Trinity Parish
Sermons
« November 2007 | Main | February 2008 »
January 20, 2008
Fred Heard - January 20, 2008
January 20, 2008
My Grandfather keeps coming up in my life. When I was running for my first term in the Oregon Legislature in 1968, I went door to door in tiny Lake County, Oregon. I ran into people all over the county that new Brother Heard—he baptized them, he married and buried them, and he stayed in their homes. Soon the word spread among them that Brother Heard’s grandson was running for the Legislature. Well, my Grandfather greatly influenced that election. I don’t mean that he was pulling strings up in heaven, but his reputation and work were factors because I won that race by 94 votes.
Last Friday, the lady told me she came to meet Brother Heard’s grandson. My Grandpa Heard died in 1964 and still his “little light shines on.”
I know a lot of people here at Trinity who have lights that shine brightly. We all remember the little song from our childhood. It was fun to sing and we sing it almost every week in chapel at Trinity School. We are going to sing it here on the last Sunday of this month. "I'm gonna let it shine." In this song from our Sunday school past, we pledged to let our light shine for Jesus. It was at this point that a teacher always started talking about promises and this little song is a promise—and I knew it was important for me to keep the promise!
During this season of Epiphany, we might ask ourselves how we let our little lights shine. At Trinity, some of you have public roles, like the organist and choir director and youth director and the family ministries director—but many of you shine your lights in quiet ways. Some teach Sunday school or sing in the choir. Some serve as ushers or as members of the Altar or Flower Guilds. Some serve on committees. Some do our publications. Some invite friends and neighbors to come to church with them. Some pledge their treasure generously to support the work of the church. Some visit Mississippi on missions. Some drive young people to their events. Some lead Bible studies. Some just have a kind word and a smile for everyone they meet. Some people cook. Some people visit Christians who are homebound. Many of you do several of these things. There are some who light many lights because perhaps twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work of the church.
At stewardship time we often hear our leaders suggest that we need to give more money to make the church run. But you see, that is the key—the entire year is really stewardship time. Remember stewardship is what you do with what you have all year around. What would happen if we gave our money only? The church would collapse because our treasure includes our time. What would church be like if we could have thirty percent of the people involved—or forty percent? After all, every Christian ought to be letting his or her light shine for Jesus in some way.
John the Baptist was not even a Christian, but he let his light shine. John was not called to be one of Jesus' disciples. God called John to point others to Jesus. That is what John is doing in today’s gospel.
He was a prophet—the first Israel had known in 400 years. He was a real attraction—perhaps bordering on what we would recognize today as rock star mania. John went to the desert to preach—and people came by the thousands to hear him. He had many disciples.
One day John was standing with two of his disciples and Jesus walked by. John said to his two disciples, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" John's two disciples left him—and began to follow Jesus.
You see on this day, John was letting his little light shine and he lost two of his disciples to Jesus. This happens. Jesus calls us and we follow. I remember so well, the anxious feeling I had when I realized I would be walking away from the home church I had loved for so long in Salem—probably never to return for any length of time. Lincoln left Springfield in much the same way in 1861, telling his neighbors that he might never return because he must go elsewhere to let his light shine.
There is no indication that John was disappointed when his disciples left or that he was jealous of Jesus. Whenever we hear about John, he is telling everyone how wonderful Jesus is. John knew that God had sent him to prepare the way for Jesus, and he was happy to do that. One of the disciples this day was Andrew and the second disciple’s name has been long lost to history. We really don’t know much about Andrew. He was always that disciple in the background. He did only one thing that is recorded. He went to get his brother and told him they had found the Messiah. That brother’s name was Simon Peter and Peter became the leader of Jesus’ disciples. Andrew—the quiet one—let his little light shine. You see that is the way it works. We let our little light shine and that light changes another person’s life. That is what I experienced at my Uncle’s funeral. He was a man who was a good father and grandfather and a good mentor for many because of his work ethic. His little light shined. He called me to do his service. I went. I met the lady and found that my Grandfather’s little light is still shining.
