April 27, 2008       Easter  VI         St. Peter’s & St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

                                                                      Providence, RI 02908

Acts 17: 22-31            Psalm 66: 7-18          1 Peter 3: 13-22    John 14: 15-21

                                                                      SERMON

                                                                                                  Rev. Joyce Penfield, Priest

      This morning we celebrate “rogation” an old custom of the Western Church which includes processions to bless the crops and remember those who prepare them. Rogation takes place in the springtime when there is a renewing of the earth. For us, it follows Easter and is usually the three days just before the Ascension is celebrated. Renewal and resurrection are underlying themes of rogation. Since we are only a few days away having commemorated Earth Day, today we are called to focus on ecology and the inter-relatedness of the created order.  I would like to draw upon some words of Rev. Bob Wolfort in Earth Sermons collected by Virginia Interfaith Power and Light to promote spiritual understanding of ecology.  He points out that God’s earth has been and continues to be severely bruised and abused and we have much to repent and change in order to care for God’s creation of which we are called to be stewards.
         For example, we know of the big polluters, the big bruisers. These are coal fired power plants; car exhaust; airplane exhaust; clear cutting areas of the rainforests; old and inadequate sewer treatment plants. But there is also what we do without thinking:  You leave your room and the lights remain on, the radio oozes music and it is winter and the window you cracked open last night for fresh air is still open…that coal plant has to keep working for you even when you are not using those items and that plant is sending carbon dioxide and mercury into the air because “you forgot.” We must repent our forgetting.
      You let the water run continuously and hard in the bathroom sink as you brush your teeth and shave. That water, an increasingly precious commodity, is gone and that coal plant again is fired up for your wasting because the water plant needs the energy to keep the water pressure going, We need to repent our thoughtless waste.
        You hear about and see those funny compact fluorescent lights and decide they do not look as nice and they cost more so you do not put out the extra money even though you know that in the long run you will save money because you will use less electricity and the power plant will need to work less and pollute less. We repent of our miserliness that ultimately wounds our mother earth. 
      We remember that our actions affect the globe. We are all interconnected. WE are contributing to the warming of the earth and all are impacted.  Arctic Ice could be gone by 2013.  Polar bears, tundra, permafrost melting. Global temperatures rise; wind and ocean currents upset. Sea level rise: coastal areas flooded…millions will have to move. Draught here and flooding there. And as so often happens, the poor will be the most vulnerable.
 .      We have, at the latest, 42 more years to make drastic changes to bring our climate close to where it needs to be so that we can live.
     “God created the world and it was good.” God set us here to be stewards of creation, not abusers.  Global warming calls us as people of faith to repent and say “I’m sorry.” Because from there we can work to heal the wounds the earth has received.  We can begin simply by saying  “I recognize that I am wounding God’s beautiful creation by leaving those lights on, and the water gushing. “I see that and I am sorry!” I am sorry not only for wasting…I am sorry for misusing the creation entrusted to me by a loving God. And from repentance comes commitment and action and renewal.
 .       We turn out the lights, and turn off the water, and shut off the car and pick up the trash and oppose the construction of new coal fired plants and we clean the street gutter so that the next rain storm does not wash more trash into the local rivers  …because, as the people of faith in our loving and creating God, we want to care well for God’s creation.   We want to be good stewards and caretakers of that which God has entrusted us. And we want to leaver our children and grandchildren and the youth of today a safe and healthy world free of danger and disaster and changing weather- floods, storms, etc. Today as we celebrate rogation, we also remember those who live close to the earth in all parts of the world and who prepare the food we consume. Here in this parish, we are close to food. We serve it, we eat it, and we provide it through our food pantry and soup kitchen programs for those who have been weighed down by poverty and the economy. We know well how the cost of food rises with the warming of the earth. Our action to feed the needy can be connected to an action in our daily lives to turn off the lights when we are not using them, reduce consumption of precious water, recycling our trash, and following the many suggestions you find on your insert.

      In Native circles the Earth is treated as one’s mother. They sing: The earth is our mother, we must take care of her. The earth is our mother, we must take care of her. May our repentance of daily habits that can be no more help us to take care of our mother who God gave us out of love and called us to care for.  Amen

April 20, 2008       Easter  V                         St. Peter’s & St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

                                                                      Providence, RI 02908

Acts 7:55-60   Psalm 31: 1-5, 15-16                    1 Peter 2:2-10               John 14:1-14        

                                                                      SERMON

                                                                                                  Rev. Joyce Penfield, Priest

              In our reading from the Book of Acts, the author of Luke introduces us to Stephen who was chosen as one of the seven for a very simple job – to be a waiter. While the 12 apostles were focused on preaching and important leadership positions, Stephen’s job was a humble one—to distribute food to the widows.    Who would have thought that being a waiter could be so dangerous? Although Stephen was chosen to serve, not to preach, his witness of caring for the least in the community becomes so controversial that it provokes the ire of the community. In crossing the standard line of only feeding the Jews in the community and also feeding the gentile, he challenges the powers that be and is eventually killed for it. The first Christian martyr, Stephen, comes not from preaching the word, but from feeding the hungry!  A message clear for us is that those who follow Jesus bear witness to him simply by imitating his value of self-sacrifice. In the simple act of feeding the widow, Stephen does the works of Jesus, but in the process he opens himself to the forces of the world that will not stand for such a witness and he is stoned to death. Yet, in the face of death-dealing stones he clings to Jesus, the Living Stone, who has already passed through death and has taught him the way.  

      Notice how Stephen prays when he is confronted by imminent death. His prayer is not a prayer out of fear and for his own safety. That’s how many of us would pray when we are confronted with danger or death: “Lord, save my life.” Stephen, instead, prays: “Lord keep my Spirit.” His prayer is pure faith and trust that whatever happens, Jesus will be there and meet him. “The heavens opened up” is another way of saying that Stephen was open to receive the overpowering love of the Holy Spirit that reassured him that Jesus would be with him through thick and thin. We have so much we can learn from the humble service and faith of Stephen.

      Most of us will not be called to be martyrs. But we will find ourselves in hard times and challenging situations. When you find yourself in difficulty, remember Stephen’s way of praying and pray. “Lord keep my spirit free from fear.”  “Lord keep my spirit free from bitterness and resentment.” “Lord keep my Spirit free from panic and anxiety.” And who knows? Maybe through a different way of praying, you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit and feel reassured that whatever happens in your future, Jesus—the Living Stone-- will be there and meet the emergency. God’s goodness will reign and everything is going to be o.k. because your life is in God’s hands.

