Recent Sermons
The Rev. Dr. Pam Gregory, Rector
Trinity Episcopal Church January 29, 2012: Epiphany 4B
Today's lessons are about DISCERNMENT. Even in today's Gospel lesson from Mark, it would be easy for us today to make the mistake in thinking
that had WE been there, in that synagogue that very day, WE would've immediately recognized Jesus… It's easy for us over 2000 years later & knowing the story of Jesus from birth
to death, from death to Resurrection - it's easy for us to recognize Jesus for who he is in this story. But that's because we know far more than we even think we know.Truly, had we
been sitting in the synagogue, we might have been impressed with what Jesus had to say, and even the way he said it. We might have been captivated by his style… We might have been
impressed with how knowledgeable & wise he seemed… We might have been deeply emotionally & intellectually moved… But – honestly – can YOU really say that you would've KNOWN
Jesus? KNOWN him? As what? A brilliant teacher? A young man wise beyond his years? But would you have KNOWN he was The Christ? Would you have KNOWN he was God's Son? Would you even
have SUSPECTED that he was GOD INCARNATE? Because I'm not sure I would have… I'm not sure that I would have trusted my intuition or my gut enough to make that kind of commitment… even
if it was just to myself, in secret. So how do we – over 2000 years later – DISCERN WHO IT IS speaking to us? How do we DISCERN between what WE WANT TO HEAR, and what's really being
said? How do I DISCERN when I'm just talking to myself, and only fantasizing that it's GOD talking to me?
How do we tell the difference between where GOD is leading us, and where the group is leading us? How do we tell if it's somebody in the group who just happens to be
persuasive enough, convincing enough that we're really just following the group… and we only THINK it's GOD we're following? DISCERNMENT is tough! DISCERNMENT is most definitely not
for wimps! Discernment takes time… Discernment takes a lot of time BEING QUIET… Discernment isn't about talking… It's about LISTENING. And it's about being open… EVEN IF being open
means discovering that we're wrong… EVEN WHEN being open makes us vulnerable as all get-out. Let's look at some examples. Shortly before I arrived at Trinity proceeds
from the sale of Doris Graham's house had been used to build the 2nd story on top of Aldrich Hall. There was consensus that this space would be used for Sunday School. But there was
NO consensus about whether to leave the space wide open (like downstairs in AH) or to actually build walls for classrooms. People spoke their minds about it. Many of us were praying
about it. We all wanted to be good stewards. The image that kept coming back to me – and many others – was of a family with children, where the children didn't have rooms
of their own, but had to sleep on the living room sofa… and keep their clothes & toys there, too. How would YOU feel to be one of those children? Would you feel that you were an
important part of this family? Or would you feel like you were destined to the leftovers? And the decision was made to make classrooms in Graham Hall. The decision was
made because together we DISCERNED that this was the RIGHT thing to do for our children… Together we DISCERNED that this is what GOD would have us do. The image of Christ gathering
the little children around him, is still vivid to us today because…. KIDS MATTER HERE! Another example: We knew we needed more parking & the logical way to do that
was to expand the lot across the road. We had permission from the Providence Water Board to do so. But then, we talked it to death! Year after year, we talked about it… We talked about how much it would cost - if we did it this way or that… We talked about whether we could afford it financially… We talked about whether we could afford NOT
to expand the parking! This went on… not for weeks….not for months… but for several YEARS! I will never forget the Vestry meeting when the women decided enough was
enough! Things moved forward rapidly from the point, and the parking lot expansion was completed. We didn't complete that project because it would just "LOOK BETTER." We completed
that project so that more people can be at Trinity at the same time! And WE paid for it, through a capital campaign... where we all pledged & contributed the money to get it done!
One more example. The renovation of the kitchen, bathrooms & Aldrich Hall itself. Time was closing in on us… We needed to make the kitchen meet both FIRE and HEALTH codes! This
was part of the Capital Campaign too. However… Things happened… the economy, lay-offs, etc. Many people weren't able to finish paying their capital campaign pledge. So what to do? We
really couldn't put this off, but how would we pay for it? The Diocese loaned us $20,000 to complete it all. It's not that the Vestry jumped at the chance to go into debt! But
together WE DISCERNED that GOD would have us proceed. The kitchen is as beautiful as many restaurants! The Fire Chief & the Health Department are mightily impressed! And so are we
all! Not only that… But Aldrich Hall is beautiful, warm, & exceptionally welcoming! And the bathrooms? Oh, my! Who knew they could look that good? And one of them is now
handicapped accessible!!! DISCERNMENT – the novel idea of asking GOD WHAT GOD THINKS!!! How extraordinary that WE – as the CHURCH – should even ask the question! We don't have the
benefit of having Jesus in the flesh & blood right smack in front of us, so we can ask our questions and he can respond out loud so everyone can clearly hear. But that does NOT
mean that CHRIST isn't HERE!!! I'm asking you to join me in making the commitment to Christ & to each other that 2012 will be the year when we INTENTIONALLY seek to
DISCERN GOD'S WILL for us -- for our ministries… Or, more accurately, so that together we may DISCERN CHRIST'S MINISTRIES, and how CHRIST is ASKING US to RESPOND.
