Yearning and Pilgrimage

Mosaic -Basilica of Sant Apollinare Nuovo Ravenna early 6th C.

                    

    The church I grew up in had a stalwart men’s section in the choir.  Normally, I saw them in their choir robes and in their places in the choir itself.  One Sunday a year, though, three men stepped out and sang their way up the aisle of the church – each taking a verse of We Three Kings.  No more were they in choir garb, they were decked out – exotic and glamorous in costumes with elaborate robes and drapes, feathers and crowns, furs and even a small few bells were stitched into the hems of their costumes and which chimed as they made their way up the aisle.  

    The congregation would sing the first and last stanzas and the refrain, and each king in turn would sing their verse – moving at a stately pace down the center aisle of the Church – each of them following the star of wonder.  The men they were disappeared into the otherness of the part they played and they were majestic.

    Perhaps you did something like that here at St. Mark’s  in years past.  As a child, for me, it was unforgettable.

    I’ve been thinking  about those three kings or the Magi  as they are called in our gospel reading today – and especially because tomorrow January 6th is the Feast of the Epiphany and marks the traditional day of their arrival…. I’ve been wondering about why they made such an impression as a child,  and there are some things that come to mind.

    First – they were so other – so completely outside day to day life – so foreign  - they were from other lands – probably  Persia which is in modern day Iraq,  perhaps also from  India, Arabia, Egypt, Africa – say the ancient kingdoms of Kush or Ghana.  Otherness  captures the imagination.

       I try to imagine what it would have been like when they arrived in Bethlehem…..which was a very small town – an eyeblink of a town… poor and on the outskirts of Jerusalem.  It was agricultural and the surrounding area was used for grazing sheep. 

    So the Magi must have stood out even if their robes were a bit beaten up from the time on the road…   Bethlehem, I suspect, was not used to visitors and sometimes, then as now,  when we encounter someone who is so different it can be anxiety producing, even fearful.  So, perhaps, the residents became afraid as well as intrigued.  They were probably more used to flying under the radar screen especially with the occupying Romans forces who were both greedy and violent. Pays to keep your head down I that kind of situation.

    The other thing that caught my attention about them -other than how exotic they were-  was this:   they were following a star.  They had been looking up, watching, tracking a pinpoint of light and observing as it grew and came into position…and so, following the star, they set out to find the one it foretold.  Their watching, yearning and wondering transformed them into pilgrims and they made their way to Jerusalem.

    They said to Herod, as we heard, “ Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews?”  - for the star was a sign that a mighty king had been born and they had been drawn irresistibly… Having seen the star, they yearned to greet the new King.  In a sense, they are the first pilgrims we have a record of in the Gospels, and I’d like to shift for a moment to the idea of pilgrims and pilgrimages.

    In its most basic sense, a pilgrim is a person who journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons.  Another description is this:  “The journey of a pilgrimage is often difficult. Pilgrims [may] travel long distances. They have few belongings. [and]  They carry little baggage. They may encounter hardship and challenges. However, God is always present along the journey; (we as) [and] pilgrims must remain alert to the signs, and cognizant of God’s guidance along the way.”   

In our psalm today- Psalm 84 – we have a comment about those who are pilgrims..  v.4  -  Happy are the people whose strength is in you!  Whose hearts are set on the pilgrims’ way..

Happy are those whose hearts are set on the pilgrims’ way.. 

    There is a kind of unsettledness, a yearning that draws us to pilgrimage, and I believe that this is grounded in our longing for a deeper relationship with God, in our hunger for an encounter with the Holy One and a sense of God’s presence with us.  The psalmist in Ps 84 goes on to say  “They will climb from height to height and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.”  Did you hear that?  It’s a promise that God will bless the spirit of pilgrimage and that yearning for him by revealing Godself. 

    The Magi had that yearning and it compelled them to follow a star,  and God blessed them by leading them to the child Jesus – Immanuel.   So, too, many others down through the ages have had that yearning and have sought God’s presence in journeying as pilgrims.  It would not be a reach to say that the Church is called to be a pilgrim people.   

