My Senior Sermon

Celebrating Wilfred Thomason Grenfell

All Saints Chapel | Church Divinity School of the Pacific

 Have you ever heard someone accused of being “so spiritual that they are no earthly good?” This accusation reflects a legitimate critique of religion and religious people. What does it mean to be “spiritual” according to Paul? The reading from 1 Corinthians begins “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.” The Greek word translated as “spiritual gifts” is “pneumatika” which also means “spiritual ones.” A spiritual person, according to Paul, is both “gifted” and “gift.”  

Verse 6 suggests that the Spirit will activate “giftedness” in every Christian. Everyone is gifted in baptism for ministry. Not just Bishops, Priests and Deacons, but everyone receives something from the Spirit. Paul says “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” – everyone – “and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” We are prompted by the Spirit to respond with God’s love to the distressed and broken-hearted.

 Being “spiritual” then is a mature response to the Spirit of God - trusting the caller will equip the called. The prompting of the Spirit, the “calling”, often occurs when we pause, are willing to moved, willing to respond. Let me give you an example.  

The London School of Medicine was not in the best area of town. Wilfred Grenfell was in his second year of Med School. Returning from an out-patient visit one night, he turned a corner and found himself in an evangelistic tent meeting. When, in his words, “a tedious prayer-bore began with a long oration” he started to leave.

Suddenly the leader, whom he learned later was D.L. Moody, called out to the audience, "Let us sing a hymn while our brother finishes his prayer." Moody’s practicality interested Wilfred, he paused and he decided to stay. When he eventually left, he had determined either to make religion a real effort - to do as he thought Christ would do in his place - or abandon it. The Spirit gently prodded and he responded. He began looking for a way to serve others.

Wilfred volunteered to teach Sunday school, but he found the few boys that showed up uninterested in denominational teaching programs. He wanted to give up. He also found a friend with some musical ability and a portable organ and held services in underground basements used as lodging-houses. It brought him into touch with real poverty. They learned to preach as they learned to minister - by actually doing it.

I wonder if we have it wrong when we look for people, already groomed and perfect for ministry, when clearly God doesn’t call the gifted, but gifts the called. The text of 1 Corinthians makes it plain that gifts are allocated by the Spirit, and are not based on our worthiness or skill.

Someone once said, “Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.” Wilfred kept responding to the needs around him. He nearly went broke as he listened to bad luck stories and accepted I.O.U.’s. He quickly learned to wear used clothing and leave his watch and wallet at home.

 His growing experience helped him figure out a better way to reach his Sunday-School boys. In this poor section of the city there were no programs for the youth. They cleared the church dining-room every Saturday evening and gave boxing lessons. Wilfred enthusiastically shared his love of sports.  The boys began bringing friends whom his exegesis on scripture would never have lured into the church. The program grew. When the church closed down the program they started their own.

Wilfred graduated and began to practice medicine. One of his former teachers was part of an organization interested in the religious and social welfare of deep-sea fishermen. They chartered a small fishing boat, sent her out among the fishermen to hold religious services, simple, unconventional, and administer first aid. The battered boat owned by the Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen had the words "Heal the sick" carved on the starboard bow, "Preach the Word" on the port, and around the brass rim of the wheel ran the words, "Jesus said, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Once he met the fishermen he knew what he had to do.  

 In the Gospel of Mark we read that when evening came, the disciples were in the boat trying to cross to the other side. They were straining at the oars against an adverse wind. There are many kinds of adverse winds: poverty, sickness, loneliness, and paralyzing fear.

When Jesus saw that the disciples were struggling, he came towards them, walking on the sea. Here is where the story gets interesting. Mark says Jesus intended to pass them by. Why would Jesus do this? Jesus, the lover of souls, who gave his life to bring life, was going to pass them by. I think Mark is trying to point something out. We see people in need all around us. The needs can be overwhelming. What can I do? What can you do? Mark suggests that though we might be tempted to pass them by we, like Jesus, should allow our hearts to be moved.

Jesus paused. He did not walk on by, but immediately spoke to them and said, “take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Then, and this is the best part of all, he got into the boat with them. His mere presence made the raging wind cease.  

