Sermon, Sunday November 20

The Rev. Dr. Audrey Scanlan

Canon for Mission Collaboration

The Episcopal Diocese of CT

Christ the King 2011, Great Barrington, MA

Grace and Peace in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

I bring you greetings from your brothers and sisters in the Episcopal Diocese of CT… and especially from our bishops, Ian, Jim and Laura.  It is an honor to be with you this morning and I am humbled to be invited to share in this day of celebration and thanksgiving and deep listening.  Thank you.

I knew this place many years ago… when my mother would load me and my several siblings into the Chevy station wagon on a summer afternoon and come over to Jennifer House… to buy a gift for someone: a calico apron, a big woven basket, or some kitchen goods.  Children that we were, we would hang around the penny candy section or go out and toss pebbles in the courtyard.  This was in the days before malls… and the idea of shopping on a “campus” was exciting-  I think that my mother used these trips to re-gain her sanity after spending day after day with us playing “war canoe” or re-stringing fishing poles that had tangled lines… and cooking dinner for our family of 11 every night at Twin Lakes…  Jennifer House.  Now Crissey Farms. And today- and for the past couple (three?) years on Sunday mornings- home to the worshipping communities of St. James, Great Barrington and St. George’s, Lee.

Today in our liturgical year, we have reached the end of the line. This day- the Feast day of Christ the King- is the final Sunday in our church calendar… and next week, we will begin again, the annual cycle of feasts and fasts as we enter into the season of Advent.  Endings and beginnings.  I’d like to look at both of those ideas- endings and beginnings- in that order.

The gospel lesson this morning talks about a big ending:  the coming of Christ in Glory and the Final Judgment.  Students of the New Testament know that this is the only place in the Gospels where the Final Judgment is described… and so, as a central idea in our theology, it is good to pay attention to this passage!  Jesus- the Son of Man- comes again and divides the sheep from the goats. The goats are gathered up and told that they did not measure up … and so they are cast off into an eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels…   The sheep are gathered at the right hand of God and are praised for their righteous ways… and they are sent to  inherit the Kingdom. There is a distinct separation where the righteous are rewarded and the others are damned.  But… it’s really not that easy.  It’s muddier than that- because in the Last Judgment… in this ending… at the end of this line… it is not clear- even for the rewarded ones- how they came to  inherit the Kingdom.  They are surprised.  And Jesus tells them: “I was hungry… you gave me food… I was thirsty… you gave me something to drink… I was naked… you gave me clothing.”   The righteous have failed to see- even in their good works- the unity- the Oneness- of the Kingdom:  Christ is  present not only in shining robes seated on the throne of glory… but Christ is  also present in the hungry, the sick , the poor and the dirty: there is no dividing line in the Kingdom.  And so, while this story describes separation and ending- the Final Judgment- it also holds up another idea- one of Unity and Oneness and Wholeness in God’s Kingdom… and the call for us to be ever vigiliant of that.  It is a call to seek out Christ and to see that in Him, we are One. 

As the communities of St. George’s and St. James, you have had your own experiences of endings.  I was amazed to learn about the history of St. Georges’ in which the church building suffered two different fires...in the year 1861 (when it was just 3 years old)  and again, 18 years later, in 1879, and, through the hard work of the people and the grace of God… you came to re-build and re-claim that space as your worshipping home.  Those fires were events that were out of your control and which for many communities could have served as the real- final- ending.  St James’ has a similar story in an uncontrolled event that could have pointed to an ending:  the sudden falling of the sanctuary wall three years ago which demanded sudden and certain evacuation from your worship space.  And, still, there is another ending to name:  the ending of St. George’s as owners of land in Lee- this time, a controlled ending, in which the parish chose in 2010 for the property to be sold.

These endings- both the controlled one and the sudden ones- have challenged both of your communities to find creative responses as the people of God and  they have called you to consider, together, now,  the next steps in your lives as followers of Jesus and his Way.

Beginnings. 

In his Convention Address, your bishop Gordon Scruton talked about the new beginnings for the Church and said: “God is looking for clergy and lay leaders in Western Massachusetts who will be willing to let God birth fresh expressions of Christian living and mission outside the walls and current patterns of their congregations.”    I’d say he had you in mind when he wrote that line.  He also said that there is a cost to doing this work:  in forging new beginnings there is an element of risk taking. It is hard work.  Not everyone is ready to come along.  And yet, the payoff is amazing.  Gordon writes of a “deeper, more holistic life  of discipleship with Jesus” as a result of risking a new beginning.

I think he’s right.  While new beginnings ask us to step out of our comfort zones- you have known that in the last year or more- there are also the benefits of a deeper formation and a richer relationship with each other- and, in each other, in Christ.

The writer of the letter to the Ephesians knew that, too. The letter to the Ephesians that we heard this morning is thought to be a circular letter… a letter written- probably by a student of Paul- and delivered to several  struggling congregations (in a circle) as a means of encouragement.  The part that we heard today is a prayer:  the prayer of the writer for these congregations:  that in their new beginnings that they will be given the spirit of “wisdom and revelation.. so that the eyes of their hearts will be enlightened and that they will know the Hope to which God has called them.”

Right now, as the communities of St. James’ and St. George’s, you are living in an in-between time. You have moved beyond your various endings… and are just starting to discern what shape your new beginning will take.  The work that we will do today will be offered in the spirit of Thanksgiving for all that you have enjoyed together as One Body in Christ, here on Sunday mornings.  And the work of the day is to listen.

I think of St. Paul and his companions as they traveled to new congregations across Asia Minor… I suspect that they did a lot of listening.  The letters that they wrote as a result of their visits showed that they did. There is great benefit in hearing another’s story.  And, I suspect, that if the sheep in Matthew’s gospel lesson had slowed down enough to listen to and look at the hungry that they were feeding.. and the naked whom they were clothing… that they might have seen that in their good works, they were serving Christ himself.

Today is a gift… it is an opportunity to stand in this place between endings and beginnings and to listen.

Every morning when I wake, I make my way out to the river trail in my hometown of Collinsville.  I get out there while it is still dark and return in the light of day.  And, in the middle, there is the dawning of the new day.  I stand at the river’s edge and watch as the grey clouds break open and the new day is born. I look and listen for God and give thanks.

This is the dawning of a new day.  Let us stop, look, and listen for God and give thanks.

Amen.