Thursday, November 24, 2016

God’s Grace Surpasses Our Understanding

Homily by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St. Francis Episcopal Church, Goldsboro, NC
23 Nov. 2016, Thanksgiving Eve Year C: Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 100; Philippians 4:4-9; John 6:25-35

On this night before Thanksgiving tell me: If participants in the 1st Thanksgiving were here to celebrate with us, what would we call them?
Answer: Old.
[One parishioner answered correctly! I asked how she knew the answer? Had she played the same Thanksgiving game I played last year which has this answer? She just smiled.]
On a serious note: Why don't we bring a pet turkey to church?
Answer: They use fowl language!
[Again the parishioner answered correctly, adding amusement to our gathering!]

God gives us laughter as a gift, a grace. Without laughter, life would be unhealthy. You may recall my sharing this fact with you: One good belly laugh raises the immune system for 3 days, a fact I learned long ago as a reporter covering a stress awareness workshop.

We know the importance of staying healthy through holiday stress. The joy we express in laughter dispels fear & shines the light of God's grace into distressed lives & fear-filled hearts.
God’s grace guides us when we are stuck having to do Thanksgiving differently when life changes.
God’s grace guides us when we are stuck having to do Thanksgiving the way we always have.
God's grace stands at the center of
our Thanksgiving celebrations.

On Thanksgiving we may have in our minds Norman Rockwell pictures of families at a table, heads bowed to say grace. We say grace at meals often without thinking.
How often do we say grace without thinking of food which perishes & food which endures for eternal life, as Jesus tells us about in our Gospel?
How often do we say grace & think of the difference between grace as a noun & grace as a verb – something we do?1

In our Gospel, we hear people asking Jesus to do something. The people ask for a verb, for action.
The people stay stuck in the past, knowing how God has provided way back when & how Jesus has fed them recently on the other side of the Sea of Galilee2Yet they hesitate to move forward in trust.
Trust relies on grace.
I wonder if they have overlooked the grace God includes in our lesson from Deuteronomy: the feast includes the stranger among us. This is grace.

I understand “grace” as a noun. I know well Grace [with a capital G]: Grace is the mother of 3 sons. [I married her first-born.] Grace is a golfer, an artist, fashion designer, space program illustrator.
Grace is a positive gift we receive.

What about “grace” as a verb?

In his meditation “Grace: the Verb,” Brother Mark Brown of the Society of St. John the Evangelist says: our words based on the word “grace” are influenced by Greek words for joy, rejoice, give freely, thanksgiving. He says:
“There’s something of joy in grace.”3

There is joy in our Thanksgiving meals, gatherings, parades & special events. What brings you joy?
How often do you thank God for the joy you experience?

What do you think about Jesus saying in our Gospel, “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,...whoever believes in me will never be thirsty"?

I know after our Thanksgiving meal, I will eventually be hungry & thirsty. What does Jesus mean? [Answers: “spiritual hunger”.]
Yes. Jesus speaks of hunger in our souls, hunger for joy, security, serenity, grace.
Grace endures.
We see how much God's grace endures as we see Jesus’ dying for us, rising again & sending the Holy Spirit to guide us.
Br. Mark says much of our beliefs revolve around grace:
  • By God’s grace our world has been created, redeemed, sustained.
  • By God’s grace our sins are forgiven.
  • By God’s grace we can live as Jesus tells us to in our Gospel:
Do not work for food which perishes,
but for food which endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.

We share this true bread from heaven, bread God gives for life to the world, each time we gather at God’s Holy Table. Jesus gives us this bread always.
Jesus gives us grace, & we can face down fear.

We hear fear & hesitation from the people in our Gospel. These children of God have just experienced the miracle of having enough to eat, yet doubt sneaks into minds & hearts, breeding fear about what to do, whom to trust, whom to follow.

These children of God know the past, which we hear in our lesson from Deuteronomy. They know life in the present & want a guarantee.

Beloved Brothers & Sisters, may we have grace to do as Paul reminds the Philippians & us:
Stay on message.
Be true to our calling as Christians in
this Body of Christ.
You are a beautiful, love-overflowing Body of Christ. You ARE change agents for our brothers & sisters living in old ways, with fearful thoughts & fear-filled hearts.

