Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. Exodus 24:17-18

The people had been wandering in the wilderness for at least three months.  They are at the foot of Mt. Sinai and God calls Moses to come to the top of the mountain.  God will give Moses the guidelines, rules, commandments for the life of the community…for the best relationships…for making them the People of God.

All of the people at the foot of the mountain could see the Glory of God — it burned like a fire for all to see.  They knew something powerful was happening on that mountain.  We hear that Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.

This Wednesday, we being our own 40 day and 40 night journey with the beginning of Lent.  We are invited to enter the fire of God…to be taught and to enter more deeply into the presence of God.  Some of us will go without something important to you, entering into the depth of denial and giving something of value to us to be closer to God.  Some of us will take on something — a new spiritual discipline or a commitment to coming to Wednesday worship or participation in the Living Compass program on Wednesdays or on Sunday mornings.

Whatever we do, we enter this 40 days as Moses did…called into the glory and fire of God to be changed.

Blessings as you finish your week.

Love, Rebecca

My Schedule

I will be in Corbin on Tuesday evening and Ash Wednesday.  My sabbath day will be Friday, March 7.

Living Compass Adult Faith and Wellness Program.  This Sunday, we begin this program of assessing our lives and choosing where and how to make change.  If you didn’t receive a booklet, try to go to the website at http://www.livingcompass.org/adult/program.html/  and take the assessment.  The Sunday class will be at 10am.  An additional opportunity will occur each Wednesday, beginning Ash Wednesday at 4pm.

This Sunday we celebrate Women’s History Month, hearing the voices of women of faith during our service.  The hymns were all written by women.

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, March 4, 6pm.  Join us for supper this Tuesday.  Pancakes and bacon will be served, cooked by the men of the church.  Free Will offering (suggested $2 adult and $1 child).  Join in the fellowship as we end Epiphany and prepare for our Lenten journey.

Ash Wednesday Communion with Imposition of Ashes, March 5, 6pm.

Lenten Resources

Lent Madness – Lent Madness is a fun way to walk through Lent.  Each day, stories of saints are presented and you are asked to vote for your favorite.  A bracket, similar to the basketball March Madness bracket, is created.  At the end of Lent, one of the saints “wins” and is awarded the Golden Halo.  You can do this online at www.lentmadness.org/category/lent-madness-2014/ and St. John’s will have the printed materials available, as well as a poster of the bracket for this year.

Lenten Meditations – Daily Lenten meditation booklets from Living Compass will be available.

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

• Everlasting Arms, Corbin’s shelter for people who are homeless, is in need of men’s and women’s razors, gloves, deodorant and socks.
• The Food Pantry at Corbin Presbyterian Church is always in need of nonperishable food items.  Vegetables are especially appreciated.

 Flowers for the altar: Donations for flowers for the altar are accepted for any Sunday of the year. Please place your donation in the envelope, marking whether they are in honor of or in memory of someone.

Hymn Selection Group If you’d like to choose hymns for services, join this group.  You will choose hymns for an upcoming service and then meet with the entire group to confirm the final selections.  See Billy Hibbitts if you are interested.

Would you like to write Prayers of the People?  If you are interested in writing these prayers (there are resources that can help with this task), please let Rebecca know by phone or email priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Are you interested in assisting with the Sunday service?  Readers, Eucharistic Ministers, Crucifers, Altar Guild Members and choir members are all important for each Sunday service.  If you’re interested in serving, please let Rebecca know by phone 859-429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

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Sermon – February 23, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin
Seventh Sunday After Epiphany

“You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. . . .” Matthew 5:43-44

 Please be seated….

You know I am a social worker, but you may not know I was trained as a clinical social worker.  Now, clinical social workers often are private practitioners or therapists and I was always more interested in larger changes …the things that required political change or mass community efforts.  Nonetheless, in getting my MSW, I wanted to see where clinical work mostly with individuals and groups intersected with larger change movements – systems changes — and I took the clinical track to receive my MSW.

But clinical work is definitely not my strength.  I am not patient enough for it.  I’m much more suited to short term clinical work.  However, for a time, I was a therapist.  I worked in an outpatient clinic for people with traumatic brain injuries.  It was the classic 50 minute hour of individual therapy.  I prayed mightily to God that God would guide me in being with the people who came to me… that God would give me the words to say and that I would be a conduit for God’s guidance and spirit.

There were many gifts in this experience.  One of them was coming to the awareness that in working with others, I was offered the possibility  to work deeply on myself.  That as people came to me and spoke to me, they could trigger my own issues that needed healed.  One Friday, my last client started to talk about rejection and how he was being rejected by others.  The session went well.  I was in that place of being open, listening intently, and being that conduit for the Spirit of God.  I left work feeling good about the day. 

