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July 29, 2007
Fred Heard - July 29, 2007
July 29, 2007 Sermon - Father Fred Heard - Luke 11:1-13
Prayer works! If it doesn’t, we are all wasting our time because Jesus set the example throughout his ministry. And you want to be careful what you pray for. For instance, more than once people have advised me they have prayed for patience and God leads them to patience school!
In today’s gospel, Jesus is teaching us how to pray. But when we pray, we cannot fall into the trap of bargaining with God. “God, you do this for me and I will do this for you.” No that is not the way it works. Think about it, it doesn’t work that way in interpersonal relationships, and it doesn’t work that way in the world of employment, and it doesn’t work that way with God.
We live in a time when communication is often instant. It wasn’t so long ago when telephone answering machines appeared; and oh, how I remember some people calling and swearing as they hung up in disgust. They weren’t going to talk to some blankety blank machine. Now, we hear—“Well I wanted to leave a message—but you didn’t have a machine.” Cell phones, while maddening and sometimes dangerous, are a way of life. I was thinking the other day as I was reading Harry Potter #7 how much we have changed since I read Harry Potter #1. It was so interesting to observe framed pictures on the wall in #1 and see the people actually moving. Today, my cell phone takes pictures of people, and they are moving. We are forgetting much of our family history as we communicate daily by email with family and friends. It is true that sometimes we save those messages—but in reality most of us leave them in a computer file and don’t actually print them.
How many times do we find unwanted messages on our telephone message machine or in our email files? Every once in a while, there is an important message—but in reality most of what we receive either in writing or by recording is junk or even spam.
Lady Bird Johnson, who recently died, called our attention to the fact that billboards do not have to dot the country side—but still there are plenty of ads along the way. Some days, our lives are consumed by advertising.
A long time ago, I was anxiously waiting for word about a possible job. A friend reminded me that the employer was not on my time schedule when I was told I would hear the next day and a week went by and still no word. When I was in a position to notify potential employees myself about employment decisions, we were prompt and my personnel manager always came back and told me how pleased people were when they heard from us-- even when the answer was negative because then they knew. So how many times do we leave messages—telephone, email, or letter and there is no response? How many times have we telephoned someone only to be told that the person is busy or in a meeting or on another line and they will get right back to us and they don’t? One of the most infuriating telephone inquiries for me is when I have called to talk to someone, and I am asked the nature of my call. My feeling is that it is none of their business, and I will never tell the person the nature of the call.
Sometimes, it appears that human communication is a losing proposition. Sometimes we transfer these human communication concerns to God when we need to communicate with Him directly. We worry that we won’t do it just right—we don’t know where thee, thou, and thy go. You know we don’t even have to use those words. Have you ever heard me pray using thee, thou or thy? My prayers are conversations with God…and what is really neat is that God is always in—He is never on another line—an angel never asks the nature of my prayer and that is good because sometimes, I don’t know where I am going with God—God is never on vacation—He never closes his office. I don’t even have to keep a record of my calls to God and I am never going to get into trouble because of something I tell God or don’t tell God. And you know what else? I can never wear out my welcome with God. He wants me—indeed He invites me to return to prayer time and time again.
The entire salvation plan is so simple, and we try to make it difficult. Prayer is simple, and we try to make it difficult. Do you get the idea that God is not asking us to be rocket scientists to walk with him. As a teacher, I have heard many students over the years say, “I just don’t get it.” I have heard people say that about stories or passages in the Bible. But then we get to God’s grace and eternal life. Sometimes a person who lies on a death bed, stumbles because they don’t realize it is so simple to reach out and take God’s hand, and that is all there is to it.
Alcoholics Anonymous teaches that things come to us when we put ourselves in God’s hands. “Follow the dictates of a Higher Power, and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances.” Jesus realizes that this generous gift is difficult for our minds and tough hearts to accept. Jesus recognizes that most parents try to be good parents, even if they sometimes fail. If our children ask for fish for supper, we don't throw a live snake at them. If children ask for popsicles, we don't hand them scorpions.