Remember: with God’s grace you/we can remain strong in the Lord & confident in our work as agents for positive change. God's love & guidance through the Holy Spirit will strengthen you/us as you/we share God’s grace as both a noun & as a verb.
How do we do this?
Br. Mark suggests:
Being gracious to the one who has only unkind words to say – [this] is grace.
Generosity to those who cannot give in return – [this] is grace.
Kindness to those who wish us harm – [this] is grace.
Going beyond what is strictly necessary into a realm of sheer possibility – [this is] grace.4



Bibliography
Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/ Accessed: 22 Nov. 2016.
Grace: the Verb”. Br. Mark Brown, Society of St. John the Evangelist. Accessed: 21 Nov. 2016. http://ssje.org/ssje/2010/03/09/grace-the-verb-br-mark-brown/.
Harper’s Bible Commentary. Gen. Ed: James L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1988.
Holy Bible with the Apocrypha. New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation. New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
The New American Bible for Catholics. South Bend: Greenlawn Press. 1970.


1 Idea from Grace: the Verb”. Br. Mark Brown, Society of St. John the Evangelist. http://ssje.org/ssje/2010/03/09/grace-the-verb-br-mark-brown/. Accessed: 21 Nov. 2016.
2 Harper’s Bible Commentary. P. 1056
3 Ibid. “Grace: the Verb.”

4 Ibid.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

There's a Fine, Fine Line between Love & a Waste of Time

Homily by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St. Francis Episcopal Church, Goldsboro, NC; Last Sunday after Pentecost, Christ the King Sunday 20 Nov. 2016
Year C RCL: Jeremiah 23:1-6; Canticle 4 or 16 [Luke 1:68-79]; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43
Jesus says: Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.
I am sure the Roman soldiers are sure they know exactly what they are doing. Crucifixion is their job.
Although they haven’t invented crucifixion, according to Biblical Archaeology's website, the Romans have taken it to a new level: from punishment to humiliate slaves to capital punishment, which can leave a person dying in agony for days.1

The Roman soldiers who crucify Jesus know the techniques, how to drive iron nails through human flesh & bones. [A 1968 archeological discovery of bones in a Jerusalem tomb verifies the practice: the foot bones are still nailed together; arm bones show scratches where nails went through.2]

As they crucify Jesus, Roman soldiers know their job. They do not know the greater impact of this job:
Jesus is dying for their sins & ours.

Like the Roman soldiers, we 21st century people think we know what we are doing. Like Adam & Eve deciding to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge, we do things believing we know what we do. Look at the mess in our world. Look at the mess we make with our impatience not to waste time.

In his book, House of Stone, author Anthony Shadid shares his
experiences in Lebanon, which we know has more than its share of human suffering. He tells of a relative whose studies aren't going well: the student digs a hole in the garden, gathers all his school books & buries them
to grow a tree of knowledge.”3

I wonder if the shepherds in our reading from Jeremiah think they know what they are doing. These “shepherds” are leaders of the people.
“ 'Shepherds' is often the title for kings in the ancient Near East...”4

How odd it must sound to these shepherd to hear Jeremiah's oracle of woe. “What?! We're scattering God's sheep & neglecting God's people? How can this be? We follow our rules.”
Our rules can be so different from God's rule.

God's command is love.
God's love is not just when we get to heaven.
God's love is now.

Love God with all our heart, mind, & soul now.

Love our neighbor now as we love ourselves.

Our neighbor sits near us at church, lives down our street & across our backyard fence. We look different when we see each other through a fence, whether it's a real fence, a social or cultural divide, or man-made border.

Today we celebrate Christ the King Sunday. Jesus is our King, our Good Shepherd. Jeremiah says God's Good Shepherd will tend the sheep – all God's sheep.

Our problems today are problems Jeremiah addresses & the letter to the Colossians addresses: leaders lead us astray. Leaders Jeremiah speaks to neglect people’s needs. New Christians in the Colossians' heresy are mostly gentiles being led away from Jesus by false teachers5, who do not teach the love of Jesus' saving grace through his death on the cross.

Our reading from Colossians reminds us to celebrate “Jesus as the unique mediator of creation &…redemption...[Our reading]…affirms the reality of the created world,...stresses [Jesus as]…head of the church..[& as] crucified savior...”6

A crucified savior defies human logic.

In the Tony Award winning puppet musical “Avenue Q”7,
a character sings from a human perspective. [By the way, Avenue Q has a parental advisory because of its explicit content.]
The puppet, Kate, is in love with the “boy next door”, who seems interested in her, yet the relationship goes nowhere. She sings:

There's a fine, fine line . . . between reality & pretend . . . between a fairy tale & a lie . . . between together & not . . .
There's a fine, fine line between love & a waste of time.”

We see a fine, fine line between love & a waste of time. God sees clearly.

