Category: Theological e-piphanies

Stephen’s Seven Effective Ways to Follow God’s Call

Last Sunday, our friend Deacon Stephen L. Segebrecht preached a fine sermon about following the call of God. The entire text of the sermon can be downloaded from here. Included in his sermon was an illustration involving a tigress and some piglets along with a list of seven effective ways to follow God's call. I commend these seven principles and the sermon for your own reflections.

Stephen’s Seven Effective Ways to Follow God’s Call

One ~ We have to put on the clothes of those we serve.
Two ~ We strive for the greatest gift that we have to offer God at any given time.
Three ~ Often we are led to do something we normally wouldn’t do.
Four ~ Service is done with a sense of affection or attachment.
Five ~ Our call to service can have an effect on others that we never expected.
Six ~ Our ministry seems to change with time.
Seven ~ When we give of ourselves and serve Christ in others, we too are nourished.

January 28, 2010
Do prayers really help?

We've been asked to pray for those who are suffering in Haiti and those who have gone to their aid. People have been praying for a member of our parish who is a Haitian student living in Lawrence. A mother came by the office yesterday to place her daughter's name on the prayer list because she has gone to Haiti to help out in the relief effort.

Do our prayers really help?

The following message from former Presiding Bishop Ed Browning speaks to this question.

"Almighty God, you have promised to hear the petitions of those who ask in your Son's Name…" (For the answering of prayer, BCP p. 834)

Some researcher somewhere has determined that people who pray, or who have people praying for them, have such-and-such better chance of recovery from gallstones than people who don't. Good. I often pray that sick people will get well.

But I also pray for many people who don't get better. If my prayers do not turn these things into the releases and healings for which I long, does that mean they've failed? Does it mean I didn't pray right? Didn't pray hard enough? Only if the narrow test of immediate historical change is the only test of prayer's efficacy. If the only useful prayer is a prayer that works right here and right now, in just the way I want it to work, we're in trouble.

Prayer is not a way to get around human sorrow, a special incantation that produces a desired result God would otherwise withhold from us. It is a thread of holy energy that binds us together. It enables the communion of my soul with the souls of others, whether I know them or not. "I could feel myself lifted by all the prayers," someone will often tell me after a serious illness. Get enough of these holy threads wrapped around a person, and she will feel them, quite apart from the issue of whether or not she gets what she wants.

– From A Year of Days with the Book of Common Prayer by Bishop Edmond Lee Browning.

May God use our prayers as a "thread of holy energy that binds us together" with one another and all those for whom we offer prayers!

January 21, 2010
e-piphanies about Epiphany

Yesterday, January 6, was the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord. For the next six weeks, we will continue to reflect upon the epiphanous events in Jesus’ life. This is a good time for me to explain how my blog came to be called e-piphanies.com.

First, let me make sure we’re all on the same page regarding the meaning of the word "epiphany," especially as Christians use it. Answers.com offers a pretty comprehensive definition if you are not sure what I'm talking about.

Our Christian concept of epiphany starts with the manifestations of Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, and continues in our own lives as we recognize the reality of his reign. In other words, he is not finished manifesting himself to us!

Brian McLaren’s book, The Secret Message of Jesus, heightened my awareness of the kingdom of God as the core of Jesus’ message. Moreover, I realized that I was not alert to the signs of the kingdom all around me. McLaren writes, “I think that the best glimpses of the kingdom of God come to us unexpectedly in everyday life – and the sermons we hear (or books we read) help us keep our eyes open so that when those moments come, we don’t sleepwalk through them.”

With that prompting, e-piphanies.com was born. I intended it to be an interactive online journal of glimpses (epiphanies) of God’s hand at work in our lives. Sometimes, my postings must suggest that I just have a firm grasp of the obvious. However, that’s what is so amazing about the kingdom in our midst, isn’t it? It is hidden in plain sight! What may be obvious to some of us may be an epiphany for the rest of us. Jesus went around pointing out signs of the kingdom in what often appeared to be ordinary. That's what I want to do in e-piphanies.com.

So, I hope you will enjoy reading and contributing to e-piphanies.com. Use the comment feature (below) to share your own insights, glimpses, and concerns.

I also hope you will take advantage of the season of the Church wherein we are reminded of ways the kingdom was manifested in Jesus’ life and his invitation to us to be witnesses of that kingdom. Our testimony will be more believable if we've actually seen it so we can tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

And, I hope you will find a copy of The Secret Message of Jesus and read it. Your eyes may be opened a little wider to discover glimpses of God’s hand at work.

Here's a wonderful passage from the book:

Earlier in the season, I heard the unmistakable sounds of a flock of cedar waxwings passing through on their way north. I never saw them, but by the high chatter of their unique song, I knew thy had passed by as I lay in bed. Before I learned the distinctive call of these common birds, I heard the sound, but I didn't know what I was hearing. . . I wonder if the secret message of Jesus isn't like that. Maybe you've been hearing it all along, but you didn't realize it. Maybe you've been seeing it or seeing signs of it, but you didn't know what you were seeing. Maybe the best outcome of this book is that your ears and eyes – your heart and mind – will have been in some way "born again," so that you will now and forever know it when you hear it or see it, when it comes near and sings its song in the high branches.

