Homosexuality
Acts 10:1-20, 28-29
Luke 10:1-12
February 17, 1991
I have often thought the Bible should he divided into segments and rated the way we do movies. Some parts of Scripture should have a ” PG” rating – generally acceptable to everyone, full of inoffensive stories on good living that could be used for Sunday school lessons. Other parts ought to be labeled ” R” for more mature readers. At times, these sections could be used in sermons. They are thought-provoking enough to illustrate challenging concepts.
And then there are still other parts of the Bible that should be labeled with an ” R, ” definitely restricted to those who are not upset by the truth. These parts are extremely threatening to those who want their religion to be comforting, safe, and secure. The ” R” sections contain shocking notions and ought to be read only by those who can handle explosive thoughts. “I dare you to preach on these passages, I once heard a clergy person say, ” you had better have an outside source of income and a job offer in some other town.”
The passage we just read, from the Book of Acts, is definitely such a section. It ought to be labeled ” R” – not for everyone, adults only – for it is disturbing in its direction and shocking in its implications.
In this passage, we see Simon Peter on a rooftop, and he is hungry, not having eaten all day. The body has certain fundamental needs, and it’s not helpful to forget those – so far we’re on safe “PG” ground.
But then, we read, Peter had a dream, a vision, an encounter with God. And in that encounter, God sends him every manner of animal, telling him to kill and to eat. Three times this happened – it seems God doesn’t want Peter to forget this lesson. Each time the Lord commanded him to eat birds, reptiles and pigs but Peter steadfastly resisted,
It’s not surprising that Peter is hesitant. All his life, he had lived with the moral law that every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth is an abomination and it shall not be eaten. Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, all the swarming things that swarm upon the earth, you shall not eat, for they are an abomination. ” That is the Levitical code, which Peter knew by heart and could easily quote. Peter was a good Jew. He had gone to the equivalent of Sunday school, and he knew his Bible. Now, God was suggesting a course of action completely opposite to the Biblical teaching. ” Kill and eat.
” What God has created, you must not call bad or dirty. ” Here is the very basis of our faith: ” The goodness, the rightness of all of God’s creation. ” And here, God reminds Peter that to be new person in Christ means to accept, to welcome, to affirm all parts of God’s creation.
This is really a shocking story. It says very slightly and clearly that we must be inclusive rather than exclusive. The questions all role customs, our old morality that leads to excluding and judging people. What we thought was an abomination may not be. The ways we thought we ought to act may not be God’s ways period what is morally wrong, or bad, or dirty, ain’t necessarily so.
this sounds like Jesus doesn’t it? There was one of those Levitical laws about working on the Sabbath, and one day Jesus’s disciples picked some grain on the Sabbath. The Pharisees, who were experts at playing the game, declared they were an abomination. But Jesus said laws change with different circumstances. To make them immutable or unchangeable, even a moral law, was to make the law an idol. Only God and God’s love were unchangeable.
For Peter, and I suspect for many of us, rigidity is more of a problem than we may think. We hold on to the old way as if it came straight from God. At least we know who the good and bad guys are but God finally nudges Peter to eat something he thought was bad period ritually impure. Maybe, maybe, this passage is inviting us to look at question and search out our old assumptions. Conventional wisdom is not something that is fixed particularly when it leads to exclusivity remember, what God has created, you must not call common or dirty, remember, old ideas are not necessarily fixed forever.
Turning once again to the passage from axe, we find Cornelius, a gentile, sending some friends requests that Peter come and share the good news with them. Peter not only is now willing, but first he bids the friends of Cornelius to come into his home. Under the old law, under Jewish morality, it is an abomination to invite gentiles to visit, but that was what Peter did. As scripture says, he called them to be his guests.
Incidentally, the word abomination in Hebrew tovah, is also used in Leviticus and reference to eating pork, misuse of incense, homosexual acts, and eating sliced fish. Generally, the word doesn’t signify anything evil, but rather refers to ritual and purity. So Peter is being challenged to commit an abomination, to become ritually unclean for the sake of Christ. He demonstrates that the old morality must be replaced with the law of inclusion, of love.
Jesus understood this and emphasized that, more often than anything else, inhospitality, exclusion, was one of the worst things a person could do as far as Jesus was concerned. This, as you can tell from our gospel, is the terrible sin of sodom, and not anything to do this as we often think, the act of homosexuality.
Recently, I read a great story about Sodom and Gomorrah. A political scientist who was also a good lady of theologian, open the speech he was giving in Washington DC in this manner Washington is full of sodomites. The Congress of the United states is full of sodomites. Then he said let me tell you what sodom means. I will read from the book of Ezekiel, the 16th chapter some of the 49th verse. This was the sin of your sister sodom she and her daughters had deprived and go with food and plenty, comfort and ease, and she never helped the poor in their need and he went on to say the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah has been the sin of inhospitable ality followed the sin of hardness of heart in the presence of human need the sin of neglecting the poor that is what the sodomy is all about.
I’m sure he captured his audience’s attention the same way the story of Peter and the friends of Cornelius must have captured there attention. Looking once again at our store, we find Peter journeying to the centurions house and sharing the good news with him. You might overlook this incident, or simply say it’s only justice that everyone has the good news preached, this is a PG statement, good, but suppose the good news contained these Now listen closely to Peter’s speech. Truly, I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
Could it be that the Holy Spirit, in our time, is speaking to each of us, telling us to put aside our moral hypocrisy and to begin to accept people as they are. Certainly this is what Jesus urged upon all his hearers. Possibly Peter’s struggle might be ours. Possibly we are being let’s declare with Peter the same statement of faith. Only today we might make it more explicit, for the gentiles in our midst, the so-called unclean, are not those who are uncircumcised or who are foreigners. The gentiles are those who have a different sexual orientation, period the gays, the lesbians, the homosexuals, or whatever term we want to use.
I would dare to suggest to you that Peter’s confession of faith could and should be said this way. Truly, I perceive that God shows me partiality, all of his creation is good, but in every sexual orientation, anyone who fears him, who knows him, and does what is right is acceptable to him.
This passage is shocking, disturbing, and destabilizing because the questions are fixed certainties. The shock of Christ is that many of our conventional explanations in our middle-class standards may not be God’s standards. This passage should be rated R for its shakes us out of our drowsy mediocrity. If we take this passage seriously, we will have to adjust the old morality and base a new understanding not on laws and customs but solely on love, the love of Christ.
Good people, it may be a shock to learn that Jesus never really spoke about sex. There were only three issues he felt to cut us off from God’s love: idolatry, that is, thinking things are fixed, immutable, unchangeable. The property, which declares one thing and acting in another way, and inhospitality, which excludes certain people and neglects the outcast.
The sermon today, was to be on the ordination of people with homosexual orientation, and the blessing of monogamous same sex relationships I was going to speak at length about justice for all people I was going to point out that homosexual relationships are not a choice for most people but rather a discovery, often painful, of the way the son of God’s children are created and finally, I was going to urge us all to consider this blessing all the same sex millions that are monogamous Internet coming growing, loving life giving relationships. I was going to do all of that, but in this one sense, these are single issues which each of us has to puzzle out, not as people lacking in guidance and direction from scripture. Not as people lacking in ethics based on love rather than custom. The mind of Christ has been made known to us if we are willing to wrestle with those difficult passages rated R. And, Peter story can speak to each one of us; for truly I perceive that God shows me partiality but in every sexual orientation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
Amen
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State of the Parish
January 22, 1995
I’m taking the sermon time to present the State of the Parish Address for three reasons. First, I want to present a framework for our meeting. Second, I want to have our meeting be more of a dialogue and less of a monologue. And third, I want to reach more people, and I don’t think everybody who comes to the worship service will be able to come for lunch and the meeting.
