6th Sunday after the Epiphany Year B
February 12, 2012
I’ve been thinking a great deal this week about a couple of questions. What is it that motivates people of faith? What is it that motivates us as a church?
In two of our readings for today, we see two different stories about lepers who are healed. But they are two very different stories.
In 2nd Kings, we meet Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram. He is a successful war leader, who has led his people in victory against the children of Israel. And yet, he suffers from leprosy. One day, his slave suggests that he seek healing from the prophet in Samaria. So a bureaucratic chain of events is set in motion. Naaman petitions his king, who sends word, with lots of pomp and circumstance to honor his great general, to the King of Israel, who becomes distraught until confronted by the prophet Elisha. Elisha sends word to tell Naaman to come, but when Naaman arrives at Elisha’s house, Elisha doesn’t even come out to see this important man. Instead he sends a messenger with Naaman’s prescription: “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” Naaman is outraged. Sure, he’s been given his prescription, but it is not at all what he expected. And he is starting to think that these Israelites are having a laugh at his expense. Why on earth should he have to go wash in the Jordan other than to have these foreigners whom he had defeated laugh at him. Forget it. I’m going home. But then some brave servants approach Naaman and say, “Why not? So it’s not what you expected, but if it will heal you, why not try it?” And Naaman does. And he is healed, confessing that the God of Israel is the one and only God because of this miracle God has performed for Naaman.
Naaman is motivated first by a deep desire for healing, but his pride and his expectation of how he would be healed almost get in the way of his actual healing. He is given the prescription for healing and he almost walks away without even trying it, because it is too mundane, too beneath his notice, not spectacular enough to even merit trying. It is only through his encounters with different slaves, the lowliest of people, that he is inspired to lay aside his pride and his expectation and take a chance and be healed.
In Mark’s gospel, we see a snapshot of Jesus healing one particular individual in a long string of healings. Jesus has just been in Capernaum where Mark tells us he healed a man with demons in the synagogue; then he healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, and then he healed countless others who had been brought to him strictly for the purpose of being healed. Jesus has drawn away from the crowds to regroup and he makes the costly decision to leave Capernaum, a place of safety where he has done very well, to go out into the great unknown so that he can continue to “proclaim the message” of good news—that the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent, and believe in the good news.” And so he begins to make his way through Galilee, proclaiming the message and casting out demons.
Then we have our isolated incident for today. A leper approaches Jesus. This in itself is huge. Lepers were required by law to stay a certain distance away from other people, and when they did come near, they had to shout out the words “Unclean, unclean” as a warning for people. But this leper, perhaps upon hearing of Jesus and the things he was doing, defies convention, and comes right up to Jesus, falling on his knees and begging Jesus, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” And Jesus, moved with pity, stretches out his hand, touching this “unclean” person and makes him whole.
Ancient manuscripts vary on Jesus’s motivation in this healing story. Our reading for today says he was “moved with pity.” It’s easy to understand why Jesus would be moved by pity or compassion for this man. Once a person was discovered to have leprosy, they were cast out of both civil and religious society. They couldn’t pray in the temple or go to synagogue; they couldn’t share the tables or the beds of their healthy relatives. They became solitary persons, completely isolated from their communities, their friends and their families. But other sources say that Jesus was “moved by anger—a much more disturbing image. Was Jesus angry at the man for interrupting his prayers? Was he angry at the social constructs and religious laws that had made this man a complete outcast?
Either way, Jesus is motivated by some strong emotion, and he chooses to heal the man, dramatically impacting his own life and ministry and legally making himself unclean by his physical contact with the leper.
What is it that motivates people of faith?
Last weekend, I was most impressed by Bishop Gray’s opening address to diocesan council. The Bishop talked about how we now live in a time when the culture no longer supports the life of the church. It is a brave new world in which we find ourselves, as the culture around us asks again and again what relevance the church and our faith have for them. Bishop Gray challenged us to evaluate what our motivation is, in this brave new world. Are we making decisions about our lives and about our church and its ministries out of fear? Are we motivated by concern for our survival? Or are we motivated by something else—excitement about what we have to offer this hungry world, creativity, hope, gratitude? It’s a question that is worth considering in the life of our own individual faithfulness and in the life of our church. What is it that motivates us? And if we discover that the answer is, in fact, fear, then how do we change that?
In the gospel reading for today, Jesus heals the leper, and the man is so grateful, so bursting to share the good news of what is happened that he ignores Jesus’s command to tell no one, and he tells everyone what has happened. Once he is healed, the former-leper is motivated by gratitude, and it’s not a bad place for us to begin, either.
I was reading a book this week which includes some exercises that have to do with cultivating discipleship (which is basically what the gospel of Mark is all about). And it asked two questions: 1. How has your life or the lives of the people you love been transformed because of participation in the church? And 2. What do you see happening in the lives of others that makes you excited about giving to your church? As I started writing my answers to these questions, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I remembered the people in the church throughout the years who helped shape me and mold me—adults who treated me with respect and named me friend, even though there were sometimes 60 or 70 years between us. I thought about how I knew, from an early age, that the church was someplace where I truly belonged, and I thought about how you are doing that for my own children. I thought about all the holy moments that I have gotten to witness just since my ordination 7 years ago—births, weddings, deaths… hard times and good times… healings and heartbreaks… and how each and every one has shaped me.
I thought about all the friendships I see at work in this place—those that have stood the test of time and those that are just being formed. I thought about how people rally around one another for support in times of need; I thought about the overwhelming generosity of people who have contributed so that over 5,000 lives were helped last year by our offering people basic necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, and care. I see people breaking bread together regularly and the intimacy and companionship that are shared there. When I took some time to list the things for which I am grateful in this church and in the Church at large, I was almost overwhelmed by the weight and the depth of my gratitude.
It’s one thing to say that we are grateful. It is another thing to cultivate our gratitude and then allow that to be our chief motivation.
As we approach the season of Lent, it is customary for people to give up things which separate them from God or to take on things which would help them draw closer to God. I’m going to invite you to prayerfully consider joining with me to take on two spiritual disciplines during Lent. The first spiritual discipline is reading the gospels with the bishop, which I’ll talk more about later.
The second spiritual discipline is cultivating gratitude—that is every day, making a list (either in writing or in your head) of the people, things etc for which you are most truly grateful. Let’s see what we can do together when we cultivate our gratitude and allow it to motivate us.
And may the words of the Psalmist be true also for us: “You have turned my mourning into dancing;/ you have taken off my sackcloth/ and clothed me with joy,/ so that my soul may praise you and not be silent./ O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.”
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Rector's Report--Annual Parish Meeting 2012
Rector’s report—Annual Parish meeting
January 29, 2012
First, of all, I want to thank you for being here today. Today we do much of the business of the church, the nuts and bolts of our common life together, and your presence here and your participation in that is very important.