    There’s an old hymn – based on a 17th century John Bunyan verse. It’s entitled,  “He who would valiant be,” and it’s in our hymnal.   The first verse goes like this:  

He who would valiant be, ‘gainst all disaster, 

Let him in constancy, follow the master.  

There’s no discouragement shall make him once relent, 

His first avowed intent to be a pilgrim. 

    I once went to a funeral of a woman who was a dedicated church member, and we sang that hymn changing the hes and his to shes and hers – it worked just fine.

    How are you doing with the yearning for God’s presence?  I believe it is built into us. Is there a star you are following?  Remember, part of our on-going call is to be pilgrims  - to continuously seek the face and presence of God in Jesus… wherever it takes us.

    Yearning can be a very uncomfortable feeling and sometimes we judge ourselves for our yearnings.  We may yearn for companionship, or financial security, or for peace from worry or conflict or for justice.  Sometimes our yearning is so intense that we repress it.  Sometimes it drives us to make foolish decisions.   I want to suggest to you that at the heart of any human yearning is our longing – sometimes almost subconscious- for deeper relationship with God who alone can satisfy our restless hearts.

    But back to the Magi for a moment because we can pick up some good pointers from them for how to conduct a pilgrimage.

    First of all, they went in some innocence – some naivete-  to Herod who had been granted the title of “King of Judea” by the Roman Senate…perhaps the Magi assumed a son had been born to Herod who would be the new King.  They were mistaken.  Their foreignness could have seemed a threat and they probably only escaped with their lives because they promised to come back and tell Herod where the new king might be found.   Herod’s yearning was not to worship a new king.  Rather, his yearning was to hold onto power by any means possible. He had, in the course of trying to do so,  murdered one of his wives, her two sons, his brother-in-law, her grandfather, and her mother because he feared they were plotting against him.  He was ruthless and murderous as we see in the slaughter of the Innocents which followed when the magi did not return to him.  

   So, the first pilgrimage tip would be:  be careful when you deal with power structures and consider if you or what you represent poses a threat to them and plan accordingly.  As you know, the Christian path often leads into conflict with Empire and with those who would hold onto power at any cost.  So, as Jesus counsels us and the disciples as he sent them out – be innocent as doves and smart as snakes  as we journey along.

    The second tip the Magi would pass along is this:  Pay attention to your dreams especially on pilgrimage.  God often has spoken to people through dreams as we see throughout the bible.  St. Joseph is a great example of this.  He not only listened to his dreams but he acted thus saving the Christ Child from death.

    In seminary,  I had a classmate from Ghana, and once we were talking about this very thing - dreams  He said that in the village where he grew up that the elders often spoke of  dreams and also interpreted dreams that the people brought to them.  He said, ruefully,  I wish I had listened more to them and learned how to do that.  

    The Magi were warned in a dream to not return to Herod and  they returned to their own country by another road.  Pilgrimage tip number 2 - Listen to your dreams.  

    Now, I’d like to come back to the yearning that moves us to become pilgrims and seekers and followers after a star.  Yearning is centered in the heart.  During the time of ancient Israel and during Jesus’ day, the heart was not just a muscle which served a biological function… it represented the center of self – of thought and feeling – of being really.  Some recent studies have suggested that the heart functions as a second brain which is really interesting to think about and seems to cohere with a more ancient understanding of its functioning. 

    So, yearning is centered in the heart but as I suggested earlier, we often suppress our yearnings for God along with so many other things (news reports of war, murder, disaster to say nothing of our own tragedies that we live with).. we repress these things - often just so that we can function and get through the day.. the difficulty is this:  the more we repress, the more wooden or stonelike our hearts become.  Sometimes this is a necessary and good short term survival mechanism, but long term it causes us to lose our capacity for meaningful relationship not only with each other,  or with the natural world, but, most importantly, with God.