So let me start out by saying it’s been a difficult year. Staff-wise, it has been difficult with the retirement of an important friend and co-worker, the dismissal of one of the clergy, and the leaving of two valued part-time people. Changes are always hard. The financial crunch and the unrealistic viewpoint of so many people who maintain that we are a rich, successful paIish – and don’t really need to have people raise the level of stewardship – has been hard to overcome. Finally, the difficulty that has resulted from working with plans and hopes that have to be constantly adjusted because of an inadequate physical plant. A plant that is deteriorating rapidly and is ill-suited for a number of necessary actions. Believe me, this has made it a difficult year.
But when I let the difficulties get to me, I am often reminded of a wonderful story from Moss Hart’s book, “Act One.” The story has become a classic in Jewish anecdotes.
Hart had a brother, Bernie, who was his stage manager for many shows. Once, the two of them were working on a new play that opened in Washington. The critics panned it, and the public stayed away in droves. It closed temporarily after a few performances.
Moss went to work rewriting. The cast worked hard, hoping that their theatrical magic would come through. But the more everybody worked, the worse it seemed to get. One day, Bernie realized that they had reached the bottom, and he tried to reassure his brother. “Moss,” he said, We Jews made it out of Egypt, and we will get out of Washington.”
I have thought of that piece of advice several times in the past few months. And I found myself reassuring myself by saying, ‘We’ve made it through other difficult times, and we will probably survive this one.”
The truth of the matter is that we have been living on the edge. We are not realistic about our finances. Our expenses far exceed our income. And our dreams are usually far ahead of our stewardship. Usually, we have indeed managed to keep the wolf away from the door (to use an old Depression cliché), but it has only been because of some unplanned acts of generosity. The trouble is that you can’t always hope that the cavalry will show up in the last reel and make everything come out the way Hollywood would have us believe.
The finance people have quite rightly directed us to stop living on the edge – and to realistically concentrate on bringing our resources in line with our stewardship. This is going to necessitate our being more critical about how and when we spend our money.
I don’t disagree with this counsel – certainly belt-tightening is healthy – but I don’t want this State of the Parish Address to sound like it was ghostwritten by Newt Gingrich. Nor do I want us to become overly depressed and lose sight of our goals. Recently, a friend told me of an incident that was a kind of parable for me. He was waiting by an entrance where a sign instructed drivers to “yield.” Unfortunately, he got behind someone who just kept waiting and waiting as the traffic roared by. Finally, frustration got to him – and he rolled down his window and yelled, ‘Hey – the sign says yield – not give up.”
Well, I hope we can yield and make a few priority changes and not give up. I will always remember Peter Drucker’s counsel: ‘The church,” he said, “has a tendency to feed problems and starve opportunities.” God willing, this parish will not be like most parishes, and just give up because of a financial crisis, or just worry about finances, and play it safe.
A few weeks ago, I met with the clergy to discuss the State of the Parish Address. They suggested that we focus on our vision and what is exciting about our dreams. As one person said, ‘You’re a dreamer and you have emphasized dreaming over the years. Don’t stop now.” So, in that spirit, let me go on with our dreams and less on our problems.
The first dream, for the coming year, comes directly from the Vestry. They have even named it; St. Philip’s Academy. This Academy is going to call for a priority shift toward children’s work. This is going to call forth a greater emphasis on Sunday School, after-school programs, and possibly a day school, starting with a nursery school. St. Philip’s Academy will concentrate on music and the arts, as well as pioneering new ways to educate our young people. Our music program is one of the best in the country – and our Vestry wants to expand on that base with the education for our young people_
Our second dream is to reach out to younger adults while still maintaining our ministries to those of us with gray hair. The parish leadership in the future will be coming from those people in the 20 to 40-year age bracket. It behooves us to expand ways to reach this age group.
The third dream is a big one, but it is a necessary component of the first two. That dream is to expand the Gallery and build some new buildings. We are constantly hampered by our lack of facilities. Right now, we need more church school rooms, more meeting rooms. La Casita and La Panoquia are on their last legs. We have got to do something about them, and patching will no longer suffice. Frankly, I was hoping to dodge that bullet, but I have become convinced that if we are to be responsive to God’s call, we have to act now.
Well, what does all this say to us as a parish? Why go forward? Why not stop and live out our days? After all, building and starting new programs and attracting new people inevitably leads to upsets. Changing the status quo produces pain and anxiety. And all of this makes greater demands upon our energies and resources. Sometimes I say to myself, “Roger, just let it all be. Things are relatively peaceful. Life is pretty good. Why not sit back and enjoy what has been accomplished? But then a voice comes to me and says, “Follow me” – which doesn’t mean sitting back, doesn’t mean letting someone else do it, doesn’t mean playing it safe.
Let me end our thoughts by referring to our first lesson from Acts. You might recall, it took place on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. But the spirit of the story is rooted right here on River Road. It is the story of a young Ethiopian who was traveling on that road. He meets Philip, our patron Saint, in whose honor the parish is named. Philip and the Ethiopian fall into a discussion about a passage in the Bible. And Philip uses this opportunay to share his faith in Jesus Christ. The Ethiopian then responds with the spirit that animates & God willing, this parish_ He looks out of his carriage and says, “Here is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” The modern expression of that spirit is: “Hey, why not? Let’s give it a try. What is there to prevent us from following the impulses of the Spirit?’
My hope – my dream – is that little vignette can be part of the vision of our parish as we face the coming years. That more and more people are willing to say: ‘Hey, why not? Let’s give it a try.” AMEN. -
The State of the Parish
Isaiah 49:1-7 Mark 1:14-20
January 23, 2000
In 1789, when Thomas Jefferson was ambassador to France, he wrote this description of King Louis XVI: “In normal times, he would undoubtedly make an amiable and acceptable monarch. Unfortunately, his ancestors bequeathed him a revolution.”
We, too, have been bequeathed a revolution. In normal times – fifty, thirty, even ten years ago – we would not be using a term like revolution. We might have spoken of changing times, rethinking our priorities, and making some adjustments, but that isn’t good enough today.
On one hand, in a perverse way, I’m grateful for the county’s condemnation move. Without their actions, we may not have been ~aware of our being in the midst of a revolution.
The revolution has been sneaking up on us. It’s been gradual, subtle, and many of us have been unconscious of the extent to which life has changed. Preachers have told us that the church is no longer a mainline part of the culture, but it takes what happened a few weeks ago for us to realize what a sideline part of contemporary society we have become.
Make no mistake, the church has always stood over against the power structure. We’ve always maintained that beauty and the sense of the holy take precedent over mere economics and so-called practical considerations. We’ve proclaimed that holy ground is worth more than highways. And we’ve tended to take for granted that the
majority of people believed the way we did. Well, we’ve had a wake-up call. We’re coming to the realization that we’ve been living in a stained glass cocoon. All around us, times have been changing. We just didn’t realize it.
Now don’t misunderstand me. The River Road controversy is not the revolution. In a sense, this is simply a minor skirmish, a symbolic brush between those who would be blind to sacred places and a small minority who say a church plaza is more important than a bank and worth a lot more.