God sees no fine line, no waste of time as Jesus dies on the cross, crossing any line, any barrier we put between us & God.
Jesus lays his love on the line for us on the hard wood of the cross.

Jesus sees us – Jesus sees you – as worth the long hours of agony nailed to the cross to restore us / you to God's love. Beloved Brothers, Beloved Sisters, you are worth all of God's time. Celebrate this Good News & share it, using time to seek our lost brothers & sisters.

In a special way today we will reach out in God’s love working together as the Body of Christ, selecting leaders, discussing ideas & next steps at our Annual Meeting.

God sends Jesus to free us & bring us together under God's gracious rule.
Human love comes with barriers.
Jesus' saving grace breaks through our barriers.

Celebrate & share this Good News!



Bibliography
Grenz, Stanley J. David Guretzki. Cherith Fee Nordling. Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms. Downers Grive, IL: InterVarsity Press. 1999.
Handy Dictionary of the Bible. Gen. Ed: Merrill C. Tenney. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. 1973.
Harper’s Bible Commentary. Gen. Ed: James L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1988.
Harper’s Bible Dictionary. Gen. Ed: Paul J. Achtemeier. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1985.
Holy Bible with the Apocrypha. New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation. New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Shadid, Anthony. House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East. New York: Mariner Books Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2012.
There's a Fine, Fine Line”. Avenue Q: The Musical. Music & Lyrics: Robert Lopez. Jeff Marx.
A Tomb in Jerusalem Reveals the History of Crucifixion and Roman Crucifixion Methods”. Biblical Archaeology Society Staff. Posted: 22 July 2011. Accessed: 17 Nov. 2016. http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/crucifixion/a-tomb-in-jerusalem-reveals-the-history-of-crucifixion-and-roman-crucifixion-methods/.

1 “A Tomb in Jerusalem Reveals the History of Crucifixion and Roman Crucifixion Methods”. Accessed:17 Nov. 2016.
2 Ibid.
3 Shadid, Anthony. House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East. P. 26.
4 Jewish Study Bible. P. 972.
5 Harper’s Bible Commentary. P. 1226.
6 Ibid. P. 1227

7 “There's a Fine, Fine Line”. Avenue Q: The Musical.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Homily by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St. Francis Episcopal Church, Goldsboro, NC; 26th Sunday after Pentecost, 12 Nov. 2016
RCL Year C Isaiah 65:17-25; Canticle 9 (Isaiah 12:2-6); 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19
What time is it? [Answers differed between our 8:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. worship.]
Eastern Standard Time, right?
Samples of fortune cookies distributed to the congregation.

When we adjust our clocks for time change twice a year [as we did last week], we say we gain an hour or lose an hour. Yet we still have 24-hours each day. Our clocks keep ticking despite our arbitrary changes.
Our scriptures today have at least 34 words or phrases referring to time.
Most refer to “chronological” time.
I remember time ticking by as a high school student baby sitting for our next-door neighbors. I love spending time with their baby, so the first part of the evening goes fast as we play. On time, I settle him down to sleep. His parents will come home late. With nothing fun on TV to watch, the night creeps by tick by tick.
I can count each minute – literally.
The parents collect clocks.
I sit, surrounded by clocks, mostly pendulum clocks, coo-coo clocks. The clocks are not synchronized. 9 o'clock. 10. 11. Midnight. How well I know it is midnight. By the time the 7th coo-coo starts its 12 coo-coos, I am coo-coo!
We can have too much time or not enough time [such as preparing for the hurricane]. We can get impatient & confused when things don't happen with the timing we expect. We know, as Bob Dylan's song reminds us,
The Times They Are A-Changing'1.
We need each other, especially when things are a-changin', when things seem to happen so fast or so slow, or when they seem to take forever.
For my friend, whose husband died almost instantly of a stroke several years ago, time with him was too short. Their time together changed in the blink of an eye. Since her dad's death 3 years ago in his late 80s, she has a new view of time: he died after a long series of strokes.

Now she sees her husband's quick death differently. She so wishes this blessing had been granted to her dad & all the family who suffered with him through his long journey to death & new life.

A trusting Christian, who chose to be baptized & dedicated her life to God, she expresses deep trust in God in all circumstances of her life, however unexpected they are.

As we hear in our Gospel today, some folk want accurate predictions of what to expect, what's going to happen,. Yet we know “the times they are a-changin'”. We know about trusting God.

