Category: Lexington

Is there life after birth?

From the musical Show Boat we have the song, “Old Man River.” The words and music of this song combine to depict the sad plight of the black slave along the banks of the Mississippi. The depths of despondency and grief are vocalized in the lyrics: “Ah gits weary an’ sick of tryin’, ah’m tired of livin’ an’ skeered of dyin’.”

These words strike a familiar chord in all of us. The fear of death is a major psychological problem for humankind. As Sigmund Freud once observed, “In dealing with death, most of us are living psychologically beyond our means.” And, at the same time, the weariness of living presents people with problems. St. Augustine suggested that the fear of dying and the lack of zest for living are related. After the death of a very close friend, he became despondent and wrote: “Some incomprehensible feeling arose in me: both a loathing of living and a fear of dying weighed heavily within me.”

I am reminded of something someone said, “In this age, the important question seems not to be is there life after death, but, rather, is there life after birth?” There is an answer to both questions. In fact, the main theme running through the Bible is God’s concern that we be given every possible chance to enjoy life to its fullest – now, and in the hereafter. If we are to face death, we first have to learn to face life. And life – on the river of life – is best faced in communion with God.

During this Lenten season, we have seen this concern repeatedly in our Sunday readings. In no place is this more evident than in Sunday’s gospel in which Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-45). Here we see Jesus’ humanity and divinity revealed in a magnificent way. By the power of the God of life, Jesus calls forth the dead man from the grave. If God can and will do this, can it be any more difficult or any less God’s desire to pour new life into us?

This message is central to the witness of the Church. After Jesus raised Lazarus, he turned to those standing nearby and said, “Unbind him.” The Church today continues to carry on the new-life-giving, liberating work of Jesus, loosening all sorts of bonds that cause weariness in living and fear of dying.

April 7, 2011
Sermon at Church of the Good Shepherd ~ April 3, 2011

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April 3, 2011
Be the light

At the Great Vigil of Easter, the Paschal candle will lead us with our candles in procession into the dark nave. The pews, altar, pulpit, and font are there in the darkness but we cannot see them until they are illuminated by the lights we bear. The darkness must surrender to the Light.

In an encounter with a man who was blind from birth (John 9:1-41), Jesus’ disciples saw someone whose blindness they assumed was punishment either for his sins or the sins of his parents. Jesus enlightened them by saying they were wrong on both counts. When Jesus healed the man they understood.

The blind man was accustomed to a world of darkness. When Jesus healed him, he could see for the first time. There was also an inner illumination; He understood that Jesus was the Messiah.

Other people didn’t believe it was the same person but someone who looked like him. Their point of view and frame of reference obscured their vision.

The criteria of established religion prevented the Pharisees from seeing and believing what was before their eyes. They suffered spiritual blindness. They were supposed to be enlightened, but this incident revealed them as “the blind leading the blind.” The man born blind had more vision than the Pharisees.

I remember watching The Christophers television broadcast as a child and a line from their theme song, recorded by Perry Como in 1952, "If everyone lit just one little candle, what a bright world this would be". The mission of The Christophers is to encourage people to use their God-given talents to make a positive difference in the world.

When our lives are illumined by the Light of Christ, we become lights. The Light of Christ shining in us disperses the darkness – as a parent saying bedtime prayers with a child, as a host providing Room in the Inn for a person with no home, as an ethical business person, as a friend giving encouragement.

In the words of St. Paul to the Ephesians, “Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light– for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true” (Ephesians 5:8-9).

March 31, 2011
Water From a Rock

I was fortunate as a child to spend my summers in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado where our family owned a beautiful piece of property. One summer, my dad bought a building, which he intended to move onto the property where he would convert it into a guesthouse.

There was a problem. There was no water. The intended solution was to find a mountain spring that could be tapped but none was evident. Finally, my mother said to my uncle, who was there with us, “Do you remember when you found water with a dowsing rod on the farm where we grew up? Why don’t you try that here?”

My uncle admitted that he remembered not only that occasion but also a couple of other ones when he lived in the Texas Panhandle during the Dust Bowl days of the Great Depression. As a ranch hand, he found water for livestock that were dying of thirst. They dug wells, put in windmills, and saved the herd. He’d been reluctant to suggest this method of finding water because he didn’t want to provoke laughter about what was to him a very special gift.

He went into the aspen grove, found an appropriate tree branch, and fashioned it into a “Y” shaped dowsing rod. He then went to a damp area near the site where they wanted to position the building and proceeded to do what dowsers do. I tagged along because I had to see this!

The place where he stopped seemed as unlikely as anywhere else and was, in fact, a large boulder. He said, “There’s a spring under this rock. Dig here.”

In a few hours, the hole we were digging began to fill up with water and after a bit more digging the spring was opened up and water flowed. All the necessary paraphernalia was put in place and water was pumped to the house where a pump and tank were installed to provide pressure.

