June 8, 2016

“Even we ourselves are subtle versions of our refrigerator door.”
A Table in the Desert: Making Space Holy, W. Paul Jones

It's taken me longer to get through this book than I had originally thought it would.  I still have about 40 pages to go.  But I've been interrupted here and there – Holy Week and Easter, and there was the seven-step discipleship series I just finished, to name a few.

This entire book revolves around the topic of holy spaces, where we find them and how we make them.  In this particular section, Fr. Jones discussed sacred spaces of religious buildings and where we find or make sacred spaces in the various spheres of our lives – home, work, school, church, car, and casket.  We have various personalities and traits and attitudes in each of those arenas, and it was in this context that he made the above quoted comment.

It originally struck me as funny as well as accurate; but the more I thought about it, the more I began to think that we are not just subtle versions of our refrigerator door, but versions of our refrigerators themselves.

Our refrigerator doors tend to be a display area for the proud artwork of a child or grandchild.  They hold photos of family and friends, both near and far.  They may display a photo or two of our favorite places.  Our refrigerator doors more often than not display the very best of our lives, images of which we are proud, that we want to show off to others, or that we want to be reminded.

Open those doors up, though, and we might find something else entirely.  Up front there's the usual food stuff we use on a regular basis – milk, juice, eggs, sandwich fixins, and dinner ingredients.  But dig a little deeper, go back a little farther, and you might run into the forgotten container of cottage cheese with a February “sell by” date, dinner leftovers from December that you wanted to eat for lunch, a moldy cucumber that got buried under other things and forgotten, or any number of ingredients that never got used because something came up or you just didn't have the time to prepare.  Take a look at the shelves and drawers and notice how many things have spilled that didn't get properly cleaned up.

We aren't just a version of our refrigerator door, we are a version of our refrigerator.  We put all the best stuff out where people can see it.  We show off all the goodness of our lives.  But if we open up the door, things aren't always as neat and tidy as we make them out to be.  Sure, there are things we get right and do well; but there are also things we intended to do but forgot, leaving it in back, untouched.  Or maybe there's a piece of us that was once wholesome and good, but we neglected it, so it sits deep inside of us, turning moldy or rotting away.

We aren't just a version of our refrigerator door, we are a version of our refrigerator.  What inside needs to be used more often?  What needs to be cleaned up?  What needs to be tossed out?  More importantly, what would it take to have our sometimes messy inside be more in line with the displayed goodness of our outside?

Amen.

June 1, 2016

I am continuing to examine the seven-step discipleship process that was originally published in 1934 by Forward Movement, and today we arrive at Step 7. As a reminder, the first six steps in this process were Turn, Follow, Learn, Pray, Serve, and (corporate) Worship.

The final step in this discipleship process is Share.

To share is, at its most fundamental level, offering what we have to others. In this process of discipleship, the act of sharing has two specific meanings.

The first can be considered as charitable acts – the sharing of our abundance and stuff with those less fortunate than ourselves. The gospels and epistles provide us with numerous examples of and admonitions to share food, clothing, and other resources with people in need. And there is no shortage of people in need and ways to reach them in our own community – from food banks and the people who rely on them to our own association with Ft. Vannoy Elementary School – we who have much have both the opportunity and obligation to share our abundance and stuff.

The second is the act of evangelism. Evangelism, as I've said many times before, is not standing out on the corner of 6^th & G accosting people with your big, floppy Scofield Reference Bible, or with free tickets to hell or heaven that a parishioner recently found in his coat pocket and gave to me this past Sunday (no, I'm not kidding; it's in my office and I'll show it to you if you ask). Going back to the original definition, evangelism is offering to share what we have with others. It's offering to share our faith. It's offering to share our traditions. It's offering to share the meal that is Holy Communion. We have an amazing faith, and we have a particular way of living out that faith, and those are things that need to be shared.

