A Willing Heart

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Episcopal Church
January 25, 2015

3 Epiphany B

This time last year at Christ Church, we were busy preparing for my sabbatical.  All of the literature about church sabbaticals indicates the importance of good preparation so that everyone knows who has which responsibility, who to call in case of which emergency, and everyone has the opportunity to step forward and help.  So, we did that.  The vestry hosted conversations to talk about our hopes and concerns for the time I was away.  The vestry and then the parish had the opportunity to meet John Johanssen, the priest who would be our interim rector while I was away.  And the vestry still laughs about the epic grid of ministry opportunities that was posted in the East Entrance.  And, to my knowledge, life ran pretty smoothly while I was away.  The weather was completely out of our control, but God was worshiped, people were cared for, and ministry happened thanks in large part to the careful planning of the vestry and a great ministry grid!

Jesus has other ideas about the way good ministry happens this morning.  If Jesus did any pre-planning about the call of the disciples, the gospel certainly does not share those details.  This morning, Jesus is passing along the sea of Galilee when he sees Simon and Andrew fishing.  Jesus says to them "Follow me" and immediately they left their nets and followed Jesus. Just like that.  Then Jesus sees James and John in their boats mending nets and he calls them.  The two brothers leave their father sitting in the boat with the hired men and follow Jesus.  They just pick up and leave, on impulse.  These people are not merely going for coffee with Jesus, then returning to their work.  These first four disciples are abandoning all that they know on a moment's notice and following Jesus.  Right now and forever.

To someone who would prefer to think that any challenge can be organized into a nice grid with plenty of columns and rows for necessary details, the idea that disciples of Jesus just pick up and go is rather unsettling.  How did the disciples know Jesus was someone they should follow?  In some ways this story smacks of blind obedience.  Did the disciples bother to write letters home to let their families know where they had gone?  We know that Simon, who would be renamed Peter, was married because he had a mother-in-law who Jesus heals later in the story.  So, he likely had children, too.  Who was going to care for them in his absence?  And what about a change of clothes and a toothbrush?  And how does Jesus know that these fishermen are capable of doing the work of discipleship?  But Jesus is unconcerned about any of these details.  The only qualification for following Jesus, according to this story, is simply and literally following Jesus.  While Mark's gospel continues to portray the disciples as never quite understanding who Jesus is, after the resurrection these same people will go on to lead the emerging church with great success.  So Jesus's seemingly impulsive method of calling disciples apparently worked.

Our story from Jonah this morning begins with the words "The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time."  This time, the word of the Lord tells Jonah to get up and go to Nineveh and proclaim the message God will give him.  This time, Jonah does get and go to Nineveh and proclaims "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown."  At least the message Jesus proclaimed was a bit more positive "The Kingdom of God has arrived.  Repent and believe the good news."  The message Jonah has to deliver is not good news at all.

From this story, we might think Jonah is also simply obedient, doing whatever God asks without much thought or planning.  But the passage doesn't tell us what happened the first time the word of the Lord came to Jonah.  The first time the Lord asked, or told, Jonah to go to Nineveh, he fled in the opposite direction, wound up in the belly of a whale, got spit up on land, and had abundant time to reconsider his decision to flee from God's call.  While Scripture certainly does not portray fleeing as a faithful response to God's call, Scripture does portray God as persistent in this story as well as other stories.  And once Jonah does enter Nineveh, proclaiming the quite fearsome message that in 40 days the city will exist no more, the people respond.  A fast is called that involves all the people and all the animals, and they all, human and animal, put on sackcloth and repent.  Because the people and animals repent, God changes God's mind and does not destroy the city.  Despite Jonah's initial flight from God's call, God uses Jonah to deliver the people of Nineveh.

So, what is the faithful way to follow Jesus?  To have a well organized plan for ministry?  Or to simply drop everything and follow?  What if our initial impulse is to flee in the other direction?  I think the evidence of both scripture and our own stories is that God will use us, perhaps despite our organizational grids, or our impulsive decisions, or even if we flee first.  Sometimes we flee because we actually understand the magnitude of what is being asked of us.  What we all have in common is the willingness, whether reluctant, impulsive, or well organized willingness, to follow God's call.  And for God, a willing heart is the only criteria that matters.

Amen.

