Celebrating 164 Years of Ministry!

Sermon for Proper 15C- RCL August 18, 2013

Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18
Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Luke 12:49-56

Jesus said, "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:

father against son

and son against father,

mother against daughter

and daughter against mother,

mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law

and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, `It is going to rain'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, `There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"

Celebrating 164 Years of Ministry!

Today we are commemorating 164 years of ministry as a congregation!  And what a Gospel lesson we just heard.  This is one of the hard texts to hear let alone figure out what message it might have to say to a congregation that has been in Sacramento for 164 years!  It is tempting to go straight to the last part of our reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews and talk about the great cloud of witness and pretend that we did not just hear Jesus say that he came to bring “fire to the earth”!  But while that would be the easy route I don’t think it is the fair path for you or for me.  When we hear difficult passages it does a disservice not to wrestle with them and see what they might be saying to us today.

One thing that I like about this passage is that it is difficult.  In the 2000 plus years since Jesus walked through Israel with his disciples we have, for the most part, turned Jesus into some meek and mild creature.  We have frequently taken the fire and passion out of his life and ministry.  Many of the parables have lost their impact.  In this country, even as we enter what is being called a Post-Christian age, it is not controversial to attend a Christian Church – that has not always been the case and still is not the case in some parts of the world as we have seen in Egypt recently.  When our Gospel was written – about 40 years or a generation after Jesus’ death – it was controversial to be a Christian. 

What does this Gospel lesson say to us today?  Does it make you squirm in your seat?  Would you rather hear about the Jesus who came to bring peace to the earth?  The Jesus who came to heal the sick and lift up the downtrodden?  We all would probably rather think about the Jesus we see on our three Jesus windows – Jesus knocking at the door, Jesus the shepherd carrying the cute little lamb and Jesus standing on the cloud ascending into Heaven.  Or perhaps the Jesus in our High Altar window – the Jesus as Victor – is more to your liking.  But there is more to Jesus and his call than being sweet and lovable people.  Hopefully there is a fire – a passion - to perform the ministries that we are called by God to live out.

It helps to put this passage into some context.  When Jesus says these words he has already set his face towards Jerusalem.  He knows that he is a controversial figure who has upset the powers in the temple and also the Roman occupiers.  He was not bringing peace but was pointing out injustice.  It was not a meek and mild Jesus that was hung on the cross but is was a Jesus with a fire burning for justice that was willing to confront the injustices he saw in the systems of his day.  Jesus saw and rebelled against a system that perpetuated injustice.  He knew that he was on his final earthly journey to Jerusalem.  He could read the signs and hear the murmuring of the authorities who wanted him out of the way. 

This reading also tells us that Jesus was feeling stressed.  It is good to remember that when we are feeling stressed and cranky that God will understand.  After all Jesus was stressed and cranky as we read about in a number of places in our Gospel readings.  For example, it was not a chilled-out Jesus that turned over the tables in the Temple and drove out the moneychangers – it was an angry stressed Jesus. 

We are called to be angry and feel stress today at the injustice of the world around us.  We are not called to rest on our laurels and become the grand parents of all Christians in Sacramento after 164 years! 

Saint Paul’s has a history of change and even of fire!  The first organizing meeting was held in a blacksmith shop in August in Sacramento – it is hard to get any hotter than that! 

In our history people left Saint Paul’s to start other churches.  Both Trinity Cathedral and All Saints were started when people left St. Paul’s (Or Grace Chruch as is was known when Trinity was founded).  It could not have been easy to let people go and start “rival” churches.  But look at what good has come out of the process.  Trinity Cathedral and St. Paul’s have been able to do great things as partners that we may never have been able to do as a single church.  All Saints has gone on to have a great ministry with youth and young adults with their wonderful location near Sac City College.

In the late 1890’s Grace Church – as we where known at the time – was faced with a building, their second, that was literally falling down around them and by that time in out parish’s life many of our wealthy members had moved out of Sacramento to San Francisco.  By 1903 the parish had sold the building, acquired the lot that this building is on – reorganized as St. Paul’s and built this building – which suffered a fire in about 1914 that destroyed the original organ and the High Altar window – which was a Crocker memorial.  But St. Paul’s still refused to close.  The people saw a need for justice and ministry on this corner and rebuilt. During the depression we witnessed St. Paul’s and Trinity reunite in order to conserve resources. 

