11 Proper B

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Episcopal Church
July 22, 2012

11 Proper B

In June, I spent a week in Chicago attending a conference at the Center for Non-Profit Management at Northwestern University. I stayed in a hotel downtown, near the Northwestern Business School, and the amount of both car and foot traffic outside the
hotel, day and night, was astounding. Busy people were hurrying here and there all day and all night. When I inquired at the hotel desk about a vending machine, I was directed to the 24 hour Walgreens up the street. This was at 10:30 at night! I wondered whether venturing out at that hour was a good idea, but truly, the time might as well have been 5pm. The sidewalks were packed with people, none of whom were leisurely strolling. Walgreens had 7 check out lanes open and there was a line at each lane. When I got up early the next morning to walk before my class began, there were people every where-hurrying off to work, or to walk the dog before work, or home from work, or no telling where. From the sounds of the sirens all night, Chicago is a city that never sleeps. People are hurrying off to their busy lives all day and all night, and as much as I loved being in Chicago, I was certainly glad to get home to the slower pace of life in Springfield.

I am reminded of my time in Chicago by this morning’s gospel reading. People were coming and going with no time even to eat. When Jesus calls the disciples to come away to a deserted place to rest, people rushed off to meet them at the deserted place. Jesus had compassion for the crowds and began to teach them for, as the gospel says, they were like sheep without a shepherd. When finally Jesus and the disciples get to Gennesaret, another crowd had followed them there. The people rush around the whole region to bring their sick to Jesus to be healed. Where ever Jesus went, he was met by a frenzy of people wanting healing for themselves or their loved ones. So much for some rest at a deserted place!

I wonder if David was craving a little quiet time in the reading from 2 Samuel. David is settled in his house and God has given him rest from his enemies, when David wonders if he should build a house for God. God’s response is not positive "I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among al the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying "Why have you not build me a house of cedar?"

So far in the story of the people of Israel, God has led them out of bondage in Egypt, wandered with them for 40 years in the wilderness, crossed the Jordan River with them, and led them in the conquest of the Promised Land. God had led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When God protests that dwelling in a stationary house would prevent him from moving with the people, my guess is that David’s response is something like "Exactly!" Perhaps David, too, is weary and ready to stay put for a while and he knows that the only way the Hebrew people can stay put is to get God to stay put. A house for God is just the answer!

When the disciples gather around Jesus and tell him all that they have done and taught, Jesus calls them to come away to a deserted place and rest for a while. That plan does not work out the way Jesus and the disciples envisioned. There are people to teach and to heal. Nor does David’s plan for rest work out the way he would have liked. There are more battles to be fought, both personal and military. What are we to make of Scripture readings that seem to encourage frantic activity when rest is what the people need? Is there to be no balance in our lives?

The reading from Ephesians bridges the gap between David’s desire to build God a house, and the crowds of people always needing more from Jesus and the disciples. The writer addresses the tensions between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians and reminds them that Jesus has made both groups into one body in Christ Jesus. The writer ends the passage with the words "In Jesus the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

The writer of Ephesians is telling us that God’s dwelling place is within us. In Ephesians, the writer is speaking about God dwelling within us as a community. In other places, we can read about God dwelling in our hearts, individually. At that same conference in Chicago, I heard an account of a balanced life that seems to fit more with the life both Jesus and the writer of Ephesians call us to live. Life balance, the professor said, is not the kind of balance that occurs when scales are equally weighted on both sides, like the scales of Lady Justice, balancing truth and fairness, or in the case of our lives, balancing work, and play, and rest. I daresay that if life balance requires balancing equally all the parts of our lives, most of us will never achieve balanced living. Life balance, this professor said, is more like the balance of a ballerina, who has very strong core muscles that allow her to make all sorts of movements and responses with the rest of her body.

