That We All May Be One

So, last day at home before heading out to the 77th General Convention of The Episcopal Church meeting in Indianapolis. Susanne has already driven down as she has some major responsibilities as Executive Director of the Association of Episcopal Deacons (formerly knows as NAAD).

She coordinates the scheduling  and orientation of deacons serving in the daily liturgies at Convention as well as collaborating on the writing of daily Prayers of the People for each Eucharist. Since she rarely gets recognition, or even thanks, for those responsibilities, I’d at least like to give her a shout-out here.

I have my usual mixed feelings about Convention. As an introvert “off the chart” it is an exhausting experience for me to be with all the folks pretty much 24/7. On the other hand, it is a wonderful family reunion and important issues are decided which effect our life together as Episcopalians. And it’s an honor to be a part of those deliberations and decisions.

Major issues this time: making some sense of the budget fiasco we’ve created; approving liturgies for the blessing of same gender unions; seemingly endless discussions on restructuring of our church’s governance and staffing structures; wrestling with how, and if, we should continue implementation of a church-wide denominational health insurance plan; new statements on Israel/Palestine; and a couple of ecumenical resolutions I’m particualrly interested in because of my past role as ecumenical officer for The Episcopal Church.

I have often dreaded General Conventions, concerned about some kind of ‘melt down,’ but have usually come away reassured about the faithfulness and common sense of such a large legislative body. These are good people who care about God’s church and God’s world and who give hugely of their time and efforts to provide leadership and direction for this community.

Can the structures be improved? Certainly. Do we need to make significant changes in order to respond to the challenges of the 21st century and beyond. Absolutely. Are we — under God’s grace — up to the task? I think so.

We’ll appreciate your prayers and support.

(I’ll be blogging regularly, if not daily, if I think I have anything constructive to say!)

Community of the Transfiguration Retreat

  As you’ve heard over the last few days, I grew up inCentral Florida. It was a very different world in the 1950s and 60s than it is today. I call it the “pre Disney” days ofFloridabefore the state was ruined by overdevelopment and under-taxation. Before a thousand people a day began pouring across the borders and actually moving intoFlorida. Before greed took over and began to ruin the water…and the land…and the lives of so many people.

 But, I digress! It was really a wonderful time and place to grow up. My Dad was really into boats and we had a succession of them, ranging from little runabouts to a pretty good sized cabin cruiser we once took up theSt. John’sRiverfromSanfordtoJacksonvilleand back down the Inland Waterway all the way to the Keys. It took us most of the summer and was a vacation I shall never forget!

 Early in the trip we were crossingLakeMonroewhich was a large, but relatively shallow lake into which theSt. John’sRiverflows and from which it continues its lazy, northern flow. On this particular day, a storm came up on the lake and the whitecaps began tossing us around pretty badly, even breaking over the bow and threatening to swamp the boat! We broke out the life jackets, began to bail, and Dad began trying to steer us back toward the shore.

 Suddenly, a large fish jumped right into the boat! It was flopping around all over, and I asked my father, “Should we keep it, Dad?” He said, “Hell no, throw it overboard. We don’t have time for that now.” Well, I did so…we made it safely back to shore, and then began to laugh out loud, because it was the largest fish either my Dad or I had ever caught. And all we could think of to do was throw it back because we were so anxious about the storm!

 I never read the story in Mark’s Gospel about Jesus stilling the storm that I do not think about that incident! TheSea of Galileeshares a lot in common withLakeMonroeinFloridain that they are both relatively shallow bodies of water and can be whipped into a frenzy by a sudden storm before you know it. Even experienced sailors can find themselves in a perilous situation in a hurry!

 It’s easy to panic in such a situation. And that’s exactly what the disciples did even after they had awakened Jesus and asked him, “Don’t you even care if we are perishing?” But he calmed them as well as the storm with two commands, “Peace! Be still!” I hope that’s what you have experienced during these days of retreat. Peace…and stillness.

Many sermons have been preached on this Gospel pericope about the stilling of the storm. All the imagery is there – the trials and difficulties of life as a storm-tossed sea; the Church as a boat or a ship (the “Ark of Salvation”); our tendency to panic and to forget that Jesus is right alongside us in the boat – the One who can always bring peace and stillness into any storm life may throw at us.

