Sermon: May 10

O Lord, open our eyes, to behold your presence.
O Lord, open our ears, to hear your voice.
O Lord, open our hearts, to receive your love.
O Lord, help us to behold, hear and receive you in Word and Sacrament
That our mouths & our lives may proclaim your praise. Amen.
(adapted from a prayer by David Adam)
These past couple of weeks, we have been listening to the first letter of John (our second reading today) and his call to love one another. A love that we first felt from God that we in turn share with others, for Love is at the heart of our faith. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.” To love one another for God loves us.

“Love is unselfishly choosing for another's highest good.” ~ C.S. Lewis

And there are times when this love surprises us…

“The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles…”

I am not sure why this surprises us so often but it does, that God seems always to be working beyond us, outside the confines of the boxes we keep trying to put God into; that God loves all of creation.

Consider our collect of the day and the words “you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding.” God who created us each in God’s image, has prepared good things for us, but they are beyond our understanding.

That is the mystery of love and that is where our faith steps in.

When Peter saw that the gentiles also had the Holy Spirit he asked, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

Peter’s faith compelled him to baptize the gentiles, even as he tried to fathom God’s work among the gentiles, because that is not who God works with. Other disciples back home criticized his work. He ate with the unclean gentiles. Peter returned to Jerusalem to take them through what happened, & explain to them the circumstances. Then they came around and recognized God at work even among the gentiles!

“Love is unselfishly choosing for another's highest good.” ~ C.S. Lewis

At Rosa's Fresh Pizza in Philadelphia, you can get a slice of pretty good pizza for a buck.

Mason Wartman, 27, is a business school graduate who worked in research at a small Wall Street equities firm, until he decided he wanted to run his own business. He loved the dollar-a-slice concept at many New York pizzerias and wanted to bring it to his hometown. He named the pizzeria after his mother.

But that is not all that you can do there. You can also buy a slice for someone who is hungry and homeless.

At Rosa's, donors give their dollar than write their donations on a post-it note. Anyone in need can come in, take one of the post-notes off the wall, and "redeem it" for a free slice.

Since pay-it-forward pizza began at Rosa's about a year ago, diners have bought more than 8,500 slices for their homeless neighbors. Thirty to forty homeless patrons come in every day and claim a slice; sometimes the homeless themselves pay for a slice for another homeless person.

There's no chance that Rosa's will run out of free slices - the shop's walls are covered with post-it notes. So many, in fact, Wartman keeps track of the available slices at the restaurant register.

The notes written by donors include messages of support and hope, such as You can do it or You are beautiful or Enjoy. And those who have enjoyed the free pizza leave their own messages: I just want to thank everyone that donated to Rosa's; it gave me a place to eat every day and the opportunity to get back on my feet. I start a new job tomorrow!

Wartman welcomes every customer warmly, no matter if he or she is on the receiving or giving end of the pizza slice. "They deserve to eat in the store and enjoy the music as much as any other paying customer would." [from Connections]

Love celebrated in the gift of a slice of pizza: love so simple and profound in the humble compassion and grateful hope it inspires. The 1st Letter of John & Jesus asks us to love one another as Jesus has loved us: to put others before ourselves, to seek our joy in bringing joy to another, to honor and cherish others simply because they are sons and daughters of the God of mercy and compassion.

As the customers at Rosa's realize, such love is transforming: love enables us to experience a profound sense of purpose and wholeness in giving and receiving the complete and total love Christ has for us.

No matter what our doubts, no matter where we are on our journey, even if we need a free slice of pizza, we can live into that mystery of love and share it with others.

Jesus said, “I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last…I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."

The journey before us is shrouded before our eyes and yet Jesus tells us that our calling is to bear that good fruit, to love one another, to trust in God’s grace for as we walk in the mystery of God’s love, we will find God in our midst.

“Love is unselfishly choosing for another's highest good.” ~ C.S. Lewis 

May we make it so.

Amen.

