Major League Baseball took a much needed break this week. Starting
in 1933, the league has taken a brief mid-season rest period from a day before the All-Star game until a day or two afterward. Most players use those days to spend time with family, go fishing, or sleep. The Major League season at 162 regular season games is the longest and most grueling of all professional team sports. Breaks are important in our life. Ethan, my ten-year old, is volunteering in the office today as Christi needs an mid-summer All-Star break, if you know what I mean. Our daughters, Galina and Veeka, grew up in an orphanage in Russia which would take a summer vacation. Several orphanages in the area would send their children to a rustic camp by a lake. Russian summers are nice, with daylight past 10 pm. They would grow potatoes and then at the evening campfire, they would bury the spuds in the red coals. After the fire cooled off, they’d dig up their perfectly cooked taters and eat them as a before-bed snack. I have had this treat and it is one of the most memorable potatoes I have ever eaten. While the children were at camp for a month, repairs would happen at the orphanage. Construction crews would take advantage of the good weather and nearly 18 hours of daylight. The highlights of orphanage life (which are few) for our girls were their summer breaks. Likewise Saint John’s School is going through an All-Star break. We are repairing, painting, and doing projects around the campus. The teachers are resting and preparing for an exciting school year. At the church, we are just past the half-way point from Epiphany to Christmas. Many folks from the church are going on vacation. The Marshalls are on vacation starting Monday the 22nd for an entire week at my sister-in-law’s cabin in the Sierras where we will be fishing, canoeing, hiking, resting and swimming. At a half-way point in the Israelites' journey to the Promised Land, Moses needed an All-Star break. He trekked up a mountain and sat with God for about a month. It was a turning point in his relationship with God, with his people, and God’s relationship with the Israelites and even us today. After taking his break, Moses walked back downhill carrying the Ten Commandments. I remember my summer breaks fondly – probably more than I remember being in school. Despite being in an orphanage situation, our girls remember their camp experience fondly. As baseball players take a break, I wonder if they will remember what they did with three days off after more than 80-some days of baseball they played prior to the break and another 80 some after. Although Moses didn’t write about it, I imagine that he remembered his time with God as a highlight of his life. I visualize him, after a tough day leading the people, retiring into his tent and remembering his walks with God, and then falling gently asleep. May you find yourself taking a summer All-Star break. Maybe you can even think about taking a mini-break right now by sitting back and remembering, like Moses, the times you were on summer break, - Fr. Marshall Maybe I spend too much time thinking about food. As Christi and I were driving away from San Marcos on our move to Imperial Beach, I said goodbye to the new Taco Bell near our old house and said, “Too bad I didn’t go there.” Christi replied, “Really??” I suppose of the things that one might lament during a move, a new Taco Bell should probably not be high on the list. Did you know Taco Bell just came out with a revolutionary new item called the Doritos Locos Taco, a taco with a Doritos Nacho Cheese shell! The DLT, as insiders call it, is a combination that took three years of work and was completed with a handshake agreement between the CEOs of Frito-Lay and Taco Bell. In its test market, one blogging fan drove 900 miles, from New York to Toledo, Ohio, just to get a taste of it. Since 2012, Taco Bell has sold 450 million DLT’s. This is such a big hit, Taco Bell built six dedicated manufacturing lines for the DLT, which employs around 600 employees. … just to make a taco shell. The DLT came about because of an anniversary – Taco Bell was turning fifty. For a company that targets 20-year olds, turning 50 is a big bummer. They wondered how they could stay competitive in a food market that rarely sees restaurants turn 20 – much less 50. Doritos was in the same boat. They were losing their edge with the coveted 20-something crowd. Voila the birth of the DLT. The Church will celebrate its anniversary on Sunday, December 1st this year. We’re turning one-thousand, nine-hundred eighty-one years old! (give or take a decade or so) And the Church is searching for relevance with the 20-something crowd, just like a 50-year old taco chain. I know a couple of things – the Church is going through a period of change but I have faith that God’s will is for the Church--the Body of Christ-- to live and thrive. In this century, the Church