 As an anonymous homily in The Living Church put it last week: “Our boat is small and the seas are rough. But the master of the sea is with us, and at a word he will speak peace. Have we left him asleep in the stern, or does he command our way through the shoals? He is with us, but how often do we fall into faithless fear? Let us,St. Augustineurges, awaken him by prayer. ‘When your anger is roused, you are being tossed by the waves. So when the wind blow and the waves mount high, the boat is in danger, your heart is imperiled, your heart is taking a battering. Why?

Because Christ is asleep in you. What do I mean? I mean you have forgotten his presence. Rouse him, then; remember him, let him keep watch within you, pay heed to him.”

 The young David had to rely on that presence of the God of Israel when he confronted Goliath in our First Lesson today. (I Samuel 17) “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine,” said the brash young man. And so he did!

 St. Paul had to draw on that constant presence of the Risen Christ on an almost daily basis as he faced the kinds of obstacles he lists for us in this morning’s Epistle (2 Corinthians 6) –afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger and all the rest of it. As we have reflected together on our spiritual journeys over the last week, we have remembered some of the trials and tribulations you and I have gone through…and what we’ve learned along the way.

 As Christians living the vowed life you have sought, over the years, to stay in touch with the Risen Christ in the same ways Paul did – by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God.

 Oh, you haven’t always done it perfectly, I’m sure. But those were your best intentions. As a member of this particular Community you even know what it is to live “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”

 We began this retreat with a little reflection on my favorite Psalm 84 which gave us our theme: Hearts Set on the Pilgrims’ Way. I’d like to conclude with us praying it together – as an act of thanksgiving for the life and ministry that have been ours…and as an act of rededication to the life we have promised to live. (It begins on page 707 in theBCP…)

One of the things I have been most impressed with over these six months that I have served as Assisting Bishop in this diocese is that virtually every congregation I have visited so far is serious aboutMission! Our Prayer Book Catechism defines mission as “restoring all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” But, in recent years, we’ve begun to put some flesh on those bones by adopting something called “The Five Marks of Mission.”

 These marks were originally articulated by the Anglican Consultative Council from about 1984 to 1990, but they have since been adopted by the Lambeth Conference of Bishops and our own General Convention of The Episcopal Church. They are really a practical and easy-to-remember “check-list” of what it looks like to DO God’sMissionin the world. They are:

1. To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom

2. To teach, baptize, and nurture new believers

3. To respond to human need by loving service

4. To seek to transform the unjust structures of society

5. To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth

    And it seems to me that, to one degree or another, you and I are about all those things today in this glorious service! We are here – perhaps before all else – to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom, the Reign, the Sovereignty of God. To remind ourselves and the world that God is King and that we are not!

 That’s why we take some time out of our busy schedules each week to gather for worship and to do what our Baptismal Covenant  calls “continuing in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers” That’s what we do every time we celebrate the Eucharist.

 Certainly today, we are baptizing new believers! In fact, we are not only baptizing a new Christian we are confirming and receiving other Christians who are taking the next step in their lifelong journeys into Christ. Each of these sacramental moments have been preceded by the teaching of the Faith; and we will promise in a few moments to continue to nurture and support all these people in their new life in Christ. That’s what parishes and Christian communities are for! Your commitment to the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and Journey to Adulthood and ongoing adult education make it clear that you are committed to this nurturing role.

 The third mark of mission is to respond to human need by loving service. I don’t know all the ways you do this (and I’ll be interested to learn more as we talk together after the liturgy this morning), but the very welcoming and inclusive community you identify yourself to be is itself a response to human need. People are desperate for genuine community today (even if they are not aware of it on some level). And a church which really reaches out and welcomes “all sorts and conditions” of folks, a church which can sing “Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live” and MEAN IT, that church is itself responding to human need!