On this last Sunday in July, we are suddenly met with substantial medical emergencies within our parish and it is so tempting to say, “Why now, O Lord? Let us just do our work.” On this day, we might be reminded as we pray for healing to say, “Thank you O Lord for the ministries and blessings that Father Mike and Alecia, and Jicky and all of the other saints of this place who cannot be with us at this moment have brought to us in the name of Jesus Christ.” Thank you God.
Over the years, I saved the “While You Were Out” slips and placed them on a spindle. It was always a good way to find a needed telephone number at some point in the future. Well, I always have God’s number; and what’s more, our Lord does not crumple up the “While You Were Out” slips that are marked with my name.
As we pray for those we love, we try to make it complicated. God keeps it simple and so should we. We want it our way. God has a better way. We may be fearful. God leads us to trust. We may be out to lunch. God's waiting by the phone.
The Book of Common Prayer contains many ancient prayers. This book is a source of comfort, and I want to call your attention to one prayer in particular: “Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN. This prayer reminds us that we are not trying to keep God on good behavior. It tells us, very simply, that God has neither a distracted mind nor a small heart.
Believe this, my Brothers and Sisters, that Jesus is telling us often what we ask of God is too small. We ask for what might be a part of our lives rather than life itself. At the conclusion of today’s gospel, Jesus promises the heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who but ask. In the light of that Holy Spirit everything starts to look different. As we pray, God will give himself in response to our prayers. May your receiving and your giving be abundant, for what we receive and give—all of it is God or comes from God. May our receiving and our giving be abundant? Thank you, God. AMEN.
July 15, 2007
Fred Heard - July 15, 2007
July 15, 2007 Sermon - Father Fred Heard - Luke 10:25-37
Like you, I have recited the first and great commandment thousands of times: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And the second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” It is the combination of the love of God and our neighbor that reveals that we truly understand and accept the scriptures. The essence of this great commandment is community. There is something about loving God that leads us also to love our neighbors.
At the same time, Jay advises that he is increasingly struck that we are living in a time that many observers, in the press, academia and the church, are calling "post-Christian." The author of one article in Congregations Magazine refers to the "end of American Christendom." In this context it might be more accurate to refer to a "post-religious" era. The normal Sunday morning is not "going to church" these days, and we appear to be raising a generation who say the words "God" or "Jesus" only when uttering a curse. As people of faith, we ought to feel called to respond to this development in some way. As an aside, it is interesting to note that many who no longer place the church in the Sunday morning equation go elsewhere whether to the soccer field or Starbucks or the shopping mall, seeking community.
In this morning’s gospel, Jesus tells the lawyer that he has given the right answer to his own question about what he must do to inherit eternal life…and the lawyer thought that it is pretty easy to love God. But what about this neighbor business? He probably started thinking about who his neighbors were. Like a slide show, their faces probably started flashing before him. Perhaps if he hadn’t asked, Jesus wouldn’t have mentioned the neighbors. That made it really awkward.
The lawyer is now in a box, and he placed himself there. As a teacher, I have watched children try to turn discomfort into a discussion or even a disagreement; and I think that is what we have going on here. Who is my neighbor? The discussion begins. It would be really easy if the neighbor was only the person who lived next door.
Jesus told a story. He often did that and this is the first parable in Luke. The traveler was a rather careless man because he wasn’t paying attention to the danger that lurked behind each bend on the winding mountain road between Jerusalem and Jericho. There were often thieves in hiding. He should have known better, and he brought his troubles on himself.
The priest had to be careful. He was responsible for handling the holy things in the temple, and it was necessary to keep himself pure. For instance, if he touched a dead body, he would be suspended from his duties for a time…because he would no longer be pure.
The Levite also worked in the temple and assisted the priests. For the same reasons, he had to keep himself clean.
Samaritans were Jews who had married a member of the pagan tribes. They were looked upon as half breeds. Jews hated Samaritans even more than pagans. Samaritans had been among God's people -- they had been People of the Promise -- but had turned their backs on God and that made them worse than pagans. They had despised their heritage! They had despised God! The Jews hated them. So—we have a priest, a priest’s helper and someone who was shunned by the Jews…that is the list of characters in this parable.