My uncle believed he could find water; so did we; and our problem was solved.

In the wilderness, God’s people found themselves in a similar situation – in a place where there was no water in sight (Exodus 17:1-7). They became thirsty and started complaining to Moses. They demanded water as proof that God was in fact with them. Remember, this is the same God who parted the sea, gave them quails and manna to eat, and provided smoke by day and fire by night to guide them. Yet they still weren’t sure their God was with them.

Moses took their case to God. God told Moses to take some of the leaders of the people and go on ahead of them. He was to take his staff with him and when he came to a certain rock he was to strike it with his rod and water would flow out for the people to drink. He did as he was instructed and God came through once again for his people. Water gushed from a rock to quench their thirst!

Moses renamed the place “proof” and “contention.” The way in which the experience has been remembered among God’s people is primarily through the name Moses gave it. It has always been associated with fault-finding and harness of heart. But it should also be remembered, perhaps even more, as an illustration of God’s abundance and grace. For God did not berate the people. He gave life-sustaining water. And, it is a lesson to remember when we are faced with problems of our own. It illustrates in a wonderful way how God wants his children to solve their problems. In every area of life, we are indeed saved by grace through faith.

March 24, 2011
Sermon at Church of the Good Shepherd ~ March 20, 2011

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March 20, 2011
New life requires risk, trust

Sunday's readings are filled with images of renewal – new birth, new life, new creation. These images imply that God’s promise for new life entails God’s gift of a fresh start, freed from the restrictions of our past lives in order to enter a new relationship with God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Lent is a time for engaging our new life in Christ more deeply, risking new levels of trust. The purpose of Lent is not to dwell on suffering, or to spend forty days bewailing our manifold sins and wickedness for the sake of feeling our pain. Lent is about engaging in the ongoing process of renewal, regeneration, and new birth; it is about encouraging us to trust and to risk going forth and being sent out with the promise of new life.

Lent may require us to “think outside the box” of piety and religiosity, just as Abram and Sarai had to break with their past, and Saul and Nicodemus the Pharisees with theirs. The promises of God bear not only upon the future of our individual lives in relationship to God, but also upon the future of our parish, our diocese, and our Church as a whole

To respond to the promise for new life means we have to be ready to redraw and rename the places on the journey. When the ancient ones told the story of Abram and Sarai, they were also inscribing new place names and creating a new social geography on the territories of their migrations in company with God.

God may be inviting us to rethink how we do Church in light of the socio-geographies of the times we live in. When Saul the Pharisee became Paul the Apostle as we know him, he brought new words, images, and new community structures into being, “calling into existence things which do not exist,” by trustfully following Jesus into new life.

Lent is for listening to that call in our own lives. In the words of James Russell Lowell, “New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth.” Lent is for careful thinking about how to step into the as-yet-unmapped future, to deepen our relationship to God, to trust the picture of new life in Christ, and for identifying the breaks with the past that we need to make in order to respond to the promises of God.

March 17, 2011
Sermon at Church of the Good Shepherd ~ February 27, 2011

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March 12, 2011
Being sorry is not the same as repenting

I was especially moved by these words in the Litany of Penitence in yesterday’s Ash Wednesday service:

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of
concern for those who come after us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

We've been praying that prayer for a long time! This prayer book was published in 1979, 32 years ago. That we’re sorry about our poor stewardship of creation is clear. That we’ve repented is not so clear, because to repent means to change behavior. Our sorrow must be strong enough to motivate us to make a change. However, as I lamented the sloth in my own green habits, I also noticed some signs of hope, some of which are fostered by the city in which I presently reside, Lexington, Kentucky.

Curbside Recycling ~ We have two cans, provided by the city. One can is green and is for household trash. The other can is blue and is for recyclables. We put paper, glass, plastic, aluminum, and a number of other items in the blue can and set it out by the curb every Thursday morning. A city crew comes by and picks it up. They take it to a place where the items in the can are sorted and recycled.

Bicycle Lanes ~ Lexington has bicycle lanes on roadways all over the city. They connect to some very nice bicycle trails. Cyclists ride them to work, to school, to church, and for recreation seven days a week. Motorists watch out for them and slow down. Unless otherwise posted, the speed limit in Lexington is 25 mph. In most other cities, it’s 30 mph. That 5 mph can make a big difference in an encounter between a passenger car and a bicycle. I don’t want to suggest that instituting bicycle lanes here was a simple thing, but mainly it took creative thinking, leadership, and application of some white paint on pavement.

Energy Saving Light Bulbs ~ Gay and I almost never buy an incandescent bulb anymore. The improvements in compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) and the number of options now available, the energy savings, and the availability make this kind of energy conservation a no-brainer! To make it even better, our local electric utility provider sent us some coupons that provided significant savings on the purchase of CFL's. We’ve come a long, long way from those fixtures with the “starters” my parents used in the 1950’s. But I am grateful for the example they provided. My dad was a homebuilder and he used fluorescent fixtures wherever possible. Lexington, like many cities, now has reasonable building codes that foster more extensive use of energy efficient lighting.

