St. Andrew's Sermons

September 18, 2011. Proper 20. Sufficient

2011-09-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

Year A Proper 20
September 18, 2011
Rev. Catherine L. Wright
St. Andrew’s, Elyria

Sarah is wearing a little outfit today with daisies on it. That is what you notice first- the daisy on her shirt, the ones running up the tights, the ones along the edge of her skirt. But the surprise comes when she flips over- a frog right where she sits down. A frog among the daisies. It reminds me of a friend’s page on Caring Bridge- a website for those who are ill to post updates and keep everyone informed with one post. His site is based on frogs. The frog has come to stand for Fully Rely on God. FROG.

Our first lesson for today has the Israelites out in the desert and, as is often the case with God’s people, all people, grumbling. We are going to starve out here! So they are provided for. Just enough. Manna for the day. Manna- the Hebrew word for what is Ma. Manna is literally what is it. If they try to store it up, make piles to create wealth, to separate themselves from others, they succeed only in creating a mess. We are told in a part of the chapter we don’t read today that the stored manna would breed worms and become foul- not only not giving them more than others but giving them a mess to clean up.

In our Gospel for today, the workers are paid a day’s pay, enough to feed one’s family for the day. Sufficient, like the manna in the desert. Enough for the day.

There are no levels to heaven, no closer seats to God for those who earn them. You are either in or out, and in is all good. No preferred seats, owners boxes, or on the other side, seats with “obstructed views”. We were discussing this idea at home, and my daughter didn’t get it. She is having a hard time seeing the board in one of her classes, and couldn’t figure out how it wouldn’t be like that in heaven- some in better spots than others. But it is more like the blackboard is in front of everyone- each person has an unobstructed view. It is sufficient and complete for everyone.

Work is important. We are not designed to be idle all day. Paid or unpaid, we are created to engage in meaningful labor. Without paid work to go to, we need something meaningful to occupy our time. The healthiest retirees are the ones who find hobbies and organizations to volunteer at and not those who are parked in front of the tv all day. When you do nothing, you start to believe that you can’t do anything.

The opportunity to work in the vineyard is in itself a gift. We are privileged to be allowed into the vineyard, to participate in God’s loving work in the world. We can answer that call to work, or stand idle and waste one’s life altogether. God does not want anyone’s life to be wasted, so the invitation is offered over and over and to everyone. Come, join us, there is sufficient for everyone. Work to do, and you will receive what you need.

And the counter to this call to work- on the seventh day you will rest. Work is good, but it needs to be balanced. Six days to be creative, to work, to build. And a day to remember that in the end it is God alone who truly creates, builds. One day to rest, relax, remember that there is a God and we are not him.

How often do we do work hoping that it will earn us extra rewards? Are we serving God only to avoid punishment or obtain a payment? Then we are acting like a servant. And we are more than servants- we are like the children of the owner and work without coercion as a gift of love, wanting to please God because pleasing God makes us happy too- not because we hope for extra bread in the desert, or pay at the end of the day. The work has value in and of itself.

We often see ourselves as the first laborers in this story- we have worked for so long and are angry at what others have gotten when they are late to the office. But what about when we have received what we did not deserve? When have you been late to the party, arriving at the spot to find work at the end of the day.

I think about the people who love me, even though they don’t have to. What doors have been opened to you that might not have been? When has the manna for that day just seem to have appeared out of nowhere for you?

Are we envious of others gifts, talents, abilities, possessions, social status? Our own gifts can be diminished when we are focused on others.

This parable points out to us our refusal to rejoice in the blessings of others. We are invited through this parable to let go of our focus on fairness and comparing our lives to others. It invites us to be generous, as God is. To give thanks that we and others often, regularly receive that which we did not work for, do not deserve.

Richard Paul Wilbert Funeral Homily 9/17/2011

2011-09-21T09:11:00.001-07:00

Richard Paul Wilbert Funeral Homily
9/17/2011
St. Andrew’s Episcopal, Elyria
Rev. Catherine L. Wright

Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 139
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:9
John 14:1-6

On behalf of Richard’s family, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for being here today, and for the prayers, and calls and the many ways you have walked with the Wilbert family during this last week and a half in particular.

I have heard it said- it is hard work bringing people into and out of this world. Birth and death. Not easy, things often don’t go as expected. But when you can get past the stressful parts of both, they are often beautiful, grace filled events. Richard death, I believe, had many grace filled, beautiful moments. His family knew it was coming. He knew it was coming. He was able to tell them each that he loves them, and that he loved everybody. It had never been easy for him to say those words, but the final days were that opportunity.

Richard had many titles. He was called a husband, father, Grumpa to his grandchildren. He was called the milkman, pump operator and even occasionally Dick. But the most important title he had is one we all carry, every person on this earth- Child of God.

As many of you are aware, I have a new child. My daughter Sarah is just over 7 months old. Many of you may have seen her last night, at the visitation. The Wilberts have definitely seen her- she has joined me on visits to see Richard in the hospital, she is around this place after services on Sundays. But don’t try and hold her. She is at that age where she will smile at you a bunch, but she only lets a few of us hold her without the tears coming on. She knows who she is safe with and the rest of you she is not so sure of.

I had not expected to be able to take her so many places and to have it work. With my older children my primary job was them- not a congregation. And I know our days of gallivanting around together are numbered- once she is mobile she will not be happy riding around in her stroller and I will not be happy with her running loose through hospitals and hospice centers. But for now, she finds that many places are just fine with this new person being there. She belongs in a way that has delighted and surprised me. She is welcomed, accepted, cherished.

Richard also had these worries: Who am I safe with? Where do I belong?

He knew that if Linda, his beloved wife of 52 years, was around he was okay. So making sure she was around took lots of his time. The cell phones were buzzing if she was not in sight! And I kept hearing about his snacks, all lined up on a tray. I will be okay as long as there are things for me to eat, now and something for later.

