Category: Jackson, WY

A Seed Here, A Seed There…

I didn’t grow up around cottonwood trees. My only experience of them until recently has been when I’ve traveled to other places, such as Wyoming.

In June, while sitting on the back porch in Rafter J, I was astounded by the number of cottonwood seeds in the air. I don't believe anyone could have described it to me, any more than I can find words to describe it here. You just had to have been there.

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As I watched in wonder, I realized that all the seeds that were attached to the trees just a few minutes before, have begun taking to the air. All seedpods, the warmth of the sun, the wind, and the rising of the sap, are instruments the Creator has provided for the continuation of this species of tree. I know it's about the same for other trees, but observing the cottonwood seeds in their provided me with an epiphany on that June day.

The seeds of trees speak of abundance in nature. Trees produce far more seeds than are needed to ensure the continuation of the species. Probably only one in several million seeds finds the soil, light, water, and other conditions to germinate and become a mature, seed producing tree. That's the way it is with the natural world. The Creator has provided more than enough!

The psalmist celebrated God's providence in these words, which many people learned to use as a prayer before meals, “The eyes of all wait upon you, O LORD, and you give them their food in due season. You open wide your hand and satisfy the needs of every living creature” (Psalm 145:16, 17).

A couple of years ago, I visited Ft. Wayne, Indiana and the burial site of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. The inscription on his headstone reads, “He lived for others.” This humble nurseryman went around sowing seeds, planting nurseries and orchards, and preaching. He sowed a lot of seed in his lifetime. His life had meaning and hope because he relied on the principle that “Anybody can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed.” He had a theology of abundance. He also understood that stewardship is not primarily about keeping and saving, but about investing and multiplying.

Our Christian teaching tells us that God created an amazing universe that is chock full of everything a creature could ever need. Then, God created the human being and gave the human being something that has been given to no other creature, the vocation of stewardship. Loosely translated, God said, “Welcome to my world! Everything you'll ever need is here. It will sustain your life and give you joy. I've created you with godlike qualities so that you can be partners with me in the ongoing process of creation. Now use your special gifts and your unique place as my personal representatives to care for it, manage it, and be sure that nobody is ever deprived of the life-giving abundance of my creation.”

One of my favorite movies of all time is “Oh God.” In one of the final scenes, God, who is carica-tured by George Burns, and Jerry, the assistant supermarket manager to whom God is revealed, played by John Denver, are discussing the success of their mission in the world. Nobody seemed to listen to the message God told Jerry to deliver. Jerry thinks they failed. “We blew it,” he says. But God doesn’t see it that way. “Oh, I don’t think so,” God says. “You never know; a seed here, a seed there, something will catch hold and grow.”

In the Parable of the Sower (Mt. 13:1-9), Jesus likens this botanical process of a seed that is taking root, growing, and maturing, to the Kingdom of God. The principle involved is that our job is to sow the seeds. God’s job is to cause them to grow.

I thought about this principle and those cottonwood seeds last week when I read an article about a man named Joe Tolin who lives in Beaumont, Texas. Joe had a cheek swab when he enrolled in a donor program known as Be The Match. Just a few weeks later, he received word that he was a perfect match for a little girl dying from leukemia in Utah. Joe is one of eleven million people on that registry and the only perfect match to save this little girl’s life. The bone marrow transplant accomplished its purpose and the little girl, Cami Carver, is cancer free and enjoying life.

Joe, whose gift provided a one-in-eleven-million chance of saving a life, told reporters, “Even an average Joe can make a difference or save a life.” And so can the gift we offer make a difference or transform a life. Even a little bit of faith or a little bit of generosity can transform the world.

In a meeting I attended with Rob Radtke, President of Episcopal Relief and Development, he told about a program in which a farmer borrows a bag of seeds, plants them, and returns two bags of seed after the harvest. Obviously, the crop produces so many more seeds that the farmer is able to pay 100% interest and still have more than enough for food and market. Only God can figure out the equation!

Equipped with an abundance of seeds, human intelligence and ingenuity, a theology of abundance, and the vocation to be stewards of everything God has provided, just imagine what God can accomplish through us!