    So what are we to do?  There’s a hint in the last verse of the carol, “In the bleak midwinter” – composed by the brilliant Christina Rossetti - and which we will sing at the presentation of our offering today.  It goes like this

                           What can I give him, poor as I am ?

                           If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

                            If I were a wiseman, I would do my part;

                            Yes, what can I give him- give my heart.

    I used to think this was just sweet sentimentality but, when you think about it, giving our heart to Jesus is what we invited to do… to love him and place him at the center of our lives, to make his priorities ours, and to trust him with our lives.    So today, it is still Christmas , it’s the twelfth day of Christmas and it is not to late to give our heart to Jesus – maybe for the first time or perhaps to renew our willingness to give him this most precious gift.  This reminds me of something Martin Luther said.  When we are baptized the old man drowns down in the font but, the problem is that he keeps trying to crawl back out. So, too with us.  We might have given our heart to Jesus but then taken it back.  Sometimes, we may have done this multiple times.

    Do you recall that St. Augustine said our hearts are restless until they find our rest in thee? In him alone is our yearning satisfied as we walk the pilgrim way with him by our side and as we follow the star that lights our way.

    Let’s take a moment for some silence and then I will close with a prayer.

Let us pray…

Lord Jesus Christ,  Give to us fresh courage to be pilgrims and to follow you - our True Star… Receive  now for the first time or once again the only gift we truly can give you: our heart, our selves, our souls and bodies. Let us receive anew your life, your light, your peace, your justice, and your love.  Breathe these anew also over this Church family that we may truly know you and serve you.  This we ask in your most Holy Name. Amen.

To Become the Child of God - Christmas I 2023

 Christmas I 2023 – St. Mark’s – Dec. 31, 2023- JTCO

But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. (John 1.1.12)

(Link to audio file is HERE)

Christmas blessings to you all… I hope you are continuing to celebrate the great twelve days.. this season of light…

At our house, son Max has headed back to his marine base in Hawaii,  presents have been purchased and opened, the cookies and meals prepared and mostly eaten.. and finally, just last night, we had a moment to light the fire, to put on some Christmas music, to lower lights and light the candles - to be still and to let Christmas truly come.  I recommend it.  Celebrating holidays, as you know, can be exhausting.. and it can lead one to wonder – why are we doing all of this dashing around? And perhaps, more to the point, what difference does it all make – what difference can  Christmas make this year?

As I pondered that question – this passage from our gospel reading came to mind – But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God…

I want to warn you that this may be two sermons in one – so please stay with me. It should come together at the end.

What can it mean to become a child of God? 

Here is a story that speaks to this question most beautifully.

It comes from the Rev. Fred Craddock – minister, preacher and seminary professor- now with the Lord - and is recorded in his book The Craft of Preaching.   He tells about a trip he made with his wife, Nettie, when something remarkable happened...

[They] were vacationing in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, eating hamburgers in a restaurant. An old guy comes up to them and asks them who they are, what Fred does for a living, how long they plan to be there, etc., all making Fred antsy. Then, after finding out that Fred [was] a preacher, the man says he has a story to tell. Fred asks him to sit down with them. And the man tells his story.

 He told them that he was born in these mountains to a single woman. [Early 20th century] In those days that meant shame, a lot of shame. Boys at school had names for him. They guessed at who his father was and knew who his mother was, and they made his life hell. He ate his lunch at school alone every day.

He started going to a little church in Laurel Springs pastored by a large, bearded, craggy, big-voiced preacher, who scared the boy but drew him as well. The boy would go just for the sermon and then sneak out before anybody could corner him and say, “’What’s a boy like you doing in church?’” But one Sunday he couldn’t get out in time. The aisle was blocked by church members. And he was scared, because at the end of the aisle was the preacher. Then came the confrontation: the preacher looked at him and said, “’Well, boy, you are whose child?  ’” And the boy flinched. What would be next? ‘Whose child . . .’ was his whole nightmare. But then the gruff, rough, preacher paused and said “’Boy, you are a child; you are a child of God. I see a striking resemblance.’” 