In the 1960’s  and 1970’s when St. Paul’s should have closed – after the urban flight that saw so many people move out of our urban centers and into the suburbs – it struggled to keep going – even after a fire destroyed the Parish hall the people kept going. The people of St. Paul’s had a fire in their bellies for justice and started St. Paul’s center for urban ministries – which saw offices set up in the nave and the Altar put of wheels so it could be moved out of the way during the week.

 These ministries eventually outgrew our facilities and became River City Food Bank and Episcopal Community Services

 The first vocational Deacon in our diocese was raised up from this congregation.  The diocesan Hispanic Ministries started in this place – and it is from them that we have the gift of the statue of the Virgin Mary.  This congregation called the first openly gay person in a life long relationship to go before the Bishop and the Commission on Ministry and Standing committee seeking ordained ministry – which although a long road culminated with my ordination June 29^th.  St. Paul’s quite simply has persevered.  But not only persevered but continually called and calls for Justice and Love.  Sometimes our initiatives have caused some to leave and find other spiritual homes while at the same time we have attracted others to a life where the pursuit of Justice and Peace continue to burn in our hearts and actions.

What are we called to do today?  How are we going to sustain a fire for justice and mercy in downtown Sacramento?  We continue to be a place where people can come for spiritual and bodily feeding.  But are we called to do more?  As part of our ongoing discernment we are participating in a program called New Dollars New Partners.  It is a program that challenges us to see the community that we are in and to identify new opportunities for mission and ministry.  It is a program that challenges us not to try and do it by ourselves but to look to see if there are partners in other churches or community groups that can help us bring God’s dream of Love and peace to the earth.  And yes there will be times when we are all stressed and angry about the injustice in the world – and we should be mad just as Jesus was in our gospel lesson and call out those who – while they can predict the weather – refuse to see the hand of God at work about us.  We are to call out those who continue to build structures and amass wealth and leave the weak and hungry to suffer.  Calling out injustice will create tension and will create divisions.  The comfortable – which I admit includes me – do not like being reminded that we are called to bring justice and healing to those who our society would just a soon forget.

So how do we go forward?  I think one of the keys is at the end of our reading form the Epistle to the Hebrews.  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us….”

We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnessed.  We can take comfort in the fact that those who came before us did not give up on this parish when all the signs said we should quit.  We did not give up when we could no longer afford a full time priest and instead the church became invigorated and looked to the ministry of all of the baptized to continue being a church that calls for justice and love.

We can be proud that we have a history of 164 years of ministry in Sacramento.  That we continue to be a place of healing and justice for our community.  Like our Gospel lesson we are continually called to see and heed the call for Justice.  Our call as Christians is not an easy one if we really follow Jesus.  It is a call to turn the structures of society upside down.  It is a call to feed the hungry, cloth the naked and visit the sick and those in prisons – both physical prisons and prisons that society puts those not like the majority in all the time. 

How do you want to see God and Jesus?  Do you want a God who is meek and mild as expressed in our stained glass windows?   Or do you want a God who can see injustice in the world and is willing to get angry when justice and love are trampled by society?  I dare say that if history is any indicator St. Paul’s will continue to be a place of peace but also a place that gets angry at injustice and is willing to work to bring justice and peace – and God’s loving reign to reality in this world.

What is Prayer?

Sermon for Proper 12 C RCL 

Genesis 18:20-32
Psalm 138
Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)
Luke 11:1-13

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

And do not bring us to the time of trial."

And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' And he answers from within, `Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

"So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Today’s Gospel lesson includes Luke’s version of what we now call the Lords Prayer.  One temptation would be to look at and compare the different versions between Luke and Matthew and perhaps look at the myriad of translations.  That can be a fun academic exercise – well at least for some!  But I would like to focus today on prayer – and focus beyond the lords prayer.  You will also notice that I changed the Old Testament lesson today to the one from Genesis instead of from Hosea.  I did this because it will allow us to – perhaps – explore a little deeper the nature of prayer and what it says about God and what it says about us.