Where is the abundance in your life? Where are the seeds God wants to place in your hands so you can steward them to fruition? Do you have a fear of scarcity that needs to be healed so your eyes can be opened to see how generously God has provided?

“God, who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness” (2 Cor. 9:10).

A seed here, a seed there, something will catch hold and grow!

I’ll see you in Church!

September 10, 2015
Sermon at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Jackson Hole ~ September 6, 2015

The Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Listen to the Sermon for September 6, 2015

Read the Sermon for September 6, 2015

September 6, 2015
“If it weren’t for St. John’s” – September 5, 2015

Today, while I was out on my walk, I met a neighbor on the path. He said, "I like your cap. Is it a Scottish cap?"

"No," I said, "It's an Episcopal Church cap."

"Oh, like St. John's?" he replied.

"Yep, just like St. John's," I said.

Then he told me, "I'm involved in the Jackson Cupboard."

"Thank you for that!" I said.

"No, thank you." he insisted. "If it weren't for St. John's, there wouldn't be any Jackson Cupboard."

St. John's means so much to this community and I'm proud to be the Interim Rector. And it's one more reason I am Unapologetically Episcopalian.

September 5, 2015
We Can Follow the Example of the Bees

Labor Day, observed on the first Monday in September, celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers. We pause to remember and give thanks for those whose labor contributes to the quality of our common life. So many of the products we enjoy in this country are presented to us in final form in markets, stores, and showrooms that it is easy to take granted those who produced them. It is also easy to forget how our own work impacts the lives of others. Our Book of Common Prayer provides us with fitting words of gratitude and intercession to God on this day:

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

When I think of an image of work “for the common good,” I think of bees. While hiking this summer on the Game Creek Trail south of Jackson, I noticed dozens of bees at work among wild roses. Every one of them was buzzing about doing its part on behalf of the hive.

Throughout history, bees have served as a reminder to humans of how important it is for humans to work for the common good. Bees are helpful not only to their own kind, they are helpful to humans and other creatures that depend upon food that requires pollination. For example, did you know that one in every three bites you eat and 70% of America's food sources are pollinated by bees? That is one reason organizations and governments are concerned about and seeking solutions to the worldwide decline in the bee population. The bee and the beehive have often been used in Christian art and architecture as metaphors for the Church and its members.

St. John Chrysostom wrote: “The bee is more honored than other animals, not because it labors, but because it labors for others” (12th Homily). The honey produced by the bee is agreeable to the palate and symbolic of spiritual sweetness and religious eloquence. For this reason, the beehive is emblematic of St. Ambrose and of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, two Doctors whom the Church calls mellifluus and mellificuus, that is, with an eloquence as suave and sweet as honey.

Honeybee Democracy is a book written by Thomas D. Seeley, a professor of biology at Cornell University. He has devoted his career to the study of these amazing creatures and the way they work together for the common good. In the prologue, the author writes, “The story of how honeybees make a democratic decision based on a face-to-face, consensus-seeking assembly is certainly important to behavioral biologists interested in how social animals make group decisions.”

The more we contemplate the energetic work, cooperative nature, and fruitfulness of bees, the better we understand why others have seen in them an example of how Christians might work, pray, and give in unity. We can follow the example of the bees!

There is a place for healthy competition in the secular environments where so many people work. There is even a place for a little friendly competition within Christian communities. In attempting to inspire the Corinthian Christians to greater generosity, St. Paul introduces a little competition when he tells them how generous the poor Macedonians when they insisted on sending aid to the Church in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:1-7).

Perhaps we are doing the same thing when we compare the giving patterns of this congregation with the giving patterns of the wider Church and other congregations nearby. It doesn't take a mathematician to recognize in these comparisons that there is room for improvement and lots of it.

But the key to a more generous spirit, I think, is not to be found in comparing ourselves with others or competing with them. God is not calling us to be some other church. Nor is God calling us to aspire to the average contribution level of Episcopalians across the country. (I would be a poor priest indeed if all I did was try to inspire the people of this parish to be average!) The key is to hear the call of God to each of us to be the generous creatures we were designed to be and to all of us to work together more energetically so that we can share God's bounty with others. When we do that, people are uplifted, transformed, and healed, and God is glorified.

