Sunday's Sermon Sep 30th
Here is my sermon from Sunday, enjoy...
We believe God is here, seriously we do. So how will we make the words on our sign ring truer each day as we live our life in God together? We believe that God is actively working in our lives to change the world, to reveal the Kingdom of God to all who wish to experience it. We believe God is here, not far off in a galaxy far away, but right here, living next to us. God’s presence among us is a tough question though, it is a tough question because the idea of God being actively present in our lives has been co-opted by conservative Christians throughout the world, conservative Christians around the world who believe God active in our lives now means that God will make me rich if I pray enough; people who believe that God will intervene in Iraq and destroy the heathen, namely all of Islam. People who believe that means their children will be healed of debilitating diseases without medical intervention; people who believe that God brought debilitating diseases upon their children. Does God intervene in the lives of those God created? Or is it simply all of us who intervene on God’s behalf?
I find it hard to believe that a God, who had the audacity to elect a woman as our presiding bishop, during such contentious times, is not near to us. The Spirit of God, most said that day in 2006, was more present than at any other time they had ever experienced, I believe it was, but I also believe that the spirit is as present as powerfully all the time, we simply refuse to see it. We want to believe that the Spirit is present when things go our way; God only seems to be present when our expectations are met. Which makes me wonder how the spirit was present in New Orleans, as I am sure it was, as the Bishop’s met recently to talk about what next steps will be taken for the Episcopal Church. I am not going to get into this, as I have not yet read the full text of the statement, but I did read our own Bishop’s email which asked for reflection and thoughtful discernment, to look at what was said and what was not said. Reaction always gets us into corners, and in this moment the reactionary actions of our culture will be very tempting to each and every one of us.
The world, contrary to what many may think, has been broken open; it is vulnerable and desiring to be healed. That healing has already begun by God, for God does not wait for a signal from us to move out into the world healing and reconciling. We are not the standards or the flag bearers for God, if God waited for us, nothing would get done. God must be active in the world, and God must be present for much of the time we are not, we are often unwilling to participate in God’s healing actions because that healing does not align with what we desire or want for our own political, economic or military agenda. What will it take to see that everything we need to participate in God’s active reconciliation of the world is right here? That we do not need a special program or a perfect study to make ministry and mission happen?
The rich man believed all that Father Abraham had to do was resurrect Lazarus and viola; his brothers would see the error of their actions turn around from their sin and repent. But that would be like asking you Sandy to go home and get Sandy for today’s service. Sandy is already here, Sandy is already present doing ministry and worshipping God. God is already active, not just in how we reveal to all God in the world, but actually present actually working, actually healing while we partner with God to make the world whole again, to respond to the cry of the world, “wholeness, wholeness, wholeness”. The rich man’s brother would have never believed Lazarus was sign for them.
There is probably a reason God is not at the gate keeping track of who comes in and who does not, God is already in the world, present to all of us healing and reconciling. When we are baptized we are asked a series of questions. Not the promises of the Baptismal Covenant, but the questions that ask us to renounce evil. I recently read an interesting article about these renunciation questions; the article asked one simple question, “Have we claimed permission to speak a strong truth without the ethical obligation to live the strength of it as suggested by the language?” In our baptismal rite these are the questions I am referencing: “Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God? Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God? Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God? The answer to each question is I renounce them. The author of the article does believe that we have entered water that is way over our head in this day and age, when it is easier than ever to claim such a strong truth, such a strong rhetoric and back it up with nothing more than empty ritual and weak ethics.
The language of our baptism is both powerful beyond measure and as cooling as Lazarus’ finger upon our tongue. That language also is a first sign to our, more often than not, young children, that God is present here and now, working among us. We must be in the world, our Baptism demands, renouncing all that disrupts God’s grace in the world. We must be in the world, our Baptims demands, healing that which ahs been corrupted and destroyed by evil. We must be in the world, our Baptism demands, responding to God’s grace and God’s will to love rather than those sinful things that draw us away from God, that keep us from participating with God in the reconciling work that needs to be done. Our baptism declares clearly that we are missionaries, missionaries not to convert, but missionaries sent to reconcile. Our baptism clearly demands of us, from whatever age we are baptized that we respond to God’s grace and participate with God in God’s action in the world. That we find our place next to God, doing those things we love to do, doing those things that God has gifted us with the skills to do. Our baptism is the outward and visible sign of God’s invisible and inward action in the world. Our baptism is the the affirmation we need, everything we could desire to know that that God is here with us today.