I am grateful to be living in a city where it easier to practice "green" habits. I feel that I've moved a little beyond sorry and am actually demonstrating some repentance in my care of creation. Thanks, Lexington, for fostering such a climate. Other cities can learn a lot from your good example.

A friend of mine was complaining about “tree huggers.” I confessed to him that I am a tree hugger and always have been. He pointed out that peoples’ livelihood depended upon the ability to harvest lumber from old forests in places like the Pacific Northwest and that the needs of people outweighed the needs of the Spotted Owls. I had to point out that human beings are endowed by the Creator with more options than the other creatures with which we share this planet. When God entrusted the stewardship of creation to humanity, it was because God had specially equipped us with cognitive resources not given to any other creature. We are supposed to be smart enough to figure out how to steward the resources of creation in a way that respects and sustains all life, not just humanity.

One of my Lenten disciplines is going to be to find more ways to be a good steward of creation, with or without the help of municipal resources. I want to be a contributing citizen of “this fragile earth, our island home.”

March 10, 2011
Seeing Things in a New Light

Isn’t it amazing what can happen in a relationship when one sees another in an entirely new light?

Being with my wife during childbirth was such an experience for me. I saw a strength and courage in her I had never realized was there and it was awesome to me. We were carried to a new level in our bond with each other through that experience. I saw her in a new light.

A silly incident disrupted a friendship with a person who was like a brother to me. For months we were estranged and did not speak. Then, a time came when we were both involved in an event from which neither of us could gracefully escape. He was experiencing a serious physical problem at the time and was walking in procession just ahead of me. I saw him take the arm of the clergyman who was walking beside him to steady himself as pain ran through his body. My cold heart melted and I felt enormous compassion and concern for my friend. The next day we had lunch and never again did we let anything interfere with our friendship. We saw each other in a new light.

A young man was assessed a stiff penalty after his third DUI offense. Someone close to him recog-nized what was happening and confronted him at the risk of their relationship. It was the most loving thing to do. She saw her friend in a new light and, because she did, helped him to see and accept the truth. He decided to remove alcohol from the position of supreme commander of his life.

Peter, James, and John were the inner circle of disciples. They probably knew Jesus better than anyone. That’s why he took them with him to the holy mountain. When they looked at him, they saw the shining glory of God enveloping him and they witnessed a metamorphosis. They recognized two other figures standing with Jesus; Moses the lawgiver and Elijah the prophet. Suddenly they realized something about Jesus they hadn’t understood before: Both the law and the prophets pointed to God’s Messiah and Jesus, their rabbi and friend, is that Messiah. Perhaps Jesus understood his mission in a new way as he heard the voice of God saying, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am well pleased – listen to him.”

After they came down from that mountain, Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem and the cross. What he and his disciples had experienced gave them the new perspective to bear what lay ahead of them.

The Transfiguration is a story about transition. Anytime we see in a new light, something within us changes. We, too, need those epiphanies when God helps us to see people, places, events, and circumstances in a new light.

March 3, 2011
What do you worry about?

Jesus said, "… Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear” (Matthew 6:25).

On Sunday, I’ll be in a place where this gospel will be read to a congregation of people who have plenty of things. I wonder how the same gospel might sound to people in Haiti or Darfur or, closer to home, our neighbors in Appalachia or our Room in the Inn guests. People who really don’t have enough may have difficulty finding the good news in Jesus’ words.

Those who have enough and those who do not will perceive the message differently. But the message is the same: don’t be anxious about these things, instead, look beyond them to see God’s hand at work.

This passage is part of the Sermon on the Mount and part of Jesus’ challenge: life in the kingdom of God has different values. It includes the poor, the merciful, those who mourn. It includes our privilege and duty to bring light to the darkest places, to salt the world with mercy and justice. These words of Jesus, taken out of context, sound unrealistic to someone who is suffering. But seen in context, we realize that Jesus is reminding his followers of God’s love for everything and everyone God has created and encouraging his followers to focus on their lives as citizens of God’s kingdom.

Jesus’ aim is to disconnect the link between value and virtue. God did not send a hurricane to New Orleans, but God inspired thousands of compassionate followers of Jesus to help those who remain rebuild their lives. God did not send an earthquake to Haiti, but God moved the hearts of thousands of Christians to bind up their wounds. God did not drive people out of their homes in Darfur, but God led people to build schools for their children to restore their hope. God did not curse the people of Appalachia with poverty, but God blesses them with believers who help them repair their homes. In God’s kingdom, we know that God’s bounty often passes through our lives on the way to others who need it most. We who are blessed are privileged to bless others.

Now, on to Egypt, Syria, New Zealand…

February 24, 2011