We are still learning as a parish how to organize for a revolution and what it’s all about. We haven’t even been able to identify all the forces set against us. In the days ahead, we’ll probably make many mistakes. But here are some suggestions regarding the nature of the revolution and how we, as a parish, might act in these times of rapid change.
First, we must learn to care for each other better. This isn’t as easy as it might seem, since much of what we imagined the parish to be isn’t really there anymore. Let me just give you one example. The church, our community, is no longer a family-based institution. We say to the world that we are 1,500 families, and we assume the family is the backbone of the parish structure. The truth of the matter, for many, is that the family is not there. Family, in the traditional sense, is not part of many people’s experience. Dysfunctions, divorce, relocation, people choosing the single life, and new types of loving relationships all contribute to this being a brand new world. The concept of the nuclear family (wife, husband, two children) is no longer what we find. Therefore, as a friend of mine has said, “Now we have to learn to be a family instead of saying we have families.” We have to learn to practice a new kind of hospitality, to welcome people in new ways, to bear one another’s burdens in this new millennium. Last week, John called on us to be the village that raises the child. How do we do this in a culture that is less family-oriented, in a society that is not even certain what constitutes a recognizable family?
How we do this is one of the challenges facing this parish.
The second thing we have to begin doing is to see ourselves in a different light. We have to understand that we are all called. God has a special purpose for us, an expectation for each one of us. You are, in the words of Isaiah, “to be a polished arrow,” something special for God. God has set each one of us aside while we were still in the womb.
We live in a culture that gives a very clear message – “people don’t matter” – only the bottom line matters, and part of the revolution is that we have to refute that message. People do matter, for each of us has a calling. We have been chosen to make a difference in this world of ours. We have been chosen to be a beacon of compassion and caring in a world that doesn’t give a damn for anything that doesn’t benefit its own special interests.
The big problem is that we’ve taken this calling, this vocation, for granted. Isaiah talks about assuming tasks that are just too small for those who are called out. God has bigger things in mind than simply carrying on business as usual. Isaiah reminds his hearers that they are in the midst of a revolution, and that the stakes are higher than we might imagine.
The Jewish people in the Bible thought they were living in fairly settled times; therefore, they thought all that God wanted of them was to look after themselves, be happy, and stay out of trouble. That might have been good advice from your parents when you went out on a date. Unfortunately, Isaiah tells them it doesn’t fit with these circumstances. It’s too small, too insignificant, too pedestrian, too safety-oriented a position. The people of Israel were called to be different, odd, special, to challenge the powers that be, to stand for some things that might not be popular, and to seek God’s way in a culture that seeks the easy way.
And so are we. I am convinced God is challenging each of us to rethink who we are and what we might do as we seek to be God’s family, God’s people in a hostile or indifferent environment. The next few days and, few months aren’t going to be smooth sailing. We’re going to be called to make some real sacrifices. We’re going to be led beyond our comfort zones. This next year is going to be a year of great change. It’s no small thing that each of us will be called to do. In normal times, we would probably have sat back and been amicable. Unfortunately, we have been bequeathed a revolution. God willing, we can respond appropriately.
Amen -
The Rector’s Address
Mark 10: 13-16
January 26, 1997
As has been my custom over the last several years, on the morning of the parish meeting, I make my report at the major service. I do this because of a feeling that the rector’s report should be made in the context of worship: for worship has been and remains the primary reason for our being. It’s what sets us apart as a Christian community.
This morning, I am planning my remarks within the framework of an old children’s story which I have adapted. It has a lot of different versions, but they all bear the same title: “The Story of Stone Soup.” Here’s my Epiphany version.
Three strangers trudged down a road in a foreign land. The three strangers were on a journey, following a star. They were tired and hungry, for they had not eaten or rested for several days.
“How I would like a good meal,” said the first. “And a welcome place to sit and rest,” said the second. “Don’t forget we are on a mission,” said the third. “We journey to find the Christ child.”
Suddenly, ahead of them, they saw the light of a village.
“Maybe we will find some food,” said the first. “Perhaps they will be friendly,” said the second. “No harm in trying,” said the third.
Now, the inhabitants of that place were fearful of Strangers.
They kept hoping that new people would not stop at their village. And since they were not a well-to-do village, they said to themselves, “If strangers ask for food, we will tell them we have none. Possibly then, they will leave.” So they hurried to hide what little they had when they saw the strangers coming.
The three strangers arrived and said, “God bless this community and everyone who resides here. Could you spare a bit of food for three people on a journey to find Christ?”
“Sorry, we have no food. Times have been hard,” said several inhabitants. “And we already have too many mouths to feed,” said some of the others.
“Well then,” said the three strangers, “we will make stone soup.” Stone soup, that will be interesting to see, the people muttered to themselves. “All we need,” the strangers said, “are some stones and a large pot.” Someone quickly fetched a pot for them. And now they said, “If each of you would go to your home and get a bucket of water and put a small amount of food with the water, we will quickly make some soup.”
Each person did as requested, except in their buckets, all they brought was water. For each villager had said to himself, “Some one else can bring food. I need what I have for myself. Anyway my neighbors have more than I do. They surely can make a contribution of food.”
Soon, each person dumped the contents of their bucket, and the pot began to boil. But when the strangers lifted the lid of the pot, all they saw were three stones and some water boiling. Everybody laughed at the strangers, saying, “What a silly idea. Soup from stones. You three are just dreamers. Be on your way.”
And so the three travelers left that community, still following the star. Finally, just as nightfall was descending, they came to another village. As they entered, they cried out, “God bless this community and everyone who resides here. We are three people searching for the Christ child, and we would ask you for food and a place to rest.” The people from the village said, “We have almost no food. The winter has been difficult. But you are welcome to rest here.”
Then the first stranger said, “I guess we will have to make stone soup.” The inhabitants of the village simply stared and said to themselves, “Are these three strangers magicians’ One of the strangers said, “We will need the largest pot you can find.” And the mayor brought this forth from his home. And then another said, “Fill it with water, and put some sticks to light a fire under it.”
It took many buckets to fill the pot, and soon a roaring fire was going under it. And then they found three smooth stones to put in the pot. And then they prayed, giving thanks to God for what they had.
As the strangers began to stir the water, they turned to one of the children standing nearby and said, “We can use a little salt and pepper.” The Child quickly fetched these condiments.
After a while, they said, “Stones like these make good soup, but what if there were carrots? It would be better.” And another Child ran and brought a bundle of carrots from the bin beneath his house.
As they were slicing the carrots, one of the strangers said, “Good stone soup really ought to have cabbage, but it’s no use asking for what you don’t have.” “I think my parents have some hidden in their cupboard,” said a little girl. Soon she returned with three heads of cabbage. And so it went, all through the evening. One or another of the strangers would say, “My, we can use a few potatoes, or a little meat, or some rice,” and a young person would run home to get it.
At last, the soup was ready. “All the community is invited to join us,” said the strangers. “But first, tables must be set.” Great tables were placed in the center of the square.
As they began to sit down, someone said, “Surely we need bread for a feast like this.” And instantly, someone supplied the bread.
Never had there been such a feast. The whole community ate and sang far into the night. As the feast continued, each person seemed to glow with an inner radiance. When it was over, the mayor said to the strangers, “Go in peace, for what you have taught us is that we shall never be hungry again. You may be searching for Christ. But as for us, we have found Christ together in this meal. And for this, we give thanks for your visit.”