will find its Doritos Loco Taco. And, like the DLT, it will spread like wildfire; people might even drive 900 miles to get a taste. Unfortunately, change is not as simple as taking our bulletins and dusting them with nacho cheese flavoring. Unprecedented cooperation between Taco Bell and Frito-Lay made those companies relevant. I wonder with whom the 21st century Church will be engaged? Hospitals? Societies that benefit children? The Rotary Club? The San Diego Padres? John and Charles Wesley faced a similar situation with the Church during their lifetimes. Born in England in the early 1700’s, they found the 18th Century Church to be in a period of flux. Through rigorous preaching and music, they began a movement that has made a lasting impact on the Church. Many of our favorite hymns today were written by Charles Wesley. He noticed that the local pubs had more people than the churches on Sunday. In the bars, men and women sang popular songs. Charles took some of those popular tunes and wrote poetry about the magnificence and saving presence of God. As the story goes, when bar-goers stumbled home on Sunday morning, they passed by his church and heard a tune they could sing and found words that saved their souls. Charles found the DLT that transformed the Church and opened the doors of God’s saving grace for all. God knows what is coming in the next century and by God’s grace we are being ushered into the new life of the Church. May we have the courage of John and Charles Wesley and benefit from the example of the cooperation between Taco Bell and Frito-Lay in order to transform the Church, - Fr. Marshall What do you think of when you hear “Waterloo?" Folks in my
generation might first think of the pop band, ABBA, and their hit with the same name; others may think of a city in Iowa. But, for those raised in England, Waterloo has a much different meaning. Here’s a quick, and painless, history lesson. Sunday morning, June 18, 1815, near the town of Waterloo in present-day Belgium, Emperor Napoleon was attempting to take over the world. If Napoleon had won, many believe his next stop would have been the shores of England. The Duke of Wellington was sent with an army to make this Napoleon’s last stand. The fate of Europe hung in the balance. Across the English Channel, communication occurred by means of flashing lights. Many on the English side stood waiting to hear the news of what happened with Wellington’s army. Through the fog, a light on the French side started to blink. It read, “Wellington” and then a long pause. Then, “Defeated”. … and nothing else. Panic spread throughout the English countryside. Villagers started to gather their belongings to flee north. Many feared the outcome and wondered whether or not England would survive. But a few faithful, believing in the sovereignty of England, and the strength of Wellington’s leadership, waited on the shore. As the day passed, the fog cleared. The message was flashed again. “Wellington” a pause, “Defeated”, a longer pause, “Napoleon”. Cheers erupted from the shore and messengers were sent quickly to London to say their interpretation of the first message had been wrong. Wellington had defeated Napoleon! A Biblical commentary that I recently discovered suggests the story of Waterloo is pretty close to what happened on Good Friday. The message was sent out from Jerusalem that Jesus had been crucified. It could have been something like this: “Jesus” pause “Defeated.” Sorrow and despair would have filled the air along with desperation and depression. Why did we believe in him? might have run through the minds of many of his followers. But, like those Brits who stayed by the shore until the fog cleared, some faithful women hung in there. On Sunday morning, they went to Jesus’ tomb. The fog of death and despair had cleared. The message they received that morning was this: “Jesus. . .Defeated. . .Death”. And this message was the one they passed to the eleven disciples – Jesus died but was now alive. He had defeated death! The sovereignty of God had overcome death and the Kingdom of God still stood. Many times in life, the fog of despair rolls in. Or sometimes it is the fog of misunderstanding or not having the full picture that obscures our vision of the truth which sets us free. Sometimes people call our faith “blind” because we cannot see all the way. In late spring, 1815, they could not see all the way across the English Channel. Likewise in late spring, at Jesus’ last Passover, they could not see all the way through to the joy of Sunday morning. But some waited, listened and watched. And they received the Good News. Like the women who faithfully went to Jesus’ tomb and found that he was alive; like the faithful English who waited on the shore for a sign of good news from the battlefield; may you also have the faith to stick it out and wait patiently for the Lord, for he has Good News for you, - Fr. Marshall The Church remembered the life of Ephrem of Edessa this past Monday
