New Year's Resolutions from your Rector

Addendum to homily for the Baptism of the Lord (1/10/2016)

I promised Saint David's five resolutions for the New Year that I would make regarding my work as Rector of the Church. In setting goals like these, I follow the SMART system so that the resolutions are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. I ended up coming up with six, two each in three important areas of my ministry: Personal Spiritual Discipline, Evangelism, and Building Church Ministry.

Here are my six resolutions.

TWO RESOLUTIONS FOR BUILDING SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE

A “discipline” is not punishment or uncomfortable rigor; but, rather, it is simply being intentional about doing something that will make one better. At its heart, discipline is about practicing. Spiritual discipline is, therefore, about practicing to be a better disciple of Jesus and might include anything that helps to intentionally focus one’s awareness on God and the godly life. 

1.  I will to deepen my discipline of spiritual reading.

Spiritual reading is a discipline of prayerfully reading and studying literature that enlivens the spirit and draws the person into a deeper connection with God, the Church, and the World. Examples of spiritual reading might include: the lives and writing of the saint; commentaries on Sacred Scripture, theology, and history; works on prayer and other spiritual practices; and, pastoral letters and exhortations from bishops and other religious leaders. Spiritual reading is done not only as an exercise of information and learning but also, and perhaps more so, as an effort towards formation and living. 

I will attend to spiritual reading at least 7 hours every week (averaging 1 hour daily).

2. I will spend more time with my God in prayer and meditation.

Prayer is actively seeking time in the presence of God. While I am usually busy with the work of God, I often find myself so busy doing things for God that I don’t actually have time to connect with God.

I will attend to this discipline by intentionally scheduling at least 45 minutes daily for personal prayer and meditation. Additionally, I will engage in some form of public or communal prayer at least three times per week (not including Sunday morning worship).


TWO RESOLUTIONS FOR GROWING MY EVANGELISTIC PRESENCE

3. I will meet new people outside of the Church.
Sometimes I fall into the trap of only meeting people through or at church. I spend too little time actively in the community encountering new people and engaging with community and church leaders who I don’t already know. This, naturally, limits how successful I might be in evangelism and community building. The practice of meeting new people can broaden the scope of ministry and engage me more fully in the work of evangelism.

I will spend at least 2 hours each week engaged in the practice of meeting new people by walking the Saint David’s neighborhood, engaging local business owners, going to coffee houses, and just getting out more.

4. I will increase my online and social media presence.

The fastest growing evangelistic tools are digital and online. Saint David’s Facebook page currently has 240 “likes,” almost double our average Sunday attendance, with some of our posts reaching thousands of people. A recent study by the Episcopal Church demonstrated a direct correlation between church growth and the number of online, social media, or digital tools a church uses. In short, social media can and does work for ministry.

I will increase my activity on “Grace is everywhere,” my blog (found at robmose.blogspot.com) to an average of two posts weekly. I will also pledge to learn and use effectively one other social media tool (probably Twitter).

TWO RESOLUTIONS FOR BUILDING MINISTRY AT SAINT DAVID'S

5. I will challenge you to specific tasks of ministry.

I have a goal of 100 % participation and I think that goal is attainable. From your part, when I or another ministry leader ask for your cooperation or assistance, leadership or effort, don’t say no – say “I will, with God’s help.” For my part and on behalf of ministry leaders, I promise that the request or challenge will be specific, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.

I, or another ministry leader, will challenge each of you – each member of this parish church to a new and specific ministry this year.

6. I will bless you in your ministry.
If you are to be challenged to new ministry, it would be unfair if you weren’t blessed on your way. I promise, therefore, to equip you on your way. Part of that equipping is calling upon he Holy Spirit to alight like a dove upon us – to overshadow us that we might bear Christ. It is important to dedicate our ministries to God and name them as holy: this is the act of consecration and blessing.

I will consecrate and bless all of the ministries of this church. Among other times, such blessings will occur at least one monthly during an act of public worship.

Embodied Faith - Total Surrender

Homily notes for the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost  (Proper 27B, 11/1/2015)
(I rarely write my sermons completely so I don’t have a precise script of what I said during my homily. What I offer here are “Sermon Notes,” recollections of what I said, wanted to say, or should have said, all in retrospect.)

