grace in the 'cuse

Outer Darkness

So the question I keep asking myself is why is updating this blog so difficult?  God, the church, my vocation are my passion--I breathe it nearly every minute of every day.  And yet, writing about it isn't the first thing I want to do each day.  Hmmm.  There'e all that work I do to prepare to preach each week--that takes some of my writing energy.  I started a blog--the food one--in the first place as a way to step out of the church scene for a few minutes each day. 

Part of it is that I think about church--the people, growing it, our finances, the spiritual health of our kids--all the time and I'm too tired--lazy--to put all those jumbled thoughts into cohesive and interesting posts that someone else might care to read.  Ah--there it is.  So what to do?

I'm not quite ready to give up on church blogging yet.  I think I still need to find my voice, though. 

This week's gospel is from Matthew--a parable about the talents.  How convenient since I'm preaching about stewardship for several weeks in a row.  But in typical Episcopal fashion, the last line of the pericope is cut from our Sunday lectionary--that part about folks being cast into the outer darkness.  After preaching about Matthew, Jesus and judgement for much of the summer and early fall I'm not exactly dying to deal with it again.  But it is telling that we choose to omit this line.  Of course, the rest of the lesson is harsh enough in asking the question of what do we with the gifts God has given us?  Really.  Though not evident here, I've been told that I have a gift for writing--a gift I should be using for bringing on the reign of God.  But I think God want us to put/use the gifts we have been given in the places where they are needed most--it may be that the blogosphere is not it--but then again....maybe it is. 

The thing is, we never really know the extent to which our gifts and talents impact the world.  But we'll never have a clue if we don't offer them in the first place.

The Great and Crazy Month of October

I'm currently in a room with 130 black clergy from around the country.  We gather every three years and I haven't been since 1999.  My soul has been fed in just the few hours I've been here.  I'll post some "dispatches from the field" over the next few days.  The Episcopal Church is really blessed with some wonderful leaders and it is a joy to be among them.

Love Justice? Check this out

In the last few days I've come across some wonderful connections in this blogosphere.  I've gone to a California-based blog to meet someone who lives and blogs in one of my favorite haunts--Hamilton, NY.  I've learned that thanks to a random round-up of Episcopal blogs, a bunch of folks outside of the food world have discovered that I'm no longer a "meme virgin" . 

And now, I've just come across a wonderful blog on one community's engagement with social justice.  You gotta check this out--you can keep track of them by clicking on the link in my Daily Reading list.  If I steal the idea don't say I didn't give notice.  It's a great blog and very worth keeping up with (hate that dangling participle, but hey, it's just a blog...).

PR 2:01

Yesterday I set a new personal record.  Not for running (even my Boilermaker (road race) time was better than that!) I'm talking about a Grace Church vestry meeting.

Yes, we do tend to have long meetings.  We are a very talkative and invested bunch.  Plus, when you are in the middle of a revitalization, there's just lots to talk about.  But yesterday, after a beautiful morning of worship--we hit another record in attendance in our 10:30 Eucharist--we moved through a vestry meeting that had us out in two hours plus one minute. 

I don't think we'll be doing our charge justice to attempt to finish our work in much less time than that but I would certainly love it if we could hold this number as an average.  I have no doubt that my parishioners would agree.

Vineyard Parables

I love wine.  And I love looking at vineyards.  There is something meditative and soothing about passing rows of grapevines--whether they are full and heavy with grapes to be harvested, or they have already been picked, pruned and set to restart the growing season.  The photo above shows one of my favorite images of the vineyards in the Napa Valley in mustard season--otherwise known as winter (March). 

The readings for this coming Sunday, though, are anything but soothing.  In fact, they are downright threatening and violent.  Jesus, like Isaiah, worked with the predominating images and icons of his day--there must have been grapevines everywhere (one gets the feeling that people only drank wine and water and ate bread and fish in his day--not a bad diet, come to think of it.)  I'm always interested in writing new parables for our day, using images that we can relate to easily.  Though there are many vineyards in our area (some as close as ten miles from the center of Syracuse) this image doesn't hold the same power for us. 

My inclination right now is to figure out what this parable would be using a modern icon.  Would a sports analogy work?  Or the shopping mall?  The real point, though, is to get at the heart of what Jesus is saying about the ways we have and do reject him--reject his message and reject his presence in our lives. 

And, if we stick with the vineyard image for a bit, what does it mean to think of ourselves as the vineyard that bears wild fruit.  There is an art to growing good vines and crafting good wines and part of that art is that yielding of the vines to the work of the crafter.  It is as if we have been sprayed with Roundup and are resistant to God's crafting.   Hmmm... gotta think more about this.

Out of Sync?