in its calendar of saints. His life points to an aspect of faith that I want to share with you. Ephrem was born in the year 306 on the border of what is now Turkey and Syria, near where both countries border Iraq. For anyone who has traveled northwest on Highway 1 from Mosul, Iraq, to the border of Syria, you were heading toward Ephrem’s home town; the rest of us will settle for Map Quest. He was ordained a Deacon and served the Church for his entire life mostly in teaching, preaching, and defending the faith. 72 of his hymns and reflections on the Bible remain popular to this day. During a famine, he distributed food and organized a sort of ambulance service. Ephrem died on June 9th, 373, from exhaustion and sickness. It would be easy to talk about his popular poetry and hymns or his possible involvement in the Council of Nicea (whence we get the Nicene Creed) but today I want to highlight something else about his life. This struck me perhaps because of Father’s Day but Ephrem was unlike his father in the practice of his faith. His dad was probably a pagan priest until he converted to Christianity. His mother, a Christian, may have had a role in that conversion. Nevertheless, they raised Ephrem with a focus on education, specifically writing and poetry. But at some point, Ephrem took on the faith of his father and made it his own. The early 300’s were an exciting time to be a Christian. For one thing, it was legal: Emperor Constantine had legalized the practice of Christianity. The Christ-driven movement was flourishing. Saint Jacob, the second bishop of the diocese of Nisbis, was Ephrem’s mentor in the faith. So Ephrem was baptized, and perhaps simultaneously ordained, in his youth and then embraced a type of Syrian-monasticism. Several years later, his bishop and mentor was a signatory at the First Council of Nicea; Ephrem may have attended. And yet, the time was not without difficulty. A series of attacks from Persia forced the Emperor to surrender Ephrem’s region which permitted the expulsion of the entire Christian population. Ephrem had to relocate to continue his work in the Church. We do not know much about the faith of Ephrem’s mother and father. But, based on his life and his practice in the faith, it appears he adopted Christianity pretty much on his own. This is quite different from when God spoke to Abraham and said that he would give Abraham many descendants. Abraham accordingly became the father of the faith and Isaac, Abraham’s son, took his father’s faith and made it his own. Likewise Jacob, Isaac’s son, took his father’s faith and made it his own. To this day, we call on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Saint Paul is one of the most prolific writers in the New Testament. He was a high-up leader in the Jewish faith, something that was probably taught to him by his father. We don’t know anything about Paul’s father but Paul’s conversion experience suggests that Paul’s practice of faith was substantially different from that of his dad. King David took his father’s faith and made it his own – through writing psalms and at one point in a jubilant dance. We are told that David had a heart for God. David’s son, Solomon, took his father’s faith but not much of the exuberance for God and placed importance on building a temple and his own collections of various things (including wives). Solomon’s son took the faith handed to him and found more important matters in wealth and power. What is the faith of your father? For some us, our fathers had a strong and outwardly visible faith; other fathers have faith known to God alone. Regardless of where your dad is along that spectrum, I believe that you need to make your faith in God your own. You cannot simply adopt the faith of your parents. May God who we call our Father in Heaven shape your faith, may the Holy Spirit guide you into wisdom and instruction and may Christ be your spiritual guide as you make your ancestral faith your own, - Fr. Marshall In seminary I was a volunteer VA Chaplain. I served in VA hospital
that started taking in wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan – specifically, traumatic brain injuries, prosthetics, and spinal and ocular injuries. I have not talked much about my experience because what I saw, and the men and women that I had the honor to serve, remain deep in my heart and soul. For instance, one day I watched three Vietnam veterans, all in wheelchairs, teaching a 28-year old how to use his chair, a new black one that still had plastic covering on the wheels that matched the fresh bandages on his head and hands. That image still tears me up inside so I’ll stop talking about it now. The VA told chaplains they could pray but should refrain from naming God in public prayers. (I wish I were making this up.) We could pray, “We thank you for our