Jesus is not calling us to frantic activity, with no balance in our lives. Jesus is not calling us to always work and never rest. Jesus is calling us to have strong core spiritual muscles, muscles that know that we, individually and collectively, are the dwelling place of God. Then we, like Jesus, can respond to the needs around us and stay centered, even when we need some rest. When unimaginable tragedy occurs, as happened in the wee hours of Friday morning in Aurora, Colorado, we can engage that horror and remain standing in the midst of unspeakable evil because our core muscles are strong and we cannot be knocked over. When we are tired and headed to a place to rest, and the crowds beat us there begging for help, we can respond. When life deals us more than we think we can handle, we can stay upright because we know God dwells within us and keeps us grounded. Jesus is not calling us to give up rest for the sake of frantic activity. Jesus is calling us to be a dwelling place for God, both collectively and individually, and strengthening our core spiritual muscles so that we can remain upright and balanced as we respond to the needs, and sometime the horror, of the world.

Amen.

Christmas in July

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Episcopal Church
July 8, 2012

Christmas in July

The year our son Slocomb lived in Ecuador, Don, Caldwell and I left here on Christmas Day to visit him. Late Christmas night, we flew into Guayaquil which is right on the equator at sea level. Even late at night in late December, the temperature is in the 90's and the humidity is oppressive. Christmas was the last thing on my mind as we made our way through the humidity to get to the hotel van. But the hotel lobby was brightly decorated with Christmas lights and other non-snow related Christmas decorations. I have to say that sweat and Christmas are not two things I generally experience at the same time.

I was reminded about our Christmas in Ecuador this week as I was at Procter Camp, along with three of our younger Christ Church members. I was the chaplain for 4^th and 5^th grade camp, and during the afternoon activities I pretty much got to choose what I wanted to do. Sitting in the arts and crafts barn, doing nothing more strenuous than putting beads on a string and chatting with campers, had about the same effect on me that sitting in a steam bath might. At night, even back in my air-conditioned room, the thought that today we would be celebrating Christmas at Christ Church just felt plain weird.

Our theme for the week at Procter was "Thy kingdom come." As the chaplain, my job was to teach about the theme in worship each morning and at campfire each night. The parables seemed like a good place to start, so we talked about a mustard seed, a lost coin, yeast worked into bread, seeds scattered on the ground, and so on. The children really understood how Jesus’ parables take common things from Jesus’ time and use those things to make the Kingdom of God come alive for his listeners.

Because Jesus used things that were common in his day to explain the Kingdom of God, we decided to do the same. So, we talked about how some of the Procter games are like the Kingdom of God. At Procter, every game ends in a Procter tie, so everyone wins. At Procter, from what I can tell, every game is incomprehensible, so we talked about how you don’t have to completely understand the game to participate fully. At Procter, everyone gets a turn to play. We also talked about how orange dream sickles and ice cream sandwiches are like the Kingdom of God, but I will leave those details to your imagination.

Each morning, a different cabin got to put an object into a plain brown bag and bring the bag to Eucharist. Whatever was in the bag, I had to turn into a parable of the Kingdom of God. I think the counselors take more delight in this activity than the campers, although this year I got some creative things that probably really did come from the campers. How is this mother of boys supposed to make a parable of the Kingdom of God out of a Barbie doll? So I said "Tell me about this doll," and got some very helpful answers. Barbie has been around for a very long time-longer than most of us can remember. Barbie has many different talents and can do many different things. Over the years, Barbie has changed. And so on, until we came up with a parable that reminded us of the parable of the mustard seed- the way we experience the Kingdom now is not the way we will always experience the Kingdom, and a reminder that in the Kingdom of God everyone has many gifts and talents to offer.

So today, with both parables and Christmas in July on my mind, I wonder if Christmas in July itself can be a parable of the Kingdom of God.

