Sermon Synopses - February 2007

Sermons at Trinity are usually ex tempore, that is done without notes...Please enjoy our "Sermon Synopses" or short summaries of sermons preached at Trinity.

Link to Sermons Synopses for additional summaries available from this year.

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Wednesday, February 28, 2007
George Herbert, Priest, 1633 (transferred from Feb 27)

Text:  I Peter 5:3 – “Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock.”

George Herbert is one of the great Anglican poets.  How could a poet be an “example to the flock?”  Herbert can be an example by reminding us that we are to make “poetry” out of our lives.  Definition of poetry:  The greatest possible expression in the fewest possible words.  Lent calls us to distill the essence of our lives, to pare away all the extra “words” that prevent us from being poetry.  Fasting frees us from being captive to our appetites and desires.  Almsgiving keeps us from being held captive by money.  Prayer unites us to God and brings out in us the people God created us to be.  As we are faithful to our disciplines this Lent, the true persons God created us to be will shine forth more brightly and our lives will be “poetry;” our lives will be beautiful – less is more here – for we will be living as God intended for us to live.   

It is not for our sakes only that we are to be poetry.  Pope John Paul II once remarked that the Church’s greatest tools for evangelism were its art and the holiness of its members: in a word, beauty.  As we pare away all the extra words that are extraneous to true living, our lives will be poetry, beautiful and attracting others to follow Christ.

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Sunday, February 25, 2007, Lent I

Text:  Luke 4:1-13

Todd told us that today he wanted to do three things:  1)  Let us in on a secret as to why he has been talking about God, Baptism and the Church only indirectly, through the metaphor of surfing.  2)  In light of the secret, to tell us about today’s Gospel lesson, and 3) about Lent.

Todd quoted a poem of Emily Dickinson:

Tell all the truth, but tell it slant –
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise

As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind –

Todd wants in his preaching to tell us “all the truth,” but he’s going to “tell it slant,” believing that “success in circuit lies.”  And so he will often preach in the tongues of image and metaphor.

Todd spoke to us about “play,” how playing involves moving to another space, entering into another set of parameters or rules, and using our imaginations.  Today’s Gospel – the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness – is a story about play.  Jesus moves into another space (the wilderness), has a set of rules (is fasting for 40 days) and is asked to use his imagination (the devil tempts him).  But Jesus plays by his own rules, not the devil’s.

Todd read a passage from C.S. Lewis’ Voyage of the Dawntreader, from the Narnia Chronicles (a series of stories in which play leads to a deeper appreciation of reality).  In the passage the children, as they look at a magic picture of a ship, suddenly find themselves in the picture; their imagination and play leads them to experience something real and true.

Today’s Gospel lesson reminds us that Lent is, above all, a time of play.  We are asked to enter another space (40 days of Lent), take on other rules (traditional disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and) and to imagine another reality (what our lives would be like if we were not held captive to our appetites, if we were not anxious about money, if we felt a closer presence of God).  Lent is a kind of game, a safe place in which to imagine another reality and to enter into it.  We can imagine what it might be like to be free from all that oppresses us, free from anxiety, to be children of God, saints, to know we are desired by God, etc. and are given a window in which to try it out.

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February 21, 2007
Ash Wednesday

Text:  Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

As we consider a discipline to take on for the keeping a “holy Lent,” as the invitation to the observance of a holy Lent (The Book of Common Prayer, p 265) enjoins us, it helps to keep Easter in mind.  We begin Lent in ashes (the imposition of ashes, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”), and we end Lent /  begin Easter with fire – the Paschal fire that begins the Great Vigil service on Easter Eve.  What in your life is presently dried out, ashen and dead that you would like to become a living, blazing fire?  The litany of penitence (BCP, pp 267-269) is a useful tool for self-assessment here, e.g., How are our ways and appetites self-indulgent? Are we angry at our own frustrations or envious or those more fortunate than we?  Do we have uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors?  Do we waste and pollute God’s creation? Etc.

The path of Lent has traditionally suggested three disciplines for turning our ashes into flame:  Prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  These three disciplines are the traditional pillars of Hebrew piety, and they are the three disciplines about which Jesus speaks in today’s gospel lesson.  Todd said that he doesn’t know why these disciplines work to draw us closer to God, but he does know that they work.    1)  Prayer:  Try setting aside some time every day to pray.  Perhaps read a Psalm or a passage from the gospels.  Perhaps tell God the top three things that weigh on your heart that day.  Set a realistic time limit (5-10 minutes?) – don’t try to do too much at first, lest you get “burned out.”  The aim is to do sustainable amount of prayer for the 40 days of Lent and possibly beyond.  2)  Fasting:  Fasting is refraining from food in a way that challenges you.  Again, don’t try to do too much.  A reasonable fast for most people is to eat one or two things for breakfast (a piece of toast and a piece for fruit, for example), one or two things for lunch, and then eat a normal evening meal.  3)  Almsgiving:  Are you not already giving ten percent of your income to God?  Try it for the 40 days of Lent!  (By the way, this is over and above our pledge to the church.)  Almsgiving is a sure way to fan ashes into flame.