Advice from 1820

A recent NPR story called Good Advice by David Bouchier said in part:

From time to time we are all called upon to give advice to a friend or family member who is feeling gloomy, or lonely, or just plain bored with life. Giving advice is never easy, and most of us aren't trained for it... My theory is that they are all too much focused on the self and not enough on the world of people and things we have to live in. By contrast I came upon a collection of letters by the Rev. Sydney Smith, a nineteenth century English clergyman, who gave practical advice freely to everyone, and his letters are full of wit and charm... It is addressed to Lady Georgiana Morpeth, wife of the Duke of Carlisle, and dated February 16, 1820:

"First, live as well as you dare. Second, go into the shower with a small quantity of water at a temperature low enough to give you a slight sensation of cold. Third, Amusing books. Fourth, short views of human life – not further than dinner or tea. Fifth, be as busy as you can. Sixth, see as much as you can of those friends who respect and like you. Seventh, and of those acquaintances who amuse you. Eighth, make no secret of low spirit to you friends but talk about them freely – they are always worse for dignified concealment. Ninth, attend to the effects that tea and coffee produce upon you. Tenth, compare your lot with that of other people. Eleventh, don't expect too much from human life – a sorry business at best. Twelfth, avoid poetry, dramatic representations (except comedy), music, serious novels, melancholy sentimental people, and everything likely to excite feeling or emotion not ending in active benevolence. Thirteenth, do good, and endeavor to please everybody of every degree. Fourteenth, be as much as you can in the open air without fatigue. Fifteenth, make the room where you commonly sit gay and pleasant. Sixteenth, struggle little by little against idleness. Seventeenth, don't be too severe upon yourself, or underrate yourself, but do yourself justice. Eighteenth, keep a good blazing fire. Nineteenth, be firm and constant in the exercise of rational religion. Twentieth, believe me, dear Lady Georgiana."


I disagree with #12 - I love poetry!  But I found his list very helpful and insightful.  My favorite is #17 - do yourself justice.  Amen.

Listen to it here.

What the Church can learn from AA

I wrote a blog post in February about what Rev. Sam Shoemaker (one of the founders of AA) thinks the Church can learn from AA (from a sermon in 1955). I recently saw a blog post that again looks at what the Church can learn from AA and found it to be an excellent article.  Enjoy and learn!

5 Lessons Your Church Can Learn from AA by Logan Carpenter (Monday, May 4, 2015)

One of my former youth approached me in the fall of 2010 and said, "Hey, I've been thinking I need to get into a program or something." McKenna was 19 at the time.

We had never discussed his drug and alcohol use previously, but it wasn't a secret. I didn't know much about his options, but told him I'd look into it.

I looked up the Alcoholics Anonymous website and found out about the weekly Barely Legal meeting at a church in midtown Little Rock, Arkansas.

He didn't drive at the time and I wanted to be supportive, so later that week I picked him up and we attended together.

We sat in the back of a room of about 60 people. I realized that as a 28-year-old I was one of the oldest people in the room.

And yet that night I heard more honesty and wisdom from people 10 years my junior whose lives were a mess than I'd heard in a while.

Since then I've received regular updates from McKenna on his progress in the program, and I often think about what we as the church can learn from AA. Here are five lessons:

1. Transparency

I was in a room full of strangers, but I heard their deepest pains and toughest struggles. They knew there was no use in hiding it because they were seeking healing, and healing comes from being honest with yourself.

How could the church be transformed if we stopped trying to hide our scars but instead put them out there, letting others know they don't have to hide theirs either?

2. Humility

"Hi, I'm Jim and I'm an alcoholic."

"Hi, Jim."

Tagging along with transparency, it's hard to be phony when you start a comment by naming your brokenness. Yet all who do are accepted by the group with a simple return greeting.

I think worship, business meetings and other church gatherings would feel different, and maybe be a little more holy, if we spoke this way.

"Hi, I'm Phil and I'm greedy/prideful/power-hungry."

"Hi, Phil."

"Hi, I'm Marie and I'm image-obsessed/unkind/envious."

"Hi, Marie."

You're both still welcome here.

3. Accountability
It was a rough go for McKenna at first. On the wagon, then off, then back on for six weeks, then off for two months.

I was still talking to him regularly, but it wasn't the same as having someone who had been there before and was available day or night.

McKenna got a sponsor who told him to call him daily for the first 30 days, in addition to any other time he was needed.