 If you do that, it won’t be long before you are led to the fourth mark of mission: “to seek to transform the unjust structures of society.” For, after you stand alongside the river bank long enough pulling our survivors of bigotry and hatred, pretty soon you decide to go upstream, find out who’s throwing them in, and make them stop! I know you’ve had some relationship with our wonderful Diocese of Haiti and you know that there are systemic issues as well as natural disasters that need to be responded to there.

 Not that it will always be easy. Jesus ran into conflict with the “powers that be” in today’s Gospel (Mark 3:20-35) and they even accused him of being in league with the devil, but Jesus had the same confidence as St. Paul who wrote, of his own conflicts twenty years later, “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure…” (2 Corinthians 4). Yes, we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. But also to strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.

 But it goes beyond even that! For our fifth and final mark of mission challenges us to “safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.” Simple things like the Blessing of Animals (which The Episcopal Church has actually become quite famous for, over the years!) reminds us that we are called to go beyond the estrangement of human beings from the rest of creation which we heard about in the wonderful, ancient text about Adam and Eve this morning (Genesis 3) and to celebrate the Covenant with Noah which is all about the restoration of God’s Creation.

 A new heaven and a new earth where “the whole menagerie of birds and mammals and crawling creatures, all that brimming prodigality of life…can reproduce and flourish on the Earth.”

As we sang together this morning, “Praise for the earth who makes life to grow. The creatures you made to let your life show; The flowers and trees that help us to know…The heart of love.”

 And indeed, my friends, the ‘heart of love’ is what it’s all about. When we baptize Vanessa today in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, what we are really doing is baptizing her into a community of love. Love is the very nature of God. Love is what we see in action in the life of Jesus. And love is what is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. Remember that as we baptize Vanessa. Remember that as we confirm and receive these other adults today.

 Remember the five marks of mission. And remember that they are all intended to do what we sang today in our gathering hymn: “Let us build a house where love can dwell/ And all can safely live/ A place where saints and children tell/ How hearts learn to forgive/ Built of hopes and dreams and visions/ Rock of faith and vault of grace/… the love of all shall end divisions/

 All are welcome…all are welcome…all are welcome in this place!

Easter 7B 

I always have to smile when I hear our First Lesson today from the Acts of the Apostles. I smile because, 24 years ago, this was the weekend when the Diocese of Iowa met in Convention to elect their 8^th Bishop. I was one of four finalists and, during the week, I had awaited Saturday’s phone call from Convention with real anticipation and no little anxiety, I can tell you!

 Of course, I had to prepare a sermon for that Sunday in my parish, St. Mark’s inCocoa,Florida. And what Lesson confronted me when I started the preparation, but our First Lesson today — The story of those early Apostles selecting a new member to join their ranks and replace the traitor, Judas. They discussed the matter and prayed, and finally “cast lots” (rolled the dice!)… and the text says, “The lot fell on Matthias.” Of course, there were two candidates in that selection process, Matthias and a man called Joseph Barsabbas, also known as Justus.

 We know that Matthias went on to become an Apostle and tradition says that he was eventually martyred for his faith. We don’t know anything about what happened to poor old Justus. But, as I prepared my sermon for that Sunday, trying to ready myself (and my congregation) for whatever might happen in Iowa’s election, I sort of felt like both of those early Christians. So I actually prepared two sermons – one from the perspective of Matthias (the “winner” in that apostolic election) and one from the point of view of Justus (the supposed “loser!).

 Fortunately, I was able to preach the Matthias sermon because I was elected Bishop of Iowa on the fourth ballot. But what I had come to understand was, it was going to be OK either way! If I was elected, if the “lot fell on me” I was off to a new adventure in ministry. If someone else was elected I got to stay in a wonderful parish with people I had come to know and love over the last nine years, and stay in the diocese I grew up in and in which I had so many friends and colleagues. I kept thinking of the words of Julian of Norwich (a 14^th century English mystic) – “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things, shall be well!”

 I’m not sure those earliest Christians, written about in the Book of Acts, would have that same confidence during the time we are observing in the Church Calendar today. Last Thursday was the Feast of the Ascension, the day on which Jesus’ physical presence was withdrawn from the apostles. He had told them to return toJerusalemand to wait for a new gift he was going to give them. He had prayed for them in the words of today’s Gospel, he had promised them that new gift, but they had almost no idea what he was talking about.