April 13, 2008        Easter IV      St. Peter’s & St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

                                                          Providence, RI 02908

Acts     Psalm 23   1 Peter      John  

                                                          SERMON

                                                                                 Rev. Joyce Penfield, Priest

Amen.

April 6, 2008            Easter III      St. Peter’s & St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

                                                          Providence, RI 02908

Acts 2: 14a, 36-41   Psalm 116: 1-3, 10-17   1 Peter 1: 17-23   Luke 24: 13-35          

                                                          SERMON

                                                                                 Rev. Joyce Penfield, Priest

Emmaus---a place located only 7 short miles from Jerusalem. The disciples are not just walking on the road to Emmaus, they are walking away from Jerusalem, away from the crucifixion, away from the triumphant celebration of their King who now was dead and, to them, gone. They were walking away from despair and hopelessness. This road they were on was a road between their past and an unknown future. At most they are in shock. Just trying to figure it all out and what happened to them. They are numb to the present and full of concern. What were they to do now? Was it all a fake or a hoax? Were they duped?  They must have felt empty. Their hearts were low and sad, most likely and they had no answers anymore. What had seemed to be crystal clear and certain in their minds was now fog and confusion. What they went along with and did was now ready to be left behind or forgotten as their leader was gone.  Most likely they really didn’t know what they believed now.  Their faith was up in the air and not grounded at all.

Have you ever been there on the road to Emmaus in your life? I wonder if this is how many people who valued Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s leadership felt when he was assassinated? Or JFK?   The spiritual journey of the road to Emmaus happens in our lives when life takes a u-turn and we are left with the despair and disappointment. Maybe for the disciples, the road to Emmaus was like walking out on life out of despair or anger.

 I believe it certainly was a defining moment in their spiritual life.  When they met this stranger along the way, they were really in a battle for their heart.

The contemporary spiritual writer Kathleen Norris reminds us that "to believe" is not a matter of the mind, but a matter of the heart because what we "believe" is what we "give our heart to." We see this played out in the story today.  The stranger who walks along side them and dialogues with them about the events that have so depressed them leads them to see life in a whole different way. Through scripture, he reminds them that death didn’t have the final word and that the risen Christ was present for them. He opens their eyes to the risen Christ. He fills their hearts with hope and desire to find and share the love of Christ with others. They testify to one another: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”  They had met the living Christ and their hearts were on fire. The love of Christ puts our hearts on fire. That is the gift of the Holy Spirit which moves us to give our heart to what we believe.   

We don’t want to miss sight of an important part of the story of the road to Emmaus. Since we know that the stranger was Jesus because we have a secret that the disciples didn’t have at the time—that’s part of the intrigue of the story—we can miss the importance of the stranger here.  The fact is that the disciple’s eyes were opened partly because they extended the hospitality of Christ to another they met who was in need. They practiced Christian hospitality. Without that, their hearts may not as burned so brightly. Christian hospitality is an act of unselfish and unconditional love offered to another we don’t know—a stranger, a newcomer, an alien, an ‘other’ who has no standing in our world or those we know.  Hospitality calls us to be unselfish and focus on the needs of others, rather than our own. Hospitality calls us to be open and flexible and to surrender any claim to our way of doing things as superior. It calls us to be invitational people rather than incorporators. Hospitality calls us to listen and receive more than judging or evaluating. Hospitality calls us to find the living Christ in the unknown. …to find the living Christ in the unknown…..to let our eyes be opened to encounter a blessing in what might inspire fear, rejection, or withdrawal.   Hospitality is Christ’s gift to us because in doing the hard work of being open, unselfish, focused off our own needs, listening and receiving rather than judging or evaluating. Hospitality is finding the face of Christ in the stranger in need. Strangers are a gift to our faith and a blessing from God because they   call us to not get stuck in our ways or not cling to arrogance that our ways are superior to any others. It is through the attitude of openness, unselfishness, and ready for change that TRANSFORMATION IS POSSIBLE – our own. The truth about hospitality is that we are transformed when we share the love of Christ with others in need in our midst – in needs of attention, in need of inclusion, in need of education, in need of community and connection. Hospitality is opening the door to let Jesus Christ into our way of life.

   Hebrews 13:2: “Continue to love each other with true Christian love. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!”  Love each other but don’t forget to welcome strangers. True hospitality can transform us because when we open our heart, our door, our life to a stranger, we in turn are transformed in our spirit and attitude. Our eyes can be opened and we see differently. This is the gift that the unknown, the stranger, offers us. Can we take it?  It depends whether we can practice radical hospitality with the unknown, the stranger, in our midst. Radical hospitality is nothing more than unconditional love which calls US to CHANGE rather than the other/the stranger. WE are offered the call to CHANGE. How different? We are offered the gift of the different to invite us to grow, to be transformed.    Strangers and new ones are a blessing waiting to happen if we recognize the stranger as the living Christ in our midst. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we can be transformed to follow the living Christ and our hearts can be burning to show love and tell others about our journey of transformation on the road to Emmaus where we met the risen Christ in an unknown person who filled our hearts with truth and focus and clarity on what we believe and what and who we give our heart to. May your journey on the road of despair or hopelessness or fear be filled with strangers who can help you encounter the living Christ in the heart of who you and your journey of the heart and may you be blessed with the power of Christ’s love burning in your heart to share the Easter joy of his love.

 March 30, 2008      Easter II        St. Peter’s & St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

                                                          Providence, RI 02908

                                                          SERMON       

                                                                                 Rev. Joyce Penfield, Priest

        Last week was Easter Sunday, a time we found Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb and not only finding the stone rolled away, the body gone, but claiming to have seen the risen Jesus and to have talked with him.  This Sunday we enter a time of fear. We find the disciples locked in a room behind closed doors out of fear for their safety.  The same crowds who had loved Jesus and sought afterhim, had also participated in executing him and now might want to come after them, too. It must have been a time of hell for them—definitely, emotional confusion. They were grieving the death of Jesus, their beloved leader. They were grieving their own failure to stand with him to the end. Maybe most of all they were grieving the loss of hope and promise the one they had followed held up for them.  It all seemed to have disappeared. Now look where they found themselves!