Stone soup. It’s a children’s story that’ve adapted with the help of Matthew and Luke. But I ask you to think of its implications for our life at St Philip’s.
In the first village, the inhabitants never actualized the vision. The reason was that they saw themselves as too poor, too lacking in resources to respond. This is a common illusion for many people. It’s almost a parody of poverty. Compared to someone else, I appear to be poor, or at least less fortunate. It’s what I call the “small potatoes syndrome.” Here’s how it goes – because I’m so little, so poor, or have so little to contribute – my gifts, my talents, my treasure will not matter.
The secret we celebrate each Sunday is that every person is important, and each person’s gifts joined together, is what make a great parish. In the coming year, I want to find new ways to get that message across. And I’m not simply speaking about the capital campaign, although that certainly is an illustration. My dream is that, more and more, we can learn what it means to share our gifts and our talents in ministry. As far as I’m concerned, that’s what all our journey courses, such as a journey to Adulthood for teens, Quest for adults, are all about . . . learning to share ourselves, our journey, our gifts, our ministries.
Secondly, as we look at the stone soup story, we find it is the children who lead the way. “Suffer the little children to come to me,” said our Lord. I believe he meant that the inclusion, the nurture, the concern for children was a mark of his followers. We’ve tried to do this by making the children’s center the primary focus of our “Yes to the Future” campaign. We have also been putting this emphasis on our many children’s activities. This past month I made an experiment. A number of you received a letter from me, with the name of a youngster registered in the church school. In the letter, I made a simple request – remember this child when you say your prayers. I also said that from time to time I would send information about this child. The idea came from a partner whose children were grown. She felt that those parishioners who did not have youngsters in the school could, through prayer have some relationship with our young people. Hopefully, the dimension of children will more and more infuse our congregation, since they represent the possibility of new life in the future.
Now, I want to take this one step further. I want to challenge the vestry and the outreach people. As many of you know, a decision was made that 10% or a tithe of our “Yes to the Future” campaign will not be going towards buildings. It will be used for some outreach into the greater community. And this will be determined by a vestry committee at a later date. My challenge to the committee, yet to be named, is that the money be put toward some project or projects that directly impact children’s lives. There are a lot of worthy projects that have already been mentioned, but only a few that will directly benefit kids.
The more I think about the story of the stone soup, the more I can see parallels to the feeding of the five thousand. It was a child who led the way in both. And the feeding stories contain the basic outline (paradigm) for all Christian ministry. In the stone soup story an enormous meal took place in the minds and hearts of the people. Something at the very core of Christian ministry was revealed.
I believe that something might be called the “Economics of Jesus.” You will not find it taught at Stanford or Harvard or U of A business schools, but it is very much a part of the Christian understanding of life. Here’s how it goes:
“Whatever you have, no matter how small, if given with love, has the potential to grow beyond what you might think.” So easy to say, so hard to believe. Notice the three travelers never fretted or moaned over a lack of resources. They simply said, “Does anybody have a little salt or some potatoes, some meat? Bring it to the pot.” And then each child brought his or her unique contribution. The quantity wasn’t important. The gift was what counted. And it multiplied.
“Yes to the Future” is going to be built on the “Economics of Jesus.” At first, the task seemed insurmountable. And we reacted the way our patron Saint Philip, did in the loaves and fishes story. We said, “How can we possibly say yes when the task seemed beyond our resources?” And in the months ahead, we’re going to find out that our small contributions are more than enough when they are in God’s hands.
One last observation. It’s about the vision. Stone soup is simply a symbol. It’s really not about making soup. The story is simply a symbol of the involvement of an entire community. In the same way, saying “Yes to the Future” is not really about raising money, erecting buildings. It’s not even about reaching out to families with children. It’s really about choosing a future for this parish of ours. It’s about embracing a dream. It’s about becoming more and more the Body of Christ. The wonderful learning from the children’s story is that it can only happen if the whole community shares in the dream.
There is an old Spanish saying with which I would leave you. I believe it, and I hope you will embrace it also in the coming year. “Juntos, si se puede!” “Together, yes, it can be done!” And God willing, “Yes” together, we will get it done.
Amen. -
State of the Parish
Mark 1:14-20
January 27, 1991
It’s good that we end our annual meeting in the Church. This annual get-together of the stockholders (too much like Wall Street ) , owners (too corporate) , voting members (too political ), I know – this annual get-together of the ministers is always a good time for breaking bread, listening to the word, and singing hymns; a time of celebration.
This celebration gives me an opportunity to express my gratitude to all of you for allowing me to minister in this community. Saint Philip’s is an extraordinary, diverse, and remarkable place . People come here from all over the country. we have a national reputation for excellence in programs and music, and for the beauty of our architecture, all of which makes it a privilege and a blessing to be a part of this institution. You challenge me to live up to, and into, my profession as a Christian minister and as a human being.
I thank you for that.
I am also convinced that being a part of Saint Philip’s is a blessing for all of you. I recently read that tests have shown there is less depression and disease, and lower mortality for churchgoers than for non-churchgoers. I have an idea! We ought to take out a full page ad in one of our : Local papers: ” Lower your chances of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary emphysema, cirrhosis of the liver; become a member of Saint Philips! ” Who knows? This may be a new way of evangelism.
But seriously, at a time of celebration like this, we ought to begin thinking of reasons to give thanks. Why are we part of this community? And what does it do for us?
I would like to suggest that, first and foremost, being a part of this church community makes you a minister. To be a part of Saint Philip’s is to be given a ministry. You are one of the called-out ones.
Someone came up to me a while back and remarked how difficult a job it must be, ministering to 1,400 families. “That is not the difficult part of my job,” I said, The really tough part of the job is convincing all the other people that they are called out to minister. It’s primarily to coach, to encourage, to manage, to empower ministry in other people. ”
On Super Bowl Sunday, the analogy seems very appropriate. If Marv Levy or Bill Parcells, the coaches for the Bills and the Giants, thought they ought to play on the field, we would think it’s bad football. Coaches should coach, and players should play. And so it is with the Church. The clergy should coach; you are the players. Our task is to assist you in your ministry; it’s not the other way around. You’re not here to help us with our ministry.
But let me come back to the purpose of this address, the state of the Parish,
And I want to report to you that we’ve made some major strides as a community in our shared ministry this year more and more people are leaving the stands and coming into the field of play
. Let me single out three areas. These certainly are not the only ones but in their own way these activities have made a terrific impact in our ministry
the first is the meta church leaders with their cell groups there are, so far, eight groups or small Apostolic communities of caring ministering people with six more ready to go by the end of the year we should have about 25 groups going with about 260 people involved. These are communities of ministers who are learning to love, to share, to be disciples, to be Apostolic communities. And I want you to know about them, just pick up the New Testament the acts of the apostle it describes them well.
The second area is in the past oral services. This includes the eucharistic ministers, the Stephen ministers, the telephone group, the post hospital group, and many other groups within this broad area. If we are learning to take care of ourselves, to minister to each other and that’s what it’s all about. A very clear message is being spread the message of caring.
To be a member of Saint Phillips is to be cared for and be a caregiver, to serve and to be served, to minister and be ministered to.