We know not to take a fortune cookie seriously, if for no other reason than the recent fortune cookie note my husband received. It says "Ignore previous cookie."2  
This reminds me of what Jesus tells us in our Gospel about not being led astray. Jesus warns the people & us about impostors who want to seize an opportune time to lead us away from God for their own interests.3


Much of what Jesus speaks of in Luke has come to pass:
  • Faithful witnesses will be brought before synagogues & rulers; this is fulfilled in Acts 4-5 & 24-26.
  • Wisdom which will silence opponents is fulfilled in Acts 4:8-13 & 6:10.
  • Destruction of the beautifully adorned Temple dedicated to God is fulfilled by Roman troops between 66 & 72 A.D.4
Jesus says we are not to fret when we see upheavals, wars, conflicts, natural disasters. Jesus says, “do not be terrified...the end will not follow immediately.” Final outcome & timing are in God's hands.

Jesus focuses our attention “on the importance of day-to-day following of Jesus.”5   We are to trust God & use the time we have to witness God's Good News to people who do not know God & to minister to all sorts & conditions of people, including each other.

Although we are dedicated to God through baptism, we are not perfect. By your baptism, you are dedicated to God.
You are the beautifully adorned temple where God dwells.
You are adorned with God's radiant beauty.
You shine forth Christ's light.

Whether the end of time is near or just the end of our own life is near, we have time to make a positive difference. This is the lesson an older man in prison for life teaches a young fellow inmate in the movie Brother's Keeper.6
The young death row inmate has despaired of life. The old lifer says:

As long as you can breathe air into your lungs you have life, & you can make a positive difference to someone.

As long as you can breathe air into your lungs you have life,
& you can make a positive difference
to someone.

What can you do – what can WE do – to work with the Holy Spirit to make our scripture's vision of wholeness & peace reality?
What difference can you make now?

Jesus says: Do not worry about what is to come. Speak as God guides you. Witness God's great love when the opportunity comes.

What can you do now to encourage the wolf & the lamb to feed together?

What can you do now to encourage the wolf & the lamb & the elephant & the donkey to feed & work together?


Bibliography
The American College Dictionary. ED-in-Chief: C.L. Barnhart. New York: Random House. 1966.
American Expressions. ED: Robert B. Costello. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co. 1981.
Grenz, Stanley J. David Guretzki. Cherith Fee Nordling. Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms. Downers Grive, IL: InterVarsity Press. 1999.
Harper’s Bible Commentary. Gen. Ed: James L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1988.
Harper’s Bible Dictionary. Gen. Ed: Paul J. Achtemeier. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1985. p. 851
He Holds the Future”. http://www.sermons4kids.com/ Accessed” 8 Nov. 2016.
Holy Bible with the Apocrypha. New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation. New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Quotations. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc. 1992.
The New American Bible for Catholics. South Bend: Greenlawn Press. 1970.




2 Fortune cookie idea is inspired from “He Holds the Future”. http://www.sermons4kids.com/.
3 Harper’s Bible Commentary. P. 1039.
4 Ibid.
5 The New American Bible for Catholics. P. 1127.

6 Some of the church & seminary scenes were shot at St. John's Episcopal Church in Bainbridge, GA. Some friends are in some crowd scenes.

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Love in Action: The Saints of St. Francis

Homily by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St. Francis Episcopal Church, Goldsboro, NC; All Saints Sunday, 6 Nov. 2016
RCL Year C: Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31
Why do we have our Paschal candle lighted & white hangings today?
[Congregation Answers....It's All Saints Sunday.]
These changes show us this is a day of extra celebration.
All Saints Sunday is a day, as our Psalm says, to sing to the LORD a new song, to rejoice in our Maker, be joyful & praise God in many ways. We do this with music, with smiles & through your many skills.
Notice: Our Psalm says the LORD takes pleasure in his people. How often do we remember this? God takes pleasure in you – in us.
God delights in you!
On All Saints we remember our brothers & sisters who have done as Jesus tells us in our Gospel: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” We tend to think of capital letter Saints, such as St. Francis, & St. Paul, whose words to the Ephesians remind us about God's gifts to us, which we have through the Holy Spirit.
How can we see our gifts with new eyes & enlightened hearts?
How can we remember some Saints do big things & some saints [little letter “s”] share God's love as they sit in church & help others find their place in the Prayer Book.

Look with new eyes & remember little letter saints you have known, whose positive influences live on in our lives, our parish, our community.

Among the saints we remember today, who reflect the love of Jesus, think of dedicated educator & worker for social justice, Oscar Hinton, who died in July. In retirement, he continued sharing his gifts educating prisoners who needed a 2nd chance. His generosity, wonder in God's creation & sense of humor enlightened many lives.

