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10 Pentecost
July 24, 2005 Sermon
by Rev. Aron Kramer, Associate Rector
Readings
As I walked out of the
Church yesterday, after the ordination and after lunch with one of our
youth, and Peter Pierce walked with me as he always does, I realized I
would never walk through these doors in the same capacity again. Never
again, on a non Sunday would I walk into this Church as its employee, as
its Associated Rector. When I got to my car I began to shudder with
grief and sadness, the first time I have been gripped so strongly with
the realization that I am leaving. It is sad, hard, and difficult to
leave this place. Of course, to get myself out of that emotional
upheaval the first question that entered my mind, was how I can relate
this to the Gospel and incorporate it into this last darned sermon I
never thought I would have to preach. So here is my attempt.
We tend to believe that Solomon was an amazing King, an outstanding
individual that never made any mistakes. Our Old Testament reading today
claims that a bit. We have the story of how Solomon was gifted and
blessed by God to rule God’s chosen people. But if you dig a little, and
begin to uncover the dirt on Solomon you find he wasn’t all that bright
of a shining star. At the time of this prayer, Solomon was married to an
Egyptian princess, a big no no during his time. He was also placing the
utmost importance upon his own home and relegating the Temple of Yahweh
and the defense of the city to second place. Yet here was God bestowing
a blessing of total and complete abundance upon Solomon. Here was God
overlooking those faults and defiance’s and blessing Solomon as a chosen
leader of God’s people. We don’t have to be perfect, we don’t have to be
flawless to receive God’s blessing, what do you think about that? What
do you all think about the fact that we do not have to have all our
ducks in a row before we come to God asking for wisdom and guidance?
Here is a story that is about how we pray, what we are to pray for and
what an amazing God we worship that all the mistakes and all the
stumbles we make still do not keep God from abundantly blessing us with
things that are beyond measure and expectation.
Likewise in Romans, Paul speaks of the importance of placing God in the
middle of everything. We have no power, no idea of how we could even
begin to approach God and pray for those things that we need and desire
for the world. Paul tells us that the spirit intercedes for us, with
words that are beyond our own comprehension, words that are like a sigh
too deep for our own language to describe. God gave up everything for us
and because of that, God has also given us everything there is to give,
nothing we have in our lives, nothing we own, is ours. Our cars, our
homes, our clothes, our wives and husbands, our families, our friends.
Nothing in our life is our own, it is all God’s, it all belongs to God
and to God alone, we cannot claim it, and we cannot hold it close to our
own hearts without causing great pain and destruction. There is nothing
that we do in the world to deserve what we get, or to deserve better
treatment than anyone else. Nothing we do can raise our stake in God’s
Kingdom, nothing we do can make us be loved more by God. God loves us as
much as is possible. Believe it or not this is what Paul’s message is
all about, he is declaring to the world that the story of Christ’s
resurrection and ascension has overcome the sin story of our history.
Because of the salvific actions of God in our history and past, we are
all saved, loved and held close to God’s heart. The story of love and
passion and joy has now begun to spread throughout the world and there
is nothing we can do to stop it, nothing we can do to slow it down.
All that we are and all that we have and all that we do belongs to God
and to God alone. When you peel back all the layers of stuff we have
placed on our hearts, and in our lives, when we pull it all back we find
only one thing present to each of us. God, God is the only thing at the
core of our being that matters; God is only being in the entire world
that can lay claim to anything. And the wonder is that God lays claim to
us, God claims each of us as children as chosen ones, as beloved people
of God. That is the miracle, there is no need for any other miracle,
there is no need for more signs of God’s presence, we are claimed by God
and what we are required to do is peel back all those things that we
think we own and deserve to discover that we do not own anything; we are
the ones who are owned and claimed by God. Today’s collect sums it up
well, “O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom
nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your
mercy.” Increase and multiply your mercy, or grace, so that we can
always remember who’s we truly are.