Name Calling

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Episcopal Church
January 18, 2015

2 Epiphany

In my experience, when I hear my name called twice in quick succession something urgent, either very bad or very good, has happened.  When our children were young, "Mom, Mom" was usually followed by incredibly good news: "I passed the spelling test" which was a minor miracle at our house, or bad news "I have no clean underwear," not a particularly catastrophic example but I will leave the more catastrophic ones to your imagination.  Once,  "Charlotte, Charlotte" was followed by the news that our neighbor's house had been broken into and her purse was on our back porch, and once "Charlotte, Charlotte" with a sad shake of the head was the reaction when I explained to someone that I cannot be out of town on the second Sunday of July because that day is Christmas here.  Having my name called twice seems to mean that someone really wants my attention, and they want my attention now.

This morning, we hear the Lord call "Samuel! Samuel!"  Since Samuel was a young boy I can imagine that the need for calling his name twice was simply to wake him up.  But I think there is more to the double name than that.  Three times the Lord calls to Samuel, although only the first time by the double name, and three time Samuel gets up and goes to see what the old priest Eli wants. Eli doesn't want anything and finally figures out that the Lord is calling Samuel.  So Samuel went back to bed and the Lord came and stood there, calling as before "Samuel!  Samuel!"  Now the Lord has Samuel's attention and Samuel replies "Speak, for your servant is listening."

"Samuel, Samuel" is not the first time in Scripture we have heard God call someone's name twice in rapid succession.  In the story of the near sacrifice of Isaac in the book of Genesis, just as Abraham takes up the knife, we hear the angel of the Lord call "Abraham! Abraham!" and say to Abraham "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him."  God's promise to Abraham was that his descendants would number the stars in the heavens.  The promise would be null and void without Isaac, as Isaac was Abraham's only heir with Sarah, his wife.  Later in Genesis, God spoke to Jacob in a dream and said "Jacob! Jacob!"  When Jacob said "Here I am," God said to him "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there."  Jacob obeys, and this is how the Israelite people get to Egypt, where they will eventually wind up in slavery and need Moses to deliver them in the Exodus.  In the book of Exodus, God calls to Moses from the burning bush "Moses! Moses!"  When Moses replies "Here I am," God proceeds to tell Moses to go to Pharaoh and deliver God's people from their suffering in Egypt.  Each time God calls someone's name twice in quick succession, something urgent is at stake.

The lectionary, our schedule of scripture readings for each Sunday, allows us to stop the reading from 1 Samuel immediately after Samuel says "Speak, for your servant is listening."  If we stop there, we have a short, almost sweet story where young Samuel responds to God and is willing to hear what God has to say.  The problem is, if we stop there, we don't hear what God has to say.  In every other case of double-name calling, what God has to say changed the course of the history of God's people.  So, just as Samuel was willing to listen to God, so should we.

        What God has to say is difficult and does not seem like good news at all.    God has hard words to say about punishing the house of Eli because Eli's sons were blaspheming God and Eli did not restrain them.  We know from the beginning of the reading that the word of the Lord was rare in those days and visions were not widespread.  In other words, we are told that the faithfulness of God's people was lacking.  In Eli's family in particular, the priestly family, Eli's sons, who were also priests in the temple, were abusing their status as priests.  Someone is needed to speak the truth to power, and Samuel is chosen.

Samuel is chosen to deliver the message to Eli that his house will be punished forever because Eli has ignored the blasphemy of his sons.  This is a turning point in the history of God's people, as God will now raise up kings to lead the Hebrew people, not more priests.  From here we get the stories of kings Saul, David, and Solomon.  We know from the rest of the story that the kingship of Israel will be a checkered affair, no pun intended, with some great high points, and some distressing low points, and will not last forever, either.

In Scripture, God clearly calls people to bring about the change God desires .  While we may sometimes feel like the word of the Lord is rare in our own day, and visions are not widespread, I believe it is still true that God raises up people to accomplish God's goals for us.  We celebrate a prime example of that this weekend.  Just as a reminder, the Episcopal Church celebrates the lives of those who have gone before us on the day of their entry into eternal life, rather than the day of their entry into earthly life, so we celebrate the life of Dr. King on April 4th, rather than in January.  This weekend, however, as a country, we celebrate the life of someone who was called by God to speak the truth to power, to point out injustice and oppression.  I don't know of any story where Dr. King heard an angel of the Lord say in a dream "Martin, Martin" but we do know that he had a dream.  Dr. King summarized that dream with the words of the prophet Isaiah "I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight and ‘the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."  Dr. King's dream was God's dream~ that oppression and injustice will be no more.  Dr. King's life, and sadly his death,  marked a turning point in recognizing the fundamental right of all people to justice and equality.  And just as the people of Israel never turned quickly in response to God's call, neither have we.