 It would only be on the Day of Pentecost (which we will celebrate next Sunday) that they would receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit and be transformed from timid, frightened followers of Jesus into bold and committed Apostles who were to take the message of Jesus all over the Mediterranean world! But, on a day like today – poised between Ascension and Pentecost – they must have wondered if all things would indeed “be well” for them…and for the Church.

 That sort of sounds like the position many of us are in today in The Episcopal Church. We are Christians at a time in history facing enormous change. And we don’t know quite what to expect. A scholar named Phyllis Tickle has written a book called “The Great Emergence” in which she points out that historically, about every 500 years, the Church has undergone a huge, transformative change — Change which unsettled everyone and shook the faith of many as to whether the future of the Church was secure or not.

 In roughly the year 500 Europewas entering the so-called Dark Ages when many would wonder if even Western civilization, let alone the Christian Church, would survive. Five hundred years later, in the year 1052 the Eastern Orthodox Churches split away from the Roman Catholic Church in what came to be known as “The Great Schism.” And in the 16^th century, 500 years later,  the Catholic Church itself blew apart as Protestant Christianity was born in the Reformation. Many believe we are in a similar situation today.

 Old certainties are being challenged. New perspectives and approaches are confronting us. And we’re not quite sure what the future will bring. Lest you think this is only happening in The Episcopal Church, let me assure you (as one who spent nearly a decade as ecumenical officer, working with Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists and many others), exactly the same thing is happening to them. So…what do we do?

 Well, I’ve always loved the image in today’s Psalm. The Psalmist is trying to describe the people of God as opposed to “the wicked” who he says, “will not stand upright when judgment comes…(for) the way of the wicked is doomed.” (Psalm 1:5-6). God’s people, on the other hand, “are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:3).

 The Psalmist is saying that we need to be like trees, planted along a rushing brook. Our roots need to go deep and be well grounded. But our branches and leaves need to be green and flexible, to be able to sway in the breeze and turn toward the sun. In a time of rapid change like this, as Christians, we need to be even more deeply committed to the basics of our faith, and to our spiritual disciplines of daily prayer and Bible study, weekly Eucharist, and perhaps an annual retreat or experience of ongoing adult education in our Christian faith.

 Deeply rooted, firmly planted, we can then afford to be open and flexible about what God may be doing in the life of the Church. Not every new development or trend is of God, certainly, but our God is a God of change and a God of the future, so we need to be open to what that God may be doing in our day. Very few of us find change easy. But it is also true to say that whatever is not growing and changing is probably in the process of dying.

 But our confidence is this: Jesus promised us that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church. And our Gospel today reminds us that he is continuing to pray for us. He says, “I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours…Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one…As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

 That’s what Jesus prayed for the Apostles. That’s what he is praying for us. And that is why we can be confident along with Julian of Norwich that “all shall be well…all shall be well…and all manner of things…shall be well!”

As our Lessons and hymns make clear, this is “Good Shepherd Sunday” in the church calendar – the day we read verses from John’s Gospel in which Jesus described himself as “a good shepherd” for his people. One who lays down his life for the sheep. The one who knows his sheep even as they know him…which is why they listen to his voice…and follow him.

 I know a lot of people today who have trouble with this “good shepherd image.” First of all, it can be a little “schmaltzy.” The first parish I served inCentral Floridahad a so-called “Good Shepherd” window over the high altar. It was a poorly done, contemporary piece and members of my youth group used to say that it depicted sheep “with eyes like a man!” Now, there are some wonderful artistic representations of “the Good Shepherd” – but for every one of those there are hundreds of schmaltzy ones. And I’ll bet you’ve seen a few!

 Secondly, most of us have little experience with real sheep or real shepherds in our day. We don’t know, firsthand, the difficulty of the job or the dangers they faced in Jesus’ time…and, in some places, still do. But, finally, most of us just don’t particularly like to see ourselves as sheep! They may look pretty cute and cuddly from a distance, but if you’ve ever been near a flock, you don’t want to inhale too deeply! And suffice it to say, if there were IQ tests for animals, the sheep would not be among the brightest bulbs in the batch!