The act of discipleship is a life-long endeavor. As fallible humans, we have many (perhaps too many) opportunities to turn back to Christ. As a disciple, we need to put our trust in Christ and follow where he leads us. As disciples, we need to recognize that we don't know everything and are constantly challenged to learn. As people of faith, we need to deepen our bond with God and practice daily prayer. As disciples, we need to be open to serving, in the sense of answering a call to serve within the church and in our actively reaching out and serving others. As people of faith, we need to participate in corporate worship on a regular basis, because it is through this act that we participate with the whole host of heaven as well as developing relational ties among those who worship with us. And as apostles, we share both of our abundance and of our faith.

These are the seven steps of discipleship. I'm sure there are others, or that other actions can be added or substituted, but this is a good list from which to begin. Seven steps of discipleship. What do you do well? What do you need to work on? What hadn't you considered, but now seem drawn to?

I’ve talked about moving from discipleship to apostleship in recent sermons – may I suggest that that journey begins with seven steps.

Amen.

May 25, 2016

I am continuing to examine the 7-step discipleship process that was originally published in 1934 by Forward Movement, and today we arrive at Step 6.  As a reminder, the first five steps in this process were Turn, Follow, Learn, Pray and Serve.

Today we examine Worship.

In our baptismal covenant, we are asked, “Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?”

This question has to do with worship.  More importantly, only one of those things can be done alone – prayers.  All the rest – teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread – all happen corporately.  We learn together, we live together, we break bread together.  And while those things can be done in a variety of contexts (bible studies are not necessarily worship, neither are potlucks), there is a clear implication that worship is at the core of these activities.

I’ve heard many people tell me that they don't need church; they can, in fact, worship God just as well, or better, when they are up on a mountain, or by a river, or at the beach, or anywhere other than church.  I would argue that that really isn't worship.  What that is is more likely adoration of God, appreciation of God, thankfulness to God, idolization (in the best sense) of God, or even prayers to God, but it isn't worship.

Worship certainly involves all of those things, but worship is also more than those things.  Worship takes us on a journey of prayer and praise, meditation and vocalization, repentance to forgiveness, hunger to satiation.  And worship is done in community.  Visions of heavenly worship involve angels, archangels, cherubim, and Seraphim.  Our worship joins us with that heavenly chorus, as well as with prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and those in every generation in our unending hymn.  Worship is something we do together.

Together we sing.  Together we hear God speak to us.  Together we pray.  Together we acknowledge our sins.  Together we reiterate our beliefs.  Together we share the peace of God.  Together we share a meal.  Together we are sent out into the world to love and serve the Lord.  Worship is something no other social service agency or advocacy group does.

Our worship of God should be joyful.  I'm not saying we need to always be like those screaming Beatles fans you see in old clips, but we should certainly act like we want to be there.  In our worship, we should offer our best, our first fruits of our being, to our God and creator.  In our worship, we should see ourselves as actively participating with the whole host of heaven in that great mystery we call Holy Eucharist.

There's a reason that we worship in the morning on the first day of the week.  Our worship should reflect our desire to reflect the primacy of God in our lives.  Our worship should reflect our desire to come together in community to celebrate our relationship with God.  Our worship is important.

How do you see worship?

Amen.

May 18, 2016

I am continuing to examine the 7-step discipleship process that was originally published in 1934 by Forward Movement, and today we arrive at Step 5.  As a reminder, the first four steps in this process were Turn, Follow, Learn, and Pray.

Today we examine Serve.

This seems like a natural progression from the first four.  We have turned back to Christ, and we have committed to following Christ.  In that following we learn about discipleship and our relationship with God.  As we learn about those things, we pray daily (which also may develop over time as we may first pray for an easing of our circumstances, we begin to develop prayers for personal strength).

As we choose to Turn and Follow Christ, Learning to become better disciples, never forget that daily Prayer will help keep us grounded in our relationship with God.  And as we develop in our relationship with God, we (hopefully) will come to an understanding that that relationship is not just a quiet, spiritual experience between ourselves and God, but that that relationship is meant to actively involve God and others; which is one way of saying that our relationship with God requires us to Serve.

This thing we call discipleship is not a passive, indifferent, or uninvolved undertaking.  Discipleship calls us into some kind of action.  It calls us to be responsive.  It calls us to be involved.  It calls us to be those things in response to, or on behalf of, both God and those around us.

