A New Hope

A New Hope Pete Gdula Sermon for Sunday, November 15th, 2009
May I begin by giving thanks to everyone here for welcoming me into your family? You have offered nothing less than honest and sincere friendship and I’m grateful for being given this opportunity to serve all of you as you help me grow into my ministry. Diaconal internship is not just about the formation of a postulant into someone who is fit for ordination, but is also part of the ongoing discernment process in determining what type of ministry a person is being called to. I am being exposed to a wide variety of areas here, which are helping to broaden my experience and narrow the focus of my future goals. That reflects remarkably well on you folks, the diversity in giving of yourselves shows that the body of Christ, His voice, hands, feet, eyes, and ears are well known throughout this community. And what these actions bring is hope. Hope out of despair. Hope out of gloom and doom. Hope that the light will shine out of the darkness that many lay claim to.
To say there is a tone and thread of despair, or gloom and doom in today’s readings reflects how much this hope is needed. In one sense we may be brought to a place of having to recognize and acknowledge the seriousness and intensity of what the writers are trying to say. After all, the images of Daniel’s vision from receiving and eating the scroll are described in one sense as awakening from the dust of the earth … and … living eternity in shame and contempt. This is the first clear biblical reference to a resurrection, final judgment and afterlife. We find it again in some other scroll eaters such as Ezekiel and of course the most dramatic and vivid description from Revelation in the New Testament, as John of Patmos reveals what many think will be the final days of life as we know it. We don’t stop here with this notion.
In the gospel, we hear Jesus telling his disciples that the temple will be destroyed. As they ask for specifics on the matter he responds of how false prophets will try to deceive us; how wars will erupt; and how nature will take its toll through natural disasters. Not the type of picture you want to have painted for you when things seem to be going your way. Continue on with the Gospel from where we left off and things get even worse as we are told of families turning against each other and that to escape this misery you must flee to the mountains. Here is the perfect opportunity for a good old “fire and brimstone”, “burn in the flames of hell” sermon.
In preparation for this talk, I jokingly mentioned to Ed how he thought it would go over here if I’d give one of those types of sermons, beating on the pulpit, hands flying in the air. He jumped right on it and immediately offered to sit in the back and offer up “Halleluiahs” and “Amen, Brother Pete!” all intended to get you riled up and filled with the Spirit! Then I brought it up with Daphne. A somewhat different response was met with what seemed like an eternal blank stare, followed by a few bats of the eyelashes and, finally, shrugging her shoulders and chuckling … “Why not?” I promise you this is not one of those sermons! I’ve experienced that type of preacher’s wrath once or twice in my life; that was plenty, thank you. Regardless of who or how many see an occasion to spread God’s word through fear and trembling, there is another side of the story we can embrace.
We can embrace and see a reason these readings are placed where they are in the lectionary. We can see a beginning after an end. We can recognize that we live in a world of cycles, rhythms, and seasons. And when we look closely at the liturgy and the seasons of the church year, we hope to embrace the cycles, rhythms, and seasons of our faith more clearly than before. This is something we have begun teaching our children at an early age. If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit the Godly Play room and the sacred, holy space that Marion and Joann create and preserve for our young children, please stop by and take a look inside. Along with the wonderful story boxes, props, books, and materials for their prayer work, you’ll see a large felt square on the wall with small squares of green, white, purple and red placed in a circle with a marker pointing to one of the squares. It looks like a clock. This is the liturgical year calendar. At the beginning of each class the children count out the number of the Sunday we are in for that particular liturgical season.
Today the calendar points ever more closely to wrapping up the season of Pentecost and moving into Advent. Yes. Advent. Christmas is very close. Today is the next to last Sunday of Pentecost, that season which calls us into action to live out our lives as Christians in everyday situations, attempting to bring Christ into each moment we encounter. So in another sense, a way of looking at what the readings for today are telling us as we close out Pentecost in this and next Sunday’s lessons, is that we’ve reached another end of a season and cycle. We have gone through the cycle beginning with the preparatory and somewhat penitential season of Advent. We’ve encountered the Light of The World through the birth of Jesus and announced the discovery of Christ to the world during Epiphany. The penitential season of Lent brought us further and deeper into preparation for accepting the call and becoming a member of the body of Christ, culminating in the participation of Holy Week and Jesus’ death. We then celebrate the resurrection with Easter and the renewal of our baptismal vows, and finally, we bring all of these parts together during the long season of Pentecost, and live out our lives in faith.
Now faith is not just a noun. Faith is also a verb. So as we embrace the seasons, we live out our faith through them and put our faith into action as Christ taught us in the Gospels. I said earlier that hope is the other side of the readings we can look to instead of the despair, gloom and doom that many will portray as the message for today. And I also mentioned how this community of The Church of Nativity has taken seriously the challenge of becoming the body of Christ in the world. It reflects on the faces of the children and young adults who come to class eager to hear how they can do their part in being examples of the goodness of God, starting with simple acts like clearing the cups and plates off of the tables during coffee hour. They will carry that over into society as they grow and begin to serve others where they see a need. It reflects on the minds and hearts of those who stretch themselves and share their thoughts with others by participating in the Adult Education Forum. It reflects on the happy faces of those who eagerly contribute to the functions you provide for Honnoman House and Episcopal Commons. And it reflects abundantly on the generous gifts you give to numerous other causes and organizations not just in the town of Newport, but throughout the diocese, nation, and the world.
In the last line of the Gospel reading, Jesus says, “This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.” We can leave here looking at the pangs and pain that go along with life. We can leave here with a feeling of despair. We can leave here expecting gloom and doom from now till eternity. But instead there are other things we can do. We can hear the rest of the story and spread the good news we hear every Sunday. We can understand our role in society and be the body of Christ in our daily lives. But we must be that verb faith … and live to bring this hope to others. The hope that lies in that same birth just mentioned. The hope that once again we will emerge from Pentecost ready to journey deeper into the season of Advent, participate in the wonder and joy of the birth of Jesus this Christmas, and perhaps also celebrate the rebirth of ourselves as being a child of God, eager to embrace and live out our faith more fully than we could ever imagine.