For starters, you’ve heard me say innumerable times that Christmas in July reminds us that the Christ Child comes to us at unexpected times, in unexpected ways, and in unexpected places. We sing the Christmas hymns and hear the Christmas story when the temperatures are blazing hot, with little preparation, and when no one else on planet earth is celebrating Christmas so that we can experience the startling and jarring power of the birth of God’s child in our midst. Even though we have celebrated Christmas in July for many years now, every summer when I hear the first strains of "O Come all ye faithful," I am little unnerved, quite frankly. The Kingdom of God takes us by surprise and not necessarily when it is convenient.

Secondly, Christmas in July offers us the chance to share a bit of that Christmas surprise with those around us as we take Christmas cookies out into the community today and later this summer, socks and underwear into the schools. Every year we receive at least one thank you note from a person or group who was really moved that we brought them cookies as part of our celebration. Christmas in July reminds us that, as Christians, we are called to make the Kingdom of God a bit more of a reality for others.

But here is what I really wonder. I wonder if we hear the words of the angel to the shepherds differently in July than we do in December. The angel says to the shepherds "Do not be afraid." And the shepherds swallow their fear and leave their flocks to find the Christ Child lying in the manger. In December, when it is cold outside and not only the church but the whole city is decorated, I hear those words and feel comfort and hope at coming to this place and greeting the Christ Child here. In December, we do offer gifts of baby food for the baby Jesus and hungry babies in Springfield. We also adopt a school and provide gifts of much needed school supplies. So our focus is not entirely on greeting the Christ Child here, but on Christmas Eve, at least for me, the focus is on the Christ child being born in my own heart and greeting him in this place so that I can swallow my fear and go into the world to serve Christ there.

On Christmas in July, I hear the words of the angel to the shepherd differently. I hear the angel say to the shepherds-"Do not be afraid. The Christ Child is not here in the fields where you are comfortable and know what you are doing. The Christ Child is in Bethlehem, where you are not comfortable and do not know what you are doing. Swallow your fear and go there." Which the shepherds do.

The parable of Christmas in July, weird and uncomfortable as it might be, reminds us that the manger is not just here, where we greet the Christ Child and are comfortable and know what we are doing. The manger is also, and perhaps primarily, in the world around us-in those places where we take cookies and socks and underwear-in those places and others where we are less comfortable and less likely to know what we are doing. Today, when we hear the angel say to the shepherds "Do not fear," perhaps those are words of promise as we are sent out of our comfort zones and into the situations and places where we will be greeted by the Christ Child upon our arrival.

Amen.

8 Proper B

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Episcopal Church
July 1, 2012

8 Proper B

Friday afternoon, our 12 young Reading Campers practically danced into the Parish Hall to meet their parents after a day of pancakes and bacon, reading activities, songs about nouns and verbs, an indoor picnic and a trip to Young’s Dairy. Despite the heat, the children were pumped. They had fed the goats, gone down the slide, and eaten their weight in ice cream. The adults were also pumped, but in that way that we get pumped when we have given our all to a worthwhile project with great success, and have had all the energy sucked out of us. Reading Camp 2012 had been a great success. The children’s reading had improved in a measurable way as indicated by the testing we do on the first and last morning. More importantly, their confidence had improved and they had learned that reading can be fun. And, perhaps even most importantly, Reading Camp had been an oasis for at least some of the children in lives that are far from easy. On Friday, the children left happy, nourished and nurtured, and better readers. I believe that constitutes a success.

In the big picture, however, encouraging 12 reluctant readers is a drop in the bucket toward ending poverty in Springfield. Great effort is required on the part of many people to make Reading Camp happen. All in all, some where between 35 and 40 people had some part in making Reading Camp happen, and that does not even count all the people whose prayers helped keep us energized all week. Two grants, the Easter offering, and money from the Christ Church outreach budget provided the financial resources for Reading Camp, which is not an inexpensive undertaking. If I add up the incredible effort by many people and the financial cost of Reading Camp, and divide by 12, I am reminded of Jesus’ parable where the man sells all that he has to purchase the pearl of great value. The answer makes little financial sense, but the value of the result cannot be measured.

