e-piphanies

God in Three Persons

 

The doctrine of the Trinity was developed by the Church centuries ago in an attempt to help explain the nature of God.  For many people, the doctrine raises as many questions as it answers.

Several years ago when I was rector of Galveston’s Trinity Episcopal Church, a local news organization sent a photographer to cover an event we were having.  After the event, which was held on the sidewalk in front of the church, she followed me back inside the building and asked if she could talk with me for a few minutes.  I told her I would enjoy the opportunity.

She then told me that she had not been inside a church since she was eleven years old.  (I secretly guessed that would have been about thirty years earlier.)  It seems her family was attending a church in Florida at the time and she had an experience in Sunday School that was the reason she decided to stay away from churches.

The Sunday School lesson concerned the Trinity.  After listening to the teacher talk about the Trinity, she asked, “How can one God be three persons?  It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

The teacher and the other children laughed at her.  She never went back.

I expressed my sadness about that incident and told her that in our Church we had a Sunday School program for children called Godly Play and that children were encouraged to ask questions.  In fact, our teachers and our children are taught that every question deserves to be heard respectfully.


Since we were standing in Trinity Church beneath the beautiful window with the traditional symbol that has long been associ-ated with the doctrine, I asked her if I she would permit me to respond to her long-unanswered question.  She said she would appreciate that.

I said, “You are someone’s daughter, right?”  “Yes,” she answered.  “Do you have siblings?”  She told me that she had a brother and a sister.  “So, in addition to being a daughter, you are a sister, correct?”  “Yes, she replied.”  I asked if she had a husband and she told me that she did, so I said, “Then, besides being a daughter and a sister, you are also a wife.”

All of a sudden her eyes lit up and she exclaimed, “But I’m still me!  I’m one person but I have different roles in the lives of other people.  That must be what the Church is trying to say in describing God as Trinity.”

We talked on and discussed several other analogies for understanding God, the holy and undivided Trinity.  I assured her we can never fully comprehend the majesty and mystery of God.  Our doctrines are truth in the sense that they represent the best we can do as we reach for the Truth. 

In the end, I believe she had finally gained an appreciation for this doctrine that had been a source of embarrassment and anger for so long.  But, even more, I believe she found some peace that day in her relationship with God, her creator, redeemer, and sustainer.

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. The image above is the Trinity Window in Trinity Episcopal Church, Galveston, Texas, one of the oldest stained glass windows in Texas.

Sermon at Calvary Church ~ May 27, 2012

Pentecost B

 

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Strategies for Summertime Spirituality

The month of May is almost over.  Memorial Day signals opening of swimming pools, buzz cuts for boys, weekday outings to museums and zoos, homemade ice cream, watermelon season, an upswing in agricultural enterprises, and the beginning of summer vacations.  We also start the summer slump in churches across America, with a decline in attendance and anxious messages from church treasurers about cash flow because offerings go down when the people are not there.

Our culture has declared how things are supposed to work between Memorial Day and Labor Day and that’s that.  The Church tends to conform to the culture.  Whatever happens during the rest of the year, in the summer, we are both in and of the world.

On several occasions, I have tried to counteract the summer slump and had little success.  Call me a die hard, but I’m going to try again.  Any success at all is better than none when it comes to reminding God’s Holy People what our relationship with the world is supposed to be.  

St. Paul put it this way, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).  Jesus called his followers to be light and salt and leaven in the world (Matthew 5 and 13).  Light, salt, and leaven are agents of transformation – light dispels darkness, salt adds flavor, and leaven causes the dough to rise.  When the agents of transformation are present, things are no longer the same. Through our prayers and our lifestyle, we are God’s change agents.

With that in mind, I have a few suggestions for how to enjoy summertime while still fulfilling our sacred purpose.