How many of us pray regularly?  Don’t worry I am not going to ask for a show of hands.  Being good Episcopalians I am willing to bet that most of us are most comfortable using a prayer book or memorized prayers.  At least in public.  It can be scary to be asked to give an extemporaneous prayer in public.  Yes even for the clergy!  We too often fall back on learned prayers in our worship and in our public ministries.  One of the wonderful things about this particular passage from Luke is that we see that the disciples – who have been with Jesus – Jesus whose life was centered on prayer – the disciples had to ask to be taught how to pray.  They wanted instruction.  So what is prayer?

For me there are two types of prayer.  One is the type that is scripted prayer.  It is the Lords prayer that is so deeply ingrained into our DNA that we can say it without even hearing the words anymore.  That is why I like to say different versions from time to time.  It makes to turn off the auto-pilot and pay attention.  Not that the autopilot is bad.  It is good to have something that we can trust will be there when our words fail us.  It is wonderful to know that we have a backstop when our world has crashed around us and we can’t think of words.  I also love the predictability of our church.  I know I can attend an Episcopal service just about anywhere and the core of the worship and the core of the prayers will be familiar and I will be at home.

There is also another type of prayer and for me that is conversational prayer.  It is the unscripted free form prayer that can bubble up from deep within our souls.  One of the blogs I read regularly – “Leave it where Jesus flang it” – opens her prayers with “Hey God – Its Margaret”.  Not a churchy, Episcopal Book of Common Prayer way to open a prayer.  But it is good.  It is a way that says that we can have a conversation with God.  That prayer can be a two way street – a conversation.  It is also consistent with the Lords Prayer where Jesus taught the disciples and us to call God Aba – Father – Daddy.  A term of affection.  Not an address to an all powerful all mighty indifferent God.  But to claim our special status as intimate children of God.  Or if you prefer partners with God in creation.

How we pray reflects how we see God.  And I will be the first to admit that for me my vision of God is a fluid thing.  I want to see God and the wonderful loving parent who is just as happy at play as doing anything else.  Society has built another image of God as the bearded monarch on the throne – who knows all and sees all, is unchangeable and all about judgment.  I want that image of God too when I see the injustice in the world and humankinds inhumanity to each other.  That is when I want a god who will spite the oppressor and make the world a better place.  How we pray can also say a lot about us.  Can we envision ourselves as partners in the bringing of God’s dream to fruition?  Or do we see ourselves as pawns in some mighty clockwork creation where we do personal good so that we can get into heaven at the end of times?  When I am at my best I certainly try to be a partner with God in bringing the dream of a loving creation to complete fruition!

So how do we pray?  I love the section that we have today from Genesis.  Abraham’s prayer is one that is certainly one that we probably have had with God – in one form or another.  A prayer where we bargain with God. It is another type of prayer that can spring from the core of our very being.  It is a conversation.

God has just issued judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah for their sins – for their lack of hospitality to the stranger.  God is so mad that he tells Abraham that he is going to wipe them off the face of the earth.  (Note:  I generally try to use inclusive imagery when I talk about the God head being neither male nor female but the imagery here – thanks to Metro Goldwyn Mayer is just the bearded God on a throne for me)  And then Abraham does the unexpected.  He has a conversation with God about who God is and the relationship between God and God’s people.   Abraham is willing to bargain with God!  “Abraham came near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?"” 

In essence Abraham is reminding God that even in God’s anger that Abrahams God is a God of hospitality, love and justice.  Not a God of unjust vengeance.  Will God slay the righteous with the wicked?  Surely not.  And from this point we have Abram bargaining with God.  If God won’t destroy the cities if Abraham can find 50 good people what about if there are only 45?  40? 30? 20? What about if there are only 10?  Each time in the story God agrees that even if there are only 10 he will not – after all – destroy the city.  Did God change his mind?  Did Abraham have to remind God about God’s own nature?  I don’t know.  I certainly think that God can change and grow as we and the God’s creation changes and grows.  I know – some will think it is blasphemy to think that God changes and perhaps what really changes is us. 

If we are partners with a loving God then we help bring the change into a world that cannot see or hear God’s dream.  If we see God as Hospitable – one who will open the door at any hour to provide hospitality.  If we see God as one who desires to give his creation good gifts and not evil then we need to be agents to bring to fruition God’s dream of Love and care of all creation to this world now.  And we can only do that in conversation with God. 

