A lot has happened in the month since I was last here.
So much so, that I have felt drained,
And I have sometimes felt inadequate to the task of preaching the Good News of the Gospel, to point us toward the New Church New Year that begins in 2 weeks’ time, with the lighting of the first Advent candle, the candle that celebrates Hope.
It’s not that I am without Hope – not at all – but a heaviness pervades
And my muscles ache as they work to climb up To where the light is each day.
Perhaps you feel something similar – not because of who you did or didn’t vote for— But because of the fear, aggressive language and either/or attitudes that surround us. We are a Both/And people living in an either/or world.
But, in the midst of it all, as is always the case— Life goes on with the joys and challenges of our everyday lives: Friends, family, game night, phone calls, (or text messages), hurt feelings, food, laughter, pets, and love.
And also in the mix are larger events that matter. This month contains many celebrations of Indigenous peoples
There are preparations for Thanksgiving, baptisms, weddings, concerts, and on and on in the vitality of our lives.
A week ago, was the annual Diocesan Convention in Riverside, Where clergy and lay delegates met to do the business of the church AND to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women in the Episcopal Church!!!
It was a beacon of light and Hope so needed by us all.
On Friday night we watched the documentary about The Philadelphia 11, the first women who were officially ordained as Priests And the brave Bishops who ordained them.
I was 27 then, living in Philadelphia, where I watched it unfold on TV as my 18-month old babies played on the floor.
Watching the film, I had forgotten the dark, angry, hate-filled abuse they endured
As these seminary-trained deaconesses pursued Their God-centered call to the priesthood.
You can only imagine what they were called publicly and privately – That they were of Satan,
They were destroying the nearly 2000 years of the church,
Jesus was male and only men could be priests
Women weren’t suited; didn’t have the right equipment,
Any sacrament these women try to do post-ordination Will be invalid – baptisms, weddings, And most of all – The Eucharist.
They are an abomination.
All this and much worse – out of the mouths of church people.
I had also forgotten that the 3 Bishops required to ordain them Had each sacrificed their careers and their reputations to do so And yet they continued to speak out, actively working for years
For the eventual passing vote in the House of Bishops
For the Ordination of women on July 29, 1974.
As we watched the film, the clothes and hair were very 1970’s
But the anger and division were very familiar.
At Convention, all the women clergy – priests and deacons – wore red— Representing the Holy Spirit.
Clergy shirts and collars, red jacket or sweater, and red stoles.
We all processed in together during the opening hymn of the Eucharist.
It was thrilling, ear to ear smiles as we sang – A moment of joy— but also of great humility
In the deep awareness of those who had come before,
Of the struggles and sacrifices they endured to clear the way for the rest of us.
Heading the procession, presiding at the Eucharist, and giving the keynote address was Dr. Rev. Carter Hayward, one of the 11, now in her 80’s.
So, here for us was exactly the jolt of Hope we all needed.
Hope drove our flood of feelings for what is good and right and of God---no matter the struggle.
I pray you too have had moments of Hope this week,
The flood of feelings of love, goodness, rightness
In your days and weeks, in your lives
That remind you that there is more – That God’s love is more than what appears on our news feeds.
The Gospel for today resonates in some unexpected ways with where we find ourselves in this time and place.
Jesus who cuts through the surface to re-orient the disciples
To the stark realties in which they live.
Having left the Temple court where Jesus had been teaching amid tense and dangerous confrontations, Jesus and his disciples walk outside, along the Temple walls, where an unnamed disciple exclaims – as a tourist might –
“Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings.”
In other circumstances,
we might accuse Jesus of being a buzz kill,
But here Jesus deliberately reigns in any happy distractions about the size of the Temple.
He needs the disciples to stay in the truth, in reality of the precariousness of the world. He will need them to be fueled by Hope In the middle of devastation, not outside of it, Or in some manufactured positivity. The real Hope is in God –only and always in God— most especially at the hardest, toughest times. “Teacher, what large stone and what large buildings.” And Jesus says:
“not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
We know this to be true
Nothing is Permanent
Not the Temple
Or the Twin towers
Or bombed out villages
Or flood ravished towns. Only God.
The disciples grow silent, somber, as they ask Jesus what lies ahead. There is a collective Gloom.
But it is not gloom for Jesus – it is reality which must be faced, where Truth must shine, where courage must reign.
In 12-step programs there is this phrase:
Do the footwork and stay out of the results.
That is what Jesus is saying.
Do the footwork, that is where Hope resides and grows.
In answering the disciples, Jesus says:
“Do not be led astray”
There will be many people, places and things to distract you, And those trying to persuade or fool you.
Keep it simple:
Hold what you know to be true in your heart, mind and actions.
Then Jesus says, “Do not be alarmed”
– which is different from do not be afraid –
Do not be alarmed by the dangers and destruction you see around you –
War, violence, fire, flood, famine, hatred writ large – That is part of reality, part of the reality in this world. Stay in it. Stay true.
We are so inundated with images of suffering and discord
That it is hard to stay in it, hard to stay true.
And I confess to needing news breaks;
I switch to watching “The Great British Baking Show” on Netflix instead.
And that’s good self-care, and a fun thing to do.
But I mustn’t see the world on one channel only.
Hope is doing the footwork together, holding each other up
Finding courage in doing what is good and right – with and for others.
I realized as I walked in that procession with my red stole How much I missed the courage and joy
That a regular community of believers gave me.
You have that here. Treasure it.
I leave you today with these words inspired by Jesus:
Do not be led astray
Do not be alarmed
Do the footwork together Find the Hope and Love in as many moments as you can And you will light the way.
AMEN.