Trinity Church, Shelburne, Vermont - Praying the prayer, studying the mind, and doing the deeds of Christ.

“The Lord Will Make Good His Purpose”

The Rev. Carole Wageman

Trinity Episcopal Church

Pentecost 10A- August 21, 2011

Exodus 1:8-2:10; Psalm 138; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16: 13-20

This has been my first week back after sabbatical so I have been getting caught up on a lot of things. One of the things I did was to read the notes from the three parish-wide “Holy Conversation” discernment meetings that were held in May. It sounds like there was great participation and some very rich and important conversations took place and all of that is a good thing.

There was a neat phrase that caught eye in the notes from the first week’s meeting and I have been tossing it around in my head: The questions being asked were: “Who are we as a faith community? What drew you to Trinity initially? How is Trinity unique? What do you value about Trinity? The response that caught my attention was: “The windows draw you in. The people keep you coming.”  

Wouldn’t that make a great by-line: “Trinity Episcopal Church in Shelburne, VT: The windows draw you in but the people keep you coming.”

I don’t know who said that, but it is a great reflection about a couple of things that have always been of great value to this congregation: the beauty of this worship space and the community who gather here. A place of sanctuary and renewal and a people of promise.

For anyone new here this morning, the “windows” being referred to are these beautiful Tiffany windows that surround us that are simply priceless and a national treasure.

But – outside of the masterful artistic skill of their creator – Louis Comfort Tiffany -- and the quality of the materials that went into making them, there is only thing about these windows that makes them so beautiful.

The Light ---The Light that comes through them.

It is the light that shines through them that helps us see the beauty that is there…that moves our hearts and spirits to be lifted up in praise and adoration of God…that offers a surrounding of comfort and wonder…that can move us to tears and provide a place of sanctuary where we can put our burdens down, even if for only a little while.

Put these windows somewhere else where the light cannot shine through and they are nothing more than nice expensive pieces of colored glass arranged in a pleasing form.

They were made to be used by the Light.

“The windows draw you in, but the people keep you coming.”  That is part of our story here. It’s not all of it, but it is a keen observation.

We are a people of the Story – God’s Story – made to be used by the Light. Like a broad window of multi-colored and multi-faceted glass that is continually revealing new icons and images in ever changing and shifting patterns, God’s Story has traveled timelessly throughout eons of history, through generations of people, through troubles and triumphs and is present right here on our own doorstep calling us to learn more about God’s Story here in this place – about God’s Story in each of our lives.

Like the windows here that only release their beauty when the light shines through, so too, God’s Story unfolds in the human touch of what might seem to be commonplace daily drama.

Take the reading from Exodus this morning. This is the beginning of Moses’ story. Many years have passed since Joseph was in the favor of the Egyptian Pharaoh and now there is a new king who knows nothing of that story or people. All the new king knows is that he feels threatened by the sheer numbers of Israelite people. If there were a war and they sided with the invader, his kingdom would be lost.

So, the king takes a first step and decides to deal with this situation with oppression and by forcing the people into hard labor and making their lives very difficult. But apparently this did not remove the threat for the king, so he had another idea. He would have the midwives kill any boy children at birth but allow the girl children to live. When that didn’t work, he commanded that the people themselves should take care of enacting his law.  All boy children born should be thrown into the Nile River but girl children allowed to live.

And there into God’s story enters the lives of five women: 

• Two of them are mid-wives (Shiphrah and Puah) who defy Pharaoh's direct order to kill any baby boy they help birth. They risk their own lives and lie to the king rather than do his bidding.
• Moses’ mother who entrusts her vulnerable and helpless infant son to an unknown future by placing him in a tiny basket-boat, setting it adrift on the river and surrendering him from her arms into God’s arms.
• The royal princess is one of the five – daughter of the Pharaoh – who rescues the child and raises him as her own, setting in motion events that eventually result in the founding of a nation. There must have been some intentional dishonesty on the part of the princess as well because she realizes this is a Hebrew child who has been ordered to be killed and yet Pharaoh never seems to become aware of how she came by this child. The child thrives and is actually raised in the household of the king who had decreed his death sentence.  
• Moses’ Sister who watches over the baby from a distance to see what will happen to him while his basket-boat was floating on the water – perhaps to report back to her mother what happened to it. In watching the Princess’ handmaiden rescue the basket, she sees opportunity and provides the bridge that re-connects Moses with his real mother who serves as a wet nurse for him until he is weaned.

