Epiphany 3A--sermon for Annual Parish Meeting

Epiphany 3A—Annual Parish Meeting January 26, 2013 Sometimes, when I sit down to read the lessons for the coming Sunday for the first time the week before, I think that the crafters of the lectionary are having a little joke on me. This week’s lessons about the divisions in the Corinthian church and the calling of the first four disciples by Jesus in Matthew’s gospel have much to offer us as we gather today as one parish, in one service, to do the work of our annual meeting. And strangely enough, these two very different perspectives on discipleship—one of division and one of call—have two major things in common which speak to us where we are right now as a parish. I preached last week about how Paul’s First letter to the Corinthians is a reminder to us that there has always been conflict in the life of the church, in the body of the followers of Jesus ever since we were first called together. Paul highlights that conflict this week in talking about how different factions have popped up in the church in Corinth. He writes, “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” Paul is clearly distressed by the reported conflict, and he urges them to deal with their quarrels and disputes in a meaningful and constructive way, and he reminds them of their unity in their common mission in proclaiming the gospel, pointing them toward the cross. In an unusually similar way, the gospel reading for today, which tells of the calling of Jesus to Peter, Andrew, James and John to leave their posts and their nets where they are fishing and to follow him to become “fishers for people,” points to how following the call of Jesus, being united in proclaiming the gospel can cause disruptions in our lives. This calling of Jesus created an incredible disruption in the lives of those men and in the lives of those families. (It even caused disruption in the life of Jesus, himself.) Just think of poor Zebedee, who is left with the nets and boats, as his sons leave him behind to follow Jesus. My friend, Patrick Skutch who is the rector at Christ Church in the Bay, had an interesting observation about all of this that really spoke to me about where I am in my own life and calling and where we find ourselves in the life of this parish. He writes, “…In the Scriptures, disruption seems to be one of the symptoms of God's call. Think of Moses (who had made quite a comfortable life for himself), or any of the prophets, or of Andrew and John and Simon Peter. The Kingdom of God, which Jesus proclaimed, was itself disruptive, disruptive of world views, religious assumptions, and the special interests of the ruling powers. The disruptions in our own life (some of them bewildering and incredibly painful) are not themselves necessarily God's doing (God does not, in my view, arrange suffering and pain for God's creatures), but they may be sign posts or the raw material through which God's call might emerge. Disruption does not necessarily mean calling, but call is almost always disruptive.” So are we all destined for uncomfortable lives filled with disagreements, conflict and disruptions? How is it we are called to our individual faith and following of Jesus and how is it that we are called as a people to be followers of Jesus and proclaimers of the good news? This past Wednesday, Richard Rohr wrote a daily meditation titled, “Unity, not Uniformity”, which I think gets to the heart of this issue of how we are called to follow Jesus as individuals and as his body the church. He writes, “Many teachers have made the central but oft-missed point that unity is not the same as uniformity. Unity, in fact, is the reconciliation of differences, and those differences must be maintained—and yet overcome! You must actually distinguish things and separate them before you can spiritually unite them, usually at cost to yourself (Ephesians 2:14-16). If only we had made that simple clarification, so many problems—and overemphasized, separate identities—could have moved to a much higher level of love and service. Paul already made this universal principle very clear in several of his letters. For example, ‘There are a variety of gifts, but it is always the same Spirit. There are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord, working in all sorts of different ways in different people. It is the same God working in all of them’” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). My brothers and sisters, Jesus calls John and Andrew and Peter and James to use what they already know, what they are already doing—being fishermen, catching fish---in a new and different way (catching people), in a sacrificial way, that does, in fact, disrupt their lives, but will lead them to see the face of God in the Risen Christ. He calls them to be disrupted for a time that they might be transformed! Paul reminds us that the surest way to proclaim the gospel is to use our different and varied gifts that God has already given us, and to offer them sacrificially, where it may make us a little uncomfortable, may disrupt us a little, but offer them to the glory of God. Now, what does this mean? I recently read a story about a 4 year old boy who gave his whole family Christmas gifts this past Christmas. His mother wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about what they child might be giving, but she was happy to keep him occupied wrapping the presents for a good 30 minutes. When Christmas morning arrived, the little boy handed out his four packages, which were very messily wrapped, and his mother was astonished as she watched her family open the child’s gifts. To his mother, the child gave his pair of scissors because he had heard her say that she had lost her pair and needed to buy another. To his father, the child gave a box with his favorite super hero on it so his father would have a special place to put his wallet where he wouldn’t always be misplacing it. To his younger brother the child gave a book off his own bookshelf with the brother’s favorite TV character. The boy’s mother was amazed that her child had given sacrificially out of what he already had, and that he had given things that were truly needed by the others in his family. This is how Jesus calls the disciples to give in this week’s gospel. It is how he calls us to give. How often do we give out of what’s convenient, what is left-over? When is the last time that you could say that you gave sacrificially? When was the last time that you gave something that was really and truly needed? There are countless examples of people in this parish who are doing just this…Dave Wilson, who is a licensed marriage and family counselor who is offering his new therapy ministry here at St. Peter’s; Suzi Wilson, who makes her living as a web designer and administrator, and who has designed a beautiful new website for St. Peter’s and will administrate it for us as a part of her gift to the church. Trace Cates, who is a professional baker, is going to help bake the bread for our newcomer welcome bags and maybe even make us homemade communion bread. Joy Jennings , who accepted my request and has written the prayers of the people for today and for the rest of this season after the Epiphany (and maybe beyond). For Reedie McCaughan and Judy Owenby who are our like the shoemaker’s elves of St. Peter’s in that they knit beautiful and comforting baby blankets and prayer blankets and shawls that then just appear in the cupboard back there. And so many more, too many to name you all…who freely offer your gifts, who walk into my office and say, “I’d like to do this”…and countless untold others who readily answer the call when asked. This is what unites us—in the midst of our diversity. It is that fact that we have all been called by Jesus to use what God has given us to proclaim the good news of God’s love in this place. This is what we are going to focus on this year. This is the truly the mission of the church. My single goal this year is to say yes to your gifts as often as I can. If enough of us give out of this place of sacrifice, giving what we are already doing, but offering it in a new and different way, then we will continue to flourish and thrive. “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” “And [Jesus] said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”