He was raised in the Roman Catholic Church, married at St. Andrew’s and this was his home parish. But his family knew he never really felt like he belonged here or at any other church. This was Linda and the children’s place- he would rather be at work or catching a game. We all know folks like that- perhaps you are like that. Just waiting to see if the roof is going to cave in because you have walked through the door. Let me reassure you- This congregation is almost 175 years old, and there are no reports of a person’s presence causing any structural troubles.

Sarah’s room was prepared for her as we anticipated her arrival. The grandparents and the congregation too, buying and making and fixing to get all things ready. Some of the people she will never really know: gifts from members who die too soon for her to know, cribs from friends we don’t keep in close contact with. But all played a part, all made the way ready.

So it is with Jesus. He is the way, and the truth and the life and it is by him that Richard and each of us have a place forever- this is true whether we feel very comfortable in this church and service, or are trying to figure out how we came to be here today. Whether Jesus is someone we spend a great amount of time with or someone we aren’t sure exists at all. For all of us, the promise is made, the preparations completed. In our Gospel read today, Jesus tells his followers not to let their hearts be troubled, not to worry. He will go and prepare a place for them. For each of them and for each of us. A place where, as our first lesson reminded us, death has been swallowed up and a wonderful banquet prepared- much more than a few snacks lined up on a tray table. This is a place where Richard, and all of us, belongs and it is with God, finally, that we can rest in peace, secure in the hands of the one who created each of us and loves us more than we can begin to imagine. Richard belongs and is safe- thanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.

September 11, 2011 Proper 19 Remember

2011-09-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

Year A Proper 19
9 11 2011
Rev. Catherine Wright
St. Andrew’s, Elyria
(RCL) Exodus 14:19-31 and Psalm 114 or Exodus 15:1b-11,20-21; Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35

Nine Eleven. Ten years later, it is a day still full of impact. We speak of where we were. What was going on in our lives before everything stopped. How we heard. What we did. We remember. The world changed, and we froze in place when it did. Before night fell, the nineteen hijackers had killed 2,973 people. And the shock waves were felt all over.

Those shock waves left us grasping for things to steady ourselves with. Reports of parents getting their kids out of school, just to have them close. Business men leaving their appointments unmet and rushing home. Friends calling each other, reconnecting.

And people flocked to the churches.

We returned to that which we know transcends these shock waves in our world- large and small. We held on to God. We found ourselves in church so that we could remember. Remember the truths that did not change no matter how many buildings fell or people hurt others for misplaced ideals or desires.

We went to remember. And one of the things that we needed to remember is that we have a God that forgives all our debts, and others’ debts- even when we can’t.

On this day, we read a parable of Jesus’ about grace and forgiveness. Jesus tells of a man who is not simply in debt; he faces an impossibly large mountain of money to repay. One Biblical scholar, Eugene Boring, has calculated that as King Herod’s annual income from all taxes from all his territories was a mere 900 talents per year, the 10,000 talents would exceed all of the taxes of Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, and Samaria as well. The parable is hyperbole; no servant could amass a debt so large. Then, when the king cancels the debt, the man, now free from the burden, goes out to demand payment from someone who owes him a debt equal to a hundred days’ wages.

We owe what we cannot possibly repay. We have been given everything- our very life a gift from God. And past that we have the love and care of God. Even as our actions fall short of what God wants for us, even as our sins mount up higher and higher until there is no way we could begin to atone for them. We can’t be good enough- the debt is too high to repay. We are lost, destined to be cast into debtors prison forever. Through faith in Jesus, the Christ, we can repent, turn back from our sins, and find the debt has been canceled. We walk out the doors with nothing over our head, released from all that we owed. And then, like the merciless servant, we go expecting everyone else to pay up for the hurts they cause us. We remember and hold it over others for every pain and misstep they have taken. Forgetting the log that was just in our eye, we see only the logs in others.

Jesus’ point is well made. God has forgiven each of us so much that we should go out to forgive others. But aren’t some acts too great to forgive? On this day of all days, we know how great an evil can grow within the confines of the human heart. We know just how much pain us humans can cause one another.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu knows about forgiveness through the daring act of helping lead South Africa through truth and reconciliation after the end of Apartheid. This involved thousands of acts of confession and forgiveness. He has written of this process saying, “Forgiveness does not mean condoning what has been done. It means taking what happened seriously and not minimizing it; drawing out the sting in the memory that threatens to poison our entire existence. It involves trying to understand the perpetrators and so have empathy, to try to stand in their shoes and appreciate the sort of pressures and influences that might have conditioned them.”

Barbara Brown Taylor points out that “When you allow your enemy to stop being your enemy, all the rules change. Nobody knows how to act anymore, because forgiveness is an act of transformation. It does not offer the adrenaline rush of anger, nor the feeling of power that comes from a well-established resentment. It is a quiet revolution, as easy to miss as a fist uncurling to become an open hand, but it changes people in ways anger only wishes it could”. (Christianity Today, Feb. 9, 1998)

Forgiveness is not self-imposed amnesia. It is not pretending that nothing really awful occurred. The scars remained even on the risen Christ. The damage has been done. But we move on, holding on to those we care about, remembering our God who loves us and calls to us even on dark days. Remembering that God has fought the ultimate battle with death for us and has won.

And we continue on. Changed, but not destroyed. Today is our Rally Day. A day to remember many of the wonderful ministries that go on here at St. Andrew’s. The things we do for each other and for those in our community. The many ways we are God’s hands in this hurting world- teaching others about God’s love, worshipping together, strengthening each other, providing food for those in need, a kind smile in a time of need. On this day we at St. Andrew’s remember- not just 9/11, but that we are a forgiven people empowered to help bring about God’s kingdom in this world. Even as we acknowledge the evil that exists in this world and that we are sometimes a part of, we know that all of the really important battles have already been won for us.

Each week we stop what is going on in our lives and we come together to remember. We come to this table to be reminded of all God has done and will do for us and to be strengthened for the work God has given us to do in the week ahead. I give thanks to God for this place and all of the people of St. Andrew’s as we remember together- not just today but every week.

