January 25, 2023

One thing have I asked of the LORD; one thing I seek;*  that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life – Ps. 27:5

Psalm 27 is one of my favorite psalms. It talks of how the Lord protects the psalmist from his enemies. It longs for the day when the psalmist can dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. It speaks of how the Lord will sustain the psalmist in times of trouble.

When I have found myself in times of trouble or distress or discomfort, I have often turned to this psalm for strength and comfort.

There are times when Verse 5 is more on point than other times. Sunday mornings when I arrive before anyone else and the church is quiet, with the morning sun streaming through the Resurrection Window, I will sit for a minute and think, “I would love to dwell in this house all the days of my life.”

Christmas Day is another time where Verse 5 stands out. It's the first service after the Christmas Eve Mass, it's quiet, and the faint scent of incense is still hanging in the air. In that moment the nave looks and smells like I imagine what the throne room of God looked like to Isaiah (Is. 6:1-4) or John (Rev. 4).

Verse 5 stands out for me every Sunday morning when we are gathered as the people of God and we join our voices with angels and archangels as we sing, “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.”

The flip side of this verse is not only a desire to dwell in the house of the Lord for ever, but a desire to escape. In reading this psalm there is a plea from the psalmist to have God remove him from the troubles of the world. That desire to escape the troubles of the world has been around a long time. It shows up in this psalm. It shows up at the Transfiguration when Peter says to Jesus, “Let us build three dwellings: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” It shows up today when people have built a whole religion around the rapture.

But we are not called to escape this world. Jesus never called his disciples to follow him into the desert and disappear. The rapture is a theological fantasy developed by misunderstanding scripture. Jesus didn't let Peter build those dwellings, and they all had to go down the mountain into the midst of people.

Later in Ps. 27 the psalmist writes, “You speak in my heart and say, “Seek my face.”* Your face, LORD, will I seek.”

May we always remember that our faith is not calling us to escape from the world, but to live in the world while continually seeking the face of God.

January 18, 2023

In the gospel reading from this past Sunday we heard John's version of how the disciples connected up with Jesus. In the synoptics (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee when he comes across Simon Peter & Andrew and James & John and basically says, “Get out of your boat and follow me.”

In the Fourth Gospel, however, we are given a different scenario. In this gospel we see John the Baptist and some of his disciples sort of hanging out when John says, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” and his disciples, one of whom is Andrew, follow after Jesus. Jesus invites them to come see where he is staying, and then Andrew goes and rounds up his brother Simon Peter to also come along.

In her sermon this past Sunday, Dcn. Sue talked about the revelation of when, where, and how we see Jesus. She also recalled some of her own call story into ministry. In that story she said it was her pastor at the time who invited her to step out of her comfort zone and, with the help of a young teenage boy, write the prayers of the people for their worship service.

In her story her pastor was playing the part of Andrew. He, like Andrew, was someone who was already following Jesus when he invited someone else to come along.

I think that sometimes we can get so focused on the synoptic version of being called to discipleship that we forget about John's version of being called to discipleship. What I mean is, we hear any number of call stories and assume it's Jesus who is calling us. After all, there are plenty of scriptural references to that, such as the calling of the disciples I've already mentioned, or where we read that God or Jesus called someone, as well as hymns (Jesus calls us o'er the tumult of our life's wild restless seas). We hear these stories or hymns and we automatically think, “Jesus calls out to all of us directly.” That leads us to maybe think that if we don't hear Jesus we aren't being called.

I'm not saying that's not true, but what I am saying is that sometimes call stories (Dcn. Sue's and Peter's from Sunday's gospel, for instance) take another avenue. Sometimes those call stories happen because someone pointed someone else in the right direction. For Dcn. Sue it was her pastor. For Simon Peter it was Andrew.