For the last nine months I have felt like there was a bubble around us with a big banner that said, “Priest’s kid is really sick, stay away”, a banner not place by any of you, but placed there by God. You all have cared for our family so much and offered us great comfort and help during this time of terrible distress; we have seen the grace of God and the power of the spirit in all of that. I am feeling now, like that bubble has burst, Eliot and Naomi have returned, and so have several other children in our midst. There is activity and it is time to get back to the growing of the garden. It is time to imagine what it will take to move us from this place we are at now, which is very comfortable, but highly unsustainable to a place that is sustainable, and at the cutting edge of mission and ministry. I believe, and I hope it is not just me, that God has a call and preferred future for us as a people of God, and this place as an institution of peace and reconciliation. I believe that God is at work among us, calling us out on to the table to claim the language, and the gifts we have as a particular slice of the religious pie, and to claim our truth with strength, with conviction and without hypocrisy.
How do you feel God is present in our life as a community of faith? How do you feel God is at work among us, lifting us up and revealing those gifts we have that we never knew we had? What gifts have you discovered in your own life that could take root in the Garden in some way shape or form. Pat and Noel Cadwell, along with Laurie Knudsen took it upon themselves to plan a picnic for us, Ellen Stanley has finally begun her Music and Arts in Elliot Park concert series that she has wanted to do for years, several others of you have expressed interest in different ministries and missions. I am doing what I believe is Gods work here in the Garden and in our neighborhood. I love working in this place, because we truly do believe that God is here, that God is present, that God is doing miraculous things all the time. Seriously, I believe it!
We believe God is here, seriously we do. So how will we make the words on our sign ring truer each day as we live our life in God together? We believe that God is actively working in our lives to change the world, to reveal the Kingdom of God to all who wish to experience it. We believe God is here, not far off in a galaxy far away, but right here, living next to us. God’s presence among us is a tough question though, it is a tough question because the idea of God being actively present in our lives has been co-opted by conservative Christians throughout the world, conservative Christians around the world who believe God active in our lives now means that God will make me rich if I pray enough; people who believe that God will intervene in Iraq and destroy the heathen, namely all of Islam. People who believe that means their children will be healed of debilitating diseases without medical intervention; people who believe that God brought debilitating diseases upon their children. Does God intervene in the lives of those God created? Or is it simply all of us who intervene on God’s behalf?
I find it hard to believe that a God, who had the audacity to elect a woman as our presiding bishop, during such contentious times, is not near to us. The Spirit of God, most said that day in 2006, was more present than at any other time they had ever experienced, I believe it was, but I also believe that the spirit is as present as powerfully all the time, we simply refuse to see it. We want to believe that the Spirit is present when things go our way; God only seems to be present when our expectations are met. Which makes me wonder how the spirit was present in New Orleans, as I am sure it was, as the Bishop’s met recently to talk about what next steps will be taken for the Episcopal Church. I am not going to get into this, as I have not yet read the full text of the statement, but I did read our own Bishop’s email which asked for reflection and thoughtful discernment, to look at what was said and what was not said. Reaction always gets us into corners, and in this moment the reactionary actions of our culture will be very tempting to each and every one of us.
The world, contrary to what many may think, has been broken open; it is vulnerable and desiring to be healed. That healing has already begun by God, for God does not wait for a signal from us to move out into the world healing and reconciling. We are not the standards or the flag bearers for God, if God waited for us, nothing would get done. God must be active in the world, and God must be present for much of the time we are not, we are often unwilling to participate in God’s healing actions because that healing does not align with what we desire or want for our own political, economic or military agenda. What will it take to see that everything we need to participate in God’s active reconciliation of the world is right here? That we do not need a special program or a perfect study to make ministry and mission happen?