March 20, 2011, Lent 2, Year A. Meditation, prayer and study

2011-03-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

Year A Lent 2, March 20, 2011
St. Andrew’s, Elyria
Rev. Catherine Wright

Sermon series on Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster
Second sermon: Inward Disciplines of Meditation, Prayer and Study

Meditation:
The purpose of meditation is sinking into the light and life of Christ. It is intimacy and reverence, a perpetual Eucharistic feast in the inner sanctuary of the heart. The aim is to bring this living realty into all of life, all we are and do.

Christian meditation is very different than Eastern or secular meditation. There the goal is to empty oneself, and detachment. Here the goal is to fill ourselves with Christ. Not detachment, but attachment.

Thomas Merton tells us “meditation is really very simple and there is not much need of elaborate techniques to teach us how to go about it.” Of course, we have to want to sink into God- doing so will change us, will bring about repentance and obedience, will create a new heart in us. Some of us do not want that, do not want to change or draw closer to God. We understand that something might have to be let go of, old hurts, understandings, ways of being.

Meditation is fellowship with God- something that God wants with us but that rightfully scares us. We want an intermediary, someone between ourselves and God to diffuse and soften the impact on our lives. But God wants to draw close, get behind our defenses and walls and warm our hardened hearts and minds. Scary stuff indeed!

Foster gives some suggestions for meditation. Make time for it. A quiet place free from interruptions. The same place so you are not hunting for a new place each day. An outward posture that reflects an inner attitude of attention and calm.

We can meditate on scripture, taking a single event, or even word and play with it. Or a still time, centering ourselves, perhaps using a technique such as palms down, palms up that helps us to release that which we need to release and receive what we need to receive.

We can meditate on creation, enjoying the details of the world around us. We can contemplate the events of our time- what is going on and what it means. For guidance on how we can be light and salt in the world as it is.

Prayer:
We sometimes feel that everything is set in the universe and so cannot be changed. But the people who prayed in the Bible, and more contemporary model prayers, pray as if their prayer could and would make a difference. The Bible speaks of great things happening because of the prayers of the people. This puts quite a responsibility on us- our prayers can change the outcome of the world.

There are many types of prayer. Foster chooses to focus on intercessory prayer- praying effectively for others.

Prayer also involves a learning process- like fasting that we heard about last week, and meditation that we have already spoken of today. Foster likens it to working a TV. If the TV doesn’t work when we first try and turn it on, that does not mean there is no such thing as TV. It means something is blocking this set- the cables, cords, all need to be checked until the picture comes on. So it is with prayer. We are doing it right if our prayers come to pass. And the most important piece of prayer is getting in touch with God, being in tune with God. “We must hear, know, and obey the will of God before we pray it into the lives of others.” (Foster, p.39) We are to pray for those for whom we feel called to pray- not because we ought to, or they need it, but because we have an inner sense of compassion and there is the drive to lift them and their needs up in prayers.

An email I received this week put it this way “To me, at least, you are saying that the surest way to find God is not to make Him a private possession, a problem solver, or an instant consolation in time of need, but rather by opening to love.” Praying with the intent of forcing God to prove that praying “works” will not produce the desired results. Praying for those whom you know you need to pray for and in the way you feel called to pray for them- i.e. for strength, or peace or guidance and not always for healing of the infirmity, is what we are called to be about. Foster lets us know that “if the idea is accompanied with a sense of dread, then probably you should set it aside. God will lead someone else to pray for the matter.” (p.40) We are not in this alone, we are not the only person praying, but our prayers do matter.

They should be marked by “openness, honesty and trust”. Guided by imagination fueled by the Holy Spirit. Foster suggests blessing your children as they sleep, and praying for people you hear or see as you go about your day. Those on the street as you pass, in cars next to you. A tradition in my family is to pray when we hear sirens- for the emergency personnel going someone, for those that need help, for those who will be affected by the event. Whatever feels like the most needed prayer at the time when I hear those sirens.

Study
Foster starts his chapter on Study with this summary: “The purpose of the Spiritual Disciplines is the total transformation of the person. They aim at replacing old destructive habits of thought with new life-giving habits. Nowhere is this purpose more clearly seen than in the Discipline of study.” (p.62)

He sees two types of things to be studied- verbal, such as books and lectures, and non-verbal such as nature, events and actions. Study gives us “perception into the reality of a given situation, encounter, book, etc.” (p.64) Foster gives us four steps- repetition, concentration, comprehension and reflection. It is not merely the accumulation of information, but rather acquiring knowledge that we are after. It is seeing and understanding the world the way it really is, not how we or someone else wants us to see it.

We are to study things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious. This is what St. Paul encourages. Many things could be studied that will not lead us closer to God and transformation- movies about murder or how to exploit people, focusing on our own selfish desires and needs, and not on the reality of those around us.

The Bible of course is a good thing to study, but there are other writings as well. And the study of scripture is different than the devotional reading of scripture. Foster suggests setting aside days devoted just to study and getting out of the home to do it. For many of us, our Bible readings are fragmentary- we have never read many of the books straight through. That is a great place to start. Keep a journal of your impressions, findings and questions. There are many experiential classics of Christianity to be read also- from centuries ago to more contemporary writings by the great thinkers and mystics of our tradition. If you need suggestions, just let me know.

Then there is the study of non-verbal things, events and actions. Nature is one of the easier ones to approach. We pay attention. Noticing the new spring growth coming up, the birds and their habits, the way the snow falls on that particular day. Past nature, there are relationships to observe- not with judgment, but just observing and attentive to those around us. We also learn about ourselves- what controls and has influence on us? Study the institutions and culture around us, what is valued, lifted up. What impacts relationships in our society? Is it in harmony with the Gospel, with how Christians are called to be? There is a big caution here- if you find this type of study too depressive or are very weighed down by life, this type of study may not be for you at this time.