 So, how do we redeem this “Good Shepherd image?” Well, visiting here at St. Benedict’s this morning, I couldn’t help but think of your patron saint as another model of a “good shepherd” who is at least a little closer in time and space to us today, particularly through his legacy. I’m sure you’ve heard your share of sermons on the life of Benedict, belonging as you do to this parish, and you know that he lived in the sixth century and is sometimes called “the Father of Western Monasticism.” Benedict’s disciples founded monasteries all overEuropewhich became centers of learning, health care, justice, and the arts.

 Benedict is also the patron saint ofEuropebecause some would argue that those monasteries helped preserve Western Civilization through the so-called Dark Ages. The “Rule of St Benedict” which he wrote to give gentle guidance to his monks and nuns established the foundation for modern human rights because in these communities, each person was to be treated with respect and honor and dignity. These monasteries valued learning, good manners, discipline and self respect.

 As Christians in the Anglican tradition, we are almost unconscious heirs of this Benedictine tradition because so many of our cathedrals and parish churches in England are built quite literally upon the foundation of ancient Benedictine monasteries and the spirituality fostered there has crept into our generous, liturgical, common sense, “via media” way of living out the Christian life. Anglicans really are “Benedictine” in our core.

 Trying to be a good shepherd to his flock as Jesus was, St. Benedict devised a fairly simple, eminently practical Rule for his monks and nuns to live by – at least by the standards of other religious orders of his time in history which were pretty strict. The modern day monks of the Episcopal Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge MA have actually written a contemporary commentary on that ancient Rule, explaining how Benedict’s principles can be a guide, really, for any Christian community today – from a family to a parish church to a diocese and beyond. It’s a beautifully written series of meditations on the Rule.

 The three distinctive vows taken by Benedictine monastics are actually something I’d like to commend to our confirmands today…and really to all of us who are renewing our baptismal covenant on this occasion. In Latin these vows are “stabilitas”…”obedientia”…and “conversio morum.” And, in English – stability…obedience…and conversion of life.

 Stability means being rooted and grounded. The Benedictine monk or nun promises to stay committed to his or her monastic community for life. We need that kind of commitment in this fast changing society and world today. We need that kind of commitment in our marriages…in our parishes….and in our denominations. It often seems these days that very few people are willing to persevere. When things get rough, people bail out. So many today seem to be on a constant search for the flawless partner or the ideal church or the perfect denomination – as if any of these things exist! Stability means that we find God and happiness right where we are, and that we don’t always have dash around after every trend or fashion or new idea.

 Obedience is a word most of us aren’t very fond of either! But the root of the word “obey’ means simply “to listen.” True obedience means listening to others and responding to their needs. The obedient person is always alert to the spoken and unspoken needs of those around them. Obedience builds peace and understanding in communities. We need to listen to God, listen to the Scriptures, and listen deeply to the voice of the Holy Spirit within us and listen to each other. That’s really what it means to be obedient in the Benedictine sense.

 And, finally, conversion of life. This is not the same thing as a dramatic religious conversion like Paul had on the way toDamascus. It’s a way of looking at life that is creative, hopeful, and positive. The person who seeks conversion of life is always looking for a new way to see life. It sees possibilities, not problems and is always seeking to convert the difficulties of life into opportunities for growth. (By the way, I found those definitions in a fine article by Dwight Longenecker entitled “Benedict the Balanced.” He provides a way to live a balanced, and holy, life.)

 So, stability…obedience…conversion of life. Three ways through which St. Benedict sought to be a good shepherd to his people. (1)To be rooted and grounded and committed in our relationships. (2)To listen to God and to the needs of God’s people around us. (3) And always to look for possibilities, not problems.

 I think that’s what a Good Shepherd looks like today. Surely Jesus of Nazareth exhibited all of these qualities in his life. Let me offer once again our Collect for today with special intention that we may begin to live these vows in our lives as well. Let us pray: “O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice, we may know him, who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”