I know of a pastor who does this
thing.He goes to a coffee shop, orders
his coffee, sits at a table, and pulls out a sign that he puts on the
table.The sign says, “Tell me your God
story.”
Then he drinks his coffee.People sit down.They tell him a story.They tell him all kinds of stories.
I remembered that pastor as I have been
reading a book that will be part of diocesan convention next week.The book’s author, Dwight Zscheile is our
keynote speaker.The book is called The Agile Church.
The chapter that engaged my imagination is
“Disciplines of a Learning Church.”The
first discipline is: Cultivate places for
conversation and practice.The
author writes about how the church typically approaches nonchurch members.Typically, we invite them to come to us so
they can hear our story.
Now let me say, it’s a powerful story.In fact, the fourth discipline he names is: Interpret the present in light of the past.Our story, the one we are living now, is part
of a bigger story.When we read
Scripture every Sunday, we are connecting to that bigger story.And we draw from it.The bishop described this two weeks ago – the
Book of Exodus, the people of God on the move from their settled past to an
unknown future.Their holy place, their
sanctuary was a tent.They folded it up
and they moved.And Jesus who did not
have a place to lay his head, whose ministry was always on the road, or in
somebody’s living room for the evening.
On the move is part of our past and it
sustains us as we fold up our tent and move into our future.
But that’s the fourth discipline.Let’s go back to the first.
The first movie I ever say was Sleeping Beauty. It began with a christening. All the people and all the fairies of the kingdom came to greet the little Princess Aurora, to offer gifts and wishes and blessings. And here we are this morning for little Josephine, with gifts and wishes and blessings. The corporate blessing, the blessing we have gathered to offer is this: that Josephine may lead a life that matters. In this great big world that ignores all but the powerful and mighty, first we say that Josephine herself matters. She is a precious child of God, a princess in her own right, in the kingdom of God. And then we are here to lead her to live a life that matters. The last several weeks our lessons have been about wisdom. To know what is a life that matters and then to live it -- what could be wiser than that? That is our wish, our blessing for Josephine this morning. I remember the evening after my son Jacob was born. I held him in my arms and prayed that he would be happy. Isn't that what parents say, "I just want my children to be happy." A friend in Costa Rica said something similar for himself a few years back. He was feeling sorrowful, as he often does, and was in his cups, which he thinks would make him less sorrowful. But it doesn't. He said to me, "All I want is to be happy. Is that asking too much?" He asked as though he thought I would have the answer, me being a priest and all. Now, it's not my first rodeo, and I don't counsel people while they are drunk. But I did have an answer. I'm saving it for him. No, to be happy is not asking enough. The thing is, if what you are pursuing is happiness, you will never get there. Oh, you might experience pleasure. You might distract yourself temporarily from your sorrows. But it's when you lose yourself in something else, when you create, or help, or stand up for something important, or love, when your own happiness is forgotten, that's when it comes.
Somebody
once said that saints are people that the light of Christ shines through.Our tour of the windows this summer has
showed us the great many ways the light shines through.These windows ask us to consider, What does
your window look like?How does the
light shine through you?
Luke
is our first window this week.He wrote
both the gospel and the Book of Acts. The two were intended as Volume One and Volume
Two of one work.
If
you read them one after the other, you notice, this is more than the story of
Jesus.Luke tells the story of the Holy
Spirit, from the Spirit’s first manifestation in Zechariah, the father of John
the Baptist, to person after person in the Book of Acts.Each outpouring is greater than the
last.In fact, everything that Jesus did
in the Gospel gets repeated and more so in the Book of Acts.
I
saw what you might call a theological reflection on Facebook the other day that
carries Luke’s theme one step further.It
said, Fueled by the Spirit, look what
Paul accomplished for the reign of God.Imagine
what we could do.We have the same Spirit
– and we have coffee, too!Maybe
there’ll be a coffee cup in my window.How
about yours?
In
1911 a young man, Roland Bainton entered Yale Divinity School.He would never leave it, first a student,
then professor, then church historian of international reputation.He wrote the definitive biography of Martin
Luther, Here I Stand.He was in his mid 80’s when I arrived.
Every
year, first week of classes, we gathered in the dining room, and Roland Bainton
told us stories of the portraits that hung all the way round, starting with
Jonathon Edwards and rehearsing the history of Yale through its deans, the
other portraits, and their part in the spiritual and political history of the
nation.
He
would end with the Epistle to the Hebrews.Therefore, since we are surrounded
by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with perseverance the race that is
set before us, looking to Jesus, who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
So
in the days to come, glad days, weary days, occasionally heavy-laden, we ate
our breakfast, lunch and dinner, in communion with a cloud of witnesses who had
faced glad days, weary days, heavy-laden, who ran with perseverance the race
that was set before them, and now looked down from their place on the wall, to
urge us to do the same.
We,
too, are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses.Bainton had an hour for his sermon, and I don’t.So my tour of our witnesses is in three
parts, today Philip and James, Mark and Matthew.August 4th to finish.
Anyone got
dandelions?I remember as a child that
delight of holding a dandelion that has gone to seed.You make a wish and then you blow.Whether or not my wish ever came true, the
seeds scattered to make new dandelions.What power there is in a dandelion!
I think of Pentecost as
a dandelion.All that potential in the
Upper Room after the Resurrection.Then
a mighty wind bursts it open and the Gospel, carried by the disciples, blows to
the corners of the earth.
2000 years later, here
we are, the Gospel, planted in Prineville. The long green season after
Pentecost invites us to become disciples ourselves, to grow, and once again to
carry the Gospel.
Once a week we gather in
this place to learn how to do that, to examine the Scripture, take stock of our potential,
and once again to pledge our lives to Christ.
