Ecology of Relationships

This past week I attended a Diocesan clergy retreat held at Whispering Pines, the conference center at the University of Rhode Island.  Each year Bishop Knisely brings the clergy together for a time of refreshment, meditation, and a  presentation by an invited speaker. The annual retreat helps us to build collegial relationships and to spend some time reflecting on the ministries to which we have been called.

The theme of this year’s presentation was “ecology of relationships.”  It focused on the environment in which those of us in parish settings share relationships with you, the members of our worshipping communities.  The Rev. Andrew Gerns, rector of Trinity Church, Easton, Pennsylvania, used the image of a coral reef in discussing the ecology of relationships.  Corals are ancient polyps, very small and simple organisms. The polyps extend their tentacles at night to sting and ingest tiny organisms called plankton and other small creatures.  In this way they act as filters beneath the swirling ocean current that surrounds them.

I recall that several years ago while vacationing in Key West, Florida, we went out on a glass-bottomed boat to view a coral reef.  Coral reefs are beautiful, colorful, and impressive.  I can imagine someone who has never been inside a church coming into All Saints’ seeing this magnificent structure for the first time and observing our multi-cultural congregation singing and praising God for the gifts of life we have received.

Another presentation on the ecology of relationships was about generous leadership,  leadership that provides a safe place in the midst of surrounding danger.  Look for example at the political trmoil during this election year.  There is anger swirling all around.  It is chaotic, some would say, apocalyptic.  We don’t know what will happen.  A democracy is always fragile, but today many people don’t know where to turn.  Public leadership is anything but generous or compassionate.

Today’s gospel story concerns both generous leadership and ecology of relationships.  The parable of the fig tree is about a tree that has not yielded fruit.  The purpose of the fig tree is to bear fruit.  In this case the tree has failed to produce so it is about to be cut down.  Without figs to harvest the tree “wastes the soil” taking up valuable space that could be put to better use.

Jesus told this story to illustrate how God is in relationship with us.  A gardener had a fig tree in his vineyard and when the harvest season came he went looking for fruit.  He did this for three successive years and failed to find any figs on this particular tree.  So, naturally, he wanted to cut it down because it was wasting valuable land where another fruit tree might be planted.  On second thought, however, he decided to be patient, to dig around its roots and fertilize it with manure to see whether it would bear fruit in the following year.  If it failed one more time he would cut it down.

Jesus is saying in this parable that unless we repent and turn in a new direction, a direction that leads to forgiveness and generous love, all will perish.  Our proper relationship with God is repentance.  We are to surrender all our attempts to control and manipulate God to our liking, to stop telling God how to be God, and to stop telling others what their relationship should be with God,

Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save it.  In the midst of all the world’s chaos he forgives and counsels forgiveness.  The world lives, as the fig tree lives, under that word of forgiveness, a generous gift.  It is easy for us to forget that the Gospel demands an urgent response.  We are the ones charged to “seize the day,” to “repent and bear good fruit,” to live lives of forgiveness and generosity.  God is a patient gardener who waits for us to come to an understanding of his generous presence in our lives.

The image of the fig tree suggests that it is possible for us to be fed provided that we dig into our roots, our history of God’s engagement with us, and fertilize our lives that they may be fruitful by extending the love of God to everyone.

Our journey through Lent leads us deeper and deeper into the mystery of God.  God who is patient and long suffering in waiting for his people to live according to his will.  We are held accountable for our acts of freeing people from bondage and oppression, and liberating the whole creation from the chaos that prevents engagement with God who waits for the world to be united in his love.  Amen.

A Renewed Commitment

In his message for this season of Lent the Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry states,  “It is a season of making a renewed commitment to participate and be a part of the movement of Jesus in this world. You can see some of that in the Gospel lesson for the first Sunday of Lent where Luke says that after the Baptism of Jesus he went into the wilderness, there to be tempted of Satan.

“Baptism is the sacrament of commitment to the Jesus Movement. It is to be washed, if you will, in the love and the reality of God, and to emerge from that great washing as one whose life is dedicated to living that love in the world.

“Jesus was baptized and began a movement in the world.  Immediately he found himself tempted by the devil.  It is an ever-present reminder that this movement is not without struggle. It is not easy. The truth is, this movement is difficult. It’s hard work. It’s the work of following Jesus to the cross. And it’s the work of following Jesus through the cross to the Resurrection. To new life and new possibility. That is our calling. That is the work of the movement. To help this world move from what is often the nightmare of the world itself into the dream that God intends.”

Our Christian story of faith begins with Jesus.  Following his baptism "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, ...was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.… When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time."

At the time of his temptations Jesus was just beginning to sow the seeds of his message.  He had gone into the wilderness where he fasted for forty days.  The reference to forty days reminds us of Moses and the experience of God's people.  Just as the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea, so Jesus waded through the Jordan River and then headed into the wilderness.  There he was tempted three times by the devil.  He was tempted to seek power, to be distracted by physical needs and wants, and to seek a private, personal salvation through a false form of trust.