       Has this ever happened to you?  For many of us it rings true! We start out a relationship with the greatest hope, love, and intention—whether it be as mothers or fathers or aunts or uncles or brides or grooms or partners or new employees or eager students or clergy or parish leaders.  Some time along this path of hope, love and promise, we meet the world of conflict, bad choices, disappointments, personalities, failure, hatred, prejudice, disrespect, meanness, violence, cruelty, etc. and like the disciples in John’s Gospel today, we begin to doubt whether what touched us originally ever really existed or could exist again in the future. We begin to deny any possibility of a world built on  hope, love, nonviolence, and peace. We begin to let our past negative experiences run our present and future direction. We kick ourselves for letting our guard down enough to believe that unconditional love could ever be possible. We opt for fear, doubt, and guilt as we lock others out and ourselves in the darkness –alone and isolated.

        The disciples were confronted with these same feelings but they were not alone or isolated. Their world was not one haunted by extreme individualism and “make it on your own” philosophy. They gathered as a community to confront their confusion and hurt. In fact, it was “community” which held the ray of hope for bursting out of a very low point in their faith journey. Even while locked in fear and doubt, they reminded each other of another story circulating at the time. It was said that this woman, Mary Magdalene, had made an unbelievable claim that the stone to Jesus’ grave was rolled away from the tomb, his body was gone, and as she left there, she met the risen Jesus who spoke to her. Of course, she was “just a woman and they often exaggerated the truth. And then suddenly in this upper room of disciples stood the risen resurrected Jesus—wounds and all.  What were his first words? "Peace be with you."  No fear. No scolding.  No turmoil. No doubt.  Just “Peace be with you.”  These are the words we say to one another after our prayers every Sunday: “The peace of Christ be with you.” Powerful words of forgiveness, love, and oneness. “The peace of Christ.” These words reconnect us to the unconditional love and forgiveness of the risen Jesus who returned to his disciples to bring them the Spirit of love to carry on and witness to others to go out and be peace and love and justice for the world. Just as God sent Jesus, so Jesus sent them into the world that God loved so well.   

  But Thomas, who arrives afterward and misses everything, very reasonably says he won't believe until he sees for himself the mark of the nails on Jesus' hands (he sounds almost modern, doesn't he?); he even wants to put his own finger in the mark of the nails and to feel the reality of the resurrection for himself. Thomas’ doubt was part of his faith journey. Our own journey must often touch the wounds of others and in so doing encounter the presence and Spirit of the risen Christ. Isn’t that the essence of ministry to our broken world?  Resurrection isn't something that happened a long time ago, something that we simply commemorate each Easter. In our day-to-day lives as the church in ministry, like Thomas, we put our hands on the wounds of this broken world.  We witness to the hope that sustains us in knowing that we are going to rise again, that everything is going to be all right in the end. 

"We cannot keep the Spirit to ourselves. We are gifted with it for the sake of others. God gives the church the spiritual gift of resurrection life so that the church will bring it to bear on the world."  It sounds as if a personal, private faith is not what Jesus intends for us, but instead he wants a Spirit-filled church to be his gift to the world.  As 20th century church leader, William Sloan Coffin reminds us: “We belong to one another, according to the vision of the religious community, the saving vision, the ancient prophetic vision of human unity, all of God's children on this earth.” The Spirit was given to us because we are connected to, and responsible for, one another. This is what church should continually remind us of. We are not called to be lone rangers or to isolate ourselves in our own gloom and doom. As followers of the risen Christ, we are called to gather together in his Spirit of love and receive the mystery of hope and newness of the resurrected one in our midst.

Whenever we're afraid and hiding out, all locked up, God comes to us in the midst of our fear and says, "Peace be with you." Whatever doubts churn in our minds, whatever sins trouble our consciences, whatever pain and worry bind us up, whatever walls we have put up or doors we have locked securely, God comes to us and says, "Peace be with you."  Whatever hunger and need we feel deep in our souls, God calls us to the table, feeds us well, and sends us out into the world to be justice and peace, salt and light, hope for the world.  We can do it, if we keep our eyes open, our minds limber, and our hearts soft and willing to love.  As God sent Jesus, God sends us, this day. For this we should always be grateful. The love of Christ is risen and present today right here in our midst. Alleluhia. Alleluhia.     

January 14, 2007

Extremists --   What comes to your mind when we hear this dramatization?

King wants us to know that changing the world to include all of God’s children equally rocked the boat and when that happened, he was called a name. We hear lots of names nowadays which trigger an instant fear of attack and repulsion and rile us up for doing all kinds of things that seem right. The word I’m thinking about in this century is “terrorist”. Just to use the term automatically jerks us to condemn another or group and agree to go on the offensive to strike them down. In King’s day, that term was “extremist” and it was being used in the Christian community by those in churches.

King offered a voice, a vision, and a way.

         He raised awareness through direct nonviolent action among many people to confront some of the extremisms which were evil, specifically: racism, poverty /materialism, and militarism.  In his last book, Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community? King made a strong case for addressing racism not only in this country but internationally and for eradicating global poverty and local, and for pursuing nonviolent alternatives to war by means of the United Nations. 

     Metaphor was a WORLD HOUSE

 1.  Share the world’s resources:

        He proposed a Marshall Plan to eradicate global poverty – wealthy nations would dedicate 2% of the GENps to aid programs for the poor over a period of 10-20 years.

2.  Encourage cooperation, not competition.

      He spoke of moving beyond nation-state thinking to a genuine coalition of efforts that valued opinions of all countries.

3. Nonviolence as a way of life.

    He would have worked to end the global arms trade.