The two parables that come with the Lord’s Prayer in our reading today remind us of the nature of the God and to whom we pray and for whom we are partners in this creation. We are called by God to be a people of hospitality as God is a God of Hospitality.  Even – and perhaps especially – when it in not convenient.  Most of us – I dare say – would be like the man in bed who didn’t want to get up and provide hospitality to his neighbor.  After all it was not his friend who showed up in the middle of the night.  But through the shameless persistence of the man who needs bread to be able to offer hospitality the man finally gets out of bed to help.  It is an active prayer life that changes us and lets us know when we too have to get our of our comfort zone to provide hospitality.  We are called –as in the parables to offer sustenance and love to those around us as partners in creation – not to offer scorpions and snakes.

Prayer is that conversation. Prayer that springs out of our common prayers and prayer that spontaneously come from our hearts.  Prayer opens us up to let God break into our heart.  Prayer lets us empty our hearts and our pain to God.  Prayer makes space for us to listen to the heartbeat of creation.  Prayer lets us see that we are partners in making this world a better place. I don’t believe that prayer is some magical incantation that will make things different. But the conversation – the dance that is part of our relationship with God and with each other that ultimately does change the world.

When we provide hospitality and love to our neighbors we are answering prayers as well as praying.  I invite all of us to go out of this House of Prayer and create a world of prayer.  To have the conservations with God that will hold the good, bad and absolutely ugly up to the cleansing light that is Good.

Let us pray.

Hey God – Its Rik and the people of St. Paul’s.  Thank you for being in conversation with us on this corner of 15^th and J streets in Sacramento.  Help us to open our eyes to see your hand in the world around us and remind us that we are your partners in bringing your dream of Love into our world.  Thank you for being strong when we are weak and for accepting all of our prayers.  Our prayers of joy and sorrow, thanksgiving and lament.  For comforting us when we cry –and crying with us when creation is hurt.  For laughing with us in our happiness when we experience the joy of your creation.  But most of all thank you for the conversations.  Amen.

Good Samaritan

Proper 10 C RCL

Amos 7:7-17
Psalm 82
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, `Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Today’s gospel story is very familiar to many of us.  The concept and story of the Good Samaritan has made its way into popular culture.  We have Good Samaritan Hospitals and Good Samaritan Laws on the books. Did I really even need to proclaim the gospel or could I have simply said Good Samaritan and sat down?  The challenge for me is trying to find something to say about this parable that will make us think and hopefully give back to it some of the power and shock that the story had for the people in Jesus day. Is it possible for the parable to call us to action today?

One of the first things that hit me square between the eyes this time I read it was how the parable acts to judge the clergy!  Now that I am a member of the clergy I see that one lens is a call for clergy not to be too self-righteous.  There is a danger, both as a member of the clergy – and as members of the congregation that we want to serve only other Episcopalians.  We want to make sure that we minister to each other.  The priest and the Levite did not even bother to see if the man in the ditch belonged to their congregations.  Who is the man in the ditch?  Did they jump to conclusions about the person beaten and left to die?  Was he not well enough dressed that he could not possible have been one of their flock? One of the messages of this parable is a call to expand whom we, as religious people, consider our members – our tribe.  It is a call to a radical hospitality.

Follow me as I try to paint a picture of how this story might be told today.  A clergy person and a vestry member are walking down J street and see someone obviously in pain sitting on the ground in a doorway.  They both cross the street to avoid the person.  After all the service at St. Paul’s begins in 10 minutes.  They are running late.  The next person who comes up is someone who might be a terrorist for all we know.  They certainly don’t look like a respectable person who we would invite to a dinner party.  They stop and help the man in pain.  They take them to the Sheraton and get a room so they can get clean and fed.  Can you imagine it – I am not sure that the inn-keeper would even let someone who was disheveled and bloody come in with someone who is suspicious – not unless they could produce a very generous line of credit.  More likely the only people who might take in the pair would be Loaves and Fishes.  Who is being the neighbor now?  Also think bout it from the point of view of the man in the ditch – the person who comes to his rescue is someone who he would just a soon die as be helped by them.  Are there people who you would not want to help you – that you would rather die than ask them for assistance?