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February 18, 2007
The Last Sunday After the Epiphany

Text:  Luke 9:28-36

Today is the final Sunday after the Epiphany; the season of Lent begins on Wednesday.  Epiphany is the Church’s season in which we celebrate Jesus’ being revealed to humanity as the Son of God… and it is a season that had its beginnings with water:  Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, and Jesus’ changing water changed into wine.  Continuing the image of the California surf guru who said that he could not teach anybody how to surf, but that he could show somebody the water and the water would teach them how to surf, today we’ll look at yet another thing about the “water” (God, Baptism and the Church) in order that we might continue to improve in our “surfing” (discipleship). 

Water is about desire.  Recall the practice of throwing a coin into a pool and making a wish (desire).  As a season that has its beginnings in water, Epiphany is a season about desire. The different stories we’ve heard during the Epiphany season express our desire for God:  Baptism of Jesus – to know that we are God’s children; Wedding at Cana –  that we want our lives changed (into wine), etc. Today’s Gospel lesson, the story of the Transfiguration, suggests that we have a desire to make dwellings and stay in the presence of God. 

If Epiphany is a season that speaks about our desire for God, Easter – what we prepare for in the season of Lent – speaks of God’s desire for us.  Like Epiphany, Easter is a season that begins with water – the Vigil of Easter was the time in the ancient church when catechumens were baptized (by immersion).  At Easter, God tossed us into the pool and expressed his desire.  Easter stories suggest God’s desire for us:  Resurrection appearances – God desires us to know the risen Christ; John 21 and Peter on the beach – God desires that we like Peter say again and again “I love you” to Jesus; Thomas – that we do not doubt but believe. 

Because we are afraid of so vast a desire, we need to prepare for Easter.  It is a tradition in Lent to set aside our desires to make room for God’s desire for us:  sweets, bad habits.    We can also take on disciplines to bring out our desire for God; reading scriptures daily, prayer, tithing. 

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Sunday, February 11, 2007
Reverend Miller's Institution as Rector - Bishop Shaw

Bishop Shaw spoke to us about one of his brothers in the monastery, an old monk (now deceased) who for many years was the community curmudgeon, feared and avoided by all.  Later in life, said Bishop Shaw, the years of daily prayer and rubbing of elbows with his brothers in community began to change this old monk, and in his last years he became a much beloved brother.  “It [years of monastic life] finally worked,” said Bishop Shaw, “He became the person God created him to be.” 

Bishop Shaw noted that the Church is above all a community.  The Gospels were not written to individuals, nor were Paul’s Epistles. These books were intended for communities.  If the community of Trinity Parish is going to “work” for us, we must immerse ourselves fully in the life of the community, Bishop Shaw said.  If we wish to become the persons God intends us to be, we must be here Sunday after Sunday (“Twice a month isn’t going to do it.”), we are to participate in Christian formation, we are to do outreach, we are to tithe our incomes.  If we are faithful in these things, the community of Trinity Parish can help us become the persons God created us to be.

Some may say that their “church” is listening to Bach on Sunday morning or going for a walk in the woods and seeing the beauty of God’s creation.  Those who do not participate in the life of the community miss out on the fullness of God’s presence, said Bishop Shaw, for God is most fully realized in the community of the Church.

Bishop Shaw said that Todd’s responsibility is to gather us as a community, to help us as we do formation, make disciples, do outreach and evangelize.  Our task is to respond when Todd gathers us, to do what he asks as he gathers us in community to be the Church.

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Sunday, February 11, 2007
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Text:  “They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall prosper.” – Psalm 1: 3

This sermon was the third in a series of sermons about “surfing” (i.e., about God, Baptism and the Church).  Todd reminded us of how we Christians are called to be “surfers” (disciples), to gather week by week for “dawn patrol” (Eucharist) and punch out into the pounding surf (take on the risks and challenges of discipleship), to hover over the depths (God in Word and sacraments), and to catch the waves that we find there (joy, peace and life abundant).  Todd reminded us of how – like the surf guru who taught him how to surf – he cannot teach us how to “surf,” but he can show us the water (Baptism), and the water will teach us how to “surf.”
 
Todd showed us two things about the water:  1)  If we plant ourselves next to this water (center our communal life around Baptism), honor our Baptismal commitments (to worship week by week, to seek and serve Christ in others, to proclaim in word and deed the Good News) and put down our roots into the riches we find there (prayer, scripture, the sacraments, the community), everything we do shall prosper.  We will find answers to our questions about who we are as a parish and what our mission is.  We will know how Trinity can best form our young people in the faith, how we can talk about stewardship, what we are to do for outreach.  If we do not center ourselves around the water of Baptism, we will become like Jeremiah’s “shrubs in the desert.”  We will be just another non-profit organization of nice people doing nice things.  We will condemn ourselves to an existence in which we struggle for members, worry about money, and see Trinity as an institution of daunting maintenance tasks. “We have the water to quench everybody’s thirst,” said Todd.  “We have what everybody wants.”  It may not seem like we have much, but if we are faithful to the commitments of baptism and sink our roots into its riches, God will multiply our few loaves into the ability to feed thousands.

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Wedneday, February 7, 2007
after 4 Epiphany

Text – Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.”