4.  Win friendship and understanding

   --not isolate

January 21, 2007                                          Epiphany III

Nehemiah 8: 2-10,        Psalm 113,       1 Corinthians 12: 12-27,       Luke 4: 14-21

SERMON:                                                                                           

                                                                                                                   Rev. Joyce Penfield

                                                                                                                    Priest-in-Charge  

What is happening to the Episcopal Church in the world today? Why are some churches in the Anglican Communion separating to form a new type of church all because a leader in the church represents a diversity they want to deny or exclude from the body of Christ.  Do you see the image on the front of the bulletin in which all are gathered at the communion table? Imagine if a few members gathered together and told a few others at the table that they weren’t welcome to be part of the feast until they looked, acted, or were like them. What a violation of Paul’s metaphor of the church of Christ!  What would happen if our eyes told our hands that they couldn’t be open anymore and had to remain clenched? But for St. Paul, this would be a blasphemy of the creation of God and it would create division in the unity of the body. Perhaps this is what has happened in the Episcopal Church today.  In order to avoid division, we have asked some part of our body to stop being itself or to just go away. Can this truly be unity? Paul’s metaphor reminds us so clearly that unity is only possible through diversity. How long will it take for us to grasp this concept: unity does not mean uniformity, it means diversity working in harmony.

     In addition, Paul’s metaphor reminds us that diversity is not the cause of division nor is it something we should tolerate or put up with. No. It is the opposite: our body can not operate fully or as a unity WITHOUT this diversity of gifts given to us by our creator I know how true this is.  A few months ago, I learned painfully how important my tongue is to eat, to talk, and to drink. When the dentist ulcerated it, every tiny movement was painful and I became aware of how important it was for my whole body to function. I no longer take it for granted since that painful time in my life.

     How many years had I had this tongue? How many times had my tongue moved in my mouth? Billions, probably. And yet I was totally unaware of its importance, its value, and the necessity for the survival of my body. Suppose we were to apply this to the diversity of people in the world who are invisible or openly excluded to be full and whole members of the body of Christ! The body of Christ is less whole. It is hurt and wounded and not able to function as a unit – all because we are so unaware of the importance, the value and necessity for the survival of the universal church of those excluded from full membership at God’s table with legitimate voices as the body of Christ.

        Thanks to the grace of God, the body of Christ is the mystical union with Christ which no humans can deny others because the transforming love of Christ breaks through even the most divisive situations. Remember the beginning of the 20th century, when women were not accepted as full members of the body of Christ, nor as legitimate leaders to ordain. The “theological” excuse used then, and still used by some parts of our universal church, was that Christ wasn’t a woman and therefore woman couldn’t practice sacramental rites—a necessary function of clergy.. However, the love of Christ broke through in a remote part of the world in 1944 when Florence Li Tim-Di was ordained the first woman to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion. In more ancient times, the love of Christ broke through the exclusionary and hard heart of Saul on the road to Damascus and transformed him into Paul who wrote more books in the New Testament than anyone else. Paul learned how much he needed others to live and we are called today as a church to learn and re-learn how much we need the diverse gifts and natures of others to continue the life of the church in its mystical union with Christ.

Let us glorify the body of Christ given to us by God whose power working in and through us, is infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.

January 28, 2007                                          Epiphany IV

 Jeremiah 1: 4-10     Psalm 71: 1-6, 15-17   1 Corinthians 14: 12b-20  Luke 4: 21-32   

SERMON:                                                                                           

                                                                                                                   Rev. Joyce Penfield

                                                                                                                    Priest-in-Charge  

        When is the last time you thought about, “Why on earth are you here?” No, I don’t mean just here this morning in church, I mean here on earth. What is your purpose in the world? This is a deep question.  It is a spiritual question and to seek its answer takes us on our own spiritual journey. This question isn’t the same as the one we got when young: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Because this question of your purpose in the world stems from God’s love for the world and for you. Yes, you!

        Jeremiah and Jesus – both called to prophetic ministry – knew this. Jeremiah recalls his call to this ministry in our reading today: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah was in God’s mind before he was conceived and before he was born. Jeremiah had a plan and a purpose which was given to him by God because God so loved the world he wanted it Jeremiah to be the spokesperson of that love, truth, and justice. God called Jeremiah to prophetic ministry.

 This was 2,600 years ago! What about us, today?  In his nonfiction, best-seller, The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren would have us remember that to find your purpose you must begin with God because: 

 “You are not an accident. Even before the universe was created, God had you in mind, and he planned you for his purposes. Your birth was no mistake. God’s motive for you was his love. God made you so he could love you. Your life has a purpose and no matter how many self-help books you read, you can’t figure out your purpose on earth without starting with God. 

So how exactly are we to figure out our purpose on earth? It is tempting to think of this as a finite, static answer, like we might get from a Mission Impossible assignment; “You have been called to an amazing purpose. Life in Jerusalem is corrupt. Your mission, Jeremiah, is to preach a prophetic word. Destroy this tape before you begin!” But we all know this only happens in the James Bond movies.

     What if our purpose in life is just to work hard at accepting that God loves us for who we are, not who we aren’t and God yearns for a true relationship in which we return that love by honoring and glorifying him and meaning it in our heart. Here are some specific ways we can do this each day to fulfill our purpose in life:

#1   We can bring glory to God by worshiping God, not just here in this intentional service of worship but in our daily lives by enjoying God’s creation and life.  St. Iraneus once said, “The greatest glory of God is the human being fully alive.” 

#2    We can bring glory to God by honoring and loving others and ourselves as God does. This means those we like and those we don’t like.

#3    We can bring glory to God by serving others, that is, by using our gifts not for selfish reasons but for the benefit of others.

#4   We can bring glory to God by sharing God’s love with others and helping them explore their purpose in the world.

         Each of us are called to use our gifts in specific ways to bring glory to God. We are given free will to choose to do this or not. The choice is not often an easy one. As was true for Jeremiah and for Jesus, the choice may lead us on a difficult path or at least one that requires us to sacrifice time or money or our personal goals or needs.

          The most difficult task we may confront is to accept deep in our heart that God, the Transcendent one,  created us because he yearns to have a mutual relationship of love with us which includes forgiveness, no matter what we might have don. But it is up to us to say, “Yes”, because each time we say, “Yes, God, thy will be done, not mine” and then indeed do God’s will, we choose to fulfill God’s purpose in the world and bring glory to God.  St. Paul reminds us that “Everything comes from God alone and lives by his power and is for his glory.” (Romans 11:36)

Let us give glory to God whose power working in us is infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.