Also, those who were injured might not be what they seemed because sometimes they were thieves waiting in disguise for someone to stop and offer aid so they could rob them also.
The priest and the Levite might have been concerned about purity—but given the times, they might also have been afraid. Whatever the reason, they ignored the injured man.
The Samaritan stopped. He bandaged the man's wounds and took him into town. There he assumed financial responsibility for the man's care. He gave the innkeeper money to feed and house the man for several days, and promised more if needed. That sounds like community to me.
At the end of his story, Jesus asked, "Which of these, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?"
The lawyer did not say, "The Samaritan!" He could not bring himself to say, "The Samaritan did the right thing!" He said only, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said, "Go and do likewise." That's a pretty tough standard. We can mechanically do what is right—but what do we really feel in our hearts. Intellectually, we know what is right…but can we do like Mother Theresa and really get down into the goooo of human life and misery? In spite of the lawyer’s reluctance to say the word “Samaritan,” the Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most popular stories in the Bible, because it tells about a good person—the Samaritan who helps the wounded man—and calls us to be good people. However, this story stands in judgment of me every time I pass by on the other side of the road.
When I was younger, I did not often pass by on the other side. When I was younger, I was more daring and even perhaps foolish. I used to stop to help stranded motorists. I used to pick up hitchhikers. I would spend hours working with alcoholics and drug addicts—people I did not know... I would go where the addicts were, and I was not particularly afraid of circumstances or places. Today, I am more likely to pass by on the other side. And the Parable of the Good Samaritan makes me very uncomfortable.
Today, Holy Trinity is being called to community. Initially, it will be structured kind of like a blind date—but hopefully, the time will come when we get to know each other, and we genuinely learn to love each other. Formerly, proclaiming something about being a child of God was enough to draw community together. Jay quite accurately points out in his note to me that our changing times mean we can no longer assume that everyone is a Christian by default; that everyone comes from a childhood in some mainline Christian context. Jay suggests that our community needs to be re-evangelized from the start, but we are not "missionaries" to some remote third-world country. We are preaching, like the earliest apostles, to the center of wealth, power, learning and culture, the new "Rome," in a way. But you know what, if they were able to make Christianity exciting in Greece and Rome, we can do it in the Silicon Valley. It is Christ’s command that we should love one another, and we should love those who are outside these walls who really are hungry for the experience of the living Christ. However we cannot reach out to the world that awaits us until we understand how to walk with each other in community. The September 9 changes, and particularly the forum hour, ignore the question, “What’s there for me?” and suggest instead a new question, “What are we doing for community and where do I fit into this community?” We have important work to do. Jay adds, “People in this town, despite the money and all that comes with it, need a way to connect to the Spirit and be renewed.”
Today’s Psalm calls us to “Save the weak, and the orphans; defend the humble and needy; Rescue the weak and the poor; deliver them from the power of the wicked.” I submit that the entire Trinity community should find a place somewhere in this Psalm that describes them.
One of the principal ingredients of community is love and some will find it as difficult to express love for another person as they do talking about their love for God. I read a letter recently in Dear Abby that really talks about the core of community. The letter read, “I, like so many others, became caught up in the details of my own life and forgot that I was a part of someone else’s life—my mother’s. I forgot to chat with her about nothing when she called me. I forgot to visit her for no special reason. I never bought her a Mother’s Day gift because I never seemed to have the money. Of course, I always had a good reason; and I thought tomorrow would bring another opportunity. My mother committed suicide March 24, 2004.” In community, we never know just who we are going to touch. In community, we never know how we are going to touch someone. In community, we never know when our time will end together.
But I do know this, come September 9, we will have the opportunity to all come together—to reach out and truly meet this Trinity community.
The question of community is one of inclusion, not exclusion. What our Senior Warden is calling for, and indeed what Jesus commands us to do, is very radical. The Parable of the Good Samaritan shows us just how radical Jesus Christ is. It also tells us something else—being a Christian is radical. And at the same time, it is easy to emasculate this parable by saying, "It is a different world today! It has become too dangerous to stop and help." It was too dangerous for the Samaritan to stop, but he did.