country, be with us as we prepare for this day, Amen.” The Episcopal tradition is more like this: “Almighty God, creator of all things, we thank you for our country, send us your Holy Spirit to prepare us for this day, in Jesus’ name, Amen.” I wrote in my journal I felt I wasn’t actually praying when I wasn’t naming God. The hardest part was not ending in Jesus’ name or the Trinity, as in “to God Almighty, through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.” I once presided over a public VA chapel service where I found myself swallowing the words “… in Jesus’ name” at the end of each prayer. Later that day, I remembered Jesus’ words, “Anyone who is ashamed of me I will be ashamed of before the Father,” so I got on my knees and fervently prayed that God would please forgive me. I shared this with my supervisor who suggested perhaps God is bigger and more understanding than I thought. I told him about the Anglican theology of prayer and he gave me the same answer – only this time saying that perhaps God is bigger and older than “Anglican theology.” From what I can gather, military chaplains are under the same rule today. This morning I heard a radio story saying the House Armed Services Committee had voted to stop restrictions on military chaplain prayers. They decided that chaplains should be able to pray in the name of Jesus or their faith’s deity at general events. Alas, this amendment is a part of a 2014 defense policy bill the House will vote on next week which itself is a part of a $972 billion spending plan. I am torn up on this. I don’t like Congress deciding matters of prayer. On the other hand, I am relieved to hear that chaplains may be given some freedom. One of the best publications of the Episcopal Church is A Prayer Book for the Armed Services, 2008, a pocket-sized volume with many wonderful prayers, hymns, Psalms, Bible readings, and instructions on how to baptize, to pray for Christ to come into your life, to minister to the wounded, to say goodbye to someone who is dying, and even how to pray if you yourself are dying. In the meantime, will you pray with me, O God, bless our men, women and families in the Armed Services. Visit and sustain the lives of all chaplains in their rounds, duties and deployments. Give all who serve confident hearts in their work as peacemakers and peacekeepers. Protect our nation and its people in these difficult times. Never, Lord, let us abandon the character of righteousness in everything we do. In Jesus’ name. Amen. -Fr. Marshall I used to work in a rather high-pressure environment as a senior underwriter for a large insurance company. My boss used to say to me that the job was simple; all we had to do was make a hundred decisions per day each of which simply had to be exactly correct. He would come around at 10 am and again at 3 pm to make sure that we were taking our breaks because the company had found out that the best decisions are made when the underwriter feels refreshed and not fatigued. I had some friends in the life insurance department that would take regular 15 minute naps at their desk – as prescribed by their bosses. Some of the worst decisions that were made in the department came not because of a lack of information or experience, but because of weariness and stress.
How does weariness factor into what you do? What is your level of fatigue? As a parent, I am at my best when I’m relaxed and rested. But let’s be frank, how many times, as parents, do we feel that level of serenity? Parenting, by and large, happens in the midst of anxieties of the day and sometimes on too little sleep. I saw a parent get angry at a young child at a store the other day. The Mom looked really tired and worn out. I don’t think she’s a bad person, or a terrible parent, she was simply fatigued and thus was making poor decisions. I often wonder, when looking at creation, if God was weary when he created the avocado pit, the Carrion flower that smells like death, or the Aye-aye (look it up, it’s an ugly and strange creature). In the book of Exodus, we are told that the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. (Ex 31:17) Creating heaven and earth must have been a lot of work and stress. No wonder God needed rest and refreshment. Jesus sent out the twelve to heal and proclaim. When they returned, the Gospel of Mark says, “there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and the twelve did not even have a chance to eat. Then Jesus said, ‘Let’s go to a place where we can be alone and get some rest.’ They left in a boat for a place where they could be alone.” (Mk 6:31-32) The Lord knew the importance of rest and taught it to his disciples. If Jesus, who we believe is both human and divine, took the time to combat fatigue, what instruction can we take from that about finding rest and refreshment? I took this weekend off. A great gift was given to me by Fathers Tolley and Stott. Four weeks ago they approached me in the vesting sacristy (the place where we robe-up for service). Fr. Stott said that he’d like to preach on Memorial Day. Fr. Tolley jumped in and said, “Well, if Al is preaching, then I’d like to celebrate.” And nearly in unison, they both said, “And you can take the weekend off.” And I did! And it was good! It is such a comfort and blessing to have those two beautiful, faithful, and thoughtful men watching over and caring for me and my family. The Letter to the Hebrews says that a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people and the person who has entered God’s rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from His. Let us then make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into a pattern of disobedience. (Heb 4:9-11) Just like my old boss used to enforce, we need to take breaks, or get rest, so that we can continue in a pattern of good decisions. May you find time today to take a rest from your labors and find a Sabbath rest, just as God did. Many blessings to you this day, - Fr. Marshall I was talking recently to someone who the Church would call a
“non-believer” at a local, rather hip, coffee shop. I might have been the only person there who did not have a tattoo or some sort of piercing. But, black shirts were popular so at least I had that going for me. Priests do not always fit in very well, as you can imagine. We met to discuss spirituality and God because of a parishioner who had referred him to me. She had prepared me with, “He’s a great guy at work and he’s been asking me questions and I just don’t know how to answer them. He seems so angry… Anyway, I thought you could help him.” I wondered if I could help him, too. Eric is in his late twenties or early thirties and in a long-term relationship with a live-in girlfriend. He wore motorcycle boots, a long chain that ran from his belt to a concealed wallet, a tattoo that started on the top of his right hand and ran up his arm underneath his jacket, and his forehead was covered with a dark and wide bandana that made me wonder if he had really long hair or if he was covering up a receding hair line. He had dark eyes that seldom held any object for any length of time. With coffee in hand, we found a table with three chairs and sat down. Normally when I meet with new folks we talk about work, family, and sports for a while until we’re ready to talk God. Not with Eric; we sat down and he immediately jumped in asking in-depth theological questions. My parishioner was right that he was angry. Joplin, Missouri, had been leveled by a tornado. He asked why a loving God would allow this to happen. The next question was about AIDS, then earthquakes, and then, tears welled up in his eyes as he asked why his dad had died of a heart attack when he was only 12 – three years after walking out on him, his mom, and his sister. The sounds of the coffee shop faded away as we both leaned in and talked about a merciful and loving God who is working in a broken world filled with sin and death. I told him about Jesus who is loving and forgiving and who would not take away a father-- even if his angry son had prayed that he would die. After our intense conversation his complexion changed. He looked brighter and a lot less angry. Eric sat back, put his arm over the back of the unoccupied chair, crossed his legs and said, “Tell me about you. Why do you do this church thing?” I told him about my calling and what I do by serving the Church. He uncrossed his legs, put both arms on the table, looked me in the eyes and said, “Yeah, but with church, I mean, I guess I just don’t understand, I mean, what’s the point of it all?” I asked what he meant by the point of it all. He replied, “Once you are forgiven, and know that God loves you and all, why go and sing a bunch of old songs?” I said to him that the Church does three things. We are a place for the spiritually wounded to receiving healing. We are a house of praise and worship of God that is set apart from all other buildings in the world. And, we equip one another to be Christ for others in the world. He sat in silence for a while, staring at his hands. After a while he looked up and said, “You mean ‘being Christ’ to people who are angry at God and meet in coffee shops.” I smiled and said, “Yep, you’ve got it. Once you’ve been forgiven and see the glory of God, even in natural disasters and in disease, you get to be Christ’s representative to others. And even you too, Eric, get to be Christ to others.” May you be equipped to serve Christ and be his representative to others, - Fr. Marshall P. S. Many months after I had met with Eric, my parishioner told me that he joined a small church that meets in a rundown downtown building. He spends time talking to people who have, as he calls it, “issues with God." I heard a radio story I just had to verify and now that I have checked it out, I want to share it with you.
