Sermon for Year C Advent 3 2012

Let it shine

There it is. Do you see it?

The pink candle. Some people call it the rose candle. 

Right there in the advent wreath with it’s three purple friends.

The lighting of that pink candle today

tells us that it is the third Sunday of Advent--

Gaudete Sunday. 

Gaudete, in Latin, means REJOICE.

I have been so ready all week to preach about joy--

Zephaniah shouts,

Rejoice and exult with all your heart...

The canticle sings

Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things...

Philippians--oh my! our passage from Philippians is all about joy today--

Rejoice...do not worry about anything ...

Rejoice in the Lord always.

Even Luke’s gospel, if you read between the lines of

John the Baptizers “brood of vipers” shouts,

we see that John is bringing good news, joyful news--

the Messiah is coming.

The vestry has worked for a year 

to create a mission statement for St. John’s--

a mission statement which features joy so prominently--

just as joy is so prominent here in this congregation.

...St. John’s gathers 

joyfully 

to worship God 

and goes out 

with gladness 

to do Christ’s work 

in the world...

So much joy to be shared, to be preached, to be celebrated.

But then the shootings,

the horrific murder of young children and adults 

at Sandy Hook Elementary School 

in Newtown, Connecticut.

Last night I went to sleep thinking

how on earth can I stand in the pulpit 

and talk about joy

when such a slaughter has happened?

You could not go anywhere the past few days without hearing snippets 

of conversation about what happened in Connecticut. 

Sadness. Shock. Anger.

Facebook is covered with postings of prayers and laments.

Even though I do not personally know one single person 

who was murdered in this tragedy,

all I could imagine were the faces of my grandchildren 

on each of those children’s faces.

My heart has been so heavy.

Someone pointed out that we have a word for a child losing their parents--

they become an orphan.

We have a word when we lose a spouse.

We become a widow or a widower.

But there is no word in the English language 

for when a parent

loses a child.

Perhaps that sadness is so deep, so devastating 

that there is no word we can bear

to utter.

We cannot name that kind of pain.

Our suffering is not the same as those who have lost a child

or another member of their family in this tragedy.

But the truth is we all are hurting.

Our compassion, our humanity, binds us together.

God created us to be in community with one another,

to love one another, to care about each other.

It is when one of us becomes unbound, 

disconnected, 

that tragedy often results.

How can I preach about joy today?

Yet how can I stand in this pulpit

and not preach about joy?

Even in the darkest of times,

light breaks through.

Pink candles are lighted.

Joy wiggles in.

There is a table at the back of the church this morning

and it is piled high with winter coats.

Coats that you have generously given

so that the children at the Irene Wortham Center

here in Asheville

will have a new coat this year. 

We know. We know.

For some families in Newtown, Connecticut 

there will be no need for new coats this winter.

Little coats will hang in closets--empty.

This hurts.

But these coats, which we will bless this morning,

are symbols that life is stronger than death--

these coats will be filled--

with children who are alive, who laugh and cry

and do silly things that all children do.

Joy does not give up.

And what a day it is to bless coats--

when John the Baptizer says in our gospel reading,

Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none...

You have come forward and shared.

Well done!

Joyfully done!

Joy is real.

Joy is necessary.

Today we bless a new creche 

donated to this parish by Nancy Anderson.

Nancy is not a member of St. John’s.

She comes here occasionally

and yes, she is friends with some of our parishioners,

yet she wanted St. John’s

      to have this beautiful creche. 

Imagine that. 

This gift will bring us joy in our worship for years to come.

Episcopalians usually don’t bring out the creche until Advent is over

and Christmas has arrived.

But Gaudete Sunday seems like the best of all days

to bless what has been so generously and joyfully given to us.

We need to be reminded right now

that God came to us

as a baby. 

A totally vulnerable little baby.

Joy and hope and love were born that day

in the most unlikely and

impossible circumstances.

We worship an anything-is-possible God.

Today we will also celebrate 

someone who has blessed us repeatedly.