Don't emasculate this parable by saying, "Some people make their own troubles; they don't deserve help. The wounded man had made his own troubles; he didn't deserve help.” The fact is that most of us make our own troubles; most of our wounds are self-inflicted; most of us don't deserve help. The Good Samaritan helped anyway!
When Jesus talks about those difficult topics like neighbors and community and love, we are always tempted to remake Christ in our own image in 2007 because he surely wouldn’t have done those things he did during his ministry if he had lived in modern times. It is just too dangerous to be “out there too far.” That really is a foolish thing to say about Jesus—the one who died on the cross. We are always tempted to remold him so that he supports our political views—our prejudices—our special interests. We are always tempted to emasculate Jesus—to make him safe.
The most dangerous thing we can do as Christians is to hold that Jesus believes as we believe. Jesus doesn’t always make sense. Paul says in 1 Corinthians “…the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”
As a priest of the church, I invite you to embrace community. I invite you to be radical. I invite you to follow in the radical footsteps of Jesus Christ. During the coming weeks, help draw the link between Trinity parish and the work of Christ on earth. AMEN
July 08, 2007
Fred Heard - July 8, 2007
Father Fred Heard - Trinity Parish
Fear can kill. Fear can paralyze. Fear can destroy all that we hold dear. As I begin my fifth year as your Associate Rector this Sunday, I note we are all in a time when as a community we are being summoned to pull courage from a place that is deep within each of us because you see, we are not launching some big drive to build a building. We are not balancing the books. What we are doing will take more than our financial treasure or our building skills. We are challenging everything we have grown accustomed to and that includes our comfort level.
Our first reading quotes Naaman, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot and cure the leprosy!” Also, in Kings we read, “his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.”
Psalm 30 says, “…you restored my life as I was going down to the grave. For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye, his favor for a lifetime. Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning. While I felt secure, I said ‘I shall never be disturbed.’”
This morning’s Gospel is particularly compelling, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest…Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road…Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me…The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!...See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you.”
We have heard today’s scriptural message so many times and yet today on this Sunday in July, 2007, it speaks to us as a community—as a Trinity Community. Today, I beg you to take the roots of these readings and let them bear fruit.
We are all aware of Trinity’s history. Two California Governors and a United States Senator have worshiped here and yet if we are to be relevant in the 21st Century, we must pay close heed to the words we read this morning from Kings, the Psalm, and the Gospel. Sometimes a message is so important we must hear it over and over and that is why I chose to talk about it in today’s sermon. We must remind each other that we are all preparing Trinity’s future for the day when even the youngest person in this room is no longer here.
We are being asked to give up what we know for sure for something we haven’t seen. We are being asked to simply jump into God’s arms and trust that He will be there. Do not be afraid! Jesus repeats this message time and again. It is a message those around him need to hear. It is a message all of us need to hear. Do not be afraid!
Late one night, Jesus walks across the lake and climbs into a boat. In Jesus’ company, the storm is nothing to fear. Do not be afraid.
Jesus comforts the sick child’s father. Do not be afraid. “Your Father knows every last hair on your head,” Jesus tells his disciples. “He delights to give you the kingdom.” Do not be afraid.
Fear is as easy for us as breathing. Jesus knows we need to hear this message over and over. Do not be afraid.
Jesus calms his disciples as they go out in his name. He calms them as he prepares them for the unknown. In today’s gospel Jesus sends out seventy to do his work. These are ordinary folks—there are no big names. They are anonymous; their names are not written in the Bible. They are not prominent. But yet, these seventy disciples represent wholeness and completion. They represent everybody. When we came into this world, we had nothing. When we leave this world, we will have nothing. In between, we accumulate. But the seventy have been told to leave their possessions behind. They are specifically told to leave their purses, bags, sandals behind. They are equals. There are no checkbooks. There is no money. There are no college degrees. There are no name brand shoes.