A 17-year old female high school student from Rhode Island was invited to speak at Hugh Heffner’s home about the First Amendment. This caught my attention. I studied civil liberties in college and find them fascinating and vital to our American way of life. But, a 17-year old speaking at the home of an adult magazine tycoon made my eyebrows close in on each other. If you have not read the 1st Amendment in a while, here it is: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The student, a self-described atheist, won a Heffner 1st Amendment Award for successfully challenging a prayer banner in her high school. The story on the radio made me remember a hand-made Young Life banner occasionally displayed at my high school that invited anyone to pray together before school began. Young Life helped many of my friends during a difficult time in High School. I felt offended that someone might want to challenge it. But that was not what happened in Rhode Island. In that high school gymnasium, the banner read: Our Heavenly Father. Grant us each day the desire to do our best. To grow mentally and morally as well as physically. To be kind and helpful to our classmates and teachers. To be honest with ourselves as well as with others. Help us to be good sports and smile when we lose as well as when we win. Teach us the value of true friendship. Help us always to conduct ourselves so as to bring credit to Cranston High School West. Amen. This banner was a gift from the 1963 graduating class and replaced recitation of the Lord’s Prayer which was stopped in 1962. In March of this year the banner was removed. I am saddened by this story and also somehow uplifted. The way that the 1st Amendment has been interpreted shows that this banner is inappropriate. I get that. What saddens me is that the banner got it right – to be kind, honest, helpful, to grow mentally, morally, physically, and to be good sports in bad times and to cherish friendship. Yes these are Christian ethics. But they are not the sole property of the Christian Church. I think they are vital ethics of conduct and are applicable to any High School. I am uplifted because every day at Saint John’s I stand for our school prayer. Each morning at 8:22 a student leads us in prayer after we recite the Pledge of Allegiance. This morning it was a 5thgrader. Our Constitution guarantees Saint John’s the right to prayer in school. As a parochial school we have many protections. And, before Sunday services, the servers and I stand in a circle and pray. Once a month or so I pray in thanksgiving for the freedom we have to worship God as we choose and I pray for Christians around the globe that do not enjoy such protections. Freedom is a tricky thing. We have the right to assemble and worship and no level of government can establish a religion. I strongly believe in both. It’s like being in the world but not of the world. Recently I was at the DMV registering our new car. While waiting in line, I tried to imagine what it would be like if government got into the business of establishment of religion. It wasn’t a pretty picture. Can you imagine the permit forms you’d have to fill out to receive communion? As we get move closer to Memorial Day, let us all pray in thanksgiving for our freedoms, and especially the freedom to worship. Let us be thankful for the freedom of speech – even if we disagree with what the other person is saying. Let us be thankful for the freedom to assemble – even if we have a different opinion from the assemblers. Let us be thankful for the freedom to worship – even if others decide loudly to not worship or to not believe in God. And, let us take a moment to thank those who created and those who defend our constitution and its amendments. God’s peace to you, Fr. Marshall Near my childhood house in a southern suburb of Tacoma, Washington, there is a restaurant called the Quarterdeck. This was the finest dining in the area. The Quarterdeck’s exterior was decorated to look like the raised deck behind the last mast of a large sailing ship. On the inside it looked like the captain’s quarters; or at least the romanticized version of what it would look like. One day they put up a large banner on the outside. It read, “We’re the second best dining restaurant in Tacoma!” My dad liked the sign. He said it’s smart because many would argue about who is number one, but no one would question their status as number two.