Our lessons for today are about having a right relationship with God. Jesus came so that we might have life, we might be drawn to God, and be able to draw to God and be saved. The disciplines are about claiming that salvation and claiming our place of doing God’s will and work in the world. In order to do God’s will, we must know it. Meditation, prayer and study are ways of seeing, really seeing the world the way God does and by the power of the Holy Spirit understanding God’s will for the world and the role we can play in it. Abram heard the voice of God, and obeyed it, bringing blessings to himself and the whole world. Nicodemus is still in the dark, unable to understand what Jesus is saying to him.

Lent 1 2011, Spiritual Disciplines

2011-03-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

Lent 1, March 13, 2011
St. Andrew’s, Elyria
Rev. Catherine Wright
Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Psalm 42; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11
Sermon series on Celebration of Discipline, Richard FosterZZZ

It is great to be back. It was great to be home with Sarah, and in a nutshell everything went well with her birth and things are going well now.

It has been interesting emerging from our domestic seclusion. I feel like time stood still, but it didn’t. Things here at St. Andrew’s continued on well I believe- I look forward to hearing from you about what has been going on in each of your lives. Taking a bigger focus, there is the political turmoil in the Middle East and, the earthquake in Japan and tidal waves from that. Our prayers are needed- for those who struggle close by and in distant lands.

And it is Lent- Sarah managed to arrive after Christmas and give me just enough time to get back before Ash Wednesday. So we are able to spend all of Lent together, this time before Easter, this season of preparation. And I am a fan of Lent. It is an odd position to take- being a fan of this time of year. This season of repentance and giving things up. David Lose had a post on Huffington Post this week that really resonated with me. In part he wrote:

And maybe, just maybe -- and this takes the greatest amount of imagination of them all -- just maybe Lent really isn't mine to do with whatever I please. Perhaps Lent isn't even the Church's to insist upon or discard at will. Maybe Lent isn't any of ours to scoff at or observe. Maybe Lent is God's. Maybe Lent is God's gift to a people starved for meaning, for courage, for comfort, for life.

If it is, if we can imagine that Lent is not ours at all but is wholly God's, then maybe we'll also begin to recall, at first vaguely but then more strongly, that we, too, are not ours at all, but are wholly God's -- God's own possession and treasure.
Seen this way, Lent reminds us of whose we are. The "sacrifices," the disciplines, these are not intended as good works offered by us to God; rather, they are God's gifts to us to remind us who we are, God's adopted daughters and sons, God's treasure, so priceless that God was willing to go to any length -- or, more appropriately, to any depth -- to tell us that we are loved, that we have value, that we have purpose.

Yes. I need Lent. I need an absence of gifts so that I might acknowledge the Gift. I need a time to be quiet and still, a time to crane my neck and lift my head, straining to hear again what was promised me at Baptism: "You are mine! I love you! I am with you!"

David Lose, Huffington Post online, posted 3/7/2011

This is why I like Lent. I need to hear again what was promised at my Baptism, what will be promised to Sarah when she is baptized at the Easter Vigil by Bishop Hollingsworth, what was promised to each of you. You are God’s. You are loved. God is with each of us.

In our Gospel lesson for today we hear, as we do each first Sunday in Lent, of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness. After fasting for forty days and nights, Jesus was famished. Vulnerable to the first temptation put before him, turning stones into bread. But this and the other two temptations he resists. He rejects the lure of the powers of this world in favor of uncompromising obedience to God the Father. As completely human, Jesus felt the full force of these temptations; yet his relationship with God the Father enabled him to resist and renounce these assaults.

Jesus did this fast right after his Baptism, right after he heard the voice of God proclaiming that he was his son, well loved and with whom God is pleased. So our 40 days begin, leading up to Easter with it’s Baptisms and Confirmations and reminders to each of us that we are loved by God also.

But there is the forty days to get through. This desert between now and Easter.

This Lent I have chosen to focus on Richard Foster’s Book, Celebration of Discipline. He looks at 12 classical disciplines- classical because they are central to experiential Christianity. Experiential- how we experience, do, are Christians. We will be looking at them over this and the following 4 weeks during my sermons. We will also be discussing them on Wednesday nights during our Lenten evenings together. The final week I have added some that he doesn’t cover- some that I encountered at a youth minister training years ago- Spiritual Disciplines for the undisciplined. Items that don’t fall under the category of classical but seem particularly appropriate in our day and age- getting enough rest, disconnecting from electronics on occasion.

The disciplines are things that move us beyond surface living, where we are just going through our days on autopilot as fast as we can, and into living in the depths. These are not just for spiritual giants, those whose whole lives are dedicated to spiritual living. These are for each of us. The primary requirement to do them is a longing after God, and I believe as St. Augustine of Hippo did, that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. We all long after God- the aches in our lives are aches for God. And the closer we are the more the pains of this world fade away. And Celebration is very appropriate in the title of Foster’s book- for the disciplines lead to joy. We become liberated from our self-interest and the fear that is there. We are filled with the joy and love of God.

The two big difficulties with the disciplines are this: We doubt our ability to reach beyond this physical world- we doubt that we can draw closer to God, have any growth in this area. We doubt it’s importance- the world is prejudiced against the nonmaterial world and calls us to not spend time on it, but rather to focus on material things.

The second big difficulty is a practical one- we don’t know how to explore the inward life. The logistics are unknown to us. Foster’s book covers that also, and we will go into it here and on Wednesday nights also. But the mechanics aren’t it- the attitude of the heart is far more crucial than the mechanics.

And they are not to turn into law, not to manipulate or control people, we are not to think that we are earning our way into God’s prescience. They are a means for us to place ourselves before God so that we may receive the gracious gift of God and be transformed by God.

Foster categorizes them into 3 groups- Inward, Outward and Corporate.
In the Inward category he places Meditation, Prayer, Fasting and Study.
In the Outward category is Simplicity, Solitude, Submission and Service.
In the Corporate we have Confession, Worship, Guidance and Celebration.