The last two verses from this Sunday's epistle reads as follows (Philippians 2:13-14)

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Having just preached a bit on one of Pelagius' heresies, I'm not sure if I'm ahead of my time or behind.  That "work out your own salvation" part has me wondering.  And then, the Old Testament reading has Ezekiel proclaiming the "unfairness" of the Lord--the other theme of last week's sermon. 

But this week, Paul seems to be urging the church in Philippi toward reconciliation reminding them of the great gift they had been given in Christ's birth, death, and resurrection.  Its part guilt trip and part reminder of the whole point of being in community anyway--particularly in Paul's absence. 

I don't know how Paul did it, really.  It is easy to malign Paul but he really did an incredible thing in trying to attend to these fledgling Christian communities spread across distant lands with numerous cultural and religious backgrounds.  He wasn't there much of the time do a lot of hands on work so he had to trust the community to always aim for their highest inclination--loving God and each other they way Christ demonstrated.  At times I'm sure these communities were hanging on by thinnest of abstract concepts and yet, this Jesus whom most of them did not know and his ideals around living together was enough to carry the faith forward to the present. 

Then there's the Gospel (Matthew 21:28-32) which asks essentially, what will take for the people to believe.  Again, the latecomers are favored as doing the will of God.  Even if they decline at the beginning, they will always be welcome when they turn around.  But those who say, "yes, yes!" and then go do other things--Jesus isn't feeling them so much.  It's like my grandmother used to say, "It's never too late to get your act together."

Where does the time go?

So its been two weeks since my last post.  Hmm.  Things must be getting busy.  As it is I'm about to get on a plane to attend a campus ministry meeting.  With two sermons to preach this weekend my mind is buzzing.  But I'm also elated about how things are shaping up for the new year.  I'm still on a high from last Sunday when we had 11 students worshiping with us on campus--way exciting.  We're gearing up for an overnight retreat next weekend that should be a lot of fun too.

At Grace--well, let's just say things are really hopping.  Yesterday we had two different construction projects going on, people voting in the primary election, folders getting out a special edition of the Spirit of Grace, our newsletter, and two meetings of a outreach program that brings some 30 people to the building each time.  Oh. We also had a vestry meeting.  We had to hold it in the sanctuary because there was no place else to go.  A great thing, all that activity.  But by this time next month we'll all be in restored/renewed spaces in the parish hall and it won't be so harried. I just pray that the energy continues because Grace is looking like quite the happening place these days.

Relief for the Gulf Coast

Today is a national Blogging for Relief Day to assist those in need--and those who are helping the relief efforts from the devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina.  How can you help? Pray for those who survivved and for those who grieve the loss of loved ones.  Pray for the relief workers and those who are attempting to put the communities of the Gulf Coast back together.  Also keep in prayer our sister churches in the Dioceses of Mississippi, Louisiana, and the Gulf Coast.  For updates on Episcopal churches in the region check in with ENS--Episcopal News Service .

Episcopal Relief and Development is already on the scene and you can make a contribution by clicking the Donate Now button.  A special collection will be taken up on Sunday at Grace's 9:00am service for those who would rather donate to ERD that way. Let us remember that even--and especially--in the midst of grief and tragedy, God is there.

Where two or three are gathered...

Jesus said, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."

So how often have you heard those words?  If you follow the daily office--particularly Morning and Evening Prayer--then you'll recognize a version of these words from a prayer of St. Chrysostom.  It's funny but I usually forget that these words are said in the context of conflict resolution.  Our Gospel lesson this Sunday is from Matthew 18:15-20.  You can read it here. 

The first thing that comes to my mind is the forthrightness with which Jesus wants to deal with interpersonal conflict.  If another member of the church does wrong by you, violates you, or just on their own misses the mark (some texts lack the phrase "against you" in verse 15) then we're supposed to go to that person directly and try to mend the breach or bring them to repentance.  I keep wondering where the church--where the WORLD--might be if we all practiced relationships this way.  Jesus:  the master of non-triangulation! 

It also strikes me that this kind of direct-dealing assumes a level of trust and community self-accountability that is too often missing in churches and other groups.  I know that when I've gone to a person to tell them that they've hurt me (either by their words or actions) it takes all the spiritual strength I can muster to even open the conversation.  Usually I come to this point when I can't stand not being in right relationship any longer.  But Jesus reminds us that when we do get up the courage to speak the truth to another in love, he is there.  Jesus: the master of reconciliation is there.

Beautiful Exhaustion

I've been at it since about 6:00 am.  It is now nearly 8:30 pm.  It has been a day of wonderful worship, hearty singing, joyous celebration in baptism, and reunions, reconnections and meetings anew.  I'm exhausted.  As I packed up my car after a 2 1/2 hour barbeque on campus--a great time was had by all--I looked up to the sky and saw the traces of a beautiful sunset.  They really are spectacular in this part of the world.  I'm exhausted.  But I could not have asked for a better day to start off the semester--both at Grace and Hendricks Chapel.  Thanks be to God!