This sponsor was serious about the 12 steps and spent long hours going through each one of them with McKenna. He assigned reading and watched over him diligently.

In addition, McKenna and his sponsor have sponsor brothers, a Grand Sponsor (sponsor's sponsor) and others to support them. It's a whole family on mission of love and support for each other.

Could the church benefit from structures like this? How much are we really willing to be involved in each other's lives?

4. Introspection
When I reviewed steps 4-10 on AA's website, I was overwhelmed. If most of us were honest, this list sounds like the least fun thing that has ever existed: "fearless moral inventory," "removing all these defects of character," "make direct amends."

Yet, as Christians, it's our call to be more like Jesus and allow God to renew our minds and transform our hearts.

Being open to this transformation and practicing these techniques could transform individuals and congregations.

5. Giving back

For those able to make it to step 12, it's now their duty to help others along the way. You don't find healing and keep it to yourself.

Instead, it becomes your obligation to give others the same support and encouragement provided to you.

McKenna learned how to sponsor others well from his sponsor. The same is true for Christians: We are fed to feed, and we are led to lead.

Before we look outside and criticize anyone else, the local church needs to take a good hard look at ourselves and see what needs to change.

We're often afraid that our transparency, honesty and accountability might be too much and could drive people away from us, but in a world filled with the fake and phony, it might just do the opposite.

I've seen it work in one life, and he's four years sober today. Praise God.

Logan Carpenter is minister to youth and families at Second Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. A version of this article first appeared on the Second Baptist staff blog & Ethics Daily and is used with permission.

Saint of the Week: Dame Julian of Norwich

icon by Tobias Haller

Readings for her day:  http://www.lectionarypage.net/LesserFF/May/Julian.html

Her biography:  http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/154.html

A sonnet for Mother Julian by Malcolm Guite

Show me O anchoress, your anchor-hold
Deep in the love of God, and hold me fast.
Show me again in whose hands we are held,
Speak to me from your window in the past,
Tell me again the tale of Love’s compassion
For all of us who fall onto the mire,
How he is wounded with us, how his passion
Quickens the love that haunted our desire.
Show me again the wonder of at-one-ment
Of Christ-in-us distinct and yet the same,
Who makes, and loves, and keeps us in each moment,
And looks on us with pity not with blame.
Keep telling me, for all my faith may waver,
Love is his meaning, only love, forever.

#BaltimoreOne - Prayerfully Watching

As I watched the events unfold in Baltimore, I thought of friends who live there (and nearby), clergy I know there.  One of them posted something about the events on her blog:

http://livingourfaithstpauls.com/2015/05/01/praying-for-baltimore-singing-and-walking-the-block/

I also thought of the #BlackLivesMatter movement and what UBE (Union of Black Episcopalians - formed in 1968) might say about Baltimore:

http://www.ube.org/dfc/newsdetail_2/3171697

Finally, I was reminded of what Bishop Sutton had to say:

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/04/29/weeping-for-baltimore-a-statement-by-bishop-eugene-taylor-sutton/

and if you need some background on Baltimore and racial tensions:

http://www.epi.org/blog/from-ferguson-to-baltimore-the-fruits-of-government-sponsored-segregation/

http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2015/04/10/why-racism-is-americas-true-original-sin/36608

Prayer for the Royal Baby & Family

Lord of all,
We offer our deep thanksgiving for the gift of new life
And especially for the daughter born to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge,
Sister to Prince George.
Pour your blessing upon the whole family, and be their light and guide in all that they are called to be and do in life.
Enfold them in your love and hope, now and always we pray
Through Jesus Christ our risen Lord.  Amen.
(from the Church of England)

More thoughts on Marriage Equality

As an Episcopal Priest in the Episcopal Church in CT, I am guided by my bishops.  What we believe and practice regarding marriage as the Episcopal Church in CT can be found here:

https://www.episcopalct.org/Beliefs-and-Practices/What-We-Believe/Marriage/

and I also listen for what my fellow presbyters have to say and the Rev. Tobias Haller is one I have found to be very helpful:

http://blog.tobiashaller.net/search/label/marriage%20equality