Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA, 10 Aug. 2014, Proper 14
Year A RCL: Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Psalm 105, 1-6, 16-22, 45b; Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33
The
world is an unholy mess of unholy wars among Christians, Moslems, &
Jews.
This does not honor God whom we all claim to worship.
You
may have heard the Episcopal News Service report of the war-related
death of a child baptized by the Anglican Vicar of Baghdad (part
of the Episcopal Church).
In an attack by Islamic State, the child was cut in half.
The
Vicar says
he relies on 3 Ps: protection,
provision,
perseverance.
“We
need protection, we need to provide for those people, & we need
to keep going.”1
The
Archbishop of Canterbury says:
“We
must continue to cry to God for peace & justice & security throughout the world.”2
Let
us pray: “O righteous God, you sent your Christ to establish a
reign of justice, on earth as in heaven:
Prosper every effort to root
out arrogance, intolerance, & prejudice, & to eliminate all
forms of discrimination, degradation, & oppression; through him
who died at the oppressors' hands, Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who
lives & reigns with you & the Holy Spirit, one God, now &
for ever. Amen”3
In
our collect today we pray to have the spirit to think & do always
what is right & that God will enable us to live according to
God’s will. How
can we do this in our human condition
that our news & today’s scriptures remind us of quite clearly.
That
condition includes human divisions – even among blood brothers,
human weaknesses, our wanting to do things right & losing heart
like we see Peter do on that storm-tossed water.
Yet
our scriptures remind us Jesus is
here for us.
God's
Living Word is near us, on our lips & in our hearts.
This
gives us work to do so others know Jesus.
When
we share the Good News, we are those beautiful feet that run to bring
Good News.
We
build unity in the human family.
Building
is work. Work requires rest.
Jesus
is alone with God, taking a rest
after feeding the 5,000 &
sending the disciples off in that boat.
Genesis
tells us what happens when we don’t live in the unity that is God’s
will for the human family:
We
get jealous, like Joseph’s
brothers.
We
say things - without thinking - like Joseph does
in the verses omitted:
He
tells his brothers his dream about their bowing down to him. Then he
tells them about another dream like it.
What
a thoughtless kid brother!
No
wonder they won't speak peaceably to him.
The
Jewish Study Bible says:
They
won't greet him with Shalom4
– that's
like one of us refusing to pass the peace.
We
see fear, not peace, in the disciples in today's Gospel.
They
are still humans & their faith is not yet as deep as it needs to
be.5
So
they are afraid in that boat on the storm-tossed water.
They
forget Genesis 1 says God moves in the beginning of creation, sending
a wind over the waters of chaos.
They
forget Exodus 15 says God sends wind to part the Red Sea & turn
it into dry land.
Jesus
gives them a new perspective
on those stormy waters.
Jesus
reaches out to Peter, lifts him up & calms the storm.
They
see Jesus with new eyes & declare he is
God's Son.
Suddenly
their relationship with Jesus is deeper.
They have moved from a relationship with God based on the word of law given through Moses, to the relationship of faith in Jesus, God’s Living Word of Love, as Paul tells us in Romans.6
How
do we live in God's
Living Word of Love?
Exploring
this is part of the work your Vestry has been doing since our
retreat. We've shared our work with you in many ways. Our Vision &
our Mission are being developed among us, not imposed by a few on the
many.
The
Vision & Mission Statements are
works-in-progress
for which we
ask your perspective.
During
our retreat work, we identified many words to consider, such as
God’s, love, action,
happening. This
evolved into the Vision:
A
happening community where
we live God’s love.
That
phrase evolved into the prototype Mission Statement:
St.
John's is an open, caring community where we celebrate God’s love
through Jesus’ teachings & guided by the Holy Spirit in worship,
fellowship, education, & service, embracing all God’s children,
creatures, & creation.
This statement stresses our belief in God the Holy Trinity: Father, Son & Holy Spirit.
Why?
Our
previous Mission Statement is similar but specified God, not Jesus.
You know in our region many people have no knowledge about what kind
of beliefs Episcopalians have. God could mean we are deists. As
one of you has said recently:
“Most
people don't even know we're Christians.”
That's
why it is
important
that we specify Jesus & the Holy Spirit.
It is
important that people know more
about us than we
have red doors.
My
Beloved Brothers & Sisters, we have work to do in this Body of
Christ to communicate in this community the fact that we are
Christians. We believe in God the Father, Jesus the Son, & the
Holy Spirit.
We
know Jesus has died for us.
We
are sinners, who ask for forgiveness
& offer
forgiveness.
We
know the Holy Spirit guides us to
do this so
that....
our love can overflow more & more with
knowledge &
full insight
to help us determine what is best. from
Philippians
1:9
Guided
by the Holy Spirit, we can do the work
God gives us to do here. Look
at all you do.
- Look at ECW (Episcopal Church Women) that helps people here, in the Diocese & beyond.
- Look at our prayer life here, our Centering Prayer group & Daughters of the King intercessory prayers.
- Look at your outreach: nursing homes, taking snacks to Friendship House, buying food for the Back-Pack program, supplies for Still Waters shelter, working at the animal shelter, leading Girl Scouts, giving & folding clothes for His Hands.
His
Hands Ministry uses Mark 6:2 as its scripture:
“...such mighty
works are wrought by his hands...”
One parishioner active in this
ministry describes its mission this way:
“To let our hands do the work of
His
Hands to
help those in need.”
That's
the St. John's Body of Christ that lives God's love.
That's
BEING Jesus' hands, beautiful feet
& loving heart here.
That's
active work of this
happening community where
we live God’s love.
Bibliography
Episcopal
News Service. “Anglican Vicar of Baghdad: Child I Baptized Cut in
Half”.
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2014/08/08/anglican-vicar-of-baghdad-child-i-baptized-cut-in-half-by-isis/.
Accessed: 9 Aug. 2014.
The
Four Translation New Testament. Minneapolis:
World Wide Publications. New York: The Iversen Assocs. 1966.
Harper’s
Bible Commentary. General Ed.: James. L.
Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1988.
Holy
Bible. New Revised Standard Version. New
York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Jewish
Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Michno,
Dennis G. A
Priest's Handbook: The Ceremonies of the Church.
Harrisburg: Morehouse Publishing. 1998.
The
New American Bible for Catholics.
South Bend: Greenlawn Press. 1986.
New
Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha.
Eds.: Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger. New York: Oxford University
Press, Incorporated, 1977.
Wildsmith,
Dana. One Good Hand:
Poems. Oak Ridge,
TN: ris Press. 2005.
1
Episcopal
News Service. “Anglican Vicar of Baghdad: Child I Baptized Cut in
Half”.
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2014/08/08/anglican-vicar-of-baghdad-child-i-baptized-cut-in-half-by-isis/.
Accessed: 9 Aug. 2014.
2
Ibid. Link in the article.
6
Note: Perspective influenced by Ibid. P. 1225.
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