Making the right mistakes

Dear People of Christ Church,

As you know, next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, but there is some partying to be done before then. We're doing both jazz Mardi Gras (Friday, 6pm, Steve Taddeo concert) and taking up the traditional English practice of eating pancakes before Lent, using up the indulgent eggs and butter before the Lenten fast. On Sunday, we also celebrate and offer our thanks to Bishop Shaw, who retires this year, along with our partner congregation, St Peter's Ugandan Anglican, who will join us for worship.

Ash Wednesday morning, we begin with ashes at the train station. This year, we're partnering with Chaplains on the Way, which I particularly appreciate since, as a mostly-homeless ministry, the street is their church. I wonder about how many people, who, for whatever reason, don't feel comfortable coming into a church, and how powerful a witness it is to leave our comfort zone of having people come to us. Will someone have a more "deep" experience in coming to church? As a priest I'd probably hope so, but I also shouldn't make assumptions about what happens between an individual and God, no matter where they're standing. I heard a quote about meditation once that said that you could open the window, but you couldn't make the breeze come in. That probably applies here-when fewer and fewer people having traditional church backgrounds, we need to throw open as many windows as we can.

It's not an easy question, though-how far can you go from tradition before you've lost the center of what you're committed to in the first place? What are we inviting people toward if we compromise too far? How much do we ask of people who come to have a child baptized? Do they have to come for a few weeks, months, a year? Do they have to officially join the parish by making a financial pledge? What about receiving communion? It's the practice in our diocese in many places, including Christ Church, to offer communion to everyone, whether or not they're baptized. The prayer book and church canons say baptism should come first. Here, again it trying to open the windows.

Adherence to tradition is one of those places where we strive for faithfulness, not necessarily the 100% always-and-everywhere-iron-clad rule. Faithfulness, it seems to me, is deciding which side you're going to err on.   Will we be devoted to orthodoxy or openness? What's at stake on both sides? There are a lot of times when I defer to tradition-the Nicene Creed, for example-but here, I think there is actually something to say for asking what Jesus would do. His first goal, most often, was to get people to the table. Once you're there, you can talk more, debate, pick sides. As the parable in Luke 14 tells it, when the nice, qualified guests wouldn't come for the feast, the host told his servant quite unequivocally: "Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame." When he does that and there's still space, he goes out to make everybody else come in. Would it have been a better party if the well-educated and polite people had come? It's completely possible. Would they have appreciated the expensive wine more? Maybe. But that's not what God's table is about.

I do appreciate, though, that it's a discussion to be had. It's not an uncontroversial stance, it's not an "of course!" moment. And once-if-this gets settled, there will be something else to struggle with. As we grow into the church we're called to be, we are trying to follow a Jesus who's always just a little ahead, taking us a little further than we thought we could go.

Blessings,
Sara+
   
PS: For a more general intro to Lent piece about Ashes to Go, see my editorial in the Waltham News Tribune today! 

From May 3: Welcome to an Outsider

Dear People of Christ Church,

This Sunday at our 10 am service, we'll hear from our Costa Rica pilgrims, Emma Scalisi and Julia Wall, as well as a few of their compatriots from St James in Cambridge, as part of our usual first Sunday of the month children's service. Remember to bring your diaper donations! We'll also "pray in" Victoria Sundgren as our new junior warden, and offer thanks for the ministry of Sarah Staley who leaves the post in anticipation of her and Mike's twins, whose due date approaches. We'll also pray for Rob, Emma, and Jesse as the "part two" of our 2012 Confirmation group commissioning.

Our readings for this Sunday are some of my favorites. In Acts, we hear the story of the Ethiopian eunuch who meets Philip on the road. He's reading the book of Isaiah, and asks Philip to help him interpret it. As continue together in their chariot, they go by a body of water, and the eunuch (who isn't named) exclaims, "What is to prevent me from being baptized right now?" And, so, he does and believes and is brought into the Body of Christ. There is so much that I love about this story-the eunuch, for starters, would not have been accepted in many religious communities, and I love that it's a Christian apostle who offers him the love and acceptance that others would deny him. I love his excitement-why not now?- it's a good paradigm for us in the church today.

So much in contemporary life is about meeting others' expectations and qualifications. I find myself even being anxious about my son entering kindergarten in the fall-kindergarten!-as thought we can write off his future if his scissor skills aren't up to par. But Philip doesn't ask his new acquaintance if he's really serious about it, or whether he's thought about the future, or how he will tithe, or if he'll quit working for the queen all the way in Ethiopia. Philip most pointedly doesn't ask him about being a eunuch, even though Deuteronomy clearly says that such a man whose body had been so altered could not be permitted into the assembly. Rather than tell him he's still not good enough, Philip brings him right in, right now. It's not the eunuch's identity or experience that legitimates him, it's his desire.

Our other readings for Sunday keep the hits coming--our epistle is from the first letter of John (Chapter 4): "Whoever loves is born of God and knows God." The eunuch, no matter what was going on in his life, knew God. Finally, in the Gospel, we hear Jesus the true vine, poetically inviting us to abide, like branches in God's love, bearing fruit. There is also some language around withering and thrown into the fire: less romantic, perhaps, but it does remind us that the stakes are high.

This afternoon, take a moment to abide in God's love.

Take a moment to dwell in that place where there is nothing to prevent you from being bathed in kindness and peace and courage.

It is beyond words, it is above thought, it is below your feet.

Blessings,

Sara+

Children's Sunday changes, and a welcoming community

This week, we'll celebrate our regular first Sunday of the month children's Sunday. This year, we're going to try something a little different for children's Sundays. We're scaling back the every month children's Sunday just a little--we'll still do the children's sermon instead of the "regular" one, but I won't have all the kids up at the altar. At the same time, we'll ramp up and have two larger scale kids' Sundays a year, where kids will be at the altar helping to bless the bread and the wine, as well as doing the oblations, the readings, etc. The first big kids' Sunday will be on October 3, when we'll also celebrate "Creation Sunday," and encourage everyone to walk, bike, or carpool to church. After all, part of the reason we conserve is to have a healthy earth for future generations. It's also St Francis Day weekend, so stay tuned for some possible animal-blessing announcements.

Whether you have kids or not, the children who are part of our community have a connection to you--even if you don't know it. We all form part of the community they will carry with them for all their lives. Having our kids in church every month is a blessing to all of us. It reminds us that you never have to wait to receive the blessings of God. I'd also like to pass on a few thoughts about kids in church from children's educator Rhonda Waters, a friend of mine who'll soon be ordained in Montreal. She offers some suggestions for families, and for the wider congregation:

+Small children like to wander. Rejoice if you have a wanderer in your midst -- it's a sign that she/he feels safe in your community. And remember -- a wandering child is almost always quieter than an uncomfortable and restless child. Parents, do know where your kids are, but don't be too mortified if they climb the chancel steps.

+Sunday School is important but so is incorporating kids into the worshipping community. In fact, Sunday School can become a problem if it serves only to separate kids from the rest of the Body of Christ -- de-corporating the worshipping community, if you will. We are one body in Christ--each one of us.

+Kids should be seated where they can see what's going on. The front of a church actually has quite a lot to look at and quite a few people move around over the course of a service. Children who can see are more apt to pay attention because there is something to pay attention to. Families, sit near the front!

I am so grateful for the ways Christ Church is a welcoming community to everyone. Single adults, older adults, families, couples--thanks to each of you for making this community a place with holy--and whole--worship for all.

Blessings,
Sara+