"Samuel!  Samuel!"  In a time when the word of the Lord seems rare, and visions seem scarce, then, as now, people are called to speak the truth to power to make God's vision for the world a present reality.  Some will be called by visions in the night, and others will be called by what they see in the daylight.  Dr. King also said "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."  We are all called to respond with Samuel "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening," hear what God has to say, and respond.
Amen.

Bucks vs. Ducks and the Baptism of Jesus

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Episcopal Church
January 11, 2015

The Baptism of Jesus

On Friday afternoon, those of us on the diocesan email list got an message with the subject line "Bucks vs. Ducks: A win-win challenge benefitting Episcopal Relief and Development."  Unfortunately, the challenge was announced long after our announcements were printed, the Newsnote was out, and the weekend was at hand.  And since we were to have a guest preacher this morning, I was not going to have much chance to talk about the challenge.  But since our guest preacher became ill and could not come this morning, this sermon will be  about Buck vs. Ducks and the baptism of Jesus. This will be my very first, and hopefully my last, sports themed sermon!

First, let me describe the challenge, because I do commend this challenge to you.  With Oregon and Ohio State playing for the national championship tomorrow night, the Bishops in Ohio and Oregon have challenged their dioceses to see which diocese can come up with the most donations to Episcopal Relief and Development.  The contest is for the largest number of donations by game time tomorrow, not the largest amount of money raised.  If the Ducks should win the game, all the money raised will go to clean water initiatives.  If the Buckeyes win, all the money will go to tree planting initiatives.  And the real winners will be those who benefit from the generosity of the people in Oregon and Ohio.  But just to make the contest a little more fun, if the Buckeyes win, the Bishop of Oregon must wear his new Ohio State jersey, which has already been sent, and the whole diocesan staff must take a photo in the OHIO pose and post it on their diocesan Facebook page. Should the Ducks win, Bishop Tom must wear his brand new Marcus Mariota Oregon jersey and our diocesan staff must sing the Oregon fight song and post a video on our diocesan Facebook page.  Instructions on how to pledge were handed out with your service bulletin this morning.  If you have Internet access, please go online and pledge early and often.  Remember, it's the number of pledges that matter, not the amount.  If you do not have Internet access, please write on the form the amount you would like to pledge, mail your check to the Diocesan office, and put the form in the offering plate and we will find people to enter those donations online.

Why is this silly yet serious contest worthy of a sermon?  This morning, we watch as Jesus heads to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist. Mark's gospel tells us so little about Jesus' baptism that we have to hear the same story about John the Baptist that we heard during Advent in order to get a gospel reading of a respectable length.  Mark tells us just three things about Jesus' baptism.  Jesus went into the wilderness to be baptized by John the Baptist. The heavens were torn apart and the Spirit descended like a dove. And a voice came from heaven and said "You are my Son, the beloved. With you I am well pleased."

First, Jesus went into the wilderness to be baptized.  Then he was driven into the wilderness to be tempted, and then he entered the many wildernesses in which people found themselves in order to bring healing and wholeness.  Secondly, In Jesus' baptism, the heavens were torn open and a dove descended as a bit of the kingdom of heaven was made known on earth.  The first words of Jesus' ministry are "The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God has come near.  Repent and believe in the good news."  Then Jesus sets about making the Kingdom of God, also known as the Kingdom of Heaven, a bit more real on earth.  Lastly,  Jesus hears the voice of God say "You are my Son, the beloved.  With you I am well pleased."  Mark doesn't tell us, and I don't believe Jesus knows, exactly what that means.  But Jesus trusts that God is present with him and moves through out his ministry assuring others of God's presence with them.

Jesus' baptism propelled him into the world to not just to proclaim the Kingdom of God, but to make that Kingdom real and present.  Baptism, both Jesus' baptism and our own baptism, is not just about us and God.  Baptism certainly connects us to God eternally, but baptism also sends us out into the world to make the Kingdom real and present in concrete ways to all of humankind.  Baptism sends us into the wilderness where people do not have clean water, or food, or ways to protect themselves from sickness or disease.  Baptism sends us out to show people with our lives that heaven has broken through to earth.  Baptism sends us out to tell people that they are beloved of God, no matter their circumstances or what they may or may not have done.

There are many reasons why people reach out to those in need.  For Christians, we act because our baptism propels us from this place to make the Kingdom of God more fully present here and around the world.  So, we cook for Interfaith Hospitality Network, and serve at the Rainbow Table.  We engage with our neighborhood, and provide food at our Food Pantry.  We help out at Shawnee Place, host a Neighborhood Fair and concern ourselves with people who do not have clean water half a world a way, because we are called in baptism to enter the wilderness, and to make the Kingdom of God known with our words and our actions.  Just like Jesus.