Several years ago – when I worked off of Richards Boulevard by the American River -  as I was biking to work I had a flat tire – at 6:30 in the morning – not the way I wanted to start the day.  I went to change the tire only to discover that my patch kit glue had gone dry.  The only thing I could do was to walk and half carry my bike the last mile or so to the office.  As I was walking along many well-dressed bike commuters on their expensive bikes with their expensive jerseys flew past me.  Not one of them stopped to see if I could use some help.  As I passed Discovery Park a man who I had seen a number of times with all his possessions piled on a trailer attached to his bike stopped and asked if he could help me!  I have to admit I probably thought that he was going to ask for a handout when I saw him change direction to come my way.  But instead he offered help.  When I explained that I had a flat and my tube of glue was dry.  He told me he just got a new tube and offered to let me use it.  This person who – in my worldview at the time looked like he lacked everything offered what little he had to me.  As I was only a short way from my office I thanked him and declined to take him up on the offer.  This encounter caused me to remember who was being neighborly.  It was – I suspect – an encounter with God.  This homeless man was my neighbor.  God was calling me to see that. 

It is no surprise that the last three weeks have the sermons preached by three different preachers have all brought up our baptismal covenants.  The gospel readings for the past four weeks – including todays – are all about expanding the definition of who is our neighbor.  There has been a thread about hospitality in each one of them.  Hospitality is in the very DNA of our Episcopal Church.  When we are baptized we promise to Love God and Love our Neighbors and to seek and serve Christ is all persons.  We promise to respect the human dignity of every person.  Wonderful promises.  Today’s gospel reading reminds us that God is calling us to ever expand who we call neighbor.  God is calling us to see the world as God sees it.  So what are we called to do as a result of this gospel? 

Another preacher, the Rev. Brian Konkol – in his sermon on this parable said that “…the narrative [of the Good Samaritan] seems to promote short-term aid without addressing long-term justice, and the appearance of such an omission needs to be explored more thoroughly. For example, what were the social conditions that led to such a dreadful act of violence on the road to Jericho? Why was the stranger so brutally victimized at that particular location and not somewhere else? Was the event merely a crime of momentary opportunity, or was it a predictable outcome of a deeper societal illness? In other words, was short-term aid all that was necessary in response to the incident, or was the Good Samaritan later inspired to engage the dilemma through advocacy?” 

Is it enough that we at St. Paul’s open our doors to all people?  Is it enough that we make and give out around 100 sack lunches every month?  I don’t think it is enough.  We need to also look at how society creates homelessness and hunger.  We need to get over our squeamishness of entering into the political realm and challenge a system, a society creates a culture of haves and have-nots.  I know many of you are doing that in your daily lives and work.  But what is St. Paul’s doing?  When we leave this beautiful sanctuary and advocate for a better world I hope we do it blatantly as members of St. Paul’s.

 I attended a fundraiser this past week for Sacramento Self Help Housing.  I was shocked to see that while there are wonderful corporate sponsors – like Wells Fargo Bank - and individual sponsors but that there are no churches listed and no obvious clergy involved.  I wonder why?  They have a mission to “assist persons who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to find and retain stable and affordable housing. (http://www.sacselfhelp.org/index.php/about-us)” which seems compatible with our baptismal call to seek and serve Christ in all persons.  Perhaps there are churches that support this group that I am unaware of but it does make be wish that I had worn my clergy shirt to the fundraiser.  I have friends and co-workers who are involved with Sacramento Self Help Housing so I will follow up to see if there are things I can do as a clergy person and that perhaps we can do as a congregation to help.

As St. Paul’s continues to do our strategic planning and working with the New Dollars/New Partners program I hope we will find ways to expand who we see as our neighbor.  I hope we can find partners that we can both help and who can help us to change this world into one where we as a society no longer leave people in ditches to die.  To find ways to both give assistance and to accept assistance from people who we would classify as our enemies and who God knows are truly our neighbors.  Amen.