The third area was the loaves and fishes, our newspaper Very lifeblood of our communication. Have you ever speculated what might have happened to the early church that Paul and a few others not been such good communicators and newspaper piercings. One of the things that mixed the early church together in ministry is Paul’s newsletter and we’re still reading from them. The loaves and fishes staff has been doing a remarkable job and I thank them for it they are also becoming a cell group
let me insert a fourth area which is really future business. I mentioned it at the meeting. This is the mission in the northwest. All the parishes have agreed to call out three families to be missionaries for one year to form a community in the northwest. I am hoping and praying that each one of you will ask himself or herself is that what God wants me to do for the next year? Can he be that fissure of men and women in the northwest?
So much for the good news common now for the less pleasant parts if you were at the meeting you would have heard it. We have some serious financial problems. They are going to necessitate major cuts in personnel and possibly in programs. I think it was JP Morgan the millionaire who once said to a friend money young man is good for the nerves. Well it is and lack of money makes me very nervous. I don’t want to derail any of our ministries but that’s what we’re facing. The other day, when I was looking at the pledge figures and numbers, I became really nervous and depressed. I went into Paul’s office and shared my feelings. First, he listened and then he reminded me that this year might be very special. Any problem could be a mirror so that this community can begin to see itself and see what its priorities truly are. And maybe his right there isn’t a great obstacle, oftentimes a brilliant opportunity disguised. Possibly this is an opportunity to see ourselves as we are. Possibly, this is an opportunity to move ahead in mutual ministry. Possibly, this is an opportunity to move out and not keep the same old ways of doing things
Now listen again to our gospel. Jesus passes by Andrew and Simon and later the two Zebedee boys and he says 2 words. Follow me. Follow me into the ministry. These words are heard because they knew the old ways were not working and there was a need for change period to be sure there was financial risk but they received their destiny in the following to be sure they gave up a comfortable life that in their place they found integrity in the following to be sure they lost their security, but in his place they found ministry in the following. Jesus walked by and said follow me and the choice was to be part of a community dedicated to discipleship or to stay with the same old ways. The choice was to be numbered among the chosen or to stay quietly indoors safe and secure they chose to be disciples
Jesus came by and said follow me and I’m convinced that what he’s saying today is follow me into ministry, where you are chosen to be my arms, my legs, my heart, and my people. We have a lot to be thankful for but especially may we be grateful that he has chosen us to the ministers, to hear this challenge, to follow
Amen -
The Secret of Endurance
Matthew 10: 16-22
Psalm 46
January 29, 1989
I was in San Francisco this week. Some three hundred clergy met at Grace Cathedral, and rub elbows with the closest thing to a living saint that the Anglican Communion has produced in the last fifty years. We went there to sit at the feet of the Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, Arch Bishop of Cape Town. It was a magnificent experience.
Here was this little, gray-haired man, looking like someone1 s favorite old uncle, who had been challenging the might of South Africa for the past three decades. Here was a man who had survived every sort of harassment, threat, pressure, insult, government ill will, and still was able to retain a twinkle in his eyes and love in his soul. Here was a man who could live amongst the most deplorable conditions, experience the worst inhumanity, and still retain a passionate faith. Here was a man who certainly understood Shakespeare’s words, said by William the Silent: “It is not necessary to succeed in order to persevere.” Here was a man who learned the secret of endurance.
Our text for this morning’s sermon comes from Matthew’s Gospel. It is part of the Scriptures set aside to be read on the feast of the conversion of Saint Paul . In it , Jesus describes the terrible cost of discipleship. “You will be delivered up to councils, flogged, dragged before governors, hated, put to death, all for my name’s sake. But” – and this final ” but” line intrigues me- “but he who endured will be saved” When I first read that line, i asked myself , “What , then, is the secret of endurance; the secret that so many of Jesus’ disciples seemed to have found? What is the secret that our fathers used to call ‘ the perseverance of the saints?” What makes the Saint Pauls and Mother Teresas, the Desmond Tutus even when the odds are against them a success, to use Eliza Doolittle’s immortal words, ‘ is not bloody likely, it what makes them continue?”
What , then, is the secret? is it some vague hope that in the future the evils of the world will be set right? The Archbishop spoke of how the Dutch church kept suggesting that the clue to life was to be found in some sort of post-mortem reward. He called it ” a pie-In-the-sky faith, and he asked, ” What good is a post-mortem pie in the sky? it does not give us the courage or strength to face the injustice of the moment”.
There is a hollow belief, he told us, to which one church people would have us subscribe. it is called the philosophy of ” not yet. ” The belief would have us convince ourselves that the time is not right; or this is not the right place; or that somewhere in the future, God will reward those who suffer. But as long as we convince people that the rewards are in heaven, we keep them from dealing with the injustice of the moment.
The “not yet” theory of life is a form of denial; it allows people to step out of difficult situations, to believe that God will somehow right all the wrongs in some future heaven. But like all forms of denial, it becomes an empty mockery and would have us lose touch with reality –
The basic religious question is not how God will reward people in the future. The basic question is “Where is thy God?” This was the Archbishop’s focus for most of his meditating ‘Where is now thy God?” That question leads us into deep waters, but it is in the answering of such questions that we find the secret to endurance.
At this point, the Archbishop told us a story of a young Jewish boy in a concentration camp who had been singled out to do every dirty job; everything from taking down the corpses on the gallows to cleaning the latrines. Whenever there was a dirty, disgusting job, it seemed that the guard would call out the youngster. One day, when he was cleaning out the latrines, the guard began to taunt him saying, “Where is your God now?” The boy just smiled and said,” Right here in the middle of the latrines, standing on the gallows, in the ovens . ” Tutu then told us our God takes on the very fragility and vulnerability of His creation. He enters into our death situations, not to nuke them go away, but to identify with them and take them upon Himself.
Anthony Bloom, the Russian Orthodox priest from London, once observed, “Of course, the Christian God exists. He is so absurd no one could have Invented Him. ” There is an important truth here. if you were to invent a God, you could do a lot better than a God who joins you in the dirt and muck of a concentration camp, a God who stands with you in trouble instead of dispelling trouble; a God who is crucified. And to add insult to injury, the Christian tradition says you are to follow that kind of a God, and to endure. Bloom raises the difficult question, “What is the use of following a God like that?” But that’s the mystery of salvation, for it’s in following that we find the strength to endure. It’s in following that kind of God that we are saved.
Let me explain or, better yet , let me share with you the Archbishop’s words: ” I remember once he told us, when I was in Alexander Township, outside of Johannesburg. It is a black township- no roads, no electricity, no inside plumbing, night soil buckets outside of each house, squallor unbelievable. I was in the church of Saint Michael and All Angels, and as I looked over the congregation, the only message i could convey was that ‘ God stands at your side, ‘ and that God will be with you wherever you are”
” We got to the point of passing the peace, ” Tutu continued, ” and if you have not yet experienced this with a black congregation in South Africa, then you have a treat in store for you. it’s a holy and joyful shambles. And on that day, he said, ” I will never forget the old lady who said over and over again, as we exchanged the peace and were hugging one another, her eyes twinkling and her wrinkled face lighting up, “God is with me. God is with me in this squallor. God is with me, even in the dust-filled streets, in all this apartheid. God cares.
The Archbishop went on to say, ” J could not; but be tearful! as I returned to the altar. She had been strengthened to live through another week with her head held high, knowing, somehow, that it would be all right; God had come to be with her.
The Archbishop finished his address by saying, ” I don’t honestly know how non-Christians can continue the struggle without the knowledge that God stands with us. Without this grace, I would not know God to keep on keeping on. I would have given up long ago. ”
One of the Psalms that I usually read at a funeral is Psalm 46. It says it all so much better than I could. ” God is our hope and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth be moved, and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters rage and swell, and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same. ” Then it ends, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. ”
God is a very present help in trouble; not to get us out of trouble, not to spare us from trouble, but to be with us in the midst of trouble. Where is now thy God? He is present- now, right here. And that is the secret of endurance.