Amen.

Three Gifts

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Episcopal Church
January 4, 2015

Epiphany

On Christmas Eve, one of our traditions at Christ Church is to bring gifts of baby food for the baby Jesus and other hungry babies, and leave the baby food at the manger.  On Christmas in July, we do something similar with gifts of socks and underwear for the baby Jesus and children in Springfield who do not have these basic items.  In both cases, we bring our gifts forward as we sing "Praise God from whom all blessings flow."  The moment is both joyous and tender and I have seen both smiles and tears as we offered our gifts at the manger. At the end of the evening, or the morning in the case of Christmas in July, we have mountains of gifts for Jesus and a bit of a challenge for those of us navigating the space in front of the altar.  But we can rise to that challenge any day!.

This morning, we hear the soaring words of Isaiah "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen round you."  The people who walked in great darkness, both in exile in Babylon and upon their return to a burned out, shattered Promised Land, are promised that better days are ahead, when people will be gathered back together from all over the earth, drawn by the glory of God that will arise over them.  And we see the camels bringing those people together, bearing gifts of gold and frankincense.  The day will come, says Isaiah, when you shall see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice.  The psalm this morning also longs for the time when the King will come who will rescue the poor and the needy, and kings from all the nations will come bearing gifts.

According to Matthew's gospel, that day has come with the birth of Jesus.  This morning, we watch as the Magi who follow a star arrive with those very gifts of gold and frankincense for Jesus. The story does not tell us how many Magi arrived, or whether they arrived by camel or on foot.  The traditional assumption has been that there were three Magi since they brought three gifts-gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  The story also says nothing about a manger. Instead, the story tells us that the Magi entered the house where the saw the child with Mary.  They knelt and paid Jesus the homage due a king, then offered him their gifts.

The story does not tell us a lot about the Magi, other than that they have come a great distance and are from the East.  We can suppose that they were astrologers, or followers of some religion that studied the stars in their courses.  Certainly they were people who believed in the power of dreams, since they altered their course home after being warned in a dream not to return to Herod.  And they were people with deep respect for royalty, since they went to a good bit of trouble to pay homage to the child born King of the Jews.  And while we are told that the Magi brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, I think the Magi had three other gifts which are gifts we, too, might offer this child.

First, the Magi had curiosity.  They saw the star in the heavens and wondered what the star could mean.  They might have chosen the wrong person to ask, since Herod was somewhat sensitive about who else might be the king of the Jews, and Herod's motives for giving the Magi the information they needed were ill intended.  But their curiosity led them to follow the star, to be filled with joy, and to pay homage to Jesus.

Secondly, the Magi were adventuresome.  They saw the star, and rather than think about how far they might have to travel, whether there would be clean restrooms along the way, or what they would eat on their journey, they apparently picked up and left.  They did not have benefit of a map much less a gps.  They followed a star.  When, in a dream, they were warned not to return to Herod, they changed their plans on a dime and went home by a different road.  This is not the same as taking Hwy 40 to Columbus instead of I-70.  The change of route meant finding a different path through the desert, going a different direction, and encountering different obstacles.  But the Magi did as the dream directed.

Lastly, the Magi were generous. They were generous with their time, spending no telling how long on the road getting to Jesus, and generous with their treasure, opening their treasure chests to offer the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Apparently the Magi did not travel lightly and did not carry just the three gifts with them.  Once they found the child, they wanted to be able to offer the best and most appropriate gifts.

Curiosity, a spirit of adventure, and generosity. I wonder if these gifts might be the gifts Jesus would like from us as well.   What could happen if we were as curious about the scriptures as the Magi were about the stars?  What could happen if we were as adventuresome as the Magi in our quest to experience the Christ Child?  And what could happen if we offered our time and treasure with the generosity of the Magi?  The Magi were overcome with joy when they arrived at the house where they found Jesus and his mother and offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  We arrive at the manger on Christmas Eve, and with great joy offer our gifts of baby food, or socks and underwear.  What might happen if, in addition to those gifts, we offered Jesus  the gifts of deeper curiosity, a more adventuresome spirit, and greater generosity?  I believe we just might live more deeply into the words of Isaiah this morning "Arise, shine, for your light has come. And the glory of the Lord has risen around you" and the light of Christ might shine a little more brilliantly though us for all the world to see.
Amen.