Sermon for Pentecost 5 2013 “AIDS Ride Sermon”

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Proper 7C RCL

1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a
Psalm 42 and 43
Galatians 3:23-29

Luke 8:26-39

Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me" -- for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

One of the things that strikes me about our Gospel reading today as well as the one last week is something that Dean Baker from Trinity cathedral said at the Integrity Eucharist in the park last week.  And that is that both today and with the unclean women last week that Jesus sees the person.  In last weeks gospel Jesus sees the women for who she is and not for what she had done in her past.  This week Jesus sees the humanity that is being masked by the demonic force in the young man.  The townspeople no longer saw the young man but only saw his demons.  They were so afraid of the demons that the chained the young man up in the graveyard.  They put him among the dead for he surely was dead to the rest of society.   Jesus arrives and goes to the possessed man and, like an earlier story of exorcism in Luke, the inhabiting unclean spirit recognizes Jesus and the demons ask what Jesus is going to do to them.  Jesus goes against societal norms and instead of shunning the unclean he heals the tormented soul.  Jesus sees the humanity that still is there – unlike the rest of the people who have encountered the unclean he does not shun but touches and heals.  Jesus restores the humanity that others fail to even recognize anymore.

What does this story say to us today?  After all most of society does not recognize actual demonic possession anymore.  But there are certainly demons that can and do inhabit us today.  Today we frequently call the demons mental illness.  We come up with psychological diagnoses and chemical treatments to try and control the underlying imbalance that science has determined leads to some mental illness.  The ability to control chemical imbalances is fine as far as it goes but Jesus calls us to do more.  Jesus calls us to see the person behind the disease.  Jesus calls us to touch and care for those whom society would just as soon chain in the cemetery like the community did to the demonic in our Gospel reading. .  Jesus calls us, as his disciples, to see the human and not the disease.  To see God’s holy creation.

The first week of June I had the privilege of participating in an event that truly does see the person and not the disease.  The first week of June was AIDS Lifecycle 12.  The amazing bike-ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles over seven days that raises money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and for the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Centers AIDS treatment and prevention services.  The ride this year broke records.  It was the 20^th year that people have ridden their bikes 545 miles to raise money and to support each other.  But the ride is more than a ride – as I have observed for 13 years now.  The ride creates a wonderful supportive community that sees the individuals as beloved children of God and as good.  It doesn’t matter their HIV status, their sexual orientation, their race, their gender or gender expression.  All are cared for by each other and the wonderful volunteer roadies – as the crew is called- and staff on the ride.

This year the ride raised a record breaking $14.2 million!  In the 20 years of the rides existence it has raised an amazing $182.5 million.  This year another milestone was reached as the ride calculated that over 20 million miles have been ridden to date to raise money and awareness of a pandemic that is still all to prevalent in the world. A disease that has, in some ways become invisible to the vast majority.  But it is still a terrible pandemic. 

In California:

·       An estimated 117,213 people are living with HIV and 72,496 are living with AIDS.

·       In 2010, more new AIDS diagnoses were made in California than any other state: 4, 243, or 12.6% of all new diagnoses in the U.S.

In the United States:

·       1.1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS.

·       Close to one-fifth of those infected with HIV doesn’t know it.

·       New infections among young gay and bisexual men (ages 13–24) increased by 22% between 2008 and 2010, the most significant increase of any age group.

·       Racial and ethnic minorities have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic and represent the majority of new AIDS diagnoses, new HIV infections, people living with HIV/AIDS, and AIDS deaths.

In the world:

·       Approximately 34 million people are living with HIV and nearly 30 million have died of AIDS-related causes since the beginning of the epidemic.

·       About half of new HIV infections are among those under age 25.

·       HIV is a leading cause of death worldwide and the number-one cause of death in Africa.  (www.aidslifecycle.org/about/press-room/press-kit/alc2013-press-kit.pdf)

This year there where 2203 riders and over 500 Roadies.  The oldest rider was 82 and the oldest Roadie was 83.  The youngest rider was 19 and the youngest roadie was 18.  While the ride is impressive in its statistics – and I could give you some impressive numbers for the amount of food, water and porta-potties that it takes to create this event – it is more than just numbers.  It is truly about the cohesive community that is created from the diverse community that comes together. 