St. Paul went on to tell the Corinthians, “You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God” (2 Cor. 9:11, 12).

Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, is our greatest example of generosity. St. Paul referred to him as God's “indescribable gift.” Jesus’ method was to form a community and teach them by word and example. You and I are the descendants of that first community and now the message of Jesus and its meaning for our world today is entrusted to us.

Where are the places in the life of St. John’s in which you can work more energetically, pray more fervently, and give more generously for the spread of the God's reign on earth? Please pray about that.

I’ll see you in Church!

September 2, 2015
Sermon at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Jackson Hole ~ August 30, 2015

The Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Listen to the Sermon for August 30, 2015

Read the Sermon for August 30, 2015

August 30, 2015
A Heritage of Generosity

Several aspects of parish life are symptomatic of the spiritual health of the community and its members – including hospitality, worship attendance, faith development, outreach to others, and stewardship. Priests who are discerning a call to serve in a parish are especially interested in examining these practices in light of their own priestly gifts and vocational emphases.

Together at St. John's, we have been exploring these practices and other areas of congregational health in a variety of settings. We are now at a crossroads when Christian stewardship of possessions must have our full attention. In many ways, how God's people relate to their possessions and how they express their generosity toward God touches every other aspect of personal spirituality and the common life of the parish. When we practice the spiritual discipline of stewardship our hearts are gladdened and we become more generous. Generosity changes both the giver and the Church.

This is nothing new. St. Paul addressed this relationship with the members of the Corinthian Church: “You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God” (2 Cor. 9:10-12). Jesus said it this way, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and God's righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mt. 6:33).

During conversations prior to my arrival in Jackson Hole, the Wardens and Vestry impressed upon me that they wanted me to help the parish take the next steps that will lead to a lasting change in the culture of giving at St. John’s. My assessment is that parishioners should focus less on the church's need to receive and focus more on the giver's need to give to God. It is possible that many members have not taken full responsibility for their own personal stewardship because the parish has begun to lean too heavily on other sources of income. I’ve been told that some don’t give because they think St. John’s doesn’t need their contributions. That viewpoint misses the point of Christian stewardship altogether.

Emphasizing the church's need to receive is a fund raising strategy. In contrast, emphasizing the giver's need to give fosters Christian stewardship. One is based on need, the other is based on God's bountiful generosity toward us. One is consumer-oriented, the other is God-oriented. One anticipates receiving something in return, the other is our response to something already received. There is nothing wrong with fund raising, but personal stewardship must be the foundation for the Church’s mission.

We give to God, not to a budget. Budgets and financial statements are are useful indicators of spiritual health and they provide assurances about the fiscal management of the parish. But they are not an adequate basis for Christian stewardship, have provided very little motivation for greater generosity, and certainly should never be an excuse for a Christian to withhold what belongs to God. We give to God first because God first gives to us. We give to God because we believe that all that we have, whether spent, saved, or given away is a sacred trust from God. We give to God because of our consciousness that we are the only creatures created in God's image and entrusted with the divine vocation to be stewards of everything God has provided. Giving to God is our heritage, our birthright, and our privilege.

Today's generation of worshipers at St. John’s are heirs of the generosity and stewardship of those who went before us, moving St. John’s from a humble frontier mission to the place of being the largest Episcopal Church in Wyoming. I believe God is calling this community to be even more than that; St. John’s ought to be the leading Episcopal Church in Wyoming and beyond. Since leading by example is basic to all leadership, setting an example of generous stewardship is a key to the future impact of the gospel.

Is it possible that other sources of income have become a stumbling block instead of a steppingstone? Are we leaning on fundraising, Browse ‘n’ Buy, weddings, and the endowment to balance our annual budget instead of rising to new and more generous levels of stewardship in each generation? The ordinary day-to-day mission of the parish should be sustained by the generosity of all its members so that the other sources of income will make it possible for St. John’s to do extraordinary things.

A common question that is asked during interviews with prospective rectors for large parishes is, “How heavily do you depend upon sources other than member contributions to balance the budget for the ongoing mission of the parish?” The correct answer is, “ZERO.” At the present time the answer at St. John’s would have to be, “Thirty-five percent.”