In the gospel reading this morning, we hear Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, ask Jesus to heal his daughter. Jesus needs to hurry, because the 12 year old girl is near death. We can feel both Jairus’ relief when Jesus agrees to go with him, and his sense of panic when Jesus stops to ask "Who touched my clothes?" By the time the woman who touched Jesus clothes fell down before Jesus and Jesus has listened to the woman tell her whole story, about her 12 years of illness, about her poverty having spent all her money on doctors who could not make her well, about her isolation from others because of her disease, Jairus’ daughter has died. Jairus was a powerful man, the ruler of the synagogue. The woman was ritually unclean and lived in poverty. Jesus stopped for the woman and he let Jairus’ daughter die. Jairus’ faith that Jesus could and would heal his daughter appears to have been in vain.

As we know, Jesus speaks to the father’s distress and says "Do not fear. Only believe." To the great commotion of people weeping and wailing out side the house, Jesus says "Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but asleep." Jesus enters the house and says to the girl "Little girl, get up!" which she does.

Clearly, we have here two healing stories. But the two stories are bound together in interesting ways. Both are about females. Both involve the Biblical number 12-the woman bled for 12 years and the little girl was 12 years old. In both, Jesus called the person he healed by a name that indicates inclusion. He calls the woman "daughter" and the child "little girl." In both, Jesus connects faith and healing. To the woman, Jesus says "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease." To Jairus, Jesus says "Do not fear, only believe." These two stories are linked ways that make them two parts of one story, rather than two separate healing stories.

Taken together, this is a story about Jesus’ concern for all people, be they insiders or outcasts, powerful or powerless, clean or unclean. This is a story about the value of each individual in the Kingdom of God. Jesus will stop an urgent mission to the home of a powerful synagogue leader to encounter an unclean, poor woman and make her whole before he continues on his original mission. In the Kingdom of God, every individual is equally worthy of wholeness and healing and there is time for everyone.

At the end of the Prayers of the People, we will pray the collect for Independence Day. The 4^th of July is about our freedom and independence as a nation, and liberty and justice for all people. We will pray "Lord God, Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will." Our prayer for Independence Day asks God to give us a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance as we work to respect the dignity of every human being. This is what Jesus did and what Jesus calls us to do.

Jesus transformed lives one at a time to usher in the Kingdom of God.. When we engage in Reading Camp and other outreach ministries, our work may well be only a drop in the bucket of poverty in our community. But every time we make a difference in the life of one person, no matter how small that person might be, we have done the work of the Kingdom of God. And if we wonder whether or not the seemingly small results are worth the rather large effort, Jesus says to us "Do not fear, only believe."

Amen.

7 Proper B

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Episcopal Church
June 24, 2012

7 Proper B

As many of you know, Don and I are originally from Arkansas. Our sons, who have never lived in that state, have been enthusiastic Razorback fans pretty much since birth. At tender young ages, they could quote statistics, tell us all about the players, and wore Razorback clothing to school and church. We even have the game "Hogopoly," a Razorback spin off on the game Monopoly. Over the years, their devotion to the team has only grown.

Last fall, Arkansas played Vanderbilt in Nashville. Since Nashville is only 6 hours away, and the game was a Saturday morning game, we bought tickets, reserved a hotel room, and looked forward to the weekend with great anticipation. The kids were looking forward to seeing Arkansas stomp Vanderbilt. Don and I, however, went to graduate school at Vanderbilt. Don’s loyalty to the Razorbacks is pretty solid, but mine....well, lets just say I have a photo of the scoreboard when Vanderbilt was ahead by a good number of points. There is just something about rooting for the underdog that is appealing, and since I earned a degree at the underdog school, I felt more loyalty than perhaps my family would prefer.