We began this morning, talking about going to see a person who was the nearest thing we have to a saint. I’m sure if anyone had said that to Desmond Tutu, he would have laughed and said, “That’s silly. I’m simply one of God’s little people who walk along with Him. ” But in walking with him, Desmond reveals to us a secret, the secret of endurance is being able to walk with the Lord. That is the gift of perseverance, the gift given to all the saints, and the gift given to us.
T.S Elliot once wrote, ” We are only undefeated because we go on trying.” And we go on trying because we are enabled to walk with the Lord.
Amen. -
Facing the Millenium: The Secret of Getting out of Bed
January 30, 2000
In a certain morning show, there is often a box in the lower left hand corner with the picture and a pole they have conducted. A while ago the editors had asked a number of people what the most important element in starting the day is. The answers range from a good night’s sleep, seeing a smiling face, a hearty breakfast. As they read the responses, I thought to myself. This will preach (you can see I do extensive research for my sermons). I wrote a note myself to ask the congregation what gets you up in the morning? What gets you out of bed? Are you the type that reluctantly opens your eyes or are you the type that makes plans and things to do and people to see? Maybe I ought to start off by rephrasing the question when the alarm rings on the dog barks do you say good morning Lord or do you say good Lord it’s morning.
Our epistle this morning comes from the hand of Paul who I’m sure wrestled the same type of question. In his letter to the philippians we learned that he is sitting in the early morning. I suppose he’s feeling a sense of burnout. After all he’s had some very difficult days, months and years period he’s been travelling all over the known world, preaching his heart out, starting new churches often facing hostile crowds. Just reading his itinerary is enough to put his back in bed. He goes to Corinth, to Athens, to philippi, to Rome and then back to ephesus bouncing from place to place with a schedule that would put manyin a rest home.
It takes a lot of energy just to keep this type of scheme going. So many souls to convert, so many church fights to resolve, in so little time period preaching, teaching, writing letters, raising money and advising church officials just to feel that every working moment. Along the way he also found time to make a few tents just to keep food on the table.
There must have been times particularly when he was thrown into prison, that he found it difficult to get out of bed in the morning. Times when he must have felt that for all the good he was doing, life could have been a little kinder and gentler. Times that God may have blessed his efforts with a gift at least a knowledge of a gold pinching, a decent House plan, and a little more status in this rotten world.
Instead he tells us in other writings he’s been imprisoned and beaten to the brink of death. Five times he was given to the traditional 40 lashes last 1-3 times he was beaten with rods once the object of stoning and he was also shipwrecked. We also read the idea been robbed run out of town by angry mobs and an often been hungry thirsty and without shelter at night. Inall not a very impressive resume
Yet Paul sat, pen in hand, having just awakened in prison for the 8th time and he proceeded to write to the people saying I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger abundance and want
So what gets you out of bed? What gets you up when your world seems to be crashing. What makes you cry out good morning Lord instead of good Lord it’s morning what is your secret for facing abundance and want
Have you ever considered that just getting out of bed in the morning is really making a powerful philosophical statement? When we’re able to drag ourselves out of bed, go to work, write letters, see friends and give encouragement to people around us we need something more than willpower we need some more to feel that we’re not doing it alone
the difficulty for many is just that. They feel they are getting by themselves they don’t realize that there is another present to what Paul saw so vividly. Namely, that God is present in the midst of life and that God is awake in the midst of hard times as well as good times then God was beside me as I arose from sleep
this was Paul’s secret. It’s not complicated. Like most secrets it’s really it lies in one’s view of the relationship of God to each and everyone is God present or is he absent? Does God care or is he indifferent? If we separate ourselves from God we are left alone, alone to make it out of bed. But if you, like Paul finds God in the worst of times then you can take heart and even a sense of joy as you raise from sleep
our challenge then is to recognize that God gets up in the morning with us and is there when we go to sleep God in the midst of all our lives.
One offer, was a French layman named brother Lawrence. Brother Lawrence turn within the kitchen of a carmelite monastery to practice the presence of God. He wasn’t a super scholar nor an outstanding achiever. He lived out his days as a cook in the kitchen that produced the simplest of foods
the only extraordinary thing about brother Lawrence was the way he related all of his life to God. Like a musician practicing, the art of piano he constantly practiced the art of being aware of God’s presence throughout the day umm was his secret of how he found joy in the monastery kitchen. It is the secret of every person goes beyond one difficulties and gets out of bed in the worst of times
I come back to where we started. In the morning good morning Lord or is it good Lord it’s morning. The answer to that question will tell you a great deal about your religion, and the rest of your day Amen -
Where Are Our Values?
Matthew 5:1-12
January 30, 1993
Most of us have had the experience of going to a doctor’s office for the first time. and being handed a clipboard with a hundred questions that range from. “How did your grandfather die?” to “What childhood diseases did you have?” to “What are you allergic to?”
Nowadays, I’m told some doctors use a startlingly different type of questionnaire for new patients. It is called a ” Values History Form,” and it attempts to probe our beliefs. It has such questions as ” What do you fear most?- “What will be important to you when you are dying? ” What do you personally feel makes life worth living?”
The need for this information has become more and more critical as health care issues have changed. and medical technology has advanced. I would predict that a “Patient Belief Checklist ” will become standard for most doctors in the next five years.
My concern today is not as much for the medical profession as it is for the church. And with this trend in mind, I began to speculate that we might use the same kind of belief checklist when people are in a parish. It could be helpful if each of us could pinpoint our core values, those theological and spiritual beliefs that color our attitudes and shape who we turn out to be. If we were to do this, we might be able to measure our spiritual growth and determine what’s important. and not important to us as parishioners.
I am convinced that those core values, which are often not talked about and not even recognized, are what bring you here on Sunday mornings and are what shape your life. Jesus put it this way: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. It needs to be pointed out that the word treasure doesn’t necessarily mean money. Treasure refers to values. And so Jesus is saying. “Tell me your inner core values, and I will tell you where your heart is. “Or once again. to translate heart. I would use the word choices. Where your core values are, there will be your choices, which shape your life.
Taking this one step further, each of us has a hierarchy of values. a kind of core value. And those are what influence our choices, and, as Bishop Pike used to say. “Once we begin to make choices, those choices begin to choose us. ” Where your treasure is-where your values are, there will be your heart, your choices, your important inner core, your life. Why is it important to know all this? Why should we be clear about our real values? It’s my feeling that then and only then can we know where we are headed. Robertson Davies once wrote, ”Beneath what the mind chooses to admit to itself, lie convictions that shape our lives.” So what are your values? How can we measure our beliefs? How can we articulate what is important?
Several years ago, after reading this passage in scripture that we read in church, I had an insight into what the meaning and setting were for the Beatitudes. It suddenly hit me that they were the way Jesus went public with his value system. Here were his dreams, his desires for himself and for his followers. Here was the condition for being blessed. Here’s the way one ought to be. Here is what influenced his choices.
One way to articulate your core values is to look up your desires. Your fantasies, your choices. What we want is often what we want to be. And what we want to be influences what we ask for. So let’s start our thinking about values by asking ourselves what it is we want for ourselves and what we would ask for if given the opportunity. Or to put it in the Gospel terms, what would we have to have to feel blessed?
