Reclaim Christianity: August 27, 202

 Year A, Pentecost 12                              Matthew 16:13-20                                                                 

            I was recently talking to a friend who is not Christian, but is considering becoming a Christian.  While she believes in Jesus and gets a great deal from Christian worship, she is reticent to convert because of how her peers perceive Christianity.  She said, “People think Christians are judgmental and hypocritical.  I am just not sure I want to be associated with what people perceive as Christianity.”  Unfortunately this didn’t surprise me.  I have had Christians tell me that they no longer label themselves as Christian because they don’t want to be associated with Christians as a whole.  I even had a pastor tell me that recently.  What is interesting to me is that none of these people who don’t want to be labelled as Christian have a problem with Jesus, but they do feel the need to disassociate themselves from Christianity as a whole. 

            I get it. There have been many times when I have read an article or seen a post from a Christian that made me absolutely crazy.   It’s always the craziest Christians who get the most press or tend to project their message the loudest.  And this isn’t a recent phenomena.  People have done horrific things in the name of the Christian faith for almost as long as people have gone by the name Christian.  So what do we do about it? Do we find a new name? Do we just give up on organized religion?  Of course not.  Instead, let’s stop letting the minority define what Christianity is for the rest of us.  We also have to realign ourselves with the core aspects of our faith.  It’s so easy to get lost in the details or the things that we disagree on. You know the saying that the devil is in the details, I think that is absolutely true when it comes to organized religion. 

            Our Gospel reading tells us the very core, the essence of Christianity.  Jesus was in Caesarea Philippi when he asked the disciples who people said that he was. There were many theories—mostly that he was either a new prophet, or a legendary prophet like Elijah who had returned.  Then Jesus asked them—but who do you say that I am?  Peter, who always liked to have the right answer said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of living God.”  Clearly that was the right answer because Jesus replied to Peter, “Blessed are you…For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven…you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.”

 It’s easy to read these words and assume that Jesus has just proclaimed Peter to be the rock…which can be problematic given that only a few verses later Peter contradicts Jesus and Jesus calls him Satan.  What might make more sense is that it’s not Peter who is the rock…but the declaration that Peter made.  Peter had confessed Jesus to be the Messiah. That’s what we say in our creed every Sunday.  That is what we say in many parts of our liturgy. It is the foundation on which Christianity is built.  Jesus is the Messiah.   Do you know the word often used in place of Messiah---the Christ.  That is why we are called Christians---because we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ.  Are we really ready to give that up because a few people have made us look bad?

There are only two places in the Gospels where the word church is used, here and two chapters later in the same gospel.  It’s interesting that the place that Jesus first mentions the church is when Peter has acknowledged him for who he truly is.  The church carries the truth about who Jesus is.  At our best, we represent Christ to the world.  At our worst, we deviate so much from the message and identity of Jesus that we actually scare people away from using the word Christian. And in some ways that’s unfair.  The weight of the Christian identity should not be on our shoulders.

 It isn’t.  Peter’s proclamation that Jesus was the Messiah was declared to be the foundation of the church.  But look at all the ways that Peter messed up. He contradicted Jesus.  He denied him. He abandoned him.  Jesus never told him, “The church will only succeed if you can be a good example Peter.”  No, even when Peter confessed him to be the Christ, Jesus acknowledged that he didn’t get there by human wisdom or understanding.  He was able to see Jesus as the Messiah because his Father in heaven revealed it to him.  The Church and the Christian faith has survived thus far not because of the humans who are trying to follow Jesus, but because God wills it to be so.  We should always endeavor to be good Christians, to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world.  But we can stop thinking that we have to save the church or that we have to defend Christianity.  We have a savior and it’s Jesus, not us.