Now, during this period of transition, St. John’s has the opportunity to take the step that will change that answer! Your Stewardship Committee and I believe that every member can find ways to step up in generosity. If every member will take this step as a matter of spiritual growth, it will make a remarkable difference in your life and also allow this parish to continue the heritage of generosity that has been entrusted to us.

I recognize that some people find that talk in Church about possessions makes them feel uncomfortable. I hope that you will pray for the grace to live with that discomfort long enough to find in this challenge a priceless opportunity for spiritual growth, both for you and for the Church you love.

I’ll see you in Church!

August 26, 2015
Stewardship is in our DNA

Like many other congregations in America, ours is emphasizing stewardship of financial resources at this time of year. On October 11, we’ll do everything possible to persuade everyone in the congregation to make a new, and hopefully increased, pledge of financial support of God’s work for the coming year.

I'm not sure why we have to work so hard to get Christians to do something so central to the Chris-tian way of life. It came to my attention years ago that a substantial number of Christians consider the topic of stewardship to be less popular than some other ones. On several occasions, I’ve had church members suggest that I soft-pedal stewardship because some people might get upset. I’ve never taken that advice and here’s why.

Over half of the recorded sayings of Jesus Christ concern possessions. Jesus knew how possessions interfere with our relationships with God, our neighbors, and our spiritual identity. Don’t most wars, lawsuits, family feuds, and legislative battles finally boil down to who possesses what and how much?

A rich man approached Jesus and asked, “Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus told him to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow Jesus. The man couldn’t do it. Why? He was possessed by his possessions. He derived too much of his identity, security, and status from his possessions.

Jesus was not condemning wealth. Jesus was trying to help a man find the freedom and joy that comes from living in a right relationship with his God, his neighbor, and his stuff! Like Jesus, I want to help people have a healthy relationship with their possessions so that all the other relationships of their lives will be healthier and they will know the kind of freedom Jesus called “eternal life.”

The story of stewardship is grounded in the story of creation. When God created human beings, our role as stewards was imbedded into our DNA. As the only creature made in the likeness of God, humans have the distinct privilege and responsibility of managing God’s resources in ways that further God’s creative and redemptive purposes.

When we abdicate our role as stewards, we lower ourselves in the pecking order of creation. Before long, we make idols that stand between us and our God. In exercising the vocation of stewardship we become more fully human and fulfill our God-given destiny in creation. We need to give!

Finally, it is important to help the community of Christian people see how necessary the work and witness of the community is to the ongoing redemptive mission of Christ. The first thing Jesus did in his public ministry was to form a community. Throughout his ministry, he worked to shape that community into an apostolic, missionary force. The last thing he did before his Ascension was to send that community into the world to bear his message and transform lives. When the community of Christ's followers is healthy and vibrant, the apostolic witness impacts the mission field at our doorstep in powerful, divine ways. We can't be faithful stewards if we neglect the community into which we are baptized and to which Christ has entrusted so much of his redemptive work.

When our lives are focused on stewardship instead of ownership, we experience greater freedom. When we embrace the pattern of Jesus’ life that is characterized not by having but by giving, our relationships are transformed. When our giving strengthens the Church, the divine mission given uniquely to the Church can be accomplished.

As a Priest, why would I want to soft-pedal something like that?

I'll see you in Church!

August 20, 2015
From Maintenance to Mission

Here is a portion of the Epistle from last Sunday:

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift… The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love. - Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16

Isn’t it exciting? We are called and gifted in unique ways for the purpose of ongoing service and growth into Christ, constantly becoming a whole and holy community, built up in love.

In that spirit, the vestry and I have been working to strengthen and further develop our organizational plan. We have adopted a rotation policy that establishes three-year appointments for committee members, limits committee chairs to two years in that role, and ensures that each committee has a vestry liaison. Members of the vestry will not normally chair committees. In the coming year, we will prepare for the rotation of members and leaders. Then, next July 1, we will start the process rolling. We hope this plan will open more doors for new leadership to emerge and prevent the burnout that happens when people do the same thing for too long. And, since the Holy Spirit gives a variety of gifts, we believe it will allow members to serve in a variety of ways.

