This sermon was written and preached by the Rev. Rebecca Grant, the Episcopal Deacon at The Church at 209 for Trinity Sunday, 2016.
Today is Trinity Sunday – the Sunday
after Pentecost when we celebrate the unity of God the Father, Jesus the
Christ, and the Holy Spirit – our advocate.
Down through the centuries, theologians
have argued how best to explain the Trinity. If you Google “what is the
Trinity?” you’ll get just under 12 million hits ranging from
- · The Biblical explanation of the Trinity
- · The Trinity is not Biblical
- · The Biblical proof of the Trinity
- · The origin of Trinity doctrine from Pagans
- · The explanation of the Trinity in Christianity
· And my personal favorite = Understanding the Trinity for Dummies
In the Episcopal Church there is a
long standing tradition for dealing with Trinity Sunday and explaining the mystical
nature of three in one – MAKE THE DEACON PREACH!
Fear not, this deacon is not about
to undertake what brilliant minds struggle to address. Rather than torture you
with any effort I might make in that realm, let’s embrace and accept the
existence of the Trinity in God’s love for us that led to the gift of Jesus’
walking among us, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit – our guide.
Now, what’s up with the chairs?
Remember this configuration? In January of 2015, this is how the churches of
Prince of Peace and St. Mark’s began their shared journey:
· Chairs turned toward the center of the church – some people loved the
change and others wanted to know how soon we could turn those chairs to face
the altar once again.
· There were strangers among us or we found ourselves among strangers
· A large and very old baptismal font sat in the center of the room
· A priest-in-charge/Lutheran Pastor wondered just what he’d gotten
himself into.
· And amid all this strangeness is the Trinity – the three in one and us –
joined together by the waters of our baptism and the symbolism of that font.
Our emotions ranged from excitement
for the new thing that God was doing among us to anxiety because what was
familiar and comfortable was no more. Our journey began and hope was running
high. The hospitality offered by the people of Prince of Peace created a safe
and welcoming place for the people of St. Mark’s. Over time and with a great
deal of effort on the part of everyone, two distinct bodies of people – two
separate churches began the evolution of becoming one – just as Jesus is one
with the Father and through them the Holy Spirit is one in us. The excitement
about the great experiment that was happening at Church at 209 spread far
beyond these walls and the outreach ministries we share. Wherever I travel in
the Diocese, people ask me what it is like and whether we are happy. Pastor
Erik continues to be contacted by other clergy asking about what is happening
here and how it is working. Last year at this time hope for the future was
running high.
In the fall of last year, St.
Matthew’s decided to join us in September followed by St. Barnabas in October.
Suddenly, we found ourselves planning for welcoming and integrating two other
churches into our midst. Good people looking at a new home with other good
people. The people of Church at 209 wanted to provide the same hospitality
offered and experienced in January and worked hard to create a plan for
throwing open the doors and embracing the new life that awaited us. Surely, the
Holy Spirit was doing new and wonderful things among us. Four churches becoming
one. We considered ourselves blessed by wonderful music, teaching, and
certainly there was energy. Again, people were excited by the future, yet
behind the scenes all was not well. People tried to find common ground, to be
nice, to be fair and respectful. Yet just like when we set out to bake our
favorite recipe and find we don’t have all the ingredients, something was
missing in our four church recipe.
We could spend weeks, even months,
trying to dissect what happened, who to believe, and what to do, but the bottom
line is that the EXPERIMENT FAILED. Does this mean that we’re failures? That
the people of St. Matthew’s and St. Barnabas are failures? NO! Experiments can and do fail.
When asked about failure, scientist
and inventor Charles Kettering said:
Every great improvement has come after repeated failures. Virtually
nothing comes out right the first time. Failures, repeated failures, are finger
posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.
Failures hurt but that’s where we
are called to lean into our faith and rely on the gift of the Trinity in our
lives. St. Mark’s has experienced what some would call failure in a very public
way. On November 14th of 2012, St. Mark’s Church was thrown into the
headlines because of the actions of its then priest-in-charge. He made a bad
decision, got caught, and we found ourselves as one of the lead stories on the
evening news. As we gathered the following Sunday, the prevailing question was
what does this mean for us? The answer rested not in the actions of one
misguided priest but rather recognizing that we are not defined by another person
but rather by our own words and actions. We took time to reflect on who we were
then and knew that we were far more than a media story on the evening news. We
looked at how we made a difference in each other’s lives and the lives of those
we encounter along the way. Our relationship with a priest had failed but not
because of anything we’d done but rather poor decision-making on his part. Out
of that failure, we had the courage to move forward knowing that the Holy
Spirit was guiding our path and that our ministries that reached so many people
needed to survive. The path that we followed led us to this time and this place
with the people of Prince of Peace.