There is a list of the most popular to least popular names of Episcopal Churches. On this list, Saint John’s is number two! I don’t think we should make a banner of it, but our placement on the list has made me think. Before I get to my ruminations, here are the top five Episcopal Church names in the country. 1) Christ, 2) St. John, 3) Trinity, 4) St. Paul, 5) St. Andrew. There are 527 Christ Churches and 524 named St. John. We’re almost number one. Almost. I’ve been wondering what it means to be named for Saint John. In the Early Church times, a congregation would name themselves for a particular saint because they had a relic from that person. It could be a scarf, a sandal, a toenail, or perhaps the whole body. As Christianity grew, there were just not enough relics to go around. So, congregations would name themselves based on a particular charism, or gift, of a saint. If a saint was known to be brave, a congregation that does a lot of evangelism work may chose that name. Or, a congregation with a strong outreach ministry may choose to name themselves after a saint that cared for the poor. What then does it mean to be named for Saint John? As I’ve been discussing over the past few Sunday sermons, John the Gospel writer has a particular charism or view of Jesus. He writes in his Gospel that Jesus is one who welcomes outsiders, he goes after the lost sheep and calls them by name, and he highlights Jesus as someone who spiritually stands above the religious establishment of the day to seek those who have been disaffected by religion. Since our congregation is named for John the Gospel writer, I think we are a congregation who welcomes outsiders, seeks those who are lost and those who have been burned (and burned out by) religion. This is our charism – it is our gift to the community and to one another – to help those in need and offer them hope and peace in Christ. Our name is also in the top five of names in the country. This makes sense in light of the Gospel writers who mentioned Jesus’ inner posse – Peter, John, James and Andrew. When Jesus went off to pray, or to do something way out of the ordinary, like become transfigured, he always took a small group with him. That group usually involved John. I think this means we can proudly say, “We’re #2!” The advantage of being number two is that we are always following number one - Christ. We know our place and we follow in his footsteps. Let us continue to participate in John’s charism of welcoming outsiders and seeking after those who do not know the love and peace of Christ, - Fr. Marshall This Sunday, the Bishop will be at Saint John’s for his annual visitation. It’s a time for celebration and renewal. Seven people will be confirmed--Natalie, Daniel, Uriel, Michaela, Noah, Claudia, and Drew--and one person, Marjorie, will reaffirm her baptismal vows. At both services, the congregation will be invited to renew our own baptismal covenants. I’ve been thinking about renewal and covenants and birthdays. What does it mean to renew a covenant? Why do we bother with this spiritual practice? And why do we celebrate birthdays? On Friday, I will turn 44. I like to reflect on my life around the time of my birthday. I think about celebrations, some failures, and how I’d like to live my life differently in the next year. My thoughts also drift to my parents in thanksgiving – how they have influenced and shaped my life. And, since I have become a parent, on my birthday I allow myself to become more aware of how children influence the lives of their parents. In many ways, birthdays represent renewal of life, a bit, perhaps, like the first blossoms of a perennial that has been dormant for a while. When is your birthday with Christ? When did you covenant yourself to Jesus? For many of us, as infants we entered into a covenant with Christ at our baptism. Later on confirmation was a recognition of our life in Christ, in his Church, and our commitment (covenant) to serve him in the world. My life was permanently changed by my confirmation. On that day I heard Christ calling me to holy orders, the first of many times I’ve heard his call. While this was not an experience that happens to most people, many who are ordained heard the call when they were confirmed. There was a down side: the longer I stayed, or strayed, away from God’s call, the more difficult it became for me to renew my baptismal covenant. This Sunday, we are called to celebrate our birthdays with Christ, a second birth as many call it, when we were born from above with God through Jesus. We will celebrate with our confirmands as they commit to Christ and his Church as we also remember and renew our covenants. Our covenant to God involves believing in him and, with His help, continuing in the fellowship, teaching, and breaking the bread, a tradition handed down to us by the Apostles. With God’s help, when we sin, we will repent and return to the Lord. With God’s help we will show God’s love by our words and actions, love our neighbors, strive for justice and peace, and respect the dignity of every human being. But I’d like to add one more remembrance to our list, just between you and me. Let us remember that we are only able to live in covenant with God through Christ because God loved us first. God knit us together gently in the womb, the Holy Spirit knows the number of hairs on our heads and even how many times we breathed in and out while reading this; Jesus’ covenant to us is his gift of love and grace for all time forever and ever and ever. May God bless you, may the Holy Spirit strengthen you, and may Christ be with you in your renewal of life in his name, - Fr. Marshall |