Grace and
peace indeed on this summer morning, and to say that it is very nice to be home
again.
A little
over three weeks ago I set out first for eleven days in Indianapolis and the
seventy-seventh General Convention of the Episcopal Church, and following that
very busy, very rich, but also very stressful time, Susy and I zoomed on up to
Scituate, Massachusetts, her ancestral family home on the South Shore, for some
days of vacation. Sunshine and a little
beach time.
We got
home yesterday, and we still have laundry to do, but again, good to be
here. You'll notice that I haven't even
had time in the office to print a sermon this morning--the first time I think
that I've come into the pulpit with an electronic manuscript!-- [Holds up the IPad!]
And with
thanks to Phil Wainwright, Tim Hushion, and Ben DeHart for their assistance on
these three Sundays, and to Dean Byrom and Deacon Chess for attention to pastoral concerns, and of
course always to Pete Luley, Joan Soulliere, Amy Hume, Becky Usner, and all who
keep this place humming along whether I'm around to cause problems or not.
As Phil
pointed out in his sermon a couple of weeks ago, our Year B lectionary during
these midsummer weeks allows us to hear a very substantial portion of St.
Paul's Letter to the Ephesians.
This
powerful and profound and I think from a literary point of view we might even
say beautiful meditation on the life and meaning and character and purpose of
the Body of Christ, his Church.
We know
from the Book of Acts just how special the Church in Ephesus was to St.
Paul.
As a
matter of fact I can't read any of this Letter to the Ephesians without the
words of Acts, chapter 20 playing in the background. And perhaps as I'm writing this while on
vacation, something is here also about "absence makes the heart grow
fonder." something about how precious our relationships can be within the
life of the Christian family.
In any
event, In Acts 20 as Paul is beginning the journey that will bring him to
Jerusalem and then on to arrest and trial and eventually to Rome and to his
execution. And we hear Paul's farewell
message to the elders of that congregation, as they are separating with tears
and love.
"You
know," he says there, "that I kept back nothing that was for your
good: I delivered the message to you; I taught you , in public and in your
homes; with Jews and pagans like I insisted on repentance before God and trust
in our Lord Jesus.
And now,
as you see, I am on my way to Jerusalem, under the constraint of the
Spirit. Of what will befall me there I
know nothing, except that in city after city the Holy Spirit assures me that
imprisonment and hardships await me.
For
myself, I set no store by life; I only want to finish the race, and complete
the task which the Lord Jesus assigned to me, of bearing my testimony to the
gospel of God's grace."
And then
he says, "And now I commend you to God and to his gracious word, which has
power to build you up and give you your heritage among all who are dedicated to
him." And "as he finished speaking,
he knelt down with them all the prayed.
Then there were loud cries of sorrow from them all, as they folded Paul
in their arms and kissed him. What
distressed them most was his saying that they would never see his face
again."
It's that
scene from Acts that, again, plays in the background and fills in some of the
personal resonance, as I read this touching benediction in Ephesians 3.
"I
kneel in prayer to the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on heart
takes its name, that out of the treasures of his glory he may grant you
strength and power through his Spirit in your inner being, that through faith
Christ may dwell in your hearts in love.
With deep roots and firm foundations, may you be strong to grasp, with
all God's people, what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the
love of Christ, and to know it, though it is beyond knowledge. So may you attain to fullness of being, the
fullness of God himself."
To think
about the deep love St. Paul felt for these dear friends. His spiritual children. Men and women, boys
and girls who had first heard the news about Jesus from him, who had been
nurtured and disciplined in faith under
his care. Christian friends through good times and in times of distress and
persecution, gain and loss.
As we read earlier in Acts when the officials
in charge of pagan shrines in Ephesus had incited a riot in the streets against
the tiny Christian fellowship. They had
been through a lot together. Sharing now
in this letter his deepest hope and prayer.
So,
thinking about all this. I recently
heard a wonderful quotation from the English mystical writer Evelyn
Underhill. Who said: "The thing
that is interesting about religion is . . . God."
Alongside
the familiar saying that comes out of the 12-step movement, "The main
thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."
Paul
keeps his eye on the ball with the Ephesians.
Nothing
to say, we might notice, about Ephesian
Church music or architecture or a Capital Campaign, or a Sunday afternoon
outing to the stadium, or the public stance of the Church in response to Roman
economic policies in the eastern part of the Empire. Not that these concerns
aren't important in their own way. Not that there isn't a place for them. But
first, to keep the main thing the main thing.
"The
thing that is interesting about religion is God." To reflect why we are here this summer
morning, in this place. Who we are to
one another. What we wish for one
another and for ourselves and for our families and our friends and for the
world all around us.
As we
read together the Holy Scriptures, the one sacred Story that incorporates and
measures and interprets each of our separate stories. The foundation and deep infrastructure of
Paul's relationship to the Christians of Ephesus. And rolling across continents and centuries,
reflecting on who we are here in this place, this Christian family.
Paul give
the Ephesians and us the two keys.
Repentance before God. Turning in
faith to trust in Christ our Savior.
Anyway. There is a lot to unpack about the General
Convention--and I know that Mary Roehrich, Steve Stagnitta, and I will find a
time in the next few weeks to share our perspectives and reflections with you,
as we compare our calendars and see what will work with the church
calendar.
And as I
said, a lot to unpack as we arrive home from vacation as well. It was fun to post a few notes and photos on
Facebook, and I've enjoyed seeing some of the places you all have been and the
things you've been doing at home and on the road.
Especially
fun to see the pictures from our annual Chorister Camp, and i was sorry to be
away while that was going on this year.
Getting back on track with all the good work we have through the end of
this summer and on into the season ahead.
But with thanks to Pete and Matt and everybody for that. Great things at St. Andrew's. And how about my Pirates!
My
mailbox in the church office is overflowing.
Calls to return. Emails to
answer. The busyness of life. And it's practically Round Up Sunday!
But to
have here before us as well the word of reminder, Paul to Ephesus, and for us
our best word of greeting and our hope and prayer for one another, the main
thing will always remain for us the main thing, what holds us together and
inspires us to move forward. Again to
quote Paul: "That through faith Christ may dwell in your hearts in
love."
Again,
blessings. Grace and peace. It's good to be home and here with you.
No comments:
Post a Comment