February 4, 2007                                         Epiphany V

 Judges 6: 11-24a   Psalm 85: 7-13   1 Corinthians 15:1-11     Luke 5: 1-11   

SERMON:                                                                                    

                                                                                                                   Rev. Joyce Penfield

                                                                                                                    Priest-in-Charge  

   After this service, St. Peter’s and St. Andrew’s will have its 167th Annual Parish Meeting. This is a time for us to reflect on 2006 and evaluate ourselves a bit so that we might launch out into the depths of 2007... It is a time to reflect on the purpose that drives this parish and to begin to discern where God is calling us in the future. One small step in that direction might be to just reflect on why St. Peter’s and St. Andrew’s is important in your life. What special role does it play?  You will have a chance to help us learn more about that by writing down a phrase or sentence on paper during coffee hour. We plan to use some of these statements in finishing our welcoming brochure for the church.

    I would like to give some of my observations and reflections from 2006. This is a small, family-sized parish of no more than 95 members, of which less than 1/3 resides in Providence and fewer yet in the neighborhood. St. Peter’s and St. Andrew’s is an Episcopal parish in a very Roman Catholic area of Providence. There was growth in this parish in 2006, although as much as we would like or hope for. In 2006, 2,317 people took communion in this parish—roughly 55 more than 2005—and 25 private communion services were provided in 2006, compared to 8 in 2005. We doubled our weekday Eucharistic services in 2006 (from 4 to 8). In 2006 we had 3 Baptisms and 3 Funerals and at least 8 new persons began worshipping regularly with us.

      Two outreach ministries of this parish, Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry ministries, which we pray for each week, play a significant role in the neighborhood.   Last year we fed 730 adults and 152 children a full 4-course hot meal through the Soup Kitchen and provided 473 bags of groceries for about 10 persons per week in 2006. That is well over 1,500 meals for as many people. This would be significant no matter how many other churches were feeding the hungry, but to my knowledge, none of the other many, large churches in the area have regular feeding programs. 

     In addition, this parish is indirectly providing a needed service to the community by renting its space to two other ministries: Shekinah Family Ministries and The Blessing Way. In 2006, The Blessing Way provided 50 contemplative prayer sessions for over 141 clients and 436 hours of case management for over 64 clients to help them make a more successful transition back to Providence from prison or residential drug treatment. 

    St. Peter’s and St. Andrew’s has many other strengths beyond the few I have mentioned here. But we also have many challenges, particularly: the need for some on-going adult Christian education to build up our discipleship and spirituality; improved stewardship and evangelism approaches to bring the Good News to others; and Vestry Roles and training. In annual report, I gave 3 new directions I pledge to put more attention on. What would be yours?    

Like the 4 fishermen in our Gospel reading, at the end of a day in which we overworked, we often feel tired and discouraged. But we know that is not the whole story. There is one who we follow who calls us beyond despair to hope and love. We are called to put out into the deep and let down our nets for a catch. This means we can’t stay in shallow water where it is safe. It means we are called to risk change and do something different.  Even if we have “tried that before and it didn’t work”. The disciples maxed out their day, worked hard, and caught no fish. But they were faithful to the call and challenge Jesus gave them to trust in him and Do something different. Let’s remember their story when we live out our story and be able to say: “We’ve tried that before, We did that, but if you call us God and say so, we will put out into the risky deep water and let down our nets. We will turn our life over to you, Christ, and let you lead us with your love and strength.   Let our story as a parish be that of Peter’s who doubted but followed and tried anyway and was amazed at how God’s love extended to his life. It can and it will to ours as well.

Let us give glory to God whose power working in us is infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.

 March 25, 2007                                          Lent V

Isaiah 43: 16-21,    Psalm 126,    Philippians 3: 8-14,     Luke 20: 9-19 

SERMON:                                                                                 

                                                                                                                   Rev. Joyce Penfield

                                                                                                                    Priest-in-Charge 

       In this morning’s reading from Philippians, St. Paul recalls his conversion from Saul the destroyer of Christians to Paul the servant of Christ.  It is quite a story of transformation and grace which can encourage any of us to believe in the mystery and power of God to make a way in the wilderness of our lives and those of others. Thank goodness!  As grateful Paul is to the power and presence of Christ that he has experienced in his life, he is also quick to remind us that he is still a work in progress. God is not finished with him just yet, nor is he finished with shaping us.  Lent has given us a chance to focus on that formation and shaping.  Through review of our lives and self-examination we are reminded of our need for salvation and for God’s loving presence in our lives and our actions. Jesus even gives us a parable in today’s reading to emphasize how easy it can be for us to lose God in our daily living.

              A landlord leases his vineyard to some tenants and when it comes time to collect his portion of the produce, the tenants quick out, and even kill, those he sends to collect.  Apparently the tenants had totally forgotten that they had leased this land and didn’t own it. They had begun acting AS IF they owned the land.  I imagine that they were so filled with self-importance and business of the day that they just lost touch with who truly was in charge.  It is easy to be judgmental and tough on the tenants in this parable. After all, they go out of their way to get rid of whoever is sent to them; they even go to the extreme of organizing and killing the son of the landlord.  Few of us would see ourselves acting in such an ungrateful and irresponsible way.  But the parable challenges us to look around within ourselves and in the events of our daily lives to identify when our pride or sense of importance might lead us to put things ahead of God. 

              The tenants had forgotten that all that they grew came through that which the owner of the vineyard had planted and leased them. And so is true for us. God is the source of all creativity we bring to our work, our job, our school, our home – our daily lives.  I am amazed at how my own personality style or past experiences or obligations of the day can lead me to so concentrate on my own ability that I forget who is the true owner of any ability or creativity I might bring to a task. It is so easy in the schedule of life to get so focused on the work of growing those vineyards that we forget who the true owner is.  It is all too easy to have so many tasks on our plate that we lose sight of God as the source of our life.  I found myself in this situation easily this week as I rushed to get from one meeting to another. I was already 10 minutes late to a staff meeting at ACI. The warden had already growled at me for missing the prior two meetings and I wanted to reduce her complaints so I was determined to get to this meeting; however, I arrived for clearance at the front date at the worst time possible—in the middle of the officer’s  tallying up the result of counting inmates for that afternoon.  I stood anxiously patient for the first 5 minutes and then I grew less patient and asked to get in for which I got a sharp negative response and a potential for conflict was on its way as I grew angry. In the midst of this tension, I found myself feeling “very important” and seeing them as “trivial” and “less than me” and I thus lost all sense of the light of Christ within them.  It was a learning moment for me because I lost touch with my owner, the true landlord of my life—the one I say I follow. Like Paul reminds us, we are works in progress. The season of Lent gives us the opportunity to examine ourselves daily, to become aware of our taking our own will into our hands and leaving God out of the picture, and then to repent and turn back to God’s assuring love. For me, looking closely at this incident taught me that even in the simple times of getting to a meeting, I need prayer—if for no other reason to remind myself who is the true landlord in my life and how his Son and my Baptismal Covenant call me to treat others. And through repentance and confession, God is doing new things in me. And for this, I am grateful.