A stone is thrown into the water and the ripples keep going. How many lives do they touch? God keeps the ripples going for a very long time. They are endless. A teacher let’s her little light shine. When do the ripples stop? Never.
Have you ever heard of Mordecai Ham? He was an evangelist. In 1934, he conducted a revival meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. One of the people who came forward was a tall, gangly boy who had just turned sixteen. Like the story of Andrew, we don’t know a lot about that day and we don’t know how many other people came forward. We don’t even know if Mordecai felt that he had conducted a successful revival. He probably didn’t even remember that 16 year old boy from so long ago. But that boy was Billy Graham, who is still carrying the light that Mordecai Ham gave him nearly 75 years ago. When do the ripples stop? Never.
So what do we have to do to let our little light shine? That depends on what God calls us to do. God calls us to be Christians -- people who try to live as Jesus would have us live. That, in itself, can be a powerful witness. Philip Yancey, the Christian author, asks: "What would happen in the national consensus if these nine words came to mind when you said the word, 'Christian': --love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?" Those are the nine things that the Apostle Paul listed as the fruits of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatian church.
As I was preparing this sermon, I received a note from our daughter Robin up in Oregon. She addressed it to her mother and me. Robin said, “I think both of you know about my household New Year’s--Lenten Resolution to “GO GREEN!” My idea is to make small changes through the next few weeks, so that by Lent, our household is in tip top shape. The latest change involves Casey’s pudding that he eats everyday. I am making it and putting it in containers that we can wash and re-use instead of using the pre-packaged containers that we either throw out or recycle each day. He’s pretty picky about pudding, but he told me yesterday that he likes mine better than any of the other stuff. Cool, huh? On to my next way to SAVE OUR PLANET!”
And so Robin’s little light shines. And also remember she has a little guy named Jack who is watching his mom and dad as they carry their little lights. The ripples go on and on and never end.
ALL of us -- ALL of us --are called to bear the fruits of the Spirit. What could God do with your life if the people who know you best would think of you as a person filled with: "Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?" May God bless us all everyone—with very bright lights. AMEN
January 13, 2008
Beth Foote - January 13, 2008
The Rev. Beth Foote January 13, 2008
Isaiah 42: 1-9 Matthew 3:13-17
Baptisms are always happy occasions, with gathered friends and relatives, and godparents. Today is the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, one of the traditional days on the church calendar for baptisms, and all over the world people are being baptized this morning. We have two candidates for Holy Baptism, Tyler and Francesca. I’d like to welcome the Corbett and Timar families and all their friends to Trinity. It’s a pleasure to have you here with us.
I also love it when we baptize older children and adults. If you are thinking about becoming baptized, please talk to one of the clergy. If you’re feeling self-conscious about it because we mostly see infants being baptized, remember that Jesus himself was a grown man of thirty when he entered the River Jordan to be baptized.
Of course that is the story we just heard from the gospel of Matthew. And this story is so important that it’s found in all four gospels. In the Jewish tradition at that time ritual cleansing was a common thing, although mostly in the context of special stone baths called mikvahs. Jesus’ baptism was totally different, an alternative kind thing. Jesus’ baptism was out in the wilderness, in the free-flowing Jordan river. It was conducted by the John the Baptist, wild man prophet who lived on the margins out in the desert, wore camels hair clothing and a leather belt, and who ate locusts and wild honey. Probably not a seminary graduate.
In today’s sanitary era of daily showers, baby wipes, antiseptic hand cleaners, vacuum cleaners, and swiffers, being clean is something that we take for granted, it’s a constant state of being for us.
Yet in the ancient world, cleanliness was unusual enough to be the mark of something important. By cleansing, we rinse away dirt or other impurities. And after the cleansing process, the person or thing, is transformed in some way, fresh and ready for a new chapter. Something like this happened with Jesus baptism. This ritual cleansing was a marker of transformation After his baptism, he began his ministry. Something like this will happen for our baptismal candidates. Baptism is a marker of transformation.