The preacher “swatted the boy on the bottom and said, ‘go, claim your inheritance.’”

“[The old man] said ‘I was born that day.’ [Fred] said to the old man, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Ben Hooper.’ And then he left. [Fred said to himself] Ben Hooper? Ben Hooper? [That name rings a bell.]

“Oh, yes. I remembered my father telling me about how the people of Tennessee twice elected a governor named Ben Hooper who had been born to an unmarried mother.” Fred writes, “Ben Hooper had told me a story. No, Ben Hooper had told me the story.” 

YOU are a child a God – beloved – because of Jesus and how through him – his birth, his life, his death and the power of his resurrection – you have the power of being a child of God.

Hear this today - Whatever happens to you in this life, if anybody tries to run you down and make you feel less than – whatever befalls you - Remind yourself – I am a child of God…  (pause a moment and repeat that to yourself)    Now, that is something can make a difference this Christmas for you – 

And the preacher also said to the boy – go claim your inheritance – We could spend a lot of time on this – on what our inheritance is as a child of God – but I want to back up in our gospel and point to just one thing – 

John says of Jesus Christ that what has come into being  in him is LIFE and the life is the light of the world.. and that light shines (the verb gives the sense of continuously shining) and the darkness does not overcome it – then, now and forever.

So, when we belong to Jesus as members of his family, that light surrounds us, dwells in us and leads us…what an inheritance!

Three thoughts about the Light of Christ which has come to us..our inheritance

That light can lead us in times of confusion where it’s hard to see the way forward –no one puts this more beautifully than Cardinal John Newman  who wrote in the first verse of a poem – the title is the same as the first line…

Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom

Lead thou me on

The night is dark, and I am far from home

Lead thou me on

Keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see

The distant scene, one step enough for me

The kindly light of Christ can lead us through whatever darkness surrounds us  (and there is plenty of it today).  This is part of our inheritance as Children of God.

The light of Christ leads and also can reveal the truth of a situation or can give us insight or wisdom – Have you had this kind of experience?  You get an intuition or a hunch or a whisper of the spirit about a situation – not something that would ordinarily be seen or known… that  is also part of our inheritance as Children of God..

And, finally John tells us that what has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of all people –

The light of Christ which can live in us – is life itself.. eternal life, resurrection life – and what an inheritance that is..

So, beloved of St. Mark’s, something that can really make a difference this Christmas is for you to get it down into your bones that you are a beloved Child of God with a present inheritance of nothing less than the Light of Christ…

I want to invite you into a moment of silence and then I’ll offer a prayer…

Let us pray

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word.  Grant that this light , enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reign with you, in the unity of the Holy Sprit. One God now and forever.  AMEN.

Advent 1C - 2024 - But YOU, when you see these things

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 Advent I- Year C- 2024- St. Mark’s, Charleston

Happy New Year! Happy New Church Year! We have entered a whole new Church year, and it is a new beginning — an opportunity for a reset in our relationship with the God of our hope.

This morning, I’d like to offer some thoughts about Advent - this mysterious season -, to look at our gospel reading a bit, and to explore the idea of judgement as a part of the last days.

Advent is a strange season, and today we are invited to push out into its deep waters. There is noise and cloud - shouting in the desert and heavy fog-like cloud, sounds like the roaring of waves, darkness, and, then, finally, silence...all giving way, at Christmas, to the light of a single flame burning in the enveloping darkness.

Now, in our time, its fairly normal to mark the New Year with fireworks and Jesus is revealing some of his own as we will hear in our reading from Luke...

One would think that it would make sense to begin at the beginning with this story of how God came to be with us but, instead, we begin with a vision of the end of all things.  It’s a little like reading the last chapter in the book before we start the first chapter.  So, let us step out and listen and see what the Holy Spirit might be saying to us this day.