I’d like to thank everyone who has supported the work and ministry of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea this past year—those who have given money, energy, ideas, physical labor, those who have offered your prayers, those who have shown up, for worship, events, offerings. Together, we have accomplished so much this last year, but I’ll get to that in a moment.
I’d like to thank those who have completed their terms as Vestry members. [Sometimes I think being a Vestry member is truly a thankless job. They are certainly “the few and the proud”. (Did you know that out of almost 20 people we asked to run for warden or vestry this year, 4 accepted?)] One of my joys of working closely with the Vestry is to see how each person brings their own unique gifts and offers them to contribute to the good and the work of the whole. These folks are no exception to that.
Judy Joest has a wonderful sense of humor; she’s someone who can tell a story and have me laughing so hard I’m crying, and that is truly a gift. She would often bring some levity to our work, and she has steadily and consistently for the last three years, spearheaded our pastoral care efforts. I can’t tell you how many times I have been to the hospital to see a parishioner, and either Judy Joest has been there right before me or is coming in as I’m leaving.
Alan Jones has been a quiet presence on Vestry for the last three years, but this year, Alan has exhibited an amazing insight into the heart of matters and an ability to cut to the heart and articulate key truths that often get lost to the rest of us. It has been truly a gift to our work together.
Doug Singletary is so very rooted in the Episcopal tradition and in the life and history of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea. As someone who has been active in leadership in this church for many, many years, he helped keep us grounded in these key identities of what it means to be Episcopalians in this particular community.
And Bob Wolford, who has completed his second year as Junior Warden…Bob is someone who gets things done. I can’t tell you how many times I would come in on a Sunday or a Monday, and something new had been accomplished by Bob’s quietly working at the church on Saturday or a Sunday. A clock is hung in the parish hall; my ordination and ministry certificates (that have been under the ledge of my desk for almost 2 years) are hung on the wall of my office; the sexton’s supply closet is reorganized and shelving has been added. These are all things that probably didn’t make it into Bob’s report, but his tenure as Jr Warden has been full of these small, quiet projects that, once completed, improve the life and the workings of this parish. Thank you to each of you for your service, for your willingness to share your gifts in leadership in this church, and for your love and support of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea.
I would also like to thank those who are continuing to serve on the Vestry this year; I’d like to thank Margaret and Neely who continue on as Clerk and Treasurer, respectively, and who each bring a good, strong dose of pragmatism with them. And I’d like to thank Marie, for her incredible leadership and her steadiness as senior warden. Marie is so very sharp, and I think that she and I have both grown and changed in this last of year of working closely together. I deeply value her leadership, her friendship, and her support.
The Vestry of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea is an amazing group of people, who deeply love this church and try to make the most faithful decisions possible in the circumstances. I cannot tell you how much time they put into the work that they do, but it is a lot, and I know that they do it for love of you all, and for love of this church. Please, do what you can to support them this year. Do what you can to love them, to be kind to them, to follow them, and to trust that their actions are always done through prayer and in faithfulness, trying to lead St. Peter’s to continue to bear fruit worthy of the Kingdom of God.
Be mindful that every criticism and complaint beats them up at least a little bit and erodes the fabric of our common life. We are all flawed human beings, and we are all doing the best that we can and trying to be faithful to following our Lord Jesus Christ.
I’d also like to thank the Vestry and the committee chairs for their written reports that are in your packets. We slightly shifted our focus as a Vestry this year, with our new system of quarterly parish meetings, and to do this, we are asking that every group keeps track of whatever way is appropriate to count or measure growth in that area. The statistics and information provided in these reports in your packets is both enlightening and amazing, and I think it gives us a wonderful picture of all that we have accomplished this year. There are just a few things I’d like to highlight.
First, last year, one of my visions for 2011 was to start a hospitality time after the 10:30 service. The hospitality and new members committee, under the direction of Helen Graham and the energy of Kerry Hudson quickly acted to meet my vision and started offering a hospitality time, solely through the donations of people willing to do it, and it now serves at least 50-60 people in attendance each week (and many more on special occasions). In addition to providing food during this time, Edwin Graham has been creating a new, multi-media slide presentation each Sunday that is on at both hospitality times. These slide presentations provide information about upcoming events, feature a mystery person every week, and they help us all stay better connected.
Another goal for this year was to maintain excellence in music and to continue to build our music program. Under the leadership of JT Anglin, Donna Hutchings, Barbara Blanchard, Debbie Anglin, and Keith Ballard, all three of our choirs are flourishing. The chancel choir is now up to 20 members (the largest since I’ve been here). The bell choir has 10 ringers, and the children’s choir has 11 children enrolled (the largest number since each’s inception). And we continue to work together to provide worship that is a fit offering to God, that is accessible to the people in the pews, and that offers the full breadth and beauty of our Anglican heritage and our Episcopal identity.
Last year I also spoke about our need for more parking on sight. This is an item that the Vestry has talked about at great deal, and it is currently on our “wish list” for things we’d like to work on in the future when more funding for such a project becomes available.
We continue to offer solid offerings for Christian formation of all ages. The children’s Sunday school program is thriving under the direction of Debbie Anglin and a number of dedicated teachers. The recent surveys about the Adult Forum indicate an overwhelming response to continue those offerings. The lectionary class, the Young Adult Sunday school, the Wednesday night seasonal offerings, and the short term studies have all been of outstanding quality. Truly we offer something for everyone who desires to be formed and shaped in the image and likeness of Christ through study and discussion together.
We’ve also had a lot of fun together this last year. We’ve broken bread together in small groups around each others’ tables in our Common Ground Groups, which we’ll hear a little more about later. We’ve learned to dance together; we’ve barbequed together; we’ve celebrated special events, major milestones, and ordinary days together, and through all this, we have strengthened the bonds of our common affection.
And we’ve helped a whole lot of people. We’ve served more than 4,050 meals at Feed My Sheep. We’ve made and delivered 650 sack lunches to hungry people on 2nd Sundays. We provided 70 thanksgiving meals to needy individuals and families in our community. We gave 42 outfits for girls coming through the Harrison County Children’s Emergency Shelter. We provided dinners for the residents of IHN for 24 evenings. We bought Christmas gifts for 30 children of the Women’s shelter this past Christmas. We sent three of our Arts Academy students to Camp Bratton Green on full scholarships and provided partial scholarship assistance for parishioners. We worked with other churches of this diocese and helped build a Habitat House in Smithville, through the loan of our equipment and the labor of members. We gave $2,688 out of our budget to local agencies, and then we raised an additional $7548 to go to other charitable organizations. By my rough calculations, we have improved the lives of around 5,000 people who have been in need this past year. That is amazing, and I am so proud of you all!
