Living in the Presence of God

How do we live in the presence of God?  Is it something we do only on Sundays when we come to Church?  Or, are we aware that we are living in God’s presence each day during the week, knowing that our intentions and actions are focused on freeing people from bondage and healing the wrongs and injustices that exist all around us?

Yesterday I attended a clergy family day at our Episcopal Conference Center.  It was an opportunity to meet some of our newer clergy in the Diocese and to see some old friends and colleagues.  I was also impressed by the work begin done to improve the conference facilities. 

As I was leaving to come home I saw a large banner on the wall in the barn that quoted the Prophet Micah: “What does the Lord require, but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.”  This prophetic mandate is especially important this week as we observe the 50^th anniversary of the March on Washington, and the famous “I have a dream” speech that Martin Luther King, Jr. gave on that memorable day.  Dr. King was a person called by God; he was an advocate for justice and equality, and he lived his life in the presence of God.

Today’s Old Testament reading is about Jeremiah being called by God.  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”  Jeremiah did not respond with any excitement or enthusiasm to this call.  Instead, he protested: “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”  However, God did not take “no” for an answer, but said to him, “Now I have put my words in your mouth.  See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”  Jeremiah’s prophetic words soon would both tear down and then build up God’s people.  The message was clear; they would be changed, transformed in order to live in the presence of God.

This wonderful story of Jeremiah’s direct communication with God is a reminder that God knows us intimately in ways we do not even know ourselves.  Just as God set Jeremiah apart to reflect and live in his presence, so God calls us through our baptism and life in the Spirit to live in such a way that we are aware of God’s presence in our lives and in everything we do.  God is with us wherever we are.

This story of how God is present is reflected in the New Testament account of the healing the “woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years.”  It is a call to live in the presence of God on each day of the week and especially on the day referred to as the Sabbath.  For Jews the Sabbath is Saturday; for Christians, the Sabbath is transferred to the day of resurrection, Sunday.  Whether Saturday or Sunday it is a day to give thanks to God for God’s presence in our lives; a time for rest, refreshment, spiritual nurturing, and worship. It is a day for expressing our gratitude and love, and for renewing our commitment to share God’s compassion with those in need. 

In healing the disabled woman Jesus tried to awaken people to the kind of life God wanted for them.  He also challenged several cultural norms and religious rules:

Jesus laid his hands on the woman and referred to her as a "daughter of Abraham" which made her a member of the house of Israel with equal standing among males.  In healing her on the Sabbath Jesus showed that God's compassion for people was more important than religious laws.  It served to reclaim the Sabbath for celebrating God's compassion, mercy and kindness.

All of this made the leader of the synagogue indignant “because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath.”  The synagogue leader said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day.”  Jesus was quick to respond. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water?  And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from bondage on the Sabbath day?”  Jesus’ statement resulted in a divided crowd: “his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.”

The woman who had been crippled for so long might have been suffering with arthritis.  “She was bent over and quite unable to stand up straight.”  Jesus was able to heal her.  Think about people who live in bondage today, not just people we know who struggle with arthritis, but those with other types of bondage, those who are unemployed or under-employed, those in several states who are or soon may be denied the opportunity to vote, those who lack education, or adequate health care, those who are burdened with debt.  There are many kinds of bondage in our society.

There are also many people who do not get a day of rest during the week.  They have to work for a living and care for their families.  And they have to do this at the expense of having a day off, a time for rest, relaxation, or worship.  Without a day of rest people are subject to greater stress and anxiety.  They are not happy.  All of us  need a break, a breather from the stresses of our normal work and other commitments.  Our culture today does not honor a Sabbath or day of rest.

Jeremiah became aware of his call and learned to accept responsibility for bearing witness to the presence of God in the life of his people.  Jesus understood the importance of healing the sick and those who were diseased in body or spirit, regardless of the day of the week.  How do we, and how are we living in the presence of God?  We can live as persons of humility, gratitude, and love; and we can be compassionate in our care for others.  Our Sabbath Sunday is and should be a special day for all of us to reflect on how we live in God’s presence each day of the week.  As we heard in the Letter to the Hebrews, Since we receive the unshakable gift of God’s love, “let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe.”  Amen.

Persevering in Faith

It’s good to return home to All Saints’ following our vacation.  I hope you enjoyed hearing some other voices and theological perspectives from our clergy visitors.  I heard that one of them found that ascending into this pulpit was a bit scary.  I hope it was more of a humorous statement rather than one of fear or anxiety.