Today, we’re in the Gospel of Luke and the disciples and Jesus are in Jerusalem. It’s a few days before his arrest and death, and they must have been asking about the end times.. .what it would be like and when it would come..

Jesus says, as we heard, "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations —  there will be chaos caused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.  Listen to this: People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

The experience of the end will be so intense that people will literally faint from fear.. .1 wonder if you have ever been that afraid?

And then Jesus says, but YOU, when these things start to unfold, don’t try to hide, you don’t need to be afraid, look up because your redemption, the great day of reckoning, where justice will be done and the healing of all that is broken will begin and the new creation will come into glorious flower. But YOU, look up!

These word remind me a little bit of those blessed first responders who run toward a crisis when everyone else is trying desperately to get away.. WE don’t need to be afraid on that day. .because the spiritual veil separating heaven and earth will be drawn aside and we will see him - the Beloved - our Jesus- the one who loves us and who treasures us - the one who is ever present although we cannot see him physically.  Although, perhaps, we can sense him with the eyes of our hearts.  Yes, we will see him, and it will a time of unbounded joy.

And then, Jesus switches from this cosmic imagery — from the terrifying sounds and fury to a humble, earthy example. Perhaps they were standing by a fig tree when he made these remarks- Look at the fig tree and all the trees.  When they come out in leaf... when they begin to green up, you know that summer is coming...

But here’s the thing, you won’t be able to see it if you are swallowed up with the cares of the world or with drunkenness or all of the myriad of ways we distract ourselves... NO, he says stay awake., pay attention, keep watch..

So, Jesus, what exactly are we looking for?

In the here and now, we need to keep looking for the signs of the kingdom breaking in and O they are all around us when we have eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts that are not distracted. So what keeps us from seeing the Kingdom that Jesus says is right here- (although, only in part) ?

I think we can’t see it most often because of fear so I’d like to come back to the fear response.   Jesus says people will faint out of fear. I want to suggest that part of this is the fear of judgement.  This is something, I believe, many of us wrestle with.

I’m reminded of the billboards I used to see all over the highways with words like — Jesus is coming back! Are you saved? - and words to that effect....

In our Collect for the Day, one of the most beautiful of them all, we pray, (this is the last part) - that “in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal;

To be judged is a frightening prospect., but, here’s the thing, it all depends on who the judge is...

Here’s a story - Many years back, one of our sons - when he was in high school- got into a fist fight with another young man over comments made about our son’s girlfriend. Our son broke several bones in his hand, and the other boy ended up with a broken nose. They both ended up in the emergency room. That young man’s mother decided that they should press charges for assault and battery against our son. So, our son got a phone call saying a warrant was out for his arrest. This was not good. We lawyered up and they did too.

On the day of court, we arrived and sat at the back of the courtroom. There were other cases being heard at the front.  At one point I looked up and realized with a terrible shock that I knew the judge. He was a former parishioner. I was horrified., what was he going to think of our son, of us - you can imagine... I felt shame, humiliation, along with great fear for our son and I prayed that somehow a miracle would happen, that he would excuse himself and someone else would hear our case. And, he would not ever know that we had been there. No such luck.

Finally, it was our son’s turn and we went forward and stood behind him. The judge looked at us and it was not the terrible, critical, judgmental look I had feared, but there was compassion. He asked both young men to come forward and tell him what had happened. They both admitted their fault. After listening carefully, he spoke sternly to them both, dismissed it, and required our son to get some anger management therapy. A good call.

Later, in addition to feeling a deep sense of relief, I realized., he knew us. He knew what kind of parents we were as he had seen our family Sunday in and Sunday out for years.  He knew our son.   Gradually, my personal sense of shame and fear for my son diminished., the judge knew us and he cared for us. I don’t think the way he handled our case was unusual - for, as we waited in the courtroom, I heard and witnessed his compassion in dealing with other cases. It turned out that was his reputation as well.