Just a few more numbers about this past year, and then I’ll move on to plans for the coming year. This summer, I started keeping up with the number of pastoral encounters that I make in a given week. Now this number is just during the week, because I’ve found no possible way to keep up with this on a given Sunday (other than having a vestry member follow me around with one of those clicker things that they have at events for counting…). And some weeks, I’m so busy, I forget to write it down and count it (so this is hardly scientific). But on average, I have 29 pastoral encounters during the week. This can include calls, visits, notes, emails, Facebook messages, texts—any encounter that I consider to be primarily of a pastoral nature, and the numbers vary greatly in an given week. Usually on shorter weeks, when I’m not in the office, it can be as low as 16. On crazy weeks, it can be as high as 72. But 30-40 is usually a normal week.
Also, our average Sunday attendance has grown this year from 131 to 148. On normal Sundays, we have about 40 people at the 8:00 service and about 100 people at the 10:30 service.
So, briefly, my goals for 2012: to do all that we have done this year and more. We are moving in the right direction; we’ve got structures to support our continued movement and growth in this direction, and we need to keep it going.
This year, we’ll have a rebuilding year for pastoral care. With Judy Joest rotating off the Vestry, we are going to look at new structures to support the continued life and development of pastoral care in the church.
Margaret McCrary has agreed to help me by leading the project to preserve and display the fullness of the history and life of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea by collecting, framing, and displaying pictures to hang on the walls of the hall way from the church back to the parish hall (which has been named in Memory of Buddy Hopkins). Soon, we will be calling upon some members of the church to help with this, and we ask that if you have any pictures which express the fullness of the life and history of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea such as baptisms, weddings, special events (Easter egg hunts, pageants, etc), historic events (building consecrations), or history of the church, that you share them with us. We may not be able to use all of them, but Margaret and her committee would like as many options as they can get as they decide how to tell the story of the life and history of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea on that wall in there.
We will be taking on the bishop’s challenge to read the four gospels with him during Lent, and we will be providing some structure to help make that meaningful for you to be provided on Wednesday nights as our Lenten formation offering.
I will be working with a small group of volunteers who want to help realize our dream of hosting a reception to honor our senior citizens of this parish, and it is my hope to make that a reality this spring.
In closing, I’d like to share what I learned about you, about us, this past summer. When Sue Cassady and I were completing our 2nd year of the Congregational Development training, one of the exercises that we had to do was to look around at the people who were visiting and joining St. Peter’s by-the-Sea. In that exercise, we were supposed to learn about what kind of people we are attracting and what that says about our community and our identity. As Sue and I did this work together, we realized that we were attracting an incredible diversity of people to St. Peter’s. We could not identify one single demographic or other characteristic to help us further understand our identity and what people are finding when they come to St. Peter’s and decide to stay.
But then, as we delved more deeply into what we know about this wide diversity of people who are newly attracted to St. Peter’s by-the-Sea, we realized what it was that attracts them. We are a resurrection community. In this world where so much is marked by death and destruction and corruption, we are both a place and community that places our hope in the resurrection, that says we shall not be overcome by hardship or adversity, by death or destruction. We are a church and a people who put our trust in the resurrection of our Lord that shows, once and for all, that God’s love is stronger than anything that this old world can throw at us. We are a church and people who are an outward and visible sign of the hope that the Kingdom of God is already with us, even now, and we are going to work to continue to bring it to fruition. We are a church and a people that welcome you, regardless of where you have come from, and we will try to help you bind up your broken heart as so many people have helped us do for ours.
We are a resurrection people. May God give us the grace to continue to grow into this truth in the coming year and the hope to be truly worthy of that name.
January 29, 2012
First, of all, I want to thank you for being here today. Today we do much of the business of the church, the nuts and bolts of our common life together, and your presence here and your participation in that is very important.
I’d like to thank everyone who has supported the work and ministry of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea this past year—those who have given money, energy, ideas, physical labor, those who have offered your prayers, those who have shown up, for worship, events, offerings. Together, we have accomplished so much this last year, but I’ll get to that in a moment.
I’d like to thank those who have completed their terms as Vestry members. [Sometimes I think being a Vestry member is truly a thankless job. They are certainly “the few and the proud”. (Did you know that out of almost 20 people we asked to run for warden or vestry this year, 4 accepted?)] One of my joys of working closely with the Vestry is to see how each person brings their own unique gifts and offers them to contribute to the good and the work of the whole. These folks are no exception to that.
Judy Joest has a wonderful sense of humor; she’s someone who can tell a story and have me laughing so hard I’m crying, and that is truly a gift. She would often bring some levity to our work, and she has steadily and consistently for the last three years, spearheaded our pastoral care efforts. I can’t tell you how many times I have been to the hospital to see a parishioner, and either Judy Joest has been there right before me or is coming in as I’m leaving.
Alan Jones has been a quiet presence on Vestry for the last three years, but this year, Alan has exhibited an amazing insight into the heart of matters and an ability to cut to the heart and articulate key truths that often get lost to the rest of us. It has been truly a gift to our work together.
Doug Singletary is so very rooted in the Episcopal tradition and in the life and history of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea. As someone who has been active in leadership in this church for many, many years, he helped keep us grounded in these key identities of what it means to be Episcopalians in this particular community.
And Bob Wolford, who has completed his second year as Junior Warden…Bob is someone who gets things done. I can’t tell you how many times I would come in on a Sunday or a Monday, and something new had been accomplished by Bob’s quietly working at the church on Saturday or a Sunday. A clock is hung in the parish hall; my ordination and ministry certificates (that have been under the ledge of my desk for almost 2 years) are hung on the wall of my office; the sexton’s supply closet is reorganized and shelving has been added. These are all things that probably didn’t make it into Bob’s report, but his tenure as Jr Warden has been full of these small, quiet projects that, once completed, improve the life and the workings of this parish. Thank you to each of you for your service, for your willingness to share your gifts in leadership in this church, and for your love and support of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea.
I would also like to thank those who are continuing to serve on the Vestry this year; I’d like to thank Margaret and Neely who continue on as Clerk and Treasurer, respectively, and who each bring a good, strong dose of pragmatism with them. And I’d like to thank Marie, for her incredible leadership and her steadiness as senior warden. Marie is so very sharp, and I think that she and I have both grown and changed in this last of year of working closely together. I deeply value her leadership, her friendship, and her support.
The Vestry of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea is an amazing group of people, who deeply love this church and try to make the most faithful decisions possible in the circumstances. I cannot tell you how much time they put into the work that they do, but it is a lot, and I know that they do it for love of you all, and for love of this church. Please, do what you can to support them this year. Do what you can to love them, to be kind to them, to follow them, and to trust that their actions are always done through prayer and in faithfulness, trying to lead St. Peter’s to continue to bear fruit worthy of the Kingdom of God.
Be mindful that every criticism and complaint beats them up at least a little bit and erodes the fabric of our common life. We are all flawed human beings, and we are all doing the best that we can and trying to be faithful to following our Lord Jesus Christ.