The Letter to the Hebrews says,  “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, … let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”

As I reflect on this statement it is important to note that perseverance is what matters.  It is not a statement about competition to see who can run the fastest or win the race.  Winning is not the issue; persevering in faith is what matters.  Faith takes many forms; it is basically trust in the life God has given us.  It is also the way we keep alive our response to God’s compassionate goodness. 

Our vacation trip this year showed us how faith is revealed in many different ways.  We were in Pennsylvania and heard performers of music, song, dance, art and history.   We also had time to read a couple of books, one that I read is titled “Solitude.”  I’ll share something from that book at the end of this sermon.

We drove to Buck Hill Falls in the Poconos where Carol’s sister and her husband have a house.  The weekend was filled with festivities.  A major event was the annual Buck Hill Skytop Music Festival.  It was the fourth season of “an event that provides an anchor for educational programs benefiting local students.”  The program was a cabaret of Broadway performers and musicians who volunteer their time and come to Buck Hill to support young people who choose to study the performing arts.  The fact that this festival continues yearly in supporting education in the arts is a statement of faith in the lives of our youth who live in rural settings and lack many opportunities that are available in urban areas.

Following several days in Buck Hill Falls we drove down to Philadelphia to see the new Barnes Museum.  The Barnes is a magnificent and an unique museum.  In 1922 Dr. Albert Barnes established the Barnes Foundation for the purpose of "promoting the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts."  Dr. Barnes was able to do this because of his professional success with a colleague in developing argyrol, an antiseptic silver compound used in the prevention of infant blindness.  Several galleries in the museum feature works of both contemporary and historic paintings and other artifacts as they complement each other in terms of color, texture, lines, and space. 

Then, while many of you were visiting Ground Zero and the New York Cathedral of St. John the Divine (I heard you had a fabulous time), we stopped by Christ Church, Philadelphia for a tour of its history.  Here is a quotation from its webpage: “Christ Church was founded in 1695 and the present building erected in 1744 has been cited as ‘our finest Early American church.’  Its steeple (1754) is the work of Robert Smith, one of America’s earliest architects; Thomas U. Walter, later architect of the U.S. Capitol, redesigned the interior of the sanctuary (1832-36).  At Christ Church, 25% of Philadelphia’s free and enslaved Africans were baptized, a school was created to educate slaves, and the first black priest, Absalom Jones, was ordained. [In the Church calendar we celebrate the life of Absalom Jones on February 13^th.]  During the Revolutionary Era, Christ Church welcomed the Continental Congresses.  Benjamin and Deborah Franklin and Betsy Ross were parishioners.  Later, George Washington and John Adams attended services while they were the nation’s Chief Executives.  Here, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States was created from the ashes of the Church of England.”

The people of Christ Church, Philadelphia, St. John the Divine in New York, and the artists and musicians all around us are part of that great cloud of witnesses that have surrounded us throughout our history.  As we heard in the letter to the Hebrews, they continue to run with perseverance the race that is set before us.

In addition to running life’s race with steadfastness and perseverance, or perhaps as another way of persevering, it is helpful to include moments of silence and solitude as we reflect on our life’s journey.  It helps to use some vacation time as well as some time each day to renew our faith in Christ and in our common humanity.

One of the books I read is titled Solitude. The author is Anthony Storr, Physician and Psychiatrist. Published in 1988, Dr. Storr maintains that solitude ranks alongside relationships in its impact on individual well-being and productivity, as well as on society’s progress and health. I was impressed by what he writes in a paragraph in the second chapter about prayer: “Prayer goes far beyond asking for benefits for oneself or for others.  Prayer can be a public act of worship; but the person who prays in private feels himself to be alone in the presence of God.  …  In some religions, no response to prayer from any supernatural being is even expected.  Prayer is undertaken, not with the intention of influencing a deity, nor with any hope of prayers being directly answered, but in order to produce a harmonious state of mind.  Prayer and meditation facilitate integration by allowing time for previously unrelated thoughts and feelings to interact.  Being able to get in touch with one’s deepest thoughts and feelings, and providing time for them to regroup themselves into new formations and combinations, are important aspects of the creative process, as well as a way of relieving tension and promoting mental health.”

Prayer is an act of faith.  Spending some quiet time alone is important in our stressful lives as we meditate and reflect on our response to God’s compassion.  How we integrate our thoughts and feelings about so many issues that come before us is important for our individual sense of well-being.  Prayer is both our private and our corporate communication, our communion, with God.  It not only helps us to have a sense of inner peace and wholeness but it also brings us together in our common act of worship and thanksgiving as we give glory to God through our worship and celebration of the Great Thanksgiving, the Holy Communion.  Amen.