This year was a different for me.  I did not participate in the entire week.  I only participated in orientation and ride-out and pack-up on day one before coming back up to Sacramento so that I could attend the pre-ordination retreat Monday through Wednesday at Mercy Center Auburn with the Bishop, the Archdeacon Cookie Clark and eight other diaconal ordinands.  The Bishop gathered those of us being ordained as transitional and vocational deacons together to reflect on the ministry of a deacon.  After the retreat I got up early on Thursday morning and drove to Lompoc to rejoin the ride.  It was quite a treat to rejoin the ride on Red Dress day! I then participated in Days 5, 6 and 7 of the ride

In some ways the pre-ordination retreat helped focus my participation on the parts of the ride I was able to be part of.  The pre-ordination retreat asked me, and the other ordinands,  to reflect on the promises that I will make at ordination.  Among the promises that a deacon makes is to  “…look for Christ in all others, being ready to help and serve those in need.   And… in all things seek not your glory but the glory of the Lord Christ? (BCP 544)”  When I rejoined the ride I certainly recognized that what happens over and over again on the AIDS ride is true diaconal service.  The riders, roadies and staff all are ready to serve those in need.  There are examples of selfless giving that happen all over the place from people cheering the riders up steep hills to helping change a flat tire or perhaps most importantly to truly seeing and loving each other as Jesus calls us to love each other.  And I have yet to run across anyone in my 13 years of participation that does this for their own glory.  Sure there is a sense of accomplishment when riding at making it up quadbuster – or completing any of the days rides – not to mention the sheer joy of riding into Los Angeles.  There is a similar sense of accomplishment for the Roadies when we complete our day and see the sea of bikes parked in bike parking and hear the laughter and joy ringing through camp.  The motivation of the riders and the crew is to make a difference in peoples lives – both in the lives of people we know with HIV/AIDS and for those we will never meet and for those who will never get the disease due to the education and outreach into at-risk communities that is funded on account of the ride.  It is in giving life to people who thought they had lost their lives.  Each year I encounter people who are literally in tears of Joy because for at least one week a year they are part of a community that sees them.  That does not see HIV status, sexual orientation, or physical ability but sees a wonderful child of God.  For my part this ride was truly one of diaconal service.

After the ride the logistic director posted an excerpt from an e-mail that came across her desk.  It read “'AIDS/LifeCycle literally saved my life ... I never really told anyone how I felt I was just losing steam, energy and the desire to keep moving forward in my life ... The Lifecycle changed that. After doing this ride I feel like I can do anything ... '  That is why many of us keep coming back over and over again.  The ride saves lives.  The ride casts out demons just as Jesus cast out the legion of demons inhabiting the young man in our Gospel story.

As we go about our lives in our communities let us strive to see the beloved child of God in each person we encounter.  To assist each other and especially those in need to cast off our demons rather than to figuratively chain them up in societies’ graveyard.  Let us strive to live into our baptismal covenants to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves” and “to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being” (BCP 305) And there is no escape clause in our Baptismal promises.  We are to love all of our neighbors…even, and perhaps especially, those who do not look or act like us.  Amen.

Good Shepherd Sunday

Sermon for Easter 4 – Good Shepherd Sunday

Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

Alleluia Christ is Risen! 

Today s the fourth Sunday of Easter.  Not the fourth Sunday after Easter.  We still have our Easter finery in the church.  However the Easter Lilies and other flowers are starting to fade.  For the secular world Easter with its cute bunnies and Easter egg hunts and oodles of candy – can you say peeps and cadbury cream eggs? – has faded into the background.  All around us society is already starting to think about the next holiday and the beginning of the summer season that is just around the corner.  But it is still Easter in the church.  How do we hold on to a celebration that lasts 50 days in our world of short attention spans?  How do we celebrate the joy of the resurrection when faced with the bombings at the Boston Marathon this past Monday and the manhunt that captivated the nation coming to a close with one suspect dead and the other captured and hospitalized in serious condition?

How do we celebrate Easter in the midst of violence and death?  And to top it off this Sunday is what we refer to as Good Shepherd Sunday.  It is a Sunday full of images of sheep and shepherds.  It was tempting for me to ignore the events of this past week and to preach about shepherds and cute sheep but instead the events of this week caused me to go deeper into the readings.