Again and again in stories and myths, a fairy Godmother would come up to a person and say, ” I will grant you three wishes that your heart may desire.” And the person would say, ” I want to be rich, win the lottery. be famous. be on the screen, or to be loved. to be kissed by a princess. Whatever the person chooses will reflect his or her value system. Now, admittedly, the point of most of these stories was to illustrate that we humans often do not know what is good for us, and if we are granted our wishes and desires. They turn out to be not what we really wanted. Our values need to be reworked, or, as Gertrude Stein once said. “When you get there, there isn’t any there there.
I recently read a story that spoke to the point. It seems that the son of a Welsh mining family had not wanted to go into the shaft as had his brothers. Instead. he joined the British Navy and spent many years touring the world. Once. when he was on leave. he brought to his father a shriveled monkey paw he had picked up in Egypt.
The story was that if one held the paw and made three wishes, they would automatically come true. However, he had also been warned not to use it. Everyone who had owned it before had experienced great tragedy. He was about to toss it in the fire when his father stopped him. “Let me try it out first,” he said. His father took hold of the paw and said, ” I wish more than anything else in the world that I had a 200-pound note at this moment. No sooner had the words left his lips than there was a knock on the door. When the door was opened, there stood a representative of the mining company who announced, “Your son has just been killed in an explosion underground. And it is the company policy to give a two-hundred-pound note to cover the burial expenses. Here it is, I am sorry.
On hearing this. the father flung the monkey’s paw away and began to weep, “Oh no, oh no, bring me my son. I did not want the money at his expense.” Again, as soon as he had said the words, there was a knock at the door, and there stood four miner friends carrying the mutilated corpse of the son who had just been killed. When the Father saw them, he said, “Take him away. I cannot bear the sight of my flesh and blood who has been killed.” And so the friends turned away and went to bury him privately. All three of his wishes had come true, yet none of them the way he had wanted.
It reminds me of those awesome words from the cross when Jesus prayed. “Father. forgive them, for they know not what they do.” It is true that we humans do not often know what is good for us. We can’t articulate our values, and therefore, we often chase after things that ultimately may not be important or may even be downright harmful.
The other day, I made two lists. One was a list called what I wanted.. In that list, I put things like safety, security, strength, health, happiness, contentment, loving, and loved–all things that any good American longs for. The other list was what I did not want to be. On that list, I put things like poor, grieving, persecuted, hungry, and discomforted. Therefore, I found my values not to be Jesus’ values-
And so I find the Beatitudes very disturbing. It’s not good enough to simply say it’s part of the Son, the Mount, or Jesus’ core values. They contradict much of what I want for myself. but here, in the quiet of a Sunday. possibly I might start my value search by admitting that what I long for. my values, my secret desires, may not be God’s values.
But listen, it’s never too late to change. It’s never too late to adopt new values, make new choices. Remember, it’s never too late to be blessed
* And I ask you, is that not a piece of good news?
Amen -
State of the Parish Address
January 23, 1994
Mark 1:14-20
Stephen Vincent Benet’s novel, The Devil and Daniel Webster, opens with these words: ‘Yes, DanieI Webster’s dead – or at least they buried him. But, every time there’s a thunderstorm around Marshfield, they say you can hear his rolling voice in the hollows of the sky. And they say that if you go to his grave, and speak loud and clear, ‘Dan’I Webstu. . . Dan’1 Webster!’ – the ground ‘ II begin to shiver and the trees begin to shake. And after a while, you’ll hear a deep voice, saying: Neighbor, how stands the Union?’ Then you better answer: ‘The Union stands as she stood-rock-bottomed and copper-sheathed, one and indivisible,’ or he’s liable to rear right out of the ground.”
On this, my 16th annual State of the Parish Address as I stand not 20 feet from where George Ferguson, the first Rector, is interred – it’s almost as if the beams of the church seem to shiver and the floor shakes, and I hear his deep voice saying: “Neighbor, how stands the parish?”
A lot has happened in the past 57 years and we’re going to have some fun a little later sharing some memories. But what I want to start with is to realize the vast changes since George Ferguson’s day.
Just in the last 25 years, we’ve seen tremendous Changes. Not too long ago, there was a 25th anniversary of the Rowan and Martin television show called ‘laugh in.” Some of you may have remembered it. One of the regular sketches was of someone prophesying the future. Oh, how we laughed at these wild and crazy future speculations. They played back some of these absurd prophecies that brought down the house 25 years ago – an unemployed actor named Reagan would become President; the Berlin Wall would come down; Israel and Palestine would come together; there would be 500 channels on television. Not so funny now. Now we would simply nod and say that the comedians had a good vision or insight into the future. What seemed unbelievable 25 years ago is highly believable today.
And so it was true in George Ferguson’s day. He had a vision that predicted about small intimate groups. He was not interested in the parish following a traditional model. He started this parish with people leaving their neighborhood church and coming out – traveling a good distance to be a part of St. Philip’s. All of these ideas might have seemed strange in 1936. Today, we say they were visionary concepts.
Eight years ago, when we had our last expansion and celebrated our 50th anniversary, we were looking for a phrase that would describe our life. And Harry Sinclair, one of the saints at rest, suggested that St. Philip’s had always had a tradition of Christian vision, a vision of what God was calling us out to do and to be. This is what accounts for our health, our growth, our uniqueness as a community. Without it, we’re just another pretty place that holds services. With it, we’ve become an exciting, spirit-filled, future-oriented community.
There’s a biblical injunction from Proverbs that goes: ‘Without a vision, the people perish.” I’m convinced that is true. Without a clearly held understanding of what God wants for his people, we’re just spinning our wheels. It’s a vision that determines where you’re going and makes sense of all that you are doing.
Two years ago, the Vestry took our vision and reduced it to three words so that we might place it on a banner. They did that and, thanks to Betty Hunter’s skills, we now have it. The words they chose were: Rejoice, Renew and Reach-out.” And they were chosen because we saw ourselves set on a journey. A journey that began with George Ferguson and a few courageous souls and continues into the future. A journey that is characterized by worship, whereby Sunday becomes the most exciting day of the week for our parishioners. A journey whereby we are constantly renewing ourselves and building a caring community. (To renew means to take what already exists and change it – render it.) Renewal is important because the parish is never complete – we’ve never arrived. In one sense, we are always re-inventing what this community looks like. (I admit that is somewhat unsettling for those who want stability and permanence, but for those of us in ChIiSt, we know there is nothing permanent this side of the grave.)
Lastly, the Vestry used the term “reach-out” as the challenge of our joint ministry to the larger community. Our vision is to do no less than transform the city of Christ and bring into our community all who are strangers to the love of Christ. Rejoice – Renew – Reach out. A tradition of Christian vision. St. Philip’s – that’s what we’re all about.
Last week I took some time off and went to San Diego with Peggy while she attended a conference. I spent three days by the beach just doing a little writing, reflecting and praying. I reviewed in my mind the past year and the past 16 years. How far along have we come? How close are we to our vision? And I began to remind God of all that we have accomplished. After all, he/she may have forgotten how great a staff we have, how we’ve survived a financial crisis, how we’ve become the eighth largest Episcopal church in the country, how we’re known as one of the model parishes in the nation, how we’ve grown spiritually and educationally. On and on went the list.
But, somehow, God interrupted me, and it wasn’t (as usual) the kind of interruption I was expecting. God interrupted my laundry list of accomplishments by asking three questions:
(1) “Is the world-or your corner of it – it-a better place to live in than it was last year or 16 years ago?’