And, in its own way, maybe my e-piphanies.com will provide for you a similar outcome!

January 7, 2010
The Vocation We Share

On Tuesday evening of this week, I attended the ordination of William Breedlove to the Sacred Order of Priests at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Mission, Kansas. A fine congregation of lay persons, priests, deacons, and the Bishop of Kansas were there to set this man apart for priestly work in Christ's one holy catholic Church.

Throughout my ministry, the hangings and vestments used for ordinations have been red, symbolizing the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the Apostles. However, on this occasion, we were asked to wear white. The explanation that was given was that it was to emphasize the relationship of Holy Orders to Holy Baptism.

Perhaps it was the change of color that nudged my consciousness and caused me to hear certain elements of the service in new ways. For example, at the beginning of the portion of the liturgy referred to as The Examination, Bishop Wolfe read these words from the Book of Common Prayer:

My brother, the Church is the family of God, the body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit. All baptized people are called to make Christ known as Savior and Lord, and to share in the renewing of his world.

It was as if I heard those words for the very first time. Everything that follows in the liturgy emphasizes the priestly work of nourishing Christ's people from the riches of his grace for the building up of the family of God so that all may fulfill the calling we all share by virtue of our Baptism, to "make Christ known as Savior and Lord, and to share in the renewing of his world."

These are truly powerful words about a powerful force set loose in the world! May we reflect on them as we enter the time of Advent when we offer Ember Day prayers for those in Holy Orders, those discerning a call to ordained ministry, and all Christians in their vocation. December Ember Days are Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following December 13 (St. Lucy's Day). The Book of Common Prayer offers three prayers for use on those days. Here is the one that applies to all the Baptized:

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

December 10, 2009
The Value of Taking a Second Look

Our family from Russellville, Arkansas visited us in Lawrence over the Thanksgiving holidays. On Friday, we had an outing that took us along the "Farmers Turnpike" over to Lecompton, the territorial capital of Kansas, just west of here. Since neither of our vehicles could acomodate six people, we took both cars. The two nephews, Jake and Jon, were with Gay and me and their parents, Joy and Gregg, followed in their car.

Our route took us over the oxbow lake. As we crossed over it, I noticed a bald eagle sitting on a tree limb. I pointed out the window so Joy and Greg could see the eagle. They nodded and after a minute or so, we drove on. When we arrived in Lecompton, I said, "wasn't the bald eagle a surprise?" They replied, "what bald eagle?" They thought I was pointing at the lake.

On the return trip, we went back to the oxbow lake to see if the eagle was still there. When we arrived, there were two of them! They were calling to each other. Joy took this great photo of one of the pair.

There's an epiphany in this event. Sometimes, we have to revisit an experience in order to get the full effect. Often, the experience is twice as rich as the original when we look again. Even more so if we miss the point the first time! It's the same when we catch a glimpse of God's hand at work in our lives. If we'll look closely, it becomes a moment of wonder, an occasion of praise, an opportunity for transformation, an experience of love divine.

My friend, Deacon Patty Minx, and I had a Facebook chat this morning regarding the subject of Advent waiting. She pointed out that while we are waiting on God, God is also waiting on us. That, too, is a very helpful insight, and one that came because we revisited the matter of waiting, seeing past our own experience to God's experience of us. Moreover, it is moving to be reminded that Advent and Christmas have to do with God coming to us and arriving when we least expect it.

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
he moved my soul to seek him, seeking me;
it was not I that found, O Savior true;
no, I was found of thee.

Full text and music

December 3, 2009
Last Supper ~ Revisited

While at the Diocese of Kansas Gathering of Presbyters last week at the Spiritual Life
Center in Wichita, I saw The Last Supper depicted in some small
porcelain figurines around a small table on a shelf near the
Refectory. Someone (probably one of my colleagues) had rearranged the
figures in an interesting way. Instead of Jesus being seated in the center and all the disciples gathered around him, Jesus was positioned at the corner of the table, extending bread-filled hands outward, while the disciples were all centered on themselves. There is an epiphany here!

Do the disciples of Jesus have a tendency to mistake deliberation for mission? Are we too busy with our meetings to offer the Bread of Life to the world at our doorstep? Are we too focused on feeding ourselves to be useful to our Lord in feeding the multitudes? How can we who receive him become a sacrament to a world in need?

November 12, 2009
One Voice!

I just returned from the Diocese of Kansas Gathering of Presbyters. We met at a very nice Roman Catholic retreat center in Wichita from noon Monday until noon Thursday. Shortly after we convened on Monday afternoon, one of our presbyters told us that she and her husband were observing their wedding anniversary. She asked us to sing a stanza of I Can't Help Falling In Love With You into her mobile phone as their home answering device was recording her call. The idea was that her husband would receive the message with our singing when he arrived home after work.