After work, I started on a 3-hour trip to visit my Aunt.  On the drive, (this was before cell phones, you know, or I would have been on the phone) I was thinking about this session and about rejection.  I started making my list of people who had rejected me.  I was getting angrier and angrier as I made a longer and longer list in my head.  Getting angrier meant I was crying and crying.  Now this is not a good thing to do when you’re driving on an interstate highway about 70 miles per hour!  Oh, I had my list of enemies and persecuters and it was getting to be quite long.

All of a sudden, I had this flash of insight and realized that my #1 enemy…my #1 persecuter… the one who had rejected me most, was ME!  All of the times I had said I’d do something I should have said “no” to.  The times I had stuffed down my feelings, too embarrassed by them, not wanting to acknowledge that part of me.  All of the times I’d stuffed down my feelings, because I wanted to avoid conflict with another person.

On that trip to see my Aunt, I saw more clearly how I had rejected me.  I saw how when I rejected myself, there was no hope, really.  Who else was there, if even I couldn’t support me?

Loving our enemies seems preposterous, doesn’t it?  Yet for many of us, learning to love ourselves is even more preposterous…seems one of the hardest things to do.  Sometimes “we” are the enemy we must love.  Sometimes “we” are the ones who persecute ourselves.  Some of us talk to ourselves in ways we would never talk to another person.  . 

Social worker and researcher, Dr. Brene’ Brown was interested in understanding more about the topic of belonging and connection, such a deep human need …to belong, to be connected.  In six years of research, and story after story, she found that the people who had a strong sense of belonging and connection to others, also believed they were worthy of love.

When she looked at the interviews with people who lived from a deep sense of worthiness, she found they possessed “wholeheartedness.”  Wholeheartedness consisted of three Cs:  courage, compassion and connection. 

Courage was the courage to be imperfect.  Compassion was about being kind to themselves first, which ultimately led them to have compassion for others.  Connection occurred as a result of authenticity.  Wholehearted people let go of who they thought they SHOULD be to be who they were. 

Brene’ Brown discovered that wholehearted people embraced vulnerability.  They took risks with no guarantee of return.  They did things not knowing what the outcome would be.  They understood that it was their vulnerability that made them beautiful. 

We know some of this.  Think of the times you have been loved with no expectation in return.  I asked, and some of you told me, how being loved has changed your life…given you hope…made you see the world in a different way.  How understanding that we all need love and giving that love generously and in ways the person can receive it, creates deep connection and joy. 

In short…love has the power to transform.  Love your enemies…love those who persecute you.  Love is unexpected in those situations.  Shouldn’t we chastise ourselves?  Aren’t we to strive to be better people?

Well, yes, we always hope to be the best Christians we can be AND it’s how we get there that is also important.  Remember I’ve told you we improve more by knowing what we do well.  It is a paradox that we improve most when we more clearly see our faults and more clearly accept them…when we can love ourselves just the way we are.

Our lessons today are full of appeals and recommendations for how to love each other.  In Leviticus, we hear what we’d call commandments.  These rules of how to care for each other – don’t steal, don’t lie – are clear and helpful.  And not always easy to keep.  Sometimes we get so hung up on the letter of the law, that we forget about each other… we lose the human side. 

Our Psalm pleads for God to teach us how to go – teach me your statues, we cry.  And we all know how hard it can be to keep those.  We fall short and we have the desire to keep asking.

Then Paul reminds us that we are God’s temple – that God dwells in us.  You mean we are worthy enough to be God’s dwelling place?  Only the priests could go into the inner room of the temple – the holy of holies, where God’s footstool was.  But Paul says God dwells in us!  Incredible!

For the past two weeks, I have heard this fairly new song over and over again.  It is by John Legend and while he wrote it for his wife, I often hear it as a song God is singing to us, God’s creation.  Listen to part of the refrain and hear God saying this to you, God’s beloved:

All of me loves all of you
All of your curves and all your edges
All of your perfect imperfections

Those curves and edges we think are enemies….all of those imperfections we persecute ourselves about.  Love your enemies.  Love you.  You will be transformed and in the process, you will transform others.  You are God’s Temple….You are the holy place where God resides.  Be courageous.  Be compassionate.  Be authentic.  In doing so, you will find connection to the Spirit of God that dwells in you. 

Amen

Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. Lev. 19:2

Do you think of yourself as sacred and consecrated to God or dedicated to a divine purpose?  That’s what Leviticus is telling us.  We are holy people.  The passage goes on to talk about how holy people behave.  We don’t lie to one another or steal from one another.  We don’t unjustly judge one another nor “profit from another’s blood.”