You all have taught me that, in excellent and clear ways as well as
difficult and hard ways. You all have taught me how to be a child of
God, how to uncover and discover, at the core of my being, a God that
does not expect me to be perfect and happy and wonderful, rather, simply
a God who desires to celebrate life, celebrate relationship and dance
with each of us. St. Paul’s is a tremendous place, but it is truly at a
crossroads. I want you all to look around and see who is sitting near
you and who is sitting far from you. Look around and discover that we
all do have a common goal, and a common bond, and that is God, that is
the love we have been given from God. Too often our petty prejudices and
judgments get in the way of our ability to see each other truly as
children of God in this place. Too often we do not allow ourselves to
love one another fully as God and Christ loved us. Look around you and
pick out someone you have not yet met, pick someone out who you may not
have ever thought you would introduce yourself to and have a
conversation with them afterwards in the Parish Hall. Step out of your
comfort zones and welcome someone you do not know into your life. For
those of you who have been present at St. Paul’s for years or even
decades, there are many young families who have arrived, eager and
excited to be part of a community that loves them. Look for them in the
coming weeks and help them become incorporated into the life of this
place, don’t wait for a new rector to do it for you, because I will tell
you right now, if you do not reach out to these people they will not
stay, and I do not blame them. To all the young families out there look
around and see the wisdom in the people who have been here for ages or
at least look like they have been here for ages. Look around and learn
from them, accept their wisdom, their knowledge and care for this place
and the theology of hospitality and presence that is so prominent here.
Learn from them, sit at their feet and become clear once again that
without open arms, not only this place, but your own souls begin to
wither away to nothing.
Of course I would be remiss to leave out our youth. We value youth
highly here, but mostly our value is in the form of words and rarely in
our actions. We have roles for our youth, roles that they have to
perform if they are to be respected and accepted by us. Yet we say that
the most important piece of our Church is the youth that we have. Would
all the youth that are present please stand up. These kids are
important, they need to go from this place when they have to leave for
college, passionate about the Episcopal Church, not pessimistic about
it. They need to be given tools to learn what it means to be part of a
faith community and how their voice can be heard and listened to and
weighed as heavily as the longest member of our parish. We have tried to
do youth ministry in myriad ways and it has not succeeded as fully as it
could because we have not had the full support of the parish in our
youth ministry programs. We have not had the full power of every single
person in this place declaring that our youth are truly valuable and
important. If we want youth ministry to succeed in the future, a youth
minister will not do the job, you must do the job, because these voices
are the most important voices in our parish, they are the ones that
truly count, that truly carry the vision for the Kingdom of God in the
world. Listen to them; raise them up and truly see Christ in them.
The parables of the Kingdom of God are the center of our Gospel for
today; the Kingdom of God is unexpected and surprising, backwards and
outside of the box. The Gospel has several examples of what the Kingdom
of God is like, so I thought I would try to come up with some modern
versions of what the Kingdom of God is like:
The Kingdom of God is like Liturgical Shoes. Just when you thought
everything fit together perfectly and formally, there they are.
The Kingdom of God is like Lake Superior. The Lake creates a longing and
desire to see it in its full glory, always calling you back to its
shores.
The Kingdom of God is like fog on Lake Superior. When you desire most to
see the lake, it will be shrouded with fog.
The Kingdom of God is like dandelions. No matter what you do they always
return.
The Kingdom of God is like this building. It is cold and somewhat
inapproachable on the outside, but when the doors are flung wide and the
place is broken open, warmth like no other emanates out embracing all
who enter.
The Kingdom of God is like the youth of our parish. They cannot be
ignored because they have talents and passion beyond imagination to
transform the entire world.
The Kingdom of God is like this congregation gathered. Because in a
world that is struggling and desiring to hear the story of joy and
belonging, we offer those things that allow people to discover how
valuable they truly are and how important they are to the breaking in of
God’s Kingdom throughout the world. Because we gather together to share
in community that feeds us and nourishes us and prepares us for the next
challenges facing each of us. Because we know that we are loved by God
and what we do has nothing to do with us, has nothing to do with what we
deserve for the work we have done and everything to do with the glory of
God.
You are all amazing people and I will miss you tremendously, hugely,
incredibly. I love you all, I thank you all, and please continue the
work you are doing, for it is God’s work, and it is truly for the
Kingdom more than it is for yourselves. Thank you, Amen.