Today is mostly about an overview of the next four weeks, but we do have time to look at one a little more closely. Given our Gospel, looking at fasting seems appropriate. The Plain Dealer had a piece on fasting this past Monday. It gave the following statistics: 4 in 10 Americans say they have fasted for religious or spiritual reasons. 6 in 10 Catholics in the U.S. abstain from meat on Fridays in Lent. 3 in 4 Jews have abstained from food for religious reasons. 4 in 4 Muslims make the same claim.

Throughout the history of our religion, people have fasted. Throughout scripture fasting refers to abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. It is not a hunger strike done for political power or to attract attention to a cause. It is not done for health dieting, for physical benefits. It is unto God, with the focus being on worshiping God. We are reminded during a fast that food does not sustain us- God does. We can put aside our craving for the nonessentials and not be enslaved by them.

On the practical side, there should be a progression- walk before you run. A partial fast of 24 hours to begin, perhaps lunch to lunch. Drink fruit juice. Do this for several weeks. At first the physical aspects will be fascinating, but watch the inner attitude of the heart. After a few of these partial fasts, move on to a 24 hour fast. Drink healthy amounts of water. Master your stomach. Perhaps use the time previously spent eating in prayer and meditation. Perhaps donate the money to a good cause- the food pantry or community meals or some other organization that helps feed others. Don’t call attention to what you are doing. This is between you and God and you are not doing it to get attention from others. There will be a spiritual progression over the course of many fasts. Longer fasts can be done after you have achieved several fasts with a degree of spiritual success.

Yes, there are people who should not fast. Certain medical conditions. The pregnant and nursing are excluded. Children. But many of us could, and yet never do. And the history of its efficacy for religious people is indisputable.

Next week is meditation, prayer and study. Hope to see many of you Wednesday night. If you have experienced the power of fasting, fill out one of the cards in the pew and let us know about it.

Again, it is good to be back.

Visions- Easter 6, 5/9/10

2010-05-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

This Sunday marks a few things- it is Rogation Day, Mother’s Day and the one year anniversary of my beginning ministry with you.

We remember Mothers today. Our own, and those that acted as mothers for us on so many occasions. Those that are mothers and those that hope to be and those that had hoped to be but have had to let go of that dream. Sometimes our mother’s live up to our hopes and expectations, and sometimes they disappoint. We remember that life does not always go how we had wanted it to, but that through it all God, our eternal parent, is with us. Comforting us, guiding us and wanting the best for all people.

Rogation Sunday; when the church has traditionally offered prayer for God’s blessing on the fruits of the earth and the labors of humankind. The word “rogation” is from the Latin rogare, “to ask.” Historically, the Rogation Days are a period of fasting and abstinence, asking God’s blessing on the crops, for a bountiful harvest. Ancient pagan observances of robigalia included processions through the cornfields to pray for the preservation of the crops from mildew. And Christian honoring of Rogation Days has varied over the centuries: from observance on the fixed date of April 25 to great outdoor processions on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day. Elizabeth I of England ordered the “perambulation of the parish” at Rogationtide, a custom still observed in many places.

In older days, the clergy had the responsibility of the “cure of souls” within the parochial boundaries. That is, everyone within these lines was technically a member of the parish. Every institution was a chaplaincy concern. Not just every Episcopalian, every single person. And Rogation Sunday was a time to “beat the bounds” – to walk around the boundary of a parish – to be certain you knew just where those boundaries were and who was inside them. To get a clear vision of the responsibilities of this parish.

It gets me wondering- what are the boundaries of this parish? I knew folks in Texas that drove almost an hour each direction to participate in the life of the parish. If I were to drive the boundaries if this parish, what would it look like? Forget walking them- I would be gone for ages! What should it look like? How far should we be concerned about? What are the boundaries of our influence in this day of cars and planes and the internet? How far do we and can we reach into the world around us?

In our reading from Acts, Paul and Timothy head to Philippi, in Macedonia- modern Greece. Because of a vision. A man from Macedonia is pleading with Paul to come. And so we find them in today’s lesson. They are now in Europe for the first time and here we have our first converts in Europe- Lydia and her family. A woman who was head of her own household, use to dealing with the wealthy- since only they would be allowed to and able to afford her purple cloth- an extravagant textile. She was willing to listen to these strangers from far away who appeared one day. Willing to be led by her open heart.

All of this comes about because Paul has a dream, a vision. He imagines he can go to Macedonia. He goes expecting to find a man there, but surprise: he finds Lydia. He speaks to those he normally would not- a woman, who while she worships the Jewish God she had not taken the step to convert. But Paul and Timothy see her as in their boundaries, as one in their care. And as a result, the world is changed.
In our Gospel lesson for today a man has been lying there for 38 years, thinking that the only way to health is by getting in the pool first. The water in this pool would occasionally be stirred up, move. And the first person to touch the water would be healed. For 38 years he believed getting in that water first was the only answer. Then Jesus came along and gave him a new vision, a new way to be healed. A new path. Stop focusing on getting in the water first. Do you want to be made well? Stand up, take your mat and walk. Forget about the pool, see a new way, a way that Jesus shows to you.

With God, all things are possible. It is even possible that we, too, can be changed. We too can lay aside long held assumptions, preconceptions and prejudices. Like Paul, we too can lay aside old understandings of the Bible. Like Paul we too can have the vision to go to people beyond the four walls of our church, beyond the boundaries of our community, beyond state lines, beyond the United States of America, and let God’s ways be known upon the earth, God’s saving health among all nations. We do this when we contribute to the UTO offering, to community meals and our pantry, to supporting the youth mission trip to Pennsylvania this summer, to Episcopal Relief and development. When we encourage ourselves and others to remember other parts of the world, to explore them and value them as we do this our corner of the world.