Amen.

June 17, 2007                                 Pentecost III

2 Samuel 11: 26-12:10,    Psalm 5: 1-8,   Galatians 2: 15-21,   Luke 7: 36-8:3                 

SERMON:                      

                                                                                                     Rev. Joyce Penfield

                                                                                                      Priest-in-Charge 

            St. Paul sums up the human dilemma we all face when he writes (Romans 7: 14-25) “What I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate….I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” Paul is reminding us of our sinful nature and how close at hand and how easy it is to follow “another law at work.” The scriptures we have today show us 3 ways of responding to this human reality.

             David not only falls short in his lust for Bathsheba, a married woman, which he isn’t able to control. Without questioning, he uses the power of his office to please himself recklessly and doesn’t stop there. To cover up his abuse of power, he ultimately arranges the murder of her husband, Uriah—a captain/soldier in his own army. The amazing thing is how quickly in the story David moves from one bad decision to worse ones so that he won’t be exposed. So where is God here? God is in the voice of the prophet, Nathan, waking David up to what he had done and confronting him with his extravagant sin through a story. Notice that David’s response is not one of denial or excuses or evasion or more deception. It is one of honesty in admitting just how far he had fallen short.  And God’s response? To this honesty and acceptance, it is instant forgiveness.

            The unnamed woman in the Gospel has also fallen short in her life, but unlike David she is very aware of it.  In fact, this very awareness and her lack of much power or position in society could have been the very things which sent her running from Jesus and burdened her so much that she submitted to even more wrong doing because of the debt she owed. She must have had a special type of faith because she did not let her past prevent her from deep and direct encounter with Jesus. She did not run from him but ran to him and received the love and forgiveness he freely offered her—EXTRAVAGANT FORGIVENESS.  It moved her to tears that fell on his feet and she wiped his feet with extravagant perfume as a sign of her gratitude for his mercy. She owed much and was forgiven extravagantly. That is how God is. Those who admit honestly and accept that they have fallen short and owe much are given God’s extravagant forgiveness and grace.

            A third Biblical character we see today is not highlighted much is Simon, the Pharisee, for whom it almost seems Jesus is telling this story. He is able to love Jesus but not the unnamed woman. He is a sinner but seems to be the last one to know it. He has moral ideals and is able to see how others fall short of them, but is in denial of how he falls short of them himself. He is like many of us who can’t imagine that we are capable of murder or thievery, but neither did David and looked where he ended up?  Simon has put his trust in his own ability to meet his moral standards—a dangerous path to walk for a human being even if he has great intentions.  Simon isn’t able to be honest and accept his own sins –his jealousy of this outcaste woman in getting Jesus attention; his dislike of someone outside the realms of the “right rules and rituals” he held on to so tight,  his fear of someone he saw as capable of tarnishing the one he followed or his religious people.

             This morning we have 3 biblical examples of messing up or falling short.  They bring us face to face with ourselves and urge us to ask ourselves:

            How do we handle being made aware of how we are falling short? Do we get honest and admit it when confronted with the truth—even when we think or ourselves as incapable of making such a sin or “not that type of person”? God’s extravagant forgiveness is waiting for us to decide. Through honesty and admission, David received that forgiveness immediately

            How do we handle our awareness of how much we fall short or have fallen short in daily affairs of our lives? Do we get so burdened that we withdraw from others and life or just escape by our work or food or drink? It’s easy to do. The unnamed woman may have been filled with self-hatred and dislike of her past, but she didn’t let that prevent her from a deep and direct encounter with Jesus. She let her many sins LEAD her to SEEK OUT the love of Jesus. She brought her burdens of sinfulness directly to him and was OPEN to receive his extravagant grace and forgiveness. Her tears of gratitude flowed on his feet.

         I am sure that Simon, the Pharisee was striving to be the best person he could. He was doing what his religious community taught him – living out their rules of a “good person”. He didn’t want to face his inability to live up to these standards. There was no room in his belief for that. How often do we forget that sinfulness and falling short of our own standards is part of being human? God doesn’t expect us to be perfect—God wants a relationship of honesty, acceptance, deep encounter, and openness.

            Like David, we are called to REPENT, that is, to get honest and admit our mistakes –the ones we have done and the ones we have held in our heart or mind.  Like the unnamed woman, we are called to let go of our past by bringing the burdens of our own debts and mistakes to God and by seeking out a deep and direct encounter with the love of Jesus.  It is this great humility that reminds us of our need for forgiveness and the love of Christ for us that we meet and receive EXTRAVAGANT FORGIVENESS so freely offered by God.  The power of the stories in our readings this morning is that they lead us to acknowledge the sin in ourselves in both our actions and our hearts—our arrogance, envy, lust, greed, jealousy, hatred, etc.-- and once we get honest with all of these, we can be open to receive the extravagant mercy,  love, and forgiveness of God so freely offered to us.

June 24, 2007                                     Pentecost IV

Zechariah 12: 8-10; 13:1,    Psalm 63: 1-8,  Galatians 3: 23-29;   Luke 9: 18-24

SERMON:                       

                                                                                                                Rev. Joyce Penfield

The reading from Galatians today reminds us of our baptism and the importance Jesus held for unity of his followers.  The point is that when we are incorporated into Christ in baptism, all distinctions which might get in the way of our unity have been removed: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female.”  Why? “for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” He was not lobbying for us to deny our differences or pretend they aren’t there or to focus on our commonalities. Any of these strategies might or might not work to form community, but his focus was on what being incorporated into Christ through baptism meant.  Jesus was urging a radical type of unity:   “As you Father are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”  In so many words, the legitimacy and credibility of the gospel is only known through the unity of the believing community! That’s us – the church. It is through the witness of the church that the unbelieving world can know the Good News of the love of Christ.

