Epiphany 6A
Tag: Grace
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Sermon at Christ Church Cranbrook ~ June 16, 2013
The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
(Father's Day)
Listen to the Sermon for June 16, 2013
Read the Sermon for June 16, 2013 -
An Epiphany in a Shopping Cart
On a cold, windy day last week, Gay and I drove to the supermarket to shop. Upon arrival at the parking lot, we discovered that lots of other people had the same idea and we had to park about as far away from the store’s entrance as one can park.
When we returned to our, we loaded our purchases into the trunk and I started looking around for the nearest shopping cart return rack. It was halfway back to the store and I shivered when I thought about having to stay out in the cold wind any longer.
Just then, I heard a voice behind me say, “Here, I’ll take that.” I turned and saw a man who had just alighted from his pickup and was walking toward me. As I looked at him, he smiled and said, “I saw you looking for a place to put that cart and I’m headed that way. Let me return it for you.”
I barely managed to say, “Thank you” before he was briskly pushing the cart toward the store entrance. From inside the car, I watched him return the cart to the rack and continue on toward the entrance in pursuit of whatever mission was on his mind.
The memory of that simple, thoughtful, neighborly gesture has remained with me for more than a week. The subtle significance of that brief encounter between strangers continues to gladden my heart. In that moment, the Kingdom of God came near to both of us. Something changed in my universe and, perhaps, in his. I have no idea who he is or what motivated his good deed. I’d like to think it had something to do with his faith, but there is no way to know that. What I do know is that it had something to do with my faith. It is my faith that prompts me to see God’s hand at work in that moment in the lives of two of God’s children – one of us in need and the other with a meaningful response to that need. That empty cart was full of grace. It was an epiphany from a shopping cart.
We often focus on big goals in mission and ministry: feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, rebuilding storm-ravaged communities, teaching at-risk children to read. But let us not neglect to do good in those smaller, simpler ways, such as offering to return someone’s shopping cart, share a heavy load, sending a smile to someone who has a frown, speaking a word of encouragement to someone who seems worried, letting someone know you are thinking about them. There must be thousands of opportunities to do those good works that God “has prepared for us to walk in” every day. May God open our eyes to see them and move our hands and feet to respond. For in the intersection of another’s need and our response, no matter how simple, the universe is changed. And because God is at the center of those intersections, the change is for the better.
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Will the New Year really be new?
As I reflect on the past year, with enormous help from the media, I'm faced with this question: Will the new year really be new? What's the difference between December 31 and January 1? Really? Will January 1 be any different from December 30 or June 30 or last January 1? Why is it we make such a fuss over the changing of the year?
The fact of the matter is that even those among us who are most committed to maintaining the status quo will be engaged in some degree of revelry on New Year’s Eve. I suspect even many of the "stay the course" brigade will have a list of resolutions. Our lists might include things like losing weight, getting more exercise, having a healthier diet, doing a better job of recycling, gaining discipline in attending worship and saying our prayers, spending more time with the family, reading more books, joining Facebook, and being a generally all around nicer person.
I have friends who are against new year's resolutions. They believe having them only sets one up for failure. That may be so, but then any resolutions, goals, or objectives do the same thing, don't they? Any attempt at change, growth, or progress involves some risk of failure. I happen to like resolutions because I believe it is better to fail trying to do something worthy than to succeed doing nothing.
With or without resolutions, I ask again, how will January 1 be any different than December 31 or any other day?
If there is a difference, maybe it is one of perception. The slate is not really going to be wiped clean, but we like to try to see it that way. And, in so doing, perhaps there is at least some extra room for something new to emerge in our consciousness, in our pattern of behavior, or in our way of life. Maybe, just maybe, looking at this particular tomorrow opens up room for something new and different. If that happens, we may understand God's words to the Prophet Isaiah, "I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (Isa. 43:19)"
So, I'm going make some resolutions. And, I'm going to look at January 1 as a different kind of day and as the start of some-thing new – a transition – and pray with all my might that God will have something to do with it so that it will not just be up to me. Maybe my first step, or yours, will create space for grace to see things through.