It has been a year since I began ministry with you here at St. Andrew’s. A year of getting to know and hear your visions for yourself and this congregation. That listening to visions will never stop. A year of listening to God’s desires and hopes for this congregation. Together we will continue always to discern what God is calling us to do and be for the people of Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio and the broader world. We are a place with a reputation for feeding the hungry, for good liturgy, for warm and caring people. We will continue to build on that, offering engaging worship that hopefully touches people’s hearts as Paul’s words touched Lydia’s. That reaches out to the world around us, offering hospitality both to those within our community and others. We are hosting the riders of the Bishop’s Bike Ride this year- a common meal together and places for the riders to stay that night. We are taking leadership in gathering together youth in this area for activities and congregations from farther away to join in a mission trip. A group of committed leaders is looking at the results from our Natural Church Development Survey and seeing where growth will make the most difference in our life together.
And know that I dream. I try to listen to the voices that God sends my way, as Paul was sent to Lydia. Where should our energy and attention be. How are we to show God’s love to this hurting world today.

As I told you in my first sermon with you- I will not always get it right. You won’t always get it right. None of us are perfect people and we won’t always be happy with each other. I began this sermon reminding you that even our mothers don’t always fulfill our hopes. That life does not always go how we had wanted it to, but that through it all God, our eternal parent, is with us. Comforting us, guiding us and wanting the best for all people. I will love you, and I will listen and together we can and are making a difference- in the lives of the members of this congregation and this community. Thank you for taking this journey with me.

Can’t contain it. Year C, Easter 5, May 2, 2010

2010-05-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

Rev. Catherine Wright
St. Andrew’s, Elyria, Ohio

(RCL) Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35

There is a song I learned when I was growing up. Perhaps some of you have heard it also. The words go like this:
Love is something if you give it away,
Give it away, give it away.
Love is something if you give it away;
You end up having more.
It's just like a magic penny;
Hold it tight, and you won't have any;
Lend and spend it, and you'll have so many
They'll roll all over the floor.

Pennies, rolling all over the floor. So many that we can’t hold them, can’t contain them. Love, so much that it can’t be contained, but spills over. Spills into our world in the form of Jesus. Spills into his love and care for each one of us. Spills into us. And then what? What do we do with it once it spills into us? Do we hold it tight, hoard it, hide it? Or put it on a lamp stand, share it, hand it out to everyone we meet.

It is a crucial scene in John’s Gospel, his telling of this Good News for us. The betrayer has left the room. The plan is in action. The end is coming and soon. There is no time left and Jesus chooses his words to these people carefully. Love. “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” For one another. But who is this one another? Is it the other disciples? That is one answer that Christianity has come up with over and over. Communities of Christians have closed themselves off from the rest of the world, taking care of and loving only those already in their midst. Think of the Gnostics living out in the desert in the early days of the church. Think of the Amish. Think of those who won’t associate with anyone who is not a part of their group. Think of congregations that won’t great the visitor in their midst, or tell their friends or coworkers where they are on Sunday morning, or what sustains them in this life. Is that sharing the love of God? Or hoarding it. Is that operating from Hope? Or fear?

Look at our first lesson for today- this reading from Acts, from the stories about the first days of the Christian community.
The dream Peter has is about what is clean and unclean. It is another way of saying…who is in and who is out…in the community of faith.

Peter’s vivid dream pits the “old purity ways” with God’s new “clean ways”. Again who is “in” as seen by the eyes of God verses who in “in” in the Jewish Christians eyes.

We have our own purity codes today. We see that played out in
-racial tension
-interfaith tension
-gender and marriage tension
-economic tension
-immigration tension

Our purity codes are no less strong than those during Peter’s time.
What does “there is no distinction” look like in 2010…in contemporary issues of our time.

Blue and red…there is no distinction
Conservative and liberal…there is no distinction
Legal and illegal…there is no distinction
and a host of other distinctions that we like to make, but that just get in the way.

Walter Bruggemann says it this way: Imagine that we are all invited to “the same gift”…the same Spirit is given to all…no privilege, no advanced notice, and no advantage in better faith or better future…all are clean.
Two items of interest to note from this reading in Acts:

It was Peter’s experience with something “new” that changed his mind.
-not reading about it or hearing about it. He dreamed the dream, then was faced with men from Caesarea. These Gentiles, non-Jews, ones distinct from himself. But he gave them a chance and while he was speaking the Holy Spirit fell on them just as it had fallen upon the first disciples at the beginning. Peter’s mind was changed.

And it was Peter’s experience of God that he was sharing with the Jerusalem Council -and the way that experience changed him. He was not arguing with them- he was telling them about his experience, what he had heard, and seen and believed.

How often do we share our God experiences with one another?

The second item of interest….the Jerusalem Council…asked questions. They did not keep silent. They had called Peter there to bring him back in line, to stop him from doing these things that they felt were wrong. But they gathered together, they asked questions, they talked, and apparently they listened to Peter.

And in the end…God won…God always wins.
The council, after hearing Peter’s experience, silenced their criticism.

And then one of the best verses in the NT:
Verse 17: If God gave them the same gift as to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, then what power did I have to stand in the way of God.

Who are we to hinder God?
Who are we to stop the creative power of God…Who are we to halt the work God began in the Old Testament. From beginnings we can hardly define or imagine. Who are we to hinder God, to hold onto our pennies. We are to praise God, as the Psalmist does in our Psalm for today. We are to give thanks, as the United Thank Offering invites us to do, remembering the many things in our lives that are overflowing, that we are grateful for. God is making all things new and it is not our job to decide that some people are not included in that. Our job is to keep giving that love away, to let the love that is overflowing continue to overflow. Who am I to hinder God?
“Faith, when it comes down to it, is our often breathless attempt to keep up with the redemptive activity of God, to keep asking ourselves,
“What is God doing…where on Earth is God going now?”
Spread those pennies around. Share that love. Be strengthened at the table today, be strengthened by the community that surrounds you. Watch for where God is going now and join in. Continue to be a disciples that can be know by the love you have for one another.

Resurrection: Ask for it. Help bring it about.

2010-05-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

Rev. Catherine Wright
St. Andrew’s, Elyria, Ohio
Easter 4, Year C; 4 25 2010

(RCL) Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30

It is the fourth week of Easter. My bells are still on, we are ringing bells during the Eucharistic prayers at the 10:30 service, our corporate confession of sins in on hold for a few more weeks. 50 days of Easter, 50 days to emphasis the new reality that the resurrection ushers in. Instead of a first reading from the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament, we have a reading from Acts, the story of the early days of the church. But it is not disconnected from the past stories, from the Hebrew scriptures, as our reading today alludes to.

