Christ Episcopal Church
January 19, 2014
2 Epiphany A
Thursday night, a number of folks from Christ Church gathered at the Shawnee Apartments for a Chili Supper and sing-a-long. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Shawnee apartments, the building is at the corner of Main Street and Limestone. Episcopal Retirement Homes purchased the Shawnee about 15 months ago as part of their affordable housing program for senior citizens. I'm a little concerned about the senior citizen designation since in just a few months, I'll be old enough to live there myself! The meal was a huge hit with the residents-homemade chili with lots of toppings, hot dogs, and fresh baked desserts, all provided by Christ Church folk. The residents had signed a card for us thanking us for the Christmas gift cards which was presented to us at the beginning of the evening. The card is on the kiosk in the East Entrance and I invite you to spend a moment or two reading what the residents had to say. Unfortunately, I had to say my good byes early, but I had time to chat with a number of different residents. I love hearing about how they came to live at the Shawnee, where they are from, and the exciting things they have done and are dong. And, in my experience, the residents enjoy telling there stories. When I left, conversation between the residents and Christ Church folk was lively and I heard later that the singing was grand. I think I can safely say that while Christ Church provided the food, the people at the Shawnee were really the hosts as they welcomed us to their home and engaged us in conversation.
In today's gospel lesson, we hear John's pronouncement that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. John has just baptized Jesus, as we heard last week, and seen the skies open and the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove on Jesus. John points his own disciples toward Jesus as the one about whom John said "After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me." Clearly John the Baptist and Jesus are the two main characters in this story. John is the one who points the way to Jesus, and Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Messiah. And yet, buried in the last two sentences of the reading is a third, lesser known character, Andrew. Andrew's claim to fame is simply that he tells his brother Simon Peter that Jesus is the Messiah. Later in John's gospel, when the crowds have gathered around Jesus and it is getting late and the people are getting hungry, Andrew does point out the little boy who has 5 loaves and 2 fish, but he also says "What good is that among so many people." Generally, whenever Andrew is mentioned, he is referred to as Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. That's enough to give him a complex, right there. And yet, this relatively unknown disciple of John the Baptist introduces Simon Peter to Jesus, a relatively small and simple act by one person that makes a huge difference in the history of Christianity as Peter becomes the "rock on which the church is built" in the words of Matthew's gospel.
This weekend we celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., another major character, known for his work to eradicate the sin of racism. As I point out each year at this time, the Episcopal Church actually celebrates the lives of those who have gone before us on the day of their death, rather than the day of their birth, so we celebrate the life of Dr. King on April 4th, rather than in January. Dr. King was committed to non-violent resistance as he worked to eradicate racism and poverty, and to uphold and protect the freedom, equality, and dignity of every human person. Whether from jail or from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Dr. King's message was the same: all people are created equal and are equally God's children regardless of skin color or economic status, and that whatever affects one person affects everyone, even if indirectly. Dr. King's work made a difference, in part because he inspired countless people, individuals who perhaps wondered what one person could do, to join in sit-ins, marches, peaceful demonstrations, and boycotts to help deliver the message that ALL people are created equal. If each person who heard Dr. King thought "I am just one person. My actions won't make a difference," there would have been no one at the sit-ins or marchs and, indeed, those actions would have had no power. But together, thousands and thousands of individuals made a powerful difference.
The Dalai Lama once said "If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito." Not everyone is going to be a John the Baptist or a Simon Peter or a Dr. King. Some of us, most of us perhaps, are going to be Andrew, one person doing one seemingly small thing, like making a pot of chili or simply showing up to visit with a lonely person, or joining our one voice with the voice of many others to sing. If each of us thinks that our one small contribution does not really matter, and so we choose not to do anything, nothing will ever happen and nothing will ever change. But when we all join together and each offer what we can, amazing things will happen. God calls each of us to do exactly one full person's worth, whether we are a John the Baptist, a Dr. King, or an Andrew. When we each do our one person's worth, whatever that may be, the Body of Christ will have a more incredible impact than we could ever ask or imagine. Archbishop Desmond Tutu says it this way "Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."
Amen.
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