Sermon – March 9, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin
First Sunday in Lent

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.  Gen. 3:6

Please be seated.

When I was about six years old, I got a scar on my left leg.  It all came from desire.  You see, I really wanted a Coca-Cola one day after school.  I guess I just wanted that refreshing new feeling…the tag line of the commercials during 1962.  I’m sure the coca colas were expensive and in a family with two adults and three children, I bet we had only 6 bottles.  But I desired one.  Had to have one.  Can’t remember now what the rules were for having one.  I’m sure our ability to have them was limited to certain days or occasions.  So, I snuck one out of the refrigerator and found the bottle opener and went outside on our car port.  My father wasn’t home yet, so the carport was empty. 

How I thought I’d ultimately hide my taking the bottle did not even cross my 6-year-old mind. 

I was not adept at opening the bottle…really didn’t know how, but it hadn’t looked that hard.  I certainly did not understand the physics principle of leveraging…of having the bottle on a table or counter to make it easier to open.  I was just holding that long, slender bottle out and trying to get the bottle opener to pry off the cap.  Suddenly, the bottle slipped, dropping to the car port and smashing into pieces.  AND one piece of the glass flew into my left leg just below my knee.

Then I was crying because of the sting and the blood and the Coca Cola all over the carport and the trouble I knew I’d be in for sure.  Don’t remember what happened next, only know I ended up at the doctor’s office and had to get a stitch in my leg.  That whole part of the experience remains as shadowy and very scary and painful.  I think I was afraid of doctors for quite awhile after that. 

Desire…. 

Just like Eve’s logic, my six year old brain reasoned that I needed a coca cola after a day at school.  It was cold.  The commercials said it could provide a “refreshing, new feeling” and that I should enjoy one.  They were right there in the refrigerator. 

And yet, despite the logic of my desire, there remained the fact that my parents had told me I couldn’t have one then.  What was it about my desire that caused me to distrust the wisdom of my parents, of the very people who cared for me?

I don’t believe the story we read today in Genesis is designed to tell us that all of our desires are wrong or sinful.  It is that we must be very careful to discern what is driving or motivating our desires.  We must ask, do our desires draw us closer to God, to God’s Will for us, or do they serve as a substitute for God, distancing us from God? 

Sometimes I believe fear motivates our desires.  Fear that we won’t get something we want or need.  We fear we don’t have enough, so we hoard or become stingy.  We aren’t generous with our abundance. 

When I was living with my daughter in North Carolina, we didn’t have a lot of money.  I was going on a retreat and needed to bring my own food.  I didn’t have the money to go to the grocery store, but when I opened the cupboards, I found plenty of food for me and lots left over for my daughter.  I realized how much I hoarded food. 

We fear that we are not enough.  Not good enough.  Not worthy of love.  We need something outside ourselves to make us whole.  Eve and Adam, it seems, thought they did not have enough wisdom, nor enough good food.  They believed the fruit of this tree could provide them with something they needed to live; that something outside of themselves and outside of God could make them complete.

Yet, the truth is, they, like us, possessed God-given wisdom.  They were made in God’s image after all.  They had everything they needed to live.  

In this passage from Genesis, Eve and Adam’s own desires were greater than their desire for God…than their desire to do God’s Will.  Maybe, like me, they should have asked God whether they could try that fruit…made their case.   They could have checked out with God what the serpent told them about the fruit.  Their desire for God and our desire for God needs to be the most important desire. 

This past Friday, our Lenten meditation booklet addressed this very issue. 

“Whenever we get out of step with what we know to be God’s best intentions for us, we’re always just a bit uncomfortable aren’t we?” it asks.  “We feel out of sorts – maybe even frustrated and confused.  To be reconciled to God is nothing more and nothing less than recognizing we’ve veered off in our own direction and asking God’s help in getting back on the right path.”  (Renew a Right Spirit Within Me, Lenten meditations 2014 from Living Compass)

Our Old Testament passage ends on the discomfort of stepping out of God’s Will, as Eve and Adam know they are naked and sew fig leaves together and make loincloths for themselves.  They were out of sorts, confused.  They had lost sight of God’s best intentions for them. 

Our Gospel today shows us how Jesus’ greatest desire was doing God’s Will.  He was tempted by the devil, who told Jesus he did not have enough food; Jesus had been fasting in the desert for 40 days after all.  The devil told Jesus to question his identity as the Son of God.  The devil told Jesus he did not have enough power. 

Aren’t these the same fears we have?  We don’t have enough of what we need.  We forget we are the beloved of God.  We are convinced we have no power. 

Yet Jesus remains steadfast.  Jesus’ desire for God…Jesus’ desire to do God’s Will… overcomes the doubts and fears.  Jesus stays on the right path.  And that is the example for us.  We have wisdom.  We know what we need to do.  We are enough.  We are the beloved of God. We have personal power and can make choices for our lives. 