I don’t know about you,
but every once in a while, whatever the words are that fill this place, at some
point my eyes are drawn to the building itself.During the Holy, holy, holy, I look to the rafters.During the lessons, I look to the
windows.They are not a
distraction.They are here for that
purpose.The long tradition of church
windows is to preach the Gospel in picture form.
How many of you were baptized as a baby?But have you heard a story about it?
Sometimes, you hear a story so often, you can
start to remember it for yourself. That’s
how the Bible works; it tells stories so often, it’s like we are there.Remember that time that Mary thought he was
the gardener…
So, place yourself in this story.It’s 300 years after the resurrection. And you have come to be baptized.You come in the middle of night, with your
sponsor, not necessarily your family, because your family might not like what
you are doing.In 300 AD, it is illegal
to be a Christian. But you have dared. There is something here that you want.And you are willing to risk your life for
this life.
The first thing you do, you change your
clothes.You dress in a white robe. Like this robe.Stand up, if you’re able.I’m going to walk you through this
story.Ready?Put on your white robe.
Now, turn around.Stand with your back to the cross.It’s the middle of the night.Stand facing the darkness, facing everything
you are about to leave behind. Out there,
out that door by the kitchen are the things that draw you from the way of
Jesus, what you have done, and what has been done to you.Out there are your addictions, your fears,
your limits, grudges, small mindedness.The can’ts, the won’ts, the never haves.What has prevented you from following the way of Jesus?
You are asked three questions.You respond, I renounce them.
Do
you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel
against God?I renounce them.
Do
you renounce the evil powers of the world which corrupt and destroy the
creatures of God?I renounce them.
Do
you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?I
renounce them.
Three more questions.This time you answer, I do.
Do
you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?I do.
So do that now, turn around.Face the cross.
Do
you put your whole trust in his grace and love?I do.
Do
you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?I do.
Now you are taken to a pool of water. You stand at the edge, with steps leading
down.On the edge of the pool, more questions.What will be the new way that you look at the
world?In other words, What do you
believe is real?
We’re going to sing this part.Listen to me sing the first verse.Then we’ll start again.Just follow my lead.
Well then, what is that going to mean? How will you live the life that follows from
your commitment to follow Jesus?
This is the way we ask that today.And your answer is I will with God’s help.
Will
you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of
bread, and in the prayers?I will with God’s help.
Will
you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and
return to the Lord?I will with God’s help.
Will
you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?I will
with God’s help.
Will
you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as
yourself?I will with God’s help.
Will
you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of
every human being?I will with God’s help.
Okay then, take your first step. Move your feet. Wade in the water. Feel it on your toes.Did somebody remember to warm it, or is it
cold?
Now take another step into the pool.Imagine, you are up to your knees in
water.Now another step, your hips.
Go ahead and be seated.The water rises to your neck.
This is it.It’s time.Take a deep breath and
go under.Your hair floats, your ears
fill up.The sound changes.You can barely hear my voice.The water washes away the past, washes away
those things you have done, things done to you, your addictions, fears,
whatever has held you back from our Lord, washes away your shackles.Blow out your breath.All the old is gone, even the old air is gone.
It is time to be reborn.
Lift your head from the water.It’s the breath of new life. Can you smell spring in the air?
When you rise out of the pool, that robe streaming,
the bishop approaches with a flask of oil.Not a little dab to make a sign of the cross on your forehead.This is a honkin’ big flask poured over your
head, dripping off your forehead, oil running into your ears. What?
See that is the way that kings and queens are
made.They are anointed.And you have become the daughter, you have
become the son of God, the Almighty Lord Creator.Sister, brother to the High King of Heaven,
Jesus, the Christ, the anointed one.
What does that make you?Do you know?Sister, brother to the High King of Heaven?You are a prince, you are a princess in the
kingdom of God.Raise your head!Live with dignity.As you walk out in the world, you are a
prince; you are a princess.You represent
the kingdom of your brother, the High King of Heaven.
Now, as that flask of oil is still dripping to
your shoulders, the bishop – pours out another one!Did you think you were finished?Oil is how we make a priest, like Jesus the
Christ, the Great High Priest.And you,
all of you are priests.
I mean it.What do priests do?ABC, we
absolve, we bless, we consecrate.That is
what you do when you go out from here to represent Jesus, the Great High Priest.
Absolve.Christians forgive.In a world of
insult followed by insult, grudge piled on grudge, push comes to shove, we
proclaim freedom from all that mess.We forgive.We make peace.
Bless.In
a world of distrust and “protect my own,” we proclaim the blessing, grace upon
grace, the lavish love of God for all God’s creatures for whom our Lord was
willing to come down here and give his life. We bless those whom God has blessed.
Consecrate.In a world that degrades, devalues, makes cheap, we make holy.Here at this table, at the coffee hour table,
at the dinner table, we break bread, and we create community, the Body of
Christ, as we share our bread.Consecrate.We name the sacred.The Christ in me reaches to the Christ in you. The Christ in you reaching to the next person you see today.
All of us, the priesthood of all believers.The baptism of the fourth century is your
baptism, too. We receive you into the
household of God.Confess the faith of
Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal
priesthood.
So rise up, fellow priests, princes and
princesses in the kingdom of God.Let us
pray together, and then let us share with one another the sign of our baptism.
photo of baptism by Malaura Jarvis, used with permission
photo of candle by anonymous, used under Creative Commons license
photo of Baptistry in Emmaus Nicopolis, Israel by Avishai Teicher, in public domain
crown detail Priestergestoelte - Ter Apel, Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, used under Creative Commons license
photo of bagels and coffee by cyclonebill, a Flickr photo used under Creative Commons license