Do you know why it matters that this interaction with Peter happened in Caesarea Philippi?  Because this was the place where the Greek god Pan reigned.  The idea of the church was first introduced in hostile territory.   At that time and place, they were not surrounded by fellow Jews who were open to the message of Jesus. They were surrounded by idol worshippers.  Conflict was all around.  And it still is.  Yet neither Jesus or the early church tried to create culture wars.  Instead of focusing on who they were up against, they focused on spreading the Christian message, but not because they were trying to crush some else’s message.   They felt that they held a story that was filled with love and compassion, a story that would transform the lives of so many.  So through conflict and persecution, they held on to the message of Jesus Christ---not because he was a good guy—not because he was a prophet.  But because he was and is the Messiah, the son of the living God.

And that is what I hope you at St. John’s can focus on in the coming months.  You are not defined by the clergy.  You aren’t even defined by the Episcopal Church or the long history of St. John’s.  You are defined by Jesus, the son of the living God.  It’s going to be tempting to get lost in the details of the transition and feel anxious about what may or may not be.  But remember that each one of you is equipped with the message of Jesus Christ.  Don’t stop spreading that message because you don’t have a rector.  This is your time to be the church.  Remind yourselves of how amazing it is to be Christian and be louder and more persistent than the people who are distorting the message of Jesus Christ.   Don’t ever be ashamed of being a Christian. Just keep your focus on the love of God in Christ Jesus. If we can do that, the gates of Hades will not prevail against us.  That means, not even death can defeat our faith and our church.  Who are we?  We are Christians.

Don't quench the Spirit: December 17, 2017

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24                                                
Yea B, Advent 3                                                                      

            One of the things I have enjoyed about being the parent of a toddler is imagining all of the things that he might become.  When he jumped off the couch and landed on his feet I thought, he is going to be a famous gymnast.  When he said his first full sentence, I decided he was most certainly going to be a Rhodes Scholar. When he played something on the piano that kind of sounded like something resembling a song, I reminded myself to look up when Mozart started playing the piano because there was a chance that Joshua could be a savant.  It’s fun thinking of all of these possibilities.  At some point, he might tell me he hates the piano and I will cross “next Mozart” off the list.  But right now, he could be anything. 

I remember a time when I was absolutely convinced I would be a senator.  There was no doubt in my mind that I could accomplish whatever I wanted.  And I hope that most of us have some memory like that, a time when anything was possible.  While I was thinking about all of this, I tried to remember the moment when I realized that not everything was possible…or that some or many of my dreams would not be realized.  I don’t think it was any one moment.  It was just a jumble of realizations, some of them painful, some of them enlightening.  I think part of what forms us, what makes us who we are is how we deal with the failures and rejections in life. 

It’s like we are born with a flame.  At first there is a flicker/a spark.  It grows and provides light and a little heat.  Then a couple of things can happen. 

1.      It continues to burn, but goes through different phases. Sometimes it flickers and seems like it is about to extinguish. Sometimes it grows so big it seems like it will burn the whole place down.  It never dies, but sometimes it may seem like it will.

2.      Or it could be a flame that stays sheltered.  It is steady and unchanging, but can only grow so much. 

3.      Or, it is a flame that rises to a certain height and then appears to be smothered, until all you see is embers.

We are these flames. Either we experience success and failure and keep burning through it all.  Or, we stay safe and controlled, not taking much risk.  Or we burn and then something or someone quenches our fire.  The flame ends in ash. The dream dies.  The Spirit is quenched.

            That line from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians captured me when I was initially reading these texts.  I keep coming back to it, “Do not quench the Spirit.” Paul was talking to new Christians.  This letter to the Thessalonians is the oldest books in the New Testament.  It was written before the Gospels, less than 20 years after Jesus ascended to heaven.  As you came imagine, there was a great deal of fervor in the new community.  There was passion for Jesus and all that he had taught.  They believed in this new movement despite the fear of persecution.   They knew that they could be stoned for worshipping Jesus. This fledgling Christian community was surrounded by people who thought this Jesus thing was just a passing fad, another little cult that would end with that generation. 

In addition to this fervor and passion, these new Christians experienced doubt and fear as well. They had expected that Jesus would return in their lifetime. As people in their community died, they got worried.  What happened if Jesus didn’t come back?  Even Paul had expected Jesus to come back in his lifetime. Thus as the years went by and Jesus did not return, the fervor and the passion that had carried these new Christians wavered.  It was a scary place to be….this in-between place. Despite the fear and the doubt, they held on.  Paul continued to support them and reassure them.  They lived in hopeful expectation. But the longer they waited the less hopeful they were. 