 Wilfred was sent by the Mission to Newfoundland and Labrador to see what could be done among the poor fishermen. He was shocked by the poverty. He could have passed them by, but moved by their need, he decided to devote the rest of his life to these people. He didn’t minister to them but with them. He lived with the people. He helped established hospitals, open nursing stations, schools, and orphanages.

He believed that if we look into our everyday life we cannot fail to see that God not only allows but seeks our cooperation in establishing God’s reign. Grenfell is a model for modern ministry.  He was entrepreneurial and practical. When funding for the mission dried up he started raising the funds himself. He went on speaking tours through both Canada and the United States, wrote books, and organized the International Grenfell Association. He showed innovation, flexibility, and perseverance. 

        Like Jesus, Wilfred Thomason Grenfell came to the aid of suffering humanity. He did not walk on by. Allowing the needs of others to move him to companionship and compassion, he participated in Theophany and carried the presence of our loving God.

We are all gifted. We are all called.  We too can respond to those near us. Let our heart and hands be moved. Amen.

Reconciliation

The texts for this sermon were taken from Ecclesiastes 3:1-11, Psalm 51, and Matthew 6:9-15

On the 14^th of May 1940, the Germans bombed the city of Rotterdam to support their troops fighting in the city. Due to faulty communications, the Germans brought to rubble much of the city center. Because of the bombing of Rotterdam, the British authorized an attack on German targets east of the Rhine. The Royal Air Force aimed for civilian industrial targets which aided the German war effort. Due to the inadequate British bomb-sights the strikes rained terror on German villages and towns.

During that summer and autumn, the German Air Force began to attack British military and economic targets. This “Battle for Britain” took a terrible turn when several off-course German bombers accidentally bombed residential areas of London. The next night, the British bombed Berlin for the first time. Due to their poor aiming ability, these attacks were seen as indiscriminate bombings by the Germans. The German Air Force had been prohibited from bombing civilian areas but now all bets were off.

On the evening of November 14^th, about 6:30, in the city of Coventry, the sirens began to scream. The Germans bombed in straight lines from east to west, and then they started from south to north. The city center and Coventry Cathedral were hit numerous times and fires blazed out of control. 554 people died that night. Someone observed, “It was a terrible scene. The shops were burning, all the windows had gone, lamp-posts were leaning down, cars were burned out, it was chaos.” Shock was followed by anger. Many wanted revenge, but not everyone.

The next morning, Richard Howard walked through the ruined Cathedral.  He had led worship here. He looked into the nave and felt he would weep. Though the altar was a pile of rubble, the wall behind it still stood. He bent over, picked up a piece of wood and wrote these words on the smoke-blackened wall - 'Father Forgive'.

He found the charred remains of two roof beams that had fallen to the floor in the shape of a cross. He carefully raised them above the altar of rubble for the Sunday service. Reconciliation is not easy. Reconciliation can be painful. Reconciliation is rooted in “change”. Reconciliation is relational.

The theology of reconciliation can be compared to that charred Coventry cross. It runs both vertically and horizontally. The vertical beam represents our reconciliation with God and the horizontal represents reconciliation between individuals and community.+ 

In the Gospel reading we hear Jesus’ teaching on prayer. Jesus points out that forgiveness and, thus, reconciliation begins as God’s action towards us. We pray that God will forgive, in Greek ἀφίημι,  {af-ee'-ay-mee} … that is, we pray God will send away, somehow disregard, not even discuss our debts, and we promise to do the same – with the same generosity.

The Dictionary of Christian Ethics says that “The Latin and Greek words for reconciliation have the root-meaning “change” and refer to a change of attitude from hostility to amity, of God toward humanity, of humanity toward God, and of individuals toward each other.” Central to Jesus’ teaching about divine forgiveness is that our reconciliation with God has something to do with those who have offended us or whom we have offended. When we have been harmed or when we have hurt another, it may seem impossible for us or others to get over it. The process cannot be rushed. It cannot be forced.

A good place to learn about forgiveness and reconciliation is found in Psalm 51. The introductory text attributes this psalm to David just after Nathan the prophet uncovered his adultery with Bathsheba. I’m not sure if he is sorrier for the wrong he’s done or for getting caught, even so, David is sorry and the process of reconciliation can begin.