Think of how we treat the holy things in church.  The wafers of communion are simple discs of wheat and the wine is from the liquor store; however, in the context of our service, these simple, ordinary things become precious and special to us.  These elements are special to us because of their relationship to Christ’s body and blood. We treat them with reverence.  We don’t drop them on the floor.  We don’t pour the wine down an ordinary drain.   That’s what it means when ordinary things are holy.   

So you are an ordinary human made holy because you are of God.  How are you reverent in your life?  How do you treat yourself with respect?  How do you dedicate yourself to God?  Don’t think this means you must be somber, either.  How are you holy and consecrated to God in joy?

Blessings as you finish your week!

Rebecca

Next week, I will be in Corbin on Friday, February 28, and my Sabbath days will be February 25-27.  Please feel free to get messages to me any time, however, by calling 859 -429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Today through Saturday is Diocesan Convention.  Please pray for the Diocese as it meets in Convention.  Our Deputies are Gay Nell Conley, Bruce Cory, John Harris, Billy Hibbitts and The Rev. Myers.

Next Sunday, March 2,  we celebrate Women’s History Month.  Our hymns will reflect the voices of women.

Lazarus at the Gate, a series on economic discipleship finishes this week.  Bret Swinford will lead us in a session on How to give effectively and giving together.  

Living Compass Adult Faith and Wellness.  Next week, we begin a series on Living Compass Program, designed to help us assess our lives, plan for change, strengthen our faith, and wellness.  You can find more information about the program, including the Living Compass Assessment at  http://www.livingcompass.org/adult/program.html/

Pot Luck This Sunday!  Bring your favorite dish or drink to share!  In any case, please join in the fellowship and fun!  The men of the parish will meet to discuss the Tuesday, March 4, Shrove Tuesday pancake supper! 

Our annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper will be held March 4, 6pm in the parish hall.  Free will offering.  (Suggested donation is $2 per adult and $1 per child).

Ash Wednesday service with Eucharist and imposition of ashes will be at 6pm on Wednesday, March 5.    

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

• Everlasting Arms, Corbin’s shelter for people who are homeless, is in need of men’s and women’s razors, gloves, deodorant and socks.
• The Food Pantry at Corbin Presbyterian Church is always in need of nonperishable food items.  Vegetables are especially appreciated.

 Flowers for the altar: Donations for flowers for the altar are accepted for any Sunday of the year. Please place your donation in the envelope, marking whether they are in honor of or in memory of someone.

 United Thank Offering (UTO) is a ministry of the Episcopal Church for the mission of the whole church. Through United Thank Offering, men, women, and children nurture the habit of giving daily thanks to God. These prayers of thanksgiving start when we recognize and name our many daily blessings. Those who participate in UTO discover that thankfulness leads to generosity. United Thank Offering is entrusted to promote thank offerings, to receive the offerings, and to distribute the UTO monies to support mission and ministry throughout the Episcopal Church and in invited Provinces of the Anglican Communion in the developing world.

Your UTO offerings are collected twice each year.  Each time you feel thankful during your day, put some change into your box.  We will gather these gifts of gratitude in May and begin again for the November offering.

If you need a UTO box, please see Rebecca.

 Reimagine the Episcopal Church:  In 2012, the General Convention created a taskforce to reimagine The Episcopal Church for the future. The members of the Taskforce want to hear the memories, hopes and dreams that people have for The Church. We are trying to reach as many people as we can over the next few months. We will use what we hear to help us shape recommendations for The Church’s structure, administration and governance. To add your memories, go online at http://reimaginetec.org/ or see Rev. Rebecca for a paper copy you can submit.  Deadline is March 4, 2014.

Hymn Selection Group If you’d like to choose hymns for services, join this group.  You will choose hymns for an upcoming service and then meet with the entire group to confirm the final selections.  See Billy Hibbitts if you are interested. 

Would you like to write Prayers of the People?  If you are interested in writing these prayers (there are resources that can help with this task), please let Rebecca know by phone or email priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Are you interested in assisting with the Sunday service?  Readers, Eucharistic Ministers, Crucifers, Altar Guild Members and choir members are all important for each Sunday service.  If you’re interested in serving, please let Rebecca know by phone 859-429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

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Sermon – February 9, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin
Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.   Matthew 5:13, 14

Please be Seated.

In 2012, you know I studied in the Holy Land.  The course was offered by St. George’s College, based in Jerusalem.  It was called the Palestine of Jesus.  One of the extra trips was a Saturday visit to Masada and the Dead Sea.  We were given many instructions the day before.  We were told not to shave or we’d be very uncomfortable.  We were told to be careful if we had any cuts on our bodies.  Pouring salt into a wound is not a comfortable experience, is it? 