St. Augustine of Hippo, a 4^th Century Bishop, wrote quite a bit about his own personal desires.  He kept looking for things outside of himself to provide him satisfaction and wholeness.  In one of the first of its kind, Augustine wrote an autobiography, predominantly to use his own experience as a teaching tool of the Christian life.  In the opening paragraphs, he speaks to God, saying, “For Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee.”  (Confessions, Book I)

This time of Lent is a chance to look at our desires, to reconcile ourselves to God and to God’s best intentions for our lives.  It is a chance to be at peace, because our hearts are resting in God.

Amen

Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, *
and whose sin is put away! Psalm 32:1

How do you define happiness?  Often I think of the times I smile and laugh a lot and I’m with people I like being with.

Yet, the Psalmist presents another way to consider happiness.  We are happy because we know without a doubt that our sins are forgiven…they are put away.  As Christians, we measure happiness in a new way.  Because our sins are forgiven and put away, we are free.  Free to try again.  Free to live our lives in a new way.  Free to forgive others.  That’s why we’re happy.

I like this popular song that was part of the film Despicable Me II.  Yes, I know we begin Lent.  Midst our contemplation and acknowledging our sins, we are joyful and happy because we know we are forgiven.

Blessings as you finish your week.

My Schedule

Next week, I will be in Corbin on Thursday, March 13, and my Sabbath day will be Friday, March 14.  You can get a message to me by calling 859 -429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Adult Forum

This Sunday and next Wednesday at 4pm (March 12)  we continue our series on Living Compass Adult Faith and Wellness.  The session will be on “Whatever you pay attention to is what will grow.”

Daughters of the King meets the third Wednesday of each month at 4:30pm.  The next meeting is March 19.

Reading Camp 5K and 1 Mile Fun Walk, Saturday, March 22, 9am, Lexington.  Register to participate in this event to support Reading Camp at www.readingcamprocks.org/event-application. If you’d prefer not to attend, you can register for the “sleep-in to read” virtual event.

This Sunday, March 9, Daylight Savings Time begins.  Remember to spring forward and move your clock ahead 1 hour!

 Corbin Rotary Club holds its annual International Dinner on Saturday, March 15, 6-8pm at Corbin Civic Center.  Tickets are $25 and proceeds go to the fund to eradicate polio.  If you’d like a ticket, please see Rebecca.

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. 

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 – March 5, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin
Ash Wednesday

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke? Isaiah 58:6

Please be seated. 

Last month I traveled to Lookout Mountain, Tennessee to participate in the ordination of a seminary classmate of mine.  In addition to the wonderful spirit and joy of such occasions, I was also able to reconnect with some classmates.  We had lived together for three years and now are scattered around the church.

One classmate and her partner moved to Atlanta with their two children.  The two women had lived in New York City for quite a few years and we talked about the shifts in moving to another part of the country.  My classmate’s partner said her mantra is, “Who have you liberated today?”  In the changes that have occurred, she more clearly sees the ways we oppress each other. 

In this passage in Isaiah, we hear a similar question from God, “Who have you liberated today?”    The Israelites were seeking God and following all of the rules of the religion:  fasting, wearing sackcloth and ashes.  But the fast that God desires, according to the prophet Isaiah, is to work for liberation…to not oppress the workers… to work to eliminate hunger and homelessness, the oppression of not having the basic needs of life. 

As we enter this time of  Lent, often we fast from something we enjoy.  It is a good practice, becoming more aware of the things that control us and take us away from God.  In recent years, we hear of the practice of taking something on.  Maybe a new spiritual practice like fasting, or a new kind of prayer. 

And we can also heed God’s words and work in new ways to end the oppression of poverty and injustice.  There are so many ways to feed the hungry.  We have started to do so at our monthly potlucks.  In addition, we have our basket to collect items for the food pantry at Corbin Presbyterian.  Some help with the back pack program.  We’ve talked about using part of our park for a community garden.  During Lent, you might take on one of these ways to alleviate hunger in Corbin. 

The Adult Formation Class recently decided to collect money for goats, which cost $80 each through Episcopal Relief and Development.  The goats are given to families, along with training in their care.  According to Episcopal Relief and Development, “Goats are hardy, reproduce quickly and can be raised in a variety of climates to produce staple items such as milk, cheese and manure for farming.” There is a goat bank on the shelves in the parish hall and you’ll see other reminders.  So you may want to contribute to this project during Lent. 

Some of us have begun working with the Everlasting Arms shelter for the homeless and we’ve collected items they need.  You can take on this project for Lent, providing the items they need. 

During Lent, you can also educate yourself about effective ways to end food insecurity and homelessness. 

And in doing so, … in working for liberation each day, God promises:

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.

Amen

Sermon – March 2, 2014 (Women’s History Month)
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin
Last Sunday After Epiphany

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.  Matthew 17:2

Please be seated.

As you came into church today, you may have noticed a big poster hanging from our bulletin board next to the kitchen.  It has brackets on it.  No, we’re not starting a pool to see who wins the basketball challenge.  The brackets are for Lent Madness, first started online by Timothy Schenck and eventually to include Scott Gunn of Forward Movement.   Tim combined his passion for the lives of the saints and his love for sports to create a way to work through Lent.  Each weekday, beginning Ash Thursday (March 6 this year), two saints are matched against each other.  You vote for your favorite online and by March 16, there is a winner…the winner of the Golden Halo.  The booklets for this year are out in the parlor and you can find them online and follow them on Facebook and on Twitter.