I’d also like to thank the Vestry and the committee chairs for their written reports that are in your packets. We slightly shifted our focus as a Vestry this year, with our new system of quarterly parish meetings, and to do this, we are asking that every group keeps track of whatever way is appropriate to count or measure growth in that area. The statistics and information provided in these reports in your packets is both enlightening and amazing, and I think it gives us a wonderful picture of all that we have accomplished this year. There are just a few things I’d like to highlight.
First, last year, one of my visions for 2011 was to start a hospitality time after the 10:30 service. The hospitality and new members committee, under the direction of Helen Graham and the energy of Kerry Hudson quickly acted to meet my vision and started offering a hospitality time, solely through the donations of people willing to do it, and it now serves at least 50-60 people in attendance each week (and many more on special occasions). In addition to providing food during this time, Edwin Graham has been creating a new, multi-media slide presentation each Sunday that is on at both hospitality times. These slide presentations provide information about upcoming events, feature a mystery person every week, and they help us all stay better connected.
Another goal for this year was to maintain excellence in music and to continue to build our music program. Under the leadership of JT Anglin, Donna Hutchings, Barbara Blanchard, Debbie Anglin, and Keith Ballard, all three of our choirs are flourishing. The chancel choir is now up to 20 members (the largest since I’ve been here). The bell choir has 10 ringers, and the children’s choir has 11 children enrolled (the largest number since each’s inception). And we continue to work together to provide worship that is a fit offering to God, that is accessible to the people in the pews, and that offers the full breadth and beauty of our Anglican heritage and our Episcopal identity.
Last year I also spoke about our need for more parking on sight. This is an item that the Vestry has talked about at great deal, and it is currently on our “wish list” for things we’d like to work on in the future when more funding for such a project becomes available.
We continue to offer solid offerings for Christian formation of all ages. The children’s Sunday school program is thriving under the direction of Debbie Anglin and a number of dedicated teachers. The recent surveys about the Adult Forum indicate an overwhelming response to continue those offerings. The lectionary class, the Young Adult Sunday school, the Wednesday night seasonal offerings, and the short term studies have all been of outstanding quality. Truly we offer something for everyone who desires to be formed and shaped in the image and likeness of Christ through study and discussion together.
We’ve also had a lot of fun together this last year. We’ve broken bread together in small groups around each others’ tables in our Common Ground Groups, which we’ll hear a little more about later. We’ve learned to dance together; we’ve barbequed together; we’ve celebrated special events, major milestones, and ordinary days together, and through all this, we have strengthened the bonds of our common affection.
And we’ve helped a whole lot of people. We’ve served more than 4,050 meals at Feed My Sheep. We’ve made and delivered 650 sack lunches to hungry people on 2nd Sundays. We provided 70 thanksgiving meals to needy individuals and families in our community. We gave 42 outfits for girls coming through the Harrison County Children’s Emergency Shelter. We provided dinners for the residents of IHN for 24 evenings. We bought Christmas gifts for 30 children of the Women’s shelter this past Christmas. We sent three of our Arts Academy students to Camp Bratton Green on full scholarships and provided partial scholarship assistance for parishioners. We worked with other churches of this diocese and helped build a Habitat House in Smithville, through the loan of our equipment and the labor of members. We gave $2,688 out of our budget to local agencies, and then we raised an additional $7548 to go to other charitable organizations. By my rough calculations, we have improved the lives of around 5,000 people who have been in need this past year. That is amazing, and I am so proud of you all!
Just a few more numbers about this past year, and then I’ll move on to plans for the coming year. This summer, I started keeping up with the number of pastoral encounters that I make in a given week. Now this number is just during the week, because I’ve found no possible way to keep up with this on a given Sunday (other than having a vestry member follow me around with one of those clicker things that they have at events for counting…). And some weeks, I’m so busy, I forget to write it down and count it (so this is hardly scientific). But on average, I have 29 pastoral encounters during the week. This can include calls, visits, notes, emails, Facebook messages, texts—any encounter that I consider to be primarily of a pastoral nature, and the numbers vary greatly in an given week. Usually on shorter weeks, when I’m not in the office, it can be as low as 16. On crazy weeks, it can be as high as 72. But 30-40 is usually a normal week.
Also, our average Sunday attendance has grown this year from 131 to 148. On normal Sundays, we have about 40 people at the 8:00 service and about 100 people at the 10:30 service.
So, briefly, my goals for 2012: to do all that we have done this year and more. We are moving in the right direction; we’ve got structures to support our continued movement and growth in this direction, and we need to keep it going.
This year, we’ll have a rebuilding year for pastoral care. With Judy Joest rotating off the Vestry, we are going to look at new structures to support the continued life and development of pastoral care in the church.
Margaret McCrary has agreed to help me by leading the project to preserve and display the fullness of the history and life of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea by collecting, framing, and displaying pictures to hang on the walls of the hall way from the church back to the parish hall (which has been named in Memory of Buddy Hopkins). Soon, we will be calling upon some members of the church to help with this, and we ask that if you have any pictures which express the fullness of the life and history of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea such as baptisms, weddings, special events (Easter egg hunts, pageants, etc), historic events (building consecrations), or history of the church, that you share them with us. We may not be able to use all of them, but Margaret and her committee would like as many options as they can get as they decide how to tell the story of the life and history of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea on that wall in there.
We will be taking on the bishop’s challenge to read the four gospels with him during Lent, and we will be providing some structure to help make that meaningful for you to be provided on Wednesday nights as our Lenten formation offering.
I will be working with a small group of volunteers who want to help realize our dream of hosting a reception to honor our senior citizens of this parish, and it is my hope to make that a reality this spring.
In closing, I’d like to share what I learned about you, about us, this past summer. When Sue Cassady and I were completing our 2nd year of the Congregational Development training, one of the exercises that we had to do was to look around at the people who were visiting and joining St. Peter’s by-the-Sea. In that exercise, we were supposed to learn about what kind of people we are attracting and what that says about our community and our identity. As Sue and I did this work together, we realized that we were attracting an incredible diversity of people to St. Peter’s. We could not identify one single demographic or other characteristic to help us further understand our identity and what people are finding when they come to St. Peter’s and decide to stay.
But then, as we delved more deeply into what we know about this wide diversity of people who are newly attracted to St. Peter’s by-the-Sea, we realized what it was that attracts them. We are a resurrection community. In this world where so much is marked by death and destruction and corruption, we are both a place and community that places our hope in the resurrection, that says we shall not be overcome by hardship or adversity, by death or destruction. We are a church and a people who put our trust in the resurrection of our Lord that shows, once and for all, that God’s love is stronger than anything that this old world can throw at us. We are a church and people who are an outward and visible sign of the hope that the Kingdom of God is already with us, even now, and we are going to work to continue to bring it to fruition. We are a church and a people that welcome you, regardless of where you have come from, and we will try to help you bind up your broken heart as so many people have helped us do for ours.