It was a really hot day, about 110 degrees.  Masada is built on a rock plateau in the Judean desert, not the coolest place to be in the heat.  I love the water, but wasn’t sure the Dead Sea would be all that refreshing.  I thought with all of that heat, it might be like swimming in the Gulf of Mexico in the middle of summer – more like a warm bath.  What an experience, though.  You simply cannot sink in the Dead sea.  In fact, once you are on your back, you almost cannot stand up!  That was the hardest thing…standing up after I was on my back. 

Salt or Sodium Chloride or NaCl (my daughter the chemistry teacher would be so proud) is an amazing thing.  First of all, it has been used by humans for thousands of years.  There is one salt mine in Austria that has been in use for 7,000 years.  Salt was an early preservative.  It draws out water so bacteria cannot grow.  It can be used medicinally.  In cooking, salt can bring out the flavor of the ingredients and it also mixes in perfectly, dissolving in the liquid.  We’ve used plenty of salt this winter to melt ice.  And our bodies absolutely must have sodium, which we get from salt, so our hearts beat and our brains work, and our muscles relax. 

Pure salt does not lose its flavor, but in Jesus’ time, salt was less pure.  The salt would sometimes leach out or dissolve, so what was left had no salt in it.  It was then thrown outside on the streets.  That’s what Jesus is referring to. 

So, we are the salt of the world.  We, as Christians are the salt of the world.  When we are our best Christian selves, we bring spice and flavor.  We bring a different way of living and seeing the world that is essential for survival.  Imagine a world without forgiveness, reconciliation and love.  Just like the dead sea, the salt known as the Christian community keeps us afloat, even when we don’t know how to swim. 

The salt of Christianity…of following Christ… allows us to live.  It enhances who we are.  Notice what I said, it enhances who we are… it brings out our flavors. 

We are so used to looking at what we’ve done wrong.  Most of us can list many imperfections, but fall short in listing just as many strengths for ourselves.  Unfortunately, most of our evaluation systems are based on the flawed methods of pointing out what we did incorrectly, pointing out our mistakes, rather than building on what we do especially well. 

In 1982, researchers at the University of Wisconsin were studying how people learn to improve.  They videotaped two bowling teams over several games.  Later the members of the teams reviewed their videos in an effort to learn how to improve their performance.  Unknown to the team members, the videos had been edited differently.  One team saw a video showing everything they did wrong.  The other team saw a video highlighting everything they did well.  Now both teams improved their bowling scores.  But the team that was shown what they did well…where their strengths were… improved twice as much as the team that only saw what they did wrong. 

So how does this relate to us being salt?  We all are salt to the world just the way we are.  Are we perfect?  No.  Our imperfections are why we need Christ and why we need each other.  But God uses the best of us as salt to the world.  This morning I ask, how are you salt to the world?  What is wonderful in you that adds flavor to the world?  What is strong in you that the world cannot do without?  Maybe it is your organization.  Maybe it is your follow through.  Maybe it is your viewpoint.  Maybe it is your reliability.  Maybe it is your compassion.  Maybe it is your sense that we are all loved by God.  Take a moment and consider… what are your strengths and your gifts.  They are salt to the world….

PAUSE

“You are the light of the world,” Jesus says.  What you bring to the world…those same strengths…bring light.  You, as a Christian, bring a new way of looking at the world.  Look at our Book of Common Prayer.  The prayers tell you a lot about the light we bring.  Pages 159-261 are filled with prayers, not only for each Sunday of the year, but also for many issues and occasions…for the sick and for social service, for the nation and for the church, for daily work and for peace.  Every Sunday we pray for those who govern.  Now, it doesn’t say we have to like or agree with those who govern, but we pray for them.  We pray that they follow God’s Will and God’s voice and govern with justice. 

Our baptismal covenant, the agreement we make with God and each other, on pages 304 and 305, affirms the light we bring to the world.  We “continue in the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers.”  We “persevere in resisting evil,” and when we can’t resist evil, we “repent and return to the Lord.”  We “proclaim by word and example the good News of God in Christ.”  We seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving [our] neighbors as [ourselves].”  We “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” 

What would our world be like without the light we bring?  What would the world be like?  Can you imagine no forgiveness?  Can you imagine no way to return to God?  Can you imagine no love, no fellowship, no chance of redemption? 

Think about how you live out your Baptismal covenant, bringing light to the world. 

PAUSE

We are the salt of the world.  We are the light of the world.  We do our best….  We build upon the gifts and talents God has given us.  We are humble, because we know we are not perfect.  We are like the beauty of the moon, which reflects the light of the sun.  We are the salt absolutely necessary for life…for heart, for brain.  We season and light this community.  We season and light this world. 

Amen