Each of these women plays a different role in the story, but their actions intertwine and become the way in which God brings something good out of chaos – the birth and survival of Moses who becomes an important leader in the Egyptian court and is eventually called by God to play a role in the history of humankind. None of those courageous women – including the mysterious pagan princess -- could have imagined that at the time. Each of their parts was crucial, however, to the bigger picture that God had in mind to respond to the cries for help from his people.

These stories matter. They are all we have as a way to understand how God is working in our lives and in our church. Our narratives as the People of God are rich in revealing the love and compassion of a God that is never limited by our expectations, but always hovers on the cusp of surprise. 

Sometimes that surprise can be as dramatic as a rainbow such as the one that formed in our backyard a few mornings ago. I simply stood there and watched as the rising sun filtered through the shifting densities of morning ground fog as it moved and began to ascend. Eventually a small rainbow formed and stretched from side to side over the yard. It was astounding.

Sometimes those surprises come impulsively from some unknown  insight  that suddenly becomes clear.

Jesus asked his disciples: “Who do people say that I am” and the answer that they came up with was “Elijah” “John the Baptist” “Jeremiah” “One of the other prophets”. But when Jesus honed in on that question a little better with: “Who do you say that I am?” and it was Simon-Peter who blurted out his quick and impulsive response: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!”

Now, Peter is never described as being a disciple who spends much time pondering deep questions and reasoning out well thought through observations that he shares in a carefully crafted expose’. He was a fisherman. He was practical. He called it like he saw it. And what he saw in Jesus was living proof that God had entered into this common and dusty world.

And Jesus knew where this revelation had come from: “Whoa – Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.” And picking up on a question Peter never asks, Jesus tells Simon-Peter who he is meant to be as well: “And I tell you that you are Peter – petras --- the rock and on this rock I will build my church.” 

It would be on the foundation of the perseverance, persistence, resolve, devotion and love of flawed, impulsive, doubting, slow to understand, very human disciples  that Jesus would build his church ---- for the people who would gather in his name so that God’s Light might shine through them.

That doesn’t mean that those who gather will be leading blameless and impeccable lives that are beyond reproach. It is only in our very human stories where God’s work in us is displayed and takes on life and shape. So knowing our stories – personal and as a community of faith is important because they reveal more about what God is up to in this time and place. What an incredible gift of faith that each of us might make a difference no matter how small – because God uses the small stuff as well as the big stuff to create the larger picture.

“The windows draw you in. The people keep you coming.”  

Much like these wonderful pieces of art that surround us, our individual lives – and our shared life in this congregation --- are made to be those windows through which – with all our different styles and colors and textures --- God’s Light seeks to shine.

Will we be:

• A haven of healing for those with broken hearts who yearn for a place to belong and the compassionate touch of Jesus’ love?  A safe harbor when the deep-water storms of life threaten to toss us overboard.
• A home of radical hospitality offering the food of fellowship and the drink of God’s living water? A place of sanctuary and spiritual friendship?
• A fellowship of compassion and companionship for those who yearn for God?
• Will we be those who sing a song of joy as we perceive and praise God’s abundance?
• An intellectually curious body of learning where it is okay to ask the deepest and darkest questions we have about faith and God and come away knowing we were listened to and respected for our different opinions and journeys;
• Will we find ways to offer God’s light for others like the women and children suffering in Somalia who might live far away from here and whom we might never meet? Yet our daily abundance that we don’t think twice about would provide the very real necessity of food and water that would keep them alive.

Or will we be more like nice pieces of expensive colored glass arranged in a pleasing form with very little light to shine forth God’s beauty? 

We have a Story and stories matter. Right now, our story is longing to be found and yearning to be told that we might witness to God’s purpose in this place and in this time. The gifts of the Spirit will empower us for that work of ministry.

It is not about the budget and how much we can afford and who gets cut and what we lose in exchange for what we think we will gain. That is the mindset of the business sector. God is much bigger than that. If what we do is of God, then it will be good and God will bless it and we are not to worry.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul says: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God…”  Think outside the box, he is saying. “We are members, one of another – each with different purposes and yet, part of the same picture.”

It is risky to seek the will of God. It might mean stepping out into unknown territory where we have never been before. It might mean going places we don’t want to go. It might mean seeing things with new eyes but a broader vision. It might be like letting go of a tiny basket-boat allowing it to float alone down the Nile with its fragile human cargo and trusting that God is in charge.

Prayer:

Thank you, God. Everything in me says “Thank you!”

Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness.

Most holy is your name, most holy is your word.

When we call out to you, you answer.

When we stumble, you are there to catch us.

When we walk in the midst of trouble, you keep us safe.

Finish what you have started in us, Lord, for your love is eternal

And your way is most graciously kind and we will praise your Name now and forever. Amen.