              So it is sad today to see how far we in the church continue to stray toward division and disunity. In the Anglican Communion, we hear a lot about “unity” and working toward it, but is that happening at the expense of what our baptism promises that we will always be different from one another but through baptism the differences of our identity or nationality or race or gender or sexuality or socioeconomic status or ability or education or age or eye color or whatever are to be no obstacle to loving one another or being one in Christ Jesus. 

            Paul has an important lesson to teach us today in our understanding of our differences of identity and being one in Christ Jesus. He is not talking about setting our differences aside for the sake of working out a common good. He is not talking about denying our identity for the sake of unity because this would be a false unity, wouldn’t it? How can I deny I am a woman when the society reminds me of it over and over in how I am treated and not treated? He is talking about accepting the differences of identity among each other and not letting these be a source of division or disunity. You see, he had planted churches in Galatia during his first missionary journey. But within months of his ministry there, certain groups entered to contradict the Good News he had preached. Theses people began to claim that non-Jewish converts to Christ had to keep the Jewish law in order to be saved. They had to follow Jewish ways in order to be true Christians, and one of these laws was circumcision. Paul’s writing to the church of Galatia is to make it clear to all that the Good News was one of liberation for them – truly. They were free to be themselves and that meant they were free from the demands of Jewish laws. They did not have to conform to Jewish ways to be Christian. I think this message was not just to the non-Jewish converts but to all those in Galatia who were getting it all wrong about being “one in Christ.”  Being one in Christ doesn’t require the lack of diversity or abandoning one’s identity, but just the reverse, it requires the RESPECT FOR OUR DIFFERENCES OF IDENTITY.  “In Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith.” The barriers are lifted. We who believe in the good news and liberation of Christ Jesus are the children of God and the heirs of Abraham. All the promises God gave to Abraham now belong to us.  We all have a place in God’s family. And by the way, if we are children of God, that makes us brother and sister to one another—no matter what other realities define our lives! To be one in Christ is to live this out.  This is the foundation of Christianity. Amidst our differences of identity, “everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This should be the cornerstone of all of our discussions and disagreements about difference today in the church. If unity of the church is held up as a something sacred and worth stretching for, we need to remember that it is unity IN CHRIST – not “cheap” unity which denies or eliminates differences we don’t want to accept.  When we find ourselves unable to give up a prejudice or break down a barrier because of difference, Paul’s reminder to the Galatians sets us straight.  Greeks did NOT have to become like Jews in order to be full-fledged members of the church. Females did not have to become males. Slaves were not barred until they became free. Baptism broke down these barriers. All followers of Christ became one in Christ--- they did not become the same as each other, but ONE. Through baptism they were joined in Christ Jesus and that was the basis for unity, not the similarity of their identity. In no way does unity demand conformity to the majority. We need to apply this learning to diversity in the wider church today. If we did, our discussion about “unity” and its “sacredness” would look very different. We wouldn’t expect gays and lesbians to give up their sexual identity in order to be members of the church or leaders in the church.  If we got Paul’s idea of being one in Christ, we wouldn’t expect newcomers to have the same values, culture, or language that the majority in our parish might have? We would be willing to sacrifice our comfort level to be open to change in different ways of doing things. We would be willing to sacrifice our ownership of how things are done to new ways that might even be better. We would be willing to stop, listen, and learn from newcomers instead of trying to teach them how to do what we have always done for years. I believe by doing these things, we would grow into new ways. Unfortunately, often we silence these new opportunities by helping to acculturate the newcomer to OUR ways. A colleague of mine who I met in seminary once told me that at her the first worship service she did as an associate at a large church, she   came down and begin to shake a few hands with the parish at the peace. The “rector” sort of chuckled and mentioned that she was so new she hadn’t learned the custom of remaining on the altar with others and that only he came down and shook hands with a few in the congregation. It was a way of stopping a new practice and silencing her as well. What a missed opportunity, I thought, and what a way to put her in her place for his comfort, I knew. How often do we do this without ill intentions?

               The challenge of Galatians to live as ONE IN CHRIST is radical and challenging and upsets our comfort level. The whole world is watching …it is up to us to live out the reality of Christ through the love and respect we show for each other, especially those we consider different from ourselves. Will we live into the tension of diversity and difference in love?  That is what the future will answer.

August 26, 2007                                           Pentecost XIII

Isaiah  ,    Psalm 46   Hebrews 12,   Luke 13: 22-30

SERMON:                       

                                                                                                     Rev. Joyce Penfield

                                                                                                      Priest-in-Charge 

              Imagine that you were invited to a very special and important banquet, let’s say the Governor of Rhode Island or a Senator of Rhode Island is having a special formal event and invite you to it. You can imagine all the important people who may be attending. It is a big deal. You assume by your invitation that you are important—you are one of “the chosen ones”.  In fact the thought of attending this banquet reminds you that you deserve to be there. You spend a good deal of time preparing for this big occasion. You go out and buy a very special dress or suit that will be acceptable. You plan out your day to arrive well in advance so that you can get the best seat and get as close as possible to the Governor or Senator who invited you. And then it happens. When you arrive, you may be turned away and treated as if you never received an invitation. Or if you are seated, it is last and in the least important position—far away from anyone important. And to make matters worse, other guests who come late and dress a little shabby are let in immediately and even seated right next to the Governor or Senator who it appears they seem to know quite well. How would you feel?  Maybe thoughts like the following might come up for you: “What is going on!!! It just isn’t fair. I worked hard and made all the correct preparations and now I’m treated like a stranger? How could this be that those who arrive late and don’t seem important at all could be treated so favored?!!!”

      Such a scenario like this one is probably not very realistic for everyday life in Rhode Island, but it would have been for Jesus. This morning in our reading from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is teaching the “religious” ones in his midst a little about the kingdom of God which he is bringing in. It is a kingdom that is unlike any of their day. It is one with a narrow door and a hard road. We can call this kingdom an upside down kingdom because it so reverses the roles and rules of the world around us.

     In this Kingdom salvation comes NOT from practicing ritual in the right way or even being a good citizen of the state or maybe even following all the commandments although all of this might be important for the person. In the kingdom or reign of God which Jesus is bringing in, salvation comes free surrender to God’s sovereignty. That is, from turning our lives over to God and developing a personal relationship with God through Jesus. Actually, the kingdom of God is not a place or an event. It is a process and a relationship between God and us deep in our heart and it begins right here on earth today.