•  Maintain the spiritual discipline of worship.  If you are home on Sunday morning, your presence in worship with your community of faith helps keep the emphasis on God, both for you and for your fellow worshipers.  When you are there, you are making a statement – a witness – that God’s reign in your life is not suspended just because it is summertime. Vacationers may be visiting your church while you are out of town. You may also use the time in worship to contemplate the different things you are doing/seeing/experiencing during the summer. What about those mountain majesties where you hiked?  What might God have had in mind when creating the orangutan you saw when you took the children to the zoo?  What kind of divine purpose is being worked out in the harvesting of hay, which kept you working from sunrise to sunset yesterday?

•  Find a church in which to worship while traveling.  In addition to maintaining the discipline of worship while you are in a different place, you may discover new friends, new ideas, and elements of diversity you have not known before.  Maybe you can bring something back that will enrich the life of your own community of faith.  The churches you visit will have an opportunity to extend their hospitality to you and hear about the church you love back home.  If you have children or youth who will be traveling with you, ask them to get on the internet and find a church where your family can worship “wherever you may be.”

•  Don’t send your pledge on vacation.  The operational costs of your church continue even when you are not there.  In warmer locations, the costs increase significantly because of the need for air conditioning and watering.  There is no legitimate reason why church leaders should have to experience anxiety over cash shortfalls in the summer (or anytime of year for that matter).  Make it a matter of faithful stewardship to bring or send your contribution before you leave on vacation.  Or, if you forget, you may still mail a check or use online banking to get your gift to the altar while you are away.

•  Get involved in ministries you don’t normally have time for.  If summertime affords you a little extra free time or a slower pace, use some of that time to serve Christ and the Church.  Maybe there’s a need for Vacation Bible School leaders, workers for a home repair ministry, or someone to do some maintenance around the church.  Is there a mission trip, retreat, summertime conference, or bible study you would otherwise decline due to the busyness of your life?  Does your summer schedule allow you to attend a weekday service that you can’t attend at other times of the year?  God would like to spend more time with us and have more of our attention.  Summertime may open up some possibilities for that to happen and blessings will flow into our lives.

•  Whatever you do, think God!  Be intentional about your spiritual journey.  Begin and end your days with prayer, so that, in all the cares and occupations of our life, we may not forget God, but remember that we are ever walking in God’s sight.  Look for signs of God’s hand at work in the world around you.  Habits that affect the rest of your life can be formed during a three-month period. Don’t let a hiatus become a habit!

 

Sermon at Calvary Church ~ May 20, 2012

Easter 7B

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"Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise" - Feast of the Ascension

Almighty God, your blessed Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.  Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the world; through the same your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Today is the Feast of the Ascension. The Ascension (Luke 24:44-53 / Acts 1:1-11) is probably not the best known of the feast days in the Church’s calendar, but it is one that takes on increasing depth and importance the more you think about it and experience it.  In this feast, we are drawn into an event that has cosmic significance.

The Ascension is not about gravity, or the physical location of heaven, or any of that. It is about God.  In fact, even though it comes toward the end of the season of Easter, the Ascension is most closely related in meaning to Christmas.  At Christmas we celebrate the Incarnation, God becoming flesh and living among us. 

What was begun at Christmas is brought full circle and proclaimed again in a different way at the Ascension.  In the Incarnation, what it means to be God became fully a part of what it means to be a human being. In Jesus, the human and the divine become united in the person and life of one man.  In the Ascension, this human being became fully a part of who God is.

It was not the spirit of Jesus, or the essence of Jesus, or the divine nature of Jesus, or the invisible part of Jesus, or the idea of Jesus, or anything like that, that ascended to the Father. It was the resurrected body of Jesus: a body that the disciples had touched, a body that ate and drank with them, a real, physical, but gloriously restored body-bearing the marks of nails and a spear. This humanity has become a living, participating part of Divinity.

The Ascension tells us that it is a good and holy thing to be a human.  It is so good and holy a thing that God became human.  The fullness of God now includes what it means to be a human being.