Come September 9, you will be asked to touch each other spiritually and prayerfully. You will be asked to spread joy. You will be asked to spread peace. You might have been at Trinity 40 years or even 40 minutes and you are being asked to spread a bold message. You are being asked to carry Trinity and the Good News of Jesus Christ on to the ages yet to come…and in those ages to come, our work will not be judged by our names—but like those seventy anonymous disciples—we will enter a new community and welcome all who come—all ages and genders—and we will assure our Brothers and Sisters that “The kingdom of God has come near.” What do you think that day will feel like on September 9 as we enter unfamiliar places, entering uninvited with a bold inclusive message to proclaim?
Jesus is calling you and he is calling me. We are sent forth. In the book Oh, The Places You’ll Go! Dr. Seuss says it so well: “You are the person who’ll decide where to go.”
Jesus is calling us to go to a lot of places. It is not easy being a Christian. In so many ways, we are like those early Christians. We will go forth and we will return to each other for nourishment. We will make sure that with each step we take, we leave our footprint in the sand of time. We must remember something I learned in AA years ago: Yesterday is past. We must be in today because that is something we can do something about. If we are in today, tomorrow will never come because tomorrow becomes today. Do not be afraid!
There are four fears from which Jesus wants us free. The first is the fear of people. We are to heal the sick. We are to call down a blessing on all we meet. We are to increase wholeness and health throughout the world.
Some will like what we do and support us. Others will not. These others will reject gifts we offer. They may even scorn us. But we're free from fear of people when we recognize how in everyone there appears deep brokenness. What others reveal to us may not be the glad truth of their existence, but the pain that boils and bubbles there.
The second is the fear of failure. Jesus does not announce that success is all that matters. He does not tell us to counter resistance to our good efforts simply by pushing harder in the same direction. He says that when people in a town welcome us, we're to stay and work among them, but when they do not welcome us, we're to get up and go elsewhere. In each case, we've brought God's kingdom near. Easter frees us from the fear of failure.
The third is the fear of things. Jesus tells the seventy not to take certain things they may think they need. The problem does not lie with the items themselves. The problem lies with what may be our attitude toward things. Lacking these things but wanting them may make us feel inadequate for what we're meant to do. Possessing such things may blunt our sense of urgency about service to the kingdom and may bring about separation between ourselves and others. Such things may seem too important. In this consumer culture we are even taught that what we have determines who we are: I own, therefore I am. Limitless desire becomes a virtue. The way to the kingdom is different. We are released from the fear of things. What's important is not what we own, or even what we abstain from owning, but whether we travel light and that is the issue, whether we get where we need to go.
The fourth fear is the fear of needs. Not once, but twice Jesus tells the seventy that in their travels they're to eat what's set before them. They might become so zealous, so impressed with themselves, that they would forget their hunger and become afraid of their needs. Not only are the seventy told to eat, but they're told to eat what's set before them. They're to acknowledge their empty stomachs by eating in the presence of their hosts, in the company of their hosts. Thus they will declare their need, their dependency, in a public fashion. We all have the same needs—among them food and shelter, affection and support, and a feeling of accomplishment and a feeling of inclusion. Do we conceal our needs? Are we afraid of them? It's part of what it means to be human to admit our needs. It's part of what it means to follow Jesus, who was not afraid to seek hospitality and support, who was not afraid to be dependent. Come September 9, we will acknowledge weekly our need for community—our need to share—our need to touch each other—our need for companionship—our need to be spiritually nourished—our need to be one community.
Any one of these fears: -- The fear of needs. -- The fear of things.
The fear of failure. -- The fear of people. can disrupt our spiritual journey. It can kill us as a church and as a community and it can set us apart from the Good News of Jesus Christ.
To our friend Naaman, Jesus Christ is not exclusive and just about me…This community is not about me. The church is not about me. The Good News will transcend all of us. The love of Jesus and the salvation Jesus offers is for me and for you.
On that bright morning to come we will remember the lines from this morning’s Psalm, “you restored my life as I was going down to the grave. For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye, his favor for a lifetime. Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning. While I felt secure, I said ‘I shall never be disturbed.’”
And finally from this morning’s Gospel, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me…The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!...See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you.” Do not be afraid!
I have spoken to you in the name of the God who is our reason not to be afraid: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. AMEN