Begin with God. Ask for help. Admit your fault and take responsibility for your part.  Our God is a God of steadfast love and mercy - willing to blot out our transgressions and wash us whiter than snow. Being willing to accept responsibility can be difficult. Roots of bitterness can run deep. We sometimes need help to pluck them out. Listen to David’s payer, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.”

Here are three thoughts on Psalm 51. One, willingness is an important element of Reconciliation. David is willing to make things right. Second, David prays for the help of the Spirit of God.  This is the same Spirit that we invoke at “the peace” during every Eucharistic gathering, remembering  that after the resurrection, Jesus greeted his friends, those that rejected and abandoned him, and said, “Peace be with you,” then breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Third, Psalm 51 is only a good start. It lacks one thing. David knows he must make things right with God. He knows that “a broken and contrite heart, God, will not despise.” David has the vertical aspect of reconciliation between the human and Divine, but where is the horizontal aspect?

Reconciliation also requires a restoration between individuals and community. David has not made things right with Bathsheba. Worse yet, he had her husband killed. David has not even mentioned the dead man’s family. Though God is always willing to forgive - others may need time. Sometimes it is even inappropriate to directly ask someone who has been gravely wronged for forgiveness. 

Reconciliation requires willingness. It requires concerted prayer for the other, for the community, in the power of the Spirit. Humbly, do what you can and trust in God, planting seeds of reconciliation. Remember that the impossible is God’s playground.

 

 

My sermon on mission from The Fifth Sunday after Trinity

Sermon for Sunday, June 17 2012 “Father’s Day”

!Hazte presente! !Hazte presente, oh Jesús, nuestro gran Sumo Sacerdote, así como te hiciste presente con tus discípulos, y muéstrate a nosotros en la fracción de la lectura y del Pan; tu que vives y reinas con el Padre y el Espíritu Santo, ahora y por siempre. Amen.

Before I begin I want to thank Dr. Smith for asking me to preach today and Reverenda, and all of you, for giving us such a warm welcome. Our small group of seminarians from the United States, Tina Heidmann, Betty Jerez, Jordan Haynie, Mikael Salovaara and I have been in Colón for only a week. You have made us feel at home.

We’ve been struck by the immense beauty of Panamá. Canticle 5, el Cantico de la Creación, has been on my mind since the first day I woke up in Panamá. It could have been written here in Colon: 

Bendigan al Señor, lluvias todas y roció,

          vientos todos, fuego y calor.

          Inviernos y veranos, bedigan al Señor,

                   alábenle y exáltenle sobre todo para siempre.

Bendiga la tierra al Señor,

          alábele y exáltele sobre todo para siempre.

          Montes y Colinas y cuanto germina en la tierra,

                                         bendigan al Señor,

          alábenle y exáltenle sobre todo para siempre.

 Bendigan al Señor, manantiales y fuentes, mares y ríos,

                   cetáceos y cuanto se mueve en las aguas.

Aves del cielo, bendigan al Señor,

          alábenle y exáltenle sobre todo para siempre.

          Bendigan al Señor, bestias silvestres,

                y todos los rebaños y ganados.

          Hombres y mujeres de todos lugares, bendigan al Señor,

          alábenle y exáltenle sobre todo para siempre.

 

You can feel the weather in Panama. The warmth of the day in Colón is broken by cool rains and are accompanied by loud drumming thunder. Your blessed mountains and hills, seas, mighty rivers, and diversity of birds, fish and fowl, wild creatures great and small, from the Panamanian sloth we saw on one of our first nights crawling slowly across the parking lot at the Diocesan Center in Panama City, to the fast moving ñeco that refuses to let me take a photo, to the tiny ants that build towering homes and the tiny geko that visits each night thankfully eating any bugs that comes too close my bed, all cause joy and wonder at the brilliance of God’s good creation.

Above all, I thank God for the example of your hospitality, your kindness and patience (especialmente con mi español), and for the good work you do as the Body of Christ in this place.

We share a rich heritage in faith in God the Father of us all. We share hope and the promise of salvation. We share a common destination – the Kingdom of God.