So we are able to approach God with confidence and with joy. Because we are not only dealing with the Creator of the universe and the Sovereign of all time and of eternity; we are also drawing near to the One who lived our life, has shared our fate, who knows us, and cares about us.

St. John Chrysostom expressed it in this way: “Through the mystery of the Ascension we, who seemed unworthy of God's earth, are taken up into heaven...Our very nature, against which Cherubim guarded the gates of Paradise, is enthroned today high above all Cherubim.”

Charles Wesley's Hymn for Ascension Day is also quite a beautiful expression of the meaning and implications of the Ascension.

Amen.

 

 

 

 

Sermon at Calvary Church ~ May 13, 2012

Easter 6B

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So that your joy may be complete

Jesus said to his disciples, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete" (John 15:9-11).

While reading this passage, which is a portion of Sunday's gospel, I was struck by Jesus emphasis on joy.  He wants our joy to be "complete."  That led me to theologian Paul Tillich, who reflected on the joy of the Christian life in The New Being:

Blessedness is the eternal element in joy, that which makes it possible for joy to include in itself the sorrow out of which it arises, and which it takes into itself. In the Beatitudes, Jesus calls the poor, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst, those who are persecuted, "blessed." And He says to them: "Rejoice and be glad!" Joy within sorrow is possible to those who are blessed, to those in whom joy has the dimension of the eternal.

Here we must once more reply to those who attack Christianity because they believe that it destroys the joy of life. In view of the Beatitudes they say that Christianity undercuts the joy of this life by pointing to and preparing for another life. They even challenge the blessedness in the promised life as a refined form of seeking for pleasure in the future life. Again we must confess that in many Christians, joy in this way is postponed till after death, and that there are Biblical words which seem to support this answer. Nevertheless, it is wrong. Jesus will give His joy to His disciples now. They shall get it after He has left them, which means in this life. And Paul asks the Philippians to have joy now. This cannot be otherwise, for blessedness is the expression of God’s eternal fulfillment. Blessed are those who participate in this fulfillment here and now. Certainly eternal fulfillment must be seen not only as eternal which is present, but also as eternal which is future. But if it is not seen in the present, it cannot be seen at all.

This joy which has in itself the depth of blessedness is asked for and promised in the Bible. It preserves in itself its opposite, sorrow. It provides the foundation for happiness and pleasure. It is present in all levels of man’s striving for fufillment. It consecrates and directs them. It does not diminish or weaken them. It does not take away the risks and dangers of the joy of life. It makes the joy of life possible in pleasure and pain, in happiness and unhappiness, in ecstasy and sorrow. Where there is joy, there is fulfillment. And where there is fulfillment, there is joy. In fulfillment and joy the inner aim of life, the meaning of creation, and the end of salvation, are attained. (Tillich, Paul, The New Being: Chapter 19, The Meaning of Joy, Chas. Schribner's Sons, 1955)

When our inner joy finds outward expression, it is "complete."  When our inner joy finds outward expression, it is contageous.  Joy is the essence of our salvation and the fruit of faith-filled living. 

The world needs more joyful Christians!  Lord, give us an abundance of joy so that we may spread it around liberally enough to change the world.

Sermon at Calvary Church ~ May 6, 2012

Easter 5B

 

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Unapologetically Episcopalian & Forward Movement

May 1, 2012, marked the second anniversary of the founding of the Unapologetically Episcopalian facebook page.  In these two years, we’ve gathered an online community totaling over 20,000 friends.

I founded the page to provide a gathering place for people who have good things to say about The Episcopal Church and who have positive stories to share about its life, worship, and spirituality.  We describe this community as “a gathering place to celebrate the many positive ways Episcopalians in 16 nations are unapologetically spreading the gospel of Christ.”

It seemed to me then, and still seems to me, that critical voices often drown out the voices of those who are basically proud to be members of this Church and happily engaged in its ministries. Conversation about the issues that often divide us is necessary, but there are numerous other places for those conversations.  We hope that the way we speak and listen to one another in our conversations on our facebook page will influence the tone of other conversations in our congregations and in other online forums.

St. Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians expresses the heart of how we seek to relate to our Church and to one another, “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8).

In thinking about a way to express gratitude for what this page has meant in the lives of so many, I sought out The Rev. Scott Gunn, executive director of Forward Movement.  Together, we have identified several initiatives that are consistent with the spirit and purpose of Unapologetically Episcopalian, will benefit the entire Episcopal Church, and can be launched by Forward Movement within weeks.   HERE is a link to the page that provides all the details.

The objectives of both Unapologetically Episcopalian and Forward Movement are about spreading  the Gospel and transforming lives.  Both are devoted to building up The Episcopal Church.  Both came into existence out of a desire to move us in a positive direction.  So,
Forward Movement seemed like a logical place to turn when the time came to celebrate the second anniversary of our online community.

The total estimated cost of all these projects is $200,000.  We'd like to raise that much or more during the month of May.  That’s only $10 for each of our 20,000 friends.  In addition to our Unapologetically Episcopalian community, we are hoping that others who are grateful for Forward Movement will see this as an opportunity to demonstrate their gratitude with a thank offering for these initiatives.   The link will give information about each of the initiatives and about how to contribute. Or, you can use the button below to make your thank offering to Forward Movement online, by credit card, debit card, or PayPal.

 

 

(You do not need a PayPal account to use this feature!)

Gay and I have made the first gift of $1,000 in thanksgiving for what this Unapologetically Episcopalian community has meant to us.  From the very beginning, we have been inspired daily by the comments, responses, photographs, and faith journeys shared in this community.  One of our friends who has a position that takes him into some of the more difficult challenges of this Church recently said, “I visit Unapologetically Episcopalian at least once a day to remind myself what The Episcopal Church is supposed to be like.”  That about says it all.

The impact we can make through a small thank offering is enormous.  The projects are innovative and compelling.  This collaboration between Unapologetically Episcopalian and Forward Movement gives us a unique opportunity to offer a measure of this glad spirit for the transformation of lives.  I hope you will consider participating!

An Epiphany From a Muscadine Grape Vine

Jesus said, "Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).

The powerful imagery of Jesus’ description of the relationship between him and his followers became clear to me one day when I was jogging on the trail beside Buffalo Bayou west of Downtown Houston, Texas.  At one place along the trail, there are several pine trees that are completely wrapped up by muscadine grape vines.  The last time I had run past this site, the grapes were still green.  That day they were ripe and stood out boldly from the vine and its branches.

What wasn’t so easily discernible was where the vine left off and the branch began.  I had never really
looked closely enough at vines and branches to notice that.  Jesus’ words came to mind.  The fruit that is borne by a grape vine comes as a result of the oneness of the vine and its many branches.  If you cut off a branch, it will no longer be capable of bearing fruit.  Actually, if there are no branches, the vine will not bear fruit until it grows new ones.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are able to bear fruit as long as we are connected to the vine and draw nourishment from it.  It may be difficult for anyone to distinguish between Christ’s life and the lives of his followers, just as it is difficult to distinguish the vine from the branches. The fruit Christ wants to give to the world is the result of the mystical union of the vine and its branches – his life and our lives.  The more branches there are connected to the vine, the more fruit there is.

During the Easter season, I’m leading a Sunday morning series based on Robert Schnase’s book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations.  The five practices are Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk-Taking Mission and Service, and Extravagant Generosity.  In each case, the desired result is greater fruitfulness.  And in each case, that increase in fruitfulness depends upon our connection to Jesus Christ and to one another, a relationship that resembles that of a vine and its branches. 

Apart from Christ, the true vine, we can do nothing.  Actually, we can do plenty of things.  We are amazing and resourceful creatures.  But the fruit of Christ comes only from abiding in Christ and Christ abiding in us.  It's not always easy to stay connected.  But that's the way it works!