We have also developed committee charters with succinct descriptions of the work and expectations associated with each committee. These charters have been posted on our parish website and HERE.

Please read them and, if you feel called to serve on one of these committees, contact me so we can talk about it. Committee charters are not chiseled in stone any more than are the needs that prompt our service! As needs and circumstances change, the charters may be modified to reflect God’s call to us at given points in time.

How we organize and manage ourselves for mission and how we stir up and rely on spiritual gifts contributes to fruitfulness in the mission entrusted to us. The rotation plan and charters are necessary to healthy organizational life. But those things would be only about maintenance without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, moving us toward maturity and working through us for the building up of the Church in love and service to God and our neighbors.

The Rev'd Steve Muncie, Rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, New York, has something similar to say:

God is inviting – challenging – us to see the world with all of its brokenness through the eyes of divine love and mercy. We are called to a broader vision for the loveless, a deeper look at the plight of the powerless. The danger for the Church is to remain blind to God’s great vision while we busy ourselves with our own limited sight, reducing God’s Mission in the world to our maintenance of the local church. The local church and its ministries are vitally important to building up the people of God. We need to make plans and establish priorities for strengthening congregational ministry. We need structure and accountability. We need to maximize participation in sharing the vision. However, God’s great vision is still waiting to be seen by those who have eyes to see.

Now, read that passage from Ephesians again.

I’ll see you in Church!

August 6, 2015
More Than a Meal

Sunday’s Gospel (John 6:24-35) finds Jesus and his disciples in Capernaum. The crowd that he fed with loaves and fishes on the other side of the lake has been searching for him. Their search led them to Capernaum. “Rabbi, when did you come here?” they asked when they found him.

Jesus responded, “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill yesterday. Do not work for the food that perishes. Work for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God has set his seal.”

The Gospel of John repeatedly has Jesus giving a sign only to have his audience struggle to see beyond the sign to the thing signified. Here, he points his listeners beyond the meal of the evening before to the true, life-giving, heavenly Bread. Jesus wanted them to understand that there was more to him than acting as a kind of miraculous commissary, handing out bread to satisfy their physical hunger.

So, then, as if they hadn't had a sign the day before, they ask for a sign. They remind him of their ancestors who got bread from heaven as a sign from Moses in the wilderness. And, Jesus tells them that God has also sent bread from heaven to this generation. Only this time, the bread is different. The bread has a human face – HIS. And, even more, it doesn't perish the way the manna did. They ask him to give them this bread. And he does, telling them, “I am the bread of life.”

In what sense is Jesus is the true bread from heaven? There are several layers of meaning that will unfold as we continue the story from the sixth chapter of John over the next few Sundays. For now, in this particular passage, Jesus seems to be trying to make it clear that he is the life-giving Logos or Word as in the Prologue to this Gospel (“In the beginning was the Word … “).

This Gospel's theological assumption is that the fundamental human appetite is for a word from God. Jesus, says our writer, not only speaks the word that proceeds from the mouth of God; Jesus is that Word. Jesus is not only the messenger; Jesus is that message. He is the Bread that is more than bread.

Some churches emphasize the irritable side of God and the nasty side of humanity. Our church emphasizes God's closeness and God's bountiful care for humanity. In our Baptism, God promises to be close to us and to care for us. In our pilgrimage as disciples of Jesus, we are going to experience getting lost, confused, scared, tired, angry, and hungry. God never promised us that our Baptism would insulate us from those experiences. But God promises when those things happen to us, God is going to be in the midst of those experiences, not causing them but caring for us and feeding us with the Bread of Life.

In Jesus, the messenger and the message are rolled into one loaf. Whoever lives in a relationship with him is baked into that same loaf and will find that the deepest hungers of their lives will be satisfied. Life comes with the message, the Living Bread, as a gift from God.

I’ll see you in Church!

July 30, 2015
Sermon at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Jackson Hole ~ July 26, 2015

The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

Listen to the Sermon for July 26, 2015

Read the Sermon for July 26, 2015

July 26, 2015