

Let’s take a minute to get our understanding of prayer straight before we go any further. Please turn to the Catechism in the Prayer Book on Page 856. Let us look together at how the church has defined prayer, and particularly this discipline of asking God for help and relief.

Prayer and Worship (the first question)

Q. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is responding to God, by thought and by deeds, with or without words.

All that we can ever do in prayer is to respond. God always initiates; we are always in the position of reacting and responding to what God has done.

Q. What are the principle kinds of prayer? (at the bottom of the page)

A. The principle kinds of prayer are adoration, praise, thanksgiving, penitence, oblation, intercession, and petition.

There, at the end, are the forms of prayer that we are considering today: intercession and petition.

(on to the next page, about in the middle – the 6th question down)

Q. What are intercession and petition?
A. Intercession brings before God the needs of others; in petition, we present our own needs, that God's will may be done.

This work of prayer is nothing other than the work of love. If we love others, and if we love God, then it is natural and completely expected that we would bring to God the needs of those who love, and our own needs as well.

But this is not intended to be simply an individual effort. When we get down to it, the work of the church is prayer. Remember that the Lord’s concern when he entered the temple and overturned the tables was that the temple is to be “a house of prayer for all nations.” Our relationship with God – on an individual level – is our life of prayer. But this is true on a community level as well. Our collective connection with God begins and ends with prayer. It is our task to fulfill the vision of Jesus and to become a house of prayer for all people.


In his classic book called Prayer, Richard Foster shares the remarkable story of a prayer movement among churches in South Korea. Over the last 50 years, the church in Korea has absolutely exploded with exponential growth and, at least in terms of people who identify themselves as Christians when asked, South Korea today ranks as one of the most Christian nations on earth. One of the keys to this growth has been their commitment to prayer. Foster tells the story of Myong-Song Presbyterian Church in Seoul. Koreans are known for their early-morning prayer meetings, but this church has taken this to a new level. Back in the 1980’s, about 40 members of the church gathered together early in the morning to pray. By the mid-90’s, around 12,ooo people were coming out each morning simply to pray, and that’s all. They began at 4 AM. Once the church was completely full, they closed the doors and a large crowd waited outside until 5 AM when the doors opened and the next group was allowed inside. Another group entered at 6 AM. Even during cold winter mornings, with the temperature well below freezing, these crowds continue to gather each morning.

And why do they do this? Simply for the ability, and the privilege, to pray together.

By the way: isn’t it remarkable how quick we are to complain when things aren’t precisely as we would want them? And yet, here are thousands of Christians who are so eager to pray with their fellow believers, that they will wait up to 2 hours in the dark, in the cold, on the street, solely for the sake of that privilege of praying together?

This work of ongoing and unceasing prayer is what the church is all about. Thomas Merton wrote this about the ever-present call to prayer that we experience: “The ever-changing reality in the midst of which we live should awaken us to the possibility of an uninterrupted dialogue with God.”

Because change is the one constant in our human experience, this change offers us an opportunity to bring everything we experience before God in reverence and expectation, patiently waiting for the Spirit to move.

This is something that we are not particularly good at. Patiently waiting for God. I know that I am not very good at it. I’m a fix-it kind of guy. If something is broken, then let’s get to work and fix it. That’s how I think. That’s how I operate.

But, when things are broken within ourselves, or within our church, what kind of response does God teach us to take? Stop and pray and wait.



Right now, we have challenges in our congregations that keep us from being able to effectively bear witness to the gospel in our communities. What is the answer? What is the solution to our challenges? It is prayer. I can’t explain to you why or how this works. But prayer is why we are here, and prayer is the unique offering that we give to the world around us.

Prayer is our task. Both individually and collectively, to come before the presence of the living God with trust and to present our needs with hopeful expectation. This is not the easy path to take, but it is the faithful path, the one that leads to joy and abundance in our life together in Christ. Amen.

And With All Your Mind!

Sermon for Proper 11C RCL 7-18-2010, Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Amos 8:1-12; Psalm 52; Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42

Today we are given this great story from the Gospel of Luke to ponder. Mary and Martha are presented to us as two different models of discipleship, two divergent paths by which we faithfully love and serve the Lord. Of course, Mary is the exalted one, the one highlighted as choosing the better path. But wisdom demands that we never forget the importance of labor and work which Martha represents.