Let us pray. Dear God, we have no idea where we are going. We do not see the road ahead of us. We cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do we really know
ourselves, and the fact that we THINK
we are following your will does not mean that we are actually doing so. But we believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And we hope that we have that desire in all that we are doing.
We hope that we will never do anything apart from that desire. And we know that if we do this you will lead us by the right road, though we may know nothing about it.
Therefore, will trust you always though we may seem to be lost & in the shadow of death. We will not fear, for you are ever with us, and you will never leave us to face our perils
alone. In the Name of Jesus the Christ, we pray. AMEN.
(Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude,
p. 83, adapted). December 11, 2011: Advent 3, Year B
Leonard Sweet tells the story of a 5 yr. old nephew of the bride. "He was
chosen to be in charge of carrying the rings down the aisle. At the wedding rehearsal he was unusually unruly. He kept leaping out at people, baring his teeth at & then chasing
the flower girls. He growled & snarled as he practiced going down the aisle. He brandished the pillow like a pistol.Finally his mother pulled him aside &
demanded to know why he was behaving so badly. 'But, Mom,' he explained, 'I have to act FIERCE – I'm the RING BEAR.'
"Like so many of us," says Leonard Sweet, "that little boy misunderstood what ROLE he was supposed to play. He thought he was CALLED to be BIG, FEARSOME
, LARGE & IN CHARGE. He thought he was supposed to BE the 'star of the show.' He thought the spotlight was HIS. But he wasn't supposed to BE a
bear, he was supposed to offer the supportive role of 'ring bearer.' His role was important! The pastor, not to mention the bride & groom, NEEDED those rings down front. (But) the
reason for the wedding celebration was NOT HIM" (Leonard Sweet, "Bear the Light," eSermons.com)
Our Gospel this morning is once again about John the Baptist. "John's CALL was to be a WITNESS, to 'TESTIFY to the LIGHT'" (Synthesis
for Advent 3B, 2011) But John was very clear… He was to POINT to the Light… He was to STEER people's attention to the LIGHT… But HE was NOT the Light himself.
Like our ring bearer, John the Baptist was to PREPARE the way… The ring bearer prepared the way for the bide. John the Baptist prepared the way for the GROOM:
JESUS, the CHRIST of GOD. In our world today, we are in great need of someone to call us back to our senses… To proclaim that the LORD is near! To POINT TO THE LIGHT…
To get us to FOCUS! Our world today is so chock-full of distractions… On the one hand, we have people arguing about what to call a tree with lights… On the other hand,
we're approaching the first of the Republican primaries… And there's the confusion of who's-on-first from one day to the next. On the one hand, there's the fear that the
Euro may collapse any second… that the entire financial system of Europe will throw Europe & consequently the rest of the world into UTTER DARKNESS & CHAOS. On the
other hand, we're busily scurrying about… decorating our homes (inside & out), picking out & decorating the perfect tree, shopping for & wrapping gifts for family &
friends, cleaning house, doing laundry, going to work, baking to get ahead of the game… Whew! No wonder we're DISTRACTED! We're on OVER-LOAD!
And then the Church tells us to SLOW DOWN! Slow down & WAIT! To BE, rather than DO… Stop all the frenetic activity BECAUSE it's distracting us from what is REALLY
important. What's really important isn't a "THING" -- it's a WHO… And as much as we might wish it were otherwise, THIS WHO ISN'T ABOUT ME OR YOU!!!
We need someone to be John the Baptist for us… today. We need someone to first get our attention and then we need someone to CALL
us back to our senses & to our authentic selves… To CALL us back to WHO we really ARE… WE aren't
supposed to get all-consumed in the secular Christmas gig. We are supposed to take time out from all the distractions of this world. We are supposed to REMEMBER that
there is something BESIDES this world. Something – Someone … And we need a John-the-Baptist-type to POINT to this SOMEONE who is ultimately more important than everything that is.
We NEED someone to "SHOW US THE LIGHT…" And then, YOU and I are CALLED by GOD to POINT others toward the LIGHT. This is more important than ANYTHING ELSE! This
puts everything else in our lives in perspective. This puts all our PRIORITIES straight. Let me quote Leonard Sweet again: "It usually takes a big winter storm to remind
us that we all really have the same 'favorite things' – electricity & plumbing! When a big blow shuts off the power & we are suddenly stranded in the dark, we immediately go
looking for a light. The 1st person who forges out into the dark & finds the FLASHLIGHT is greatly appreciated … BUT it is the LIGHT ITSELF that everyone craves. This Advent season, BEAR the LIGHT… DON'T BE the Light. Don't seek the spotlight. BEAR the LIGHT… So that JESUS can shine.
