1 Peter
2.1-5,Matthew 21.12-16
+ Ten years ago next Friday—September
14, 2008—I sat down with the congregation of St. Stephen’s to be interviewed to
be their new Priest-in-Charge.
Ten years!
It’s hard to believe.
For a moment, let’s go back 10
years. Let’s go back to 2008. On that Sunday back then, St. Stephen’s looked a
bit different. This was the days before our stained glass windows, before our
current altar rail, before there were frontals on the altar, before there was a
Peace Pole or a Memorial Garden.
On that Sunday, for that
congregational meeting, we had 25 people in church, which was just above the
Average Sunday Attendance of 24. Our church membership on that Sunday was 55
members. We actually have well over the
total membership number then this morning here in church.
At that meeting, I sat down to
answer questions about what I would do as Priest-in-Charge of St. Stephen’s. I
remember one of the questions I was asked was:
“Do you call before you make a visit
or do you just show up?”
I said, “I always call and make an
appointment first.” Which seemed to be the right answer.
At the end of the meeting, I then
asked the congregation a question. I asked,
“If you agree to have me, what do
you want as a congregation? What are your goals?”
There was some very serious thought
before someone offered, “We want to grow.”
And someone else added, “We want
families.”
And someone else, “And children.”
And I said, “We all can do those
things together.”
I must’ve answered correctly because
on September 17, 2008, I was called to be the Priest at St. Stephen’s. I officially began my duties on October 1,
2008.
Well, here I am, ten years later. It
has been an incredible ten years for me.
When I think about where we were and
compare it to where we are right now—it’s stunning. We have done some great
things together in these ten years! And,
let me tell you, it is against the odds—well, depending on whose odds you might
be listening to.
As we hear people go on and on about
the demise of the Church, about how churches are dying—and some of them are—we have
bucked the odds.
We have grown.
We have flourished.
And we can continue to do so.
We are this strange, quirky,
spiritual lightning bolt of a church that continues to draw people.
And for that we are thankful on this
Dedication Sunday.
For us, on this Sunday, we take
stock of where we have been and where we are going. And we take stock of what
it means to be this congregation. And what it means to love God, to love others
and to follow Jesus.
In fact, that following Jesus part
of it came up this past week.
Earlier this past week, our very own
Annette Morrow, commenting on a little of weird injustice in the larger Church,
asked me, in response to this particular injustice:
WWJD?
Which we all know means, What would
Jesus do?
Even though it has become a kind of
tired slogan, which we find on bracelets and necklaces, it still is an
important question to ask ourselves. What WOULD Jesus do in the face of blatant
hypocrisy in the Church and the world? And
most people seem to think they know that answer.
For many people, WWJD means turning the
other cheek.
It means being compliant (which, I
most certainly do not believe, Jesus would be or do).
For some it means, don’t stir the
waters.
For some it means respecting those
in authority and sitting quietly in our place.
For some it simply means being a
peaceful, loving person. Which is very true. That is what J would D.
And before you think that means he
was compliant, I would like to share
this. My cousin David shared this with me this past week:
I want to stress emphatically this morning:
WWJD does not mean being compliant. Not
at all.
Sometimes, yes, we turn our cheek. And
in doing so we are defiant.
Sometimes we take the shirt off our
back and give it the one who asks.
But sometimes…sometimes…we turn over
tables and drive moneychangers from the Temple. Sometimes we cry out and name
the hypocrites and we call them for what they are. We call them “vipers” and we
say “no more!” That also is what J would D. And that is what we are called to
do sometimes as well.
And that certainly is what have been
called to do sometimes here at St. Stephen’s throughout our history. And that
is what we will do again and again. Especially when we see injustice and
inequality and hypocrisy.
Now some are made uncomfortable by
that.
Good!
We should be uncomfortable about
that. We should be uncomfortable about our Gospel reading today. It should make
us uncomfortable to see someone—Jesus himself—turning over tables and driving
people from the Temple. That is what it
means to follow Jesus.
But, at no point, in our following
of Jesus, are we mean to simply lie down and take it. At no point in the
gospels are we told to do that. And we at St. Stephen’s will not ever do that. Not
while I’m here. And not while many of you are here either.
What matters here is what we do and
how we do it and why we do it. What matters here is what are we doing to make
this world better to make the Kingdom of God more and more of a reality in this
world.