Back in the 4th century, a certain man came to a monastery in the desert at Mount Sinai and he saw a busy community full of activity. He spoke to the abbot there and said, “Why do you all work for the bread that perishes? Mary has chosen the best part, namely to sit at the feet of the Lord without working!”

So the abbot called to one of his monks and said, “Give this brother a book and let him read, and put him up in an empty cell.”

By the time the ninth hour arrived (3 o’clock in the afternoon), the visitor who was reading began to look outside to see if the abbot would call him to dinner. After a while longer, he went out to find the abbot and asked him. “Did the brethren not eat today, father?”

“Oh yes, certainly,” replied the abbot. “They just had dinner.” “Well, then, why didn’t you call me?”

“You, of course, are a spiritual man,” said the abbot. “You don’t need this food which perishes. We have to work, but you have chosen the best part. You read all day, and can get along without food!”

The visitor was humbled and replied, “Forgive me, father.”

And the wise abbot replied, “Martha is necessary to Mary, for it was because Martha worked that Mary was able to be praised!” (from The Wisdom of the Desert by Thomas Merton, p. 36).

Another time among the Desert Fathers and Mothers in the 4th century, it was told that the famous Abbot called John the Dwarf once called his elder brother and told him, “I want to live in the same security as the angels have, doing no work, but serving God without intermission.” And so he stripped off all his clothes, left everything behind and walked out into the desert, unattached and free.

After only one week, John the Dwarf returned to his brother and knocked on his door. Before opening, the brother called out, “Who are you?” The reply came, “I am John.”

Then the brother answered, “John has become an angel and is no longer among men.” But John the Dwarf kept knocking and pleading to be let in. For a long time, the brother did not open the door, until finally he did so. But before he let John inside, he said to him, “If you are a man, you are going to have to start working again in order to live. But if you are an angel, why do you want to come inside?”

So John the Dwarf did penance and said, “Forgive me, brother, for I have sinned" (Ibid, p.41)

These fun, little stories from the ancient desert reflect the wisdom of the church that will not allow us to adopt an extreme position which negates the importance of either sister. Poor Martha! Her stature is humbled in this story, but we all know that her efforts are absolutely necessary after all.

So what then is the Gospel telling us through this story? We have to see this famous story of Martha and Mary as the other side of the coin along with the story of the Good Samaritan. These two are purposefully put together by Luke to give concrete expression to the summary of the law from earlier in Chapter 10: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

In the Good Samaritan, we see the love of neighbor; in Mary and Martha, we see the love of God.

Both of these also fulfill the vision of Jesus from earlier in Luke when he said, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21).

For Mary hears the word of God. It is Martha and the Samaritan who do it!

The apostle Paul stated that faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). To love the Lord our God with all our mind means that we hear Christ speak and then we have to think. God wants us to think carefully about how we live. Our task as disciples is, like Mary, to sit at the feet of the Lord, to listen carefully to his teaching, and to do our best to put this teaching into practice in our daily actions.

My friends, it’s not the easy way to live, but you and I are called to be diligent in thinking. We are promised that it is in fact the way to an abundant and full life.

For instance, my conscience will not allow me to use a gas-powered mower for our lawn. Now, I am not so vain as to stand here and say to you that Jesus told me not to do this! That would be ridiculous! But this conviction has come about as a result of thinking carefully in light of the Gospels.

Let me ask you: is it right that my vanity to have a perfectly manicured lawn, and my desire to avoid physical extertion, is a good cause for us to invade other nations to secure a good oil supply for the future? Or to drill holes in the bottom of the ocean? Because of our inability to control ourselves, we place so much of the world at great risk – both the natural world and human society! I know that we need oil for our society to function. I’m not that naïve. But the truth is that I DON’T need it for my lawn!

Jesus teaches me to weigh these two factors: concern about what my neighbors might say about my imperfect lawn (since our old-fashioned reel mower doesn’t provide as close of a cut) or the health of the world and the peace of human society. It may be easier to use a gas mower, and it may provide better results, but does that mean that it is the best option?

Truth be told, it is difficult at times to live as a Christian, to think with such vigilance about our actions. Last week, I had an appointment to have my teeth cleaned by my dentist. And during the cleaning, the hygienist asked me, “Do you use an electric toothbrush?” Of course, I couldn’t answer, with four of her fingers and a suction tube shoved in my mouth! But I shook my head no and she suggested that it really would be a good idea.

I didn’t give her my explanation when I finally had free use of my mouth again, but the truth is that we cannot do that! If all 6.85 billion people in the world used electric toothbrushes, then we would need to build more power plants just to power all of these brushes! (I actually researched this, and it would take approximately 22 Gigawatts of energy per year to power all of these toobrushes!)