Today, she told us the result of that call. It seems her husband was very tired when he arrived home and he'd listened to the message with the singing but didn't think too much about it. She had left another message explaining that the singers were her fellow presbyters. He did not hear the second message. Later in the evening, after he rested awhile, he returned to the voicemail and listened to the explanatory message. He called her and told her that, not having had the explanation before he heard the song, he thought she had held her mobile phone near a CD player with the music playing on it. He was very touched and amazed when he learned it was actually about fifty presbyters singing the song. He said, "I thought it was one voice."

One Voice! A metaphor for Christian unity! An affirmation of the unity and collegiality we share! A testimony to the tether of the Spirit drawing us together. A sign of promise for our Church when her priests are able to join their voices into one! A relief from the discordant tones we've heard so often! Distinctly different voices wondrously joined into one!

One Voice! May our song continue and may many others join the chorus! I am grateful for the experience of collegiality of these priests and Bishop Dean Wolfe who shepherds us.

November 5, 2009
What’s wrong with being a “volunteer?”

Some people have noticed that I prefer not to use the word "volunteer" in the church. Perhaps it seems a little picky on my part, but the words we use are important. Sometimes, we need to stop and reflect on our choice of words and consider whether there are other words that better describe the meaning we intend to convey. There are times when our vocabulary needs to change to fit our beliefs and convictions. In the church, it is useful for us to have a common vocabulary that reflects shared beliefs, shared values, and shared calling.

So, what is wrong with "volunteer?" America certainly could not get along without volunteers and I often serve as a volunteer. In fact, tonight I am going to be a volunteer sitting on a board of review for a young man who has completed the requirements to become an Eagle Scout. Some people volunteered to do that for me long ago. I recently volunteered to participate in the C.R.O.P. walk. My resume contains a long list of volunteer activities in which I have enthusiastically participated through the years. I am a big believer in being a volunteer. There is nothing wrong with being a volunteer. In fact, there is something wrong with not being a volunteer.

However, our roles in the Body of Christ have different meaning and significance. To volunteer is to choose to become involved in something because we agree with the cause and decide to participate. Our life in Christ is not based upon our choice but upon our having been chosen. Jesus said, "You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another" (Jn. 15:16-17). So, whatever we do in the service of Christ, in or out of the church, is because we have been chosen, called, and appointed by Christ, not because we "volunteered." Yes, the human will is involved. But it is involved in a distinctly and qualitatively different way.

Picky? Maybe. But to be a disciple, a missionary, a minister, a member of "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" takes each of us beyond volunteerism. Through Baptism, we have been incorporated into Christ's Body. Think with me about that. Did your eye volunteer itself into its socket? Did your heart decide to take on its purpose in your breast? Does your hand decide to carry out the tasks assigned to it? We have an organic relationship with Christ and with the other members of his Body.

It is good to be a volunteer. Our world is a better place because of volunteers. But when it comes to our role as followers of Jesus Christ, the word "volunteer" is inadequate to describe the magnitude and wonder of that vocation. "Volunteer" just doesn't go far enough to get the job done. As Christians, more is given to us and more is required of us.

Read more about our amazing vocation in the 12th Chapter of the Letter to the Romans.

October 29, 2009
The Best Things in Life

Bumper Sticker Theology

"The best things in life aren't things."

I saw this bumper sticker yesterday on a car that was driving along Broadway in Galveston, where, a year ago, "things" pulled from homes and businesses were piled high on the curb after Hurricane Ike. People, relationships, values, purpose, beliefs, visions, and all the "best things" increase in significance when we are liberated from our possessions. It doesn't have to take a calamity.

September 28, 2009
Clouds

One of my favorite Joni Mitchell songs is "Both Sides Now." I'm partial to the Judy Collins rendition because I'm partial to Judy Collins in general. Nevertheless, the line "…but clouds got in my way" has always intrigued me. There are times when clouds are high up and unreachable. At other times, like now in the photo taken from our balcony at Mt. Magazine Lodge in Arkansas, I have been enveloped in clouds and can't see what lies before me. Clouds, high and low, both figuratively and actually speaking, often get in my way!

In Scripture, a cloud is symbolic of the glory or presence of God. In the Hebrew scriptures, a cloud descends on the tabernacle/temple to show that God has entered it. Jesus is enveloped by a cloud at the Transfiguration. From the cloud, the voice of God speaks and Jesus shines with the glory of God. In the Revelation to St. John the Divine, we read that he is "coming with the clouds."

What for me may be an obstacle to seeing is also a sign of the glory and presence of God. Is this another paradox? Is it another example of the "otherness" of the Divine? Is it a reminder of the necessary limits of human life? Is it an invitation to wait upon God?

Perhaps being lost in a cloud or having clouded vision is an invitation to keep looking until what God intends for us to see is revealed in an epiphanous moment.

March 19, 2009