(2) “Are there more people who know me and love me than there were in 1977 or 1987 or 1993?”‘
(3) “How many people are there who are not part of this caring community or any Christian community? How many non-Christians are living around the homes of your people?”
These are tough questions, and they certainly stopped my comfortable reflections. What I began to see is that I was counting people who come and God counts people who don’t come. We count what we have accomplished and God counts what could have been
Right at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus gives his disciples a task and a vision. It’s important to have both. The task is to follow him. The vision is to become fishers of people. Those aren’t easy marching orders – but without them, none of us would be here today.
Someone told me about seeing an old weather-beaten sign carved into the walls of a church in Sussex, England:
“A vision without a risk is but a dream.
A task without a vision is drudgery.
A vision and a task is the hope of the world.”
Well, we have a vision to “reach-out” – to reach out to all those who are not part of God’s caring community. And I have a task for each of you – to bang at least one new person who doesn’t have a relationship with God bang them into the community of faith this Lent.
And, I have a second concrete challenge – risky as it may be – and that is that by next year, we be in a position to expand our facilities, which are already over-burdened. These are tasks that I believe God wants us to accomplish in order to move closer to our vision. Can we do it?
Well, neighbor, how stands the parish? The answer is that St. Philip’s stands as it has always stood – rock-bottomed and copper-sheathed – one in the spirit of God and indivisible in its vision. I say this, not to keep George Ferguson in his niche, but to convey to you the necessity to keep moving forward – to become more and more the community that makes a family out of strangers – the community with a tradition of Christian vision – the community that knows itself to be fishers of people. AMEN. -
” The Unholy Power of Pessimism”
Numbers 13:25-14
January 15, 1984
Is the glass half full or half empty?
The way you answer that question says a lot about how you view life. Are you an optimist or a pessimist? In this day and age / the pessimists far outweigh the optimists. The majority opinion usually says that the glass is half empty.
Take, for example, the first time in Scripture that we hear about Joshua, the son of Nun: He and Caleb represented the minority. The pessimists of his day were in the majority.
What happened was that Moses and the Israelites had been wandering in the wilderness for years. They had left Egypt but had not yet settled down. They finally made it to the borders of the Promised Land, and then they sent out some scouts.
Can’t you just hear them ask the scouts to find out if it’s safe, to see if the natives are friendly? Can’t you just hear someone say, .I don’t see any McDonald’s arches; ” is the land of milk and honey all that God said it would be?” The scouts – or spies, as they are called – go out and soon return with a minority and a majority report.
The minority report, by Joshua and Caleb, is prophetic – – full of hope, optimistic, which we can translate as a ‘ passion for the possible. It urges the children of Israel to strain forward to that which lies ahead. ‘ By contrast, the majority report is pessimistic. I suppose the pessimists among us might call it ‘pragmatic. It counsels caution and, I would say, reflects the cowardice of those submitting it. It speaks of “giants in the land11, the “long-necked ones, and the key sentence reads : We seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.
The story shows that , while optimists like Joshua seek adventure, they are in the minority. Pessimists, the majority, seek safety. There is never a lack of people who line up for caution.
“We seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers Isn’t this what pessimists can do for us? They can make us feel like failures. If you listen closely to the pessimists, you are going to end up convinced that you are a grasshopper, unable to cope, without the proper resources, able only to regress to childhood, when you were small and helpless.
Pessimists distort the truth in a clever way. It is not that pessimists exaggerate the ills of the world – that would be difficult given the state the world is in.
The pessimists ‘ strategy is to underestimate our ability to deal with problems. There
may have been giants in the land, but what about the Israelites? Had they no resources?~” “We seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers. ”
So watch out; go back to Egypt.
A friend of mine once called this the protective strategy of deliberate failure, and it is the stock counsel of pessimists who seek safety.’ ” The response goes like this: You will never lose any money if you think of yourself as poor and therefore don’t invest anything. ” 0r you will never fall on your face if you consider yourself too weak to stick your neck out. ” 0r “you will never stub your toe if you act like a cripple and don’t take the first step outof-doors.
In therapy, the counselor often asks,
“What does this attitude or stance do for you? We know what pessimism does for us, don’t we? it keeps us from feeling guilty about not venturing forth.
We can feel okay about our cowardliness, and we can extol virtues like prudence and caution.
Predictably, the children of Israel accepted the report of the pessimists, and we read that all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night, and all the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron. And later we read that the people were prepared to stone Joshua and Caleb.
Can you see the impact that a pessimist has? Pessimists have a way of exerting great power in the deliberations of religious groups. Over the past few years, I have noticed that the most powerful and most feared persons are the ones who speak with the voice of pessimism
I have also noticed that we spend more time and energy trying to mollify and pacify these people than on anything else — and for some good reasons. Instinctively, we have realized that if you put one thoroughgoing pessimist in a whole crowd of optimists, he or she can switch a meeting from being open and hopeful into one characterized by hostility and deflated negativity.
Next time you are in a church meeting where something difficult is to be decided, watch how the pessimists can frighten people; watch how they can get a whole group to think defensively.
One final characteristic of pessimists is that they have a way of striking a chord within us that makes us want to go backward You will remember that the whole congregation said after the pessimists report, would that we had died in the land of Egypt! ” And they said to one another, let us choose a captain and go back to Egypt. ” I suppose we could politely call this the back to Egypt hangup. Many religious groups are completely filled with people who cherish this point of view – – tlif only we could go back to those good old days, they say, to the days when Ma Bell looked after us all, to the days when homosexuals stayed in the closet, to the days when the clergy were not so politically active, to the days when congregations were much more docile. There may have been problems in the past– Pharaoh may have been a dictator — but at least we were secure in the known.
Roberta Flack made a recording a few years ago called” Let Pharaoh Go”. Basically, what the song was about was that it is not difficult to get out of Egypt, but it is hard to get Egypt out of one’s system. Pessimists have a knack for appealing to the past and making us forget the future. We in the Church are moved by memory, but by God’s grace, we are moved even more by hope.
A few years ago, at the Harvard commencement, Cyrus Vance spoke about our country. He was one of the prophetic voices. I cut out some words from his address; let me share a few:
History may conclude that ours was a failure not of opportunity but of seeing opportunity. a failure not of resources but of wisdom to use them, a failure not of intellect but of understanding and of will. ”
And he might have ended by saying: His tory will conclude that we had a failure to listen to optimists and a readiness to go along with the pessimists.
Well, what does this have to do with -. leadership in the parish? This day of our parish meeting I would declare to you that the road is far, but the future for St Philips is bright. The promised time is ahead. The scouts are back and the Joshuas are saying, ‘t: Enough of this back-to-Egypt talk! ”
Enough of this murmuring about seeing ourselves as grasshoppers. We, too, can become giants, simply by sticking our necks out, simply by refusing to listen to the siren song of the pessimists, simply by moving ahead on the promises of God instead of pining for the good old days.
The other night I was reading an old sermon by Ernest Campbell, and at one point, I stood up and cheered. Dr Campbell was saying that, yes, life is rough, times are bad, and things are not going well. However, Ernie said, in the Hebrew-Christian view of life, history is not a series of problems that cry for answers. History is a series of opportunities that cry for Christian leadership.
The glass is half full, and with God’s help, it will soon be overflowing here at
St . Philip’s
Amen
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