The first temptation was the biological drive of hunger.  The Israelites had complained of hunger, and God provided them with manna.  Jesus was hungry and refused to complain.  He reminded the devil that bread is not enough to nourish the entire human person.  In Luke's account of this temptation the use of a single loaf of bread seems to suggest that personal hunger could be satisfied by magic.  Jesus' reply indicated that there is much more to life with God than simply meeting physical needs.

The second temptation was the lure of power and worldly glory.  The eighth century prophets maintained that Israel's troubles began only after they had made for themselves a king and a political structure like that of other nations.  Jesus refused to fall victim to this temptation to kingly power and answered the devil by saying that only God is to be worshipped. 

The third temptation was the desire for protection and support from God.  The devil urged Jesus to throw himself on God's care and do something foolhardy to test God.  This had been a test the Israelites had failed.  The psalms remind us, "they put me to the test, though they had seen my works.  Forty years long I detested that generation" (95:9-10).  Jesus refused to put God to the test. Then the devil, having used up his bag of tricks, departed until another opportune time.

Jesus went into the wilderness and was confronted with these human temptations in order to teach people to trust in God, to put their faith in God's governance, to worship God alone, and not to put God to the test.

Bishop Curry reminds us, “Baptism is the sacrament of commitment to the Jesus Movement. It is to be washed, if you will, in the love and the reality of God, and to emerge from that great washing as one whose life is dedicated to living that love in the world.”

In a moment we shall move to the Baptismal Font and welcome Famata Kamara into the household of God as she becomes part of the Jesus movement.  Baptism is the beginning of a life-long relationship with God and the people of God.  The Christian life is necessarily one of continuing struggle, but it is also one of continuing experience of the grace of God.  In this new relationship, the baptized person and all of us live for the sake of Christ while waiting in hope for the realization of God's new creation and for all people to be reconciled to God.

As we continue to grow in the Christian life of faith, we share a common responsibility to bear witness to the Gospel of Christ, the Liberator of all human beings. Within a fellowship of witness and service we discover the full significance of baptism as the gift of God to all people.  We acknowledge that baptism into Christ's death and resurrection motivates us to strive for the realization of God’s will, and to work for peace and justice with love and compassion for everyone.  Amen.

Stories of Transformation

"Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray."  Do you think they prayed the Lord's Prayer?  "Our father in heaven; hallowed be your name; your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in your heaven?"  It was a transforming event, a vision of freedom, justice, love of God and neighbor, compassion, and respect for others no matter who they were.  Imagine what the world would be like.  We would all be living in the kingdom of God where there is equality, justice, peace and respect.

The Gospel of Luke follows closely the account in the Book of Exodus. Moses went up on Mount Sinai to talk with God.  “The appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.”  “As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.”

The stories about God speaking through Moses and Jesus are fascinating.  God speaks in many ways, some are the mountain-top experiences we have in life, some are the uncomfortable ways of other religions, and some are through people who are oppressed, homeless, unemployed, and poor.

Peter, James and John, the disciples Jesus took with him to the mountain, saw what few people have ever seen.  Peter was perhaps too scared to see what was plain before his eyes: Jesus revealed as the light of lights, the glory of God who becomes flesh, living among us as one of us.  “While Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.”  Peter was there to see; he reacted with awe and fear and spoke about making dwellings for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.  Then he heard a voice from the cloud declaring, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him.”

God’s appearance in the Exodus story was like fire in the eyes of the people.  Jesus’ appearance on Mount Sinai was “dazzling white.”  Moses had taken with him Joshua, his assistant and successor.  Jesus took with him his closest friends, including Peter, who was to become a leader in the early Christian community following Jesus’ death.  The gospel story is intended to show that just as God spoke to Moses on a mountain, so he also spoke to Jesus.

The experience of Jesus being transfigured, or changed, was for the disciples a visionary moment.  They saw the light and the radiance or glory of his face, and his whole appearance as it was happening.  The vision of the two people who talked with him, Moses and Elijah, long since dead, and the most notable figures in Israel's history, signified that Jesus and his ministry were supported by both law and prophecy.  The divine voice that came out of the cloud and spoke was a familiar symbol pointing to God’s presence.  The experience was both awesome and terrifying. 

There are several interpretations of this story in terms of what it meant for the disciples and what it can mean for us today.  One of the commentaries states, “it recounts a vision in which the veil between the visible and invisible worlds is momentarily drawn back and Jesus is revealed in his true light.  It is difficult to speculate on the nature of the event … because so many details in the gospels suggest that Jesus as the messiah was a secret from the disciples until after the resurrection.” 