This is the point I believe Jesus is trying to make - yes, there will be a kind of judgement because what happens to us at the hands of other matters.  The injustice, the injuries we have suffered have consequence.   And, how we treat others matters BUT here’s the thing, we do not need to be afraid because Jesus—the one who knows us, who loves us is our judge and his compassion is unbounded and his remedies are grounded in love. Jesus says when these things begin - look up and raise your head because your redemption is drawing near.

So Advent is a time when we think about the last things and the first things - in my end is my beginning - noted TS Elliot, We hear the words of the prophets, and the words of an angel to a young woman.

So, We begin again in Advent.

We can run towards what is scaring other people ... And we can know that

The star is already tracing its path through the heavens...

 The wisemen are already on their way

The shepherds are already in the fields

 Mary is pregnant and Joseph is trying his best

The prophets have spoken

And John the Baptist has been born

Caesar Augustus has already declared a census.

The time of our Lord’s nativity has approached..

and his coming in glory at the end of time is already approaching...

So, beloved, let us wake up, keep an eye out for the presence of the Lord, let us love and trust the One who will be our judge and not fear him... 

Let us push out into the depths of Advent, let us love God, each other, and all those we meet along the way and above all let us stay awake and hold onto the God of our hope - the one who is and has always been in the boat with us.. 

For, in him is our hope.. ..St Augustine wrote “And when we say ‘God’ what have we said? That one syllable contains all that we hope for” .

May our God in Christ bless you with renewed hope, love and vigilance this Advent. Amen!

JTCO

 

Tomorrow, December 6, is the feast day of St. Nicholas of Myra - one of my all time favorite observances.  Here is a prayer (Lesser Feasts and Fasts),  a picture and a poem. 

Grant, Almighty God, that your church may be so inspired by the example of your servant Nicholas of Myra, that it may never cease to work for the welfare of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through  Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Street Corner Icon

Street corner Santa,

with your padded red and polyester finery,

ill-fitting boots and occasional beard,

look who stands behind you.

Street corner Santa, do you know who you are?

Santa Claus, St. Nicholas in other times and places,

Bishop of Myra, champion of children,

protector of sailors and all those afloat

where benevolence is rare and sanctuary needful.

Street corner Santa, do you know who you are?

Consider a bishop’s garb and gear, then look

at your crimson and white and candy canes.

Beneath them are saints’ robes and shepherd’s crook

and where you walk or beg, so does he.

Street corner Santa, do you know who you are?

And behind you both, stands yet another.

The shepherd himself, his icon you are.

So, beckon the little ones to come unto you,

ring strong your bell and plead for us to care.

Then, help us, dear Santa, to see who you are.

© JTCO 1990

Breathe

 

Thinking of St. Francis whose feast day is tomorrow - Oct. 4

                                                Tree of Life - Mosaic by Irina Charny

For your Spirit woven into the fabric of creation for the eternal overlapping with time and the life of earth interlaced with heaven's vitality I give you thanks, O God. For your untamed creativity your boundless mystery and your passionate yearnings planted deep in the soul of every human being I give you thanks. Grant me grace to reclaim these depths to uncover this treasure to liberate these longings and in being set free in my own spirit to act for the well-being of the world.   Celtic Benediction, Morning and Night Prayer by John Philip Newell 

and, this one too...

Loving Father and Creator of all we come to you today deeply grateful for your creation. As we look around us we are amazed at the greatness and majesty of all that you have made. Nature around us speaks of your greatness - the vast expanse of the sky, the mountains, trees, oceans, lakes and streams speak of your great design. You have given us such beauty in the colors of the rainbow, the beauty of flowers and fields. Words cannot adequately express the magnificence of all you have created. We join in praise with the writer of the psalms when he says, "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth." May we show our love and reverence to you, our Lord, by caring for all that you have created. We humbly give you praise and thanks. Amen."

Big News!

Hi Friends, I am very happy to announce that I have been called to be the Interim Rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Charleston. I am so excited to see what God will do with them! Please pray that it will be a productive time for us all. Blessings, Jennie+