We are a resurrection people. May God give us the grace to continue to grow into this truth in the coming year and the hope to be truly worthy of that name.
4th Sunday after Epiphany Year B
The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany Year B
January 29, 2012
Today’s readings all have something to say about authority. They talk about how we know the mind of God (which is the definition of authority in the life of the church), and how we then follow where God is calling us. In the Old Testament reading, we see the question of who the children of Israel will follow after Moses is dead? Who will be the prophet, the leader, the voice of God’s will and authority in the common life of that people?
In the epistle, we see Paul writing to the troubled community in Corinth about how authority comes not through knowledge but through love, and how, as a part of a community, sometimes we are called to sacrifice our own preferences for the good of others.
In the gospel reading, Mark shows us Jesus’s first act of ministry after he has called his new disciples to follow him. Jesus goes to the synagogue in Capernaum and teaches there, and he is noted as one who speaks with authority. As a result of that, an unclean spirit challenges him, and he heals the man of the unclean spirit, thus proving his authority even more to those who are watching, including his new followers.
It’s important to note that the Greek work that our reading today translates as authority is not power (that’s a totally different word). But authority here is more about a willingness or even a right that has everything to do with seeing justice served. This is the Way that Jesus walks, on which we follow: the care for the poor in spirit, the mournful, the lost, the sick, the hungry. It is what we sign onto as his followers and what the ministry of the church is all about.
This question of authority--of how we know the mind of God and what way do we follow--is one that is still present with us now, especially on this day as we prepare to have our annual parish meeting. For us, the mind of God is always revealed in community. It is why we are all here, because knowing the mind of God in our own individual lives is hard work, and we have found it is much easier when we do it together, as a community. Sometimes, someone can hear something from God that we haven’t ever heard before, and it can help us along our way.
A few years ago, I was reading the book called The Meaning of Jesus by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright, and I was struck by Tom Wright’s writing about what it means to follow the call of discipleship to Jesus. He was writing about the call to “repent and believe in the good news”. Wright says that we often hear that call with our modern ears as a call to “give up personal sins and accept a body of dogma or a scheme of religious salvation” (38). But in reality, Wright says that Jesus is issuing a call with a political bend saying to people to “Give up your agendas and trust me for mine.”
“Give up your agendas and trust me for mine.” In the church this is a key point in how we follow Jesus. It is also a Key point in how we are the Church together. At different times in our common life, some are called to lead, and some are called to follow. It is the dance that we all choose to dance when we join the church.
I recently read a fascinating article in the The Christian Century titled “How to Follow the Leader: Five habits of healthy congregations.” It’s an interesting article that talks about the call of members of a church to not just follow Jesus but to also follow the leaders of the church. In fact, the author writes that following is crucial. He writes of the term “followership” which is defined as “the discipline of supporting leaders and helping them to lead well. It is not submission, but the wise and good care of leaders, done out of a sense of gratitude for their willingness to take on the responsibilities of leadership, and a sense of hope and faith in their abilities and potential…Good followers remain free to think for themselves but recognize a responsibility to help leaders lead well.”
For Christians, good followership is hardly a foreign concept. “After all the gospels begin with Jesus saying, “Follow me.” To be a Christian means “following Jesus”—listening to him, learning from him and doing what he does.” It is giving up our own agendas and trusting him for his.
The early disciples are very clearly works in progress when it comes to being good followers, and so are we. But “by becoming mature and engaged followers of the leaders we call and elect in the church, we demonstrate one aspect or expression of Christian discipleship.”
It is the job of good leaders to help a congregation to identify its most pressing problems and important challenges, and then to mobilize the faith and the resources to take on those challenges. “Followership requires an overriding commitment to the good of the organization regardless of whether there is complete agreement…Good followership entails a commitment to the mission of the church. Good following means knowing what tasks and business have ‘your name on it’ and which ones don’t. It involves a respect for the roles that help govern a congregation and not overstepping them.”
We are called by our Lord, every day, to let go of our own agendas and to follow him. We are called to grow more deeply and more fully in how we trust and how we follow in our own lives and in the life of the church.
Let us pray. O Lord our God, teach us to ask for the right blessings. Guide the vessel of our life toward yourself, the tranquil haven of all storm-tossed souls. Show us the course we should take. Renew a willing spirit within us. Let your Spirit curb our wayward senses and guide and enable us to our true good, to keep your laws and in all our deeds always to rejoice in your glorious and gladdening presence. For yours is the glory and praise of all your saints for ever and ever. (Basil the Great 330-379)
January 29, 2012
Today’s readings all have something to say about authority. They talk about how we know the mind of God (which is the definition of authority in the life of the church), and how we then follow where God is calling us. In the Old Testament reading, we see the question of who the children of Israel will follow after Moses is dead? Who will be the prophet, the leader, the voice of God’s will and authority in the common life of that people?
In the epistle, we see Paul writing to the troubled community in Corinth about how authority comes not through knowledge but through love, and how, as a part of a community, sometimes we are called to sacrifice our own preferences for the good of others.
In the gospel reading, Mark shows us Jesus’s first act of ministry after he has called his new disciples to follow him. Jesus goes to the synagogue in Capernaum and teaches there, and he is noted as one who speaks with authority. As a result of that, an unclean spirit challenges him, and he heals the man of the unclean spirit, thus proving his authority even more to those who are watching, including his new followers.
It’s important to note that the Greek work that our reading today translates as authority is not power (that’s a totally different word). But authority here is more about a willingness or even a right that has everything to do with seeing justice served. This is the Way that Jesus walks, on which we follow: the care for the poor in spirit, the mournful, the lost, the sick, the hungry. It is what we sign onto as his followers and what the ministry of the church is all about.
This question of authority--of how we know the mind of God and what way do we follow--is one that is still present with us now, especially on this day as we prepare to have our annual parish meeting. For us, the mind of God is always revealed in community. It is why we are all here, because knowing the mind of God in our own individual lives is hard work, and we have found it is much easier when we do it together, as a community. Sometimes, someone can hear something from God that we haven’t ever heard before, and it can help us along our way.
A few years ago, I was reading the book called The Meaning of Jesus by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright, and I was struck by Tom Wright’s writing about what it means to follow the call of discipleship to Jesus. He was writing about the call to “repent and believe in the good news”. Wright says that we often hear that call with our modern ears as a call to “give up personal sins and accept a body of dogma or a scheme of religious salvation” (38). But in reality, Wright says that Jesus is issuing a call with a political bend saying to people to “Give up your agendas and trust me for mine.”
“Give up your agendas and trust me for mine.” In the church this is a key point in how we follow Jesus. It is also a Key point in how we are the Church together. At different times in our common life, some are called to lead, and some are called to follow. It is the dance that we all choose to dance when we join the church.
I recently read a fascinating article in the The Christian Century titled “How to Follow the Leader: Five habits of healthy congregations.” It’s an interesting article that talks about the call of members of a church to not just follow Jesus but to also follow the leaders of the church. In fact, the author writes that following is crucial. He writes of the term “followership” which is defined as “the discipline of supporting leaders and helping them to lead well. It is not submission, but the wise and good care of leaders, done out of a sense of gratitude for their willingness to take on the responsibilities of leadership, and a sense of hope and faith in their abilities and potential…Good followers remain free to think for themselves but recognize a responsibility to help leaders lead well.”
For Christians, good followership is hardly a foreign concept. “After all the gospels begin with Jesus saying, “Follow me.” To be a Christian means “following Jesus”—listening to him, learning from him and doing what he does.” It is giving up our own agendas and trusting him for his.
The early disciples are very clearly works in progress when it comes to being good followers, and so are we. But “by becoming mature and engaged followers of the leaders we call and elect in the church, we demonstrate one aspect or expression of Christian discipleship.”
It is the job of good leaders to help a congregation to identify its most pressing problems and important challenges, and then to mobilize the faith and the resources to take on those challenges. “Followership requires an overriding commitment to the good of the organization regardless of whether there is complete agreement…Good followership entails a commitment to the mission of the church. Good following means knowing what tasks and business have ‘your name on it’ and which ones don’t. It involves a respect for the roles that help govern a congregation and not overstepping them.”
We are called by our Lord, every day, to let go of our own agendas and to follow him. We are called to grow more deeply and more fully in how we trust and how we follow in our own lives and in the life of the church.
Let us pray. O Lord our God, teach us to ask for the right blessings. Guide the vessel of our life toward yourself, the tranquil haven of all storm-tossed souls. Show us the course we should take. Renew a willing spirit within us. Let your Spirit curb our wayward senses and guide and enable us to our true good, to keep your laws and in all our deeds always to rejoice in your glorious and gladdening presence. For yours is the glory and praise of all your saints for ever and ever. (Basil the Great 330-379)
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Epiphany 2B sermon
Epiphany 2B
(slightly reworked from 1/18/09)
January 15, 2012
It was a Sunday like any other Sunday. The pastor stood in front of his congregation and greeted them with open arms, saying “The peace of Christ be always with you!” A little boy leaned over to his mother and asked, “A Piece of Christ? What am I supposed to do with a piece of Christ?”
It’s an innocent question that gets at the very heart of who we are as Christians. And it especially powerful when we remember the baptisms last Sunday, the bishop’s words to them and to us about how in baptism we are marked as Christ’s own forever, and it is the church’s job-- it is your job and my job-- to help each other remember that.
So what am I to do with “a piece of Christ”?
Our readings for today give us three different looks at what it means to respond to God’s call in our lives. Samuel, whose mother so longed for a baby that she promised God she would dedicate that baby to God’s service, is eager and ready to serve. But he doesn’t recognize the voice of the Lord until gentle but flawed Eli, whose own sight is growing dim, understands and tells Samuel how to answer God. Paul chides the people of the church in Corinth for their gluttony and fornication and reminds them that their bodies, their lives are not their own; they are a member of the body of Christ, bought with a price, and a temple for the Holy Spirit. Philip responds to Nathaniel’s skepticism with an invitation to “Come and see.” And when he does, Jesus’s recognition of who Nathaniel really is, Jesus’s ability to see into his heart, seeing who he is at his very foundation, immediately transforms him into one who is passionate and eager to follow. These readings remind us that the call of the Christian is best heard in community. They remind us that our call must start from an understanding that “I am not my own” but that I am God’s and have been even before I was born.
So what am I to do with “a piece of Christ?”
In the face of the world saying God has nothing left to say, the prophet says to reply: “Here I am Lord. Speak, your servant listens.”
In the face of the world saying that you are your own person, you can do whatever you want/need to find yourself, the poet says, “God has always known you; you must seek the knowledge of yourself in and through God.”
In the face of the world saying you can find meaning and fulfillment in food and sex, the teacher says, “Don’t you know that you are not your own and you are called to glorify God who dwells in you in and through how you use your body?”
In the face of the world who asks, “Can anything good/new/surprising come out of the middle of nowhere?” the friend replies, not with argument or justification, but with an invitation and a smile: “Come and see!”
In the face of resistance and skepticism, our Lord replies: “I have seen inside your very heart, and it leaps with joy as it recognizes me, its deepest desire. Come and follow me and allow me to give you back your life in a way that only I can.”
God’s call to each of us (as individuals and as a church) is a reminder first --that “you are not your own” and second --that we are to “glorify God in all that we are and all that we do.”
We are called, like John the Baptist, to testify to the light, to surrender our lives and our very selves to God, to whom we already belong, allowing that awareness and that surrender to transform us. We are called to help each other hear the call of our Lord, trusting the wisdom of others to help us recognize the call of God in our own lives; not judging but inviting others to go back and try answering a different way or inviting them to join us and to “come and see!” We are called to live our lives differently, as those who are holy, set apart; to confront the world by shining the light of the Son on the world’s excesses, on our own systems of evil and injustice.
Do you know that [you] are members of Christ? Therefore, a piece of Christ will always be with you. Now go forth, and let it shine into the world!
(slightly reworked from 1/18/09)
January 15, 2012
It was a Sunday like any other Sunday. The pastor stood in front of his congregation and greeted them with open arms, saying “The peace of Christ be always with you!” A little boy leaned over to his mother and asked, “A Piece of Christ? What am I supposed to do with a piece of Christ?”
It’s an innocent question that gets at the very heart of who we are as Christians. And it especially powerful when we remember the baptisms last Sunday, the bishop’s words to them and to us about how in baptism we are marked as Christ’s own forever, and it is the church’s job-- it is your job and my job-- to help each other remember that.
So what am I to do with “a piece of Christ”?
Our readings for today give us three different looks at what it means to respond to God’s call in our lives. Samuel, whose mother so longed for a baby that she promised God she would dedicate that baby to God’s service, is eager and ready to serve. But he doesn’t recognize the voice of the Lord until gentle but flawed Eli, whose own sight is growing dim, understands and tells Samuel how to answer God. Paul chides the people of the church in Corinth for their gluttony and fornication and reminds them that their bodies, their lives are not their own; they are a member of the body of Christ, bought with a price, and a temple for the Holy Spirit. Philip responds to Nathaniel’s skepticism with an invitation to “Come and see.” And when he does, Jesus’s recognition of who Nathaniel really is, Jesus’s ability to see into his heart, seeing who he is at his very foundation, immediately transforms him into one who is passionate and eager to follow. These readings remind us that the call of the Christian is best heard in community. They remind us that our call must start from an understanding that “I am not my own” but that I am God’s and have been even before I was born.
So what am I to do with “a piece of Christ?”
In the face of the world saying God has nothing left to say, the prophet says to reply: “Here I am Lord. Speak, your servant listens.”
In the face of the world saying that you are your own person, you can do whatever you want/need to find yourself, the poet says, “God has always known you; you must seek the knowledge of yourself in and through God.”
In the face of the world saying you can find meaning and fulfillment in food and sex, the teacher says, “Don’t you know that you are not your own and you are called to glorify God who dwells in you in and through how you use your body?”
In the face of the world who asks, “Can anything good/new/surprising come out of the middle of nowhere?” the friend replies, not with argument or justification, but with an invitation and a smile: “Come and see!”
In the face of resistance and skepticism, our Lord replies: “I have seen inside your very heart, and it leaps with joy as it recognizes me, its deepest desire. Come and follow me and allow me to give you back your life in a way that only I can.”
God’s call to each of us (as individuals and as a church) is a reminder first --that “you are not your own” and second --that we are to “glorify God in all that we are and all that we do.”
We are called, like John the Baptist, to testify to the light, to surrender our lives and our very selves to God, to whom we already belong, allowing that awareness and that surrender to transform us. We are called to help each other hear the call of our Lord, trusting the wisdom of others to help us recognize the call of God in our own lives; not judging but inviting others to go back and try answering a different way or inviting them to join us and to “come and see!” We are called to live our lives differently, as those who are holy, set apart; to confront the world by shining the light of the Son on the world’s excesses, on our own systems of evil and injustice.
Do you know that [you] are members of Christ? Therefore, a piece of Christ will always be with you. Now go forth, and let it shine into the world!
Martin Hood's funeral homily
Martin Hood’s funeral homily
January 14, 2012
When I sit down with families to plan a funeral service, I make it a point to ask the family members of the person who has died, to share some stories with me. I’ve found that sometimes, some of these snapshots of a life can be woven into the funeral homily in meaningful ways. Yesterday, when I was sitting with Kylie, Lee, and Fran, I asked them to tell me stories about Martin. I told them that I was looking for one that could be used in this homily, and each one thought about a story; and the stories began coming in rapid succession, each one funnier than the one before. But as each one of those women told their stories, they would each preface them with the caveat: “but you couldn’t tell this one in church…” Finally, we decided that everyone who is here today probably has a Martin story. But none of them can be repeated in church…
There’s a prayer, a collect in the prayer book, that has been rattling around in my head these last few days. It starts off with the words: “Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross, that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace…” There’s a lot under the surface in those few simple words: the agony, the despair, the defeat, the humiliation of the cross…the absolute worst of humanity, the absolute worst choice we could make—to choose to put to death God. As the family and friends of Martin, we all know a taste of that darkness on this bright, sunny day.
But we also know the rest of the story, the reality of Jesus’s arms of love; how God’s love proved to be stronger than our darkness and despair in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We remember, especially today, how God takes the worst decision that we people could make and uses it to accomplish our salvation, redemption, and restoration into God’s kingdom of love.
Today we remember together the cross and the resurrection: the ultimate bad decision, the deep despair of humankind and the surprise of hope—that God’s love is stronger than anything, stronger than our grief and sadness, stronger than our despair and bad decisions, stronger than anything and everything. Even death.
It is no secret that throughout his life, Martin wrestled with the darkness, with depression and anxiety. But what you may or may not know is how throughout his life, he also encountered the surprise of hope—how the first time he held his niece, Shelby, he made the decision to be different, to live his life differently, and he did it. He was surprised by hope in meeting Kylie and in their life together that was filled with so much laughter. He was surprised by hope in his passion for his work and his brilliance at programming. He was surprised by hope as he became a father to Olivia, in the way that he quietly and faithfully loved her and provided for her.
In his life we remember and give thanks for the hope; and we are confident that he is once again being surprised by hope in eternal life in the loving arms of the God who created him.
So this day, even in our sadness, we give thanks for the life of Martin Hood. We remember all that was so wonderful about him—all those stories that we can’t tell in church; we hold tightly to one another, and we hold fast to the surprise of hope that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ: that God’s love (for Martin and for each of us) is stronger than our grief, our despair, our anger, our loss, our bad decisions. We hold fast to the hope that God’s love is stronger than anything and everything.
Even death.
January 14, 2012
When I sit down with families to plan a funeral service, I make it a point to ask the family members of the person who has died, to share some stories with me. I’ve found that sometimes, some of these snapshots of a life can be woven into the funeral homily in meaningful ways. Yesterday, when I was sitting with Kylie, Lee, and Fran, I asked them to tell me stories about Martin. I told them that I was looking for one that could be used in this homily, and each one thought about a story; and the stories began coming in rapid succession, each one funnier than the one before. But as each one of those women told their stories, they would each preface them with the caveat: “but you couldn’t tell this one in church…” Finally, we decided that everyone who is here today probably has a Martin story. But none of them can be repeated in church…
There’s a prayer, a collect in the prayer book, that has been rattling around in my head these last few days. It starts off with the words: “Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross, that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace…” There’s a lot under the surface in those few simple words: the agony, the despair, the defeat, the humiliation of the cross…the absolute worst of humanity, the absolute worst choice we could make—to choose to put to death God. As the family and friends of Martin, we all know a taste of that darkness on this bright, sunny day.
But we also know the rest of the story, the reality of Jesus’s arms of love; how God’s love proved to be stronger than our darkness and despair in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We remember, especially today, how God takes the worst decision that we people could make and uses it to accomplish our salvation, redemption, and restoration into God’s kingdom of love.
Today we remember together the cross and the resurrection: the ultimate bad decision, the deep despair of humankind and the surprise of hope—that God’s love is stronger than anything, stronger than our grief and sadness, stronger than our despair and bad decisions, stronger than anything and everything. Even death.
It is no secret that throughout his life, Martin wrestled with the darkness, with depression and anxiety. But what you may or may not know is how throughout his life, he also encountered the surprise of hope—how the first time he held his niece, Shelby, he made the decision to be different, to live his life differently, and he did it. He was surprised by hope in meeting Kylie and in their life together that was filled with so much laughter. He was surprised by hope in his passion for his work and his brilliance at programming. He was surprised by hope as he became a father to Olivia, in the way that he quietly and faithfully loved her and provided for her.
In his life we remember and give thanks for the hope; and we are confident that he is once again being surprised by hope in eternal life in the loving arms of the God who created him.
So this day, even in our sadness, we give thanks for the life of Martin Hood. We remember all that was so wonderful about him—all those stories that we can’t tell in church; we hold tightly to one another, and we hold fast to the surprise of hope that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ: that God’s love (for Martin and for each of us) is stronger than our grief, our despair, our anger, our loss, our bad decisions. We hold fast to the hope that God’s love is stronger than anything and everything.