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Blessed From the Beginning
At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew depicts Jesus with the crowds gathered around. Jews and Gentiles alike came up the mountain to hear him. His message was for everyone. The sermon opens with a series of eight blessings, known to us as "The Beatitudes."
The Beatitudes are not a set of rules for living. They are a set of blessings, declarations about the abundant grace of God that brings happiness to people with various virtues and in various circumstances. It is generally held that this blessedness or happiness is the character given to Jesus' followers as the free gift of God.
Look at those whom Jesus said are blessed: the poor, the sorrowful, those who hunger and thirst, those who suffer persecution. Where is the happiness in that? In the beatitudes, Jesus shows that life involves both success and failure and God is in it from the beginning. God’s blessing is not dispensed as a reward for our successes nor withheld as punishment for our failures. We live our lives the way we do not to earn God’s blessing but in grateful response to the blessing already given to us. If that is an epiphany for you, imagine how it must have impacted those who heard Jesus’ words for the first time on that Galilean hillside.
I am reminded of a woman I once heard about who walked the streets carrying a broom in one hand and a pail of water in the other. When asked why she carried the broom and pail, she would reply, "To sweep heaven out of the skies and to quench the fires of hell so that people might love God for himself." Love Divine has blessed us from the beginning. How can our response to such Love be aspiration for a reward or fear of punishment. Love prompts a loving response. Love is best answered by love.
This is the story of the cross, the story of our baptism, and the story of the banquet we celebrate at the start of every week. The Cross comes before us, Baptism comes at the beginning of our discipleship, and the Holy Eucharist is celebrated at the beginning of every week for the same reason Jesus' Sermon on the Mount begins with the beatitudes: We are blessed from the beginning.
To all kinds of people in all kinds of places and circumstances, the Beatitudes declare, “You are blessed. You are accepted. You are included in the love of God. Be at peace!” We don't have to prove anything to God because we are blessed from the beginning. The deepest hungers of life will be satisfied not by what we can do for ourselves or what others may do for us, but by the One who became the living bread and came to give us life. When we live our lives from that blessedness, we are a blessing to others.
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An Autumn Epiphany
This morning I spent time in iChat with a young friend whose world has been turned upside down. A widow at twenty-five, alone in a cold city far from home, she wonders if the long future ahead of her will only bring more disappointment and she questions God's purposes. She would not be normal if she didn't have those fears and doubts. She is too smart to settle for simplistic answers to life's complex riddles. I suggested a wonderful church and a wise woman who is a priest there.
When she was ten years old, someone took a photo of us in front of the Altar of the church where I was her pastor. I've kept it near the chair where I read my paper and say my prayers every morning. If all the prayers I've prayed for her during these fifteen years were deposits in her account, she should have an impressive balance. They are not deposits in that sense, but they are examples of the ways God uses the people in our lives to create intricate, complex structures, systems, and networks to work for our welfare in mysterious ways and at times when we are completely unaware.
Later in the day, I visited a retired priest who is in the hospital. He told me that he had a lot of experience in dealing with the pain of others, but not much in dealing with his own pain. He's been there through the years for so many people and now he needs to lean on us. I pray that God will use us as a source of grace and comfort for him.
Leaving the hospital, I saw a bird's nest carefully attached to the limbs of a tree near the entrance. I've passed it numerous times before but have never noticed it because it was hidden by the leaves of the tree. It is autumn now and the leaves have fallen away, revealing this masterwork anchored there by a pair of birds to make a safe home for their young ones.Seeing this nest and reflecting on my time with these two friends in need, this thought came to me: Those sturdy gracious structures that nurture and protect our fragile lives are often hidden in verdant times, to be revealed to us only when the sky turns gray, the winds blow cold, and the days grow short.
If the Creator of all things makes such abundant provision for baby birds, how much more is in store for us! We must never forget that by the grace of God there are others who are hidden from our sight but who are quietly working on our behalf, loving us through their prayers and hopes.