STAFFORD
+There’s an image from today’s readings that I just couldn’t shake all week. It’s from the Collect of the Day—reading, in part:
“Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure.”
I love the image of us running toward God.
What makes you run toward God? What draws you? What implores you to move toward, rather than away, from the Divine?
The truth for me is that I run toward God when my own way of doing things, my own best efforts, have failed and I find myself in a bit of a mess.
I think what stuck with me this week, a week when our country seems to be at war with itself, a week when the pain of so many was put on full display, is that God doesn’t want any of this for us, for the world. But God needs us to participate in making the changes needed to bring God’s promises to their fullness here on earth.
I think that’s what this collect is reminding us about---that God doesn’t just swoop in whenever God feels like it. No God waits for us to come forward, arms outstretched, ready to receive the grace, mercy, pity and promise of God.
Faith is a two-way street. God doesn’t want us to be passive receivers of God’s grace, God wants us to be active seekers of God’s Grace and then active purveyors of God’s love in our world.
When we fail to run toward God, when we fail to be eager seekers of God’s grace and love, when we insist that we can Do It Ourselves, we find ourselves in a mess.
And what a mess it is.
Watch the news, it seems as if all we do is yell at each other, insult each other, accuse each other, demean each other.
Look around, it’s as if life itself, that incredible gift bestowed upon each and every one of us by and through our loving, life giving and liberating God (PB Michael Curry), has become disposable in our world. Murder rates are high, mass shootings have become commonplace and intolerance? Well intolerance seems to permeate throughout our culture.
It’s not pretty, is it?
Why God hasn’t given up on us, why God hasn’t just turned that Divine back on us is beyond me. But here it is, right there is today’s Collect, God pours mercy upon us, God has pity for us, God loves us, God roots for us, God longs for us to accept the offer of grace upon grace, hope upon hope and love upon love.
I don’t know about you, but I need to hold onto this promise of God with all my might. I need to be washed in the fullness of God’s grace, I need to revel in the heavenly treasure, because left to my own devices, left to our own devices we will—we have---made a mess of our world.
OK, so I know this may not be the most uplifting sermon you’ve ever heard, but bear with me, for out of the darkness and despair of the world I see glimmers of hope. Right here. Right now. In Stafford NY
You se, you have the secret. We have the secret. We have the way forward, we know that in spite of the anger and the discord and the hopelessness displayed in our world we know there’s another way, a better way, the only way:
The Love and Peace of God as given to us by and through the person of Jesus Christ.
We know that God has hope for us, that God’s promise is possible. One kind act. One hopeful act, one dedicated, loving act at a time.
I know that here at St Paul’s money is tight, worries keep multiplying and that it can feel as if you are out here in this beautiful countryside alone. That if only someone from the diocese, or the wider church, or the latest church growth book would tell you how to fill these pews, balance your budget and lift the burden of worry off of you, all would be well.
The bad news is, I don’t have that. But what I do have is a story-- one I tell all the time. It’s story of what I witnessed here two years ago when I last visited. The details may not be wholly accurate but this is my memory:
During announcements someone stood up and said that the previous week they had passed the Methodist Church during their weekly free meal. The line was especially long because they didn’t have enough help. The man who announced that here said, “can’t we help our neighbors, help our neighbors? I’m going to be there next week, who else would like to join me?” One by one well over ¾ of you raised your hands.
It was one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen. You were asked, and your neighbors received.
That’s grace in action. That’s God’s promise being obtained, that’s partaking in the heavenly treasure of God. For the heavenly treasure is nothing more—and nothing less—than loving your neighbor as yourself. It’s what we’re called to do. Love God. Love Neighbor. And you exemplify it. Perfectly. Keep it up. Look for the dark places, the hurting places, the lonely places in your world and enter those places, with light, with love, with hope. I know you are burdened --how can you keep it all going? We struggle with this worry every single day at the Diocesan offices. And I know at times it’s hard to see the forest of Love among the tress of worry, but, my friends, you are changing this world through your acts of love. What you do does make a difference. Thanks be to God. Amen.