It useful to put the Gospel into context.  The setting is a cold December day.  It is the festival of the Dedication or as we know it today Chanukah.  It’s a far cry from our spring filled Easter setting.  The portico of Solomon is also the seat of judgment.  It is where the king would sit and pronounce judgment on the people.  And that is where we hear the people asking Jesus to tell them plainly if he is the messiah.  No more riddles.  And how does Jesus reply?  Seemingly in another riddle.  But behind that riddle is hope.  Jesus reminds the people of all that he has done in their presence.  Jesus has not only been telling the people that his is the messiah but he is demonstrating it though his acts.

Jesus then tells those people that because they are not his sheep they cannot hear – and I would add cannot see – that Jesus is the messiah.  There is a tenderness to this passage.  There is a promise of hope in the midst of doubt.  It is a two way street.  The sheep know the shepherds voice and the shepherd knows his sheep.  The shepherd will protect them.  There is a promise that we just have to listen for Jesus voice.  But it’s not that easy during weeks like this past week.  Weeks like this can make us doubt.  Another preacher I follow said “So often in church we talk about faith and that is a powerful thing to talk about, but to not claim the flip side of faith, the perpetual travelling companion of faith -- doubt -- means we are not leaving room for the real life experiences of people. Even the most faithful have moments of doubt. (Workingpreacher.org)”

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Where is Jesus voice in the midst of the destruction? Can you hear it above the roar of helicopters and ‘flash-bang’ grenades?  Can we hear Jesus voice calling us above the media frenzy that followed the manhunt all day on Friday?  The good news for us is that God is persistent.  Even when we doubt God’s presence we can – if we look find God’s presence.  We can see evidence of God in the reactions of those who – instead of running away from the bombsite – ran to the site to help those in need.  We can see God’s presence in a community that refuses to live in fear.  We can see and hear God whispering to us.  God will take care of us even in the midst of tragedy.  It can be hard to believe that God is present in times of tragedy but that is the good new of Easter.  God suffered death on the Cross and rose on Easter to prove to us that nothing on this earth can kill the love of God.  God’s love will pursue us all the way to the grave if necessary.  Let me repeat that – NOTHING ON THIS EARTH CAN KILL THE LOVE THAT GOD HAS FOR US. We can trust in that.  Even – and perhaps especially when we have doubts.  We hear it in our Gospel reading today - God’s promise that even from Solomon’s portico – from the judgment seat – that God knows us and we know his voice. 

We also hear that promise from the Psalmist today.  The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want.”  When we are confronted by doubt and despair the psalms are good places to turn.  They express all the doubt, fear, anger and joy towards God that we experience.  There is one particular line in the psalm today that when translated differently emphasizes Gods relentless pursuit of us.  The last line of the psalm can be translated from the Hebrew to read “Surely Goodness and mercy shall chase or pursue me all the days of my live, and I will dwell in the house of the lord forever.” (Sermon Brainwave at workinpreacher.org)  In the midst of our crazy lives.  When nothing makes sense try saying the 23^rd Psalm.  Say it for your self or for someone else. Lynell has preached about using this psalm as a method to lift up to God people or situations when we don’t know how to pray.  Change the pronouns and instead of it being a personal response it can become a prayer for the victims or even the perpetrators of violence.

Lets try it together.  Change the pronouns anyway you want.  It can be for someone(s) in need of consoling or those who we don’t know how to forgive because of what they have done. (BCP 612)

1

The LORD is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.

2

He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.

3

He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.

4

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5

You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.

6

Surely your goodness and mercy shall [pursue] follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

God’s pursuit is never ending.  It is sometimes hard for us to hear or see the love that never refuses to die but it is there.  How will we hear God’s voice through the tumult?  It is not easy.  But the Easter promise is not one of judgment. The Easter promise is that God’s love for his creation can’t be killed.  I invite you to find a way to be able to listen for God’s voice in your life.  Is God’s voice there for you in the beauty of creation?  Is it in your relationships with others?  Is it in the beauty of worship and the sacraments?  The good news of Easter as expressed by the psalmist is that God will pursue us and call us all the days of our lives – even on those days we doubt in the goodness of creation and in the love of God.

Alleluia!  Christ is Risen!