In chapter four of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus gives us four important teachings:

1.    The parable of the Sower

2.    The parable of the Lamp Under a Bushel

3.    The Growing Seed, and

4.    The Mustard Seed

Three of the four parables contain images of sown seed and growth. Today’s Gospel reading opens with the parable of the Growing Seed. This parable in only found in Mark’s Gospel and has something important to tell us. Jesus said that “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.”

A story about small seeds may not sound like an exciting way for Jesus to begin a sermon but Jesus sees beyond outward appearances. The reading for today from 1 Samuel reminds us that, “The Lord does not see as mortals see; we tend to look at outward appearances, but the Lord looks in the heart.”

In the heart of a seed there is potential for life and growth. Seeds are also more powerful than we think. They can grow almost anywhere, especially in Panamá. When it sprouts its roots are strong enough to crack rocks. Plants make animal and human life possible. The growth itself may not be noticed on a day to day basis, but over time a miracle takes place. Suddenly, where we had not noticed growth there is now a bush or a tree.

We do not know how it happens. We play our small part and God does the rest. It is not necessarily about us at all, but about the “work of the seed” and the God who sustains it.

The kingdom of God is a lot like the sown seed… it comes with slow, steady, sometimes imperceptible growth. We are invited to participate as witnesses of God’s life-giving presence. It is God who nurtures and sustains the growth. In the kingdom of God we are both God’s seeds and sowers. I think that is part of what we celebrate on Father’s Day.

We celebrate our heavenly Father that causes us to grow. We also celebrate our earthly fathers who do their best to nurture and sustain that growth. Mr. Branch reminded me that some of us lost our father at an early age, or some people never knew their father, but we may have people in our lives that stood in the gap for us. There are people who have made strong impressions on our lives and help to mold us.

I’m excited by the fact that God encourages all of us to sow seed and grow the kingdom of God. We all have something to contribute. We all have something to do. We all have some gift to share for the building up of God’s kingdom.

I have a question for you. What seeds are you sowing? How do you sow them?

I’ve been blessed with many mentors in my life. Dr. Richardson and Father Stuart are two men who have taught me to give my best even when I’m afraid of failure. I learned from what they said and what they did. They in turn have taught me how to plant.

The Apostle Paul points out in 1 Corinthians that all of us want to please God; we will all appear before Christ and answer for our actions and inaction. Unfortunately I am not always sowing good seed. I make mistakes and am sometimes slow to apologize.

We can either sow seeds for the flesh or for the spirit. The work of the flesh is obvious and includes impurity, jealousy, anger,  envy, drunkenness, and things like these. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

When I notice that I’m jealous, angry, or envious I can do something about it. I can go to God in prayer. I can ask for pardon, take up my cross again. This is part of what it means to repent – to change direction and move towards God. I can ask for the Holy Spirit to inspire me to plant seeds, to mentor someone, to offer what I have in love.

Is this impossible? Is God asking us to do something without supplying what we need to do it? Never! God is always faithful. God is always with us. God is preparing an unimaginable harvest. We have the honor of lending our hands and our feet.

Are you willing to renew your efforts? Church, I said, “Are you willing?”

Gloria a Dios, cuyo poder, actuando en nosotros, puede realizer todas las cosas infinitamente mejor de lo que podemos pedir o pensar: Gloria a él en la Iglesia de generación en generación, y en Christo Jesús por los siglos de los siglos. Amen.

I say the darndest things to my friends

We may not always reach as high as our ultimate potential, but we can learn to reach higher than our fears!

Washington bishop welcomes Obama’s change of heart

I recently came accross this blogpost in the ENS by Bishop Budde of Washington. It is a simple statement and, yet, profound, because it presents a healthy counter to voices that say the people of God should oppose equal rights and recognition of same-sex couples. - Steve

Washington bishop welcomes Obama’s change of heart

"The Avowal" from Denise Levertove's Oblique Prayers

 As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
... and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.

My good friend Irene pointed the way to this poem. I love the image of freefalling into the Creator's deep embrace. I believe I have experienced that. It is wonderful and affirming. Have you?