When I was a kid (maybe 10 or 11) our family went on a road trip from Melbourne to Cleveland. It was a long drive with a lot of stops on the way. At our first stop to get gas, just as he was getting out of the car, my brother found a penny on the ground right there next to the gas pump. Yeah, I was a little jealous at first but then I found a penny right there on the walk leading into the store.

It turns out that a lot of people drop their pennies and don’t go searching for them. Together, I think we found five pennies at that one stop. My brother and I made little competition for the rest of the trip, seeing who could find the most pennies on the ground.

What is a penny? It’s the lowest amount of money on the totem pole. It’s the smallest unit. It isn’t even divided. A nickel can be divided – there are five pennies in a nickel. A dime can be divined – there are two nickels or ten pennies in a dime. But a penny is all by itself. Only gas stations seem to know how to divide a penny with their 9/10 of a penny added on to every gallon. People almost see pennies as worthless.

But Ben Franklin assured us, “A penny saved is a penny earned.”

We are told, “It’s worth every penny.”

In Jesus day, a penny could purchase two sparrows for the Temple (Matthew 10:29, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?”)

Sir Thomas More asks us, “A penny for your thoughts?” (Four Last Things)

Thomas More was the first to publish this particular saying though was not likely the one to actually coin the phrase. It might be much older. The idea, I think, is very much present in today’s Gospel narrative where the widow offers her copper coins to God through the Temple treasury.

Indeed, the poor widow in the story shows unbelievable and uninhibited vulnerability by offering all she had to live on. Widows in ancient Israel had no inheritance rights and, while a levirate marriage might have been arranged for some, most widows relied on their children or on charity. So giving over her last two lepta (the smallest monetary denomination in circulation at the time) to the Temple was a true sign of sacrifice and trust.

THE WOMEN IN MARK'S GOSPELIt was, to use the colloquial definition of a sacrament, “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.” It was her sacrament to God. It was her outward sign of the inward trust that she had in God her protector. It was a posture of total self-giving.

This is a kind of trust emblematic of the women whom Jesus encounter’s in Mark’s Gospel. There are five episodes of interest.

• In the first (Mark 5:24b-34), there is a woman “who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years” who reaches out to touch the hem of Jesus cloak. The woman certainly knows that her ritual impurity would make any she touches impure as well. Nevertheless, the woman stretches boundaries, reaching out in faith. She knows, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”

• In the second, (Mark 7:24-30), a Syrophoenician woman approaches Jesus in Tyre seeking healing for her daughter. In the very act of approaching Jesus, the woman stretches and even crosses boundaries – a landed Greek property owner approaching an itinerant Jewish preacher was unheard of. But she does approach Jesus and when Jesus rebukes her (an expected reply in first-century androcentric society), the woman stretches boundaries even further with her courageous reply. In the end, Jesus capitulates to her enduring faith.

• The third episode is the story heard today where the widow offers everything she has to God.

• The fourth episode (Mark 143-9) comes immediately before the last supper discourse, almost as a prelude to the narrative of Jesus’ passion and death. In it, a woman (again unnamed) approaches Jesus in the home of Simon the leper and pours “expensive ointment, genuine nard” over Jesus’ head. The woman in this scene again stretches boundaries by entering what would have been an all-male gathering and touching Jesus, not to mention the exuberant outpouring of precious and expensive nard. She also stretches boundaries, however, as one who recognizes what is coming in the life of Jesus, showing tremendous devotion to her Rabbi and Lord. This, in other words, is clearly an anticipation of Jesus’ death, the woman seeing and accepting what the disciples did not.

• Finally, there are the women at the cross, among them Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome but others as well. Though they were at a distance, they at least had the faith and courage to be there.

In the end, the stories of the women in Mark’s gospel are all stories of embodied faith.

THE FAITH OF THE WIDOW
The widow in today’s story approached God boldly. “This is all I have,” she seems to say. “So here it is. What do you want me to do now? Here is my penny for your thoughts, God.”

That is the very definition of embodied faith – giving every good gift back to God, trusting that God has a plan.