Discipleship in response to God is found in answering a call.  What is God calling you to do and be in the life of the Church?  How is God calling you to serve in the life of the Church?  Sometimes that's answering a call to ordained ministry, but we fall short if that's the only way we see to serve.  And we fall short if we only see the process of discernment as the process to ordained ministry.  Are you good with plants?  Maybe God is calling you to work with the Gardening Angels?  Are you good with numbers?  Myrna has hinted that it might be time for her to retire as treasurer, so a time of discernment to explore how your skills could serve the Church in that capacity would be helpful.  Singing, reading, quilting, and so many others are ways that you can serve God and the Church with the gifts you have been given.

Another way of serving is in relation to others.  This could be done in a myriad of ways – volunteering at the library, helping to serve lunches at St. Vincent de Paul's, running errands for parishioners who are confined to home, or helping your Senior Warden organize activities in the parish hall for the senior citizens of our town.  One of our biggest and longest running service projects has been our connection to FVES in providing snack packs and clothing.  When was the last time you helped fill up the food basket, or dropped off clothes in either the “New” or “Used” bin?

When we Turn back to God, when we Follow the ways and examples of Christ, when we Learn what Christ has to say about God and others, when we deepen our relationship with God through Daily Prayer, then it should come as no surprise that you are being called by God to Serve.

The question is this:  How are you answering that call?

Amen.

May 11, 2016

Continuing in the series of the 7-step discipleship process that was originally published in 1934 by Forward Movement, we come to step four.  As a reminder, the first three steps were to Turn, Follow, and Learn.

The next step in this discipleship process is Pray.

Prayer is a funny thing.  It's something that we are mandated to do (“Pray then in this way;” “Persevere in prayer;” “Pray in the Spirit at all times;” “Devote yourselves to prayer” as a few examples) in Scripture.  It is something that takes discipline.  It is something people are uncomfortable with.  It is something people feel they need to be taught how to do (“Teach us to pray”).

Prayer, in its most broad sense, is any raising of the heart to God.  It involves petition, intercession, and thanksgiving.  It involves a lot of listening.  It makes use of a variety of physical positions such as standing, upraised arms, kneeling, folded hands, and prostration (notice the position of the priest's hands and arms during the Eucharist prayer, for instance).  It can be spoken or silent.

Because of all that, I think people are reluctant to pray outside of church because they “might be doing it wrong.”  Of course, I could be wrong in that assessment, but I've had enough people ask me for help and strategies that I tend to think I'm correct.  Regardless, prayer seems to be one of those things that we all know we should do but either never have the time or are too unsure of how that it slips through the cracks of our busy lives.

Here are a few tips on praying:

Read the Psalms daily (the BCP groups the Psalms into “First Day: Morning Prayer,” “Fourteenth Day: Evening Prayer,” etc. through the thirty days of the month).  Daily Morning Prayer is offered Monday through Friday at 7:15 a.m. in the Chapel.  Read through the Noonday service on page 103 of the BCP.  Read through the Daily Devotions beginning on page 136 of the BCP.  Read the Order for Compline before bed (BCP 127).  Take a copy of the Prayers of the People home and pray daily for the people on our intercession list.  Pick up a copy of the Day-by-Day in the narthex.  Ask God every day, “What would you have me do?” and then sit in silence listening.  There are five sentences in the Lord's Prayer or, depending on how you do it, seven clauses: spend one day of the week focusing on each sentence or clause.

There are many ways, forms, and styles to prayer.  If you look through that short list I just provided you will notice one thing they all have in common – daily.  There is no “wrong way” to pray; but prayer, like exercise, works best if done daily.  To borrow a popular advertising slogan – Prayer: Just Do It.

As we choose to Turn and Follow Christ, Learning to become better disciples, never forget that daily Prayer will help keep us grounded in our relationship with God.

Amen.

May 4, 2016

Continuing in the series of the 7-step discipleship process that was originally published in 1934 by Forward Movement, we come to step three.  As a reminder, the first two steps were to Turn and Follow.  Which, by the way, makes complete sense if you think about it.

The third step in this discipleship process is Learn.