This story also shows us Christ’s approach to ministry. Consider that he wades into the water and asks to be baptized. He insists on being one of the baptized, not the baptizer. As Isaiah writes in our reading today, God says, “Here is my servant…” Throughout his life, Jesus ministers to others as the servant. He asks the lepers and the blind, “What can I do for you?” And at the end of his life, he took a bowl of water, and washed his disciples feet like a servant. It is a surprising thing…Isaiah also says, “the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare.” In his servanthood, he becomes the New Covenant between the people and God that Isaiah talks about, and calls us to take on his servant ministry today.
Matthew writes that when Jesus emerged up out of the water, Jesus saw the Holy Spirit come down like a dove and heard God’s voice say, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Here we have echoes from Isaiah, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him.” God blesses Jesus with words of love, and if we connect the dots, we can see the Trinity: God, the Father speaks, God the Holy Spirit comes down like a dove, and God the Son is baptized and his ministry begins. The holy becomes visible.
We participate in this holiness made visible at every baptism. The Book of Common Prayer says,” In Baptism, “God adopts us as his children and makes us members of Christ’s body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God.”
This means that through ordinary things: a water bath, a prayer, words of love, a touch, the holy becomes real among us here today. Like Jesus’ baptism, these baptisms today are markers, once in a lifetime milestones of transformation, making Tyler and Francesca full members of the Church and “marked as Christ’s own forever.”
And remember, in our tradition, they are both now eligible to gum down a Communion wafer as soon as their parents decide they’re ready to safely do so.
Several weeks ago we celebrated our annual 4:00 Christmas Eve pageant here at Trinity. The children acted out the Nativity Story, and this year we had a real three month old baby for our baby Jesus. At 3:45 or so, it was pandemonium in here, with angels and shepherds arriving with their families, and the band was setting up. Right then, Emily, the mother of our young 4:00 Jesus asked me if I wanted to hold her baby son. She handed him to me and I held him—so light—Ahhh! A beautiful moment of peace for me. It reminded me that with a baby that age, just holding is important work. I could feel the tension, the frenzied buildup to Christmas fall away. This was what Christmas was about, God coming into the world as a tiny baby.
Babies teach us about servant ministry, about love, what it means to “be love” to a tiny person and to “be loved” in return. Holding our baby Jesus reminded me that we all began as babies, even Jesus. It reminded me that this is what the real baby Jesus felt like on Christmas Eve.
Holding our baby Jesus on Christmas Eve, I was reminded how vulnerable the real baby Jesus was, and how much trust God had in Mary and Joseph to be the holy parents. Holding our baby Jesus on Christmas Eve reminded me of how much Jesus trusts us to be holy parents to our own children, to children we nurture in our church community, and in the wider world.
In a few minutes, in the course of the Baptism ceremony, the whole Trinity community will stand and we will renew our own Baptismal Covenant. In that rich and challenging litany God calls all of us, not just the parents and godparents of Tyler and Francesca, to support them as they grow, and to follow Christ and take on the ministries each of us is called to exercise.
When we are baptized we begin a lifelong process of growing into our faith and following Christ. Baptism is a onetime thing, but it is the beginning of an all the time process of ministering in Christ’s name. Baptism is our common ground as Christians.
Christ calls all of us to take up this holy work. It sometimes feels heavy when use these large words like “covenant,” “ministry” and “forever.”
But Christ promises us that his burden is light, like the featherweight of a baby, because He is with us every step of the way, and He is an everflowing source of strength, like the running river of the Jordan, the font of every blessing.
And after we greet the newly baptized, and share the sign of Peace, we will continue with that other ancient Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist, which feeds us spiritually, and supports us in everything we do. Remember that God, the source of life everlasting said to Jesus, “You are my beloved. With you I am well-pleased,” and as we continue on our baptismal journeys, remember that he says the same to you. Amen.