         “Are you saved?” “Have you been saved?”  This is the language some people use to characterize an important moment in their life when they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and their whole life was turned in a new direction. I believe what they are saying is that they for the first time personally surrendered to God’s power, might, and love and it opened up their life and liberated them. This is how I understand their experience. But accepting Jesus as your Savior or turning your will over to God or however you might say it, is ONLY THE BEGINNING OF YOUR STORY, NOT THE END.   It is a great beginning of the hard road of salvation but it is not the END.  Because salvation is not a moment, a feeling, an event, or a place. Salvation is a process and state in which we submit to God’s reign in our lives and the world and live according to it over and over and over. 

              Isn’t this what we pray for in the Lord’s prayer when we pray:   “thy kingdom come, thy will be done”. It’s a 3-part prayer:

#1    we are first, turning our will over to God and recognizing that God is sovereign and almighty;

# , we are submitting to God’s will over our own because we have accepted that God is sovereign; and

#3   we are committing to work each day toward the reign of God, the kingdom, in our hearts and the world.

      Each day we have an opportunity to build a personal relationship with God. Our Gospel lesson today reminds us that the door to enter is narrow and the road is hard. Only those who truly know God enter. As we know in life, the road that leads to destruction is easy while the road that leads to life and the Kingdom is hard and the door narrow. Each day we have another opportunity to build a deeper relationship and reliance on God and God’s will in our life. Each day we have another opportunity to in our hearts to sit at that banquet table with God one day. So as they say, “don’t be a stranger”. Let God lead your life and your salvation journey so that one day you can feast with others at that messianic banquet table.

Sept. 2, 2007                                    Pentecost XIV

Ecclesiasticus 10: 12-18 , Psalm 112,   Hebrews 13: 1-8,   Luke 14: 1, 7-14

SERMON:                     

                                                                                                     Rev. Joyce Penfield

                                                                                                      Priest-in-Charge 

Have you ever been somewhere you felt totally invisible? For some reason you didn’t count. You were a non-entity to those around you for some reason. I’d like to share one person’s experience through a story.

    Once there was this little girl sitting by herself in the park. Everyone who came by passed by her. She looked sad as she sat in her pink dress, bare feet, and dirty body. But no one stopped as she sat there. She never tried to speak and she never said a word. No one stopped. One day a woman who had passed by decided to go back to the park, in curiosity, to see if the lil’ girl was still there. She was, right in the same spot. The woman decided to approach her and as she got closer she could see that the lil’ girl had a very scarred face. As she got closer to the girl, the lil girl lowered her eyes slightly. The woman sat down beside her and opened with a gentle, Hello. The lil girl seemed shocked and stammered a “Hi” after staring for a long time into the woman’s eyes. The woman smiled and the girl smiled back. They talked until darkness. The woman finally asked the girl why she was so sad and the lil girl looked at her with a sad face and said, “Because I’m different.” The woman replied, “That you are!” and smiled. The lil girl acted even sadder and said, “I know.” “Lil girl,” the woman said, “you remind me of an angel, sweet and innocent.” Slowly the lil girl got to her feet and said, “Really?” “Yes you’re like a Lil Angel sent to watch over all those people walking by.” And the lil girl shook her head, yes and smiled. With that she spread her wings and said, “I AM. I’m you’re guardian angel.” The woman was speechless and shocked. Was she seeing things? And then the lil girl made her point: “For once you thought of someone other than yourself, my job here is done.” Before she left, the woman jumped to her feet to ask, “Wait, so why didn’t anyone else stop to help an angel?” The lil girl looked at her and smiled, “You’re the only one that could see me,” and then she was gone.

     How easy it is for someone to feel invisible in the presence of a community or group! Have you ever had this experience? Maybe you’ve been in a foreign country or language setting totally by yourself. It can be a stressful situation and make you feel like a child, helpless, and maybe wanting to be invisible for awhile. It is refreshing to remind ourselves that when some gather and feel quite at home and part of a group, others may feel invisible or left out—strangers—because we pass them by or use words, symbols, names or references that remind them that they are outsiders. This is not the ethic or way that the Christian community is to live. We continue to show love and hospitality to strangers because Christ loves us and shows us that same visibility. We are in turn commanded to show it to others I our midst, especially in our parish life. We are exhorted to show a spirituality of graciousness and hospitality. This is a mark of the presence of Christ in our midst. That is what the writer of the book of Hebrews wanted to remind the Hebrew community of his day in our reading this morning: Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.  Sometimes our best intentions to live up to this ethic go astray. Perhaps no one intended to neglect to show hospitality to the lil girl in the park in our story, but she looked different. She didn’t seek THEM out. She wasn’t an extrovert. Maybe some people saw her but were afraid of her. Maybe others were just too busy to worry about someone who was silent anyway. And maybe still others went to the park to enjoy their friends or relatives and therefore didn’t notice anyone else around them. Fear of the different, fear of the future can derail us from showing hospitality to those who are vastly different from us.  Hospitality also involves learning to view a situation from the perspective of the other – the guest--- the stranger—the newcomer. This is hardest to do in those situations in which we are most familiar with and feel the most comfortable. But strangers and those things we fear or dread or don’t always understand bring the tension we need to change. That is often the very part that makes them angels for us. Discomfort can often be an invitation to grow into Christ’s love for the world. It can be a reminder that if we are trulyl following Christ, we are to care for the outcaste, the disabled, the prisoner, the poor, the hungry as Christ did. 

     Last year we began discussing some possible ways to reach out to the community, to invite in newcomers, and to increase our hospitality as a parish. At first we called this effort/committee Angels Unaware after the Hebrews scripture but soon it was humorously called the Fat Angels committee after a stained glass window image that was in the church and being put up on our new website.  As Christians we are called to follow the example of Christ to identify with the nobodies, to transgress class and race boundaries, to remember those in prison as though you were in prison with them. All of these are part of the ethic of humility and hospitality. How do they figure into our current decisions and discussions? How do they help us address fear of change, fear of the different, fear of this parish’s future? Where is Christ in our present and future? These are questions left for us as we respond to the command to “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. “

Sept. 9, 2007                                    Pentecost XIV

Deuteronomy 30: 15-20,  Psalm 1, Philemon 1-20,   Luke 14: 25-33