At the end of Matthew's gospel, Jesus commissions his followers to go and make disciples, to baptize and teach.  In other words, Jesus is commissioning his disciples to make more disciples.

A disciple is one who both follows and learns.  We are all followers of Christ by virtue of our baptism.  It was at our baptism that we, or people on our behalf, were asked, “Do you promise to follow and obey [Jesus] as your Lord?”  And we, or our sponsors, answered, “I do.”  So through our baptism, through our participation in the life of the church, and through our attempts to live as Jesus lived, we are followers of Christ.

But a disciple is also one who learns.  We begin learning at an early age, first by watching the world around us, then by imitating what we are seeing and hearing, and then by learning skills and concepts far beyond where we started.  Hopefully learning is a life-long endeavor.  How many of us, though, basically ended our religious education after fifth grade, or after our parents no longer forced us to attend Sunday school?  How many of us do not feel the need to learn anything new when it comes to our faith because, “That's the way we've always done it and God never changes?”

For us to become a disciple in the truest sense of the word, we need to spend time learning.  Christianity is like the ocean: if all you know of the ocean are the waves crashing onto the beach, you're missing out on more diversity and wonder than you can imagine.  There is more diversity and wonder in Christianity than you can possibly imagine, but you won't know about any of it unless you take the time to learn about it.

Take time to read the Bible regularly.  Delve into the Church Fathers and Mothers.  Read a commentary on your favorite biblical book.  Discover a new prayer practice.  Expand your knowledge of Christian music.  Attend Bible study between services.  Join the book group.  Submit an idea for an after-service forum, and then attend.  Order something from Forward Movement.  Become familiar with more than pages 355-365 of the BCP.  Learn about icons.  The list is endless and only limited by your imagination.

Discipleship is more than simply tagging along for the ride.  It takes effort and intentionality.  It requires us to not only follow, but to learn.  It can challenge us and make us uncomfortable, as well as reassure us and comfort us.  You are a disciple of Christ; what have you learned about your faith this week that you didn't know about last week?

Amen.

April 27, 2016

Last week I began writing on the 7-step process of discipleship that was originally published by Forward Movement in 1934 and presented to the clergy of the diocese.  The first step in the process is Turn.

The second step in this discipleship process is Follow.

Our turning to the Lord can take many forms.  We can be called by God to turn to a new life.  We can recognize our life's path is not what it should be, so we turn to something more productive.  We can recognize we have sinned in thought, word, or deed, and turn back to a godly life.  But once we turn, what then?  Left to our own devices, we will most likely find ourselves in the very same spot.

But if we turn and Follow, we're onto something.  To follow something or someone implies a few things.  First, implies making a conscience decision to let someone else take the lead.  If we are on a journey to an unknown location, or visiting a new city, we let someone who knows where they're going take the lead.

Another thing that following implies is trust.  Are we willing to trust the person leading us to get us to the right place?  Are we willing to trust that the person leading us won't lose us, either intentionally or unintentionally?  For those of you who have followed someone in a car, yellow lights can be particularly stressful.

A final thing that following implies is understanding.  When we are talking to someone, whether we are giving instructions, making an argument, or trying to teach something, the phrase, “Do you follow me?” comes up.  And when we follow, with our full and complete attention on who is leading, we can and do come to an understanding.  We understand how to get from Point A to Point B.  We understand the point someone is trying to make.  We understand how to better do the task we set out to learn.

But probably the most important thing to know about the word follow is that it is a verb.  It is an action word.  When we follow, we are doing something active.  When we follow, we are, or should be, fully engaged.  Now it is possible to follow without paying attention to where you're going, to “blindly follow” without being invested in the journey; but when we blindly follow, we run the risk of not learning anything about where we are going, the person leading us, or a new point of view.

As we go through our Christian journey, are we truly following Jesus?  Are we allowing him to take the lead in our lives?  Do we trust him to get us to the right place?  Do we trust that he knows the way better than us?  Are we being active in our discipleship?

These are, of course, only questions you can answer.  My prayer is that, as you turn to God from whatever is pulling you away, you will also follow Christ in an active way.

Amen.