Even death.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Christmas Day 2011
As many times as I’ve heard story of Jesus’s birth from Luke’s gospel, as many times as I’ve read it myself, as many times as I’ve preached on it… I have never really noticed the prevalence of the manger in the Luke’s story. Luke mentions the manger three times. And we talk about it readily, see it everywhere, but I’ve never really thought about the Eucharistic significance. The shepherds greet God incarnate, not just in a barn, or a cave or a courtyard, not on a pile of blankets in the corner of the room. God incarnate is lying inside the feeding place. The shepherds greet God who is with us at table. Over and over again he feeds us: in his life and his ministry, in his teaching and witness, in his death and resurrection, and in the mystery and wonder of his birth.
It is meet and right, therefore, that we gather together today, on this day of his birth, and allow him to feed us again.
May you be given a taste of the hope, the wonder, the mystery of this baby who is God with us, and who will feed you whenever you ask.
It is meet and right, therefore, that we gather together today, on this day of his birth, and allow him to feed us again.
May you be given a taste of the hope, the wonder, the mystery of this baby who is God with us, and who will feed you whenever you ask.
Christmas Eve 2011
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.” Israel is truly a dark place as the prophet Isaiah proclaims this bit of good news. The land is immersed in deep and overwhelming fear as Israel and Judah are both facing their immanent destructions. In just a few years, Judah (the southern kingdom) will become a resident captive and the northern kingdom of Israel will be no more. At this point in history, political machinations are afoot, and the people of the northern kingdom of Israel have declared war on Jerusalem while the Assyrians are practically at the doors of the kingdom. Into this crisis, God sends Isaiah to speak good news to King Ahaz and his people. I am giving you a sign to show that I am with you, God tells God’s people, in the midst of their darkness. No matter what happens God will be with you.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.” Israel has found itself again under the darkness of Roman occupation. The efficient and ruthless Romans are ruling the country with an iron fist, and the people of Israel just try to keep their heads down and go about their daily lives. Some of the more shiftless members of the population of Bethlehem, the shepherds, are working, tending their sheep one ordinary night when a brilliant light splits the darkness and lights up the night. Angels appear to them and tell them the good news: God is with you. No matter what happens, God will be with you.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.” I know that I do not have to speak to you of the darkness of the world. You know of it as well as I. We see it writ large in war, torture, hunger, disease, terrorist bombings, and the wrongful use of power. We see it writ small in family quarrels, disease and death, old age and infirmity, rebellious children, fear, guilt, loneliness, and bereavement. No, we are not strangers to the land of deep darkness.
Modern day mystic and priest Anthony DeMello writes: “Look steadily at the darkness. It won’t be long before you see the light. Gaze at things. It won’t be long before you see the Word.”i We too dwell with the darkness. Tonight we come here to remember that Jesus Christ is God who is with us; we come here because we desperately hope that the light of Christ will drive away the shadows and the darkness of our lives, of our world. All throughout our story, the story of the love affair between God and God’s people, we, God’s people have pulled away, and God says to us, I am with you. Tonight we celebrate and remember the reality that God is in fact with us, no matter what darkness we may face in our lives. No matter what happens, God will be with you.
The artist and poet Jan Richardson has written a blessing for Winter Solstice that speaks to those of us who walk in darkness and long for the light of Christ in our lives and in our world.
Blessing for the Longest Night
All throughout these months
as the shadows
have lengthened,
this blessing has been
gathering itself,
making ready,
preparing for
this night.
It has practiced
walking in the dark,
traveling with
its eyes closed,
feeling its way
by memory
by touch
by the pull of the moon
even as it wanes.
So believe me
when I tell you
this blessing will
reach you
even if you
have not light enough
to read it;
it will find you
even though you cannot
see it coming.
You will know
the moment of its
arriving
by your release
of the breath
you have held
so long;
a loosening
of the clenching
in your hands,
of the clutch
around your heart;
a thinning
of the darkness
that had drawn itself
around you.
This blessing
does not mean
to take the night away
but it knows
its hidden roads,
knows the resting spots
along the path,
knows what it means
to travel
in the company
of a friend.
So when
this blessing comes,
take its hand.
Get up.
Set out on the road
you cannot see.
This is the night
when you can trust
that any direction
you go,
you will be walking
toward the dawn.ii
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.” Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy for all people. God is with you, this night and always. No matter what happens, God will be with you.
i. Anthony de Mello, Selected Writings, ed. William Dych, SJ. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1999, p 49.
ii. © Jan L. Richardson. janrichardson.com
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.” Israel has found itself again under the darkness of Roman occupation. The efficient and ruthless Romans are ruling the country with an iron fist, and the people of Israel just try to keep their heads down and go about their daily lives. Some of the more shiftless members of the population of Bethlehem, the shepherds, are working, tending their sheep one ordinary night when a brilliant light splits the darkness and lights up the night. Angels appear to them and tell them the good news: God is with you. No matter what happens, God will be with you.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.” I know that I do not have to speak to you of the darkness of the world. You know of it as well as I. We see it writ large in war, torture, hunger, disease, terrorist bombings, and the wrongful use of power. We see it writ small in family quarrels, disease and death, old age and infirmity, rebellious children, fear, guilt, loneliness, and bereavement. No, we are not strangers to the land of deep darkness.
Modern day mystic and priest Anthony DeMello writes: “Look steadily at the darkness. It won’t be long before you see the light. Gaze at things. It won’t be long before you see the Word.”i We too dwell with the darkness. Tonight we come here to remember that Jesus Christ is God who is with us; we come here because we desperately hope that the light of Christ will drive away the shadows and the darkness of our lives, of our world. All throughout our story, the story of the love affair between God and God’s people, we, God’s people have pulled away, and God says to us, I am with you. Tonight we celebrate and remember the reality that God is in fact with us, no matter what darkness we may face in our lives. No matter what happens, God will be with you.
The artist and poet Jan Richardson has written a blessing for Winter Solstice that speaks to those of us who walk in darkness and long for the light of Christ in our lives and in our world.
Blessing for the Longest Night
All throughout these months
as the shadows
have lengthened,
this blessing has been
gathering itself,
making ready,
preparing for
this night.
It has practiced
walking in the dark,
traveling with
its eyes closed,
feeling its way
by memory
by touch
by the pull of the moon
even as it wanes.
So believe me
when I tell you
this blessing will
reach you
even if you
have not light enough
to read it;
it will find you
even though you cannot
see it coming.
You will know
the moment of its
arriving
by your release
of the breath
you have held
so long;
a loosening
of the clenching
in your hands,
of the clutch
around your heart;
a thinning
of the darkness
that had drawn itself
around you.
This blessing
does not mean
to take the night away
but it knows
its hidden roads,
knows the resting spots
along the path,
knows what it means
to travel
in the company
of a friend.
So when
this blessing comes,
take its hand.
Get up.
Set out on the road
you cannot see.
This is the night
when you can trust
that any direction
you go,
you will be walking
toward the dawn.ii
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.” Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy for all people. God is with you, this night and always. No matter what happens, God will be with you.
i. Anthony de Mello, Selected Writings, ed. William Dych, SJ. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1999, p 49.
ii. © Jan L. Richardson. janrichardson.com
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