We don't need more of the spirit of Christmas. We need more of the Spirit of Christ" (Sweet, Ibid.) AMEN! December 4, 2011: Advent 2, Year B
I think we all need more COMFORT in our lives. I don't mean "things" that we think of as comforting. The COMFORT that I think we need is the
deep, down inside comfort. Sort of like a cup of hot tea or coffee or hot chocolate when you've come in from outside where there's a blizzard raging. But it's even more than that…It's like a long hug from someone you love & who you know loves you… Especially when you're feeling sad or discouraged or hurt or lonely. It's the realization that
your are DEEPLY, UNCONDITIONALLY LOVED… when you're feeling the most UNLOVABLE… When I was in seminary – and working in my field education parish – the Rector asked a
parishioner to work with me on projecting my voice & reading Scripture over & over & over again, letting not only the words, but the MEANING of it all really SINK IN
deeply & PERSONALLY. He also taught me to pay attention to punctuation, breathing & pausing at punctuation, and using inflection. NOT to be overly dramatic, but so my reading
convey-ed to people to pay attention, to LISTEN… Do you want to guess what was my "practice lesson" & the lesson I read the very first time in my field ed. parish?
Yup… Our OldTestament lesson for today: Isaiah 40:1-11 For me personally, this lesson has become as important as the 23rd Psalm. Listen… " 'Comfort, comfort my
people,' says your God. 'Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, & cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the LORD's hand DOUBLE for
all her sins. A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness PREPARE the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a HIGHWAY for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain
& hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the GLORY of the LORD shall be revealed, and all the people shall see it together for
the mouth of the LORD has spoken. A voice says, 'Cry out!' And I said,'What shall I cry?' All the people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass WITHERS,
the flower FADES; but THE WORD OF OUR GOD will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; LIFT UP your voice with STRENGTH, O Jersualem, herald of
good tidings, lift it up, DO NOT FEAR; say to the cities of Judah, 'Here is your God!' See, the Lord GOD comes with MIGHT, and his arm rules for him; his REWARD is with him, & his
RECOMPENSE before him. He will FEED HIS FLOCK like a SHEPHERD; He will gather the lambs IN HIS ARMS, & carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep."
Keith Hewitt tells the following story that I think illustrates the message of BOTH the Old Testament lesson AND the Gospel for today. Again, please listen & see what YOU think. He says: "I am not a student of music or theatre. For me, the day the music died came at age 8 when a frustrated piano teacher told my parents to save their money – And it
died a few years later when I tried out for the glee club in 5th grade, and was given the job of keeping attendance at the practices – SILENTLY. My theatrical
experience as a student was little better, consisting of one politically incorrect turn as 'Silent Buffalo' in a play called The Girl and the Gold Mine
– or something like that… I say all of the above to let you know that I am not writing out of any scholarly understanding of music or theatre but from a lay person's perspective. I believe what I say is correct… but I'm ready to stand corrected if it is not.
(I believe) there is one excellent reason to be waiting in your seat when any show starts – before the curtain even goes up… It's to hear the OVERTURE. An
OVERTURE can be beautiful & moving as a STAND-ALONE piece of music, but it's MORE than that. It sets the tone for the show before the curtain ever rises. It contains, woven within
it, many threads of music that you will hear throughout the show as distinctive melodies rise up, linger long enough to be identified, and then submerge back into it. In its
progression of themes & rhythm, a well-written overture will FORE-SHADOW the rise & fall of the storyline. It is both a PREVIEW of the play to come AND an encapsulation of the
high points. The audience, sitting in their seats waiting for the curtain to rise, is like the people of Israel thousands of years ago, waiting for the fulfillment of
God's promise to them. After centuries of waiting, 2000 years ago the lights dimmed & the overture began, in the form of John the Baptist. "No simple holy man, no mad prophet, but
a foreshadowing of the SAVIOR to come & of HIS message. The ministry of John the Baptist was nothing less than an OVERTURE to the operatic PASSION of his cousin. The themes of
rebirth & redemption would be played softly, to build anticipation for the words of Jesus. The call to turn away from the ways of the world would begin with John, and finds its
rhythm with the MESSIAH. (John's) denial of self for the sake of service to a higher calling would be repeated & strengthened in the teachings of Jesus, and even John's death
would serve as a grim fore-echo of Jesus' death on Calvary. The life & death of John the Baptist was an OVERTURE to the main event, and I wonder now… What part is MY
LIFE playing in the drama of GOD's PROMISE? And, am I playing the right tune? "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.'" (Keith Hewitt, from Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit, Series VII, Cycle B: A Compendium of Stories from StoryShare
– a component of SermonSuite.com, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio, 2011, pp.16-17) |