We will celebrate Betty Hayes’ 90th birthday at coffee hour today.

Our hearts are filled with joy.

Most of you know that Betty has not had an easy time lately.

Three heart attacks.

Rehab.

Getting to age 90 is not for sissies!

We celebrate Betty’s life and her presence among us 

with great joy today!

Because even when life is difficult,

even when life is horribly tragic,

God has not abandoned us.

God has not caused or willed the tragedy or the hardship.

God is standing right beside us.

Right beside every broken heart in Newtown, Connecticut.

In times of tragedy we need to remember the joy that is promised

     and will be possible once more

     when we are ready.

God is always ready to be born, 

to come into our lives.

We are asked to open the door.

Whenever you’re ready, says God,

I will be here.

I will be here waiting.

We are resurrection people.

We are about life overcoming death,

We are about love being stronger than hate.

We are about light overcoming the darkness.

The pink candle is burning brightly today.

Joy shines in the darkness.

Let it shine.

Let it shine.

Let it shine.

Amen.

Sermon for Year C Advent 1

Hope 

I was in the library of Needham Broughton High School

in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Libraries have always been--and still are--my second home.

I remember that day very clearly

because it was the day 

I discovered the poet Langston Hughes.

Seriously, 

I really thought I had DISCOVERED Langston Hughes.

I had never heard of him--

so of course, how could anyone else have heard of him?

I guess it by-passed my brain circuitry

that if no one else had heard of him

why then were his poems published in the book I held in my hands?

But that day,

for me,

I discovered Langston Hughes.

The poem was one titled DREAMS.

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow. 

That image of a broken-winged bird  has stayed with me.

A few nights ago I dreamed about this poem

only I woke up and the poem had different words--

Hope is a broken-winged bird

that has learned to fly.

Hope is a broken-winged bird that has learned to fly.

I think this is the theme for this first Sunday in Advent.

The scriptures today (and our sequence hymn)

are filled with brokenness,

with chaos.

Signs of ending all around us.

Jesus tells us that people will faint

from fear and foreboding

of what is coming upon the world.

We understand this.

We watch television,

we read the newspaper,

we see what is happening in our own lives.

And yet....

and yet...

the scriptures today are pregnant with hope.

I am an early riser.

I love early mornings.

I get up at about 4 am

and believe it or not, that is my favorite time of day.

I love to go outside and look up at the sky.

Some mornings the sky is so black, so dark,

but there are stars sprinkled everywhere.

Sometimes the moon is so bright

it is almost blinding.

There in the darkness

there is light.

I stand there and think,

How is this possible?

How can there be so much beauty surrounding us

when there is also so much pain beneath our feet?

Today we enter the season of Advent.

The color that surrounds us is this gorgeous purple-blue.

There is a different painting hanging over the retable.

A painting by Penelope Carscaddon that invites us,

in its abstract use of line and color

of light and darkness,

this painting invites us 

to journey into the mystery that is Advent.

With Advent,the music we sing changes.

Some of the language in our liturgy changes.

We have moved from the green of Ordinary time 

to the white of last Sunday’s Christ the King celebration

to this beautiful purple blue

which tells us it’s Advent!

Here at St. John’s 

we use these same hangings, 

this same color

for Lent.

But don’t get Advent and Lent confused.

Advent is not a penitential season.

Advent is a season of hope.

The prophet Jeremiah tells us,

The days are surely coming (SURELY COMING), says the Lord,

when I will fulfill the promises I made.

The letter to the Thessalonians 

is about gratitude and joy and hearts made strong.

Hope!

Luke’s gospel today tells us to not let our hearts be weighed down 

by the worries of this life.

Our call is to be people of hope. 

Even in the worst of times,

and we know Jesus endured the absolute worst of times,

Yet the message we hear from Jesus

is one of hope.

Jesus does not deny 

that there is chaos and distress in the world.

Jesus never says,

“If you believe in me,

everything will be easy.”

What he does say is ,

“I will be with you.

Make room for me. 

The kingdom of God is near.”

Advent opens the door

and lets the broken-winged bird of hope fly.

Langston Hughes gives us a gospel message.

Poets often do that.

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow. 

Jesus tells us that God’s dream for the world

will not die.

That our lives will not be frozen

because God is anything but barren.

Advent reminds us that hope 

is born again and again and again.

Keep the manger ready.

Make room at the inn.

Hope is a broken-winged bird

that has learned to fly.

Langston Hughes

Sermon for Year B Proper 27

Indivisible

On Tuesday, Election Day,

I stopped in at Starbucks 

for my usual Grande-Black-nothing-in-it-at all cup of coffee.

When I paid for my coffee

the Barista gave me--free--a red, white and blue bracelet

with a pewter bead on it that says, “indivisible.”

The word “indivisible” means “unable to be divided or separated.”

Indivisible.

A very good word for election day.

Also a very good word for us as the Church, as Christians.

We sometimes worry too much

about our differences

and not enough about what binds us together, 

unites us.

There is a actually a great deal of theological discussion these days

about “non-dualism”--

to see God as the Holy One

and us as part of the Holy One

with the emphasis being on ONE.

Unified. Indivisible.

Not them or us.

Not I’m right and you’re wrong.

Not God in heaven and me on earth

But all as holy and all as one and all as together.

Indivisible.

In Mark’s gospel today

Jesus is teaching once more.

He tells his listeners to watch out.

Don’t get all uppity and think you are something special

and that you deserve special privileges.

Just because you might have a position of power or authority,

don’t be too impressed with yourselves

and don’t walk around swinging your privilege like a scepter.

Then Jesus tells the story of the poor widow.

The widow who comes to the synagogue

and gives two copper coins.

Jesus even tells us the cash value of those coins--

“worth a penny”.

Not worth much then, not worth much now.

But Jesus keeps going.

What he says next must have shocked 

those who were listening.

“The truth is that this poor widow 

gave more to the collection 

than all the others put together. 

All the others gave what they’ll never miss; 

she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—

she gave her all.” (Eugene Peterson's THE MESSAGE)

Having just spent the past three days at our Diocesan Convention,

with four other dedicated people from this congregation,

some of our conversation was about giving.

Not just about our tithe to the Diocese,

but about what do we want to give of ourselves

and of our parishes

to move forward the mission of God’s church?

I want to share with you something I recently learned

while reading Peter Block’s book Stewardship.

It’s about the historical background of stewardship.

Stewardship means to hold something in trust for another.

Historically, stewardship was a means of protecting a kingdom

    whose rightful heirs were away,

or more often, were too young to govern--

the underage king.

For us, the “underage king” is the next generation.

We care about the environment, about Creation

not only because of ourselves,

but because of the “underage king”--the next generation.

We need to care about the Church in that same way.

God entrusts us with the church

so that we can hold it, 

we can be good stewards of the church,

for the next generation that is to come.

Just like the church has been held in stewardship for us

through many generations.

This concept also gives you a clue

of why so often we have those long list of names,

those geneologies,

in the Bible.

It is not just a matter of naming who fathered who.

It is showing us that through the ages

these are the people that were the stewards 

of what we inherit now.

So at the heart of stewardship is 

our choosing to serve.

To serve future generations over self-interest.

Self-interest.

This is what infuriated Jesus about the scribes 

and the way the synagogue was being run.

The scribes cared about themselves--

they did not care about God’s church,

they did not care about future generations,

they didn’t even care about the people 

that were around them right then in time.

The scribes are not stewards.

The scribes are “grabbers”--

they grab the best seats for themselves,

they grab what doesn’t belong to them,

they greedily grab and grab and grab.

The scribes are not about service,

they are all about self-interest.

Their behavior did not sit well with Jesus.

Their behavior probably did not sit well 

with a lot of others either

but most people were too afraid to speak out

against those in power.

So did the poor widow give her two cents

because she was afraid not to give?

Because she was afraid of the people in power?

After all,

the widow is giving to an institution run by people

Jesus has just condemned.

The widow is giving to the very people

who “devour widows’ houses.”

Is Jesus pleased with the widow

or is he condemning her for being so foolish?

The widow gives to a corrupt and destructive institution,

run by people who care little if at all for her well-being.

Her money will not help serve future generations;

her money will only feed the gluttony of a few.

But on the other hand,

the poor widow is a model of true generosity.

She is willing to give her all 

because of her love for and her trust in God.

She has no illusion that money will keep her safe

or even make her happy.

She is a woman without fear.

She trusts completely in God.

The poor widow does not judge.

She gives.

She gives without checking the four-star charity rating

and determining if the institution is worthy of her gift.

She doesn’t give because she loves the synagogue, the Church.

She gives because she loves God.

She is willing to give her all for God.

Through her generosity, through her trust in God,

this woman is completely free.

Does she live in a world of corruption and greed?

Yes.

But she, in her letting-go, is free.

The question for each of us is this:

to what are you willing to give your all?

To what are you willing to give your all?

What about YOU?

What will you give 

because of your overwhelming love for God, 

for one another,

for the world?

Will you give your all to create beautiful art?

To write poems? To help others sing with joy?

Will you give your all

to take on the tasks that no one else seems to want to do?

Will you give your all to make others laugh

or to be there with others, to sit with them in their pain and tears?

Will you give your all to work for peace and justice?

Will you give your all as parents or as grandparents?

The way we give our all is as diverse and varied 

as we are as human beings.

We are all called to service.

Service over self-interest.

We are all given gifts.

We may think our gifts are insignificant.

Indeed, others may think our gifts are insignificant.

Hardly worth two cents!

But Jesus thinks otherwise.

Jesus thinks that when we offer what we have been given

and generously give it away to the world---

yes, the ungodly and corrupt world--

when we choose to love God 

with generous hearts and minds and spirits--

when we do not cling or fear

but live and give and serve with love 

then we are good stewards.

We care for the generations to come.

We care for the generation that is now.

We care for our neighbor.

We care for ourselves.

We cast fear aside and join together all things.

Indivisible.

That is the good news of Jesus Christ.

...the poppies grow

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
 Between the crosses, row on row,

   That mark our place; and in the sky

   The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

   Loved and were loved, and now we lie

         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

   The torch; be yours to hold it high.

   If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

         In Flanders fields.

This poem is by Lt. Colonel John McCrae.
He was a soldier, a physician and a poet
during World War I.

Today, November 11th, our church, 

along with other churches throughout the world,

will ring our church bell 11 times at 11 AM.

This ringing of the bells

was at the request of an organization called

Veterans for Peace.

As you may know,

November 11th is Veterans Day.

What you may not know is that 

this day only became Veterans Day in 1954.

Before that it was known as Armistice Day.

November 11th was the day 

when what we now call World War I ended

On this day in 1918 the fighting stopped, the guns were laid down

and the  “war to end all wars” ended.

Over 29,000,000 soldiers were killed or wounded in that war.

On November 11, 1918

bells rang out across the world to celebrate that the guns had gone silent.

Congress declared Armistice Day a national holiday 

“to be dedicated to the cause of world peace.”

Sadly, peace did not last very long.

As we know, other wars have followed.

If anyone knows the horrors of war and the priceless value of peace

it is veterans.

It is these men and women

and the families of those men and women 

who offer everything they have.

For many of us, 

being willing to lay down our lives for what we believe

is a concept beyond our understanding.

Some may argue that violence and war

are not the way 

to bring about a lasting peace.

Some may argue that violence and war

are not following the path of Jesus Christ,

the Prince of Peace.

These are good and profound arguments.

But we must be careful

lest we look like the scribes in long robes--

reaping all the benefits from the sacrifices others are making 

so that our lives might be comfortable and safe--

while devouring what others give.

Whatever our position on war or peace,

we must always be mindful of those 

who have been willing to give everything.

Everything.