First Sunday in Lent February 26, 2012
Genesis 9: 8-17; Psalm 25: 1-9; 13: 18-22; Mark 1: 9-15
Last Sunday Bishop Waynick reminded us that the leitourgia of the Holy Trinity begins not with the resurrection but much, much earlier. The incarnation is a point at which the Holy Trinity divided itself with Jesus taking on human flesh to bring the good news to us in a form that we might better understand.
This week’s reading from Genesis reminds us that God has interacted with humankind in a myriad of ways and at a variety of points in human history. God said to Noah and to Noah’s sons: “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants.”
Covenant is a many things, but here it refers to a binding promise by God to humankind. God offers to never again cut all flesh off by a flood or to destroy the earth through flood. God offers a public good at private cost. God voluntarily offers to withhold a type of punishment that God is capable of enacting. Why? Had humankind changed so much that God’s frustration would not rise again? I don’t think so.
We are, after all, still fallible human beings. We are too apt to consider our own wants above the needs of others. We are – too often- loath to do something for the betterment of all if it will cost us something. We –too often- shake our heads and call someone naïve when that person believes that change can come through his or her own person’s actions.
There’s no indication that Noah asked God to never again flood the earth. I can’t imagine Noah thinking he had the power to force God to do anything, especially after being on the ark for days and days and days. God offered to limit God’s powers in the hope of a new relationship between God and humankind. God forgave humankind their wickedness and promised to withhold flooding as a means of resetting the relationship. The rainbow becomes the sign of the covenant. A reminder both to humankind and to God of the covenant and the new hope for a better relationship between God and humankind.
The church is one sign of a covenant between God and humankind in our day. Yes, the church as an institution has lots of flaws- for the church is inhabited by people. Fallible people who sometimes are misguided or who misinterpret God’s Word. But the church is our institution and it is our way forward and is one means of leitourgia.
Shortly we will convene our Annual Meeting. We will elect 3 persons to the Vestry, our governing body. These lay persons are elected by the congregation as a whole to serve 3 year terms. The canon law of the Church charges the Vestry with the following responsibilities:
- With the Rector, promoting the spiritual welfare of the parish.
- Aiding the Rector in the institution, conduct, and development of the program of the Church both within and without the Parish.
- Acting as agent and legal representative in all matters concerning property: maintain the buildings and furnishings, maintain other property (rectory, parking lot, grounds, etc.), provide adequate insurance,
- Having responsibility for the finances of the parish, raising money, seeing to prompt payment of salaries and bills, prudent care of trust funds, endowments and bequests, sale and transfer of securities and other assets, maintain records, annual report, budget (approve expenditures and recommend and approve salaries)
- Recruiting, encouraging, training, and guiding candidates for Holy Orders
- Representing the parish in its relations with the Rector
- Serving as a “Council of Advice” for the Rector when requested
- Electing a Rector if there is a vacancy
The rector in an Episcopal Church occupies a unique position being, at one and the same time, an employee, the Chair of the Vestry, a colleague in ministry with all the baptized, and the pastor with responsibility for the spiritual well-being of all the members of the parish. The rector also shares responsibility with the bishop for the ministry of the Episcopal Church in the parish. The rector is expected to spend some portion of his or her time participating in the life of the diocese. Finally, the rector is a priest. A priest’s primary function is to reveal the presence of God and to remind the community of the priesthood of all believers.[1]
The Search Committee of St. Andrew’s has just begun its work in the search for a new Rector. When we commissioned the Committee, each member covenanted with God and with us that he, she and the Committee as a whole would conduct its work to the honor of God and for the benefit of this parish. The sign of the covenant for the Search Committee and the Vestry and people of St. Andrew’s will be in the final recommendation of one person to be the next Rector for St. Andrew’s. And, a bit like a rainbow which may or may not appear after every rainstorm, we do not know how long this process will take. We can rest comfortably knowing that the Committee is conducting a public work at private cost. We will reap the benefits of that cost when the new rector is selected.
This last year has been full or ups and downs. Some highlights include the retirement celebration of Bill and Lucy Wieland. Long and faithful service- public work at often a private cost. Glorious music including this last Wednesday “Jazz in the Sanctuary.” Wonderful worship including the Pond Service and a bagpiper to help us celebrate St. Andrew’s Day. Good and honest conversations – with not everyone having the same conclusion – over removal of the two trees out front and around what the vision is going forward for this church in this community.
One mark of the Episcopal tradition is that we acknowledge that we do not all think alike about God and God’s call to be the church. But we can still sit together side-by-side in the pew. Whether our understanding of God is the same or radically different, we pray together. We believe that God calls us to engage our minds as well as our hearts. The questions are at least as important as the answers.
The questions may, in fact, be more important than the answers. Engaging our minds and reflecting theologically on God’s Word keeps us in covenant with God and with each other. What is God calling us to be and to do at this time and in this place? How do we live out the covenant – the promise between ourselves and God that we will be in relationship and that we will strive to live a righteous life? The First Letter of Peter, part of which we heard this morning, reminds us that our baptism is a covenant between ourselves and God. Through our baptism we are connected to the whole of Christ’s church. We are made one body through water and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Baptism may remove earthly dirt while it also is an appeal to God for a good conscience. Our baptism is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. It is a covenant between us and our God that can never be broken.
Our baptism is not a promise that we will never be tempted. Indeed, immediately upon Jesus rising from the waters of the Jordan, the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness. A time of temptation. A time of testing to see whether Jesus, in human form, understood and honored the covenant between his human self and God. Jesus, in human form, came so that we might better understand that God’s covenant – from Abraham being promised that his descendants would number more than the stars in the sky or grains of sand on the beach – or from Noah being promised that never again would a flood destroy the earth- that Jesus represents to us the ultimate covenant. God so loved the world that he gave his only son that we might have eternal life (John 3:16).
Our response to that promise is to live a life that evidences what we have heard and what we understand to be the good news of God in Christ Jesus. For those of us gathered here, one way we do this is to worship on Sundays and to participate in the life of St. Andrew’s. To laugh and to love and to learn from the Word of God and from each other. To serve according to our gifts and talents. To offer our financial resources for the work that this parish does in the world through the Non-Food Pantry, through support of Summer Enrichment, at our service of Blessing of the Animals, through the Pancake Supper and the services and events which are open to the wider community, and through making this place one of welcome to all who walk through the doors, regardless of where they are in their journey of faith.
Reach out a hand in fellowship. You never know who you might meet. We are promised that the kingdom of God has come near. Believe in the good news. And it shall set you free. The rainbow exists. Every time you see one, remember. Remember the public work at private cost of the Holy Trinity evidenced in the incarnation. The sharing of self so that all may be reunited with God. Blessings abound. Blessings abound in this place and in the work that we do together. Never fear. God is great. Amen.
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