No. We need to be smarter than that. When nearly one billion people today do not have access to reliable electricity at all, for me, this would be the selfish misuse of resources!

The point is this, my brothers and sisters: when we listen to what Jesus’ teaches, when we think about our lives in light of his teaching, we learn that self-interest can never be the primary measure for any of our decisions. To love my neighbor as myself means that I am willing, and able, to lay aside my own desires in order to consider the needs of others, whoever they might be. To love God with all my mind means that I am willing, and able, to consider carefully the effects of my actions upon others, whoever they might be.

So may God give us all grace to listen like Mary to the word of Christ, then to bring the practical wisdom of Martha, and the compassion of the Good Samaritan, to bear upon our decisions, so that we may think and to act as those who hear the Word of God and do it - as disciples of Christ in this world. Amen.

The Spiritual Rock

Sermon for 3 Lent C (RCL) 3/7/2010, Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9

YOUTH SUNDAY
I am so glad to be here with you this morning! Please raise your hand if you know that God loves you! God loves you very much, and God wants to teach you many things so that you can lead a good, full, and joyful life.

And do you know what? God led me to bring this rock, this stone, with me this morning. There are a lot of things that we can learn from rocks like this. But there are just 3 things today that I want to teach you today from this rock.

We just heard the words of St. Paul and the Lord Jesus in our readings today, and both of them were warning us that we need to be careful about how we live. If we’re not careful, we will make a lot of bad choices which will hurt us.

Did you know that the people in Jesus’ time were constantly fighting with the Romans? (A lot like Iraq today, where this are bombing and attacks every day and people are being killed every day.) It was a bad situation and a lot of people were killed by the Roman soldiers all the time. Well, Jesus taught them that if they don’t change and stop fighting with the Romans, then their entire nation was going to be destroyed! Jesus taught them that they need to stop being angry at the Romans and instead to pray for them!

For 2000 years now, the Church has been learning how to follow all that Jesus taught and they have left us a lot of good stories to teach us.

(This story is from The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers by Thomas Merton)

One good story from some wise Christian saints about the stupidity of acting like the people were acting in Jesus’ time. It is about St. Anthony, a very wise man who lived in the deserts of Egypt.

“Abbot (St.) Anthony taught Abbot Ammonas (his student), saying: ‘You must advance yet further in the fear of God.’ And taking him out of the cell he showed him a stone, saying: ‘Go and insult that stone, and beat it without ceasing.’ When this had been done, St. Anthony asked him if the stone answered back. ‘No’, said Ammonas (his student).”

Let’s try it ourselves, shall we? Why don’t you take turns insulting the rock? We won’t beat it or hit it, but just yell at it. “You’re stupid!” “You’re an idiot!” “You’re ugly!”

It’s really pretty stupid to do this, isn’t it? Jesus tells us that this is what we are like when we are angry and fight all the time. We can never win, we can never be happy living that way. And even more, if we keep fighting and yelling all the time, then we are the ones who are going to get hurt!

But do you know what’s even more interesting, I think? St. Anthony ended his teaching story in a very different way. Do you know what he told his student?

“Then Abbot Anthony said: ‘You too must reach the point where you no longer take offense at anything.’”

He said, you must become like this rock! So that if people say nasty things to you or try to hurt you with their words, then – just like this rock – you can continue on and not be bothered at all!

You could yell at this rock every day and you’re not going to hurt it at all! People who love Jesus and follow him become like that! People can try to hurt us every day, but they can’t really hurt us at all. Because we’re strong! And we know who we are! We know that God loves us, no matter what anyone else might think.

And do you know how you and I can become that way? Become as strong as this rock?

We can become strong like this because Jesus is the rock!

St Paul said that the Israelites all “drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Jesus Christ.” Jesus is the Rock.

There’s an old song that goes like this: “On Christ the solid rock I stand! All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.”

We need to turn to God to receive great strength. Everything that we could need is there. Grow in stillness (apatheia), which is contentment and peace.

A good way to start is by simply learning how to pray small little prayers all throughout your day, whenever you need any kind of help. “Jesus, help me.” “Jesus, guide me.” “Jesus, make me strong.” When we learn to really listen to what Jesus teaches us and ask him to help us, then we will become so strong that no one can ever really hurt us, because Jesus the Rock keeps us safe.