The following is NOT my original piece of writing. All glory goes to my father, who delivered this nearly nine years ago on his retirement from Grace Church.
I heard him preach a homily for a dear friend last Saturday, and it reminded me of the gifts of word and spirit God has bestowed on my dad.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grace Church, Jefferson City
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost -- Proper 13-A
July 31, 2005
+In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Many years ago I drove an elderly parishioner to the St. Louis airport. I suspect that she was an industrial strength talker, even before she came to live alone as a widow. On the way in she talked while I looked from side mirror to rear view mirror and negotiated the heavy I-70 traffic. Obviously there could be little eye contact, but I thought I was inserting the socially-required minimum of “um-hmms” and “you don’t mean its.” But as we approached the Missouri River Bridge at St. Charles, she said, “Now Father, I have just one more thing that I need to tell you, but this time I want you to listen to me.”
Folks, we are approaching the bridge here, and I have just one more thing that I need to tell you, but this time I want you to listen to me. Seriously, I deeply appreciate the fact that you have always listened to my sermons and have responded in a highly specific manner. You have not always followed my suggestions, but then neither have I.
Very few times over the years have I deviated from the church’s lectionary, that orderly three-year cycle of Biblical readings that prevent preachers from just harping on their favorite themes. Today, however, I would like to deviate from the lectionary and give what I think is a summary of my preaching. Last week I carried home four file crates containing thirty-nine loose-leaf notebooks of sermons. I must confess that I have repeated a few of them over the years, particularly this past year, but not many times over the long haul
First of all, I have always tried to be orthodox. If the Microsoft Corporation were to publish a “Heresy Check” program, I would buy it. I may wake up in the middle of the night with a revelation that God actually exists in four persons, not three, that God in fact is a Holy Quadrinity. That revelation may be an exciting moment for me, but I doubt that it would be helpful to you in your desire to know and love God more deeply. Far more helpful is the Orthodox faith that is the sum total of the search of the entire community over the course of two thousand years. My job has been to try to interpret it for us in accordance with the times in which we live.
I have preached a great deal about the Kingdom of God, since that was the primary message of Jesus. I have talked about the Kingdom as event, rather than place. I have talked about eternal life as a quality of life that must begin now, even though it continues after we die. It is offered to all of us, but we must accept it. And the hard part is to allow ourselves to be transformed to the point that we truly want it.
I have preached about values, encouraging us to place our trust in the things that are not seen, the things that are eternal. I have preached about values because of my own internal struggle with values. You thought I was just trying to be humorous when I told you how excited I become when I smell the Styrofoam that encases new electronic equipment. That was an honest, not very pretty confession of my real values.
I have preached a great deal about healing, again because there are so many healing stories in our lectionary, but also because I have dealt pastorally with so many hundreds of people who were ill. I remind us that God’s will for all of us is health. It is difficult for me to imagine that God would engage in biological warfare against his own creation, smiting us with dreaded viruses and bacteria. I remind us that every illness has three dimensions--physical, emotional, and spiritual. Healing can take place in any or all of those areas. Sometimes death is the healing agent. The disease wins the battle only if we come to identify ourselves with the disease, if we actually become the disease. My theories about sickness and health are long held, but those theories were borne out to me in my own experience the past year and a half.
I have preached a great deal about the Eucharist. This weekly event is a reminder that we are to live our lives with thankful hearts. I believe this sacrament to be as well a prelude to the heavenly banquet in the Kingdom of God. I believe in Christ’s real presence in the sacrament. I treat the consecrated elements themselves with deep reverence and respect; although, I believe the Sacrament is as much about the transformation of you and me into the Body of Christ, in order that we might be Christ’s presence in a broken and fallen world.
I have preached a great deal about living in community. So many of the readings from Paul’s letters have dealt with the issues of the religious community, and for two thousand years every Christian community has struggled for unity and peace. I have encouraged us to be honest with one another, but to continue to look for Christ in one another. And we have succeeded.
I have preached about being concerned for the needs of the world around us. We must honor Christ’s Presence in the Sacrament of the Altar in our willingness to reach out to the poor and to all who are on the margins of polite society. I have encouraged all of us to find places in the community where we can provide hands-on service, whether it is a church program or a non church program.
I have preached the seasonal themes of hope and expectation during Advent, the Incarnation during the twelve days of Christmas, the showing forth of Christ to the Gentile world during Epiphany. I have preached repentance during Lent and sacrificial death and atonement in Holy Week. On Easter Day, as well as every other Sunday I have tried to preach resurrection. Without resurrection there is no Christianity. God will raise us up when we die, but will also raise us up many times during this mortal life. I have preached the Pentecost message of the Holy Spirit, reminding us that the only life we have is from God, and the only hope for the continued existence of the church is the indwelling of that Holy Spirit of God.
Finally, I have preached a great deal about love, especially at weddings and at the Maundy Thursday Eucharist when we reflect on Christ’s New Commandment of love. I have preached love as act, rather than a feeling. I have preached love as commitment. I have preached love as the willingness to stand by another person, regardless of any feeling that we might have at any given moment. That is the way I have loved you. At a few times we have had our differences, but I have always considered it my job to love you no matter what. For years I thought it was my job as a priest to love you. In more recent years I have come to see it as my job as a baptized person to love you.
These are my last words as we cross the bridge. I have loved you, because in your faces I have seen the face of Christ. And for the very same reason, you must continue to love one another. Now this time listen to me.
(The Rev.) Harvel R. Sanders