Peter, the son of Jonah, is in Joppa, where the prophet Jonah started his mission to others, to outsiders. You remember Jonah from the Old Testament- Jonah who is told to go to Nineva, the enemy, and convince them to listen to God. Jonah, who heads in the opposite direction and gets thrown overboard and swallowed by the whale or big fish. Jonah who gets spewed out, resurrected, onto dry land and does deliver the message and the people listen, even these people who Jonah doesn’t think should be saved- the enemy, the outsider. They turn and listen to the voice of God and do what is right. They hear the voice of the shepherd, come to lead them beside still waters. Peter, the son of a different Jonah, is staying with Simon, a tanner, one who works with dead animals, an unclean trade, creating an unclean person. Simon is an outsider by the old standards. But the old standards do not apply anymore. There are no more insiders or outsiders. It is Easter, and we are a resurrection people.

We see signs of this resurrection all around us. Some are more concrete signs, like our glorious Resurrection stained glass window above the altar. The kneelers have been resurrected in a way, given new life hanging on the wall in the gathering space once the weekly use of them at the communion rail became too much. Many of us could tell stories of resurrection, of feeling dead or useless and finding new life and meaning.

And each week, our healing ministers stand at the side altar during communion, prepared by prayer and fasting to pray with you and for you. To pray with you for resurrection in some form. They are there, recognizing our need for prayer and healing. But standing there by themselves their power is limited, entombed. We have to overcome our intense privacy and individualism, and recognize that power and strength that comes from admitting our needs and asking for help. We have to approach them, ask them. They don’t need to know all the details, only that you want prayer. They will keep confidences if you want to share more with them. And they will pray, asking God for healing, for resurrection, for new life. Come now, the friends of Dorcas tell Peter. They approach him, tell them what they need from him. The women weeping openly, showing their clothing, clothing that they are wearing, to let Peter know what Tabitha, Dorcas, meant to them, means to them. She is one of us, she took care of us, she clothed us. Do what you can Peter.

Now, I want to make a distinction here between praying for a cure, which seems to tell God what to do, and praying for healing, which can come in many different forms. When we pray there may be a cure, or a slowing of the progression of the disease, or something that the doctors or experts can’t explain or didn’t expect. The woman with only a few months to live may live for years. The cancer that they saw before, they can’t find anymore. The person who is damaged by so much pain and harm in their early years finds a way to love and trust again. This happens. We can’t make it happen. We don’t understand why it happens sometimes and not others.

But healing, healing can take many forms. It can be a quick progression of a disease that is in many ways more merciful than a protracted progression would be. It can be peace with others, or with God, when it is needed most. It can be the touch of another to remind us that we are loved and valued by God. It can be the voice of God, the voice of our shepherd, deep into our souls encouraging us to be God’s voice and hands in the world around us and to the people around us, reminding us that we are loved beyond our wildest imaginations and powerful beyond all hope.

People who spend much time with those who are ill or bereaved begin to know what kind of help brings true comfort. Comfort does not come from assurances that everything will be all right or from platitudes that try to explain why everything that happens is God’s will. Comfort comes from the simple presence of companions who are willing to sit alongside us in our darkest hours, to walk through the darkness with us, to help us make the darkness holy, and to rejoice with us when small glimmers of light finally begin to shine, when the resurrection in whatever form it is going to take, makes itself known.

And we all have stories of Tabithas coming back to life, of those who had given up on doing what they had been about rising and coming back to us. Of those who were far away, literally or spiritually, coming back into our midst. We can all use others praying for us, as we do each week when we pray for all people in this congregation and community and when people choose to utilize the healing ministers and to pray at the side chapel.

We are a resurrection people. We worship Jesus who is not dead but alive. We count on resurrections in our lives, in our communities and in our world. We hear it in our Psalm for today, probably the most well known of all the Psalms. God restores our souls, comforts us, and we are all welcome at God’s table and in God’s house. We hear it in Revelation- we will be sheltered, fed, comfortable. We hear it in the Gospel for today- we will not be snatched from Jesus’ hand- we will have eternal life and not perish.

And at the heart of it, that is what our Christian faith can tell us. It tells us that our Lord and Savior, the great hero who liberates us, is not the God of light alone. Jesus is sovereign over the darkness too, because he too has been enfolded by darkness. Like us, he has grieved over the senseless waste and tragedy of life. Like us, he has agonized over those who suffer. As all of us will eventually, he has entered into the darkness of death. And with all of us, he promises to walk that road so that we do not have to walk it alone. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.”

Dorcas will not live on this earth forever. But this is not her day to die. Peter will not return over and over to bring her back from death. Even Peter will not live forever. But today is not her day to die- there is life where others thought it was gone. Even as the funeral arrangements are being made, there is power in the gathered community to restore the missing person.

In what part of your life are you hoping for resurrection? Who could you call on, as the community called on Peter, to help you to bring it about? Who is calling you to come and help them to restore life to another, as Peter did? Where can we encourage resurrection in our own lives and the lives of others around us? The works are there- they testify to Jesus and the power of the resurrection. We must only tune our lives to hear and know the voice of the Good shepherd and follow. Follow to green pastures, and right paths and resurrection.

Good Friday Sermon, April 2, 2010

2010-04-26T14:32:00.001-07:00

One focus for tonight. Yesterday it was 2- love neighbor, remember Jesus. Wash feet, communion. Tonight it is the cross. Tonight it is the depth of God’s love for us. Tonight it is that we, as undeserving as we all are, are so loved and cared about by God that Good Friday happened for each one of us. If only one of us had needed redemption, the whole story would have happened. Instead, each one of us, without exception, needs a way to be brought back to God, to be redeemed. And we have it- in the cross.