It’s the faith of the widow at Zarephath who trusted the word of God as spoken by the prophet Elijah.

“Do not be afraid… The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.”

It’s the faith of Jeremiah,

“Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:4-5).

It’s the faith of Paul who wrote to the Philippians, 

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13).

It’s the faith of the Angel who spoke to Mary, 

“Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

It’s the faith of the widow who broke open the doors of something new, challenging those who said her two pennies were not enough, that they could not do a thing. She paid no attention and entered the Jesus movement, walking with God and trusting in God. Ultimately, the widow understood that it wasn’t about her pennies. It was about herself, about the total giving of herself over to God.

I SURRENDER ALL

American artist and musician Judson W. Van DeVenter, who wrote the lyrics for the classic hymn, “I Surrender All,” once wrote,

“For some time, I had struggled between developing my talents in the field of art and going into full-time evangelistic work. At last the pivotal hour of my life came, and I surrendered all. A new day was ushered into my life.”

Worship is essentially our response to God’s love, generosity and graciousness. What is worship? Is it generous and gracious like the widow’s? Does our worship reflect the widow’s selfless act of vulnerability? The Gospel narrative, once she has given her all, has Jesus saying to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.”

The widow’s gift was truly amazing. The gift of the two coins is a beautiful presage of Jesus’ last days: the suffering, the passion, the via crucis, and the final total self-offering of Jesus on the cross. Like the women, Jesus stretches and crosses the boundaries. In his final act of self-giving love Jesus has crossed or, rather, eliminated that proverbial boundary between heaven and earth. The boundary is no longer.

For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Jesus has shown us the love of God that awaits us. Jesus has shown us the unmitigated, uninhibited, and endless love of God that awaits us if we but surrender ourselves to it.

Van DeVenter’s Hymn speakS well:

All to Jesus I surrender,
All to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
In his presence daily live.

I surrender all,
I surrender all,
All to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

Saint - it's all in a name

Sermon notes for the Feast of All Saints (11/1/2015)
(I rarely write my sermons completely so I don’t have a precise script of what I said during my homily. What I offer here are “Sermon Notes,” recollections of what I said, wanted to say, or should have said, all in retrospect.)

THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS
Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. Today we celebrate all of the Saints. Such a commemoration of God’s holy and faithful has been happening since the earliest days of the church when the lives and witnesses of the martyrs were remembered and honored. As the church moved through time and place, while martyrs still gave their lives in witness to the faith, it was recognized that there were also many others whose lives were ought to be recognized as examples of righteousness and holiness. The Feast of All Saints has been widely observed in Christian communities since about the year 600 CE and on the first day of November since it was fixed in 735 CE.

As you all know, I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church. Not to understate it but the whole subject of Saints was always before us. My Italian grandmother had a virtual altar on here dresser full of pictures of saints, statues of saints, and holy cards. They were, for her, a sign of the great comfort of the enduring truth of God’s Word and a constant reminder of the life of love to which she was called. At every funeral and on every special day, the saints were called upon, mediators and examples of holy life.

When I was in the second grade, I was allowed to become an Altar Boy. It was in the eighties when trading cards were still a thing. Naturally, among the Altar Boys, trading cards became popular. Now, we didn’t trade baseball cards, we traded holy cards, with saints pictured on one side and brief biographical sketches or special prayers written on the back. I know, I was cool. Oh, how I desired the Saint Thomas Aquinas! I never got one.

With all of my exposure to the saints, I learned that they could be examples of holy living. Some demonstrated lives of prayer, of self-giving, of charity, or of faith. The saints were demonstrations of how God and Jesus wanted me to live. At the same time, however, I also got the impression that the saints were folks who lived perfect lives. Now, I knew all too well that I could not do that so the saints were certainly not “just folk like me,” as Lesbia Scott’s great hymn proclaims. The saints on those holy cards and on my grandmother’s dresser always looked so pious and righteous. Maybe if I could just imitate their pious posture, I could be a saint too. It didn't work.

As I began to read the Bible with much more seriousness later in life, I discovered that that the Greek word for saint, hagios, appears forty-four times in the Pauline epistles, each time referring to the Church or its members. That’s right, Paul’s “holy ones” (hagios) are in the Church – alive, not dead. Paul seems to indicate that the saints are in the church. Yes, we are called to be God’s saints.

But how can this be? Saints were perfect pictures of piety and we are certainly not. So what makes a saint a saint?

The answer, I think, is all in a name.

IN THE NAME "CHRISTIAN"

First, being a saint is found in the name “Christian.” This is the primary sense of the term and from which any other understanding of saint will flow.

We are saints because we bear the name Christian – followers of Christ and children of God by baptism. In the introduction to his letter to the Romans, Paul writes, “To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints (hagios): Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul acknowledges the Christian status of the Roman Church by applying to them standard titles. They are “beloved” because they are God’s people and they are “saints” (hagios) 

“not primarily because of a moral quality of their lives but through their membership of a people of that is ‘holy’ because of its closeness and dedication to God” [Byrne, Roamns, Sacra Pagina 6 (Liturgical Press 2007) 41]. 

The same title is used to address the churches at Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae. Paul further reflects upon the saints in his letters to the Thessalonians, to Timothy, and to Philemon. In all of these places, sainthood is a construct of grace, being loved and chosen by God.

The point is: We are saints because of the incarnate presence of God among the people. It is God, fully holy and intimately present, who came in the flesh and who indwells the Church. It is that presence that permeates the entire community of faith, making God's people holy. It is, in other words, God’s presence not our behavior that makes us saints.

Isn’t that good news! We know all too well that our humanity is fragile, far from reaching its perfection. Except that God has perfected us, our having been justified “by God Himself through His grace” (Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Q100, A12). In his famous hymn, former slave ship captain John Newton brings home the reality of God’s grace that makes sainthood possible:

"Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see."

On our own we will disappoint but with God's loving grace we can grow to the highest heights of human expression.

IN THE NAMES OF THE "SAINTS"

So we are already saints; but, at the same time, we are not yet saints. It’s that mysterious Christian conundrum of already-not-yet. So, on another level, being a saint is found in a life lived in the grace of God and for God’s glory.

In the lesson form Revelation today, God calls out, "See, I am making all things new." So, you see, while God has already justified us in Christ Jesus, thus making us saints, there is also a process. This is what Thomas Aquinas refers to as the acquired virtue, that side of justification by which the person is being made right (Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Q100, A12). Many years ago, not long after my ordination, I was on a retreat and had expressed some frustration with myself as a spiritual leader, particularly that hadn't done enough and was too slow in developing a spiritual life worth sharing. During some down time, a woman – a matriarch in the Church – came up to me and proceeded to pin a button on my shirt. I looked down and read the button, "Be patient, God is not finished with me yet!" Words that I could truly take as my own.

The Bible and Christian tradition are full of stories of the already-not-yet.

• Jacob stole a blessing from his blind father that was meant for his brother Esau. He then ran off to conquer the world and become fabulously rich. He would be the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, the guarantor of the covenant.
• David married Bathsheba only after having her husband sent into battle to be killed. King Solomon the wise would their child and Davidic throne would be the sign of covenant.
• Peter would deny Jesus three times and Paul would persecute the nascent Church only to become the two great apostle of Rome.
• John would let his pride take hold, requesting (with his brother) the seat of honor in Jesus’ kingdom. John would be the one Jesus entrusts to care for his mother, Mary.
• Francis would grow up in a wealthy family in Assisi, abusing his status and position and treating others quite badly. He would found one of the preeminent Christian orders, dedicated to the poor and the outcast. 
• Ignatius of Loyala was a captain in the Spanish military, a killer by trade. During a period of convalescence, after reading the lives of the saints and a treatise on the life of Jesus, he swore to lead a life of self-denying labour, emulating the heroic deeds of Benedict and Francis.
• John Newton was captain of a slaving ship but would inspire William Wilberforce to become one of the great champions of the anti-slaving movement in England.

Examples of holly conversion are countless in number. Origen, Augustine, Pope Saint Gregory the Great, Dominic, Francis, Thomas More and Thomas Cranmer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, and Mother Teresa of Calcutta all have stories of the already-not-yet of sainthood.

We who are already God's Saints through grace are called now to allow the holy presence of God to continue the work of justification in our lives. We are the already-not-yet that need to be transformed by the loving grace of God. The Church has recognized a great many of those who have gone before us, called the Communion of Saints and the Great Cloud of Witnesses, as examples and models to follow. They are doctors and queens and shepherdesses on the green. They are soldiers and priests and martyrs. They teach us and guide us and model for us what it means to be transformed into the image of holiness and righteousness.

It’s all in a name, you see.

Justin, Hippolytus, Felicity, Benedict, Catherine, Clare, Dominic…At my confirmation, I took the name of a saint. After months of research and an essay for Sister Ida Marie, I took the name of Francis – the medieval giant who preached to the birds, converted wolves, and walked naked through the streets. Plus, it was a good way to honor my Uncle Frank who was also my godfather. At my ordination, I chose two names, Ignacio and Polycarp, the first to reflect my veneration of Ignatius of Loyola and the second because Polycarp is just a cool dude with a cool name.

IN THE NAME ALBAN BARRET MICHAELIt’s all in a name. Today, we will welcome another into the household of God. At the beginning of the baptism I will say, “The Candidate for Holy Baptism will now be presented.” The Parents and Godparents will respond, “I present Alban Barret Michael to receive the Sacrament of Baptism.”

As is my custom, may I offer some advice to Alban Barret Michael - “Bear” as he is known.

Bear,

I just have one piece of advice today: Live into your name?

Live into the name “Christian.” Above all, know fully and completely that you are beloved and already a saint by the grace of God. Nothing can take that from you! So live into the name “Christian” and be loved.

Live into the name your parents chose for you. Alban Barret Michael is a powerful name. It will be, I hope, a strength for you as well as a challenge.

Alban is traditionally recognized as the first Christian martyr in England. A soldier in the Roman army, Alban gave sanctuary to a Christian priest who was fleeing the persecutions of Diocletian. Having been converted by him, when the soldiers came to Alban’s house, Alban dressed in the priest’s garments and was himself martyred in place of the priest. Live into the name “Alban.” Be for others a place of sanctuary and, continually dying to self, be a sign and giver of life for those around you.

Michael is the archangel, powerful agent of God who wards off evil from God’s people and delivers peace in the end. Michael means, “Who is like God?” This is a question, not a statement. Be the answer. ”Who is like God?” Alban Barret Michael is like God – loving, gracious, strong, an agent for peace

And you will find inspiration to be Michael in our parents. Derek means “ruler of people.” You will grow to know your father and he doesn’t fit the world’s vision of a ruler of people – laid back, chill, a listener before a talker. But Saint Bernard notes that the three most important virtues are humility, humility, and humility. Your father fits the bill and that, indeed, makes him the perfect “ruler of people.” Bear, right now, you sit in your father’s lap. When you grow, you would do well to sit at his feet (proverbially, of course) and learn from his humility.

Laura Ann is such a fitting name for your mother and is most fitting as a baptismal example. Laura is an old Latin names that comes from the Laurel plant, the branches of which were used by the Romans as a sign of victory or honor. Ann comes from the Hebrew "Hannah," which means grace. Laura Ann – the victory of grace. It is the victory of God’s grace signified in baptism and it is the victory of grace found in the love of your mother and father that will be our shield and your strength.

And then there is Barret. I searched high and low for a Saint Barret but could not find one. So, here it is: you will be Saint Barret – the ”Bear”, gentle and strong, curious and resolute, wise and discerning. You will be Saint Barret, graced by God as God’s beloved.

Amen.

Servant not Sensation

Sermon notes for Proper 24B, the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time (10/18/2015)
(I rarely write my sermons completely so I don’t have a precise script of what I said during my homily. What I offer here are “Sermon Notes,” recollections of what I said, wanted to say, or should have said, all in retrospect.)


When I was a kid, my family would sometimes go to the local homeless shelter to serve lunch to the men, women and children who would come. One Sunday as we were leaving church (I was maybe eight or nine years old) my mother and father stopped to chat with some friends. Their friends asked if our family would like to join them for breakfast at Pop’s. Since we were on our way to the homeless shelter, my mother politely declined. Excitedly, I jumped in, “We are on our way to the…” Almost immediately, I felt a squeeze on my shoulder. It was my father giving me one those “Dad Squeezes.” You might know that squeeze. It was used in public to gently indicate that I should stop whatever it was that I was doing. In this case, my father wanted me to stop talking.

When we got in the car, my dad turned to my brother I in the back seat – not in the least bit angry or concerned or embarrassed, but in that serious mode of him wanting to teach us something. "Boys, there’s no need to tell others that we go to the homeless shelter. We go there to be of service, not to be a sensation."

THE WAY OF DISCIPLESHIP

The story told through today’s Gospel lesson is quite a remarkable contrast between service and sensation. We hear James and John request from Jesus positions of power and prominence when Jesus is in his glory. Now, James and John are two brothers who have been with Jesus from the beginning of Jesus ministry. Called by Jesus as they were mending their nets, they "left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him" (Mark 1:10b). How could two who had been with Jesus so long, who had been so close to the Teacher, have missed the boat so completely?

Jesus responds to the two brothers but not with indignation or even a hearty rebuke; bu, rather, it is with loving concern. Jesus asks them a simple question. Ah, beware of the simple question from Jesus! If you look back at the Gospel lessons from the past few weeks, we have been hearing narratives from the tenth chapter of Mark. In each of the narratives Jesus asks what appears to be a simple question but each question turns into a larger teaching on the nature of discipleship.

The first narrative starts with Jesus confronted by some Pharisees about the question of divorce (Mark 10:2-12). Leaving marriage and divorce for another sermon, what is striking in the scene is that Jesus asks the Pharisees a question to which he must assume they already know the standard answer. But Jesus turns it around saying, “Because of your hardness of heart….” The people couldn’t accept the story as it was originally given, in which people (husband and wife in this case) lived the covenant life in harmony and love. So the story (i.e. the law) had to be re-written. The idea of “softening” one’s heart to the story of God is made more clear in the very next scene when Jesus welcomes the little children (Mark 10:13-16). On one level, it is fitting that the story of the children should follow the teaching on marriage/divorce, since women and children were especially vulnerable in first-century Palestinian society. On another level, the story of children is in direct response to the hardness of heart the Pharisees. In other words, as disciples we should approach the story of God and the life and love of God with open, contrite hearts.

The second narrative begins when a man approaches Jesus and inquires, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17-22). Again Jesus responds with a question, but clearly one that requires no response, “Why do you call me good?” And Jesus proceeds to recall the commandments which the man claims to have kept “since [his] youth.” So, as with the Pharisees above, the encounter turns when Jesus says, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ “Come, follow me.” An invitation much like the one offered to Peter and Andrew, and James and John. But something is holding the rich man back and Jesus recognizes what it is so he tells the man to first “go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor…” But this was too hard for the man who “went away grieving.” The episode of the rich man is followed by two more episodes (10:23-27 and 10:28-31) that are joined together with the first episode in a teaching narrative on wealth as an obstacle to discipleship, God’s preferential treatment of the poor, and the rewards for voluntary poverty in the service to the mission of God. The basic principles of Mark’s narratives on poverty and riches must continue to provide a challenge to all who dare call themselves Christians and especially those who do so in the “rich nations” of the world today.

BEING SERVANTS
And now we have the third narrative, the one we just heard today. James and John asked Jesus a rather impertinent question. Perhaps they were afraid after what Jesus had just told them about what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem. In any event, like the episodes before, Jesus asks a question, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” Personally, I think the question was rhetorical and didn’t really require an answer. James and John answer, however, that are able. Jesus assures them that they will be drink the cup that he drinks and they will be baptized with the same baptism but that the places they ask for are not his to give. Then, in the midst of the other disciples’ jealous anger, Jesus takes the opportunity to contrast earthly greatness with divine greatness. The Gentile rulers lord their power over others, acting as tyrants. But among Jesus’ disciples, those desiring greatness must “servant…and slave of all.”

There are a many examples of those who desire worldly greatness in our midst today. Take a look at the news: the financial barons of Wall Street, the energy moguls, and the arms dealers who prize financial gain over life, creation, and the common good. Consider, as well, the jockeying and power hungry attitudes found in the presidential primary. But they should not be our model so we will leave them be.

There are a great many examples of those who seek divine greatness, who seek to serve and not to be served. Indeed, a great cloud of witnesses testifies and gives example. Consider, Francis and Clare who forsook their wealth to care for the poor. Consider John Vianney, known for his compassionate proclamation of divine mercy. Consider Marin de Porres who founded an orphanage and children’s hospital and worked tirelessly among the mulatto of Peru. Consider William Wilberforce whose faith led him to use his power in England as Member of Parliament not to line his own pockets but to help abolish the slave trade. Consider Desmond Tutu who, as Archbishop of Cape Town, didn’t puff himself up but rather puffed up the people of South Africa, leading them to change.

To be great in God’s kingdom is to be a servant modeled after Jesus’ own life of service not to be a sensation only after self-fulfillment. As hearers of the Gospel today, the story of James and John is disconcerting because if James and John couldn’t incorporate his teachings into their lives, how on earth are we to do so?

So how do we become better servants? This is, of course, the long journey of the Christian life so let me share three thoughts with you today.

CHECK YOUR MOTIVATION
First, we can become better servants by checking our motivation. Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1758 until his death in 1768, once said,

"God has three sorts of servants in the world: some are slaves, and serve Him from fear; others are hirelings, and serve for wages; and the last are sons [and daughters], who serve because they love." (Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited {Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1988} 452).

In the week ahead, as you seek to serve God, check your motivation. Divine servanthood is always motivated by love – a loved “because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). I was listening to music as I was praying the homily this week and as I was reading again the passage from Mark a great old classic came on:

Come, thou font of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace!
Streams of mercy never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! Oh, fix me on it,
Mount of God’s unchanging love.

Hear that: God’s unchanging love. God loves us, each one of us with an unchanging love. Yes, even in our sin God loves us. That is the love that should be our motivation to serve others in Jesus’ name.

BE MINDFUL OF THE GOD WHO CALLS YOU
Second, we become better servants by being mindful of the one who calls us. We should remember that in all things we serve because Jesus has beckoned us.

Moreover, we should remember that we serve God in all things. When we serve our beloved spouses, we serve God. When we serve our beloved children, we serve God. When we serve the poor, the disenfranchised, the lonely, the sick, the orphans, and the widows, we serve God.

"Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."

"Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?"

"Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." (Matthew 25:34-40)

As we become more aware of God’s presence in everyday life and as we become more able to see Jesus in our neighbor, we can strive to understand that all we do is somehow of God and toward God. With this approach, even the most mundane tasks that might not usually be associated with our spiritual lives can be viewed as service.

ENSURE THAT THIS CHURCH IS A SERVANT CHURCH
Third, we can become better servants by ensuring that this church is a “Servant Church.” Karl Barth discusses churches dedicated to the mission of the Gospel, describes the living church as one that:

“...proclaims the Gospel to every creature. The Church runs like a herald to deliver the message. It is not a snail that carries its little house on its back and is so well off in it that only now and then it sticks out its feelers and then thinks that the claim of publicity has been satisfied. No, the Church lives by its commission as herald. Where the Church is living, it must ask itself whether it is serving this commission or whether it is a purpose in itself.” (Barth, Dogmatics in Outline {New York: Harper, 1959} 147).

Is our congregation a living servant church? Do we have a clear understanding that we exist in service to Jesus and in service to the proclamation by word and example the good news? Do our actions stem from Jesus’ commission to proclaim the gospel?

Does worship ….
Does outreach…
Does common life….
Does our stewardship, our meetings, and even our disagreements….
….have the possibility to transform those they touch?

If not, perhaps it is time to begin a conversation about focusing more clearly on Jesus’ call to us as disciples and on our purpose as a congregation.

As hearers of the Gospel today, the story of James and John is disconcerting because even the most pious listeners can see a bit of themselves in the story. How many of us are able to truly base our lives and actions on the divine definition of greatness – servanthood?

Fortunately, the story closes with a message of hope and wonder. Jesus proclaims that the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus promises us that although we will all fall short, through his death we are redeemed.

And that is the Good News, indeed.