For a while that morning, I actually believed Vanderbilt might win. They were ahead for a good part of the game. In the end, however, the win was not to happen. The Razorbacks squeaked by, on my account of the story at least, and my sons left happy. With a long ride back to Ohio, that was a good thing.

On the surface, that football game looks like a David and Goliath story. David, the young shepherd boy, tells Saul, the king of Israel, that David will go and fight Goliath. Goliath is an enormous, powerful, and experienced warrior. Vanderbilt vs. Arkansas. David makes his appeal to Saul and says "The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the bear and the paw of the lion, will save me from the Philistine." Saul relents and allows David to go, probably because everyone else is too afraid to volunteer. David refuses the armor Saul offers because David could not walk in all that gear, and David goes off to slay Goliath. Which David does. One shot of David’s slingshot and Goliath is dead.

So, is the message here that, with God’s help, the little person always wins?

As much as I would like to think that, the evidence is to the contrary. Vanderbilt does not always win. In fact, Vanderbilt rarely wins. But to put it in a more meaningful context, only occasionally does the underdog win the election, the more socially just but less popular value prevail, or the smaller company prevent a buy out by a larger one. On the rare occasion that the underdog does prevail, we get so excited that the victory is all over the news, books are written and movie deals are made. But that is rare.

If this beloved story of David and Goliath is not just about the underdog winning, with God’s help in this case, what is the story about?

In the gospel reading, the disciples and Jesus are crossing the lake when a great windstorm produces such huge waves that the disciples are afraid the boat will be swamped and they will all drown. While the disciples are wringing their hands and panicking, Jesus is asleep in the stern, apparently unconcerned about the impending disaster. The disciples wake Jesus up and say "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" Jesus wakes up, probably yawns and stretches, and says to the wind and waves "Peace, be still." And the wind and waves calm. Then Jesus says to the disciples "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" And the disciples say to each other "Who is this, that even the wind and sea obey him?"

There are several interesting twists in this story. First, Jesus says "Why are you afraid?" He does not say "There is nothing to be afraid of." The difference is huge. The storm is truly fierce some. The disciples might really drown. That is scary stuff. There is clearly something to fear.

Secondly, who, in Hebrew scripture, is more powerful than the wind and sea? God. God separates the land from the sea in the story of creation. God asks Job "Who said to the sea, stop here and go no further?" The answer of course, is God. In the Hebrew scriptures, only God has control over the wind and sea. By commanding the wind and the water to be still, Jesus is showing the disciples in the most clear way possible that he is God.

Lastly, the disciples are professional fishermen when Jesus calls them. They have spent a lot of time on the water. At this point, they are probably much better at catching fish than they are at being disciples. So, in theory at least, they have the skills to read the wind and waves and know how to handle this situation, or at least avoid it in the first place. But in their fear, they forget.

I believe the story of David and Goliath is also about fear. Unlike the bigger, stronger, more experienced warriors, David is not afraid to take on Goliath. But it is not just because he has faith that God will save him. Hear what David says to Saul "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father, and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth, and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumsized Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God." Only after David has put forth his own credentials, does the young shepherd say "The Lord who saved me from the paw of the bear and of the lion will save me from the hand of the Philistine."

David is unafraid because he trusts both God and the gifts God has given him. David has a very accurate and much practiced shot. He knows that with that skill and God’s help, he can defeat Goliath. The disciples trust neither their skills as fishermen who must continually contend with wind and waves, nor God, and they are overcome with fear. The David and Goliath story does not tell us that even the very gifted, well practiced underdog will always win with God’s help. We know that is not true. But, when we hear about David and Goliath together with Jesus calming the sea, we hear a new story, not about the under dog winning, but about the crippling power of fear and the bold power of faith.

Amen.