            While we cannot be sure what was happening, it is evident from this letter that Paul was concerned for them.  Otherwise he would not have felt that he had to remind them not to quench the Spirit.  We assume that Paul was talking about the Holy Spirit, but I think it was more than that---at least more than how we perceive as the Holy Spirit.  For most of us, we see the Holy Spirit as something outside of us.  On our good days we see it as something that may inspire and guide us. Other days, we forget about the Holy Spirit entirely. 

But let’s assume for a minute that for the early Christians, the Holy Spirit was part of them.  It was the flame that I spoke of in the beginning of my sermon.  It was the flame that drove them through life. When it was quenched, when it was extinguished, then everything was quenched.  Without it, they were walking in the dark with no light to guide them.  Therefore, it was critical that the Holy Spirit not be quenched.

While we tend to relegate the Holy Spirit to Pentecost and ordinations, the Holy Spirit is part of us.  It is no coincidence that there is a preponderance of candles in churches.  They are not just for aesthetic purposes. The flames serve as reminders of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  They also represent the light of Christ.  The Holy Spirit is what sustains that light within each of us.  We do not have to worry when Jesus will come again, because we have this guiding light at all times.  We have a light that not only shines outwardly, but one that burns within each of us.

Here is the thing about the light of Christ or the flame of the Spirit.  No matter how hard we try to quench it, we can’t.  We can cover it up.  We can try to hide it.  We can ignore it.  But we cannot extinguish it.  Despite that, wouldn’t it be better if we fanned the flames instead of quenching them? Wouldn’t it be better if we tended to the flame in each one of us and one another? 

Much of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians is about how to be a Christian community. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances…” All of our hopes and dreams might not be realized.  Some of us, many of us, will have moments when the flame within us will feel more like ash than flame…which is why we have one another to fan the flames.  We are here to be inspired and to inspire.  After Christmas, we will move the Advent wreaths back into our closets or attics, but that doesn’t mean that the light is gone; it just comes in different forms.  When the darkness seems like it will overcome us, try to imagine the light within you.  If that is too hard, find a candle to remind you that there is always light—the Spirit cannot be quenched. 

Body of Christ: January 24, 2016

Year C, Epiphany 3                                                             

1 Corinthians 12:12-31                                                                      

            In my junior year of college, I studied in Italy.  I was living in Florence, but had several opportunities to visit Rome.  I was able to attend one of the Wednesday papal audiences.  It was in a huge auditorium with thousands of people from all around the world.  The pope, John Paul the II, spoke in several languages and the Bible was read in several languages. The energy in the room was powerful.  Part of it was the presence of the pope, but part of it was all the Roman Catholics in one room singing, praying, and rejoicing.  It was one of the most profound religious experiences of my life and one of the reasons that it was so hard for me to leave the Roman Catholic Church.  What I loved about the Church was that I was part of some bigger and I knew that almost wherever I went in the world, I would be able to find a Catholic Church to worship in.

            Then I took my first class at seminary in Episcopal history.  That was where I learned that we are part of something bigger…this thing called the Anglican Communion.  We are part of a communion that covers  165 countries and we have our roots in the Church of England.  What appealed to me about the Anglican Communion was that there was a relationship, but not the same kind of hierarchy as in the Catholic Church.  Each country celebrates their faith in a different way, yet we share the same history and very similar liturgies.  This is an overly simplistic depiction of the Anglican Communion and I will talk about it in greater detail in our adult forum next Sunday, but this covers the basics.

            For this reason and others, I, like others, found it very distressing when the primates of the Anglican Communion reprimanded the Episcopal Church last week.   Many news outlets have reported it as: “The Episcopal Church gets kicked out of the Anglican Communion for approving same sex marriage.”  This is not accurate, but we have been reprimanded and this is not the first time. We were called out in 2003 after consecrating an openly gay bishop and we never resolved that difference of opinion.  It’s not that the Episcopal Church didn’t care that there was now tension in the Anglican Communion, we just were not willing to make a compromise.  We believed, and still believe, that while we have this common heritage and this relationship, we also have differences.  I would contend that those differences are not a bad thing.  If handled well, they can make us stronger.

            When Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians, there were not multiple Christian denominations.    There was a group of people who had been inspired by Jesus and his followers.  They believed that Jesus was the Messiah and that he had died for them and was resurrected.   Yet this does not mean that they did not have divisions.  Their divisions were not between large groups, but individuals.  Their divisions were often based on things like class and ethnicity. 

Previously, people who worshipped together shared more than merely a way of worshipping.  They were in the same social class, the same ethnicity, sometimes the same family.  When Jesus came along, he opened God’s love to everyone.  As Paul said, “It was in one Spirit that all of us, whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, were baptized into one body.  All of us have been given to drink of the one Spirit.”  The Christian Church became a montage of people who would never normally spend time together…but there they were in the same room, sharing a meal together and drinking out of one common cup.  What Paul was saying was revolutionary.  Today that would be like putting together senators and homeless people with mental challenges—tea party members and Bernie Sander’s campaigners--vegans and strict adherents to the paleo diet.  That would be an interesting church! 

            Paul even went further.  He wasn’t simply telling people to look past their differences, but to honor those differences.  Now we consider diversity to be something that we somehow find a way to live with.  Paul was saying that this diversity was God ordained.   This glorious montage was God’s gift to the church.  I am not just talking about diversity in terms of ethnicity (although that is a very important topic) but diversity in all things--how we think, how we live, even what our gifts are.  One of the things that the Corinthians were arguing about was what gifts were most important.  Paul was saying that all the gifts were important, that we needed all of these people with these different gifts to work together.  Furthermore, we needed to honor each of these gifts because they were gifts given by God.

            Paul used the metaphor of the body.  This was not a new metaphor.  Previously the metaphor had been used to describe the hierarchy of a community.  Even today, we use that same language.  The leader of a group is the head of the group.  Paul was not using the body to describe how the community was organized, but how the community worked together…how they were in relationship with one another.   The toe never seems like a big deal until you break a toe….and then you remember that toe and how important it is with every step you take.    Recently I had a problem with one of my teeth, which messed up my jaw and then gave me a two week headache, which made it a lot more tempting to procrastinate writing my sermon.   Small parts of the body can make a really big difference in how we live our life.  It is the same with a community of people.  When one member of the community is upset, it can affect the whole group.   When one person is ostracized, we lose part of what make us beautiful.

            One of the things our new Presiding Bishop likes to talk about is the Jesus Movement.  He tells us that we (the Episcopal Church) need to be part of the Jesus movement.    That transcends politics.  It transcends denomination.  It transcends everything.  But here is the thing about the Jesus movement…there is movement involved. And we all know that for a body to move, it has to have all its parts working together.  When the Anglican primates sanctioned the Episcopal Church, they also said something that the news’ outlets are not reporting.  They said that we will continue to walk together…side by side.  There will be times when we find that we are too different to walk as one, but as long as we are a part of the Jesus movement, then we must find a way to walk side by side. 

            Some of you might be wondering how this relates to us at St. John’s.  We are not as diverse as we could be, but I guarantee that  if you were to poll the people here in this church, you would find that we all have different back grounds and a wide variety of opinions.  Even when it comes to what is happening in the church, there will be some things we might never agree on.  That is not a challenge to overcome. It is a gift that has been given to us.  It is an opportunity to model for the rest of the world how different people can still find ways to worship  together, to have fellowship together, to communicate. There will be moments when we do not always feel as though we are moving as one body.  The knee might be mad at the thigh because it’s not doing enough, the ear might be irritated by the mouth it just won’t stop talking.   Yet we cannot give up.  Because on Sunday morning, we all come to this altar table and we share the same bread and drink from the same cup.   We pray that we can find a way to love one another not despite of our differences but because we are different.