It’s important for us on this
Dedication Sunday to be reminded of those things that make us a bit different
than other congregations. I don’t mean
that in a smug, self-congratulatory way. Celebrating our growth and all the things God
has granted to us does not allow us to be arrogant or full of ourselves. It is
a time to be humble and to humbly thank God for these many, wonderful
things. And it is important to examine ourselves in a
humble way, a way in which we all find ourselves grateful to God and to each
other for bringing us here, to this place, in this time and in this wonderful,
holy moment.
As followers of Jesus, we have found
something in this congregation that we haven’t necessarily found elsewhere—at
least in this particular way. For us,
who call ourselves members of St. Stephen’s, we know that something unique and
wonderful is happening here and has been happening for some time—sixty-two
years, in fact. And all we can do in the
face of that happening is give thanks God and to continue to do what we are
called to do as followers of Jesus. And we do those things well.
For example, our radical hospitality
to those who come to us.
Our amazing sense of welcoming all
people as beloved and accepted children of God within this congregation—no
matter who they are or what they are.
Our commitment to service beyond
these walls.
Our commitment to the sacraments and
to the Word.
Our strong sense that our collective
lives as followers of Jesus are centered on the celebration each week of the
Holy Eucharist and the hearing of the Word of God in scripture.
These are all things that make us
who we are as a congregation here at St. Stephen’s. And they are things that, together, are,
sadly, rare in many churches. This is
why people are finding us. This is why
people seek us out.
God’s Holy Spirit dwells here. I
have heard so many people who come in those doors say to me, “Yes, we feel it!
We feel that Spirit dwelling here.” That Spirit of God is here, permeating
these pews, these walls, these windows, this altar, but most of all, permeating
us.
You and me.
Each one of us.
That Spirit is here dwelling within
us.
As we all know—as we all strive and
continue to work to make the Kingdom of God a reality in our midst—it is not
easy to do anything we have done together as a congregation. It has
not been easy to get to this point in our collective lives here at St.
Stephen’s. There have been set-backs. There have been trip-ups. There have been frustrations. But, that’s all part of the journey.
We, as followers of Jesus and more
specifically, as members of St. Stephen’s, are called here to be, in the words
of St. Peter from our epistle this morning, “living stones.” We are called to
be living stones—living stones that can be built into a true spiritual home, a
royal priesthood of not just believers but do-ers. We are called here at St. Stephen’s to
proclaim all that God has done for us here and in our lives. We, as living stones, are called to be
building up a new church. We are, by our
very existence, showing that something is about to change.
The Church—capital C—the larger
Church—is changing. That Church that was
a close-minded ivory tower of repressive views regarding such issues as
misogyny and homophobia and special privilege, is dying rapidly. And we all know it. We are all sensing it. God is letting us know that a Church built on
anything other than love and acceptance is not the Church of God.
Essentially that dying Church turned
away from the Gospel of Jesus. That
Church turned away from Jesus, who commanded his followers to love and love
radically and to accept and accept radically.
We are the prophets to the larger Church.
We are the ones who are saying, THIS is
the future of the Church. We are the
living stones building up that new Church. We are called to be the Church—a Church in
which love and acceptance prevail. We are
called to embody God’s love and acceptance. We are called to follow Jesus, even
if that means we turn over tables and call out hypocrites.
This is the Church in which Jesus’
message of love and acceptance is held up and lived out. This is the Church that is striving pave the
way for that Kingdom of God in which radical love and full-acceptance reigns,
to break through into our midst
It is not easy to do. It is daunting. And it is frightening at times.
But those words of St. Peter are
ringing in our ears.
We are God’s people.
We are receiving mercy. And we are in
turn are sharing that mercy with others.
So, let us be those living stones
building up a new and powerful church. Let us,
on this Dedication Sunday, do what we have been doing for 62 years. Let us embody that God whom we love. Let us continue to spread that Gospel of all-encompassing,
all-embracing love and acceptance in all we do here.
The future for us is bright. It is unlimited. But we have to make it a reality. We have to strive forward. We have to labor on. We have to break down those barriers of
hatred, and fear and isolation and marginalization so that God’s Kingdom can
bloom in our midst.
We see it happening, here at St.
Stephen’s. We see what the future of St.
Stephen’s and the larger Church really is. We see it when we live into that calling of
Jesus.
So, let us be living, breathing,
strong stones. That is the future. And,
let me tell you, it is a glorious one!
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