6 Proper B

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Episcopal Church
June 17, 2012

6 Proper B

One week from today, we will welcome 15 children and their families to Christ Church for a Reading Camp Welcome Dinner. The response to the dinner invitation has been wonderful and we are expecting to serve about 90 people that night. The dinner is the kick-off for a week of reading activities, songs, meals, field-trips and other events that Christ Church folk have been working on ever since Reading Camp ended last year. There have been children to recruit, lessons, meals, field trips, rainy day activities, and decorations to plan, and supplies to purchase. Like so many other things in life, the many planning activities take much longer than the event itself. Before we know it, we will be talking about Reading Camp 2012 in the past tense!

This morning, we hear Jesus say "The Kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how." Then Jesus says "The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs." These two parables point to something of the mystery of the Kingdom of God. When Jesus began his ministry, his first words were "The Kingdom of God has arrived, repent and believe in the good news." These parables tell us that the Kingdom of God is growing in our midst, starting from something very small and eventually becoming so large that all the birds of the air can make nests there.

However, these parables also make the emerging Kingdom of God seem effortless. The seed just sprouts and grows and all of a sudden, there is a harvest and the planter does not know how. Or what starts as the tiniest of seeds just becomes the greatest of all shrubs. Poof! Just like that. But when we go about the work God has given us to do, working to make the fullness of the Kingdom of God a more present reality in our own community, that work does not happen without effort. Whether we’re working on Reading Camp, the Neighborhood Fair, the Rainbow Table, the Food Pantry, Interfaith Hospitality Network, or any of our other ministries, a great deal of work is required by a large number of people. That work is joyful, wonderful work, but the effort required is still work. If the Kingdom of God is supposed to just grow in our midst the way a seed grows into a plant, why does cultivating the Kingdom of God in Springfield seem to require so much effort, as joyful as that effort may be?

When Jesus announced that the Kingdom of God has arrived, he did not exactly just sit back and watch the show. Jesus himself put in an awful lot of hours preaching, teaching, praying, feeding, healing and otherwise going about the business of the Kingdom of God. That is our first clue that perhaps these parables are not about the Kingdom just magically emerging in our midst. The second clue is that Jesus consistently taught in parables, not to state the seemingly obvious, but to get us to look beyond appearances and think deeply about the mystery that is the Kingdom of God. If these two parables are not about God’s kingdom growing in our midst utterly untended by our efforts, what are the parables saying to us?

In our reading from I Samuel this morning, we hear the story of a small boy who becomes a great King. When God sends Samuel off to find a successor to Saul, the first king of Israel, we might expect Samuel to go looking for someone with the qualifications to be a king. A royal lineage would be a good start, then some military and foreign policy experience, a little administrative experience, a strong build, and hopefully a squeaky clean past with no dirt to uncover. Instead, God sends Samuel off to find Jesse the Bethlehemite because God has chosen a king from among Jesse’s sons. There goes the royal lineage theory. Jesse’s grandmother was Ruth, a Moabite, someone who was considered unclean by the Israelites. Nothing royal there. When Samuel sees the oldest son, who apparently had the stature of a king, God says "Do not look on his appearance, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord does not see as mortals see. They look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." So much for someone who looks like a king. So 7 of Jesse’s sons pass before Samuel and not a one of them is fit to be king of Israel. Jesse has one more son, the very youngest, but that son is out tending the sheep. So much for military or foreign policy experience! David, the youngest son, the least likely one to be chosen, is anointed king in the presence of his brothers, and, we are told, "the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward."

When we look at Jesus’ parables together with the story of the call of David, the parables look a lot less like they are about the lack of effort required to grow the Kingdom of God and a lot more like they are about the complete surprise in finding the Kingdom of God in some very unlikely places. Whether a small seed that becomes a great shrub, or some seeds scattered on the ground that become a great harvest, or a small boy chosen to be a great king, or a casual conversation that becomes a whole diverse neighborhood of people gathered on a hot parking lot for a Neighborhood Fair, or a young child who grows from an insecure reader to a confident one, all of these stories and experiences tell us that the Kingdom of God emerges in some very unlikely places and is likely to take us by complete surprise. Amen.