The winner of last year’s Golden Halo was Frances Perkins.  Some of you may have heard of her.  She was the first woman to serve in a President’s Cabinet.  She was the longest serving Secretary of Labor, serving for 12 years from 1932 – 1944. 

And she was a devoted Episcopalian.  She was raised in New England as a Congregationalist, but at age 25, she found the Episcopal Church.  She loved its religious structure and its formal ceremony.  According to a biographer [The Woman Behind the New Deal by Kirstin Downey], the

…elaborate and archaic rituals…helped her remain serene and centered in times of stress.  The church’s teaching also gave her substantive guidance about the right path to take when confronted with decisions, and the hopeful message of Christianity helped her retain her optimism.  …[The religion] served as a bedrock and a way to seek meaning in life when so much seemed inexplicable.  (p 17-18)

While she was Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins took time each month for personal retreat.  She is responsible for so much of what we take for granted today – unemployment insurance, social security, child labor laws, worker safety, Fire Marshall’s safe occupancy postings in buildings.  Her faith was the bedrock of her life.  Once when her friends questioned why they should help people who are poor, she responded “that it was what Jesus would want them to do.” (p. 18)

Frances Perkins’ life provides guidance to us as an example of transfiguration.  She had a moment of transfiguration.  A defining experience where everything she had done merged with what needed to be changed…with where God needed her to go.   She was almost 31.  She had been a teacher of economics, worked at Hull House with Jane Addams and was an early student of the profession of social work, getting a degree from Columbia.  She had worked with people who were poor, predominantly immigrants who were coming into the United States.  She was concerned about living conditions and working conditions. 

On Saturday, March 25, 1911, she was having tea at the home of a friend in a luxurious apartment in Greenwich Village, New York.  Greenwich Village was in transition from the neighborhood of the well-to-do to tenement houses and factories.  As Frances and her friends were about to start, they heard fire whistles and plenty of commotion.  They looked out the windows and saw fire streaming from a building across the park from where they were. 

Frances rushed to the scene, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, only to witness a horrific sight.  The workers were locked in the building and the firefighters had no ladders long enough to reach the 10 stories.  The workers could not escape.  Frances said,

One by one, the people would fall off.  They couldn’t hold on any longer – the grip gives way.  There began to be panic jumping.  People who had their clothes afire would jump.  It was a most horrid spectacle.  Even when they got the nets up, the nets didn’t hold in a jump from that height.  There was no place to go.  The fire was between them and any means of exit.  There they were.  They had gone to the window for air and they jumped.  It’s that awful choice people talk of – what kind of choice to make? (p. 34)

In all, 146 workers, mostly young women who were Jewish and Italian, died that day. 

In our Gospel, we hear of Christ’s transfiguration… of Elijah appearing and of God’s voice once again saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”  We hear that Peter, James and John were “overcome by fear.” Not knowing what to do, Peter wanted to build a memorial, but Jesus said, “no.”  They were on their way to Jerusalem, you see. . . on the way to the crucifixion.  You see, the response to transfiguration is action! 

It is reported that Frances Perkins’ transfigurative experience of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire reoriented her life.  She had always believed she would marry and do volunteer social work, helping out a little.  But what she saw that day, changed her and spurred her to action.  She heard God’s call to change conditions for workers.   

How many times did she struggle with God, I wonder?  Her life wasn’t so easy.  Her husband had a mental illness and spent much of his life in and out of the hospital, unable to work and sometimes choosing to stay in New York City, while she was in DC.   When President Roosevelt announced her appointment, there was great opposition to it from some places.  She found the Department of Labor Building full of cockroaches and rats.  She understood what it meant to be the first woman and the only woman in the Cabinet meetings.  She intentionally dressed like the men’s mothers so they wouldn’t feel intimidated or put off by her.  Completing the agenda, doing the work God had for her to do, was most important. 

Yet, as a woman, I have to say, I know how tiring this can be…the everyday, almost every minute remembering you are a woman and what that means in every context you enter.  Not letting it stop you.  Not dwelling on it, because then you might be paralyzed.  But every so often, allowing the full weight of it to be known to you.  . . to be acknowledged, to weep for the injustice of it, so you can take care of yourself and rejuvenate to keep up the work and to hopefully make things better for the women yet to come.

As we end our observance of Epiphany. . . of Christ as the light of the world. . . and move into the change of the season to Lent. . . it is a good time to rest deeply . . . to know in your soul how following Christ has transfigured you.  How discipleship is changing your life.  You may not be where you’d like to be or things may look confusing or not make sense.  You’ll need to trust that God is working in your life.  It might help to imagine your life without the teachings of the faith.   To imagine your life without the community of St. John’s…without the relationships here.  To imagine Sundays without Eucharist and without prayer.

You have been and are being transfigured into the dazzling light, not as a memorial, but as substance for action.  Amen