And on this cross Jesus turns to his mother and the beloved Disciple, the one who is not named but who we all could be, he turns to them are creates the start of the new community to come. A community based not on blood kin, but one based on Jesus where we are called to take care of each other. As the son dies, a new community is born. And continues. Jesus proclaims that it is finished- he has finished the work God gave him to do, he has loved his own to the end.

It is amazing to me how the cross has been transformed, redeemed really. It has gone from being an instrument of torture and death, to a fashion item or a decorative piece. No one, that I am aware of, actually uses cross’s for killing people anymore. It has lost that purpose. Now we use gurney’s and IV drugs, guns, bombs. Now folks, including me, have collections of crosses- whole walls filled with interesting and beautiful items. Can you imagine a wall of gurneys with lethal IV’s, or guillotines, or small decorative guns. But most of us don’t wear small firearms around our necks. We wear a cross- a sign of God’s love for us, a sign of our redemption.

The silence in this service- it may make you uncomfortable. It should make you uncomfortable. There are many things here that should make us all uncomfortable. This is not a comfortable day. This is not a comfortable service. This is not a comfortable set of beliefs we hold and this is not, I remind you, a comfortable God we proclaim! As C.S. Lewis put it, when speaking of Aslan the Lion, the character of Jesus in his Narnia books, He is not a tame lion. He also does not do that which he does not want to do. This is a sacrifice willingly taken. There is no room here tonight for regret about the cross, for wishing the cross had not happened. God wanted the cross. Jesus wanted the cross. To take this death and turn it around. To take this thing that others saw as awful and degrading and to turn it into life and forgiveness.

He is a lion that has opened for us the way. We may, as Paul writing to the Hebrews put it, have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus. We may approach cleansed from all our sin, provoking each other to love and good deeds. We are not sorrowful, but joyful; not grieving, but grateful; not introspective, but looking outward. This sacrifice, this cross, is not a symbol of death any longer, but a symbol of life, and of forgiveness. While this is a somber night, the events we remember, the cross we focus on are somber things, it is not a night of regret. It is a night of gratitude and love. It is the night when even as death and evil appeared to have the upper hand, God won the ultimate victory over death and evil. Behold the cross, on which hung the Savior of the world.

Maundy Thursday Sermon. April 1, 2010

2010-04-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

It is Maundy Thursday- Maundy from the word meaning “commandment”. There are two themes for tonight- Love each other and remember Jesus. Wash feet and drink wine and eat bread. We know that the cross is just around the corner. Good Friday is just a breath away. And we know that Easter is coming. But tonight we focus on two actions- washing feet and communion.

What a strange service this is in some ways. In public, take off your shoes. Expose those feet that we work so hard to keep hidden to someone else. With all their hair, and gnarled toes. That we disguise with fancy shoes, like so much smoke and mirrors. Our feet that do so much work for us. Let someone wash your feet. Most of us have not had someone else wash us since we were small children. Maybe our hair when we are getting it cut. Maybe our feet for a pedicure. But professionals, those who do it all the time, those we pay to take care of us. Not like this. Not friends, people we chat with over coffee and sweets after the Sunday service. Tonight it might even be someone whose name we don’t know! Quick- go get your name tags, so at least we know the name of the person who is washing our feet. Or whose feet we are washing.

We remember this night, the night before Jesus is to die. He knows it. Things are rough, the authorities are after him. He will not be with this little band of his much longer. They have made it to Jerusalem and are gathered for a meal. They have been, as they made their way to Jerusalem, arguing about who is the most important- who gets the spots of privilege… I can just hear Jesus thinking, “how do I get them to understand? It is not about being powerful, about places of privilege or honor…how do I get them to understand?” And then he washes their feet.

I want to tell you about my boss at the first paid church job I had. Here I am, working part time at a large Episcopal church, running the Children’s ministry program. A slice in a big corporate sized church. Weekend attendance routinely approached 1000. Our staff meetings were on Monday mornings. At 10:30 we would file into the conference room around 12 of us, I think. Clergy, the Youth minister, Director of Music and organist, office business manager, publications person, congregational development director, administrative assistants…you get the picture. I really liked my boss, the rector of this church. Had liked him from the first conversation I had with him, as a new parishioner. And this one day I had a vivid example of one reason why I liked him so much. As we were heading into this meeting, the parish administrator dropped her Coke just inside the conference room. It went crashing from the top of the pile of papers she was carrying in to distribute to all of us. Ice, coke- all over the floor and her standing there with her arms full, some of us already in the room, others trying to make our way in. The rector was seated right next to the door- without hesitating a second he was out of his chair, scooping up ice off the floor and back into the cup with his bare hands, asking someone just outside the door to get some paper towels. Not a shred of “I’m too good, or important, to help.” He was the closest and could help the quickest. And he did.

And we let him. We helped as we could, but we did not insist he stop. And he would have expected nothing less from any of us. Serve those around us. When needed, and with love.

It is interesting to me that we have no problem remembering Jesus’ commandment to eat the bread and drink the wine in remembrance of him. Oh, it may be juice in some places, and the bread ranges from little white puffy chiclets to huge loaves of yeast filled bread, but Christians of all types, throughout the ages, have gathered for the bread and wine.

But the feet washing, now that is more controversial. Ambrose of Milan, from the 4^th century, considered it essential, this foot washing. But many other parts of the church moved away from it after the first couple of centuries of Christianity. But here it is in our Gospel for tonight. Jesus, on the floor with a towel around his waist, telling his disciples to wash one another’s feet. Remind yourselves that you are to serve and be served by others. That you are not just to wash others, but allow them to wash you. What kind of ills in the church and in the world could have been avoided if Popes had to wash beggars, presidents the feet of street children. If the regular hierarchy of society was turned over and mixed together on a regular basis by something like washing each others feet.

And in our focus on washing the feet- loving each other and caring for each other- and the bread and wine, the communion, the body and blood of Christ, we do proclaim not just the focus of tonight, but also of the rest of the weekend, both the cross and the resurrection. We do proclaim that we are God’s servants and we do remember Jesus’ sacrifice. We wash. We eat. We remember.