The experience on the mountain indicated that Jesus was changed in the disciples’ understanding of him.  It was tremendously important because in the days following the resurrection members of the early church were expecting Jesus’ imminent return.  The gospel accounts had not yet been written.  Jesus had not returned.  The early followers of Jesus were suffering painful and difficult times.  Many of them were persecuted and executed by the Romans who occupied their land.  In the midst of that reality their faith had to be expanded and transformed.  Jesus had taught them how to pray, but in the time of persecution they needed to experience the power of the resurrection in a new way,

When you and I look at all the suffering around the world, the millions of refugees, victims of gun violence, the zika virus in children, and wide-spread poverty, we have to make difficult choices about how our faith propels us to action.  The decisions we make, the people we elect as legislators, affect our lives and the lives of those who are most vulnerable.

All of us during the course of our lifetime have experiences of anxiety, sorrow, disappointment, pain or suffering.  However, despite all that may confront us we are not alone.  There is a gift of grace and love that helps us to move through these experiences.  That gift is known to us who are within the household of faith and in relationship with God.

Climb the mountain with Moses and Elijah, and with Jesus and the disciples. Envision your own transformation and our common destiny.  Join with the voices of women and men who share the vision of the early followers of Jesus.  Say with them “we have had enough of a world filled with hate, prejudice, oppression, violence, poverty, and all the bad things that inhibit goodness, justice and peace.”  Work for a world in which faithful love is possible and where peace flows deep like a river.  When our voices are heard, and when our actions are visible, even in a world that whimpers in misery, there truly will be a dazzling light on all our faces and knowledge of the glory of God.  Amen.

Commissioned and Empowered by God

It is wonderful and exciting to be back in our sacred space for worship.  I am grateful to all of you for your patience during the months of our restoration project.  There are still some finishing touches to be completed but we are here and that is very good.  Today is also the date of our Annual Meeting when we take a look at our accomplishments during the past year, assess where we are at this moment in our life together, and begin to look ahead to the coming months.  We are here together, members one of another united by the Spirit of God.

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah was called by God:  “The word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘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 was under thirty years old when God called him to be a prophet.  He didn’t want the job and gave his youthful age as a reason for rejecting it.  But God brushed aside Jeremiah’s objection.  Knowing that Jeremiah was the person he needed, God said  “I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”  Jeremiah had no choice but to accept the call and to say “yes” to what God asked of him.

As a prophet Jeremiah had to speak God's word to the people.  God appointed him "over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."  God also assured him, "I am with you to deliver you.”  “Then the Lord put out h is hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, 'Now I have put my words in your mouth.’"

We learn later in the Book of Jeremiah that the power and success of Jeremiah's life resulted from his relationship with God.  God taught him what to tell the people and empowered him with the strength and courage to do the work he was given to do.

There are similarities between Jeremiah’s call and the anointing of Jesus.  If we had been here last Sunday our gospel reading was about Jesus who, like Jeremiah, was around thirty years of age when he preached in the synagogue at Nazareth.  Jesus opened the Hebrew Bible to the prophet Isaiah where it says,

“’The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

            to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the

captives and recovery of sight to the blind,

            to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.’”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  The people who heard Jesus “were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.”  Then, when he went on to talk about Elijah being sent to a widow at Zarephath they were not prepared to hear Jesus call himself the successor to Elijah.  Instead, they adhered to the popular belief that Elijah would return in the last days to announce the coming of the messiah.

The people around Jesus were then filled with rage. As Luke states, “All in the synagogue were filled with rage.  They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.”

Jesus had tried to explain what he meant by saying that no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.  He told them, “Doubtless you will quote me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’”  Then, in recounting this episode, Luke wrote that through some kind of miraculous intervention, Jesus was able to “pass through the midst of them and went on his way.”

Jeremiah learned to trust his relationship with God, to know that God called him to be a prophet and would support and sustain him.   Jesus knew what it meant to be anointed by God to bring good news to the poor, to heal the sick, and give liberty to the outcasts.  Both Jeremiah and Jesus were willing to risk everything for the mission they were given.  The lesson for us is that we need to trust that God will always support and sustain us in our ministry to those in need.

Jesus’ message was that God’s love is for all people.  God’s desire is to minister with grace and healing to the physical hurts and spiritual needs of every person.  If we limit our understanding of the gospel to words on a page or the sermons we hear and keep it removed from actions of compassionate love and care, we become roadblocks to the advancement of God’s kingdom in place of being ministers of God’s love.

God is always working through us and through Christ in reconciling the world to God.  The plea for justice and dignity, the work of reaching out to the disadvantaged, the oppressed and the poor, is an integral part of the gospel that offers God’s forgiveness, grace and love.  We are commissioned and empowered by God for this ministry.  It is what we have been baptized and anointed to do, and it is how the Scripture is fulfilled in our hearing.  Amen.