Last week, Pastor Erik described
what we’ve been going through as the doldrums. He reminded us that just as God
had more in mind for the disciples when the Holy Spirit came upon them, God has
more in mind for us as well. Our very nature is not suited to living in the
doldrums – we are a people blessed by the gift of the Trinity – the three in
one – the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us, lift us up, and sometimes nudge
us when it’s time to move.
Here at 209, one experiment failed,
yet never forget that we had the courage to try, to reach out, to love, and
when the time came, we let go of the experiment while holding all the churches in
prayer. Just like St. Mark’s assessed its life in 2012, now it is our time to
move – we have much to tend to and many who are watching us to see how we’ll
move forward. We are making a difference in our church and in the world around
us. Think about all the places the Holy Spirit leads us:
· Christmas Day we open our doors and welcome people to dinner
· We fill baskets for Thanksgiving dinners
· A plea to help a young person go to camp last summer resulted in so many
donations that he went to camp twice.
· We host Vacation Bible School
· We respond to the needs that we see around us within 209 and outside of
209.
· We gather to pray on Tuesday mornings
· We visit prisoners in jail – we remind them that they are beloved
children of God.
· We seek to understand the Old Testament teachings through the lens of
Judaism with shared study with the local Synagogue
· The people of Prince of Peace had the courage to found a ministry that
became Bread of Life Ministries which feeds the hungry, shelters the homeless,
and seeks to help people change their lives.
· Recently, Bread of Life turned to us for help in celebrating the life of
one of its volunteers when she died unexpectedly. The service held in the stone
church on Pleasant Street recognized the gift of generosity that was the
essence of this woman’s life. The people of St. Mark’s founded a free clothing
bank, naming it Addie’s Attic after a beloved parishioner – Adelaide Tschamler.
· Free public suppers began as a shared ministry between the people of St.
Barnabas and St. Mark’s. Over time this ministry has evolved to include the
Unitarian community, members of 209, and this collaborative approach made it
possible for the Synagogue and the Catholic Parish of St. Michaels to join in
providing meals.
· Seven years ago, St. Mark’s opened an essentials pantry to provide
essential items that food stamps don’t cover. Today, we the Church at 209,
serve close to 300 people whenever we open our doors.
· We help children begin the school year with new backpacks and school
supplies recognizing that education is vital and all children need a helping
hand from time-to-time.
· Earlier this year, we, the Church at 209, received a grant from the
Diocese of Maine to work toward Bridging the Gap for the Iraqi community
settling in the city. Our relationship with the Iraqis is one of mutual respect
and friendship.
· In partnership with the United Way, we became home to the Warming Center
during the winter months.
· Guests at the Warming Center gave back to us by sorting, folding, and
hanging clothes in Addie’s Attic.
· The Warming Center’s end of season cookout saw people from 209, the
Iraqi community, and warming center guests gathered together to share a meal.
· We are the home for Mustard Seeds – a non-traditional approach to
Christian education for children and their families.
· Today, we, the Church at 209, are a vital center for both inreach and
outreach ministries – even in the doldrums, we make a difference in the lives
of the people around us.
All these things are a manifestation
of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our relationship with them flows directly
from our baptismal covenant.
We may have failed in melding four
churches into one – yet, even that is not without blessing - we had the courage
to recognize that the situation was becoming unhealthy and sought to suspend
the experiment. Never underestimate the importance of wellness. A failed experiment
only defines us if we allow it to do so.
We have the courage to look at what
happened and realize that even in the middle of strife, the Trinity is
intimately involved in our lives – individually and collectively. Will the
separate paths of the four churches become one in the future? Only God knows
the answer to that question.
It is time to bid the
doldrums farewell – embrace the potential for success and the discovery of what
God is calling us to become.
God has not brought us this far to
see us die but rather has taken us through the refining fires of conflict and
failure so that we might learn more about who we are and how we respond to all
that we are being called to as children of God. Each one of us is an important
part of the Church at 209 and the world, and community in which we live.
The chairs were turned for this
worship to remind us and center us back on our shared beginning – surrounding
the font – immersed in the waters of our baptisms. We are blessed and are
called to live our lives in that knowledge.
Whatever the future holds, I
challenge you to remember the words of Henri Frederic Amiel:
My friends, life is short and we do
not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us, so be
quick to love and make haste to be kind. And rest assured that God is
infinitely more concerned with the promise of our future than the mistakes of
our past…”
We are blessed.
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment