Pentecost and Finding Comfort

After our beautiful Memorial Day weekend, we've entered the gray--gray sky, gray rain, only gray in sight. It makes my vacation to California (coming up June 12-20) just that much more compelling and daydream-able. Still, there's a good bit going on--looking forward to Saturday's confirmation service at Redeemer Lexington, with our 8 members who will be confirmed or received (if they've been confirmed as Roman Catholics). I'm also looking forward to our summer book group, which though it doesn't start until June 21, looks to be interesting. I wrote last week about 4 possible books for us to look at--please vote your choice above (so far we've only gotten 3 votes, and they are split between 3 books!). Even if you plan to read on your own instead of with the group, it would be good to hear what folks are interested in.

This Sunday, we celebrate the feast of Pentecost--the coming of the Holy Spirit. As I mentioned in my sermon last Sunday, the time between the feast of the Ascension and Pentecost is a liminal, in-between time. Jesus has said he will send the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit has not yet arrived. Our collect for that last Sunday in Easter prays that God "not leave us comfortless"--though sometimes we have to look pretty hard around us to find that comfort. I remember hearing a sermon many years ago from a new monk about this prayer. He talked about how he'd feared having to give up his TV habit of watching the sit-com "Friends" when he entered the monastery, and how delighted-and comforted-he'd felt when he found he could watch it there, too, with his new monastic brothers! Sometimes peace comes to us in odd ways. Reaching out an arm when I couldn't sleep last night, I was comforted by noticing my husband's arm curled around our son's body. The nearness they shared was comforting to me, too, and I fell back asleep.

The word used for Holy Spirit in Greek, paraclete, means comforter, but also advocate, intercessor. As the third "person" of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit has always been sort of my favorite of the three. There is something about the mystery and movement of that image of God that speaks to me. In the Creed we say the Spirit "Spoke through the prophets." The way Jesus tells the story, he has to leave for the Spirit to come; God is incarnate in a particular place and time in the person of Jesus, but God as Spirit is entirely unconfined, going like the wind, speaking and swirling through all of us. Pentecost tells us that the promise of God's work in the church isn't in the past, as if it were all downhill after Jesus. Instead, authority and power is located IN the church, IN the people-amongst all of us. Not one person has "it"--we all have a piece (for more on this idea and a great quote about what the spaces between us create from Luce Irigaray, see http://sacraconversazione.blogspot.com).

This Sunday as we celebrate the Spirit at Pentecost, (sometimes also called the birthday of the church) we'll commission those who have been confirmed and received. We are baptized with the Spirit, all of us, all of us commissioned to take our place with the disciples in telling the wonderful story of God. Alleluia!

Blessings,
Sara+

How we think when we think about faith

Today is Ascension Day. The Ascension is an odd doctrine for me to get my head around. The imagery is of a three tired universe, where Jesus floats into the air and away from the gathered community.  While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.  I don't think of Jesus as being "out there," though, and I know he didn't go to the moon-so what to make of the Biblical worldview of those three levels of existence, heaven (up), hell (down), and here?  
 
I'll have some time in the sermon on Sunday to share a bit more about the Ascension (weird parts as well as wonderful), but thinking "about" doctrine in this way puts me in mind of all the different ways we can think about our faith. I admit I have an ulterior motive in sharing this with you-I'm still figuring out what we might want to read for summer book group, and the choices I'm considering all represent different ways we think about our faith.
 
I mentioned two options in my May "Pastor's Corner" in the Fieldstone Crier, our monthly parish newsletter. The first, The Faith Club, is a story of interfaith dialogue written by a Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian.  They are considering their faith as their faiths relate to other faiths-not so much the intricacies of each one, but how the three "Abrahamic faiths" (those who draw their spiritual lineage back to Abraham) inter relate. They are smart and lively thinkers, and really challenge each other in interesting ways.
 
The second option is a novel-Out of Egypt: Christ the Lord. It's by Anne Rice. Rice, who used to just write novels about vampires, has had a Christian conversion and wants her fiction to tell the story of Jesus, to bring people near to God.  Out of Egypt imagines Jesus' childhood with his family-Mary and Joseph, and his siblings, and their life together as the child Jesus begins to understand that he's "different."  I've read about a hundred pages of it so far, and it's pretty historically accurate, though of course there we don't actually know anything about what Jesus' life was like when he was 7  years old. I really like the idea of it, because it is an example of someone who takes her faith so personally that she's able to imagine with it. Rice clearly doesn't just see the life of Jesus as something that's outside herself-it's personal, intimate, and she applies her creativity and sense of wonder to draw us into the world of first century Israel. Without a story like that, we couldn't otherwise get there.
 
The third book I was thinking about (I know-initially I'd only suggested those two, but the list of books I want to read is getting longer, so why not share them with you?) is by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan: The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radial Vision Behind the Church's Conservative Icon. Borg and Crossan are scholars of the historical Jesus.  They are Christians, but they are critical, too. Using textual and historical evidence, they talk about what's in the Bible and how it got there. Their analysis seeks to find out who Paul really was, apart from 2000 years of thinking about him. Though it's kind of academic, it's not dry or hard to understand (the first chapter is entitled "Paul: Appealing or Appalling?"-of course, their answer will be that the question isn't quite so simple).
 
And, yes, there is a fourth. Take this Bread, by Sara Miles, is a spiritual memoir. I've met her (my sister in law used to work at her church), but admit I haven't picked up the book yet so I'm just going to paste here a summary from her website (www.saramiles.net):
The story of an unexpected and terribly inconvenient Christian conversion, told by a very unlikely convert, Take This Bread is not only a spiritual memoir but a call to action. Raised as an atheist, Sara Miles lived an enthusiastically secular life as a restaurant cook and writer. Then early one morning, for no earthly reason, she wandered into a church. "I was certainly not interested in becoming a Christian," she writes. "Or, as I thought of it rather less politely, a religious nut." But she ate a piece of bread, took a sip of wine, and found herself radically transformed...
 
So we have historical fiction, interfaith dialogue, historical analysis, and personal memoir-all really important ways of thinking about belief, each of which can strengthen our own faith in different ways. What appeals most to you? What comes easily, or challenges you?
 
You can vote for your choice on the ecrier blog page. (you could also just tell me, but if you vote on line you can see where the count is)  If enough people with kids are interested in participating, we can look into trying to find childcare for the sessions-we'll meet for four or five Sundays starting June 21 after church. Now vote! Click here.
 
p.s. Thanks to www.boston.com for featuring the E Crier in the "from the blogs" section last Sunday-and thanks to Marcia Luce for noticing!

Blessings,

Sara+

Growth

This week I've been thinking a lot about what a very living, organic organism a church is--how dynamic and changing. The church is alive. I'm thinking about this around a few different themes. Most personally, of course, is the decision of the discernment committee and vestry to invite me to stay as rector. I am so honored and pleased to do ministry with you in this place. We have done, and will do, great things in our ministry together! Special thanks to our Junior Warden, Jonathan Duce, who facilitated the process. Another piece of growth is that it's been a whole year since St Peter's came to worship here at Christ Church on a trial basis.

We're growing in numbers, too, and each of us continues to grow in faith. On May 30, 7 people from Christ Church will be confirmed/received into the Episcopal Church at the deanery service (the service will be at 10 AM at Redeemer in Lexington if you want to come--choir practice is at 9 AM if you want to sing). Ed and Michelle Drozd, Chris and Erin Jensen, Cindy Hutchison, Ken Johnson, Mike Balulescu, and Sarah Staley will be officially welcomed into the Episcopal Church. In the reaffirmation of their baptismal covenants and laying on of hands from the bishop, they join with the communion of saints of the historical church and mark a special time in their own spiritual lives. On Sunday, our reading from the book of Acts told the story of the apostle Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. As they drove along the road, the eunuch asked Philip, "What is to prevent me from being baptized right now?" and so he was. In that spirit, if anyone is interested in joining the party (whether you'd been planning to or not) you're welcome to join in now. (Or if I inadvertently left you off the list of people above, please tell me!) We'll have a short retreat this Saturday (May 16) from 9 to 12 for everyone who would like to be confirmed or received--just let me know so I can buy enough snacks (you are received if you had been confirmed in another tradition and confirmed if you haven't).

Yet a FOURTH thing that has me thinking about the growth of our parish is the ministry of our youth leader, Suzanne Hughes. Suzanne has led the youth group since before I arrived, and her faithfulness and care have been really remarkable. The children she started with are now young women, and have helped to welcome others into the group since they began. Children are a natural sign of the growth of all things, but it's also a sign of the grace of God that Suzanne continues to grow in her own ministry as well as she takes on new challenges (and already has, in being our treasurer for the last year and a half!).

All of us are growing in our lives--whether it's our parish welcoming another congregation, an individual deciding to make a spiritual home in a particular place, or someone putting down one ministry to attend to a new one, nothing in this life is fixed. We might sometimes wish it could just stay the same, but life is always in flux. What's different about life in Christian faith and community is that we are growing toward God and growing in the likeness of Christ. This growth has a goal--it's not just change for the sake of change. It can be challenging, and it can be tiring, but God is always there to support us and hold us, even when it seems like life just asks too much of us.

I'd like to share with you the prayer for the parish from the BCP (p. 817).
Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for this parish family. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent. Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Blessings,
Sara+

Co-Creating Life

I missed being with you on Sunday, at church, but I had a wonderful time at my conference. My group included Episcopal clergy from as far away as Hawaii (and a pretty big handful from both California and Texas), and it was great to hear how other priests minister in their different settings. Also, it made me so glad to be part of what we are doing here at Christ Church, and thankful for each of you who are so important to this community.

The conference was especially tailored for clergy, but I think the questions we discussed are relevant to everyone. There was a quote from the Quaker writer Parker Palmer which wove in and out of many of our discussions: "Is the live I'm living the life that wants to live in me?" Am I in alignment with God's deepest desire for my life? How is the life of my family in line with God's calling? What about my work, or my financial decision making? My health? God wants deeply to be involved in each one of these parts of our lives.

God is our Creator--but we are also creators with God in the unfolding of our lives here on earth. God invites us to be partners in creation--in making God's dream of peace and justice a reality on earth and in nurturing the life God has planted in us. We pray to know God's will, God's desire, for our lives and for our world and to make them real. And each of those prayers is a response to a conversation God started with us at our birth. (A good thought to remember around Mother's Day--our parents were certainly co-creators in helping to initiate that conversation!)

In our Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus says that God is glorified when we become his disciples, and "bear much fruit." There will, he says, be some pruning--those branches which bear no fruit, and even those which do bear fruit will be pruned to bear MORE fruit. More fruit--God is always pushing us forward to do more and to be more. It's not always easy, but we are never alone--as members of the Body of Christ we have each other, and we pray for the grace to trust in God's calling for each of us.

Blessings,
Sara+