The point is this: The Season of Epiphany is all about revelation. It's all about finding out who Jesus is. It's all about seeing the light. The season started when the wise men followed the star to the Holy Family's house. Then we heard about the baptism of Jesus and the voice and descending dove. Sunday we heard Andrew being point to Christ by John the Baptist and then pointing his brother to Christ.

In this Season of Epiphany, let us remember that Christ calls to everyone in a variety of ways, and sometimes that involves us inviting others to follow along with us. Don't forget to help point out Christ to others wherever you may find him.

Todd+

January 11, 2023

Frantic, frenetic, and constant chaos. We do not have enough chocolate in the building to help.

That pretty much sums up the month of January.

We are preparing for the annual meeting. People are writing and sending in reports. Ballots are being mailed both physically and electronically today. The annual report is being produced in stages as we receive reports.

The Search Team for our next Minister of Music has been working hard with interviews, checking references, planning to meet candidates in person, and everything else associated with process.

We are reaching out to a variety of different contacts and resources in our ongoing effort to replace Katherine as our treasurer.

It seems there are a multitude of people working to plan and organize the festivities associated with Mark King's final Sunday.

Mark and I have worked to plan ahead so our interim organist, Brenda Weiser, can focus on providing quality music during this time. We're also working ahead so that our hopefully newly-called Minister of Music will have an easy transition.

In addition to all of that, Mark is working on sorting, cleaning out, and moving 28-years of office stuff.

And lest I forget Melonie, in addition to her regular duties she is also caught up in all of the extra activities mentioned above. Her desk often looks like someone turned her drawers upside down and scattered the contents all over the office; but at the end of the day she's managed to put everything back where it belongs.

Things here are frantic, frenetic, and in constant chaos. I think we need more chocolate.

At this time of the year, and this year in particular, I am grateful for those moments I can slow down, put all of the chaos and stress to the side, breathe, and spend some time with God. For me this comes when I end the day in the South Transept and pray Evening Prayer. It comes on Wednesday at 12:15 when I escape out of the office into St. Mary's Chapel for the midday/mid-week Eucharist. And it comes every Sunday when, for about 2-1/2 hours I worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; a time when I hear the readings, pray the Psalm, join with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven as we sing, “Holy, holy, holy Lord . . .” and especially a time when I have the privilege and honor of administering Holy Communion.

There are times when things are frantic, frenetic, and in chaos. There are times when you don't have enough chocolate to cope. But hopefully, in the midst of all that frenzy, you have a time a place to sit, breathe, slow down, and be with God.

“Be present, O merciful God, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life may rest in your eternal changlessness.”

January 4, 2023

Jesus said to Thomas, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6

Today is the 11^th Day of Christmas and the above citation from John is the first verse of the Gospel reading appointed for today.

This is one of those verses that often gets misused by Christians.

It gets used to prove how right they are and how wrong other people are. It gets used to condemn people to hell. It gets used to denigrate and devalue other religions and the people who follow them. It gets used in a decidedly unloving way, thereby being completely opposed to the message of love found in John's gospel and letters.

As I said in my sermon this past Sunday (the Feast of the Holy Name) and in Soundings, “The name of Jesus is holy and powerful because he was the one who gave us the example of what it means to live in complete unity with God.”

As Christians we believe Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, Son of God, and the Word incarnate. Jesus gave us the perfect example of what it means to live in unity with God. Therefore, following Jesus is following him in the way to the Father. Following Jesus allows us to live into the truth of God. Following Jesus gives us the life God intended from the beginning of creation. It is in following Jesus that we embark on the way, live into the truth, and are given life. We come to the Father by following Jesus and living into his example.

I think everyone would be much better off if Christians of all stripes spent more time following the way of Christ and living into his example rather than condemning people who are different and beating them over the head with the cross in an effort to correct their wayward ways and win converts.

As we come to the close of the Christmas season, maybe the best gift we can give God is not how many converts we notch on our bibles but is our willingness to follow the path of Jesus in all we do, pointing the way to the truth of God by how we live.

Merry Christmas,

Todd+