LEROY
+There’s an image from today’s readings that I just couldn’t shake all week. It’s from the Collect of the Day—reading, in part:
“Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure.”
I love the image of us running toward God.
What makes you run toward God? What draws you? What implores you to move toward, rather than away, from the Divine?
The truth for me is that I run toward God when my own way of doing things, my own best efforts, have failed and I find myself in a bit of a mess.
I think what stuck with me this week, a week when our country seems to be at war with itself, a week when the pain of so many was put on full display, is that God doesn’t want any of this for us, for the world. But God needs us to participate in making the changes needed to bring God’s promises to their fullness here on earth.
I think that’s what this collect is reminding us about---that God doesn’t just swoop in whenever God feels like it. No God waits for us to come forward, arms outstretched, ready to receive the grace, mercy, pity and promise of God.
Faith is a two-way street. God doesn’t want us to be passive receivers of God’s grace, God wants us to be active seekers of God’s Grace and then active purveyors of God’s love in our world.
When we fail to run toward God, when we fail to be eager seekers of God’s grace and love, when we insist that we can Do It Ourselves, we find ourselves in a mess.
And what a mess it is.
Watch the news, it seems as if all we do is yell at each other, insult each other, accuse each other, demean each other.
Look around, it’s as if life itself, that incredible gift bestowed upon each and every one of us by and through our loving, life giving and liberating God (PB Michael Curry), has become disposable in our world. Murder rates are high, mass shootings have become commonplace and intolerance? Well intolerance seems to permeate throughout our culture.
It’s not pretty, is it?
Why God hasn’t given up on us, why God hasn’t just turned that Divine back on us, is beyond me. But here it is, right there is today’s Collect, God pours mercy upon us, God has pity for us, God loves us, God roots for us, God longs for us to accept the offer of grace upon grace, hope upon hope and love upon love.
I don’t know about you, but I need to hold onto this promise of God with all my might. I need to be washed in the fullness of God’s grace, I need to revel in the heavenly treasure, because left to my own devices, left to our own devices we will—we have---made a mess of our world.
OK, so I know this may not be the most uplifting sermon you’ve ever heard, but bear with me, for out of the darkness and despair of the world I see glimmers of hope. Right here. Right now.
In LeRoy, NY.
You see you have the secret. We have the secret. We have the way forward, we know that in spite of the anger and the discord and the hopelessness displayed in our world we know there’s another way, a better way, the only way:
The Love and Peace of God as given to us by and through the person of Jesus Christ.
We know that God has hope for us, that God’s promise is possible. One kind act. One hopeful act, one dedicated, loving act at a time.
I don’t know who manages your Facebook page, but bravo! A couple of times a week I get a notice that St Mark’s has a new post and when I click on it I find God’s Love on display, in action, right here, right now. Whether it is a word of scripture, a beautiful photograph, the summer lunch program or an invitation to the community gathering at St Mark’s as you grapple with how engage in civil, loving, respectful discourse and active and open listening, St Mark’s is a beacon in this area of what our Presiding Bishop calls the Way of Love. The Way of Love, the Way of Christ, the Way of Light, the Way of God is a way of peace, a way of understanding, a way of respect…It is a way of Grace, a way of promise, a way of treasure. The answer to the problems which face most of the churches in this region, in this country, in this world is right here, among you. A willingness to tackle the tough issues, a willingness to reach out a helping hand, a willingness to bring dignity to every single human being in this area.
I know you are burdened by building issues, money issues, church growth issues. I know at times it’s hard to see the forest of Love among the tress of worry, but, my friends, one kind act at a time, one reach across the aisle at a time, one loving, life giving, and liberating act at a time you, the people of St Mark’s are running toward the promise of God. And for that we rejoice and thank our wondrous, awesome and grace-filled God. AMEN.
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