Think of joyful Steve Gregoryck's embrace of life & positive influence on so many, including his students, many of whom we saw at his funeral in October. Remember his “stirring” work producing soup at Christmas in the Forest! [CITF*]

As we unwind from CITF, notice how this project enlightens many lives & thrives on your gifts from the Holy Spirit – your joy, skills, creativity, wisdom, generosity, time.
We thank God for this blessing for our parish & community, which grew from the idea of the late Frank & Kitty Boseman, whose positive influence is felt in many lives.
As one of you says about the Bosemans:
My heart has been forever imprinted & strengthened by the influence of [these] two special individuals...
My friends in Christ showed me how to love unconditionally our church, church family, & those in our community & world [who] need us.
Their kindness & example of love for each other & everyone around them has changed me & made me a better individual.
They are truly missed, but I still have them close in my heart.
What's in your heart? Jesus tells us: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” This is Jesus' love active in us & through us.
This love does not die.
Embrace & share this love.
You don't have to be an expert to do this!
We may think we have to be experts or know exactly what to do before doing something. Learn from St. Francis: He learned while responding to God's call. Learn from the Bosemans, who had no experience with arts & crafts shows when they started creating CITF, a ministry they coordinated 25 years.

Their son, Dave, remembers cold weather for our 2nd CITF & his parents offering coffee & hot chocolate & our now famous soup, which was the work of our "Souper Women", Pat Biggers' mother Eleanor Powell & Nan Utley.

Many parishioners have been welcomed by the hospitality of "the Marys", Mary Hicks & Mary Robinson [Norwood], who would call on visitors, bringing goodies.

Many serve God in this place in quiet & unseen ways: painting a door, visiting the home-bound, folding bulletins, laundering altar linens, clipping ivy & hedges.

We are here, as one of you has noted, because of the faith & foresight of our brothers & sisters who left their beloved St. Stephens at Bishop Thomas Wright's request to plant a new Episcopal church in this faster-growing part of town.
The people nourished this seed which grew into St. Francis Parish through worship at the prison office [where the NewsArgus is] & at Boulevard Lanes where Sunday after Sunday they set up altar & chairs & removed altar & chairs before Sunday bowling leagues appeared!1

In memory of his wife Margaret, Tom Norwood, created our beautiful garden, shaped like a shield with 4 sections planted in colors of the liturgical year.
Our garden is lovingly tended by saints working without fanfare.
With great love, these saints devote time & talents to God's glory, enhancing life & beauty in God's creation in this sacred space, where many come for quiet refreshment, including brothers & sisters not members here, as some of them shared with me at CITF.
Like our garden, the hospitality you offer blesses visitors, vendors & shoppers & draws folks back.

What seeds of God's grace are you planting?

How often do you do what you love to do & think:
I'm not doing anything special.”
Yes, you are. You are responding to God's nudging to use the gifts God has given you.
How often do you say, “I just like greeting people....working at the Soup Kitchen....setting the altar....singing....reading...whatever”?
How often do you recognize the lasting value of God's gift you use doing what you love to do?

Think of birding, appreciating the beauty of God's creation like St. Francis did & sharing your joy with another when you see something beautiful, which may give this person an “Ah-ha” moment with God.

Think of your creative art & photography which open eyes to see wonders God has created in you & through you.

Think of the joy of the hunt as you track down family history & build a sense of connection with others, or as you track down bargains shopping for gifts & items for God's children in need.

When we share the Good News of God's love, we sometimes see results: a hearty thanks & the bottom line of funds raised at CITF to help others.
Lasting positive changes from our work serving at the Soup Kitchen & providing supplies to storm victims we may not see on this side of life.

Notice: through your simple ministries, you do as Jesus tells us: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” You walk by faith, not by sight, which is essential for us children of God. Infants learn to walk by practicing the motions. Faith is something we practice.

We practice faith like the fisherman I remember seeing casting a line over & over & over on the grass on a lawn miles from a lake. His habit is practicing, practicing, practicing what he loves doing.

Doing something you love puts God's love into action.


* CITF* is a months-long process involving food preparation, lining up vendors & producing this annual 2-day event the 1st weekend in November, for which we have special decorations in the sanctuary, on the lawn, & completely rearrange the Parish Hall to accommodate vendors.

Bibliography
Harper’s Bible Commentary. Gen. Ed: James L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1988.
Holy Bible with the Apocrypha. New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation. New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Voyle, Robert J. “An introduction to Appreciative Inquiry”. 2013 Clergy Leadership Institute. www.cleergyleadershio.com. robvoyle@volye.com


1 Thank you, Charlotte Campbell for this & other facts.