The rich man believed all that Father Abraham had to do was resurrect Lazarus and viola; his brothers would see the error of their actions turn around from their sin and repent. But that would be like asking you Sandy to go home and get Sandy for today’s service. Sandy is already here, Sandy is already present doing ministry and worshipping God. God is already active, not just in how we reveal to all God in the world, but actually present actually working, actually healing while we partner with God to make the world whole again, to respond to the cry of the world, “wholeness, wholeness, wholeness”. The rich man’s brother would have never believed Lazarus was sign for them.
There is probably a reason God is not at the gate keeping track of who comes in and who does not, God is already in the world, present to all of us healing and reconciling. When we are baptized we are asked a series of questions. Not the promises of the Baptismal Covenant, but the questions that ask us to renounce evil. I recently read an interesting article about these renunciation questions; the article asked one simple question, “Have we claimed permission to speak a strong truth without the ethical obligation to live the strength of it as suggested by the language?” In our baptismal rite these are the questions I am referencing: “Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God? Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God? Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God? The answer to each question is I renounce them. The author of the article does believe that we have entered water that is way over our head in this day and age, when it is easier than ever to claim such a strong truth, such a strong rhetoric and back it up with nothing more than empty ritual and weak ethics.
The language of our baptism is both powerful beyond measure and as cooling as Lazarus’ finger upon our tongue. That language also is a first sign to our, more often than not, young children, that God is present here and now, working among us. We must be in the world, our Baptism demands, renouncing all that disrupts God’s grace in the world. We must be in the world, our Baptims demands, healing that which ahs been corrupted and destroyed by evil. We must be in the world, our Baptism demands, responding to God’s grace and God’s will to love rather than those sinful things that draw us away from God, that keep us from participating with God in the reconciling work that needs to be done. Our baptism declares clearly that we are missionaries, missionaries not to convert, but missionaries sent to reconcile. Our baptism clearly demands of us, from whatever age we are baptized that we respond to God’s grace and participate with God in God’s action in the world. That we find our place next to God, doing those things we love to do, doing those things that God has gifted us with the skills to do. Our baptism is the outward and visible sign of God’s invisible and inward action in the world. Our baptism is the the affirmation we need, everything we could desire to know that that God is here with us today.
For the last nine months I have felt like there was a bubble around us with a big banner that said, “Priest’s kid is really sick, stay away”, a banner not place by any of you, but placed there by God. You all have cared for our family so much and offered us great comfort and help during this time of terrible distress; we have seen the grace of God and the power of the spirit in all of that. I am feeling now, like that bubble has burst, Eliot and Naomi have returned, and so have several other children in our midst. There is activity and it is time to get back to the growing of the garden. It is time to imagine what it will take to move us from this place we are at now, which is very comfortable, but highly unsustainable to a place that is sustainable, and at the cutting edge of mission and ministry. I believe, and I hope it is not just me, that God has a call and preferred future for us as a people of God, and this place as an institution of peace and reconciliation. I believe that God is at work among us, calling us out on to the table to claim the language, and the gifts we have as a particular slice of the religious pie, and to claim our truth with strength, with conviction and without hypocrisy.
How do you feel God is present in our life as a community of faith? How do you feel God is at work among us, lifting us up and revealing those gifts we have that we never knew we had? What gifts have you discovered in your own life that could take root in the Garden in some way shape or form. Pat and Noel Cadwell, along with Laurie Knudsen took it upon themselves to plan a picnic for us, Ellen Stanley has finally begun her Music and Arts in Elliot Park concert series that she has wanted to do for years, several others of you have expressed interest in different ministries and missions. I am doing what I believe is Gods work here in the Garden and in our neighborhood. I love working in this place, because we truly do believe that God is here, that God is present, that God is doing miraculous things all the time. Seriously, I believe it!
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